tremendous obstinacy with which the battle was contested: sun Heard the wild shout of fight begun Ere he attain'd his height, And through the war-smoke volumed high, Still peals that unremitted cry, Though now he stoops to night. Still down the slope they drew, Of skill and force was proved that day, ser In advancing beyond this point, however, we find nothing like a graphical representation of the or der or events of the fight. The author paints generally the onsets of the French against certain “ ried squares" of the English, and particularly that last dreadful charge, which the happy arrival of the Prussians, and the eagle-glance and prompt resolution of the British commander, converted into a still more dreadful rout. But it may fairly be questioned whether any reader, not already acquainted with the general nature of the bat tle, would be able to collect it from this account. Here, therefore, a disappointment occurs; for the poet had spread out so clear and minute a map of the scene of action, that it was natural to expect an equally detailed and luminous exhibition of the awful drama which ensued. And, here also, Mr. Scott has lost what to his powers would have been an admirable opportunity. That pencil which sketched the battle of Flodden in characters so exact, so exquisite, so animated, that it almost seemed as if a magnifying-glass would convert the representation into life, would surely have found no mean field for its dexterity in Waterloo. Even the last scene of the engagement the poet describes vaguely; and his description appears liable to this farther and more serious exception, that it by no means attributes that importance to the co-operation of the Prussian army which both historical accuracy and national generosity would dictate. The truth, however, is, that, at this stage, the poem falls off, and never afterwards effectually recovers itself. Probably, the_timc which the author had allotted for his composition and his tour, began to narrow faster than he had distinctly apprehended;—he was, in consequence, compelled to journey with greater rapidity;--and with this double difficulty of contracted time and increased interruption, no muse could possibly struggle. "Barbs, barbs, alas, how swift ye flew!" To write against time is hard enough; but to write speedily, on a speedy journey, is to write against time and tide at once. Symptoms of haste seem every where discernible in the sequel of the work; as, for instance, the ambiguity in the last of the four following lines: "Lightly ye rose that dawning day, To fill, before the sun was low, It costs some thinking to discover that, by the concluding line is meant "the bed which is never to see a morning dawn." To the same hurry may be as cribed such verses as the following which appear little better than the diction of newspaper-eloquence adapted to metre: "Shall future ages tell this tale minds Bonaparte that he had em- The Roman love thy leisure lord." The poem offends, however, rather negatively than positively; from the absence of those preg nant proofs of a master's hand with which it might have been expected to abound. It is remarkable that the effect of hurry on poetic composition, is not only to prevent finish, but to impoverish thought. The former, indeed, constitutes one of its evils: the poet, ever precipitating forwards, is unable to work up his conceptions with due effect, or properly to fuse and polish the precious ores of fancy. But it is a worse misfortune attendant on such a case, that there are scarcely any conceptions to be worked up, scarcely any precious ores to be fused. The reason is, not that fine thoughts require a certain length of time for their growth,-imagination is not a still, which produces its sweets by the hour, but that the want of a feeling of leisure incapacitates the mind for its finer exertions. The pressure of urgent haste, if it does not discompose and distract us, at least suggests ideas of task-work, and diligence, and punctuality; ideas, admirably proper in every service but that of the Muses. It is not, therefore, time which is required, but leisure. Were the lei sure afforded greater, the time in fact employed might possibly be much less: the author, having an unlimited credit on time, might actually draw to a very small "To constitute a poet," hadde up Juvenal, "a mind is required, free says from anxiety, exempt from every harassing care, in love with shady groves, and delighting to drink at the springs of the Muses." If the principle be thus general, the anxiety of effort, no less than the anxiety of distress, must disqualify men for poetic reveries, and, exclude those CHRIST, OBSERY. No. 167. 757 came, Wrung forth by pride and rage and "Oh that he had but died!' Back on yon broken ranks Down the dread current harl'd "Thon, too, whose deeds of fame Was ever drawn for public weal; pp. 34, 35. "The ducal rank," however, in this, address, seems a very prosais expression,, Might it not advan tageously be changed into the ducal crown? One only extract shall be added: it is the short commemoration of the worthies who fell on the British side. The poet is addressing the day of the battle:+ Thou saw'st in seas of gore expire These lines, the reader may per haps be aware, have been ridiculed In a public print; and an attempt has been made, by stripping them of their metre, and giving them prosaic form, to shew that they want the essentials of poetry, and are pure common-place. The at tempt shewed rather a commonplace critic. The expedient of transprosing verse (as Bayes would call it) affords, at the best, but a very doubtful test of its merit. For, independently of the difference which may be made in the delicacy of a thought by the mere collock tion of the words in which it is The address to the fallen Em peror is contrasted by the following short and spirited apostrophe to his great antagonists expressed (a difference sometimes 1 least, is certain that the charitable objects for which Mr. Scott generally writes will not be the worse promoted for the consecration of his lyre. The work of mercy will not be less blessed, by being also made a work of piety; nor will the anointing oil" that heals the sick, be deprived of its efficacy, by being mingled with the incense of religious gratitude. GREAT BRITAIN. In the Press:A Critical Dictionary of the Greek Language, translated from the German of Schneider into English, with Additions, by Mr. Nicoll, of Baliol, College, Oxford-A Dictionary of Session Law, by the Rev, S. Clapham, Journal kept during a Captivity of Nine Years in France; viz. from April, 1805, to May, 1814; by Mr. W. Story A new edition, with large additions, of the Rev.S. Burder's Oriental Customs;under the patronage and at the expense of the East India Company, of the Chinese Language, M. A., Vicar Duke Church-Me the Rev. R. Morison, to be pub of Marlborough, moirs of chiefly drawn from his private Corre spondence and family Documents pre served at Blenheim, by Archdeacon Coxe; with portraits, maps, plans, &e; -An Account of some Improvements in Domestic Economy, more especially relating to the Meaus of warming and ventilating Apartments, Culinary Conveniences, &c., by Mr. Sylvester, of Prudence Derby-An Introduction to In the Conduct of Affairs of common Life. by Dr. Thomas Faller; Rudi. ments of the Hebrew Language, with Exercises, and a Key to the Book of Psalms, containing the true Prounn ciation, different Significations, and grammatical Analysis of every Word, by J. S. C. F. Frey-A yolume of Sermons by the late Dr. Scott, Rector of Simonbourn;-Elementary Fortification, illustrated by 500 Diagrams, by Lieut. Colonel Pasley :- A second volume of Sermons by the Rev. Robert Morebead; The History of Dublin and its Environs, by W. M. Mason, Esq;-Leading Heads of Twenty-seven Sermons preached by Dr. Doddridge, at Northampton, in the year 1749, and never before printed;An Illustration of the Liturgy of the Church of England, with a sketch of the History of the British Church, by the Rev. T. Praen, of Albourh; Wilts; by lished in parts: specimens to be seen at Messrs. Black, Parry, and Co.'s, Leadenhall-street-A volume of Sermons of the Rev. P. Henry, M. A., Father of Matthew Henry, including the last Sermon he preached, and his Funeral Sermon by the Rev. F. Tallents, M. A.; edited by Mr. J. B. Williams, of Shewsbury. At Oxford the following persons have been appointed officers of the Univer sity for the ensuing year, viz:-Rev. Thomas Lee, D. D. President of Tri. nity College, Oxford, Vice-Chancellor ;— Rev. Whittington Landon, D. D. Provost of Worcester College; Rev. John Cole, D. D. Rector of Exeter College; Rev. Frodsham 'Hodson, D. D. Principal of Brazen Nosé Collège; and Rev. George William Hall, D. D. Master of Pembroke College, Vice Chancellors;→→→ Rev. William Hassall, M. A. of Brazen Nose College, Pro Proctor Rev.. Ashhurst Turner Gilbert, M. A. Fellow of Brazen Nose College; and Henry Cot ton, M. A. Student of Christ Church, Masters of the Schools." At Cambridge the University Officers for the year ensuing are: Proctors The Rev. Joseph Shaw, M. A. -Christ College, the Rev. Robert Jefferson, |