H-^ ■• ¥ ..^' ^ r%.^< ''•■..,wUf^ • rr- ^ ^ A kJ / ■4 7l f /A LITERARY FRIVOLITIES. Post &IC1, doth liiiif, 2s. 6ii. per Z'oliiine. THE MAYFAIR LIBRARY. THE NEW REPUBLIC. By W. H. Mallock. THE NEW PAUL AND VIRGINIA. By W. H. Mallock. THE TRUE HISTORY OF JOSHUA DAVID- SON. By E. Lynn Linton. OLD STORIES RE -TOLD. By Walter Thornbury. PUNIANA. By the Hon. Hugh Rowley. MORE PUNIANA. BytheHon. Hugh Rowley. THOREAU : HIS LIFE AND AIMS. By H. A. Page. BY STREAM AND SEA. By William SENtoR. JEUX D'ESPRIT. Collected and Edited by Henry S. Leigh. GASTRONOMY AS A FINE ART. By Bril- lat-Savarin. THE MUSES OF MAYFAIR. Edited by H. Cholmondeley Pennell. PUCK ON PEGASUS. By H. Cholmondeley Pennell. ORIGINAL PLAYS. By W. S. Gilbert. CAROLS OF COCKAYNE. By Henry S. Leigh. LITERARY FRIVOLITIES, FANCIES, FOL- LIES, AND FROLICS. By W. T. DoBSON. *»* Otlier Volumes are in preparation. CHATTO &= WIXDUS, PICCADILLY, II'. LITERARY FRIVOLITIES FANCIES FOLLIES AND FROLICS By WILLIAM T. DOBSON In hoc est hoax Et quiz et joax With gravity for graver folks 3L0ntion CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY 1880 [A /I rights reserved^ NOTE. HERE the authorship of any of the ex- tracts given in this book is not acknow- ledged, it is not without search having been made for their source. The gathering to- gether of the materials incorporated has been the labour of years, and it is hoped that the work may not be without a certain degree of interest as well as amusement. CONTENTS. PAGE INTRODUCTION 9 ALLITERATION . 1 7 LIPOGRAMS 58 BOUTS RlMta 69 MACARONICS 87 CHRONOGRAMS -116 ECHO VERSES 122 JESUITICAL VERSES I43 MONOSYLLABIC VERSE I50 NONSENSE VERSE, ETC 1 58 CENTONES OR MOSAICS 1 76 ANAGRAMS I92 THE PALINDROME 21 5 LITERARY MISFORTUNES 228 FIGURATE OR SHAPED POEMS 258 PROSE POEMS 271 INDEX 285 LITERARY FRIVOLITIES. INTRODUCTION. ^TILITY is not always the chief object \ of literary labour, neither is " value received " always its aim and end ; for in this kind of work, as in some others, difficulty and expected applause are frequently great incen- tives. With many writers, more particularly in former times, various curious styles of composi- tion were much in favour — one, for instance, would have a predilection for composing- verses with the omission in each stanza of a particular letter ; others, again, would write verses in such a way as to enable their compositions to be read from the end to the beginning of the line, or vice versa, as the reader chose ; while a third vexed himself in the composition of alliterative, or, per- haps, monosyllabic poetry. Some old writers also amused themselves in devising combinations of lo INTRODUCriON. Latin words, which might be changed in their order and recombined, so as to form new sen- tences. Of one example of this species of literary trifling, a verse in honour of the Virgin Mary, it was asserted by its author that it would admit of twelve hundred changes, without suffering in sense or grammar. The verse was — " Tot tibi sunt dotes, virgo, quot sidera coeli ; " which means — " Virgin, thy virtues are as numerous as the stars of the heavens." The wonder is, in regard to these, how their indefatigable concocters found out the number of changes the words would admit; for, as regards another example, its author states that it would take ninety-one years and forty-nine days to per- form the changes, at the rate of twelve hundred daily — the total number of which the words are capable amounting to "thirty-nine million nine hundred and sixteen thousand eight hundred!" This wonderful verse is as follows : " Le.\, giex, rex, spes, res, jus, thus, sal, sol bona lux, laus! Mars, mors, sors, fraus, faex, Styx, nox, crux, pus, mala vis, lis ! " which may be rendered — INTRODUCTION. ii " Law, flocks, kings, hopes, riches, riglit, incense, salt, sun good torch, praise to you ! Mars, death, destiny, fraud, impurity, Styx, night, the cross, bad humours and evil power, may you be condemned ! " Another class of literary triflers may be named here — those who chose to display a kind of micro- scopic skill by writing so small that their work appeared to the naked eye only as a mere wavy line. Laborious ingenuity of these various kinds, so far from being discouraged, was rather pleasur- ably indulged in by some of our ancient writers, of whom might have been expected other and better things. In relation to those who have chosen to exert themselves in the way of microscopic writ- ing, apart from authorship, as feats of this kind hold no place in the following parts of this work, it may not be out of place to say a little here. The fact, as Pliny relates, that the "Iliad" of Homer, containing 15,000 verses, had been written in so small a compass as to be wholly enclosed in a nutshell, has often been referred to as one of those things which require to be seen to be believed ; and yet, however doubtful such a feat may appear, it is certain that one Huet, who at first thought it impossible, demonstrated by experi- 12 INTRODUCTION. nient that it could be done. A piece of vellum 10 inches in length and 8 wide would hold 250 lines, each line containing 30 verses, and thus, filling both sides of the vellum, 15,000, the whole number of verses in the " Iliad," could be written upon it; and this piece of vellum, folded compactly, would go easily into the shell of a walnut. Another ancient trifler of this kind is said to have written a distich in golden letters, which he enclosed in the rind of a grain of corn. Of these microscopic writers, Peter Bales, an eminent writing-master of his day, who kept a school near the Old Bailey during the time of Elizabeth, may be said to have been facile princeps. We are told in the Harleian MS. 530, of "a rare piece of work brought to pass " by him, this being the "whole Bible contained in a large English walnut no bigger than a hen's t^^ ; the nut holdeth the book; there are as many leaves in his book as the great Bible, and he hath written as much in one of his little leaves as a great leaf of the Bible." This book, which certainly would be almost unreadable, and of which the paper or other material on which it was written must have been very thin, " was seen by many thousands." Another feat performed by Peter Bales was the writing of the Lord's Prayer, the INTRODUCTION. 13 Creed, the Ten Commandments, two short Latin prayers, and his own name, motto, day of month and year of our Lord and reign of Queen Eh'za- beth, all within the circle of a penny, encased in a ring of gold, the whole so clearly done as to be perfectly readable. This work he presented to the Queen at Hampton Court, and she very graciously accepted the offering. It is nothing unusual now- adays to find writing of almost if not quite as minute character as this, seeing that the Ten Commandments have been written in a compass small enough to be covered by a fourpenny piece ! An account is preserved in an old " Monthly Magazine" of a beautiful specimen of penmanship executed by a Mr. Beedell of Ottery St. Mary's. This piece of workmanship was surrounded by an elegant border, — itself the labour of six weeks, — containing tastefully arranged within it the fol- lowing figures: — "Common hare, varying hare of the northern countries of Europe, pine martin, otter, wild cat ; harrier (hunting piece) ; three foreign birds on a tree ; a correct representation of Ottery St. Mary's Church, surrounded by a beau- tiful border; ruins of a castle, encompassed by a very neat and pretty border." At the bottom of all 14 INTRODUCTIOX. this Mr, Beedell also wrote, as another specimen of minute penmanship, the Lord's Prayer, Belief, and two verses of the third Psalm, in the circumference of a common-sized pea. There is said to be a portrait of Queen Anne among the treasures of the British Museum on which appear a number of minute lines and scratches, which, when examined through a micro- scope, are discovered to be the entire contents of a small folio book in the library. A similar effort in the way of microscopic caligraphy was discovered some years ago by a gentleman who had bought at a sale a pen-and-ink portrait of Alexander Pope, surrounded by a design in scroll-work. Examining this through a glass, in order, if possible, to discover the artist's name, he was astonished to find that the fine lines in the surrounding scroll were nothing less that a Life of the poet, so minutely transcribed as only to be legible by the aid of a magnifier. This was believed to be an imitation of a similar effort in the way of portraiture which was at one time in the library of St. John's College at Oxford, where a head of Charles L was drawn in minute char- acters, so fine as to resemble the lines of an engraving, but which, when closely examined, was I NT ROD UCTION. 1 5 found to be the Book of Psalms, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer. One other instance of this kind of work has been recorded, that of a portrait of Richeheu, which appears on the title of a French book : the Cardinal's head is surrounded by a glory of forty rays, each ray containing the name of a French Academician. Of one person who was an adept at this kind of writing, the almost in- credible feat is recorded of placing the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, seven of the Commandments, the 103d, 133d, and 144th Psalms, with name and date, within the circumference of a sixpence ! while another is said to have written the whole Book of Malachi in a pyramid the size of a little finger. Without here noticing further any of the various kinds of Literary Frivolities contained in the following pages, — and of which, in many cases, the examples have been greatly limited, — we cannot conclude this Litroduction without adverting to one which, it is hoped, is quite unique, for nothing approaching it in absurdity or inutility has come under our notice, or that of any one else we trust, as it might fairly be taken as an indication that some- thing was decidedly wrong with the mental condi- tion of the person who could throw away his time and labour upon so frivolous a pursuit : it is given i6 INTRODUCTION. here on the authority of an article which appeared in the " Leisure Hour." The case referred to was that of an unfortunate genius who had discovered that there were 33,535 ways of spelling the word scissors! Imagine any sane person sitting down and laboriously following out the idea of writing any word, and this word in particular, 33,-535 times ! Imagine the frequent revisals necessary to ascertain the certainty of non-repetition — remind- ing one forcibly of the labours of Sisyphus, always pushing the stone up the hill, and then having immediately to descend and repeat the process when the stone had rolled down again ! Yet this was actually done — done in a neat and handsome manuscript volume, containing about three hundred pages of three columns each. The most patient man that ever lived might have been beaten in a trial of this nature — the crank were nothing in comparison ! ( 17 ) ALLITERATION. HE curious phase of Literary Frivolity called Alliteration is the composition of sentences or lines of verse with words beginning with the same letter, and has been considered by some critics a "false ornament in poetry," by others has been looked upon as frivo- lous, while a third class have sanctioned its use as a worthy and impressive embellishment. It is a somewhat mechanical aid to the rhythm of verse, and in the reciting or reading of a long piece of poetry, the reciter or reader might find his organs of speech aided in some degree by the succession of similar sounds, and this might also have a plea- sant cadence to those who listened. However, this could only apply for a short time, as alliteration too long continued would weary and become ridi- culous, and suggest that a laborious effort had been made to keep up the alliterative strain, while the pleasure derived would only be as transitory as 1 8 ALLITERA TION. that derived from witnessing the clever feats of an acrobat, with a corresponding sigh of relief when the performance was over. " 'Tis not enough no harshness gives offence; The words must seem an echo of the sense." Alliterative writing does not imply, however, that each word or syllable must commence with the same letter, it being sufficient that a repetition of similar or imitative sounds are produced, so as to give a certain degree of harmony and strength ; and in the sense of having utility in this way, alliteration has been used by the whole range of poets. In the early ages such a feature in poetry might have been welcome, and in some degree necessary, when, as in Scandinavian, Old German, and Icelandic verse, "the harmony neither de- pended on the quantity of syllables, like that of the ancient Greeks and Romans, nor on the rhymes at the end, as in modern poetry, but consisted alto- gether in alliteration, or a certain artful repetition of the sounds in the middle of the verses. This was adjusted according to certain rules of their prosody, one of which was that every distich should contain at least three words beginning with the same letter or sound. Two of these corre- ALLITERATION. 19 spondent sounds might be placed either in the first or second line of the distich, and one in the other ; but all three were not regularly to be crowded into one line. This will be best understood by the following examples : ' J/eire eg il/inne J/ogu heimdaller. ' (9ab 6'inunga Enn G^ras huerge.' '' * The writers of the early Teutonic and Celtic tongues revelled with great effect in this trick of speech — not only in solemn legal formularies, in spells of horror, as well as in the flights of the poet, but also in ordinary descriptions and in their common proverbs — the Celtic especially readily lending itself to this device of jingling repetition. Several early English poems, written in this kind of alliterative metre, without rhyme, are extant, among which that entitled "Piers Plowman's Visions" (written about 1350) is the one most generally known ; but few readers except those whose delight is in musty tomes, and who are deep in the mysteries of black-letter lore, are acquainted with more than the name of that poem. "Percy's Reliques." 20 ALLITERATION. When our more ancient poetry was, towards the end of last century, drawn forth from the obhvion to which it had been too long consigned, the public was seized with a kind of Gothic fever, and was so delighted with the novelty of the feast, that one and all declared everj-thing was excellent — antiquity became a sufficient passport to praise, and much ingenuity was exercised in discover- ing fanciful beauties in even the most worthless productions. That excitement soon passed away, but it produced excellent effects ; and, freeing the mind from the shackles of a prevalent artificial style, gave a liberty to appreciate and enjoy the truer poetry of nature. But it must be granted that the diction and style of many of our elder poets are so rude as to render the perusal of their works distasteful to modern readers. Few, we believe, except enthusiastic antiquaries, have had the courage to travel through " Piers Plowman," or would think their trouble repaid by the snatches of true poetry interspersed ; and yet in this poem, and many others equally rugged, passages of great poetical power and beauty are to be found, which deserve to be rescued from oblivion. The following lines are quoted by Dr. Percy from a manuscript supposed to be older than ALLITERA TION. 2 1 " Piers Plowman," and are descriptive of a vision wherein the poet sees a combat between "our lady Dame Life " and " the ugly fiend Dame Death." The lines portray Dame Life, and are a good example of the old style of alliteration as used in place of modern rhyme : "Shea was (brighter of her Z'lee [colour] Then was the <^right sonn ; Her nidd redder than the rose That on the rise [bough] hangeth \ J/eekly smiUng with her wouth And werry in her lookes ; Ever /aughing for /ove As shee /ike would. And as shee came ^y the (^ankes The i^oughes eche one They /owted to that /adye And /ayd forth their branches ; j51ossomes and ^urgens [buds] breathed full sweete ; T^lowers/lourished in the_;^ith Where shee/orth stepped ; And the ^rasse, that was ^ray, 6^reened belive [instantly]." An old Scottish poem by Dunbar (1465-1530), " The Twa Maryit Women and the Wedo," so indelicate as to place it outside the pale of all 22 A L LITER A TIOX. respectable homes, is remarkable for being com- posed in this alliterative blank verse, a style not known to have been used in Scotland previously. About the beginning of the sixteenth century this kind of versification began to change its form, and at length the old uncouth verse of the ancient writers was unfavourably looked upon when lack- ing the ornament of rhyme. Yet when this latter began to be superadded, all the niceties of allitera- tion were retained along with it, and the song of "Little John Nobody" exhibits the union very clearly. This old ballad will be found in " Percy's Reliques," and is a witty satire on the Reformation under King Edward VI. We give the first and last verses, it being too long to quote in its entirety : " In December, when the dayes draw to be short, After November, when the nights wax noysome and long; As I past by a place privily at a port, I saw one sit by himself making a song ; His last talk of trifles, who told with his tongue That few were fast i' the faith. I freyned that freak Whether he wanted wit, or some had done him wrong. He said, he was little John Nobody, that durst not speake. ALLITERA TION. 23 Thus in no place, this Nobody, in no time I met, Where no man, ne nought was, nor nothing did appear ; Through the sound of a synagogue for sorrow I swett, That Aeolus through the eccho did cause me to hear. Then I drew me down into a dale, whereas the dumb- deer Did shiver for a shower ; but I shunted from a freyke : For I would no wight in this world wist who I were, But little John Nobody, that dare not once speake.'' By degrees the correspondence of final sounds engrossed the whole attention of the poet, and, fully satisfying the reader, the internal embellish- ment of alliteration was no longer studied exclu- sively, and has latterly been applied only to light and trivial subjects, to which it seems best adapted. The poet who sets himself sedulously nowadays to resuscitate this almost defunct limb of his art may behold his own probable fate in that of Rogers, a line of one of whose polished verses — "So up the tide of time I turn my sail," was at once unmercifully rendered by an irre- verent critic into — " So up the tide of time I turn my tail." Alliteration does, however, independently of its greater suitability to whatever is light and trivial, 24 ALLITERATION. when sparingly and discreetly used, add to the beauty of a poetical sentiment, and may also aid the force and piquancy of a witty remark. For the one, take an example from Sydney Smith, who, when contrasting the position of curates and the higher dignitaries of the English Church, spoke of them as "the Right Reverend Dives in the palace, and Lazarus in orders at the gate, doctored by dogs and comforted with crumbs;" for the other, take Pope's line — " Fields for ever fresh, and groves for ever green." Thus when an alliterative phrase presents itself with some degree of spontaneity, it adds to the expressiveness of the sentiment, and Pope has acknowledged this in a line which is itself alli- terative — " Apt alliteration's artful aid." Still, when this " aid " is hunted after and strained for, it is apt to become a deformity. The best proof of the value in which alliteration was formerly held is found in the fact that it has been used more or less by all the poets, ancient and modern, sacred and profane. The odes of Anacreon abound in specimens of it, and it has AL LITER A TION. 25 added grace and dignity to the lines of Homer and Virgil, has feathered the poetic shafts of Shake- speare and Gay, shown itself in the volatile genius of French poesy, and given emphasis and force to the lines of Schlegel and Burger — lending its "artful aid" to the poetry of almost every clime, and tinging the literature of almost every language. One of the earliest examples is the celebrated line of Virgil — "Quadrupedumque putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum" — a line which is admired by the best critics as illustrating, in a happy manner, "the measured gallop of the haughty war-horse." This line, as Sir Walter Scott says, " expressing a cavalry charge," was criticised severely by Scott's Triptolemus Yellowley, who " opined that the combatants, in their inconsiderate ardour, galloped over a new- manured ploughed field." The lines written by Virgil on the folding doors of the amphitheatre may serve as another example of his alliterative powers. He had written, anonymously, a couplet containing an elegant compliment to the Emperor Augustus, the authorship of which was claimed by one Bathyllus. Chagrined at this, Virgil re-wrote the original lines, with the following addition : 26 ALLITERATION. " Hos ego versiculos feci, tulit alter honores Sic vos non vobis .... Sic vos non vobis .... Sic vos non vobis .... Sic vos non vobis .... Various attempts were made, but without success, to fill up the lines, when Virgil completed it him- self as follows : " Sic vos non vobis nidificatis aves ; Sic vos non vobis vellera fertis boves ; Sic vos non vobis, mellificatis apes ; Sic vos non vobis fertis aratra boves." The old English and Scottish ballads abound in alliteration, and in Weber's " Ballad of Flodden Field " — a poetical romance of the sixteenth cen- tury — there are a number of good examples, and here follow some extracts from it : " Most liver* lads in Lonsdale bred, With weapons of unwieldy weight ; All such as Tatham Fells had fed, Went under Stanley's streamer bright. From Bolland billmen bold were boun, With such as Bottom-Banks did hide ; From Wharemore up to Whittington, And all to Wenning Water side. * Nimble, active. ALLITERATION. 27 From Silverdale to Kent-Sand side, Whose soil is sown with cockle-shells ; From Cartmel eke and Conny-side, With fellows fierce from Furney's fells. All Lancashire for the most part The lusty Stanley stout did lead ; A stock of striplings, strong of heart, Brought up from babes with beef and bread. From Warton unto Warrington, From Wigan unto Wiresdalc, From Weddicar to Waddington, From old Ribchester to Ratchdale. From Poulton and Preston with pikes, They with the Stanley stout forth went ; From Pemberton and Pilling Dikes, For battle billmen bold were bent. ^^'ith fellows fresh and fierce in fight, Which Horton Fields turned out in scores ; With lusty lads, liver and light, From Blackburn and Bolton i' the Moors. With children chosen from Cheshire, In armour bold for battle drest ; And many a gentleman and squire Were under Stanley's streamer prest. Strike but three strokes with stomachs stout. And shoot each man sharp arrows three, — 28 ALLITERA TION. And you shall see without all doubt The scouldina; Scots bes;in to flee. The master Scot did mark so right That he with bullet brast his brain, And hurled his heels his head above ; Then piped he such a peel again, The Scots he from their ordnance drave." Amongst our early poets, no one gives a better example of alliteration than Ouarles in one of his Emblems (Book II. Emblem 2). Ouarles was a poet who did not need the aid of alliteration to "lend liquidity to his lines/' and though often queer, quaint, and querulous, is never prosy, prolix, or puling. The lines are as follow : " Oh, how our widened arms can over- stretch Their own dimensions ! How our hands can reach Beyond their distance ! How our yielding breast Can shrink to be more full and full possest Of this inferior orb ! How earth refined Can cling to sordid earth ! How kind to kind ! We gape, we grasp, we gripe, add store to store ; Enough requires too much ; too much craves more. The grave is sooner cloyed than men's desire : We cross the seas, and midst her waves we burn, ALLITERATION. 29 Transporting lives, perchance that ne'er return ; We sack, we ransack to the utmost sands Of native kingdoms, and of foreign lands ; We travel sea and soil, we pry, we prowl, We progress, and we prog from pole to pole ; We spend our midday sweat, our midnight oil. We tire the night in thought, the day in toil." Spenser, Dryden, and Gray — the latter two professedly taking their style from the former — all dealt largely in alliteration. Gray especially gave particular heed to this embellishment, and in his odes almost every strophe begins with an allitera- tive line — thus: " Ruin seize thee, ruthless king." " Weave the warp, weave the woof." " Eyes that glow, and fangs that grin," "Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn." Spenser gives some very good examples: " In woods, in waves, in wars, she wonts to dwell — And will be found with peril and with pain." "They cheerly chaunt, and rhymes at random flung." " Still, when she slept, he kept both watch and ward. And when she waked, he waited diligent." " He used to slug, to sleep, in slothful shade." The early Scottish poets also used this feature — Gawain Douglas, Dunbar, and Alexander Scot 30 ALU TERA TIO.V, especially. Dunbar's " Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins," a poem of animated picturesqueness not unlike Collins' " Ode to the Passions," contains the following : " Then Ire came in, with sturt and strife, His hand was aye upon his knife, He brandished like a bear; Boasters, braggarts, and barganeris : * After him passit in pairs. All bodin in feir of weir, f Next in the dance followed Envy, Filled full of feud and felony, Hid malice and despite." Alexander Scot, who has been called the Scottish Anacreon, sent " Ane New Year's Gift" to Queen Mary, which contains many alliterative lines, such as the following, when, speaking of the Reformers of his day, he says they go about — " Rugging and ryving up kirk rents like rooks ; and the Address concludes with a stanza begin- ning— *' Fresh, fulgent, flourist, fragrant flower formose, Lantern to love, of ladies lamp and lot, Cherry maist chaste, chief carbuncle and chose," &c. * Bullies. t Arrayed in trappings of war. ALLITERATION. 31 Alexander Montgomery, another Scottish poet contemporary with Scot, wrote an allegorical poem entitled "The Cherry and the Slae," in which are some sweet and striking natural descriptions written in richly alliterative verse, of which we give two stanzas : " The cushat croods, the corbie cries, The cuckoo conks, the prattling pies To geek there they begin ; The jargon of the jangling jays, The cracking craws and keckling kays, ^ They deav'd me with their din ; The painted pawn, with Argus eyes, Can on his May-cock call. The turtle wails on wither'd trees, And Echo answers all. Repeating, with greeting. How fair Narcissus fell. By lying and spying His shadow in the well. The air was sober, saft, and sweet, Nae misty vapours, wind, nor weet. But quiet, calm, and clear ; To foster Flora's fragrant flowers. Whereon Apollo's paramours Had trinkled mony a tear; 32 • ALLITERATION. The which, Uke silver shakers, shined, Embroidering Beauty's bed, Wherewith their heavy heads declined In Maye's colours clad ; Some knopping, some dropping Of balmy liquor sweet, Excelling and smelling Through Phcebus' wholesome heat." Neither has Shakespeare omitted this feature, for, amid many others, we find this in "As You Like It : "— "The churlish chiding of the winter's wind." Again, in " Love's Labour's Lost," Master Holo- fernes says : — " I will something affect the letter, for it argues facility — The preyful princess pierced and pricked a pretty pleasing pricket." Shakespeare has also this other example : — " She sings so soft, so sweet, so soothing still. That through the throat ten thousand tones there thrill." The following couplet applies to the famous Cardinal Wolsey : — " Begot by butchers, but by bishops bred, How high his honour holds his haughty head ! " ALLITERA TION. 33 Lord North, at the court of James I., wrote a set of sonnets each beginning with a letter of the alphabet in regular succession ; and in the seven- teenth century the device of alliteration was carried to the verge of absurdity, when, even in the pulpit, the preacher would address his flock as the " chickens of the Church, the sparrows of the Spirit, and the sweet swallows of salvation." The old divines give many curious specimens of this peculiarity of composition. For instance, in Trapp's Commentary on the Bible, concerning the passage in Proverbs iv. 16, containing the words, "For they sleep not," the quaint old author remarks: "As empty stomachs can hardly sleep, so neither can graceless persons, till gorged and glutted with sweetmeats of sin, with the murdering morsels of mischief." Again, on Jeremiah xxviii. 17, speaking of the death of the false prophet Hananiah, Trapp says : " Such a hoof is grown over some men's hearts, as neither ministry, nor misery, nor miracle, nor mercy,can possibly mollify." About the same time, also, books sometimes re- ceived curious alliterative titles, as " The Hiveful of Honey," "The Handful of Honeysuckles," "The Seven Sobs of a Sorrowful Soul for Sin," &c. Sir Thomas Browne gives another instance in the c 34 ALLITERA TION. following sentence: "Even that vulgar and tavern music which makes one man merry, another mad, strikes in me a deep fit of devotion and a profound contemplation of the first composer," &c. Pope gives the idea of labour in the following line by the very difficulty of pronouncing the same recurring sound : " Up the high hill he heaves the huge round stone ; " and by the alliteration in the following he connects three similar things, and shows the contrast of two others : "Puffs, powders, patches, bibles, billet-doux." Dean Peacock's "Life of Dr. Thomas Young" has this : '•Medical men, my mood mistaking. Most mawkish monstrous messes making, Molest me much ; more manfully My mind might meet my malady ; Medicine's mere mockery murders me." Similar to the above are the following verses, which appeared some time ago in a volume of poems called "Songs of Singularity," by the London Hermit. They are supposed to be a Serenade in M flat, sung by Major Marmaduke ALLITERA TION. 35 Muttinhead to Mademoiselle Madeline Mendosa Marriott : " My Madeline ! my Madeline ! Mark my melodious midnight moans ; Much may my melting music mean, My modulated monotones. My mandolin's mild minstrelsy, My mental music magazine, My mouth, my mind, my memory, Must mingling murmur ' Madeline.' Muster 'mid midnight masquerades, Mark Moorish maidens', matrons' mien, 'Mongst Murcia's most majestic maids Match me my matchless Madeline. Mankind's malevolence may make Much melancholy music mine ; Many my motives may mistake, My modest merits much malign. My Madeline's most mirthful mood Much mollifies my mind's machine ; My mournfulness' magnitude Melts — makes me merry — Madeline ! Match-making ma's may machinate, Manoeuvring misses me misween ; Mere money may make many mate ; My magic motto's, ' Madeline ! ' 36 ALLITERATION. Melt, most mellifluous melody, Midst Murcia's misty mounts marine, Meet me 'mid moonlight — marry me, Madonna mia ! — my Madeline ! " The following is the 49th chapter of " Tusser's Husbandry" (1590), and is " A brief conclusion, where you may see Each word in the verse begin with a T." " The thrifty that teacheth the thriving to thrive. Teach timely to traverse the thing that thou 'trive [contrive], Transferring thy toiling, to timeliness taught, Thus teaching thee temp'rance to temper thy thought. Take trusty (to trust to) that thinketh to thee, That trustily thriftiness trowleth to thee. Then temper thy travell to tarry the tide, This teacheth thee thriftiness, twenty times try'd. .Take thankful thy talent, thank thankfully those That thriftily teacheth thy time to transpose. Troth twice to be teached, teach twenty times ten. This trade thou that taketh, take thrift to thee then." The song annexed is founded on the peculiarity known as the Newcastle biirr^ and first appeared in a provincial paper in December 1791 : " Rough rolled the roaring river's stream, And rapid ran the rain, ALLITERATION. 37 When Robin Rutter dreamt a dream Which racked his heart with pain. He dreamt there was a raging bear Rushed from the rugged rocks, And strutting round with horrid stare Breathed terror to the brocks.* But Robin Rutter drew his sword, And rushing forward right, The horrid creature's throat he gored, And barred his rueful spite. Then, stretching forth his brawny arm To drag him to the stream, He grappled Grizzle, rough and warm, Which roused him from his dream." The subjoined advertisement appeared in a Manchester paper in 1829: Spanker : " The Property of O D . "Saturday, the i6th September next, will be sold, or set up for sale, at Skibbereen : " A strong, staunch, steady, sound, stout, safe, sinewy, serviceable, strapping, supple, swift, smart, sightly, sprightly, spirited, sturdy, shining, sure-footed, sleek, smooth, spunky, well-skinned, sized, and shaped sorrel steed, of superlative symmetry, styled Spanker ; with small star and snip, square- sided, slender-shouldered, Badgers. 38 ALLITERATION. sharp-sighted, and steps singularly stately; free from strain, spavin, spasms, stringhalt, staggers, strangles, surfeit, seams, strumous swellings, scratches, splint, squint, scurf, sores, scattering, shuffling, shambling-gait, or sickness of any sort. He is neither stiff-mouthed, shabby- coated, sinew-shrunk, saddlebacked, shell-toothed, skin- scabbed, short-winded, splay-footed, or shoulder-slipped ; and is sound in the sword-point and stifle-joint. Has neither sick-spleen, sleeping-evil, snaggle-teeth, subcutan- eous sores, or shattered hoofs ; nor is he sour, sulky, surly, stubborn, or sullen in temper. Neither shy nor skittish, slow, sluggish, or stupid. He never slips, strips, strays, starts, stalks, stops, shakes, snivels, snaffles, snorts, stumbles, or stocks in his stall or stable, and scarcely or seldom sweats. Has a showy, stylish switch-tail, or stern, and a safe set of shoes on ; can feed on stubble, sainfoin, sheaf oats, straw, sedge, or Scotch grass. Carries sixteen stone with surprising speed in his stroke over a six-foot sod or a stone wall. His sire was the Sly Sob- bersides, on a sister of Spindleshanks by Sampson, a sporting son of Sparkler, who won the sweepstakes and subscription plate last session at Sligo. His selling price is sixty-seven pounds, sixteen shillings and sixpence sterling." Our later poets have occasionally found a charm and aid in alliteration, and Coleridge in one of his poems gives a fine specimen : " The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free." ALLITERATION. 39 And Burns terms Tam O' Shanter — " A blethering, blustering, drunken blellum ;" while he calls the ploughman's collie, in the " Twa Dogs"— A rhyming, ranting, roving billie." Sir Walter Scott gives the following verse : " St. Magnus control thee ! that martyr of treason ; St. Ronan rebuke thee with rhyme and with reason ! By the mass of St. Martin, the might of St. Mary, Begone, or thy weird shall be worse if thou tarry ! Begone to thy stone, for thy coffin is scant of thee ; The worm, thy playfellow, wails for the want of thee ! Phantom, fly hence, take the cross for a token ! Hence pass till Hallowmass ! My spell is spoken ! " Lord Byron, in the opening stanzas of the " Curse of Minerva " gives this verse : " Slow sinks, more lovely ere his race be run. Along Morea's hills the setting sun 3 Not, as in northern climes, obscurely bright. But one unclouded blaze of living light \ O'er the hushed deep the yellow beam he throws, Gilds the green wave that trembles as it glows. On old ^gina's rock and Hydra's isle The god of gladness sheds his parting smile ; O'er his own regions lingering loves to shine, Though there his altars are no more divine. 40 ALLITERATION. Descending fast, the mountain-shadows kiss Thy glorious gulf, unconquered Salamis ! Their azure arches through the long expanse, More deeply purpled, meet his mellowing glance, And tenderest tints, along their summits driven, Mark his gay course and own the hues of heaven ; Till darkly shaded from the land and deep, Behind his Delphian rock he sinks to sleep," A modern novel,* published lately, gives instances of how deftly similar sounds can be interwoven even in prose. Speaking of a certain bishop, the author says he has " the respect of rectors, the veneration of vicars, the admiration of archdeacons, and the cringing courtesy of curates." In another place, the bishop's wife says "there are regal rectors, vicious vicars, and captious curates." Lithgow, the eccentric traveller, wrote a poem in which every word began with the same letter, of which the first two lines are here given : " Glance, glorious Geneve, gospel-guiding gem. Great God, govern good Geneve's ghostly game." The following lines are by a Mr. Dunbar, and are descriptive of the five handsome daughters of the late Scroope Colquitt, Esq., of Green Bank, Liverpool : * " The Princess Clarice," by Mortimer Collins. ALLITERATION, 41 " Minerva-like, majestic Mary moves, Law, Latin, liberty, learned Lucy loves, Eliza's elegance each eye espies. Serenely silent Susan smiles surprise, From fops, fools, flattery, fairest Fanny flies." The best of this class of poems, however, is said to be the following : The Siege of Belgrade. " Ardentem aspicio atque arreclis auribus asto."— Virgil. An Austrian army, awfully arrayed. Boldly by battery besieged Belgrade ; Cossack commanders cannonading come. Dealing destruction's devastating doom ; Every endeavour engineers essay For fame, for fortune, forming furious fray ; Gaunt gunners grapple, giving gashes good ; Heaves high his head heroic hardihood ; Ibrahim, Islam, Ismail, imps in ill. Jostle John, Jarovlitz, Jem, Joe, Jack, Jill, Kick kindling Kutosoff, kings' kingsmen kill ; Labour low levels loftiest, longest lines ; Men marched 'mid moles, 'mid mounds, 'mid mur- d'rous mines. Now nightfall's near, now needful nature nods, Opposed, opposing, overcoming odds. Poor peasants, partly purchased, partly pressed. Quite quaking, Quarter! quarter ! (quickly quest. 42 ALLITERA TION. Reason returns, recalls redundant rage, Saves sinking soldiers, softens seigniors sage. Truce, Turkey, truce ! truce, treach'rous Tartar train ! Unwise, unjust, unmerciful Ukraine, Vanish, vile vengeance ! vanish, victory vain ! Wisdom wails war — wails warring words. What were Xerxes, Xantippe, Ximenes, Xavier ? Yet Yassey's youth, ye yield your youthful yest. Zealously, zanies, zealously, zeal's zest. The foregoing has been variously imitated, and here are a few specimens : Arthur asked Amy's affection ; Bet, being Benjamin's bride, Coolly cut Charlie's connection ; Deborah, Dicky denied. Eleanor's eye, efficacious, Frederick's fatality feels ; Giles gained Georgiana — good gracious ! Harry hates Helen's high heels. Isaac is Isabel's idol ; Jenny jeers Jonathan Jones ; Katherine knows knock-knee'd Kit Kriedal ; Love's leering Lucy's long bones. Mary meets mortifications ; Nicholas Nancy neglects ; Oliver's odd observations Proves Peter poor Patty protects. ALLITERA TION. 43 Quaker Quintilian's queer quibbles Red Rachel's reasons resist : Soft Simon's sympathy scribbles Tales to tall Tabitha Twist. Urs'Ia unthinking, undoing Volatile Valentine's vest ; • William's wild wickeder wooing 'Xceeds youthful Zelica's zest. An Artful and Amusing Attempt at Alphabetical Alliteration Addressing Aurora. Awake Aurora ! and across all airs By brilliant blazon banish boreal Bears, Crossing cold Canope's celestial crown, Deep darts descending dive delusive down. Entranced each eve Europa's every eye Firm fixed forever fastens faithfully, Greets golden guerdon gloriously grand ; How holy Heaven holds high His hollow hand ! Ignoble Ignorance, inapt indeed, Jeers jestingly just Jupiter's jereed ! Knavish Khamschatkans, knightly Kurdsmen know Long Labrador's light lustre looming low ; 'Midst myriad multitudes majestic might No nature nobler numbers Neptune's night. Opal of Oxus, or old Ophir's ores, Pale Pyrrhic pyres prismatic purple pours — Quiescent quivering, quickly, quaintly queer, Rich, rosy, regal rays resplendent rear ; 44 ALLITERA TION. Strange shooting streamers, streaking starry skies, Trail their triumphant tresses — trembling ties. Unseen, unhonoured Ursa — underneath, Veiled, vanquished — vainly vying — vanisheth : Wild Woden, warning, watchful — whispers wan Xanthitic Xeres, Xerxes, Xenophon, Yet yielding yesternight, Yules yell yawns Zenith's zebraic zigzag, Zodiac zones. Exercise on the Alphabet, Andrew Airpump asked his aunt her ailment. Billy Button bought a buttered biscuit. Captain Crackscull cracked a catchpoll's coxcomb. Davy Doldrum dreamt he drove a dragon. Enoch Elkrig eat an empty eggshell. Francis Fripple flogged a Frenchman's filly. Gaffer Gilpin got a goose and gander. Humphrey Hunchback had a hundred hedgehogs. Inigo Impey itched for an Indian image. Jumping Jackey jeered a jesting juggler. Kimbo Kemble kicked his kinsman's kettle. Lanky Lawrence lost his lass and lobster. Matthew Mendlegs missed a mangled monkey. Neddy Noodle nipped his neighbour's nutmegs. Oliver Oglethorpe ogled an owl and oyster. Peter Piper picked a peck of pepper. Quixote Quixite quizzed a queerish quidbox. Rawdy Rumpus rode a rawboned racer. Sammy Smellie smelt a smell of small coal. ALLITERA TION, 45 Tiptoe Tommy turned a Turk for twopence. Uncle Usher urged an ugly urchin. Villiam Veedy viped his vig and vaistcoat. Walter Waddle won a walking wager. X, Y, Z have made my brains to crack O — X smokes, Y snuffs, Z chews too strong tobacco. Though oft by X, Y, Z much lore is taught. Still Peter Piper beats them all to naught. Tlie preceding is a literary folly indeed ; and though the following is not much better, it is at least sensible : Alliterative Love Letter. Adored and angelic Amelia, accept an ardent and artless amourist's 'affection, alleviate an anguished admirer's alarms, and answer an amorous applicant's ardour. Ah, Amelia ! all appears an awful aspect. Ambition, avarice, and arrogance, alas ! are attractive allurements, and abuse an ardent attachment. Appease an aching and affectionate adorer's alarms, and anon acknowledge affianced Albert's alliance as acceptable and agreeable. Anxiously awaiting an affectionate and affirmative answer, accept an admirer's aching adieu. Always angelic and adorable Amelia's affectionate amourist, Albert. Xtravanganza Xtraordinarv. Charles X., x-king of France, was xtravagantly xtolled, but is xceedingly xecrated. He xhibited xtraordinary 46 ALLITERATION. xcellence in xigency ; he was xemplary in xternals, but xtrinsic on xamination ; he was xtatic under xhortation, xtreme in xcitement, and xtraordinary in xtempore xpres- sion. He was xpatriated for his xcesses ; and, to xpiate his xtravagance, xisted and xpired in xile. Here is another kind of alliterative versification : To Mrs. Gee on her Marriage. Sure, madam, by your choice your taste we see ; What's ^ood, or ^reat, or ^rand, without a G ? A ^odly ^low must sure on G depend, Or oddly loiv our righteous thoughts must end. The want of G all ^^ratitude effaces ; And, without G, the Graces would run races ! The Latin language has also had its versifiers of this kind, for we find that one Hugbald, a monk, wrote an "Ecloga de Calvis," in which all the words begin with a c. So also in the " Nugae Venales," there is a Latin poem of a hundred lines called "Pugna Porcorum, per Publium Porcium, poetam," in which all the words begin with a /. Subjoined are a few lines of this curious effusion: " Propterea properans Proconsul, poplite prono, Prsecipitem Plebem, pro patrum pace proposeit. Persta paulisper, pubes preciosa ! precamur. Pensa profectum parvum pugnae peragendae. Plures plorabant, postquam praecelsa premetur ALLITERA TION. 47 Praelatura patrum, porcelli percutientur Passim, posteaquam pingues porci periere." A Latin poem in praise of William III. com- mences thus : " Agglomerata acies, addensans agminis alas, Advolat auxiliis, arvoque effulget aperto : Auriacusque ardens animis, animosior arte, Auctoratus adest, arma aureus, aureus arma Adfremit ; auratis armis accingitur armos." Perhaps the most notable Latin example is a poem written by Christianas Pierius, called " Chris- tus Cruxifixus," said to extend to nearly one thou- sand lines, each word of which begins with c — " Consilebratulae cunctorum carmine certum," &c. Whatever beauty or utility may lie in alUtera- tion, it is to be found largely in the proverbial expressions and common sayings of all countries. Thus, in our own, we frequently couple " hearts and hands," "hearths and homes," "life and limb," "great and good ; " whilst in proverbs we have " Better buy than borrow," " Wilful waste makes woful want," " Love me little, love me long," " Like master like man," "Money makes the mare to go," "A true tale never tines (loses) in the telling," &c., &c. 48 ALPHABETIC CURIOSITIES. Our last instance of alliteration is one picked up in a provincial newspaper, containing an account of a local fete, and not only the words, but each syllable in the line, begins with the same letter: " Let lovely lilies line Lee's lonely lane." Alphabetic Curiosities — Single-Rhymed Alphabets. As a fitting pendant to alliteration, though only in a slight degree connected with it, we give here some alphabetic curiosities. Acrostic Verses on Writing {circa 1785). All letters even at the head and feet must stand ; Bear light your pen and keep a steady hand 3 Carefully mind to mend in every line — Down strokes are black, but upper strokes are fine. Enlarge your writing if it be too small ; Full in proportion make your letters all \ Game not in school-time, when you ought to write ; Hold in your elbow, sit fair to the light. Join all your letters by a fine hair-stroke ; Keep free from blots your piece and writing-book. Learn the command of hand by frequent use ; Much practice doth to penmanship conduce. ALPHABETIC CURIOSITIES. 49 Never deny the lower boys assistance ; Observe from word to word an equal distance. Provide yourself of all things necessary ; Quarrel not in school though others dare you. Rule your lines straight and make them very fine ; Set stems of letters fair above the line, The tops above the stems — the tails below ; Use pounce to paper if the ink goes through. Veer well your piece, compare how much you've mended ; Wipe clean your pen when all your task is ended. Your spelling mind — write each word true and well ; Zealously strive your fellows to excel. Life's Alphabet. Active in life's race we start, Bounding on with joyous heart, Counting neither cost nor pain, Dazzled with the hopes of gain ; Earthly pleasures, earthly joys, Flock around us merry boys. Gracefully we lead the van, Honours wait the ''coming man," — Indian wealth and Grecian fame Join to raise an honoured name. Kingdoms tremble at our tread, Laurels wait to crown our head. Measured next our steady pace — Nothing wears so bright a face. so ALPHABETIC CURIOSITIES. Oft we think our labours vain, Pleasures linger on the wane ; Quickly from our eager grasp Rush the phantoms of the past. Stooping, then, amid the strife, Tempest-tossed and tired of life, Unadorned with laurels rare, Vain the hope to do and dare ; Welcome now the lowly bed — Youthful visions all are fled. The following was originally published at the time of the Crimean War, each line being accom- panied by an appropriate illustration designed by R. B. Brough : The Turkish Alphabet. A was an Aberdeen wise in debates : B was a Bear taught to dance on hot plates ; C was a Czar who would whip round the world ; D the Defiance that at him was hurled. E was an Emperor struck with dismay ; F was a Frenchman in Besika Bay. G was the Greeks who for freedom would strike ; H was a Hospodar warranted like. I was an Insult that hurt the Porte's pride ; J was a Jassy by friends occupied. K was the Knife to which war was declared ; L was a Lion, and how much he cared. ]\I was a Minister sniffing a row ; N was a Newspaper, Turkey's friend now. ALPHABETIC CURIOSITIES. 51 O was Own Correspondent so trusty ; P was a Port[e], old and thin and turned crusty. Q was a Question whose solving we all laugh at ; R was a Rout of the Russians at Kalafat ; S was a Supplement telling it all ; T was a Tradesman who'd sold for a fall. U was an Urquhart for foresight well vaunted ; V was the Vessels still ready if wanted. W was a Westmoreland — teach kings he used to ; X the 'Xtremities Russia's reduced to. Y was a Yell for the friends of the Czar ; and Z was the Zanies who're frightened at war. The following is taken from an old "Scots Almanac," and is supposed to be one of the toasts popular among the Jacobites, being known as * Lord Duff's Toast, ABC . . A Blessed Change. D E F . . Down every Foreigner. G H J . . God Help James. K L M . . Keep Lord Mar. NOP . . Noble Ormond Preserve. Q R S . . Quickly Resolve Stuart. T U V W . Truss up Vile Whigs. XYZ . . 'Xert Your Zeal. L E G ON THE Death of L X and R N S, Squire of the Coun T of S X. In S X once there lived M N, Who was Xceeding Y Y ; ALPHABE TIC CURIOSITIES. But with so much O B C T It almost closed his 1 1. When from his chair E would R 1 1, U would have laughed to C The awkwardness his fat did cause To this old O D T. But barring that E was so fat, E was a right good fell O, And had such horror of X S U never saw him mell O. N O O so red E did not like, As that which wine will give, So did S A to keep from drink As long as E did live. Two daughters fair this old man had, Called Miss M A and L N, Who, when the old chap took his E E, Would try to T T the men. Over the C C, these maids to please, There came two gallants gay ; M A and L N ceased to T T, And with them ran away. These gallants did them so M U U, And used such an M N C T Of flattery, U must X Q Q Their fugitive propensity. The poor old man heaved many S 1 1," For frail M A and L N ; ALPHABETIC CURIOSITIES. 53 E called each gallant gay a rogue, A rascal, and a villain. And all with half an I might C His gradual D K, Till M T was his old arm-chair, And E had passed away. Single-Rhymed Alphabets. Some years ago a writer who signed himself "Eighty-One" sent to "Notes and Queries" an alphabet, single-rhymed, and challenged the Eng- lish-speaking world to produce another. " Eighty- One's " production was the following : A was an Army to settle disputes ; B was a Bull, not the mildest of brutes ; C was a Cheque, duly drawn upon Coutts ; D was King David, with harps and with lutes ; E was an Emperor, hailed with salutes ; F was a Funeral, followed by mutes ; G was a Gallant in Wellington boots ; H was a Hermit, and lived upon roots ; I was Justinian his Institutes ; K was a Keeper, who commonly shoots ; L was a Lemon the sourest of fruits ; M was a Ministry — say Lord Bute's ; N was Nicholson, famous on flutes ; O was an Owl, that hisses and hoots ; P was a Pond, full of leeches and newts ; 54 ALPHABETIC CURIOSITIES. Q was a Quaker in whitey-brown suits ; R was a Reason, which Paley refutes ; S was a Sergeant with twenty recruits ; T was Ten Tories of doubtful reputes ; U was Uncommonly bad cheroots ; V Vicious motives, which malice imputes ; X an Ex-King driven out by emeutes ; Y is a Yawn ; then, the last rhyme that suits, Z is the Zuyder Zee, dwelt in by coots. The challenge of "Eighty-One" was taken up, and in a very short time a number of pieces were sent in to the Editor, of which only a few were selected and published. Mr. J, B. Workard sent two, of which we take the first : A 's the accusative ending in -am ; B was a Butcher, who slaughtered a lamb ; C was a candidate, "plucked" on exam — ; D was a Door that was shut with a slam ; E was an Error in Times telegram ; F was a foreigner come from Siam ; G was Guava — a breadfruit or yam ; H was a Hypocrite, Humbug, or sham ; I was an Infidel, sneering at " flam ;" J was a Jew — call him Aabraham ; K was King Cole, who was fond of a dram ; L was a Lady, accosted as Ma'am ; M was her Mother — we won't say her dam ; N was a noodle, his prcenomen Sam \ O was an Omnibus slid on a tram ; ALPHABETIC CURIOSITIES. 55 P were some Praises, so faint as to damn ; Q was the Queen — ilia da gloriam ; R was a Rampant and Riotous Ram ; S was a Sinner, as you are and I am ; T was a Tort, or an action qui Tarn ; U was the Univ — , on the banks of the Cam ; V was a Viscount — suppose we say Pam ; W a Woman addicted to jam ; X an exasperous letter to cram ; Y was a Yankee digesting a clam ; Z was a Zetlander curing a ham. The next is by Mr. Mortimer Collins : A is my Amy, so slender of waist ; B 's little Bet, who my button replaced ; C is good Charlotte, good maker of paste ; D is Diana, the forest who traced; E is plump Ellen, by Edward embraced ; F is poor Fanny, by freckles defaced ; G is Griselda, unfairly disgraced ; H is the Helen who I lion effaced ; I is fair Ida, that princess strait-laced ; J is the Judy Punch finds to his taste ; K, Katty darling, by fond lovers chased ; L is Laurette, in coquetry encased ; M is pale Margaret, saintly and chaste ; N is gay Norah, o'er hills who has raced ; O is sweet Olive, a girl olive-faced ; P 's pretty Patty, so daintily-paced ; Q some fair Querist, in blue stockings placed ; R is frail Rose, from her true stem displaced ; S6 ALPHABETIC CURIOSITIES. S is brisk Sail, who a chicken can baste ; T is Theresa, at love who grimaced ; U is pure Una, that maid undebased ; V is Victoria, an empire who graced ; W is Winifred, time who will waste ; X is Xantippe, for scolding well-braced ; Y 's Mrs. Yelverton : ending in haste, Z is Zenobia, in panoply cased. The last we select bears the signature of E. A. D.: A stands for Apple, most useful of trees ; B for the busiest of creatures, the Bees ; C for a Cold, that will cause you to wheeze; D for a Doctor, that will cure you for fees ; E for an Earwig, your hearing to tease ; F for a Fortune in lacs of rupees ; G for a Goblet of wine with its lees ; H for a Horse, but with two broken knees ; I for an Iceberg, on which you will freeze ; J for a Jumper, that hops like parched peas ; K for a Kirtle, worn over chemise 3 L for a Lady, whose hand you may squeeze ; M for the IMineral called Manganese ; N for a Nun, among strict devotees ; O for an Octave in musical glees ; P for a Pope, with his crosses and keys ; Q for a Quilt, that will harbour the fleas ; R for Religion, where no one agrees ; S stands for Snuff, that will cause you to sneeze ; T for a Table of marriage degrees ; ALPHABETIC CURIOSITIES. 57 U for an Ulcer, a horrid disease ; V stands for Virtue, that nobody sees ; W for Welshman, fondest of cheese ; X for Xenodochy,* strangers to ease ; Y for a Yawl, just catching the breeze ; Z stands for Zenith — or Zeal — which you please. Xenodochy, "reception of strangers." ( 58 ) LIPOGRAMS. jIPOGRAM is the name applied to a species of verse in which a certain letter, either vowel or consonant, is altogether omitted — that is to say, the author in what he writes will avoid the use of one letter in particular; a kind of literary work involving an amount of labour and ingenuity altogether inadequate to the result achieved ; and if to anything at all in this book the title of Literary Frivolity may be more specially applied, it is to this. One of the earliest who tried this kind of verse was the Greek poet Lasus (538 B.C.), who wrote an ode upon the Centaurs and a hymn to Ceres with- out inserting the letter s in the composition ; and it is recorded of another Greek, Tryphiodorus, also of the sixth century B.C., that he composed a poem on the destruction of Troy in twenty-four books, from each of which in succession was excluded one letter of the Greek alphabet : the first book had no LIPOGRAMS. 59 a, the second no /3, the third no 7, and so on throuo-hout. The works of Pindar also contain an ode in which the letter s does not appear ; so that if this kind of literary folly has little beauty, it has at least the sanction of antiquity. Several French poets have written works after this fashion, and some of those of Lope de Vega — works now little heard of, and perhaps better so, since many of these were of unworthy character — are lipogrammatic. The Spanish poet wrote no less than fifteen hundred plays ; and among De Vega's other writings are five tales, from each of which one of the five vowels was excluded — a conceit which must have cost their author consi- derable labour. Gregorio Leti on one occasion wrote a discourse throughout which he omitted the letter r ; and in the sixth century Fabius Fulgentius, a Christian monk, performed a similar feat to that of Tryphi- odorus. This fashion seems also to have ex- tended to the farther East, for Isaac Disraeli tells that " a Persian poet read to the celebrated Jami a 'gazel' of his own composition, which Jami did not like ; but the writer replied it was notwithstanding a very curious sonnet, for the letter Aliff\waiS not to be found in any one of the words ! Jami sarcas- 6o LIPOGRAMS. tically replied, ' You can do a better thing yet : take away all the letters from every word you have written ! ' " The following example of a lipogrammatic song does not contain the letter s : CoxME, Love, Come. Oh ! come to-night : for naught can charm The weary time when thou'rt away. Oh ! come; the gentle moon hath thrown O'er bower and hall her quivering ray. The heather-bell hath mildly flung From off her fairy leaf the bright And diamond dewdrop that had hung Upon that leaf — a gem of light. Then come, love, come. To-night the liquid wave hath not — Illumined by the moonlit beam Playing upon the lake beneath, Like frolic in an autumn dream — The liquid wave hath not, to-night, In all her moonlit pride, a fair Gift like to them that on thy lip Do breathe and laugh, and home it there. Then come, love, come. To-night ! to-night ! my gentle one, The flower-bearing Amra tree Doth long, with fragrant moan, to meet The love-lip of the honey-bee. LirOGRAMS. 6i But not the Amra tree can long To greet the bee, at evening light, With half the deep, fond love I long To meet my Nama here to-night. Then come, love, come. Akin to this lipogrammatic trifling was the fashion of making all the lines of a piece of poetry- begin or end with the same letter. Under Allite- ration reference has already been made to the set of sonnets written by Lord North, each of which began with a successive letter of the alpha- bet. Of the kind which makes each line end with the same letter is " The Moral Proverbs of Christine of Pisa," one of our earliest printed English works, having been translated into English by Earl Rivers, brother of the Lady Grey who married Edward IV. This work must have been one of considerable labour, but as these literary eccentricities were looked upon with much favour in those times, no doubt the noble author had his reward. The poem concludes with : " Of these sayings Christine was the authoresse, Which in making had such intelligence That thereof she was mirrour and mistresse ; Her works testifie the experience. In French language was written this sentence ; And thus Englished, does it rehearse Antoin Woodvylle, Earl of Ry verse." 62 LIPOGRAMS. ' This curious work was printed in Westminster Abbey about 1477 by William Caxton, who added the following lines to the book : " Go now, thou little quire, and recommend me Unto the special grace of my good lorde, Th' Earl Ryvers, for I have imprinted thee, At his commandment, following every worde His copy, as his secretary can recorde, At Westminster of Februarie the XX daye. And of Kyng EdNvarde the XVII yere vraye." It will be seen that neither the noble Earl nor his printer felt themselves in any way trammelled or hindered by the ordinary rules of spelling, and added the vowel when it suited them. There is little difficulty in finding specimens amongst our early poets of this peculiarity. Open- in? the " Faerie Oueen " at random, we find the following stanza in Canto iv. : " Her life was nigh unto death's dore j'plaste ; And thredbare cote, and cobled shoes, hee ware ; Ne scarse good morsell all his life did taste ; But both backe and belly still did spare. To fill his bags, and richesse to compare : Yet childe ne kinsman living had he none To leave them to ; but thorough daily care To get, and nightly feare to lose his owne, He led a wretched life, unto himself unknowne." Again, in the works of Gascoigne (died 1578), LI PO GRAMS. 63 who is said by Warton to be the author of the first comedy written in English prose, the " Comedie of Supposes/' from which, it is said by another literary historian, Shakespeare borrowed part of the plot and of the phraseology for his "Taming of the Shrew," we learn that "Alexander Neuile deliured him this theame, Sat cito si sat bene, wherevpon hee compiled these seuen Sonets in sequence," of which we give Sonnets iv. and v. : " To prinke me vp and make me higher plaste, All came to late that taryed any time, Pilles of prouision pleased not my taste, They made my heeles to heauie for to climbe : Mee thought it best that boughes of boystrous oake, Should first be shreade to make my feathers gaye. Tyll at the last a deadly dynting stroke, Brought downe the bulke with edgetooles of decaye : Of every farme I then let flye a lease, To feede the purse that payde for peeuishnesse, Till rente and all were falne in such disease. As scarse coulde serue to mayntayne cleanlynesse : They bought, the bodie, fine, ferme, lease, and lande, All were to little for the merchauntes haunde. All were to little for the merchauntes hautide, And yet my brauerye bigger than his booke : But when this hotte accompte was coldly scande, I thought highe time about me for to looke : With heauie cheare I caste my heade abacke, To see the fountaine of my furious race. 64 LirOGRAMS. Comparde my loss, my liuing, and my lacke, In equall balance with my iolye grace. And sawe expences grating on the grounde Like lumps of lead to presse my purse full ofte, When light rewarde and recompence were founde, Fleeting like feathers in the winde alofte : These thus comparde, I left the Courte at large. For why ? the gaines doth seldome quitte the charge," Churchyard literature furnishes another specimen of this species of versification, as found on a tomb- stone at Hadleigh in Suffolk: '* The charnel mounted on the wall Lets to be seen in funeral A matron plain domesticall, In pain and care continual. Not slow, nor gay, nor prodigal, Yet neighbourly and hospital. Her children yet living all, Her sixty-seventh year home did call To rest her body natural In hope to rise spiritual." Another fashion allied to this is the resolute adoption of only one vowel throughout — univocalic trifling. This, however, is a very difficult matter, for the English language does not lend itself readily to univocalics, and i^w examples are to be had. Perhaps the following is among the best, in which the vowel c is the only one used : LIPOGRAMS. 65 " Persevere, ye perfect men, Ever keep the precepts ten." An ingenious writer in "Notes and Queries" some years ago made an attempt at a series of verses, each of which contained only one vowel. The following was the result : The Russo-Turkish War. War harms all ranks, all arts, all crafts appal ; At Mars' harsh blast, arch, rampart, altar fall ! Ah ! hard as adamant a braggart Czar Arms vassal-swarms, and fans a fatal war ! Rampant at that bad call, a Vandal band Harass, and harm, and ransack Wallach-land. A Tartar phalanx Balkan's scarp hath past. And Allah's standard falls, alas ! at last. The Fall of Eve. Eve, Eden's empress, needs defended be ; The Serpent greets her when she seeks the tree. Serene she sees the speckled tempter creep ; Gentle he seems — perverted schemer deep — Yet endless pretexts, ever fresh, prefers. Perverts her senses, revels when she errs. Sneers when she weeps, regrets, repents she fell, Then, deep-revenged, reseeks the nether Hell ! The Approach of Evening. Idling I sit in this mild twilight dim, Whilst birds, in wild swift vigils, circling skim. B 66 LI PO GRAMS. Light wings in sighing sink, till, rising bright, Night's Virgin Pilgrim swims in vivid light. Incontrovertible Facts. No monk too good to rob, or cog, or plot, No fool so gross to bolt Scotch collops hot. From Donjon tops no Oronooko rolls. Log^vood, not lotos, floods Oporto's bowls. Troops of old tosspots oft to sot consort. Box tops our schoolboys, too, do flog for sport. No cool monsoons blow oft on Oxford dons, Orthodox, jog-trot, book-worm Solomons ! Bold Ostrogoths of ghosts no horror show. On London shop-fronts no hop-blossoms grow. To crocks of gold no Dodo looks for food. On soft cloth footstools no old fox doth brood. Long storm-tost sloops forlorn do work to port. Rooks do not roost on spoons, nor woodcocks snort. Nor dog on snowdrop or on coltsfoot rolls, Nor common frog concocts long protocols. The same subject continued. Dull humdrum murmurs lull, but hubbub stuns. Lucullus snuffs up musk, mundungus shuns. Puss purs, buds burst, bucks butt, luck turns up trumps ; But full cups, hurtful, spur up unjust thumps. This playing upon vowels is in a manner ri- valled by the following ingenious verses, in which a single word is held to throughout. They were written by AUain Chartier, a French poet of the LIPOGRAMS. 67 sixteenth century, and are descriptive of a rope- maker: " Quand un cordicr cordant Veut corder une corde, Trois cordons accordant A sa corde il accorde. Si I'un des trois cordons De la corde decorde, Le cordon decordant Fait decorder la corde." Dr, Wallis put tliese lines into English, and, by adding two or three relative words, gave four additional lines : ." When a twiner a twisting will twist him a twist, For the twining his twist he three twines doth entwist ; But if one of the twines of the twist do untwist. The twine that untwisteth, untwisteth the twist. Untwirling the twine that untwisteth between, He twists with his twister the two in a twine ; Then twice having twisted the twines of the twine, He twisteth the twines he had twisted in vain. The twain that, in twisting before in the twine, As twines were cntwisted, he now doth untwine, 'Twixt the twain intertwisting a twine more between, He, twisting his twister, makes a twist of the twine." Cuthbert Bolton (1603) in a similar manner thus plays upon one word in one of his poems : 68 LIPOGRAMS. " Fortune is sweet, Fortune is sour, Fortune will laugh. Fortune will lower ; The fading fruit of Fortune's flower Doth ripe and rot, both in an hour. Fortune can give, Fortune can take, Fortune can mar, Fortune can make ; When others sleep, poor I do wake, And all for unkind Fortune's sake. Fortune sets up. Fortune pulls down. Fortune soon loves, but hates as soon. Fortune, less constant than the moon, She'll give a groat and take a crown." 69 ) BOUTS RIMES. ^^^OUTS RLMES, or rhyming termlna- '1 w, i 1^)^ tions, are verses of a light and trifling "^^ ' character, and, as their name shows, are of French origin, amongst which people for a genera- tion they were great favourites, and that at a time when wit and learning greatly flourished. They are words which rhyme to one another, and being given as a playful task for the purpose of amuse- ment at an evening-party, are generally composed into verse in an ofi'hand manner — the verse being a kind of doggerel, catching up the rhyming words in the order given. The more uncommon the rhyming words, the more the amusement derived and the ingenuity displayed. Suppose the words to be — grant, ask, shan't, task, one of the party would produce : " If from good-nature you begin to grant Whatever favours folk may please to ask, 'Twill grow more difficult to say I shan't, And courtesy will be a weary task." 70 BOUTS RIMES. While another would give — " Sweet one, I pant for what you can grant. What is it ? dost thou ask. 'Tis a kiss that I want ; so don't say I shan't, When assent is an easier task." The first who brought Bouts Rimes into any- thing like notoriety was one Dulot, a French poet- aster, who had a custom of preparing lists of rhym- ing words in this fashion, to be filled up with lines at leisure. On one occasion, having been robbed of his papers, Dulot was heard regretting the loss of several hundred sonnets ; this loss somewhat astonished his friends, who were condoling with him on his misfortune, when he said, *' They were blank sonnets," and explained the mystery by describing his Bouts Rimes. This curious habit of Dulot's appeared so entertaining to his friends, that not long after it became quite a fashionable amusement, and a favourite task of French ladies to their lovers. Much entertainment must evidently attend such an intellectual competition, where a company is gathered together capable in any degree of carry- ing it out, and some sharpening of the wits must be the consequence. On one such occasion the words given were brook, why, crook, I, and the BOUTS RIMES. *j\ following was the result, given by Horace Walpole, who was present : " I sit with my toes in a brook ; If any one asks me for why, — I hits them a rap with my crook ; 'Tis sentiment kills me, says I." But to better show the difference in composition which may result and the amusement to be derived from Bouts Rimes, take the following lines written against the words wave, lie, brave, die : " Dark are the secrets of the gulfing wave, Where, wrapped in death, so many heroes lie ; Yet glorious death's the guerdon of the brave. And those who bravely live can bravely die." " Whenever I sail on the wave, O'ercome with sea-sickness I lie ! I can sing of the sea, and look brave. When \fcel it, I feel hke to die ! " •' High o'er the ship came on the 'whelming wave — One crash ! and on her beam I saw her he ! Shrieked high the craven, silent stood the brave, But hope from all had fled, — 'twas only left to die." Soon after the introduction of Bouts Rimes into France they became fashionable in England also. Sir John and Lady Miller of Batheaston when on a tour in Italy procured an antique vase at Frascati, and this vase they brought home and 72 BOUTS RIMES. placed in their villa, which they on occasion turned into a temple of Apollo, Lady Miller being the high-priestess and the vase the shrine of the deity. General invitations were sent to all the fashion of Bath every Thursday. One week a series of Bouts Rimes were given out, to be filled up and returned on the next day of meeting. As the company arrived they were ushered into a room where they found the old vase decorated with laurel, and as each lady or gentleman passed they deposited within it their version of the Rimes given out the preceding Thursday. Having thus all contributed their offering to Apollo, a lady was selected to draw them out one by one and hand them to a gentleman to read aloud. After this a committee was appointed to award the prizes to the four best productions, whose authors were presented by the high -priestess with a fillet of myrtle, and crowned amidst the plaudits of the company. Only one of the prize-verses on these occasions, written by the then Duchess of Northumberland, has been pre- served, and it is given as a sample of the literary spirit which pervaded the upper classes towards the end of last century. The words given were brandish, standish, patten, satin, olio, folio, puffing, muffin, feast on, Batlieaston. BOUTS RIMES. 73 *' The pen which I now take and brandish, Has long lain useless in my standish. Know every maid, from her in patten To her who shines in glossy satin, That could they now prepare an olio, From best receipt of book in folio. Ever so fine, for all their puffing, I should prefer a buttered muffin : A muflin Jove himself might feast on, If eat with Miller at Batheaston." In the " Correspondence of Mrs. Delany," the editor, Lady Llanover, refers to this amusement, and gives a specimen written by Mrs. Delany in reply to words which had been sent her — these being, bless, less, find, mind, grove, love. " When friendship such as yours our hours bless, It soothes our cares, and makes affliction less ; Oppressed by woes, from you I'm sure to find A sovereign cure for my distempered mind; At court or play, in field or shady grove. No place can yield delight without your love." Not content with this, however, Mrs. Delany gave a second verse on the same words : "When me with your commands you bless. My time is yours, nor can I offer less ; There so much truth and love I find, That with content it fills my mind ; Happy to live in unfrequented grove, Assured of faithful Nanny's love." 74 BOUTS RIMES. The following words were given out one evening at an entertainment : Dark, aroufid, hark, sound, shrill, still. Where, strife, drear, life, bright, ?iight — which produced the subjoined verses: " 'Tis Night — the mourning vest of Nature — dark And gloomy is the starless sky ; around A melancholy stillness reigns ; but hark ! 'Tis but the hooting owL A sound Again breaks on the silence ; 'tis a shrill Cry from some churchyard — all again is still. Where now the grandeur of creation ? Where The crowds that mingle in the busy strife ? All's now a dismal chaos, lone and drear, Rayless and black. And thus it is with Ufe — Awhile the scene is beautiful and bright ; Then comes one deep, and dark, and cheerless night." On another occasion the wovds prove, luhy, love, calamity, gave birth to these : "Of Baxter I cannot ap-prove, And the reason is obvious why ; For the Church he'd nor favour nor love So him I'd with Calamy-tie." " In life we mingled joys and sorrows prove, Confused, and none can give a reason why ; Hate quickly treads upon the heels of love, And morning's bliss quells night's calamity." BOUTS RIMES. 75 The words dotJi, river, both, deliver, produced the next couple : "The Brahmm of the East, who doth Wash in the Ganges river, Thinks he doth soul and body both From future pains deliver." " Oh wretched is the man that doth Fall in a rocky river ; For why ? he's drowned and murdered both — No aid can him deliver." Other tasks produced the annexed verses : " Few things appear more sad Than to see an old man weep ; And few make the mind more glad Than a crying child asleep ! " " What is life ? What is death ? Continued strife — The want of breath ! " So prevalent did this amusement eventually- become, that societies were formed to follow it up, and we extract here an account of a meeting of one of these which appeared in the columns of the Edinburgh Evening Coiirant in September 1815— 76 BOUTS RLM£s. " Anstruther Musomanik Society. "On Friday last, the 29th September, was celebrated in the Hall of Apollo the second anniversary of the institution of the IMusomanik Society of Anstruther. The votaries of that jolly and rejoicing deity rushed in to catch a glimpse of his golden countenance, and to partake, not only of those good things which the in- fluence of his inspiration had generated in heads and in brains, but of those better things which the influence of his beams had produced in valleys and on hills. Every blast blew in a bard ; every bard brought with him joy and good-humour. Their hall was profusely decorated with all the ornaments suitable to the occasion ; its walls were hung round as usual with prints of all the celebrated poets, adorned with sprigs of laurel. Scott seemed to look down from his elevation near the roof with com- placency; Lord Byron appeared to lower, no longer a iiiisanthrope, on the merriment ; and the manly eye of Burns seemed to kindle on the wall, and start into the scene, with its fiery and commanding flash. So richly were the roof and sides covered with flower and foliage, that the chamber was like one of those shady recesses of Tempe, into which the Muses were wont to retire to converse with Cupid and the Graces ; nor were forgotten the accustomed symbols and emblematic dishes, ex- pressive of the number, the poverty, the vanity, the irritability, the frivohty, and light-headedness of poets. The cod-roe which last year so finely typified the ' numbers without number ' of the irritable genus, was somehow strangely forgotten ; but its place was supplied by a plateful of mushrooms, to denote the sudden BOUTS RIM&S. 77 appearance and rapid and total evanishment of our fungous, short-lived tribe. On the centre of the table a Parnassus of paste heaved up its baken mass, on whose top stood the god of the festival, holding in his hand the scroll of sanction, and shining in all his pride of pastry and glory of leaf-gold. The sides of the mountain appeared so horribly steep, rugged, and perpendicular, that not even a hobbler of paste could establish his feet upon them. Its base seemed to be strewed over with the broken limbs of pastry bards, that had rolled down in ruin from the insuperable ascent; an evil omen for the brethren, and which might have excited in their breasts thoughts of dire foreboding, had not their natural unconquerable propensity to laughter been of use to them in converting the melancholic into the mirthful. But it would be tedious to relate all the pomp and preparation, and solemnity and jocundity of the festival ; all the toasts, songs, and jokes that enlivened and pro- longed the entertainment. Suffice it to say, that good- humour was never more conspicuous than in the hearts and faces of the brethren ; that innocent and self- delighted vanity, that mighty mother of all poems and all books, was never more harmlessly gratified ; and that the sour and hemlock visage of contumelious criticism herself would have gladly sweetened into joy, and shared, if not abetted, the festivity of the evening." These Fifeshire associated rhymesters ventured to publish a thin volume entitled " Bouts Rimds; or, Poetical Pastimes of a few Hobblers round the base of Parnassus," dedicated to the lovers of 78 BOUTS RIMES. Rhyme, Fun, and Good-Fellowship throughout the British Empire. We give a few specimens from that book, and our readers will bear in mind that at every meeting of the Club, rhymes were given to each member which he was required to fill up at once. One evening the words given were — pen^ scuffle, mcfi, ruffle, and in a short time a number of verses were returned, of which three are here given : " One would suppose a silly pen A shabby weapon in a scuffle ; But yet the pen of criiic men A very hero's soul would ruffle." *' I grant tliat some by tongue or pen Are daily, hourly in a scuffle ; But then we philosophic men Have placid tempers naught can ruffle." " Last night I left my desk and pen, For in the street I heard a scuffle, And there, torn off by drunken men, I left my coat-tails and shirt-ruffle." Again, the following rhymes were given — bubble, jig, stubble, whirligig, which were thus answered : " My heated brain begins to bubble, With joy I dance the airy jig ; My hair lies flat, once stiff as stubble, While round I fly — a whirligig !" BOUTES RIM As. 79 " What is this life ? a smoke, a bubble, In this gay world, a foolish jig, A joyless field of barren stubble. And what is man ? — a whirligig." For the annual meeting of the Society, however, a somewhat different method was observed. About eight days previous the president gave out rhymes for an ode or poem of the length of twenty or thirty lines, leaving each rhymester to choose his own subject ; and at the festival, when from fifteen to twenty pieces were read after dinner, each piece closing with the same rhymes, it was amusing to note the different subjects, styles, and ideas chosen by the writers, and the productions afforded no small amount of pleasantry to the Society. A few specimens are here given : The Golden Age. Aid me, O Muse ! to laud in rhyme The golden and primeval time, Old Saturn's happy day. When Virtue over every clime Danced with young Pleasure in her prime, And chased, with joyful shoutings, crime And sorrow far away. Then free and happy, sinless man Exulting o'er earth's valleys ran, ^Vhilst in the starry frame 8o BOUTS RIM&S. His meditative eye began The finger of his God to scan, As, musing on the Almighty's plan, He felt devotion's flame. It seemed as if his sacred train Of thoughts, pure issue of the brain, To Virtue's lyre did chime ; It seemed as if, in lieu of rain. The skies dropped honey on each plain, Whilst grateful earth sent up again Hymns holy and sublime. Address to One of the Brethren. Dear Fowler, plague upon all rhyme ! 'Tis nothing but a waste of time, And life's an April day, In this our peevish, plashy clime. Then let's improve our manhood's prime. No more commit the poet's crime. But throw the pen away. Thus said I — poor deluded man ! To court staid Prudence off I ran, And all at once to frame My ways with wisdom I began, Looked round with interested scan ; But lo ! the Muses marred the plan, Apollo fed the flame. Then, Phoebus, come with all thy train. And ope the portals of my brain. Give thoughts for every chime ; BOUTS RIM^S. ?l And as the clouds' soft dropping rain Cheers and revives the sterile plain, Fecundate this dull head again To reach the true sublime. The Last Day. How dread, methinks, how awfully sublime, When the last trump shall stop the march of time ! What shall avail on that tremendous day The hero's laurel or the poet's bay ? Methinks I see the rosy-fingered dawn \ Shed her last ray o'er every hill and lawn ; Never to rise hath sunk the fulgent moon ; The sun may rise, but never reach his noon. From earth — from heaven, with ripened force entire. Bursts the wild sweep of all-devouring fire ; From heaven's high arch to the infernal lake, Shall all creation to her centre shake ; Its fearful flight the trembling soul shall wing, And to its God each vice and virtue bring. Oh, may there then on earth be found but few Not well prepared to bid the world adieu. Morning on Arthur's Seat. On Arthur's lofty top sublime, Seamed by the iron hand of Time, I sit and view the coming day. Smiling from Portobello Bay. On Abercorn the ruddy dawn Tinges each tower, and tree, and lawn ; On high the waning pale-faced moon Is lost ere she attains her noon. F 82 BOUTS RIMES. But see, with radiant orb entire, Beaming, appears the god of fire ! O'er Duddingstone's enchanting lake, While scarce a leaf the breeze doth shake ; The wild duck skirrs on rattling wing. Condolence to its mate to bring. Few are thy charms, Edina ! oh, how few ! With scenes like these content, I'd bid thee long adieu ! Johnnie Bowie's.* Though far from low, yet not sublime, Here we pass our joyous time ; Excluded from the light of day, Here sit the children of the bay. What care we for the orient dawn ? What care we for the dewy lawn ? What care we for the pale-faced moon ? What care we for the sun at noon ? Here sparkling foams Bell's best "entire ; " Here blazing burns John Bowie's fire. What care we for the breezy lake ? What care we though the mountain shake ? Fancy, begone on eagle wing ; Come, Meg, another bottle bring. Come, bring us bottles not a few ; A dozen yet we'll drink ere bidding John adieu ! * An old-fashioned tavern, situated in a dark alley in Edinburgli ; only one room had a window, all the rest being lighted during the day by candles. It was a favourite haunt of Burns. Some years ago the march of city improvement swept this Bacchanalian temple away, and a roadway now passes over its site. BOUTS RIMJ^S. 83 Love. O Love, 'twas thou that didst first insp-ire, And bade my numbers softly roll, Set all this youthful heart on fire, And tuned to harmony my soul. When Catherine did her charms dis-play, (The Loves and Graces in her train), Could I unconsious turn away, Nor feel love's poignant pleasing pain ? Her charms unlocked a precious store The hard of heart can never find : Earth seemed a sweet enchanted shore. Such pleasing dreams possessed my mind. Soft were my strains — Love bade them flow, While Hymen's torch began to burn ; No note e'er breathed the wail of woe, For "sweet's the love that meets re-turn." O woman ! Nature's fairest flower. Sweeter than rosebuds in the spring, May Care ne'er cloud thy passing hour, Nor pluck the down from Pleasure's wing. When called to blissful scenes above, Where joys in endless prospect rise, May virtue, innocence, and love, Attend thee to thy native skies. 84 BOUTS RIM is. Address to the Society. Dear Junta of Bards, whom I love and adm-ire, Whose hearts are so true, and whose heads are so d-roU, Now awake ye your glory, and, free in your fire, To-day let us skim off the cream of the soul. To-day, 'tis the season of jest and of play, When Phoebus, with grace and with mirth in his train. Hops down from Olympus to whistle away All mists from our heads — from our bosoms all pain. He comes — and his quiver is rattling with store Of arrows that burn to fly forth uncon-fin'd ; He comes — and the towns that engirdle our shore Gleam forth and rejoice in the splendour of mind. He hath shot at my heart, and my blood in its flow Bounds brisk with ideas that blaze and that burn ; Away, empty world ! with thy wealth and thy woe. And ne'er to disturb my dear dreamings re-turn. I dream that I walk among odour and flower, In the gardens of song where our amaranths spring, Where the leaves of the trees whisper verse, and each hour Waves the fragrance of joy from his fanciful wing. Now in vision I mount with the ]\Iuses above, Heaven's turrets shine brighter in gold as I rise. While safe in the passport of song, wit, and love, I walk amid angels and skim through the skies. "VVe conclude this notice of Bouts Rimes with an anecdote of a young American poet named BOUTS RIM As. 85 Bogart, who had an extraordinary facility for com- posing impromptu verses, so much so, that he was believed by some persons to prepare them before- hand. To test this, on one occasion at a literary party in New York, it was proposed to write down the letters forming the name of a beautiful lady called Lydia Kane, and as the letters afforded as many lines as a stanza in " Childe Harold," that book was to be opened at random, and the con- cluding words of the stanza were to form the Bouts Rimes of an acrostic of Lydia Kane. To this singular proposition Bogart at once assented, saying that he should perform his task in ten minutes. The stanza in " Childe Harold " chanced to be the following : "And must they fall? the young, the proud, the brave, To swell one bloated chief's unwholesome reign ? No step between submission and a grave ? The rise of rapine and the fall of Spain .'' And doth the Power that man adores ordain Their doom, nor heed the suppliant's appeal ? Is all that desperate valour acts in vain ? And counsel sage, and patriotic zeal. The veteran's skill, youth's fire, and manhood's heart of steel ? " Bogart cleverly performed his task by producing the following verse within the stated time : 86 BOUTS IUM£S. "Zovely and loved, o'er the unconquered brave J bur charms resistless, matchless girl, shall reign, Z?ear as the mother holds her infant's grave, /n Love's warm regions, warm, romantic Spain, y^nd should your fate to courts your steps ordain, A'ings would in vain to regal pomp appeal, ^nd lordly bishops kneel to you in vain, Not Valour's fire, Love's power, nor Churchman's zeal Endure 'gainst Love's {time's uf) untarnished steel." ( S7 ) ATACARONICS. §F all the curious kinds of literary compo- sition, the most difficult and the most humorous is that termed Macaronic, in which, along with Latin, words of other languages are introduced with Latin inflections, although the name has also been applied to verses which are merely a mixture of Latin and English, and it is thought that the idea of poetry of this nature was first suggested by the barbarous Monkish Latin. Teofilo Folengo, a learned and witty Benedictine, who was born at Mantua in 1484 and died in i544> has been supposed by some to be the inventor of this style of verse ; other authorities, however, contend that he was only the first to apply the name, which he is said to have selected with reference to the mixture of ingredients in the dish called Macaroni. Octavius Gilchrist, in men- tioning Teofilo Folengo of Mantua as the sup- posed inventor, says, in his " Opus Macaronicum " 88 MACARONICS. (first printed in 1517), "He was preceded by the laureate Skelton, whose works were printed in 1512, who was himself anticipated by the great genius of Scotland, Dunbar, in his ' Testament of Andro Kennedy,' * and the last must be considered as the reviver or introducer of macaronic or burlesque poetry." Folengo, under the name of Merlinus Cocaius, published a long satiric poem called " Libriculum ludicrum et curiosum, partim latino, partim italiano sermone compositum." Since then he has had many imitators, but the art cannot be said to have been extensively culti- vated, although specimens are to be found in almost all European languages. In 1829, Genthe (Halle) gave to the literary world of Germany an excellent history of macaronic poetry, together with a collection of the principal works of this nature. In this country he has been followed by Mr. Sandys, who published in 1831 an interesting work entitled " Specimens of Macaronic Poetry ; " t but the most agreeable and amusing book of this * First printed in 1508. t This little work contains only three or four macaronic poems, all of old date, and none of them of a very presentable nature. There are, however, some other literary curiosities in it which are worthy of attention, such as the " Pugna Porcorum," Hugbald's '• Ecloga," &c. MACARONICS. 89 class Is one published by M. Octave Delepierre (Paris, 1852). Dunbar's " Testament of Andro Kennedy," re- puted to be one of the oldest and best, is written in Latin and Old Scottish, and of this the following are the concluding lines : " I will na priestis for me sing, Dies ilia. Dies irae ; Na yet na bellis for me ring, Sicut semper solet fieri ; But a bagpipe to play a spring, Et unum ailwisp ante me ; Instead of banners for to bring Quatuor lagenas servisiae : Within the grave to set sic thing, In modum crucis juxta me. To flee the fiends, then hardily * sing De terra plasmati me." Lord Hailes remarks of the " Testament : " "This is a singular performance; it represents the character of a graceless, drunken scholar. The alternate lines are composed of shreds of the Breviary, mixed with what we call Dog Latin^ and the French Latin de Cuisine.'^ Another of the early specimens of macaronic poetry was written by Drummond of Hawthorn- * With confidence. 90 MACARONICS. den (1585-1649), and is entitled " Polema Mid- dina," which, though it might then be considered a piece of exquisite drollery by the author's country- men, is almost wholly unintelligible to modern Latinists. Drummond, though his scene and subject be somewhat disagreeable, and hardly reproducible nowadays, yet shows in his poem a certain degree of dignity. Of Drummond's poem, another macaronic, " The Buggiados," pub- lished in 1788, is a manifest imitation, and in this latter, authors of the day are represented under the ludicrous imagery of bugs, fleas, and other pestilent "walkers in darkness." They are en- gaged in a general battle — the commanders-in- chief being, for the one side, the Rev. Dr. Priestley; and, on the other, Mr, Coleman of the Haymarket Theatre. Various heroes traverse the field, whom the poet characterises with bold if not discriminating touches — " Geometrical Hutton, Atque heavy-brain'd Gillies, and the reverend Arthur O'Leary, Tragicomic Jephson, et weak Dicky Cumberlandus ; Atque alter sapiens blockhead, the deep Jemie Beattie, Et Johnny Duncanus, than whom a stupider unquam NuUibi crawlavit Loussus, with thick Willy Thompson, Et silly Joe Watson, regis qui ticklitat aures." MACARONICS. gi Heroines, too, are engaged in this war — Mes- dames Inchbald, Cowley, Seward, and More appear, with a ferocity disgraceful to their sex, using poisoned weapons and the language of Billingsgate ; and the extraordinary contest con- cludes in a curious manner, for Sir John Hawkins, with the five ponderous volumes of his "History of Music," overwhelmes and smashes the whole of the combatants into nothingness. One of the best of these older macaronics is the following diploma, written by William Meston, M.A,, Professor of Philosophy in Marischal Col- lege, Aberdeen, about the beginning of last cen- tury, whose works are now rarely to be seen : VIRI HUMANI, SALSI ET FACETI, GULIELMI SUTHERLANDI, MULTARUM ARTIUM ET SCIENTIARUM DOCTORIS DOCTISSIMI. DIPLOMA. Ubique gentium et terrarum. From Suthedand to Padanarum, From those who have six months of day, Ad Caput usque Bonae Spei, And farther yet, si forte tendat Ne ignorantiam quis praetendat, — ■ We doctors of the Merry Meeting, To all and sundry do send greeting, Ut omnes habeant compertum. Per hanc prcesentem nostram chartam. 92 MACARONICS. Gulielmum Sutherlandum Scotum At home per nomen Bogsie notum, Who studied stoutly at our College, And gave good specimens of knowledge In multis artibus versatum, Nunc factum esse doctoratum. Quoth Preses, Strictum post examen, Nunc esto Doctor ; we said, Amen. So to you all hunc commendamus, Ut juvenem quem nos amamus, Qui multas habet qualitates, To please all humours and states. He vies, if sober, with Duns Scotus, Sed multo magis si sit potus. In disputando just as keen as Calvin, John Knox, or Tom Aquinas. In every question of theology, Versatus multum in trickology ; Et in catalogis librorum Fraser could never stand before him ; For he, by page and leaf, can quote More books than Solomon ere wrote. A lover of the mathematics He is, but hates the hydrostatics. Because he thinks it a cold study To deal in water, clear or muddy. Doctissimus est medicinre, Almost as Boerhaave or Bellini. He thinks the diet of Cornaro In meat and drink too scrimp and narrow, And that the rules of Leonard Lessius Are good for nothing but to stress us. MACARONICS. 93 By solid arguments and keen He has confuted Doctor Cheyne, And clearly proved by demonstration That claret is a good collation, Sanis at segris, always better Than coffee, tea, or milk and water ; That cheerful company, cum risu, Cum vino forti, suavi visu, Gustatu dulci, still has been A cure for hyppo and the spleen ; That hen and capon, vervecina, Beef, duck and pasties, cum ferina. Are good stomachics, and the best Of cordials, probatum est. A good French nightcap still has been, He says, a proper anodyne, Better than laudanum or poppy, Ut dormiamus like a toppy. Afifirmat lusum alearum, Medicamentum esse clarum, Or else a touch at three-hand ombre When toil or care our spirits cumber, Which graft wings on our hours of leisure, And make them fly with ease and pleasure. Aucupium et venationem, Post longam nimis potationem. He has discovered to be good Both for the stomach and the blood. He clearly proves the cause of death Is nothing but the want of breath ; 94 MACARONICS. And that indeed is a disaster When 'tis occasioned by a plaster Of hemp and pitch, laid closely on Somewhat above the collar-bone. To this, and ten times more his skill Extends, when he could cure or kill. Immensam cognitionem legum Ne prorsus hie silentio tegam, Cum sociis artis, grease his fist Torquebat illas as you list. If laws for bribes are made, 'tis plain, They may be bought and sold again ; Spectando aurum, now we find That Madam Justice is stone-blind. So deaf and dull in both her ears. The clink of gold she only hears ; Nought else but a loud party shout Will make her start or look about. His other talents to rehearse, Brevissime in prose or verse, To tell how gracefully he dances, And artfully contrives romances ; How well he arches, and shoots flying (Let no man think that we mean lying), How well he fences, rides, and sings, And does ten thousand other things; Allow a line, nay, but a comma. To each, turgeret hoc diploma ; Quare ; ut tandem concludamus. Qui brevitatem approbamus MACARONICS. 95 (For brevity is always good, Providing we be understood). In rerum omnium naturis, Non minus quam scientia juris Et medicinae, Doctoratum Bogsaeum novimus versatum ; Nor shall we here say more about him, But you may dacker if you doubt him. Addamus tamen hoc tantillum, Duntaxat nostrum hoc sigillum, Huic testimonio appensum, Ad confirmandum ejus sensum, Junctis chirographis cunctorum, Blyth, honest, hearty sociorum. Dabamus at a large punch-bowl Within our proper common school, The twenty-sixth day of November, Ten years, the date we may remember, After the race of Sheriffmuir (Scotsmen will count from a black hour), Ab omni probo nunc signetur, Qui denegabit extrudetur. FORMULA GRADUS DANDI. Eadem nos auctoritate, Reges memorise beatae, Pontifices et papas laeti, Nam alii sunt k nobis sprcti, Quam quondam nobis indulserunt, Quae privilegia semper erunt, Collegio nostro safe and sound, As long's the earth and cups go round. 96 MACARONICS. Te Bogsceum hie creamus, Statuimus et proclamamus, Artium Magistrum et Doctorem, Si libet etiam Professorem ; Tibique damus potestatem Potandi ad hilaritatem, Ludendi porro et jocandi, Et moestos vino medicandi, Ad risum etiam fabulandi; In promissionis tuas signum Caput, honore tanto dignum Hoc cyatho condecoramus,* Ut tibi felix sit oramus ; Prseterea in manum damus Hunc calicem, ex quo potamus, Spumantem generoso vino, Ut bibas more Palatino. Sir, pull it off and on your thumb Cernamus supernaculum, Ut specimen ingenii Post studia decennii. ( While he is drinking, the chonis sings) En calicem spumantem. Falerni epotantem ; En calicem spumantem, lo, io, io. {After he has drunk, afid turned the glass on his thumb, tJicy embrace him, ajid sing again. ) Laudamus hunc Doctorem, Et fidum compotorem ; Laudamus hunc Doctorem, Io, io, io. * Here he was crowned with the punch-bowl. MACARONICS. 97 One of the best modern specimens of macaronic poetry is attributed to Professor Porson, and is said to have owed its origin to the alarm of the French invasion : Lingo Drawn for the Militia. Ego nunquam audivi such terrible news, At this present tempus my sensus confuse ; I am drawn for a miles — I must go cum marte, And, concinnus esse, engage Bonaparte. Such tempora nunquam videbant majores, For then their opponents had different mores ; But we will soon prove to the Corsican vaunter, Though times may be changed — Britons never mu- tantur ! Mehercle ! this Consul non potest be quiet, His word must be lex, and when he says fiat, Quasi Deus, he thinks we must run at his nod. But Britons were ne'er good at running, by God ! Per mare, I rather am led to opine. To meet British naves he would not incline ; Lest he should in mare profundum be drowned, Et cum alga, non lauro, his caput be crowned. But allow that this boaster in Britain should land, Multis cum aliis at his command : Here are lads who will meet, ay, and properly work 'em, And speedily send 'em, ni fallor, in Orcum. 98 MACARONICS. Nunc let us, amici, join corda et manus, And use well the vires Di Eoni afford us : Then let nations combine, Britain never can fall, She's — multum in parvo — a match for them all ! The following belongs to the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and was written on the defeat of the Spanish Armada : " A Skeltonical salutation, Or condign gratulation, At the just vexation Of the Spanish nation, That in a bravado Spent many a crusado In setting forth an Armado England to invade. Pro cujus memoria Ye may well be soria. Full small may be your gloria, When ye shall hear this storia, Then will ye cry and roria, We shall see her no moria." A Macaronic By Tom Dishington, sometime Clerk of Crail. " Horrifero nivium nimbos Aquilone ruente. Sic tonuit Thoma Dishingtonus ore rotundo." Saccum cum sugaro, cum drammibus in a glasseo, In hoc vervece, est melius quam pipe o' tobacco. ^lli cum bikero, cum pyibus out o' the oono, Cum pisce, Crelli nominate vulgo caponem, MACARONICS. 99 Quid melius, si sit ter unctus butyro ? Virides et beefum, cum nose-nippante sinapi ; O quam gustabunt ad Maria More's fyr-sydum ! Sin erimus drunki, Deil care ! aras dat medicinum Qui bibit ex lastis ex firstibus incipit ille. A work entitled "Wild Sports of the East," published many years ago, contained the following admirable specimen : " Arma virumque cano qui primo solebo peeping, Jam nunc cum tabbynox languet to button her eyelids, Cum pointers et spaniels campos sylvasque pererrant. Vos mihi — Brontothesi over arms small and great domi- nantes. Date spurs to dull poet qui dog Latin carmina condit, Artibus atque novis audax dum sportsman I follow Per stubbles et turnips et tot discrimina rerum, Dum partridge with popping terrihcare minantur •Pauci, namque valent a feather tangere plumbo! Carmina si hang fire discharge them bag-piping Apollo. Te quoque, magne cleator, te memoranda precamur. Jam nunc thy fame gallops super Garamantos et Indos, Nam nabobs nil nisi de brimstone et charcoal loquentur, Horriferifizque ' Tippoo' sulphurea, sustinct arma. Induit ecce shooter tunicam made of neat marble drugget, Quae bene convenient defluxit to the waistband of breeches, Nunc paper et powder et silices popped in the side-pocket, Immemor baud shot-bag graditur comitatus two pointers, Mellorian retinens tormentum dextra bibarelled : En Stat staunch dog Dingo baud aliter quam steady guide post, Proximus atque Pero per stat si ponere juxta. With gun cocked and levelled et aeva lumine clauso, Nunc avicida resolves haud double strong parcere powder. lOO MACARONICS. Vos teneri yelpers vos grandivique parentes Nunc palsy pate Jove orate to dress to the left hand, Et Veneri tip the wink like a shot to skim down ab alto Mingere per touch-hole totamque madescere priming. Nunc lugete dire nunc sportsman plangite palmas, Ex silis ecce lepus from box cum thistle aperto ! Bang bellowed both barrels, heu ! pronus sternitur each do?, Et puss in the interim creeps away sub tegmine thornbush." One of the most celebrated English macaronics is a comedy entitled " Ignoramus," written by a clergyman named Ruggle, and performed before James I. at Cambridge in 1616. James expressed himself as highly delighted with it, and ordered it to be twice afterwards performed for his amuse- ment. The pedantic monarch, educated by Buch- anan, one of the purest of Latinists, well under- stood the witty production, which had an additional zest for the King in that it was a satire on the bar- barous Law-Latin used by the English jurists of the time — James being attached to the simpler forms and terms of Scotch law. The quotation given is part of one of the speeches of Ignoramus, a lawyer, showing how he will endow his mistress, Rosabella : *' Si posem vellem pro te, Rosa, ponere pellum Quicquid tu qus crava, et habebis singula brava, Et dabo, fee simple, si monstras Love's pretty dimple, Gownos, silkcoatos, kirtellos, et petticoatos, MACARONICS. loi Farthingales biggos, stomacheros, et perriwiggos, Buskos et soccos, tiffanas en cambricka smockos, Pantofflos, cuffos, garteros, Spanica ruffos, Wimpolos, pursos ; ad ludos ibis et ursos." Dean Swift was somewhat addicted to this style of composition, and the following three are his : A Love Song. Apud in is almi de si re, Mimi tres I ne ver re qui re, Ale veri findit a gestis, His miseri ne ver at restis. To My Mistress. O mi de armis tres, Imi na dis tres. Cantu disco ver Meas alo ver? Moll. Mollis abuti, Has an acuti, ' No lasso finis, Molli divinis. Geddes, a clergyman and translator of the Bible, was a prolific macaronic writer. One of his pieces is a poem of considerable length, describing a dinner of Protestant dissenters at the London Tavern. He thus writes of the tables : " Sedimus ad ternas tabulas longo ordine postas Et mappas mundi coveratas, et china-plattis, Spoonibus, et knivis sharpis, furcisque trisulcis Stratas ; cum largis glassis, vinoque repletis, Botellis, saltis, vinegarique cruetis." MACARONICS. The following was written by S. W. Partridge, and appeared originally in Bentlcys Miscellany about thirty years ago : ToNis AD Resto Mare. O Mare, sevi si forme, Forme ure tonitru, lambecum as amandum, Olet Hymen promptu ! Mihi his vetas an ne se, As humano eribi. Olet mecum niarito te, Or Eta, Beta, Pi ! Tony's Address to Mary. Mary, heave a sigh for me, For me, your Tony true ; 1 am become as a man dumb — Oh, let Hymen prompt you ! My eye is vet as any sea, As you may know hereby ; Oh, let me come, Mary, to tea, Or eat a bit o' pie ! Alas ! piano more meretrix, Alas ! play no more merry tricks. Mi ardor vel uno ; Inferiam ure art is base ; Tolerat me urebo. Almi ! ve ara scillicet To laudu vimen thus ; Hiatu as arandum sex ; Illuc lonicus. My ardour vel you knovif ; In fear I am your heart is base ; Tolerate me, your beau ! Ah me ! ve are a silly set To laud you vimen thus ; I hate you as a random sex, Ill-luck I only curse. lieu ! sed heu ! vixen imago. You said, you vixen, I may go ; Mi mises mara sta ; O cantu redit in mihi ! Hibernus arida. A veri vafer heri si, Mihi resolves indu, Totius olet Hymen cum, Accepta tonitru. My missus, Mary, stay ; Oh, can't you read it in my eye ? I burn as arid hay. A very vafer here I sigh. My eye resolves in dew ; To tie us, oh ! let Hymen come — Accept a Tony true. The next example comes from the columns of a newspaper : Epitaph on a Dog. Eheu ! hie jacet Crony, A dog of much renown ; Nee fur, nee macaroni. Though born and bred in town. In war he was acerrimus. In dog-like arts perite ; In love, alas ! miserrimus, For he died of a rival's bite. MACARONICS. 103 His mistress struxit cenotaph. And as the verse comes pat in, Ego qui scribo epitaph, Indite it in dog-Latin. In a comedy by O'Keefe, an inebrious school- master gives a song commencing — " Amo, amas, I love a lass As cedar tall and slender ; Sweet cowslip's grace Is her nominative case, And she's of the feminine gender. {Chorus.) Horum corum Sunt divorum Harum scarum divo ; Tagrag, merry-derry, periwig and hatband, Hie hoc horum genitivo." An extraordinary specimen of macaronic "puff- ing " appeared in a Liverpool newspaper some years ago: Ad Kelliam. Parvum Buttyranum cano, Qui vivit in via Dawsoni, Sedit pulpito suo Avec ses Barnacles super nasuni Et turndownibus coUaris so natty, I hi recipit argentum et aurum, Atque nova coppercoina distribuit Ad costomeri qui emunt Buttyram Suis. Tout le monde purchase I04 MACARONICS. Son beurre sel et son beurre frais ; Ambo sunt capital. Melle dulcis Et Buttyrii Kellii. Formosse sunt puellse quae milkent Les belles vaches qui donnent du lait Du quel Buttyrii Kellii formatur. Butterus yellowus quam vendit Octavorum pencium est tres bon marche, Sed Buttyrus optimus uni shilling! Excellentissimum est. O Kellius, mi puer, tu es trumpus ! Brickus concentratus sublimatus, Et no mistake ! In " Loco " Butteryii Super longum counterums sunt all sorts dis- played- — Tempting veritabile appetituni. Canamus et Laudamus Kellii Benefactorum toto Liverpudlio, Qui sells Butteryun cheap et bonum, Et omnibus dat capital weight ! The winter of 1837-38 is memorable in the annals of Edinburgh for a series of snowball riots which were only finally quelled by a detachment of the 79th Regiment. The defiance of all con- stituted authorities, more especially of town coun- cillors, was no new^ thing to the Edinburgh youth, and when, in the beginning of 1838, a simple snowball "bicker" merged into a bold and deter- mined opposition to all authority, it only followed the usual course of such displa}-s, where the MACARONICS. 105 customary interference of the civic power tends to magnify a mere academical exercise into a serious public riot. Snow had fallen thickly on the evening of the loth of January. Next morning the street in front of the University was thronged with boys and idlers, who began a short and com- paratively trifling disturbance by throwing snow- balls at the students going to and from their classes. The snowballing recommenced with greater fury in the afternoon, business was soon at a standstill and the streets impassable ; the disturbance not being quelled until the students had learned to expect little protection from the police, and pos- sibly further annoyance from the public. The following day it began anew ; a body of police sent for the protection of the students sided with the mob, and there ensued a succession of sallies from either side and hand-to-hand conflicts on the street and in the porches of the College, which lasted for several hours. Staffs, sticks, stones, and snowballs were plied in all directions — many severe wounds were inflicted, more especially on the hats and heads of the police ; until at last matters seemed getting so serious that the Lord Provost and Bailies of the city thought themselves called upon to send to the Castle for a detachment io6 MACARONICS. of soldiers. The appearance of the Redcoats and the bayonets soon brought the riot to an end. In the course of the second day thirty-five students had been arrested and marched to the police-office. Many, indeed, were seized who had not been en- gaged in the tumult, and though all were remanded to a future day, the prosecution was finally directed against five only. Six weeks passed away before a trial could be arranged ; the case was at last heard before the Sheriff" Court, occupied three days, and terminated in a full acquittal. During these six weeks squibs in all sorts of rhyme and measure were printed in broadsheets and handed about the streets. Of these, the best were written by Edward Forbes, then a student, but afterwards Professor of Natural History in Edinburgh, and amongst them was the following: Frosteidos. — Liber Solus. Frosty policeque cano, Reekie qui primus ab office In High Street, ad College venibant quellere riot, Regiment assistente novem et septuaginta, Bayonetibus fixis, shottisque et powdere multo ; Musa, mihi causas memora, what Student offended, Quidve dolens parentis Provosti, tot askere queries Insignem foolery Lord Rector, tot adire so much slang Impulerit. Tantaene animis Studentibus Irae ! MACARONICS. 107 Urbs antiqua fuit (Bailies tenuere coloni), Edina, Burntisland contra, Fortharenaque longa Ostia, very poor, Studisque asperrima physic, Hinc erat collegium, edificum very superbum ; Hinc erant Studentes, collected from every terra, De first-rate Magistros qui sapientia tucked in, Distincti juvenes amantes scienceque mischief, Spes Scotiae erant, spes atque Brittanice magnae. Hinc etiam erant animalia batonibus ar-med, Studentes arrestere toujours et frangere pacem, " Policemen " Dii, " Charlies " qui homines vocant. Hinc erant Bailies, Frosty et alia mobbi. Anno incipiente happenabit, snowere multum Et gelu intensum streetas coverabit wi' slidas, Constanterque little boys, slided et pitched about snow- balls. Quorum not-a-few bunged up the eyes of Studentes, Irritate, Studentes chargebant policemen to take up Little boyos, sed Charlies refusabant so for to do then, Contemptim Studentes appellabant " Pedica/(?r^i-." Studentes indignant, reverberant complimenta. Cum multi homines " blackguards " qui gentlemen vocant. Bakers, et Butchers, et Bullies, et Colliers, atres, Et alios, cessatores qui locus ecclessiae frequent " Tron Church " et Cowgate cum its odoriferous abyss, Assaultant Studentes stickis et umberelibus. " Hit 'em hard ! hit 'em hard ! " shoutant, " damnatos puppies," *' Catamitos que torios " appellant et various vile terms, Studentes audiebant, sed devil an answer retur-ned. Mobbus Policeque runt downpuUere portas ; lo8 MACARONICS. Studentes cudgellis thickheados populi crackunt, Et smashunt fenestras interim snowballs volitantes, Spemque metumque interdubii, on which side the triumph, Undique Policemen sinkunt sub whackibus stickum Undique Butchers, et Bakers, et Colliers floorabunL Thomsonus, buUyus in domus ill-famas Cowgatus, Armatus umbrello poket Studentes frustra, Umbrella shiverabunt, et Thomson cuts like the devil ; Veluti doggum cum little boys animal plagant Et tieunt ad talum tinkettlelum loudly clinkatum, Currit, et barkat, et bow-wow, bow-woav shoutat. Provost riot-acto cum Dymock quadrangulo rushet, Sed frustra endeavorat to put a stop to the rowam ; Studentes inquirant, "Si mater sua cognoscit Filum out-esse ? " Sed Frosty respondit nihil ! Concurrit ad shoppum Bailie cognominat Grievum (Asinus sed hominus) et cum boulanger Sawers, Ad Castrum militibus Major Young atque they sendunt, Militibus mille, annihilitare Studentes. Horribile dictu ! regimentum vite arrivat, Et in Quadrangulam ruit at double-quick time, Bayonetibus fixis, et musketis loaded cum shottis, Subito Policemen, qui nuper were sadly frightened Magnanimi fiunt, et right and left seize on Studentes. Arrestant Dalrymple et Kellat, fortissimos vires ; Arrestant Aikenhead, Skirving que, Westmacott aussi, Et luggant Studentes plures ad office in High Street, Oh pudor ! videre gentlemen very ill-treated ! The next example given is from Notes and Queries : MACARONICS. 109 Ml MoLLE Anni. O pateo tulis aras cale fel O, Hebetis vivis id, an sed " Aio puer vello ! " Vittis nox certias in erebo de nota olim, — A mite grate sinimus tonitis ovem : " Pr£e sacer, do tellus, hausit," sese, " Mi Molle anni cano te ver segre ? " Ure Molle anu cano te ver asgre. Vere truso aio puellis tento me ; Thrasonis piano " cum Hymen " (heu sedit), " Diutius toga thyrso " Hymen edidit ; — Stentior mari aget O mare nautis alter id alas ! Alludo isto terete ure daris pausas anas. "O pater hie, heu vix en," ses Molle, and vi? Heu itera vere grates troche in heri. Ah Moliere arti fere procaciter intuitis ! Vos me ! for de parte da vas ure arbuteis. Thus thrasonis planas vcl huma se, Vi ure Molle anu cano te ver oegre. Betoe Molle indulgent an suetas agile, — Pares pector sex, uno vimen ars ille ; " Quietat ure servis lam," sato heras heu pater, " Audio do missus Molle, an vatis thema ter ? Ara mi honestatis, vetabit, diu se, — O mare, mi dare, cum specto me : Ago in a vae aestuare, vel uno more illic, O mare, mi dare, cum pacto ure pater hie." Beavi ad visu civile, an socia luse, Ure Molle an huma fore ver asgre. Which, being interpreted, is : MACARONICS. My Molly and I. O Patty O'Toole is a rascally fellow, He beat his wife's head, and said, " I hope you are well, O I " With his knocks, sir, she has in her body not a whole limb, — A mighty great sin I must own it is of him. " Pray, say, sir, do tell us, how is it," says he, " My Molly and I cannot ever agree ? " Your Molly and you cannot ever agree : Very true, so I hope you will listen to me ; The rasoti is plain, " O come Hymen " (you said it), "Do ye tie us together." So Hymen he did it. Since your marriage to Mary now 'tis altered, alas ! All you do is to trate your dear spouse as an ass. " O Patrick ! you vixen," says Molly, and why ? You hit her a very great stroke in her eye. Ah Molly ! her heart I {qz.x p7-oke as 'twere in two it is ! Woes me ! for departed away sure her beauty is. Thus the rason is plain, as well you may see. Why your Molly and you cannot ever agree. Be to Molly indulgent and sivatc as a jelly, — Pay respect to her sex, you know women are silly : '• Quite at your service I am," say to her as you pat her, " How d'ye do, Missus Molly, and what is the matter? Arah, my honey ! stay, 'tis wait a bit, d'ye see, O Mary, my daiy, come spake to me : A-going away is't you are, well you no more I'll lick, O Mary, my dary, como. pack to your Patrick." Behave, I advise you, and so you shall see, Your Molly and you may for ever 5 I uire to aee vpe fafie '^upefiocTT IV de Xtcrrs o

.' ECHO VERSES. 123 * Am I not here to take thy part, Then what has quailed thy stubborn heart ? Have these bones rattled, and this head So often in thy quarrel bled ? Nor did I ever wince or trudge it For thy dear sake.' Quoth she, ' Afum budget.'' * To run from those thou hadst o'ercome Thus cowardly.' Quoth Echo, '■Mum ! ' Yet shame and honour might prevail To keep thee thus from turning tail. For who would grudge to spend his blood in His honour's cause ? ' Quoth she, ' A puddin ' .^ '" This kind of verse was at one time frequently used in political affairs, and the following was written by a Royalist during the struggle between Charles I. and the Parliamentarians : " What wantest thou, that thou art in this sad taking ? Echo — A king. What made him first remove hence his residing? Siding. Did any here deny him satisfaction ? Faction, Tell me wherein the strength of faction lies ? On lies. What didst thou when the king left his Parliament ? Lament. What terms wouldst give to gain his company ? Any, What wouldst thou do if here thou mightst behold him ? Hold him. 124 ECHO VERSES, But wouldst thou save him with thy best endeavour ? Ever. But if he comes not, what becomes of London ? Undone." Another Royalist production of this nature is given by Disraeli in his " Curiosities," as having been recited at the end of a comedy played by the scholars of Trinity College, Cambridge, in March 1641 : The Echo. Now, Echo, on what's religion grounded ? Roundhead ! Whose its professors most considerable ? Rabble ! How do these prove themselves to be the godly ? Oddly. But they in life are known to be the holy. O lie! Who are these preachers, men or women common ? Common ! Come they from any universitie ? Citie. Do they not learning from their doctrine sever ? Ever. Yet they pretend that they do edifie ; O fie! What do you call it then, to fructify ? Ay. What church have they, and what pulpits ? Pitts ! ECHO VERSES. 125 But now in chambers the Conventicle ; Tickle ! The godly sisters shrewdly are belied. Bellied ! The godly number then will soon transcend. End! As for the temples they with zeal embrace them. Rase them ! What do they make of bishop's hierarchy ? Archie ! * Are crosses, images, ornaments their scandall ? All. Nor will they leave us many ceremonies. Monies. Must even religion down for satisfaction, Faction. How stand they affected to the government civil ? Evil. But to the king they say they are most loyal. Lye all ! Then God keep king and State from these same men. Amen ! The following belongs to the same period. All our readers, however, may not agree with the sentiments of the author, and, though not properly * " An allusion, probably, to Archibald Armstrong, the fool or privileged jester of Charles I., usually called Archy, who had a quarrel with Archbishop Laud, and of whom many arch things are on record : there is a little jest-book very high-priced and of little worth which bears the title of Archie s Jests." — Disraeli. 126 ECHO VERSES. belonging to the class of Echo Verses, the poem has generally been referred to as deserving a place amongst them : " O faithless world, and thy most faithless part, A woman's heart ; The true shop of variety, where sits Nothing but fits And fevers of desire, and pangs of love, Which toys remove. Why was she born to please,- or I to trust Words writ in dust ? Suffering her looks to govern my despair, My painful air j And fruit of time rewarded with untruth, The food of youth. Untrue she was, yet I believed her eyes. Instructed spies ; Till I was taught that love is but a school To train a fool. Could it be absence that did make her strange, Base flower of change ? Or sought she more than triumph of denial ? To see a trial, How far her smile commanded on my weakness To yield and confess. Excuse not now the folly, nor her nature. Blush and endure As well thy shame, as passions that were vain, And think thy gain. To know that love, lodged in a woman's breast. Is but a guest." ECHO VERSES. 127 The next is a Dialogue between Glutton and Echo, taken from " Hygiasticon : or the Right Course of Preserving Life and Health unto extream old Age: together with soundnesse and integritie of the Senses, Judgement, and Memorie. Written in Latine by Leonard Lessius, and now done into Englishe. 24'"°, Cambridge. 1634." Dialogue between a Glutton and Echo. Glutton. My bellie I do deifie. Echo. Fie ! Gl. Who curbs his appetite's a fool. Echo. Ah fool ! Gl. I do not like this abstinence. Echo. Hence ! Gl. My joy's a feast, my wish is wine. Echo. Swine. Gl. We epicures are happie truly. Echo. You lie. Gl. Who's that which giveth me the lie ? Echo. I. Gl. What ! Echo, thou that mock'st a voice ? Echo. A voice. Gl. May I not. Echo, eat my fill? Echo. 111. Gl. Wilt hurt me if I drink too much ? Echo. Much. Gl. Thou mock'st me, nymph ; I'll not believe it. Echo. Believe't. 128 ECHO VERSES. Gl. Dost thou condemn then what I do ? Echo. I do. Gl. I grant it doth exhaust the purse. Echo. Worse. GL Is't this which dulls the sharpest wit ? Echo. Best wit. Gl. Is"t this which brings infirmities ? Echo. It is. Gl. Whither vrill't bring my soul ? canst tell ? Echo. T'hell. Gl. Dost thou no gluttons virtuous know ? Echo. No. Gl. Would'st have me temperate till I die ? Echo. Ay. Gl. Shall I therein finde ease and pleasure ? Echo. Yea, sure, GL But is't a thing which profit brings ? Echo. It brings. Gl. To mind or body ? or to both ? " Echo. To both. GL Will it my Ufe on earth prolong? Echo. Oh long ! Gl. Will it make me vigorous until death ? Echo. Till death. Gl. Will't bring me to eternal blisse ? Echo. Yes. Gl. Then, sweetest Temperance, I'll love thee. Echo. I love thee. GL Then, swinish Gluttonie, I' leave thee. Echo. I'll leave thee. Gl. ril be a belly-god no more. Echo. No more. ECHO VERSES. 129 Gl. If all be true which thou dost tell, They who fare sparingly, fare well. Echo. Farewell. At the time when Napoleon was supreme over Germany, in the spring of 1806, one Palm, a book- seller in Nuremberg, published a pamphlet entitled " Germany in its Deepest Humiliation," which contained some bitter truths concerning Napoleon, criticising his policy with considerable severity. Palm was seized by French gendarmes, and transferred to Brunau, where he was tried before an extraordinary court-martial for a libel on the Emperor of France, and condemned to death, without any advocate being heard in his defence. All intercession on his behalf failing, he was shot on August 26, in terms of his sentence — the very day of his trial ! The murder of this poor man, for such it literally was, whether immediately follow- ing from Napoleon^s mandate, or the effect of the furious zeal of some of his officers, excited deep and universal indignation. Napoleon himself afterwards said regarding Palm's execution — "All that I recol- lect is, that Palm was arrested by order of Davoust, I believe, tried, condemned, and shot, for having, while the country was in possession of the French and under military occupation, not only excited I30 ECHO VERSES. rebellion amongst the inhabitants, and urged them to rise and massacre the soldiers, but also attemp- ted to instigate the soldiers themselves to refuse obedience to their orders, and to mutiny against their generals. / believe that he met with a fair trial." * An Echo Poem appeared with the pam- phlet, of which the following is a translation : Bonaparte and the Echo. Bon. Alone, I am in this sequestered spot not overheard. Echo. Heard ! Bon. 'Sdeath ! Who answers me ? What being is there nigh ? Echo. I. Bon. Now I guess ! To report my accents Echo has made her task. Echo. Ask. Bon. Knowest thou whether London will henceforth continue to resist ? Echo. Resist. Bon. Whether Vienna and other Courts will oppose me always ? Echo. Always. Bon. O Heaven ! what must I expect after so many reverses ? Echo. Reverses. Bon. What ! should I, like a coward vile, to compound be reduced ? Echo. Reduced. Bon. After so many bright exploits be forced to restitution ? Echo. Restitution. Bon. Restitution of what I've got by true heroic feats and martial address ? Echo, Yes. Bon. What will be the fate of so much toil and trouble ? Echo. Trouble. Bon. What will become of my people, already too unhappy ? Echo. Happy. • "Voice from St. Helena," vol. i. p. 432. ECHO VERSES. 131 Bon, What should I then be, that I think myself immortal ? Echo. Mortal. Bon. The whole world is filled with the glory of my name, you know. Echo. No. Bon. Formerly its fame struck this vast globe with terror. Echo. Error. Bon. Sad Echo, begone ! I grow infuriate ! I die ! Echo. Die ! The next example is a Song by Addison : '* Echo, tell me, while I wander O'er this fairy plain to prove him, If my shepherd still grows fonder, Ought I in return to love him ? Echo — Love him, love him ! If he loves, as is the fashion, Should I churlishly forsake him ? Or in pity to his passion, Fondly to my bosom take him ? Echo — Take him, take him ! Thy advice then, I'll adhere to. Since in Cupid's chains I've led him ; And with Henry shall not fear to Marry, If you answer, * Wed him ! ' Echo — Wed him, wed him ! " William Browne (i 590-1645), a poet of whom comparatively little is known, in one of his poems, " Britannia's Pastorals," introduces in his " Fifth Song" some Echo verses; apostrophising Heaven, Browne writes — 132 ECHO VERSES. " O sacred Essence, light'ning me this houre ! How may I rightly stile thy great power? Echo — Power. Power ! but of whence ? under the greene-wood spray, Or liv'st in Heaven ? say : Echo — In Heavens aye. In Heavens aye ! tell, may I it obtaine By almes, by fasting, prayer, by paine ? Echo — By paine. Show me the paine, it shall be undergone : I to mine end will still go on. Echo — Go on. But whither? On ! Show me the place, the time : What if the mountaine I do climbe ? Echo — Climbe. Is that the way to joyes which still endure ? Oh bid my soul of it be sure ! Echo — Be sure. Then, thus assured, doe I climbe the hill, Heaven be my guide in this Thy will. Echo— I will." The next is taken from an old newspaper (circa 1 760) : " If I address the Echo yonder, WhsLt will its answer be, I wonder? Echo — I wonder. ECHO VERSES. 133 O wondrous Echo, tell me, blesse, Am I for marriage or celibacy ? Echo — Silly Bessy. If then to win the maid I try, Shall I find her a property ? Echo — A proper tie. If neither being grave nor funny Will win the maid to matrimony ? Echo — Try money. If I should try to gain her heart, Shall I go plain, or rather smart ? Echo — Smart. She mayn't love dress, and I, again, then May come too plain, and she'll complain then ? Echo — Come plain, then. To please her most, perhaps 'tis best To come as I'm in common dressed ? Echo — Come undressed. Then, if to marry me I tease her. What will she say if that should please her ? Echo — Please, sir. When cross nor good words can appease her — - What if such naughty whims should seize her ? Echo — You'd see, sir. When wed she'll change, for Love's no stickler. And love her husband less than liquor ? Echo — Then lick her. 134 ECHO VERSES. To leave me then I can't compel her, Though every woman else excel her. Echo — Sell her. The doubting youth to Echo turned again, sir, To ask advice, but found it did not answer." The following appeared in an Edinburgh news- paper some years ago, and is of a similar nature to the preceding : Ego and Echo. I asked of Echo, t'other day, Whose words are few and often funny, What to a question she should say Of courtship, love, and matrimony. Quoth Echo, plainly, " Matter o' money." Whom should I marry ? Should it be A dashing damsel, gay and pert, A pattern of consistency. Or selfish, mercenary flirt ? Quoth Echo, sharply, "Nary flirt." ^^'hat if, a-weary of the strife That long has lured the gay deceiver, She promised to amend her life And sin no more — can I believe her ? Quoth Echo, with decision, "Leave her." Cut if some maiden with a heart On me should venture to bestow it, ECHO VERSES. 135 Pray, should I act the wiser part, To take the treasure or forego it ? Quoth Echo, very promptly, "Go it." But what, if seemingly afraid To bind her fate in Hymen's fetter, She vows she means to die a maid, In answer to my loving letter ? Quoth Echo, very coolly, "Let her." What if, in spite of her disdain, I find my heart entwined about With Cupid's dear, delicious chain. So closely that I can't get out ? Quoth Echo, laughingly, "Get out." But if some maid with beauty blest. As pure and fair as Heaven can make her. Will share my labour and my rest Till envious Death shall overtake her ? Quoth Echo {sotto voce), "Take her." This appeared in a periodical but a short time ago, and is by R. E. Francillon : " Lady. Echo, what giveth maiden's best address? Echo. A dress. Lady. And, of their songs, which is the best for tune ? Echo. Fortune. Lady. Whereto must trust poor maids to it ? Echo. To wit. Lady. But if they be nor rich nor yet too wise ? Echo. To eyes." 136 ECHO VERSES. An Echo Poem by good George Herbert runs as follows : Heaven. O who will show me those delights on high ? Echo — I. Thou, Echo ? Thou art mortal, all men know. Echo — No. Wert thou not born among the trees and leaves ? Echo — Leaves. And are there any leaves that still abide ? Echo — Bide. What leaves are they ? Impart the matter wholly. Echo— Holy. Are holy leaves the Echo then of bliss ? Echo — Yes. Then tell me, what is that supreme delight ? Echo — Light. Light to the mind : what shall the will enjoy ? Echo — Joy. But are there cares and business with the pleasure ? Echo — Leisure. Light, joy, and leisure ! but shall they persever ? Echo — Ever ! The beautiful verses next given are taken from a volume entitled "The Changed Cross,"* a coUec- * London: Sampson Low & Co. ECHO VERSES. 137 tion of religious poems gathered chiefly from American sources, and bear the name of The Christian and his Echo. True faith, producing love to God and man, Say, Echo, is not this the Gospel plan ? The Gospel plan. Must I my faith and love to Jesus show, By doing good to all, both friend and foe ? Both friend and foe. But if a brother hates and treats me ill, Must I return him good, and love him still ? Love him still. If he my faiUngs watches to reveal, Must I his faults as carefully conceal ? As carefully conceal. But if my name and character he blast. And cruel malice, too, a long time last ; And if I sorrow and affliction know, He loves to add unto my cup of woe ; In this uncommon, this peculiar case, Sweet Echo, say, must I still love and bless ? Still love and bless. Whatever usage ill I may receive. Must I be patient still, and still forgive ? Be patient still, and still forgive. Why, Echo, how is this ? thou'rt sure a dove ! Thy voice shall teach me nothing else but love ? Nothing else but love. 138 ECHO VERSES. Amen ! with all my heart, then be it so ; 'Tis all delightful, just, and good, I know ; And now to practise I'll directly go. Directly go. Things being so, whoever me reject, My gracious God me surely will protect Surely will protect. Henceforth I'll roll on Him my every care, And then both friend and foe embrace in prayer. Embrace in prayer. But after all those duties I have done. Must I, in point of merit, them disown. And trust for heaven through Jesus' blood alone ? Through Jesus' blood alone. Echo, enough ! thy counsels to mine ear Are sweeter than, to flowers, the dew-drop tear ; Thy wise instructive lessons please me well : I'll go and practise them. Farewell, farewell ! Practise them. Farewell, farewell ! The following beautiful poem has been ascribed to various authors — amongst others, to James I. and Bishop Andrewes. It is not an Echo Poem, but its composition being somewhat similar, it merits a place here. The Lord's Prayer, If any be distressed, and fain would gather Some comfort, let him haste unto ECHO VERSES. 139 Our Father, For we of hope and help are quite bereaven Except Thou succour us Who art in heaven. Thou showest mercy, therefore for the same We praise Thee, singing Hallowed be Thy name. Of all our miseries cast up the sum ; Show us Thy joys, and let Thy kingdom come. We mortal are, and alter from our birth ; Thou constant art. Thy will be done on earth. Thou mad'st the earth, as well as planets seven, Thy name be blessed here As 'tis in Heaven, Nothing we have to use or debts to pay, Except Thou give it us. Give us this day Wherewith to clothe us, wherewith to be fed, For without Thee we want — Our daily bread. We want, but want no faults, for no day passes But we do sin — Forgive us our trespasses. No man from sinning ever free did live. Forgive us, Lord, our sins As we forgive. If we repent our faults. Thou ne'er disdainest us ; We pardon them That trespass against us. Forgive us that is past, a new path tread us ; I40 ECHO VERSES. Direct us always in Thy faith, And lead us — We, Thine own people, and Thy chosen nation, Into all truth, but Not into temptation. Thou that of all good graces art the giver. Suffer us not to wander, But deliver Us from the fierce assaults of world and devil And flesh, so shalt Thou free us From all evil. To these petitions let both Church and laymen, With one consent of heart and voice, say Amen. One of the most peculiar poems we have met with follows, and being the same in subject as the preceding, it is placed here, though properly belonging neither to this section nor any other. The initial letters of the lines form an acrostic of " My boast is in the glorious Cross of Christ." The words in Italics, when read on the left-hand side from top to bottom, and on the right hand from bottom to top, form the whole of the Lord's Prayer. Mv Boast is in the Glorious Cross of Christ. Make known the gospel truth, our Father King ; Yield up Thy grace, dear Father^ from above ; Bless us with hearts 7vhich feelingly can sing, " Our life Thou art for a'er^ God of love." ECHO VERSES. 141 Assuage our grief in love for Christ, we pray, Since the Prince of Heaven and glory died, Took away all sins, and hallowed the display, Infinite <5^ing, first man, and then was crucified. Stupendous God ! Thy grace and power make known ; In Jesus' name let all the world rejoice, Now labour in Thy heavenly kingdom own — That blessed kingdom, of Thy saints the choice. How vile to cojne to Thee, is all our cry ; Enemies to Thy self, and all that's IViine; Graceless our 7vili, we \\\efor vanity ; Loathing the very bemg, evil in design — O God, Thy will be done from earth to heaven ; Reclining on the gospel let 7is live. In earth, from sin delivered and forgiven, Oh, as Thyself, hit teach us to forgive ; Unless //s power temptation doth destroy. Sure is our fall into the depths of woe. Carnal in mind, we have not a glimpse of joy Raised against Heaven ; in us no hopes we know. Oh, give us grace, and lead us on the way ; Shine on us with Thy love, and give us peace. Self, and this sin that rise against us, slay. Oh, grant each day our trespasses may cease ; Forgive ojir evil deeds that oft we do ; Convince us daily of thetn to our shame ; Help us with heavenly bread, forgive us, too, Recurrent lusts ; and -we'W adore Thy name. In Thy/^r§-/?'(?ness we as saints can die, Since for us, and our trespasses so high, Thy Son, our Saviour, died on Calvary. 142 ECHO VERSES. Similar to the above is this verse by George Herbert : "Our life is hid with Christ in God." (Colos. iii. 3.) My words and thoughts do both express this notion, ThatZz/t" hath with the sun a double motion. The first Is straight, and our diurnal friend ; The other Hid^ and doth obliquely bend. One life is wrapt /;/ flesh, and tends to earth : The other winds toward Hhn, whose happy birth Taught me to live here so, That still one eye Should aim and shoot at that which Is on high ; Quitting with daily labour all My pleasure, To gain at harvest an eternal Treasure, ( 143 ) JESUITICAL VERSES. ESUITICAL, or, as they are sometimes called, Equivocal Verses, had their origin very much in the political and religious feuds of our ancestors. They are designed to give two very different meanings, according as they are read downwards or across. Thus, the following lines, if read as they stand, must be admired for their loyalty, but if perused in the order of the figures prefixed, a very different result is obtained : 1. I love my country — but the King 3. Above all men his praise I sing, 2. Destruction to his odious reign 4. That plague of princes, Thomas Paine ; 5. The royal banners are displayed 7. And may success the standard aid 6. Defeat and ruin seize the cause 8. Of France, her liberty, and laws. The foregoing relic of a revolutionary period may be well followed by one pertaining to Refor- 144 JESUITICAL VERSES. matlon times, which may be read either across or down the columns : The Double-faced Creed. I hold for sound faith What England's church allows, What Rome's faith saith My conscience disavows, Where the king's head The flock can take no shame The flock's misled Who hold the Pope supreme. W^here the altar's dressed The worship's scarce divine The people's blessed, Whose table's bread and wine, He's but an ass Who their communion flies Who shuns the mass Is catholic and wise. We find in another work the foregoing lines rendered into a kind of monkish Latin ; thus lending an artful aid to the cause of anarchy : 1. Pro fide teneo sana 3. Quae docet Anglicana 2. Affirmat quae Romana 4. Videntur mihi vana 5. Supremus quando rex est 7. Turn plebs est fortunata 6. Seductus ille grex est 8. Cui Papa imperator. 9. Altare cum ornatur 11. Communio fit inanis 10. Populus turn beatur 12. Cum mensa, vinum, panis, 13. Asini nomen meruit 15. Hunc morem qui non capit 14. Missam qui deseruit 16. Catholicus est et sapit. JESUITICAL VERSES. . 145 These Equivocal Verses are mostly all of the same nature, and the next seems to have been composed during the Revolution period : " I love with all my heart The Hanoverian part And for the Settlement My conscience gives consent Most righteous in the cause To fight for George's laws It is my mind and heart Though none will take my part The Tory party here Most hateful do appear I ever have denied To be on James's side To fight for such a king Will England's ruin bring In this opinion I Resolve to live and die." The promulgation of the new constitution at the first French Re^ Equivocal lines : first French Revolution gave birth to the next " The newly-made law From my soul I abhor My faith to prove good I maintain the old code May God give you peace Forsaken Noblesse May He ever confound The Assembly all round 'Tis my wish to esteem The ancient regime I maintain the new code Is opposed to'all good Messieurs Democrats To the Devil go hence All the Aristocrats Are the sole men of sense. At the beginning of the Civil War in the United States, the following curious production appeared in one of the newspapers, professedly arranged to suit all parties. The first column is the Secession, the second the Abolition Platform, read across it is the Democratic Platform, thus also representing the whole Union : 146 JESUITICAL VERSES. The Platform. Hurrah for Secession We fight for The Confederacy We love The rebellion We glory in Separation We fight not for Reconstruction We must succeed The Union We love not We never said We want Foreign intervention We cherish The stars and bars We venerate Southern chivalry Death to Abe Lincoln Down with Law and order The old Union Is a curse The Constitution Is a league with hell Free speech Is treason A free press Will not be tolerated The negro's freedom ]\Iust be obtained At every hazard We love The negro Let the Union slide The Union as it was Is played out The old flag Is a flaunting lie The habeas corpus Is hateful Jeff Davis Is'nt the Government Mob law Shall triumph. The next is not political, but is a curious speci- men of Equivocal Versification which may be read in several ways : JESUITICAL VERSES. 147 Address to my Sweetheart. Your face, So fair, First bent, Mine eye, Mine eye, To like, Your face. Doth lead, Your face, With beams, Doth blind, Mine eye, Mine eye, With life, Your face, Doth feed, O face ! With frowns, Wrong not, Mine eye. This eye, Shall joy, Your face, To serve. your tongue, so sweet, then drew, mine ear, mine ear, to learn, your tongue, doth teach, your tongue, with sound, doth charm, mine ear, mine ear, wath hope, your tongue, doth feast, O tongue ! with check, vex not, mine ear, this ear, shall bend, your tongue to trust, your wit, so sharp, then hit my heart. mine heart, to love, your wit, doth move. your wit, with art, doth rule mine heart. mine heart, with skill, your wit, doth fill. O wit ! with smart, wound not mine heart. this heart, shall swear, your wit to fear." Amongst various other ingenious contrivances adopted by the proprietors of the rosoglio houses X48 JESUITICAL VERSES. (Anglice, dram-shops) in Valetta, to attract the custom and patronage of the gallant red-jackets that occasionally swarm the streets, one individual distributed among the soldiers the following puzzle. A little study will suffice to master the mysterious document. The Invitation. Here's to Pand's Pen. DASOCI. Alhou Rinha ? R. M. (Les Smirt) Ha ! N. D. F. Unlet fri. Ends. HIPRE! ign. Beju ! Standk. Indan ! Devil's Peako ! F. N. (One.) We conclude with a " Panegyric on the Ladies," which may be read in two ways, giving totally different meanings, and we leave the reader to find out these for himself, premising that it is not at all difficult, after the examples already given. " That man must lead a happy life Who's free from matrimonial chains, Who is directed by a wife Is sure to suffer for his pains. Adam could find no solid peace When Eve was given for a mate ; JESUITICAL VERSES. 149 Until he saw a woman's face Adam was in a happy state. In all the female race appear Hypocrisy, deceit, and pride ; Truth, darling of a heart sincere, In woman never did reside. What tongue is able to unfold The failings that in woman dwell ; The worth in woman we behold Is almost imperceptible. Confusion take the man, I say, Who changes from his singleness, ^^"ho will not yield to woman's sway, Is sure of earthly blessedness." ( I50 ) MONOSYLLABIC VERSE. p^^aNE of the most curious foibles of eighteenth century poets was their disHke to mono- syllables in their verses — a dislike strik- ingly antagonistic to the opinion entertained by poets of an earlier age. In the estimation of those of more modern days, however, monosyllables occa- sionally add to the force and rhythm of a passage. Pope, in speaking of their use, rather contemp- tuously exclaims in the "Dunciad:" " And ten low words creep on in one dull line." Churchill afterwards, in the " Rosciad," where he censures Mossop, the actor, hints also at something of this nature : "With studied impropriety of speech. He soars beyond the hackney'd critic's reach ; To epithets allots emphatic state, Whilst principals, ungraced, like lackeys wait ; In ways first trodden by himself excels, And stands alone in indecUnables ; MONOSYLLABIC VERSE. 151 Conjunction, preposition, adverb, join To stamp new vigour on the nervous line ; In monosyllables his thunders roll, He, she, it, and we, ye, they, affright the soul." Rogers and Moore thought somewhat more highly than either Pope or Churchill regarding this feature in poetry, and Lord Russell's "Life of Moore" records a conversation between Crowe (author of a book on the " Structure of English Verse"), Rogers, and Moore on the use of mono- syllables, and phrases like " He jests at scars," " Sigh on my lip," " Give all thou canst," and many others, were referred to as most musical and vigo- rous. In the works of Moore himself there is a very fine specimen of the effective use of monosyllables, in a passage which occurs in the Fire-Worshippers in "Lalla Rookh"— " I knew, I knew it could not last — 'Tvvas bright, 'twas heavenly, but 'tis past ! Oh ! ever thus, from childhood's hour, I've seen my fondest hopes decay ; I never loved a tree or flower But 'twas the first to fade away. I never nursed a dear gazelle To glad me with its soft black eye. But when it came to know me well. And love me, it was sure to die ! 152 MONOSYLLABIC VERSE. Now, too — the joy most like divine Of all I ever dreamt or knew, To see thee, hear thee, call thee mine, — Oh misery ! must I lose that too ? Yet go ! On peril's brink we meet ; Those frightful rocks — that treach'rous sea — No, never come again — though sweet, Though Heaven, it may be death to thee!" This passage contains 126 words, no of which are monosyllables. The readers of "John Halifax, Gentleman," will easily recollect how highly Miss Muloch speaks in that work regarding the brothers Fletcher and their poetry. In the little-known poem of Phineas Fletcher (died about 1650) entitled "The Purple Island " — a work which, though grotesque and prolix, is smoothly versified, and has rich descrip- tive and moral passages — there is this fine specimen of monosyllabic and alliterative power in Canto I. stanza 7 : " New light new love, new love new life hath bred ; A life that lives by love, and loves by light ; A love to Him to whom all loves are wed ; A light to whom the sun is darkest night : Eye's light, heart's love, soul's only life He is ; Life, soul, love, heart, light, eye, and all are His ; He eye, light, heart, love, soul; He all my joy and bliss." MONOSYLLABIC VERSE. 153 Of the seventy words contained in this verse only two are of more than one syllable. Giles Fletcher, as well as his brother Phineas, furnishes numerous examples of monosyllabic versification, and one specimen is selected from him also, quoted from " Christ's Victory and Triumph in Heaven and Earth over and after Death," a work which, though somewhat affected, rises occasionally into lofty imaginative poetry : '• Love is the blossom where there blows Everything that lives or grows ; ' Love doth make the Heav'ns to move, And the Sun doth burn in love : Love the strong and weak doth yoke, And makes the ivy climb the oak ; Under whose shadows lions wild, Soften'd by love, grow tame and mild. Love no med'cine can appease, He burns the fishes in the seas ; Not all the skill his wounds can stench, Not all the sea his fire can quench : Love did make the bloody spear, Once a leafy coat to wear." From these two brothers many similar instances might be given, but to proceed to poets better known, we give two quotations from the "saintly" George Herbert: 154 MONOSYLLABIC VERSE. Virtue. Sweet Day, so cool, so calm, so bright, The bridal of the earth and sky, The dew shall weep thy fall to-night ; For thou must die. Sweet Rose, whose hue angry and brave. Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye. Thy root is ever in the grave, And thou must die. Sweet Spring, full of sweet days and roses, A box where sweets compacted He, My music shows ye have your closes, And all must die. Only a sweet and virtuous soul. Like season'd timber, never gives ; But though the whole world turn to coal, Then chiefly lives. The Call. Come, my ^^'ay, my Truth, my Life ; Such a ^^'ay, as gives us breath : Such a Truth, as ends all strife : Such a Life, as killeth death. Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength ; Such a Light, as shows a feast : Such a Feast, as mends in length : Such a Strength, as makes his guest. Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart ; Such a Joy, as none can move : MONOSYLLABIC VERSE. 155 Such a Love, as none can part : Such a Heart, as joys in love. Herbert's poems are full of similar passages. Shakespeare gives an instance which shows that the abrupt and broken language of passion is generally monosyllabic, as in " King John," when the widowed Constance says : *' Thou may'st, thou shalt ; I will not go with thee : I will instruct my sorrows to be proud ; For grief is proud, and makes his owner stout. To me, and to the state of my great grief, Let kings assemble \ for my griefs so great, That no supporter but the huge firm earth Can hold it up : here I and sorrow sit ; Here is my throne, bid kings come bow to it." In this there are only six words of more than one syllable. In the Library of the British Museum there is a tract of great rarity, from which Shakespeare is said to have borrowed the plot of "As You Like It." The tract is entitled "Euphue's Golden Legacy," by Thomas Lodge, a poet of the Eliza- bethan age, who was also the author of a variety of valuable productions both in prose and verse. Ellis, in his "Specimens of Early English Poets," gives three of Lodge's poems from the " Pleasant 156 MONOSYLLABIC VERSE. Historic of Glaucus and Scilla," but has omitted to mention the following madrigal, the most beautiful, perhaps, of all Lodge's compositions, and it is given here as an excellent illustration of mono- syllabic verse, few words of more than one syllable aj^ipearing in it. Madrigal. Love in my bosom, like a bee, Doth sucke his sweete ; Now with his wings he plays with me, Now with his feete. Within mine eyes he makes his nest. His bed amid my tender breast ; ]\Iy kisses are his daily feast, And yet he robs me of my rest. Strike I my lute — he tunes the string, He music plays, if I do sing ; He lends me every living thing. Yet cruel he my heart doth sting. What, if I beat the wanton boy With many a rod, He will repay me with annoy. Because a god. Then sit thou safely on my knee, And let thy bower my bosom be; Cupid ! so thou pity me, 1 will not wish to part from thee. MONOSYLLABIC VERSE. 157 Coleridge considered that the most beautiful verse, and also the most sublime, in the Bible was that in the book of Ezekiel which says — "And He said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live ? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest." Here are seventeen monosyllables, and only three words of two syllables. The author of the "Night Thoughts," also, in a very impressive passage, says — " The bell strikes one. We take no note of time Save by its loss ; to give it then a tongue Was wise in man." The following lines of Hall, satirising the vanity of those who take pleasure in adding house to house and field to field, — " Fond fool, six feet shall serve for all thy store, And he that cares for most shall find no more " — gave occasion for the historian Gibbon's apprecia- tive remark, " What harmonious monosyllables ! " { 158 ) NONSENSE VERSE, &c. ^ ^^^ HE French had at one time a favourite and ingenious kind of versification called Amphigourie, or Nonsense Verse. The word is derived from two Greek words signifying about and circle, and the object was to give verses the appearance of good sense and fine poetry, while in reality meaning nothing whatever ! The primary example given is richly-rhymed, elegantly expressed, but actual nonsense ! It is taken from Disraeli's " Curiosities of Literature." Amphigourie. Qu'il est heureux de se de'fendre Quand le coeur ne s'est pas rendu ! Mais qu'il est facheux de se rendre Quand le bonheur est suspendu ! Par un discours sans suite et tendre, ifigarez un coeur eperdu ; Souvent par un mal-entendu L'amant adroit se fait entendre. NOiVSENSE VERSE, ETC. 159 IMITATED. How happy' to defend our heart, When Love has never thrown a dart ! But ah ! unhappy when it bends, If pleasure her soft bliss suspends ! Sweet in a wild disordered strain, A lost and wandering heart to gain, Oft in mistaken language wooed The skilful lover's understood. The preceding was sung by the celebrated Madame Tencin one evening to Fontenelle, and they bore such a resemblance to meaning that Fontenelle requested they should be repeated. " Do you not perceive," said the witty authoress, "that they are nonsense?" "Ah," replied the poet, sarcastically, "they are so much like the fine verses I have heard here, that it is not surprising I should be for once mistaken ! " Pope furnishes the best English specimen of this kind of poetry — the " Song by a Person of Quality," and it is believed to have been written to ridicule certain namby-pamby poets of his day. The lines are as follow : Song, by a Person of Quality. Fluttering spread thy purple pinions, Gentle Cupid, o'er my heart. l6o A^ONSENSE VERSE, ETC. I 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 yon flowery rocks. Thus the Cyprian goddess weeping. Mourned Adonis, darling youth : Him the boar, in silence creeping. Gored with unrelenting tooth. Cynthia, tune harmonious numbers ; Fair Discretion, tune the lyre ; Soothe my ever-waking slumbers ; Bright Apollo, lend thy choir. Gloomy Pluto, king of terrors. Armed 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 pay my dying vows. Melancholy, smooth Maeander, Swiftly purling in a round. On thy margin lovers wander With thy flowery chaplets crowned. Thus when Philomela, drooping. Softly seeks her silent mate, NONSENSE VERSE, ETC. i6i So the bird of Juno stooping; Melody resigns to fate. Gilbert Wakefield, Pope's talented commentator, actually misapprehended the nature of the above composition, and wrote some pages of his Com- mentary to support his assertion that the poem was disjointed and obscure ! * Examples of true Nonsense Verse are not numerous, but we find the following two in the pages of " Fun." A Chronicle. Once — but no matter when — There lived — no matter where — A man, whose name — but then I need not that declare. He — well, he had been born, And so he was ahve ; His age — I details scorn — Was somethingty and five. He lived — how many years I truly can't decide ; I3ut this one fact appears He lived — until he died. " He died," I have averred, But cannot prove 'twas so, * This song, though generally attributed to Pope, is believed by some to have been the work of Swift, and it appears in some editions of his works. {Vidt Pickering's, 3 vols. 1833.) L 1 62 NONSENSE VERSE, ETC. But that he was interred, At any rate, I know. I fancy he'd a son, I hear he had a wife : Perhaps he'd more than one, I know not, on my Ufe ! But whether he was rich, Or whether he was poor, Or neither — both — or which, I cannot say, I'm sure. I can't recall his name, Or what he used to do : But then — well, such is fame ! 'Twill so serve me and you. And that is why I thus. About this unknown man Would fain create a fuss, To rescue, if I can. From dark oblivion's blow. Some record of his lot : But, ah ! I do not know Who — where — when — why— or what. MORAL. In this brief pedigree A moral we should find — But what it ought to be Has quite escaped my mind ! NOA'SENSE VERSE, ETC. 163 Lines by a Medium /// communication with the late L. Murray. I might not, if I could ; I should not, if I might ; Yet if I should I would, And, shoulding, I should quite ! I must not, yet I may ; I can, and still I must ; But ah ! I cannot — nay, To must I may not, just ! I shall, although I will. But be it understood, If I may, can, shall — still I might, could, would, or should ! Some authors, however, write Nonsense Verses .without intending it — as, for instance, Stonihurst, in his translation of Virgil, rendered a really sub- lime passage into the following extraordinary lines : " Then did he make Heaven's vault to rebound With rounce robble bobble, Of ruffce raffe roaring. With thicke thwacke thurly bouncing." The following curious verse is said to have been on a gravestone at one time in the churchyard of Homersfield, Suffolk, over the body of Robert I64 NONSENSE VERSE, ETC. Crytoft, who died November 17, 18 10, and it is very like nonsense : ]\Iyself. As I walked by myself I talked to myself, And thus myself said to me, Look to thyself and take care of thyself. For nobody cares for thee. So I turned to myself, and I answered myself, In the self-same reverie, Look to myself or look not to myself, The self-same thing will it be. One of Theodore Hook's witty associates, the Rev. Edward Cannon, wrote the following piece of unparalleled nonsense : Impromptu. If down his throat a man should choose In fun, to jump or slide, He'd scrape his shoes against his teeth. Nor dirt his own inside. Or if his teeth were lost and gone. And not a stump to scrape upon, He'd see at once how very pat, His tongue lay there, by way of mat, And he would wipe his feet on that ! There are strungtogetherhereavariety of curious nonsensical pieces, not in the sense of their being Amphigouries, but because they deserve a place ArONSENSE VERSE, ETC. 165 for their excellence in some ludicrous point or feature. The first is credited to Alfred Crowquil : To My Nose. Knows he, who never took a pinch, Nosey ! the pleasure thence which flows ? Knows he the titillating joy That my nose knows ? nose ! I am as proud of thee, As any mountain of its snows ; 1 gaze on thee, and feel that pride A Roman knows. The description here given of Bridget Brady by her lover, Thaddeus Ruddy, a bard who lived about the middle of the seventeenth century, is excellent : "She's as straight as a pine on the mountain of Kihiiannon ; She's as fair as the lilies on the banks of the Shannon ; Her breath is as sweet as the blossoms of Drumcallan, And her breasts gently swell like the waves of Lough Allan ; Her eyes are as mild as the dews of Dunsany, Her veins are as pure as the blue bells of Slaney ; Her words are as smooth as the pebbles of Tervvinny, And her hair flows adown like the streamlets of Finney." Our life-long friend, Mr. Punch, some years ago furnished his readers with this single-rhymed verse : A Word of Welcome. A Commissioner from Pondicherry, named Checka- l66 NONSENSE VERSE, ETC. bendalcadermarecar, has arrived in Paris, bringing a lac of rupees (125,000 francs) for the emigrants from Alsace- Lorraine. Come, Frenchmen, sound his fame afar, Checkabendalcadermarecar ! Due your best words of welcome are To Checkabendalcadennarecar ! Greet him with gittern or guitar, Checkabendalcadermarecar ! Let his long name be ne'er a bar, Checkabendalcadermarecar ! In brightest salons bid him star, Checkabendalcadermarecar ! He comes to heal the wounds of war, Checkabendalcadermarecar ! He helps to raise your funds to par, Checkabendalcadermarecar ! So let no cloud your welcome mar Of Checkabendalcadermarecar ! The custom of using compound words was very prevalent in Ben Jonson's time, and he called them " un-in-one-breath-utterable." This practice was also common among the Sophists, and Scaliger has an epigram satirising them as — " Lofty-brow-flourishers, N ose-in-beard-wallo wers, Bag-and-beard-nourishers, Dish-and-all-swallowers. NONSENSE VERSE, ETC. 167 Old-cloak-investitors, Barefoot-look-fashioners, Night-private- feast-eaters, Craft-lucubrationers, Youth-cheaters, word-catchers, vain-glory-osophers, Such are your seekers-of-virtue philosophers." The following Jingling Rhymes deserve a place as a curiosity: " A fly got caught, once in a web, And soon the spider spied her. A donkey pricked her ears and brayed, Just to deride her rider. Quite oft a lady, when she's vexed, Will make a feint in fainting, She uses it but to deceive, — As she does paint in painting. If you will eat too much, 'tis plain, You sure will grow, sir, grosser : If you persist in drinking rum, 'Twill paint your nose, sir, know, sir ! To sober keep, I signed the pledge — My sole design in signing ; Some men throw all their cash away, But I spend mine in mining. I must confess I love the weed. And when I choose, sir, chew, sir. I don't play cards — I find that I, When I play loo, sir, lose, sin Although I'm tempted to transgress, Each day instead, I stead eye, i6S NONSENSE VERSE, ETC. Forswear gay pleasure's blandishments — Turn from the ready 'red eye.' I can't play billiards — when I miss I don't accuse a cue, sir. If you can play a better game I'll take a view of you, sir. Some rhymes may more mellifluent sound, But you can't meet a metre Will puzzle you much more than this, Though quite as sweet or sweeter." There appears to be no end to the vagaries and nonsensical notions of poets, and the next ex- amples are from the other side of the Atlantic — the first being a hit at the curious names of Ameri- can rivers, which, though with features in nature frequently excelling those of Europe in beauty and sublimity, yet have been named in the New World in a most unfortunate manner. Witness Bigmuddy River and Littlemuddy River, Little Shallow River, Good Woman River, Little Woman River, Blowing Fly Creek, and many others to the same tune. When the western parts of the United States shall have a full quota of civilised inhabitants, cities, scholars, and poets, how sweetly shall such names sound in their verse ! " Ye plains where sweet Bigmuddy rolls along. And Teapot, one day to be famed in song ; NONSENSE VERSE, ETC. 169 Where swans on Biscuit and on Grandstone glide, And willows wave on Good Woman's side ; How shall your happy streams in after time, Tune the soft lay and fill the sonorous rhyme ! Blest bards, who in your amorous verse will call On murmuring Pork and gentle Cannon Ball, Split Rock, and Stick Lodge, and Two Thousand Mile, White Lime, and Cupboard, and Bad Humoured Isle ! Flow, Little Shallow, flow, and be thy stream Their great example as 'twill be their theme ! Isis with Rum and Onion must not vie, Cam shall resign the palm to Blowing Fly, And Thames and Tagus yield to Big Little Dry ! " Lines to Miss Florence Huntingdon. (rassa7naqicoddi/, Maine. ) Sweet maiden of Passamaquoddy, Shall we seek for communion of souls Where the deep Mississippi meanders, Or the distant Saskatchewan rolls ? Ah no, — for in Maine I will find thee A sweetly sequestrated nook, Where the far-winding Skoodoowabskooksis Conjoins with the Skoodoowabskook. There wander two beautiful rivers, With many a winding and crook ; The one is the Skoodoowabskooksis, The other — the Skoodoowabskook. Ah, sweetest of haunts ! though unmentioncd In geography, atlas, or book, I70 NONSENSE VERSE, ETC. How fair is the Skoodoowabskooksis, When joining the Skoodoowabskook ! Our cot shall be close by the waters Within that sequestrated nook — Reflected in Skoodoowabskooksis, And mirrored in Skoodoowabskook. You shall sleep to the music of leaflets, By zephyrs, in wantonness shook, And dream of the Skoodoowabskooksis, And, perhaps, of the Skoodoowabskook. When awaked by the hens and the roosters. Each morn, you shall joyously look On the junction of Skoodoowabskooksis, With the soft gliding Skoodoowabskook. Your food shall be fish from the waters, Drawn forth on the point of a hook, From murmuring Skoodoowabskooksis, Or wandering Skoodoowabskook ! You shall quaff the most sparkling of water. Drawn forth from a silvery brook Which flows to the Skoodoowabskooksis, And then to the Skoodoowabskook ! And_>'^« shall preside at the banquet. And /will wait on thee as cook ; And we'll talk of the Skoodoowabskooksis, And sing of the Skoodoowabskook ! Let others sing loudly of Saco, Of Quoddy, and Tattamagouche, NONSENSE VERSE, ETC. 171 Of Kennebeccasis, and Quaco, Of Merigonishe, and Buctouche, Of Nashwaak, and Magaguadavique, Or Memmerimammericook, — There's none like the Skoodoowabskooksis, Excepting the Skoodoowabskook ! Autumn Days. (^Manufactured by Peleg Wale's Mac/iifie.) The melancholy days have come, The saddest of the year ; Gone are the partridge and the plum, The falling leaves are sere ; The partridge now forgets to drum, The squirrel to* uprear His merry tail, the brooks are glum : The angels disappear ; The crow pursues the vagrant crumb, Too grateful for the cheer ; The top has ceased its summer hum, The kites are out of gear ; O'er mother Earth a fierce autumn Inverts its icy spear. Each morning some imbibe their rum, And some absorb their beer ; Young soldiers mumble " fi-fo-fum," To drive away their fear. Blithe, happy, joyous school-girls thrum Pianos far and near, 172 NONSENSE VERSE, ETC. Or eat the cake of Sally Lunn, Or Clara Vere de Vere ; While others go to chewing gum, Or check the truant tear. A blind young man did once calum- Niate his precious dear, And railed, instead of being mum. Because he did not see her. Another man got deaf and dumb Because he could not hear ; But when with cold his feet got numb, He turned in his career, And danced a polka on his thumb, And walked off on his ear. ( Something broken "j plumb, < in the V queer, (. machine ! J tum-ti-tum •' K-ch-k-r-r-r-V-r-r-e-er ! A Dr. Fitzgerald at one time wrote a poem upon his native village of Tipperary, in which occur these two lines — " And thou ! dear village, loveliest of the clime, Fain would I name thee, but I scant in rhyme." Dr. Fitzgerald's failure to find a rhyme for Tipperary drew forth the following curious com- position : " A poet there was in sad quandary, To find a rhyme for Tipperary. NONSENSE VERSE, ETC. 173 Long laboured he through January, Yet found no rhyme for Tipperary ; Toiled every day in February, But toiled in vain for Tipperary ; Searched Hebrew text and commentary. But searched in vain for Tipperary ; Bored all his friends in Inverary, To find a rhyme for Tipperary ; Implored the aid of ' Paddy Gary,' Yet still no rhyme for Tipperary ; He next besought his mother Mary To tell him rhyme for Tipperary ; But she, good woman, was no fairy, Nor witch, — though born in Tipperary ; Knew everything about her dairy. But not the rhyme for Tipperary ; The stubborn muse he could not vary, For still the lines would run contrary Whene'er he thought on Tipperary. And though of time he was not chary, 'Twas thrown away on Tipperary, Till of his wild-goose chase most weary, He vowed he'd leave out Tipperary. But, no — the theme he might not vary. His longing was not temporary, To find meet rhyme for Tipperary. He sought among the gay and air}-, He pestered all the military. Committed many a strange vagary. Bewitched, it seemed, by Tipperary. He wrote, post-haste, to Darby Leary, Besought with tears his Aunty Sairic ; 174 A'ONSENSE VERSE, ETC. But sought he far, or sought he near, he Ne'er found a rhyme for Tipperary. He travelled sad through Cork and Kerry, He drove like mad through sweet Dunleary, Kicked up a precious tantar-ara, But found no rhyme for Tipperary ; Lived fourteen weeks at Stan-ar-ara, Was well-nigh lost in Glenegary, Then started slick for Demerara, In search of rhyme for Tipperary. Through Yankee-land, sick, solitary, He roamed by forest, lake, and prairie, He w&nt per terram et per mare, But found no rhyme for Tipperary. Through orient climes on dromedary, On camel's back through great Sahara ; His travels were extraordinary In search of rhyme for Tipperary. Fierce as a gorgon or chimgera, Fierce as Alecto or Megrera, Fiercer than e'er a love-sick bear, he Ranged through the ' londe ' of Tipperary. His cheeks grew thin and wondrous hairy, His visage long, his aspect ' eerie,' His tout ensemble, faith, would scare ye, Amidst the wilds of Tipperary. Becoming hypochon-dri-ary, He sent for his apothecary, Who ordered ' balm ' and ' saponary,' Herbs rare to find in Tipperary. In his potations ever wary. His choicest drink was * home gooseberry.' ■ NONSENSE VERSE, ETC. On swipes, skim-milk, and smallest beer, he Scanted rhyme for his Tipperary. Had he imbibed good old Madeira, Drank pottle-deep of golden sherry, Of FalstafPs sack, or ripe Canary, No rhyme had lacked for Tipperary. Or had his tastes been Uterary, He might have found extemporary Without the aid of dictionary, Some fitting rhyme for Tipperary. Or had he been an antiquary. Burnt midnight oil in his library, Or been of temper less ' camstary,' Rhymes had not lacked for Tipperary. He paced about his aviary. Blew up, sky-high, his secretary. And then in wrath and anger sware he, There was no rhyme for Tipperary." ( 176 ) CENTONES OR MOSAICS. CENTO is properly a piece of patchwork, and hence the term has been applied to poems composed of selected verses or passages from an author, or from different authors, strung together in such a way as to present an entirely new reading. This trick of verse-manu- facture was a favourite pastime in the Middle Ages, and popular among the Romans during the declining years of the Empire. Of the earliest of these were the " Homero-Centones," a patchwork of lines from Homer (edited by Teucher at Leipsic, 1793), the "Cento Nuptialis" of Ausonius, and the " Cento Virgilianus '^ of Proba Falconia in the fourth century. Another early Cento was one of spiritual hymns made up from lines in the works of Horace and Virgil by a monk named Mctillus in the twelfth century. The Cento of Proba Falconia is also selected from the works of Virgil, and contains the history of Adam and Eve, together with a life of CENTONES OR MOSAICS. 177 our Saviour. The authoress was the wife of a Roman proconsul, and belonged to the Anician family, one of the first in the senatorial rank to embrace the doctrines of Christianity in the days of Constantine. A brief notice of this lady will be found in the 3 ist chapter of Gibbon's " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." A passage from this Cento by Proba Falcon ia may be given : ExpULSio Adami et Ev.« de Paradiso. At juveni primlim s^evus circumstetit horror, Diriguere oculi, nee se celare tenebris Amplius, aut notas audire et reddere voces. Hand mora festinant jussi, rapidisque feruntur Passibus, et pariter gressi per opaca viarum, Corripiunt spatium medium, limenque relinquunt, Flentes, et paribus curis vestigia figunt. Tunc victum in sylvis baccas, lapidosaque corna Dant rami, et vulsis pascunt radicibus barbae. The second part of Proba's work concludes with the following verse : Christus ascendit ad Ccelos. His demum exactis, spirantes dimovet auras Aera per tenuem, cceloque invectus aperto, Mortales visus medio in sermone reliquit, Infert se septus nebula (mirabile dictu) Atque ilium solio stellantis regia coeli Accipit, ajternumque tenet per sa^cula nomen. Those desirous of further information res:ardino- 178 ■ CENTONES OR MOSAICS. the work of Proba Falconia and of various others who "wrote" poems of this class in Latin, may- consult a French work entitled "Tableau de la Litterature du Centon," by Octave Delepierre (2 vols., Triibner & Co., 1875). In that work there is also mention of a Latin Cento by the Scottish poet, Alexander Ross (i 590-1654), who wrote a number of works, most of which are entirely for- gotten. His Cento was called " Virgilius Evange- lizans," being a life of Christ, taken wholly from the works of Virgil; but Ross is perhaps best remembered by the lines in Butler's " Hudibras " : " There was an ancient sage philosopher, And he had read Alexander Ross over." What appears to be the earliest English Cento was communicated by Dodsley to his friend Berenger, as the composition of one of the members of a society which met annually to celebrate the birth of Shakespeare. On the Birthday of Shakespeare. i^A Cento taken from his J Forks.) Peace to this meeting, Joy and fair time, health and good wishes. Now, worthy friends, the cause why we are met, Is in celebration of the day that gave CENTONES OR MOSAICS. 179 Immortal Shakespeare to this favoured isle, The most replenished sweet work of Nature Which from the prime creation e'er she framed. O thou, divinest Nature ! how thyself thou blazon'st In this thy son ! formed in thy prodigality To hold thy mirror up, and give the time Its very form and pressure ! ^^'hen he speaks, Each aged ear plays truant at his tales, And younger hearings are quite ravished ; So voluble is his discourse. Gentle As zephyr blowing underneath the violet. Not wagging its sweet head — yet as rough His noble blood enchafed, as the rude wind, That by the top doth take the mountain pine, And make him stoop to the vale. 'Tis wonderful That an invisible instinct should frame him To loyalty, unlearned ; honour, untaught ; Civility, not seen in others ; knowledge. That wildly grows in him, but yields a crop As if it had been sown. What a piece of work I How noble in faculty ! infinite in reason ! A combination and a form indeed. Where every god did seem to set his seal. Heaven has him now ! Yet let our idolatrous fancy Still sanctify his relics ; and this day Stand aye distinguished in the kalendar To the last syllable of recorded time : For if we take him but for all in all. We ne'er shall look upon his like again. English poems of this class are very scarce, and the exceeding difficulty of their production will be i8o CENTONES OR MOSAICS. evident from the examples which follow. " Life " is said to have occupied a year's laborious search among the voluminous writings of thirty-eight leading poets of the past and present times. The compilation first appeared in the " San Francisco Times," and was the work of Mrs. H. A. Deming. The numbers prefixed to the lines refer to the authors from whom they are taken, their names being given at the end : LIFE. 1. Why all this toil for triumphs of an hour? 2. Life's a short summer, man a flower. 3. By turns we catch the vital breath and die — 4. The cradle and the tomb, alas ! so nigh. 5. To be, is better far than not to be, 6. Though all man's life may seen a tragedy ; 7. But light cares speak when mighty griefs are dumb, 8. The bottom is but shallow whence they come. 9. Your fate is but the common lot of all : 10. Unmingled joys here to no man befall, 11. Nature to each allots his proper sphere ; 12. Fortune makes folly her peculiar care ; 13. Custom does often reason overrule, 14. And throw a cruel sunshine on a fool. I 5. Live well ; how long or short, permit to Heaven ; 16. They who forgive most, shall be most forgiven. 17. Sin may be clasped so close that we cannot see its face — 18. Vile intercourse where virtue has no place. 19. Then keep each passion down, however dear ; 20. Thou pendulum bewixt a smile and tear. CENTONES OR MOSAICS. i8i 21. Her sensual snares, let faithless pleasures lay, 22. With craft and skill, to ruin and betray ; 23. Soar not too high to fall, but stoop to rise, 24. We masters grow of all that we despise. 25. Oh, then, I renounce that impious self-esteem ; 26. Riches have wings, and grandeur is a dream. 27. Think not ambition wise because 'tis brave, 28. The paths of glory lead but to the grave. 29. What is ambition 1 — 'tis a glorious cheat ! — 30. Only destructive to the brave and great. 31. What's all the gaudy glitter of a crown ? 32. The way to bliss lies not on beds of down. 33. How long we live, not years but actions tell ; 34. That man lives twice who lives the first life well. 35. Make, then, while yet we may, your God your friend, 36. Whom Christians worship yet not comprehend. yj. The trust that's given guard, and to yourself be just ; 38. For, live we how we can, yet die we must. I. Young; 2. Dr. Johnson; 3. Pope; 4. Prior; 5. Sewel ; 6. Spenser; 7. Daniell ; 8. Sir Walter Raleigh ; 9. Longfellow; 10. Southwell; 11. Congreve ; 12. Churchill; 13. Rochester; 14. Armstrong ; 15. Milton ; i6. Bailey ; 17. Trench ; 18. Somerville ; 19. Thomson; 20. Byron; 21. Smollett; 22. Crabbe ; 23. Massinger ; 24. Cowley ; 25. Beattie ; 26. Cowper ; 27. Sir Walter Davenant ; 28. Gray; 29. Willis; 30. Addison; 31. Dryden ; 32. Francis Quarles ; 33. Watkins ; 34. llerrick ; 35. William Mason ; 36. Hill ; 37. Dana ; 38. Shakespeare. The next Mosaic poem appeared some years ago in Notes and Queries^ in a conmiunication signed James Monk, and is entitled — The Poets' "Essay on Man." 1. What strange infatuation rules mankind, 2. What different spheres to human bliss assigned ; 1 82 CEyTOXES OR MOSAICS. 3. To loftier things your finer pulses burn, 4. If man would but his finer nature learn ; 5. What several ways men to their calling have, 6. And grasp at life though sinking to the grave. 7. Ask what is human life ? the sage replies, 8. Wealth, pomp, and honour are but empty toys ; 9. We trudge, we travel, but from pain to pain, ID. Weak, timid landsmen, on life's stormy main ; I T. We only toil who are the first of things, ' 1 2. From labour health, from health contentment springs. 13. Fame runs before us as the morning star, 14. How little do we know that which we are ; 15. Let none then here his certain knowledge boast, 16. Of fleeting joys too certain to be lost ; 1 7. For over all there hangs a cloud of fear, 18. All is but change and separation here. 19. To smooth life's passage o'er its stormy way, 20. Sum up at night what thou hast done by day ; 21. Be rich in patience if thou in gudes be poor ; 22. So many men do stoope to sight unsure ; 23. Choose out the man to virtue best inclined, 24. Throw envy, folly, prejudice behind ; 25. Defer not till to-morrow to be wise, 26. Wealth heaped on wealth, nor truth, nor safety buys; 27. Remembrance worketh with her busy train. 28. Care draws on care, woe comforts woe again ; 29. On high estates huge heaps of care attend, 30. No joy so great but runneth to an end ; 31. No hand applaud what honour shuns to hear, 32. Who casts off shame, should likewise cast off fear; CENTONES OR MOSAICS. i8j 2,'^. Grief haunts us down the precipice of years. 34. Virtue alone no dissolution fears ; 35. Time loosely spent will not again be won, 36. What shall I do to be for ever known ? 37. But now the wane of life comes darkly on, 38. After a thousand mazes overgone ; 39. In this brief state of trouble and unrest, 40. Man never is, but always to be blest. 41. Time is the present hour, the past is fled, 42. O thou Futurity, our hope and dread. 43. How fading are the joys we dote upon, 44. Lo ! while I speak the present moment's gone. 45. O Thou Eternal Arbiter of things, 46. How awful is the hour when conscience stings ! 47. Conscience, stern arbiter in every breast, 48. The fluttering wish on wing that will not rest. 49. This above all, — To thine own self be true, 50. Learn to live well, that thou may'st die so too. 51. To those that list the world's gay scenes I leave, 52. Some ills we wish for, when we wish to live, I. Chatterton ; 2. Rogers ; 3. Sprague ; 4. Dana ; 5. Ben Jonson 6. Falconer ; 7. Cowper ; 8. Ferguson ; 9. Qiiarles ; 10. Burns II. Tennyson ; 12. Beattie ; 13. Dryden ; 14. Byron ; 15. Pomfret 16. Waller; 17. Hood; 18. Steele; 19. Dwight; 20. Herbert 21. Dunbar ; 22. Whitney ; 23. Rowe ; 24. Langhorne ; 25 Congreve ; 26. Dr. Johnson ; 27. Goldsmith ; 28. Drayton ; 29 Webster; 30. Southwell; 31. Thomson; 32. Sheridan Knowles 33. Landor ; 34. Edward Moore ; 35. Greene ; 36. Cowley ; 37 Joanna Baillie ; 38. Keats ; 39. B. Barton ; 40. Pope ; 41. Marsden 42. Elliot ; 43. Blair ; 44. Oldham ; 45. Akenside ; 46. Percival 47. J. A. Hillhouse ; 48. Mallet; 49. Shakespeare; 50. Sir J Denham ; 51. Spenser; 52. Young. 1 84 CENTO.VES OR MOSAICS. The preceding was shortly after supplemented by another, professedly taken from a very scarce work called " The Lonsdale Magazine," and en- titled Marriage. 1 . Marriage, if rightly understood, Gives to the tender and the good, 2. The eye, where pure affection beams, The tear, from tenderness that streams — 3. Whate'er a blooming world contains. That wings the air, that skims the plains. 4. Go search among your idle dreams, Your busy or your vain extremes, And find a life of equal bliss. Or own the next begun in this. 5. Cordial of life, thus marriage pours Her comfort on our heavier hours. 6. The hour that rolls for ever on, Tells us years must soon be gone — 7. Say, dost thou not at evening hour Feel some soft and secret power Gliding o'er thy yielding mind, 8. Nor leave one wretched thought behind ? 9. Come press my lips and lie with me, 10. From avarice and ambition free ; 11. Or say, what soft propitious hour, I best may choose to hail thy power ! 12. Plain innocence, in white arrayed, Before us lifts her fearless head ; C EN TONES OR MOSAICS. 185 13. Whose yielding hearts and joining hands Find blessings twisted with our bands. 14. If these delights thy mind can move, Come live with me and be my love. I. Cotton ; 2. Logan ; 3. Ogilvie ; 4. Parnell ; 5. Graves ; 6. Dwight ; 7. Langhorne ; 8. Montgomery; 9. Kirke White; 10. Cowper ; 11. Barbauld ; 12. Thomson; 13. Watts; 14. Marlowe. Laman Blanchard, a number of years ago, in George Cruikshank's "Omnibus" published the following Mosaic pieces as "poems bearing no resemblance to anything ever before offered to the public." They are, to all intents and purposes — at least so far as a train of connected ideas go — utter absurdities, and properly should be classed as Nonsense Verses. Mr. Blanchard sarcastically states that he found these poems among the MSS. of one of Sir Fretful Plagiary's numerous descen- dants, and thinks that if any reader of the verses should be reminded of poets past and present, it can only be because the profusely-gifted bard has clustered together more remarkable and memor- able lines than any of his predecessors. " That poem," Mr. Blanchard goes on to say, "can be of no inferior order of merit, in which Milton would have been proud to have written one line, Pope would have been equally vain of the authorship of 1 86 CENTOyES OR MOSAICS. a second, Byron have rejoiced in a third, Campbell gloried in a fourth. Gray in a fifth, Cowper in a sixth, and so on to the end of the Ode ; which thus realises the poetical wealth of that well-known line of Sir Fretful's — 'Infinite riches in a little room.'" Among these productions of Mr. Blanchard's were the following three : Ode to the Human Heart. Blind Thamyris, and blind Maeonides, Pursue the triumph and partake the gale ! Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees, To point a moral or adorn a tale. Full many a gem of purest ray serene, I'houghts that do often lie too deep for tears, Like angels' visits, few and far between, Deck the long vista of departed j'ears. Man never is, but always to be blest ; The tenth transmitter of a foolish face. Like Aaron's serpent, swallows up the rest. And makes a sunshine in the shady place. For man the hermit sighed, till woman smiled. To waft a feather or to drown a fly, (In wit a man, simplicity a child,) With silent finger pointing to the sky. C EN TONES OR MOSAICS. 187 But fools rush in where angels fear to tread, Far out amid the melancholy main ; As when a vulture on Imaus bred, Dies of a rose in aromatic pain. Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, Look on her face, and you'll forget them all ; Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest, A hero perish, or a sparrow fall. My way of life is fallen into the sere ; I stood in Venice on the Bridge of Sighs, Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear, Who sees through all things with his half-shut eyes. Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness ! Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, Fine by degrees and beautifully less, And die ere man can say "Long live the Queen !" Whatever is, is Right. Lives there a man with soul so dead, Who never to himself has said, ' Shoot folly as it flies ' ? Oh ! more than tears of blood can tell, Are in that word, farewell, farewell ! 'Tis folly to be wise. And what is friendship but a name, I'hat boils on Etna's breast of flame ? Thiis runs the world awa)-. 1 88 CENTONES OR MOSAICS. Sweet is the ship that's under sail To where yon taper cheers the vale, With hospitable ray ! Drink to me only with thine eyes Through cloudless climes and starry skies ! My native land, good night ! Adieu, adieu, my native shore \ 'Tis Greece, but living Greece no more — Whatever is, is right ! On Life, et cetera. Know then, this truth, enough for man to know : Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow; Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow. Retreating lightly with a lowly fear From grave to gay, from lively to severe, To err is human, to forgive divine, And wretches hang that jurymen may dine Like quills upon the fretful porcupine. All are but parts of one stupendous whole, The feast of reason and the flow of soul. We ne'er shall look upon his like again. For panting time toils after him in vain, And drags, at each remove, a lengthening chain ; Allures to brighter worlds, and leads the way With sweet, reluctant, amorous delay ! Another attempt at this laborious trifling ap- C EN TONES OR MOSAICS. 189 peared in the People s Friend oi May 1871, evincing great patience and research : 1. A glorious devil, large in heart and brain, 2. Doomed for a certain term to walk the night, 3. The world forsaking with a calm disdain, 4. Majestic rises on the astonished sight. 5. Type of the wise who soar, but never roam, — 6. Mark how it mounts to man's imperial race ! 7. High is his perch, but humble is his home, 8. Fast anchored in the deep abyss of space. 9. And oft the craggy cliff he loved to climb, I o. Where Punch and Scaramouch aloft are seen ; 11. Where Science mounts in radiant car sublime, 12. And twilight fairies tread the circled green. 13. And, borne aloft by the sustaining blast, 14. Whom no man fully sees, and none can see ; 15. 'Wildered and weary, sits him down at last, 16. Beneath the shelter of an aged tree. 1 7. I will not stop to tell how far he fled, 1 8. To view the smile of evening on the sea ; 19. He tried to smile, and, half succeeding, said, 20. ' I smell a loUer in the wind,' said he. 21. 'What if the lion in his rage I meet?' 22. (The Muse interprets thus his tender thought.) 23. The scourge of Heaven ! what terrors round him wait ! 24. From planet whirled to planet more remote. I90 CENTONES OR MOSAICS. 25. Thence higher still, by countless steps conveyed, 26. Remote from towns he ran his godly race ; 27. He lectured every youth that round him played — 28. The jostling tears ran down his honest face. 29. 'Another spring !' his heart exulting cries. 30. Vain are his weapons, vainer is his force ; 31. A milk-white lion of tremendous size 32. Lays him along the snows a stiffened corpse. Ty'Ty. The hay-cock rises, and the frequent rake 34. Looks on the bleeding foe that made him bleed ; 35. And the green lizard and the golden snake 36. Pause at the bold irrevocable deed. 37. Will ye one transient ray of gladness dart, 38. To bid the genial tear of pity flow ? 39. By Heaven ! I would rather coin my heart, 40. Or Mr. Miller's, commonly called Joe ! I. Tennyson ; 2. Shakespeare ; 3. Thomson ; 4. Taite ; 5. Words- worth; 6. Pope ; 7. Grahame ; 8. Cowper; 9. Beattie ; 10. Rogers ; II. Hemans ; 12. Collins; 13. Longfellow ; 14. Prior; 15. Beattie ; 16. Burns; 17. Wordsworth; 18. Hemans; 19. Crabbe ; 20. Chaucer; 21. Collins; 22. Beattie; 23. Gray; 24. Campbell; 25. Bloomfield ; 26. Rogers ; 27. Goldsmith ; 28. Burns ; 29. Bloomfield ; 30. Byron; 31. Falconer ; 32. Thomson; 33. Joanna Baillie ; 34. Byron ; 35. Shelley ; 36. Euripides ; 37. Beattie ; 38- Hemans ; 39. Shakespeare ; 40. Horace Smith. We conclude the Centones or Mosaics with the following, gathered from some of the most popular poets : CENTONES OR MOSAICS. 191 "The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, In every dime from Lapland to Japan ; To fix one spark of beauty's tieavenly ray — The proper study of mankind is man. Tell, for you can, what is it to be wise, Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain ; * The Man of Ross ! ' each lisping babe replies, And drags, at each remove, a lengthening chain. Ah ! who can tell how hard it is to climb, Far as the solar walk or milky way ? Procrastination is the thief of time, Let Hercules himself do what he may. 'Tis education forms the common mind, The feast of reason and the flow of soul ; I must be cruel only to be kind. And waft a sigh from Indus to the pole. Syphax ! I joy to meet you thus alone, Where'er I roam, whatever lands I see ; A youth to fortune and to fame unknown, In maiden meditation fancy free. Farewell ! and wheresoe'er thy voice be tried, Why to yon mountain turns the gazing eye. With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side, That teach the rustic moralist how to die. Pity the sorrows of a poor old man. Whose beard descending swept his aged breast ; Laugh where we must, be candid where we can, Man never is, but always to be blest." ( 192 ) ANAGRAMS. N Anagram is formed by the transposition of the component letters of a word or phrase so as to give a new word or sen- tence, and though anagrams may be of small value in a literary point of view, yet they are not alto- gether devoid of a certain degree of interest. Originally anagrams signified simply a reversal of the order of the letters in a word, as in live, which when reversed becomes evil, but they have long borne the sense in which they are now used. Their interest is greatly enhanced when the trans- position is such as to give an appropriate signifi- cation or association of ideas relative to or consistent with the original or primary word from which the anagram has been formed, and there are words of this description which exhibit coincidences that are truly astonishing and almost incredible until proved by examination. This literary frivolity has at least the merit of antiquity, for we find that ANAGRAMS. 193 among the ancient Jewish cabalists the art of tlic- imiru, or transposition of the letters of words, was used by them for the purpose of discovering hidden meanings, and they also thought that the qualities of a man's mind and his future destiny could be guessed at by anagrammatising the letters of his name. The art prevailed, too, among the Greeks and Romans, and has continued through the Middle Ages down to comparatively modern times, chiefly, however, as a pastime. The French literati have always shown a predi- lection for anagrams, and the results of their labours in this way would fill volumes. Indeed, such was the estimation in which this "art" was held by them at one period, that it is said their kings were provided with a salaried anagrammatist in the same way that royalty in Britain is provided with a poet-laureate. The popularity of anagrams in France was so great two or three centuries ago, that a man sometimes made his fortune by framing a single happy transposition of the name of a king or other great person. Thus all France was de- lighted with the anagram on Frangois de Valoys, which was converted into De fa{on siiis royal, indicating him to be of regal appearance. One French writer, Gabriel Antoine Joseph Hecart, 194 ANAGRAMS. went the length of composing and publishing a poem of 1 200 lines, every line of which contained an anagram, but it so happens that out of the 1200 hardly one is worth quotation. The anagram was also popular in Britain at an early date, being looked upon as an agreeable and amusing relaxation, as well as a favourable method by which those who sought favour might flatter the great ones whose influence they coveted. So early as 1589 we find Puttenhame in his "Arte of English Poesie" speaking of the anagram thus: " They that use it for pleasure is to breed one word out of another, not altering any letter nor the number of them, but only transposing of the same, whereupon many times is produced some grateful newes or matter to them for whose pleasure and service it was intended; and because there is much difficultie in it, and altogether standeth upon hap- hazard, it is compted for a courtly conceit." Put- tenhame himself was the author of two anagrams on the name of Queen Elizabeth, whose portrait adorns the original edition of his work. He uses the following words: — " Elissabet Anglorum Re- gina," which orthography, he contends, " is true and not mistaken, for the letter aeta of the Hebrews and Greeks and of all other toun^rs ANAGRAMS. 195 is in truth but a double s hardly uttered ; and h is but a note of aspiration onely and no letter, which therefore is by the Greeks omitted." The first anagram of these words is — " Malta regnabis ense gloria " ' (By the sword shalt thou reign in great renown). The second — '• Multa regnabis sene gloria " (Aged and in much glory shall ye reign). These two the author made by the first mar- shalling of the letters, and although he " tossed and translaced them five hundreth times," he could find no other having reference to her Majesty. Later on, we find Elizabeth's successor beinn- flattered by another courtly writer, who sought favour for his book by dedicating it to King James, and discovering in the name of his royal patron, James Stuart, the anagram a Just master. This literary gentleman no doubt thought he had found in this anagram what has been already pointed to as the best feature in this kind of writing, an appropriate signification and relation to the original words. So also with another on James I., by which some of his courtiers wished to 196 AXA GRAMS. prove his right to the British monarchy, as the descendant of King Arthur, from his name Charles James Stuart, which they rendered Clawis ArtJinrs Seat. Anagrams were not only in use among courtiers, however, but even the Puritans found in them a modified worldly pastime, and some writers of that party actually commended their use as being of a good tendency. In New England, among the early Puritans there, puns and conceits of a laborious kind and uncouth fashion were much admired, and the death of any notable person was sure to call forth several elegies, almost certain to contain some curious play upon the deceased's name or other characteristic feature — thus, John Norton, a learned divine, wrote as follows upon the death of Anne Bradstreet : — " Her breast was a brave palace, a broad street., Where all heroic, ample thoughts did meet." In a similar manner, Cotton Mather, the well- known writer on Witchcraft, in an elegy upon the death of the above-named John Norton, says of him — *' His care to guide his flock and feed his lambs, Bywords, works, prayers, psalms, alms, and anagrams.''^ ANAGRAMS. 197 Addison gives a somewhat humorous descrip- tion of an anagrammatist, who shut himself up for some months for the purpose of twisting the name of his mistress into as many of these conceits as he possibly could, but was astonished to find, after all his mental throes, that he had misspelled her name, and that consequently his productions were all faulty and insufficient. Some writers appear to have had a peculiar facility for composing anagrams, as a French poet one day sent his mistress no less than three dozen of them, all written on her name of Magdelaine. These con- ceits, however, were as frequently sarcastic as complimentary ; and thus, though Scaliger may have felt the palpable hit in having his name rendered into sacrilege^ Sir John Wiat would enjoy the anagram as a compliment which said that Wiat was a zvit — this latter being a very simple example. The ingenious writer who dis- covered in Pilate's question, " Quid est Veritas .'' "' (What is truth }') its own answer, " Est vir qui adest" (It is the man who is here), found one of the best and neatest anagrams which has yet been written. Of those reckoned among the best of these literary trifles are the one upon the mistress of Charles IX. of France, Marie Touchet. le 198 ANAGRAMS. cJiarine tout (I charm all) ; and another upon a lady named Eleanor Davies, who belonged to the court of Charles L, and pretended to supernatural and prophetic powers. To substantiate this claim on her part, she anagrammatised her name, Eleanor Davies, into Reveal, O Daniel ! and this, though faulty in regard to having too much by a letter /, and too little by an s, was sufficient in her mind to justify the assumption. Arraigned before the Court of High Commission, the judges found that reasoning had no effect upon her — all attempts to disprove by Scripture her claims to inspiration being of no avail — till at length one of the deans took a pen and wrote another and more excellent anagram upon her name — Dame Eleanor Davies : Never so mad a ladie ! This had the desired effect — the engineer being hoist with his own petard — and put the prophetic lady into so despondent a state, that she never afterwards put forth a claim to supernatural gifts. Authors long ago were occasionally given to " Torture one poor word a thousand ways," as Dryden says, especially with a view to conceal their authorship from the critics, and thus we find the names of several anagrammatised — for instance, ANAGRAMS. 199 Calvinus into Alcuitms, and Rabelais spitefully turned Calvin mto Jan «//, somewhat equivalent to the English jackass ; friends of Calvin, however, adopted other fashions, as Liicanius and Lucianus. John Taylor, the " Water Poet," turned his into TJiorny Ailo ; and Bunyan, in the conclusion of the "advertisement" to the " Holy War," has these two lines — " Witness my name, if anagram'd to thee, The letters make, '■ Nu hony in a B.^ " One half the disguises adopted by French anonymous writers are in the shape of anagrams formed from their names, and with some of our own modern authors we find among them that Sydney Dobell used his first name and anagram- matised it for a second, thus — Sydney Yendys. So with Barry Cormvall, poet, which is, with the omission of the letter r, a version of his real name> Bryan Waller Proctor. An old Latin book has this written upon the fly- leaf— Andreas Rivetus. Veritas res nuda, Sed natura es vir, Vir natura sedes, E natura es rudis, 200 ANAGRAMS. Sed es vita rarus, Sed rure vanitas, In terra sua Deus, Veni, sudas terra. Taylor's "Suddaine Turne of Fortune's Wheel" contains this — " Supremus Pontifex Romanus, O noil sum super petj-am Jixiis." The first line is " Supreme Pontiff of Rome ; " and the second, "Alas! I am not founded upon a rock." There are several anagrams upon King Charles II., of which we select the following, — the first being also by Taylor : — " Charles Steuart, Calls /rue hearts, Brave prince, thy name, thy fame, thy selfe, and all, With love and service all true hearts doth call ; So royally include with princely parts, Thy reall virtues alwaies calls true hearts." The negotiations relative to the match between Charles and the Infanta of Spain (1624) led to this— " Charles, Prince of Wales, IVill choose France's pearl." While Charles Peacham's " Compleat Gentleman " contains — ANAGRAMS. 201 " Charles, Prince of Wales, All France cries, help us I On a visit to Newton Hall in Derbyshire, Charles II. is said himself to have written on one of the windows — Cras ero lux (To-morrow I shall be light), the anagram of Carolus Rex. The next was found written upon a fly-leaf of an old book at Cologne, bearing the date of 1653, supposed to have belonged at one time to one of the English who accompanied Charles II. in his exile — " Carolus Stuartus, Angli^e, Scotiee, et Hibernire Rex — Aula, statu, regno exueris, ac hostili arte ?iecaberis." One Mistress Mary Fage, who lived in the time of Charles I., was perhaps the most prolific anagram- matist England ever produced. She published a volume of anagrams combined with acrostics under the title of " Fame's Rowle" (Roll), in which the names of many notable persons in the three kingdoms were dealt with, to the number of no less than four hundred and twent}'. One may serve as a specimen of the rest — " To the Right Hon. John Earl of Weymes. John Weymes. Sliew vien joy. I\\ your great honour, free from all alloy, O truly noble Weymes, you shew men joy ; 202 ANAGRAMS. ZTaving your virtues in their clearer sight, iVbthing there is can breed them more delight. W'x'Ccs. joy your wisdome, so doth men contente ; ^ver we pray it might be permanent ; Kour virtuous life doth breed so great delight ; J/en wish you endless joy you to requite; Eternal joy may unto you succeede, 6'hewing men joy who do your comfort breede." Randle Holmes, who wrote an extraordinary book upon Heraldry, was complimented by an expressive anagram on his name — " Lo, inc7is herald ! " In the "Bengal Mofussil Miscellany," repub- lished in London in 1837 as "Indian Reminis- cences," there is the following curious anecdote: — "When young Stanislaus, afterwards King of Poland, returned home from his travels, all the illustrious family of Leczinki assembled at Lissa to congratulate him on his arrival. Festivals, shows, rejoicings of every kind took place ; but the most ingenious compliment that graced the occasion was one paid by the College of Lissa. There appeared on the stage thirteen dancers, dressed as youthful warriors ; each held in his hand a shield, on which was engraved in char- acters of irold one of the thirteen letters which ANAGRAMS. 203 compose the two words 'Domus Lescinia.' They then commenced their dance, and so arranged it that at each turn their row of bucklers formed different anagrams. At the first pause they presented them in the natural order — At the second At the third At the fourth At the fifth At the last " Domus Lescinia Ades Incolumis Omnis as lucida Mane Sidus loci Sis colutnna Dei I, scande Solium." The following may be accepted as an approach to the different renderings : — O (heir to the) House of Lescinius, Thou art present with us still unimpaired — ■ Thou art all that is wonderful. Stay with us, O sun of our land ! Thou art one of God's supporters — Come, ascend thy regal throne. Ben Jonson, in a " Masque," has this anagram on the name of Juno — "And see where y}/;/^, whose great name Is Unio in the anagram. Displays her glistening state and chaire, As she enlightened all the ayre." Throughout the masque there is a continual play 204 ANAGRAMS. upon the words Union and Juno, as relating to marriage. In one of Taylor's poems, " The Life and Death of Virgin Mary," there are these lines — " I doe not heere impute this deede of shame On Judas, because Judas was his name : For of that name there have been men of might Who the great battles of the Lord did fight. And others more. But sure this impure blot Stickes to him, as he's named Iskarriott ; For in an anagram Iskarriott is, By letters transposition, T}-aitor kis.'' Iskarriott, anag. Traitor kis. Kisse, traytor, kisse, with an intent to kill, And cry all haile ! when thou dost mean all ill ; And for thy fault no more shall Judas be A name of treason and false infamie ; But all that fault Til on Iskarriott throw, Because the anagram explains it so. Iskarriott for a bribe, and with a kisse, Betrayed his Master, the blest King of Blisse." All men have their enemies, and Taylor had his — amongst these there was one who took a pitiful way of showing his dislike by twisting Ta}'lor's name in this fashion — "John Talour the poet, Art thou in Hcl, O poet ? " AN'AGRAMS. 205 One Car was an intimate and loving friend of the poet Crawshawe, and on the poet's death Car found some consolation in discovering that Craw- shawe could be transposed into the words, He zuas Car, and wrote the following lines accordingly — " Was Car then Crawshawe, or was Crawshawe Car, Since both within one name combined are ? Yes, Car's Crawshawe, he Car ; 'tis love alone Which melts two hearts, of both composing one ; So Crawshawe's still the same — so much desired By strongest wits, so honoured, so admired ; Car was but he that entered as a friend, With whom he shared his thoughts, and did commend (While yet he lived) this work ; they loved each other : Sweet Crawshawe was his friend ; he Crawshawe's brother : So Car had title then ; 'twas his intent That what his riches penned poor Car should print ; Nor fears he check, praising that happy one Who was beloved by all, dispraised by none. To wit, being pleased with all things, he pleased all ; Nor would he give nor take offence ; befall What might, he would possess himself, and live As dead (devoid of all int'rest) t'all might give Disease t'his well-composed mind, forestalled With heavenly riches, which had wholly called His thoughts from earth, to live above in th' air, A very bird of Paradise. No care Had he of earthly trash. What might suffice To fit his soul to heavenly exercise Sufficed him ; and, may we guess his heart By what his lips bring forth, his only part 2o6 ANAGRAMS. Is God and godly thoughts. Leaves doubt to none But that to whom one God is all, all's one. What he might eat or wear he took no thought, His needful food he rather found than sought. He seeks no downs, no sheets, his bed's still made If he can find a chair or stool, he's laid ; When day peeps in, he quits his restless rest. And still, poor soul, before he's up he's drest. Thus dying did he live, yet lived to die In the Virgin's lap, to whom he did apply His virgin thoughts and words, and thence wast styled By foes, the chaplain of the Virgin mild, While yet he lived without : his modesty Imparted this to some, and they to me. Live happy then, dear soul ; enjoy thy rest Eternally by pains thou purchasedst, While Car must live in care, who was thy friend ; Nor cares he how he live, so in the end He may enjoy his dearest Lord and thee. And sit and sing more skilful songs eternally.'' • George Herbert gives several anagrams, among which is the following : — " Mary Army How well her name an Art/iy doth present, In whom the Lo/d of Hosts did pitch His tent ! " The Latin language furnishes a number of anagrams, among which the one subjoined is a good example — ANAGRAMS. ' 207 ' Roma dabit oram, Maro, Ramo, armo, mora, et amor. Roma tuum nomen quam non pertransiit Oram Cum Latium ferrent saecula prisca jugum ? Non deerat vel fama tibi, vel carmina famas, Unde Maro laudes duxit ad astra tuas. At nunc exsucco similis tua gloria Ramo A veteri trunco et nobilitate cadit. Laus antiqua et honor perierunt, te velut Armo Jam deturbarunt tempora longa suo. Quin tibi jam desperatae Mora nulla medetur ; Qua Fabio quondam sub duce nata salus. Hinc te olim gentes miratse odere vicissim ; Et cum sublata laude recidit Amor." Cleaveland's Works contain the next — Definition of a Protector. What's a Protector? He's a stately thing, That apes it in the non-age of a king. A tragic actor — Caesar in a clown. He's a brass farthing stamped with a crown. A bladder blown, with other breaths puffed full, Not the Ferillus, but Peril/its Bull. .^sop's proud ass, veil'd in the lion's skin, An outward saint lined with a devil within. An echo whence the royal sound doth come, But just as barrel-head sounds like a drum. Fantastic image of the royal head, The Brewers' with the king's arms quartered ; He is a counterfeited piece, that shows Charles his effegies with a copper nose. 2o8 ANAGRAJ/S. In fine, he's one we must Protector call, From whom the King of kings protect us all. Protector = O Portet, C. R. Tombstones occasionally in former times gave instances of anagrams, as it was not an uncommon belief that a person's character and fortune were hidden in his name. Of this kind are the two following examples. At Ashby Canons, North- ampton, there is one of the date of 1639, on Sarai Grime, Is marriage. A virgin's death, we say, her marriage is. Spectators viewe as pregnant proofe in this ; Her suitor's Christ, to Him her troth she plights. Being both agreed, then to the nuptial's rites. Virtue's her tire, prudence her wedding ring, Angels the bridesmen in the heavenly quire ; Her joynture's blisse, what more could she desire ? Noe wonder hence soe soon she sped away, Her husband call'd, she must not make delay. Not dead, but married shee, her progenye. The stem of grace, that lives eternally." The second of these obituary anagrams is to be found at Bletchley, dated 1657, on — Mrs. Faieth Walker Walke by Faith. Well did thy life, word, anagram agree, To will and walke ariiiht was all to thee. ANAGRAMS. 209 Thy tender 3-ears were gracious ; all thy. life AVas virtuous, while a virgin, when a wife ; Here thou didst walke by faith, but now above By light with Him thy soul did dearly love. A happy change, thy life now full of blisse, Thy Christ thy Husband, Heaven thy jointure is. The assassin of Henry III. of France had his name rendered in this way — " Frere Jacques Clement, Ccst retifer qui m\i crcc.'" The celebrated Holy Alliance was thus traves- tied— " La Sainte Alliance, La Sainte Canaiile.'" Dr. Burney has the credit of the following ex- cellent anagram, written on receipt of the news of the victory of the Nile : — " Horatio Nelson, Honor est a NiloJ^ The words, " Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Welling- ton," have been transposed into Let well-foil\i Gaul sekure thy r{e)7ioivn — an imperfect but not inappropriate example. One on the lamented Princess Charlotte was thought to be particularly happy — the words, " Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales," were transposed into P. C. Ilcr august 2IO ANAGRAMS. race is lost^ O fatal news ! The following is very apt: — " When / cry that I sm is transposed, it is clear, My resource, Christianity, soon will appear." The celebrated Dr. Abernethy, as much remem- bered perhaps for his eccentricity and brusqueness as for his skill, had his name of John Abernethy turned into Johnny the Bear. The annexed is an excellent instance of this laborious trifling : — A Telegram Anagrammatised. Though but a late get-m, with a wondrous elation, Yet like a great elm it o'ershadows each station, Et nialgre' the office is still a large fee mart, So joyous the crowd was, you'd thought it a glee mart; But they raged at no news from the nations belligerent, And I said, Lei '»« rage, since the air is refrigerant. I then met large numbers, whose drink was not sherbet, Who scarce could look up when their eyes the ga.s-glare met; So when I had learned from commercial adviser, That tnere gait for sand was the great fertiliser, I bade Mr. Eaglet, although 'twas ideal. Get some from the clay-pit, and so get 'm real ; Then, just as my footstep was leaving the portal, I met an elm targe on a great Highland mortal, With the maid he had wooed by the loch's flowery margelet. And rowed in his boat, which for rhyme's sake call bargelet, And blithe to the breeze would have set the sail daily, But it blew at that rate which our sailors term gale, aye ; I stumbled against the fair bride he had married. When a merle gat at large from a cage that she carried ; AXAGRAAfS. 211 She gave a loud screech ! and I could not well blame her, But lame as I was, I'd no wish to get lamer; So I made my escape — ne'er an antelope fleeter, Lest my verse, like the poet, should limp through lag metre. The following appeared in an Edinburgh news- paper some years ago : — The Lent Oars. Illustrating Fifty different Renderings of the Letters composing the Word " Monastery." I am a boatman on the Lago Maggiore, but, fool that I am, I lent my oars to the Monks of St. Thomas's, who used to cross the lake in their own boat, and who, on my inquiring about them, vowed they never had got them. I spoke to the mayor of the canton, who trans- mitted a letter my dear Mary had written, and promised he would send for an answer himself Having waited for some time rather impatiently, I set off to the monas- tery to inquire if the mayor sent or not for the answer to Marfs note about my ten oars. The abbot had gone on a visit to the adjoining convent, and I was informed that the letter was sent there, and they thought it likely my oars were there too. I went thither, and on gaining admission, I inquired if the answer had been sent for. '^ Ay, monster" said she, "though ten mayors had sent they would not have got one." " Come, come, no mastety over me ; may no rest be mine here or hereafter if I do not have my oars ! Yes, matron, there is one St. Mary to whom I shall pray for interference." " See your stone Mary there," said she, pointing to an image 212 ANAGRAMS. of the blessed Virgin set in the wall. I prostrated my- self before it, saying, " O my one star, my Mary ! look down 071 my tears, and O try means to get me back my oars. May my soul, which has met ?io rays of thine for long, store many favours now. Oh ! Mary, do so try, amen.''' On rising I was astounded on hearing the matron exclaim, " My ! treason ! " Woman though she was, I could have smitten her to the ground, for here came the abbot angrily and anxiously inquiring, " What treason ? " Taking me for a French spy, he approached cautiously, but seeing as yet no arms about me, he grew bolder, and caused me to be searched for army iiotes or papers. Though he found nothing, I could scarce prevail upon him to grant a truce or ajnnesty till I could explain my errand. " Ay, fio terms with the villain," said he, threatening to taji my sore hide for me. I remon- strated, " Stay, Ermon, be not hasty ; I trump you no mean story in showing you this ; " and here I showed him my torn, seamy coat, as evidence that no government had favoured me with a degree in money arts. " Yet A'omans," said he, " call Ro)ne nasty, and I was suspicious you were one of that kind." " No, my senator, I am nothing great, but I am not so bad as that." I was glad to get off without further mentioning my oars, and so left the place. I was terribly vexed, however, at the way affairs had turned out, so that I could not help telling my care to an old woman I met not far off, and whom I knew. "Do 3'ou see _)'m Scaliger, 166 Epitaph on a dog, 102 Epitaph*, curious, 64, 267 Equivocal verses, 143 Essay on man, the poets', 181 Euphue's Golden Legacy, 155 E.vercise on the Alphabet, 44 E.xpulsio Adami et Evae, 177 Faerie Queene. the, 62 Fage, Mistress Mary, 201 Fall of Eve, the, 65 Fame's Rowle, 201 Field, the Cambridge printer, 242 Fitzgerald, Dr., lines on, 172 Fletcher, the brothers, 152 Flodden Field, ballad of, 26, 27 Floicnce Huntingdon, lines to Mi-s, 169 Folengo, Teofilo, 87, SB Fontenelle, 159 Fortune, lines on, 68 FranciUon, R. E., echo verse by, 135 Francois de 'Valoys, anagram on, 193 Frosteidos, 106 Geddes, a macaronic writer, loi Gee, Mrs., to, 46 German palindrome. 222 tiilchrist, Octavius, 87 Gingham Gown, the, 283 Golden Age, the, 79 Good-bye, Sweetheart, Good-bye, 283 Gray, 29 Grime, Sarai, anagram on, 208 H.-MLES, Lord, 89 Hall, 157^ Harvie, Christopher, 269 Heaven, 136 Hecart, Gabriel, A. J., 193 Herbert, George, 136, 142, 154, 206, 263, 265, 270 Holmes, Randle, 202 Holmes, Wendell, 113 Holy Alliance, the, anagram on, 209 Homero-Centones, the, 176 Hone's Everj--day Book, 224 Horace, chronogram from, 116 Hubibras, extract Irom, 122 I Huet, II Hugbald's Ecloga. 46 I Human Heart, ode to the, 1S6 Icelandic verse, 18 ' Ignoramus, comedy of, 100 Iliad of Homer, the, in a nutshell, 11 ■ Impromptu, 164 I Incontrovertible Facts, 66 Inscription, monumental, 269 Invitation, the, 148 Iskarriot, anagram on, 204 Jame,"?, King, anagram on, 195 Jingling rhymes. 167 Johnnie Dowie's. 82 Jonson, Ben, 203 Kettle, Song of the, 272 Ladies, Panegy-ric on the, 148 Lalla Rookh, lines fronr., 151 Last Day, the, 81 Lasus, the Greek poet, 58 Latin anagrams, igg, 207 Latin combinations, 9, 10 Latin palindromes, 220-223 Leland, Charles G., iii Lent Oars, the, 211 Lessius, Leonard, 127 INDEX. 2S7 Leti, Gregorio, 39 Life, 180 Life's Alphabet, 49 Lines by a medium, 163 Lines to Miss Florence Huntingdon, 169 Lingo drawn for the Militia, 97 Little Jack Horner, iii Little John Nobody, 2;, 23 Little More, a, 278 Lipograms, 58 Llanover, Lady, 73 Lodge, Thomas, 155 Lord Duff's Toast, 51 Lord's Prayer, the, 138 Love, 83 Love letter, alliterative, 45 Love song, a, loi, 112 Lydia Kane, acrostic to, 85, 86 Madrigal, 156 Marie Touchet, anagram on, 197 Marriage, 184 Martin, Mr. H., of Halifax, 237 Martin, St., anecdote of, 224 Meston, William, 91 Microscopic writing, 11-15 Miller of Bathea^ton, Sir John and Lady, 71 Mi Mode Anni, log Miniature writing, 11-15 Moll, 101 Monastery, anagrams on, 211 Monk, James, 181 Montgomery, Ale.xander, 31 Moonlight Walk, a, 282 M'lore, Thomas, 151 Moral Proverbs of Christine of Pisa, 61 Mornins: on Arthur's Seat, 81 " My boa^t is in the Cross of Christ,' 140 My Molly and I, no My Pretty Jane, 280 Myself, 164 Name,";, palindromic, 218 Napoleon, libel on, 129 Nelson, anagram on, 209 Neuile, Alexander, 63 Newcastle burr, the, 36 Newspaper errors, 253-257 Nora O'Neil, 281 North, Lord, 33 Norton, John, 196 Novelette, a, 280 Ode to an Old Violin, 268 Ode to the Human Heart, i36 O'Keefe, song by, 103 O d Oak, the, 281 On Life, et cetera, 1S8 " Our life is hid with Christ," 142 Palindromic names, 218 Palm, bookseller of Nuremberg, 129 Pamperes, Ambrose, 215 Panegyric on the Ladies, 148 Pannard, a French poet, 260 Paradise, 270 Peacock, Dean, 34 Peignot, 230 Pcleg Wale's machine, lines by, 171 Pen and ink portraits, 14, 15 Penmanship, g lod, 234 People's Friend, cento from the, i8g Percy's Reliqnes, ig, 22 Persian "Gazel,'' a, 59 Piers Plowman's Visions, 19 Pinkerton, 115 Platform, the, 146 Poets' Essay on Man, the, iSi Pope, portrait of, 14 ; on alliteration, 24, 34 ; on monosyllables, 150 ; song by, Porson, Professor, macaronic by, 97 Portraits, miniature, 14, 15 Prideaux, Bishop, chronogram on, 120 Printer's Litany, a, 284 Proba Falconia, 176, 177 Proctor, Bryan Waller, igg Protector, Definition of a, 207 Proverbs, alliterative, 47 Psalm of Life, a Maiden's, 276 Pugna Porcoriim, the, 46 Punctuation, 230, 247, 249 Puritans, the, 196 Purple Island, tne, lines from, 152 Puttenhame, 194, 262 Puzzles, alphabetic, 226 Puzzles, chronographic, 116 Pyecroft, Mr., 239 Quarles' Emblems, 28 I Ravening Reverie, a, 274 Reader, the Press, 231 I Reciprocal verses, 215 Revolutionary lines, 145 Richelieu, Cardinal, portrait of, 15 Rivers, American, names of, 168 Rivers, Earl, 6t Rogers, the poet, 23 Ross, Alexander, 178 Russo-Turkish war, the, 65 Sabbath, the, 2'i9 Scaliger, 197 ; epigram by, 166 Scissors, ways of spelling, 16 Scot, Alexander, 30 Scott, Sir Walter, 39 Serenade in M flat, 34, 35 Seven Deadly Sins, Dance of the, 30 ass IXDEX. Shakespeare, alliterative lines from. monosyllabic lines from, 115 Shakespeare's Birthday, on, 178 Siege of Belgrade, the, 41 Single-rhymed alphabets, 53-57 Skoodoowabskooksis, the, 169 Snowball riot at Edinburgh, 104 Society, address to the, 84 Something like Poetrj-, 2S4 Song by a Person of Quality, 159 Song, echo, by Addison, 131 Song of the Decanter, 266 Song of the " Reb," 277 " Songs of Singularity," 34 Sotades, 220 Spanish Armada, lines on defeat of, Spanker, 37 Spenser, 29 Stanislaus, King, anecdote of, 202 Stifelius, Michael, anecdote of, 121 Stonihurst, lines by, 163 Stuart, James, ;inagram on, 195 Sweetheart, Address to my, 147 Swift, Dean, loi Tale of a dog, a, 278 Taylor, John, 200, 204, 217 Telegram, a, anagrammat.sed, 210 Tencin, Madame, 159 Testament of Andro Kennedy, 89 Teutonic verse, 19 Trackeray, anecdote of, 244 '1 haddeus. Ruddy, lines by, 165 Themuru, the art of, 193 Tipperary, rhymes for, 172 Titles of books, alliterative, 33 Tombstones, anagrams on, 208 To ray Mistress, loi To my Nose, 165 Tony's Address to Mary, 102 To the Leading Periodical, 11 1 frapp, the commentator, 33 Tryphiodorus, a Greek poet, 58 Turkish Alphabet, the, 50 Tusser'.> Husbandrj', 36 "Twa Maryit Wemen," the, 21 Univocalic trifling, 64 Vega, Lope de, 59 Villiers, George, chronogram upon, 117 Virgil, 25. 26 Virgi.ius Evangelizans, 178 Virtue. 154 Vision of Mirza, the, 115 Walker, Mrs. Faieth, 208 Wallis, Dr., 67 Walpole, Horace, 71 Weber's ballad of !■ lodden Field, 26, 27 Wellington, Duke of, 209 Weyn-es, Earl of, anagram on, 201 Whatever is, is right, 187 Wheatley. Mr., 121 Wiat, Sir John, anagram on, 197 Wild Sports of the East, macaronic fn m, 99 William IIL, Latin poem on, 47 Wine-glass, the, 267 Witches' Sabbath, the, 221 Word of Welcome, a, 165 Workard, Mr. J. B., 54 Writing, acrostic verses on, 48J Xtrav.'\g.\nza xtraordinarj-, 45 Yankee philology, 273 I Young's Night Thoughts, 157 PRINTF.n BV BALl.ANTViMC, HANSON AN13 CO. euinbi;r(;h ani> London Alphabetical Rhymes. THE BATTLE OF CULTURE ANJ) PHILISTINLSM. ALL Armageddon's armaments arise ! Baal's bold backers bluster blasphemies : ' Come, courage, comrades! ' Culture's champions cry, ' Day dawns, Delusion's dark'ning dogmas die I ' Ennobling efforts eager eyes enfiame : Foi"ward ! for freedom fight, forget ting fame I ' 'Gainst gracious Genius goes Goliath grim ; His hulking height half helps half liampers him : Incarnate Ignorance intensifies Jeers, jangling jargon, jaundiced jealousies. Kneel, knaves! kneel, knock-kneed kindred! kneeling know. Liberty's lesson learnt lays liars low ! - ]\Ieanwhilc must martyrs, mock'd, maltreated, maim'd. No noisy number, noted not nor named. Oppose Opinion's odds. One overhears Prigs prove Philosophy's pick'd pioneers (^ueer quibbling quacks, (luixotically quaint, Kashly renouncing rational restraint ! Sad scornful smiles such senseless slander stirs : Ten thousand thanks to Truth's true trumpeters. Unmoved, unwavering, unabash'd, unbow'd. Valorous Virtue's vanguard victory-vow'd. With whom Ave walking, winning we what won Xenophanes, Xenarchus, Xenophon, Yield years yet young, yea, yearnings yonthfulled, Zenonian zealotry, Zenobian zest ! •' ' C'f. ' Die Tliat ist alles, niclits der Ruhm." — Goethe. • v.l. Knaves, Knowledge kindles kindness ! kneeling know, Learning's large liberal light lays liars low ! , 8 v.l. Yield youth, years, yearnings, (j^ea, yield yours, yearn ye )) Zenobian zest, Zenonian zealotry 1 \ \ 152 ALPHAMETICAL RHYME B. A STUDENTS NIGHTMARE. Array'd before confused delirious eyes, Fantastically garbled bistories, Inextricably jumbled, killing liglit, jNIy nightmare's order permeated quite, Eewakeninor savaofe tones unlovable, ' Victory ! ' ' "Whoa, Xerxes ! ' ' Yield, Zerubbabel ! ' THE VEGETARIAN TO THE SPORTSMAN. •.' Automata ' by cartloads die ! Excessive fleshly gluttony Has Instinct's juster kindlier lesson miss'd. Kg odious pretexts ! Question, rogue. Such trumpery's unquestion'd vogue. AVhat ! Xenophon ^ yclept zoopliilist ! THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE. Apparently believers can't deny Establish'd faith gets half in jeopardy s Kindhearted latitudinarians make Nearsighted orthodoxy plainly quake : Eeligion seems — thus undogmatic — vaster; Witness Xenophanes, yea, Zoroaster ! j Tiro RIVERS. Admirably big crags, Bark'ning everlasting falls. Gape huge in jagged knotted line Mid noise of panting quivering Ehine : Slow trail under verdant walls Xanthus' yellow zigzags. ^ For this sportsman's love of horses and dogs, and indifference to the tl.rcr ings of other animals, sje his J)e Re Eqnestri and Cyncgeticvs, jiass^m. ALPHABETICAL RHYMES. 153 HELLENIC V. HEBRAIC HYMNODY. Alcman bless'd convivial days ; Earth's false gods hymn'd Ion ' Judah's kingly lion Missionary notes of praise Quote, (Kebecea's scion,) Tootling unctuous virelays, While Xavier's yelling ' Zion ! ' NAUGHTY JANIE. Anger, baseness, craft, disdain, T7 r ^^ { ^od hates ) . , . , Every fault -^ • , 1 } is Janie s : '' [ girls nave J girls have Kind language moves not — only pain Quite rightly serves — these uppish vain Worthless Xanthippes, yawning zanies A BALLET IN ' ORPIIEE ylUX ENFEIiS: Ah, Bacchic concourse disarray'd, Escaped from Grecian llebrus In jaunty kirtles, loosely made ! Need our pedantic quakerish rigour Suppress this unencumber'd vigoiu ? Would Xenophon yoke zebras ? ORIENTAL LUXURY. Are brilliant court-delights e'^r fairly guess'd, How idly jesting kings Lived, mere nonentities, on pleasure's quest. Renouncing serious things. Until vice withered Xerxes' younger zest ? ' Cf. Eurip. Ion, 12i. A substitution of the title 'Versatility of the Jewish Genius' would enable this rhyme to begin : — Airy hadinage conveys, Dazzling empty Fashion's gnze, Humorous ' Ixion.' 154 ALPHABETICAL RHYMES. ON THE RUI]!^S OF THE 'GOLDEN HOUSE: Admired, bedeck'd — coiitemn'd, decay'd, Exhibit Folly's Golden Home In jeering keen lampoons : — ' Must Nero O'ershadow patient queenly Rome ? Sum the upshot ! valued, 'weigh'd, Xanadu ^ yields — zero ! ' A SPAXLSH LANDSCAPE. Acres bounteous crops displaying, Early fragrance, grazing heifers ! Isabel's joy-kindled look, ]M other Nature's own pourtraying, Quick reflection sweetly took : Undulating vales waylaying Xeres' yielding zephyrs ! UNSAVOUPT AND MORE. Analytical liold chymist Dares encounter fortune grimmest ; Herbs in jars kept labell'd mixes, Numbers odorific pyxes : Questionably, rumly stink These urns veneerxl with xanthine, yttrium, zinc. AFTER THE HUNT. A liugle calls down every forest-gap ; Hunters in jovial knots loll, maimder, nap ; Our pack quite ravenous soon tears, unpress'd, Venison with Xenophontic yelping zest. ' Cf. Coleridge's poem, beginning ' In Xanadu did Kubla-Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree,' i;c. / \^ r ALPHABETICAL RHYMES, 155 THE SHAKERS. All Bedlam's curiosities display'd ! Examples from gesticulating Helots Inebriate, just King Lycurgus made : Now other poor queer reelers (sorry trade) Unhallow'd vie with Xavier's yearning zealots ! A MORAL FOR MAIDENS. Ah, beauty's cruellest device, Eyes frozen, glancing human ice ! Joan, kind loved maid, ne'er over-proudly queeneth. Remembering, she, that ugly vice Wasted Xanthippe's youthful zenith. COMPREHENSIVENESS v. SCHISM. As broad Catholicism's dying, Exasperated feuds grow hot. Irtiprimis, Johnny Knox's lot Meander nonconforming off. Predestination, quotha ? Rot ! Sectarian theories unifying. Virtue with Ximenes yokes Zinzendorf ! STARLIGHT AMONG THE RUINS OF SUSA. Above, below — compare I Derision Excite frail Glory's habitations In jackals' keeping left ! Mad nations, O'erweening princes I quickly rack Swallows the unsubstantial vision: — Wanes, Xerxes, yonder zodiac ? EdmundI Gurney 156 The Mole at Home. EVERY subject is many-sided, and its aspect alters together with the point of view from which it is contemplated. Especially is this the case with systematic zoology, as those know to their cost who have analysed the innumerable systems vzhich have been employed in the classij&cation of animal life. Putting aside, however, all reference to the ever-raging battle of the systems, we will, for the purpose of this present treatise, abandon systfem altogether, and take our standpoint on Loco- MOTIOX. Restricting ourselves to the mammals, we find that a vast majority of them walk on four legs. iNlan — a single species, by the way — walks on his two hind feet, requiring the fore limbs to be modified into arms and hand^*, instead of actpg as legs and feet. Some mammalia, of which the whale is the type, are inhabitants of the ocean, and their structure is modified in order to suit their mode of life. Even in proportion to their enormous dimensions, they possess tremendous muscular power. But scarcely any of it goes to the limbs. Hind legs there are none, and the fore limbs are exceed- ingly feeble, and can only be used like the fins of the fishes. So, in these creatures, the muscular power is chiefly concentrated in the tail. Now, if W(i5 search for a mammal which is in every respect the opposite of the whale, we find it in the bats. In all these animals the muscular power is concentrated ir ■"^^e front portion of the body, so as to enable the elongated fingers and their connecting web to enact the part of wings. The hind legs exist, but are of exceedingly feeble type. Now we will look at the other end of the body. In the true whales there are not only no hind limbs, but there is not even a pelvis for their attachment. There are, however, some mammals, like the jerboas of Northern Africa, and the kangaroos of Australia, which have almost the whole muscular 9iwn M.9J.S TijdooTio >IT[M. '(8 /.q 'jC];sno 8:^;UAi J8A8TT SVS^ jd'ETOTOnS .io:)!j8q "e f p9p99TI eoTiajap on la^jdtjqo ':^vii']. jo^ -jai^dt^qo iij siq Tii ti9AtS oouaios Q-q^ jo qo;93[S oi.io^siq Q-q^ Xjpioedsa gjom — q'4Su9]; Xjbs 309unn -^.v :^09[qt\s sjq jo s^j-Bd giuos pa^^aj; iiAT3q JO eSivxp eq^ raojj jpsraiq spuaj 9]tj ^j-Ai.o];|'B spiJ9;Biu pu^ 9Sp9|Aoni{ jno j9S9.id jno SB 9AT:jsn'8qx9 puij qSiioJoq:^ auii; gni'BS 9q^ '\v 9q H'^^^ qoiqAV 'sraix? pu'B 'ss9jSovid 8:jr '9.mpu s;t 'dSvnSnvi jo 1u9ios 9q(j JO ^nnooo-B 0T:j'Gm9^si!s 13 9atS o:^ ,, ^ixae^v aoX^g -ij^ saranpA oAi!^ 9S9q:^ uj (-00 :?? aS'BTiSn'BT f I ''flJon6uuj fo doiiap^ diij. o^ uoipnpowj.u]; :jn9iudopA :===-^--——— qoiqAvilqi -^fjos 8:>t jo ''B9pT 9no )oq p^id-BO M ST? J sapipAia^ JLxxhq^yy , gut oq^ ojiaAi. luerainoo iq 'uL'Saq OAi se pua ^Cijui a^ ^1 P^^ '-^9 ,/8SJ3A esaq:^ p8-i:qip'B8.i aaaAi no^ cj'cq:^ Avau5[ j8aou pxiB 'aj^jstds pnt^^^SJapnitt jo eoug^uas !)SJi; aq:} ^u p'eai noiC 'ssiur (^ngjajfip ^laqj, i aauib u o:^ JC[daj tit dSvd v Sumtiad tii -II9S pa^^-GT^ saaSug asoqA\ 'ijiqo ^fz^^ y i oaaq^ ^lu aoj eq iTOiqAi W^l ^""^ spuos aqs jt oqs 813 pooS os si auoii .I9A9 g'oiCyc'^^ S3I0UBJ OqAV qoodaaAirj ^■B jfsdlg V oq.' 8'JIIAI ^ stj |ooj 13 qons j rat' ifq^— 'Siiqj'BQ; iCj\[ ,', uotqipuoo /f — : q^nut^n JQ^sts siq sagunSuBi ; si !jj •9SJ9A U9ppiq-p[9AV xii suiSaq :)^'q:^ o'^ui dn ;qd si 9J9q:j SJ9!;;9| s^XBpi'BO'B];\[ SuoTuy sno.iqrano si ^^-asoi aouireq-iioq sj{'Rpnf snoiJo:>orA jHnquj oq , ^ guQ^ ^^^^ Aioqs o; i([uo 'asoad put? om^Cqa ut )/oHO-//?t?i,-^iiQjjy , a^^ojAi oqAV j^oq sno.ipuoAi aqq 'ii-a-Ba-siQ; pjnoAV tiinfji^fyg^ p <9^9 guuu'Ba[S pire 'qSiq os asou xpwua^ snoj ^5 iui.Liii!. .-, iiii.l-.'udal stalls, and pony-gigging puirjonH," it 13 cloai- that the alliteration has added considerable strength to the plirase. When, however, illiteration is used only for its own sake, it ep I gram- me absurdity, and the ' Pugna Latin and ' The Siege of Belgrade ' in English are perhaps the most notable productions of alliteration run riot. On "Alphabetic Curiosities," which comes next in Mr. Dobson's book, we have nothing special to remark, unless it be that we rather wonder at the omission of the very best modern alphabet— C. S. C.'a " A is an angel of bludiing eighteen," Certaialy the most childish of all forms of verse isthe "Lipogram," which is the writing of a poem with one particidar letter di't^ped. No grace or character is gained by this grotesque effort. It is merely labour lost, for it can give no pleasure to either the composer or the reader. Isaac D'Israeli tells the foIlo\ving story of a lipogrammatic poem: — " A Persian poet read to the cele- brated Jami a gazel of his own composition, which Jami did not Uko ; but the writer replied it was, notwithstanding, a very curious sonnet, for the letter Aliff was not to be found in any one of the words. Jami sarcastically replied, ' You can do ^Wtter thing yet — take away all the IdS^ from every word you have written.' "*^ Bouti-rimh were once as much' in vogue as double acrostics are to-day. Hhyme.") were given, and the verses had then to be filled up. There were public competitions of bouti-rimh at Bath, under the patronage of the blue-stocking Lady Miller, and all the rank, beauty, and fashion of the place — the beaux and belles, old dandies and reigning toasts — entered into the contest, and the successful competitor was crowned with myrtle. Mrs. Delaney, too, was addicted to hou^-rimis, and very different people — Dr. Pnestley and Mrs. Barbauld (then Miss Aikin)pi^worked at them in the spare even- ings of their Warrington Academy life. In many bouts-rimes there was much clever- ness, and this form of literary amusement is now, perhaps, unduly neglected. Mr. Dobson gives this noted instance by Horace Walpole on the words " brook, why, crook, I": — I sit with my toes in a brook ; If any one asks me for why, I hils them a rap vdth my crook; kiUsB " Macaronics," which come next, almost rise into a serious branch of hterature. M. Delepierre's ' Macaroneana ' shows how the idea of blending two languages into one has (aught the fancy of men of almost every nM[:.ll■^- .11..] . \--yy period of letters. The . i\- : ■ ill..: is iavariably comic, and very happy lines rsifici ■ >b- tb.i best and the rei^t of it. The account here given of macaronics is, however, very good, and Mr. Dobson is quite right in reminding his readers that the fun of the thing depends less on the mere j umble of words than on the way iu which a word of one language is given with an inflection taken from another. Italy ia said to have produced the greatest amovmt of macaronic literature, and England comes second. Passing by " Chronograms," which are really too insane to amusH any rational ci-eatua-e, we gflt to "lijho Verae8,t which are sometimes most amusing. Mr. Qobson gives some excellent illustrations, especially one written by a Eoytdist in the time of the Great Eebellion. The latest good echo verses we have seen are attri- buted to an echo that haunts the Sultan's palace at Constantinople. Abdul Hamid i supposed to question it aa to the i of the European powers and his 1 sources : — L'Angleterre ? Erre. L'Autiichc 7 La Pnisse ? Ues principautfa ? Mcsc ■' Jc'suitiral Y>r.^i's'' "are designed to give t\V'".i Very ililFi-ri'ut meanings, according as thry aie re;iil -l^wnwards or across," and they had. therefore, generally a political or religious significance. " Monosyllable Versps " are merely verses wi'itton (almost ©s .1 tor childi'en) in monosyllables, and one of the finest examples in our language ia from Phineas Fletcher's ' Purple Island.' When we come to "Nonsense Verse," of which the charm consists in the nonsense sounding so like sense, the best illuBtration may be found in Pope's well-known ' Song by a Person of Quality.' What can bo more delightful than Mild Arcadians, ever blooming, Kigbtl)- Lodiiicg o'er your flocks, yet; my weary days consuming, y^~ All beneath yon flowery rocks. r " Centones " (or mosaic^ are perhaps the V_- most ingenious of all these fantasies of literature. A whole poem is made up of detached lines taken from some other poet. Virgil seems to have been the great store- house for centones, and Ausonius in early days and in later ones Capilupus distin- guished themselves by their facihty in adapting detached lines from Virgil to a new poem of their own. As in the case ' of macaronics, M. Delepierre is the great | modern authority on the cento, in papers 1 first communicated to the Philobiblon Society. I The history of "Anagi-ams" has been | treated by Camden {to whom, however, Mr. . Dobson does not qllude), and in a separate volume by Mr. Wheatley. Anagrams, the I only •' frivolity " with which verse has nqfhing to do. have an almost historic in- | tefest. The story of Dame Eleanor Daviea and the two anagrams, "Peveal, Daniel," and " Never so mad a lady." is well known, and was not without its effect in tha times that immediately preceded the great struggle between King and Com- mons. Indeed, the fancy that the re- arrangement of letters in a namo might indicate some future destiny has been com- mon enough, but imfortunately the future has generally been kno^vn before the indica- tion has been discovered. Thus Horatio Nelson forms "Honor est a Nilo," and Florence Nightingale "Flit on, cheering angel." Mr. Gladstone's name has often ledt itself to the anagrammatist, and so, for the matter of that, has Tichbome's. Of cotirse, in & perfect anagram the number o letters will bo exact, and thero should b r THE ATHEN^UM N" 2763, Oct. 9, 'SO eaid to make " Uu Corse la dnira," is oD- Tiously incomplete. The " Palindrome, " which Mr . Dobaon ne»t mentions, is a lino whiL-h rends, letter by letter, the same either backwards or for- wai-dB. "Able -was I ere I saw Elbar". palindrome which Napoleon may ba D othei r charm " Literary Misfortunes," as we have already said, is a chapter entirely out of place, and "Shaped Poems," or poema formed into the shape of win^ or boltlea or orossea, are too fantastic to give the elightest pleasure, even when George Her- bert uses them. " Prose Poems " are the last subject of which Mr. Dobson treats, and this is the poorest part of the book. Accidental versi- lication is sotm^'tinir-ji very sitj^iilar, and we all recaU instinires Irmn Cinn-o and from the Enjrlish BiL.i.-. ( )rr!isiuuaUy. toi.. when fche verses are purpi>SL'iy introduced they are effective, and I'ltkens has on more than one occasion brought them in with singular felicity. Mr. Dobsun i^uotes these, but he also quotes a number of pieces from some American book, of which the feeble humour is not heightened by the mere fact that it takes the outward form of prose, whereas it is really the most obviouii verse. A good prose poem should mislead by its fltopa and pauses, and be-capable of reading- toleraljle prose. One- rather celebrated prose poem is not mentionfd here, and a Jew lines of it may bear repetition. It is Dr..Magiuii!a dascnptioa-of- Disraeiirtgho was then scarcely more than a boy, and whose portrait had been taken by Maclise : — ,■!-.; ii.- ,..d yo' nnd rhyn, 3-1j,Ui.- , ' AJr. 8 Ju.lah'B Hon-b;inner r.jae." Among Macaulay's letters there is one that begins ia well-hidden verse. It ia to liis sister Hannah : — " My Darling,— Why am I such a fool aa to write to a gipsy at Liverpool, who fancies that ' IS she if she Bends one letter lazy chit, wliose fingers tire ^ ' ■ ■ There, for ray three ': in penning a page i misa, you read all the first epifltle, and never knew that : reading _ We may end as we began, by commend- ing ' Literary Frivolities ' aa a capital book 3 Introduction to the Science of Zanffua reader is taken, e.g., to Dayak for the proof of a principle, he feels that he should grasp the argument better if he knew a little of that language, and that he fehould be thankful if it Lould have been illustrated from the more familiar Grt^ek, Latin, or Sanscrit. Mr. Sayce will i^--o in this the very spirit which he most condemns — that which would draw all philological argtunents from the Ajyan languages alone, ^ujt there is a danger in running too far in the opposite direction, and there is sound sense in the old principle that you fi-om-any know one of them thoroughly. In saying this we by no means wish to depreciate Mr. Sayee's accuracy ; and the extent of his knowb-'dge probably exceeds that of any other English philologist. The theories which underlie the present work have been already set forth, Mr. Sayce says, in his ' Principles of Comparative Phi- lology.' Against some of those theories we protested in reviewing that book, and as we are still unconvinced of their ti'uth, we must protest again. Mr. Sayce says in his pre- face that it matters little for the present work whether those theories be right or wrong; that an introduction has to deal mainly with " the statement and arrange- ment of ascertained facts." But this cannot be admitted. The facts are " arranged" to suit a certain hypothesis, and some are taken, some are left ; the same facts would produce a different effect in a different combination ; and, lastly, those facts will inevitably seem to a plulologist the best "ascertained" which fit beat into his own theories. Mr. Sayce is apt to bring forward such " facts " without any hint that thoy are not at all universally accepted. As a single instance, a particular view of the history of case- sutHxes is laid down on the ground that "Bergaigne has made it dear" (i. 85), or "M. Bergaigne has shown," &c. (i. 119). Now M. Bergaigne ia an able man, and his researches are interesting,' but his view is the only view of the history of the cases, the very nature of the question IB no criterion by which it can be to bo even more probable than other views. It is not, therefore, quite : argue effectually right in an ' Introduction to the Science of Language ' to bring forward such a view as certain and ignore all others. We come now to some of the main points on which we differ from Mr. Sayre. First and foremost is hia doctrine of the "sen- tence-word." According to him " language begins with sentences, not with words" (i. ill). '• All language must be significant; but until the whole sentence is uttered, until the whole thought which lies behind it is expressed, this cannot be the case." The sentence is the unit, which may be broken up ; but that is done by the grammarian, not by the speaJior. As an example we have the sentence "Don't do that," which, we readily concede, we generally pronoimce as one word; it is the " gi-ammarian" who i;on8ciousIy breaks it up into the four words, Do not do thai. "Sentences may be any length ; they may consist of a single syllable, like go or i/fs, or they may have to be ex- pressed by a large number of separate words"; but "unless the sounds we utter are combined into a sentence, they have no more meaning than the cries of the jaetal or the yelping of the cur," " The sentence, in short, is the only unit which language can know, and the ultimate starting-point of aU our linguistic inquiries " (1. 11^). "All the facts at our disposal tend to show that the roots of speech, or, at all events, tho earliest sentence-words, out of which the later lan- guages of mankind have sprung, were pdj- syllabic" (i. 118). "The fii-st utterances <.lt mankind were polysyllabic, though not, perhaps, of such monstrous length as the sentence-words of Esquimaux or Algonquin " (i. 119). Consequently the origin of lan- guage may best "be studied:" in ~tfa0 ptfly- syuthetic dialects of America. In these " the words that make up a sentence are stripped of their grainniatical ' ' ' 3rci of niui Thus the Alg. runs Il'i of language everywhere. " — I. 125. AVe do not think that Mr. Sayce ever describes very fuUy the way in which he conceives that these " imdifferentiated i tence-words" developed into the different forms of human speech. If we understand him rightly, the early u great polysyllables with each other, and by degrees those parts in each which ■ same attached themselves to some c and so became by degreestho term by which that idea was denoted. The development differed with different peoples: i-melnnguage became polysynthnlji-, aii'^Uirr isulatinL.--. another agglutimiti\i', :iii..tlnr inll.i-tinuaJ. according to " anti'irili-m . in iniistaiir.-s " (so Mr. Sayce somcMbu(. inystrriou^ly, but no doubt wisely, puts it at i. a78), which " combined to produce a certain conception of the outward world and the relation of things to each other and to the mind, alto- gether unlike the conception which grew up in other cases"; and hence the different chai-aeter of their languages. A little re- flection showed ua that thS was Mr. Sayee's way of saying that the causes why they differed must remain unknown. Inflectional ere produced by the rise of M N° 2763, Oct. 9, '80 riglit in an ' Introduction to tlie Science of Language ' to Lring for-nard such, a view as certain and ignore all otliers. We come now to some of the main points on which we differ from Mr. Sayce. First and foremost is his doctrine of the "sen- tence-word." According to him " language begins with sentences, not with words " (i. 111). " Alllanguage must be significant; but until the whole sentence is uttered, until the whole thought which lies behind it is expressed, this cannot be the case." The sentence is the unit, which may be broken up ; but that is done by the grammarian, not by the speaker. As an example we have the sentence " Don't do that," which, we readily concede, we generally pronounce as one word ; it is the " gi-ammarian " who consciously breaks it up into the four words, Do not do that. "Sentences may be any length ; they may consist of a single sj'llable, like go or yes, or they may have to be ex- pressed by a large number of separate words"; but "unless the sounds we utter are combined into a sentence, they have no more meaning than the cries of the jackal or the yelping of the cur." " The sentence, in short, is the only unit which language can know, and the ultimate starting-point of all our linguistic inciuiries " (i. llo). "All the facts at oui' disposal tend to show that the roots of speech, or, at all events, the earliest sentence-words, out of which the later lan- guages of mankind have sprung, were poly- syllabic " (i. 118). " The fii-st utterances of mankind were polysyllabic, though not, perhaps, of such monstrous length as the sentence- words of Escj^uimaux or Algonc^uin " (i. 119). Consequently the origin of lan- whafe, we find it: in the bats. animals the muscular power is concentrated^in tj^e L GAZETTE. May the charming creatu and strive to amend theii Another enemy of books i Almost all women are the in popular volumes of history, bi d'Este and Mdme. de Pom doubtless there are other 1 speaking, women detest the 1: they do not understand thei third, books cost money ; and on what seems a dingy old Thus ladies wage a ekirmishin of husbands who have had t new purchase across their c collecting Elzevirs which go volume easily. ^0 he should not expose himse of Constance, for instancjj because the necessaries o:i no external demand foi, or wasted. A sojourner i as the natives do. But thi There, too, prices are extra to the number of establish not to natural causes. Ai houses finds the proprietor simple one of pudding bef which cannot fail in the Ic and to absorb him in the poverty is exposed to this regarded as a means, and confusion of the means * "The Shores of the Bodei Rue and Co, ibSi.) ' !Besides, Ayal; beautiful beii personal chari mation is bro much skill as herd's hour is Colonel £ persons, thou that the bou canvas that give a wor( about each, tician, who particular ap] nierely a porl collecting is a keep up his room ? But t is the thinking treasure-house ; never failing i says Southey c of his sideboari argument that library for his si reads and has , library ; but he ^ disposed to read Mr. Lang do reoDle whnt bno] * " The Library, Jy Austin Ucbscn, m PALL mALL gazette. m [May 28, iSSi. Besides. Ayaia has niacie \,p her mind for an angel (whence the title), a beautiful being wiih Every accoroijlishment under the sun and every personal charm to boot. 1 is brought about. much skill herd's hour is going Colonel Stubbs , though h( .. from us to tell how the happy consum- t is sufficient to say that it is reUirded with as with unmistakable indications that the shsp- le for Ayala and the Colonel at last, of the pleasantest of all Mr. Trollops's nnW _ _ .. _^ )ne of the most fully sketched. The truth -is, ,„„v the bountiful novelist has put such a number of persons on his canvas that he has hardly left himself room to do more than give a word to the wise— and a very fairly sufficient word too—- about each. There is the Honourable Septimus Traffick, a rising poli- tician, who understands all about supply and demand, especially that particular application of the law which tells him that if he demmds not merely a portion of ^120,000 from his fat her-in-law, bu t also post-nupt_iAl| his stomach is not in gor,j condition. This sewing machine is all out of kilter : this f",ewing machine is much disarranged." Here the scoffer may sup'^est that there is an unnecessary profusion of instances ; and, indeed, the watch and the sewing machine do seem rather identical. As to the second example, Mr. Kwong might argue- with much pertinence that a phrase applicable to " my watch " 1 ' Aivfnl, a ^nseless expletive bac^' is a very proper >f %. Kwong to pass ithout affixftig to it the same let Celesmls suppose that id classical «ynonym for possibly be inappropriate to " his stomach. used to intensify a description of anythi rebuke to the idle Western, but it " batigiug" as merely " great ; thumping condemnation ; and he really should in " hang up " they have an accepted the best possible style.'' Sometimes the terms of^ the explanatio! r.re a little curious. Thus, under "to wit," Mr. ' Kwong gives his example: "A felony is any crime, /o ',vi(, forgery, robbery, a the like, punishable with death or imprisonment in (he States Prise a felony is any crime, namely, forgery, robberyi and the H punishable with death or imprisonment (Massachusetts and New York)." Is this parenthesis intended to warn itending forgers from the two States on on Mr. Kwong's part to a yet , however, rather too bad to make i we have said, evidently taken A list of English proverbs, of Latin ; proverbs and laaxims, is included short chronological sketch of the history of '. a life of Jesus. The Chinese proverbs are perhaps of most terest. Many of them are simply variations of universally specified, or is it a kind of contrib unwritten legal encyclopaedia? It fun of Mr. Kwong, who has, a great deal of pains with his work, and French phrases, and of Chin in the work, besides general others are more peculiar. " He is fond of tall hat," might in England be an imputation either of ' or lurr.cj. In China it means " he is fond of flattering ; '' why, we are ■not told. "One hill cannot keep two tigers" is a| least a picturesque version of "two of a trade." "The husband sings and the wife accompanies " is said to be " descriptive of domestic felicity." But how of the ne.\t-door neighbours? "The meat is on the chopping-board " is said to mean " the victim is powerless against his oppressor," and it is grim enough. There are some " mxxims " as well which have not the picturesqueness of the proverbs, but are for the most part rather common- place utterances of Oriental caution. On the whole, however, Mr. Kwong. has produced a book which, odd as it is in some ways, has a good deal that is readable and something that is useful about it. 1 THE LAKE OF CONSTANCE* as the boast of Pericles that the Athenians knew how to gratify their of beauty at no great cost ; and, in the spirit of the Greek, it is Mr. Capper's object to show his countrymen how they may satisfy the bier aspirations of their souls on principles of rigid economy. The |lhor observes sensibly enough that the spread of education in the luntry is not likely to be accompanied by any gre.U increase of money-making power, and that there must be pn ever-increasing number of persons capable of enjoyment though without much money to purchase it. For tourists of this class, the philosophy of travel is summed up in a pension by a lake, where scenery, society, board, and lodging can be enjoyed at the daily cost of five francs in summer and even less in winter. And of all lakes the Lake of Constance is the one -which- in -Mt. Capper's eyes approaches-rrrost- -ctesclyto the ideal of an earthly and inexpensive Paradise. Indeed, his description is so attractive that it can hardly fail to bear fruit. On one point, however, the author hardly lays enough stress. The heat by the Swiss lakes in the height of summer is greater than most English people can bear with comfort. Spring is the true season of Switzerland; but, in spite of Mr. Ruskin, English people insist on going there, in full summer, when the dreary higher valleys are alone endurable. Another point in Mr. Capper's philosophy of travel deserves considera- tion. Two sorts of cheapness are known in hotels — the first a legitimate one, arising from want of competition ; the second an illegitimate one, due to excess of competition ; and it is of great importance to the tourist that he should not e.xpose himself to the horrors of the latter. On the Lake of Constance, for instance, he will be safe. Prices there are low, because the necessaries of life are procured easily, and, there being no external demand for them, must be consumed on the > spot or wasted. A sojourner in such a country fares cheaply and honestly, as the natives do. But things are different In more fashionable districts. There, too, prices are extraordinarily low ; but that is due in great measure to the number of establishments all anxious to undersell each other, and not to natural causes. An unlucky tourist enmeshed in one of these houses finds the proprietor resorting to all sorts of devices — such as the simple one of pudding before meat, and others needless to particularize — which cannot fail in the long run to undermine the visitor's self-respect, and to absorb him in the Cheap to the exclusion of the Beautiful. .Ml poverty is exposed to this great moral danger, that money ceases to b^ and becomes an end; and nowhere is this fatal leans and the end, the Cheap and the Beautiful, nfusion of the • "The Shores of Ihc Bodcn See." By Sanmcl James Capuer. (Lomlon : De La Rue and Co. illSl.) m c Q 3 May sS.jiSSi.] PALL MAi 1 GAZETTE. 19 The Pall Mall Gazette. SATUKDAV. ilAV =S, i ■ THE LIBRARY." brifiht and entertaining as miglit be expected ■ ■■■ take rank as one of th^. This little frcm the nama of its joint authors, !io" successful! the si.es. So.c of its predecessors have - ,a . little 100 conimlrcia! in character— loo " chreniatislic " as Arihlotle ana Mr Lane «-out say— and others have been too entirely devoted tr laiumsftctacul^trum. Who but a dealer can sympathize u'ith the stn^ of mind which! advocates "Art in the house" on the Sroun. tha] colkcting is 3 iood investment ? And who, on the other hand, ca keep in. his Enthusiasm through a whole volume on the dminj rccm? But tlje library is hallowed by a thousand associations; 1 is the thinking fnan's workshop, the tired man's retreat, the collector' treasure-house; and he who writes of it has an inspiring theme. " My never failing ffiends are they, with whom I converse day by day, says Southey of his books ; and none dare openly say the sam of his sideboarfl and his dinner-table. Moreover, there is a special argument that ihould have a cheering effect on a man who takes thi library for his sJbject rather than any other part of the house. He who reads and has i library \s prima facie likely ' ^ ■""'-- "''"■•' '"" library ; but he \*ho eats and has a dining-roon disposed to readfcooks about his dining-room. Mr. Lang does not attempt the impossible ( people what boals they^ught to read. Every ^lay the charming creatures thus gracefully drawn recogniie their portraits und strive to amend their ways ! — I Another enemy of books must be mentioned with the delicacy thdt befits the topic. AlnH'>l all women arc the invcleralc foes, not of novels, of course nor peerages ami l)opulnr vctliimes of history, but of books worthy of the name. It is true that Isabelle liKsic ami Mdmc. tit Pompadour and Mdme. de Maintenon were collectors, ami dciiliiltss there are other brilliant cNcepiions to a general rulE. Bill, Iwoadly speaking, women detest the books which the collector desires and admires. First, Ihey do not understand them ; second, Ihey are jealous of their mysLctiovis charms ; third, books cost money j and it really is a hard thing for a lady to see money expended en what seems a dingy old binding, or yellow paper scored with crabbed characters. ^Inis ladies wage a skirmishing war against booksellers' catalogues, and history speaks tr husbands who have had to practise the guise of smugglers whij) they conveyed a new purchase acruss their own frontier. Thus many married men are reduced to jjolleciing Elrcvirs which go readily into the pocket, for you cannot smuggle a folio Volume ca-ily. * # read books about hi t thereby any useless task of telli ine should possess "BfeA read the world's classics, and whatever books his business or hi; may require him to read ; and every one should please himself lighter literature V\\\\ which he is to amuse his leisure. But what should the collector collect, and Jiow should he store his collections ? Mr. Lang's question ; and if he does not answer it with dogmatic directness, but rather talks about and around the subject in that tone of charming catnerie for which he beyond most living English writers is renowned, that is no loss to the reader, Mr. Lang is alive to the follies of collectors, but regards them (as a wise man should) as but the little weaknesses that pany a taste which in general does no one any harm, that tends to pre- serve rarities from destruction, and that is fertile in sentimental pie; He might have added to his defence of the book-collector the argument that itisfrcun the collector that a respect for books as books, fi^r theJr^form and comelinessnilters down into the public mind. As Mr. L: all readers of his volume will rtotice the abundant use that he has made of French authorities, of French bibliography, of stories of French col- lectors, of names of French bookbinders. The reason is very simple "they are as unavoidable, almost, as the use of French terms of the sport in tennis and in fencing. .... Twenty books about books ai Paris for one that is published in England." But we are improving, and the improvement is our collectors' doing. They stimulate the prim and the publishers and the illustrators, and little by little our public is coming to demand better type, better paper, less glaring bindings, Ics- miserable illustrations. It is a humiliating thought that betwe Pynson and Baskerville — for more than two centuries, that is to say — ■ had no printer whose books are worth anything at all as specimens typography ; and between Baskerville and the Chiswick Press we h few enough. Even now, where the French have a score of first-clas: presses, we have but two or three. If they are to be multiplied, it mus be by creating a real demand for their work ; and that can only be done from the top, by increasing the class of those who pursue fine books with combined intelligence and passion. But tion hacjomm convtninnt lyns ; and the lyre that sings of book collecting should be jocose. It is enough to say of this volume that it contains chapters on book-hunting, its history, its philosophy, its joys and sorrows, its lessons and its charms ; on the library, and how to keep it free from the enemies of books— damp, dust, worms, rats, evil-mindec bookbinders, and unsympathetic wives ; on special classes of books which the collector loves ; manuscripts (it is the expert hand of Mr. Loftie thai has contributed the pages on these), vellum-printed books, Aldines E^evus, English rarities ; on illustrated books, from Stothard to Mr Caldetott. Two pocmalia from Mr. Austin Dobson, and one ir French from Mr. Lang are added; the last Marot might hav£ wned if he could have foreseen the existence of the Elzevirs. or three ^ minute criticisms occur to us : for example, it is not "curious" that first editions of Byron and Scott should be held so much cheaper than those of Shelley and Keats, since their issues were so much larger. A rare early Byron, such as " The Waltz," is worth neariy as much as "Adonais." There are a few misprints, such as the date 1646 for 1636, assigned (p. iJo)to the " Virgil with red letters the author will find others on pp. 55, 68, 70, ir4. We may conclud wiih one quotation which will find an echo in many a collecting heart 1 V Att'.'.iiiV.i'^^"'^; M. l*^ '^"t,''"' ^.^"S- Wiih a Chapter on Modern Illustrate 1 B jo\ \y AiiMin Uobw^. l(" An at Home" Scries.) (London: Macmillan and Co. 18S1.) :88i.] PALL MAI Pall Mall Gazette. SATURDAY, MAY 28, 18S1. " THE library:'* me is as bright and entertaining as might be expected 5 of its joint authors, and will take rank as one of the of the series. Some of its predecessors have been just a. rcial in character — too " chrematistic " as Aristotle and d say — and others have been too entirely devoted to reruin. Who but a dealer can sympathize with the state advocates "Art in the house" on the ground that jood investment ? And who, on the other hand, can enthusiasm through a whole volume on the dining- le library is hallowed by a thousand associations ; it man's workshop, the tired man's retreat, the collector's and he who writes of it has an inspiring theme. " My iends are they, with whom I converse day by day," f his books ; and none dare openly say the same 1 and his dinner-table. Moreover, there is a special ihould have a cheering effect on a man who takes the bject rather than any other part of the house. He who L library is prima facie likely to read books about his ho eats and has a dining-room is not thereby any more books about his dining-room. «::s not attempt the impossible or useless task of telling S thev nupht to rpad Fvprv nnp gVi nnlrl i-»ogcocc or^^ . , T WJtV. 1 Chanter on Modern Illustrate 1 B:)o'.c ?y.^"^^.^.",?^"lV. J^'V^iSfMacmill^^ ana Co. 1881.) (" Art at Home" Series.) (London in h i lO. L University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 • Box 951388 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 Return this material to the library from which It was borrowed. OCT 8 20Q7 -'. -nc ,>*. JJl^OU™ REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 001 245 797