ESSAYS ON ENGLISH 
 LITERATURE
 
 ESSAYS ON ENGLISH 
 
 LITERATURE 
 
 BY THOMAS M^NICOLL 
 
 ALDI 
 
 LONDON 
 
 BASIL MONTAGU PICKERING 
 
 196 PICCADILLY 
 
 1861
 
 fR 
 
 TO 
 
 JOHN ROBINSON KAY E s q^ 
 
 OF WALMERSLEY HOUSE 
 LANCAS HIRE 
 
 ARE CORDIALLY AND RESPECTFULLY 
 INSCRIBED 
 
 ^-» ,- » r H*J
 
 PREFACE, 
 
 F a Preface be only of the nature of 
 an apology^ it is better omitted even 
 from the mofi indifferent work. 
 But a few words of explanation may be ne- 
 ceffary to put the reader in poffeffion of fome 
 fa5ls whith have largely influenced andfhaped 
 the author's plan. In the prefent caje^ it is 
 likely that without a ftatement of the circum- 
 fl;ances of their origin^ the following Effays 
 would be judged by too high a flandard, and 
 made liable to unfair exceptions, The omif- 
 fion of that ftatement might alfo feem to im- 
 peach the authofs candour. 
 
 It is hoped that many perfons may be led to 
 read this volume to whom its contents will be
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 entirely new. But it is right to mention that 
 the majority of the Effays form part of the 
 author's contributions to the London Quar- 
 terly Review ; that the Jecond and third 
 papers y as well as a portion of the firfly have 
 alfo had a place in our 'periodical literature ; 
 and that only the little apologue at the end of 
 the volume appears now for the firji time. 
 
 The author has no defire to fhift the refpon- 
 fihility of this reprint^ by fuggefiing the 
 urgency of friends. The EJfays could not 
 have appeared in their prefent form without 
 his conjent ; and if they fhould be judged un- 
 worthy of that honour J he will clearly be open 
 to the fufpicion of entertaining an undue opin- 
 ion of their ujefulnejs or merit. This inference 
 is fo obvious^ that he can loje nothing by its 
 frank admifjion. The fa^ iSy that he believes 
 the critical portions of this volume may ftill 
 be offervice in correal ing fome of the vices of 
 our popular literature ; and this belief muft
 
 PREFACE. xi 
 
 form his apology for retaining certain flric- 
 tures, as in the EJfay on Popular Criticifm, 
 which he would otherwije havechofen to omit. 
 Aloft of the remaining papers are difcurfive 
 rather than critical ; andjome of the earlieft 
 in date are not free from a rhetorical em- 
 phafis of ftyle which belongs to inexperience. 
 The author has given them a place in this 
 colle5lion becaufe they harmonize with the 
 general contents of his volume^ andaljo becaufe, 
 with all their imperfe5fion, he ftill holds them 
 to be fubftantially juft. He will fay no more 
 in their behalf left he fhould be thought to de- 
 precate that free criticifm of his own perfor- 
 mances which he has never Jcrupled to exercife 
 on the works of other men ; and Jo ^ ftanding 
 quite afide, he leaves them to their fortune. 
 
 r. M. 
 
 Chelfea, Feb. 22, 1861.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Auto-biographies (1851-3) 1 
 
 Sacred Poetry ; Milton and Pollok (1851) ... 65 
 
 On the Writings of Mr. Carlyle (1852) . . . . iiz 
 
 Tendencies of Modern Poetiy (1854) 171 
 
 Popular Criticifm (1855) 204. 
 
 Alfred Tennyfon (1855) 24.8 
 
 No6tes Ambrofianas (1856) 277 
 
 New Poems of Browning and Landor (1856) . . 298 
 
 Bofwell's Letters (1857) 315 
 
 The Terror of Bagdat 344.
 
 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 E are afTured by philofophers that there 
 is nothmg futile or fuperfluous in the 
 material world. Even the refufe of 
 man becomes the refource of Nature, 
 who weaves her gayeft mantle from the fhreds 
 he fcatters, and in whofe wonderful economy 
 there is ufe as well as place for all that we con- 
 temptuoufly call " rubbifh." Indeed, there is no 
 end to the intereft and the beauty of many trivial 
 and ofFenfive things. Ignorance on the one hand, 
 and engrofling worldlinefs on the other, are hourly 
 blinding us to the moft valuable truths enfhrined 
 in very humble forms, and confirming our habits 
 of indifference towards a world of common won- 
 ders. If our eyes were really open, the moft 
 common-place of daily objects would afTume a 
 romantic novelty, and invite a more intimate 
 refearch. With a limited clafs of perfons, this 
 is actually the cafe, — bleft as they are with an 
 a6live intelligence and a fcientific curiofity, and 
 thefe contributing to induce a conftant habit of
 
 2 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 obfervation. This enviable gift — for it is a gift 
 as well as a habit — acSts like a charm in opening 
 the fources of a thoufand pleafures. An eye 
 pra6lifed and familiar in the obfervation of na- 
 ture, and accuftomed to trace in every obje(Sl of 
 comparative infignificance or doubtful utility fome 
 curious phenomenon of its exiftence — an eye that 
 fees relation, and defign, and even benefit, in 
 objects vi^hich are merely repulfive to the igno- 
 rant, can hardly fall upon a fpot of earth that is 
 not fruitful in peculiar interefl:. Intelligently 
 viewed, the very vermin take rank in creation, 
 and even duft is recognized as the detritus of fyfl:e- 
 matic ftrata. The rock that is fo bare and profit- 
 lefs to the uninformed is to fuch a man an eloquent 
 companion ; it tells him the hiftory of its ages, 
 and reveals to him the fears of its experience : 
 and fo minutely has the record been preferved for 
 our philofopher, that the guft of wind blown 
 many centuries ago has left itfelf a witnefs in the 
 filent rain-drop fallen into a flanted bed. In like 
 manner, while his houfekeeper regards with min- 
 gled fcorn and deteftation that moft ogre-like of 
 infedts, the fpider, and thinks her broom dif- 
 honoured by fuch contact, he has not difdained to 
 obferve, in thatleaft regarded corner of the houfe, 
 another diftin6l variety of form, an uninftru6led 
 but infpired weaver making his matchlefs web, 
 and a peculiar type of thofe predatory habits 
 which, in a manner immediate or indirect, caufe 
 every clafs of beings in its turn to become the 
 prey of fome other.
 
 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 3 
 
 There is an intereft fimilar in kind to this, 
 and hke this almoft infinitely diverfified, in the 
 hourly experience of the obferver of human life 
 and manners : there is an analogous charm de- 
 rived from the ftudy of even the lowed type of 
 chara6i:er, the flight but fufficient links of caufe 
 and confequence in the moft unimportant chain 
 of incidents, the mingled tiffue of trivial and gro- 
 tefque and ferious pafTages in a career of the moft 
 ordinary kind. But what was merely the pleafure 
 of intelligence in the phyfical furveyis heightened 
 by our human fympathy in the moral : the pic- 
 turefque becomes intenfified into the pathetic; and 
 thofe viciflitudes of fortune which lead out our 
 curiofity to follow another's courfe are repeatedly 
 fuggefting a poflible parallel in our own. It is no 
 fubjedt of wonder, then, that man fhould have a 
 peculiar and abforbing intereft in man, where his 
 intellect and fympathies may expatiate together. 
 If the adventures of an atom, whether hiftorically 
 or philofophically confidered, are ready to prove 
 full of profit and delight ; if the life of an inre6l: 
 is found to touch upon and illuftrate a thoufand 
 natural truths, and furnifti a diftindive type of 
 animate exiftence ; how much more real muft 
 our intereft be in the moft unpromifing of human 
 chara6ters, and the obfcureft fragment of human 
 ftory ! The ftone recoiling from our carelefs feet, 
 and the foffil caft up by the miner's fhovel, is 
 each a link in the great chain of nature, — is 
 joined infeparably to all that went before and all 
 that is yet to come : you cannot ignore its pre-
 
 4 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 fence without grofs injury to the material logic in 
 which God has embodied and demonftrated his 
 creative wlfdom. But of man all this Is true by 
 emphafis ; and though he fhould be the vileft, 
 pooreft, and idleft of his race, and lefs miffed from 
 the courts of life than the dog which kept faithful 
 watch and ward over his mafter's houfe, as man 
 he is joined to a far higher economy, and flamped 
 with a more Divine fignlficance ; nor can he fail 
 to illuftrate, even in his obfcureft wanderings, 
 and in his moft humble deeds, the majefty of 
 fplritual laws and the myftery of human life. 
 And, befides thefe indications of a great ideal, 
 typical of his fpecles, and ever and anon ftrug- 
 gling to the furface through the wrecks of fome 
 awful foregone calamity, there is in every man a 
 feparate Individuality of thought and aftion, each 
 breathing Its peculiar moral. No two lives run 
 parallel for an inftant of time : no two hearts are 
 fynchronous in the pulfations of their hopes and 
 fears. Each is the hero of a feparate drama : for 
 him the earth is as really a ftage prepared as for 
 the great Protagonlft himfelf : for his Individual 
 drama of probation all nature Is a flore-room of 
 acceflbrles, and all the tribes of men fubordinate. 
 And though thefe feveral lives do conftantly in- 
 terfeft and crofs each other, and all traces of 
 feeble men feem perpetually loft in the footmarks 
 of the ftrong and leaping, yet if we follow care- 
 fully the leaft of thefe defpifed, we fhall find him 
 to be the central figure of fome imaginable moral 
 circle, and the hero of a true dramatic unity.
 
 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES, 5 
 
 By thefe obfervations we have chofen to intro- 
 duce the fubje6l of this paper, becaufe we think 
 they plainly illuftrate, and largely account for, the 
 deep invariable intereft fo commonly felt in bio- 
 graphical details, and efpecially in the more full 
 and accurate revelations of auto-biography. For, 
 be it obferved, this intereft is, for the moft part, 
 independent both of greatnefs and virtue in the 
 hero of the ftory, and even of any unufual for- 
 tunes affe6ling his career. It feems to demand 
 only, what may be termed genu'inenefs in the nar- 
 rative, and d'lre^nefs in the narrator. Truth, we 
 might have faid, was necefTary, did we not re- 
 member inftances in which exaggerations of every 
 kind, and even grofs and palpable departures from 
 veracity, were chara6leriftic but not mifleading, 
 and therefore rather enhancing the general fidelity 
 of portraiture defired, — juft as FalftafF is better 
 known by his prepofterous falfehoods, than he 
 could have been by a faithful narrative of the 
 death of Percy. In all thefe confeflions, however, 
 we look for a certain opennefs and freedom, and 
 even a fimplicity of fpeech; but by this laft re- 
 quirement we are not to be confidered as de- 
 nouncing thofe affe6tations which may have 
 become the fecond nature of the auto-biogra- 
 pher, and fo contribute an important charm, 
 but as infifting only that the writer reveal him- 
 felf, with real candour, or through fome tranf- 
 parent artifice, and that all his cunning and 
 duplicity, though fo great as to include felf- 
 deception, 7^^// not deceive us.
 
 6 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 After thefe confiderations, we Ihall not be 
 furprifed to find that the plaineft clafs of thefe 
 writings are commonly the moft interefting ; or 
 rather, the intereft of them is more fl:ri6lly of the 
 kind proper to auto-biography. This clafs con- 
 fifts of memoirs ofperfons remarkable for neither 
 their gifts, nor attainments, nor even extraor- 
 dinary fortunes. Not always does the life de- 
 fcribed prefent any novel features to the imagi- 
 nation of the reader, nor is it even neceflary that 
 either in ftyle or fentiment fhould the narrative 
 rife above the level of mediocrity. The moral 
 ftandard of the hero may be contemptible, like 
 that of Vidocq the French thief-taker; or his 
 perfonal hiftory trivial, like that of Lackington 
 the bookfeller : but in the meaneft fubjeft of 
 thefe memoirs, and in the moft ordinary fcenes 
 depi£i:ured from the daily life of man, if there be 
 only that fincerity in the memorialift which 
 engages confidence in the narrative, we fhall 
 find attra6tion and inftrucSlion in a high degree. 
 The pi6ture, indeed, may be wanting in the ela- 
 boration and fpiritual fuggeftivenefs of a true work 
 of art ; but it will have the excellence peculiar to 
 a daguerreotype portrait, — a literal and detailed 
 truth to nature. Charadters may not appear 
 there in moments of their higheft mood, nor 
 even true to their better felves ; but their mo- 
 mentary prefentment is caught and preferved for 
 ever, and neither the tone of attitude nor the fig- 
 nificance of drefs is loft. 
 
 To reconcile the aflerted interefts of thefe
 
 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES, 7 
 
 loweft fpecimens of auto-biography with the defi- 
 ciencies attributed to them as a clafs, it may be 
 necefTary to fpeak of thofe deficiencies in quali- 
 fied terms. While it is true (for example) that 
 romantic or important incidents may be entirely 
 abfent from the ftory, it muft be remembered 
 that — as our opening analogy fuggefts — the va- 
 rieties of human circumftances infure, in every 
 cafe, a real, novel, and peculiar intereft ; that as 
 no two individual faces are alike, fo neither are 
 any two individual chara6lers, and ftill lefs any 
 two individual careers. Again : if ability or at- 
 tainments in any high degree are pronounced 
 unnecefTary on the part of fuch memoir-writer, it 
 is fimply meant that he need have none fufficient 
 of itfelf to diftinguifli him, — no talent to com- 
 mand for himfelf the public admiration, and no 
 fcientific or literary acquirement to furnifh his 
 book with a topic of intereft extraneous to him- 
 felf. But ability of fome kind he will have : 
 genius itfelf is, perhaps, more a matter of degree 
 than a rare and exclufive endowment ; and the 
 humbleft author will ever and anon, in fome 
 dire6lion or another, and in a milder or more 
 brilliant way, give evidence of the *' divinity that 
 ftirs within him." Befides, there are many fources 
 of intereft, — fuch as, idiofyncrafy, native mental 
 bias, or fome moral quality forced into promi- 
 nence by ftrefs of fortune, — one or other of 
 which muft appear in the moft ordinary record of 
 human life. And if the ads of men fo widely 
 differ, and their circumftantial relations are fo
 
 8 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 complicate and varied, how difl:in(£l and multi- 
 plied muft be their fprings of a6lion ! How often 
 fhaded by infirmity the luftre of their moft vir- 
 tuous deeds ! How often their darkefl: woof of 
 error fhot with a relieving brightnefs ! 
 
 But is there no fuch thing as trite or common- 
 place in thefe confeffions ? In the literal tranf- 
 cript of real life, rarely. It is true that the writer's 
 moral or general reflections may, from the feeble- 
 nefs of his reafon, be trite in the extreme ; and 
 an excefs of fuch reflexions over matters of fa6t 
 will render the narrative both tedious and com- 
 monplace. All extra-literal matter, if not put 
 in with artift-like, judicious touches, tends to 
 deftroy vraifemhlance^ and caufe endlefs contra- 
 dictions; for what is that which belongs neither 
 to nature nor to art, but a monftrofity? Inflances 
 of this kind of auto-biography are not infrequent; 
 but they are foon forgotten, or never attain 
 notice. It occafionally happens alfo that a 
 vanity the moft contemptible, becaufe totally 
 unredeemed by anything worthy of mark either 
 in character or experience, induces fome dullard 
 to make public confeflion of his incompetence, 
 and feek to break from the hopelefs obfcurity 
 to which he is appointed ; and his felf-laudatory 
 work will, of courfe, be, like himfelf, moft weari- 
 fome and weak. But this will never refult from 
 the humble nature of the details, nor even from 
 the unfkilfulnefs of the compiler ; for thefe can- 
 not of themfelves produce the morally ahfurd. 
 Truth, however defultory, will manifeft a beauty
 
 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES, g 
 
 of its own ; however difconne^ted, its parts will 
 finally cohere. Fragments of broken glafs, when 
 thrown into a kaleidofcope, afTume the richeft 
 colour and moft regular of fhapes ; and every 
 revolution of the inftrument difpofes them into a 
 new combination, equal in beauty, though diffi- 
 milar in figure. And fo the life that is moft 
 trifling and difconnedted, and as deftitute of bril- 
 liance or arrangement as pieces of pale and fhat- 
 tered glafs, may afTume a pi6lurefque variety, pro- 
 portioned to the number of the afpe6ls under 
 which it is prefented. Each of us takes the view 
 of another's chequered fortunes through the tube 
 of diflance, whether offpace or time, — a medium 
 that for the moment fhuts out all obfervation be- 
 fide, and narrows the attention where it concen- 
 trates the light. 
 
 Let the reader, if he would be convinced of 
 the inexhauflible fund of entertainment and re- 
 mark fupplied by human manners and affairs, 
 note down in detail the experiences and obferva- 
 tions of his life : and, in particular, let him por- 
 tray the characleriflic features of thofe to whom 
 he once ftood related, or with whom he has been 
 led to afTociate ; and omit no fingularity in their 
 hiflory or pofition which may formerly have 
 awakened his own curiofity. Perhaps he may 
 not hitherto have fuppofed his life to have been 
 fruitful either in anecdote or character : but 
 refle6lion will inflrud him otherwife. Things 
 trivial in themfelves will become fignificant in 
 relation to their confequences j and perfons of
 
 10 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 ordinary ftamp may be remembered and fet forth 
 by fome occafional fuccefs or felicitous remark. 
 Did he never cherifh a fecret regret rerpe6ling 
 father, or fifter, or coufm, or friend, that one 
 of fuch peculiar ability, or fuch perfect but 
 fequeftered virtue, fhould be fo little known, — 
 that in his heart and memory only fhould furvive, 
 and fo ultimately perifh, a pi6lure of excellencies 
 quite unique, vi^hen blended in a charming indi- 
 viduality ? Among the recolle61:ions of his child- 
 hood, is he never haunted by fome lovely half- 
 ideal image of grace and beauty, companion of 
 his fports ? or does no romantic friendfhip of his 
 boyhood remind him of the time when afFe6lion 
 had all the tendernefs, and more than all the 
 truth, of paffion ? Did he never meet with elec- 
 trifying kindnefs in an unlikely quarter ? or was 
 he never fhocked into a momentary mifanthropy 
 by ingratitude or failing goodnefs ? Have not his 
 own opinions, tafles, and difpofitions been curi- 
 oufly influenced and modified by outward circum- 
 flances, as well as inward growth ? or the little 
 current of his own fortunes been diverted by 
 fome accidental barrier, and had to wear a chan- 
 nel for itfelf ? And were not thefe events, though 
 roughly thus conje6tured by another, attended by 
 fuch features of novelty and chance-control, that 
 the detailed flory would have at once the charm 
 of fi(Si;ion and the perfuafivenefs of truth ? 
 
 Many books occur to us as furnifhing illuflra- 
 tion of thefe remarks ; but we take — almofl at 
 random — The Auto-biography of a Working Man^ 
 
 I
 
 JUrO-BIOGRJPHIES. ii 
 
 publlfhed within the laft hw years. If not the 
 moft recent, neither is it the leaft fuitable for 
 that purpofe. Unpretending as is this little work, 
 and confifting of the fimpleft details of private life 
 and ordinary labours, it juftifies the aflertion already 
 ventured, that neither talent in the writer, nor 
 intereft in the record, will commonly be found 
 wanting in works of this kind j that a diftin6l 
 individuality may be expedled in the hero-author, 
 and both variety and unity in the auto-hiftory. 
 The volume is of goodly dimenfions, and con- 
 tains the fulleft particulars of a perfonal career 
 " by One who has whijiled at the Ploughs De- 
 fpite the unpromifing nature of its title, we doubt 
 if a more entertaining record of humble life and 
 honourable induftry was ever penned. It is cha- 
 ra6terized by an air of manly fmcerity and fterling 
 moral fenfe, and gives evidence of a native tafte 
 for the good and the beautiful, improved by dili- 
 gent felf-culture. From the firft page to the laft, 
 there is no fuch thing as wearying \ but, on the 
 contrary, the reader is led onward by a quiet but 
 increafmg intereft, that makes the time lapfe by 
 infenfibly. There is throughout the volume, and 
 efpecially in the earlier chapters, a freflinefs in 
 the details, a fimplicity in the chara6lers, and a 
 modeft dignity in the author's manner, that unite 
 to enlift our curiofity and fecure our confidence. 
 The materials furnifhed to the auto-biographer 
 by the circumftances of his birth and after em- 
 ployments, were poor and unpromifing ; but our 
 readers (hall have fome opportunity for judging.
 
 12 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 His father, having occafion for migrating fouth- 
 ward from his native village, in the centre of 
 Scotland, fettled as a farm-labourer in the county 
 of Berwickfhire ; and there married a blooming 
 young woman, fervant in a farm-houfe, and 
 daughter of John Orkney, a working man. Of 
 thefe his parents our author was the eleventh and 
 laft child. The poverty of this worthy family 
 rendered their very exiftence a ftruggle j for low 
 wages and high prices made it a difficult matter 
 to provide for fo large a houfehold ; and not all 
 the induftry of a fteady and upright father, nor all 
 the diligence and care of a thrifty, tender mother, 
 could do more than avert the extreme of defti- 
 tution. Such were the humble circumftances of 
 our author's parentage and birth. But no falfe 
 fhame leads him to fpeak flightingly, or with 
 other than dutiful remembrance and afFe6lion, of 
 this period of his childhood and youth. His 
 reminifcences of peafant-life and early trials, — 
 including fome months of miferable fchooling, in 
 which his unfortunate inferiority of clothes and 
 general poverty brought upon him the injuftice 
 and contempt of well-drefTed lads and fervile 
 pedagogue, — are told with graphic force and in 
 an admirable fpirit. Herding his mafler's cows 
 was the employment of many years of his boy- 
 hood ; and in his relation of that period of his life 
 occur many anecdotes charadteriftic of country life 
 and manners, and paflages indicative of the growth 
 of his own difpofition, moral and intelle6lual. 
 At fchool he is unmercifully thrafhed " on the
 
 JUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 13 
 
 hands, head, face, neck, fhoulders, back, legs, 
 everywhere," until bliftered : but he difdains to 
 wince. " I fat fullen and in torture all the day, 
 my poor fifter Mary glancing at me from her 
 book ; fhe not crying, but her heart beating as if 
 it would burft for me. When we got out of the 
 fchool to go home, and were away from all the 
 other fcholars on our lonely road to Thriepland 
 Hill, fhe foothed me with kind words, and we 
 cried then, both of us/' The charader of his 
 father, a rigorous Diflenter of the {^d: called 
 " Anti-burghers," is not without dignity ; nor 
 that of his mother without a homely fweetnefs : 
 and it is efpecially gratifying to witnefs, in the 
 real noblenefs of thefe humble peafants and their 
 children, an interefting proof that no circum- 
 ftances are in themfelves fo wretched or fo bafe 
 but goodnefs may redeem them from contempt, 
 and even inveft them with moral beauty. The 
 whole career of this auto-biographer, could we fol- 
 low it throughout, would furnifh a continued illuf- 
 tration of the fame truth. Chara^ler, working from 
 within outwards, is the great transformer of man- 
 kind, and the fource of true individual diftinilion. 
 The bafhful hob-nailed cowherd of this hiftory 
 becomes by accident acquainted with the poetry 
 of Burns, and glows, for the firft time, with an 
 intellectual pleafure. He next covets the loan of 
 Anfon's Voyages, of which he had heard parts ; 
 but only after a fearful ftruggle with his fhame- 
 facednefs does he take courage to afk it : then in 
 the fields, at refting-time, he reads about the
 
 14 JUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 brave fhip Centurion^ and all that befell her. 
 After a while, a brother in England fuggefting 
 that he might join him and become a forefter, it 
 feems defirable that Hutton's " Menfuration " 
 fhould be ftudied : — 
 
 ^^ But where get to Hutton^ and how, was the 
 quejiion. I had no money of my own^ and my mother 
 at that time had none; the cow had not calved^ 
 and there was no butter jelling to bring in money. 
 Yet I could not reji : if I could not then buy Hutton^ 
 I muft fee it. One day ^ in March^ I was driving 
 the harrows, it being the time of f owing the fpring 
 corn^ and I thought fo much about becoming a good 
 fcholar^ and built fuch cafiles in the air, that^ tired 
 as I was [and going at the harrows from five in 
 the morning to fix at nighty on foft loofefand^ is one 
 of the moft tiring days of work upon a farm)^ I 
 took off my Jhoes, fcraped the earth from them, and 
 outofthem^ wajhed hands and face^ and walked to 
 Dunbar, a dijiance of fix miles^ to inquire if 
 Mutton's ' Menfuration ' was fold there, and, if 
 pofftble^ to look at it, — to fee with my eyes the actual 
 Jhape andfi%e of the book which was to he the key to 
 my future fortunes, George Miller was in the Jhop 
 himfelf and told me the book was four Jhillings. 
 That fum of four Jhillings feemed to me to he the 
 moft precious amount of money which ever came out 
 of the Mint : I had it not ; nor had I one JhilUng ; 
 but I had feen the book^ and had told George 
 Miller not to fell it to anyone elfe ; and fo I walked 
 over the fix miles^ large with the thought that it
 
 JUTO-BIOGRAPHIES, 15 
 
 would be mine at far theft when the cow calved^ — 
 perhaps fooner.^' 
 
 The money was raifed, the book bought and 
 ftudied ; but inftead of becoming a forefter in 
 England, our hero (now fifteen years of age) was 
 raifed to the dignity of ploughman in his native 
 place, and drove the moil: lively and fprightly pair 
 of horfes on the farm, — to wit, Nannie and Kate. 
 We cannot now follow the fubfequent career of 
 this intelligent and independent man ; but it is 
 replete with intereft and inftru6lion. His cruel 
 punifhment when in the regiment of the Scots' 
 Greys, his manly bearing throughout that painful 
 affair, and his difdainful refufal to become a mar- 
 tyr-mendicant for his own profit, are all honour- 
 able alike to his morality and good fenfe ; and 
 equally fo, the political moderation with which 
 he laboured for Reform, the tempered joy with 
 which he hailed it, and the judgment with which 
 he reftrained the ardour or condemned the ex- 
 tremes of fiercer Radicals. 
 
 If fuch is the auto-biography of common life, 
 we may proceed with expectation of yet greater 
 pleafure to the auto-biography of adventure. This 
 latter clafs of writings, in which the homely 
 perfonal details of the former appear in con- 
 nection with extraordinary incidents and foreign 
 objeCts, is of a fafcinating character, and was 
 {hrewdly appreciated by the beft of our earlier 
 novelifts, Daniel Defoe, who adapted its peculiar
 
 i6 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 features to the purpofes of ficSlion. In this form ac- 
 cordingly we are prefented with Robinfon Crufoe, 
 Moll Flanders, and other popular worthies. The 
 charm of thefe and fimilar creations of art, which 
 lies chiefly in the literal portraiture of minuteft 
 details as well as novel objects, is not ftriclly 
 belonging to art proper ; it is dependent upon 
 a faculty which is the humbleft that art can 
 exercife, — the faculty of imitation. Their art, 
 therefore, is not of the higheft kind, and does not 
 appeal fo much to the educated mind as the 
 popular inftincS ; not to the imagination, but to 
 the fenfes and the memory. They are painted 
 with Dutch fidelity and care ; but there is feldom 
 more than meets the eye : there is no fuggeftion 
 of the romance of matter, no indication that all 
 nature is typical. For this reafon the fi6litious 
 narrative has little or no advantage over the true. 
 The pleafure arifing from a confcious and clever 
 imitation will hardly compenfate for the abfence 
 of that vivid intereft which always attaches to a 
 relation of real perfonal adventures. In the pic- 
 turefque and quiet parts verifimilitude will be 
 charming ; but in the more critical incidents of 
 human ftory, reality would prove enchaining. If 
 the internal truth of the former approve it to be 
 genuine, we have this added fatisfadion in the 
 latter, — that we know it to be authentic. 
 
 Eldorado, or Adventures in the Path of Empire^ 
 is the narrative of an ifolated, but remarkable 
 paflage in its author's life, and, at the fame time, 
 of the moft ftartling epifode in modern hiftorv. It
 
 JUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 17 
 
 contains the perfonal experience and obfervation 
 of an intelligent pilgrim to California, the Eldorado 
 of the Pacific. If truth ever exceeded the ftrange- 
 nefs and romance of fiction, it affiiredly does fo 
 in thefe brilliant pages, which will remain to ex- 
 cite the wonder of remote pofterity, and be cre- 
 dited only becaufe the marvels they reveal tran- 
 fcend the limits of invention. The book is, 
 beyond comparifon, the ableft record of an un- 
 paralleled event. It defcribes the golden crufade 
 of the world, — morepidurefquein coftume, more 
 diverfified in chara6ler, more fertile in hopes, more 
 befet with difcouragements, and more pregnant 
 with difappointments, than the boldeft crufade of 
 the age of chivalry. It is fimple, literal, and unex- 
 aggerated, — what the author faw with his eyes, 
 and heard with his ears: but it is, neverthelefs, 
 grand and aftonifhing ; for he wandered in a 
 region alternated with redundant forefts and im- 
 meafurable deferts, towards rivers girdled by the 
 golden fands of Paftolus, and mountains teeming 
 with the fruit of Aladdin's garden. In this motley 
 pilgrimage are the reprefentatives of every nation, 
 converging from all quarters of the globe, jour- 
 neying in every variety of manner, encountering 
 every conceivable fhape of danger, toil, defti- 
 tution, and difeafe, many hearts finking in defpair, 
 and many frames exhaufled unto death. Yet all are 
 not animated by the ignoble luft of gold. In 
 thefe innumerable groups may be found a wide 
 diverfity of motives: from our author, enamoured 
 of the pi^turefque in nature, character, and life, 
 c
 
 1 8 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES, 
 
 to the moft covetous of Californian devotees, 
 whofe dollars are the filver fhrines of the god 
 whom he pronounces great, and who looks out 
 for the painted booths of San Francifco as eagerly 
 as the Jew for the heights of the City of David, or 
 the Hindoo for the glittering minarets of Benares. 
 It would be difficult to juftify, by a fmgle 
 brief quotation, fuch as our fpace admits, the 
 charafter of varied intereft afcribed to thefe vo- 
 lumes; but a fmgle extract may ferve to illuftrate 
 the author's animated ftyle, and afford a glimpfe 
 at leaft of his adventure. The difficulty con- 
 fifts in choofmg. The voyage from New York 
 to Chagres, — the journey acrofs the Ifthmus, — • 
 Panama and its ruined churches and waiting 
 emigrants, — the glorious coafting on the Pacific 
 fhores, — and the bewildering, buftling ftreets of 
 San Francifco on a firft arrival, — thefe would 
 each fupply a page for our purpofe. Then our 
 author's journey inland, — the mule-back progrefs 
 and camp-life reftings of his march, — Stockton at 
 noon-day with its glowing ftreet of tents, fprung 
 up, like gigantic mufhrooms, almoft in a night, — 
 the Diggings, — the return to San Francifco, — the 
 thoufand novel features of that ftrange city, — ex- 
 curfions here and there and back again, — thefe are 
 a few rough indications of the ftores from which 
 we are to fele6l a fample. We give the author's 
 memorandum of the laft day of his voyage, and 
 landing in California : — 
 
 " At laft the voyage is drawing to a clofe. Fifty-
 
 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 19 
 
 one days have elapfed fince leaving New Tork^ in 
 which time we have^ in a manner^ coajted both 
 fides of the North American Continent^ from the 
 parallel of 40° N. to its termination^ within a few 
 degrees of the Equator^ over feas once ploughed by 
 the keels of Columbus and Balboa^ of Grija Iva and 
 Sebajlian Vifcaino. All is excitement on board; 
 the Captain has juji taken his noon obfervation. 
 We are running along the Jhore^ within fix or 
 eight miles' dijiance ; the hills are bare and fandy^ 
 but loom up finely through the deep blue haze. A 
 brig bound to San Francifco^ but fallen off to lee- 
 ward of the harbour^ is making a new tack on our 
 left, to come up again. The coafi trends fomewhat 
 more to the wejlward^ and a notch or gap is at laji 
 vifible in its lofty outline. 
 
 " An hour later; we are in front of the entrance 
 to San Francifco Bay. The mountains on the 
 northern fide are 3,000 feet in height^ and come 
 boldly down to the fea. As the view opens through 
 the fplendidjirait^ three or four miles in width^ 
 the ifiand rock of Alcatraz appears^ gleaming white 
 in the dijiance. An inward-bound Jhip follows clofe 
 on our wake^ urged on by zvind and tide. There is 
 a fmall fort perched among the trees on our right^ 
 where the ft rait is narroweji ; and a glance at the 
 formation of the hills /hows that this pafs might be 
 made impregnable as Gibraltar. The town is fill 
 concealed behind the promontory around which the 
 Bay turns to the fouth ward ; but between Alcatraz 
 and the Ifiand of Terba Buena, now coming into 
 fight^ I can fee veffels at anchor. High through
 
 20 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 the vapour in front ^ and thirty miles dijiant^ rifes the 
 Peak of Monte Diablo^ which overlooks everything 
 between the Sierra Nevada and the ocean. On our 
 left opens the Bight ofSoufolito^ where the U. S. pro- 
 peller ' Maffachufetts' and feveral other veffels are 
 at anchor. 
 
 " At Jafl we are through the Golden Gate., — -fit 
 name for fuch a magnificent portal to the commerce 
 of the Pacific ! Yerba Buena Ifiand is in front ; 
 fouthward and wefiward opens the renowned har- 
 bour.^ crowded with the /hipping of the world, maji 
 behind 7nafl^ and vejfel behind veffel^ the fags 
 of all nations fluttering in the bree%e ! Around the 
 curving fijore of the bay^ and upon the fides of three 
 hills which rife fleeply from the water^ the middle 
 one receding fo as to form a bold amphitheatre^ the 
 town is planted^ and fe ems fear cely yet to have taken 
 root ; for tents, canvas^ plank, mud^ and adobe 
 houfes^ are mingled together with the leaft apparent 
 attempt at order and durability. But I am not yet on 
 fioore. The gun of the ' Panama ' hasjuft announced 
 our arrival to the people on land. We glide on with 
 the tide, pafi the U. S. fi?ip ' Ohio^' and oppofite the 
 main landings outfide of theforeji ofmafls. A dozen 
 boats are creeping out to us over the water; theftgnal 
 is given — the anchor drops — our voyage is overJ*^ 
 
 It may be thought that as thefe volumes of 
 Mr. Bayard Taylor are written with pracSifed 
 literary fkill, and derive moreover fuch unufual 
 intereft from the fcene and fubjedt, they cannot 
 fairly be adduced as an average fpecimen of the
 
 JUTO-BIOGRJPHIES, 2 1 
 
 auto-biography of adventure. It muft be acknow- 
 ledged, indeed, that in thefe refpedls the book is 
 fuperior to moft of its clafs. Yet, on the other 
 hand, what is gained in artiftic finifli is probably 
 loft in homely character and frefhnefs ; and per- 
 haps the motley multitudes whom the author 
 encounters and defcribes, but barely compenfate 
 for the breathlefs intereft of more perfonal for- 
 tunes and folitary peril. On the whole, therefore, 
 our choice was not exceptional or extreme ; and 
 we may add that the work was recommended to our 
 curiofity by its extraordinary fubje6t, and to our 
 courteous preference as the work of an American 
 author. 
 
 The life of Benvenuto Cellini, the Florentine 
 artift, belongs to a compound clafs of hiftory and 
 adventure. It has many features of fmgular in- 
 tereft, which unite in forming a moft entertaining 
 book. The author's character is made up of 
 curious contradi6lions. Though a man of tafte 
 and letters, and engaged in a profperous career of 
 art, he feems to have been one of the rudeft 
 brawlers in an age and city infefted with bullies 
 and afTaffins. He thought little of planting his 
 dagger in the nape of his enemy's neck, or forcing 
 his fword to the hilt in his enemy's body. The 
 audacity with which he committed thefe outrages 
 is coolly refle6ted in the page upon which he re- 
 cords them. A notion of the facrednefs of human 
 life feems never to intrude upon him ; and he 
 wreaks mortal vengeance as much for an infult-
 
 22 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 ing look of one whom he diflikes, as for the 
 death of a brother perifhing in a ftreet-afFray. 
 With adventures like thefe (including an im- 
 prifonment in the caftle of St. Angelo, an ef- 
 cape thence, and various intrigues), are given 
 particulars of advancement in his profeflion, and 
 inftances of his fkill in medalling and fculpture. 
 The higheft parties in Rome and Florence diftin- 
 guifh him by their patronage ; and he appears to 
 have been entirely at his eafe in his intervievi^s with 
 Pontiffs, Cardinals, and Grand Dukes. Pope 
 Clement VII. he feverely ledures for proceeding 
 in a hafty moment, on hearing of fome mur- 
 derous attack, to order our worthy goldfmith to 
 be feized and hanged ; and he intimates, in no 
 doubtful language, what a remorfeful time of it 
 His Holinefs muft have had for the remainder 
 of life, had not Providence defeated his un- 
 natural defign by means of an efcape ! Twice 
 our author is preferved from death by poifon ; 
 and times without number (according to his own 
 ftatement) is he purfued by rancorous and jealous 
 enemies. Yet his life and interefts feem well- 
 advanced and guarded both by himfelf and by for- 
 tune ; and, admirable artift as he was, his pros- 
 perity kept pace with his deferts. Throughout 
 the memoir we have many incidental notices of 
 artifts and learned men, anecdotes illuftrative of 
 the age and country, and glimpfes of the ftormy po- 
 litics and difordered fociety of that moft chequered 
 era of Italian hiftory. Thefe fcenes and fketches, 
 which in themfelves have a certain hiftorical im-
 
 JUrO-BIOGRAPHIES, 23 
 
 portance, are doubly entertaining in their con- 
 ne6lion with fo vivid a perfonal narrative, in 
 vi^hich the ftory of individual fortunes is thus em- 
 belhfhed and illuftrated by contemporary lights. 
 
 We muft briefly mention, if only to commend, 
 the Memoirs of Colonel Hutchinfon^ by Lucy^ his 
 Widow^ as remarkable for a combination of all 
 thofe elements of intereft which pertain to its 
 clafs. It is not, profefTediy, an auto-biography ; 
 but, as the writer concerns herfelf chiefly with 
 the fortunes of one who as a hufband fliared 
 them with herfelf, it is virtually fuch ; and the 
 more fo, as her prominent chara(5ler and genius have 
 ftamped upon all her reminifcences and opinions 
 a powerful individuality. As this work is now 
 well known, and within the reach of all clafTes of 
 readers, we (hall further charafterize it in a few 
 lines only, intended rather to awaken than fully to 
 gratify an intereft in its ftory. Lucy, daughter of 
 Sir Allen Apfley, Lieutenant of the Tower of 
 London, was born in that famous citadel on the 
 29th of January, 16^^ . ^v^^s married, at the age 
 of eighteen, to Mr. (afterwards Colonel) Hutch- 
 infon ; and — accompanying and animating his 
 courfe as a confcientious foldier of the Parlia- 
 ment, and confoling with her fympathy the retire- 
 ment in which he lamented the perverfion of 
 the Commonwealth — was afterwards forward to 
 fhare, and doomed relu6lantly to furvive, his per- 
 fecution and imprifonment at the Reftoration. It 
 was then, when her bereavement had left nothing 
 but a dreary widowhood in profpecEl, that (he
 
 24 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 chofe rather to look back upon the fellowfhip 
 fhe had enjoyed. Since hope could no longer 
 promife her a continuance, memory fhould at 
 leaft cheer her with a rehearfal, of its pleafures j 
 and, if fhe could never more receive or tender 
 the daily counfel and encouragement, it was left 
 her to record the exemplary career of a hufband 
 and a father, a patriot and a Chriftian. The 
 fpirit in which her memorial was thus under- 
 taken and written is worthy of all praife ; while 
 the talents which it manifefts, and the high moral 
 tone by which it is pervaded, call forth the live- 
 lieft admiration. Her portraitures of public men 
 of that time, with whom her hufband was aflb- 
 ciated, or to whom he was oppofed, are drawn 
 with confiderable fkill ; and, though her repub- 
 lican opinions are no way difguifed, nor her puri- 
 tan fympathies unduly fupprelTed, fhe generoufly 
 admits the noble qualities of a foe, and candidly 
 laments the infincerity of a pretended patriot and 
 friend. She was naturally fufceptible of all truly 
 feminine afFe6lions, as well as eminently capable 
 of exercifmg the more rigid duties of her fphere ; 
 yet, while fhe freely difcourfes of the latter, as 
 more properly becoming the dignity of an Englifh 
 matron, fhe holds the former as for the moft part 
 unworthy of recollection or regard. Thus her 
 work is, perhaps, wanting in due lightnefs and 
 relief. The principal exception is her account, 
 in the commencement, of her hufband's courtfhip 
 and their fubfequent marriage. It is a mofl pleaf- 
 ing epifode, full of fweetnefs of manner and
 
 JUrO-BIOGRAPHIES. 25 
 
 beauty of chara6ler ; convincing the mind that 
 their union was a hallowed bond of love and prin- 
 ciple, and preluding with cheerful and moft hope- 
 ful ftrains the more ferious drama of their wedded 
 life. In the progrefs of that double life, the reader 
 is charmed to obferve the growing correfpondence 
 of character in wife and hufband: how her gentle- 
 nefs and truth infenfibly modify and fway his mar- 
 tial bearing ; and how his foldierly fenfe of duty 
 and honour gives tone and firmnefs to the mother 
 and the wife. All this accords with the beautiful 
 philofophy of the poet : — 
 
 " Yet in the long years liker muft they grow 5 
 The man be more of woman, flie of man : 
 ***** 
 
 More like the double-natured poet each j 
 Till at the laft flie fet herfelf to him, 
 Like perfeft mufic unto noble words." 
 
 There is a clafs of auto-biographies which may 
 be called epifodical. Thefe are concerned with 
 fome brief or ifolated period in the writer's hiftory, 
 chofen for the moft part with reference to its more 
 eventful character, whether of perfonal adventure 
 merely, or of a more public intereft. To this 
 clafs belong fome of the moft fafcinating auto- 
 hiftories. We could fcarcely inftance one more 
 interefting or improving than the Memoirs of 
 his Impriibnment related by Silvio Pellico. The 
 reader will probably remember that Silvio Pellico 
 is an Italian poet of high repute, and known efpe- 
 cially as the author of feveral tragedies. In the 
 year 1820 he was arrefted, at Milan, on a charge
 
 26 JUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 of confpiring againft the Auftrian government; 
 and he was confined in the prifon of that city till 
 the following year. Thence he was removed to a 
 room under the burning leads of Venice ; and, 
 finally, transferred to the fortrefs of Spielberg, 
 where he fufFered the ftridleft durance, till re- 
 leafed from a protra6led torture of ten years in 
 the month of Auguft, 1830. Perfonal liberty is 
 the firft blefling of every man. It is that on 
 which he depends for the acquirement and enjoy- 
 ment of every other. This much our reafon 
 teaches; but the miferies attendant on captivity 
 we can only faintly furmife, till the experience of 
 fuch fufferers as Silvio Pellico is brought to our 
 aid. Happy Britons that we are ! We pine when 
 the weather clouds our fun, or temporary illnefs 
 fhuts us from the air. But, if our lot had been caft 
 under clearer fkles, the beft among us, and the 
 moft delicately nurtured, might have found both 
 one and the other barred from his fervice or 
 changed into a curfe ; the fun, in its fummer 
 height and ftrength, employed to fcorch his 
 brain, while he found no retreat, till approaching 
 winter fhould warn his tormentors to hurry the 
 wafted human ruin to a more difmal region, 
 aflailed alternately by froft and damp. Such was 
 the fate of Silvio Pellico. But phyfical fufferings 
 would naturally be the lighteft in the cafe of fuch 
 a man. Social and mental deprivations, with con- 
 tinued aflaults of temptation on his moral being, 
 would form the bittereft ingredients of his mifery. 
 Accordingly, his narrative is of the moft touching
 
 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES, 27 
 
 kind. The key-note is pitched in this little fen- 
 tence : " The waking which follows the firft 
 night in prifon is horrible." His dreams had not 
 yet been weaned from home, or ftiaped by prifon 
 objeds. The firft cheerful thought of his awaking 
 moment, that rofe like a grateful exhalation, was 
 fuddenly condenfed amid the furrounding gloom, 
 and defcended in tears. His fpirit faw at a glance 
 the long hopelefs future, as a drowning man fees 
 the irrevocable paft. He was in the crifis of 
 his hiftory : the time gone by had never feemed 
 to him fo bright as now ; the time to come ap- 
 peared proportionably dark. His foul flood, as 
 it were, on the Bridge of Sighs, " a palace and a 
 prifon on each hand :" that he had left, and this 
 he was about to enter. The moft afFe61:ing de- 
 privation that he now fufFers is that of fomething 
 that he may love. More than the cheerful light, or 
 the fmiling landfcape, or the bufy ftreet ; more 
 even than the dear liberty to choofe his path and 
 go whither he pleafes, to lie down upon this funny 
 fward, or go in and out among that laughing 
 crowd ; — more painful than the need of thefe is 
 the aching want he feels of the companionable, — 
 of fympathetic eyes that he may look into, — of a 
 voice of kindnefs that he may hear and anfwer. 
 His home appears to have been a very happy one: 
 he fpeaks with great tendernefs of father, mother, 
 brothers, and fifters ; and he has fo much time 
 now to dwell upon their memory, fo little hope 
 that he (hall fee them more ! For a while they 
 occupy his heart almoft to burfting. But the plea-
 
 28 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 fure is too full of pain. The heart, firft tortured 
 by bereavement, is then mercifully benumbed. 
 Our fenfibilities refufe to be for ever on the 
 ftretch; and, like tender feelers, they dravi^ fhortly 
 back, or attach themfelves to the neareft obje6l, 
 — to the barren rock, if nothing better be at hand. 
 So it is with this poor prifoner. He looks round 
 him for a prefent comfort. A friendly gaoler is 
 now more to him than once the choiceft friend. 
 How he yearns for the companionfhip of fome 
 unfortunate prifoner like himfelf ! But that which 
 is moft worthy of our admiration, in this little 
 memoir, is the fpirit of forgivenefs and humility 
 by which it is hallowed. The difcipline of Pro- 
 vidence, to which the unhappy poet was fubjefted, 
 proved falutary and benign. He returned to his 
 home a wifer and a better man. This is, clearly, 
 no excufe for the Infliction of fuch mifery as he en- 
 dured at the hands of a defpotic government; and, 
 although he has furnifhed us with no means of af- 
 certaining the jufticeorotherwife of his fentence, — 
 wifely abftaining from political allufion, and writing 
 in the fpirit of a chaftened child of God, rather than 
 of a martyr to the truth, — there is every reafon to 
 believe that his trial was arbitrary and unfair, and 
 his puniihment unnecefTarily harfh. No thanks 
 are due to them that condemned him, though his 
 mind and heart were both profited by affliction ; 
 though, refolving to bear the injuftice of men, he 
 humbly acknowledged the juft judgment of God ; 
 though the wrongs which he fufFered in his own 
 perfon made him more tenderly alive to thofe of
 
 MJTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 29 
 
 humanity at large. Such improvement, in fuch 
 circumftances, proves only that he had a noble 
 fpirit, and fuggefts that his errors w^ere venial. 
 The darknefs and defertion that made him con- 
 fcious of a prefent and fupporting God, v^ould 
 doubtlefs have driven one more feeble and cor- 
 rupt into utter atheifm ; and the perfonal forrow 
 that v^akened and w^idened his benevolent fym- 
 pathies towards all the groaning human race, 
 vi^'ould have quickened into the bittereft mifan- 
 thropy any lefs feeling or more felfifti heart. 
 
 It is probable that the literary chara61:er will 
 ever furnifh the moft valuable fubje6ts of auto- 
 biography. In the perfonal hiftory of its great 
 teachers the world has long manifefted a lively 
 intereft ; and it finds new pleafure in contemplat- 
 ing every added inftance of immortal excellence 
 caft in a mortal mould. It is gratifying to our 
 natural curiofity to obtain a glimpfe of the private 
 relations, fellowfhips, and frailties of one who has 
 powerfully influenced the public mind, and with 
 whofe inner and truer felf we have already the pro- 
 foundeft fympathy. The lives, letters, and con- 
 feflions of great authors engage our afFeffcionate 
 attention as much as if they were our relatives 
 and friends ; for, indeed, our acquaintance with 
 them, through the medium of their v/orks, may 
 be equally intimate and unreferved. It is our fym- 
 pathy with the inner life of thefe great men that 
 imparts fignificance and value to the fimpleft re- 
 cord of their hiftory. We want fome picture of
 
 30 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES, 
 
 the home they blefled, of the fociety they adorned, 
 of the fpot their eyes continually refted upon ; 
 fome illuftrations of the love they infpired, the 
 reverence they commanded, the characters they 
 moulded and imprefled. Above all, we vi^ant the 
 example of their labour and fuccefs held up to 
 encourage and to ftimulate ; the procefs of their 
 greatnefs exhibited to after-genei^ations of afpiring 
 youth. The pidure cannot be adequately fur- 
 nifhed by another : it muft take fome form 
 of auto-hiftory, — whether narrative, epiftle, or 
 journal. 
 
 Among memoirs of this clafs, and viewed in 
 the afpe6l juft indicated, thofe of Edward Gib- 
 bon, the hiftorian, are full of entertainment and 
 in{lru6lion. Relaxing the pompous march of thofe 
 ftately periods by which he has linked together 
 the antique and mediaeval eras, and following, at 
 more companionable pace, the individual fortunes 
 of his own career, he furnifhes to the reader alter- 
 nately the humblefl: and the higheft fources of di- 
 verfion; from time to time adorning domeftic inci- 
 dent or perfonal trait with the fruit of philofophic 
 judgment and profound refearch, and exhibiting 
 the fpeftacle of felf-culture advancing to fome of 
 its moft magnificent refults. To the mere con- 
 noiffeur, whofe obje6l is limited to the enjoyment 
 of intellectual luxury, the Life and Journals of this 
 eminent man will be full of intereft ; but their 
 chief value will be felt by the determined and 
 ambitious ftudent. They will ftimulate him to 
 exertion, and to the utmoft ufe of his opportu-
 
 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES, 31 
 
 nities, in the acquifition of knowledge ; infplring 
 emulation of the patient ftudy, deliberate facrifice, 
 and unflagging zeal, which were devoted to one 
 purpofe ; and leading to an appreciation of the 
 power which elicits the triumphs of genius and 
 learning by not difdaining the common lot of 
 labour. 
 
 But there is often found in literary auto-bio- 
 graphies the pre-eminent charm of ftyle ; a charm 
 fo fubtle and pervading as to fufe the whole nar- 
 rative into one harmonious and enchanting ftory, 
 as in the cafe of Goethe's beautiful work, Truth 
 and P oetry from my Life ; or elfe a charm inferior 
 in artiftic merit, and more fimply biographical, as 
 that of Franklin's auto-biography. Each of thefe 
 favourite compofitions affords a model of literary 
 ftyle, ufmg that word in the enlarged fenfe of 
 entire manner^ which confifts in form as well as 
 drefs, and refults in a beautiful correfpondence of 
 fentiment and expreffion. They are not fo widely 
 different in merit as in tone and fubjeft ; and al- 
 though the practical man may prefer the one, 
 and the imaginative reader the other, we are per- 
 fuaded that true tafte and the moft cultivated 
 feeling will find equal pleafure in both. 
 
 The auto-biographical writings of Goethe are 
 among the moft interefting of the literary clafs. 
 They are comprifed in the work already men- 
 tioned. Truth and Poetry from my Life^ in the 
 Letters from Switzerland and Italy ^ and in the 
 feveral Journals and perfonal memoranda with 
 which his writin2:s abound. The firft is a con-
 
 32 AUrO-BIOGRJPHIES. 
 
 ne6^ed narrative, in twenty books, of the incidents 
 and experiences of his childhood and youth. The 
 graceful eafe of its ftyle, which has the effe6l of a 
 moft pleafing fimplicity, is the refult of perfe6l 
 art : the whole is the confummate produ6l of a 
 mind matured under the higheft culture. A pe- 
 culiar charm lies in the grouping, and in indi- 
 vidual portraitures — fketches of relatives or lite- 
 rary friends ; in epifodes of confiderable beauty, 
 and dramatic fcenes both highly finifhed and effec- 
 tive. Its greateft defe6t arifes from the author's 
 moral deficiencies ; — the abfence, for example, of 
 any generous or commanding paffioninhis nature, 
 which might have imparted a fubftantive intereft, 
 and furniftied fomething like an epic clofe, to what 
 is now a fragment merely. Still it is a fragment 
 of almoft incomparable beauty, — cold as marble, 
 but exquifitely moulded and delicately veined. 
 We can hardly wifh it other than it is. Its pages 
 are luminous with intelle6tual truth, if not with 
 moral wifdom ; and, perhaps, no man has rivalled 
 its author in his eftimate of qualities attaching to 
 men and things around him. Almoft deftitute of 
 prejudices and predilections himfelf, his mental 
 eye dete6led in a moment the inequality and dif- 
 proportion implied in the preferences of other 
 men. Their exclufivenefs was a deformity befide 
 the fymmetry of his univerfal tafte j their definite 
 and limited belief was bigotry and intolerance in 
 the eyes of the catholic worfhipper of truth. But 
 thefe chara61:eriftics are moft prominent in the 
 Letters from Switzerland and Italy, In thefe,
 
 JUTO-BIOGRJPHIES. 33 
 
 efpecially, we fee the objeftive tendency of his 
 mind. He never fhuts his eyes in order to refle6i;: 
 he is conftantly demanding fome external objecSl, 
 that he may examine and report upon it. Opinion 
 and theory rife up, unlaboured, in him. He wants 
 more material : this is turned into a thought, and 
 that has taken its place in the mufeum of his 
 mind. Give fomething more into his hand ; for 
 he is mafter of all that he has touched, and is 
 impatiently waiting for more. His powers of 
 affimilation are fo great that matter cannot be 
 fupplied him fo faft as he can refolve it, and tranf- 
 mute it into his fyftem — into bone of fcience or 
 blood of art. And it is this greed of knowledge — 
 this untiring exploration of nature — that makes 
 thefe Letters admirable above others. We begin 
 to hate, like him, mere fentiment and fpeculation : 
 we fee the charm of details as we never did before : 
 we find a hiflory or a hint in every ftony frag- 
 ment of this coloPfal world, and take for our 
 motto. Ex pede Herculeui. 
 
 Nothing could more faithfully reflect the cha- 
 ra6ler of Benjamin Franklin than the record he 
 has left us of himfclf. It is really a photographic 
 portraiture, in which none of the fignificant de- 
 tails that compofed his real greatnefs are either 
 omitted or refined away. Herein he appears (as 
 indeed he was) the very type of the Anglo-Saxon 
 chara6ler, — the reprefentative of Englifh pradical 
 wifdom. In him the influence of race predomi- 
 nates over that of country ; the former inftindlively 
 animates his whole nature, the latter is cornpara-
 
 34 JUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 tively feeble and acquired. His character is not 
 materially biaffed by the external or political fea- 
 tures of the land of his birth. He is hardly fo 
 much American as Englifh. As a judicious 
 patriot, indeed, he promptly and fagacioufly 
 ferves the community among whom his father's 
 fortunes caufed him to be thrown ; but he ftands 
 among the more enthufiaftic fpirits of the Revo- 
 lution with temper, moderation, and experience, 
 fuch as unite in Englifli ftatefmanfhip. He was 
 the Alfred of the tranfatlantic commonwealth; if 
 lefs fmgle in his glory, and lefs authoritative in his 
 office, yet endowed with the fame enlightened 
 fpirit of amelioration, the fame rational defire of 
 compromife between the ideal and the poffible, 
 the fame ambition of the wideft ufefulnefs. His 
 genius is the fublime of common fenfe : his virtue 
 and happinefs (limited and fecular as they unfor- 
 tunately were) refult from the fupremacy of his 
 will, the invariable temperance of his life and 
 manners, and the pra6lical direction of his pur- 
 fuits. Separately confidered, his anions are trivial, 
 and his maxims common-place ; but, in their con- 
 nexion with his fortunes and his philofophy, the 
 former rife into a pyramid of exemplary fuccefs, 
 and the latter give laws to a nation's daily life. 
 His deifm was of fo attractive a kind, and fo re- 
 commended by a thoufand perfonal and focial 
 virtues, that there is reafon to fear that many have 
 turned with difguft from the nominal Chriftianity 
 of other men to the worfhip of that indefinite Pro- 
 vidence which he acknovv^ledged. All thefe traits
 
 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES, 35 
 
 in Franklin, whether of excellency or imperfe6i:ion, 
 were eiTentially Englifh in their mode of develop- 
 ment. If his mafculine intelle6l fcorned the feeble 
 verbofity of French declamation, and his truer 
 tafte defpifed the littlenefs of French vanity and 
 ambition, fo did his temperate judgment condemn 
 the fenfuality and egotifm of French infidel philo- 
 fophy. Removed from fuch a people by the 
 homely character of his greatnefs, he was as far 
 removed from them in the modeft ftyle of his 
 unbelief. In Voltaire we fee a fiendifn aftivity 
 againft the Revelation which condemned his 
 theories and frowned upon his pleafures ; and in 
 RoulTeau, a moral blindnefs and corruption which 
 darkened and tainted his whole moral being, even 
 while he boafted of the unfullied purity of his foul. 
 But in Franklin there is too fmcere a love of 
 virtue to allow of fcorn towards religion. With 
 piety the moft ardent (as that of Whitefield), if 
 he has no fympathy, he has yet no quarrel: he 
 can even admire the eloquence and earnellnefs 
 of the Preacher J and, giving him credit for the 
 fimpleft fincerity, he refufes to denounce it as 
 prieftcraft and pretence. 
 
 No extract from the auto-biography of Franklin 
 could adequately reprefent its excellence. A brick 
 is proverbially an infufficient fample of a houfe : it 
 may indicate the ftrength of the material, but can- 
 not prove the thicknefs or coherence of its wails ; 
 and much lefs the amplitude of its interior, or the 
 external beauty of its ftyle. In like manner, a 
 pafiage from the life of P'ranklin would fhow the
 
 36 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 fimpliclty of its details, and might fuggeft the 
 plainnefs of the whole ftru6ture : but we could 
 not infer from it the admirable patience, fkill, 
 and principle, that flowly, but fecurely, added 
 ftone to flone, and proportioned part to part; 
 that facrificed no true advantage or convenience 
 to a mere trick of fhow; but, feeking with dire6l- 
 nefs the real objects which the edifice was de- 
 figned to ferve, refted fatisfied that it fhould owe 
 its beauty to its fymmetry, and its confideration 
 to its importance. It is a charming narrative of 
 an exemplary career, calculated to intereft and 
 improve readers of every clafs. The ftaple of 
 every man's life confifts of ordinary duties and 
 employments ; and, in the proper performance 
 of thefe with a healthy and hopeful perfeverance, 
 every man may derive afliftance, counfel, and en- 
 couragement, from the brave New-Englander's 
 career. We are all journeying with him on the 
 level road of life ; but if we would attain fo far, 
 or obferve fo much, or earn the reft of agefo well 
 as he, it will behove us to gird up our loins, and, 
 neither running here nor paufing there, to make 
 conftant and deliberate progrefs, and hourly to ex- 
 tend the horizon of our knowledge and purfuits. 
 
 Totally different in fubjedl and in ftyle are the 
 Memoirs of Chateaubriand, the French peer, au- 
 thor and diplomate, as written by himfelf and be- 
 queathed for pofthumous publication. This work 
 is faid to have difappointed the expeftations of his 
 admirers ; and it is certain that the tumultuous 
 ftate of continental politics has not fuffered it
 
 JUrO-BIOGRAPHIES. 37 
 
 largely to engage, much lefs entirely to engrofs, 
 that public homage which its author anticipates 
 with fo much afFe61:ed indifference. For ourfelves, 
 we have found it, to the full, as eloquent and 
 picSturefque as the brilliant writings of Chateau- 
 briand had led us to expe(5t ; and if it prefented 
 to our eyes no faultlefs hero, without moral ble- 
 mifh or mental imperfe6lion, we were neither fur- 
 prifed nor difappointed by the chequered lights 
 and fliadows. We remembered, moreover, that 
 it was the pi6lure of a Frenchman drawn by him- 
 felf. In his foibles, as in his greatnefs, Chateau- 
 briand was the very type of the natiorial chara6ler 
 of France ; he was eflentially, conftitutionally, habit- 
 ually French. This is not faid to difparage his coun- 
 try, but to chara6lerize himfelf. Neither is the cir- 
 cumftance a rebatement to the intereft of the work 
 before us, but rather its conftant charm ; always re- 
 lieving it from dulnefs, though often at the expenfe 
 of the hero's dignity. To the Englifh reader of 
 thefe Memoirs, accuftomed to the modeft referve 
 of Englifti writers when fpeaking of themfelves, 
 there is fomething repulfive at the firft in the in- 
 ordinate vanity of their author. The "glory" 
 which he fuppofes himfelf to have acquired is ever 
 prefent with him ; haunts him, as he would fay, 
 with a melancholy fplendour ; mingles in every 
 group which he defcribes ; is with him like a fha- 
 dow in the folitude where he invites the world to 
 look in upon him. This fame " glory " ferves 
 him like a gilt pafteboard crown ; and ever as he 
 comes before you he feems to fet it down upon
 
 38 JUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 the table, fighing like a paviour, as though it were 
 maffive with gold, and lined with thorns ; and 
 then, with piteous looks, he implores your com- 
 paflion for the viclim of too much greatnefs. You 
 find it difficult — when this fcene has been re- 
 peated over and over again — to reftrain your dif- 
 guft at fo much genius and fo little fenfe. You 
 begin to doubt the reality of his renown, when 
 you hear it moft luftily fliouted by himfelf, with 
 a deprecating whine to ferve as echo. You 
 are ready to afk him if he happens to have his 
 title and credentials in his pocket. If fo, what 
 are they? Who made him famous? What proves 
 his greatnefs ? Did he build the pyramids, defign 
 St. Peter's, or write Paradife Loft? Is he the 
 Wandering Jew, or Napoleon grown lean and 
 run to feed ? To this he anfwers with an un- 
 earthly groan, and ftill fits wringing his hands, 
 and invoking his remorfelefs "^/wV^," 
 
 Thofe who have read thefe Memoirs will ac- 
 knowledge that the author's vanity and egotifm 
 are not overdrawn by us : thofe who have not, 
 will wonder how fuch moral weaknefs can con- 
 fift with talent in the writer, patience in the 
 reader, or intereft in the work. Yet the writer 
 has talents of a very high order : the reader is 
 more often prompted to admiration than exercifed 
 in patience : and the work unites moft of the 
 characteriftic beauties of auto-biography. The 
 period of the Memoirs is remarkably compre- 
 henfive, and chequered with fcenes of the moft 
 ftriking variety and contraft. The individual for-
 
 JUTO-BIOGRJPHIES. 39 
 
 tunes of the author are coloured, more or lefs, by 
 every public change ; yet he conftantly ftands by 
 with graphic pencil, and fketches for our plea- 
 fure. Born under the decline and dotage of the 
 old regime^ he witnefled fucceffively the Revo- 
 lution, the Confulate, the Empire, the Reftoration, 
 the Revolution of July, 1830 ; and, before he 
 lapfed into his final fleep, his dying pillov^ v^as 
 rocked by the Revolution of February, 1848. 
 Starting from a dilapidated family-manfion in an 
 obfcure part of Brittany, he mingled with cour- 
 tiers at Paris, with Indian favages in the Ame- 
 rican woods and prairies, with poor emigrants at 
 one time, and ambaffadors and princes at another, 
 in the crowded city and fuperb court of London ; 
 incurring now the perilous difpleafure of the 
 tyrant Buonaparte, and attracting always the 
 admiration of generous hearts by his chivalric 
 and independent bearing, by his fcorn of char- 
 tered infolence, and by his eloquent fympathy with 
 humanity at large. The ftyle in which the per- 
 fonal and public memoranda of his life are written, 
 is worthy of high praife. It is at once fententious 
 and pi6lurefque ; it touches upon falient points 
 with unfailing (kill ; and often cryflallizes, in 
 one gem-like fentence, the philofophy of a cha- 
 racter or career. Chateaubriand, like other French 
 authors, will often give an exaggerated importance 
 to trifles ; and he is more affedled by matters of 
 external fhow, novelty, or coincidence, than an 
 Englifhman of well-trained mind would fufPer him- 
 fclf to be. But his manner is attraCtive when his
 
 40 AUTO-BIOGRJPHIES. 
 
 matter is trivial: he is feldom jejune, and never 
 common-place. His reflections are original, and 
 often profound, — the refult of poetic inftindi:, 
 rather than of laborious analyfis. His portraitures 
 are felicitous and ftriking ; his fummary of im- 
 portant events, lucid and fair; his fketches of 
 fcenes, incidents, and interviews, dramatic in the 
 extreme. His narrative is often coloured above 
 nature, detailed beyond literal fa6t. This is done, 
 we are perfuaded, unconfcioufly. His veracity is 
 above fufpicion. But then his imagination is be- 
 yond control. In recalling a converfation that he 
 has taken part in, or a fcene that he has witneiTed, 
 he cannot bear that the one fhould be reported in 
 broken or general terms, and the other indif- 
 tin6lly given : this muft be a picture, and that a 
 little drama. They are works of art founded upon 
 fa6l. The truth is there, but not in its literal 
 photographic drefs. It is elaborated for pofterity, 
 to hang in the gallery of his Memoirs for ever. 
 
 As an illuftration of the ftyle and fentiment of 
 Chateaubriand, in the graver paiTages of this auto- 
 biography, we extract a part of his parallel be- 
 twixt two mightybut diflimilar heroes: — ^^IVaJh- 
 ington does not^ like Napoleon^ belong to that clafs of 
 men who ajfume fuper human proportions. Nothing 
 ajionijhing is attached to his per/on : he is not 
 placed on a vajl theatre i he is not engaged in a 
 Jlruggle with the moji Jkilful captains and the moji 
 powerful monarchs of the age. He does not rujh 
 from Memphis to Vienna.^ from Cadiz to Mofcozv. 
 He defends himfelfwith a handful of citizens^ in a
 
 JUrO-BIOGRJPHIES, 41 
 
 comparatively unknown land, and in the narrow 
 circle of the domejlic hearth : he does not wage 
 battles which renew the triu?nphs of Arhela and 
 Pharfalia. He does not overturn thrones, to build 
 up others with their ruins ; he does not fay to the 
 kings waiting at his gates, — 
 
 ^ S^'ils fe fonttrop attendre, et qu'Attila s\nnuie.^ 
 
 Something offilence feems to envelope the actions of 
 Wajlnngton. He aSfs leifurely. One would fay, 
 he felt himfelf burdened with the liberty of the 
 
 future^ and that he feared to compromife it. It is 
 not his own dejlinies which this hero of a new fi amp 
 bears, but thofe of his country : he does not permit 
 himfelf to fp or t with what does not belong to him. 
 But from this profound humility what light is about 
 to burjl forth ! Seek amidji the frejls where the 
 
 fword of Wajhington flajhed^ and what will you 
 
 find? Tombs? No; a world I Wafoington has 
 left the United States as the trophy of his field 
 of battle Buonaparte prefents none of the 
 
 features of this grave American. He wages a 
 noify Jiruggle in an ancient land; he wijhes to 
 create nothing but his own renown ; he burdens 
 himfelf only with his own fate. He feems to be 
 aware that his mijfion will be a Jhort one^ — that 
 the torrent which defcends from fuch a height vjill 
 
 flow fajl. He hajlens to enjoy and to abufe his glory 
 as if it were a fleeting youth. Like the gods of 
 Homer, he wi/hes to reach the end of the world in 
 
 four fieps. He appears in every character ; he 
 haflily infcribes his name in the records of all
 
 42 JUrO-BIOGRAPHIES, 
 
 nations ; he throws crowns to his family and his 
 foldiers ; he is hajiy in his monuments, his laws, 
 and his viSiories, Brooding over the world^ with 
 one hand he overturns kings^ with the other he 
 beats doiun the giant of revolution. But^ in cruJJj- 
 ing anarchy^ hefiifes liberty, and ends by lofing his 
 
 own on his lafi field of battle Each is 
 
 recompenfed according to his works. Waftnngton 
 raifes a nation to happinefs ; then.^ laying down his 
 magijierial authority.^ he finks to refl, beneath his 
 own roof amidft the regrets of his country?nen 
 and the veneration of nations Buona- 
 parte robs a nation of its independence. A depofed 
 Emperor.^ he is hurried into exile., where the terror 
 of the globe he has ravaged does not think him 
 fecurely enough imprifoned under the guardian/hip 
 of the ocean. He expires. This news, publifljed 
 at the gate of the palace in front of which the con- 
 queror caufed fo many funerals to be proclaimed., 
 neither arrejis the ftep nor aftonijhes the mind of 
 
 the by-paffer The republic of Wajhington 
 
 remains-, the empire of Buonaparte is defiroyed. 
 Wajhington and Buonaparte both fprang from the 
 bofom of democracy. Both born fro?n Liberty^ the 
 firfl was faithful to her., the fecond betrayed her."" 
 
 The remainder of this famous parallel isinfimilar 
 ftyle J and the reader's impreilion throughout is, 
 that the author fpeaks more admiringly of his 
 brilliant and audacious countryman, even when 
 his language juftly difcriminates the truer great- 
 nefs of the American patriot. While he praifes
 
 JUTO-BIOGRJPHIES, 43 
 
 the perfonal humility of Wafhington, his praife 
 founds much hke pity. He feems to regret that 
 fo vivid a glory as his fhould be diffipated over a bar- 
 ren continent, and ftream mildly through all time. 
 He would have regarded him with more wonder 
 and delight, if — inftead of fharing his heroifm and 
 fuccefs with fellow-foldiers and future generations 
 — he had gathered up both one and the other into 
 his own perfon, exhaufted on himfelf the fruits 
 of a thoufand triumphs, and concentrated in his 
 own the renown of a thoufand warriors. 
 
 In memoirs and confeffions of every clafs the 
 French have a diftinguifhed reputation, and we 
 gladly invite attention to another and more favour- 
 able example of that fchool. The Memoirs of his 
 Touth^ which M. de Lamartine has recently given 
 to the world, are invefted with a romantic beauty 
 of fentiment, perhaps never employed with equal 
 fuccefs in the delineation of a6tual life. This little 
 work, indeed, brief and unfinifhed as it is, appears 
 to us the moft admirable produ6lion of its author, 
 or the one moft accordant with the tafte of Eng- 
 lifh readers. It is full of attractions, both for fim- 
 ple and cultivated minds. The vanity fo offen- 
 fively difplayed in the Memoirs of Chateaubriand 
 is here prefented in a modified and fimpler form : 
 for although the egotifm of M. de Lamartine is 
 manifefted in a truly national degree, it does not 
 lead him to make lofty comparifons between him- 
 felf and the world's moft memorable men, as M. 
 Chateaubriand repeatedly does j it induces him only
 
 44 JV^rO-BIOGRJPHIES. 
 
 to colour fomewhat too highly the perfonal merits 
 of his hero, and never to forget how brilliant an 
 enfemhle is due to France and to himfelf. In other 
 refpe6ls thefe Memoirs differ from thofe of Cha- 
 teaubriand. The ftyle is more elaborate, and the 
 ftory more developed and connected \ and if the 
 language is more frequently diffufe than fenten- 
 tious, and the fentiment rather poetical than 
 appropriate, the one is recognized as the fponta- 
 neous medium of the other, and the whole is not 
 too glowing for the picture of blended acSlual and 
 ideal in the auto-biography of a poet's youth. One 
 portraiture contained in thofe Memoirs is of ex- 
 quifite beauty and diftinguiflied merit ; it is that 
 of the author's mother. The excellence of the 
 fubjecSt has, in this cafe, admirably fecondedthe 
 execution of the artift. The mere fancy of the 
 latter could never have fupplied the abfence of 
 the former : the purely fi6titious heroines of the 
 poet are falfe and feeble in comparifon with this 
 facred object of memory and love. But if fuch a 
 character tranfcended his powers of invention, it 
 harmonized too well with his own high nature 
 and fplendid gifts to baffle his depicting powers. 
 Sure we are that no one can read this affectionate 
 tribute on the part of M. de Lamartine to a pa- 
 rent dignified by all that is worthy of efteem, and 
 endeared by qualities that irrefiltibly infpire love, 
 without reverence and admiration, — a reverence 
 and admiration that are reflected from the object 
 to the author, from the pattern virtue of the mo- 
 ther to the devotion and homage of the fon. This
 
 JUTO-BIOGRJPHIES. 45 
 
 filial record is of an elaborate length, as well as 
 beauty : the author dwells with fondnefs and 
 delight upon reminifcences fo hallowed, and 
 lingers in the angelic prefence, at once fami- 
 liar and divine. A fmall portion only of this in- 
 terefting memorial is all that we can here infert; 
 but it will fuffice to fhow the manner and fpirit 
 of the whole. After defcribing the benevolent 
 vifits and almfgiving to which his pious mother 
 devoted a part of every morning, and in which 
 fhe aflbciated her young children, the author pro- 
 ceeds : — 
 
 " When all this hujile of the daily occupations 
 was at laji over^ when we had dined^ when the 
 neighbours y who occafionally came to pay us a vifit^ 
 had retired^ and when the Jhadows of the mountain^ 
 
 Jlealing along the little garden^ had already wrapped 
 it in the twilight of the clofing day^ my mother 
 
 feparated h erf elf from us for a Jhort period. She 
 left us either in the little faloon^ or in a corner of the 
 garden at feme dijiance from her. She at laji took 
 her hour of repofe and meditation.^ apart and alone. 
 This was the moment which Jhe devoted to reflec- 
 tion ; when^ all her thoughts called ho?ne^ all the 
 wandering afpirations and feelings of the day turned 
 inwards, Jhe communed with God.^ who formed her 
 
 fureft folace and fupport. Toung as we were, we 
 knew the private hour which Jhe referved to herfelf 
 atnidfi the bufy duties of the day. We moved away 
 infiinSfively from the alley of the garden where Jhe 
 was wont to walk at this hour, as if we had feared
 
 46 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 to interrupt or to overhear the myfter'ious and confi- 
 dential outpourings of her heart to her Creator, It 
 was a little walk formed of yellow fand^ approaching 
 to a red colour^ bordered with ftrawherries^ and 
 lined on each fide by a row' of fruit-trees which 
 rofe no higher than her head. A large clump of 
 hazel-trees terminated the walk on one fide ^ and a 
 wall on the other. It was the moft deferted and 
 Jheltered fpot of the garden. It was for this reafon 
 Jhe preferred it ; for what Jhe faw there was within 
 herfelf and not in the horizon which bounded her 
 vifion. She walked with a rapid^ but meafured^ 
 Jiepj like one whofe thoughts are bufily occupied^ who 
 Tnarches on to a fixed and certain goal^ and whofe 
 enthufiafm rifes as he proceeds. She had her head 
 ufually uncovered^ her beautiful black hair half 
 floating in the breeze^ her countenance a little 
 graver than during the reft of the day^ fometimes 
 fight ly bent towards the ground^ fometimes raifed 
 to heaven^ where the gaze feemed to fearch 
 for the firfi ftars that began to detach themfelves 
 from the deep blue of the firmament. Her arms 
 were bare from the elbow downwards^ her hands 
 fometimes clafped like thofe of a perfon engaged in 
 prayer^ fometimes at liberty^ and plucking abfently 
 a rofe or a few violet marrows^ whofe tall Jialks 
 fprang up along the margin of the walk. So?neti?nes 
 her lips were half parted and motionlefs^ fometimes 
 firmly clofed and working with a perceptible move- 
 ment^ like thofe of one talking through a drea?n. . . 
 . . . When Jhe iff ued from this fan^uary of her 
 foul^ and returned to us again, her eyes were moijl-
 
 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 47 
 
 ened^ her features even tnore ferene and fuhdued 
 than ufual. The never-ceafing fmile which fat upon 
 her graceful lips^ wore even a more tender and more 
 loving exprcjjion. One would have faid that Jhe 
 had thrown off a burden offadnefs^ or relieved her 
 mind of a weight of adoration^ and that Jhe walked 
 more lightly under her duties during the remainder 
 of the day." 
 
 Such in her higheft, and fimilar in her fub- 
 ordinate, relations, was the mother of M. de La- 
 martine. But the maternal chara6ler was that 
 in which flie pre-eminently excelled : it appears, 
 indeed, to have fulfilled in her the meafure of 
 perfe6i:ion. Even duly confidering the filial heart 
 and poetic mind of her memorialift, the reader can 
 hardly conceive of her as lefs than fully exem.pli- 
 fying the virtues of faith and practice, or as failing 
 in any the fmallefl particular of motherly love 
 and care. He is not furprifed, therefore, to find 
 that the childifh fenfibilities of the future poet, 
 foftered by fo pure and tender a concern, were 
 rudelyfhocked when, at the age often years, he left 
 home for the firft time, and found himfelf joftled 
 and difregarded in a public fchool, — a ftranger to 
 the fmalleft kindnefs, and a loathing witnefs of 
 vulgar and depraved habits. From this rude 
 fcene he boldly efcaped, returning home, and was 
 afterwards placed at a fuperior feminary under the 
 guardianfhip of mild and learned Jefuits. Here, 
 however, his great ftimulus to fuccefs in ftudy 
 was the profped: of again joining the family
 
 48 JUTO-BIOGRJPHIES. 
 
 circle ; and that goal he appears to have at- 
 tained by abfolutely exhaufting the learning of 
 his teachers. To his enjoyment of domeftic 
 happinefs was now added the delightful freedom 
 of opening intellecSlual youth. 
 
 " Having returned to Milly a Jhort time before 
 the fall of the leaf I thought I never could enjoy 
 fufficiently the torrent of inward happinefs with 
 which a Jenfe of liberty in the abode of my child- 
 hood and in the bofom of my family filled my breafi. 
 It was the conquejl of my age of manhood. My 
 mother had caufed a little chamber to be prepared 
 for myfelf alo7ie : it was fituated in an angle of the 
 houfe^ and the window opened into a lovely walk of 
 hazel-trees. It contained only a bed without cur- 
 tains^ a tahle^ and feme /helves, fixed againfi a 
 wall^ to contain my books. My father had pur- 
 chafed for me the three articles which ferve to com- 
 plete the virile robe of an adolefcent.^ — a watch^ a 
 fowling-piece^ and a horfe^ as if to notify to ?ne that 
 henceforth the hours^ the plains^ and the realms of 
 fpace^ were my own. I took poffejfion of ?ny inde- 
 pendence with a rapture which lafied fever al months. 
 The day was abandoned wholly to the chafe along 
 with my father .^ to drejfing my horfe in the ft able .^ 
 or to galloping him, with my hand twined in 
 his mane^ through the neighbouring valleys. The 
 evenings were given up to the fweet inter courfe of 
 family in the faloon^ along with my mother, my 
 father, and feme friends of the family^ or in read- 
 ing aloud the works of hiflorians and poets
 
 AUrO-BIOGRAPHIES. 49 
 
 Among thefe poets^ thofe whom I adfnire in pre- 
 ference were not the ancients^ zvhofe clajjic pages 
 we had^ when too youngs moiflened with our tears ^ 
 and with the fweat of our Jiudies. There exhaled 
 from them^ when I opened their pages ^ a fort ofpri- 
 fon odour of zvearinefs and of conjiraint which made 
 me Jhut them again^ as a delivered captive hates to 
 look again upon his former chains. But they were 
 thofe which are not infcrihed in the catalogue of 
 works ofjiudy^ — the modern poets^ Italian^ Englijh^ 
 German.^ French^ — poets whofe flejh and blood are 
 our own fleJh and bloody who feel^ who think^ who 
 love^ who fmg^ as %ue feel^ as we think^ as we fing^ 
 as we love^ we the men of modern times ; fuch as 
 Taffo^ Dante^ Petrarch^ Shakefpeare^ Milton^ Cha- 
 teaubriand^ — who fang like them? — above all, 
 Ojftan^ that poet of the vague and undefined,, that 
 miji of the imagination^ that inarticulate plaint of the 
 Northern Seas^ that foam of the waves^ that murmur 
 of the Jhadows, that eddying of the clouds around 
 the te?npejl-beaten peaks of Scotland^ that northern 
 Dante^ as grand^ as majejiic^ as fupernatural^ as 
 the Dante of Florence^ and ?nore fenfible than he^ 
 and who often wrings from his phanto?ns cries ?nore 
 human and more heart-rending than thofe of the 
 heroes of Homer, " 
 
 Afterwards, we have yet further proof of the 
 vivid and lafting impreflion which the works of 
 Offian made upon the youthful poet's mind; and 
 we cannot help thinking, that to his inordinate 
 ftudy of the northern bard may be traced the cha- 
 
 E
 
 50 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 raderiftic defe6ts both of the poetry and profe of 
 M. de Lamartine. Thefe defeds, as it appears 
 to us, confift in the fubftitution of the vague for 
 the definite, and a preference for brilliance of co-. 
 lour over diftin6lnefs and truth of outline ; and 
 are precifely vi^hat might be anticipated from the 
 undue influence of the poems of OfTian. It is 
 true, indeed, that a vi^ide difference diftinguifhes 
 the earlier and later minftrels ; but it is the differ- 
 ence of diflance, and not of difTimilarity, — the 
 difference betwixt rude antiquity and modern times, 
 and betwixt the bleak and mifly north and the 
 warm and golden fouth. In the one, we have the 
 fombre genii of a frowning clime and an heroic 
 age, floating cloud-wife over fcaur and mountain, 
 and filling up the paufes of the florm with an an- 
 fwering gufl of forrow, as the chorus of the Greek 
 drama echoes and heightens the mourner's grief; 
 and in the other, every garden of the funny fouth 
 is made to glow like Paradife, and every maiden's 
 walk feems haunted by angelic innocence, and 
 every youth is a divinity, and all verdure is hope, 
 and all funfhine heaven. In the creations of 
 M. de Lamartine there is more variety than in 
 thofe of OiTian, but hardly more of individuality : 
 perfons they are not fo much as types, nor fub- 
 ftances fo much as fhadows. They are abflrac- 
 tions of the poetry of life, rather than living and 
 concrete examples. And for this reafon, they will 
 always burn upon the ardent imaginations of the 
 young, though they may ceafe to gratify the 
 experienced intelle6l in riper years. Even the
 
 AUTO-BIOGRJPHIES. 5 1 
 
 lovely Graziella, whofe image and hiftory adorn 
 thefe Memoirs with their choiceft epifode, is 
 hardly an exception to this rule of typical portrai- 
 ture. A maiden of Greek defcent and Italian 
 birth, inheriting the claflic beauty of her anceftors, 
 and abforbing the attra6live glow and foftnefs of 
 her native clime, we conceive of her as the para- 
 gon of youth and beauty ; — as the foundling of 
 dame Fortune, caft upon an ifland rock, adopted 
 by Nature herfelf, and by her endowed with a 
 plenitude of gifts and graces that tranfcend the 
 vulgar and conventional ornaments of life. Yet 
 it muft be owned that this perfe6lion of charms, 
 and abfolute fimplicity of manners, make up an 
 enchanting ideal ; and that it is after all touchingly 
 human and tenderly feminine. How exquifitely 
 is the tranfition from girlhood to womanhood in- 
 dicated on the occafion of her liftening, for the 
 firft time, to the tale of Paul and Virginia, as it is 
 brokenly interpreted to the fiflierman's family by 
 the lips of the poet, 
 
 ^^ The young girl felt her heart, till then dormant^ 
 revealed to her^ as it were^ in the foul of Virginia. 
 She feemed to have groivn fix years older in that 
 half hour. The Jlorms of pajjion had marbled her 
 
 forehead, the azure white of her eyes, and her 
 cheeks. She refemhled a calm and fieltered lake^ on 
 which the funjhine^ the wind, and the Jhade were 
 
 Jiruggling together for the fir J} time.'' 
 
 But we muft not be feduced into a repetition of 
 the beautiful ftory of Graziella, or rather into a
 
 52 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 poor abridgment of it ; for it muft ceafe to charm, 
 if touched by ruder hands than thofe of its firft 
 framer, and made lefs or other than it is. 
 
 Two Englifh contemporaries of Chateaubriand 
 and Lamartine had alfo planned a retrofpeil of 
 their illuftrious lives ; but the auto-biographies 
 commenced by Scott and Southey were early in- 
 terrupted by long delays, and finally broken ofF by 
 death. We have only a fragment of each, written 
 with a tafte and judgment that make us deeply 
 regret the lofs of that which is unwritten, and of 
 which we feem to have been fo accidentally de- 
 prived. In their completed ftate, they would have 
 been models of auto-biography, uniting the fim- 
 plicity and fidelity of the humbleft works of the 
 clafs to all that is morally and intellectually noble, 
 to the manly modefty of true greatnefs, and the 
 felicity of true tafte. Both thefe eminent authors 
 were mafters of a pure Englifh ftyle; and, if Scott 
 had an advantage in the humour of character and 
 anecdote, the moral tone and admirable exprefiion 
 of Southey imparted a beautiful clearnefs to the 
 reminifcences of his youth. The one, from the 
 obje6live tendency of his mind, enriched his per- 
 fonal hiftory with fketches of contemporary 
 perfons and external things ; the other, writing 
 more fubje6lively, though ftill with an obferving 
 eye and a healthy mind, clothed his narrative of 
 every aflbciation or tranfa6lion with an elevation 
 of fentiment and a dignity of language peculiar to 
 himfelf. Sir Walter Scott has found, in his fon-
 
 JUTO-BIOGRJPHIES. 53 
 
 in-law, an able continuator, worthy of that office : 
 the narrative of Lockhart is, indeed, as excellent 
 a fubftitute for the Poet's auto-biography as the 
 cafe would admit of. But Southey, we conceive, 
 has been lefs fortunate in this refpe6l : the Me- 
 moirs of his Life and Correfpondence, as prepared 
 by his fon, are fo inferior in intereft and merit, as 
 greatly to deepen our regret at the incompletenefs 
 of the fketch which forms its commencement, 
 and which, in a more finifhed ftate, — fupplemented 
 by a fele6tion of the author's beft letters, — would 
 have furniflied the prefent age, and future times, 
 with an admirable example of literary hiftory. 
 Under the circumftances of this double depriva- 
 tion, it remains for us to make fome paffing 
 reference to a work lefs exalted, both in merit and 
 pretenfion, but not without an intereft of its own ; 
 and then to conclude this brief fummary, by a 
 notice of the volume which fuggefted it. 
 
 An announcement of the Auto-hiography of 
 Leigh Hunt was full of promife to the lover of 
 modern literature. There is no man of the pre- 
 fent age to whom the profeffion of letters, adopted 
 (ifwemayfoexprefsourfelves)byirrefiftiblechoice, 
 has proved a more conftant fervice of delight than 
 to him, — a fervice to which, though with variety 
 of fortune but conftancy of love, he has now ad- 
 hered through half a century, — and none to 
 whofe excurfive genius and companionable teach- 
 ing the general reader is indebted for fo large a 
 meafure of intelle6tual paftime. In mufical 
 phrafe, he has always written con fptrito. It may.
 
 54 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 indeed, have often happened to him, as to more 
 fortunate authors, that to buckle to his tafk and 
 bend to the defk, defpite the alluring funfhine and 
 inviting flowers, involved at firft a little hardftiip 
 and felf-denial ; but once there, he grew happy 
 and contented. To defcant of freedom in the 
 meadows, or nature among the mountains, feemed 
 the next beft thing to a perfonal enjoyment of the 
 fame. Seated in his quiet ftudy, he became the 
 literary correfpondent of the reading world ; took 
 down a volume of this poet, or of that eiTayift, 
 and, diving into the treafury of his own memory 
 and fancy, rehearfed the one with a commentary 
 of dainty thoughts, and fupplemented the other 
 with the fruits of his own experience. He has 
 not, indeed, laid claim to the honours of conqueft 
 over any branch of fcience, or by a fmgle produc- 
 tion* approved his right to be efteemed one of 
 the mafters of poetic art ; but his tafteful and 
 congenial expofition of the latter will more than 
 excufe his sfthetic averfion to the cold theoria of 
 the former. If he is not entitled to a ProfefTor- 
 fhip in the one department, he has been long re- 
 
 * We have not forgotten the graceful and pathetic Le- 
 gend of Florence^ efpecially diftinguifhed by the nervous and 
 novel rhythm of its verfe, the fweetnefs of its domeftic fen- 
 timent, and its general purity and frefhnefs. But we are 
 not quite fatisfied, that its moral is as unexceptionable as its 
 ftyle j and, even granting it to be a noble fpecimen of dra- 
 matic art, it would hardly be fufficient of itfelf to fecure 
 a high pofition for its author. On the whole, we look 
 upon the two large volumes which form Leigh Hunt's 
 London Journal, as the field where his genius has expatiated 
 to moft advantage ; it is that alio from which he has lately 
 garnered fome of his moft pleafant lucubrations.
 
 AUrO-BIOGRJPHIES, 55 
 
 ceived as a Mafter of the Revels in the other. 
 All that wit, humour, imagination, or fancy have 
 provided for human pleafure in chafte but exube- 
 rant forms, have been uftiered by his wand of 
 enchantment in a thoufand different mafks, ap- 
 pearing now in Tingle, and now in affociated, beauty, 
 and lovely alike in every combination and attitude. 
 Leigh Hunt has not produced an agreeable 
 hiftory of himfelf. He is generally far more happy 
 when fpeaking of books, or birds, or neighbours, 
 or companions of any kind. His Auto-biography 
 appeared in three volumes, but attradted little 
 notice and lefs commendation. The ftyle is often 
 carelefs and faulty in the extreme ; and the more 
 purely literary portion is not only inferior in ability 
 to his former eflays, but is in great part deftitute 
 of novelty to the modern reader. Thus fecond- 
 rate in its material, and unconne6i:ed as a whole, 
 it ftands in need of fome friendly indulgence ; but 
 this we are not inclined to withhold. Too 
 evidently it was made to order ; it is a pardonable 
 inftance of book-making. We can eafily con- 
 ceive the relu6lance with which the tafk was 
 undertaken, the diftafte with which it was profe- 
 cuted day by day, and the diffatisfa6tion with 
 which it was finally difmiffed out of hand. Hence 
 the feeblenefs of a twice-told tale, the loofenefs 
 of ftyle, and the defedivenefs of plan. Had it 
 been entirely a labour of love, it would not have 
 lacked proportion, unity, and finifti. But other 
 reafons, no doubt, contributed to thefe defe6):s ; 
 for thefe in for^e meafure refle6l thofe of the
 
 56 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 author himfelf, — whofe principles and charatSter 
 are open to exception on fome ferious points. 
 
 But if our hero proves no hero after all, like 
 every other auto-biographer he had at leafl a home, 
 which may furnifh us fome compenfating glimpfes. 
 It is commonly faid, that the mothers of great 
 men are themfelves remarkable ; but did you 
 never fufpe6l, dear reader, that this is but a very 
 partial truth ; that men of very middling, ay, and 
 thofe of very little, powers, are frequently as 
 favoured in this refpe6l as the nobleft and the 
 brighteft ? We cannot open the confeffions of 
 the mereft fcamp, without being furprifed with a 
 lovely pi6ture of maternal excellence, beaming on 
 the earlieft page, nurfmg fome puling infant ^^{'^ 
 tined never to reward fuch love ; taking her 
 higheft pleafure from the faint dawning fmile or 
 childifli prattle, and her firft anxiety from the 
 innocent and heedlefs confidence of youth, and 
 never ceafing to be a mother when her boy has 
 long renounced the name and charadler of child. 
 If it be true, in any peculiar and efpecial fenfe, 
 that " Heaven lies about us in our infancy," can 
 we doubt who is the angel of our cradle, as well 
 as the guardian genius of our life ? 
 
 It is for the fake of fuch a charad^er that we 
 give a fketch of the early hiftory of Leigh Hunt. 
 He was born at the village of Southgate, in 
 Middlefex, on the 19th of 06lober, 1784. His 
 parents had not long been fettled in this country, 
 whither the royalift tendencies of the father — who 
 was a native of Barbadoes, refident in Philadelphia
 
 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 57 
 
 — had caufed him to be driven at the commence- 
 ment of the American Revolution. This father 
 appears to have been not lefs fingular in his 
 chara6ter than in his fortunes ; indeed, the che- 
 quered nature of the latter plainly refulted, in no 
 fmall degree, from the eccentricity of the former. 
 Gifted in fome refpe6ls in a remarkable manner, 
 the want of a ferious purpofe, as w^ell as of a high 
 religious principle, caufed thefe gifts to be throw^n 
 avi^ay upon him : unftable as water, he could not 
 excel. By change of country, he was fuddenly 
 metamorphofed from a lawyer into a divine. 
 
 " My mother was to follow my father as foon as 
 pojfible^ which Jhe was not able to do for many 
 months. The laft time Jhe had feen him^ he was a 
 laivyer and a partifan^ g^'^^g ^^ut to meet an infuri- 
 ated populace. On her arrival in England^ Jhe 
 beheld him in a pulpit^ a Clergyman^ preaching 
 tranquillity. When my father came over^ he found 
 it impojfible to continue his profejjion as a lawyer. 
 Some a£iors who heard him read advifed him to go 
 on the Jiage ; but he was too proud for that^ and 
 vjent into the Church.^^ 
 
 He became a popular Preacher of charity fer- 
 mons, and particularly excelled in the reading 
 defk. But it is admitted by his fon that he made 
 a great miftake in adopting the clerical profeilion. 
 He remained in a falfe pofition for life. Subfe- 
 quently he became tutor to the nephew of the 
 Duke of Chandos, Mr. Leigh, and had fome
 
 58 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 chance of promotion to a bifhopric ; " but his 
 Weft Indian temperament fpoiled all." Later 
 ftill he fell firft into debt and then into prifon, 
 from which place his fon's earlieft recolleftion of 
 him dates. He became Unitarian and Univerfal- 
 ift, and died in the year 1809, aged fifty-feven. 
 The mother of Leigh Hunt was of a fuperior 
 chara6ler5 although the complexion of her life and 
 fentiments was, from true womanly fympathy, 
 materially coloured by thofe of her hufband. She 
 was a native of Philadelphia ; and of her relatives 
 in that city we are told fome pleafmg particulars. 
 She was, at the time of her marriage, "a brunette 
 with fine eyes, a tall ladylike perfon, and hair 
 
 blacker than is feen of Englifh growth My 
 
 mother had no accomplifliments but the two beft 
 of all, — a love of nature and a love of books. 
 Dr. Franklin offered to teach her the guitar j but 
 fhe was too bafhful to become his pupil. She 
 regretted this afterwards, partly, no doubt, for 
 having miffed fo illuftrious a mafter. Her firft 
 child, who died, was named after him." This 
 lady, after embarking to join her hufband in 
 England, encountered a violent and protra6led 
 ftorm, in which fhe is reprefented as behaving with 
 fingular courage, animating her young children, 
 and exciting the warmeft admiration of the Cap- 
 tain. Her fon, who fondly memorializes her 
 goodnefs, appears to have been the youngeft of 
 her large family, and was born fome years after 
 her arrival in England. He has no recolle6lion 
 therefore of his mother's earlieft afpedt. The
 
 JUTO-BIOGRJPHIES, 59 
 
 critical danger of her hufband, on the occafion of 
 his flight from America, had caufed her extreme 
 fright, and fenfibly ftiaken her conftitution. 
 
 " The fight of two men fighting in the Jireets 
 would drive her in tears down another road; and I 
 remember^ zvhen we lived near the Park^ Jhe would 
 take me a long circuit out of the zvay^ rather than 
 hazard the fpedacle of the foldiers. Little did Jhe 
 think of the timidity zuith which Jhe was then in- 
 oculating me^ and what difficulties I Jhould have 
 when I went to fchool^ to fufiain all thofe fine theo- 
 ries^ and that unbending refiftance to opprejfion^ 
 which Jhe inculcated. However^ perhaps it turned 
 out ultimately for the beft. One muji feel more than 
 ufual for the fore places of humanity^ even to fight 
 properly in their behalf Never Jhall I forget her 
 face as it ufed to appear to me coming up the cloijlers^ 
 with that weary hang of the head on one fide, and 
 that melancholy fmile.^^ 
 
 There is more about this excellent woman 
 which we (hould like to quote. We mufl content 
 ourfelves, however, with one trait more. She 
 adopted not only the religious, but the republican, 
 creed of her hufband, and, in maintaining the 
 latter, was apt to be rather intolerant. Poor lady ! 
 not only can we forgive — we muft even admire — 
 a vehemence fpringing from the force of ftrongeft 
 feminine affections. Her zeal may not, indeed, 
 have been according to knowledge ; but, better 
 ftill, it was according to love. To regard the un-
 
 6o AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES, 
 
 fortunate partner of her life with paffionate efteem, 
 was a neceffity of her nature, the condition of her 
 life. The aflertion of his chara6leriftic opinions 
 was therefore become with her a fort of felf- 
 defence, and the more fo as he feemed to fail in 
 them before the world. To this fubje6l fhe would 
 bring all the inftindive fkill and tender fiercenefs 
 of a woman ; for it was the apology of her own 
 devotion, and that which alone redeemed her 
 married life from felf-contempt. 
 
 The moft recent auto-biography is that of 
 Thomas de Quincey, known to all lovers of 
 Englifh literature as a writer of fubtle genius and 
 great learning. It is, emphatically, the auto- 
 biography of digreffions. To thofe who are fami- 
 liar with the author's writings, this circumftance 
 will bring no furprife. It is chara6teriftic of his 
 fruitful and difcurfive mind, and is that to which 
 both the charm and imperfe6i:ion of his ftyle are 
 mainly due. All Mr. De Quincey's works are 
 diftlnguifhed — not to fay, disfigured — by the very 
 large proportion of eplfodlcal matter. Not con- 
 tent with indulging in a copious and ramifying 
 text, this alfo, in its turn, is loaded and enriched 
 by numerous illuftrative notes, often of great 
 value, which hang loofely on the body of the work, 
 like the fcalps in an Indian's wampum-belt. They 
 are the trophies of his vigorous and triumphant 
 genius, gathered from every field of learning. 
 They often encumber the free exerclfe of his 
 artiflic talents, fo that few of his produdions have
 
 AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 6i 
 
 any claim to the beauty of form and higheft fym- 
 metry : but the reader cannot wi{h them away j 
 for that would be fo much lofs, while their prefence 
 is a welcome fuperfluity of good. They are a 
 kind of riches that our judgment might have for- 
 bidden us to defire, but which our avarice will not 
 fuiFer us to refufe. They are an unexpected, and 
 even a bewildering, addition to the author's theme; 
 but our greed of knowledge overcomes the ftri6t 
 fimplicity of tafte, and we take them by the way, 
 like mouthfuls of a choice collateral falad. 
 
 But thefe endlefs deviations of Mr. De Quin- 
 zty are ftill lefs to be regretted in reference to the 
 volume of his memoirs. The byways of a country 
 are always more delightful than the main-road ; 
 and in a memorial retrofpe6t we may be profitably 
 led to vifit thofe without wholly lofing fight of 
 this. The opening chapter is devoted to the 
 author's remembrances of childhood, and efpecially 
 of a young and gifted fifter. There is fomething 
 marvellous in Mr. De Quincey's memory of that 
 early period, as well as in his eloquent defcriptions 
 of its affections and its griefs, of its pure and paf- 
 five happinefs, of the unconfcious awe which 
 inverts the feeble mind of infancy when (landing, 
 for the firft time, in the myfterious company of 
 Death. But the reader of the " Confefiions " is 
 familiar with this peculiar power of our author, 
 and we prefer to quote an inftance of domeftic 
 portraiture. 
 
 " This eldeji brother of mine was^ in allrefpe£is^
 
 62 AUrO-BIOGRJPHIES. 
 
 a remarkable boy. Haughty he was^ afpiring, 
 immeafurably a£live ; fertile in refources as Robinfon 
 Crufoe ; but alfo full of quarrel as it is pojftble to 
 imagine ; and, in default of any other opponent, he 
 would have fajiened a quarrel upon his own Jhadow 
 for prefuming to run before him when going weft- 
 ward in the morning, whereas in all reafon^ a 
 Jhadow^ like a dutiful child^ ought to keep deferen- 
 tially in the rear of that majeftic fubjiance which is 
 the author of its exifience. Books he detejled, one 
 and all, excepting only fuch as he happened to write 
 himfelf And thcfe were not a few. On all fub- 
 je£is known to man^ from the*" Thirty -nine Articles'' 
 of our Englijh Church, down to pyrotechnics^ leger- 
 demain^ magic, both black and white^ thaumaturgy, 
 and necromancy^ he favoured the world (which 
 world was thenurfery where I lived among myfjiers) 
 with his feleSf opinions. On this laji fubje5l efpe- 
 cially — -of necromancy — he zuas very great ; witnefs 
 his profound work^ though but a fragment, and, 
 unfortunately, long fmce departed to the bofom of 
 Cinderella, entitled, * How to Raife a Ghojl ; and 
 when you^ve Got hi?n Down, How to Keep him 
 DownJ* To which work, he affured us, that fome 
 moji learned and enormous man^ whofe name zvas a 
 foot and a halflong^ had promifed him an appendix, 
 zvhich appendix treated of the Red Sea and Solomon s 
 fignet-ring, with forms of M\tt\mus for ghojis that 
 might be refra£iory, and, probably, a Riot-ASi for 
 any emeute amongjl ghofts inclined to raife barri- 
 cades ; fmce he often thrilled our young hearts by 
 fuppofing the cafe^ [not at all unlikely^ he affirmed^)
 
 JUTO-BIOGRJPHIES. 63 
 
 that a federation^ a folemn league and confpiracy^ 
 might take place among the infinite generation of 
 ghojis againji the fingle generation of men^ at one 
 time compofing the garrifon of earth. The Roman 
 phrafe for exprejfing that a man had died^ viz. 
 ' Abiit ad plures,' (' He has gone over to the ma- 
 jority^') my brother explained to us ; and zve eafily 
 comprehended that any one generation of the living 
 human race^ even if combined^ and acting in concert ^ 
 muft he in a frightful minority by comparifon with 
 all the incalculable generations that had trod this 
 earth before.''^ 
 
 From this point the author goes ofF into one of 
 his digreffions of fpeculation ; but our fpace for- 
 bids us to admit the whole of this charafteriftic 
 pafTage. We fhould have liked to tell the reader 
 more of this enterprifmg boy, and to have enriched 
 our page with a companion-pi(3:ure, — that of a 
 younger brother, familiarly called "Pink," ftrangely 
 endowed with a feminine fenfibility and beauty, in 
 conneition with heroic ftrength and courao;e. 
 But we muft forbear. So far as Mr. de Ouincey 
 has yet proceeded, there is no want of intereft in 
 his reminifcences ; but his ftyle is more faulty 
 than we had expelled to find, and the arrangement 
 of his ftory is hardly agreeable to his acknowledged 
 flcill and pradice in compofition. One caufe of 
 this defect is due, no doubt, to the fa6l that fome 
 of the fketches that make up this volume were 
 written many years ago, and at different times, 
 and are only made intelligible in their prefent form
 
 64 JUTO-BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 by repeated reference to the circumftances of their 
 firft appearance. Of the growth of the author's 
 mind, under literary influences, we have no 
 account; and, on the whole, we fhall form a 
 better opinion of this work from a firft impreffion 
 than in a critical and ftudied eftimate. 
 
 In this hafty fketch of one interefting branch 
 of literature, of courfe there is much omitted that 
 individual readers might expe6l to find. Many 
 ftandard examples of auto-biography have beea 
 neceflarily pafi^ed by ; with many lighter, but not 
 lefs curious, memoirs, — fuch as thofe of that 
 quaint and plaufible impoftor, William Lilly, and 
 that pleafant and conceited goflip, Colley Gibber. 
 The one aflures us what it is to lie like an alma- 
 nack-maker ; and the other calls back the faded 
 beauties of the ftage, and re-animates their patched 
 and painted fmiles. We have found no fpace 
 even for a due confideration of the laft and ableft 
 of our Englifh Diarifts, — fo remarkable for his 
 reftlefs energy, his fanguine fpirit, his flu6luating 
 fortunes, and his refilient hopes ; and fo unfortu- 
 nate in wanting the fuftained moral temper 
 requifite for all great achievements, in art as well 
 as in affairs. From this example we might have 
 enforced the greateft leflbn which the career of 
 genius has fupplied to the prefent age. But the 
 painful hiftory of Benjamin Robert Haydon has 
 recently been dwelt upon by many of our contem- 
 poraries ,• and thofe who have taken it to heart are 
 not likely to require its frefh recital.
 
 SACRED POETRY; MILTON 
 AND POLLOK. 
 
 T is, perhaps, not eafy to determine 
 the limits within which facred fubje6ts 
 maybe permitted in modern narrative 
 or epic poetry. Yet the topic is full 
 of intereft, and the limitation a very defirable ob- 
 ject of criticifm ; for, even if we fhould fail of 
 fatisfa6lorily defining the grounds of facred poetry, 
 it cannot but be profitable to afcertain the condi- 
 tions under which alone they may be occupied, 
 and the manner in which they have been moft 
 fuccefsfully cultivated. The neceffity of checking 
 the prefumption of weak and inexperienced poet- 
 aflers, who are even lefs able to inflate the 
 trumpets of the Year of Jubilee than to bend the 
 bow of UlyfTes, is an urgent motive to this end. 
 We cannot ignore the fa6l, that themes of the 
 mofl awful importance, gathered from holy writ, 
 are frequently made the fubjedt-matter of ambi- 
 tious poems ; and fuch is the general flyle of thefc 
 
 F
 
 66 SACRED POETRT; 
 
 produ£lions that, whenever we meet with the an- 
 nouncement of a facred poem, we now make up our 
 minds for fomething unufually profane. Many of 
 thefe poems, fo-called, are utter failures ; and, if we 
 judged from them alone, it might readily be de- 
 cided that themes fo weighty could not be worthily 
 fuftained in human hands, and that the Chriftian 
 verities are both too ferious and too inflexible for 
 the purpofes of poetic fable. But this eafy deci- 
 fion of the matter is denied to us : for inftances of 
 the higheft treatment and wideft fuccefs prefent 
 themfelves to the mind ; and, though ^qw^ they 
 are living and eloquent witnefTes for a fpecies of 
 compofition that is rather difhonoured than dif- 
 credited by a necropolis of failures. The works 
 of Milton, and even of Pollok, are of themfelves 
 fufficient to Ihield from unqualified cenfure the 
 pra6lice of adventuring upon themes fo high and 
 difficult. But too much muft not be prefumed 
 from occafional fuccefs ; nor fhould it be forgot- 
 ten that the inftances adduced may be the very 
 exceptions which are faid to eftablifh, rather than 
 to contradict, a rule. This, indeed, we fufpe6l to 
 be the cafe. Secular poetry is the rule, and facred 
 poetry the exception. The fuccefs of the mafters 
 juft mentioned was neceflary to juftify their own 
 eflays, and cannot avail to excufe the attempts of 
 men lefs naturally gifted, or lefs morally prepared. 
 The undertaking of Milton was full of peril : to 
 have failed either in truth of defign, or in dignity 
 of execution, would have degraded the facred 
 topic of his verfe, and expofed his own weaknefs
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK. 67 
 
 and prefumption. He had none to fhow the way, 
 when, with daring wing, he penetrated " the pal- 
 pable obfcure," — none to pitch the high key-note 
 of his eventful fong, when he eflayed " things un- 
 attempted yet in profe or rhyme." As he incur- 
 red all the danger of the attempt, fo let him 
 receive all the praife of his fuccefs. So, in his 
 degree, with Pollok : to retrace the traverfed 
 Courfe of Time was an a6t no lefs adventurous, and 
 perhaps even more arduous, than to relate the lofs 
 of Paradife. The very triumph of Milton in- 
 creafed the difficulties of the later bard. To fuc- 
 ceed equally he muft foar as highly, and yet avoid 
 the flaming track which revealed the other's 
 flight. To be worthy of his theme, he muft be 
 equally fublime and fpiritual with his great prede- 
 ceflbr, and yet it was neceflary to be abfolutely 
 original and diftin6l. No doubt the temerity of 
 this attempt was barely juftified by the refult, and 
 it will hardly be caufe for wonder if a comparifon 
 of thefe two authors fhould have the effect of 
 marking their very unequal merit. Yet the 
 younger and inferior poet may prove not altogether 
 unworthy of being brought, though only for a 
 moment, into the prefence of his mature and 
 mighty rival ; and we are perfuaded that his 
 originality and merit will furvive the ordeal. 
 
 It Is a remark occurring in the " Table Talk " 
 of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, that the only fubje<£ts 
 proper for epic poetry are either national or mundane. 
 Whether hiftorically or theoretically confidered, 
 
 I
 
 68 SACRED POETRT; 
 
 this diciium will be found entirely warranted by- 
 truth. It is true, hiftorically : Homer, Virgil, 
 and Camoens are authors of great national epics ; 
 Taflb, Milton, and Pollok, of poems either in the 
 v/ideft fenfe mundane, or of intereft commenfurate 
 with the extent of Chriftendom. It is true, theo- 
 retically : for the ftronger interefts of poetry are 
 wholly dependent upon perfonal or focial relations; 
 and it may be fairly afiumed that the cordial at- 
 tention of a great people is not to be engaged in 
 the moft brilliant events in which they have no 
 concern, and with which they have neither na- 
 tural nor fpiritual connection. Strange as it may 
 feem, thofe human feelings which are moft uni- 
 verfally experienced, and fo might be fuppofed 
 to have equal fympathy with objects near and re- 
 mote, require a limited, particular, and intimate 
 bond of fellowfhip : our hearts, when they moft 
 yearn to embrace the world, find the greater ne- 
 ceffity to localife their affedions and concentrate 
 their love. So, if the poetry of a nation is to be 
 confefledly national and popular, it muft be either 
 patriotic or religious — muft link itfelf either 
 with the focial pride or the individual faith of its 
 members. This continual predominance of felf, 
 or requirement of perfonal intereft, is the necef- 
 fary condition of our being and identity, and is 
 therefore no way difparaging to human nature. 
 And although it is true that poetry, from the ele- 
 vation of its tone and the profound humanity of its 
 fpirit, is the moft calculated of all liberal purfuits 
 to widen our fympathies, and refine the grofi^er
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK. 69 
 
 felfifhnefs of our nature ; yet experience teaches 
 that fome limited bond of focial or perfonal ties, 
 fome remote or nearer connection with our indi- 
 vidual felf, is neceiTary for infpiring that cordial 
 preference, and fuftaining that unflagging intereft, 
 which an elaborate poetic narrative demands, and 
 without which it is neither appreciated nor 
 enjoyed, neither gladly undertaken nor frequently 
 refumed. 
 
 We are not furprifed to find that Milton, when 
 contemplating a great poem, and anxioufly feledt- 
 ing its theme, (hould be "long choofmg and 
 beginning late ; " and ftill lefs do we wonder that 
 his choice fhould vacillate, as it did, between our 
 fabulous national hero. King Arthur, and the head 
 of the human family. His ultimate decifion was 
 juftified by the refult ; but the reafons which 
 determined his choice are fufficiently obvious and 
 ftrong to enable us to judge how wifely he re- 
 folved, both in what he rejected and what he 
 undertook. Had the ftory of King Arthur been 
 more hiftorical in its credit, more national in its 
 character, or of more human intereft in itfelf, it 
 would have furnifhed a fubje61: of fafe and legiti- 
 mate intereft to our afpiring poet ; and even as it 
 was, we fhould have had to regret to this day, and 
 through all time, the fubftitution of his greater 
 theme, if his genius had proved lefs fuperlative, or 
 his mind been lefs earneftly religious.* But there 
 
 * This was written before the publication of the Idylls of 
 the King, We may now ftill further congratulate ourfelves
 
 70 SACRED POETRT; 
 
 cannot remain a doubt, that he was impelled by 
 the force of that high religious genius to fmg of 
 the world's great lapfe and wonderful recovery, 
 feeling himfelf to pofTefs a moral and intelledlual 
 fitnefs for the tafk, and finding only in fo vaft and 
 fpirituala theme due fcope for the amazing facul- 
 ties and gifts with which God had endowed him. 
 It is probable that he was yet more fpecially bap- 
 tized for his great work. He was fufFered to 
 mount above the ordinary watch-tower of a poet's 
 fancy, though ftanding lower than the Pifgah of a 
 Prophet's vifion. He was in fome fort ordained 
 a feer of the glorious paft, though denied an apo- 
 calypfe of the ineffable future. This is no more 
 than to afTert that what he was called to by the 
 appointment of Providence, he was qualified y^r 
 by adequate influence ; and that the peculiar fa- 
 crednefs of his fong was honoured and fuflained by 
 a yet richer infpiration than that which the highefl 
 poets are wont to enjoy. But, in faying this, let 
 us be fairly underflood. In the extraordinary 
 power afcribed to Milton, we do not hold him up 
 to the emulation of fucceeding bards ; and it 
 fhould be duly remembered, that he was not fo 
 favoured by reafon either of his fubje£l or of his 
 invocation-prayer. The mere invocation of the 
 
 on the final choice of Milton, fince it left the fubje6l of King 
 Arthur in referve for the prefent Laureate. Mr. Tennyfon 
 is, even as compared with Milton, " of imagination all com- 
 pa6t ;" and the region of mythic hiftory and allegoric fi61:ion 
 is that in which his genius moves moft freely and fucceff- 
 fuUy.
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK, 71 
 
 Holy Spirit, however folemnly phrafed, cannot be 
 fuppofed to engage His immediate help and direc- 
 tion in the performance of any work of our vain 
 imaginations. It is for the moft part the higheft 
 prefumption of which a poet can be guilty, fo to 
 addrefs the Divine Being, that the reader is led to 
 infer that he fecures little fhort of plenary infpi- 
 ration for the work enfuing ; by which abfolute 
 freedom from error, and confidence with all 
 truth, vv^ould be guaranteed. This is to make 
 God anfwerable for our fm and folly ; to put the 
 feal of infallible truth to a tiflue of conceptions 
 fabricated in a corner of darknefs. Some meaner 
 mufe, the perfonification of human genius and 
 knowledge, we may allowably invoke ; for, in fo 
 doing, we exprefs our defire to attain the higheft 
 meafure of truth and beauty which our limited 
 faculties permit ; beyond this, it is impiety to go. 
 But in Milton we think we fee a fubordination of 
 intelle6lual to moral objects, and an implicit fub- 
 jeftion of heart and mind to the Divine teaching, 
 w^hich remove his cafe far from that of ordinary 
 poets. The ftudy of the Hebrew Scriptures had 
 been the moft earneft employment of his life : 
 his mind was imbued with a knowledge and love 
 and reverence of God's word. His life v^^as pure, 
 his chara6ter patriarchal. The habitual temper 
 of his mind v^^as earneft and devout. There was 
 no mirth or levity in all his broad, deep foul. 
 What was little, or merely local, won no atten- 
 tion from him : his mind dwelt only on great 
 verities and great events. He was, fubftantially,
 
 72 SACRED POETRT; 
 
 a faint of the antique Hebrew clafs. If he re- 
 fented, it was like Samfon : if he triumphed, it 
 was like Deborah. Yet over thefe fterner ele- 
 ments of charader was fhed the foftening light of 
 a better difpenfation, and through them permeated 
 the tender warmth of a poet's heart. In recount- 
 ing the fatal fin of the firft Adam, he already ex- 
 ulted in the triumphant refurre6lion of the Second ; 
 and the grand old harp which bewailed the 
 fuccefles of the baleful ferpent, yielded hope and 
 rapture as he ftruck in the promife of the woman's 
 conquering Seed. Thus he came, the predeftined 
 poet of Paradife, to "juftify the ways of God to 
 man." And, remembering thefe features of his 
 life and character, — this threefold preparation of 
 nature, grace, and knowledge, for his great work, 
 — we may now read with admiration and approval 
 the noble introdu61:ion of his theme, and his bold 
 but not unwarranted invocation of the Divine 
 Spirit : — 
 
 *' Of man's firft difobedience, and the fruit 
 Of that forbidden tree whole mortal tafte 
 Brought death into the world, and all our woe, 
 With lofs of Eden, till one greater Man 
 Reftore us, and regain the blifsful feat, 
 Sing, heavenly mule, that on the fecret top 
 Of Oreb or of Sinai didft infpire 
 That Ihepherd who firft taught the chofen feed 
 In the beginning how the heavens and earth 
 Rofe out of chaos : or if Sion hill 
 Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd 
 Faft by the oracle of God j I thence 
 Invoke thy aid to my adventurous fong, 
 Th at with no middle flight intends to foar 
 Above the Aonian mount, while it purfues 
 Things unattempted yet in profe or rhyme.
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK. 73 
 
 And chiefly Thou, O Spirit, that doft prefer 
 Before all temples the upright heart and pure, 
 Inftruft me, for Thou know'ft: Thou from the firft 
 Waft prefent, and, with mighty wings outfpread. 
 Dove-like fat'ft brooding on the vaft abyfs, 
 And mad'ft it pregnant : what in me is dark. 
 Illumine ; what is low, raife and fupport 5 
 That to the height of this great argument 
 I may aflert Eternal Providence, 
 And juftify the ways of God to man." 
 
 In this fine exordium, which contains the moral 
 epitome of the whole poem, may be feen alfo Tome 
 of the chief characSteriftic beauties of Milton's 
 ftyle. For example, note the union of fimplicity 
 and power in thefe lines. There is a dire6lnefs 
 in the author's flatement of his fubje6t, that en- 
 gages our fobereft attention ; and the propofition 
 is not at firft far removed from the language of 
 ferious profe. Yet fuch is the fkilful conftru^lion 
 of the verfc, and fo appropriate to his theme the 
 elevation of the poet's manner, that we foon feel 
 fenfibly the undulating pinions of the rifing mufe, 
 and know that we are borne into a higher 
 element. Still, there is no aflumption of poetic 
 phrafe ; and the exercifed prerogative of verfe is 
 fcarcely felt. The meafure is, as it were, abforbed 
 into the matter : it is the medium only of great, 
 pure thoughts ; and fo has no attribute or quality 
 of its own, but thofe only of the thoughts which 
 it embodies. The lines flow on, in rhythmical 
 cadences, it is true, but emphafized and varied 
 and divided more by the immediate requirements 
 of the fentiment than according to a formal fylla- 
 bic code. Next to the harmonifing genius of the
 
 74 SACRED POETRT; 
 
 poet, this refult is due to the judgment with 
 which he made fele6lion of the blank-verfe meafure 
 for his purpofe. We cannot fuppofe that in rhymed 
 couplets he would have furpaffed the degree of 
 power, grace, and flexibility, attained by Dryden 
 and Pope ; yet their produdtions read like ftudied 
 profeflx)rial le6lures, prepared by a fkilful mafter in 
 verfe. Indeed, the heroic couplet — upon whofe 
 two mechanical wings none ever ventured to 
 " afcend the higheft heaven of invention" without 
 fufFering the fate of Icarus — is as inferior to the 
 blank-verfe meafure as an inftrument limited, hard, 
 intractable, to another of unbounded compafs and 
 infinite expreflion, capable of the fineft gradations 
 of found, and limited only by the genius of its maf- 
 ter. Such is the inftrument which Milton chofe, 
 fo far at leafl as regards its fubjedtion to his art. 
 In volume, breadth, and harmony, his magnificent 
 numbers feemed to ifTue from a full- toned organ, 
 refounding through the earth as through cathedral 
 aifles and cloiftered walks, filling the vaulted arch, 
 and making the whole temple vocal with praife. 
 
 For a full confideration of the aSfion and the 
 characters of Milton's poem, and a confequent de- 
 fence of its claim to epic dignity and honour, we 
 muftrefer the reader to Addifon's admirable papers 
 onParadife Loji^ originally publifhed in The SpeSfa- 
 tor, and often reprinted, as in the edition of the 
 poem now before us. To abridge his obferva- 
 tions would be only incurring a too imminent rifk 
 of weakening a powerful argument, with the cer- 
 tainty of traducing a moft lucid and beautiful com-
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK. ys 
 
 pofition. To fay (o much in fo little as he has 
 done, would be next to impoffible ; to fay it as well, 
 would be to tranfcribe his own words. The latter 
 courfe, which is the moft defirable, is happily the 
 leaft neceflary ; as a criticifm fo famous has be- 
 come proportionately eafy of accefs. We ftiall 
 merely remark, then, on thefe particular points, 
 that Addifon feems fully to have eftablifhed that 
 all thofe excellencies in Homer, which are, from 
 their nature, eflential to heroic poetry, — whether 
 of invention, conftru61:ion, chara61:er, or verfifica- 
 tion, — have their worthy counterpart in the Para- 
 dife Loji ; and that, where a marked difference ap- 
 pears, it is commonly demanded by the wide differ- 
 ence of the fubje6ls, and often ifTues in a contrafl 
 favourable to the Chriftian bard. For this refult 
 of a comparifon between the two, which may be 
 affirmed equally in favour of Milton's poem as a 
 whole and in parts, one confident in the genius of 
 our author and thelegitimacyof his theme would be 
 fully prepared ; for the adequate treatment ofa 
 fubjedl: which involves the Creation, Fall, and Ref- 
 toration of mankind, — which allows the introduc- 
 tion of the angelic rebellion, by way of epifode, — 
 which has fiends for its confpirators, chaos for its 
 highway, paradife for its garden, heaven for its 
 court, angels for its miniflers, and eternity for its 
 ifTues, — might well outweigh the vaunted " tale of 
 Troy divine," involving merely the abduction of 
 a Spartan woman, the rage of an infuriated Greek, 
 and the fack ofa Trojan city, all long fmce lofl in 
 the overwhelming wave of time, and periftiing
 
 76 SACRED POETRY; 
 
 utterly where they firft appeared. Prize the Iliad 
 as we may, and fufFer ourfelves to be hurried along 
 its impetuous tide of beauties as we do, we cannot 
 forget that it is our lower, fenfuous, feliifh, and 
 unhallowed nature that is gratified the moft ; that 
 the ideal of the poet's heroifm, and the object of 
 our unreafoning admiration, is carnal, and not 
 moral ; that it exhibits paflion glorified, and brute 
 energy extolled, and revenge made facred, rather 
 than duty paramount, and felf renounced, and love 
 triumphant. We tire of demi-gods, whofe thews 
 and fmews only prove them fuch, and whofe phyfi- 
 cal greatnefs is redeemed from contempt only by 
 the proportioned ftrength of their hatred, pride, 
 and luft, making them objects yet more of abhor- 
 rence than difdain. We long for creatures living 
 under fome great moral law ; for heroes perfifting 
 againft alldifcouragementin obedience to authority, 
 or not too proud to feel remorfe where their virtue 
 has fuiFered defeat. The Iliad as little fatisfies the 
 purer intellect and fpiritual afpirations of the Chrif- 
 tian reader, as the boy's " game of foldiers" can 
 fuffice to pleafe during the reftlefs and inquiring 
 period of youth, or throughout the nobler years of 
 maturity and wifdom. It is the primer of moral 
 life, though the perfection of early art ; a pi6lure, 
 duly preferved and valued, of our world in its 
 bright, wilful, wayward infancy, which now hangs 
 in the nineteenth century of the Chriftian era for 
 our occafional glance of curiofity and intereft \ in 
 which we trace the natural rudiments of life, and 
 mark the rude expreffion of inftindive feelings
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK. tj 
 
 which have long fince received fyftematic educa- 
 tion and moral control. It is therefore that the un- 
 dertaking of Milton was fo fuperior in importance. 
 Though we fhould grant that Homer in no way- 
 failed in regard to qualifications for his tafk, and 
 was equal in genius to Milton himfelf, we cannot 
 wonder that the poem of the latter fhould take a 
 higher place ; that an audience " fit though few," 
 but enlarging with the fpread of Chriftian fenti- 
 ment and pure morality, fliould derive a higher 
 pleafure from its elevated chara6ter ; and that it 
 (hould become the acknowledged ftandard of what 
 is great in poetic ftyle, and of what is true in in- 
 dividual tafte. 
 
 But, notwithftanding this high general eftimate 
 of the Paradife Loji, we mull admit that the au- 
 thor does not always furmount the great difficul- 
 ties of his fubje6l v/ith equal eafe or with uniform 
 fuccefs. The relations of the celeflial and infer- 
 nal worlds v/ith our own mixed race and material 
 planet rendered the choice of appropriate imagery 
 and jufl analogy a matter of perplexity and hazard j 
 while the neceffity of limiting poetic invention to 
 a plan confiflent with revealed truth, and in har- 
 mony with Chriflian fentiment, taxed to the ut- 
 moft the judgment and the genius which it was 
 ultimately to reward with proportionate renown. 
 What learning and tafle could do to obviate thefe 
 difadvantages, and reconcile thefe contrarieties, was 
 done by Milton. But enough is difcoverable in the 
 poem, both of imperfection and incongruity, to 
 fhow that his high theme involved ferious poetic
 
 78 SACRED POETRT; 
 
 drawbacks ; that, although for the moft part con- 
 genial to his grave and foaring fpirit, it fometimes 
 bore him beyond the regions of human fympathy 
 and diftin6t conception. Thus, in the firft two 
 books, juftly efteemed among the fineft of the 
 poem, the author treats of matters fo entirely 
 foreign to our experience, and fo imperfe6tly con- 
 ceived by our earthly imaginations, that all his great 
 fkill can accomplifh is to make us for a time for- 
 get the grofs materialifm of his infernal regions, and 
 the parliamentary logic of his fatanic council. For 
 what is Pandemonium, after all, but a chamber of 
 debate, reared for the princes of hell ? And though, 
 with confummate art, our poet has made it rife up 
 complete as by fpiritual magic, and proportioned 
 its gloom and vaftnefs to the tarn ifhed grandeur of 
 the angelic rebels, we fee that it is modelled on the 
 material principle : we know that it has extenfion, 
 though unmeafured ; and feats, though they be 
 thrones ; and lamps, though they need neither trim- 
 ming nor attendance. So of the debate itfelf. It 
 is kindred to earthly parliaments : the fpeakers fol- 
 low and fucceed each other ; anfwer or evade fore- 
 going arguments ; are impatient, farcaftic, fophif- 
 tical, and out of order, like their human prototypes. 
 So of the perfonal adjuncts of Satan : they dif- 
 tinguifh his royalty and pre-eminence by phyfical 
 fuperiority ; and he is armed Hke one of Homer's 
 heroes. It is true that this embodiment of fpiritual 
 enmity, this material clothing for an ineffable con- 
 flid, is in great part finely managed : —
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK, 79 
 
 " His ponderous fhield, 
 Ethereal temper, mafTy, large, and round. 
 Behind him caft : the broad circumference 
 Hung on his fhoulders like the moon." 
 
 Here the poet is indeed meeting his mighty fubje£t 
 
 more than half-way, and fo lefTening the fearful dif- 
 
 tance betwixt the feen and unfeen worlds : but a 
 
 certain incongruity remains ; and when he adds, — 
 
 " His fpear — to equal which the talleft pine 
 Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the maft 
 Of fome great ammiral, were but a wand — 
 He walk'd with, to fupport uneafy fteps 
 Over the burning marie,"— 
 
 we become confcious, after a moment's refle6lion, 
 of the unhappy neceffity which could urge our 
 poet to fuggeft the greatnefs of a fallen feraph by 
 defcribing the magnitude of his walking-ftick. 
 This may appear an unfair expreffion to employ ; 
 but the idea is precifely that of our author. Its 
 abfurdity is ftri6lly due to the real difadvantage 
 which Milton himfelf was unable to obviate ; and, 
 the oftener thefe paflages of his poem are perufed, 
 the more diftin(Stly is that difadvantage felt. What 
 analogy the whole field of nature could fupply, and 
 what appropriatenefs of expreffion the ftores of 
 language offered, and what varieties of cadence 
 and rhythm the profody and tafte of a cunning ear 
 and cultivated mind could furnifti, were not awant- 
 ing in our author : for thefe have confpired to pre- 
 ferve the moft arduous part of his moft arduous 
 undertaking from fudden failure and abfolute bur- 
 lefque. And if Milton could do no more than this, 
 (and, when reporting of celeftial and infernal coun- 
 cils, we dare not fay he has done more,) the fa6i
 
 8o SACRED POETRY I 
 
 is furely fufEcient to warn from fuch dangerous 
 ground all men lefs richly gifted or lefs thoroughly 
 prepared. 
 
 The fixth book of Paradife Loft ftrikingly ex- 
 emplifies both the difad vantage juft mentioned, and 
 the comparative fuccefs vi^ith v^hich it has been en- 
 countered. It is entirely occupied v^^ith a record 
 of that confli6t in v/hich the higheft of created 
 fpirits contended againft the arms of omnipo- 
 tence, and ftrove on the edge of perdition to fcale 
 the throne of Deity. The narrative is fuppofed to 
 be related by the archangel Raphael to our father 
 Adam. On one fide of the engagement are 
 Michael and Gabriel, leading the choice celeftial 
 cohorts ; and, on the other, Satan with his revolted 
 angels ; and the utter difcomfiture of the rebels is 
 only achieved by Meffiah, coming in his Father's 
 might. To put this brief but pregnant argument 
 in detail, and yet lofe none of its impreflive and even 
 awful chara6ter, would feem to tafk the powers of 
 fome eye-witneffing feraph, ftriking his harp of 
 gold, and rehearfmg in the ear of heaven that an- 
 cient and celeftial epos. Were it about to be at- 
 tempted by man for the firft time, how earneftly 
 fhould we difTuade ! what fruit of folly ftiould we 
 deprecate ! But it is the praife of Milton that here 
 he has incurred no cenfure j for, not to fail in fuch 
 a tafk is greatly to fucceed. In fome degree he re- 
 conciles us to that terreftrial analogy, inadequate 
 though it be, which in the opening books reminds 
 us of the grofs materials which every painter of the 
 /n/^r«omuft employ, that through our corporal fenfe
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK. 8i 
 
 he may reach our more fpiritual imagination. In- 
 deed, the method is undoubtedly legitimate, though 
 one of extreme difficulty. Whatfoever is unfeen 
 or unknown, provided we have fome clear in- 
 telle6lual conception of it, may be illuftrated by 
 fome vifible counterpart, or fet forth in fome 
 human analogy. Our compound nature infures 
 this. Our experience unites the two worlds of 
 material and immaterial things ; and the poet 
 caufes the one to correfpond entirely to the other. 
 The ftrife of the " embattled feraphim" does not 
 utterly tranfcend his powers ; but it taxes them to 
 the utmoft, and demands them in fulnefs and per- 
 fe61:ion. The reader may hear Milton himfelf, as 
 he acknowledges the weaknefs ofa mortal's tongue, 
 and yet labours with the theme of angels. The 
 paflage which relates the encounter of Satan and 
 the archangel Michael is an exemplification of the 
 mingled merit and defe6l afcribed to the fuper- 
 natural portions of the poem. 
 
 In fuch lines we have fome intimation of the 
 arduous nature of the poet's tafk, and feel perhaps 
 fome mifgivings as to his real competence and 
 power. But, as he advances, he appears to tri- 
 umph over every difficulty. We foon become 
 confcious that he is rifmg " to the height of his 
 great argument." He is at length mafter of his 
 theme, moulding it by the fervour of his genius 
 into fymmetrical and glowing beauty. The ap- 
 proach of Meffiah to decide the battle, which 
 threatens to uproot the foundations of heaven, is 
 defcribed with aftonifhing majefly and power, and 
 
 G
 
 82 SACRED POETRT; 
 
 founds in our ears like the voice of another prophet, 
 charged with the announcement of a new apoca- 
 lypfe. But the vifion is retrofpe6tive, and the 
 voice thrills backward paft the morning ftars. Our 
 bard has caught the fpirit of Ezekiel, and fo makes 
 bold with his grand imagery, and refle£ls into 
 primaeval eras a portion of his magnificent pro- 
 phecy. Nothing furely can be finer, either in con- 
 ception, meafure, or language, than the deliberate, 
 folitary, overwhelming inroad of Mefliah among 
 the banded rebels. 
 
 " So fpake the Son, and into terror changed 
 His countenance, too fevere to be beheld, 
 And full of wrath bent on His enemies. 
 At once the Four fpread out their Ifarry wings 
 With dreadful fhade contiguous, and the orbs 
 Of His fierce chariot roll'd, as with the found 
 Of torrent floods, or of a numerous hoft. 
 He on His impious foes right onward drove, 
 Gloomy as night ; under His burning wheels 
 The fteadfaft empyrean fliook throughout, 
 Ail but the throne itfelf of God. Full foon 
 Among them He arrived j in His right hand 
 Grafping ten thoufand thunders, which He fent 
 Before Him, fuch as in their fouls infix'd 
 Plagues : they, allonifli'd, all refiftance loft. 
 All courage j down their idle weapons dropt: 
 O'er ftiields and helms and helmed heads He rode 
 Of thrones and mighty feraphim proftrate. 
 That wifh'd the mountains now might be again 
 Thrown on them, as a (helter from His ire. 
 Nor lefs on either fide tempeftuous fell 
 His arrows, from the fourfold-vifaged Four, 
 Diftin61: with eyes, and from the living wheels, 
 Diftin6l alike with multitude of eyes j 
 One fpirit in them ruled, and every eye 
 Glared lightning, and fiiot forth pernicious fire 
 Among the' accurft, that witherM all their ftrength. 
 And of their wonted vigour left them drain'd, 
 Exhaufted, fpiritlefs, afflided, fallen."
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK, 83 
 
 Of the allegory of Sin and Death, in the fecond 
 book, we entertain an almofl unmixed admiration. 
 It is faid, indeed, that allegorical figures fhould 
 have been held inadmiffible by our author, as in- 
 terfering with the more definite impreffion of his 
 infernal chara6lers, and as beino; too fhadowy to 
 encounter the perfonal hoftility of Satan, though 
 himfelf a fpirit. But thefe theoretical objections 
 (to which the fineft inftances of allegory are open) 
 vanifh under the influence of the poet's power, 
 when we fee depi6lured the ftrange refemblance of 
 thefe mighty combatants before hell-gates. They 
 are of undoubted kin : Sin has Satan for her parent, 
 and is the inceftuous mother of his offspring, 
 Death ; and here truth and allegory are fo ex- 
 quifitely blended, that no revulfion is experienced 
 from a confufion of nature, but only a fenfe of awe, 
 in prefence of the deformity, malignity, and hate 
 of this triumvirate of terrors. Was ever fight more 
 monftrous or confounding than that of Satan and 
 his ghaftly fon ? Was ever fo inconceivable a 
 duel pictured by fo realizing a pen ? 
 
 " So fpake the grifly Terror, and in fhape, 
 So ipeaking and lb threatening, grew tenfold 
 More dreadful and deform. On the other fide, 
 Incenfed with indignation, Satan flood, 
 Unterrified, and like a comet burn'd 
 That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge 
 In the arftic fky, and from his horrid hair 
 Shakes peililence and war." 
 
 We never read this or kindred pafiliges in our 
 author without exulting in the power of language, 
 and the range of a poet's art. The pencil of the
 
 84 SACRED POETRT; 
 
 grandeft painter muft fail here. What would be 
 the Titanic figures of Michael Angelo, or the 
 vafty darknefs of Martin, in comparifon with this 
 fuggefted and portentous vifion, — thrown, not 
 upon the feeble retina of the eye, but upon the 
 kindling and growing imagination, capable of re- 
 ceiving, in undiminifhed length and fervour, the 
 image of Satan when he fo flood " unterrified, and 
 like a comet burn'd." The whole remainder of 
 this book, to the moment when the arch-fiend — 
 labouring through chaos, paved only with the 
 rugged and difordered elements — ifllies to a fight 
 of the new creation he is feeking, is a continued 
 illuftration of this remark concerning the power of 
 language, and abundantly teftifies to our author's 
 fkill in its employment. 
 
 But the fineft beauties of this " divine poem" 
 are yet to be remarked. Thefe confift in the hu- 
 manities, which are the features moft diflinguifhed 
 in every great poetic work, be it facred or profane. 
 Every true poet, even when his flight is for the 
 moft part ethereal, derives (like Antaeus) frefh 
 ftrength and vigour from the touch of his native 
 earth. We have elfewhere endeavoured to {how 
 that invention in the creative fenfe is not the poet's 
 attribute, but only in the fenfe of combination ; 
 and that nature is the original of his profoundeft 
 work of art. From this it might readily be inferred, 
 if it were not daily ktn to be the cafe, that imita- 
 tion is with him moft perfeft where obfervation is 
 moft conftant and complete ; that human life and 
 character yield finer fubje6ls for his pencil than an-
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK. 85 
 
 gelic creatures, and terreftrial lake and mountain 
 more tempting landfcape than that garden which 
 is watered by the river of life. The facred epic of 
 Milton furnifhes a ftriking illuftration of this truth. 
 Its grandeur is not, after ail, its true greatnefs : its 
 ftrength and beauty and fublimity are manifefted 
 in human love and frailty and afflidtion, rather than 
 in feraphic ardours and unfullied joy. The hero 
 in whom is concentred all its potent intereft is 
 Adam, worthy to be the father ofour race, and for 
 whom we feel a filial fentiment of love, awed into 
 higher reverence by its long defcent. The part- 
 ner of his ftupendous fortunes both heightens and 
 attracts that intereft into her own lovely character, 
 — which is ftill an undivided intereft, as in the 
 moon we fee only the reflected glory of the fun. 
 
 The manner in which our firft parents are re- 
 prefented by Milton is extremely fine ; and equally 
 fo in their ftate of innocence, of temptation, and 
 of guilt. So well to paint them in their firft eftate 
 is the more admirable, as it was the more difficult ; 
 for it was but too likely that an attempt to delin- 
 eate the perfe«5lion of Paradife fhould end in feeble 
 generalifation and utter want of chara6ter. Yet 
 individuality is ftamped upon their human perfec- 
 tion. In Adam we have all the grace and gene- 
 rofity of chivalry, without its boaftful language and 
 impradlicable aims ; and all the weight of know- 
 ledge and wifdom, without its partiality or pride. 
 He is ftrong without infolence, ardent without in- 
 temperance, and elevated without ambition. He 
 is the foremoft as well as the firft of men, the head
 
 86 SACRED POETRT; 
 
 as well as the author of us all. Fairer than Ab- 
 lalom, more royal than Auguftus, more beneficent 
 than Alfred, — in him are gathered up all the 
 nobleft virtues of his nobleft fons. But his quali- 
 ties and honours are real and not conventional, ab- 
 folute and not comparative, and neither fuUied by- 
 infirmities nor clouded by error. The character 
 of Eve is, perhaps, the moft lovely conception of 
 vi'oman that was ever embodied by the poet's art. 
 She is the counterpart and confort of Adam — bone 
 of his bone, and flefh of his flefh ; the complement 
 of his nature, and the crown of his exiftence. Made 
 for him by the Almighty's hand, fhe was the com- 
 plete fulfilment of his defires and wants ; drawn 
 from him as the cloud is from the bofom of the 
 ocean, fhe yearned towards him as the river hur- 
 ries to its primal fource. The exquifite contraft, 
 and the no lefs perfect correfpondence, of this noble 
 pair, are beautifully fuftained throughout. Their 
 love is the acknowledged pattern-pafiion of all fuc- 
 ceeding generations : founded on efteem, growing 
 through admiration, cemented by gratitude, and 
 fubfifting in confidence and joy. 
 
 The firfi: acquaintance and union of this noble 
 pair, as rehearfed in Eve's delightful reminifcence, 
 and in language fo modefl, conjugal, and true, is 
 probably the moft charming paiTage in the whole 
 poem. Its great beauty can hardly fail to imprefs 
 the moft carelefs reader : it appeals alike to the 
 fimpleft heart and the moft cultured imagination. 
 Of fimilar merit and ftill higher intereft is the 
 fpeech of Eve on waking from her prompted dream.
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK. 87 
 
 in which the fhadow of impending evil is feen for 
 a moment to darken and difturb her yet pure foul, 
 and then, in the light of Adam's confolation, pafTes 
 away as the fhadow of a cloud over the re-fmiling 
 meadow. To the dream of Eve there is, however, 
 this objection, — that, as it could not butbe received 
 as a folemn warning of the danger awaiting our 
 parents from the temptation of evil fpirits, fo it 
 greatly aggravates the crime of their fubfequent dif- 
 obedience. Indeed, that Eve, forewarned, fhould 
 yet put faith in the flattering promife of the fer- 
 pent, fuggefts the idea that fome moral taint had 
 been communicated by the dream itfelf ; that the 
 foul whifpers of the demon " fquatting at her ear" 
 had engendered a fatal tendency to fm, or left fome 
 unholy fpell upon her imagination that weakened 
 her refiftance of evil, if it did not injure her per- 
 ception of truth and goodnefs. 
 
 The circumftances of the Fall, including its 
 more immediate confequences, are fet forth by 
 Milton with much judgment and tafte. He invents 
 but few particulars which are not more or lefs fug- 
 gefted by the Scripture hiftory, and none that are 
 not confident with it. The fubje6l being under- 
 taken, the dramatic a6):ion of his poem demanded 
 fome fuller details of Dur parents' fm than was fur- 
 nifhed by the language of infpiration ; and thefe, 
 we think, he has imagined and defcribed in a man- 
 ner open to the leaft poffible obje6lion. With a 
 juft appreciation of the objecSl and means of art, he 
 has felicitoufly avoided involving himfelf in theo- 
 logical difficulties, and lawfully availed himfelf of
 
 88 SACRED POETRY i 
 
 that meafure of poetic licence which the general 
 language of Scripture allowed, and the human in- 
 tereft of his poem required. But the Bible remains, 
 throughout, both his authority and his model. 
 The whole narrative of the temptation and fall has 
 a fcriptural air. Adam is identical with the patri- 
 arch of our race, of whom Mofes writes in terms 
 fo fimple and dignified. Eve is the mother ofus 
 all, and the collateral mate of Adam. If A4ilton 
 has fomewhat harfhly reprefented the fatal weak- 
 nefs of the woman, he has not extenuated the 
 more wilful guilt of the man. If the character of 
 Adam is tinclured with fome of our author's proper 
 felf, and that of Eve embodies his own opinion of 
 female excellence and frailty, we cannot but ac- 
 knowledge that his ideals were noble and engaging, 
 and worthy to be fet on high as the reprefenta- 
 tives of our race. The ninth book of Paradife 
 Loft, in which the crifis of human hiftory is re- 
 corded, abounds in paflages of intereft and fkilful 
 delineation. We have noble mufic and manly wif- 
 dom in almoft every line. It might be profitably 
 read and difcufled, verfe by verfe ; or read with 
 conftant paufes and occafional repetition : for, like 
 all true poetry, its light is in itfelf, and deliberate 
 re-perufal will manifeft it more and more. The 
 immediate efFedls of the Fall upon our firft parents, 
 — their carnal intemperance, mutual reproach, and 
 angry recriminations, — are in ftridl keeping both 
 with the Mofaic record and the known depravity 
 of our nature ; while they are made ftri6tly to fub- 
 ferve the artiftical purpofes of the poet. Well
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK. 89 
 
 may the miferable Adam, late the friend and 
 favourite of God, but feeling now the ruinous dif- 
 obedienceto have corruptedand degraded his whole 
 being, exclaim in anguifh, — 
 
 " How (hall I behold the face 
 Henceforth of God or angel, erft with joy 
 And rapture fo oft beheld ? Thofe heavenly fliapes 
 Will dazzle now this earthly with their blaze 
 Infufferably bright. O might I heie 
 In folitude live favage ; in fome glade 
 Obfcured, where higheft woods, impenetrable 
 To ftar or fun-light, fpread their umbrage broad 
 And brown as evening ! Cover me, ye pines ! 
 Ye cedars, with innumerable boughs 
 Hide me, where I may never fee them more !" 
 
 From this point the poem advances fteadily in In- 
 tereft and beauty to the end. In the tenth book 
 the altercation of our parents is renewed, and its 
 features are more characSteriftically marked. The 
 angry inve6f ives of Adam alternate with generous 
 compaffion for the grief of his unhappy partner. 
 His impatience of her folly is contrafted with her 
 meek fubmiflion to a lot of fhame and forrow. We 
 regret, with him, the curiofity and pride which 
 lured Eve into difobedience ; but we admire in her 
 the patient love and fortitude ftill witnefled in her 
 daughters, and gratefully acknowledge that woman 
 has abundantly cheered the defolation which in a 
 fubordinate degree is due to her. In the next and 
 penultimate book the archangel Michael is com- 
 miflioned to drive out the difobedient pair from the 
 garden of God's own planting. His announce- 
 ment of that duty ftrikes them with defpair and 
 grief:^
 
 90 SACRED POETRY; 
 
 *' He added not ; for Adam at the news 
 Heart-ftiuck with chilling gripe of forrow ftood. 
 That all his fenfes bound : Eve, who unfeen 
 Yet all had heard, with audible lament 
 Difcover'd foon the place of her retire. 
 * O unexpe6led ftroke, worfe than of death ! 
 Muft I then leave thee, Paradife ? thus leave 
 Thee, native foil ! thefe happy walks and fhades 
 Fit haunt for gods ? where I had hope to fpend, 
 Quiet though fad, the refpite of that day 
 That mull be mortal to us both. O flowers, 
 That never w-illin other climate grow, 
 My early vifitation, and my laft 
 At even, which I bred up with tender hand 
 From the firft opening bud, and gave ye names! 
 Who now fhall rear ye to the fun, or rank 
 Your tribes, and w^ater from the ambrofial fount? 
 Thee, laftly, nuptial bower ! by me adorn'd 
 With what to fight or fmell was fweet ! from thee ' 
 How fhall I part, and whither wander down 
 Into a lower world ; to this obfcure 
 And wild ? how fhall we breathe in other air 
 Lefs pure, accuflom'd to immortal fruits ? ' " 
 
 We find it difficult to reftrain our quotations 
 within necefTary limits. It is the efFe6l of this 
 fuperb poem that, the more we read of it, the more 
 we wifh to read : our ear grows accuftomed to its 
 fonorous meafure, and our mind rifes to the tone of 
 its majeftic fenfe. We have heard how Eve la- 
 ments the impending expulfion ; and we muft find 
 room for a few lines of Adam's lamentation alfo. 
 
 " This moft: affli61s me, that, departing hence, 
 As from His face I fhall be hid, deprived 
 His bleffed countenance. Here I could frequent 
 With worlhip place by place where He vouchfafed 
 Prefence Divine ; and to my fons relate, 
 ' On this mount He appear'd ; under this tree 
 Stood vifible j among thefe pines His voice 
 I heard j here with Him at this fountain talk'd.' 
 *****
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK, 91 
 
 In yonder nether world where fhall I feek 
 His bright appearances, or footftep trace ? 
 For though I fled Him angry, yet, recall'd 
 To life prolonged and promiled race, I now 
 Gladly behold though but Hisutmoft flcirts 
 Of glory, and far off His fteps adore." 
 
 Then the archangel fliows to Adam, from the 
 higheft hill of Paradife, the future generations of 
 the world. We have before had a retrofpe(3:ive 
 epifode, and here is a vifion of anticipation. Gabriel 
 related the wars of the angels, and the marvels of 
 creation : Michael now rolls back the curtain of 
 the future j and our prime anceftor is alternately 
 furprifed, and awed, and comforted, as great cities, 
 wide-fpread evils, and the long promifed Saviour, 
 fucceffively appear. This epitome of human hif- 
 tory is full of attractions, moral and pidurefque ; 
 the whole relation by which the vifion is accom- 
 panied is fuftained with the dignity of the heroic 
 Chriftian mufe. It extends to nearly the clofe of 
 the laft book ; and by its fulnefs of promife we are 
 better prepared for the rigorous fulfilment of the 
 angel's miffion. We read with dimmed eyes, but 
 not with defpairing hearts, of our unhappy parents, 
 when, driven out of Paradife, they looked back and 
 faw it " waved over by that flaming brand j'* we be- 
 hold them going forrowfully into exile ; but they 
 go " hand in hand" together, and every tear that 
 forces itfelf into their human eyes breaks into a rain- 
 bow in the light of hope and mutual confolation. 
 
 In this great poem, as in the perfe6t fhield of 
 Achilles, the total univerfe is epitomifed; but the 
 univerfe, as known to Milton, exceeds and enfolds
 
 92 SACRED POETRT; 
 
 that of Homer, as the ethereal fpaces envelop earth. 
 Its twelve books comprehend, as in a zodiac, the 
 fumand feafons of human hiftory; — removing from 
 the fummer folftice of Divine complacency and 
 love, to the dark and cheerlefs vv^inter of difobe- 
 dience and disfavour, but emerging toward the in- 
 finite gladnefs again. The whole of man, and the 
 auguft miniftry ofhis falvation, are embodied here : 
 his creation and benediction ; the weight of his 
 curfe, and the promife of his recovery ; the un- 
 peopled feats of the angels, and the repeopled 
 thrones of faints ; the Deity Himfelf, dividingamong 
 the Perfons of His Godhead a feveral fhare in the 
 great drama of redemption, projected from ever- 
 lafting, and crowning the eternal years. 
 
 To this comprehenfive theme our author has 
 brought a correfponding breadth of treatment, and 
 richnefs of decoration. The grand outlines of his 
 fubje6t, which extend into three worlds, are filled 
 with their appropriate lights and fhadows, con- 
 trafting while they blend, and harmonifed into one 
 magnificent frefco by a miracle of art. The tapef- 
 try which he has embroidered for no fingle nation, 
 but for the family of Adam, glows with the colours 
 of every clime, and ftirs with the a6tions of every 
 age. He has rifled ancient learning and all fcience ; 
 exhaufted the refources of technic fkill, and 
 moulded to his purpofe every rugged element of 
 good ; elicited a grace even from barbaric ftory, 
 and fpoiled the pagan gods of praife and tribute due 
 only to Jehovah whom he fung. And all thefe 
 treafures of knowledge and power are made fub-
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK. 93 
 
 fervlent to one great moral end. They revolve, 
 indeed, on the axis of the poet's perfonal genius, 
 but advance only in obedience to the central and 
 attra6ting glory of God; and the native impulfe, 
 fo far from hurrying him apart, fpeeds him along 
 the orbit of his cheerful deftiny, as a planet obeys, 
 in every hair's breadth ofits journey, the ruling and 
 reftraining influence of the fun. 
 
 An immediate tranfition from Milton to Pollok 
 is not necefTarily an abrupt one. The differences of 
 gait, and height, and feature, are eafily difcerned ; 
 but their inviolate office is the fame. Moreover, 
 their identic infpiration may befaidtohave derived 
 from one to the other. The priefthood of genius 
 is not, indeed, hereditary ; but each high Jiamen 
 of the order is wont to light his torch at a prede- 
 celTor's fire. We remember to have read that 
 Cowley was firft infpired with a love of poetry by 
 a perufal of the Fairy ^een^ — a copy of which he 
 chanced upon in fome old-fafhioned window- 
 fettle. And it was when the youthful Pollok — 
 then an humble labourer on his father's farm in 
 Renfrewfhire — made fudden prize of the Paradife 
 Loft " among fome old books, on theupper flielf of 
 the wall-prefs in the kitchen" at his uncle's houfe, 
 that his innate love of all noble and beautiful things 
 expatiated for the firft time in an imaginative work 
 and an ideal world ; and poffibly then the firft vague 
 longings for poetical renown, and the firft dim out- 
 lines of his future theme, arofe to animate and 
 occupy the profound enthufiafm of his nature.
 
 94 SACRED POETRY -, 
 
 But, though the fire was communicated, the fuel 
 was his own, and the afpiring tongueof flam e was 
 fhaped and coloured by intrinfic genius. Cowley 
 is not more diftin6t from Spenfer than Pollok is 
 from Milton : the interval between the former two 
 is greater, but the difference of the latter is not lefs 
 decided. It is difficult to perceive, in the meta- 
 phyfical conceits and tortuous ingenuity of Cow- 
 ley's poems, any indication of his love for Spenfer, 
 — whofe affluent ftream of verfe, fparkling with 
 inexhauftible romance, feems to difdain its mea- 
 fured limits, and revels beneath the redundant im- 
 agery of its own fertile banks, and then flows on- 
 ward with majeftic fweep, a copious, moral, and 
 refounding fong. It cannot be fo ftriclly main- 
 tained that The Courfe of Time awakens no recol- 
 lection of the Paradife Lojl ; for Urania is the mufe 
 of both, and under her guidance each poet ven- 
 tures " into the heaven of heavens." But, withal, 
 there is a ftriking difference as to the manner in 
 which they fo " prefume." This difference, how- 
 ever, will be more properly characterized after we 
 have illuftrated, more at large, the ftyle and pur- 
 pofe of the later work 
 
 The manner in which the a6lion of the poem 
 opens, after a brief invocation, is very bold and 
 ftriking. The imagination of the reader is at once 
 feized upon, and therewith he is tranfported to a 
 region and a period yet incalculably diftant in the 
 future and unfeen world. It is the poet's defign 
 to rehearfe the general fortunes of our earth, in 
 connection with the moral hiftory of mankind. 
 For this no hill in time affords fufficient profpeCt :
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK. 95 
 
 all muft be feen in conne6lion with the end, and 
 bearing the approval of God's everlafting fmile, or 
 the eclipfe and condemnation of His averted coun- 
 tenance. Rapt upvi^ards on the pinion of the 
 mufe, v^^e find ourfelves fuddenly partaking of the 
 eternal calm, infinitely removed from the duft and 
 turmoil of this paffing fcene. 
 
 ** Long was the day, fo long expefted, paft 
 Of the eternal doom, that gave to each 
 Of all the human race his due reward. 
 The fun — earth's fun, and moon, and ftars, had ceafed 
 To number feafons, days, and months, and years. 
 To mortal man. Hope was forgotten, and fear; 
 And time, with all its chance and change, andfmiles 
 And frequent tears, and deeds of villany 
 Or righteoufnefs,once talk'd of much, as things 
 Of great renown, was now but ill remember'd ; 
 In dim and fhadowy vifion of the paft 
 Seen far remote, as country which has left 
 The traveller's ipeedy ftep, retiring back 
 From morn till even ; and long eternity 
 Had roU'd his mighty years." 
 
 The epoch and the fcene being fo magnificent, 
 
 it is fitting that the ailors fhould be no lefs than 
 
 angels and beatified fpirits ; and the mighty pro- 
 
 fcenium, whofe breadth is that of the New Jerufa- 
 
 lem, is accordingly fo occupied. Firft we behold 
 
 " two youthful fons of Paradife," who employ the 
 
 unmeafured hours in pure and facred converfe, 
 
 " high on the hills of immortality." Theie look 
 
 from time to time over the boundlefs profpe(St of 
 
 fpace, ready to welcome fome returning meflenger 
 
 of light, or fome creature newly perfected in virtue, 
 
 " from other worlds arrived, confirmed in good." 
 
 *' Thus viewing, one they faw, on hafty wing 
 Direfting towards heaven his coiu-fe ; and now, 
 His flight afcendingnear the battlements 
 And lofty hills on which they walk'd, approach'd.
 
 96 SACRED POETRT; 
 
 For round and round, in fpacious circuit, wide, 
 Mountains of tailed ftature circumfcribe 
 The plains of Paradife, whofe tops, array'd 
 In uncreated radiance, feem fo pure 
 That nought but angel's foot, or faint's, eleft 
 Of God, may venture there to walk. Here oft 
 The fons of blifs take morn or evening paftime, 
 Delighted to behold ten thoufand worlds 
 Around their funs revolving in the vaft 
 External fpace, or liften the harmonies 
 That each to other in its motion fmgs. 
 And hence, in middle heaven remote, is feen 
 The mount of God in awful glory bright. 
 Within, no orb create of moon, or ftar. 
 Or fun, gives light 5 for God's own countenance, 
 Beaming eternally, gives light to all." 
 
 The new-arrived is aftranger from a diftant world, 
 who, having in his flight heavenward come fud- 
 denly to a mountainous wall of fiery adamant, 
 and, entering, feen v/ithin a number of wretched 
 beings tortured and tofled upon a burning lake, in- 
 quires of the blefied two what may be the juft 
 caufe offo much mifery. Thefe cannot anfwer 
 him ; but they call to mind " an ancient bard of 
 earth," who is wont to recall events that long ago 
 befell the human family. To him the three re- 
 pair, and liften with grave attention and growing 
 intereft while he recounts the hiftory of his native 
 fpot, the earth. It is this narration which forms 
 the bulk and body of the poem, extending from the 
 fecond to the final book. 
 
 Hitherto our brief quotations have not been 
 eminently chara6teriftic of our author. His pre- 
 lude teaches us of things celeftial; but Milton had 
 fo taught us before with unexampled tafte and dig- 
 nity. It is only juftice, then, to fay that the merits
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK, 97 
 
 oiThe Courfe of Time are diftincSt and peculiar ; and 
 while they muft be allowed to range far lower thzn 
 thofe of the Paradife Loji^ they yet more widely 
 differ from them. The originality of Pollok's 
 genius ftrikes us in every page of his work ; and is 
 as vifible in his treatment of the fubjedt at large, as 
 in verfification and verbal expreffion. His poem 
 might be diftinguiftied as the Evangelical Epic. It 
 dwells rather upon the moral chara61:er of in- 
 dividual man, than on the external hiflory of his 
 race : it defcribes the varieties of folly which fe- 
 parately feduced the human family in their pro- 
 bationary ftate : it expofes the evil heart of 
 unbelief, of pride, of avarice, and of fenfuality : it 
 depi(£ls the humbleft and the higheft focial virtues, 
 and exemplifies them in charming portraitures, — 
 as in that af a young and dying mother : it in- 
 ftances, among the providential affli6lions of man- 
 kind, the mental cloud of difappointment by which 
 the author had himfelf been chaftened and im- 
 proved. No hypocrify is left unftripped, no vanity 
 undeteded, no lie uncontradi6ted. The poet in 
 imagination afcends to the everlafting heights of 
 futurity, and aflumes the awful pofition of a fpirit 
 who has long fmce left the day of doom behind, 
 that he may fee with undeluded eyes, and drefs in 
 their true colours, the bufy perfonages of earth. As 
 they approach him from the mafquerade of time, 
 each uncovers his features to the light, and hears 
 himfelf unflatteringlydefcribed. What an epitome 
 of human life is here ! All that feduced men from 
 their duty — the vices that were plainly and grofHy 
 H
 
 98 SACRED POETRY; 
 
 fuch,andthe plaufible ambition which aflumed to be 
 equally allied to virtue and to honour ; and all that 
 obfcured the truth of eternal things from the heed- 
 lefs fons of time ; and all the falfe diftincSlions and 
 awards that made the external afpe(ft of fociety one 
 hugedifguife ; the indulgences of youth, the worldli- 
 nefs of manhood, the covetoufnefs of age ; God's 
 judgments gracioufly fufpended, and man's indiffe- 
 rence fatally prolonged, till Divine forbearance be- 
 came exhaufted juft when human wickednefs had 
 grown moft infatuated, and the defiance hurled to 
 heaven touched the electric cloud charged with Al- 
 mighty wrath — thefe are the moral features, and 
 this the general cataftrophe, embodied in The 
 Courfe of Time. From this mafterly review of 
 temporal hiftory it is difficult to choofe an example, 
 becaufe fuch choice involves reje<Slion ; yet many 
 ifolated paflages have become fuch through their 
 fuperior excellence, and live vividly in the reader's 
 memory. The chara6ler of Byron is drawn with 
 a vigour worthy of his own amazing pencil, and 
 with a moral truth and comprehenfivenefs that ex- 
 ceed his mofl: admired delineations. It is a favour- 
 ite paflage, and well known to the young ; but fo 
 highly chara6i:eriftic of our author's beft manner, 
 and fo admirably fitted to fuftain repeated perufal, 
 that we are tempted to tranfcribe a part of it once 
 more. 
 
 " He touched his harp, and nations heard entranced. 
 Asfome vaft river of unfailing fource, 
 Rapid, exhauftlefs, deep, his numbers flowM, 
 And open'd new fountains in the human heart. 
 Where Fancy halted, wearj- in her flight,
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK, 99 
 
 In other men, his frefh as morning rofe, 
 
 And foar'd untrodden heights, and feemM at home 
 
 Where angels bafhful looked. Others though great 
 
 Beneath their arguments feem'd ftruggling, whiles 
 
 He from above descending ftoop'd to touch 
 
 The loftieft thought ; and proudly ftoop'd, as though 
 
 It fcarce deferved his verfe. With Nature's lelf 
 
 He leemM an old acquaintance, free to jeil 
 
 At will with all her glorious majefty. 
 
 He laid his hand upon ' the Ocean's name,' 
 
 And play'd familiar with his hoary locks ; 
 
 Stood on the Alps, ftood on the Apennines, 
 
 And with the thunder talk'd as friend to friend ; 
 
 And wove his garland of the lightning's wing. 
 
 In fportive twift — the lightning's fiery wing, 
 
 Which, as the footfteps of the dreadful God, 
 
 Marching upon the Itorm in vengeance, feem'd ; 
 
 Then turn'd, and with the grasfhopper, who fung 
 
 His evening long beneath his feet, converfed. 
 
 Suns, moons, and ftars, and clouds, his fillers were ; 
 
 Rocks, mountains, meteors, feas, and winds, and ftorms. 
 
 His brothers, younger brothers, whom he fcarce 
 
 As equals deem'd. All pafTions of all men, 
 
 The wild and tame, the gentle and ferene ; 
 
 All thoughts, all maxims, facred and profane j 
 
 All creeds, all feafons,Time, Eternity ; 
 
 All that was hated and all that was dear ; 
 
 All that was hoped, all that was fear'd, by man ; 
 
 He tofl'd about as tempeft-wither'd leaves. 
 
 Then fmiling look'd upon the wreck he made. 
 
 The vices of mankind have feldom been more 
 truly difcriminated, or more unfparingly expofed, 
 than in the pages of this young moralift and poet. 
 By turns they are forcibly denounced and ftrongly 
 fatirifed. The author does not paufe to polifh his 
 well-headed arrows, fo eager is he to launch them 
 at the hydra he aflails. With bitter farcafm he 
 gives triple point to his inventive, making it rankle 
 wherever it has force to reach. This habit of de-
 
 100 SACRED POETRT; 
 
 nunciation to which his fubjecSl led him, has not, in- 
 deed, contributed to the poetical perfection of our 
 author's work : on the contrary, it has marred with 
 its intemperate tone, and lowered by its familiar 
 phrafeology, and broken by its abrupt and rugged 
 verification, the grace, dignity, and harmony pro- 
 per to epic fong. And here it may be well to fay 
 what fhould candidly be faid from this lefs favour- 
 able point of view. It cannot be difguifed from the 
 reader that many blemifties and imperfedlions de- 
 tra6l from the general merits of the poem. It is 
 planned, as a whole, with exceeding judgment ; 
 but its execution is very unequal. The paflages of 
 fuftained dignity and power are comparatively few, 
 while the poet's manner frequently degenerates into 
 familiarity and coarfenefs. Familiarity of language 
 or illuftration is not neceflarily beneath the dignity 
 of epic verfe. How fimple and beautiful are fome 
 of the metaphors in Dante's Divine Comedy ! and 
 eventhofe which have no remarkable grace to re- 
 commend them have commonly the appropriate 
 merit of being graphic in a high degree. " Rapidly 
 as the pen writes I or O" is the comparifon by 
 which the Tufcan pictures, almoft to our eyes, the 
 fudden effect of a fcorching and deftroying flame. 
 The allufion is to fomething familiar, but not low ; 
 for the art of writing is univerfally efteemed, and 
 therefore the mind is not offended by reference to 
 its moft fimple a6l. But Pollok is not always in- 
 fluenced by the fame good tafl:e. Force and con- 
 trafi: he feeks at any price ; and he achieves a bold 
 antithefis by dropping fuddenly from the '' feventh
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK. loi 
 
 heaven of invention" into the limbo of all low and 
 creeping things. On the eve of judgment he vi^arns 
 the yet rejoicing fun that he fhall prefently be feen 
 to " fet behind eternity," but fpoils this noble image 
 with a feeble anti-climax, — ^^ For thou Jh alt go to 
 bed to-night and ne er awake l^"* Unfortunately, 
 this deficiency of tafte afFe6ls fomething more than 
 mere metaphors and phrafes : it cafts whole para- 
 graphs in a rhetorical rather than a poetic mould, 
 and exchanges the tranquil, undoubting manner of 
 the mufe, for the denouncing and vehement tones 
 of the preacher. It would appear that the author's 
 religious zeal urges him to this ; but, rightly con- 
 fidered, neither his fubje6l nor his purpofe de- 
 mands fo great a facrifice : if one or the other did 
 fo, the poetic medium were improperly chofen. 
 
 The Courfe of Time is probably familiar to moft 
 of our readers : it is therefore unnecefTary to oc- 
 cupy any of our limited fpace with inftances of the 
 author's lefs perfect ftyle. It is much more defir- 
 able to invite to a re-perufal of one of thofe better 
 paflages which are equally chara6teriftic, and yet 
 more frequent. Pollok was neither mifanthropi- 
 cal nor fanatic, but a truly Chriftian poet and philo- 
 fopher^ and hence, throughout his retrofpecl of 
 time, he rejoices to remember and acknowledge 
 abundant fources and fcenes of happinefs, chequer- 
 ing the darker ground of human life with varied 
 fhapes of beauty, and innumerable though evanef- 
 cent fancies. The fifth book largely teflifies to our 
 author's cordial love of nature and humanity.
 
 102 SJCRED POETRT; 
 
 *' Abundant and dlverfified above 
 All number, were the fources of delight j 
 As infinite as were the lips that drank j 
 And to the pure all innocent and pure 5 
 The fimpleft Hill to wileft men the beft. 
 * » * 
 
 And there were, too — Harp ! lift thy voice on high, 
 
 And run in rapid numbers o'er the face 
 
 Of Nature's fcenery, — and there w-ere day 
 
 And night, and rifing funs and fetting funs, 
 
 And clouds that feem'd like chariots of faints, 
 
 By fiery couriers drawn, as brightly hued 
 
 As if the glorious, bufliy, golden locks 
 
 Of thoufand cherubim had been fhorn off, 
 
 And on the temples hung of Morn and Even : 
 
 And there were moons and ftars, and darknefs llreak'd 
 
 With light ; and voice of tempeft heard fecure : 
 
 And there were feafons coming evermore, 
 
 And going ftill, all fair, and always new. 
 
 With bloom, and fruit, and fields of hoary grain : 
 
 And there were hills of flock, and groves of fong, 
 
 And flowery ftreams, and garden-walks embower'd, 
 
 Where fide by fide the role and lily bloom'd ; 
 
 And facred founts, wild harps, and moonlight glens, 
 
 And forefts vafl:, fair lawns, and lonely oaks, 
 
 And little willows fippingat the brook j 
 
 Old wizard haunts and dancing feats of mirth; 
 
 Gay feftive bowers and palaces in duft ; 
 
 Dark owlet nooks and caves and battled rocks ; 
 
 And winding valleys roofd with pendant fiiade j 
 
 And tall and perilous cliffs, that overlooked 
 
 The breadth of ocean fleeping on his waves ; 
 
 Sounds, fights, fmells, taftes, the heaven and earth,profufe 
 
 In endlefs fvveets, above all praife of fong : 
 
 For not to ufe alone did Providence 
 
 Abound ; but large example gave to man 
 
 Of grace, and ornament, and fplendour rich, 
 
 Suited abundantly to every tafte." 
 
 The ocean is a favourite theme with poets of 
 every grade. But, w^hile it has a fafcination for 
 all who feel the poetical tendency, it is only a 
 fnare to thofe whofe power of comprehenfion and
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK, 103 
 
 expreffion falls lamentably fhort of their undefined 
 longings and myfterious awe. While it ferves to 
 prove the maflery of the mighty, it very plainly 
 expofes theweaknefs of the weak. For this reafon 
 we may fafely make it the teft of the defcriptive 
 and general powers of a poet ; andjwhen we would 
 know if he be juftified in adventuring fome ambi- 
 tious flight of fong, let us follow him to the fhores 
 of that mighty element which girdles all the earth, 
 and liften how he puts words to its inarticulate 
 mufic, and evolves rich harmony from its difcord- 
 ant thunders, and interprets betwixt the God of 
 nature and the inferior fons of God. For the true 
 poet the ocean is a mighty inftrument : without 
 the touching of his fingers, it is " full of found and 
 fury, fignifying nothing :" the chaotic waves tum- 
 ble unmeaningly, till the fiat of intelligence roll 
 over them, and then they afTume the true eternal 
 order, in unifon with the mufic of the fpheres. All 
 great poets fhow their maftery here : Homer in a 
 few grand lines, through which the deep fea feems 
 to pour itfelf i Virgil in more than one pi6turefque 
 and fonorous paflage ; and our great dramatift in a 
 brief ftorm of poetry, in which we fee by glimpfes 
 the poor fhip-boy " on the high and giddy maft," 
 rocked fearfully " in cradle of the rude imperious 
 furge." With modern bards a yet bolder min- 
 ftrelfy has been crowned with yet more eminent 
 fuccefs. It is to the mighty fea, with its refound- 
 ing fliores and unappeafable commotion, that 
 Byron leads the wearied and wayward Childe, 
 there to feek calmnefs for a feafon from the tumult
 
 104 SJCRED POETRY; 
 
 of contending paffions in prefence of a confufion 
 and a noife fo vaft as to be awful, and there tolofe 
 all fenfe of his forrow in oblivion of him felf,— ex- 
 ulting in a confcioufnefs of His only majefty and 
 power who rebukes the pride of man with one un- 
 conquerable element. And it is in profpeft of the 
 fame (as feen from St. Leonard's) that the bard of 
 Hope re-tunes and ftrengthens his lyre, teachingit 
 a not lefs dulcet but more harmonious meafure, and 
 fmging therewith, in a rapture of new health and 
 gladnefs, Hatl to thy face and odours^ glorious Sea! 
 But the ftrain in which our author commemo- 
 rates the ocean is inferior to none of thefe. It is a 
 magnificent apoftrophe, almoft worthy the hal- 
 lowed lips and the immortal harp of the long-fainted 
 bard from whom it is fuppofed to break, and of the 
 refurreclion-morning on which his triumphant 
 memory revifits it. He feems to magnify and 
 glory in the thalaffian might and muric,j'jft when 
 both are about to be fufpended for ever, and gladly 
 feizes occafion to prolong its murmuring echo 
 through the eternal vaults. 
 
 " Great Ocean ! too, that morning thou the call 
 Of reftitution heard'ft, and reverently 
 To the laft trumpet's voice in filence lilien'd. 
 Great ocean ! ftrongeft of creation's fons, 
 Unconquerable, unrepofed, untired. 
 That rolPd the wild, profound, eternal bafs 
 In Nature's anthem, and made muiic fuch 
 As pleafed the ear of God ! Original, 
 Unmarr'd, unfaded work of Deity, 
 And unburlelqued by mortal's puny Ikill, 
 From age to age enduring and unchanged, 
 Majeftical, inimitable, vaft. 
 Loud uttering latire day and night on each
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK. 105 
 
 Succeeding race and little pompous work 
 
 Of man ! unf alien, religious, holy Sea ! 
 
 Thou bow'dft thy glorious head to none, fearMft none, 
 
 Heardft none, to none didft honour, but to God, 
 
 Thy Maker, only worthy to receive 
 
 Thy great obeifance ! Undifcover'd Sea! 
 
 Into thy dark, unknown, myfterious caves. 
 
 And fecret haunts, unfathomablydeep 
 
 Beyond all vifible retired, none went 
 
 And came again, to tell the wonders there. 
 
 Tremendous Sea ! what time thou lifted up 
 
 Thy waves on high, and with thy winds and ftorms 
 
 Strange paftime took, and fhook thy mighty fides 
 
 Indignantly, the pride of navies fell; 
 
 Beyond the arm of help, unheard, unfeen, 
 
 Sunk friend and foe, with all their wealth and uar j 
 
 And on thy fhores men of a thoufand tribes. 
 
 Polite and barbarous, trembling, ftood amazed, 
 
 Confounded, terrified, and thought vaft thoughts 
 
 Of ruin, bound lefTnels, omnipotence, 
 
 Infinitude, eternity ; and thought 
 
 And wonderM ftill, and grafp'd, and grafp'd, and grafp'd 
 
 Again : beyond her reach, exerting all 
 
 The foul, to take thy great idea in. 
 
 To comprehend incomprehenfible ; 
 
 And wonder'd more, and felt their littlenefs. 
 
 Self-purifying, unpolluted Sea ! 
 
 Lover unchangeable, thy faithful breaft 
 
 For ever heaving to the lovely Moon, 
 
 That, like a (hy and holy virgin, robed 
 
 In faintly white, walk'd nightly in the heavens, 
 
 And to thy everlafting ferenade 
 
 Gave gracious audience; nor was woo'd in vain. 
 
 That morning thou, that flumber'd not before 
 
 Nor flept, great Ocean ! laid thy waves to reft. 
 
 And hufti'd thy mighty minftrelfy. No breath 
 
 Thy deep compofure fl-Irr'd, no fin, no oar; 
 
 Like beauty newly dead, fo calm,fo ftill, 
 
 So lovely, thou, beneath the light that fell 
 
 From angel-chariots, fentineird on high, 
 
 Repofed and liften'd, and law thy living changed. 
 
 Thy dead arife. Charybdis llften'd, and Scylla ; 
 
 And favage Euxine on the Thracian beach 
 
 Lay motionlefs; and every battle-ftiip 
 
 Stood ftill ; and every ftiip of merchandife, 
 
 And all that fail'd of every name, ftood ftill."
 
 io6 SACRED POETRY ; 
 
 With this noble ftrain our extra6ls muft con- 
 clude. In the Book where it occurs, as well as in 
 that which immediately follows, there are many 
 paflages of a very high ftyle of poetry. The con- 
 dition of the world, when the morning of the judg- 
 ment broke over it with the light of a common 
 day, — the heedlefs, headlong, and unprincipled pur- 
 fuits of men, — the fudden paralyfis of nature, and 
 the arreft made upon all the tribes and nations of 
 mankind, — are ranged in ftriking contrail before 
 us. The little feathered fongfter fainting in middle 
 air, while on his harmony " perpetual filence fell," 
 — and the lordly eagle dropping into the valley, " a 
 clod of clay," — and the ploughman falling before 
 his fleers, — and the (hepherd witneffing his flock 
 " around him turn to dufl," — while the lion in his 
 den 
 
 " Grew cold and ftlfF, or in the furious chafe 
 
 With timid fawn, that fcarcely mifsM his paws," — 
 
 this awful fufpenfion of the whole creation is very 
 vividly defcribed ; and the filence of momentary 
 diflblution condemns with ftartling fuddennefs and 
 folemnity the preceding humof bufinefs and of folly. 
 Not lefs impreffive is the review of the vafl and 
 rifen multitude who are feen to cover thickly all 
 the land and fea, ^' of every nation blent, and every 
 age." Then follows the fentence of irrevocable 
 doom, — the approval of the righteous, and the con- 
 demnation of the wicked; fucceeded by the in- 
 flant perdition of the one, and the immediate trans- 
 lation of the other to heaven. In thefe latter 
 Books the author well fuftains the accumulating
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK. 107 
 
 intereft of his theme ; his imagery becomes gran- 
 der, and his verfe more weighty ; and, as his 
 chariot of time nears the appointed goal, the fpokes 
 of its mighty wheels gleam far more vividly, and 
 its burning axle glows under the increafed momen- 
 tum and accelerated fpeed. We may inftance, 
 among the moft ftriking portions of the tenth and 
 laft Book, the defcription of the outpouring of the 
 Divine vengeance, commencing, " So faying, God 
 grew dark with utter wrath ;" and (for its poetical 
 merit) the deftrudtion of the long-guilty earth by 
 fire, preparatory to its renewal and re-habitation. 
 The hymns addrefTed to the Almighty are alfo very 
 noble. 
 
 We are reluctant, in conclufion, to compare the 
 merits of Milton and Pollok. While comparifons 
 are proverbially odious, they are efpecially fo when 
 employed to depreciate the lefTer of two admirable 
 authors, each pofTeiTed of diftindl and independent 
 merits. Points of wideft difference do not necef- 
 farily involve inferiority in the fmalleft degree, 
 while they may fkilfully be made to imply it in the 
 greateft. To compare Milton and Pollok in this 
 fpirit would be a gratuitous injury to the latter, 
 whofe pretenfions never made fo bold a rivalry. 
 Yet we may be allowed to diftinguifti their charac- 
 teriftic merits, if only to (how the wide difference 
 in their manner and defign, and the confequent ab- 
 furdity of an unfriendly contraft. The great in- 
 feriority of Pollok's work may be admitted from 
 the firft. The author's true admirers never con- 
 tended or thought otherwife. They confider, in-
 
 io8 SACRED POETRY I 
 
 deed, that The Courfe of Time has from its firft ap- 
 pearance, with fome brief exceptions, been unduly 
 depreciated by the literary world ; but they ac- 
 knowledge, alfo, that many zealous perfons have 
 erred yet more widely, though from more par- 
 donable motives, in extolling it as the equal of the 
 Paradife Loft^ and the co-heir of its renown. In 
 truth, no reflecting perfon could fail to obferve 
 that the two works are of widely different orders of 
 merit ; and it is more than probable that this ine- 
 quality, extended to the authors, was radical as well 
 as adventitious, and due in a large degree to differ- 
 ence of native power. But the queftion of natural 
 gifts is here complicated by circumftantialdiverfity. 
 The years, the era, and the country of our authors 
 were unlike. The one wrote in the eager dawn of 
 manhood, but under the fhadow of a cloud deftined 
 to ftifle all his day of life. The other poured forth 
 his foul in fong v/hen his eyes had returned from 
 beholding the vanity of all earthly things, and his 
 ears had grown only the more fenfitive to the mufic 
 of an unfeen world. As the buoyant energy of 
 youth differs from the fuftaining ftrength of riper 
 years, fo does the charafter of Pollok differ from 
 that of Milton. What the redundant foliage of 
 June is to the golden fruit of Auguft, fuch is The 
 Courfe of Time to the Paradife Loft, The natural 
 ardour of Pollok was in the ftage of daring effort 
 and unlimited promife 5 but the grave tempera- 
 ment of Milton had grown yet more rugged 
 through years of poverty and negle6l, while his 
 real tendernefs found expreffion only through his
 
 MILTON AND POLLOK. 109 
 
 imagination, and fo modulated his verfes into trueft 
 pathos. PoUok was not wholly unindebted to 
 claiHc lore, for he had lately been a diligent fcholar ; 
 but Milton had from earlieft boyhood drunk freely 
 of the Caftalian fpring, had ever found it fweet and 
 pleafant to his tafte, and conftantly returned to it 
 with never-fatisfied delight. And this diverfity is 
 plainly traceable in their refpecftive poems, in- 
 fluencing the choice and moulding the form 
 throughout. The Courfe of Time is a bold car- 
 toon, filled in with all the typical chara6ters of 
 earth, but having little or no local colouring to 
 give warmth and harmony to the whole ; the 
 Paradife Loft is an imperifhable frefco, painted 
 in vaft compartments, under the glowing light 
 of a Syrian fun, with more than Buonarotti's 
 power, and only lefs than Raffaelle's grace. Pollok 
 is yet in the flufh of youth, but feels a prophetic 
 intimation of his fate, and fo makes hafte to be 
 famous. Milton, like the Royal Preacher, has felt 
 the vanity of life ; and, like Saul, he is at times 
 pofleffed of an evil fpirit : yet, in emulation of the 
 one, he has not neglefted to rifle the treafures of 
 nature and of art, to put together a temple worthy 
 of the Lord ; and, with a fkill tranfcending the 
 fuUen greatnefs of the other, he becomes his own 
 enchanter ; and, with fl:rains that might almoll 
 ^' create a foul under the ribs of death," he charms 
 the evil genius from his bofom. One looks for- 
 ward to the judgment, and onward to the blifs of 
 faints made perfe6l ; the other, equally overleap- 
 ing " the flaming bounds of time and fpace," runs
 
 no SJCRED POETRT; 
 
 backward and precipitates himfelf beyond the fur- 
 ther wall of Paradife, and fpreads wing in the pre- 
 Adamite eternity. But the contraft is almoft 
 endlefs. We might fhow how one is the type of 
 the Chriftian, and the other of the Jewifh, era ; — 
 how Pollok comes to us preaching the fimple and 
 pure morality and love of his Mafter Chrift ; and 
 how Milton appears to our imagination in the 
 gorgeous trappings of the Aaronic priefthood, 
 Twinging in his hand a golden cenfer, and leading 
 the grateful litanies of ever)^ tribe. 
 
 But we muft haften to conclude. Milton's work 
 muft ever receive fuperior honour, but may be 
 deftined, notwithftanding, to a comparatively nar- 
 row circle of readers. His theme and manner are 
 grave, elaborate, and ftately ; his verfe, unlike the 
 fimpler fabric and ruder texture of the other, is a 
 perfect web of harmony, bright with inwoven 
 graces, and coflly with embroidered learning ; his 
 matchlefs work is full of fuch poetry as none but 
 fpirits fomewhat kindred can enjoy, and preg- 
 nant with exquifite allufions which heighten the 
 imaginative feaft with the charms of refined aflbci- 
 ation. Many qualities and accomplishments go to 
 the formation of the readers of fuch a poet ; and, 
 therefore, when he defired to find " fit audience," 
 he was aware it muft confift of " few." The fub- 
 je(5t of Pollok's mufe is of more common and per- 
 fonal intereft, and its treatment is appropriately 
 fimple, inftead of laboured or recondite. Its re- 
 ligious earneftnefs recommends it to many who 
 would not fo readily appreciate a more purely po-
 
 MIL TON AND POLLOK. 1 1 1 
 
 etical merit. On the whole, the ftyle of the youth- 
 ful author is not ill adapted to his defign and fub- 
 je6t. For a great purpofe he feized the facred lyre, 
 and " rolled its numbers down the tide of time.'* 
 He did fo with a fuccefs that has been too grudg- 
 ingly allowed by literary men ; for, abating only 
 the carelefs execution of many paflages, we can 
 fcarcely conceive anything more fuited to intereft 
 and imprefs the ferious reader than the copious 
 freedom of its languge, — level to the fimpleft ap- 
 prehenfion ; and the vigorous mufic of its verfe, 
 — melody to the moft unpra6tifed ear.
 
 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 MR. CARLYLE. 
 
 T is a remarkable fa6l, that every lite- 
 rary work which has achieved a per- 
 manent reputation, or attained to the 
 pofition of a national claflic, is more 
 or lefs perfe6t in rerpe6t of ftyle. So uniformly is 
 this found to be the cafe, that, although many 
 works are more efteemed for the wifdom of their 
 contents than the graces of their manner, yet we 
 may fafely predicate that a glaring deficiency in 
 point of ftyle would prove fatal to their perma- 
 nent fuccefs. We can fcarcely, for our own 
 part, imagine the cafe of a manual of wifdom 
 which fliould be wanting in its appropriate vehicle 
 of form and language ; for great thoughts are 
 moulded, in return, by expreffions which they have 
 ferved to modulate ; and it is certain that this per- 
 fe6lion of manner is a neceflary condition of their 
 univerfal acceptance and uncloying delightfulnefs. 
 No other quality, apart from this, ever availed to 
 fave the production of human wit or ingenuity from 
 early neglecSt and ultimate oblivion. Works of the 
 profoundeft learning, of deep natural refearch, and
 
 MR. CJRLTLE. 113 
 
 of great critical fagacity, that feverally aftoniftied 
 contemporary minds with refults equally magnifi- 
 cent and valuable, have perifhed from their own 
 weight, not being animated and buoyed by that 
 fubtle fpirit from which the charm of ftyle is con- 
 ftantly evolved. Thefe authors had found nature 
 lavifli of materials, and fondly conceived that it 
 wasreferved for them to arrange and preferve them 
 for human admiration ; but they proved collecSlors 
 only, and not artifts : they failed to evoke order 
 out of confufion, or to vindicate the fupreme utility 
 of beauty. The moment that death took them 
 from their cumulative work, it was liable to be 
 feized upon by fome more mafterly and plaftic 
 genius ; to be broken up, and fifted, and put 
 through a procefs of feleifion ; and then joined, 
 and fhaped, and moulded, and made perfect : — the 
 huge folio chronicles, crowded with matters vital 
 and indifferent, take then the claiTic form of hif- 
 tory, where fa6ts appear only in their relation to 
 truth, and fo become the manualsof ftatefmen and 
 philofophers. Thus Tacitus and Humefurvivea 
 thoufand more laborious annalifts. The latter, 
 indeed, is a ftriking example of the infinite per- 
 fuafivenefs of flyle. So apt, confident, and har- 
 monious, are the ideas in his great work, and fo 
 lucid, pure, and varied the expreffion, that it may 
 henceforth defy the multiplied competition of ages. 
 No fruitful refearch will fuflice to difcredit it, and 
 no novelty of thought avail to fuperfede it. It is 
 immortal by the conditions of its birth j for it 
 I
 
 114 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 afTumed the body of truth when it received the foul 
 of genius. 
 
 Let not the flovenly or eccentric writer fay 
 fcornfully of Style, that it is the mere externalifm 
 of thought, as unworthy of a philofopher's atten- 
 tion as the cut of his coat or the fhape of his hat. 
 It is the outward and vifible fign of exactly corref- 
 ponding graces. It is not drefs to the wax-figure, 
 but form and expreffion to the ftatue. Style is 
 one of the moft comprehenfive terms in our lan- 
 guage ; and, as applied to literature and the arts, is 
 made to include both the harmony of thought and 
 language, and the felicitous correfpondence of both 
 to truth and nature. It is, therefore, asrequifite 
 that the mathematician and themoralift fhould aim 
 at perfection in ftyle, as it is that the poet and the 
 humorift {hould do fo ; or rather it is a merit as ne- 
 celTary to evince the maftery ofthe former as it is to 
 fecure the triumphs of the latter. Exactitude of 
 thought can only manifeft itfelf by precifion of lan- 
 guage and clearnefs of expreffion ; and fo a definite 
 and axiomatic ftyle will appropriately fy mbolife and 
 embody a definite philofophy. What, then, muft 
 we think of him who pra6tically all'erts that ordi- 
 nary grammatical language is a poor and inadequate 
 medium of his thoughts ? who, not fatisfied with a 
 fimple predicate of truth, or an intelligible flate- 
 ment of opinion, breaks out into ftrange apof- 
 trophes, half-fentences, and fighs, which no man 
 can rationally connect, or even feparately con- 
 ftrue ? 
 
 Style, therefore, is not a merely fuperficial merit ;
 
 MR. CARLTLE. 115 
 
 nor can it be reje6led as an unfair teft of found 
 authorfhip and claffic compofition. If a humorifl: 
 is happy in his portraiture of chara61:er, it is that 
 felicity of delineation that makes his compofition 
 elegant, and not the mere choice of appropriate 
 phrafeology and illuftration ; for thefe latter are 
 fuggefted by the former, and have perhaps little to 
 recommend them but their fimplicity and truth. 
 If a poet is indeed the mafter of his theme, lan- 
 guage will be to him as potter's clay, and the 
 completed poem will prove the faultlefs image of 
 his fancy. If the moralift or philofopher is really 
 diftindi: and confident in his ideas, his words will be 
 only the pure medium of thofe ideas, and the reader 
 will fenfibly enjoy the prefence of his author's 
 mind. Failing to exprefs himfelf in this clear, 
 proper, unfuperfluous manner, there is a hitch 
 fomewhere in our author's greatnefs. Wanting 
 this ferene, oracular, and perfecSl fpeech, he muft 
 not hope to have a liftening world for his audience, 
 or to entrance pofterity by an undying voice. Lefs 
 than wife, let him be content to learn : not yet 
 perfe6l, let him continue to improve. The " pro- 
 phets" of mankind muft not come from Babel, 
 ftammering difcordant tongues. If " nature" has 
 indeed commiflioned them, they will employ her 
 one true language, known to allher children. 
 
 We have been led into thefe remarks by an at- 
 tempt to account for the eccentricities of Mr. 
 Carlyle's more recent and charafteriftic work ; 
 and we regret to fay that the conclufion juft ar- 
 rived at bears ftrongly againft the pretentious
 
 ii6 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 claims of thofe very fingular producSlions. We 
 fhould blame Mr. Carlyle even more, if wq 
 efteemed his genius fomewhat higher. But the 
 grofs abfurdity of his ftyle is, we fufpecl, not fo 
 much his fault as his misfortune. His wanton de- 
 fiance of grammar and of tafte is not a mere wilful 
 abufe of power, but rather a pitiable exhibition of 
 wealcnefs. Letitbejuft fuppofed that Mr. Car- 
 lyle may have — as he is conftantly affirming or in- 
 fmuating — fome grand fpecific for the improve- 
 ment of mankind. But ordinary language is in- 
 adequate for its expreffion, and he breaks out into 
 one of the unknown tongues. It would feem, then, 
 Mr. Carlyle pofleiTes ideas not only profoundly 
 good and ufeful — for fuch were thofe of Bacon and 
 Locke — but incommunicable alfo. The language 
 of daily life might indeed fuffice to convey the vul- 
 gar truths of his great predecefTors. Their lips 
 might drop maxims of fimpleft wifdom " as faft as 
 the Arabian trees their medicinal gum." With 
 them their readers may ftill have intelligent en- 
 joyment, as not wholly deftitute of the fame 
 reafon and afFe6^ions. But to prefume to under- 
 ftand Mr. Carlyle would be making ourfelves too 
 much his equals, if it did not even give us the ad- 
 vantage over him. Let us, then, be content to 
 wonder. Too much familiarity breeds contempt ; 
 and if we knew him better, is it certain we fhould 
 efteem or truft him more ? It is well that we 
 fhould not be undeceived ; let us live in hope if we 
 die in defpair ; let us repeat his oracular words time 
 after time, and guefs them in our own favour, and
 
 MR. CARLTLE, 117 
 
 delude ourfelves to the laft. Shall we, forfooth, 
 prefume to know more than our mafter ? 
 
 The works to which thefe obfervations apply 
 range in refpeil of number to fome ten or dozen 
 volumes, publiihed at jQiort intervals during the 
 laft twenty years. To many of our readers they 
 will probably be more or lefs familiar ; but to a 
 greater number the author and his works are 
 known, it may be, only by repute. It is defirable, 
 therefore, that we fhould iirft mention fome of the 
 publications by name ; and afterwards illuftrate 
 their chara6ler, and juftify our animadverfions, by 
 one or two examples, feleded with due fairnefs, 
 but neceflary brevity. Let us ftate at once that 
 our chief obje6t is not to challenge Mr. Carlyle's 
 literary reputation, or to deny his literary merits. 
 If we deplore the popular character of the one, 
 and fpeak in qualified and meafured terms of the 
 other, it is that we may the better accomplifh the 
 ulterior purpofe we have in view, by fliowing that, 
 if the public accept of this falfe teacher as their 
 prophet, it is not becaufe they are pardonably mif- 
 led by a fubtle and confummate genius. With 
 this objecl in view, we have thought it right to de- 
 vote a preliminary feftion to Mr. Carlyle's literary 
 chara6fer, and afterwards to examine his preten- 
 fions as a focial and religious philofopher. 
 
 In a chronological retrofpe6t of Mr. Carlyle's 
 writings, the order of time is coincident with that 
 of merit ; and on this head we may be expedted to 
 enlarge. But the moftufeful part of a critic's office, 
 and therefore the moft important, is monitory and
 
 ii8 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 corrective. Were it otherwife, we might find a 
 good deal to fay in Mr. Carlyle's praife, even to the 
 exclufion of all cenfure, from difinclination and 
 want of fpace. As it is, while maintaining the 
 error and expofing the danger of his unqualified 
 admirers, we will not fail to mention thofe better 
 qualities to which other pens have done more than 
 ample juftice. Why fhould we deny that which 
 is patent to all the literary world, which alone miti- 
 gates the folly of its praife, and which gives efpecial 
 emphafis to our note of warning and reproof ? 
 
 The earlieft and beft works of Mr. Carlyle ap- 
 peared in the departments of biography and criti- 
 cifm : his Life of Schiller remains a favourable 
 fpecimen of the former j and the colle6i:ion en- 
 titled Mifcellanies^ in four volumes, and confifUng 
 chiefly of his contributions to the Edinburgh and 
 Foreign Quarterly Reviews^ furnifh fpecimens of 
 his genius for the latter. With thefe productions 
 we may clafs — as making together the lift of thofe 
 exercifes of his pen which may be excepted from 
 the general animadverfions we feel bound to make 
 — his nervous and beautiful tranflation of the TVil- 
 hehn Meifier^ and his right earneft introduction to, 
 and able editing of, CromweWs Letters^ at a com- 
 paratively recent period. In all thefe works there 
 is a degree of merit and originality which no reader 
 will be difpofed to queftion or reluCtant to acknow- 
 ledge. Their tone is for the moft part healthy 
 and mafculine ; and if fome of the author's views, 
 incidentally introduced, are exceptionable or ex- 
 treme, the treatment of his fubjeCl is, in the main.
 
 MR. CARLTLE, 119 
 
 correal as well as mafterly ; its outline, bold, de- 
 finite, and true ; and its colouring, alternately vivid, 
 picSlurefque, and quaint. The critical Mifcella- 
 n'les may be named as moft to our tafte and Judg- 
 ment, — the work in which we think the author 
 has evinced the trueft power, and found the real 
 bent of his difcurfive genius, which is critical 
 rather than didacSlic, and defcriptive more than 
 philofophical. His papers on the German authors, 
 Wieland, Goethe, Schiller, and Richter ; on the 
 Scotchmen, Burns and Walter Scott; on the 
 Englifh, Johnfon, and his much-gifted, much-def- 
 pifed biographer j on Mirabeau, Voltaire, and 
 Diderot ; are fpecimens of intelleftual portrait- 
 painting, differing widely indeed from the weak 
 water-colours of too many literary artifls, and 
 dafhed rather with the breadth of Raeburn than 
 linifhed with the ftudied elegance of Lawrence. 
 This talent of graphic portraiture is perhaps the 
 moft remarkable gift of our author; and, aided by 
 marvellous chiaro'fcuro and ftrong fcenical efFe6ts, 
 it finds almoft boundlefs indulgence in his work on 
 the French Revolution., which we have hefitated to 
 clafs among his better writings, (notwithflanding 
 its evidence of rare ability,) both becaufe of its 
 ethical unfoundnefs and its impertinent obfcurities 
 offlyle. Mr. Carlyle entitles it a HiJIory ; but it 
 is no fuch thing. Any gentleman of refpe^lable 
 bufinefs habits, average intelligence, and moderate 
 leifure, who fhould repair to this work for a con- 
 fecutive and clear account of the great Revolution 
 in France, fraught with its own unmiffakable lef-
 
 120 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 fons of philofophy, would become fadly bewildered 
 at the veryoutfet. The riddle of thefphinx, pro- 
 pofed in Ethiopia, or written in hieroglyphics, 
 would be nothing to the threatening problems of 
 that flrange wild book. Let the initiated ^qvj be- 
 laud it as they may, and fpealc of its occult and rare 
 philofophy ; true hifliory is written fo that he who 
 runs may read ; true learning is fimple as well as 
 fublime in its refults ; true wifdom communicates 
 the lore of genius in the language of a child. To 
 thofe by whom the fubje£l has been previoufly 
 maftered, Mr. Carlyle's eccentric volumes will 
 have a certain intereft, — to fome of thefe, a perfect 
 fafcination. But there is no rational coherence, 
 after all j or none that is fufficiently apparent. 
 And already " art is long, and time is fleeting ;" if 
 we perplex and lengthen out the one, do we not 
 virtually wafte our little portion of the other ? 
 Thofe, therefore, who fpeak of this work as a 
 model of the true hiftoric ftyle, know not what 
 they fay. It is a commentary, and not a hiftory ; 
 a feries of fitful fketches, not' an example of ferene 
 art ; a panorama — painted in lurid hues, and ex- 
 hibited by torch-light — of the fearful reign of 
 terror, moft like that ancient one of anarchy and 
 chaos. 
 
 From the period of this laft publication it was 
 that the erratic ftyle of Mr. Carlyle became aggra- 
 vated and confirmed. This was evidently to be 
 traced to his undifcriminating love of German let- 
 ters and philofophy, and efpecially of the latter j for 
 the former, feparately confidered, is at leaft too pure
 
 MR. CARLTLE, 121 
 
 and claflical, in its beft examples, to be chargeable 
 with Mr. Carlyle's obfcure and unequal mode of 
 fpeech. The lucid profe of Goethe is rather the 
 reproachful contraft, than the juftifying model, of 
 his admirer : it is the perfe6l medium of the 
 author's thoughts, like a fheet of fine plate-glafs, 
 through which the bright and moving objects of 
 nature are beheld, and which interpofes only an 
 airof ferenity and diftance ; while the language of 
 Mr. Carlyle refembles too much a pane of knotted, 
 blue, unequal glafs, giving to all things a cerulean 
 or prifmatic hue, and diftorting them into all unreal 
 fhapes. From Jean Paul Richter he has evidently 
 copied much, and imbibed more. But this was 
 furely an unfortunate ftandard to fet up, and en- 
 tirely unworthy of an original mind. What is 
 natural and chara6leriftic of the German Richter, 
 who could write no otherwife, is ofFenfive and un- 
 pardonable in the Anglo-Scotchman, trained in 
 clearer modes of thought, and capable of purer 
 fpeech. The truth is, as we fhall fhortly fee, that 
 our author had confounded two things which 
 fhould ever be kept diflinil ; and in their turn they 
 have confounded him. He proclaimed the banns 
 of German art and German Metaphyfics ; or at 
 leaft he attempted to accompliih the unnatural 
 union. Not content with being a critic of the 
 grand Teutonic poetry, he afpired at the fame mo- 
 ment of time to be an expofitor of German myfti- 
 cal philofophy. Either, fmgly confidered, was a 
 tafk worthy of his powers, though the former was 
 more congenial to his ftyle of thought and com-
 
 122 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 pofition. But, if both were to be undertaken, 
 they at leaft demanded a feparate, diftincSl, and 
 ferious treatment. Mr. Carlyle Teemed to think 
 otherwife ; and the attempt to give philofophic 
 views of nature, man, and God, in a fictitious 
 framework, and a difconne6ted, light, irreverent 
 manner, refulted in a work entitled Sartor Refar- 
 tuSy or the Life and Opinions ofHerr Teufelfdrokh. 
 This compound of profanity and jargon is a fair 
 fpecimen of our author's ethical and literary merits, 
 as feen in all his recent and chara6teriftic works ; 
 and therefore we fhall take the trouble of examin- 
 ing it more nearly than it otherwife deferves. 
 Afterwards we will look into our author's book on 
 Heroes and Hero Worjhip ; and there probably we 
 fhall find a more undifguifed acknowledgment of 
 the two great principles of his audacious fyftem, 
 manifefting themfelves in an idolatry efTentially 
 pagan, and a pantheifm virtually godlefs. 
 
 Dulnefs is by no means a common fault with 
 Mr. Carlyle. His genius is too brilliant to fail of 
 attracting even the carelefs reader, and withal fo er- 
 ratic that our fenfe of admiration is prolonged by 
 that of growing wonder, not to fay alarm. We 
 follow him at firft with praife on our lip, and ex- 
 pectation in our hearts ; and, when we have ceafed 
 to admire and truft him, a certain powerful curi- 
 ofity compels us to follow his myflerious flight ; 
 and when we can no longer trace his whereabouts, 
 we ftand loft in wonder at the blue flame in which 
 hedifappeared. Ever verging toward fome quar-
 
 MR, CARLTLE. 123 
 
 ter of the higheft heaven, we ftill hope to pafs with 
 him into more facred precin6ts ; and when he falls 
 fuddenly plumb down through the inane, there is 
 a myftery in that exit by which we are halfwith- 
 drawn from difappointment and difguft. 
 
 But dull and irkfome Mr. Carlyle often is, if you 
 will only let him play out his play ; and the reafon 
 of this is obvious on a moment's refle6tion : for 
 only what we intelligently enjoy can we permanently 
 attend to and admire. The greateft philofopher 
 will obferve the ftars all night, and only grieve 
 when the " garifh day" drowns all their folemn 
 beauty, and the " work-day world" begins to cla- 
 mour down their ethereal mufic. But who that is 
 paft childhood will not weary of a difplay of fire- 
 works, prolonged and repeated through all the 
 patient night, till every beautiful device has become 
 worn down to a fkeleton of wood and wire, and 
 the memory of each bright and rufhing rocket is 
 loft in the {^n^^ of its black and fulphurous recoil ? 
 In fome fuch manner as this have we been alter- 
 nately attrafted and repelled ; fuccefli vely charmed, 
 furprifed, and difappointed ; but ultimately and 
 thoroughly wearied and perplexed ; by Mr. Car- 
 lyle's firft efTay in tranfcendental art-philofophy. 
 It is entitled, Sartor Refartus : the Life and 
 Opinions of Herr Teufelfdrockh. In Three Books. 
 It is elfewhere termed by its author The Philofophy 
 of Clothesy 2ind confifts of fragments of the obfcure 
 hiftory, and fpecimens of the ponderous work, of 
 a learned German Profefibr. But this imputed 
 origin is evidently fi6titious ; the editor and author
 
 124 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 are not only fimilar, but identical ; the book is 
 properly lettered on the back, what it emphatically 
 is throughout, " Carlyle's Sartor Refartus." His 
 paternity is audible in every page, where he fings 
 wild lullabies to his odd-featured child, mixed up 
 with quaint denials : it betrays itfelf, moreover, in 
 his every movement, gefture and grimace. Herr 
 Teufelfdrockh is as hiftorical a charader as Die- 
 drich Knickerbocker ; but we cannot fay that The 
 Philofophy of Clothes is either as intelligible or as 
 delightful as the famous Hiftory of New-York. 
 Both, indeed, — the high-Dutchman and the low, 
 — are in turn the fource and fubjecl of rare fatiric 
 humour ; but that of Diedrich is genuine, broad, 
 unmixed, and loveable ; while Teufelfdrockh is 
 himfelf a very evident " unreality" or " fham," — 
 a hollow mafk, provided with a fettled, erudite, 
 mechanic fmile, to difguife the painful nature of 
 thofe profane and unprofitable fpeculations of 
 which it is made the mouth-piece. In brief, Mr. 
 Irving's fi61:itious hiftory is a model of its kind ; 
 and its perfe61: ftyle is the refult both of the con- 
 fcious legitimacy of his plan, and of the rare felicity 
 and balance of his powers ; while Mr. Carlyle 
 ftumbles in the rugged path of his pfeudo-bio- 
 graphy, andjuftly fears that when he moft fuccelT- 
 fully tranfports or puzzles us, he moft plainly 
 fliows the hero and the author to be identical ; and 
 fo, haftening to ridicule or qualify the philofophic 
 rant of the one, we are left wholly confounded as 
 to the real fentiments of the other. 
 
 But it may, perhaps, be faid,we do injuftice to
 
 MR, CJRLTLE. 125 
 
 Mr. Carlyle by comparing him with an author fo 
 different as Mr. Irving ; that, the object of the 
 latter being the amufement of his readers only, he 
 is left free to attend to the graces of ftyle, as he is 
 more dependent upon thefe ; while the purpofe of 
 the former is other and far higher, aiming to blend 
 improvement with delight, and to initiate us into 
 fome of the profoundeft myfteries of nature by lift- 
 ing a corner of the veil which divides the world of 
 matter from the world of fpirit. Juft fo : fome- 
 thing like this we believe to be our author's great 
 defign ; he defires to pafs through all external 
 {hows, which are to nature what clothing is to 
 man, and to lay his hand upon the naked heart of 
 God's great univerfe, and to repeat in our atten- 
 tive ears the burden of its *' healthful mufic." 
 But, before -we commend his temerity, we muft 
 learn of his fuccefs. Since he attempts fo much 
 more than the author to whom reference has been 
 made, if his fuccefs be only equal, the refult willbe 
 of far greater power and value. But to the refult 
 we muil appeal, and not to the attempt alone ; and 
 therefore it was that we conceived no injuftice 
 would be done to him by comparing his elaborate 
 work with Mr. Irving's humbler efTay, which in 
 fome points itrefembles ; for, wherein it differs, it 
 might be expected to excel. That fuch is not the 
 cafe, we have deliberately proved for ourfelves; 
 and our wifh is that we could, with reafonable bre- 
 vity, furnifh the means of conviction to our readers. 
 But it is impolTible to convey any adequate notion 
 of this book, the Sartor Rejartus^ by means of ab-
 
 126 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 fl:ra6l or fynopfis ; and this, alfo, for the old reafon, 
 — it is mainly unintelligible. As a rational being 
 foon wearies of the moft agreeable jargon, fo it is 
 impolTible to carry away the fubftance or meaning 
 which it never had. Neither the beauties nor the 
 abfurdities of our author are properly transferable 
 or tranflatable. To appreciate a gorgeous pile of 
 clouds, you muft fee them in extenfo for yourfelf : 
 we cannot fliake down fome few folds by way of 
 fpecimen. Their beauty confifts in their fantaftic 
 variety of fhape ; their long-drawn filaments o( 
 vapour ; their mountain-ridges that run down half 
 the zodiac, and their volcanic peaks that tower to 
 the meridian; their unfubftantial vaftnefs, ever 
 moving, and ever breaking into ineftimable num- 
 bers ; their infinite gradations of light and colour, 
 following the wake of day in piclurefque confufion, 
 and melting each into the other; their endlefs 
 imagery of all things ailual, poffible, and conceiv- 
 able ; their fudden apparition ; their filence, fwift- 
 nefs, and evanefcence; theboundlefs field of their 
 mufter, and the unimaginable fplendour of their 
 march. It is in a cloud-land fomewhat refembling 
 this, that the genius of Mr. Carlyle revels and dif- 
 ports itfelf, weaving his fineft works out of mifts 
 and exhalation, and breaking up the rainbow (as 
 though jealous of the beauty which refults from 
 law) that he may fling its colours to enrich the 
 dragon and chameleon of his fiery web. We have 
 truths here ; but not maftered, and not marfhalled : 
 and fo in their order — or rather in their turn — 
 they difappear, and leave our minds fo far unoc-
 
 MR. CARLTLE, 127 
 
 cupied. And thus, at the end of our author's per- 
 formance, we find no pofition to which we have 
 advanced ; we are ftill gazing into cloud-land, and 
 there feems a hurrying over the blue fpaces ; but 
 the laft fquadron of that brilliant army is as Ineffec- 
 tive as the firft \ their banners are neither tarnifhed 
 by duft and ftrife, nor crowned with victory and 
 laurel ; they pafs idly over the parade-ground of 
 the fky, and the blue fpaces are left vacant as be- 
 fore. 
 
 Now, from all this we want the reader to judge 
 how difficult it muft be to give a plain ftatement or 
 abridgment of the work before us ; or to put in {"j- 
 noptical form any fentiments or views of Mr. Car- 
 lyle which he has chofen to colle6t and print to- 
 gether, as though forming a confiftent and intelli- 
 gible whole.. And it is the difficulty of fele£tion, 
 fpringing from the fame caufe, which has hitherto 
 prevented us from allowing our author to fpeak for 
 himfelf, and lead us, we fear, into a rather tedious 
 attempt to characterize the ftyle and tenor of his 
 book. We muft now, however, redeem our 
 promife, and juftify our defcription, by an extract 
 from the volume itfelf, referving fome general ob- 
 fervations upon its whole fpirit and tendency. We 
 choofe, with all fairnefs, a pafTage in our author's 
 beft manner, which fhows, fo far as afingle extradt 
 can, the .peculiar afpirations by which he is pof- 
 feffed — rather than infpired. It is taken from the 
 feventh chapter of the firft book, entitled. The 
 World out of Clothes ; and, like the reft of the 
 moft daring part of the volume, which is full of in-
 
 128 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 terrogatories, fuggeflions, and crudities, is adroitly 
 fpoken through his alias the philofopher. 
 
 " With men ofafpeculattve turn, [writes Teufelf- 
 dr'dckh^) there come feafons^ meditative^ fweet^ yet 
 awful^ hours^ when in wonder and fear you afk 
 yourfelfthat unanfwerable quejiion^ " Who am I ;" 
 the thing that can fay '^ /" (das Wefen das fich Ich 
 nennt ?) The world^ with its loud trafficking^ re- 
 tires into the dijiance; and through the paper-hang- 
 ings ^ and Jione-w alls ^ and thick-plied tiffiues of com- 
 merce and polity^ and all the living and Ufelefs in- 
 teguments [of fociety and a body) wherewith your 
 exijience is furrounded^ — the fight reaches forth into 
 the void deep^ and you are alone with the univerfe^ 
 and filently commune with it^ as one m^yfierious pre- 
 fence with another. . . Who am I? What is this 
 me? A voice, a motion, an appearance; — fome 
 embodied vifualifed idea in the eternal mind? Cogito, 
 ergo fum. Alas, poor cogitator, this takes us but a 
 little way. Sure enough I am ; and lately was not ; 
 but whence P How P Whereto P The anfwer lies 
 around, written in all colours and motions, uttered 
 in all tones of jubilee and wail, in thoufand-figured, 
 thoufand-voiced, harmonious nature; but where is 
 the cunning eye and ear to whom that God-written 
 apocalypfe will yield articulate meaning P We fit 
 as in a boundlefs phantafmagoria and dream-grotto : 
 boundlefs,for the faint eft fiar, the re?notefi century, 
 lies not even nearer the verge thereof: founds and 
 many-coloured vifions fit round our fenfe ; but Him, 
 the unfiumbering, whofe work both dream and
 
 MR. CJRLTLE. 129 
 
 dreamer are^ we fee not ; except in rare half-waking 
 mo?nentSyfufpeSf not. Creation^ fays one, lies before 
 us like a glorious rainbow ; but the fun that made it 
 lies behind us, hidden from us. Then^ in that 
 
 Jlrange dream, how we clutch at Jhadows as if they 
 were fubjiances ; and fleep deepeji while fancying 
 ourfelves moft awake I Which of your philofophical 
 
 fyfiems is other than a dream-theorem ; a nett 
 quotient, confidently given out.^ where divifor and 
 dividend are both unknown ? What are all your 
 national wars^ with their Mofcow retreats^ and 
 
 fanguinary^ hate- filled revolutions.^ but the fomnam- 
 huUfin of uneafy fleepers ? This dreaming^ this 
 
 fomnambulifm^ is what we on earth call ^^ life ;^^ 
 wherein the inojl.^ indeed., undoubtingly wander^ as 
 if they knew right hand from left ; yet they only are 
 wife vjho knoiv they knoiu nothing. . . . Pity that 
 all metaphyfics had hitherto proved fo inexpreffibly 
 unprodu5live ! The riddle of man's being is fiill 
 like the fphinx^sfecret ; a riddle that he cannot read., 
 and for ignorance of which he fuffers death, the 
 worfi death, a fpirituaL What are your axioms., 
 and categories, and fyjiems, and aphorifms ? Words., 
 zvords. High air-cajtles are cunningly built of 
 words., the words well bedded alfo in good logic ?nortar., 
 wherein., however., no knowledge will come to lodge. 
 The whole is greater than the part : how exceed- 
 ingly true ! Nature abhors a vacuum : hozv ex- 
 ceedingly falfe and calumnious ! Again, nothing 
 can a(5l but where it is : with all my heart ; only., 
 WHERE is it ? Be not the fiave of words ; is not 
 the dijlant., the dead., tvhile I love it., and long for it, 
 K
 
 130 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 and tnourn for it, here in the genuine fenfe as truly 
 as the floor I ft and on ? But that fame where, 
 with its brother wn'S.^^arefrorn thefirfl the mafter- 
 colours of our dream-grotto -, fay^ rather^ the canvas 
 [the warp and woof thereof) vjhereon all our dreams 
 and life-vifions are painted. Neverthelefs has not a 
 deeper meditation taught certain of every climate 
 and age that the where and the when ^ fo myf- 
 terioufly infeparahle from our thoughts^ are hut 
 fuperficial^ terrefirial adheftons to thought ; that the 
 Seer may difcern them where they mount up out of 
 the celeftial Everywhere and For-ever ? have 
 not all nations conceived their God as omniprefent and 
 eternal ', as exifting in a univerfal here, an ever- 
 lafiing now ? Think well^ thou wilt find that 
 fpace is but a fnode of our human fenfe^ fo likewife 
 time ; there is no fpace and no time ; we are — we 
 know not what I Ught-fparkles floating in the cdther 
 of Deity!'' 
 
 Here, then, we have our author's philofophy, 
 epitomifed by hlmfelf. He begins with fpurning 
 the Cartefian ftand-point, Cogito^ ergo fum^ profef- 
 fedly as a bafis far too narrow, but really as one 
 unneceflarily folid ; for hov/ can the firmnefs of 
 reafon ferve him who is about to take fuch a meta- 
 phyfical Plight ? Yet, to do Mr. Carlyle juflice, 
 he is here more explicit than ufual. His philofo- 
 phical principles are tolerably well exprelTed in the 
 paflage above quoted ; and though he has con- 
 trived to fay as much in a page as he could hardly 
 perhaps eftabiifh in a volume, yet it is an agreeable
 
 MR, CARLTLE. 131 
 
 change to be able to underftand his meaning. To 
 accept his theory is, of courfe, another matter, and 
 one that is much more difficult. That theory de- 
 mands no elaborate refutation at our hands. Even 
 if difpofed to difpute the fteps (or leaps) by which 
 he hurriedly arrives at the conclufion, " there is no 
 fpace and no time,'' we have too little left of either 
 to fpend that little in defending the reality of both. 
 Our chief concern is w^ith the problem of being, 
 which he fo boldly undertakes to foh^e ; and we 
 prefer to judge of his fuccefs by the refult attained. 
 We will repeat that refult in his own words ; he 
 {hall anfwer the momentous queflion ; and then 
 let the reader judge how far the philofophy of Mr. 
 Carlyle is likely tofupply or fuperfede the more vul- 
 gar truths of religion. Hear him ! '* We are — 
 we know not what ; — light-fparkles floating in the 
 aether of Deity !" Of courfe, the latter claufe is 
 utterly unmeaning, if we regard the former as a 
 true confeflion. But that confeffion is full of fio-ni- 
 ficance. When Mr. Carlyle is led to own his 
 darknefs, how thick and palpable muft that dark- 
 nefs be ! Well may he lament that metaphyfics 
 fhould prove " fo inexpreffibly unprodu6i:ive !"* 
 
 * The judicious reader will obferve that our remarks are 
 intended, not fo much to depreciate the value of metaphy- 
 fical Icience (if fcience it be), as to fhow how miferabiy it 
 is mifapplied by our author ; and how totally inadequate it 
 is at all times either to explain the origin and nature of our 
 being, or to fupply, from a confideration of its fuppofed 
 character and deftiny, the moral rule of life to our I'pecies. 
 As with our ordinary duties, fo alfo with thofe of a more 
 ftriftly religious charafter : both are apprehended by the 
 moral fenfe, availing itfelf of every prefent light j andaswc
 
 132 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 But is this really all ? Is there no pafTage in 
 Mr. Carlyle's volume more definite and fatisfac- 
 tory than this ? So far as we can judge, there is 
 abfolutely none. In his own emphatic phrafe, the 
 whole is a " weltering chaos." Inftead of folving 
 the riddle of exiftence, he repeats it time after 
 time with every doleful emphafis, and turns itup- 
 fide down — that we may not lofe its meaning 
 through treating it with too much reverence. We 
 read on, without advancing j and go further, only 
 to fareworfe. Sometimes the title of a chapter 
 promifes much, and then we are certain to be dif- 
 appointed moft j till at laft the repeated evil works 
 its own cure, and a brilliant heading, like the ftarry 
 nucleus of a comet, prepares us for a cloudy and 
 attenuated tail. At one time we fee written. The 
 Everlafting No^ and wonder what deeper or what 
 voider vacuum has been difcovered by this prince 
 of negative philofophers ; but it proves only to be 
 a labelled fpecimen of his great gaping univerfe. 
 Vv^ith fome faint hope we come upon another 
 chapter, and read. The EverlaftingTea ; but, after 
 the moft intent liftening, the noify oracle is found 
 to have confufed, but not informed the mind. 
 
 do not paufein the performance of the relative duties of life 
 till each is proved obligatoiy by a complete fyftem of ethics 
 whofe authority fliould admit of nopofTibledoubt — for then 
 life itfelf mull ceafe ere a theory of life could be univerfally 
 agreed upon ; fo, in matters of religion, we are led firft to 
 acknowledge the being and word of God, and then the 
 reafonablenefs of our faith is increafmgly manifefted by the 
 correfpondence of natural and revealed truth, and of our 
 experience, to the relation inftin6lively alTumed.
 
 MR. CARLTLE. 133 
 
 Many high-founding phrafes, as " fanc^luary of for- 
 row," or " divine depth of forrow," come unex- 
 plained upon us ; and many fcriptural precepts, as, 
 " Love not pleafure — love God," " Whatfoever 
 thy hand findeth to do, do it vi^ith thy might," are 
 thrown in our path ; but to enjoy — or even rightly 
 to appreciate — them, we muft (hut our eyes to 
 Mr. Carlyle's" dream-grotto," and remember the 
 fulnefs of evangelic truth which is ftored up in the 
 briefeft line of infpiration. Love God ! This is 
 indeed " the EverlaflingYea ;" for it is the primal 
 law of our creation, and the ultimate perfe6tion of 
 faint and angel. Truth is truth, even upon the 
 lips of prefumption. But what does the precept 
 mean, in the mind of Mr. Carlyle ? Is it with him 
 anything but a time-honoured phrafe, hallowed by 
 the unfufpedting faith of eighteen centuries, and 
 embodying, in a fuperftitious formula, the vague 
 longings of a hundred million hearts ? We fear 
 not. Belfhazzar drank wine with his princes, his 
 wives and his concubines, out of the confecrated 
 vefTels of the temple : they drank wine^ and praifed 
 the gods of gold^ and of ft her ^ of brafs^ of iron^ of 
 wood^ and ofjione. And in like manner the fym- 
 bols of a yet purer faith, the language and pre- 
 cepts of the fame holy and jealous God, are dif- 
 honoured and profaned in our own day, ifwithlefs 
 infolence of manner, yet with only the more pro- 
 found contempt, by men who call upon His name 
 in one breath and queftion Hisexiftence in another, 
 and who dare to diftribute His incommuni- 
 cable attributes as the property of trees and flones,
 
 134 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 deifying if not adoring the infenfate forms of 
 nature.* 
 
 The next work of Mr. Carlyle, confifting of fix 
 lectures on Heroes and Hero Worjhip^ is entertain- 
 ing enough ; and, what is more, it pofTefles one 
 good pervading thought. Finding a grain of gold, 
 he has hammered it out into two hundred leaves. 
 To glorify the fons of genius is one of the literary 
 tendencies of the age ; but Mr. Carlyle's book was 
 the firft to fix the features of the popular heroic, 
 and to furnifli a brief gallery of heroes, each in his 
 place and order. We fay advifedly " the popular 
 heroic;" for Mr. Carlyle's notion ofheroifm is not 
 eflentially different from the vulgar one, of which 
 the chief element is extraordinary power. To this, 
 indeed, is due the ftriking intereft with which our 
 author's pencil has invefted the fubjedl: ; for he has 
 drawn the popular idol in a pi6lurefque and com- 
 manding attitude. We admit, moreover, that 
 fome of his views are conceived with hiftorical ac- 
 curacy, though treated with poetical expreflion \ 
 and there is very much of the volume which is 
 even profoundly true, and commends itfelf no lefs 
 
 * It would be eafy to juftify this ftrong condemnation by 
 a ieries of extrafts, whether of whole paffages or fingle 
 phrafes. Yet, if we had fpace and time at our command 
 for this purpofe, the refult would be lefs convincing to the 
 reader than a perfonal acquaintance with the writings them- 
 felves } for our author's tone is fceptical throughout, and 
 can only be defended from the charge of grofs profanity by 
 the frank avowal of unbelief. That avowal is not made j 
 on the contrary, the armoury of Scripture is pillaged for a 
 traitor's purpofe, but in the guife of an adherent to the 
 facred caufe. Yet Mr. Carlyle is the great eulogift of (in- 
 cerity, the denouncer of all hypocrify and" cant !"
 
 MR. CARLTLE, 135 
 
 to the judgment than the fympathies of men. But, 
 after all, we are compelled to fay that this danger- 
 ous topic is very dangeroufly handled. Pi6torially, 
 Mr. Carlyle's characters are well and ftrongly 
 marked ; but, ethically, they are not difcriminated, 
 the true from the falfe. Courage, earneftnefs, 
 fuccefs, thefe are the qualities our author delights 
 to recognize and honour. But thefe are furely the 
 grofler attributes of greatnefs, correfponding only 
 to mufcular fuperiority or a larger flow of fpirits. 
 Is there no ftandard of true greatnefs apart from 
 its more vifible adtions and efFe6ls ? The politi- 
 cal agitator is then more heroic than the filent and 
 felf-denying comforter, — the bronze-headed form 
 of the ufurper more noble than the patient face of 
 the uncomplaining martyr. Accordingly, we find 
 Mr. Carlyle making little diftinCtion in his heroes 
 befide their feveral degrees of earneftnefs and 
 power. Force of character, quite independently 
 of its diredlion, is the virtue he almoft exclufively 
 admires. Grant this notion of a hero to be juft, 
 and then — however little we may thereafter value 
 fuch a character — we muft allow that it here re- 
 ceives amplejuftice. Thus, for example, through- 
 out his portraiture of Luther, we fee that the 
 fturdy nature of the man has made him a favourite ; 
 not the purity of his motives, nor the unwavering 
 confidence of his mind, nor even the facred juftice 
 of his caufe. We feel that by a fimilar treatment 
 the names of Dominic and of Attila might be 
 ennobled. The chara6ler of Luther is, notwith- 
 ftanding, ably delineated in this book ; and the fol-
 
 136 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 lowing paflage will ferve to fhow how the profound 
 humanity of the German Reformer is appreciated 
 by the fympathy of genius : — 
 
 ^^ At the fame time^ they err greatly who Imagine 
 that this man's courage was ferocity^ — mere coarfe 
 difohedient ohjiinacy and favagery, as many do. Far 
 from that. There may he an abfence of fear which 
 arifes from the abfence of thought or affeSfion, from 
 the prefence of hatred and fiupid fury. TVe do not 
 value the courage of the tiger highly. With Luther 
 it was far otherwife ; no accufation could be more 
 unjufi than this of mere ferocious violence brought 
 againjl him. A mofl gentle heart withal^ full of 
 pity and love^ as indeed the truly valiant heart ever 
 is. The tiger., before aflronger foe.^flies : the tiger 
 is not what we call valiant, only fierce and cruel. I 
 know few things more touching than thofefoft breath- 
 ings of affeSlion^ foft as a child's or a mother s^ in 
 this great wild heart of Luther. So honejl, unad- 
 ulterated with any cant., homely rude in their utter- 
 ance^ pure as water welling from the rock 
 
 Once he looks out from his foUtary '^ Patjnos^ the 
 Wartburg., in the middle of the night : the great 
 vault of immenfity^ long flights of clouds failing 
 through it, — dumb., gaunt, huge., — who fupports all 
 that? ^ None ever faw the pillars of it j yet it is 
 fupported.^ God fupports it. We muji know that 
 God is great, that God is good, and trufi where we 
 cannot fee. Returning home fro?n Leipfic once, he 
 isfiruck by the beauty of the harvefi fields. How it 
 Jlands, that golden yellow corn, on its fair taper Jl em.
 
 MR, CARLTLE, 137 
 
 its golden head bent^ all rich and waving there^ — 
 the meek earthy at God's kind biddings has produced 
 it once again ; the bread of man ! In the garden 
 at Wittenberg^ one evening at funfet.^ a little bird 
 has perched for the night. That little bird^fays 
 Luther ; above it are the fiars and deep heaven of 
 worlds ; yet it has folded its little zvings ; gone trujl- 
 fully to reft there as in its ho?ne : the maker of it 
 has given it too a home I Neither are mirthful turns 
 wanting : there is a great free human heart in this 
 man. The comjnon fpeech of him has a rugged 
 nohlenefs^ idiomatic^ exprejftve^ genuine ; gleams here 
 and there with beautiful poetic tints. One feels him 
 to be a great brother-man.'* 
 
 This is true of Luther, as it is true of a thoufand 
 other noble natures. But we have no hint of " the 
 greateftgreatnefs of the man ;" for that was peculiar 
 to himfelf, as it was expreffly beftowed for the 
 accomplifhment of an extraordinary work. There- 
 fore Luther was not well chofen as the type of 
 Mr. Carlyle's hero ; but he feems determined to 
 confound things fpiritual with things natural, and 
 to attribute the effects of both to the operation of 
 one uniform dynamic agency. The great error of 
 the book feems to be this exaltation of a certain 
 blind and irrefpe6live force. If might is right, 
 then indeed we muft acknowledge with him the 
 greatnefs alike of Burns and Luther, of Napoleon 
 and Knox. Nay, if there be no evil but weaknefs, 
 and if determination is of itfelf heroic, and if fuccefs 
 fufficiently proclaims divinity, then muft we accept
 
 138 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 the whole feries of demi-gods in his pantheon, 
 " from Norfe Odin to Englifh Samuel Johnfon, 
 from the Divine Founder of Chriftianity to the 
 withered Pontiff of Encyclopaedifm." But the 
 reader may inquire, What is the truth or value of 
 a fyftem which clafTes thefe together, confounding 
 good and evil, and not even diftinguifhing between 
 human and divine ? We cannot tell. We only 
 know that, if an indomitable will or wide dominion 
 is their bond of union, the awful group may be 
 fitly completed by another member, — by Satan, 
 that arch-hero. To that powerful prince has been 
 juftly afcribed the virtue here made common to 
 them all. It is he whom the " purged ear" of the 
 poet heard exclaim. To be weak is to be miferable ; 
 and from this fentiment arofe that famous refolu- 
 tion, — was it not heroic in the firft degree ? — Evi/^ 
 be thou my good ! 
 
 But we have not yet done with the fubje6l of 
 hero-worfhip. It is too ftrongly charadteriftic of 
 Mr. Carlyle's moft injurious writings, and too pro- 
 minent a development of the prevailing atheifm, 
 to be difmifled without a more radical expofure. 
 Moreover, we have no wifh to evade the difficul 
 ties of our tafk by confining ourfelves to the lan- 
 guage of cenfure ; and there are fome pafiages in 
 Mr. Carlyle's book which are really fo plaufible in 
 themfelves, (while they are at the fame time 
 abfolutely fearful in their confequences,) that many 
 a fincerely honeft reader would doubt his own 
 candour if he did not at once admit their force. 
 The copy before us has apparently fallen into the
 
 MR. CARLTLE. 139 
 
 hands of fuch a reader ; and we find its pages 
 marked here and there with an approving pencil. 
 The following is a paiTage fo approved. It occurs 
 in Mr. Carlyle's account of the genus " Prophet," 
 which, of courfe, is a natural production, though of 
 rather high clafs and character : — 
 
 '* We have chofen Mahomet^ not as the moji 
 eminent Prophet^ hut as the one we are freeji to 
 [peak of. He is by no means the trueji of Prophets ; 
 but I do efieem him a true one. Farther.^ as there 
 is no danger of us becoming any of us Mahometans^ 
 1 mean to fay all the good of him Ijufily can. It is 
 the way to get at his fecret : let us try to under/land 
 what he meant with the world ; what the world 
 fneant and means with him will then be a more 
 anfwerable quejiion. One current hypothefts about 
 Mahomet^ that he was afcheming impojior^ a false- 
 hood incarnate.^ that his is a mere mafs of quackery 
 and fatuity begins really to be now untenable to any 
 one. The lies which well-meaning zeal has heaped 
 round this man are difgraceful to our/elves only. 
 When Pococke inquired of Grotius where the proof 
 was of thatfiory of the pigeon trained to pick peas 
 from Mahomet's ear^ and pafs^for an angel dictat- 
 ing to him ; Grotius anfwered that there was no 
 proof! It is really time to difmifs all that. The 
 word this manfpoke has been the life-guidance now of 
 one hundred and eighty ?nillions of ?nen thefe tzvelve 
 hundred years. Thefe hundred and eighty millions 
 were made by God as well as zue. A greater number 
 of God'' s creatures believe in Mahomet's word at
 
 140 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 this hour than in any word whatever. Are we to 
 Juppofe that it was a miferahle piece of fpiritual 
 legerdejnain^ — this which fo many creatures of the 
 almighty have lived and died by ? I, for my part^ 
 cannot form any fuch fuppofition . I zvill believe mojl 
 things fooner than that. One would be entirely at 
 a lofs what to think of this world, if quackery fo 
 grew and were fan^ioned here.^^ 
 
 And this it is which perpetually triumphs over 
 Mr. Carlyle, and which occafionally ftaggers the 
 mind of his benevolent reader. Is it poffiblethat 
 vaft numbers of our race fhould follow and em- 
 brace a hollow lie ? or, if fo, is not fo popular a 
 delufion fomething more genuine, more admirable, 
 even more true, than the naked verities which 
 attra6l only our pureft afFeclions, and fatisfy our 
 higheft reafon ? In matters of religion this writer 
 afFe6ls the large majority. In matters of philofophy, 
 we fuppofe, he would hefitate to apply this very 
 dignified teft of truth, or it would tell fadly againft 
 his hero-worfhip : Galileo muft then have been 
 pronounced an obftinate old heretic to afTert the 
 motion of the earth, when all the world befides, 
 who had eyes as well as he, declared that they faw 
 nothing of the kind. This interefting corollary is 
 however kept wholly out of fight. Truth is impor- 
 tant in matters of fcience \ but with refpe6l to re- 
 ligion we are all fomany children, and one nurfery- 
 ftory is as good as another — be it taken from the 
 annals of England or of fairy-land. Enough if the 
 little creatures are perfuaded and amufed, diverted
 
 MR. CARLTLE. 141 
 
 from all prefent mifchief, and deluded into a 
 romantic paft or future. 
 
 The way in which Mr. Carlyle has been led to 
 accept every form of religious error as not wholly 
 or chiefly untrue, — zs fubje^ively right gyqu. when 
 ohjettively wrongs — it is not difficult to trace. In 
 his philofophy, evil is but a circumftance ; good- 
 nefs is the very eflence of man's nature, as of all 
 elfe. Men, indeed, may be deceived by their own 
 fenfes and reafon, — as were thofe zealots who im- 
 prifoned Galileo ; but the moft brutal mafles of 
 mankind are never mifled by their paffions, or 
 degraded by the objedi of their love and worfhip. 
 The human heart is fo pure, fo prone to good, that 
 Mr. Carlyle can truft it to any amount ! If he 
 would know, therefore, what is worthy of peculiar 
 reverence, and of as much belief as a philofopher 
 of his fchool may condefcend to, he has only to 
 obferve the dire6tion of vaft mafles of our fpecies, 
 and follow in their wake — at leaft with his approv- 
 ing eyes : for, of courfe, fo catholic a philofopher 
 cannot join himfelf to any fingle band of worfhip- 
 pers. They will lead him (in contemplation) to 
 an altar and agodfufficient and appropriate for the 
 time, and only to be fuperfeded by fome later 
 development of the religion of nature. It matters 
 not greatly what is to be worfhipped — an angel, or 
 an onion ; a gracious, or a malignant being ; God, 
 in fpirit and in truth, or the devil, withobfcene and 
 cruel rites. Human nature is fo lovely a thing, if 
 left to wander at its own fweet will ! 
 
 In this way Mr. Carlyle is driven to extol the
 
 142 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 idolatrous pra6lices v/hlch he cannot confiftently 
 condemn. Setting out with the do6trine of the 
 natural purity and rectitude of the human heart, he 
 muft hold himfelf ready to accept its every mani- 
 feftation as a type of innate beauty and virtue. The 
 tendency of our uncorrupted inftindts is furely 
 towards the great and good Divinity from which 
 we have our being. As water finds its own level, 
 and as the rivers haften to the fea, does not the 
 creature, by an invariable law, tend ever to the 
 Creator ? So he reafons, a priori ; and the refult 
 is a theory of harmony throughout the univerfe of 
 God. Unfortunately, if he fhould reverfe the 
 procefs, and argue from efFe6t to caufe, will he 
 find the fame pure fource operating as the fountain 
 of hiftory and life ? What is the God that is fo 
 varioufly worfhipped ? Do the obfcene rights of 
 Indian mythology celebrate a God of purity ? or 
 the bloody hecatombs of Mexican or Druid 
 worfhip give fatisfadtion to a God of mercy ? Are 
 we led ftraightway to adoration of the Divine 
 unity, by the contemplation often thoufand deities? 
 Do we recognize the Divine eflence in perifhable 
 wood or ftone, the Divine glory in images of His 
 meaneft creatures, or in monfters compounded by 
 the moft loathfome imagination of man ? Not 
 only are human aberrations, however various, all 
 laid forfooth along the fingle path of rectitude, but 
 human contradi6tions are charged full with the 
 Divine confiftency. Our author can prove that 
 all forms of religion are efTentially right, however 
 oppofed in fpirit and expreffion to each other ; but
 
 MR, CJRLTLE. 143 
 
 itis onlyby demonftrating that none can poffiblybe 
 wrong. At prefent he has only affirmed as much : 
 we wait with fome curiofity for the demonftration. 
 The Chriftian philofopher is, happily, at no lofs 
 to account for the idolatry which he both admits 
 and laments. All the phenomena of human nature, 
 and efpecially thofe arifmg from the confufion of 
 good and evil, are explicable in the light of Scrip- 
 ture truth : at leaft, that confufion, as witnefTed in 
 the world, receives much light, if not a fullfolu- 
 tion, from the book which has preferved to us 
 the facred hiftory of mankind. In this matter 
 reafon is eminently the handmaid of revelation. 
 The more thoroughly we appreciate the con- 
 tinual afpirations of mankind after fome ideal 
 good, the more readily do we admit the truth 
 of that record which affirms that God made man 
 in His own image : the more deeply we experience, 
 and the m.ore widely we obferve, the deceitfulnefs, 
 the hatred, and the cruelty ofthe human heart, the 
 more willingly fhould we embrace that book 
 which fo emphatically declares, " The heart is de- 
 ceitful above all things, and defperately wicked." 
 Hiftory is intelligible only in the light ofthe bible : 
 the bloodieft as well as the beft mythology bears 
 witnefs to the religion of Chrift. " They have 
 forfaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and 
 hewed them out cifterns, broken cifterns, that can 
 hold no water." The whole fad ftory of humanity, 
 with all its innuaierable forms of crime and folly, 
 is epitomifed in that one text. It is God's lamenta- 
 tion over the departure of His favourite race.
 
 144 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 They have left Him ; and whither fhall they 
 go ? Live independently they cannot. They 
 w^ere not made for themfelves. They have vi^an- 
 dered boldly from the Fountain of all authority as 
 well as happinefs, only to fuffer an infatiable thirft 
 both of worfhip and delight. 
 
 Let us confider for a moment the cafe of the 
 Arabian Prophet, — fo peculiar in itfelf, and fo 
 plaufible in our author's ftatement. Now, let it 
 be afTumed that Mahomet has often been mif- 
 reprefented and maligned ; that he had certain 
 commanding moral qualities as well as intelle6i:ual 
 gifts ; that he was not, in the vulgar fenfe of the 
 word, an impoftor, fmce it may be held that no 
 man ever impoied a new creed on mankind till he 
 had firft impofed it on himfelf ; and hypocrify is 
 but a fubordinate — we had almoft faid an uncon- 
 fcious — element in the forces of fanaticifm. But 
 we fubmit that the fpread of his tenets is out of all 
 proportion to his individual powers. We muft 
 look for the fecret of his fuccefs rather in the 
 chara6ter and circumftances ofthe Arabian people, 
 than in the perfonal greatnefs of their prophet. In- 
 deed, it is the common error of Mr. Carlyle and his 
 fellow-worfhippers to magnify individual human 
 agency till it is fomething god-like, and then to 
 render it an undue homage. They forget " what 
 great effedls from trivial caufes fpring." They 
 knov/ it is certain that mighty confequences muft 
 proceed from adequate caufes ; but the river rolling 
 through the plain is not all due to the rill efcaping 
 through a cleft of the mountain. It is fed by
 
 MR, CARLYLE, 145 
 
 neighbouring rivulets, and augmented by the 
 winter-rains ; the higher table-land is fecretly but 
 furely drained for its increafe ; and a thoufand in- 
 dependent fprings find glad fellowfhip and afwlfter 
 courfe in its community of waves. And fuch is 
 the hiftory of Iflamifm in relation to the influence of 
 its Prophet. Mahomet was but a fuperior type of 
 his own followers, not the feminal author of that 
 race. It is probable that his character was deeply 
 infcribed upon his little fe6t ; and it has grown 
 vaftly in the lapfe of ages, as a name carved upon 
 a ftripling oak enlarges from year to year ; only 
 (in each cafe) what has been gained In magnitude 
 is loft in diftlnftnefs and in depth. We are not 
 partial to that fpirit of modern criticlfm which 
 delights in turning the remote into the mythical, 
 and explaining the literal by the fymbolical \ nor 
 do we wifh to fee it applied to the ftory of 
 Mahomet. Fable and fa6l, like wheat and tares, 
 are too intimately blended In that field of time for 
 any but the angel of the judgment to difcrlminate. 
 But the records are too contradictory, too extraor- 
 dinary, too parabolical for us to accept them as literal 
 truth. What feems to us extravagance may be 
 thought Indeed only common jufllce to the Pro- 
 phet's memory, and profitable reading to his 
 genuine difclples ; but the oriental hlftorlanmufl 
 be felt rather than underflood by us. His lan- 
 guage of flowers defies tranflation ; and if its 
 odorous beauty embalms a chara6f:er that muft 
 otherwife have decayed like that of common mor- 
 tals, we ftiall not err too far in admiring that which 
 
 L
 
 146 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 proclaims, if not the real worth of the deceafed, 
 yet the love and reverence of his kindred. And 
 here another confideration meets us. As w^ith the 
 fa6ls of the Prophet's hiftory, fo alfo v^^ith the 
 moral character of his a£lions : if we cannot dif- 
 criminate the former, how fhall we rightly 
 eftimate the latter ? The great Judge only can 
 apply the ftandard in every individual cafe ; but 
 with the Arabian leader the rule is widely differ- 
 ent from that which will condemn an Englifh 
 profeffing Chriftian, or even an enlightened Eng- 
 lifh deift. It is not pretended, even by the moft 
 uncompromifmg champions of our faith, that 
 Mahomet and his followers will be arraigned in one 
 indi6lment,and involved in one wholefale fentence. 
 We believe, with Mr. Carlyle that " condemnable 
 idolatry is infincere idolatry ;" but we believe, 
 further, that all idolatry is infmcere. Who can 
 find out God to perfe6tion ? Truly none. But 
 what human foul was ever fully fatisfied with lefs 
 than God ? Finite in himfelf, man belongs to the 
 Infinite. Having no plummet that can found im- 
 menfity, all lefTer waters are too fhallow for his 
 foul ; and where his plummet ftrikes he dare not 
 wholly venture. Perhaps not the dulleft favage 
 who has made the wooden god which he believes 
 in, does heartily believe in the god which he has 
 made. Better than this, that he fhould be his own 
 divinit}^ — though then how forely muft he feel the 
 need of another and a higher, if only to fave him 
 from a tyranny at once fo impotent and fo ruinous 
 — from the domination of a creature fo weak and 
 wicked as himfelf.
 
 MR. CARLTLE. 147 
 
 Fully to countera6t the whole of the evil fug- 
 geftions infufed into this work, would require a 
 fyftematic expofure of undue length. A falfehood 
 may be infinuated in a line, which can only be 
 thoroughly difproved and difplaced by a compre- 
 henfive ftatement of the truth, and this, to be ex- 
 clufive of error, muft be broad as well as funda- 
 mental. The pantheiftic theories of Mr. Carlyle, 
 which are more properly crudities in him, afTume 
 a fhape more worthy of the name in other writers 
 of the fame fchool ; for even Parker and Newman, 
 with all their vague and wordy fentiments, pretend 
 to a fcientific method, and fo frankly fubmit their 
 doctrines to a due examination ; and if, after all, 
 they prove in part unintelligible and for the reft un- 
 tenable, we muft refpeft the apparent fmcerity of 
 the men, while we fternly condemn the raftinefs 
 and prefumption of the teachers. It is to authors 
 like thefc, therefore, that we muft repair for a text, 
 when propofmg to difcufs the philofophy of the 
 " Catholic Series." Mr. Carlyle is an author yi^/ 
 generis^ who only ufes the new ecledlicifm as a fit- 
 ting framework for his panorama of all great human 
 movements ; whether puritan, or thug, or fanf- 
 culotte ; in fliort, it is only as an author, deter- 
 mined at all cofts to be efFe6live, that he finds 
 fuitable material and variety in fo very " catholic" 
 a creed. 
 
 We cannot leave this part of our fubjedl without 
 one further remark. The ravings of Hero-worjhip 
 fitly fupplement the impious doubts of Teufelf- 
 droch. Idolatry is the refuge of man's heart from
 
 148 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 the horrors of pure atheifm ; and in this curfe both 
 favage and philofopher are equally involved. The 
 one abandons his offspring to fome bloody tyrant 
 deified as Moloch ; the other burns incenfe at the 
 hardly lefs bloody fhrine of Napoleon the Great. 
 No fooner is the fountain of living water dis- 
 paraged and deferted, under the idea that a wife 
 and well-ordered mind fhould never thirft for any 
 good external or fuperior to itfelf, than our wife 
 man is feen ftealthily drinking at fome foul human 
 cefs-pool, or hewing out fy ftem-cifterns of his own, 
 " broken cifterns," coUeding every earth-polluted 
 ftream, but retaining only its fediment and flime. 
 And thus God vindicates His truth, even in the 
 cafe of thofe who continue to outrage and deny 
 His claims. When their proud hearts refufe to 
 bow before the Majefty of heaven and earth, fay- 
 ing, " Who is God, that we fhould fear Him ?" 
 He caufes them to Hck the very duft from ofF His 
 feet. 
 
 We haften to a brief confideration of Mr. Car- 
 lyle's laft work, and the more gladly, as it promifes 
 to exemplify the fruits of his teaching in the life 
 and death of a difciple. But one word by the way, 
 if only to indicate with the flri6left brevity the 
 tone and charadler of two intermediate publica- 
 tions. Thefe are called refpe6tively Paji and Pre- 
 fent and Latter-Day Pamphlets. They are appa- 
 rently intended to perpetuate Mr. Carlyle's focial 
 and political opinions, — which they promife to do 
 much as the Egyptians preferved their dead, dif-
 
 MR, CARLTLE. 149 
 
 figuring with powerful drugs and fpices, difguifing 
 in a thoufand tortuous linen-folds, and hiding in 
 dark narrow chambers under a huge pyramid of 
 ftones. This is Mr. Carlyle's method of prefent- 
 ing his embodied philofophy to the admiration of 
 mankind ; and in thefe circumftances it is 
 naturally a matter of fome little difficulty to do 
 ample juftice in our reprefentation. So fuccefsfully 
 are his thoughts difguifed and mummified, that, 
 even if we could fucceed in removing fufficient of 
 the cumbrous ftone-heap where they lie entombed, 
 to admit a ray of common day-light, we fear that 
 their fymmetry and complexion would prove any- 
 thing but charming to the eye of modern tafte. In 
 fhort, thefe pyramids of hard words are likely to 
 remain the inexplicable monument of their buil- 
 der's folly, juft ferving to remind the world of that 
 fpecies of pompous oblivion which is fometimes 
 achieved, by the wild genius of men like Jacob 
 Bcehme, for do6lrines which are not commonly 
 dead, or fimply corrupt, but heavily fealed down 
 in their moft difmal grave, and fetid with a rank 
 and complicated odour. 
 
 Let us pick one ancient rag out of this lefTer 
 pyramid, called Paji andPrefent; holding it, never- 
 thelefs, at a wholefome diftance, and letting hea- 
 ven's blefled air blow in between. It is the old 
 maxim, Lahorare eft orare^ — " To labour is to 
 pray : work is fufficient worfhip." If the book 
 urges anything, it is the neceffity, the dignity, 
 the virtue of labour. This idea is certainly 
 not a new one. In fome fhape or other it is
 
 150 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 as common to be met with as bits of broken 
 glafs. But, put into Mr. Carlyle's kaleidofcope, 
 it is aftonifhing how pretty and how bright the 
 notion is ; into how many novel forms it Aides 
 with every movement of the fingers, — always, 
 indeed, with the fame fhowy colours, but ever 
 varying its fantaftic pattern. The folly of this 
 deception is apparent to the leaft reflecting and 
 confcientious mind. To labour is not to pray. 
 We may ufe God's materials, and yet deny His 
 right and title to them ; we may co-operate, for 
 our own ends, with certain of His eftabhfhed laws, 
 and yet ignore His power and prefence in them. 
 Shall a man rob God? Yet men do it every day ; 
 appropriating His means, and fruftrating His pur- 
 pofe ; feeking their own aggrandifement rather 
 than His glory, Mr. Carlyle's philofophy is not 
 very deep if it does not teach him that labour, con- 
 fidered per fe^ is of no moral value, but only as it 
 is an appropriate or appointed means to a lawful 
 and noble end. True it is that induftry is an 
 obligation of our prefent ftate, fo linked with the 
 economy of human life, that we profit or fufFer, in 
 certain eftablifhed degrees, according as our efforts 
 are well or ill dire^ed and fuftained. But this 
 a6t, or this feries of a6ts, has no element of wor- 
 fhip in it. We cannot pretend to Divine favour 
 by obedience in fome points to the law originally 
 written in our natures, but now well-nigh oblite- 
 rated through fin j we dare not even come into 
 the Divine prefence with no other offering than the 
 fruit of our labour. This prefumptuous error is
 
 MR. CARLTLE. 151 
 
 as old as Cain, who alfo dared pra6lically to aflert 
 that to work with his hands was fufEciently to 
 worfhip God, and who offered the fruits of the 
 earth cultivated by him as a fatisfaci:ory acknow- 
 ledgment of fealty and fubordination. But God 
 rejected his offering with difpleafure ; for this was, 
 in effect, to appeal to the law, which frowned 
 fleadily and with awful threatening upon the un- 
 bloody facrifice of Cain. And now, as then^ it is 
 only as all our works are begun, continued, and 
 ended in Him, " the Propitiation," by whom we 
 find accefs and favour, that they are in any wife 
 acceptable to God. Prefented in any other name, 
 the moft ponderous offering of induftry or genius 
 that we may roll upwards toward His throne will 
 only recoil in infinite mifchief and condemnation 
 on our fouls.* 
 
 The Latter-Day Pamphlets., in their collefted 
 fhape, form perhaps the mofl extraordinary pro- 
 du6lion of the age. A book fo entirely and obfti- 
 nately unintelligible was, probably, never written ; 
 
 * If Mr. Carlyle were not fo great a philofopher, and 
 too highly flattered to adopt readily the teaching of a meek 
 and pious Ipirit, he might learn whence the true lan6lity of 
 labour is derived, from the lips of good George Herbert : — 
 
 " Teach me, my God and King, 
 In all things Thee to fee. 
 And what I do in anything 
 To do it as for Thee. 
 
 ' A fei-yant with this claufe 
 
 Makes drudgery divine : 
 Who fweeps a room as for Thy laws. 
 
 Makes that and the a6lion fine."
 
 152 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 and certainly one at the fame time fo original and 
 amufmg was never read. Of courfe, we do not 
 intend to fay that its words and fentences are 
 feparately void of meaning, or wholly incapable of 
 conftruclion : but this we do deliberately affirm, 
 that on no one of the many fuhje Sis which Mr. Car- 
 lyle's pen here glances upon, or plays around, do 
 we find any dire£i or deliberate exprejfion of opinion ,^ 
 theoretical or praSfical^ deduced as a focial truth, 
 or urged as a political neceffity ; nor have we any 
 the flighteft idea of Mr. Carlyle's remedy, or clafs 
 or feries of remedies, for the great and many evils 
 of fociety ; — evils which, according to our author, 
 are not merely attendant upon the working of our 
 focial and political fyftem, but incorporated with 
 its very eflence, and lying at the root of all civi- 
 lized inftitutions. Effrontery and inconfiftency 
 are ftamped in brazen characters on every page of 
 this grofs libel. The induftry and earneftnefs 
 that were, as we have feen, " the be-all and the 
 end-all " of his moral code, are here of no avail to 
 propitiate his wrath at what he deems their mad 
 and ruinous mifdirection, but only ferve to aggra- 
 vate the fpafm of his rage. Talk of offending 
 " the Divine filences ! " (as our precious author fo 
 indignantly does) — furely never were the filent 
 energies and patient fufferings and human virtues 
 of our toiling race fo impudently outraged and 
 infulted as by this loud torrent of invecSlive. No 
 one clafs is fpared from his catalogue of nuifances 
 that "offend the fun," and "cry out for burial." 
 All is rottennefs and diforder in the focial fabric ;
 
 MR. CARLTLE. 153 
 
 all is fpeedlly falling back to chaos. With mar- 
 vellous inconfiftency, the man who fees fuch grace 
 and goodnefs in every form of human worfhip — 
 though its incenfe be the fume of paflion and its 
 rites the folemnization of cruelty and luft — fees 
 only gilded vice and unmitigated folly in every 
 walk and inftitution of civilized life ! Falling 
 from the mad prophetic rant of his former works, 
 he is here exhibited, not as the Cajfandra^ but the 
 Therfites.^ of the age ; ftanding, in turn, over every 
 filent group of labourers in this earneft century 
 and moft earneft country, and voiding his unwhole- 
 fome abufe equally over all. In thefe pages every 
 time-honoured virtue that adorns humanity meets 
 with indignant denial or fcornful depreciation. 
 Philanthropy is maudlin, and benevolence is weak- 
 nefs, and induftry is avarice, and ftatefmanftiip is 
 trickery, and liberty a chimera, and religion cant ! 
 England is efpecially the target of Mr. Carlyle's 
 fcorn : the Britifh conftitution is the choiceft 
 fpecimen of folly which the fun beholds in all this 
 great " mufeum of abfurdities." Indeed, almoft 
 the only preference of a pofitive kind which may 
 be diftin6lly gathered from this book, made up as 
 it is for the moft part of inexplicable hatreds and 
 diflikes, is the author's hearty preference of a good, 
 ftrong, iron defpotifm to the moft elaborate and 
 well-balanced conftitutional government. No- 
 thing feems to irritate him fo much as the words 
 " emancipation," " enfranchifement," " liberty," 
 " voluntary principle." Prifon-vifiting and me- 
 lioration very evidently difguft him ; and as to
 
 154 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 flavery, fo cordial is his regret for the decadence of 
 that ancient inftitution, that he feems to emulate 
 the zeal of poor Bofwell, who declared that to 
 abolifti the flave trade would be to " fhut the gates 
 of mercy on mankind !" 
 
 Such are Mr. Carlyle's views of fociety, as at 
 prefent conftituted. But the moft difcouraging 
 circumftance is the abfence of any fpecific or 
 remedy. We are pretty frequently told, indeed, 
 that unlefs we fpeedily adopt another method, and 
 chime in with the eternal laws, we muft look out 
 for fomething dreadful ; and the very leaft that 
 would feem likely to befall us, (but we hope it is 
 only his ftrong way of fpeaking,) is a fudden 
 chaos, or univerfal limbo. We are warned, fre- 
 quently enough, that it will not do to go about 
 mending and tinkering the unhappy manners of 
 the age ; for it is fo rotten, and we are fuch 
 bunglers, that we (hall infallibly make more holes 
 than we can flop. We muft begin de novo^ and 
 ftart right this time, and keep fo too, or we fhall 
 prefently be overtaken by — we really dare not tell 
 the reader what, partly becaufe it is fo alarming in 
 Mr. Carlyle's language, and partly becaufe we do 
 not exadly underftand the nature of the danger, 
 after all. It is juft poffible that matters are not fo 
 bad as we had begun to fear. And, indeed, the 
 moft agreeable feeling which we have known to 
 refult from a perufal of thefe Latter-Day Pam- 
 phlets^ is when, clofmg them with a painful but 
 confufed impreffion of the hopelefs ftate of Eng- 
 land, — its mammon-worfhip, follies, and hypocri-
 
 MR, CARLTLE, 155 
 
 fies, — we turn to the bufinefs and intercourfe of 
 life, and find fo many encouraging features in fo- 
 ciety ; fo many noble tendencies, active and bene- 
 volent; and fo large an amount of private virtue 
 and individual piety, contributing to the general 
 order and fuccefs, and multiplying, on all hands, 
 the fum of human happinefs. The change is fome- 
 thing like that w^hich might be experienced in 
 turning from the v^ards of an hofpital in Bedlam, 
 to the green fields of the hufbandman, or the glori- 
 ous forum of public life and affairs. 
 
 But it is moft important to know the nature and 
 extent of Mr. Carlyle's influence in the religious 
 or ferious world, and efpecially among thofe ardent 
 fpirits who are ready to follow the moft daring 
 leader into the fpiritual myfteries of our nature. 
 His focial views are not likely to have great weight 
 with pra6tical men till they fhall be more clearly 
 defined, and by this means better underftood. But 
 it is not thus with regard to his religious fpecula- 
 tions : for, ftrange enough, men do not extend the 
 neceffity of that pra6lical wifdom to the perfonal 
 affairs of the foul, which they fail not to recognize 
 in matters of merely temporal concern. In the 
 latter cafe, a man foon becomes convinced that, if 
 he look not after his own bufmefs, he cannot fhare 
 the general profperity, though he admire and ap- 
 preciate it never fo much. But how many are 
 there who indulge an intemperate curiofity as to the 
 nature of the human fpirit, — its origin, and effence, 
 and chara61:er, and deftiny, — who yet feel no para- 
 mount intereft in the fafety of their own ! Of God,
 
 156 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 too, they have a certain ftrange defire to know 
 much that muft remain unknown till we can "fee 
 Him as He is :" but to feek a preparation for that 
 transforming vifion — by afcertaining His favour, 
 and their perfonal relationfhip to Him, and feeking 
 firft a renewal of, and then a perpetual growth in, 
 His image and likenefs — feems never to occur to 
 them as the firft as well as the higheft point for 
 their confideration, the chief and only wifdom of 
 every individual foul of man. It is to this clafs of 
 minds that the writings of Mr. Carlyle are efpe- 
 cially alluring. Wandering after a forbidden know- 
 ledge, and fcarcely expecting to be made certain or 
 fatisfied, they do not quarrel with the unfatisfaftory 
 nature of his excurfions into the myfteries of being, 
 dazzling, but unproductive, as they are. Reverf- 
 ing the divinely-appointed order, they neglect to 
 tafte firft of the tree of life, and foon find the bit- 
 ter fruit of that other tree to be the knowledge of 
 their own mortality and mifery, and the oblivion 
 of all divine and faving truth. 
 
 The laft publication of Mr. Carlyle, as we have 
 already intimated, is the Life of John Sterling. Of 
 this affecting ftory we have no heart to fpeak in 
 much detail ; and we are glad to entertain a rea- 
 fonable perfuafion that the reader of thefe pages is 
 more or lefs acquainted with its fubje6l, at leaft 
 through the medium of literary notices and extracts. 
 To thofe, however, by whom he may be unknown 
 or unremembered, we would briefly fay — John 
 Sterling was a young man of great literary promife, 
 and confiderable though defultory performance;
 
 MR, CJRLTLE, 157 
 
 contributing papers of varied merit, firft to the 
 "Athenaeum," afterwards to'' Blackwood's Maga- 
 zine," and occafionally to one or other of the 
 " Quarterly Reviews." Having an ardent defire 
 to do good, and feeling a growing inclination to 
 theological ftudies and minifterial purfuits, he ac- 
 ceded to the propofal of his friend Archdeacon 
 Hare, took holy orders, and became curate in the 
 parifh of Hertfmonceaux. After a brief fervice of 
 eight months, he was compelled by failing health 
 to relinquifh the facred fundlions ; and for the re- 
 mainder of his melancholy days did little more 
 than bear manfully the burden of a wafting life, 
 and dream fitfully the dreams of an unfound ambi- 
 tion, and wander, a well-nigh hopelefs invalid, in 
 purfuit of milder air and mitigated pain, to Madeira 
 and to Rome, and finally to Ventnor in the Ifle 
 of Wight, where, on the i8th of September, 1844, 
 " all thofe ftruggles and ftrenuous often-foiled en- 
 deavours of eight-and-thirty years lay hufhed in 
 death." 
 
 But why do we fpeak of Sterling's premature 
 decline as confifting of melancholy days, and his 
 whole life as an afFeding ftory ? Afflidions, though 
 in themfelves grievous, may be welcomed as falu- 
 tary difcipline, and even prized for the ftronger 
 confolations they induce. The valley of the (hadow 
 of death is not always or altogether dark : the Di- 
 vine fmile may diflipate its central gloom, and the 
 fhining city beyond may indicate its glorious termi- 
 nation. Nor does the language of the biographer, 
 when he refers to " thofe ftruggles, and ftrenuous
 
 158 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 often- foiled endeavours," of neceffity imply a 
 lamentable or unhappy frame of mind. A warfare 
 that is ftill a confcious triumph, or a race that gives 
 increafed afllirance of fuccefs, is already crowned 
 with a virtual anticipation of reward ; it partakes 
 of the blefiednefs of final victory, as well as of the 
 wearinefs of prefent ftrife : nay, this little weari- 
 nefs is loft in that profound bleflednefs, as the 
 exulting foul fubje6ls and colours all the lefTer man. 
 It is not, therefore, the fuffering believer, nor the 
 difabled Minifter, that we prefume to pity. The 
 champion of the truth may be difmounted by pro- 
 vidence, but he can only be overcome by fin ; and 
 when be may no longer lead on the aggreflive 
 ranks, and neither advance nor witnefs their full 
 or final triumph, fo long as he holds faft the ftiield 
 of faith, his perfonal fafety is fecured as by a feven- 
 fold aegis ; and the general victory of the church 
 may well be trufted by him to its great Deliverer 
 and Head. 
 
 Injuftice to Mr. Carlyle, we muft remark that 
 Sterling's defledlion from the path of orthodoxy 
 and the fimplicity of faith feems to have com- 
 menced before their perfonal acquaintance with 
 each other; and in juftice to Sterling himfelf, we 
 muft hefitate to admit that he ever wholly aban- 
 doned or thoroughly miftrufted thofe great fcrip- 
 tural truths which he had early imbibed. It is not, 
 we think, for any fellow creature to fay whether, 
 or when, or in what degree, he knowingly fuffered 
 himfelf to be deceived by the fpecioufnefs of carnal 
 reafon, and henceforth found no clue out of the
 
 MR, CJRLTLE. 159 
 
 tangled labyrinth of nature. His powers were 
 brilliant and active. There is evidence in his 
 writings of much acutenefs ; and a certain ready 
 produ6livenefs was alfo chara^teriftic of his fertile 
 and well-cultivated mind. But of wifdom — which 
 has been happily defined by a living author as that 
 exercife of the under/landing into which the heart 
 enters — he feems to have had but little fliare ; and 
 hence his life, defpite a certain moral bias, and the 
 affluence of an intelle6t fparkling, if not profound, 
 appears to have had no commanding moral pur- 
 pofe, and to have borne no pra6lical or correfpond- 
 ing fruit. We gather, from a careful perufal both 
 of Mr. Hare's account of his friend, and Mr. Car- 
 lyle's more elaborate biography, that a habit of un- 
 profitable fpeculation had early gained upon the 
 mind of young Sterling ; and to us it is no lefs 
 apparent that this fubjedlive tendency of his, this 
 morbid introverfion of the mental eye into the 
 myfteries of his own nature, and this curious pry- 
 ing into the fprings of public faith, while dangerous 
 to the moft philofophic and religious mind, if un- 
 duly or exclufively indulged, were particularly fo 
 in his cafe. And here, may we venture on a 
 remark of general application ? Being eftabliflied 
 in a faith to which all natural and moral things 
 bear evidence, and the beft teftimony of which is 
 lodged in the innermoft confcioufnefs of the fpirit, 
 — with what fhow of wifdom does a man abandon 
 or begin to doubt the fa6ls and verities of Scripture, 
 merely upon the application of certain arbitrary 
 principles of criticifm, which feemonly to difcredit
 
 i6o ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 in one way what has been fo frequently attacked 
 in fo many, yet fuccefsfully in none ? That philo- 
 fophy muft be clear and mafterly indeed which 
 would reafon the fun out of the heavens, and dif- 
 prove alike the noon-tide heat, and vernal green, 
 and fummer bloom. It will hardly do to point to 
 fome remaining patch of fnow, or fome unfruitful 
 fpace of earth. A Chriftian has all the materials 
 of a juft and comprehenfive faith, while he can 
 never obtain more than a fra6lion of the materials 
 due to a confiftent fcepticifm j fo that the moral 
 evidences of Chriftianity, while they are fufceptible f 
 of almoft endlefs illuftration from the fide of nature 
 and reafon, cannot poffibly receive therefrom any 
 general or abiding injury ; and much lefs are they * 
 in danger of being fuperfeded thereby. While it is 
 competent to us to go on to demonjirate the Chrif- 
 tian's faith, the vaft majority of believers are 
 content to feel its truth, with fuch corroboration 
 only as the experience and obfervation of every 
 day fupply. " Man's firft word," fays Archdeacon 
 Hare, " is2^^^ ; his fecond. No ; his third and laft, 
 Yes ; and, while the bulk of men flop fhort at the 
 firft, very few attain to the third." Poor Sterling 
 feems to have prefled into the fecond ftage without 
 ftrength to traverfe all its rugged breadth ; but, 
 though he never attained to the laft perfe6tion of 
 belief, where the philofopher and faint ^e found to 
 be identical, there is fome reafon to hope that by a 
 gracious influence he was led to retrace his fteps, 
 to linger near — and quietly pafs over into — the 
 firft happy paths ofafimple and fatisfying faith.
 
 MR, CARLTLE, i6i 
 
 If the ratlonaliftic philofophy was fo highly in- 
 jurious to the peace of Sterling, Thomas Carlyle 
 was not more fortunately chofen to be his " guide, 
 philofopher, and friend." We would not exagge- 
 rate the influence of the latter upon the former, 
 which was probably lefs than the reader of Mr. 
 Carlyle's biography would be led to fuppofe. Ster- 
 ling always fought the battle of orthodox Chrif- 
 tianity againft the irregular darts of that ftrange 
 Teutonic genius ; and this both in public and pri- 
 vate, with the pen as well as with the tongue. But 
 though many of thefe fiery darts were repelled, 
 fome evidently remained to fret his fpirit to the 
 laft, even if not permitted to prove mortal to his 
 fpiritual health. He was ftrongly fafcinated by 
 the energy, the boldnefs, and the eloquent unrea- 
 fon of his friend ; and, though he hefitated to call 
 him mafter, he could not wholly refift the autho- 
 rity of his mind. It is melancholy to think how 
 pernicious was that unequal friendfhip to the feebler 
 of the twain. Sometimes he feems to wifli to 
 throw ofF the galling yoke from his fpirit ; but per- 
 fonal and intellectual ties difcouraged this moral 
 enfranchifement. That Sterling never ^/W wholly 
 break through this bondage, is evident from his 
 laft letter to our author, written only a month be- 
 fore his death. How could Mr. Carlyle dare to 
 print a meflage fo burdened with reproach, — re- 
 proach more dreadful, becaufe half-unconfcious 
 and wholly uncomplaining ? " For the firft time 
 for many months," fays Sterling, " it feems poflible 
 to fend you a ^qvj words, merely, however, for 
 
 M
 
 1 62 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 remembrance and farewell. On higher matters 
 there is nothing to fay. I tread the common road 
 into the great darknefs, without any thought of 
 fear, and with very much of hope. With regard 
 to You and Me, I cannot begin to write ; having 
 nothing for it but to keep fhut the lid of thofe 
 fecrets with all the iron weights that are in my 
 power. Towards me it is ftill more true than 
 towards England, that no man has been and done 
 like you. Heaven blefs you ! If I can lend a 
 hand when there, that will not be wanting. It 
 is all very ftrange ; but not one hundredth part fo 
 fad as it feems to the ftanders-by." 
 
 Thus does this dying man adopt the language 
 of Deifm, in deference to the fcoffing mafter of his 
 mind ; while it is evident that the light of nature 
 by which alone he dares to write, is only as a 
 fepulchral lamp, " making night hideous," and the 
 prepared grave difmal beyond expreffion. "/ 
 tread the common road into the great darknefs! " If 
 we had been perufmg the life of fome heathen of 
 good renown, whofe lot had fallen in a gentile 
 land, ages before "life and immortality were 
 brought to light by the gofpel," this would flill 
 have been a melancholy clofe. Even then, we 
 muft have dropped a tear for mortal mifery un- 
 relieved by any certain hope, and courageoufly 
 enduring what it was fo helplefs to remove ; and 
 fighed Alas! for that poor philofophy which could 
 not draw the earneft of immortality from the deep 
 well of human confcioufnefs, or truft the fparkling 
 promife as it rofe. But this is a pi6lure of fome-
 
 MR. CARLTLE. 163 
 
 thing infinitely worfe, — a confummation e ven 
 more frightful in its filence than that of the poor 
 ftudent, led to the twelfth hour of his laft day of 
 liberty, impiety, and pleafure, who finds his lamp 
 expiring in deep fobs of light, and fupernatural 
 noifes gradually invading all the air. So with 
 poor Sterling, but that he would not be known 
 (at leaft by one mocking fpirit) either to complain 
 or tremble. Life's bufinefs has been idly done in 
 idle fpeculations on its myfteries ; and now there 
 is neither comfort in the paft norafTurance for the 
 infinite future. And what is the return or con- 
 folation offered by Mr. Carlyle for a facrifice fo 
 unfpeakable as this, made by his young difciple ? 
 He amufes himfelf by drawing the life of his 
 feeble friend, for fuch he evidently holds him to 
 have been ; makes it as artiflic as pofiible, arrang- 
 ing his chief figure in the moft interefting of atti- 
 tudes, fupported by back-ground and acceffories 
 of the moft attradlive kind. His zeal and admi- 
 ration for the " hero" of his work is (as ufual) 
 quite fubordinate to his intereft in the work itfelf. 
 Not, perhaps, that he loves Sterling lefs, but that 
 he values Carlyle more. His genius deigns to 
 fhine upon him only as the fun upon a fatellite, 
 and that merely upon the hither fide, where he 
 fees himfelf refle6led. His pity often borders on 
 contempt ; and he feems to difmifs the book into 
 the world with the air of a man who has done well 
 with a very poor fubje6l, and made a miferable 
 human fcarecrow into a very tolerable clothes- 
 horfe to receive his own tawdry finery.
 
 1 64 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 We have feen that the end, as exhibited in Mr. 
 Carlyle's p^ges, is very full of gloom ; but in Mr. 
 Hare's account it afflimes a more cheering arpe6l. 
 The evening before his death, John Sterhng wrote 
 thefe lines in pencil, and gave them to his fifter. 
 Why they v/ere fuppreffed in Mr. Carlyle's narra- 
 tive, will fuificiently appear from the verfes them- 
 felves, which would hardly have contributed to the 
 impreffion he was defirous ot leaving on the 
 reader's mind. 
 
 ** Could we but hear all nature's voice, 
 From glowworm up to fun, 
 'T would Tpeak with one concordant voice, 
 ' Thy ivill, O God ! be done: 
 
 " But hark, a fadder, mightier prayer, 
 From all men's hearts that live : — 
 ' Thy nvill be done in earth and heaven, 
 And Thou my Jins forgi-ve /' " 
 
 Thus, in a few pencilled lines, we have fome 
 recantation of poor Sterling's errors, — fome ac- 
 knowledgment of the two great truths of natural 
 and revealed religion. Thefe he, perhaps, never 
 quite relinquiflied, though Mr. Carlyle would lead 
 us to imply as much. The mafler and difciple 
 were then divided in fentiment, before they were 
 divorced by death. The mafter ftill teaches the 
 independence of nature, and the abfurdity of " a 
 perfonal God j" but the pupil afferts the authority 
 of the Creator, and the fubmijfion of every 
 creature. The mafter ftill affirms the purity and 
 re6litudeof man's inner heart, maintaining that all 
 deviations from truth and goodnefs have an exter- 
 nal origin in oppofition to internal teaching ; but
 
 MR. CARLTLE. 165 
 
 the pupil gathers only this humiliating truth from 
 human error, — the need, to wit, of Divine forgive- 
 nefs. Probably Mr. Carlyle would fneer at the 
 crowning weaknefs of his friend, always " wanting 
 in due ftrength." For ourfelves, we are thankful 
 for this additional teftimony to the wretchednefs 
 of unbelief, and the truth of Chriftianity. 
 
 Of Mr. Carlyle we have little more to fay. 
 The reader is now enabled to judge, with fome 
 accuracy, both of his talent and of his teaching. 
 We commenced by bringing his vaunted literary 
 excellence to the fmgle but fufficient teft of ftyle ; 
 and though our fpace did not admit of fuch quota- 
 tions as might be neceiTary to convince the unac- 
 quainted of his grand deficiency in this particular, 
 we confidently appeal even to his admirers, if we 
 have not fairly characSferifed his ftyle, and that 
 without exaggeration. Of courfe thofewho blindly 
 admire and follow him will affert this to be his 
 higheft merit, and fay that when he differs from 
 other eminent examples offtyle he therein far fur- 
 paffes them, and ferves to dete6f their weaknefs 
 and incompetence. Thus an American enthufiaft 
 triumphantly contrafts our author's love of paradox 
 and fcorn of grammar with " the inanities of Ad- 
 difon." Contraft indeed ! As there is no account- 
 ing for taftes, we fhould perhaps be thankful for 
 the exhibition of one which, if unaccountable, is 
 not unamufing. We may fuppofe this critic to 
 have a private opinion that day-light is very infipid 
 compared with gas in chandeliers ; and we (hall 
 know that we have met with him once more
 
 1 66 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 when we hear convulfions quoted as a proof of 
 ftrength. Afterwards, we attempted, under many 
 difficulties, to afcertain the drift of Mr. Carlyle's 
 philofophy ; but as this was not to be appreciated 
 on any but tranfcendental principles, and even 
 fuch as it is, has never been definitely ftated by our 
 author, we fear that we failed to convey the fatif- 
 fadlion which we did not receive \ and perhaps 
 fomething of the kind may account for our author's 
 failure alfo. One trial more remained. Accord- 
 ingly, we fought to afcertain the pradical value of 
 Mr. Carlyle's teaching by reference to the career 
 and charader of one of his difciples. This was 
 the more feafible, as the life of fuch difciple was 
 prepared to our hands by the mafter himfelf : fo 
 we opened the life of John Sterling. We found 
 him beginning life full of promife and accomplifh- 
 ment: we left him on the couch of death, cur- 
 tained by a more than mortal cloud of doubt and 
 forrow, which his enfeebled hand could only 
 partially draw back. What light fell on that death- 
 bed came not from the lamp of Mr. Carlyle's 
 philofophy, but from beyond it, making it yet more 
 pale and fickly. 
 
 But is not Mr. Carlyle a writer of extraordinary 
 genius ? It appears to us that he is not. But the 
 fubjedt of " genius," with the nature and limita- 
 tions of its merit, is one upon which we may hope 
 to find fome future opportunity of fpeaking at 
 greater length, and with fuller fatisfadion. A 
 recent French critic — writing in the Revue des 
 Deux Monies — maintains that Mr. Carlyle is the
 
 MR. CARLTLE. 167 
 
 greateft thinker our country has produced in 
 modern times. We can only fay that, as it feems 
 to us, he thinks to very Httle purpofe. We ad- 
 vife the reader, when next he meets an ardent 
 admirer of our author's writings, to requeft a ftate- 
 ment of a i^\N definite points for which thofe 
 writings are to be valued, and efpecially of the par- 
 ticular truths therein announced or illuftrated. 
 The poet may claim to be heard in his own 
 rhythmic and chofen language ; but the philofo- 
 pher whofe do6lrines or precepts admit of no 
 abridgment or laconic ftatement, muft permit us 
 to doubt of their exa6litude or truth. If Mr. 
 Carlyle is the greateft thinker of our times, alas for 
 the country of Bacon and of Butler. Nay, we 
 have, in that cafe, fadly degenerated from the 
 diale6lic genius of the time of Hume; for, how- 
 ever fophiftical were the arguments of that philo- 
 fopher, ftill they were arguments, carefully ad- 
 dreffed to reafonable men, and thus frankly offer- 
 ing the opportunity of refutation, which has fmce 
 been freely accepted and made good. But Mr. 
 Carlyle offers no fuch opportunity, and deferves 
 no fuch praife. It has been remarked (with 
 reference, we believe, to the ftyle of Gibbon) that 
 it is impoflible to refute a fneer ; and a fimilar 
 refle6^ion is conftantly rifmg in the mind of the 
 reader of Mr. Carlyle's productions. He has a 
 fatal aptitude for word-painting — a gift invaluable 
 to the writer of poetic fidtion, who can thus put 
 as it were a fpirit into inanimate obje6ts of nature. 
 We could name a popular author who has this
 
 1 68 ON THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 faculty in perfe6lion, and whofe peculiar praife it 
 is that he rarely or never abufes it to faften a falfe 
 impreffion on the mind, by conveying a profound 
 untruth in the guife of a fuperficial analogy. But 
 Mr. Carlyle is conftantly offending in this manner, 
 till the mind of his reader, if not enflaved by his 
 great fhow of power, revolts againft fuch unfair- 
 nefs. What does he mean, for inftance, in repre- 
 fenting the Chriftian Minifter as " weltering " under 
 a heap of " Hebrew old clothes ?" The real ob- 
 ject of the author is to imprefs the unguarded reader 
 with his own particular notion, that Chriftianity is 
 virtually effete, and fhould in all reafon become 
 obfolete alfo. The manner of conveying this im- 
 prefiion is very fubtle. " Hebrew old clothes," — 
 as though he objected only to a Judaifmg or merely 
 formal worfhip : but then it is applied in the cafe 
 of a Proteffant clergyman ; and thus the reader is 
 almofl involuntarily led, by the dexterous ufe of 
 this analogy of fancied refemblance, to defpife every 
 approach to a defined belief in the chara6ler and 
 commandments of God, and to an orderly celebra- 
 tion of His worfhip and fervice. And this is the 
 manner in which our " philofopher " afTumes the 
 great point at iflue between him and thebeliever ! — 
 thus fcornfully reje61:ing, as ufelefs and worn-out, 
 that catholic Chriftianity which is found to be 
 adapted alike to every age, and clime, and circum- 
 ftance of man ; which fupplies and harmonifes the 
 principles both of public and of private virtue ; and 
 which exalts and bleiTes the individual, while it 
 advances and ennobles the whole fpecies.
 
 MR. CARLTLE, 169 
 
 The pre-eminent moral of Mr. Carlyle's literary 
 hiftory we take to be this : Every effort after for- 
 bidden or unprofitable knowledge is rewarded only 
 by increafed confufion and uncertainty, and in- 
 duces rather a weaknefs than an improvement of 
 the intelle6tual and moral powers. To feek, with- 
 out affiftance from Revelation, an acquaintance 
 with the myfterious future, is only to infure our 
 {tumbling even in the prefent life. A too curious 
 prying into " the fecret things," which belong 
 only to God, is ever followed by a departure from 
 thofe fteps of pra6lical truth which already put us 
 in the dire61:ion and under the influence of our true 
 and higheft deftiny, and which would ultimately, 
 in another ftate ofexiftence, lead us into the very 
 heart of the myftery itfelf. All finite creatures are 
 fubjeft to the conditions of law, and among thefe 
 IS gradation as a condition of advance ; yet in virtue 
 of our fpiritual relation to the Divine Being and 
 the invifible world, we are allowed to anticipate, 
 even now, much of that final ftate to which we 
 are deftined. But this fpiritual nature is alfo under 
 a law ; and it has pleafed the Father of our fouls 
 to make implicit reliance on His word, and ready 
 acceptance of the terms of His favour, the con- 
 ditions of our initiation into all truth, — into a 
 living, vivifying ftate of knowledge, which is as 
 real as it is comprehenfive, and which, even in its 
 earlieft ftage, is the beginning of eternal life. Thus 
 pra6lically fecured from all moral error, and thus 
 faithfully promifed a perfection both of fpiritual and 
 intellectual good, it is no part of true wifdom to
 
 lyo MR. CARLTLE. 
 
 fufFer metaphyfical reafonings — the vapours arlfing 
 from a grofs and earthly region, to becloud the im- 
 mediate vifions of the foul ; or to permit the imper- 
 fe6i: and partial fenfes to overcrow the immortal 
 fpirit, w^hich alone is able to apprehend the powers 
 of the world to come. To expe6l that there 
 fhould be no myftery is to make God our fellow, 
 and eternity an infinitely dreary day. To admit 
 that there is and muft be fuch, is to acknowledge 
 the being of Him who dwelleth in the light 
 
 WHICH NO MAN CAN APPROACH UNTO, WHOM NO 
 
 MAN HATH SEEN OR CAN SEE. Let US trace Him 
 reverently where His fteps are clearly feen, and 
 acknowledge that the leaft of His works, vifible 
 and ufeful in our moft humble and daily concerns, 
 is linked in the chain of His adminiftration with 
 the higheft that takes hold upon His throne, and 
 anchors the univerfe to His faithfulnefs and power. 
 And when we have no anfwer or explanation to 
 give ; when fome awful providence thunders the 
 judgment of its miflion,and only whifpers itsmyf- 
 terious mercy ; when evil feems to profper by a 
 law, and the great counter-law is left to operate 
 unfeen ; let us then encourage the filence of a 
 ferene but adlive faith, or only take up the confi- 
 dent language of the poet : — 
 
 '* So He ordain'd, whofe way is in the fea, 
 His path amidft great waters, and His fteps 
 Unknown ; — whole judgments are a mighty deep, 
 Where plummet of archangel's intellect 
 Could never yet find foundings, but from age 
 To age let down, drawn up, then thrown again 
 With lengthened line and added weight, ftill fails j 
 And ftill the cry in heaven is, ' O THE depth !' "
 
 TENDENCIES OF MODERN 
 POETRY. 
 
 HE publication of thefe two volumes,* 
 within the fpaceofthelaft few months, 
 prefents an opportunity of which we 
 gladly avail ourfelves, and fo proceed 
 at once to offer fome brief remarks upon the lead- 
 ing chara6leriftics of modern poetry. The whole 
 of this wide fubjeft could not, indeed, be dif- 
 courfed upon from fo limited a text ; but for ex- 
 hibiting the more prominent features and marked 
 tendencies of poetry in the prefent day, we could 
 not, perhaps, have fele6led better illuftrations than 
 thofe which come moft recently to hand. Of 
 thofe features and tendencies they furnifh, it is true, 
 exaggerated types ; but for this reafon they are 
 
 * Balder, by the Author of " The Roman 5"" Sind Poems, by 
 Alexander Smith. In revifing this article, and one or two 
 others in the prefent volume, the author has made no 
 attempt to obliterate the traces of their original purpofe and 
 pofition. If theleffons they contain (hould find no applica- 
 tion in the future, the papers will atleaft, and all the Iboner, 
 acquire hiftorical fignificance, — ferve to regifter one impor- 
 tant phafe or crifis of modern Englilh literature, and to 
 ftiow that the public journalift was not unfaithful to his 
 truft.
 
 172 TENDENCIES OF 
 
 only the more adapted to our prefent purpofe, as a 
 public leflbn is illuftrated befl: by examples in high 
 relief. 
 
 It is neceflary, perhaps, to obviate the mere 
 fufpicion of narrownefs or prejudice. In art we 
 profefs our taftes to be fufficiently ecle6tic. We 
 are not of thofe who, from a natural or acquired 
 bias towards one clafs of poetry, would deny the 
 name to every compofition of another fchool. 
 The charm of this great art, as of its greater pro- 
 totype, is its wonderful variety. It has fomething 
 for every tafte and every mood ; it breathes fuc- 
 ceflively the airs of every feafon, and touches by 
 turns the fimpleft bofom and moft cultivated mind. 
 And if it be true, — as we believe it is, — that its 
 great mafters have the fuffrages of every clafs, and 
 attra6l the humbleft to find fome natural charm 
 in thofe human features, whofe deeper and divine 
 fignificance makes the higheft to return, and 
 ponder, and gain freili intelligence, with every 
 further contemplation, it is alfo true that there is 
 another order, whofe office is more limited, but 
 not lefs authentic. Seldom, indeed, is the gift of 
 genius thus univerfal in its power; far more fre- 
 quently is it thus circumfcribed and fpecial. A 
 Madonna of Raphael, — all can fee beauty there ; 
 peafant as well as prince, and Proteftant as well 
 as Catholic ; not only maid and mother, with their 
 myfterious fympathy, but boy and man, and all 
 who have ever found or felt fomie natural drain of 
 love. But where is the connoifleur who has 
 traced all the magic of its art, and exhaufted all
 
 MODERN POETRr, 173 
 
 the treafures of its truth and tendernefs, — who has 
 perufed it thoroughly, is latisfied completely, and 
 is content to look upon it for the laft time ? A 
 play of Shakefpeare, — this is patentto every fchool- 
 boy ; it is hiftory for the million, a repertory for 
 every mafquerader, a world for every humorift, a 
 manual for every ftatefman, a text-book for every 
 moralift. But where is the fcholar or critic who 
 has pointed out every beauty, and fupplied the 
 final glofs, and learnt the whole leflbn ? Honour 
 then to Shakefpeare and this chofen few ! Thefe 
 are the High Priefts of Nature, who minifter at the 
 great altar in the open fervice of the temple. But 
 there are humbler oratories embayed within its 
 folemn aides, and there the pilgrims from every 
 region may hear words of comfort, each in his 
 own diale6l ; and the priefts themfelves drink fym- 
 pathizing words from each other's lips. There 
 are Poets who need Poets for an audience, — who 
 have fed their imagination upon the rele6left images 
 and daintieft thoughts ; and menofcoarfer mould 
 can have no fympathy with thefe. There are 
 others, who have brought learning to enrich their 
 art, and whofe elaborate compofitions are fo 
 many pieces of embroidered tapeftry, bright with 
 traditionary fplendours, and moving with heroic 
 life. Honour then to Collins and to Gray ! All are 
 welcome who are fervants faithful both to virtue 
 and to man, and who make Truth and Beauty 
 the handmaids who unveil the face of Nature. In 
 this fpirit we gladly recognize the mufe of Keats, 
 with its fenfuous delight in every natural objedt,
 
 174 TENDENCIES OF 
 
 and its almoft pagan reverence for the dumb old 
 deities of Greece, — and the genius of Shelley, 
 foaring, like his own fkylark, " higher yet, and 
 higher," and fhedding from illuftrious wings the 
 whitenefs of ideal beauty on everything beneath. 
 
 Neither do we deny that true poetry may, in 
 fome faint degree, reflect the fpirit of the age which 
 gives it birth. Of fome fpecies, — fuch as fatire, 
 comedy, and the like, — it is the peculiar function 
 fo to do ; and for many of the more ferious kinds, 
 it is no necefTary detraction, that they indicate, 
 with more or lefs diftin6lnefs, the chara6ter of the 
 times in which the author lived. Poetry of the 
 beft defcription will often take fomething of its 
 form and temper from popular and paffing in- 
 fluences, from the force of national and temporary 
 circumftances : for, though individual genius is the 
 fire in which it is raifed to its white heat, the pre- 
 fent age is yet the anvil on which it is beaten into 
 ihape. This is chiefly true of poetry of a peculiar 
 kind, moftly popular in its character, and always 
 lyrical in its expreflion : of that which is higheft 
 and beft, the moft artiftic and elaborate, we may 
 confidently fay that it is efTentially independent of 
 current tendencies, — that a fpirit of utilitarian pro- 
 grefs, if allowed to interfere, will more frequently 
 deteriorate than exalt it ; and an age of meta- 
 phyfical inquiry ferve rather to confound its pure 
 aefthetic genius, than to yield it a truer or nobler 
 theory of life. 
 
 As there is much error prevalent on this point, 
 and as that error is, as it feems to us, a principal
 
 MODERN POETRT, 175 
 
 caufe of the failure of many poems of undoubted 
 genius in our day, we may, perhaps, be allowed to 
 examine it more fully. We are perfuaded that the 
 ill-conftru6lion and feeble execution of thefe works 
 are, in great meafure, due to unfound notions of 
 poetic art ; while only from the obfervance of its 
 genuine principles can moral truth, and every 
 minor excellence, refult. 
 
 That poetry fhould, according to the language of 
 our great dramatift, " fhow the very age and body 
 of the times, its form and preflure," is, indeed, a 
 maxim offome value to the artift of every clafs ; 
 but it is frequently repeated in our ears by thofe 
 who forget to interpret it in the light of that great 
 mafter's pra6tice, and who both mifbake its mean- 
 ing, and exaggerate its importance. 
 
 Firft, they miftake its meaning. It fignifies, — 
 at leaft in its application to the art under review, of 
 which precifely it was not firft fpoken, — not that 
 poetry of fet purpofe muft, but that poetry of the 
 right ftamp ever will, refledl the lineaments of //>^ 
 age^ not of the poet himfelf but of that imagined in 
 the poet's fable. It di6lates, not the choice of 
 fubje(St, which is left abfolutely free, but the 
 fidelity of imitation, which isftridly and primarily 
 demanded by aefthetic law. Is the time we live 
 in full of earneft inquiry, pra£lical reform, philan- 
 thropic effort, and focial improvement ? Thefe, 
 then, will more or lefs appear in all works, even of 
 the epic clafs, whofe fcene and era are expreflly 
 identical with ours ; but thefe works moftly take 
 the fhape of the profe novel. They will feme-
 
 176 TENDENCIES OF 
 
 times, alfo, condenfe themfelves in verfe, and find 
 warm utterance in thofe brief and popular lyrics by 
 which a nation or a clafs gives expreflion to its 
 tranfitory throes. But we are fpeaking now of 
 poems which, by their elaboration or their length, 
 evidently make pretenfions to the highefl rank of 
 art ; and the method of true art is not altered by 
 the genius of an age. Its appeals are made from 
 one individual mind to another, and not from the 
 individual to a collective people. It advocates no 
 meafure of reform, however prefling or defirable ; 
 it occupies itfelf with no fingle branch ofinduflry 
 or fcience, however ufeful ; it does not even, 
 without manifefl deterioration and failure, rehearfe 
 the crude and difordered fancies of any fmgle mind, 
 however gifted, and though it be the poet's own. 
 The nature of art is effentially objective and con- 
 ftrudive. A poem, like a painting, is flricStly a 
 compofition, whofe materials — fele6led almofl: in 
 whatfoever place you will — are faithfully combined 
 by the aefthetic faculty, — a faculty that is neither 
 wholly intellectual nor wholly moral, that a6ts in 
 great meafure like inftin^, but needs the co-opera- 
 tion of fcience and intelligence. 
 
 But, fecondiy, our critics exaggerate the impor- 
 tance of this maxim, even when underffood in 
 their own limited and lefler fenfe. Poetry depends 
 far more on the eflential than the accidental ; on 
 the permanent than the temporary ; on man himfelf 
 than , national coftume or political conditions. 
 For this reafon it is that no poem worthy of the 
 name can ever grow dim with age, but is frefh
 
 MODERN POETRT. 177 
 
 through all time. No man fpeaks fo fmcerely to 
 his fellow-man as the poet ; none is fo free from 
 the afFecflations and falfehoods which divide one 
 clafs in fociety from another, and make one gene- 
 ration almoft ftrange to that which follows ; no 
 one, therefore, is fo widely recognized, fo welcome 
 in every neighbourhood, fo fecure againft the 
 changing fafhions and confounding diale61:s of time. 
 The beft, and even the moft popular, poems in the 
 world are thofe which are lead fhaped or coloured 
 by the fpirit of the author's age. If the ancients 
 dill move and delight us, it is not that we have 
 much in common with pagan Greece or Rome, 
 either focially or politically confidered ; for by con- 
 traft in thefe particulars we are yet more divided 
 from them than by centuries of time. It is as men 
 beholding the fame fun, feelingthe fame wants, and 
 fuffering the fame changes. We may ceafe to 
 wonder then that the ballads recited in their halls, 
 and the dramas which held breathlefs their aflem- 
 bled cities, are ftill frequent on our lips, and often 
 prefent to our minds. If pleafing to the young or 
 to the old once, — as the Iliad or the OdyfTey, — 
 why not to youth or to experience now ? If 
 grateful to the inftin6l of filial piety once, — as the 
 Antigone of Sophocles, — why not to filial piety in 
 our day alfo ? That thefe are not even more popu- 
 lar among us is only becaufe, with all their force 
 of truth, they are not true enough, — not fimply, 
 fully, and profoundly fo. They are Greek to a 
 fault, as well as human to a miracle. Something 
 of artifice fliffens the march of their otherwife con-
 
 178 TENDENCIES OF 
 
 fummate art ; the brooding fhadow of one great 
 nationalbelief obfcures much of the delicate tracery 
 of life ; the demands of one grand a6tion admit 
 too feldom of a fweet and natural relief. Hence 
 the defe6i:ive fympathy exifting between this age 
 of readers and that age of poets ; hence the need 
 of culture and knowledge on the part of the former, 
 before they can thoroughly enjoy the lofty crea- 
 tions of the latter. Something, indeed, of this is 
 chargeable on the great difference, even of perfonal 
 chara6ter, which the influence of our northern 
 civilization, and efpecially of the new and better 
 religion, has wrought upon mankind in modern 
 times ; but ftill more, we fufpect, is due to the lefs 
 perfect fympathies of the poet, — for Sophocles is 
 not the rival of Shakefpeare. For fome of the 
 higheft purpofes of art, the ancients were fuffi- 
 ciently related to men in every age to bequeath 
 examples of abiding intereft ; and, in the main, we 
 have reafon to congratulate ourfelves on the actual 
 legacy we enjoy ; and certainly it does not forbid 
 our admiration and wonder. Even our purer 
 faith does not neceffarily exclude our fympathy ; 
 all the nobler fentiments of natural religion — and 
 poetry as an art would perhaps do well to concern 
 itfelf with thefe alone — are to be met with in the 
 bards of every country ; wifdom and beauty find 
 an oriental drefs in Sadi and Ferdoufi, a claffic one 
 in Sophocles and Homer, and in either drefs we 
 may welcome both. If we know how to keep 
 poetry in its proper place, and expeft from it only 
 its legitimate effe6ls, we fhall not hefitate to profit
 
 MODERN POETRY. 179 
 
 and delight ourfelves by Virgil as fecurely as by 
 Milton ; if we are fo foolifh as to draw our higheft 
 principles therefrom, we fhall only err too far in 
 either cafe. 
 
 But if the poet is indeed thus independent, and 
 reftrained neither to his own locality nor era, it is 
 certain he will ufe this liberty, and for the moft 
 part fix his choice upon a difcant or fomewhat un- 
 familiar fcene. The reafons for this are obvious 
 and irrefiftible. In the firft place, he is more 
 likely to apprehend the limits of his fubjecl, to 
 recognize its genuine features, and to fketch the 
 whole more freely, when he beholds it from a 
 certain elevation, — from fome height where no 
 prejudices can obfcure, and no diflra6tions inter- 
 rupt, his clear and calm obfervance, — where 
 ferene impartial art may exercife its fundtions un- 
 difturbed. But there is another confideration 
 hardly lefs important. Above all things it is necef- 
 fary that poetry fhould pleafe ; and that it may 
 ultimately and profoundly pleafe, it muft firft and 
 eafily attract. To this end, nothing is more likely 
 to contribute than fome novelty of external 
 features, tending to ftimulate our languid curiofity, 
 and leading us, perhaps unawares, into a deeper 
 fympathy with all that is of more real and abiding 
 intereft. True it is that what is moft efTential in 
 poetry, is that which touches us moft nearly, and 
 is promptly recognized and felt as true ; but every- 
 thing which diftinguifhes it as an art, which raifes 
 it above the level of ordinary profe literature and 
 learning, is traceable to fome form of pleafure,
 
 i8o TENDENCIES OF 
 
 fenfuous or intellectual, as, for inftance, to our 
 delight in imitation, melody, or grouping. It is 
 idle to object that a great poet fhould have a 
 higher purpofe than to pleafe ; enough for us to 
 know, that to pleafe by means of its legitimate 
 refources is the firft condition of his art, and for 
 him to underftand that he can no more difpenfe 
 with the lighter charm of novelty, than with the 
 incorporated graces of harmonious verfe. 
 
 We hope the relevance of thefe remarks will 
 foon be more obvious to the reader. Much of the 
 defeftivenefs of recent poetry arifes, as we think, 
 from a difregard of thefe firft principles. Its faults, 
 indeed, are both many and various, affe6ling ftyle 
 and fentiment as well as plan : but this deliberate 
 weaknefs of defign is doubtlefs a radical and primary 
 defeat ; and this vague and vain attempt to give 
 voice and utterance to the ftruggling forces of the 
 age, brings a difturbing influence into the young 
 poet's mind ; while the efFe6l of both together is 
 to deny to his produ6tion that intereft which arifes 
 from a definite purpofe and an united action, atten- 
 ded, as thefe commonly are, by a due variety of 
 character, and a fober and fubordinated ufe of lan- 
 guage. The books now claiming our atten- 
 tion will ferve to illuftrate this degenerate ten- 
 dency ; but, before turning particularly to them, 
 we may briefly refer to two living authors who 
 have fet a contrary example, and proved both 
 the foundnefs and fuccefs of their canons of art, — 
 Henry Taylor, in " Philip Van Artevelde," and 
 Walter Landor, in his " Hellenics." Do we want
 
 MODERN POETRT. i8i 
 
 poems more beautiful— can we find any more 
 genuine — than thefe ? Neither of them is fatu rated 
 with what is called " the fpirit of the age ;" we do 
 not know that they are even biafTed by it ; perhaps 
 theftudent of a hundredyears hence could not learn 
 the period o^ their production by internal evidence. 
 Yet ^Qw authors of the prefent day are fo certain 
 to fulfil their century, few volumes of our teeming 
 prefs more likely to be ftudied and perufed in the 
 future. Both works are acceptable to the healthieft 
 and pureft modern tafte ; for though the fubje6t is 
 mediaeval in the one cafe, and claflical in the 
 other, they are the productions, not of antiquarians, 
 but of poets. 
 
 But ours is not the argument of limitation or 
 undue control; and we gladly admit that, if the 
 poet is not refl:ri61:ed to the prefent, neither is he 
 excluded from it. The Mufe that has the wings 
 of the morning may fold them above our noifieft 
 cities, and gracefully alight in the forum or the 
 market-place. The influence of the prefent Lau- 
 reate has not always been for good upon his fol- 
 lowers ; for they have caught his tone, but lack 
 his pure infight and almoft perfect tafte. Yet it 
 feems to us that, in the poems of Tennyfon him- 
 felf, both thefe conditions — which refpeCt the 
 tranfitory and the abiding, and find an element of 
 this in a chaos of that — are fulfilled in a remarkable 
 degree. He draws his infpiration from the native 
 well of his own fancy, and yet fings from his 
 height of place in the middle of the nineteenth 
 century. His genius is aflFeCted, but not overborne.
 
 i82 TENDENCIES OF 
 
 by the tumultuous fpirit of the times, by the tri- 
 umphs of material fcience, or the confli6^s of the 
 public foul. Hence the fweetnefs, as well as the 
 fubtlety, of his verfe, the clearnefs of his ideas, and 
 the eafe of his expreilion. The doubt of other 
 men he feems to pity, rather than to fhare. As a 
 poet, he knows that enough of the beautiful and 
 the good remains for him, enough of the lafting 
 and the true ; and therefore he glances only into 
 the dark vortex of fcepticifm, and " drops a melo- 
 dious tear," and in another moment he is foaring 
 upward and away : refting now on Ida, he re- 
 modulates the plaint of the deferted CEnone, 
 henceforth immortal as love and grief can make it ; 
 and now, alighting on the pillar of St. Simeon 
 Stylites, he rehearfes the fearful lefTons of afcetic 
 virtue. From this true conception of his art, and 
 this faithfulnefs to the univerfal and abiding above 
 the merely local and tranfient, it is due that the 
 writings of the Poet-Laureate harmonize with the 
 ftandard poetry of all times, and take their place 
 at once as claflic pieces. For choicenefs of imagery 
 and allufion, for mufical fweetnefs of intonation, 
 and for that intelle6i:ual quality which is power 
 and eafe and affluence at once, the poems ofTen- 
 nyfon may worthily compare with the minor 
 poetry of Milton. Each is a mafter of lyrical ex- 
 preilion, and fmgs from his own deep, human 
 heart, as independent both of age and country. 
 And yet we dare not fay that there is no indication 
 that thefe poets lived at different periods ; onlv 
 that indication, which is pofitive in the cafe of
 
 MODERN POETRT. 183 
 
 Tennyfon, is merely negative in that of Milton. 
 Milton feems to fing for recreation, — to unbend 
 his fterner genius in fome light exercife of imagi- 
 nation or fancy ; and fo he borrows fomething of 
 the fpirit of pagan poetry, the more thoroughly to 
 mafk the age of puritanifm from his own regard. 
 In Tennyfon, under much the fame conditions of 
 facile grace and exquifite allufion, we have 
 glimpfes of a mind that forecafts the fortunes of 
 his race, whofe thoughts are all thrown forward 
 " by the progrefs of the funs," and, like penfive 
 fliadows, dapple the funny future ; but his fpirit is 
 cheerful throughout, and full of hope, if not evinc- 
 ing the confidence of faith ; and, in his fweetwild 
 mufic, we no longer hear "anceftral voices pro- 
 phefyingwar," but a chorus — diftant, yet jubilant, 
 faint as echo, yet rounded and harmonious as the 
 fpheres — celebrating the age of peace and hap- 
 pinefs, — 
 
 " And one far-off divine event, 
 To which the whole creation moves." 
 
 We muft not any longer defer the promifed in- 
 trodudtion of our two young poets, but forthwith 
 prefent them to the reader. When he has made 
 theiracquaintance, our previous obfervations on the 
 art which they profefs may recur to him as having 
 a diftinft bearing on our eftimate of their prailice 
 and fuccefs. 
 
 The principal poem in Mr. Smith's volume, en- 
 titled, " A Life Drama," and that of" Balder," by 
 theauthorof " The Roman," are elaborate produc-
 
 1 84 TENDENCIES OF 
 
 tions of the fame fchool of poetry ; and it is, there- 
 fore, no caufe for wonder, nor even ground of com- 
 plaint, that they have much in common. Their 
 originality is fufficiently marked and diftinguifhed, 
 and their poetical merits — though in each cafe 
 graphic and piftorial — are not fo fimilar as to be 
 eafily confounded. The bond of their union, as 
 ufual in all fe6ts or fchools of poetry, is rather in 
 thatvi^hich is adventitious than eflential, — in what 
 is doubtful t hanin what commands our admiration 
 and efteem ; and this being the cafe, we fhall not 
 wonder to find a great refemblance in the external 
 form of their refpe61:ive poems. 
 
 Each of thefe works is remarkable as having the 
 length of an epic, the form of a drama, and the 
 nature of a rhapfody. It has, indeed, a beginning, 
 and fomewhere (if you can find it) a middle, and, 
 in the long run (if you have only patience) an end ; 
 but, in the fenfeof Ariftotle, it has none of thefe. 
 There is abfolutely nothing to prevent you rever- 
 fing the order of the fcenes, except it be a 
 fuperftitious notion, that the author muji have had 
 a reafon for difpofing them as they are at prefent 
 found. By this oriental ftyle of reading, you will 
 lofe none of its vivid pafTages, and may fave your- 
 felf fome general difappointment. Indeed, it is 
 very likely you will find it improve as you proceed 
 from that point, as to us it grew ferioufly worfe 
 while we proceeded from the other. 
 
 In each cafe, alfo, a poet is hero as well as 
 author. This is highly charadteriftic of thepoetical 
 fraternity in our day. It is evident that the modern
 
 MODERN POETRY. 185 
 
 bard efteems no ordinary theme deferving of his 
 fong ; and fo he turns to glorify himfelf, and wor- 
 fhip his own art by way of exercifing it. His 
 rhapfody is all about genius, — its forrows, ecftacies, 
 divinity, and might ; what it can do if it only 
 pleafes, and what it fcorns to do for fo miferable 
 an audience as humanity can furnifh. No longer 
 holding " the mirror up to Nature," he fits and 
 turns it fairly on himfelf, and finds trace of thunder 
 in every fear, and demon-beauty in every fantaftic 
 lock ; the blue of his eye fuggefts (to him) the 
 unutterable depths of heaven, and in the curl of 
 his lip he reads and pra6lifes contempt tor a paltry 
 world of profe. 
 
 It is eafy to find paflages in both of thefe per- 
 formances which may juftify the chara6ter we have 
 afcribed to them. The real difficulty is to meet 
 with a page in which Poefy, or Fame, or Genius is 
 not extolled or invoked in good fet terms ; though 
 fometimes this unfortunate paffion — for evidently 
 it is not reciprocated — finds a natural relief in 
 equally extreme abufe, after the true lovers' faftiion. 
 Walter (in the " Life Drama" of Mr. Smith) ex- 
 claims, with his ufual aptitude of comparifon, — 
 
 " I love thee, Poefy ! Thou art a rock ; 
 I, a weak wave, would break on thee, and die ! 
 
 ^ * * * 
 
 O Fame ! Fame ! Fame ! next grandeft word to God !" 
 
 And foon afterwards he breaks into prophecy, and 
 in this manner our author contrives, with charm- 
 ing innocence and naivete^ to foretell his own ap- 
 pearance : —
 
 i86 TENDENCIES OF 
 
 " My Friend ! a Poet muft ere long arife, 
 And with a royal fong fun-crown this age, 
 As a faint's head is with a glory crown'd ; 
 One who fhall hallow poetry to God, 
 And to its own high ufe, for poetry is 
 The grandeft chariot wherein King-thoughts ride 5 
 One who fhall fervent grafp the fword of fong. 
 As a ftern fwordfman grafps his keeneft blade, 
 To find the quickeft paffage to the heart. 
 A mighty Poet, whom this age fhall choofe 
 To be its fpokefman to all coming times." 
 
 How far Walter, or his author, is likely to " hallow 
 
 poetry to God," or be our "fpokefman to all 
 
 coming times," we fliall fee by-and-bye. In the 
 
 meanwhile let us hear how the poet of" Balder" 
 
 apoftrophizes his little matter (of nine thoufand 
 
 lines). 
 
 '' O thou firfl, laft work ! 
 Thou tardy-growing oak that art to be 
 My club of war, my ftaff, my fceptre ! Thou 
 Haft well-nigh gain'd thy height. My early-plann'd. 
 Long-meditate, and flowly-written epic ! 
 Turning thy leaves, dear labour of my life, 
 Almoft I feem to turn my life in thee. 
 Thy many books, my many votive years, 
 And thy full pages numbered with my days. 
 I could look back on all that I have built. 
 As on fome Memphian monument, wherein 
 The Kings do lie in glory, every one 
 Each in his houfe, and forward to thy blank, 
 Fair future, as one gazes into depths 
 Of necromantic cryftal, and beholds 
 The heavens come down." 
 
 The adoption of fuch fufpicious heroes as thefe 
 bodes no good to any laboured or ambitious poem. 
 If epic, it will be without incident, and full of 
 reverie ; if a drama, the choice fpirit will have all 
 the fpeaking to himfelf, and the fcene lack adion,
 
 MODERN POETRY. 187 
 
 chara6ler, and iiTue. There may, indeed, be 
 found room for much ingenious defcription, apropos 
 to anything or nothing; for a poetical hero may 
 furely exercife a double licence, — his author's, and 
 his own. Then, all the bits and fragments that 
 our poet has ever written, in every conceivable 
 mood and tenfe, may be fitly ufed up here. Thefe 
 are the conveniences of fuch a plan ; but they 
 ftop chiefly with the author's part, and do not 
 much befriend the reader. Many little poems do 
 not make a great one; ftill lefs do feveral frag- 
 ments make a whole. An epic poem is not manu- 
 faftured like a quilt ; nor do the pieces emptied, 
 whether in difguft or admiration, from a young 
 man's portfolio, fall, as by magic, into the true 
 dramatic mould. 
 
 But fkill and judgment of the higheft order have 
 often failed in coping with difficulties which our 
 young authors boldly add to thofe which lie naturally 
 in their way. So confident are they of their own 
 powers, and fo certain to attain the goal of fame, 
 that they put hurdles on the courfe, and take a five- 
 barred gate in pure bravado. Their choice of fub- 
 je6ts in thefe performances are inftances in proof 
 of this unlucky confidence. We do not think the 
 poetic character very fuitable for exprefs delinea- 
 tion by poetic art, even as a matter of occafional 
 choice, and when one true genius feeks thus to 
 re-animate another. In a brief monody an intereft 
 of the kind may poffiblybe fuftained, but hardly in 
 a poem of more artiftic form. We cannot think 
 that even Goethe has wholly fucceeded in his
 
 1 88 TENDENCIES OF 
 
 dramatic rendering of the life of Taflb. Byron's 
 "Lament" is more to our liking, becaufe it is lefs 
 both in pretenfion and extent. But in the cafe of 
 the authors before us, there is far lefs promife of 
 fuccefs. Their heroes — Walter in the one cafe, 
 and Balder in the other — have not the prejiige of 
 acknowledged genius ; they have no grand aflbcia- 
 tions to call up, nor any fadelefs laurels to difplay 
 upon their brows. Of courfe, then, they muft ap- 
 prove their claims to the character in the work 
 where they appear, which muft at once eftablifti 
 the author and the hero. Now, both Mr. Smith 
 and his anonymous brother have evidently felt this 
 obligation ; but we almoft defpair of conveying to 
 the reader any adequate idea of the great efforts, 
 and greater facrifices, they make in order to obtain 
 the charadter and praife of genius. It is clear that 
 they defign to give us the quinteflence of the 
 genuine article. Nothing that might for a moment 
 be taken, by thofe who hear it read, for fimple 
 profe, or recognized as the thought and language of 
 daily life, is fuffered upon their pages for a moment. 
 It is one unmitigated ftream of genius, — we fup- 
 pofe, — that fcorns all rule, as any river of fpirit will 
 overflow its bounds. 
 
 The " Life-Drama" of Mr. Smith is underftood 
 to be the work of a very young man ; and, there- 
 fore, we are not without hope that he may yet live 
 to fhow that friendly reproof has not been loft 
 upon him. In entertaining fuch a hope, of courfe 
 we acknowledge the reality of his poetic gifts, 
 which, indeed, are not inconfiderable. His poem
 
 MODERN POETRY. 189 
 
 is moftly free from metaphyfical obfcurities ; and 
 ifolated pi6tures of great beauty meet you on every 
 page. He has great eafe, as well as force of lan- 
 guage : though limited in range, his pencil is ex- 
 tremely vivid in expreflion. Here is a famous 
 character, drawn in three lines : — 
 
 "Befide that well I read the mighty bard, 
 Who clad himlelf with beauty, genius, wealth j 
 Then flung himfelf on his own pallion-pyre. 
 And was confumed." 
 
 Surely that comparifon is very fine. Another 
 fpecimen of his power, though tinged with his own 
 peculiar extravagance, is the following, addrefled 
 to an infant : — 
 
 " O thou bright thing, frefli from the hand of God ! 
 The motions of thy dancing limbs are fwayed 
 By the unceafmg mufic of thy being! 
 Nearer I feem to God when looking on thee. 
 'Tis ages fmce He made his youngell ftar : 
 His hand was on thee, as 't were yefterday, 
 Thou later Revelation ! Silver ftream, 
 Breaking with laughter from the lake divine 
 Whence all things flow ! O bright and fmging babe ! 
 What wilt thou be hereafter ?" 
 
 This, we fay, is a favourable example of our 
 author's manner ; but even in thefe lines we may 
 trace that extravagance of language which is one 
 of his prevailing faults. If we were to quote much 
 more, the reader would foon difcover his other 
 prominent defeft, namely, a fatalpoverty of ideas. 
 The poem lacks fubftance, form, and truth ; and, 
 in fpite of the brilliance of certain parts, it is moft 
 unfatisfacSlory as a whole. To the young and 
 ardent it muft neceflarily convey a falfe impreflion
 
 190 TENDENCIES OF 
 
 of life ; to the experienced and right-minded it 
 
 brings only wearinefs and impatience. The hero 
 
 is a poet, who knows nothing of mankind or fo- 
 
 ciety, and only the worft part of himfelf. He 
 
 talks as familiarly of fun, and moon, and ftars, and 
 
 mountains, as if they were his neareft neighbours ; 
 
 but of his actual neighbour — of man, in his fober 
 
 fphere of a6lion, with chaftened affections, and 
 
 reafonable hopes, and cheerful courfe of duties ; 
 
 of man, in his varied relationfhips and trials, as 
 
 yielding to or maftering his own fortunes — he 
 
 knows or tells us ablolutely nothing. Hence his 
 
 inceflant ufe of ftars, and clouds, and feas, and 
 
 crifped fmiles ; for ignorance inftinctively cowers 
 
 down behind extravagance. Not without reafon 
 
 does Walter fay, " I love the ftars too much." 
 
 Even when he condefcends to any terreftrial ob- 
 
 je61:s, they are always the largeft and moft gaudy of 
 
 their kind. His garden teems with paffion-flowers ; 
 
 his aviary is ftocked with birds of paradife. He 
 
 makes love in the moft fumptuous manner poftible. 
 
 There is nothing valuable or extenfive which is 
 
 not at his lady's fervice : of all his (promifed) pre- 
 
 fents, a kingdom is about the pooreft and moft 
 
 common-place. He is perfectly enamoured of a 
 
 lazy life, and would fill up the hours with endlefs 
 
 love and maundering. He is not aftiamed to 
 
 fay,— 
 
 " O let me live 
 To love, and flufli, and thrill — or let me die !" 
 
 Well, this Walter is the deliberately chofen 
 '* hero" of Mr. Smith ; not feleCted as a warning,
 
 MODERN POETRT. 
 
 IQI 
 
 but prefented as a model and example of what he 
 holds to be the higheft type of man, — the poet, 
 deftined "to fun-crown this age." We hardly fee 
 how the author can avoid the imputation of Wal- 
 ter's fentiments ; at any rate, he is refponfible for 
 the general chara6ler, as fixed and approved by 
 the acStion of the poem. Mr. Smith cannot fafely 
 plead the laws and licence of dramatic poetry ; for 
 by thefe he is condemned. The work is, indeed, 
 formally, though not virtually, dramatic ; and as 
 all that Walter fays or does is unrefuted in the 
 courfe of the action, and uncontrafted by any 
 nobler character, the evident moral is, that this 
 precious hero is the favourite of poet as well as 
 providence. His end is very edifying. Walter 
 the feducer has a tranfient paffion, or rather pai- 
 fage, of remorfe, induced, no doubt, by the recollec- 
 tion that he has fome fine things to fay in that 
 charadter ; and then, fuddenly brightening up, he 
 coolly determines to make a handfome figure in the 
 world yet, and afterwards, leaving it with contempt, 
 go as by right to heaven. Only hear him ! — 
 
 " I'll reft myfelf, O World, awhile on thee, 
 And, half in earneft, half in jeft, Til cut 
 My name upon thee, pal's the arch of Death, 
 Then on a ftair of ftars go up to God." 
 
 This is not indeed the actual finale of the piece ; 
 but nothing afterwards occurs to alter our imprel- 
 fion of the whole. Two friends of Weaker meet, 
 and fpeak of his poem as " a hit ;" they tell us, 
 moreover, that it was " done at a dalh.'* All this 
 very naturally confirms our imprefiion that the
 
 192 TENDENCIES OF 
 
 author and the hero are identical ; and, if fo, we 
 muft fay that Mr. Smith has very cleverly antici- 
 pated the popular effe6l of that ftyle of poetry in 
 v/hich he has indulged. In a later fcene Walter 
 meets with the injured Violet, whom he had de- 
 ferred, and profefles fuddenly to be cured of all his 
 evil and romantic habits, and turned to conftancy 
 in love, and duty in the ordinary affairs of life. 
 There is nothing to make this converfion probable 
 or permanent. What we muft regard as the moft 
 hopeful fign of improvement is the flighting way 
 in which he can endure to mention his favourite 
 ftars : he is brought to admit, — 
 
 " A ftar's a cold thing to a human heart, 
 And love is better than their radiance." 
 
 We gladly pardon the defe6live grammar, in con- 
 fideration of the fentiment, which indicates atleaft 
 fome meafure of returning reafon. 
 
 Let us turn for a moment to the other volume 
 before us. Who, then, and what, is " Balder ?" 
 Balder is not the divinity of Scandinavian mytho- 
 logy, — the Apollo of the North, — Balder the 
 Beautiful. Neither is he a perfonification of the 
 poetic chara6ler. We are afraid he is an Englifh 
 poet, who has taken to gloomy and unhealthy 
 ways. The only other perfonage in the drama — 
 excepting a Do6lor Paul, who appears but twice — 
 is Amy, the poet's wife. Between thefe two the 
 long difcourfes of the poem are fuftained, though 
 in very unequal proportions. Balder has the firft 
 words and the laft to himfelf, and a very unreafon-
 
 MODERN POETRY. 193 
 
 able fhare of all that comes between. Of dialogue 
 there is comparatively little. The poet foliloquizes 
 in his ftudy ; and when we are fuppofed (not 
 without reafon) to have had enough of his diftem- 
 pered thoughts, we find a fmall relief in hearing 
 " through the door the voice of Amy," which is 
 frequently mournful and melodious in the higheft 
 degree. We are not certain if we rightly apprehend 
 the prominent idea which difturbsthe reft of Bal- 
 der, and makes him fo unfociable a being ; but it 
 would feem that, having totally loft his relifh for 
 the affairs and fatisfa6tions of life, he has begun to 
 entertain a morbid and infane defire to behold the 
 face of Death. Death comes and takes the place 
 of his babe ; but this touches not him fo much as 
 Amy ; and as the babe lay on the bofom of his 
 wife, this is a dread exchange and awful fellowftiip 
 for her. The plaints of Amy, if occurring in a 
 piece of more dramatic and realizing power, would 
 be affecting in a high degree. From this point we 
 do not thoroughly underftand the author's drift, 
 but fufpedt that Balder would have more intimate 
 relations with the grim and fpedral foe. His wife 
 falls ill ; Balder threatens to murder Do£lor Paul, 
 if he do not cure her ; and yet — ftill unfatisfied and 
 craving — he contemplates her flaughter by his ov/n 
 hand; but whether moved by fome profound 
 reafon which he holds equal to a repeal of the for- 
 bidding ftatute, or urged by fate and irrefiftible im- 
 pulfe, is not clear. An opportunity is given for 
 the accomplifhment of his defign by the intrufion 
 of Amy into his ftudy, during his momentary 
 o
 
 194 TENDENCIES OF 
 
 abfence, with the purpofe of awaiting his return. 
 Balder enters, and takes up a fcroll : it is the MS. 
 of his great poem. He addrefles it in terms ex- 
 preffive of his hopes and admiration ; and when 
 he has got through only a page and a half of choice 
 comparifons, in which his fondnefs likens it to all 
 mute but mighty things, his wife makes herfelf 
 and her mifery known, and flings the ufurping 
 parchment out of the window into the moat. 
 Then follows a fcene of pallion and unreafon 
 which in itfelf is very beautiful and mafterly. The 
 lady's madnefs throws her into a fwoon ; and in 
 that unconfcious ftate her hufband is intent on 
 killing her, when the fcene fuddenly clofes. So 
 ends this ftrange volume ; but not fo the work ; 
 for this is only the firft portion 3 and whether 
 tithe or moiety who fhall tell ? 
 
 The following lines, forming part of a long 
 eulogy prepared by Balder for his vi6lim. Amy, 
 will put the reader in pofTellion of the manner 
 which prevails through the entire volume ; it con- 
 tains, in brief, almoft all the charadteriftic blemifhes 
 and beauties of our author's ftyle : — 
 
 *' So the world blefled her ; and another world, 
 Like fpheres of cloud that inter-penetrate 
 Till each is either, met and mixed with this. 
 And lb the angel Earth that bears her Heaven 
 About her, fo that wherefoe'erin fpace 
 Her footftep ftayeth, we look up, and fay- 
 That Heaven is there — She moved, and made all times 
 And leaibns equal ; trode the mortal life 
 Immortally, and with her human tears 
 Bedewed the everlalHng, till the Paft 
 And Future lapfed into a golden Now 
 For ever beft. She was much like the moon
 
 MODERN POETRT, 195 
 
 Seen in the day-time, that by day receives 
 
 Like joy with us, but when our night is dark, 
 
 Lit by the changelefs fun we cannot fee, 
 
 Shineth no lefs. And fhe was like the moon 
 
 Becaufe the beams that brightened her paffed o'er 
 
 Our dark heads, and we knew them not for light 
 
 Till they came back from hers j and {he was like 
 
 The moon, that wherefoe'er appeared her wane 
 
 Or crefcent, was no lofs or gain in her, 
 
 But in the changed beholder. I, who faw 
 
 Her conftant countenance, and had its orb 
 
 Still full on me, with whom fhe rofe and fet, 
 
 Knew file had no lunation. In herfelf 
 
 The elements of holinefs were merged 
 
 In white completion, and all graces did 
 
 The part of each. To man or Deity 
 
 Her finlefs life had nought whereof to give 
 
 Of worfe or better, for fhe was to God 
 
 As a Imile to a face. Ah, God of Beauty ! 
 
 Where in this lifelefs pifture my poor hand 
 
 Hath done her wrong, forgive ; fhe was Thy fmile, — 
 
 How could I paint her ? That I dared effay 
 
 Her image, and am innocent, I plead 
 
 Refifllefs intuition, which believes 
 
 Where knowledge fails, and powerlefsto divine 
 
 Or to confound, ftill calls the face and fmile 
 
 Not one, but twain, and contradifts the fenfe 
 
 Material, which, beholding her, beholds 
 
 EfTence, not Effluence, nor Thine, but Thee." 
 
 The faults of this elaborate defcription — which 
 is only the fummary or concluding part of one far 
 more extenfive — are radical and pervading. It is 
 extravagant in the extreme ; and yet, after all, what 
 qualities that really command love and efteem, 
 are told us of this lady ? It is only a tranfcen- 
 dental doll that the poet has drefled up in mift and 
 moonbeam, without one human feature to attraft 
 our regard or engage our confidence. Perhaps, 
 innocence — the innocence native to unfullied 
 creatures — is the charm intended to prevail
 
 196 TENDENCIES OF 
 
 throughout the picture. Not to urge that this is 
 falfe to nature, and far beyond the range of our 
 belief and fympathy, the author manifeftly fails in 
 the embodiment of his fair ideal. Not in fuch 
 ethereal graces did Milton clothe the Eve of Para- 
 dife, — not fo dangeroufly did he venture to con- 
 found her eflence with that of the Divine and Per- 
 {qB. Being ; yet, in that lovely portraiture, wq 
 have all that is womanly, and true, and pure, — 
 humanity idealized by the perfection of its feveral 
 qualities, and feminine afFe£lion and devotion fub- 
 fifting in the lovelieft of human moulds. But this 
 picture of the poet's Amy is furely moft unreal ; 
 we can form no conception of fuch a being as he 
 labours to depi6t j it is fo fhadowy that the moon, 
 intended to inveft it only, ftreams fairly through it ; 
 and, at the firft light of day, — the firft dawn of re- 
 flection, — it melts infenfibly off, and we have not 
 the faintefl notion left us of this unearthly beauty. 
 Yet, as we are bound to believe that Amy was 
 everything to her enamoured poet, what muft we 
 think of her deliberate and barbarous murder at 
 his hands ? Surely, no doubt fhould have been 
 allowed to reft upon our minds of the nature and 
 ftrength of motive leading to this diabolic purpofe. 
 Of the final and prefiding moral of this un- 
 finifhed poem we cannot pretend to fpeak ; but 
 the tendency of the part before us we do nothefi- 
 tate both to judge and condemn. Apart from the 
 outrageous action with which it feems to conclude, 
 — the efFedt of which is fo fubordinate that we omit 
 it from our calculation, — there is more than
 
 MODERN POETRr, 197 
 
 enough to fatlsfy us, that no time can be lefs pro- 
 fitably fpent than that devoted to its perufal. Many 
 of its faults originate, no doubt, in that defective 
 ftrudture to which our introductory remarks had 
 reference ; but we muft point them out now, in 
 the particular fhape which they afTume, as grofs 
 faults of exaggeration and difproportion, both in 
 ftyle and fentiment. 
 
 The ftyle of " Balder" may be pronounced 
 equally remarkable for beauties and defe6ts ; but it 
 muft be underftood that its beauties are limited to 
 the minor quahties of expreffion and illuftration, 
 while the larger attributes of ftyle, deftined to 
 harmonize and order and fubordinate the parts, 
 are almoft wholly wanting. It is frequently ob- 
 fcure as well as gorgeous, feemingly written with 
 great facility, and certainly read with a fluent eafe 
 which makes the fearch for meaning, however ne- 
 ceflary, quite impra6ticable. Once launched upon 
 a tide of verfe fo affluent and fparkling, the reader 
 is foon carried out of his own, if not his author's 
 depth ; and, hopelefs of regaining his feet, refigns 
 himfelf to float away while all the willowy and 
 monotonous banks glide by. The effect of this 
 kind of poetry upon the mind is very fingular. 
 Having no earthly intereft, it has, neverthelefs, a 
 certain charm for the bewildered fenfe. Abound- 
 ing far more in brilliant imagery than diftin6l ideas, 
 the reader is aftonifhed by the opulence of lan- 
 guage and the endlefs fucceflion of pi<5lures pre- 
 fented, often with great vividnefs, to the mind. 
 This excefs and total infubordination of imagery is
 
 198 TENDENCIES OF 
 
 charaaeriftic of the fchool of rhapfodifts and 
 dreamers. Sometimes one feeble circumftance or 
 thought — and that not arifmg out of any incident 
 in the poem — is treated to a train of ten or even 
 twenty fimiles, each far outfhining its poor ante- 
 cedent, which, of courfe, is quite forgotten long 
 before the laft illuftration has appeared and 
 vanifhed. Sometimes this poetry is metaphyfical, 
 and fometimes it is eminently fenfuous ; or rather 
 it is each by turns, as the thought and illuftration 
 fucceffively predominate. The thread upon which 
 much of the delicate and fplendid imagery of 
 " Balder'' is ftrung, is a peculiar and morbid ftrain 
 of fpeculation, arifmg in the moody poet's mind. 
 This pfychological condition, and its curious phe- 
 nomena, are not eafily defcribed by a pen fo blunt 
 as ours, but may be found in all their ftrange and 
 intricate proportions in the poet's endlefs reverie. 
 The following lines have more or lefs refemblance 
 to many hundred others, didated by this fame 
 quejiionahle fpirit : — 
 
 " Am I one and every one, 
 Either and all ? The innumerable race 
 My Paft j thefe myriad-faced men my hours ? 
 What ! have I fill'd the earth, and knew it not ? 
 Why not ? How other ? Am I not immortal ? 
 And if immortal now, immortal then j 
 And if immortal then, exiftent now j 
 But where ? Thou living, moving neighbour, Man, 
 Art thou my former felf, — me and not me ? 
 Did I begin, and fhall I end ? Was I 
 The firft, and (hall I one day, as the laft, 
 Stand in the front of the long file of man, 
 And, looking back, behold it winding out. 
 Far through the unfearch'd void, and meafuring time 
 Upon eternity, and know myfelf
 
 MODERN POETRY, 199 
 
 Sufficient, and that, like a comet, I 
 Pafs'd through my heaven, and fill'd it ?" 
 
 We admit that the metaphyfical idea embodied in 
 thefe lines is exprefTed In a highly poetical manner; 
 and perhaps it is not more, but lefs, abfurd in fuch 
 a drefs than its cuftomary ftyle of fober profe. Yet 
 a little of this kind of writing is enough ; and we 
 become naturally impatient when it is found to 
 prevail through fo large a quantity of verfe, and in 
 a formof compofition where it was leaftto be ex- 
 pe<5led. 
 
 Turning to a later part of the volume, we find 
 Balder thus pompoufly witnefling to the vanity of 
 human life : — 
 
 " I have tried all philofophies ; I know 
 The height and depth of fcience ; I have dug 
 The emSalmed truth of Karnak, and have iail'd 
 Tigris and Ganges to the facred fource 
 Of eaftern wifdom ; I have lived a life 
 Of noble means to noble ends ; and here 
 I turn to the four winds, and fay, * In vain, 
 In vain, in vain, in vain!' " 
 
 Surely we ought to be made to fee more diftinftly 
 how the ufe of " noble means to noble ends" were 
 fo entirely fruitlefs ; throughout the prefent work 
 no fuch ends or means are employed or fought 
 by Balder. Befides, it is very eafy, but not equally 
 artiftic, for an author to afTert, in fo many words, 
 the vaft learning and experience of his hero, when 
 of this, alfo, wholly wanting to be aflured by fome 
 collateral evidence : — otherwife we are treated only 
 to a truifm, the echo which every human heart 
 awakes to the preacher's '* vanity of vanities." In 
 the cafe of Balder, — dreamer as he is, — fo large a
 
 200 TENDENCIES OF 
 
 range of learning and experience is juft what we 
 are moft difpofed to doubt. He feems to have 
 enervated his foul, and anticipated the voice of 
 " vanity," by abftra6ting himfelf from all the 
 wholefome influences of daily life and common 
 duty. To idle on the grafs in his beau-ideal of an 
 earthly Paradife ; to do a day's work would evi- 
 dently fill him with fatigue and difguft, if the bare 
 notion of it did not caufe his feeble nature to collapfe. 
 He cries (like Walter) in the fpint of this luxu- 
 rious philofophy, — 
 
 " Alas ! that one 
 Should life the days of fummer but to live, 
 And breathe but as the needful element 
 The ftrange fuperfluous glory of the air ! 
 Nor rather ftand apart in awe befide 
 The untouch'd Time, and faying o'er and o'er 
 In love and wonder, *Thefe are fummer days.'" 
 
 And fo this precious fentiment is made the frequent 
 burden of his fong, and more or lefs precifely its 
 mufical refrain ; for our bard is found flighting to 
 the laft 
 
 ** The untouch'd Time, and faying o'er and o'er 
 In love and wonder, * Thefe are happy days.' " 
 
 We prefume it is not necefl^ary to occupy more 
 time or fpace by further extracts from this poem. 
 It is clear that neither nature nor humanity is 
 fairly reprefented in the pages of " Balder." For 
 the one you have the colour without the compofi- 
 tion of Turner ; the bright, headlong, and dif- 
 ordered rack of clouds, but not the delicate and
 
 MODERN POETRT. 201 
 
 truthful line of coaft. For the other you have the 
 vivid palette of the pre-Raphaelite, but not his 
 faithful and pathetic pencil. To the laft-named 
 fchool of art the poem bears fome ftriking points 
 of refemblance ; but, on examination, v/e fhall 
 find more of contraft than coincidence in thefe 
 artiftic fchools. Both are obfervant of the delicate 
 and the minute in nature, and full of exquifite by- 
 play ; but the pre-Raphaelite is a realift, and the 
 modern poet an ideal rhapfodift ; the one trufts to 
 find due fentiment and moral refult from an almoft 
 literal exhibition of the truth ; the other dreams 
 his dream of metaphyfical and wildefi: beauty, and 
 then rifles nature for images of like power, like 
 majefty, like evanefcence, or like grace. We 
 fhould lefs regret the ftru6tural defers of this 
 poem, if it abounded in aphorifms of fubftantial 
 worth. When our great poet drew the character 
 of a man moft worldly-wife, he put into his mouth 
 an involuntary tribute to virtue, that is in admirable 
 keeping and full of moral truth. The counfel of 
 Polonius to his fon is fummed up in one brief 
 maxim : — 
 
 "To thine own felfbe true, 
 And it muft follow, as the night the day, 
 Thou canft not then be falle to any man." 
 
 How well does this exprefs the linked order of the 
 moral virtues ! — the focialnot only confiftent with, 
 but included in, the perfonal, and both fo intimately 
 joined, that to do higheft juftice to yourfelf, is alfo 
 to fulfil the laws of brotherhood and duty to your 
 neighbour. Our author, among all his brilliant
 
 202 TENDENCIES OF 
 
 fayings, finds no opportunity of teaching fuch a 
 truth. In the *' Night Thoughts" of Dr. Young, 
 there are a thoufand inftances of the value of this 
 fecondary element of poetry, and the more valuable 
 in that work, becaufe the primary artiftic element 
 is wanting. But nothing of the kind rewards the 
 reader of this ftrange farrago. 
 
 In taking leave of Mr. Smith and his companion, 
 we hope that none who have gone with us thus far 
 together, can miftake the real grounds of cenfure 
 upon which we have proceeded. If we have fome- 
 times fpoken lightly of their defeats, it is not 
 becaufe we under-rate the ferious mifchief of fuch 
 productions. If many features expofe them to 
 flight and ridicule, their fpirit and tendency make 
 them obnoxious alfo to our juft reproof. Our 
 readers have had fome means of judging of the 
 freedom, bordering upon profanity, with which 
 they make light ufe of the name and chara6ler of 
 God ; but this is done to an extent which our 
 few extrads could not adequately fhow. On the 
 lower grounds of art their condemnation is as 
 ftriftly merited. 
 
 The author of" Balder" is the more deferving 
 of reproof, though perhaps only the lefs Hkely to 
 profit by it, becaufe it is his fecond work and moll: 
 deliberate choice. Yet talents fo high as thofe 
 which this author poflelTes, were not given to be 
 fquandered in intemperate fancies, which, while 
 they enervate the recklefs pofTefi^or, can only de- 
 prave the fine imagination and relax the moral 
 tone of rifing manhood. The youth of England,
 
 MODERN POETRT. 203 
 
 if they are to meet manfully the duties of their 
 future life, muft be hardy in their intellectual paf- 
 time as well as in their holiday fports ; for the 
 one is as necefTary to their mental and moral health, 
 as the other to their phyfical maturity. To fteep 
 their minds in poetry like that which we have 
 turned from, is about as wife as to fpend their fum- 
 mer evenings, and make their nightly bed, in a 
 (teaming hot-houfe, only for the privilege of re- 
 pofmg under the leaves of fome huge exotic. How 
 much better to follow the mufe of Scott over 
 breezy heath and mountain fell ; to watch the 
 feaft in Brankfome Hall, or purfue the flying flag 
 as he feeks " the wild heaths of Uum-Var !" It is 
 the faftiion, we know, to decry the poetic achieve- 
 ments of Sir Walter Scott, to ftyle them (what, 
 indeed, they are) mere verfified romances : and 
 we may admit that many of his contemporaries, 
 as Campbell, Rogers, and Coleridge, ftruck loftier 
 mufic from their lyres, and warbled a fweeter and 
 a rarer fong. But let the new generation of poets 
 beware how they pufli the ftrain too far, and give 
 us fo much that is intenfely poetical (as they intend 
 it) ; and efpecially how they permit the expref- 
 fional parts of poetry to overlay its more fubftan- 
 tial elements. The fure efFedt of this will be to 
 drive us back to the homelier but healthier ftan- 
 dards, and among the reft to the plain but nervous 
 minftrelfy of Scott, with its fimple melody and 
 vivid frefhnefs, its hearty fympathy with external 
 nature, and its fkilful blending of the familiar and 
 romantic.
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM. 
 
 HE fpirit which prefides over compofi- 
 tion of the pureft fort, is known by 
 the name of tafte -, the choice and 
 order of language in which it finds 
 expreffion, is denominated ftyle. Is the former 
 ever a fuperfluous gift ? Is the latter a merely 
 fuperficial quality ? Thefe inquiries we propofe to 
 anfwer, firft by a dire6t, and then by a more ex- 
 plicit, negative. 
 
 There is the clofeft poffible relation and interac- 
 tion between the form and fubftance of literary 
 works ; and the lighteft graces of a given produc- 
 tion will be found rather chara6teriftic than inde- , 
 pendent of its eflential merits. In ftyle we have, I 
 therefore, an indication as well as an inftrument of 
 truth. It is a teft of the competence, fidelity, and 
 triumph of an author, — at leaft, within certain 
 obvious limits, — as well as a guarantee of his le- 
 gitimate influence in the world of mind. Even 
 the flighteft produ6l of literary tafte, however frail 
 and indefinable its graces may appear, is not to be
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM, 205 
 
 too lightly rated ; for if thefe graces fhould be 
 clofely analyfed and obferved, it will be found that 
 the appofite and the truthful are their prevailing 
 elements, and the fource alike of their beauty, 
 chara6ler, and moral worth. 
 
 It may furprife fome readers to fpealc of the 
 moral worth of mere works of tafte ; it will fur- 
 prife them yet more to afTert the immoral tendency 
 of produftions groflly deficient in this quality. It 
 feems, indeed, to be very generally unfufpe6ied, 
 that weak, prefumptuous, and foolifh writings, and 
 fuch as are loaded with fpurious ornament, or filled 
 with falfe conclufions, are a6tually demoralizing in 
 their effects upon fociety ; that they gradually, but 
 furely, deprave the moral fenfe, as well as darken 
 the underflanding ; that too frequently they are 
 the fource of error and confufion, in regard to fome 
 Df the authoritative do6lrines and duties of our 
 fphere. Yet, as a fa6t, the alliance of falfe tafte 
 ind unfixed principles is very notable in the popu- 
 ar literature of our day. Efpecially is this to be 
 ^bferved in the tendency to indulge in factitious 
 fentiment, or in bold, unwarranted, and profane 
 malogies, — in the difpofition to remove ancient 
 andmarks, and to confound important diftin6lions. 
 [n thefe refpe6ls the caufe of virtue and religion is 
 jften ferioufly betrayed by its profefTed fervants. 
 ^hile infidelity — at leaft in fome quarters — is 
 tnitten with a fatal love of truth, with a fpirit of 
 :andour, diligence, and ilri(5l inquiry ; and is thus 
 nduced to bring its monftrous features to the light, 
 uid fcare thereby both wife and fimple from its
 
 2o6 POPULAR CRITICISM, 
 
 embrace ; irrellgion, on the other hand, is foftered 
 and encouraged by loofe ftatements and florid pic- 
 tures proceeding from the hands of nominally 
 Chriftian men. It is well that we fhould under- 
 ftand the real danger of our literature ; that, namely, 
 wherein its worft chara6i:er begins, and which is 
 moft fwift, though moft infidious, in its advances. 
 There is little to be dreaded from the purfuits of 
 fcientific men, foberly and fairly conducted, nor 
 from their conclufions, duly weighed and openly 
 ftated, even when thefe men may be fufpecled of 
 no love for truth beyond its material manifeftations. 
 But much evil is to be apprehended, and, indeed, is 
 daily witnefled, from loofe and paflionate appeals 
 to the imagination and aiFe6lions ; from a ftyle 
 which never deviates from the falfe heroic pitch, 
 leaping from one pit of bathos to another ; from a 
 criticifm which runs riot among follies it was in- 
 vented to reftrain, which knows neither difcrimina- 
 tion nor temper, which deals out hafty and whole- 
 fale meafures of admiration and difguft, which 
 confounds human genius with divine infpiration, 
 and brackets the all-unequal names of holy Pro- 
 phets and profane and faithlefs poets. 
 
 The evils we aflert and deplore may commonly 
 be traced (as will prefently be fhown) to glaring 
 incapacity and prefumption in the clafs of writers 
 we refer to ; but they are ferioufly aggravated by 
 want of common faithfulnefs and care in the dis- 
 charge of ferious duties. The lack of diligent 
 fidelity is produdlive of great mifchief in any call- 
 ing in which man may engage. Even a fingle fault
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM, 207 
 
 is never ifolated in its charafter, but is propagated 
 in a thoufand fad refults. The neglecSt of any duty, 
 the moft private and perfonal, — the committal of a 
 wrong in any fphere, the moft limited and tempo- 
 rary, — is fraught with evils which reach far beyond 
 both our eftimation and control ; and only that 
 the providence and grace of God are continually 
 countera6ting this fatal pronenefs of evil to extend 
 and multiply itfelf, we fhould fee fuch efFecSls 
 fpringing up from our daily a6ts of thoughtleflhefs, 
 frivolity, and pride, as we now aflbciate only with 
 crimes of the blackeft hue. But evil is not lefs 
 manifeftly evil becaufe of this benignant law. Its 
 efFe6ls ftill extend themfelves to the third and 
 fourth generation. The fpoken lie, the momen- 
 tary fneer, are neither flight nor tranfient in their 
 influence J they re-appear and are re-echoed upon 
 the lips of children's children. But in written 
 books falfehood has a charter and dominion ftill 
 more hoftile to the interefts and authority of truth. 
 And literary falfehood is pernicious, not in propor- 
 tion to its magnitude or malice, but to its unfuf- 
 pe6ted character, to its alliance with the femblance 
 of fome, and the reality of other, virtues, to its 
 appeal to the vain imaginations and idle prejudices 
 of the reader. Beginning in the thoughtlefs mif- 
 ufe of words, it may end in the confufion of all 
 moral truth. The fteps of this declenfion may be 
 diftindly traced. Extravagant afl^ertion always 
 involves fome departure from ftri6l rectitude, as 
 well as from the rules of tafte. Unwarrantable 
 praife or cenfure is mifleading from a fimilar excefs.
 
 2o8 POPULAR CRITICISM, 
 
 Even the mifemployment of a word may ferioufly 
 affe6t the judgment of a reader in reference to 
 fome important principle ; may confound diftinc- 
 tions neceflary to be duly kept in view, or in- 
 fenfibly create a prejudice the moft lafting and 
 unjuft. It will, therefore, commonly happen, that 
 the lofs of time incurred, and the vacuity or diffipa- 
 tion of mind induced, will be among the lighteft 
 evils of inferior literature ; falfe opinions and fatal 
 preferences are heedleffly engendered j the habit 
 of intellectual and moral difcipline is loft in the 
 craving after pernicious ftimulus ; and an uncon- 
 querable diftafte for chafte and thoughtful com- 
 pofition cuts oiFthe very hope of future elevation 
 or improvement. And hence we may learn the 
 value, above all natural gifts and all external 
 acquirements, of that careful, diligent, and con- 
 fcientious fpirit of authorfhip which loves truth for 
 its own fake, — truth in fubftance, in tone, in detail, 
 in the lighteft word, — and fees no merit in the 
 moft ingenious and attra6live paradox. 
 
 The theme opened up to us by thefe reflections 
 is of no fmall extent ; but, in the hw pages allotted 
 to this article, we can deal with it only in one de- 
 partment. We ftiall proceed to fpeak, then, of 
 the moft prevalent and injurious of thefe exifting 
 evils. Some nuifances there are which cry out for 
 immediate abatement, and this is one of them. We 
 hold that both the manifeft deterioration of the 
 public tafte, and the threatening confufion of 
 moral truth, are mainly due to the example and 
 encouragement of our popular critics and fine
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM, 209 
 
 writers ; and of thefe the moft notorious offender 
 is Mr. George Gilfillan. 
 
 Many reafons concur to fix our choice upon the 
 writings of this gentleman, and to juftify the free 
 handling we propofe to give them. The popu- 
 larity of their author we naturally infer, both from 
 the frequency with which his name is quoted in 
 the provincial newfpapers, and the fa6t that one of 
 his works has been encouraged into a third feries, 
 and another into a third edition. This popularity 
 among a large clafs of readers involves no fmall 
 amount of influence, and no light meafure of re- 
 fponfibility. But Mr. Gilfillan has a further claim 
 upon our attention. In the pages of no other 
 living writer, at leaft of equal reputation, could we 
 find fo many prime examples of fo many literary 
 faults. He reprefents very fairly and fully one 
 confiderable fe61:ion of the prefs, with its coarfe 
 attra61:ions and many blemiihes and imperfections ; 
 and we are not furprifed to learn from himfelf, 
 that he contributes largely to four or five of the 
 popular ferials of the day. He will, no doubt, be 
 flattered to learn that traces of his " dafhing" hand 
 are very vifible on their pages ; for there he leaves 
 his mark in unmiftakable chara6ters. 
 
 We do not fcruple at the utmoft freedom in 
 dealing with the public character of Mr. Gilfillan. 
 His own pra6lice would releafe us from any great 
 reftraint of delicacy, and, indeed, would juftify us 
 in a degree of licence which we decline to ufe. 
 To the judgment of a ftri6t and candid criticifm, 
 he is particularly open. He cannot plead youth 
 p
 
 210 POPULAR CRITICISM. 
 
 in bar of juft feverity, fince we learn from his own 
 pages that it is full twenty years fince he attained 
 the age of manhood. He cannot plead inex- 
 perience, fmce he is a voluminous and inceflant 
 writer ; and the volume now before us is a third 
 feries of literary verdicts deliberately colle6ted and 
 re-iflued to the world. He cannot plead modefty 
 of pretenfion, or a defire to {hun the obfervation 
 of the public ; for the fame volume exhibits him 
 in the character of a judge, claiming a wide and 
 comprehenfive jurifdi61:ion, — a critic of men and 
 affairs as well as of books and authors, — a critic of 
 critics, challenging the judgments of fuch men as 
 Macaulay and Hallam, and approving or condemn- 
 ing, by his own ftandard, the weights and meafures 
 long current in the world of criticifm. 
 
 Confidering our own pofition, we are not likely 
 to fet up too high a ftandardof critical excellence, 
 or to demand perfection from Mr. Gilfillan in the 
 exercife of the functions he has afTumed. We 
 have no idea, for inftance, that the talents of a 
 critic muft needs emulate the genius of his author ; 
 and, indeed, this is one of the very grounds of our 
 complaint againft Mr. Gilfillan. Under an ex- 
 aggerated notion of the fympathy exifting between 
 a genial critic and a great orator or poet, he 
 abfolutely feems to run a race with them, and to 
 difpute their prize. This is not a mere occafional 
 fally of our critic ; it is very deliberately defended, 
 as well as uniformly praCtifed, by him. He 
 actually fays, in fo many words, " Every criticifm 
 on a true poem fhould be itfelf a poem." We
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM. 211 
 
 fliall prefently fee what ftrange follies he is be- 
 trayed into by thefe fudden and unchecked im- 
 pulfes of admiration. 
 
 We may afk, in pafling, what is the value of 
 this '* genial criticifm ?" Surely, as criticifm, it is 
 of the leaft poffible fignificance or value. There 
 are cafes, it is readily granted, in which the ab- 
 fence of a certain fympathy with the loftieft mood 
 and the moft delicate fancies of genius, is a dif- 
 qualification for the critical office, at leaft in fo far 
 as thefe cafes are concerned. But every critic is 
 not called, nor is any frequently, to give a public 
 eftimate of thefe high and peculiar monuments of 
 greatnefs ; and even when this qualification is 
 plainly defiderated, the judgment pronounced will 
 not greatly err, if formed according to recognized 
 and important principles. An example may ferve 
 to make our meaning clear. Dr. Johnfon fur- 
 nifhes, in his own character, a ftriking inftance of 
 defective fympathy ; but his writings are no lefs 
 ftriking fpecimens of mafterly criticifm. He had 
 no very delicate perception of the refined and 
 beautiful, — no ear for the moft delicious fnatches 
 of poetic mufic. His limited tafte permitted him 
 only partially to appreciate the airy fancies of a 
 Collins, or the fuperb imaginntion of a Gray. The 
 elements of Milton's minor poetry were too fubtle, 
 and their combination too exquifite, to fenfibly 
 affect his groflTer organization, or find an index of 
 fufficient delicacy in that coloftal mind. Yet even 
 to thefe he did no pofitive injuftice ; of fome of 
 them he has faid finer things than their moft paf-
 
 212 POPULAR CRITICISM. 
 
 fionate admirers. In all the other countlefs fub- 
 je6i:s fubmitted to his difcriminating power, he 
 ftands confefTedly the firfl: of critics. And why 
 fo ? Simply becaufe the moft neceflary and 
 valuable qualities of the critic were poflefTed by 
 him in plenitude and perfe6lion. For thefe quali- 
 ties, be it remembered, are not rightly concerned 
 with the rareft individual beauties of authorfhip. 
 When an orator or poet " fnatches a grace beyond 
 the reach of art," the critic may duly point it out, 
 and, if need be, defend this occafional exercife of 
 the prerogative of genius ; but to the art his duty 
 is for the moft part properly reftridled, and under 
 its generous laws he is to fee the products of the 
 individual mind moft happily fubdued. 
 
 The chara6i:er and fphere of true criticifm will 
 be better underftood, if we remember that it is de- 
 ductive in its origin, and difciplinary in its applica- 
 tion. It is<^(f^«^/i;^inits origin. The higheft critics 
 the world has yet feen — from Ariftotle down to 
 Addifon and Johnfon — have all deduced the rules 
 of compofition, and framed its feveral ftandards, 
 rather from the examples of the poets than from 
 neceflary and abftract laws. What the grammarian 
 does for ordinary language, that the critic performs 
 in refpe6t to the more exalted language of the 
 mufe. Ariftotle himfelf is the fervant rather than 
 the Procruftean tyrant of the fons of genius , for 
 thefe are a fountain of law unto themfelves , and it 
 was the humbler duty of the Stagyrite to tranflate 
 the art of Homer into axioms and rules of fcience, 
 and to publifti them as the authorized grammar of
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM. 213 
 
 poetry thenceforth. And If any demur to this re- 
 ftri6lion, and complain that the chartered rights of 
 genius are fo confined or forfeited, we beg them to 
 confider that the grammar of poetry Is not only 
 taken from the mafters of fong themfelves, and is 
 therefore fubftantially and perpetually corre6t, but 
 that, like other grammars, it is capable of large ad- 
 ditions and improvements from time to time ; that, 
 as frefh examples of the language of the mufe are 
 fuggefted and given off by the deeper and wider 
 experience of humanity, the vocabulary and theory 
 of the critic alfo will expand, and find new illuftra- 
 tions to widen and confirm its ancient laws. So 
 we find It In the hIfi:ory of literature : criticifm has 
 followed In the wake of the advancing arts, If at a 
 becoming diftance, yet with equal fteps. The 
 great principles of criticifm, like thofe ofuniverfal 
 grammar, are the fame in every tongue, and are 
 applicable through all time to works in poetry, 
 eloquence, hlftory, or the fine arts j and if it re- 
 quired the genius of an Arlftotle to formulate thefe 
 principles in the beginning, It is competent to a 
 Wilfon or a Dallas to carry them further towards 
 perfedtion, and give to his theoria nobler degrees 
 of beauty, majefty, and ftrength. 
 
 But for all practical purpofes, criticifm muft be 
 confidered as one of the applied arts ; and. In this 
 characSler, Its a6tion is ftrlilly difciplinary . To 
 conferve the purity of language, and maintain the 
 dignity of letters ; to reftrain the exceffes of youth- 
 ful genius, and to point out the models of trueft 
 excellence j to fupply the defe6ls, and countera6t
 
 214 POPULAR CRITICISM. 
 
 the biafes of partial education ; to encourage noble 
 effort ; to reprove unworthy affectation ; to warn 
 againft the indulgence of a luxuriant fancy, and to 
 cherifn the exercife of fober thought as the bafis of 
 every genuine performance, — thefe are, in brief, 
 the duties to be confcientioufly fulfilled. For their 
 adequate difcharge is demanded, no doubt, fome 
 natural advantage, — fomething akin to that excel- 
 lence which the critic is to promote and keep ever 
 before him ; for how fhall he venture publicly to 
 approve and crown what he does not confcioufly 
 or well appreciate ? But the qualities moft efTen- 
 tial are good judgment and cultivated tafle, — a 
 power of difcrimination which refides in a ftrong 
 native underflanding, when developed by careful 
 exercife, and furnifhed with confiderable know- 
 ledge. We would not overflate the accomplifh- 
 ments necefTary for the due performance of literary 
 cenforfhip in this age of vafl literary produ6livenefs. 
 Happily they are not many, nor, for the mofl part, 
 fuch as may not, with diligence, be almofl in- 
 definitely improved. They are nearly all included 
 in a loving intimacy with the elder mailers of com- 
 pofition, combined with a readinefs to greet the 
 ancient law in its neweft manifeflation, and to re- 
 cognize both variety and degrees of excellence in 
 the kingdom of mind. Perhaps only the felf- 
 affertion of ignorance and intolerance are abfolute 
 difqualifications. Our profeflional critics form 
 now a large and influential body ; but they have 
 no legiflative function. They are fimply an 
 organized police, bound to maintain order and
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM. 215 
 
 decorum in the republic of letters ; or, at the moft, 
 they are its magiftrates, fet " for the punifhment 
 of evil-doers, and the praife of them that do well." 
 It is not neceflary for them to difcufs the merits of 
 the laws which they adminifter ; it is ftill more 
 unfeemly to promulge and a6l upon impromptu 
 canons of their own. 
 
 The lefTon we would draw from thefe con- 
 fiderations fhall be very fimply ftated. While the 
 pofitive merits of a critic may be of almoft any 
 quality and degree, there are certain negative ones 
 which are indifpenfable. It is the leaft we can 
 expe6t from a literary cenfor, that he fhould not 
 himfelf infringe the literary proprieties. If he do 
 not fenfibly elevate, he muft not actually corrupt, 
 the public tafte. Any wanton experiments upon 
 language, any unfeemly afFeilation or difplay, any 
 indulgence of tawdry rhetoric or foolifli extrava- 
 gance of tone, is not only a dereliction of private 
 (iuty, but a betrayal of the public intereft. Above 
 all, or next only to that honefty of intention which 
 we will aflume to influence, in fome meafure, the 
 moft thoughtlefs and incapable, it is neceffary that 
 no infirmity of temper fhould interfere with the 
 deliberate mood of juftice, or fubftitute the lan- 
 guage of coarfe perfonal inventive for that of 
 critical difpleafure. 
 
 Now all thefe blemifhes are very prominent in 
 the pages of Mr. Gillillan. In effeft, if not in 
 intention, he is a corrupter and a mifleader of 
 youth. He is not free from faults of language 
 which would difgrace the themes of a third-clafs
 
 2i6 POPULAR CRITICISM. 
 
 fchool-boy. His ftyle is always loofe, and very often 
 turgid ; epithets the leaft appropriate are chofen 
 only for their fuppofed efFecStivenefs, and yoked 
 together without parity or propriety of any kind. 
 His rafhnefs hurries him into aflertions of the 
 wildeft nature, and his freedom borders clofely 
 upon profanity. And, as if thefe were fo many 
 virtues which make our author impatient of infe- 
 rior merit, and give to him an unufual licence in 
 the language of reproach, he fcolds in good fet 
 terms, and in a ftyle which lacks only difcrimination 
 and decency to make it pofitively fevere. 
 
 The charadleriftic laft mentioned ftiall be firft 
 exemplified. Mr. Neale, a clergyman of the 
 Church of England, with ftrong Anglican preju- 
 dices, undertakes to alter and adapt the '' Pilgrim's 
 Progrefs " for the ufe of children in the Englifh 
 Church. The defign was foolifh in the extreme, 
 but not difhoneft. Neither the fame nor the in- 
 fluence of Bunyan is at this time of day at the 
 mercy of either Jefuit or Tra61:arian. His book 
 is fo thoroughly imbued with the fpirit of a true 
 evangelift, that it defies perverfion. The editor 
 of fome particular reprint may mar its literary 
 beauties, and even injure its fcriptural fimplicity ; 
 but the " improver " muft be anfwerable for this 
 diftortion, and enough of the original will doubt- 
 lefs remain to outweigh and countera6l its faults. 
 We dare not fay the attempt was really diftioneft, 
 becaufe confcientious men have frequently felt 
 juftified in exercifing a fimilar liberty, though, as 
 we think, generally with much higher wifdom and
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM, ii-j 
 
 far truer tafte. In noticing this book, Mr. Gil- 
 fillan lofes all difcretion, when perhaps he required 
 it moft. A judicious eftimate of the folly involved 
 in the defign, and committed in the execution, of 
 this book, with a firm and appropriate reproof 
 adminiftered to the prefumptuous editor, would 
 have been a very feafonable fervice to the reading 
 world, and not unlikely to deter other zealots from a 
 like offence. But there is no element of perfua- 
 fion in the flyle which Mr. Gilfillan has adopted. 
 We have as little tafle for Mr. Neale's improve- 
 ment of Bunyan as Mr. Gilfillan himfelf j but why 
 fhould our critic fubflitute perfonal abufe for defi- 
 nite expofure ? There is, furely, no more wit than 
 charity in his exclamation : " O, J. M. Neale ! 
 thou miferable ninny, and bigot of the firfl magni- 
 tude !" Such a pitiful want of temper was never 
 aggravated by fuch a plentiful lack of tafle. Even 
 the hafte and warmth of compofition can never 
 juflify the ufe of fuch unworthy language ; but 
 what mufl we think of the judgment which de- 
 liberately transfers it from the fwift oblivion of a 
 popular Scottifh ferial to the region of ferene and 
 fettled literature ? If Mr. Gilfillan could have 
 Jhown his author to be a ninny and a bigot, he 
 might have kept clean lips, and fpared to infult 
 the criminal whom it was his duty only to convidt. 
 This is not an occafional fault of Mr. Gilfillan. 
 None of his faults, indeed, are fo. They are re- 
 peated with tirefome iteration ; and there is as 
 little variety in his a6tual blemifhes as in his inten- 
 ded beauties. So thickly do thefe abufive epithets
 
 2i8 POPULAR CRITICISM. 
 
 occur in Mr. Gilfillan's pages, that we grow 
 accuftomed, if not reconciled, to them. But 
 fometimesa background of charming delicacy brings 
 out thts favourite figure into ftrong relief. On the 
 very page, for inftance, where he rebukes a northern 
 journalift for calling the late Mr. Hazlitt " an afs," 
 he pronounces a certain living critic, whom he 
 points out by no uncertain name, to be an " ape 
 of the firft magnitude !" 
 
 When Mr. Gilfillan's page is unufually free 
 from thefe rhetorical difplays, we are admitted to 
 a glimpfe of his ordinary ftyle, forming the back- 
 ground of thefe ftriking pictures. This level com- 
 pofition, as it comparatively is, may be fairly des- 
 cribed as frivolous in fubftance, and very loofe and 
 feeble in expreffion. What makes this wretched 
 manufacture more contemptible, is the contrafted 
 dignity of his pretended theme. We have, for 
 example, a feries of papers under the title of " A 
 Conftellation of Sacred Authors." It is rather, 
 however, as facred orators that Mr. Gilfillan treats 
 Chalmers, and Hall, and Irving, although, by 
 fele6ling this method, he is able to furnifti only 
 fecond-hand defcriptions. It is queftionable, we 
 have always thought, how far the charaCteriftic 
 and comparative merits of great pulpit celebrities, 
 even when they have departed from us, may be 
 canvafTed with advantage and propriety. But it is 
 certain that Mr. Gilfillan's treatment of thefe 
 fubje6ls is open to the ftrongeft objections. His 
 lighteft fault is trivial goffiping, which can have 
 no rational bearing on the theme propofed. A
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM. 219 
 
 fober eftimate of the minifterial gifts of the orator, 
 and of the peculiar manner of their development 
 and exercife, is the moft removed from the range 
 of our critic's power ; but it is alfo that which he 
 is leaft defirous to fupply. The paper on " Robert 
 Hall" may be inftanced as in ftriking contrail 
 with the dignity and power of that great man's 
 genius ; it is weak and unworthy to the laft degree. 
 Of the truth of this cenfure we will enable the 
 reader to judge for himfelf. After afTuring us that 
 the efTay is meant as a " calm and comprehenfive 
 view" of Mr. Hall's " real charadleriftics, both in 
 point of merit, of fault, and of fimple deficiency,'* 
 our critic proceeds in the manner following : — 
 
 " JVe labour, like all critics who have never 
 feen their author^ under confiderahle difadv ant ages. 
 ' Knowledge is power. ^ Still more, craving Lord 
 Bacon's pardon^ vifion is power. Ccsjar faid a 
 fimilar thing when he wrote^ ' Vidi, vici.' To fee 
 is to conquer^ if you happen to have the faculty of 
 clear ^full^ c on clu five fight. In other cafes^ the fight 
 of a man whom you mifappreciate^ and^ though you 
 have eyes^ cannot fee ^ is a curfe to your conception of 
 his character. Tou look at him through a mijl of 
 prejudice which difcolours his vifage^ and even^ when 
 it exaggerates^ dijhrts his /iature. Far otherwife 
 with the prepared^ yet unprepojfeffed^ look of intelli- 
 gent love.'' 
 
 Very curious is the jumble of ideas in this fhort 
 
 paflage. No man accuftomed to accuracy of
 
 220 POPULAR CRITICISM, 
 
 thought or language could have fo hopeleflly con- 
 founded ordinary fight with mental appreciation. 
 And then, what an improvement of Lord Bacon's 
 apophthegm ! what an interpretation of C^far's 
 famous boaft ! That Mr. Gilfillan fhould pro- 
 nounce" the look of intelligent love" to be " pre- 
 pared," yet at the fame time " unprepofTeiTed," is 
 an attempt at exquifite refinement which we 
 cannot recommend him to repeat : his forte is 
 quite in the oppofite dire6tion. After a full page 
 of this material, in which our critic's entanglement 
 is every moment frightfully increafed, a fudden 
 effort brings him to his immediate theme ; and the 
 character of Robert Hall is fet forth in this edi- 
 fying manner : — 
 
 " We have met with fome of thofe who have feen 
 and heard him talk and preachy and their accounts 
 have coincided in this^ — that he was more powerful 
 in the parlour than in the pulpit. He was more at 
 eafe in the former. He had his pipe in his mouthy 
 his tea-pot hefide him^ eager ears liftening to catch 
 his every whifper^ bright eyes raining influence on 
 him ; and under thefe various excitements he was 
 fure to Jhine. His fpirits rofe^ his wit flajhed^ his 
 keen and pointed fentences thickened^ and his audience 
 began to imagine him a Baptiji Burke or a fohnfon 
 RedivivuSy and to wijh that Bofwell were to undergo 
 a refurreSiion too. In thefe evening parties he 
 appeared, we fufpe^f^ to greater advantage than in 
 the mornings, when Miniflers from all quarters 
 called to fee the lion of Leicejler^ and tried to tempt
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM. 221 
 
 him to roar by fuch quejilons as, ' Whether do you 
 thinky Air. Hall^ Cicero or Demofthenes the greater 
 orator?^ ' IVas Burke the author of yuniusf* 
 ^Whether is Bentham or Wilherforce the leading 
 fpirit of the age?^ l^c. ^c. How Hall kept his 
 gravity or his temper under fuch a fire of queries, 
 not to fpeak of the fmoke of the half putrid incenfe 
 amid which it came forth ^ we cannot tell. He was^ 
 however^ although a vehement and irritable^ a very 
 polite^ man ; and^ like Dr. fohnfon^ he ' loved to 
 fold his legs^ and have his talk out.^ Many of his 
 vifitors^ too^ were really diflinguifljed men, and were 
 Jurcy when they returned home^ to circulate his 
 repartees,, and fpread abroad his fame. Hence ,^ even 
 in the forenoon s,^ he fometimes faid brilliant things, 
 many of which have been diligently colleSfed by the 
 late excellent Dr. Balmer and others^ and are to be 
 found in his Memoirs.'*'' 
 
 We have no fpace for further extra6l of this 
 fort ; but we can aflure the reader that there is 
 nothing better than this foolifh and unprofitable 
 goffip in Mr. Gilfillan*s " clear and comprehenfive 
 view" of Robert Hall. Equally void of ufeful 
 knowledge and juft difcrimination are the eflays on 
 Dr. Chalmers and Edward Irving. They only 
 derive the moft tranfient intereft from the mifap- 
 propriation of thefe great names, which run the 
 greateft rifk of difenchantment from fuch popular 
 degradation and abufe. Let the reader turn to 
 the flippant article on Dr. Winter Hamilton, and 
 then he may be prepared for the qualifications of
 
 222 POPULAR CRITICISM, 
 
 a critic who could write, and print, and publifh, 
 and re-publifh an eftimate of minifterial chara6ler, 
 commencing in the loweft pot-houfe ftyle. 
 
 We cannot pretend to challenge all the queftion- 
 able verdi6ts of this book, nor to point out a tithe 
 of its literary faults ; and having little hope of Mr. 
 Gilfillan's improvement, we fhall glance at fome of 
 his more prominent peculiarities rather with a 
 view to the reader's profit than his own. If we 
 fhould not be able to preferve throughout a tone of j 
 ferious remonftrance, the fault will not be ours ; 
 and, in the end, we will endeavour to make fome 
 amends by eliciting the moral of the whole. 
 
 Let us inftance, in the firft place, our author's 
 ftyle of panegyric. Marked though it is by con- 
 fiderable novelty and boldnefs, we cannot bring 
 ourfelves to relifti it. Always profufe, it is often 
 ftrangely mifapplied, and much too frequently 
 profane. Other critics think it needful to give 
 praife in detail, meafure, and proportion ; but Mr. 
 Gilfillan finds it more convenient to throw it by 
 the lump, and often it falls upon the wrong perfon, 
 and always it alights with damaging efFe6t. Modeft, 
 reputable men, who naturally flirink from being 
 forced into comparifon with famous, lofty, and even 
 facred worthies, may well fear to attract the 
 admiration of our author. Mr. Ifaac Taylor is 
 here pronounced " a Chriftian Coloflus ;" Ed- 
 ward Irving, a " Titan among Titans, a Boanerges 
 among the Sons of Thunder." When the latter 
 preaches in the Caledonian chapel, " it is Ifaiah 
 or Ezekiel over again, uttering their ftern yet
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM. 223 
 
 mufical and poetic burdens." The imagery and 
 language of the former is nothing lefs than " bar- 
 baric pearl and gold." " Bulwer has made out 
 his claim to be the Milton of novelifts." Difraeli 
 " bears a ftriking refemblance to Bonaparte." 
 The poem of " Balder" is " a wildernefs of 
 thought, — a fea of towering imagery and paflion." 
 There is much more of the fame difcriminating 
 kind, as we fhall prefently difcover. In the mean- 
 time we are fpared the trouble of chara6terizing 
 this ftyle of panegyric by our author himfelf, who, 
 in two or three fentences of this volume, gene- 
 roufly gives us the key to all the reft. Thus we 
 read, (on page 237,) " Falfe or ignorant panegyric 
 is eafily detected. // is clumfy, carelefs^ andfulfome ; 
 it often praifes writers for qualities they pojfefs not^ 
 or it fmgles out their faults for beauties^ or^ by over- 
 doings overleaps itfelf and falls on the other fide,''* 
 This is faid by our author without a remorfeful 
 twinge, — with all the oblivious calmnefs of a lucid 
 interval. 
 
 But Mr. Gilfillan tells us, " he is nothing if 
 not critical." Unfortunately he cannot qualify 
 his wholefale adulation without ftultifying himfelf. 
 In one little fentence he will fnatch back all the 
 laboured and pompous praife he has beftowed, 
 and flap the receiver's face into the bargain. Thus, 
 after having encouraged one of our young poets 
 with outrageous eulogy, he quietly lodges this 
 little ftone in the other pocket : " Many of his 
 pafTages would be greatly improved by leaving out 
 every third line." If this cenfure be honeft, what
 
 224 POPULAR CRITICISM. 
 
 muft be the value of the praife that went before ? 
 The fa6t, of courfe, is, that the poet did not merit 
 either one or the other ; and we hope he may be 
 able to defpife them both. 
 
 Of epithet and expletive there is no lack in 
 Mr. Gilfillan's page. Indeed, it is here more 
 plentiful than choice, and more prominent by far 
 than pleafmg. It would be very idle, however, to 
 regret the abfence of that meafured nice propriety 
 of phrafe — the warp of language fixing the woof 
 of thought — which is the inwoven and enduring 
 charm of every literary fabric. It is far more 
 natural, under the circumftances, to wifh that our 
 critic's fingle epithets were a trifle more appro- 
 priate, and that their combinations did not utterly 
 defy appreciation. We can only afford to give a 
 folitary fpecimen of this peculiarity : it mufl there- 
 fore be one of the compound kind, and ufeful as 
 a Chinefe puzzle on a winter's evening. Who, 
 then, but Mr. Gilfillan could have found terms to 
 praife " the glozvingly acute^ gorgeoujly clear^ and 
 da%%lingly deep criticifms of poor Hazlitt ? " The 
 reader who derives from this defcription any defi- 
 nite idea of Mr. Hazlitt's literary character, is 
 worth knowing ; and we fhould be proud to make 
 his acquaintance. 
 
 The language of illuflration and metaphor forms 
 a ftill larger element in our author's compofition. 
 Perhaps his particular admirers — and poffibly the 
 hero himfelf, in an unguarded moment of felf- 
 dalliance — would fay his ftrength refides in thefe 
 abundant flowers of fpeech, as Samfon's in his
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM, 225 
 
 profufe and curling locks. We do him then pe- 
 culiar juftice in pointing attention to a number of 
 thefe tropes. 
 
 So incongruous are our author's figures — fo 
 frequently and unaccountably changed in the courfe 
 of a fmgle fentence — that when a really juft re- 
 fle6lion efcapes him, it is either diftorted or des- 
 troyed by the very language intended to give it 
 force. The following is a ftriking inftance of this 
 fault : — 
 
 *' For too often we believe that high genius is a 
 myftery and a terror to itfelf; that it communicates 
 with the demoniac mines of fulphur as well as the 
 divine fources ; and that only God's grace can de- 
 termine to which of thefe it is to he permanently con- 
 neSfed; and that only the ftern alembic of death 
 can fettle the queftion, to which it has on the whole 
 turned, whether it has really been the radiant angel 
 or the difo-uifed fiend." 
 
 We are puzzled to conceive how an author fo 
 pradlifed as Mr. Gilfillan could have deliberately 
 written the laft claufe of this fentence ; though 
 indeed we have no occafion to be furprifed at 
 anything of the fort. The "ftern alembic" is 
 pofitively a new idea. Yet it is not difficult to 
 match the foregoing extract by applying to the 
 fame fource : — 
 
 " If Mr. Majfey comes {as we truji he Jhall) to 
 a true belief it will corroborate him for every trial
 
 22 6 POPULAR CRITICISM. 
 
 and every fad internal and external experience ; and 
 he will ftand like an Atlas above the ruins of a 
 world, — calm, firm, penfive, but preffing forwards 
 and looking on high." 
 
 The allufion to Atlas is here peculiarly unfor- 
 tunate, as that mythological perfonage is fuppofed 
 to have flood below a world which was not in ruins, 
 and in an attitude quite inconfiftent with " looking 
 on high ;" and even were it otherwife, the pofi- 
 tion of " {landing, calm and firm," fomewhat 
 militates againfl the notion of his " preffing for- 
 wards." A fimile is commonly employed to affifl 
 our realization of fome thought ; but it is no won- 
 der that the very oppofite effeil attends one fo ill 
 chofen as the above. Indeed, we muft abfolutely 
 forget it, before we can appreciate the literal 
 meaning of our author. The refleclion is good \ 
 but the figure is a nuifance and a blot. The fame 
 remark applies to the following : — 
 
 " Byron was miferahle becaufe he felt hhnfelf an 
 orphan^ a funbeam cut off from his fource, without 
 hope and zvithout God in the world,'' 
 
 Any one but Mr. GilfiUan would infallibly have 
 put his pen through the middle claufe of this hafly 
 and ill-confidered fentence : though flill trite, it 
 would have been at leaft tolerable. But it never 
 occurs to our author, that a miferable funbeam, 
 deflitute of hope and of God, is a very abfurd and 
 incongruous idea j and he gathers it accordingly 
 into his book of many beauties.
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM. 227 
 
 Our readers will probably be gratified to hear 
 Mr. Gilfillan's "judgment'* on Milton and Shake- 
 fpeare. The oracular volume from which we 
 have already learnt (o much, is not filent here. 
 Of Milton, indeed, we have no formal or deliberate 
 eftimate ; but his genius, character, and works, 
 are made to do various duty in ifolated fentences 
 throughout the book, furnifhing eafy ready-made 
 comparifons of intelleftual and moral greatnefs. 
 In thefe allufive paflages all the diftin6tive features 
 of the poet's qhara6lerare very innocently forgotten, 
 and prophecies delivered by divine infpiration are 
 coupled with poems fuggefted only by human 
 fancy. Thus, in the paper on ^fchylus, we read 
 of " yet loftier regions, fuch as Job, Ifaiah, and 
 the Paradife Loft." Between this latter work 
 and the Prometheus, we have an elaborate parallel, 
 of which, however, it will probably fuffice to quote 
 the following fentences : — 
 
 " It was comparatively eafy for Mfchylus to enUjl 
 our fympathies for Prometheus, if once he were re- 
 prefented good and injured. But firf} to reprefent 
 Satan as guilty ; again to wring a confejjion of this 
 from his own lips ; and yet, thirdly^ to teach us to 
 admire^ refpe^^ pity, and almoji love him all the 
 while^ was a problem which only a Milton was able 
 either tojiate or to folve.'^ 
 
 If this was Milton's problem, — to make us ref- 
 pe6t and almoft love the Prince of Darknefs, — he 
 has, in our opinion, very happily failed : were it
 
 228 POPULAR CRITICISM, 
 
 otherwife, our refpe6l for the author would be 
 inverfely proportioned to that which his hero was 
 permitted to infpire. But Mr. Gilfillan has fallen 
 into a curious miftake. He has evidently in this, 
 and apparently in fome other points, confounded 
 the Satan of Milton's poem with the Satan of Mr. 
 Robert Montgomery, — two chara6ters that are 
 efTentially different. The Satan of Mr. Mont- 
 gomery exhibits fuch candour, penitence, and fcorn 
 of evil habits, that it is impoffible not to " refpedt 
 and almoft love him." 
 
 From the clofmg article of this interefting vol- 
 ume, we feledl: a paffage on " the poet of all time.** 
 It may fitly pair off with that jult quoted on his 
 great fucceffor : — 
 
 " Shakefpeare' s wit and humour are hound to- 
 gether in general hy the amiahle hand of good-nature. 
 What a contraft to Swift! He loathes; Shake- 
 fpeare, at the worft, hates. His is the flavering 
 and ferocious ire of a maniac-, Shakefpeare' s.^ that 
 of a man. Swift hroods, like their Jhadow^ over the 
 fejlering fores and the moral ulcers of mankind; 
 Shakefpeare touches them with a ray of poetry, which 
 beautifies if it cannot heal. ' Gulliver* is the day- 
 hook of a fiend ; ^ Timon* is the magnificent outbreak 
 of an injured angel. His wit^ hozv fertile, quick ^ 
 forgetive ! Congreve and Sheridan are poor and 
 forced in the comparifon. Hoiu long they ufed to fit 
 hatching fome clever conceit! and what a cackling 
 they made when it had chipped the fioell! Shake- 
 fpeare threw forth a Mercutio or a Faljlafif at once.
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM. 229 
 
 each embodying in himfelf a world of laughter, and 
 there an end. His humour, how broad^ rich,fubtle^ 
 poiuerful^ and full of genius and geniality it is ! 
 JVhy^ Bardolph's red nofe eclipfes all the dramatic 
 characters that have fucceeded. Ancient Pijiol 
 himfelf fhoots dozvn the whole of the Farquhars, 
 Wycherleys, Sheridans^ Goldfniths, and Colmans put 
 together. Dogberry is the prince of donkeys^ p^flt 
 prefent^ and to come. When /hall we ever have fuch 
 another tinker as Chrifiopher Sly ? Sir Andrew 
 Aguecheek ! the very na?ne makes you quake with 
 laughter. And., like a v aft fir loin of Englijh roafi 
 beef rich and dripping., lies along the mighty Falfiaff, 
 with humour oozing out of every corner and cranny 
 of his vaft corporation.^^ 
 
 If the reader thinks that one perufal will fuffice 
 for the full appreciation of this palTage, we afTure 
 him he is much miftaken. The efFe6t of a fmgle 
 reading is only to confound ; but a repetition will 
 infallibly add wonder to his confufion, till, loft in 
 fucceflive objects of amazement, confufion once 
 more takes the place of wonder. Colle6i:ing our 
 fcattered fenfes, we may now attempt to point out 
 fome of the curiofities of this paragraph of errors. 
 Not one fentence of the whole is left undiftin- 
 guifhed either by obfcurity, abfurdity, or falfehood. 
 Relatives are hopelellly divided from their antece- 
 dents ; words chofen for their force, and mutually 
 confronted, are made to exchange meanings, and 
 fo become ridiculous by emphafis ; while figures 
 the moft incongruous are reckleflly mixed up with
 
 230 POPULAR CRITICISM. 
 
 facts the mofi: literal. We are not furprifed to read 
 of " the Havering and ferocious ire of a maniac ; " 
 but quite new to us is " that of a man." We had 
 fuppofed that loathing was fometimes pardonable, 
 and hatred never ; but it feems that v/hile Swift 
 loathes, Shakefpeare " only hates." The inftinc- 
 tive fenfibihty of virtue is given to the gloomy 
 IriQi Dean ; the radical and unamiable vice is 
 charged upon our "winfome Willie." In hischoice 
 of fimiles our critic is equally felicitous. Swift 
 broods over an ulcer like its fhadow ! but Shake- 
 fpeare beautifies it by a ray of poetry ! We do not 
 expect — and hardly wi{h — to fee the match for 
 that comparifon. Its effect is to make us incon- 
 tinently fhut our eyes and hold our breath. The 
 remaining curiofities of this pafTage rather puzzle 
 than furprife us. Why is Gulliver a " book," and 
 Timon only an " outbreak ? " Then, immediately 
 follov/ing, whofe " wit" is fo " forgetive ?" And, 
 not to be too troublefome, what is " forgetive 
 wit?" Perhaps it is that fort which makes An- 
 cient Piftol " f/'joot down" the v/hole of the 
 Farquhars, Wycherleys, &c. The verdi6i: upon 
 honeft Dogberry moft readers will difpute, think- 
 ing the author has waived too readily his own pre- 
 tenfions. Only the coarfe comparifon of FalftafF 
 has the tame diftinction of being literal and obvious 
 without abfurdity. 
 
 A critic like our author is naturally fevere upon 
 his imbecile contemporaries. When Mr. Hallam 
 difcourfes about poetry, Mr. GilfiUan is " reminded 
 of a blind man difcourfing on the rainbow;" and
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM, 231 
 
 complacently remarks, " The power of criticizing 
 is as completely denied him as is a fixth fenfe ; and 
 worfe, he is not confcious of the want." In 
 another precious morfel, we learn that " Hallam is 
 feldom uxiduly minute, neverunfair, and rarely one- 
 fided : his want is fmiply that of the warm infight 
 which ' loofens the bands of the Orions' of poetry, 
 and gives a fwiftfolutionto all its fplendid problems." 
 The misfortune of Mr. Hallam is, that he does 
 not belong to the " impulfive" fchool of criticifm ; 
 our author, therefore, writes him down "mechani- 
 cal." His paper on Arioflo is pronounced " cold 
 and creeping ;" and here we may remark, that 
 Mr. Gilfillan evidently employs thefe words as 
 fynonymous and interchangeable. If you are clear 
 you are fo cold ! If temperate, you muft needs 
 be very tame. The truth is, Mr. Gilfillan has 
 acquired a morbid love for the errors of genius ; 
 and this paffion hurries him fo far, that not only 
 does he defend and juftify the grofleft blemifiies 
 he can difcover, but very confidently carries his 
 principles into praftice, and makes a merit of 
 imitating the " glorious faults" of our great writ- 
 ers. 
 
 We {hould be very forry to vindicate the literary 
 chara6ler of Henry Hallam from the cenfures of 
 George Gilfillan. It is not yet come to that. In 
 one fhort fentence, — " He has far too much taft 
 and knowledge to commit any grofs blunders," — 
 our critic himfelf fays more for his author than we 
 could venture to fay for our critic. The reader 
 will probably take our word for it, that Mr. Hal-
 
 232 POPULJR CRITICISM. 
 
 lam's paper on the " Paradife Loft" contains no 
 fuch morceau as that with which we have prefented 
 him from Mr. Gilfillan's page. 
 
 If Mr. Hallam is held thus lightly in our 
 author's judgment and efteem, the writings of Mr. 
 Macaulay appear to excite only his utmoft anger 
 and difdain. There is fomething about them 
 which he can neither forget nor forgive. Often 
 trampled down by his fcorn, they are fure prefently 
 to rife in his face, and irritate him beyond endur- 
 ance. This reftlefs and recurring enmity is, per- 
 haps, not difficult to be underftood. The very 
 exiftence of fuch a critic as Mr. Macaulay— not to 
 mention his popularity and influence — is a per- 
 petual offence to fuch a writer as Mr. Gilfillan ; 
 a filent, but fignificant, reproach. Our author 
 feels that " his genius is rebuked" by the mafter 
 of a ftyle diftinguifhed for accuracy, eafe, and ful- 
 nefs, at once fo dignified and fo corre6t ; and more 
 efpecially as he is unable to taunt the Effayift with 
 facrificing beauty to corrednefs, or with being 
 cold, uninterefting, or conventional, in deference 
 to literary orthodoxy. No doubt it is very irrita- 
 ting to obferve, beyond the poffibility of doubt or 
 of denial, that a writer fo eminently " corred" is, 
 at the fame time, very far removed from " creep- 
 ir»g-" To be judicious, temperate, and truft- 
 worthy, yet neither voted dull, nor abandoned by 
 the younger fpirits, nor fhelved in a dufty corner 
 of the reference-library ; to be ornate, as well as 
 accurate, in compofition ; to infpire enthufiafm, 
 yet bear the ftrideft fcrutiny ; to fuffer the re-
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM. 233 
 
 ftralnts of grammar and propriety, yet achieve a 
 proud, and even popular, fuccefs, — all this is un- 
 pardonable vice in Mr. Macaulay, and more than 
 Mr. Gilfillancan vi^ell bear. Our author wonders 
 that fuch "abject trafh" (thefe are his v/ords) 
 fhould "gain unchallenged acceptance,and require 
 his humble pen to dafh it into expofure and con- 
 tempt." And " dafh it" accordingly he does. In 
 the firft place, vv^e are invited to the rehearfal of a 
 literary parallel, inftituted by our critic, between 
 the characSters of Burke and Macaulay. We need 
 hardly fay, that this comparifon is not more odious 
 than gratuitous. Some points of it are true, but 
 not pertinent ; while much the greater part is both 
 impertinent and untrue. The following fentences 
 are too chara6leriftic, at leaft of their inditer, to 
 be pafTed unquoted : — 
 
 " Burke's dlgrejfions are thofe of uncontrollable 
 power ^ wantoning in its Jirength ; Afacaulay's are 
 thofe of deliberate purpofe and elaborate effort^ to 
 relieve and make its byways increafe the intereji of 
 his highways, Burke^s moji memorable things are 
 Jirong^ftmple fentences of wifdom^ or epithets^ each 
 carrying a quejiion on its pointy or burning coals from 
 his fa?ning genius; Macaulay^ s are chiefly happy 
 illufirations^ or verbal antithefes^ or clever allitera- 
 tions. Macaulay often feems^ and^ we believe^ is^ 
 fmcere^ but he is never in earnefi ; Burke^ on all 
 higher quejiions^ becomes a ' burning one^ — earnefi 
 
 to the brink of frenzy. . Macaulay' s 
 
 literary enthufiafm has now a far and for?nal air^
 
 234 POPULAR CRITICISM. 
 
 itfeems an old cloak of college-days worn threadbare ; 
 Burke's has about it a frejh and glorious glofs^ — it is 
 the ever renewed (kin of his fpirit. Macaulay lies 
 fnugly and fweetly in the p enfold of a party ; Burke 
 is ever and anon burfiijig it to fragments. Ma- 
 caulay s moral indignation is too laboured and anti- 
 thetical to be very profound; Burke's ?nakes his 
 heart palpitate, his hand clench , and his face kindle^ 
 like that of Mofes as he came down from the 
 Mount.'' 
 
 Referving our remark on this irreverent dimax, 
 let us call the attention of the reader to the claufe 
 we have diftinguifhed by Roman type. When he 
 has fully appreciated the pretty thought that the 
 *'fkin" of Mr. Burke's "fpirit" was periodically 
 caft, like a ferpent's Hough, we have another compa- 
 rifon to ofFerto the admirers of that ftatefman, alfo 
 drawn from natural hiftory, and alfo fuggefted by 
 the pleafant fancy of our author. It is only a little 
 farther on in the volume, that Mr. Burke is de- 
 fcribed as " a mental camelopard," for the fmgular 
 reafon, that " he was patient as a camel, and as a 
 leopard fwift and richly fpotted." Mr. Gilfillan 
 feemingly forgets, or poffibly is not aware, that the 
 camelopard is not a hybrid, deriving its qualities 
 from thefe two creatures, though his name happens 
 to be a compound of theirs. The moil: charitable 
 of natural hiftorians never afcribed patience to the 
 giraffe : even with reference to the camel, it is a 
 long exploded fuperftition, which doubtlefs was 
 originally due to the fa6t that, like ourfelves, he
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM. 235 
 
 ftands in great need of that pallive virtue, and has 
 abundant opportunities for bringing it to per- 
 fed^ion. 
 
 This depreciatory parallel — for fuch we fuppofe 
 it was intended to be — may be accepted as a 
 fpecimen of Mr. Gilfillan's fkill in a form of com- 
 pofition to which he is peculiarly partial. We are 
 treated in this volume to no lefs than three in 
 honour of Edmund Burke, — to wit, Burke and 
 Macaulay, Burke and Johnfon, and Burke and 
 Brougham ; the latter thrown off impromptu^ and 
 included in a parenthefis of half a page. Indeed, 
 Burke has the honour of attra6ling the moft 
 dangerous regards of Mr. Gilfillan, who never 
 fpeaks of that great man without enthufiafm of the 
 moft rapturous and incoherent fort. This is a very 
 curious and inftru(51:ive fadl ; it fhows, not only 
 that love may exift with infinite difparity, but that 
 the deepeft admiration is not neceflarily transform- 
 ing in its chara6ler. Our author warmly admires 
 the works of Edmund Burke, and writes himfelf 
 like — George Gilfillan. 
 
 With the organ of comparifon fo ftrongly de- 
 veloped, our critic is hardly fair in laying to Mr. 
 Macaulay's charge an undue fondnefs for antithefis 
 and point. It is only too evident, that he fpares 
 no pains to attain the fame dexterity, with what 
 fuccefs might eafily be fhown. If we were in- 
 clined to follow the example of thefe authorities, 
 — and perhaps it is our turn, — there could not 
 poffibly prefent itfelf a more favourable occafion. 
 One critic handled by another, and both compared
 
 236 POPULAR CRITICISM. 
 
 by a third, — there is fomething unufual at leaft in 
 that. But we muft decline the tempting invitation, 
 not becaufe it is a little abfurd, as well as ungene- 
 rous, " to compare great things with fmall ;"for the 
 epic poets do it without reproach \ — but the points 
 of contraft exifting between the literary charadlers 
 of Mr. Macaulay and our author are too numerous, 
 as well as too obvious, for our rehearfal. There 
 is, indeed, a more fummary method of comparifon, 
 in which fome charadteriftic beauty or defect is made 
 inclufive and decifive of all the others. Thus we 
 might mutually oppofe the chief faults of thefe 
 contending parties. The great fault of Mr. Ma- 
 caulay's ftyle is its pofitive uniformity ofexcellence. 
 Unlike every author that we know befides. Homer 
 himfelf included, he never nods. So unflagging 
 his genius, fo fleeplefs his adivity, fo prompt his 
 memory, fo available his learning, that the reader 
 gains no moment of repofe, till attention, fafcinated 
 fo long, fuddenly fails, and the mind runs fairly off 
 to find relief. Invited to an intelle6tual repaft, 
 we have fumptuous viands in great variety and 
 matchlefs profufion fet before us; but one luxury 
 fucceeds another with fuch rapidity, that tafte has 
 barely time for perfe6l fatisfa6lion, and we fuddenly 
 quit the ftill groaning table to avoid the evils of 
 excefs. This fplendid profufion is, in fome fenfe, 
 a fault as well as a misfortune ; for literature in- 
 tended to anfwer human needs, fhould be more 
 nearly adapted to the chara6ter and powers of 
 human nature. But we fubmit, that it is a very 
 different fault which Mr. Gilfillan commits, and a
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM. 237 
 
 very dliFerent misfortune which his readers fuffer. 
 On his part, too, there is a ceafelefs profufion ; but 
 it is of words inftead of thoughts, of colours in- 
 ftead of images; of errors, inanities, and abfurdi- 
 ties ; of great truths miferably garbled, and doubt- 
 ful ones intolerably mouthed. For the mental 
 repaft which he ferves up he has evidently rifled 
 richer tables, gathered a mifcellaneous heap of odds 
 and ends, fwept them into his own difh, added a 
 copious ftream of frothy rhetoric, and whipped the 
 whole into a towering fyllabub. Indulgence in 
 fuch a compound can only be attended by naufea 
 or inflation. 
 
 As it will ferve to bring us to the moft impor- 
 tant part of our fubje6t, we muft take fome further 
 freedom with Mr. Macaulay's name, while we 
 briefly mention another exploit of our author. Mr. 
 Gilfillan cannot reft till he has broken a lance with 
 his "rival" in the critical arena. Challenging Mr. 
 Macaulay's eftimate of Lord Bacon's genius and 
 philofophy, he charges the reviewer with facrificing 
 the character of Plato, in order the more pointedly 
 to honour the great Englifh fage. Having picked 
 this " pretty quarrel," — we cannot but admire his 
 boldnefs, — our critic at once proceeds to recon- 
 ftru6t the parallel, and give Plato the better half 
 of each antithefis. Had our fpace permitted, we 
 fhould have been glad to offer thefe rival compofi- 
 tions to the reader in collateral columns. As this 
 is not convenient, fo neither is it quite neceflary to 
 an underftanding of their refpeftive merits. A 
 fingle fentence, chofen in all fairnefs from either
 
 238 POPULAR CRITICISM. 
 
 eftimate, will fuffice to indicate the charadler of 
 both :— " The philofophy of Plato," fays Mr. Ma- 
 caulay, " began in words, and ended in words. The 
 philofophy of Bacon began in obfervation, and 
 ended in a6ls." See now how Mr. Gilfillan turns 
 the tables : — " Bacon cured corns, and Plato 
 heals confciences !" It is too late to afk the 
 reader to decide between thefe two ; for he has 
 already done fo. If both critics facrifice a fhare 
 of truth to the love of verbal antithefis, it is only 
 Mr. Gilfillan who outrages tafte and judgment for 
 the fake of a paltry alliteration. If Mr. Macaulay 
 has fomewhat underrated the influence of Plato in 
 the world, he has at leaft done noble juftice to the 
 fruitful philofophy of the Engliih fage : but our 
 author has ingenioufly contrived to wrong both 
 worthies ; for, dealing only in extremes, he muft 
 needs thruft them one upon either horn of his 
 critical dilemma, and the vidtim of his adulation 
 is, as ufual, the one moft deeply wronged. Moft 
 deeply wronged, we fay, becaufe the mind revolts 
 from an afcription of divine and faving power, even 
 to the moft illuftrious of the heathen, and is, 
 therefore, apt to become intolerant of his juft pre- 
 tenfions. 
 
 If we trouble ourfelves or our readers further 
 with Mr. Gilfillan's opinions upon Plato, it is only 
 becaufe fomething more is involved than a point of 
 literary tafte. We commenced by aflerting the 
 intimate connexion between juft criticifm and 
 moral truth, between traftiy and unworthy litera- 
 ture and falfehood of the moft dangerous fort. Not
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM. 239 
 
 willing to beat the air, and have no profit for our 
 pains, we fixed the charge of public deterioration 
 upon a writer of no fmall pretenfions ; and that 
 charge we are bound by every proper motive to 
 make good. 
 
 Mr. Gilfillan's Quixotic championfhip of Plato 
 
 urges him into groflly exaggerated flatements, 
 
 both of the elevation of that philofopher's doctrine, 
 
 and of the extent and value of his influence on 
 
 mankind. Chriftianity is reprefented as the mere 
 
 fulfilment of Platonifm : the heathen fage is placed 
 
 but little lower than Chrift, and generally on a par 
 
 with the Apoftle John. We are gravely informed 
 
 that a combination of the philofophy of Plato, and 
 
 the divine teaching and working of Jefus confti- 
 
 tutes the only theology deferving the name ; and 
 
 that Plato's harveft lay in " the flow yield of fouls." 
 
 The only apology for this language of a Chriftian 
 
 minifter is a pitiful one at beft. The real meaning 
 
 and tendency of the expreflions ufed are probably 
 
 unfufpe6ted by the author himfelf. He writes 
 
 with an eager love of antithefis and difplay, in 
 
 which all other confiderations are merged and loft. 
 
 It is ufelefs, then, for this and other reafons, to 
 
 point out to Mr. Gilfillan wherein confifts the 
 
 error, fo vital andpervading, which disfigures his 
 
 comparative eftimate of Chriftianity and Platonifm. 
 
 He does not need to be told the truth, and he is 
 
 incapable of improving by its repetition. It is not 
 
 from a pofitive ignorance of the diftin6lion which 
 
 it behoved him to maintain, that he has written 
 
 thus defectively ; but from a total incapacity of
 
 240 POPULAR CRITICISM. 
 
 keeping that diftindlion clearly before him, and of 
 expreffing it in adequate and proper terms. This 
 is apparent from the fingular fa6t that, in this very- 
 volume, the author profefles the higheft admiration 
 for Mr. Henry Rogers' noble efTay on Plato, and 
 a6tually quotes the beautiful paragraph in which 
 the chara6ler of Socrates — the model of Platonic 
 virtue — is fo ftrikingly contrafted with that of our 
 Redeemer. Thus it fortunately happens, that the 
 fame blundering indifcretion which threatens to 
 produce fo much mifchief, provides, in fome 
 meafure, for its own corre6lion and rebuke. 
 
 But this is not the only inftance in which Mr. 
 Gilfillan is betrayed, by his befetting genius, into 
 deluding and unwarrantable language. If the 
 danger is fometimes fmall, it is only becaufe the 
 abfurdity is too great, or the obfcurity too denfe. 
 Thus, in the following fentences, the mind is rather 
 ftiocked by the appearance of evil, than aflaulted 
 by a6lual untruth. " A new poet, like a new 
 planet, is another proof of the continued exiftence 
 of the creative energy of the Father of fpirits. He 
 is a new mefTenger and mediator between the In- 
 finite and the race of man." The firft fentence is 
 nothing but a high-founding truifm ; for that only 
 is predicated of poet and planet, which is equally- 
 true of oyfter and pebble. If the latter fentence 
 could be proved to mean anything, it would pro- 
 bably appear as an offence againft religion ; fo we 
 cling to the perfuafion of its inanity, left we fhould 
 be obliged to condemn it as blafphemous and pro- 
 fane. In Hke manner, when Mr. Gilfillan de-
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM. 241 
 
 clares that " the ftars are the developments of 
 God's Own Head," we feel a momentary revulfion, 
 but refufe to attribute the expreflion to any de- 
 liberate or confcious want of reverence for the 
 Divine Majefty. It is fimply the natural refult of 
 fo much ambition, hurry, tafteleflhefs, and in- 
 capacity. But we did feel, and we do, ftrong 
 indignation and difguft on meeting the pafTage in 
 which our author compares the face of Mr. Burke, 
 after fpeaking in the Houfe of Commons, to the 
 countenance of Mofes as it fhone with refle6i:ed 
 glory, after forty days' communion with his Maker. 
 Anything more reprehenfible than this, conceived 
 in worfe tafte, or uttered in more wanton defiance 
 of propriety and truth, could not readily be found 
 beyond the limits of the book in which it is con- 
 tained. Within thofe limits it is only too often 
 and too nearly approached. 
 
 But Mr. GilfiUan has alfo come forward as a 
 critic of facred literature ; and this circumftance 
 calls for a few obfervations on " The Bards of the 
 Bible," a work already praifed and popular. 
 
 As compared with that which we have juft put 
 down, this volume is agreeable and meritorious, 
 free from many of the author's more glaring faults, 
 and of fufficient intereft to gratify a refpe6table and 
 numerous clafs. The fubjecSt is itfelf fo great and 
 inexhauftible, that he muft be a forry writer indeed 
 who cannot turn it to advantage. To one who 
 commands a fluent pen, and who is moreover 
 unchecked by the fpirit of reverence, — yes, even 
 for the mere book-maker, — what a quarry is fur- 
 
 R
 
 242 POPULAR CRITICISM. 
 
 nifhed in the Chrlftian Bible ! Its grand old ftories 
 of patriarchal life, its fublime chara6lers, its gor- 
 geous fcenery,its human pathos and divine wifdom, 
 its dignity, variety, and univerfality; and thefe all 
 coloured and endeared by the afTociations of dawn- 
 ing intelligence and early childhood, form a body 
 of material, the rudeft index of w^hich muft needs 
 outvie in intereft the moft finifhed fpecimens of 
 human art. As eaftern peafants build their rude 
 huts from the ruins of Baalbec, fo do fuch authors 
 conftrucl their literary edifices, — vi^oful in their 
 difproportions, and ciumfy in their poor con- 
 trivances, but very coftly in their material of cedar 
 and gold, of porphyry and brafs ; and here a fculp- 
 tured image, not quite effaced, and there a pillar 
 or an altar, not yet overthrown, are more than 
 enough to rivet the attention and reward the 
 fearch. 
 
 The faults of this book, we fay, are not fo 
 glaring as thofe of the author's "Third Gallery of 
 Portraits ;" but they are fubftantially the fame in 
 character, however fubdued in tone and modified 
 in form. There is the fame lack of precifion, 
 difcrimination, and fobriety j the fame taftelefs and 
 tirefome flrain upon the imagination of the reader. 
 The work throughout is vague in its portraitures, 
 unworthy in its allufions, and irreverent in its 
 treatment. It is in the preface to this volume 
 that our author enunciates the maxim already 
 quoted, " Every true criticifm on a genuine poem 
 is itfelf a poem." Accordingly the author pro-
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM. 243 
 
 duces a rhapfody when he imagines he is writing a 
 critique. Trying his predeceflbrs by his own 
 warm ftandard, he finds them cold and tame. 
 Lowth is only " elegant ;" he " never rifes to the 
 height of his great argument." His criticifm wants 
 " fubtlety, power, and abandonment." (Surely a 
 critic is the only fpecies of judge who was ever 
 impeached for this deficiency, — this fatal want of 
 " abandonment.") But Herder, it feems, " was a 
 man of another fpirit ; and his report of the good 
 land of Hebrew poetry, compared to Lowth's, is 
 that of Caleb or Jofhua to that of the other Jewifh 
 fpies." One would naturally fuppofe, from the 
 allufion of this pafi^age, that Biftiop Lowth fpoke 
 in moft difparaging terms of " the good land of 
 Hebrew poetry j" but our author probably means 
 that he lived long and familiarly in that " good 
 land," explored all its vineyards, tafted all its 
 variety of fruits, and gathered more than one rich 
 fpecimen, — which, indeed, is true. 
 
 It muft be granted that Mr. Gilfillan is a critic 
 of a very different ftamp to Bifhop Lowth. His 
 notion of poetry is fo loofe and general, that he 
 feems to hold that whatever is good in literature is 
 poetical. Thus with him all the Bible is true 
 poetry, and one bard not eflentially diftinguifhed 
 from another. We have poetry of the New 
 Teftament as well as of the Old ; and it is with 
 evident relu6tance that our author excepts from 
 the fame category the argumentative writings of 
 St. Paul. \n all this Mr. Gilfillan gives evidence
 
 244 POPULAR CRITICISM. 
 
 of much good feeling and many devout afTocia- 
 tions ; but none of any peculiar fitnefs for the 
 office whofe functions he has afTumed. 
 
 While the plan of this work is thus radically 
 faulty, the ftyle and fpirit of its execution confpire 
 to make it really pernicious. When he meets with a 
 chapter infcribed^'ThePoetry of the Pentateuch," 
 the phrafe is fufficiently doubtful to make the 
 reader paufe, or hold himfelf ready for further in- 
 timations of the author's meaning. In what fenfe 
 is the Pentateuch to be efteemed as fo much 
 poetry } Knowing Mr. Gilfillan's peculiar man- 
 ner, we are able to acquit him of doubting the 
 authenticity and truth of the Mofaic record ; but 
 the curfory reader of his volume may not be 
 equally prepared. He finds a frequent tranfition 
 from fome high-founding praife of Hebrew King 
 or Prophet to a modern and perhaps not much 
 refpe6ted name. In point of tafte, this is an ob- 
 vious blemifh, as nothing but difenchantment can 
 refult. Thefe allufions are feldom warranted by 
 any real propriety, and never fancftioned by any 
 evident advantage ; they are gratuitous folecifms 
 in a work where a certain dignity of tone is de- 
 manded by the elevation of its theme. We could 
 fpare our author many of his grander flights, to 
 efcape the humiliation and danger of his fudden 
 and perilous defcents ; for danger of a certain 
 kind there is. The diftincfive infpiration of the 
 facred bards is not, indeed, denied j but they are 
 torcedunceremonioufly into profane company, and 
 compared at random with modern and even living
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM, 245 
 
 authors ; till the reader is apt to fuppofe them all of 
 one guild. It is of no ufe to aflert a diftincStion in 
 one place, and then lofe fight of it in every other. 
 Why fhould the names of Shelley and Coleridge 
 and Byron, — of " Lalla Rookh" and Macaulay's 
 " Lays,"— of " Macbeth," " Feftus," and the 
 " Pilgrim's Progrefs," fo frequently appear on 
 pages profefiedly devoted to the Bards of the 
 Bible ? Serving no purpofe of ufeful illuftration, 
 their introduction is at beft a grave impertinence 
 and an oitentatious folly. 
 
 It is time to bring thefe ftriftures to a clofe ; 
 but it remains for us to notice, by anticipation, a 
 remonftrance to which they may poflibly expofe 
 ourfelves. We have faid much about our author's 
 faults, but w\\2it of his real merits ? Are they ab- 
 folutely nil J or we fo injurious as to fupprefs them ? 
 Let us own that fomething might have been in- 
 genioully arrayed upon the other fide. A book 
 may be pofitively worfe than worthlefs, and yet 
 not abfolutely void of merit. As there is no 
 popular fallacy which does not take rife from fome 
 partial or defective view of truth, fo, perhaps, never 
 was there a literary reputation earned without 
 talent of fome kind or other. This talent may be 
 folitary, and fo ufelefs ; perverted, and fo mif- 
 chievous ; out of all proportion, a deformity, an 
 excrefcence ; but fomething there will be to ex- 
 tenuate, if not to juftify, the public folly. If a 
 writer chance to be the reverfe of faftidious, he 
 may run on at almoft any length upon any given 
 fubje6l. If he be, moreover, a perfon of vivid
 
 246 POPULAR CRITICISM, 
 
 imagination, he can hardly fail to give off fome 
 ftriking things, ftruck out in the impetuofity of 
 his headlong courfe. Mr. Gilfillan is an author 
 of this kind. He has imagination, though it 
 be not elevated or enlarged, not cultivated or 
 enriched, not trained by intelle6lual habits, or 
 fubordinated to the rule of judgment. It is a 
 fomevi^hat diftempered imagination, too foon ex- 
 cited, and too far indulged. Our author's thoughts 
 are therefore only fine by accident. His fimiles 
 are generally audacious failures j but occafionally 
 they are of ftriking excellence, and, like a for- 
 tunate rebellion, juftify themfelves by their fuccefs. 
 When he fays of John Sterling, " His mental 
 ftruggles, though fevere, were not of that earth- 
 quaking kind vv^hich fhook the foul of Arnold, and 
 drove Sartor howling through the Everlajiing No^ 
 like a lion caught in a foreji fire ; " there is a fplen- 
 dour about this final image w^hich makes us v^^ifli 
 it v^^ere not fo awkwardly introduced. Still better, 
 becaufe not fo encumbered, is his defcription of 
 the policy and power of Ruflia, as " thefilent con- 
 fpiracy of ages, — cold, vaji^ quietly progrejjive, as a 
 glacier gathering round an Alpine valley.''^ Thefe 
 images, we fay, are fine ; and they are fo becaufe 
 of their ftriking aptitude and truth ; and a few 
 more of the fame kind might, doubtlefs, be ga- 
 thered from this author's publications. But to 
 what good end ? It is certainly not defirable to 
 encourage the ufe of Mr. Gilfillan's pen on the 
 wide, and high, and folemn, and important themes 
 of which he is enamoured, for the fake of giving
 
 POPULAR CRITICISM, 247 
 
 full fcope to the indulgence of this gift of doubtful 
 value ; and to themes of humbler chara6ler and 
 lefTer moment he will hardly be perfuaded. If 
 any confideration could induce Mr. Gilfillan to 
 forget, for fome fhort time, the great men of the 
 world, — to leave the Aiirabeaus and Miltons on 
 their craggy heights ; if he would lay afide all 
 books, and watch the world of men and nature 
 with calmer eyes, and never write a line fuggefted 
 by one already written, — we fhould yet have 
 hopes of him. But we fear he is too far gone in 
 his love of power to defcend from his di6tatorial 
 eminence ; and we cannot flatter his pretenfions to 
 occupy the throne of univerfal criticifm. While 
 he is making his pompous awards in every con- 
 ceivable dire6i:ion, we point to the evidence juft 
 given as in very ridiculous contrail. He has in 
 truth no fmgle qualification for the office of a 
 critic, either of facred or profane literature, and, 
 in afluming the one after the other, he has only 
 added prefumption to incompetence, and irrever- 
 ence to prefumption.
 
 ALFRED TENNYSON. 
 
 E have in Mr. Tennyfon the pureft 
 fpecimen ofthepoetic character which 
 the laft half-century has produced ; 
 and this we fay in entire remembrance 
 of the great poetic lights by which that period has 
 been illuftrated and adorned. It may be premature 
 to fix the relative pofition of a ftar fo recently ap- 
 pearing in the literary firmament ; but the purity 
 and fplendour of its ray are not to be miftaken. 
 If the cafe be fo ; if (to purfue the metaphor a little 
 longer) an orb of fong be really before us ; the 
 art-critic may do well to put by his opera-glafs as 
 quite unferviceable, fince the telefcope itfelf will 
 only ferve to feparate it in its fphere, and aflift us 
 in defining its relative pofition. The glafs of 
 criticifm may deteft a meteor or falfe light of any 
 kind ; but it cannot augment the glory of a ftar. 
 In other words, a great poet is at nearly equal dif- 
 tance from us all. Tafte, fcience, and the niceft 
 obfervation do but imperfecSlly appreciate what the 
 naked fenfe enables all men to enjoy. Of courfe, 
 this is no reafon why the lofty fphere of Mr.
 
 ALFRED TENNTSON. 249 
 
 Tennyfon fhould be tacitly aflumed by us ; and it 
 will prefently appear that, while we deem it futile 
 to offer direct proofs of his poetic rank, we are yet 
 ready to affign fome reafons for that very favour- 
 able eftimate which we have formed and exprefled. 
 Since a new poet is not unfrequently announced, 
 it is time that we fhould learn to take the term in 
 an accommodated fenfe, or otherwife to qualify 
 unreafonable hopes. This we may bell do by re- 
 membering all the virtues which that title promifes, 
 and all the honours which it properly confers. By 
 fo doing we (hall be more juft to the new afpirant ; 
 we fhall bear in mind how many are the chances 
 againft his being either now, or in the future, a 
 worthy heir of fame, and feel neither difappoint- 
 ment nor contempt becaufe his young deferts fail 
 far below the ftandard of poetic greatnefs. Have 
 any of us well obferved how high that ftandard is ? 
 While poetic feeling is by no means an uncommon 
 element in human nature, and poetic power is not 
 the leaft frequent of natural endowments, a great 
 poet is, perhaps, the rareft of all human chara6ters. 
 Perfection, indeed, is not to be expelled in this 
 earthly ftate, while humanity is fubje6t to fo many 
 drawbacks and infirmities ; but pofitive excellence 
 is more frequently achieved in any intellectual 
 fphere than that of poetry. This is due chiefly to 
 the faft, that it is not an intellectual fphere alone, 
 — that for the art and myftery of fong is demanded 
 a combination of natural gifts, and moral qualities, 
 and concurrent circumffances, fuch as no other 
 exercife of genius calls for; while thefe conditions
 
 250 ALFRED TENNTSON. 
 
 are as delicate in their nature as they are impera- 
 tive in their obligation ; and the world, which is 
 fo conftantly miniftering to them on the one hand, 
 is as conftantly militating againft them on the 
 other. 
 
 The natural endowments of the poet are pri- 
 mary and indifpenfable ; for thefe fupply the very 
 bafis of his charader. The large brain, or uni- 
 verfal organ, fufceptive of all the affedions, and 
 apprehenfive of all the truths of humanity, — in 
 this gift are included all the reft. It would be 
 unprofitable, if noworfe, to go further in this direc- 
 tion, except, perhaps, to fuggeft thatfome faculty, 
 anfwering to the ideality of the phrenologifts, is 
 the arch and crown of all the others, is the medium 
 by which they all communicate, and in which they 
 all inofculate and end. This may form the original 
 diftinction of poetic genius ; but otherwife it may 
 be faid to confift in a certain fulnefs and harmony 
 of all the faculties, which ferve to infure a rare and 
 unerring infight into nature, ufingthat term in the 
 moft comprehenfive fenfe. The brain, the mind, 
 the chara6ler of a great poet, is totus^ teres^ atque 
 rotundus. 
 
 It is true, then, — an old truth ever new, — that 
 the poet is born and not made. But let us not 
 therefore judge that his deftiny is accomplifhed, or 
 his crown fure. Baffled, wearied, or diverted from 
 his courfe, he may never reach the goal for which 
 Dame Nature has equipped him. He may be 
 born a poet, and die a philofopher ; he may be born 
 a great poet, and die an obfcure one ! This para-
 
 ALFRED TENNTSON 251 
 
 dox is not inexplicable, is not hard to be under- 
 ftood. The truth is, that to live the life poetic, 
 to nourifh all its afFecSlions, to develope all its 
 powers, and fo eventually to anfwer all its miffion, 
 is at once a great trial of conftancy, and the teft 
 of fuperior fortune. The pofitive attributes of the 
 poetic chara6ler are, we repeat, primary and indif- 
 penfable ; but thefe are of themfelves inadequate, 
 and may altogether fail in conferring, by their own 
 inherent force, either the confummate minftrelfy 
 or the immortal guerdon. Hence many perfons 
 of poetic mark and promife, whofe energies have 
 afterwards found fcopeand exercife in otherfpheres, 
 have not been able to fuftain the poetic chara6ler 
 in all its breadth, fimplicity, and power. Born 
 under the fmile of all the mufes, they have finally 
 attached themfelves to one. Feeling the ftirrings 
 of the prophetic genius, they haveallowedthe fpirit 
 of the world to break in upon them, and loft its 
 facred mood. From deliberate choice or gradual 
 inclination, at the fuggeftion of duty or from the 
 violence of circumftances, the poet has often fold 
 his vaft inheritance, and bought a field ; given up 
 his intereft in the beauties of a world, and centered 
 it upon fome fmall produdti ve province ; exchanged, 
 it may be, divination for fcience, and art for criti- 
 cifm. Nor {hould we wonder at this circumftance. 
 There is nothing more eafy than this procefs of 
 deterioration ; for fuch it is, though not always to 
 be deplored. The poet, as belonging to the order 
 of a natural priefthood, fhould be devoted and fet 
 apart to his fpecial office. He muft go in and out
 
 252 ALFRED TENNYSON, 
 
 among mankind, fuftain all its relations, experience 
 all its forrows, have fhare in all its delights ; but 
 he muft gather up the fkirts of his " finging robes," 
 as he pafles through the forum and the market, 
 as he mingles with the crowd of partifans and 
 worldlings, as he loiters in the halls of induftry and 
 fcience. He muft contra6l no duft or ftain of any 
 clafs. He muft be in the world, but not of the 
 world ; may indulge its partialities, but muft have 
 no fhare in its prejudices; may love his country 
 much, but muft love his fpecies more. Knowledge 
 he muft have ; but it muft not be labelled or laid 
 up in artificial forms. What he gains as ?ifavan 
 he muft enjoy like a child, that he may employ it 
 like a poet. Now, againft this mood of wife fim- 
 plicity, of earneft but catholic delight, a thoufand 
 influences array themfelves, — poverty with its 
 cares, bufmefs with its diftracSlions, and pleafure 
 with its ftrong allurements. The beft qualities of 
 the poet's nature may prove his moft befetting 
 fnares. His keen love of approbation maylead 
 him to feek the praife of a frivolous fociety, or a 
 fuperficial age. His love of knowledge may divert 
 him into partial ftudies ; his love of beauty betray 
 him into luxurious and fatal eafe. Or all thefe 
 may act together, and diffipate the mind, and de- 
 grade the moral fenfe, until he makes ftiipwreck 
 both of happinefs and fame ; foundering, like fome 
 rich merchantman, ill-manned but coftly- freighted, 
 the victim of too much treafure and unequal fea- 
 manftiip. 
 
 But this is not all. The conditions neceftary
 
 ALFRED TENNYSON. 253 
 
 for the production of a poet of the firft order, are 
 befet with peculiar difficulties in a period of ad- 
 vanced civilization and high literary attainments. 
 All that is valuable in a poet's education is the fruit 
 of his individual effort, of fevere but generous felf- 
 culture ; and hence it follows, that he has more to 
 lofe than gain by the mechanical aids to knowledge, 
 by the eager fpirit of refearch, by the varied and 
 ceafelefs acquifitions of an era like our own. It 
 was not always fo. In the world's nonage he 
 enjoyed a liberty dearer than aught befide ; and in 
 finging from his own full heart and mind, in cele- 
 brating, without model, di6lation, or reftraint of 
 any kind, heroic deeds, ftrange fortunes, pure love, 
 and fimple faith, he rehearfed all the powers of 
 language, and anticipated all the refources of in- 
 vention. Hence that miracle of art, that epitome 
 of literature, which bears the name of Homer. 
 Hence the fulnefs, clearnefs, and authority of 
 Shakefpeare's mufe. And becaufe this freedom 
 was gradually invaded by the advance of fcience, 
 or enfeebled by prefcriptive laws, we have to lament 
 the poor imitative notes of the poetry of the lail 
 century, and the " uncertain found" delivered 
 from the filver trumpet of the prefent. 
 
 It is truethat the generation which has only 
 lately paiTed away had juft caufe to glory in its 
 bards. If no "bright particular ilar" burns foli- 
 tary in that quarter of the hemifphere, we may fee 
 there a conftellation oflights, diffimilar in radiance 
 and of different magnitudes, but foftly blending all 
 their affociated glories. Much fine and genuine
 
 254 ALFRED TENNTSON. 
 
 poetry illuftrated the regency and reign of George 
 the Fourth. Yet the deteriorating influences we 
 have enumerated may eafily be traced in the pro- 
 du6lions of that period j and even when they have 
 allowed fome compofitions to come forth pure and 
 uninjured, they have ftill operated with certain 
 efFe6t in preventing the full development, or in 
 marring the grand fimplicity, of the poet's charac- 
 ter. We repeat, this is not always to be regretted ; 
 other forms of literature have often profited by 
 this deviation or perverfion ; but the fa(5t at leaft 
 may be clearly afcertained by a brief reference to 
 our poetic kalendar. 
 
 Of all the modern poets, Campbell and Rogers 
 have made fureft work for immortality. What- 
 ever is eflential and permanent in poetry of the an- 
 cient claffic type, has been beautifully adapted by 
 the Englifli mufe of Rogers. In Campbell, there 
 is frequently fomething of a more meretricious 
 chara6ler ; but many of his lyrics have the true 
 bardic fpirit and the ftrong Saxon voice ; and his 
 ftory of Gertrude and her fortunes in the wilder- 
 nefs of the Savannah, while it breathes an Arca- 
 dian fweetnefs of its own, is inverted with a thou- 
 fand graces which confer a perdurable beauty. 
 But neither of thefe authors is the great command- 
 ing poet of his age ; and ftill lefs can this be faid 
 of any of their celebrated contemporaries. Scott 
 revived with eminent fuccefs the foul of border 
 minftrelfy ; but his hearty, healthful verfe had 
 neither the concentration nor the pitch of poetry; 
 it pleafed rather from the romance and frefhnefs of
 
 ALFRED TENNTSON. 255 
 
 his theme, than becaufe of its general truth or deep 
 fignificance. Byron, even in his beft produ6lions, 
 evinced a fatal lack of comprehenfivenefs, a defi- 
 cient eye for form, and an excefs of fentiment not 
 often of the pureft fort. His intenfe egotifm un- 
 fitted him for doing juftice to other and more 
 noble types of chara6ler ; while a great egotift is 
 never a great poet, unlefs (like Milton or Dante) 
 he is alfo the greateft and foremoft man of his age. 
 He wanted the moral far more than the intellectual 
 qualities of greatnefs ; and had no right conception 
 of the beauty, dignity, and power of virtue. In- 
 capable of exercifing the higheft fun6lions of the 
 poet, he might probably have become the firft 
 fatirift of his day. The mufe of Shelley was the 
 apotheofis of philofophy. Liftening to his fong, it 
 feemed that the foul of Plato was paffing mourn- 
 fully over an aeolian lyre, and a beautiful abftradion 
 — call it wifdom, liberty, or virtue — rofe in fuper- 
 natural fplendour, and vaniftied among the ftars. 
 The genius of Moore was mufical rather than 
 poetic : he delighted and excelled in melody, but 
 always failed in profound or harmonious combina- 
 tions. Fancy he had, and feeling in a moderate 
 degree ; but in imagination he was almoft totally 
 deficient. His ftyle was artificial, — his tafte for 
 the beautiful, limited, conventional, and fa6titious. 
 Neither the Englifh heart nor the Englifh head 
 could find fatisfadion in his minftrelfy ; and even 
 his fweeteft fongs lofe more than half their charms 
 when divorced from the melodious airs which 
 animated them at the firft, and gave to them the
 
 256 ALFRED TENNTSON. 
 
 principle of life. Southey was a lefs popular but 
 far more genuine poet. Indeed, all the gifts, and 
 nearly all the graces, of his art were prefent with 
 him ; and this he has evinced by the tafte, variety, 
 and invention of his numerous verfe. But he 
 ftudied man too little, and books far too exclufively. 
 The frefhnefs and the freedom of the poetic cha- 
 racter were loft in his fcholarly feclufion: he taxed 
 his powerful mind with continual efforts of re-pro- 
 du6tion ; and the genius that v/as at firft only 
 difturbed became finally overlaid. His thirfl: of 
 knowledge joined with the exigencies of daily life 
 to draw him from communion with the mufe ; and 
 inftead of the greateft poet of the age, he will be 
 henceforth known as the nobleft and pureft of its 
 men of letters. Far different moral caufes led to 
 no very different iffue the marvellous pov/ers of 
 Coleridge. With the fineft ear, the moft delicate 
 fancy, and the moft fuperb imagination of any poet 
 of that famous period, he left the dial that ftands 
 within the poet's garden to peer behind the clock- 
 work of the univerfe, and grew bewildered in pre- 
 fence of the vaft machinerv, and fell ftunned and 
 voicelefs before the awful proceffion of its wheels. 
 He exchanged poetic fynthefis for metaphyfical 
 analyfis ; gathered fome fragments of the under- 
 working law, but relinquifhed all the fmiling 
 •appanage of nature. The world ftill waited for 
 its poet. Many thought he had alreadv come in 
 the perfon of William Wordfworth, whofe pre- 
 tenfions were defpifed or overlooked, only becaufe 
 of the ftudied plainnefs of his appeal. Yet thofe
 
 ALFRED TENNTSON. 257 
 
 pretenfions were at leaft fufficiently advanced, if 
 not haughtily preferred or royally fupported. He 
 eflayed all the varieties of his art, from ballad 
 meafures to epic lengths ; but he had not eminent 
 fuccefs in more than two. Excepting only fome 
 fifty of his fonnets and a few noble odes, there is 
 nothing in his volumes which the world could not 
 well fpare. His ballads are not fo much fimple as 
 naked, not fo much homely as profaic. His " Ex- 
 curfion " is tedious, verbofe, metaphyseal ; ela- 
 borate in manner, and not ftinted in dimenfions, 
 it is quite wanting in conflru(flive art ; it is indefi- 
 nite in its purpofe, and inconclufive as a whole. 
 There is little difficulty in pointing out this author's 
 chief defeft. He had the poet's mind, but not the 
 poet's manner; he had fomething of the artift's 
 tafteful eye, but little of the artift's fkilful hand. 
 His touch was often feeble, hefitating, ineffectual ; 
 and feldom did he inform the picSlure with a pleaf- 
 ing or a perfect grace. The philofophical element 
 is too manifeft and too predominant in all his 
 works. A fage he was ; but no crowned poet, no 
 magician. He had the lore of Profpero, his 
 gravity, and his dignity; but no wand was in his 
 hand, and no Ariel at his beck. 
 
 From each of the authors we have named, many 
 beautiful poems have been received into the antho- 
 logy of England ; but who is by emphafis the 
 POET ? We find fomething to admire in the 
 "works" of every one; but where is the mafter 
 that lifts up all the powers of our hearts and minds 
 together, and makes nature to dance in concert
 
 258 ALFRED TENNYSON. 
 
 with the foul at the mere hearing of his voice ? 
 The Chriftabel of Coleridge, the O'Connor's 
 Child of Campbell, the Adonais and Ode to the 
 Sky-Lark of poor unhappy Shelley, Moore's tender 
 Melodies, and Wordfworth's noble Sonnets, — 
 thefe are choice pieces in our claffical repertory, 
 and we can only fpare them from our fide becaufe 
 they are already graven in our hearts. But fome- 
 thing of higher note, of rarer excellence, is yet a- 
 wanting ; and while the world yet waits, breathlefs 
 with expectation, a clear high voice is heard ad- 
 vancing on the ear, and the poet's advent is unmif- 
 takeably announced in the chara6ter of his fore- 
 runner. 
 
 " The rain had fallen, the Poet arofe, 
 
 He pafs'ci by the town, and out of the ftreet, 
 A light wind blew from the gates of the lun, 
 
 And waves of lliadow went over the wheat, 
 And he fat him down in a lonely place. 
 
 And chanted a melody loud and fweet. 
 That made the wild fwan paufe in her cloud. 
 
 And the lark drop down at his feet. 
 
 " The fwallow ftopt as he hunted the bee. 
 
 The fnake flipt under a fpray. 
 The wild hawk flood with the down on his beak, 
 
 And ftared with his foot on the prey. 
 And the nightingale thought, ' I have fung many fongs. 
 
 But never a one fo gay; 
 For he fings of what the world will be, 
 
 When the years have died away.' " 
 
 It is not our intention to enter minutely into 
 the chara6ter and merits of Mr. Tennyfon's poetry. 
 Prefuming that our author's publications are more 
 or lefs familiar to the reader, we fhall briefly indi- 
 cate the qualities which feem to juftify in fome
 
 ALFRED TENNTSON. 259 
 
 degree the praife of his admirers, and give to him 
 a high and independent place among the Englifh 
 poets. To this courfe we are certainly moved by- 
 no fpirit of partifanfhip ; and wq may equally dif- 
 claim that feeling of exclufive preference w^hich is 
 fo apt to warp the judgment and corrupt the tafte. 
 Our lympathies (as the reader probably by this time 
 knows) are not deeply engaged in favour of the 
 fubje6tive fchool of poetry, with which Mr. Tenny- 
 fon is commonly, but not quite fairly, identified ; 
 yet it is only juft that the diftindion fhould be 
 made, and clearly marked, between what is genuine 
 and original in the prefent claimant, and what is 
 meretricious and extravagant in his younger rivals. 
 There is fome danger of the former fharing in the 
 condemnation of the latter; and fo an injuflice 
 may be done to one of the moft gifted of his race 
 and order. Yet it is furely idle to confound the 
 merits and pofition of Mr. Tennyfon with thofe of 
 certain imitators and enthufiafts. His poems are 
 too well conceived, his thoughts too harmonioufly 
 ordered, to allow anything but reckleflnefs or in- 
 capacity fo far to misjudge his real character. He 
 has no relation to what has been defignated '' the 
 fpafmodic fchool of poetry," excepting that his 
 genius has quickened into unequal emulation the 
 poetic inftindl of far inferior men ; and in thefe 
 cafes it was only natural that the external features 
 of his poetry fhould be moft clofely followed, and 
 carried to " wafteful and ridiculous excefs." Hence 
 his frequent but felicitous ufe of flowers, for the 
 fubordinate purpofes of fentiment and imagery,
 
 26o ALFRED TENNYSON, 
 
 is mere purpofelefs profufion in the pages of fome 
 of our younger poets ; and what in him is but an 
 occafional voice of wonder, or of doubt, becomes 
 in them an intolerable fenfe of moral confufion, 
 and a monotonous wail of mifanthropic grief. 
 
 But your orthodox man of tafte will reject the 
 claims of Mr. Tennyfon, as ftoutly as thofe of his 
 mofl extravagant contemporaries. His delight is 
 in the fatires and the epitaphs of Pope. He calls 
 eafily to memory, and repeats, with proudeft em- 
 phafis, the opening lines of " The Traveller," and 
 triumphantly inquires, " Do you want finer poetry 
 than that ? " He believes alfo in Shakefpeare ; 
 and though it is perhaps twenty years fince he 
 read much of the great mafter's volume, you may 
 truft him for corre6f quotation, as he illuflrates 
 fome paffing incident, fome trait of chara61:er, fome 
 point of cafuiflry, by noble apophthegm or golden 
 rule of life. Yet it may be obferved, that if his 
 love of Shakefpeare is unmeafured, his appreciation 
 is fomewhat limited. The poet is for him a clear- 
 eyed, mellow-voiced, and genial man of the world, 
 a (hrevvd obferver, a pleafant fatirift, a merry wit. 
 He heartily enjoys the Shakefpearian comedy ; 
 but gives the hiftory and tragedy, the fentiment 
 and forrow, quite a fecond place ; puts "As you 
 like it " before " The Tempefl," and quotes more 
 frequently the fayings of Polonius than thofe of 
 Hamlet. Our orthodox man of tafte is not to be 
 defpifed. For thefe ftrong preferences we rather 
 honour than condemn him. What he admires, is 
 genuine, is admirable ; whoever elfe is found in
 
 ALFRED TENNTSON. 261 
 
 judgment, he at leaft is fo. Nor do we fay that 
 the Laureate of the prefent day will ever take rank 
 with the univerfal favourites, the claffics of all 
 time. But orthodoxy is apt to be literal and harfh, 
 as well as found ; and when it charges obfcurity, 
 excefs, and wantonnefs upon the poetic meafures 
 of Mr. Tennyfon, it is quite pollible that the defi- 
 ciency and fault may not reft wholly with the 
 poet. Handel is the grand maeftro ; yet is there 
 no mufic in the wild and wailing fymphonies of 
 Beethoven ? Goethe is the great fage ; yet is 
 there no wifdom, {himmering Hke innumerable 
 glowworms, in the foreft of Jean Paul's quaint 
 fancy and invention \ Gainfborough and Rey- 
 nolds are the glory of the Britifh fchool ; but is no 
 fentiment to be found in the fertile grace of Stoth- 
 ard, no freftinefs in the homely paftorals of Con- 
 ftable ? It is the higheft-mounted man who fees 
 the fartheft ; and that is the trueft tafte which 
 comprehends the wideft kingdom and the moft 
 numerous fubje61:s in its impartial range. But 
 befides this neceflary power of catholic apprecia- 
 tion of all that is genuine in literature or art, an- 
 other confideration ftiould reprefs exclufive judg- 
 ments. The writings of Pope and Goldfmith, and 
 even thofe of Shakefpeare, form no fufficient teft 
 of the reader's love of poetry ; for a man of com- 
 parative dulnefs may find amufement in the mere 
 letter of thefe compofitions. It is quite another 
 thing to find pleafure in Spenfer's " Fairy Queen," 
 or Milton's " Comus," or, of later date, in the fine 
 fragments of young Keats, beautiful as Elgin
 
 262 ALFRED TENNYSON. 
 
 marbles. This is indeed to give evidence of deep 
 poetic feeling ; and it is juft the ear and fancy 
 Vi^hich are fo arrefted, that v^ill find, as v^e believe, 
 a fatisfacSlion, not inferior, but flill deeper and more 
 complete, in the produ6lions of the prefent Lau- 
 reate. 
 
 Mr. Tennyfon has been thought to ow^e much 
 to the philofophic mufe of Wordfworth ; but we 
 cannot trace the debt. The only likenefs w^e can 
 difcern betw^een thefe authors, is in the devotion 
 of their lives to the attainment of poetic excellence. 
 Becaufe of this fuflained and rare devotion, in 
 vi^hich they equally fecured fome pure advantages, 
 and exercifed their povi^ers with fulleft freedom, 
 we may all the more fairly eftimate the relative 
 refults. One grand particular may be felefted as, 
 in fome degree, inclufive of all the reft ; and figni- 
 ficant, if not decifive, of their refpe6live merit. 
 The difference in the ftyle or manner of thefe two 
 poets is ftriking, and, at the fame time, chara6ler- 
 iftic of more eflential differences. Wordfworth's 
 thoughts are often beautiful and juft ; and being, 
 moreover, elaborately fet in meafured verfe and 
 ftudled phrafe, there is a certain dignity about the 
 whole, which challenges the praife of poetry. Yet 
 we feel, fometimes painfully, the fubfervience of 
 the fpirit to the letter of poetic truth, of the 
 aefthetic to the rational appreciation of external 
 things, and mark too clearly the deliberate coinage 
 and patent artifice of all his words and lines. 
 Poetry is with him the fele6led medium of his 
 thoughts, not the fpontaneous language of infpired
 
 ALFRED TENNTSON. 263 
 
 lips. It is very different with Mr. Tennyfon. 
 The bees of Hybla have fwarmed about his mouth 
 in infancy, — a marvellous eafe and fweetnefs are 
 found in all his utterance. He does not afTume 
 the language of poetry ; he rather realizes the ftory 
 of the royal fairy v^hofe words were all pure pearls. 
 He puts a poetic thought in poetic phrafe natu- 
 rally, necefTarily, as every action of a prince fpeaks 
 of high breeding and habitual power. But this is 
 not all. If this were his chief merit, if poetic 
 phrafe were allowed to ftand in place of profounder 
 qualities of truth, then the palm fhould juftly be 
 awarded to the fage of Rydal. Better a rhythmical 
 philofophy than a fhallow poetry. Better the 
 labouring, mournful, doubtful voice of Nature cry- 
 ing after God, and a difcord tortured out of the 
 " ftill fad mufic of humanity," than the proceffion 
 of inane and glittering fancies, catching, like 
 bubbles, the neareft light, and then burfting from 
 fheer tenuity and emptinefs. But is it fo with the 
 mufe of Alfred Tennyfon? His beauties of lan- 
 guage and poetic phrafe are not the fet purpofe, 
 but the pure redundancies, of his genius ; and yet 
 they are not fo far redundant but that they are 
 made to ferve the chief defign, — to give collateral 
 light, to touch, and tone, and harmonize the whole 
 pi6lure. Underlying all that wealth and beauty 
 of expreffion, that play of fancy, that fparkling 
 evanefcent foam of imagery, the author's main 
 defign, like the ftrong current of a calm fummer 
 fea, carries his reader forward almoft imperceptibly ; 
 and fo lulling are the fights and meafures which
 
 264 JLFRED TENNTSON. 
 
 falute him, — fo idle the green, white, crefting, and 
 relapfing waves, fo motionlefs the thin, pure, dap- 
 pled fleeces of the upper fky, — that he can hardly 
 perfuade himfelf that he is drifted towards fome 
 grand conclufion, towards fome ifland of rare 
 lovelinefs and regenerating clime, towards fome 
 new continent of boundlefs treafure and dominion. 
 Yet fo it is. In all the poems of our author there 
 is more than meets the eye of the imagination, and 
 more than the delighted ear can well appreciate. 
 The moral is profoundly felt, the lefTon is received 
 at once into the heart ; but not lefs clearly are we 
 taught, not lefs certainly are we raifed into a region 
 of elevated truths. P'rom a higher point we furvey 
 a wider field, bounded by a more diflant, but ftill 
 beautiful, horizon. From a "peak in Darien," 
 from fome rare ftand-point of this poor and 
 " ignorant prefent," we catch glimpfes of the tide- 
 lefs and boundlefs Pacific of ideal truth, and feel 
 how profound is that divine faying, that only " the 
 things which are unfeen are eternal." 
 
 This union, or rather this interfufion, of 
 thought and language ; this wonderful co-ordina- 
 tion of detail and defign, of final purpofe and fub- 
 ordinate expreffion ; this fubtle incorporation of 
 the fpirit of poetry, by which the grolTer medium 
 is fublimed, and the diviner eflence proje6ted into 
 form ; is eminently feen in our author's poem of 
 "The Two Voices." In that fine dialogue, a 
 troubled foul maintains a controverfy v/ith his evil 
 monitor : in what ftyle and temper, and with what 
 ultimate fuccefs, a hw quotations may fuffice to 
 fhow.
 
 ALFRED TENNTSON. 265 
 
 '* Again the voice fpake unto me, 
 'Thou art fo fteepM in mifery. 
 Surely 'twere better not to be. 
 
 " * Thine anguifh will not let thee deep. 
 Nor any train of reafon keep : 
 Thou canft not think, but thou wilt weep.' 
 
 "I faid, ' The years with change advance ; 
 If I make dark my countenance, 
 I fhut my life from happier chance. 
 
 " * Some turn this ficknefs yet may take. 
 Even yet.' But he : ' What drug can make 
 A wither'd palfy ceafe to fhake ?' 
 
 " I wept, ' Though I lliould die, I know 
 That all about the thorn will blow 
 In tufts of rofy-tinted fnow j 
 
 " ' And men, through novel fpheres of thought. 
 Still moving after truths long fought. 
 Will learn new things when I am not.' 
 
 " * Yet,' faid the fecret voice, ' fome time 
 Sooner or later, will grey prime 
 Make thy grafs hoar with early rime. 
 
 " * Not lefs fwift fouls that yearn for light. 
 Rapt after heaven's ftarry flight, 
 Would fweep the tracks of day and night. 
 
 " * Not lefs the bee would range her cells. 
 The furzy prickle fire the dells, 
 The foxglove clufter dappled bells.' 
 
 " I faid that ' all the years invent j 
 Each month is various to prefent 
 The world with fome development. 
 
 " * Were this not well, to bide mine hour, 
 Though watching from a ruin'd tower. 
 How grows the day of human power ?' 
 
 " ' The higheft-mounted mind,' he faid, 
 * Still fees the facred morning fpread 
 The filent fummit over head. 
 
 " * Will thirty feafons render plain 
 Thofe lonely lights that llill remain 
 Juft breaking over land and main ?
 
 266 ALFRED TENNTSON, 
 
 "* Or make that morn, from his cold crown 
 And cryftal filence creeping down, 
 Flood with full daylight glebe and town ? 
 
 " * Forerun thy peers, thy time, and let 
 Thy feet, millenniums hence, be fet 
 In midft of knowledge dream'd not yet. 
 
 " 'Thou haft not gained a real height, 
 Nor art thou nearer to the light, 
 Becaufe the fcale is infinite.' " 
 
 Maftering a ftrong reluctance, we pafs by many 
 beautiful verfes of this poem ; and, further on, we 
 read : — 
 
 " ' O dull one-fided voice,' faid I, 
 * Wilt thou make everything a lie, 
 To flatter me that I may die ? 
 
 *' * I know that age to age fucceeds, 
 Blowing a noife of tongues and deeds, 
 A dull of fyftems and of creeds. 
 
 " * I cannot hide that fome have ftriven, 
 Achieving calm, to whom was given 
 The joy that mixes man with heaven : 
 
 " * Who, rowing hard againft the ftream, 
 Saw diftant gates of Eden gleam, 
 And did not dream it was a dream j 
 
 " * But heard, by fecret tranfport led. 
 Even in the charnels of the dead, 
 The murmur of the fountain-head — 
 
 " ' Which did accomplifh their defire. 
 
 Bore and forbore, and did not tire, 
 
 Like Stephen, an unquench'dfire : 
 *' ' He heeded not reviling tones. 
 
 Nor fold his heart to idle moans. 
 
 Though curfed, and fcornM, and bruifed with ftones : 
 
 ** * But looking upward, full of grace, 
 He prayM, and from a happy place, 
 God's glory fmote him in the face. ' " 
 
 However the general tenor of our author's philo-
 
 ALFRED TENNTSON. 267 
 
 fophy be judged, — and on that topic we referve a 
 few remarks, — there can be little doubt of its 
 highly poetical charafter ; and the verfes we have 
 tranfcribed are fufficient to fuftain what we have 
 juft preferred as the peculiar praife of Mr. Tenny- 
 fon. All he writes is poetry : it may be of more 
 or lefs diftinguifhed merit, and more or lefs obvious 
 in its truth and beauty ; but in every mood of his 
 mind, in all the tones and meafures of his fong, 
 the poet's office is fuftained, and the poetic func- 
 tion purely exercifed. We have no logic chopped 
 into longs and fhorts ; no dull, pert argument, 
 dreiled up in figured robes, in which it naturally, but 
 abfurdly, ftumbles at almoft every ftep. In the 
 midft of a bufy, learned, enterprifmg age, our 
 author has efcaped its deadening and deteriorating 
 influences, and is as pure a minftrel as any trou- 
 badour of the age of chivalry. 
 
 Before quitting this poem of " The Two 
 Voices," which fo happily exemplifies our author's 
 poetic ftyle, it may be allowed to carry us ftill for- 
 ward in our eflimate ; for it is not more beautiful 
 in parts, than it is complete and perfe6l as a whole. 
 There is great truth to nature, and a fine moral 
 leiTon, embodied in the concluding verfes. In his 
 mental ftruggles the tempted fufFerer has, in each 
 inflance, manfully repelled the fuggeflions of 
 " The Voice ;" but his triumph is not complete, 
 his cure is not efietSted, without affiflance from 
 the external world. A morbid introverfion of 
 the mind, an eager, but unhallowed, curiofity, had 
 evidently fown the firfl feeds of doubt, and given
 
 268 ALFRED TENNYSON, 
 
 occafion to the tempter of his foul ; and the evil 
 one had him, as it were, at difadvantage on his own 
 ground, fo long as the conteft was maintained 
 wholly from within. A new arena muft be chofen ; 
 frefher and healthier influences muft be allowed 
 to invigorate and fecond nature ; a6lion muft con- 
 firm the feeble di6lates of his reafon, and wideft 
 obfervation corre61: the partial data of fecluded 
 thought, and bring the whole being into accord- 
 ance with the world of nature and the arrange- 
 ments of Providence : — 
 
 ** I ceafed, and fat as one forlorn. 
 Then faid the voice in quiet icorn, 
 * Behold, it is the Sabbath morn !' 
 
 " And I arofe, and I releafed 
 
 The cafement, and the light increafed 
 With frefhnefs in the dawning eaft. 
 
 " Like foften'd airs that blowing fteal 
 When woods begin to uncongeal, 
 The fweet church-bells began to peal. 
 
 " On to God's houfe the people preft : 
 Palling the place where each muft reft. 
 Each enter'd like a welcome gueft. 
 
 ** One walk'd between his wife and child 
 With meafured foot-fall firm and mild, 
 And now and then he gravely fmiled. 
 
 " The prudent partner of his blood 
 Lean'd on him, faithful, gentle, good. 
 Wearing the rofe of womanhood. 
 
 " And in their double love fecure. 
 The little maiden walk'd demure. 
 Pacing with downward eyelids pure. 
 
 " Thefe three made unity fo fweet. 
 My frozen heart began to beat, 
 Rememberins: its ancient heat.
 
 ALFRED TENNTSON. 269 
 
 " I bleft them, and they wandered on : 
 I fpoke, but anfwer came there none : 
 The dull and bitter voice was gone. 
 
 " A fecond voice was at mine ear, 
 A little whifper filver-clear, 
 A murmur, ' Be of better cheer.' 
 
 *' As from fome blifsful neighbourhood, 
 A notice faintly underftood, 
 
 * I fee the end, and know the good.* 
 
 " A little hint to folace woe, 
 A hint, a whifper breathing low, 
 ' I may not fpeak of what I know.' 
 
 " Like an -^olian harp that wakes 
 No certain air, but overtakes 
 Far thought with mufic which it makes : 
 
 " Such feem'd the whifper at my fide : 
 
 * What is 't thou knoweft, fweet voice,' I cried. 
 
 * A hidden hope,' the voice replied : 
 
 " So heavenly-toned that in that hour 
 From out my fuUen heart a power 
 Broke, like the rainbow from the fhower, 
 
 " To feel, although no tongue can prove. 
 That every cloud that fpreads above. 
 And veileth love, itfelf is love." 
 
 In " The Palace of Art," and " The Vifion of 
 Sin," the fame fine vein of moral poetry fubfifts. 
 But the moft popular and perfe6l of our author's 
 compofitions do not prefent the moral element fo 
 diftin(Stively : in thefe it is merely held in folution, 
 while in thofe it is caft down as a bright precipitate. 
 The poet is generally fuccefsful in both thefe 
 ftylesofcompofition. What an air of truth, and 
 health, and happinefs, breathes in his Englifh 
 idyls ! — in " Dora" and "The Gardener's Daugh- 
 ter," and that exquilite bucohc, '* The Talking 
 Oak." But the genius of our poet, like the genius
 
 270 ALFRED TENNTSON. 
 
 of his age, is eflentially lyrical. The lighteft of 
 individual fancies, and the graveft of prophetic 
 burthens, flow from him in eafy, and abundant, 
 and pellucid fong. In " The Princefs" we have 
 both thefe elements — idyllic fweetnefs and lyrical 
 perfection — well exemplified, and linked together 
 by a fable of infinite delicacy and grace. The 
 poem is " a Medley," for the age is fuch ; and all 
 its various qualities and features are reprefented in 
 its pages ; and efpecially are they fketched in its 
 fantaftic prologue with a touch fo light, fo faithful, 
 fo poetical, that it appears rather the efFe6l of magic 
 than of art. Again : what freedom of defign and 
 execution in the ftory of thofe wilful beauties ! 
 what images of feminine lovelinefs ! what diflblv- 
 ing views of wayward and capricious paffion ! 
 what final glimpfes into the heart and oratory of 
 true womanhood ! But the fineft meafures of this 
 poem are diftincl and feparable. Its fongs and 
 idyls are incomparably beautiful ; and now haunt 
 the foul with a fenfe of its own m.yftery and im- 
 mortality, and now " lap it in foft Lydian airs." 
 Who that has read can ever forget the " fmall, 
 fweet idyl," beginning, " Come down, O maid ! 
 from yonder fhepherd height ?" Too well known, 
 alfo, is the famous Bugle Song to admit of its quo- 
 tation ; but the echo of it remains upon the ear, 
 and wanders through the mind and heart, and 
 grows only the more diftindl as it faints in utter 
 finenefs. 
 
 In the poem of In Memoriam^ the admirers 
 of our author recognize the fulfilment of his 
 
 I
 
 ALFRED TENNYSON. 271 
 
 higheft promifes, and the culmination of all his bril- 
 liant powers. Others point to it in vindication of 
 their former coldnefs and miftruft, as ftrongly con- 
 firming the charges of obfcurity, exaggeration, and 
 myfticifm. One thing, at lead, is clear : this 
 poem is intenfely chara6leriftic of the author ; if it 
 owes much to the fineft qualities of his genius, it 
 indicates fomething alfo of his prevailing fault. 
 The reader will remember that this memorial 
 poem is compofed of a feries of fmaller poems, or 
 ftrophes, written under the influence, more or lefs 
 remote, of grief for the lofs of a dear and moft ac- 
 complilhed friend, and finally depofited — a handful 
 of violets, a chaplet of i?nmorteUes — upon a long- 
 cold grave. The charadfer of this rare tribute of 
 love and admiration is quite unique. Compofed 
 at different times, and under different moods of 
 mind, it varies in the perfonal pathos of its grief. 
 Mourning the early lofs of a much-gifted friend, 
 the poet's genius prompts him to fpeculation ; and 
 he glances, with wondering, awed, yet not un- 
 fteady gaze, into the myfi:ery of life, the deftiny of 
 man. In this attitude of brooding thought — in 
 its intenfely fubje6five charafter — lie both the 
 ftrength and weaknefs of this poem, its value as a 
 rare and precious ftudy, its ifolation from the popu- 
 lar fympathy and tafte. Here again we have that 
 happy fufion of fentiment and language, and that 
 interaition of thought, and mufic, and exprefiion, 
 which give fo great a charm to all our author's 
 poetry. Thefe harmonies are, with many readers, 
 the chief merit of In Memoria?n ; but perhaps
 
 272 ALFRED TENNTSON. 
 
 its moft fafcinating quality is that which borders 
 clofely upon the obfcure, — which fuggefts to the 
 foul, rather than fpeaks to the mind, and affords 
 dim intimations of fomething " more than meets 
 the ear." The fpeculations of the poet have given 
 rife to great fufpicions of his faith j and fome have 
 charged a pantheiftical tendency upon the whole 
 production. We do not wonder at the grave 
 fufpicions ; but the conclufion of the author's 
 pantheifm feems to us unfounded. We have no 
 decided recognition of revealed and faving truth, 
 nor any indication of that clear and perfect con- 
 fidence which the gofpel confers on the believer ; 
 but faith in God, in His perfonal chara6ter, in His 
 overruling, but myfterious, providence, and even 
 in His gracious purpofes through Chrift, does ap- 
 pear in our author's pages, and comes to relieve 
 his gloomiefl doubts. He recoils from the con- 
 clufions of learned infidels, and from the cold 
 fpeclre which they worfhip under the name of 
 " Nature." 
 
 " And he, fhall he, 
 
 " Man, her laft work, who feemM fo fair. 
 Such fplendld purpofe in his eyes, 
 Who roird the plalm to wintry fkies. 
 Who built him fanes of fruitlels prayer; 
 
 " Who trufted God was love indeed, 
 And love Creation's final law ; — 
 Though Nature, red in tooth and claw 
 With ravin, fhriek'd againft his creed ; 
 
 *' Who loved, who fufFer'd countlefs ills. 
 Who battled for the True, the Juft, — 
 Be blown about the defert duft, 
 Or feal'd within the iron hills ?
 
 ALFRED TENNTSON. 273 
 
 " No more ? A monfter then, a dream, 
 A difcord j dragons of the prime. 
 That tare each other in their flime. 
 Were mellow mufic match'd with him. ^ 
 
 " O, life as futile, then, as frail ! 
 
 O for Thy voice to foothe and blefs ! 
 What hope of anfwer, or redrefs ? 
 Behind the veil, behind the veil." 
 
 Little fpace is left to us to fpealc of Mr. Tenny- 
 fon's laft production : but the work is in every- 
 body's hands, our contemporaries have difcufled at 
 large its beauties and defeats, and, after the gene- 
 ral views we have prefented of what feems to us 
 the chara6i:er of our author's poetry, few words 
 will fuffice to (how in what manner we eftimate 
 the neweffort of his mufe. The poem of ^^Maud^'' 
 which was expecSted with too great eagernefs, has 
 been naturally received with too little candour and 
 allowance. This is the tax an author pays for 
 his own great reputation. We not only ex- 
 pect: (till better things of him than he has yet 
 achieved, but his work muft be of a certain pre- 
 conceived defcription, and his triumph univerfal 
 as well as eminent. He muft pleafe all, and each 
 in his own way. If his later ftyle refemble the 
 former, he is faid to be wearing himfelfout ; if it 
 confiderably differ, he is lofmg himfelf in a wrong 
 direction. Now the poem before us, though long 
 enough to give the leading title to a volume of 
 minor pieces, makes no extraordinary pretenfions, 
 and challenges no efpecial admiration. It is no 
 allegory of the war on the one hand, and no epic 
 illuftration on the other. It is the dithyrambic of
 
 274 ALFRED TENNYSON, 
 
 a thwarted and embittered youth, degraded by the 
 evils of a peftilent and bloated peace. This fub- 
 jecl was probably felecfled as affording occafion for 
 exhibiting the focial ufes of a war like that in which 
 .we are engaged, — an object, no doubt, primary in 
 the defign of the poet, but made fecondary and in- 
 cidental only in his poem. We are not altogether 
 pleafed with the choice which Mr. Tennyfon 
 has made. In truth, the poem is not eminently 
 pleafing as a whole ; it lacks that clearnefs, fym- 
 metry, and ferene expreflion, which are the laft 
 perfection of the artiff. Yet ourjuft confidence 
 in Mr. Tennyfon makes us diffident in this con- 
 clufion ; and fure v/e are that repeated ftudy of 
 his poem has greatly leffened the diffatisfaction 
 which a firft perufal left upon our minds. Some 
 readers mifs painfully the wonted eafe and fmooth- 
 nefs of our author's poetry : but an ear fo cunning 
 as this mafter's is not eafily betrayed ; and under 
 his moft rugged lines will be found a full current 
 of harmonious mufic, fuch as no dulcet meafures 
 can pretend to. The fecret of this verfification — 
 of its novelty, abruptnefs, and feeming harfhnefs — 
 is its profound and exquifite adaptation to the mind 
 as well as to the ear : it reconciles the voice of 
 paffion, the moods of waywardnefs and fear, with 
 the fupreme demands of art ; it is reprefentative 
 poetry in the loweft as well as in the higheft fenfe. 
 Take, for example, the firft ftrophe of the poem. 
 We have feen thefe ftanzas quoted as a merebur- 
 lefque of poetry. Read them again, — read them 
 aloud ; and it cannot fail to be perceived that the
 
 ALFRED TENNTSON. 275 
 
 choice of accentual, rather than of pure metrical, 
 effe6t was moft felicitous. Say, if you pleafe, our 
 author has turned a column of police reports into 
 poetry. Yet, poetry it furely is, and that of a very 
 noble kind. Every word is effective ; every ac- 
 cent falls in the critical place and time ; every line 
 is graphic and fonorous in the laft degree. The 
 paffage reads like a public indidlment, and, rifmg 
 into a declaration of war, feems to clofe with the 
 blaft of a trumpet. 
 
 The remaining beauties of this poem are ac- 
 knowledged and felt by all. There is no need to 
 quote, much lefs to vindicate, the inimitable fong 
 beginning, " Com.e into the garden, Maud." It 
 is the exuberant paffion of a true and earneft heart, 
 unfolding in an atmofphere of balmieft oriental 
 fancies, and efflorefcing into rich and odorous 
 beauty — fo fweet that the fenfe aches at it, fo deli- 
 cate that no pencil can define it, fo fimple that a 
 child may fall in love with it, fo fubtle that no 
 philofophy can analyfe it, fo marvellous that all 
 muft be content to ponder and enjoy it. But this 
 queen-lyric is only fuperior, and not folitary, in its 
 beauty. It overpeers a band of rival graces. Only 
 lefs charming than the invocation we have re- 
 ferred to is the ftrain commencing, " Go not, 
 happy day, from the (hining fields ;" but it is to 
 the other as the primrofe to the rofe. In the pen- 
 ultimate ftrophe of the poem we have a ftill 
 higher triumph of poetic genius in the delineation 
 of a difordered mind. Nothing is more certain in 
 fa6):, and nothing more difficult to realize in art,
 
 276 ALFRED TENNTSON. 
 
 than the " method" which is involved even in 
 utter " madnefs." It is a teft worthy of the powers 
 of Shakefpearehimfelf; and few befides have pafled 
 it undegraded. Yet Mr. Tennyfon muft be num- 
 bered with the few, fo admirable is the manner in 
 which gleams of memory, and glimpfes of the 
 truth, are made to break through the lowering 
 clouds of paffion and unreafon. 
 
 Of the minor poems which compofe the latter 
 half of this volume, the fineft is the " Ode," firft 
 publifhed on occafion of the Great Duke's burial. 
 To fay that it is worthy of the author, and equal to 
 the theme is high, but not unmerited praife. It is 
 m.artial mufic, keen, clear, or duly muffled, re- 
 training its exulting note in prefence of the grave, 
 and that one Foe, unconcjuered and unevaded. 
 " The Brook" is an idyl of the kind in which Mr. 
 Tennyfon has always fuch fuccefs ; and the lines 
 fuggefted by " The Daify," fo different from thofe 
 of Montgomery and Burns which bear the fame 
 title, are written in the author's chara6leriftic 
 manner, and have an independent beauty of their 
 own.
 
 NOCTES AMBROSIAN^. 
 
 HE fame man in different circum- 
 ftances, and what then ? Poftpone 
 his birth, tranflate his home, alter his 
 focial grade, and, in all outward things, 
 reverfe his fortune ; will his chara6ler be developed 
 into the fame fubftantial form ? Can the imagina- 
 tion re-adjuft the features of a life in any new pofi- 
 tion ? To do fo would be a matter of the highefl: 
 difficulty, but perhaps it is not quite impoffible. 
 Yet, if we endeavour to eftimate the refults of 
 this hypothetical combination, our conclufion muft 
 remain unverified : it is only a conjefture at the 
 beft. With perfons of ordinary flamp, who ac- 
 cept their deftiny as infants receive their breath 
 and children daily bread, it is eafy to conceive how 
 little alteration would be made in their lot by 
 their birth happening in other lands or earlier ages. 
 To know the habits of fuch age or country is to 
 know the quality and tenor of their lives. A poft- 
 man of theprefent day may not have been a letter- 
 carrier in the period of the Commonwealth ; but, 
 fo far as his lot depended on himfelf, it would not 
 have ranged much higher. But what if Cromwell
 
 278 NOCTES AMBROSUNM. 
 
 had been the Ton of fome modern Barclay ? Would 
 he have followed the genius of command to the 
 borders of revolution, or been content with the 
 parliamentary pofition, fay, of Sir Fowell Buxton, 
 taken arms againft the accurfed Slave-trade, and 
 crowned his reputation in our own day by a fmgle- 
 handed conteft with public abufes of every kind 
 and fhape ? Alas ! there is none in whom we 
 can recognize the re-animated foul of Cromwell. 
 And then, Alfred, the Saxon Monarch, — fuppofe 
 him to have been born in a humbler fphere, but a 
 brighter age, emerging from the middle clafs on 
 this fide of the ftruggling millennium of the modern 
 world, inftead offhining at the moment of its grim 
 beginning. Shall we ftyle him author, politician, 
 or profperous merchant? He might have been 
 one or all : he would have been eminent for large 
 views in fome department of national or focial 
 policy : he muft have commanded the refpe6t and 
 admiration of all wife men in the fphere fele6^ed by 
 his will and illuftrated by his genius and refource. 
 We know not if thefe fpeculations may feemto 
 the reader plaufible, or otherwife. But there is 
 one ancient chara6ter for whom we have no diffi- 
 culty in finding a modern reprefentative ; and this 
 we do fet forth with greater confidence. Suppofe 
 that one of thofe yellow-haired and lawlefs fea- 
 kings, who diflurbed the Heptarchy, and fang the 
 wild fongs of Scandinavia as they failed in quefl of 
 plunder or in pure love of conqueft and renown ; 
 who flood only in fear of Thor, the Thunder-god, 
 and gave conftant praife and worfhip to Balder,
 
 NOCTES AMBROSIANM. 279 
 
 the blue-eyed deity of love and mufic, — fuppofe 
 the deftiny of fuch an one poftponed to our well- 
 regulated age, and his firft breath drawn in modern 
 Edinburgh, inftead of his laft figh breathed in de- 
 fiance on the fhore of the ftormy Hebrides ; how 
 then fliall all his powers, phyfical and moral, de- 
 velope and attach themfelves ? It feems to us that 
 fuch a phenomenon has really occurred. The 
 ftrong, fierce, generous Viking wakes to unfeafon- 
 able life at the dawning of the nineteenth century. 
 He brings with him all the adventurous daring of 
 a pirate's nature, in union with all the paflionate 
 afFe6lions of a poet's heart. He grows up to the 
 royal ftature of humanity, his yellow hair falling 
 in untamed profufion about his mafiive brows. 
 He leaps a diftance fo gigantic that the lowland 
 carle flares in metaphyfical aftonifhment. With 
 equal eafe he will knock down a bullock, or drink 
 drown a baillie. His mirth is more uproarious than 
 the laughter which fhakes Olympus ; his wifdom 
 and ferenity more mellow than the fun which fets 
 behind the hills of Morven. There is no due 
 outlet for his a6live enterprife, and fo his bufy 
 mind goes out after all knowledge, — lifts itfelf up 
 on the wings of poefy, and darts forth its eagle 
 vifion into the cloudland of philofophy. Untrained 
 as a marauder, he becomes terrible as a critic. 
 Denied the murderous club of his forefathers, he 
 feizes eagerly upon a trenchant weapon of offence, 
 — fince caught up into heaven, and known as the 
 conftellation of The Crutch^ — and becomes hence- 
 forth the terror of all feeble poets and conceited
 
 28o NOCTES AMBROSIANM. 
 
 cockneys, and tyrant over all the foes of Tory- 
 dom. 
 
 In this fketch of the character of the late Pro- 
 feflbr Wilfon we have briefly indicated the 
 ftrength, variety, and affluence of his natural gifts; 
 and we have no doubt that when we are furnifhed 
 with a detailed narrative of his life and feveral per- 
 formances, it will more than juftify our fummary 
 defcription. But the reader is not called upon to 
 wait for fuch a proof. It was as the " Chriftopher 
 North" of Blackwood's Magazine that ProfefTor 
 Wilfon earned his fplendid reputation ; and the 
 fulnefs and maturity of his athletic powers were 
 all put forth in the compofition of the NoSfes 
 Amhrofiance^ now before us. In thefe admirable 
 papers the man as well as the author, the humour- 
 ift as well as the philofopher, the citizen as well as 
 the moralift, appears in the utmoft freedom of un- 
 drefs, and from them, more truly perhaps than 
 from any circumftantial memoir, may be drawn 
 the faireft eftimate of his chara6ler, opinions, and 
 career. 
 
 Some of our readers may remember the time, 
 — now thirty years gone by, — when thefe papers 
 began to attract the attention of the public ; and 
 we ourfelves can recall the pleafure which (ten 
 years later) the laft few numbers of the feries, 
 then juft brought to a triumphant conclufion, pro- 
 duced in our minds, in that opening ftage of 
 youth when the love of reading is a pailion the 
 moft eager and predominant. But many will re- 
 quire to be told, and others to be reminded, that 
 the NoSies Amhrofiance aflume to be the record of
 
 NOCTES AMBROSIANM, 281 
 
 convivial mirth and rational difcourfe occurring at 
 certain imaginary fuppers, under the roof of one 
 Ambrofe, in the city of Edinburgh. The prin- 
 cipal interlocutors are three, — Chriftopher North, 
 Editor of Blackwood's Magazine ; Hogg, the 
 Ettrick Shepherd ; and Timothy Tickler, a gentle- 
 man of the old fchool, ftanding fix feet four in 
 his flocking feet. None of thefe chara6ters are 
 purely imaginary ; yet as they appear in the work 
 before us, in eminent relief and due proportion, 
 they are all the mafterly creations of ProfefTor 
 Wilfon. 
 
 Tickler is fuppofed to adumbrate, in certain 
 perfonal traits, the character of Robert Sym, the 
 author's maternal uncle, who, as the editor in- 
 forms us, "died in 1844, at the age of ninety- 
 four, having retained to the laft the full pofTeiiion 
 of his faculties, and enjoyed uninterrupted good 
 health to witliin a very 'i^v^ years of his deceafe." 
 He was formerly a writer to the Signet, but retired 
 from bufinefs at the commencement of the prefent 
 century. He does not appear to have been a lite- 
 rary chara6ler, in the ftri^ter fenfe of the phrafe, 
 and had no further conne6tion with Blackwood's 
 Magazine than that arifmg from an intereft in 
 its fuccefs, and a friendfhip with its chief con- 
 tributors. We may readily conclude with Mr. 
 Ferrier, that the Tickler of the No^es is almoft 
 entirely a creature of the imagination, or, at leaft, 
 a faint but noble outline worthily filled in. In the 
 figure of Chriftopher North, the author has 
 fketched himfelf, — not ftricSlly in his own character 
 and perfon, and not in his profeflbrial robes, but
 
 282 NOCTES JMBROSIANM, 
 
 in his editorial capacity, as feated in the chair of 
 " Maga," and fwaying the critical fceptre in the 
 northern capital. We recognize the likenefs as 
 conditionally true. In fome notable particulars 
 the Chriftopher North of " Maga " and the Nobles 
 differs from the ProfefTor Wilfon of private life. 
 The former is a gouty old bachelor, hobbling by 
 the aid of his memorable crutch \ the latter was 
 then in the prim.e of life, and the proud father of 
 a happy family. The former gives himfelf dida- 
 torial airs, and fpeaks fometimes as one " flown 
 with infolence and wine ;" the latter was generous, 
 candid, afFeclionate, and juft. But the difference 
 ends in thefe few affectations, and fome others of 
 a kindred fort. The boundlefs animal fpirits, the 
 glorious invective, the fparkling wit, the ripe and 
 ready wifdom, of the " old man eloquent," are all 
 characSteriftic of the great Profeffor. Through his 
 pleafant mafk we fee the features of the firft profe- 
 poet of theage,beamingwith benignity and kindling 
 with a mild intelligence j and it adds a zeft to the 
 reader's pleafure to know, that, although dear Chrif- 
 topher a6ts rather as moderator than leader in thefe 
 mirthful y^zV^^j, yet he is not merely the prefiding 
 genius of the fcene, but the Profpero of all this 
 brilliant mafquerade, at whofe fole bidding thefe 
 philofophic revels rife and fall as by enchantment. 
 But the Mercurius, or chief fpeaker, of thefe 
 convivial meetings is the Ettrick Shepherd. Here, 
 too, we have a real character, of genuine but 
 limited proportions ; but we fee it expanded to 
 the meafure of ideal greatnefs, ftamped with a
 
 NOCTES JMBROSUNM. 283 
 
 broader and far deeper individuality, and fuftained 
 throughout with wonderful fuccefs. James Hogg, 
 the poet of Mount Benger, fupplied the hint of 
 this delightful chara6ter ; and the homely, genial, 
 joyous temperament of his original is never loft 
 fight of in our author's fine delineation. But the 
 Shepherd of the NoSies is virtually a new creation. 
 
 " Out of very jlender materials ^^ fays the pre- 
 fent editor^ " an ideal infinitely greater and more 
 real^ and more original^ than the prototype from 
 which it was drawn ., has been bodied forth. Bear- 
 ing in mind that thefe dialogues are converfations on 
 jnen and manners^ life and literature^ we may con- 
 fidently aff.rm that nowhere within the compafs of 
 that /pedes of compofition is there to be found a 
 chara£ier at all comparable to this one in richnefs 
 and readinefs of refource. In wifdom the Shepherd 
 equals the Socrates of Plato ; in humour he fur- 
 pajjes the Faljlaffof Shakefpeare, Clear and prompt.^ 
 he might have flood up againfi Dr. Johnfon in clofe 
 and peremptory argument ; fertile and copious j he 
 rnight have rivalled Burke in amplitude of decla?na- 
 tion ; while his opulent imaginative powers of comi- 
 cal defcription inveji all that he utters either with 
 a piSturefque vividnefs or graphic quaintnefs pecu- 
 liarly his own.'' — Preface, p. xvii. 
 
 So far Mr. Ferrier. If we cannot quite fub- 
 fcribe to the whole of this eulogium, it is only 
 becaufe we think the writer has confounded the 
 total effed of thefe matchlefs dialogues, and put
 
 284 NOCTES AMBROSIANJE, 
 
 all to the account of him who is certainly their 
 brighteft ornament. It is evident that even 
 dramatic confiftency would exclude the Shepherd- 
 poet from rivalling the united powers of Plato, 
 Shakefpeare, and Johnfon ; and if the qualities of 
 thefe great authors be fuggefted, as we grant 
 they are, by the richnefs, ftrength, variety, and 
 beauty of the dialogues, it is to be confidered that 
 the whole triumvirate contribute to the general 
 efFe6t, which, ftri6lly fpeaking, muft be imputed 
 to the Protean genius of the author. But the 
 Shepherd is, neverthelefs, pre-eminent in thefe 
 colloquial difplays ; an infinite amount of poetry 
 and humour is made to flow from his lips as from 
 a fountain ; both North and Tickler delight to 
 draw him forth, and liften to his naive and fhrewd 
 philofophy. In the feventeenth number of the 
 NoSles he rifes into a truly Socratic ftrain, which 
 almoft mars, by its excefs of elevated thought, the 
 harmony of his rare but more homely powers, 
 efpecially when he is found quoting Greek with 
 the appropriatenefs and eafe of a well-furnifhed 
 fcholar; and this fcene, in conjunction with 
 numerous others, would almoft juftify the com- 
 prehenfive chara6ler affigned him by the editor. 
 
 Such are the chief perfonages who meet at thefe 
 fympofia; and nothing is more admirable than the 
 manner in which their characters are developed 
 and fuftained. For dramatic power, for freedom, 
 force, and copioufnefs of language and illuftration, 
 thefe papers have no parallel in ancient or modern 
 literature. Lucian is tame, and Landor infufFer-
 
 NOCTES AMBROSUNM. 285 
 
 ably ftifF, in comparifon with the author of thefe 
 Scottifh revels. The poilibilities of genius, under 
 the influence of high animal fpirits, were never, 
 hitherto, fo fully manifefted. Nothing could ex- 
 ceed the realizing power which fets the fcene, the 
 company, fo vividly before the reader ; which 
 makes his ear ring with the boifterous mirth, or 
 drink in the fteady, flowing, interrupted, and re- 
 current ftream of converfation ; which fimulates 
 the efFe6t of feftive indulgence, and from imaginary 
 viands diftils an intelle6lual wine, bright with the 
 pureft and moft fparkling hues of wit, and rich 
 with humour the moft genial and exalting. 
 
 We grant it would not be eafy, in the brief 
 fpace allotted to this paper, to prove by mere 
 quotation how merited is all the praife we have 
 beftowed. The very nature of the work pre- 
 cludes the poflibility of doing fo. The chara6ter- 
 iftic of the Nodes is not an unufual polifh in dif- 
 courfe, nor even a critical fagacity both uniform 
 and profound : it is rather the combination of end- 
 lefs variety with perpetual frefhnefs, — the alterna- 
 tion of a brilliant fancy, glancing upon a thoufand 
 objects, and fometimes rifing into a triumphant 
 ftrain of natural defcription, with the tranquil fall 
 of fober converfation, varied only by the quainteft 
 humour, the flyeft fatire, the pleafanteft exaggera- 
 tion, and the " wee bit " Scottifh fong, trolled 
 forth by the firft of Shepherds in the moft unc- 
 tuous and expreflive of all paftoral dialeds. It is 
 obvious that no "fample " can convey an adequate 
 idea of dialogues fo varied and fo difcurfive. It
 
 286 NOCTES JMBROSUNM, 
 
 may afford fome notion of their ftrength and 
 flavour, but none of their freedom, affluence, or 
 range. If chofen for its unufual power and beauty, 
 a world of chara6leriftic excellence is then ex- 
 cluded : if of average and more level qualities, it 
 muft fufFer by removal from the place in which it 
 fpontaneoufly occurred, and acquire, by reafon of 
 its being formally and feparately introduced, a 
 triviality and weaknefs which do not attach to it 
 in its original connection. It is fo in other and 
 graver works befide the prefent. A page from 
 Bofwell's Life of Johnfon would poorly reprefent 
 the intellecSlual vigour and fagacity of that true 
 man j for many of Johnfon's recorded fayings are 
 trivial or falfe in fubftance, as others are harih 
 and unadvifed in fpirit and expreffion ; and it is 
 only our perfuafion of his moral worth and general 
 wifdom which imparts a prevailing intereft to the 
 whole. Befides and above the literary merit of 
 his converfationSj are their hiftoric value and their 
 dramatic charm. The impreffion of a moment is 
 left for all the ages ; and we fee a giant's cafual 
 footftep, perhaps awkward and awry, made on the 
 fand of time, and hardened into rock. So the in- 
 tereft of Bofwell's work is mainly biographical ; as 
 an imperfonal collection of aphorifms it would be 
 fadly imperfect, and fubject to a thoufand chal- 
 lenges. It muft be owned, however, that a work 
 of imagination like the prefent exifts under fome- 
 what different conditions. Having little or nothing 
 of hiftoric value, it depends chiefly on dramatic 
 intereft and propriety. The author prefents us
 
 NOCTES AMBROSIANM. 287 
 
 with an original compofition rather than a veritable 
 record, and it behoves him therefore to put a due 
 fignificance into its lighted parts : as we have not 
 the fatisfadion always arifing from the vrai, we 
 may juftly claim a fuflained prefentment of the 
 vraifefnblable. We bring ProfefTor Wilfon to this 
 teft in prefenting the following paiTage, which 
 very fairly exhibits the ordinary texture of thefe 
 dialoojues, and nothing- more : — 
 
 " Tickler. — Among the many ufeful difcoveries 
 of this age^ none more fo^ my dear Hogg, than that 
 poets are a fet of very abfurd inhabitants of this 
 earth. Thefimple fa£f of their prefuming to have a 
 language of their own^ Jhould have dijhed them cen- 
 turies ago. A pretty kind of language^ to be fur e.^ it 
 was ; andj confcious thetnfelves of its abfurdity^ they 
 palmed it upon the Mufes^ and jufiified their own 
 ufe of it on the plea of infpiration ! 
 
 " North. — 77//, in courfe of time^ an honefi man 
 of the name of IVordfworth was born^ who had too 
 much integrity to fubmit to the law of their lingo^ 
 andy to the anger and a/lonijhment of the order^ 
 began to [peak in good^found,fober^ intelligible profe. 
 Then was a revolution. All who adhered to the 
 ancient regime, became^ in a few years^ utterly in- 
 comprehenfible, and were coughed down by the public. 
 On the other hand^ all thofe who adopted the new 
 theory^ obferved that they were fnerely accommodat- 
 ing themf elves to the language of their brethren of 
 mankind, 
 
 " Tickler. — Then the pig came fnorting out of
 
 288 NOCTES AMBROSIANM. 
 
 the poke^ and it appeared that ndfuch thing as poetry, 
 ejfentially diJiinSf from profe^ could exiji. True^ 
 that there are fome old luomen and children who 
 rhyme^ but the breed will foon be extinSf, and a poet 
 in Scotland will be as fear ce as a capercail%ie, 
 
 " North. — Since the extinSfion^ therefore^ of 
 Englijh poetry^ there has been a wide extenfion of 
 the legitimate province of prof e. People who have 
 got any genius^ find that they may traverfe it as they 
 will^ onfoot^ on horfeback^ or in chariot. 
 
 " Tickler. — A Pegafus with vjings always 
 feemed to me a filly and inefficient quadruped, A 
 horfe was never made to fly on feathers.^ but to gal- 
 lop on hoofs. Tou dejiroy the idea of his peculiar 
 powers the moment you clap pinions to his Jhoulder, 
 and make him paw the clouds. 
 
 "North. — Certainly. How poor the image of- — 
 
 * Heaven's warrior-horfe, beneath his fiery form, 
 Paws the light clouds, and gallops on the ftorm,' — 
 
 to one of Wellington' s Aide-de-Camps^ on an Eng- 
 liflj hunter^ charging his way through the French 
 Cuirajfiers^ to order up the Scotch Greys againji the 
 Old Guards moving on to redeem the difafirous day 
 of Waterloo ! 
 
 " Tickler. — Poetry^ therefore^ being by univerfal 
 confent exploded^ all men^ and women^ and children 
 are at liberty to ufe what Jiyle they choofe^ provided 
 that it be in the form of profe. Cram it full of 
 imagery as an egg is full of?neat. T/' caller, down 
 it will go^ and the reader be grateful for his 
 breakfajl. Pour it out fnnple^ like whey^ or milk 
 andwater^ and a fwallow will be found enamoured
 
 NOCTES AMBROSIANM. 289 
 
 of the liquid murmur. Let it gurgle forth, rich and 
 racy^ like a haggis^ and there areftomachs that will 
 not fcun her. Fat paragraphs will be bolted like 
 bacon ; and^ as he puts a period to the exifience of 
 a lofty climax^ the reader will exclaim^ ' O, the roafi 
 beef of Old England! and O, the Englijh roafi 
 beef!' 
 
 " North. — TFell faid^ Tickler : that profe com- 
 pofttion jhould always be a plain uncondimented dijhy 
 is a dogma no longer endurable. Henceforth I Jhall 
 Jhow^ not only favour^ but praife^ to all profe books 
 that contain any ?neaning^ however fmall ; whereas 
 I Jhall ufe all vampers like the great American 
 Jhrike, commemorated in lafi number^ who flicks 
 fnall finging birds on Jharp pointed thorns^ and 
 leaves them ficking there in the funjhine^ a rueful^ 
 if not a favingy fpe£iacle to the chorijlers of the 
 grove.'' 
 
 In this exaltation of profe literature there is, of 
 courfe, fome pleafant exaggeration ; and the fhep- 
 herd is allowed to ftep in immediately with a 
 hearty vindication of the ancientfupremacy of 
 fong. But there is a meafure of ferioufnefs in 
 thefe colloquial di£fa^ and the praftice of Chrifto- 
 pher North ftrongly corroborates his afTertion of 
 the range and capabilities of profe compofition. 
 Much, indeed, of the literature of modern times 
 might be adduced in favour of the fame opinion ; 
 but the works of ProfefTor Wilfon are the mofl: 
 ftriking evidences in its behalf, and none more fo 
 than the treafury of wit and humour, of pathos and 
 u
 
 290 NOCTES AMBROSUNM. 
 
 pi6torial effects, with which we are now concerned. 
 It is no exaggeration to fay, that the profe paftorals 
 of the Ettrick Shepherd, fcattered in prodigal pro- 
 fufion throughout thefe animated pages, have more 
 of the power and fpirit of poetry than all the paf- 
 torals which were ever fafhioned into verfe. They 
 have the firft frefh bloom of nature on them, and 
 breathe the fweet free air of meadow and of moun- 
 tain fide. Henceforth the plains of Sicily are not 
 more clallical than Altrive and the banks of Yar- 
 row. But the Shepherd's powers are not limited 
 to the poetry of natural obje6ts and of country life. 
 A fhrewd obferver of men and manners, he is 
 mafter of every variety of chara6ter and incident, 
 and, with the aid of his facile tongue, embalms 
 them in the unftuous diale6l of Scotland. Not 
 emulating the literary converfations of North and 
 Tickler, he fhoots ahead of them by virtue of his 
 buoyant genius, and feizes upon the merits of a 
 thoufand glancing topics ; is at home and para- 
 mount in every country fport, and makes the land- 
 fcape glide ghoftly by, as he defcribes a fkating 
 feat from Yarrow into Edinburgh ; has trueft 
 fympathy for the moral beauty of old age, and 
 fpeaks of it with loving lips, while, in the perfon of 
 Madame Genlis, he finds a revolting contraft, and 
 brings out the picture of a fuperannuated French 
 coquette, with a (kilful, Apid, and unfparing hand ; 
 divines chara6ler by the countenance with inftinc- 
 tive readinefs, and reads the ligns ofhypocrify and 
 gluttony, as well as thofe of benevolence and vir- 
 tue, with marvellous precifion j rehearfes, with
 
 NOCTES AMBROSIANM, ^o^i 
 
 equal power, the day-dreams of his fancy and the 
 night-mare ftill haunting his excited recollection, 
 and raifes the gambler's " hell," like an earthly 
 pandemonium, fo vividly before the reader's eye 
 that innocence itfelf muft realize its truth. In 
 fhort, we fee a homely dialedl:, made fo plaftic, 
 copious, and extenfile, in the hands of genius, 
 that it anfwers every poffible demand, and feconds 
 the defcriptive powers which make incurfions into 
 every region, both of nature and of art, — from the 
 gorgeous fummer of a Highland loch, to the faded 
 and fulfome tapeftryofan ancient hackney-coach. 
 In the No£ies Amhrofiance the reader may afTure 
 himfelf that this is but a feeble underftatement of 
 the truth ; but too many extradls would be necef- 
 fary to give a competent idea of the whole produc- 
 tion. For this purpofe, we fhould need to tranf- 
 cribe, inter alia^ the firft part of the third number 
 of the A^(7<:^^j, and the feventeenth number entire. 
 The former would exhibit Tickler in his chara6ler 
 of fportfman among the Highland lochs ; the 
 latter would prefent the Shepherd's chara6ler 
 complete, from the richefl vein of praCtical 
 humour to the higheft and fereneft flight of medi- 
 tative genius. But another fcene would be ftill 
 wanting to a juft appreciation of the whole. Thefe 
 famous interlocutors fhould be heard difcourftng 
 on fome topic of focial or moral intereft, of a 
 mixed perfonal and literary chara6ter. Of this 
 kind is the converfation of North and the Shep- 
 herd on the domeftic rupture of Lord and Lady 
 Byron, occurring at the clofe of the fecond
 
 292 NOCTES AMBROSUNM, 
 
 volume. It is full of a fine humanity, and breathes 
 the profoundeft wifdom of the heart. Between 
 the fpeakers almoft every view of the cafe is 
 fuggefted, and the claims of charity and juftice 
 nicely weighed. 
 
 We muft not put afide this brilliant and ori- 
 ginal produ6i:ion without briefly examining a few 
 obje6tions to which it is apparently open. Some 
 of them, we think, are founded in juftice and pro- 
 priety. The work is not without grave defe6ls 
 and blemiflies, though deferving that praife of 
 general truth and literary merit, which has been 
 fo liberally awarded. The occafional unfairnefs 
 and inaccuracy of fome of its political and perfonal 
 ftridlures may be referred partly to its peculiar 
 plan, and partly to the circumftances of its pro- 
 du6lion. The editor truly defcribes it as "a 
 wildernefs of rejoicing fancies," — and brambles as 
 well as wild flowers are encountered in its devious 
 and romantic paths. The freedom and undrefs 
 in which the characters appear at thefe re-unions 
 is, at leaft, as patent as the racinefs of their con- 
 vivial humour, or the fplendour of their poetic 
 flights. It could hardly fail to happen that, in a 
 compofition of this kind, written with extraordi- 
 nary fpeed, and adapted to the occafions of a 
 monthly journal, there fhould be traces both of 
 hafty judgment and tranfient but unworthy feel- 
 ing. Eftufions fo copious and fo unpremeditated 
 may be expe6led to evince the author's human 
 weaknefs, as well as to manifeft his extraordinary 
 powers ; and fuch is actually the cafe. Scattered
 
 NOCTES AMBROSIANM, 293 
 
 through thefe pages are many obfervations, criti- 
 cifms, and conclufions, which moft readers will 
 not hefitate to rejedl as crude, or doubtful, or un- 
 tenable. Even on literary fubje6ls, — where the 
 author is moft found and catholic, — fome partiali- 
 ties are eafily difcerned to be the unconfcious 
 fource of critical delinquencies, as when a very 
 indifferent copy of verfes by Delta is pronounced 
 " beautiful," while the poetry of Southey is capti- 
 oully differed and fcornfully contemned. The 
 coarfenefs which is frequently and intimately 
 blended with the humour of thefe volumes is ftill 
 more to be regretted ; for we know of no procefs 
 of excifion by which it could have been removed 
 by editorial hands, without deftru(3:ion of their 
 chara6leriftic merits. Neither are the author's 
 religious fentiments, or the allufions and defcrip- 
 tions bearing upon facred topics, in which his 
 charadters indulge, quite unexceptionable, or in 
 the pureft tafte. The moral tone of the work we 
 hold, indeed, to be found and Chriftian in the 
 main. Revelation is never for an inftant doubted 
 or depreciated ; and religion is ever recognized as 
 the fource of our moft ennobling fentiments. But 
 we are not quite pleafed with the tone in which 
 the Shepherd is made to fpeak of profeiling Chrif- 
 tian people. We give up to his graphic ridicule 
 the features of the hypocrite and the fenfualift ; 
 we do not find much fault with his defcription of 
 the fleeping congregation at the kirk ; but why 
 are all the moft unbecoming vanities and indul- 
 gences here charged upon " religious ladies,"
 
 294 NOCTES JMBROSIJNM. 
 
 while the worldly young lady is reprefented as the 
 very emblem of cheerful innocence and truth, 
 beaming with natural piety the moft amiable and 
 refrefhing? It is charitable to fuggeft that dramatic 
 confiftency extorted this grave afperfion and de- 
 lufive theory ; for they are quite in keeping with 
 the Shepherd's favourite fentiment, that poetry is 
 true religion. 
 
 But objections may be felt to certain features 
 of thefe volumes, which are yet not infufceptible 
 of a legitimate ground of defence ; and thofe we 
 fliall confider, and this we ftiall propofe, with all 
 franknefs and fmcerity. 
 
 There is one feature of the No5Us Amhrofiance 
 for which the fober reader fhould be fpecially pre- 
 pared ; namely, the great devotion, both practical 
 and theoretical, which the members feem con- 
 ftantly paying to the pleafures of the table. The 
 Shepherd and his companions do not hefitate to 
 interrupt the moft entertaining theme, or fineft 
 fentiment, with a greedy anticipation of the fupper; 
 and when it comes, there is evidently nothing 
 lacking. By fudden transformation is then pre- 
 fented the feaft in feafon and the flowing bowl. 
 The critical difcourfe, the moral cenfure, the elo- 
 quent appreciation of the charms of nature, ceafe 
 on their lips, and are fucceeded by the well-drawn 
 merits of a Scotch haggis, and the heart-felt praife 
 of punch. The converfation is retained only as 
 an intellectual condiment by thefe devoted men. 
 Hearty as gourmands, yet delicate as epicures, 
 they quicken the zeft of appetite by the indulgence
 
 NOCTES AMBROSIANM. 295 
 
 of a learned fancy, and heighten the relifh of moft 
 fumptuous viands by the flavour of choice Attic 
 fait. Prefently, as the night advances, a boifterous 
 mirth fucceeds to the quiet interchange of plea- 
 fantry and wit ; and North — the ftately and the 
 fage — is not unfrequently fupported in unvenerable 
 plight to the coach or couch awaiting him. From 
 a pidlure fo undignified as this fome readers will 
 be apt to turn with very natural diflike; they may 
 even haftily pronounce it to be of pernicious and 
 immoral tendency. But we fubmit that thefe 
 imaginary revels muft be wholly mifconftrued be- 
 fore they can be totally condemned. To our 
 minds there is a fine Shakefpearian humour in 
 thefe fcenes, which gives them the immunity of 
 fliadowy art-creations, fo that they evade, by their 
 buoyant unreality, the weight of ferious rebuke. 
 We fee that all this animal excefs is purely fuppo- 
 fititious; and though the humour which conceives 
 it may fail by repetition, (as indeed it does,) we 
 muft not forget the origin and fphere of that con- 
 ception. There is here no call for the verdi6t of 
 a committee of the Temperance Society; for the 
 whole proceeding is removed beyond the limits of 
 their practical commiflion, removed even beyond 
 the limits of " this vifible diurnal fphere," into the 
 region of imaginative art. The moft temperate 
 of us all would hefitate to ground a ferious charge 
 of gluttony againfl Charles Lamb, fimply upon 
 his unduous praife of young roaft-pig (for which 
 difli it is very pofTible the author had no a6tual 
 preference) ; and it would be equally unjuft, or.
 
 296 NOCTES AMBROSIANM. 
 
 rather, equally ridiculous, to condemn altogether 
 the imaginary revels which, in the prefent inftance, 
 fupply the occafion of fo much agreeable and 
 " large difcourfe." 
 
 The fame confideration will ferve greatly to 
 modify another queftionable feature of thefe dia- 
 logues. Written at a time of great political 
 a6tivity, and infpired, as we have feen, by the 
 higheft energy of animal fpirits, they abound in 
 freedom of remark too often bordering upon per- 
 fonal abufe. But fome critics have exaggerated, 
 we think, both the number and character of thefe 
 injurious paflages. With one or two exceptions, 
 the abufe of North is not perfonal, in the ofFenfive 
 fenfe of that term. His inve6tive is generally a 
 matter of pure humour, and no more indicates 
 malice or uncharitablenefs, than his delightful 
 felf-glorification betokens a degrading vanity. The 
 genius of exaggeration feems to infpire the whole 
 tirade. It is the pra6lice of an able archer on an 
 indifferent target; and though he plucks his keen- 
 headed arrows out of the vocabulary of ridicule 
 and fcorn, and launches them with equal force and 
 truth of aim, it is not that he may wound the 
 apple of the eye before him, but rather that he 
 may empty the quiver of his own excited genius. 
 Even when Chriftopher is in a really fplenetic 
 mood, and fpeaks with downright injuftice of 
 fome contemporary book or author, it adds fome- 
 thing to the dramatic charm of thefe fympofia ; 
 and, after all, there is not much harm done : the
 
 NOCTES JMBROSUNM. 297 
 
 well-read reader ftill judges for himfelf of merits 
 which are evidently difparaged from accidental and 
 temporary feeling, and remembers that the con- 
 vivial chair is not the feat of meafured and impartial 
 juftice.
 
 NEW POEMS OF BROWNING AND 
 LANDOR. 
 
 E prefume that moft readers of the 
 prefent day, and our own among the 
 number, have had the theory of poetry 
 fufficiently difcufled before them. The 
 fubje6t has not been confined to feparate efTays on 
 " Poetics J " for hardly is a fingle paper written to 
 introduce fome recent book of verfes, but the 
 critic launches into generalities of the moft im- 
 pofing kind, in which much that is true is very 
 fafely ventured on, and perhaps fomething that is 
 new is rather modeftly propounded. If there is 
 no great harm in this pra6lice, there is certainly a 
 limit to its propriety and ufefulnefs. An intro- 
 duction of the kind referred to is not decifive of 
 the author's merits, even when it feems to bear 
 moft fairly on them ; for fo ample is the fphere 
 and theory of poetry, and fo great the ingenuity 
 of our critical brethren, that a very partial ftate- 
 ment may be invefted with the air of a moft com- 
 plete one, and judgment given on the authority of 
 minor canons without fufpicion raifed of a larger 
 and more equitable rule. For the purpofes of
 
 BROWNING AND LANDOR. 299 
 
 juftice, then, the pra6llce is at leaft a doubtful, if 
 not a dangerous, one. The fcope for entertain- 
 ment which it furnifhes is more confiderable ; 
 but at the fame time nothing is fo liable to degene- 
 rate into tedioufnefs as any line of general remark, 
 which necefTarily involves fo large an amount of 
 repetitions and commonplaces. For thefe reafons, 
 which both define and urge the claims of a due 
 economy of time and fpace, we fhall proceed at 
 once to open our poetic budget. 
 
 The firft author on our lift tempts us to extend 
 the depreciatory obfervations already made. With 
 Mr. Browning before us we are ftrongly difpofed 
 to doubt the utility, not merely of prelufive canons, 
 but of direcSt and fpecial criticifm. So far as the 
 authors themfelves are concerned, and efpecially 
 thofe belonging to the minftrel tribe, it is likely 
 that our office might ceafe without material lofs 
 or detriment. Poets of the higheft ftamp are 
 their own fevereft cenfors ; thofe of the fecond 
 grade are commonly unalterable, the flaves of their 
 own idiofyncrafy ; while bards of the loweft order 
 are too wilful to admit, or too feeble to profit by, 
 either precept or reproof. Mr. Browning belongs 
 to the fecond clafs, which is even more hopelefs 
 than the laft. Mediocrity of poetic merit may be 
 corrected by judicious criticifm, and improved up 
 to a certain point ; but the native eccentricity of 
 genius is not to be reduced to a more perfect 
 fphere. The defe6ls of Mr. Browning's poetry 
 are as charaderiftic as its beauties : indeed, the 
 former in fome degree depend upon the latter, and
 
 300 NEW POEMS; 
 
 by this time, at leaft, they are pradlically infepar- 
 able. We muft then accept our author for what 
 he is, and wafte no time in fruitlefs lamentations 
 or advice. The energy of higheft genius works 
 itfelf clear of all befetments, till both character 
 and fame are "rounded as a ftar j" but no external 
 influence is appreciable in this refult. We think 
 it very doubtful now, if the genius of Mr. Brown- 
 ing will iiTue from its nebulous retreat, and orb 
 itfelf diflin(Slly in our literary heaven : but certainly 
 no terreftrial power can operate upon him to that 
 end. In his cafe, therefore, and in thofe of fome 
 others who alfo are more or lefs confirmed in their 
 poetic character, we fhall confult only the pleafure 
 and improvement of our readers : we fhall ftri(5tly 
 obferve and illuftrate the phenomena as they arife 
 before us, and make no reflections but fuch as 
 fall directly from the mirror we hold up. 
 
 The earlieft fruits of Mr. Browning's mufe — if 
 we except the poem of " Sordello," which the 
 author appears to have repudiated, and which 
 fhould not therefore be taken into account — were 
 publifhed, in feries, under the fymbolic name of 
 " Bells and Pomegranates," and confift of dramas 
 and dramatic lyrics. His new poems differ very 
 flightly in form, and flill lefs in character, from 
 thefe produdtions. The volumes entitled " Men 
 and Women " confift entirely of lyrical mono- 
 logues, about fifty in number. If the title of the 
 firft work was fomewhat far-fetched and fantaftical, 
 that of the fecond is much too literal to be appro- 
 priate. There is mufic and perfume — recondite
 
 BROWNING AND LANDOR, 301 
 
 mufic and exotic perfume — in the one ; but how 
 limited and exceptional is the human nature of 
 the other ! 
 
 We have already intimated that Mr. Browning 
 is fo confirmed in his poetic ways, as to be far 
 beyond the reach of falutary difcipline. He may 
 be held up as a warning, and in fome few points 
 commended as an example ; but we have no idea 
 that he is capable of profiting even by ftri6lures 
 which his own candid judgment may bow to and 
 admit. His latefl publication has fatisfied our 
 minds of this fa6t. The new poems of Mr. 
 Browning are only fo many new examples of his 
 peculiar ftyle, — a flyle flill harfh, in fpite of inti- 
 mations of a hidden mufic, and ftill obfcure, in 
 fpite of occafional gleams of happieffc meaning. 
 They fhow no improvement in the way of genial 
 growth, but only fome advance of technic fkill. 
 They are efFufions which have hardened in the 
 mould of a definite and curious intelledl:, — not 
 fruits which have ripened on the living vine of 
 genius. It happens always in fuch cafes that any 
 eccentricity of ftyle becomes more marked, and 
 any defedlive vifion more contracSled ; and it is 
 flrikingly fo in the inflance now before us, where 
 the author's mannerifm is more prominent and 
 gratuitous than ever. In this refpe6l the poetry 
 of Mr. Browning is directly oppofed to that of 
 Mr. Tennyfon. While the genius of the latter 
 is mellowing year by year, the mufe of the former 
 becomes only more perverfe. The fpirit of 
 poetry is an eminently plaftic power, — the only
 
 302 NEW POEMS -, 
 
 certain agent of poetical expreffion ; and in fofter- 
 ing this expanfive fpirit, which is to works of art 
 what the vital power is in the organic world, Mr. 
 Tennyfon has caufed his genius to efflorefce fo 
 freely and fpontaneoufly, that the crude hufk has 
 fallen more and more away, — his early faults of 
 language have ceafed infenfibly, and his verfe has 
 gradually become the pure tranfparent medium of 
 his thoughts. Mr. Browning has not fo rid him- 
 felf of his befetting faults. We do not forget that 
 the ftyle of art he pra6lifes is wholly different, 
 that his range and object are exprelTly limited. 
 Very unequal are thefe two, in depth and compafs, 
 as well as in tone and colour. The one is daily 
 getting farther out to fea, takes deeper foundings 
 and frefh obfervations ; while the other rocks idly 
 in the fame Italian bay, and levels his glafs at the 
 fame few quaint and liftlefs figures on the beach. 
 But independently of this effential difference, we 
 would point attention to the fa6l, that the inferior 
 poet is alfo the inferior artift ; that, while the ex- 
 preffion of the one always finds entrance, and is 
 felt within the foul, the other not feldom fails in 
 his humbler appeal to the underftanding and 
 aefthetic fenfe. It may be difficult — or, indeed, 
 impoffible — to give the full meaning of Mr. Tenny- 
 fon's language in any other terms ; but this is only 
 becaufe true poetry has no equivalent; we are 
 borne along with it notwithftanding, — it does not 
 leave us where we were, but carries us whitherfo- 
 ever it will. But Mr. Browning is a lover of the 
 piclurefque, a ftudent of men, and a fketcher of
 
 BROWNING AND LANDOR. 303 
 
 character and coftume ; and it behoves him to be 
 at leaft fo far literal and intelligible, that we may- 
 appreciate the object he draws from the fame por- 
 tion which he occupies. Now, our charge is, that 
 he is not thus literal and intelligible ; and this 
 brings us to the queftion which fo many afk them- 
 fel ves, — Mr. Browning is acknowledged for fo clever 
 a man, that they are afhamed to afk their neigh- 
 bours, — Hov/ is it that Mr. Browning's poetry is 
 fo hard to read, fo very difficult to underftand ? 
 
 The admirers of our author would probably tell 
 us that he writes only for the cultivated hw^ and 
 that poetry of that ftamp is never obvious to the 
 popular mind, or relifhed by the popular tafte. If 
 we reply, that this is not true of the moft eminent, 
 and point to Homer and Shakefpeare, they will fay, 
 that they are content to fee him in a lower feat, 
 and fignificantly point to Milton and to Gray. Yet 
 the reference is rather plaufible than juft. Milton 
 wrote two hundred years ago, when the Englifh 
 language was ftill unmoulded and unfixed ; yet if 
 the " Comus" or " L'Allegro" be not very widely 
 appreciated, the reafon is not to be found in its 
 obfcurity, to which charge, indeed, it is not ftricSlly 
 liable. Its elevation of thought, and delicacy of 
 treatment, are remarkable ; and thefe remove it 
 from the fympathy and tafte of vulgar readers ; 
 but its meanings are direct and clear.. No doubt 
 its claffical allufions make fome demand upon the 
 reader's previous knowledge ; but without fuch 
 knowledge it is fufficiently pleafmg and intelligible 
 even upon one perufal. But no fuch knowledge
 
 304 NEW POEMS; 
 
 avails to the underftanding of Mr. Browning's 
 mufe, without repeated appHcation and fevereft 
 ftudy. Even an acquaintance with the localities 
 and life of modern Italy may be added to his pre- 
 vious ftock, and he fhall ftill be in the dark as to 
 the fignificance and drift of the author's poem ; he 
 may ftill puzzle himfelf over " A Toccata of 
 Galuppi's," — while the title itfelf is enough to 
 frighten or perplex the untravelled reader. One 
 perufal of that fingular performance will hardly 
 gratify the moft attentive mind ; and a perfon 
 of only average poetic tafte will have fmall in- 
 ducement to venture on a fecond. It muft be 
 owned that the poem is fadly wanting in clearnefs 
 and dire6lnefs. Even thofe who are fain to admire 
 becaufe they are content to ftudy it, and who 
 fancy they difcern and feel fomething of its fine 
 impreftive moral, are not thoroughly affured that 
 they enter into the author's fpirit, or rightly eftimate 
 the fentiment and meaning of his verfes. To fome 
 — and not a few — the poem will be writ in hiero- 
 glyphic fymbols j and the fault is not wholly in 
 themfelves, — the poet's ftyle and language is un- 
 warrantably broken and obfcure. The fa6l is, 
 that Mr. Browning is too proud for anything. He 
 difdains to take a little pains to put the reader at a 
 fimilar advantage with himfelf,— to give a prepara- 
 tory ftatement which may help to make his fub- 
 fequent efFufion plain and logical. He fcorns the 
 good old ftyle of beginning at the beginning. He 
 ftarts from any point and fpeaks in any tenfe he 
 pleafes ; is never fimple or literal for a moment ;
 
 BROWNING AND LANDOR. 305 
 
 leaves out (or outof fight) a link here and another 
 there of that which forms the inevitable chain of 
 truth, making a hint or a word fupply its place ; 
 and, if you fail to comprehend the whole, is ap- 
 parently fatisfied that he knows better, and has the 
 advantage of you there. He abandons himfelf to a 
 train of vivid affociations, and brings out fome fea- 
 tures of them with remarkable efFecSt ; but he gives 
 you no clue whereby to follow him throughout. 
 
 It is this harfhnefs, which of courfe is real, and 
 this obfcurity, which is chiefly fuperficial, that will 
 always render Mr. Browning's poetry unpopular, 
 becaufe they interfere with its eafy and complete 
 enjoyment. But we can readily believe that his 
 fmall circle of admirers are very ardent in their 
 admiration, and almoft unmeafured in their praife. 
 In the firfl: place, we value an appreciation arrived 
 at only after fome expenditure of time and ftudy. 
 And then the ear, the mind, become gradually 
 attuned to the new modes of thought and fpeech. 
 But there is fomething more than this. Both the 
 merits and defeats of Mr. Browning's poetry are 
 fuch as belong to a peculiar fchool of art ; and the 
 mafters in every fchool have the power of roufing 
 the enthufiafm of kindred minds ; they gather 
 round them a band of attached difciples, and are 
 followed by the plaudits of delighted connoifleurs. 
 This is more feldom noticed in our poets than in 
 the fifter art of painting; and, indeed, the poems 
 of Mr. Browning find an almoft perfe61: analogy 
 in the pi6lures of a certain modern fchool. Our 
 author refembles the pre-RafFaelites both in choice 
 
 X
 
 3o6 NEW POEMS; 
 
 of fubjecl and in ftyle of treatment. He has the 
 fame vivid and realizing touch, and the fame love 
 of exquifite detail. Like them he has a ftrong 
 averfion to all that is conventional in the language 
 of his art, and like them, alfo, is liable to be mif. 
 apprehended and decried. His very fidelity to 
 nature, exprefTed with fo much novelty and bold- 
 nefs, incurs the charge of eccentricity and herefy. 
 The traditions of his art are lefs to him than the 
 imprefTion of his own fenfes, and the fkill of his 
 own right hand. But, as a poet, he muft count 
 upon lefs general admiration than his brother artift. 
 If even truth of colour is not fully eftimated by the 
 uneducated fenfe, and the pre-RafFaelite muft firft 
 furprife before thoroughly convincing and delight- 
 ing us, much more the independent ufe of lan- 
 guage. We muft know the right force of words 
 before we feel them ; and then only are we pre- 
 pared to recognize the completer meafures of poetic 
 truth, which Coleridge has defined to be the heft 
 words in the hejl order. We fay then, of Mr. 
 Browning, that although any reader may be war- 
 ranted in faying what he is not, — a great poet ; yet 
 only an accomplifhed few are able to judge of his 
 peculiar meafures, and pronounce him what he is 
 — an original and graphic artift. He is fairly open 
 to rebuke, and liable, befides, to general neglect ; 
 but no thoughtful perfon will defpife either his 
 talents or attainments. 
 
 The reader of his volumes will notice the large 
 fhare of attention which Mr. Browning has be- 
 ftowed on the pictures and painters of the Italian
 
 BROIVN/NG AND LANDOR, 307 
 
 fchools. They are all very chara6teriftic fketches ; 
 and as they are for the moft part in our author's 
 better manner, we fhould have willingly transferred 
 a fpecimen to our pages, — fuch as " Andrea del 
 Sarto, called the Faultlefs Painter," — but their 
 length forbids. The fame objection refts againft 
 our introdu6lion to the reader of" Bifliop Blou- 
 gram's Apology." The verfes fo entitled embody 
 the after-dinner talk of a dignitary of the Romifh 
 Church, who, for the edification of a fceptical com- 
 panion, endeavours to fhow that a certain amount 
 of faith is expedient to the wife, and that no larger 
 meafure is practicable in the conditions under 
 which we live. He compares our life to a voyage 
 in which all our available fpaceisa narrow '* cabin," 
 whofe limits exclude all but the moft necefl'ary and 
 convenient articles. In jfihort, this worthy Prelate 
 advocates a moft comfortable compromife between 
 the rival claims of the gofpel and the world. 
 Utterly falfe as fuch cafuiftry muft be, it is here 
 moft pleafantly and ably argued. But more to 
 our judgment, if not to our tafte, as well as more 
 convenient for the purpofe of extrad-tion, is the fol- 
 lowhig little poem, called " Tranfcendentalifm : a 
 Poem in Twelve Books." It reads in fome parts 
 like our author's own defence. 
 
 ** Stop playing, poet ! may a brother ipeak ? 
 ""T is you fpeak, that's your error ! Song's our art j 
 Whereas you pleafe to Tpeak thefe naked thoughts, 
 Inftead of drefting them in fights and founds: 
 — Fine thoughts, good thoughts, thoughts fit to treafure 
 
 up ! 
 But why fuch long prolufion and difplay,
 
 3o8 NEW POEMS ; 
 
 Such turning and adjuftment of the harp, 
 
 And taking it upon the breaft at length, 
 
 Only to fpeak dry words acrofs its ftrings ? 
 
 Stark naked thought is in requeft enough — 
 
 Speak profe, and holloa it till Europe hears! 
 
 The fix-foot Swifs-tube, traced about with bark, 
 
 Which helps the hunter's voice from Alp to Alp — 
 
 Exchange our harp for that — who hinders you ? 
 
 — But here's your fault : grown men want thought you 
 
 think ; — 
 Thought's what they mean by verfe, and feek in verfe : 
 Boys leek for images in melody, 
 Men muft have reafon — fo you aim at men. 
 Quite otherwife ! Obje6ls throng our youth, 'tis true j 
 We fee and hear, and do not wonder much. 
 If you could tell us what they mean, indeed ! 
 As Swedifh Boehme never cared for plants. 
 Until it happ'd, in walking in the fields. 
 He noticed all at once the plants could fpeak ; 
 Many turn'd with loofen'd tongue to talk with him : 
 That day the daify had an eye indeed, — 
 Colloquized with the cowilip on fuch themes ! 
 We find them extant yet in Jacob's profe. 
 But by the time youth fteps a ftage or two, 
 While reading profe in that tough book he wrote, 
 (Collating and emendating the fame. 
 And fettling on the fenfe moft to our mind,) 
 We fhut the clafps, and find life's fummer paft. 
 Then, who helps men, pray, to repair our lofs } 
 Another Boehme with a tougher book 
 And fubtler meanings of what rofes fay — 
 Or fome ftout Mage like him of Halberftadt, 
 John, who made things Boehme wrote thoughts about ? 
 He with a look you ! vents a brace of rhymes. 
 And in them breaks the fudden rofe herfelf, 
 Over us, under, round us every fide ; 
 Nay, in and out the tables and the chairs. 
 And mufty volumes, — Boehme's book and all, — 
 Buries us with a glory young once more, 
 Pouring heaven into this fliort houfe of life. 
 — So come, the harp back to your heart again ! 
 You are a poem though your poem's naught. 
 The beft of all you did before, believe. 
 Was your own boy's face over the fine chords 
 Bent, following the cherub at the top 
 That points to God with his pair'd half-moon wings. "
 
 BROWNING AND LANDOR. 309 
 
 We hardly know if thefe lines ferve more to 
 vindicate or to condemn the author's pra6lice. No 
 doubt a hw more readings would improve our in- 
 fight ; but our prelent impreffion is only faint, and 
 fo far not favourable to Mr. Browning's own per- 
 formance. He avoids the error, indeed, of giving 
 us " ftark naked thoughts ;" but moft honeft men 
 will find his verfe as "tough" as Jacob Boehme's 
 celeftial profe. We leave the matter to occupy 
 the reader's leifurely confideration ; and pafs on to 
 one of plainer fpeech. 
 
 A few words will fuffice to introduce the new 
 produ6tion of Walter Savage Landor. In the 
 penultimate iiTue of this vigorous writer, — ftill 
 vigorous on the verge of fourfcore years, — we 
 gratefully accepted what were proffered as the 
 '* Laft Fruits ofFan OldTree," and which, bytheir 
 flavour and abundance, teftified to the continued 
 foundnefs of the flock. We have now more " lafl 
 fruit ;" and its flavour is flill of the fine fort, though 
 it may lack fomething of its wonted fulnefs and 
 body. 
 
 In " Antony and 06tavius" Mr. Landor has 
 done a bold thing. He has never, indeed, been 
 wanting in courage and independence of the 
 haughtiefl kind ; and in the magic circle which his 
 genius has defcribed and peopled, he has not hefi- 
 tated to evoke the fpirits of the mofl mighty dead, 
 — to re-animate the tongues of Plato and of 
 Cicero ; to make Dante, and Petrarca, and Spen- 
 fer difcourfe high wifdom, and pour out their ten-
 
 310 NEW POEMS; 
 
 dereft complaint ; to fhow us Milton in his blind old 
 age, and Shakefpeare in the affluent promife of his 
 youth. With what wonderful fuccefs he has done 
 all this, the reader of his works need not be told. 
 But in the flender book before us he appears not 
 as the delineator, but as the rival, of Shakefpeare ; 
 not as one who ventured to imagine the tenor of 
 his youth, but as one who dares to challenge com- 
 parifon with the works of his manhood. Of courfe, 
 Mr. Landor repudiates the thought of rivalry fo 
 bold as this : — 
 
 '* Few ^^^ fays he^ ^^have obtained the privilege of 
 entering Shakefpeare^ s garden^ and of feeing him take 
 turn after turn, quite alone^ now nimbly^ now 
 gravely^ on his broad and lofty terrace, . . . Let 
 us never venture where he is walkings whether in 
 deep meditation, or in buoyant fpirits. Enough is it 
 for us to ramble and loiter in the narrower paths 
 below, and look up at the various images which, in 
 the prodigality of his wealthy he has placed in every 
 quarter, . . . Before you, reader, are fame fcattered 
 leaves gathered from under them ; carefuller hands 
 may arrange and comprefs them in a book of their 
 own^ and thus for a while preferve them, if rude 
 children do not finger them firji^ and tamper zuith 
 their fragility,'^ 
 
 But the fa6t remains that our author has chofen 
 to treat the fame fubje6l as Shakefpeare, and in a 
 dramatic form ; and though no one will be fo 
 unjuft as to inftitute a formal comparifon, yet
 
 BROWNING AND LANDOR. 311 
 
 neither can any difarm his memory of the brighteft 
 afTociations connected with the theme. It happens, 
 too, that it is one of Shakefpeare's mafter-pleces 
 which is thus recalled. How wonderfully is the 
 poet's genius difplayed In the drama of " Antony 
 and Cleopatra ! " It feems to us the very richeft 
 fruit of his exuberant mind, difplaying an almoft 
 miraculous knowledge of the human heart, and an 
 inexhauftible fund of fplrit and invention. The 
 author does not perfonally appear, but he feems In 
 efFe6t to be himfelf fafcinated by the " ferpent of 
 old Nile," — to nurfe an enthufiafm which boldly 
 challenges the equal admiration of the reader, and 
 to afk triumphantly. Who can blame Antony 
 without half coveting his luxurious lot ? And 
 what was there In the world he loft to compare 
 with the world's paragon for whom he left it, and 
 whofe wanton fancy he completely conquered and 
 abforbed, kindling into heroic fervour the Epicurean 
 paffion of her heart, like a tropic garden fet on 
 fire by the unufual blazing of the fun ? Pompeys 
 and Caefars the world will never be without ; but 
 Antony could only play his part while Cleopatra 
 lived. And fo, — who blames him? — he melted 
 into the cup of his love the jewel of a rare and 
 coftly genius, and, drinking that intoxicating 
 draught, he gladly exhaufted the utmoft fortune 
 of the gods. 
 
 Yet, In fplte of this mafterly pre-occupation of 
 the theme, the " Antony and 06tavius " of Mr. 
 Landor has merit and intereft of Its own. After 
 all, it is perhaps the only ground where our author
 
 312 NEW POEMS; 
 
 could any way bear up agalnft fuch odds ; for he 
 is deeply imbued with the antique fpirit, as well 
 as richly fraught with claffical learning ; and a 
 brief quotation will fhow with what tafte and fkill 
 he interprets Plutarch after the Shakefpearian 
 manner. OcSlavius is already mafter in Egypt, 
 and to him enters gaily the young Caefarion, fon 
 of his uncle Julius. 
 
 *' Cafarion. Hail ! hail ! my coulin ! Let me kifs that hand 
 So foft and white. Why hold it back from me ? 
 I am your coufm, boy Caefarion. 
 
 OBa<vius. Who taught you all this courtefy ? 
 
 Cafarion. My heart. 
 
 Befide, my mother bade me wifh you joy. 
 
 Odanj'ius. I would myfelf receive it from her. 
 
 C afar ion. Come, 
 
 Come then with me j none fee her and are fad. 
 
 OSiauius. Then ftie herfelf is not fo ? 
 
 Cafarion. Not a whit, 
 
 Grave as fhe looks, but fhould be merrier ftill. 
 
 OSiwvius. She may expeft all bounty at our hands. 
 
 Cafarion. Bounty ! fhe wants no bounty. Look around. 
 Thofe palaces, thofe temples and their gods, 
 And myriad priefts within them, all are hers j 
 And people bring her fhips, and gems, and gold. 
 O coufm ! do you know what fome men fay, 
 (If they do fay it,) that your fails, ere long. 
 Will waft all thele away ? 
 
 I wifh 't were true 
 What elfe they talk. 
 
 OSfwvius. What is it .? 
 
 Cafarion. That you come 
 
 To carry off her alfo. She is grown 
 Paler J and I have feen her bite her lip 
 At hearing this. Ha! well I know my mother j 
 She thinks it may look redder for the bite." 
 
 Thus the boy prattles ; but the eye of 06tavius 
 is upon him, and his admiration is not likely to 
 pafs over into love.
 
 BROWNING AND LANDOR, 313 
 
 " 05la<vius. Agrippa, didft thou mark that comely boy ? 
 
 Agrippa. I did indeed. 
 
 OSiavius. There Is, methinks, In him 
 
 A fomewhat not unlike our common friend. 
 
 Agrippa. Unlike ! There never was fuch limllar 
 Expreflion. I remember Caius Julius 
 In youth, although my elder by Ibme years ; 
 Well I remember that high-vaulted brow, 
 Thofe eyes of eagles under it, thofe lips 
 At which the Senate and the people ftood 
 Expeilant for their portals to unclofe ; 
 Then fpeech, not womanly, but manly fweet. 
 Came from them, and flied pleafure as the morn 
 Sheds light. 
 
 OBwvius. The boy has too much confidence. 
 
 Agrippa. Not for his prototype. When he threw back 
 That hair in hue like cinnamon, I thought 
 I faw great Julius tofling his, and warn 
 The pirates he would give them their defert. 
 . . . My boy, thou gazeft at thofe arms hung round. 
 
 Cafarion. I am not ftrong enough for fword or fhield. 
 Nor even fo old as my fweet mother was 
 When I firft rioted upon her knee. 
 And feized whatever Iparkled in her hair. 
 Ah ! you had been delighted, had you feen 
 The pranks fhe pardon'd me ! What gentlenefs ! 
 What playfulnefs ! 
 
 OSia<vius. Go now, Caefarion. 
 
 Cafarion. And had you ever feen my father too ! 
 He was as fond of her as fhe of me. 
 And often bent his thoughtful brow o'er mine 
 To kifs what fhe had kifs'd j then held me out 
 To fliow how he could manage the refraftory ; 
 Then one long fmile, one preffure to the breaft. 
 
 OSianjius. How tedious that boy grows ! lead him away, 
 Aufidius ! . . , There is mifchief in his mind, 
 He looks fo guilelefs." 
 
 We might, perhaps, have felecSled a more im- 
 portant fcene than the above, and given the reader 
 a glimpfe of Mr. Landor's " Antony ; " but wq 
 vi'ifhed to impart fome notion of the fkill and 
 freedom of thefe claffic dialogues ; and the lover
 
 314 NEW POEMS, 
 
 of this fpecies of poetry will procure the little 
 volume itfelf. At any rate, our limits are tranf- 
 grefled, and we muft refrain from quoting more. 
 We believe the reader will admire the brief ex- 
 ample we have given. We can aflure him that 
 the whole twelve fcenes are of the fame com- 
 plexion. After this novel and fuccefsful effort, 
 we fhould have no obje6tion to receive a " Corio- 
 lanus " from the fame ftatuary's hand. " Corio- 
 lanus ! " What fubje6l more fuited to the haughty 
 genius and fharp chifel of Walter Landor? It 
 would form an admirable companion to the " An- 
 tony and 06lavius." Such compofitions could 
 enter into no foolifti and unequal rivalry with the 
 great dramatic mafter-pieces : they would render 
 homage, and not claim comparifon, — being only 
 ftill-life illuftrations of the mailer's living fcene. 
 Welcome as fuch, they might long ftand in the 
 avenue of Shakefpeare's fame ; — ftand filent, and 
 face to face, on either fide, diminifhed to all eyes 
 by the magnitude and glory of the place.
 
 BOSWELL'S LETTERS. 
 
 T was the pradice of the moft popular 
 hiftorian of antiquity to inftitute com- 
 parifons betwixt certain of his rival 
 heroes ; but the biographic annals of 
 mankind afford far more curious parallels than any 
 which adorn the elaborate page of Plutarch. It 
 would call for the exercife of fome ingenuity to 
 find any but the moft external features of refem- 
 blance in the lives of Agis and Cleomenes, of Syila 
 and Lyfander. There is more or lefs coincidence 
 in the tenor of their fortunes or the ftyle of their 
 ambition ; but in the minor traits of individual 
 character, in that perfonal idiofyncrafy which com- 
 bines and graduates the fubfifting elements of 
 ftrength and of weaknefs, of wifdom and of folly, 
 there is no ftriking and prevailing likenefs in any 
 of thefe heroic pairs. The men of Plutarch are 
 caft in one large mould. They want that variety, 
 and perhaps that imperfection, of chara6ler, which 
 is requifite to furnifti inftances either of contraft 
 or comparifon. Even where they differ from the 
 general type, it is only as members of the fame 
 family ; and we detect their identity as we dif-
 
 3i6 BOSTFELVS LETTERS. 
 
 tinguifh the features of a Claudius or a Julius in 
 the heads of the twelve Caefars. But the civiliza- 
 tion of the Chriftian world, and efpecially of the 
 Teutonic and Celtic races, is marked by a bolder 
 individuality of genius. As modern art has opened 
 up the province of the pifturefque, fo modern life 
 abounds in varied and contrafted characters ; and 
 it is this very circumftance which makes our 
 biographic parallels more rare indeed, but alfo 
 more curious and complete. And to thefe com- 
 parifons the pleafures of contraft are not wanting ; 
 for every point of coincidence is fraught with fome 
 quality of difference. 
 
 We have been led into this train of remark by 
 a perufal of the volume now before us, which 
 frequently recalls the pages of another book, and 
 vividly fets before the reader's mind the piClure of 
 two choice Arcadians. The name and chara6ter 
 of Bofwell have, no doubt, often fuggefted thofe 
 of Samuel Pepys ; but the publication of thefe 
 familiar letters makes the aflbciation quite in- 
 fallible ; for they exhibit the refemblance in its 
 moft ftriking form, and, at the fame time, extend 
 it to a thoufand particulars. We now know that the 
 amufing diarift of the feventeenth century revived 
 in the perfon of Johnfon's faithful henchman and 
 biographer, the jeft and wonder of the eighteenth. 
 
 The likenefs is fortuitous as well as charaCler- 
 iftical. The circumftance which enables us to 
 complete the parallel of thefe two worthies, itfelf 
 fuggefts a fmgular coincidence of fortune. The 
 pofthumous fame of Pepys and of Bofwell have
 
 BOSWELL'S LETTERS. 317 
 
 been equally afFe6led by a fimilar accident, — an 
 accident not favourable to the perfonal character 
 of either, but largely conducive to the popularity 
 of both. No vi'onder both are w^elcome to the 
 w^orld of readers. A giddy public is admitted into 
 the fecret confidence of thefe choice fpirits, and 
 finds it moft exquifite fun ; for rarely is fo thorough 
 an expofure made of thofe lighter follies which 
 provide the farce and interlude of human life. 
 This fecret confidence is precifely of the moft 
 entertaining kind, — the fulleft and the freeft 
 poffible; confifting of incidents and thoughts vi^hich 
 only a fool w^ould commit to any, which no one 
 elfe would have power or occafion to confide, and 
 which even he will only whifper to his friend, or 
 chuckle to himfelf. But the pen is a dangerous 
 medium of fuch indulgences. Though folly fhould 
 break its hour-glafs, and write only in the fcattered 
 fand, who fhall provide that Time, which wan- 
 tonly deftroys fo much, will not as wantonly pre- 
 ferve this little, harden the frail tablet into rock, 
 and leave it in the mufeum of Pofterity ? So at 
 leaft it has fared with the confidence of Pepys and 
 of Bofwell. Both were fhrewd men, and were 
 able to hide fomething of their weaknefies from 
 contemporary eyes ; but each, forfooth, muft 
 write himfelf down an afs. The one muft fniggle 
 over his ticklifti delinquencies in the privacy of a 
 journal kept in cipher ; and the other muft needs 
 confefs to an old college chum, now fettling into 
 the fober walks of clerical and married life ; and 
 many years after the writer's death, when Pepys
 
 3i8 BOSWELUS LETTERS. 
 
 is quite forgotten and Bofwell almoft forgiven, the 
 diary of the one is carefully deciphered, and the 
 letters of the other fuddenly difcovered. Of courfe 
 both are publiflied without fcruple or delay, — for 
 no man is entitled to the immunities of private 
 chara6ler fixty years after his death ; the claims 
 of truth and of fociety furvive, and fuperfede mere 
 individual rights : our follies can find fan6luary 
 only in a new-made grave ; and every record that 
 is fufFered to remain above ground to challenge 
 the curiofity of another generation, is juftly forfeit 
 in the intereft of mankind. Let the beaus and 
 goffips of our day look to it ! For our two leaky 
 friends the warning is fomewhat late. They have 
 nothing more to offer or withhold. We know 
 them from the loweft note to the top of their 
 compafs. We have made a parlour-window book 
 out of their " trivial fond records," and find it to 
 be moft exquifite fooling. We could not be more 
 thoroughly provided if each of us had a jefter of 
 his own. Certain it is that Yorick was a fool to 
 Samuel Pepys. He might tumble to amufe the 
 Majefty of unburied Denmark, barbarian as he 
 was J but what is that to keeping the wide table 
 of Chriftendom on a roar ? No proofs of his 
 genius are extant ; his wit is a miferable tradition, 
 vouched only by a mad Prince and ftupid grave- 
 digger ; he died and made no fign ; he is quite 
 chapfallen ; the grin remains, but the joke has 
 long fubfided. Not fo with our incomparable 
 friend. The merriment we draw from him is 
 frefh and lively. His exit from the fcene was
 
 BOSWELVS LETTERS. 319 
 
 only in order to a transformation. Fortune has 
 fent him fmartly back, and his future is a brilliant 
 and perpetual harlequinade. The pen with which 
 he " ciphered " is changed into a wand : hefmites 
 upon our wall with it, and old London re-appears. 
 It is now Whitehall — and Pepys, in the manner 
 as he lived, is feen to admire at the beauty of 
 Caftlemaine or the dancing of Monmouth ; the 
 Houfe of Lords — and deceitful Pepys throngs in 
 with the faithful Commons, Hands behind the 
 King's chair, and hears the merry Monarch read 
 from his lap a fpeech which he finds it difficult to 
 fpell ; Vauxhall — and it is ftill Pepys, fporting 
 with Knip or Mercer ; a domeftic interior — and 
 the fame old beau grows furious to fee his lady in 
 white wig, in fa6t " ready to burft with anger ;" 
 a church — and our gallant fidles up to take the 
 hand of a pretty lady, but retreats on finding it 
 armed with a pin ; a ftreet — and the worthy man 
 indulges an honeft blufh becaufe the nofe of his 
 companion is unreafonably red ! Who is not glad 
 to remember, that where there is any fhame there 
 is yet fome virtue ? 
 
 But Mr. Bofwell waits to be introduced, and 
 we have yet to ftate with more diftindlnefs his 
 claim to come into fuch pleafant company. It is 
 briefly this. Like Pepys he difplays about an 
 equal amount of talent and buffoonery in his life- 
 performance ; and while the firft-named quality 
 raifed him above the vulgar throng of men, the 
 latter fet him juft as much below. Arcades ambo^ 
 they ftand the co-heritors of the moft equivocal
 
 320 BOSJVELUS LETTERS. 
 
 renown ; the wife man gives them an alternate 
 meed of admiration and contempt ; and the verieft 
 booby will gird at them with an inward and grate- 
 ful fenfe of his fuperior parts. But what makes 
 the refemblance more ftriking, is the facSl that both 
 were afFe61:ed with the fame perfonal weaknefTes, 
 to wit, the inordinate love of pleafure, and an irre- 
 preflible love of approbation. They both waded 
 in a fhallow fea of vanity, — and both were loft, 
 not fo much in overwhelming tides of vice, as by 
 their dreary diftance from the fhores of virtue. 
 
 It is of no ufe denying the ability of either. 
 Why fhould the world go back a hundred years to 
 find a coxcomb ? The fa6l is, that no fuch charac- 
 ter, pure and fimple, is able to arreft and fix the 
 public mind. A man muft be fomething more 
 than a fool before he can amufe even the lighter 
 hours of the good and wife. Pepys was Secretary 
 to the Admiralty in the reigns of Charles II. and 
 James II, and beyond doubt he had much capa- 
 city as a man of bufinefs. There is fome hint of 
 his carrying retrenchment and reforms into that 
 department; but it is certain that his dexterity in 
 keeping the public accounts was more than the 
 average of official life prefented. But Pepys was 
 not merely ufeful in affairs ; he was a patron of the 
 arts, and a man of fuperior culture. He made a 
 collection of books and pi6lures which to this day 
 teftifies to his fcholarfhip and liberal taftes. 
 
 Bofwell's reputation as a man of parts refts upon 
 different and better grounds. It is not from hif- 
 tory or tradition, but from his own literary works,
 
 BOSWELUS LETTERS. 321 
 
 that we derive a knowledge of his powers. With 
 rare exception it is cuftomary ftill to underrate 
 them. We muft not allow either the failings or 
 the follies of this man to lead us into a difparage- 
 ment of his rare ability. Whatever may be the 
 value of literary talents, they were pofTefled by 
 Bofwell in an eminent degree. He certainly did 
 not write one of the beft of books becaufe he was 
 one of the weakeft of men, as fome critics would 
 have us to believe. He wrote it by virtue of 
 peculiar gifts, and not at the prompting of a fuper- 
 ftitious reverence, not by the aid of a feminine 
 garrulity. His great performance derives none of 
 its fubftantial merit from his folly or his vanity, — 
 his pedantic habit of moralizing, or his inveterate 
 love of pleafure. Thefe, no doubt, are the moft 
 amufmg traits difcovered in his familiar correfpon- 
 dence ; but how little could fuch qualities con- 
 tribute to a biography deferving of the name and 
 chara6ler and times of Johnfon ! Nor was our 
 author particularly indebted to his opportunities. 
 We do not underrate the great fubje6t and the 
 brilliant accefTories which offered themfelvesto his 
 delineating pen ; but we fay confidently that an 
 equal occafion had often paffed by, either wholly 
 unimproved, or turned to miferably fmall account, 
 for want of a mafter able to appreciate and to feize 
 the whole. The fa6l is, that Bofwell entertained 
 from the firft a juft conception of the nature and 
 method of the work he undertook ; better ll:ill,he 
 realized his obje6t with a rare felicity, carrying out 
 his purpofe to the laft with equal perfeverance, 
 
 Y
 
 322 BOSWELVS LETTERS. 
 
 fkill, and courage. His judgment and conftancy 
 may be traced in every page of his immortal work ; 
 but fometimes it more diredtly challenges our 
 attention. " I cannot," fays he, on one occafion, 
 " allow any fragment whatever that floats in my 
 memory, concerning the great fubje6t of this bio- 
 graphy, to be loft. Though a fmall particular 
 may appear trifling to fome, it will be reliftied by 
 others; while every little fpark adds fomethingto 
 the general blaze ; and to pleafe the true, candid, 
 warm admirers of Johnfon, and in any degree in- 
 creafe the fplendour of his reputation, I bid de- 
 fiance to the fhafts of ridicule, and even of malig- 
 nity." He then proceeds to relate, with becom- 
 ing gravity, how the great moralift amufed himfelf 
 one morning after breakfaft ; how, being in Dr. 
 Taylor's grounds, he ufed a long pole to force fome 
 clumps of trees and other rubbifh over a waterfall ; 
 how at length a large dead cat bafl^ed the toiling 
 fage, who prefently threw down the pole to Bof- 
 well, faying, " Come, you/hall take it now ;" and how 
 the faithful henchman, being " frefh," as well as 
 faithful, "foon made the cat tumble over the caf- 
 cade." We fay, brave Bofwell as well as " frefh," 
 and wife as well as brave ! We accept with grati- 
 tude thy pifture of the burly moralift, working 
 with all his body and rolling with incomparable 
 laughter : and the world fhall learn that thou, too, 
 hadft fomething to achieve even when the mighty 
 failed; that in virtue of elaftic youth and genius 
 thou didft hurl a dead cat down the ftream, and 
 left Ulyfles ftanding convulfed upon its bank, a 
 pidure, at the leaft, for evermore !
 
 BOSWELVS LETTERS. 323 
 
 It is the firft great pralfe of Bofwell that he 
 attached himfelf to fuch a mafter. In this fa6t, 
 too, we recognize the leading paradox of his career. 
 The more intimately we come to know the 
 character of Bofwell, — his vanity, frivolity, and 
 fenfuality, — the more does the wonder of his hero- 
 worfliip grow upon us. It is no very rare thing to 
 meet with a Scotchman who prefers London to 
 Edinburgh ; and not unfrequently we may have 
 feen a man about town affli6led with a literary 
 turn, or haunted by way of confcience with a re- 
 verence for moral greatnefs ; but the queftion re- 
 mains. What attraded this poor butterfly and 
 parafite to the burly, rough-grained moralift and 
 threadbare fcholar of Fleet Street ? The love of 
 fplendour and eclat which poflefled the foul of 
 Bofwell might have led us to think that only 
 meretricious qualities, and only the moft popular 
 reputation, would have had any charm for him ; 
 but the fa6l is otherwife. To Paoli, the hero of 
 his day, our author paid indeed afliduous court, and 
 fluttered with evident delight in the beams of his 
 glory ; but his true allegiance was paid to Johnfon, 
 and that when Johnfon was very far from reach- 
 ing the commanding height of reputation which he 
 finally attained. It is only jufl to Bofwell that 
 this genuine life-long devotion, for ever unex- 
 plained as it may be, fhould be fet over againfl a 
 multitude of his weaknefTes and follies. We ac- 
 cept it as the teftimony of his better genius to the 
 dignity of human life, and acknowledge once for 
 all, that his appreciation of virtue, wifdom, and
 
 324 BOSWELVS LETTERS. 
 
 fobriety, was at leaft equal to his inftin(Sl of fop- 
 pery, and his inordinate love of pleafure. 
 
 It is curious to obferve the influence of Johnfon 
 upon the literary ftyle of his admirer, A certain 
 elegant and lively freedom belongs to Bofwell's 
 proper manner, but long intimacy with fo grave a 
 moralift appears to have added both weight and 
 point to his expreflions. He does not often fol- 
 low with equal ftep the fefquipedalian march of 
 Johnfon ; but fometimes by an unufualfeverity of 
 thought, and fometimes by a felicitous condenfa- 
 tion or turn of language, he calls to mind the char- 
 aiteriftic excellence of his great mafter. Not un- 
 frequently the fentiment and the phrafe are both to 
 be referred to this impofing model. Thus in an 
 able and elaborate letter addrefled to Dr. Johnfon, 
 we find an ingenious paffage in favour of commu- 
 tation of the fentence pafTed upon the unhappy Dr. 
 Dodd, founded upon the many acts of benevolence 
 and virtue which preceded the folitary crime. 
 " Such an inftance," he contends, " would do more 
 to encourage goodnefs than his execution would do 
 to deter from vice. I am not afraid of any bad 
 confequence to fociety ; for who will perfevere for 
 along courfe of years in a diftinguiflied difcharge 
 of religious duties with a view to commit a forgery 
 with impunity ?" This fentence is fo truly in the 
 mafter's ftyle that we look increduloully to the fub- 
 fcription of the letter, and find that it is indeed 
 Bofwell retorting the fedate reflection with itsufual 
 turn, — as a boy may throw back upon a foun- 
 tain the water he has juft abftraded from it.
 
 BOSWELVS LETTERS. 325 
 
 Another inftance of his Johnfonian manner is to 
 be found in the dedication of his Account of Corfica 
 to General Paoli. Only liften to this ridiculous 
 parrot, fwinging from the roof of his mailer's 
 ftudy ! " Dedications are for moft part the offer- 
 ings of interefted fervility, or the effufions of par- 
 tial zeal ; enumerating the virtues of men in whom 
 no virtues can be found, or predicting greatnefs to 
 thofe v^ho afterwards pafs their days in unambi- 
 tious indolence, and die leaving no memorial of 
 their exiftence but a dedication, in which all their 
 merit is confefTedly future, and which time has 
 
 turned into filent reproach He who 
 
 has any experience of mankind will be cautious to 
 whom he dedicates. Publicly to beftow praife on 
 merit of which the public is not fenfible, or to raife 
 flattering expectations which are never fulfilled, 
 muft fmk the charaCter of an author, and make 
 him appear a cringing parafiteor a fond enthufiaft.'* 
 The firft of thefe fentences is very clumfy ; the 
 fecond is a better imitation of Johnfon's manner : 
 but both are fpurious, and therefore to be heartily 
 contemned. It was a millake in Bofwell to coun- 
 terfeit that weighty ftyle. Bafe metal may pafs 
 current in a lighter form ; but what bullion mer- 
 chant was ever deceived by ingots of lead or tin ? 
 
 But Bofwell had literary merits of his own ; and 
 his imitation of Johnfon's manner was happily as 
 rare as it was gratuitous. His Journey to the 
 Hebrides is not lefs entertaining than his more 
 famous biography ; and though it may be faid that 
 the fame great talker contributes here the fame
 
 326 BOSWELUS LETTERS. 
 
 large element of intereft and inftrudtion, our au- 
 thor's merit is not much afFe61:ed by the remark ; 
 for we are reminded of the high value of his 
 peculiar talents, and we congratulate ourfelves, not 
 exa6lly becaufe Johnfon was the companion of 
 our lively traveller, but on the good fortune which 
 made the inimitable Bofwell the companion of 
 Johnfon. Other fages may wander — and do wan- 
 der — thither and otherwhere ; but the ftory re- 
 mains untold, or finds dull record and due oblivion, 
 like Johnfon's own account of the Hebridean tour. 
 Of that pair, indeed, we fliall never meet the like, 
 on any road, in any chronicle ; for the Mercurial 
 genius, the lively obfervation, the tacSt, fidelity, and 
 devotion of a Bofwell, are necefTary to that rare 
 conjun6tion. 
 
 It is well known that Bofwell was the butt of 
 all the wits ; and many men of little mark, whofe 
 names he has embalmed in his great biography, no 
 doubt took lawful pleafure in turning his faults to 
 ridicule. It is certain, alfo, that he was not de- 
 fpifed without a caufe. But we contend that there 
 is nothing in his own publications, and efpecially 
 nothing in his Life ofyohnfon, to render him de- 
 fpicable in our eyes. His reverence for the learn- 
 ing, intelleft, and character of that great man, led 
 him to yield a foolifh and unbecoming deference, 
 and in the fimplicity of his heart he told a good 
 ftory to his own difadvantage ; but thefe are traits 
 of genius compared with the manners of ordinary 
 men, who frequently pay court to a far more vul- 
 gar idol for more felfifh ends, and whofe afFe6la-
 
 BOSWELUS LETTERS. 327 
 
 tion of independence is both part and proof of 
 their fervility, as the loweft reverence is rneafured 
 by the height of its recoil. BofwelPs was at leaft 
 no common-place toadyifm ; and if we fmile at 
 his relations to Johnfon, our fmile has nothing of 
 contempt in it. It is therefore to his behaviour 
 in general fociety, and to thofe perfonal difplays 
 which amufed his aflbciates in the aflembly or the 
 club, in the hours of poft-prandial exhilaration, or 
 thofe yet more ridiculous of ftate and dignity, — it 
 is to Bofwell under thefe conditions that we muft 
 look for the materials and the obje6l of contempt. 
 Some glimpfes of the kind are attainable in the 
 writings of his contemporaries ; but how much 
 better to have his follies given under his own hand 
 to fome intimate and equal ! Then will he fpeak 
 out freely, and we fhall more diftin6lly know why 
 the name of Bofwell has fo long been a fynonym 
 for fool. 
 
 The volume before us anfwers this purpofe and 
 defcription. It confifts of about one hundred 
 letters addrefled by Bofwell to the Rev. W. J. 
 Temple, and forming the only remaining part of 
 what was probably a voluminous correfpondence ; 
 for the intimacy between Temple and his friend 
 was continued during their lives, which lafted a 
 period of fome threefcore years, and then termi- 
 nated almoft together. The difcovery of thefe 
 curious documents is thus related by the editor. 
 
 " A few years ago a Clergyman^ having occafton to 
 buy fome articles at the Jhop of Madame Noel, at
 
 328 BOSJVELUS LETTERS. 
 
 Boulogne^ obferved that the paper in which they 
 
 were wrapped was the fragment of an Englijh letter. 
 
 Upon infpeSiion^ a date and fome names were dif- 
 
 covered ; and further invejiigation proved that the 
 
 piece of paper in quejiion was part of a correfpon- 
 
 dence^ carried on nearly a century before^ between 
 
 the biographer of Dr. Samuel f oh nf on and his early 
 
 friend the Rev. William johnfon Temple. On 
 
 making inquiry^ it was afcertained that this piece 
 
 of paper had been taken from a large parcel recently 
 
 pur chajed from a hawker^ who was in the habit of 
 
 pajfing through Boulogne once or twice a y ear ^ for 
 
 the purpofe of fupp lying the different Jhops with 
 
 paper. Beyond this no further information could be 
 
 obtained. The whole contents of the parcel were 
 
 immediately fecured. The majority of the letters 
 
 bear the London and Devon poji-marks^ and are 
 
 franked by well-known names of that period. Be- 
 
 fides thofe written by Bofwell, which are here pub- 
 
 lijhed^ were found fever al from Mr. Nichols^ Mr. 
 
 Claxton^ and other per fons alluded to in the follozving 
 
 pages ^ as well as a few unfinijhedfermons andeffays 
 
 by Mr. Temple."— Prehce. 
 
 The queftion has of courfe been afked, Are 
 thefe letters genuine ? and it has been uniformly 
 anfwered that they are. This afhirance is not 
 bafed upon the fimple ftatement we have juft 
 tranfcribed. Many a fpurious document has been 
 prefaced by a hiftory very plain and plaufible, 
 vouched for by a learned editor, and iflued by a 
 publifher of ftrid refpedtability. Much more than
 
 BOSTFELVS LETTERS, 329 
 
 thefe are requifite to eftablifli the authenticity of 
 fuch a work in a manufacturing age like ours ; but 
 much more alfo may in this cafe be adduced. 
 Mod: readers will be quite fatisfied with the internal 
 evidence of thefe letters. They approve them- 
 felves by their omiffions as well as by their con- 
 tents ; they deal too largely in new material for a 
 mere imitator's timid hand, and yet the whole is 
 not more novel than chara6teriftic. We fee 
 Bofwell in a gayer form ; but the grub of Johnfon 
 has only emerged into the butterfly, and flutters in 
 the face of the Corfican hero. It is the fame 
 parafite elated and transformed. So alfo we have 
 Bofwell fucceffively courting, fcheming, grumbling, 
 drinking, — abufingthe great and reproaching him- 
 felf, — full of envy, fondnefs, conceit, animal fpirits, 
 ennuiy and defpair. And many of thefe are new 
 phafes of chara6ler in one who has hitherto ap- 
 peared as a fort of flunkey-coxcomb, never greatly 
 ftirred out of his own deep felf-efteem, not very 
 ferious, and yet not quite unfteady. But it is Bof- 
 well after all, — not ftanding befide his mafter's 
 chair, and fearing a blue-bottle from his mafter's 
 wig, but efcaped down-ftairs to his other, undrefs 
 heaven, emptying the bottle, and chucking the 
 houfemaid under the chin. Yes, it is Bofwell 
 below ftairs. 
 
 We muft glean from thefe letters fome of the 
 more prominent incidents and traits. Nothing is 
 more amufmg than the efFe6l which fome fuccefs 
 in the beft fociety of London produces on the 
 mind of Bofwell. It affords him an abfolute re-
 
 330 BOSWELUS LETTERS, 
 
 velation of his own importance. " I am really," he 
 fays, " the great man now. I have David Hume 
 in the forenoon, and Mr. Johnfon in the afternoon, 
 of the fame day, vifiting me. Sir John Pringle, 
 Dr. Franklin, and fome more company, dined with 
 me to-day ; and Mr. Johnfon and General Ogle- 
 thorpe one day, Mr. Garrick alone another, and 
 David Hume and fome more //V^r^/z another, dine 
 with me next week. I give admirable dinners and 
 good claret ; and the moment I go abroad again, 
 which will be in a day or two, I fet up my chariot. 
 This is enjoying the fruits of my labours, and ap- 
 pearing like the friend of Paoli." This is fuffi- 
 ciently good, but the continuation is better, — and 
 mark how careleflly thefe triumphs are introduced ! 
 " ^y the by, the Earl of Pembroke and Captain 
 Meadows are juft fetting out for Corfica, and I 
 have the honour of introducing them by a letter to 
 the General. David Hume came on purpofe the 
 other day to tell me that the Dukeof Bedford was 
 very fond of my book, and had recommended it to 
 the Duchefs. David is really amiable. I al- 
 ways regret to him his unlucky principles, and he 
 fmiles at my faith ; but I have a hope which he 
 has not, or pretends not to have. So who has the 
 beft of it, my reverend friend ?" Poor David, the 
 philofopher, is here taken at a fad difad vantage ; 
 and James the popinjay is making the beft of both 
 worlds at a great rate. No doubt *' my reverend 
 friend" was greatly edified. 
 
 If you take Bofwell in his own fphere, and 
 on his own terms, he is worth any money. If you
 
 BOSWELUS LETTERS, 331 
 
 fhould ever look down upon your bargain, he will 
 foon raife himfelf in the market by a cheerful re- 
 hearfal of his merits. Thefe letters fhow, in a 
 hundred places, how thoroughly this ingenious 
 creature had perfuaded himfelf of his own rare 
 virtue. On thefe occafions the Corfican General 
 naturally rufhes to his mind, as a fort of unexcep- 
 tionable reference. When his crofs-grained father, 
 theftirewd old Laird of Auchinleck, writes with- 
 out a due fenfe of his paternal privilege, the tra- 
 velled youth exclaims, " How galling is it to the 
 friend of Paoli to be treated thus !" and then, giving 
 his correfpondent that credit for difcernment which 
 his father had juftly forfeited, he fondly adds, 
 " Temple, would you not like fuch a fon ? would 
 you not feel a glow of parental joy ? I know you 
 would." 
 
 The earlier portion of the prefent volume is 
 enlivened by the gayer fallies of our author, touch- 
 ing his numerous amours and flirtations. Some 
 of thefe are difreputable ; but moft of them are 
 iimply ridiculous. Of the former clafs is his paf- 
 fion for " a pretty, lively, black little lady," — mean- 
 ing by this defcription, what Pepys meant in ufing 
 fimilar terms, namely, a handfome brunette, and 
 not a nigger beauty. The affair adds little credit 
 to the character of Bofwell ; and though not offen- 
 fively obtruded in the publiftied portion of his 
 letters, it might perhaps have been omitted alto- 
 gether with advantage. 
 
 Not fo his courtfhip of the lovely Blair. This 
 is much too good a ftory to lofe, and we fhall treat
 
 332 BOSWELVS LETTERS, 
 
 the reader to all the particulars we know. It is 
 thus that our hero opens the catalogue of her 
 attra6tions in a letter to his friend : " There is a 
 young lady in the neighbourhood here who has an 
 eftate of her own, between two and three hundred 
 a year, juft eighteen, a genteel perfon,an agreeable 
 face, of a good family, fenfible, good-tempered, 
 cheerful, pious. You know my grand objecSt is 
 the ancient family of Auchinleck, — a venerable 
 and noble principle. How would it do to con- 
 clude an alliance with the neighbouring princefs, 
 and add her lands to our dominions ? I Jhould at 
 once have a pretty little ejiate^ a good houfe^ and a 
 fweet placeJ^ It is worthy of remark, that the 
 fummary of advantages contained in the laft fen- 
 tence does not include the lady, — except we fup- 
 pofe her to be in the houfe. We are then given 
 to underftand that the old Laird has been prompt- 
 ing his fon in this direction. " My father is very 
 fond of her; it would make him perfe6tly happy : 
 he gives me hints in this way : / wijh you had her y 
 — no bad fcheme this ; I think ^ a very good one. But 
 I will not be in a hurry ; there is plenty of time." 
 Juft fo. In matters of this fort it is fo eafy to add 
 temperance to prudence ! When love has its 
 origin in " a venerable and noble principle," how 
 calm and reafonable a thing it is ! 
 
 But once embarked in any enterprife of the 
 kind, our lover is not long wanting in enthufiafm. 
 He prefently proceeds with fpirit, and foon arrives 
 at the declamatory ftage. " The lady in my 
 neighbourhood is the fineft woman I have ever
 
 BOSTVELL'S LETTERS, 333 
 
 feen. I went and vifited her, and (he was fogood 
 as to prevail with her mother to come to Auchin- 
 leck, where they flayed four days, and in our ro- 
 mantic groves I adored her like a divinity." Then, 
 on a fomewhat lower key: "My father is very 
 defirous I (hould marry her, — all my relations, all 
 my neighbours, approve of it." The ftrain is 
 again raifed a little, but ftill it is no great things : 
 " She looked quite at home in the houfe of Auchin- 
 leck. Her pidure would be an ornament to the 
 gallery. Her children would be all Bofwells and 
 Temples, and as fine women as thefe are excellent 
 men." Mufl we conclude that love, like life itfelf, 
 is a rather mixed affair ? 
 
 Nothing will fatisfy him now but making the 
 lady perfonally known to his friend.. We have 
 many urgent appeals to this purpofe. '' Temple, 
 you muft be at Auchinleck ; you mufl fee mv 
 charming bride. If you cannot return in autumn, 
 pray refolve to take a ride now, and on pretence 
 of viewing the feat of your friend, view alfo the 
 
 woman who has his heart My Signora is 
 
 indeed a wonderful creature : you fhall know all. 
 But again let me entreat of you to take one ro- 
 mantic ride, to oblige, mofl elTentially, your moft 
 cordial friend." This "romantic ride" is foon 
 arranged. Temple is to pay a vifit at Adamtown, 
 — the feat of the heirefs,— partly in the character 
 ofambalTador, and partly in the humbler character 
 of fpy. He is duly provided with an Itinerary and 
 *' InflrutSlions." This extraordinary document is 
 ftill extant, and given in the volume which affords
 
 334 BOSWELUS LETTERS, 
 
 us thefe particulars. It is far better than a ftate 
 paper, and we are tempted to transfer it to our 
 pages. 
 
 " InftrucSlions for Mr. Temple on his Tour to 
 Auchinleck and Adamtown. 
 
 " He will fet out in the fly on Monday morning 
 and reach Glafgow by noon. Put up at Graham^ s^ 
 and afk for the horfes befpoke by Mr. Bofwell. 
 Take tickets for the Friday'' s fly. Eat fome cold 
 viSfuals. Set out for Kingfwell^ to which you have 
 good road; arrived t her e^ get a guide to put you 
 through the muir to Loudoun ; from thence Thomas 
 knows the road to Auchinleck.^ where the worthy 
 overfeer.^ Mr. fames Bruce., will receive you. Be 
 cofy with him^ and you will like him much; expeSf 
 but moderate entertainment.^ as the family is not at 
 home. Tuefday. — See the houfe ; look at the front; 
 choofe your room ; advife as to pavilions. Have 
 fames Bruce to conduSi you to the cab-houfe ; to the 
 old caflle ; to where I am to make the f up erb grotto; 
 up the river to Broom/holm ; the natural bridge ; 
 the grotto; the grotto walk down to the Gothic 
 bridge : anything elfe he pleafes. Wednefday. — 
 Breakfafl at eight ; fet out at nine; Thomas will 
 bring you to Adamtown a little after eleven. Send 
 up your name ; if pojfible.^ put up your horfes there., 
 — they can have cut grafs ; if not^ Thomas will 
 take them to Mount ain., a place a mile off^ and come 
 hack and wait at dinner. Give Mifs Blair my 
 letter. Salute her and her mother ; afk to walk. 
 See the place fully; think what improvements Jhould
 
 BOSWELUS LETTERS. 335 
 
 be made. Talk of my mare^ the purfe^ the chocolate. 
 Tell^ you are my very old and inti?nate friend. 
 Praife me for my good qualities., — you know them ; 
 but talk alfo how odd., how Inconfiant^ how im- 
 petuous, AJk gravely,. Pray don't you imagine there 
 is fomething of madnefs in that family? Talk of 
 my various travels,^ — German princes,, — Voltaire 
 and Roujfeau. Talk of my father ; my Jirong de- 
 fire to have my own houfe. Obferve her well. See., 
 how amiable ! fudge if Jhe would be happy with 
 your friend. Think of me as the great man at 
 Adamtown., — quite clajfical,, too ! Study the mother. 
 Remember well what paffes. Stay tea. At fix,, 
 order horfes to go to New Mills, two miles from 
 Loudoun ; but if they prefs you to flay all night., do 
 it. Be a man of as much eafe as pojjible. Con- 
 fider what a romantic expedition you are on ; take 
 notes \ perhaps you now fix me for life. Thurfday. 
 — Return io Glafgow from New Mills or from 
 Adamtown. See High Church., New Church 
 College., and particularly the paintings, and put 
 halfa-crown into the box at the door. My friend 
 Mr. Robert Fowles will J}-) ow you all. Friday. — 
 Come back in the fly. Bring your portmanteau 
 here. TVe Jhall fettle where you are to lodge. N.B. 
 — Tou are to keep an exa£i account of your charges?^ 
 
 It is juft poffible that fomething almoft as ridi- 
 culous as the above may have been written gravely 
 dou^n ; but fuch a compofition has never publicly 
 tranfpired before. Every line of it, moreover, is 
 charaderiftic of the weak and worldly fmner it
 
 336 BOSWELVS LETTERS. 
 
 proceeds from ; and, on the whole, it Is hard to 
 fay whether it is more welcome to the humourift, 
 or more faddening to the graver ftudent of hu- 
 manity. 
 
 Mr. Temple feems to have been well received, 
 and to have made a favourable impreflion upon 
 the " princefs " to whom he was accredited ; for 
 " fhe and Mrs. Blair were quite charmed with the 
 young parfon, with his neat black periwig and his 
 polite addrefs." But the caufe he fought to for- 
 ward was not deftined to profper. From this 
 time forth no genial fun fmiled on the loves of 
 Auchinleck and Adamtown. The fwain wrote 
 duly to thank his miftrefs for the entertainment of 
 his friend ; but he waited long and anxioufly for 
 a reply. " What can be the matter ? " he ex- 
 claims to Temple. " Probably the letter you 
 carried has been thought ftrange, and fo diftant 
 from any rational fcheme, that it has been refolved 
 no longer to carry on fo friendly and eafy an inter- 
 courfe with me. Or what would you fay if the 
 formal nabob whom you faw there has ftruck in, 
 and fo good a bird in hand has made the heirefs 
 quit the uncertain profpect of catching the bird in 
 the bufh ? I am curious to fee how this matter 
 will turn out. The mare, the purfe, the choco- 
 late, where are they now?" Ay, indeed, where! 
 We fhall no doubt hear again of that " formal 
 nabob." 
 
 In the meantime there feems to be fome hope 
 for our friend ; his fun at leaft fhines out for a 
 feafon. He receives a moft agreeable letter from
 
 BOSWELVS LETTERS. 337 
 
 his goddefs, explaining, apologizing, making all fo 
 bright. He writes to his friend in the higheft 
 fpirits. '' Am I not now as well as I can be ? 
 What condefcenfion ! What a defire to pleafe ! 
 She ftudies my difpofition and refolves to be 
 cautious, &c. Adorable woman ! Don't you 
 think I had better not write again till I fee her?" 
 And after an interval of fome weeks he has the 
 happinefs to date from Adamtown. " In fhort, 
 I am fitting in the room with my princefs, who is 
 at this moment a finer woman than ever (he 
 appeared to be before." Perhaps this is becaufe 
 the fpell of the enchanting heirefs is ftrongeft on 
 her own ground. But even here his happinefs is 
 not unqualified. He proceeds to complain of her 
 former treatment, and to forebode troubles in the 
 future. " At laft I am here, and our meeting has 
 been fuch as you paint in your lafl but one. I 
 have been here one night ; fhe infifled on my 
 flaying another. I am drefTed in green and gold. 
 I have my chaife, in which I fit alone like Mr. 
 Gray ; and Thomas rides by me in a claret- 
 coloured fuit with a filver-laced hat." Alas, for 
 the unreafonablenefs and caprice of woman ! Even 
 that fplendid apparition of green and gold does not 
 take away the lady's breath, or much afFe6l the 
 pulfes of her heart. " But the princefs and I 
 have not yet made up our quarrel ; fhe talks 
 lightly of it. I am refolved to have a ferious con- 
 verfation with her to-morrow morning." The 
 interview accordingly takes place ; but nothing 
 fatisfacStory refults. The flate of the cafe appears
 
 338 BOSTVELL'S LETTERS. 
 
 to be fomething like this : neither of the parties is 
 really in love, but one of them is fool enough to 
 think that he is fo, and therefore naturally be- 
 comes an amufement and a prey to the other. A 
 woman that is no better than a pufs, will not 
 hefitate to play with a heart that is no bigger than 
 a moufe. 
 
 We come now toward the end of this em- 
 broglio. For the reader's fake we fhould have 
 been glad if our limits had permitted the infertion 
 of the thirty-fourth letter of this volume, — for it 
 contains the beft fcene in the whole comedy, 
 though not the laft. Poor Bofwell, who entered 
 upon his part with fuch gay good humour, is now 
 in earneft, and has perfuaded himfelf (though only 
 for the moment) that the heroine before him is 
 really the objedt of his ardent afFe6lions. But the 
 princefs whifpers him, with a cruel mixture of 
 franknefs and archnefs, " I wifti I liked you as 
 well as I do Auchinleck ! " She, too, it feems, 
 had caft wiftful glances over her neighbour's 
 fence, and hence her coquetting with a man whom 
 fhe probably defpifed. But we muft haften to 
 the clofe, which is really a very droll affair. Bof- 
 well has met with another unfortunate fuitor of 
 the princefs, — apparently the " formal nabob " 
 aforefaid, — but one whom fhe had never en- 
 couraged ; for in this cafe there was no tempting 
 propinquity of two eftates. But our young laird 
 feels a fympathy, and foon puts him on an equal 
 footing in the matter of their forlorn pretenfions. 
 They repair to a tavern, and talk over their
 
 BOSWELUS LEl'TERS. 339 
 
 grievances. " We fat till two this morning ; we 
 gave our words, as men of honour, that we would 
 be honeft to each other, fo that neither fhould 
 fufFer needleflly ; and to fatisfy ourfelves of our 
 real fituation, we gave our words that we fhould 
 both afk her this morning, and I fhould go firfl. 
 Could anything be better than this ? " We fhould 
 fay. Certainly not, — but that our eye has already 
 caught what follows. Bofwell goes for his anfwer, 
 and he duly gets it. " ' What then,' I exclaimed, 
 ' have I no chance ? ' ' No,' faid fhe. I afked 
 her to fay fo upon her word and honour. She 
 fairly repeated the words. So I think. Temple, 
 I had enough." And this time we quite agree 
 with him. 
 
 The nabob goes, and fares likewife. The 
 haughty princefs will anfwer no idle queftions 
 about other fuitors ; but the nabob is welcome to 
 his A^^. What becomes of the princefs does not 
 afterwards appear. There is fome rumour of a 
 Baronet, — but fome rumour alfo of another rup- 
 ture. Perhaps fhe repented that fhe did not take 
 the hand (and land) of the gay young Mafter of 
 Auchinleck. That gentleman is not ferioufly 
 hurt ; for it is a promifing fign of his recovery that 
 he turns to his friend with this pleafant obferva- 
 tion : " Now that all is over, I fee many faults 
 in her which I did not fee before." Not very 
 generous certainly ; but perhaps not quite unjufl. 
 
 We wifh to have done with this portion of 
 Bofwell's life, and to witnefs his condud as a
 
 340 BOSIVELUS LETTERS. 
 
 married man. But it is not eafy to efcape from 
 his labyrinth of loves. Ireland, Italy, and even 
 Holland, in turns fupply the emifTaries of that 
 tender goddefs whofe vi^illing Have he is ; and no 
 fooner does he find himfelf at variance v^ith one, 
 than he is in eager treaty with another. " I am 
 exceedingly lucky," he writes, " in having efcaped 
 the infenfible Mifs B. and the furious Zelide ; for 
 I have now ^^.tn the fineft creature that ever was 
 formed, la belle Irlandaife. Figure to yourfelf. 
 Temple," — but the picture is at full length, and 
 our page is very limited. Yet we cannot refift a 
 ^Qw of the notes of admiration which enfue. 
 " From morning to night I admired the charming 
 Mary Anne. Upon my honour, I never was fo 
 much in love ; I never was before in a fituation 
 to which there was not fome obje6lion, but here 
 every flower is united, and not a thorn to be 
 found. ... I was allowed to v/alk a great deal 
 
 with Mifs ; I repeated my fervent paflion 
 
 to her again and again ; fhe was pleafed, and I 
 could fwear that her little heart beat. I carved 
 the firft letter of her name on a tree : I cut off a 
 lock of her hair, male pertinax. She promifed not 
 to forget me, nor to marry a Lord before March." 
 But long before that time comes round, ourfwain 
 is himfelf forfworn. He is even once more on his 
 knees to the cruel princefs I But that is not to be. 
 At length, — to his ov/n relief and ours, — Bof- 
 well indeed gets married. His choice, if we may 
 call it fo, falls on his coufm, Mifs Margaret Mont- 
 gomerie, — a lady of fev/ perfonal attracSlions, but
 
 BOSIVELVS LETTERS. 341 
 
 many higher virtues. Dr. Johnfon fpoke with 
 rerpe6l: of Mrs. Bofwell, although (lie regarded 
 him with no efpecial favour. Her hufband praifed 
 her both in feafon and out of feafon, like a foolifli 
 hufband as he was. He kept a book which he 
 called Uxoriana^ in which the " good things " fhe 
 uttered were preferved. 
 
 Bofwell's marriage was, no doubt, of the greateft 
 value to him. It gave him fome intervals of pure 
 happinefs ; it deferred the moment of his impend- 
 ing ruin. But no earthly bleffing will counteraft 
 the operation of cheriihed and habitual vices ; and 
 to thefe Bofwell had long been enllaved. He 
 had learned, in convivial meetings, to take excefs 
 of drink ; and as years rolled on, the habit 
 ftrengthened, and every hour of defpondency urged 
 him to have frefti recourfe to the deftrudive 
 ftimulus. His abfence from home, his unfettled 
 purfuits, his eager defire for the notice, the com- 
 pany, the patronage of the great, added to the 
 fever of his life, and indire6lly foftered the accurfed 
 luft of drink. 
 
 Early in 1789, Mrs. Bofv/ell fell ferioufly ill. 
 Still her hufband lingered in London, — for Scot- 
 land feems to have grov/n increafmgly diftafteful 
 to him, and he had gained therelu6lant confent of 
 his wife to make the family refidence in the Englifh 
 metropolis. But her increafing malady renders 
 this ftep impoffible. It is curious to remark, in 
 Bofwell's letters to Temple at this period, how his 
 focial enjoyments are flightly dafhed with a little 
 felf-reproach. At length he breaks away from his
 
 342 BOS WELL'S LETTERS. 
 
 unworthy allurements, and goes down to witnefs 
 the fuffering, and the patience of his wife. '* How 
 difmal, how afFedling," he exclaims, " is it to me 
 to fee my coufm, my friend, my wife, wafting 
 before my eyes ! " He returns once more to 
 London j and on his next fummons home arrives 
 too late. 
 
 Perhaps the lofs of a good wife falls with the 
 greateft feverity upon the moft unworthy hufband. 
 He lofes the ftay of his houfe as well as the angel 
 of his purer hours ; and mifTes, under the prefTure 
 of a thoufand claims, the virtue of her vicarious 
 excellence. And as his lofs is relatively greater, 
 fo are his confolations pofitively fewer. Bofwell 
 found this to be the cafe when the affliction of his 
 wife ended in death. Truly had Johnfon pro- 
 phefied in profpecl of this event, " In lofmg her 
 you will lofe your anchor, and be toft without 
 ftability by the waves of life." His mind became 
 a prey to the bittereft remorfe ; and his houfe was 
 left to him very defolate. His children claimed 
 that care which he felt himfelf perfectly helplefs 
 to beftow. There is fomething very felfifti in his 
 grief, — perhaps there is in that of moft men, — 
 but ftill it is painful to witnefs. " I cannot ex- 
 prefs to you, Temple, what I fuffer from the lofs 
 of my valuable wife, and the mother of my chil- 
 dren. While ftie lived, I had no occafion almoft 
 to think concerning my family ; every particular 
 was thought of by her, better than I could. I am 
 the moft helplefs of human beings j I am in a 
 ftate very much that of one in defpair." He re-
 
 BOSWELUS LETTERS. 343 
 
 curs to her memory again in perplexity. " O my 
 friend, what would I give for one of thofe years 
 with my deareft coufin, friend, and wife, which 
 are paft ! . . . She ufed, on all occafions, to be 
 my comforter; fhe, methinks, could now fuggeft 
 rational thoughts to me ; but where is fhe ? O 
 my Temple, I am miferable.'* It is thus that the 
 louder grave revenges the unreproaching patience 
 of our friends. 
 
 Bofwell furvived his wife fix years, dying on 
 the 19th of May, 1795. His career is monitory 
 as well as amufmg. It fhows us how far mere 
 natural parts and literary talents may fall below 
 the ordinary ftandard of natural wifdom, — that 
 genius itfelf may incur both the taint and the dif- 
 grace of vice, — and that the bittereft lofs and 
 forrow which befall us are due, not to the imme- 
 diate providence of God, but to the culpable im- 
 providence of man.
 
 THE TERROR OF BAGDAT. 
 
 T is recorded by that learned Arabian, 
 Othcolmans Imlac, that the city of 
 Bagdat was once upon a time vilited 
 by a wonderful magician. He was 
 a venerable man with a long beard whiter than 
 fnow; but he walked ereft without the ailiftance 
 of a ftafF, as that which he conftantly carried in 
 his right hand meafured only one foot in length, 
 and was the instrument of his remarkable enchant- 
 ments. Soon after his arrival it became known 
 in the city that there refided an awful power in 
 this perfonage ; that whenever it pleafed him to 
 m.ake the flighted: wafture of his wand in the face 
 of any man, it caufed him in an inftant to lofe all 
 feeling and confcioufnefs, and fo to remain virtually 
 dead, through any period of months or years, till 
 the action was exa(51:ly repeated and the fpell 
 removed. 
 
 When the people heard this it brought to fome 
 rejoicing and to others difmay. Thofe who 
 fuffered from fevere bodily pain, or from mental 
 torture yet more intolerable, hailed it as the pro- 
 mife of immediate relief j while the young, the
 
 THE TERROR OF BAGDAT. 345 
 
 hopeful, and the pleafure-loving, trembled at the 
 notion of fo terrible a power over all the enjoy- 
 ments of hfe. It was a matter of ferious inquiry, 
 therefore, to both thefe clafTes, whether the 
 magician was of a friendly or a malicious nature ; 
 whether likely to deaden the anguifh of the 
 afflidbed, or to rob youth of its gaiety and delight. 
 
 Prefently it was proclaimed in Bagdat that all 
 thofe perfons who were accuftomed to invoke 
 death for the fake of oblivion were now invited 
 to obtain oblivion without death. Elrica, the 
 magician, would give audience for that purpofe in 
 a public fquare. But, in order that he might not 
 be overwhelmed by the crowd of fuppliants, it 
 was enjoined that the feveral clafTes who fought 
 this advantage or relief fhould come on appointed 
 days, according to the nature of their cafes. Now 
 it was not the moft neceffitous, or thofe in cir- 
 cumftances of the greateft mifery, who were in- 
 vited to come on the firft day, but only that emi- 
 nent ^^"N who, though bleft with every comfort of 
 life, were known to have profefTed a philofophic 
 indifference to its enjoyments, and a conflant readi- 
 nefs and even wifh to relinquifh them. The good 
 Elrica evidently defigned to (how before the whole 
 city how unconcernedly the wife man fubmits to 
 death, or voluntarily lapfes into that unconfciouf- 
 nefs in which the horror of annihilation itfelf con- 
 fifts. 
 
 The avenues to the fquare in which the magi- 
 cian fat were early befieged by eager crowds, but 
 the fquare itfelf was refpe6f fully abandonedto that
 
 346 THE TERROR OF BAGDAT. 
 
 perfonage. It had been rumoured that a fmall 
 band of philofophers were preparing to embrace 
 the opportunity of antedating the oblivion of death. 
 For fome time, however, no fuch party appeared ; 
 and the front ranks of the crowd were gradually 
 urging the others back, from a fear that the magi- 
 cian, who was prepared with ftafF in hand, ftiould 
 waft it in their face and leave them for dead. At 
 length two men, drefied in long white robes, ad- 
 vanced through the yielding multitude, encourag- 
 ing each other, and finging a cheerful fong in very 
 feeble accents. When they faw Elrica, the magi- 
 cian, they paufed for a moment, and one of them 
 feemed inclined to return ; but his brother philo- 
 fopher took him by the arm and led him gently 
 forward. Then faid Elrica to them, " Hail ! " 
 And they anfwered, " Hail, mafter ! But tell 
 us,*' they continued, " how long fhall we lie fenfe- 
 lefs and as dead before thee ? " " Even till I choofe 
 that ye fhall rife," faid Elrica; "and if I be called 
 away from this city ye may never be reftored or 
 raifed." Then the one that would have turned 
 grew very pale, for the magician lifted his little 
 ftaiF; but the other invited its wafture towards 
 himfelf, and receiving the influence full upon his 
 face fank gently down upon the ground. Then 
 the man who yet flood fell trembling upon his 
 knees, and implored that he might be fuffered to 
 return home, which was granted by Elrica, "For," 
 faid he, "you are not worthy to partake of his 
 repofe." 
 
 No others prefented themfelves before the ma-
 
 THE TERROR OF BAGDAT, 347 
 
 gician that day. The crowd continued to look 
 with increafing awe upon his face, which Teemed 
 to grow fterner every minute ; and then they fur- 
 veyed with mingled admiration and pity the calm 
 and corpfe-like body of the philofopher, who was 
 prefently removed to a chamber in Elrica's houfe. 
 On the following day all who fufFered from ex- 
 treme bodily pain were incited to feek relief at the 
 hands of the magician. As many in the city were 
 known to be fo affli6led, it was expelled that a 
 large number would prefent themfelves in the 
 public fquare. And, indeed, the number was not 
 fmall of thofe who were borne thither on litters, 
 or came fupported by encouraging friends. Yet 
 it was obferved that whereas many had groaned 
 moft loudly under their torments until this time, 
 they now grew fuddenly mild in their complaining, 
 or altogether filent. Indeed, it feemed as though 
 the fight only of the awful Elrica had fufficed to 
 remove their pain ; and not a few profefTed them- 
 felves fo far recovered as to have no occafion for 
 the remedy of total oblivion. Some, however, 
 were induced to accept of that extreme relief; 
 yet when on the brink of unconfcioufnefs, which 
 fhould have been to fuch tormented beings wel- 
 come as the gate of Paradife, the boldefl of them 
 were feized with a tremor, and their faces turned 
 white as the magician's beard. One poor fufferer, 
 who, peradventure had loved nature and his 
 fpecies more than he had wearied of a painful life, 
 glanced fondly, as for the laft time, at the declin- 
 ing fun and the human crowd, and held fo ftrongly
 
 348 THE TERROR OF BAGDJT. 
 
 by the hand of a relative or friend that the fpell 
 which fmote him fenfelefs to the ground difTolved 
 not the paffionate clafp, and the magician was fain 
 to unite them in one fate. For the moft part the 
 patients, however reftlefs and talkative before, 
 grew thoughtful and taciturn on approaching El- 
 rica J but fome ceafed not talking to the laft. It 
 was efpecially obferved that two women came 
 heedleffly forward as drawn by the novelty of the 
 fcene rather than perfonal neceflity ; and they 
 chatted together loudly and irreverently even in 
 the prefence of the magician. But he fuddenly 
 filenced both by waving his ftafF in the face of 
 one ; for when the other faw her companion re- 
 duced to fuch a pitiful and abfolute filence, being 
 indeed the famie as dead fmce (he could no longer 
 talk, fhe turned fuddenly upon her heel and fled 
 for her very life. 
 
 The evening being com.e, it was found that few 
 only of the fufFerers in the city had fubmitted to 
 have their pain afluaged by the fufpenfion of all 
 fenfe and confcioufnefs. Thefe few were then re- 
 moved to the chamber of filence in the houfe of 
 Elrica ; and it was announced that any v/hofe 
 minds were diftracled by misfortune or crime, and 
 efpecially fuch as were meditating violence againft 
 themfelves, were bidden to feek relief from the 
 magician in the fquare. But when the day arrived, 
 and Elrica was feated in his accuftomed place, no 
 one ventured near him. A number of all clafTes, 
 including the wretched and the poor as well as the 
 opulent and the gay, gathered at a diftance in the
 
 THE TERROR OF BAG DAT, 349 
 
 feveral ftreets converging to the fquare : but thefe 
 were drawn only by curiofity and flood repelled 
 by fear. The very widow, newly robbed of her 
 beloved, and whofe voice not many hours before 
 had ftartled the dull night with cries, imploring 
 death to return and take her alfo, now hid herfelf 
 behind the crowd, and glanced as occafion offered 
 at the dreaded difpenfer of oblivion. The flighteft 
 intimation of her wearinefs of life would have 
 caufed the multitude to fall back, and give her 
 free accefs to his prefence ; but (lie uttered not a 
 whifper and almoft held her breath. 
 
 At length a noife, as of fome one ftruggling, 
 attra6led all eyes to one fpot, when, the crowd 
 dividing, two men — officers of the city — v/ere 
 feen hauling by the fhoulders a wretched creature, 
 pale and bewildered, who refifted with what little 
 might he had. But on feeing the magician he was 
 feized with confternation and trembling, and they 
 that drao-ged him hitherto henceforward carried 
 
 CO 
 
 him. Then laying him at the feet of Elrica, one 
 of the officers faid, " Hail, mafter ! This man 
 was found by us at daybreak in the a6t of felf- 
 defl:ru6lion. Already was he ftanding on the 
 river's edge, adjufting to his neck two heavy 
 weights of brafs, when we feized him by the arm, 
 and remembering your injun6tion we charitably 
 fought to lead him hither. But though he feemed 
 at firft to yield compliance, as not forry to be forced 
 back to life, yet with difficulty have we urged him 
 towards your prefence ; for many times did he 
 fcek to linger in the bazaars, looking covetoudy at
 
 350 THE TERROR OF BAGDAT. 
 
 all the wares expofed, and feeking opportunity to 
 efcape. Then he became reftive, and behold he 
 is now convulfed before you." As the officer 
 ceafed fpeaking, the magician fmiled grimly at the 
 inconfiftency of the poor wretch in throes before 
 him ; and then waving the wand in his face, ex- 
 changed the pallor of cowardice for that of death- 
 like trance. 
 
 Now when it became known that during the 
 ftay of Elrica none died in the city, or perifhed 
 otherwife than by his hand, he was fhunned on 
 every fide, as the only pretender to the ancient 
 power of death. The fingle fear of the bridegroom 
 in his gay proceffion was the polTible encounter of 
 that grim old man ; and the profperous merchant, 
 who pafied a luxurious evening In recalling the ample 
 profits of the day, or in forecafting golden ventures 
 of the morrow, feared the intrufion of that dreaded 
 ftep, and the fudden accefs of a fleep which fhould 
 prove too dreamlefs and too long. The refult 
 was a general clamour for the departure of the 
 magician ; and Elrica was efcorted through the 
 city gates. Then all things became as before. 
 Difeafe and death refumed their natural forms ; 
 but a great terror was lifted from the heart of the 
 city, and though the plague from time to time 
 ravaged it in every quarter, the mingled current 
 of bufmefs and pleafure was never interrupted as 
 in the time of that myfterious vifitor.
 
 HiSWICK PRESS : — PRINTED BY WHI TTINGHAM AND W■1LKI^S, 
 TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LAME,