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LITERARY CRITICISM.

PRICE 6d.

fence, in his Introduction to the present Series. It is
worth while examining, for a moment, the reasons he
"The present,"

Tales of a Grandfather; being Stories taken from Scot-assigns for the course he has pursued.
tish History. Humbly inscribed to Hugh Littlejohn,
Esq. In 3 vols. Third Series. Edinburgh. Cadell
& Co. 1830. 12mo.

SIR WALTER SCorr has now concluded his self-imposed task of supplying the youth of this country with an accurate summary of the past events of Scottish history. Taking the work as a whole, there can be no doubt that it is a beautiful specimen of simple and interesting narrative; and that it will long continue to hold undivided possession of the public attention, as by far the best book upon the affairs of Scotland which can be put into the hands of the rising generation.

he says, "is not intended to be a controversial work. In-
deed, if disputed points should be stated here as subjects
of discussion, there is no space to argue them; and all that
could be brought forward would be the assertion of the
author's own opinion, for which he is not entitled to
claim any particular deference from his readers." The
accuracy of the two statements contained in this last sen-
tence we are not prepared to grant. In the first place, in a
work extending to nine volumes, surely some little space
might be found, if sought, not only for the statement, but
even for the enforcing of opinions upon "disputed points;"
and, in the second place, Sir Walter is entitled to claim
that a more than ordinary deference should be paid to his
simple assertions of opinion, being one who stands fore-
most in the world's eye, and who, in his single person,
combines more information than could be found in mul-
titudes.
But our author proceeds in these words:
"Like most men of some experience in life, I entertain
undoubtedly my own opinions upon the great political
questions of the present and future times; but I have no
desire to impress these upon my juvenile readers." This
is not exactly meeting the whole of the objection. If an

In the "Prefatory Letter" to his Grandson, with which the third series commences, Sir Walter observes, that he has had a bloody and tragic tale to tell. "The generation of which I am an individual,” he says, "and which, having now seen the second race of their successors, must soon prepare to leave the scene, have been the first Scotsmen who appear likely to quit the stage of life, without witnessing either foreign or domestic war within their country. Our fathers beheld the civil convulsion of 1745-6, the race who preceded them saw the commo-author chooses to keep his political opinions to himself, in tions of 1715, 1718, and the war of the Revolution in 1688-9; a third, and earlier generation, witnessed the two insurrections of Pentland-hill and Bothwell-bridge, and a fourth lived in the bloody times of the great civil war; a fifth had in memory the civil contests of James the Sixth's minority; and a sixth race carries us back to the long period when the blessings of peace were totally unknown, and the state of constant hostility between England and Scotland, was only interrupted by insecure and ill-kept truces of a very few years' endurance." This brief retrospect of the continual broils in which we have been engaged, would seem fully to justify the application of the epithet perfervidum to the ingenium Scotorum. It is pleasant, however, to think, that a period has at length arrived, when there seems little probability of the terrors of actual war being soon again renewed among us, and of which the future historian will have to record the intellectual, rather than the martial triumphs.

Our readers may perhaps recollect, that in reviewing the Second Series of "Tales of a Grandfather," we took occasion to express a doubt whether Sir Walter Scott would not have been doing a greater service to his juvenile readers, had he more frequently and decidedly mingled up opinions with his bare statements of fact. We thought that, by carefully avoiding such a course, he had given to many parts of his narrative an air of frigidity, and that by contenting himself with requesting his readers to draw their own conclusions, he perhaps scarcely performed all that was expected from him as a great guide and instructor of youth. The Westminster Review afterwards stated the same objection in still fuller terms, completely coinciding with all our own sentiments upon the subject. The matter has appeared of sufficient moment to Sir Walter Scott to elicit from him an answer and de

so far as these are connected with the times in which he lives, no one has any right to complain; but many questions were alluded to, both by the Westminster Reviewers and ourselves, concerning which Sir Walter Scott has carefully avoided explaining his own sentiments, although they are now more to be regarded as moral problems than as political bones of contention. Is it, or is it not, the historian's duty to guard, on the one hand, the memory of the great and good of past ages from undeserved obloquy, and on the other, to hold up the conspicuously wicked to merited reprobation? If this question be answered affirmatively, will it be maintained that a mere cold statement of facts is sufficient to give a proper moral impulse to the mind of the reader? Let us, however, hear Sir Walter once more:

be understood, because a friendly and indulgent critic," (al"I am more anxious that the purpose of this work should luding to the Westminster Review for April, 1829,) “whose general judgment has been but too partially pronounced in favour of the author, has in one point misunderstood my intentions. My friendly Aristarchus, for such I must call him, has paid me the great compliment, (which I may little work contains no fault of commission; that is to say, boast of having, to my utmost ability, deserved,) that my he admits that I have not either concealed or falsified the truth of history in controverted points, which, in my opinion, would have been, especially in a work designed for the use of youth, a most unpardonable crime. But he charges me with the offence of omission, in leaving out inferences which he himself would have drawn from the same facts, and which, he seems to think, are too obvious not to be discerned, and too stubborn to be refuted. It is, on the contrary, my opinion, and has been, ever since I came to years of understanding, that in many of these points his conclusions are liable to direct challenge, and in others, to much modification. I must not, therefore, leave it to be

supposed that I have deserted my banners, because I have not, at this time and place, thought it necessary to unfurl them. But I could not introduce political discussions into any elementary work designed to inspire a love of study. In more mature years, the juvenile reader will have an opportunity of forming his own judgment upon the points of controversy which have disturbed our history."

This is ingenious, but it does not strike us as being altogether sound. “Political discussions" and "points of controversy," are surely two very separate things; yet they seem to be used by Sir Walter as convertible terms. In such a work as the "Tales of a Grandfather," political discussions were, of course, out of the question, and it is not the want of these that is complained of. It is the want of a more distinct tone from beginning to end, the careful avoiding of all "controverted points," and the determination to show no leaning whatever to one party or other, wherever any doubts might be entertained as to which was in the right. The consequence is, that as the author never leads us to suppose that he himself thinks at all about the matter, the youthful reader does not deem it necessary to think either; and knowledge is therefore put into him as machinery is put into a clockcase, without exercising one intellectual faculty, or exciting one heartfelt emotion. This is, no doubt, better than nothing; but it is not enough. A Grandfather like Sir Walter Scott should have done more. There can be no doubt, that had Sir Walter made it a rule to state his own opinions when the occasion required it, they might occasionally have been erroneous, but there is certainly every reason to believe that they would have much more frequently been correct. What does he think of Mary, Queen of Scots ?what does he think of John Knox?what does he think of the Covenanters? These, and in numerable other points, he has left in complete doubt. Why?-because his opinions might be controverted. True; but they could only be controverted by an authority of equal weight, and where shall we find such in the present day? Is it not, then, much to be regretted that Sir Walter has been so scrupulously cautious? Why has he not added a treble value to his facts, by drawing from

them inferences?

The Third Series of the "Tales" relates almost exclusively to the two rebellions of fifteen and forty-five. The first volume, and a part of the second, are not quite so interesting as the remainder of the work, because the materials afforded for history by those who took up arms for the Chevalier de St George, are by no means so spiritstirring as those supplied by the more gallant and vigorous career of Prince Charles Edward. Sir Walter, how ever, has gone through the whole in that easy and flowing style of narrative for which he is so remarkable, and although he does not write with the same enthusiasm, or avowed Jacobite spirit, as Chambers, (to whose Histories he pays a deserved compliment,) he may, nevertheless, be read with almost undiminished interest, even after the recent productions of the other. Any lengthened analysis of his narrative is, of course, out of the question here. We prefer selecting one or two detached passages, which will be read with interest, and which, as the work itself is not to be published till the 21st, have not yet made their appearance anywhere else.

At the commencement of the eighteenth century, politics ran very high in Edinburgh between the partizans of Queen Anne and those of the house of Stewart. Of this the following anecdote is an amusing illustration:

THE FACULTY OF ADVOCATES AND THE DUCHESS OF GORDON.

"The Faculty of Advocates in Scotland, that is to say, the incorporated society of lawyers entitled to practise at the bar, are a body even of more weight and consequence than is attached to them in most countries from the nature of their profession. In the beginning of the 18th century, especially, the Faculty comprehended almost all the sons of good family who did not embrace the army as their choice; for the sword or gown, according to the ideas of that time, were the only occupations which could be adopted by a gen

tleman. The Advocates are possessed of a noble library, and a valuable collection of medals. To this learned body, Elizabeth, Duchess of Gordon. (by birth, a daughter of the noble house of Howard, and a keen Jacobite,) sent the present of a medal for their cabinet. It bore on the one side the head of the Chevalier de St George, with the motto, Cujus est? (Whom does it represent?) and on the reverse, the British Isles, with the legend, Reddite. (Restore them.) The Dean of Faculty having presented this very intelligible emblem to his brethren, a debate arose, whether or not it should be received into their collection, which was carried on in very warm language, and terminated in a vote, which, by a majority of sixty-three to twelve, resolved on the acceptance of the medal. Two advocates were deputed to express, in the name of the learned body, their thanks to the Duchess; and they failed not to do it in a manner expressing pointedly their full comprehension of the import of her Grace's compliment. They concluded, by stating their hope, that her Grace would soon have a farther opportu nity to oblige the Faculty, by presenting them with a second medal on the subject of a restoration. But when the proceeding became public, the Advocates seem to have been alarmed for the consequences, and, at a general meeting of the Faculty (27th July, 1711,) the medal was formally refused, and placed in the hands of the Lord Advocate, to be restored to the Duchess of Gordon. The retractation, however, could not efface the evidence, that this learned and im portant public body, the commentators on the laws of Scot land, from whom the guardians of her jurisprudence are selected, had shown such boldness as to give a public mark of adherence to the Chevalier de St George,"

Shortly after the insurrection of fifteen broke out, a la. mentable event happened in East Lothian, which Sir Walter details in these words:

CATASTROPHE IN THE FAMILY OF HEPBURN OF KEITH. "Among other families of distinction in East Lothian, that of Mr Hepburn of Keith was devotedly attached to the interests of the House of Stewart, and he determined to exert himself to the utmost in the approaching conflict. He had several sons, with whom, and his servants, he had determined to join a troop to be raised in East Lothian, and commanded by the Earl of Winton. This gentleman being much respected in the county, it was deemed of importance to prevent his showing an example which was likely to be generally followed. For this purpose, Mr Hepburn of Humbie, and Dr Sinclair of Hermandston, resolved to lay the Laird of Keith under arrest, and proceeded towards his house with a party of the horse-militia, on the morning of the 8th October, 1715, which happened to be the very morn ing that Keith had appointed to set forth on his campaign, having made all preparations on the preceding evening. The family had assembled for the last time at the breakfast-table, when it was observed that one of the young ladies looked more sad and disconsolate, than even the departure of her father and brothers upon a distant and precarious expedi tion seemed to warrant at that period, when the fair sex were as enthusiastic in politics as the men.

"Miss Hepburn was easily induced to tell the cause of her fears. She had dreamed she saw her youngest brother, a youth of great hopes, and generally esteemed, shot by a man whose features were impressed on her recollection, and stretched dead on the floor of the room in which they were now assembled. The females of the family listened and argued-the men laughed, and turned the visionary into ridicule. The horses were saddled, and led out into the courtyard, when a mounted party was discovered advancing along the flat ground, in front of the mansion-house, called the Plain of Keith. The gate was shut; and when Dr Sinclair, who was most active in the matter, had announced his purpose, and was asked for his warrant, he handed in at a window the commission of the Marquis of Tweeddale, Lord Lieutenant of the county. This Keith returned with contempt, and announced that he would stand on his defence. The party within mounted their horses, and sallied out, determined to make their way; and Keith, dischar ging a pistol in the air, charged the Doctor sword in hand; the militia then fired, and the youngest of the Hepburns was killed on the spot. The sister beheld the catastrophe from the windows, and to the end of her life persisted that the homicide had the features of the person whom she saw in her dream. The corpse was carried into the room where they had so lately breakfasted, and Keith, after having paid this heavy tax to the demon of civil war, rode off with the rest of his party to join the insurgents. Dr Sinclair was

censured very generally, for letting his party zeal hurry him into a personal encounter with so near a neighbour and familiar friend; he vindicated himself, by asserting that his intentions were to save Keith from the consequences into which his rash zeal for the Stewart family was about to precipitate that gentleman and his family. But Dr Sinclair ought to have been prepared to expect, that a high-spirited man, with arms in his hands, was certain to resist this violent mode of opening his eyes to the rashness of his conduct; and he who attempts to make either religious or political converts by compulsion, must be charged with the consequences of such violence as is most likely to ensue,"

Upon a subject of peculiar interest to the Scottish reader, we meet with the following interesting passage:

THE ORIGIN OF THE PORTEOUS MOB.

Each of the volumes is, as formerly, embellished with a frontispiece and vignette. The frontispieces are: The Chevalier de St George, John Campbell Duke of ArThe subjects of the viggyle, and Cameron of Lochiel. nettes are:- -The execution of Lords Derwentwater and Kenmure; the death of Clan Ranald at the Battle of Sheriffmuir; and a small, but spirited and interesting, portrait of Flora Macdonald, The only other matter worth mentioning is, that in reading the work, we felt a considerable want of dates. They might be multiplied with advantage in a new edition.

Elements of Practical Chemistry, comprising a series of Experiments in every department of Chemistry, with directions for performing them, &c. By David Boswell Reid, Experimental Assistant to Dr Hope, Conductor of the Classes of Practical Chemistry in the Edinburgh University, Lecturer on Chemistry to the Leith Mechanics' Institution, &c. Edinburgh. Maclachlan and Stewart. 8vo. Pp. 511.

"The origin of the Porteous Mob continued long to exercise the curiosity of those by whom the event was remembered, and from the extraordinary mixture of prudence and audacity with which the purpose of the multitude had been conceived and executed, as well as the impenetrable secrecy with which the enterprise was carried through, the public were much inclined to suspect that there had been among its actors men of rank and character, far superior to that belonging to the multitude who were the ostensible agents. MR REID is already known to the public as the author Broken and imperfect stories were told of men in the dis- of a work entitled, "Academical Examinations on Cheguise of women, and of common artizans, whose manner be- mistry," which is a very excellent conversational introtrayed a sex and manners different from what their garb duction to the principles of that science. Thomson, announced. Others laughed at these as unauthorized exaggerations, and contended that no class were so likely to Murray, Henry, and Turner, have presented us with eleframe or execute the plan for the murder of the police offi- mentary works on chemistry, which have been deservedly cer, as the populace to whom his official proceedings had referred to as standard authorities, and the study of rendered him obnoxious, and that the secrecy so wonder- either of their valuable compendiums may undoubtedly fully preserved on the occasion arose out of the constancy introduce the student to the general doctrines of this imand fidelity which the Scottish people observe towards each portant and difficult science; but there can be no doubt : other when engaged in a common cause. Nothing is, or probably ever will be, known with certainty on the subject; that, to obtain a competent and precise knowledge of its but it is understood, that several young men left Scotland in numerous facts and various and extensive applications, he apprehension of the strict scrutiny which was made into that must frequent the chemical laboratory, he must there night's proceedings; and in your Grandfather's younger days, examine the substances which he proposes to analyse, the voice of fame pointed out individuals, who, long absent he must there become familiarized with their properties, from that country, had returned from the East and West In- and, by experimenting himself, acquire a knowledge of dies in improved circumstances, as persons who had fled abroad those complicated theories of chemical action which are, on account of the Porteous Mob. One story of the origin of the conspiracy was stated to me with so much authority, by mere reading, difficult to understand or recollect. We and seemed in itself so simple and satisfactory, that although might as reasonably, indeed, expect a man to become a the degree of proof, upon investigation, fell far short of what good anatomist from reading alone, without witnessing a was necessary as full evidence, I cannot help considering it single anatomical demonstration, as that he should sucas the most probable account of the mysterious affair. A ceed in acquiring a precise knowledge of chemistry withman, who long bore an excellent character, and filled a place out witnessing and conducting its several important proof some trust as forester and carpenter to a gentleman of forcesses and operations. Mr Reid, therefore, judiciously tune in Fife, was affirmed to have made a confession on his death-bed, that he had been not only one of the actors in the chooses as his motto the appropriate remark of Bacon "Nec manus nuda, nec intellectus sibi permissus, multum hanging of Porteous, but one of the secret few by whom the deed was schemed and set on foot. Twelve persons of the valet; instrumentis et auxiliis res perficitur; quibus opus village of Path-head-so this man's narrative was said to est, non minus ad intellectum, quam ad manum." proceed-resolved that Porteous should die, to atone for the life of Wilson, with whom many of them had been connected by the ties of friendship and joint adventure in illicit trade, and for the death of those shot at the execution. This vengeful band crossed the Forth by different ferries, and met together at a solitary place near the city, where they distributed the party which were to act in the business which they had in hand; and giving a beginning to the enterprise, soon saw it undertaken by the populace of the city, whose minds were precisely in that state of irritability which disposed them to follow the example of a few desperate men. According to this account, most of the original devisers of the scheme fled to foreign parts, the surprise of the usual authorities having occasioned some days to pass over ere the investigations of the affair were commenced. On making enquiry of the surviving family of this old man, they were found disposed to treat the rumoured confession as a fiction, and to allege that although he was of an age which seemed to support the story, and had gone abroad shortly after the Porteous Mob, yet he had never acknowledged any accession to it, but, on the contrary, maintained his innocence, when taxed, as he sometimes was, with having a concern in the affair. The report, however, though probably untrue in many of its circumstances, yet seems to give a very probable account of the origin of the riot in the vindictive purpose of a few resolute men, whose example was quickly followed by the multitude, already in a state of mind to catch fire from the slightest spark.'

We cannot afford room at present for more extracts.

The science of chemistry has, within the few last years, made rapid and signal progress; and we think we are warranted in saying, that there is perhaps not a university in Europe in which its principles are more clearly explained, or more successfully illustrated, than in the University of Edinburgh. Mr Reid, having devoted himself almost exclusively to the cultivation of this science, has, by his talents and industry, well qualified himself to superintend the various chemical and pharmaceutical operations which it is the object of every practical course of chemistry to exhibit and explain. The methods of obtaining the different gases, acids, alkalis, metallic substances, &c.,-the result of their various combinations with each other, and their decompositions, the analysis of animal and vegetable substances,--the use of the blow-pipe and tube apparatus,-and, indeed, every department of chemical science, is so connected with different professions, arts, and manufactures, that the study of chemistry is of the highest consequence to a very great number in society,

whose business it is to contribute to the comforts and ne-
cessities of daily life. Chemistry may be said to consti-
tute, in a great measure, one of the principal corner-
stones of medical science. By its aid only, are we en-
abled to prepare the various medicinal substances th
combat and frequently arrest the progress of disease
its assistance only, have we it in our power to

frequently by the most delicate tests, those poisonous or deleterious substances which, whether from ignorance or designing wickedness, may have been administered to our fellow-creatures; and finally, by its knowledge only, are we enabled to understand many of the most important and interesting phenomena of animal and vegetable life. In the manufactories, the art of dyeing, calico-printing, bleaching, glass-making, and the working of various kinds of metals, are conducted purely by chemical processes. In domestic life, distillation, brewing, the use of steam, and various culinary preparations, require a knowledge of the elementary principles of this science. In agriculture, it explains the nature and influence of different soils, and the effects of various temperatures and external agents on the progress of vegetation. We believe, indeed, that there is no science more interesting in itself, and none certainly more extensively applicable to the general benefit of mankind. Chemistry, on this account, has been zealously cultivated from the earliest periods, and the most illustrious philosophers of Europe have, during the present century, devoted themselves zealously to its pursuit; and, in dispelling the prejudices and superstitions which arrested its progress in the darker ages, have added to the amount of knowledge many of the most brilliant discoveries that have adorned the history of the human mind. What would the holy fathers of the Inquisition of the 13th century think, could their disembodied spirits now take a peep into the lecture room of Dr Hope, and there beheld the formation of water from the union of invisible gases, and substances burning with a brilliant flame even in water itself? What, indeed, would Roger Bacon himself think, could he lift his head from out the grave, and behold steam-boats, in the face of wind and tide, breasting the stormy billows of the Atlantic?

But we apprehend sufficient has already been said to prove the importance of the study of chemistry, and it remains only for us now to direct the attention of our readers to the volume, which has just appeared, by Mr Reid. We have examined it with considerable attention, and hesitate not to pronounce it one of the very best practical guide-books to the experiments conducted in the chemical laboratory that has yet been published. The methods of conducting the different chemical processes are fully described, and the theories of their actions explained, in a very clear and simple manner, by the aid of diagrams. Our author informs us, that the object of his present work is "to present the student with a systematic series of experiments, sufficiently broad to lay a proper foundation for acquiring habits of practical skill in chemical operations, with precise and minute directions for enabling him to perform them;" and we need only add, that he has executed this task in a manner that reflects the highest credit on his judgment and abilities. We recommend Mr. Reid's "Elements of Practical Chemistry" to those gentlemen who are engaged in the study of this interesting science, and doubt not that to all who take any pleasure in such pursuits, it will be found an entertaining and instructive companion.

Tales in Verse, illustrative of the several Petitions of the
Lord's Prayer. By the Rev. H. T. Lyte. London.
Marsh and Miller. 1829. 12mo. Pp. 180.

THIS is a much better book than its affected and ridiculous title would lead one to suppose. What put it into the head of the Rev. Mr Lyte to write six Tales, which were to illustrate the following six sentences, we cannot very well comprehend, or how these six sentences could form the basis of any tales at all:-1st, "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name;" 2d, "Thy kingdom come;" 3d, Thy will be done;" 4th, "Give us this day our daily bread;" 5th, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us;" and, 6th, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Leaving, therefore, to its own absurdity, the idea

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of exciting additional interest in the minds of the rational
part of the public by an expedient like this, we content
ourselves with knowing that the simple fact remains the
same, that the Rev. Mr Lyte has written six Tales in
verse, and that they are entitled, "Harford,"
"The
Missionary," "The Widow,"-" Edward Field,"-
"The Brothers," and "The Preacher."

Mr Lyte's style is evidently founded upon that of Crabbe, but he has also infused into it a considerable portion of the amenity and strong good sense of Cowper. This volume is a very unpretending one; but its intrinsic merits are, beyond a doubt, much greater than many of far higher assumption. We are not indeed acquainted with any compositions of this sort, since the days of Crabbe and Cowper, which we prefer to the Tales now before us, Though not distinguished by the highest poetical attri butes, they evince a sincerity of feeling, a knowledge of the human heart, a perception of the beauties of nature, a facility of versification, and an occasional dignity and vigour of thought, which are well calculated to win appre bation, if they cannot command applause. The morality they inculcate is, besides, of a pure and refining kind; and the religious precepts which they contain, rather encourage by their liberality, than startle by their dogmatism.

The best mode of making our readers more directly ap preciate their various excellencies, will be to present them with several extracts. In the tale entitled "The Missionary," the hero is thus described, and part of his history told:

"Yet deem him not, untutor'd as he was,
A thing of sense, a lump of clay and dross.
His heart was warm, and open as the spring,
A rich-toned lyre, that thrill'd through every string,
Alive to bliss, and prone to melt and move
He banqueted on music; and his taste
At each appeal of friendship and of love.
He look'd on nature with a painter's eye,
Was quick to all of beautiful and chaste.
And caught the soul of speaking poesy.
And, though possess'd of no outstanding trait
Which burden'd memory cannot put away,
No character energic, bold, defined,
Yet, see him, hear him, and anon there stole
That haunts, and fills, and triumphs o'er the mind;
And a mysterious interest gradual grew,
A spell around that rivetted the soul;
Till all about him strange observance drew,
And round his influence breathed, and spread a tone
O'er other minds congenial with his own.
"Such, and so circumstanced, it was his lot
To dwell with those who knew and prized him not.
His sphere was narrow-Fate had set him down
On the dull confines of a country town,
Where he was made the idol and the dupe
Of creatures to whose arts he scorn'd to stoop.
Thence friends throng'd round him, and professions loud,
And greeting smiles, attended him. The cloud
Fled from all brows before him; and he moved
In every circle courted and beloved.
The ladies thought him sweetly sentimental-
Their mothers canvass'd o'er his handsome rental;
None could esteem his face or person bad;
And though all thought him odd, nay, some said mad,
And then, how fine a property he had!
Sure, a good spouse and jointure must await
The maid that might secure her such a mate.
"Thus, many a sigh was breathed; and not in vain.
There was one blue-eyed girl among the train,
Retiring, gentle, graceful, fair, and tall,
Little she said; but oh, that eye!-that eye!
Who bore the prize away from midst them all!
What did it not in its blue archery?
He shrunk before it; yet return'd to ask
Permission in its milder light to bask;
Was heard, received, and nothing now there needs
But fix the day, and draw the marriage deeds.
"I say not how the hours from hence were spent ;
I pass each sigh, and look, and blandishment,

The air-built castle, the sequester'd walk,

With trembling arm-in-arm, and all the talk
'Bout poetry, and trees, and flowers, and skies,
And young Love's thousand hopes and phantasies;
Nor can I tell how they had match'd for life,
What husband he had made, and she what wife:
For, when all else was settled, and there now
Remain'd but just the priest, and ring, and vow,
News came that one, on whom, as on his soul,
He rested, and resign'd to him the whole
Of his affairs, was fled, and with him bore
The bulk of all his patron own'd before.

"Pursuit was made-in vain-and clear away
The perjured villain carried off his prey;
And home his dupe return'd, less keenly feeling
His loss of substance, than the traitorous dealing
Of one so loved. He felt that he had leant
Upon a faithless reed, that broke, and went
Into his heart. A sweet dream was dispell'd;
A thousand beauteous fancies all were quell'd;
The world lost half her lustre ; her fair dress
Was rent, and through appear'd her nakedness.
The tendrils of his heart, that wont to stretch
And twine round every object they could catch,
Were nipp'd, his sympathies were chill'd, and fled
The curdling life-blood to its fountain-head."-P. 34-9.
The consequence of this reverse of fortune is, that his
mistress jilts him. The author then proceeds in the fol-
lowing strain of what appears to us natural and power-
ful verse:

;

"It was enough. He now had known the worst:
He wept not, though his heart was nigh to burst:
He raved not, cursed not, though to both inclined
But calmly turn'd his back upon mankind.
He made the woods his mate, and to the breeze
Pour'd out his spirit's baleful reveries.
He walk'd the mountain tops; and loved to lie
And follow the light clouds along the sky,

And shape and name them in his moods; he pry'd
Into the cups of flowers; and o'er the side

Of streams would lean, and watch the fish at play;
Or, at the close of evening, roam away
Among the dews, and linger till the sky
Grew beautiful with stars, and sounds from high
Came to him through the stillness of the night,
And his soul mingled with the infinite,

And rose from earth; and here it was that first
Upon his intellectual darkness burst
The majesty of God: amid the woods,

The solemn rocks, blue skies, and sounding floods,
He grew familiar with Him, learnt to trace
His power, his love, his wisdom, and his grace,
From suns and planets, down to the poor blade
That trembled at his foot. His spirit made
A friend of God; and, with the flowers and birds,
Breathed up a worship which no earthly words
Could adequately utter, till with Him
Conversing, this poor earth grew dark and dim,
And the large spirit bursting every bond,
Rose on immortal wing, and soar'd beyond
The bounds of time and space, and joy'd to roam,
And drink the glories of its native home;
And heavenly longings swell'd within his breast,
And his heart thirsted for eternal rest.

"A few more suns and moons,' he thought, and then
A long farewell to earth and earthly men;
A full release from guilt, and guile, and woe,
And all the spirit weeps or fears below.
O! it is joy to think the day shall be
When all chains will drop off, and we be free;
When every cloud shall pass from off our sky,
And every tear be wiped from every eye!
Roll on, ye Seasons, bring that blessed time,
Unstain'd with grief, unspotted with a crime;
O wheel this ruin of a world away,
And usher in that long bright Sabbath day!"-Pp. 41-4.
The incidents of all the Tales are simple, yet not devoid

of interest, and each has a marked character of its own. Passages frequently occur, as in Crabbe, of a more playful cast; and sometimes, as in Cowper, of a more terse and satirical kind. An instance of the former will be

found in the commencement of the story called "Edward Field:"

"Upon a rise, near Sydney Grange, is seen

A small, neat house, with lawn of velvet green;
A shrubbery skirts and screens it from the wind,
And a snug garden wooes the sun behind.
Here with his wife and rosy children twain,
A man and maid, and chattels few and plain,
Some years ago, from distant town or shire,
Came Mister Field, or Edward Field, Esquire-
The neighbouring village gossips, o'er their tea,
Have not yet settled his precise degree.
Farmer he was not; stock nor land he kept,
A few small fields around his house except;
Nor yet, like neighbouring squires, he entertain'd,
Nor drank, nor swore, nor dogs nor hunters train'd;
But still he was the parson's friend and guest,
And all the poor around his bounty could attest.
Well! Squire or Mister Field, (just call him which
You please,) inhabited this quiet niche,

Milk'd his three cows, and made his bread and beer,
On just four hundred annual pounds in clear.
Sleek were his kine. His yard was peopled thick
With turkey, guinea-fowl, and hen and chick,
All of choice kinds; and o'er his lawn there went
Six sheep, kept less for use than ornament.
Neigh'd his one horse, in answer to his name.
O'er a neat paddock gate, all free and tame,
I pass swine, ducks, and things of like degree-
He kept them out of sight, and so shall we.

"His wife, good Mrs Field, Heaven bless her face!
Was one might well adorn a higher place;
Accomplish'd, manner'd, ladylike, and fair,
Though not quite all that some fine ladies are;
She read few novels, seldom scream'd, or fainted,
Dangled no reticule, was flounced nor painted;
And thought her hands were made for something more
Than nursing up in kid, or running o'er
Piano keys. She could both mend and make,
Wash, and get up small linen, boil and bake;
And her made wines, her puddings and preserves,➡➡
What tongue can speak of them as each deserves?
Her dress was simple, but you might suppose
The Graces helped her to put on her clothes.
Her house too perfect neatness; yet not such
As makes one half afraid to step or touch:
And all things there appear'd to go or stand,
Rather by secret clock-work, than command;
Then in the healing art how vast her skill!
How deep her lore in herb, or salve, or pill!
Buchan and Reece right well she understood,
And even in Thomas dipped, and Underwood.
The ailing poor for miles around confess'd
The sovereign virtues of her medicine chest ;
And lean the village doctor grew and bare,
Since Mrs Field began to practice there."-Pp. 91-4.

Passing into a somewhat different strain, we do not
think the following lines, from the same tale, much infe-
rior to the caustic and moral satire of Cowper :
"Who now would think this simple, plain, good man,
Had e'er been join'd to fashion's lightest clan?
Had chased ambition's wildest meteor down,
And shared the idlest follies of the town?
Yet such had Edward Field. The earliest air
He breathed was in a smoky London square;
Where, in a dingy brick and mortar pile,
His high-born parents lived in handsome style,
Kept their state-coach, with many a liveried knave,
And large sad parties once a-fortnight gave;
Using a world of pother and address,

To make themselves and others comfortless.
To Eton, thence to Oxford, was he whirl'd,
To make acquaintance there, and see the world.
And then, pro formâ, to the Continent
The graduate dunce was with his tutor sent—
To just learn how to dress, and cook, and stare,
And say of places, O, yes, I've been there.'
"Thence must he pass through Fashion's' usual paces,
Learn the right manners, jargon, and grimaces;
Acquire the one sublime indifference
To all that smacks of feeling, thought, or sense.

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