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We owe much to the House of Brunswick; but to none of that
illustrious House more than Your Majesty, under whose government the military renown of Great
Britain has been carried to the highest point of glory. From that pure glory there has been
nothing to detract; the success was not more splendid than the cause was good; and the event
was deserved by the generosity, the justice, the wisdom, and the magnanimity of the counsels
which prepared it. The same perfect integrity has been manifested in the whole administration
of public affairs. More has been done than was ever before attempted, for mitigating the evils
incident to our stage of society; for imbuing the rising race with those sound principles of
religion on which the welfare of states
That Your Majesty may long continue to reign over a free and
prosperous people, and that the blessings of the happiest form of government which has ever
been raised by human wisdom under the favour of Divine Providence may,
HAVING long been of opinion that an English metre might be
constructed in imitation of the ancient hexameter, which would be perfectly consistent with the
character of our language, and capable of great richness, variety, and strength, I have now
made the experiment. It will have some disadvantages to contend with, both among learned and
unlearned readers; among the former especially, because, though they may divest themselves of
all prejudice against an innovation, which has generally been thought impracticable, and might
even be disposed to regard the attempt favourably, nevertheless they will, from inveterate
association, be continually reminded of rules which are inapplicable to our tongue; and looking
for quantity where emphasis only ought to be expected, will perhaps less easily be reconciled
to the
First, then, to the former, who, in glancing over these long lines, will
perceive that they have none of the customary characteristics of English versification, being
neither marked by rhyme, nor by any certain number of syllables, nor by any regular recurrence
of emphasis throughout the verse. Upon clear observation, they will find that (with a very few
exceptions,) there is a regular recurrence of emphasis in the last five syllables of every
line, the first and the fourth of those syllables being accented, the others not. These five
syllables form two of the feet by which the verse is measured, and which are called dactyls and
trochees, the dactyl consisting of one long syllable and two short ones, as exemplified in the
name of
This, I think, will make the general construction of the metre perfectly
intelligible to those persons who may be unacquainted with the rules of Latin versification;
those especially who are still to be called gentle readers, in this ungentle age. But it is not
necessary to understand the principle upon which the verse is constructed, in order to feel the
harmony and power of a metrical composition; . . if it were, how few would be capable of
enjoying poetry! In the present case, any one who reads a page of these hexameters aloud, with
just that natural regard to emphasis which the sense of the passage indicates, and the usual
pronunciation of the words requires, will perceive the rhythm, and find no more difficulty in
giving it its proper effect, than in reading
The learned reader will have perceived by what has already been said, that in
forming this English measure in imitation, rather than upon the model of the ancient hexameter,
the trochee has been substituted for the spondee, as by the Germans. This substitution is
rendered necessary by the nature of our pronunciation, which is so rapid, that I believe the
whole vocabulary of the language does not afford a single instance of a genuine native*
spondee. The spondee, of course, is not excluded from the verse; and where it occurs, the
effect, in general, is good. This alteration was necessary; but it is not the only one which,
upon mature consideration and fair trial, it has been * And only one of foreign derivation, which is the word Egypt. Some
readers, who have never practised metrical composition in their own language, may
perhaps doubt this, and suppose that such words as twilight and
evening, are spondaic; bat they only appear so when they are
pronounced singly, the last syllable then hanging upon the tongue, and dwelling on the
rar, like the last stroke of the clock. Used in combination, they become pure trochees.
Twenty years ago, when the rhythmical romance of
It is not a legitimate inference, that because the hexameter has been
successfully introduced in the German language, it can be naturalized as well in English. The
English is not so well adapted for it, because it does not abound in like manner with
polysyllabic words. The feet, therefore, must too frequently be made up of monosyllables, and
of distinct words, whereby the verse is resolved and decomposed into its component feet, and
the feet into their component syllables, instead of * It leads also to this inconvenience, that the English line greatly
exceeds the ancient one in literal length, so that it is actually too long for any
page, if printed in types of the ordinary proportion to the size of the book, whatever
that may be. The same inconvenience was formerly felt in that line measure of the
Elizabethan age, the seven-footed couplet; which, to the diminution of its powers, was,
for that reason, divided into quatrains (the pause generally falling upon the eighth
syllable), and then converted into the common ballad stanza. The hexameter cannot be
thus divided, and therefore must generally look neither like prose nor poetry. This is
noticed as merely a dissight, and of no moment, our poetry not being like that of the
Chinese, addressed to the eye instead of the ear.
On the other hand, the range of the verse being from thirteen syllables to seventeen, it derives from that range an advantage in the union of variety with regularity, which is peculiar to itself. The capability which is thus gained, may perhaps be better appreciated by a few readers from their own sense of power, than it is exemplified in this experiment.
I do not, however, present the English hexameter as something better than our
established metres, but as something different, and which therefore, for that reason, may
sometimes advantageously be used. Take our blank verse, for all in all, all its gradations,
from the elaborate rhythm of
I am well aware that the public are peculiarly intolerant of such innovations;
not less than the populace used to be of any foreign fashion, whether of foppery or
convenience. Would that this literary intolerance were under the influence of a saner
judgement, and regarded the morals rather than the manner of a composition; the spirit rather
than the form! Would that it were directed against those monstrous combinations of horrors and
mockery, lewdness and impiety, with which English poetry has, in our days, first been polluted!
For more than half a century English literature had been distinguished by its moral purity, the
effect, and in turn, the cause of an improvement in national manners. A father might, without
apprehension of evil, have put into the hands of his children any book which issued from the
press, if it did not bear, either in its title-page or frontispiece, manifest signs that it was
intended as furniture for the brothel.
The publication of a lascivious book is one of the worst offences that can be
committed against the well-being of society. It is a sin, to the consequences of which no
limits can be assigned, and those consequences no after repentance in the writer can
counteract. Whatever remorse of conscience he may feel when his hour comes (and
These remarks are not more severe than the offence deserves, when applied to
those immoral writers who have not been conscious of any evil intention in their writings, who
would acknowledge a little levity, a little warmth of colouring, and so forth, in that sort of
language with which men gloss over their favourite vices, and deceive themselves. What then
should be said of those for whom the thoughtlessness and inebriety of wanton youth can no
longer be pleaded, but who have written in sober manhood and with deliberate purpose? . . Men
of diseased* hearts and depraved imaginations, who, forming a *
This essay, which is full of fine critical remarks and striking
thoughts felicitously expressed, reached me from Pisa, while the proof of the present
sheet was before me. Of its author (the author of Sommi poetæ in omni poetarum sæculo
viri fuerunt probi: in nostris id vidimus et videmus; neque alius est error
a verltate longiùs quàm magna ingenia magnis necessario corrumpi vitiis.
Secundo plerique posthabent primum, hi malignitate, illi ignorantiâ; et
quum aliquem inveniunt siyli morumque vitiis notatum, nec inficetum tamen
nec in libris edendis parcum, cum
. stipant, prædicant, occupant, amplectuntur. Si mores
aliquantulum vellet corrigere, si stylum curare paululum, si fervido
ingenio temperare, si moræ tantillum interponere, tum ingens nescio quid et
verè ac epicum, quadraginta annos natus, procuderat. Ignorant verò
fabriculis non indicari vires, impatientiam ab imbecilliate non differre;
ignorant a levi homine et inconstante multa fortasse scribi posse plusquam
mediocria, nihil compositum, arduum, æternumDe Cultu atque Usu
Latini Sermonis
This evil is political as well as moral, for indeed moral and political evils
are inseparably connected. Truly it has been affirmed by one of our ablest and clearest*
reasoners, that “the destruction of governments may be proved by and deduced from the
general corruption of the subjects’ manners, as a direct and natural cause thereof, by a
demonstration as certain as any in the mathematics.
” There is no maxim more frequently
enforced by
*
Let the rulers of the state look to this, in time! But, to use the words of
our physicians think the best way of
curing a disease is to
” pamper it, . . the Lord in mercy prepare the
kingdom to suffer, what He by miracle only can prevent!
No apology is offered for these remarks. The subject led to them; and the occasion of introducing them was willingly taken, because it is the duty of every one, whose opinion may have any influence, to expose the drift and aim of those writers who are labouring to subvert the foundations of human virtue and of human happiness.
Returning to the point from whence I digressed, I am aware not only that any
metrical innovation which meets the eye of the reader generally provokes his displeasure, but
that there prevails a particular prejudice against the introduction of hexameters in our
language. The experiment, it is alleged, was tried in the Elizabethan age, and failed, though
made under the greatest possible advantages of favour, being encouraged by that great patron of
literature,
That attempt failed, because it was made upon a scheme which inevitably
prevented its success. No principle of adaption was tried. * For example:
What in * That the reader may not suppose I have depreciated † A writer in the much in
vogue, owing to the pernicious example of
* “
* It is generally supposed,
” says that the genius of the English
language will not admit of Greek or Latin measure; but this, we apprehend, is a
mistake owing to the prejudice of education. It is impossible that the same
measure, composed of the same times, should have a good effect upon the ear in one
language, and a bad effect in another. The truth is, we have been accustomed from
our infancy to the numbers of English poetry, and the very sound and signification
of
the words dispose the ear to receive them in a certain manner; so that its
disappointment must he attended with a disagreeable sensation. In imbibing the
first rudiments of education, we acquire, as it were, another ear for the numbers
of Greek and Latin poetry; and this being reserved entirely for the sounds and
significations of the words that constitute those dead languages, will not easily
accommodate itself to the sounds of our vernacular tongue, though conveyed in the
same time and measure, In a word, Latin and Greek have annexed to them the ideas of
the ancient measure, from which they are not easily disjoined. But we will venture
to say, this difficulty might be surmounted by an effort of attention and a little
practice; and, in that case, we should in time be as well pleased with English, as
with Latin hexameters.
” Goldsmith’s
Essaysthis obsolete whimsey, by an anonymous writer in
1737, who translated the first and fourth Eclogues of
”
I venture to hope that this excellent English scholar will no longer
think the scheme of writing English hexameters a mere whimsey. Glad, indeed, should I be,
if my old acquaintance were to be as well pleased with the present attempt, as I have been
with some of his
—From surrounding things the hues with which day has adorn’d themFade, like the hopes of youth.—P. 1.
THIS effect of twilight, and in the very scene described, has been lately
represented by
—The last pale lint of the twilight,Green as a stream in the glen whose pure and chrysolite watersFlow o’er a schistous bed.—P. 2.
Je suis porté à attribuer à la couleur verte
des végétaux qui couvrent en été une grande partie de notre hémisphère, cette belle
teinte d’émeraude que l’on apperçoit quelquefois dans cette saison au
firmament, vers le coucher du soleil. Elle est rare dans nos climats; mais elle est
fréquente entre les tropiques, où l’été dure toute l’année. Je sais
bien qu’on peut rendre raison de ce phénomène par la simple réfraction des
rayons du soleil dans l’atmosphère, ce prisme sphérique de notre globe. Mais,
outre qu’on peut objecter que la couleur verte ne se voit point en hiver dans
notre ciel, c’est que je peux apporter à l’appui de mon opinion
d’autres faits qui semblent prouver que la couleur même azurée de
l’atmosphère n’est qu’une réflexion de celle de l’océan. En
effet, les glaces flottantes qui descendent tous les ans du pôle nord,
s’annoncent, devant de paraître sur l’horizon, par une lueur blanche
qui éclaire le ciel jour et nuit, et qui n’est qu’un reflet des neiges
cristallisées qui les composent. Cette lueur paraît semblable à celle de
l’aurore boréale, dont le foyer est au milieu des glaces même de notre pôle,
mais dont la couleur blanche est mélangée de jaune, de rouge, et de vert,
parcequ’elle participe des couleurs du sol ferrugineux et de la verdure des
forêts de sapins qui couvrent notre zone glaciale. La cause de cette variation de
couleurs dans notre aurore boréale est d’autant plus vraisemblable, que
l’aurore australe, comme l’a observé le Capitaine Cooken diffère en ce que sa couleur blanche n’est jamais mélangée
que de teintes bleues, qui n’ont lieu, selon moi, que
parce que les glaces du pôle austral, sans continent et sans végétaux, sont
entourées de toutes parts de l’océan, qui est bleu. Ne voyons-nous pas que la
lune, que nous supposons couverte en grande partie de glaciers très élevés, nous
renvoie en lumière d’un blanc bleuâtre les rayons du soleil, qui sont dorés
dans notre atmosphère ferrugineuse? N’est-ce pas par la réverbération
d’un sol composé de fer, que la planète de Mars nous réfléchit, en tout
temps, une lumière rouge? N’est-il pas plus naturel d’attribuer ces
couleurs constantes aux réverbérations du sol, des mers, et des végétaux de ces
planètes, plutôt qu’aux réfractions variables des rayons du soleil dans leurs
atmosphères, dont les couleurs devraient changer à toute heure, suivant leurs
différens aspects avec cet astre? Comme Mars apparaît constamment rouge à la terre,
il est possible que la terre apparoisse à Mars comme une pierrerie brillante des
couleurs de l’opale au pôle nord, de celles de l’aigue-marine au pole
sud, et, tour-à-tour, de celles du saphir et de l’emeraude dans le reste de
sa circonférence. Mais, sans sortir de notre atmosphère, je crois que la terre y
renvoie la couleur bleue de son océan avec des reflets de la couleur verte de ses
végétaux, en tout temps dans la zone torride, et en été seulement dans nos climats,
par la même raison que ces deux poles y réfléchissent des aurores boréales
différentes, qui participent des couleurs de la terre, ou des mers qui les
avoisinent.
“Peut-être même notre atmosphère
réfléchit-elle quelquefois les formes des
paysages, qui annoncent les îles aux navigateurs bien long-temps
avant qu’ils puissent y aborder. Il est remarquable qu’elles ne se
montrent comme les reflets de verdure qu’à l’horizon et du côté du
soleil couchant. Je citerai, à ce sujet, un homme de l’Ile de France qui
apercevoit dans le ciel les images des vaisseaux qui étaient en pleine mer: le
célèbre Vernetqui m’a attesté avoir vu une fois
dans les nuages les tours et les remparts d’une ville située à sept lieues de
lui; et le phénomène du détroit de Sicile, connu sous le nom de Fée-Morgane. Les
nuages et les vapeurs de l’atmosphère peuvent fort bien réfléchir les formes
et les couleurs des objets terrestres, puisqu’ils réfléchissent dans les
parélies l’image du soleil au point de la rendre ardente comme le soleil
lui-même. Enfin, les eaux de la terre répètent les couleurs et les formes des
nuages de l’atmosphère, pourquoi les vapeurs de l’atmosphère, à leur
tour, ne pourroient-elles pas réfléchir le bleu de la mer, la verdure et le jaune
de la terre, ainsi que les couleurs chatoyantes des glaces
polaires?
Au reste, je ne donne mon opinion que comme mon opinion.
L’histoire de la nature est un édifice à peine commencé; ne craignons pas
d’y poser quelques pierres d’attente: nos neveux s’en serviront
pour l’agrandir, ou les supprimeront comme superflues. Si mon autorité est
nulle dans l’avenir, peu importera que je me sois trompé sur ce point: mon
ouvrage rentrera dans l’obscurité d’où il était sorti. Mais s’il
est un jour de quelque considération,
mon erreur en physique sera plus utile à la morale, qu’une
vérité d’ailleurs indifférente au bonheur des hommes. On en concluera avec
raison qu’il faut être en garde contre les écrivains même accrédités.
“I am inclined to attribute to the green colour of the vegetables
with which, during the summer, a great part of our hemisphere is covered, that beautiful
emerald tint which we sometimes perceive at that season in the firmament, towards the
setting of the sun. It is rare in our climates, but is frequent between the tropics, where
summer continues throughout the year. I know that this phenomenon may be explained by the
simple refraction of the rays of the sun in the atmosphere, that spherical prism of our
globe. But to this it may be objected, that the green colour is not seen during the winter
in our sky; and moreover, I can support my opinion by other facts, which appear to prove
that even the azure colour of the atmosphere is only a reflection of that of the ocean. In
fact, the floating ice which descends every year from the North Pole, is announced before
it appears upon the horizon, by a white blink, which enlightens the heaven day and night,
and which is only a reflection of the crystallized snows, of which those masses are
composed. This blink resembles the light of the
aurora borealis, the
centre of which is in the middle of the ice of our pole, but the white colour of which is
mixed with yellow, with red, and with aurora
borealis, is so much the more probable, because that of the aurora australis, as
“Perhaps our atmosphere sometimes reflects landscapes, which announce
islands to the sailors long before they reach them. It is remarkable that they show
themselves, like the reflections of verdure, only in the horizon and on the side of the
setting sun. I shall cite, on this subject, a man of the Isle of France, who used to
perceive in the sky the images of vessels, which were out in full sea; the celebrated
Fata
Morgana. The clouds and the vapours of the atmosphere may very well reflect the
forms and the colours of earthly objects, since they reflect in parhelions the image of the
sun, so as to render it burning as the sun itself. In fine, if the waters of the earth
repeat the colours and the forms of the clouds of the atmosphere, why then should not the
vapours of the atmosphere, in their turn, reflect the blue of the sea, the verdure and the
yellow of the earth, as well as the glancing colours of the polar ices?
“I advance my opinion, however, only as my opinion. The history of
nature is an edifice which, as yet, is scarcely commenced; let us not fear to carry some
stones towards the building; our grandchildren will use them, or lay them aside if they be
useless. If my authority is of no weight hereafter, it will import little that I have
deceived myself upon this point; my work will enter into obscurity, from whence it came;
but if it should be, in future, of some consideration, my error, in physics, will be more
useful to morals than a truth, otherwise indifferent to the happiness of mankind. For it
will be inferred with reason, that it is necessary to regard even writers of credit with
caution.
”
In one point of fact,
Whether France or Britain be threaten’d,Soon will the issue show, or if both at once are endanger’d.—P. 11.
The murder of the
This is the Gate of Bliss.—P. 13
The reader will so surely think of the admirable passage of
Discontent and disloyalty, like the teeth of the dragon,He had sown on the winds; they had ripen’d beyond the Atlantic.—P. 19.
“Our New World,
” says has generally the credit of having first lighted the torch
which was to illuminate, and soon set in a blaze, the finest part of Europe; yet I think
the flint was struck, and the first spark elicited, by the patriot,
”
There
have been amazing contests all over the kingdom, twenty or thirty thousand pounds of a side
spent in several places, and inconceivable mischief done by drunken, mad mobs, to houses,
windows, &c. The scenes have been horrible. London was illuminated two nights running,
at the command of the mob, for the success of
Even this capital, the residence of the king, is now a daily scene of lawless riot and
confusion. Mobs patrolling the streets at noon-day, some knocking all down that will not
roar for
All respect to law and government seems to be lost among the common people, who are moreover
continually inflamed by seditious scribblers to trample on authority, and every thing that
used to keep them in order.
”
Sons of slander, be warn’d! and ye, ye Factionists, learn yeJustice, and bear in mind, that after death there is judgement.—P. 20.
— Discite justitiam moniti, et non temnere Divos.. Virgil
Would that the nations,Learning of us, would lay aside all wrongful resentment,All injurious thought, and honouring each in the other,Kindred courage and virtue, and cognate knowledge and freedom,Live in brotherhood wisely conjoined. We set the example.—P. 24.
The wise and dignified manner in which the late king received the first minister from the United States of America is well known. It is not so generally known that anxiety and sleeplessness, during the American war, are believed by those persons who had the best opportunity for forming an opinion upon the subject, to have laid the foundation of that malady by which the king was afflicted during the latter years of his life.
Upon the publication of
Calm in that insolent hour, and over his fortune triumphant.—P. 30.
The behaviour of
While round the armed bands Did clap their bloody bands. He nothing common did, or mean. Upon that memorable scene; But with his keener eye The axe’s edge did try: Nor call’d the Gods with vulgar spight To vindicate his helpless right; But bow’d bis comely head Down, as upon a bed.
MagnificentEdward ,He who made the English renown, and the fame of his WindsorIn the Orient and Occident known from Tagus to Tigris.—P. 31.
The celebrity which Windsor had obtained, as being the most splendid court in
Christendom, and the seat of chivalry, may be plainly seen in the
A dispute arose between two knights, the one a Cypriot, the other a
Frenchman, who were serving the King of Armenia against the Soldan of Babylon. The other
Christian captains in the army determined that they should decide it by single combat before
He who discovering the secretOf the dark and ebullient abyss, with the fire of VesuviusArm’d the Chemist’s hand.—P. 41.
Though chemistry is one of the subjects of which I am contented to be
ignorant, I can nevertheless perceive and appreciate the real genius indicated by
In referring to the Safety Lamp of
Not to his affectionate spiritCould the act of madness innate for guilt be accounted.—P. 31.
The act of suicide is very far from being so certain an indication of
insanity as it is usually considered by our inquests. But in the case of
The law respecting suicide is a most barbarous one; and of late years has never been carried into effect without exciting horror and disgust. It might he a salutary enactment, that all suicides should be given up for dissection. This would certainly prevent many women from committing self-murder, and possibly might in time be useful to physiology.
The gentle.—P. 45. Amelia
In one of his few intervals of sanity, after the death of this beloved
daughter, the late King gave orders, that a monument should be erected
King George III.caused to be interred near this place the body of , Mary GascoigneServant to the Princess ;Ameliaand this stone to be inscribed in testimony of his grateful sense of the faithful services and attachment of an amiable Young Woman to his beloved Daughter, whom she survived only three months. She died 19th of February 1811.
This may probably he considered as the last act of his life;—a very affecting one it is, and worthy of remembrance. Such a monument is more honourable to the King, by whom it was set up, than if he had erected a pyramid.
THE annexed Specimens of
The
* Ruffling seems to be turbulent noise. A ruffler was formerly a boisterous bully.
† To boick or boke, is ructare.
* Slag is the dross of iron.
§ i.e. Broiled sides crumpled.
“Of versifying,
” he says, “there are two sorts, the
one ancient, the other modern; the ancient marked the quantity of each syllable, and,
according to that, framed his verse; the modern, observing only number, with some regard of
the accent; the chief life of it standeth in that like sounding of the words, which we call
Rhyme. Whether of these be the more excellent, would bear many speeches, the ancient, no
doubt, more fit for musick, both words and time observing quantity, and more fit, lively to
express divers passions by the low or lofty sound of the well-weighed syllable. The latter
likewise with his Rhyme striketh a certain musick to the ear; and, in fine, since it doth
delight, though by another way, it obtaineth the same purpose, there being in either
sweetness, and wanting in neither majesty. Truly the English, before any vulgar language I
know, is fit for both sorts; for, for the ancient, the Italian is so full of vowels, that
it must ever be cumbered with elisions: the Dutch so, of the other side, with consonants,
that they cannot yield the sweet sliding, fit for a verse. The
That Cæsura, or breathing-place, in the midst of the verse, neither Italian nor Spanish
have; the French and we never almost fail of. Lastly, the very Rhyme itself the Italian
cannot put in the last syllable, by the French named the Masculine Rhyme, but still in the
next to the last, which the French call the Female, or the next before that, which the
Italian call Sdrucciola: the example of the former, is Buono Suouo: of the Sdrucciola, is
Femina Semina. The French, on the other side, hath both the male, as Bon Son; and the
Female, as Plaise, Taise, but the Sdrucciola he hath not, where the English hath all three,
as Due, True, Father, Rather, Motion, Potion, with much more, which might be said, but that
already I find the trifling of this discourse is too much enlarged.
”
The French attempted to introduce the ancient metres some years before the
trial was made in England.
” he adds, “lequel
” est vrayement une petit chef d’œuvre.
essay de plus tongue haleine
“
”
says the author, “Je ne dy pas,
” que ces vers soient de quelque valeur,
aussi ne les mets-je icy sur la monstre en intention qu’on les trouve tels;
mais bien estime-je qu’ils sont autant fluides que les Latins, et à tant
veux-je que l’on pense nostre vulgaire estre aucunement capable de ce
subject.
,” says toutesfois
” The en ce subject si mauvais parrain que non seulement il ne fut suivy d’aucun, mais au contraire
descourages un chacun de s’y employer. D’autant que tout ce qu’ll
en fit estoit tant despourveu de cette naifveté qui doit accompagner nos œuvres,
qu’aussi tost que cette sienne poësie voit la lumiere, elle mourut comme un
avorton.
”qu’il étoit bon homme, mais qu’il étoit méchant poëte François.
I subjoin a specimen of Spanish Hexameters, from an Eclogue by
It is admitted by the Spaniards, that the fitness of their language for the
hexameter has been established by