Very soon after the publication of the second edition of the "Essay on Truth," Dr Beattie published the first canto of " The Minstrel." It was printed without his name, because, as he said, it was an imperfect sketch, being only a first part. *

of

The very great number of editions through which this beautiful poem has passed, is a decisive proof of its merit. It is, indeed, in the hands every reader of taste, and is therefore so universally known and admired, that it is scarcely necessary to say any thing farther in its commendation. The author tells us, in an advertisement prefixed to the first canto, that he took the idea of this poem originally from Dr Percy's (the Bishop of Dromore) " Essay on the English Minstrelsy," prefixed to the first volume of “Reliques of Ancient English Poetry," published in the year

* The second canto was published, together with a new edition of the first, in the year 1774, and with the addition of his

name.

1765. His design, he says, was to trace the progress of a poetical genius, born in a rude age, from the first dawning of fancy and reason, till that period at which he may be supposed capable of appearing in the world as "a Minstrel," that is, as an itinerant poet and musician-a character which, according to the notions of our forefathers, was not only respectable, but sacred.*

He has endeavoured, he adds, to imitate Spenser in the measure of his verse, and in the harmony, simplicity, and variety of his composition. Antiquated expressions he has avoided; admitting, however, some old words, where they seemed to suit the subject: but none, he hopes, will be found that are now obsolete, or in any degree not intelligible to a reader of English poetry.

To those who may be disposed to ask, what could induce him to write in so difficult a measure, he says, he can only answer, that it pleased his ear, and seemed, from its Gothic structure and original, to bear some relation to the subject and spirit of the poem. It admits both simplicity and magnificence of sound and language, beyond any other stanza that he was acquainted

*Preface to the Minstrel, ed. 1771.

with. It allows the sententiousness of the couplet, as well as the more complex modulation of blank verse. What some critics have remarked of its uniformity growing at last tiresome to the ear, will be found to hold true, only when the poetry is faulty in other respects.*

Of all Dr Beattie's poetical works, “The Minstrel" is, beyond all question, the best, whether we consider the plan or the execution. The language is extremely elegant, the versification harmonious; it exhibits the richest poetic imagery, with a delightful flow of the most sublime, delicate, and pathetic sentiment. It breathes the spirit of the purest virtue, the soundest philosophy, and the most exquisite taste. In a word, it is at once highly conceived, and admirably finished.

The success of "The Minstrel" was equal to the warmest wishes of the author and his friends. It was received well by the public, and it met with much and just commendation from some of the best judges of poetical composition in the island. Of these, the highest praise Dr Beattie's "Minstrel" ever received, was from the first Lord Lyttelton, in a letter from that excellent

* Preface to the Minstrel, ed. 1771.

man and elegant critic, to Mrs Montagu, who had put "The Minstrel" into his hands on the publication of the first canto.

LETTER XLIV.

LORD LYTTELTON TO MRS MONTAGU.

Hill-Street, 8th March, 1771.

"I read your Minstrel' last night, with as much rapture as poetry, in her noblest, sweetest charms, ever raised in my soul. It seemed to me, that my once most beloved minstrel, Thomson, was come down from heaven, refined by the converse of purer spirits than those he lived with here, to let me hear him sing again the beauties of nature, and the finest feelings of virtue, not with human, but with angelic strains! I beg you to express my gratitude to the poet for the pleasure he has given me. Your eloquence alone can do justice to my sense of his admirable genius, and the excellent use he makes of it. Would it were in my power to do him any service!"

The letter from the friend to whom I owe the communication of this valuable manuscript of Lord Lyttelton's, contains an observation on it so extremely just, that I cannot resist the desire of transcribing it here..

"I am very happy," says my friend, * “to be "able to send Lord Lyttelton's letter on the sub"ject of The Minstrel.' It was written upon "his first perusal of the first canto, and to a per"son to whom his heart was open. It is very "seldom that the world can see so near the first impression of a work of genius on a cultivated "mind; and I do not know any thing that Lord Lyttelton has written, that so strongly marks "the sensibility and purity of his taste. The al

* The Reverend Mr Alison, rector of Rodington, and vicar of High Ercal, and prebendary of Salisbury, whose elegant and classical "Essays on the Nature and Principles of Taste," give us cause to regret that he does not write more. I have had the happiness, many years, of the intimate acquaintance and friendship of Mr Alison.