there are gleams of real talent in them, and touches of that deep pathos whereof Elliott has since proved himself so great a master. The Rejected's Song in "The Second Nuptials may be instanced as a specimen of his early skill in this department of poetry.

At a very early period of his poetical career, Elliott was fortunate enough to secure the friendship of the poet Southey; who, on the appearance of his second volume, which originally comprised "Bothwell,”—a dramatic poem, "The Exile," and "Second Nuptials," with a Preface from "Peter Faultless to his brother Simon,"-defying his reviewers-wrote him as follows: "There is power in the least of these tales; but the higher you pitch your tone the better you succeed. Thirty years ago they would have made your reputation; and thirty years hence, the world will wonder that they did not do so." Elliott's third volume contained a satire, under the title of "Giaour," which, strange enough, was a vehement attack upon Lord Byron. The secret of its history is one of the many curiosities of literature. According to Elliott's own statement, it was written

with a view to goad Lord Byron into a notice of him; and to revenge himself for an affront which he fancied he had received from the noble lord, in the old Bank at Rotherham. The party who relates this story, thinks it should receive but a qualified credence. There seems, however, to be no reason to doubt its accuracy-since the original statement was made by Elliott himself; and I have frequently remarked, that he was not only candid in the announcement, but severe in the condemnation of his own failings. It is, moreover, easy enough to see how a young and sensitive man-conscious of his own unacknowledged merits, might be entrapped by the impetuosity of his feelings, into an ungenerous revenge of a supposed insult. Byron's "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers" is an example of this headstrong retaliation; and Elliott could very well plead it as a precedent, if not as a justification. But in neither instance must we draw too hasty conclusions, from these erratic outbursts; for they are no true indications of the character of either party. In both cases it is wounded pride that speaks, and not a corrupt and revengeful

heart. I do not seek, however, to apologise for Elliott's conduct in this instance; and will merely add that Lord Byron took no notice of his assailant.

"Corn Law Rhymes and the Ranter" appeared next, in one volume, and were noticed in the "Eclectic," and in "Blackwood's Magazine." In 1829, he published the "Village Patriarch," which was praised by the Westminster," but did not bring him the suffrage and applause of the public. He owes the celebrity which he soon after acquired, to an accidental visit which Dr. Bowring paid to T. A. Ward, Esq., of Sheffield. This gentleman placed a copy of the "Corn Law Rhymes, &c.," in the hands of the Doctor-who was immediately struck with the great merit of the Poet, and was subsequently introduced to him by Mr. Ward. In returning to London, Dr. Bowring visited William Howitt, at Nottingham, where he met Wordsworth, and made them acquainted with the "wonderful poet of Sheffield, not Montgomery, but a new name.” Mr. Howitt claims to have directed Southey's attention to Elliott, through Wordsworth; but this is an error, for Elliott had already been known to Southey for ten

or eleven years. In London, Dr. Bowring showed Elliott's poems to Bulwer, who introduced them to the public in an anonymous letter in the "New Monthly Magazine." It is dated March 19th, 1831, and is entitled "A Letter to Dr. Southey, &c., PoetLaureate, respecting a remarkable poem by a Mechanic." Bulwer concludes his letter thus: "And now I think you will admit that I am borne out in the praises with which I have prefaced this poem. I do not know whether the author be young, or old; if the former, I must unaffectedly add, that to my judgment, he has given such a promise as few men, even in this age-an age wronged and unappreciated-would be capable of performing."

This friendly notice may be regarded as the culminating point in Elliott's poetical career; for from this time his fame spread over the land, and his merit was generally acknowledged. Miss Jewsbury, in the "Athenæum," Mrs. Hofland, in the "New Monthly," and various other writers, hastened to pay him homage; and Thomas Carlyle wrote a genial criticism upon his writings, in the "Edinburgh Review." In 1833, '34, and '35, he collected and published

his poems in three successive volumes, and in 1840, the previous editions being exhausted, he published the whole of his works in one volume, through Tait, of Edinburgh. His later poems have since been published in two volumes, by Fox, London, under the title of "More Verse and Prose," by the Corn Law Rhymer.

I do not propose to enter into a critical analysis of these works, in their separate character; but I may make a few short remarks upon them by way of illustrating the genius and limits of the writer. It is singular enough, as I said awhile ago, that his tales are all sad, and his heroes unhappy. He had studied the physiology and anatomy of human misery, and was its poetical demonstrator. Every painful throb, and every agony of the heart, was familiar to his ear, and he reproduced them in melodies which drop down into the soul like the tears of Music. He loves the cypress and the yew; and the gloomy aisles of death and the grave. I have before alluded to his powers of pathos; and it is strange how such tenderness, pity, and deep womanly love, should be united to so much rugged manliness, sternness,