Imágenes de página
PDF
ePub
[blocks in formation]

Legions on legions in confusion hurl'd,
Lost in one day the empire of the world.
Now ev'ry Briton, proud of Britain's fame,
Shall teach his child to lisp the conqu'ror's

name.

Ten thousand brave, like Uxbridge, Picton, Hill, [fill; Fame's temple's marble columns soon shall To each the Senate shall a crown decern, To ev'ry hero dead, a funeral urn,

On which in living brass shall be engrav'dThis man at WATERLOO his country sav'd; While Britain's Genius, weeping o'er his tomb, [doom. Shall point to heav'n and mark the hero's

THOMAS CHATTERTON,
Written on the Banks of the Avon.
Where Avon winds his gentle stream,
And harvests bless the lab'ring swain;
The rocky glen, the flow'ry plain,
The Alpine hills, the shelt'ring grove-
His native scenes in boyhood's dream!
Th' inspired boy did oft in rapture rove!

Keen the fix'd eye, sublime of soul,
No cold, dull caution, bari'd the way—
But he, in blaze of Genius' day,
Essay'd the steepest heights of Fame!
As mountain flood disdain'd control-
And gain'd th' immortal wreath in Ella's
deathless name!

Visions of glory! early fled,
Transient as summer's golden morn!
And lo! around terrific borne,
The lucid tempest wing'd its course
Impetuous on th' unshelter'd head!
Scath'd by the storm, he fell a livid corse!

O Chatterton! thy hapless fate
Mocks the weak effort of the lyre-
Nor may the humble muse aspire,
Though admiration points thy flight!
Genius, with ardent hopes elate,

In youth's bright dawn quench'd in the shades of night!

Beam of the soul, that led astray; Radiance, too strong for mortal ken; By thee Life's ev'ning path was seenDazzling, with golden hopes, the boy! Enchantress! by thy powerful ray He soar'd, nor deem'd that aught could happiness destroy!

Yes, Poesy! thou wast the cause-
Unfitted with Life's useful aim,
He, impious, dar'd the deed of shame-
Thou wooed'st him to thy native sphere!
For heaven he spurn'd at Nature's laws-
And thou alone may'st plead his flight from
sorrow here!

And thou-for harmony is thine-
Wilt plead in sacred strains above!
Heaven and creative power are Love!
Immortal to thy God restor'd,
Beam of thy God, and light divine-

Thou art in heaven, and still by all ador'd!

[Feb. 1,

Still on the cliff, in frowning skies,
That were to thee with rapture fraught,
Awakening the solemn thought,
Spirit of song! is seen thy form,
Thy shadowy car in clouds t' arise,
And oft, in thunder loud, thy voice is in the
storm!

Spirit of song! in glory drest,
Whose sun beams gild the mountain's brow,
And cheer with smiles the vales below-
To thee the hymn the peasants raise,
Thy beams the teeming harvest blest!
The universal song, eternal, chants thy
praise!

Where Avon winds her hallow'd tide, The laughing plains and hills betweenRadcleeve thy column points the scene, And Sculpture mourns the Minstrel's doom! Yet though in life of fame denied, Th' unfading wreath immortal decks his G. H. T.

[ocr errors]

tomb!

Blackheath, Oct. 10, 1815.

VANITY OF LIFE.

Earthly things pass away like a shadow; and as a post that hasteth by."

As hurrying speeds the stranger by,
As fits the trackless cloud on high,

Our joys and ills are gone;
Bright hopes ascend with orient pride,
The laughing hours unconscious glide.
They sink before the ev'ning tide,

On rapid pinion børne.

Then why, amid the meteor gleam,
The shadowy show, the fev'rish dream,
That wind our swift career,
Can life, with treach'rous wiles, impart
A spell to bind th' inconstant heart,
While Time, resistless, watas, "Depart

The parting hour is near?"

That welcome hour, supremely blest,
Which yields the thirsting soul to rest,
In tend'rest mercy giv'n :
Farewell! desponding doubts and fears;
For radiant o'er the vale of years,
'Mid stormy clouds the bow appears,
The peaceful bow of heav'n!

No more on life's bewilder'd stage
Shall mortal cares our thoughts engage,
Or mortal joys inspire;
Th' uplifted portals wide display
A living blaze of cloudless day;
I mount, I rise, I soar away,
And join th' eternal quire!

COTSWOLDIA.

Now Redcliff, a church in Bristol; itwas

in the tower of this church that the celebrat→ ed manuscripts were, by Chatterton, alleged to have been found.

1816.]

Original Poetry.

49

BALLAD.

By Mr. C. F. WEBB.

Oh lady, buy these budding flow'rs,
For I am sad, and wet, and weary,-
I gather'd them ere break of day,
"When all was lonely, still, and dreary;
And long I've sought to sell them here,
To purchase clothes, and food, and dwelling,
For Valour's wretched orphan girls-

Poor me, and my young sister Ellen!
Ah! those who tread life's thornless way,
In Fortune's golden sunshine basking,
May deem my wants require no aid,

Because my lips are mute, unasking; They have no heart for woes like mine, Each word, each look is cold-repelling, Yet once a crowd of flatt'rers fawn'd,

And Fortune smil'd, on me and Ellen! Oh buy my flow'rs! they're fair and fresh As mine and morning's tears could keep

them;

To-morrow's sun will see them dead,
And I shall scarcely live to weep them!
Yet this sweet bud, if nurs'd with care,

Soon into fulness would be swelling;
And, nurtur'd by some gen'rous hand,
So might my little sister Ellen!
She's sleeping in the hollow tree,

Her only home-its leaves her bedding; And I've no food to carry there,

To soothe the tears she will be shedding! Oh that those mourners' tears which fallThat bell which heavily is knelling-And that deep grave, were meant for me, And my poor little sister Ellen!

When we in silence are laid down,

In life's last, fearless, blessed sleeping, No tears will fall upon our grave,

Save those of pitying heav'n's own weep.
ing :-

Unknown we've liv'd, unknown must die,
No tongue the mournful tale be telling,
Of two young, broken-hearted girls-
Poor Mary and her sister Ellen!
No one has bought of me to-day,

And Night is now the town o'ershading,
And I, like these poor drooping flow'rs,
Unnoticed and unwept am fading;-
My soul is struggling to be free-

It loathes its wretched earthly dwelling! My limbs refuse to bear their load-Oh God! protect lone, orphan Ellen!

[merged small][ocr errors]

From the fair temple of the skies,
Blends in the lustre of her eyes;
Whose sombre, chasten'd, glance of light,
Like that of gleaming orbs of night,
O'er features prominent with sense
The magic rays of thought dispense,
Educing majesty serene,

Resembling Nature's ev'ning scene,
And, like the precious gems of earth,
No common glance descries their worth.
With deeper insight as we gaze,
Her beauty more unfolds its praise.
But list we here, and say-enough--
Of beauty's pow'r the living proof;
Enough we see of seraph mould,
And yet the half hath not been told:
(An angel's form-an angel's face-
Were hideous without virtue's grace :)
Peace, meekness, piety, and love-
Pure emblems of the world above!
But when from this enshrouding clay
The spirit wings its viewless way,
Its entry makes in distant lands,
And on its naked merit stands,-
Abash'd before one ray of light,
It seeks the shades of endless night.
Then why should aught entrance our eyes,
In wistful thought or quick surprise,
Of beauty-that from dust arose,
And in the dust must soon repose,
When Death, the spoiler, lifts his hand,
And shakes aloft his ruthless brand,
If unallied to mental grace,

Which Time's rude blast can ne'er deface?

EPITAPH ON A SLUGGARD. Here, undisturb'd, rests STEPHEN'S mortal frame;

This monument alone records his name.

However strange, 'tis true, he was from birth
A lifeless lump of animated earth:
In idle apathy he spent his days,
Alike indifferent to blame and praise;
To ev'ry sense, or joy, or grief unknown,
He liv'd (disgrace to man) a perfect drone;
And now, unpitied, sleeps to wake no more:
A loss that few can feel, and none deplore.
Camden Town.
S.

[blocks in formation]

[ 50 ]

[Feb. 1,

INTELLIGENCE IN LITERATURE AND THE ARTS AND SCIENCES.

PROCEEDINGS OF UNIVERSITIES.

CAMBRIDGE.-Dec. 26, THOMAS LE BLANC, esq. LL.B. fellow of Trinity Hall, was elected master of that society, in the room of the late Right Hon. Sir William Wynne.

Jan. 1, 1816, the Rev. THOS. RENNELL, M.A. fellow of King's College, was elected Christian Advocate in the room of the Rev. G. D'Oyly, B. D.

The Hulsean prize for last year is adjudged to CHAS. B. LYON, B. A. of Trinity College, for his dissertation onThe Distinct Provinces of Reason and Faith. The subject for the present year is-The Doctrine of the Atonement is agreeable to Reason.

The subjects for the present year for the Bishop of London's two gold medals

are:

Latin-Veram esse Religionem Christianam probatur ex infirmitate ac simplicitate eorum qui eam imprimis docue

runt.

English-Be ye angry and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Eph. IV. 26.

Any member of Christ College may be a candidate, and the dissertations must be sent to the master before the 1st of Julv next.

The subjects for Sir WM. BROWNE'S three gold medals for the present year

are:

For the Greek ode-Napoleon in Insu-
lam Sancta Helena ablegatus."
Latin ode-Statuæ, Fabulæque picta,
Italia restitutæ.
Epigrams-Labor Ineptiarum.

OXFORD.-Congregations for granting degrees have been and will be held in the ensuing term on the following days: January 15th and 24th, February 8th and 24th, March 14th and 29th, and April 6th. In consequence of alterations made in the Statutes, tit. 6, sec. 2, and tit. 9, sec. 4, Bachelors of Arts, who shall not have proceeded to that degree on or before Feb. 24, cannot be admitted to determine during the following Lent.

Proposals have been circulated for publishing in one super-royal 4to. vol. A Complete Account of the Battle of Waterloo, accompanied with a series of 21 coloured engravings, from accurate drawings taken on the spot by Mr. Jas.

ROUSE, illustrating the whole country from Brussels to Waterloo; and with a map carefully laid down, pointing out the exact position of the different corps and divisions of the Allied Armies. In the historical narrative, which will be written by Mr. W. MUDFORD under the sanction of the highest authority, it is intended to combine all the information that can be obtained from persons who were present in this memorable engagement or have since visited the spot, together with that which now lies scattered in numberless foreign and English publications. These materials will be incorporated into one regular and coherent narration; while all the official reports published by the Allies will be thrown together into an Appendix, so that this volume will supersede the necessity of possessing any other memorial of that unparalleled victory. The work will be published in monthly parts, the first of which is expected to appear on the 1st of February.

Mr. ROBERTSON BUCHANAN, of Glasgow, will speedily publish a work on the History and Construction of SteamBoats, illustrated with numerous engravings.

The Rev. ROBERT NARES has in the press, The Veracity of the Evangelists Demonstrated by a Comparative View of their Histories, in a 12mo. volume.

The Rev. Dr. GRAY is printing an Illustration of the Connexion between the Sacred Writings and the Literature. of Jewish and Heathen Authors, particularly that of the Classic Ages.

Miss MARY ANNE SCHIMMELPENNINCK has nearly ready for publication, a Narrative of the Demolition of the Monastery of Port Royal des Champs, including Biographical Memoirs of its later Inhabitants.

Mr. FIELD, barrister, has in the press, in a small volume, Shakspeare his own Biographer; containing particulars of the life of the poet derived from an examination of his beautiful sonnets.

Mr. BoWYER, of Pall Mall, is preparing a splendidly illustrated work on the late brilliant victory of Waterloo, in folio, to correspond with the memorable campaigns in Russia and France in 1812 and 1814, now in the course of publica

1816.]

Intelligence in Literature and the Arts and Sciences.

tion. The plates will be engraved from views taken on the spot by an eminent artist, and include a view on a large scale of the battle of the 18th of June at the moment when the grand charge was made upon the whole of the French line.

Mr. R. HILLS has in the press Sketches in Flanders and Holland, in a series of letters, in one volume 4to. which will comprise an Account of a Tour through the Low Countries shortly after the Battle of Waterloo, illustrated by 36 plates etched by the author, and engraved in aquatint by eminent artists. Among these will be found representations of every remarkable spot about the field of combat; views in the neighbourhood of Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, Antwerp, Ansterdam, and other Dutch towns; and five coloured plates exhibiting specimens of costume, implements of husbandry, diligences, waggons, &c.

Mr. SUMNER'S Treatise on the Being and Attributes of God, to which the premium of 4001. bequeathed by Mr. Burnett of Aberdeen was adjudged, will speedily be published in two 8vo. volumes. The first relates chiefly to the historical evidence of the Creation derived from the Hebrew records; and the second contains an inquiry into the principle of population, its effects on human society, and its consistency with the wisdom and goodness of the Creator.

Dr. HENNING, of Bristol, is preparing a work on Pulmonary Consumption, which will be ready in the spring.

The Rev. REGINALD HEBER'S Bampton Lectures will shortly appear in an 8vo. volume.

Capt. BROWN, of the Forfar Militia, has nearly ready for publication an Introduction to Conchology.

Dr. REECE, distinguished for his countenance of the Southcott imposture, has announced a monthly publication under the title of the Gazette of Health, nearly upon the plan of the Gazette de Santé printed at Paris.

Speedily will be published an Historical and Descriptive Account of the Inquisition, abridged from the elaborate work of Limborch, and continued by extracts from subsequent writers; political reflexions on its revival in Spain; and an Historical Survey of the Christian Church from the earliest ages.

The Rev. T. F. DIDBIN, whose intended auto-da-fe of the fourth volume of his Bibliotheca Spenceriana was announced in our last, has given notice that this conflagration will not take

51

place, owing to the spirit of Mr. John Major, bookseller, of Smithfield, who has purchased all the remaining copies.

A lady has issued proposals for the publication of A View of the past and present State of the Isle of Man.

A Translation of the celebrated work

of M. DE PRADT, entitled The Congress of Vienna, is in the press.

Mr. WM. PHILLIPS will publish in the course of the ensuing month, an Elementary Introduction to the Knowledge of Mineralogy and of Minerals; including some account of the places at which, and of the circumstances under which, Minerals are found, and explanations of the terms commonly used in mineralogical description. It will be comprized in a duodecimo volume, and is designed for the use of the student.

A Treatise on Greyhounds, with Observations on the Treatment and Disorders of them, is in the press.

Mr. WM. JOHNSTONE WHITE is preparing for publication Sketches of Character, consisting of 100 Portraits of Identical Living Subjects, Eccentric in Person or Manners, calculated to illustrate County History, and continue the twelfth class of Granger Portraits; with Biographical Notices collected from the Parties. The work will appear in numbers, each containing six plates.

The Rev. J. EDMONDSON, author of a volume of Short Sermons on Important Subjects, has in the press, A Concise System of Self-Government on Scriptural and Rational Principles, in an 8vo. volume.

The Rev. W. WILSON, of St. Bees School, is preparing A School Edition of Juvenal, with English notes, and the objectionable passages omitted.

A History of the Kingdom of Hanover, and of the Family of Brunswick, in a large 4to. volume, embellished with a map and many engravings, is nearly ready for publication.

Mr. T. SHELDRAKE will publish early this spring, a Treatise on Diseased Spine and Distorted Spine; with the Details of a new Method of Cure, and Cases to illustrate its superiority and success.

The same gentleman has in the press a third edition of his Essay on Distor tion of the Legs and Feet of Children and others; with an Appendix containing upwards of Sixty Cases of Patients between the Ages of Two Weeks and Twenty-five Years.

Mr. J. NORRIS BREWER is preparing for the press The History and Antiquities of the Abbey Church of St. Peter's,

52

Intelligence in Literature and the Arts and Sciences. [Feb. 1,

Westminster; with Biographical Notices of Eminent Persons connected with, or interred in that Edifice. The work will be illustrated by 50 engravings, consisting of ground-plans, views external and internal, architectural details and remarkable monuments, executed by Messrs. J. and C. Pye, Woolnoth, Sandys, Byrne, Lewis, W. R. Smith, Hobson, and the Misses Byrne, from drawings by the projector Mr. J. P. NEALE. It will be published in 4to. of various sizes, in ten parts, each containing five sheets of letter-press and five engravings, and the first will be ready for delivery in the

course of the summer.

The Rev. WM. BINGLEY has nearly ready for publication, in 3 vols. 12mo. Useful Knowledge; or a familiar and explanatory Account of the various Productions, Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal, which are chiefly employed for the Use of Man. It is the object of this work, which will be illustrated by numerous figures, and is intended both for reference and instruction, to comprise an account of the places whence, and the manure in which, the most important articles of life are procured; the various modes of preparing them for use; and the purposes to which they are applicable. A separate volume will be allotted to each of the three kingdoms.

Mr. JOHN WEYLAND, jun. is preparing for the press, in an 8vo. volume, The Principle of Population as affected by the Progress of Society, with a view to moral and political consequences.

A work of very considerable interest is preparing for publication, entitled Narrative of a Ten Years' Residence at the Court of Tripoli, from the original correspondence in the possession of the family of the late RICHARD TULLY, sq. the British Consul; comprising Authentic Memoirs and Anecdotes of the reigning Bashaw, his Family, and various Persons of Distinction; an Account of the Domestic Manners of the Moors, Arabians, and Turks, &c. &c. This work will form one vol. in 4to., and will be enbellished with several coloured plates of scenery and costume.

The second edition of Mr. COTTLE's poem of Alfred having been out of print some years, a third edition (revised) is in the press, which will contain numerous Notes illustrative of the Poem and of the Saxon Era.

[blocks in formation]

phy, founded on principles strictly scientific, and extensively applicable in all the various branches of the practical surveyor's business.

Mr. HORACE TWIss will shortly publish, A Complete Compendium of the Law on Parish Appeals, condensed inte one volume, as a manual for the Quarter Sessions, and arranged for the facility of reference under various heads.

Baron DE BERENGER will publish in the course of the ensuing month a pamphlet, under the title of The Noble Stock-Jobber, or Facts Unveiled, to disprove Lord Cochrane's Affidavits; given in the shape of a simple narrative, minutely detailing every stage of the Author's intercourse with the Cochrane family, and proving that Lord Cochrane was previously acquainted with, and deeply interested in, the events of the 21st of February, 1814.

Mr. ORME, of Bond-street, has given to the public some observations, which at the present moment seem highly worthy of consideration. He proposes the erection of a national edifice as a repository for productions in the various branches of the arts, and suggests the propriety of making the building a wing to the new palace intended to be raised on the site of St. James's. The obstacles to the execution of such a plan in this country are certainly formidable; that the arts would derive extensive benefit from it cannot be donbted; and the policy of the measure has been sufficiently demonstrated in the formation of that Museum which attracted so many strangers to the French capital.

A Course of Lectures on the Elements of Electrical Science will be delivered during the ensuing season at the Russell Institution, by Mr: SINGER. These lectures will include the subjects of galvanism and electro-chemistry, and are open to the public as well as to the members of the institution.

Dr. THOMSON has observed that Six's thermometer is able to an accident which, without proper attention, is liable to affect the accuracy of its indications. A small portion of air is disengaged from the alcoliol contained in it, and this air getting into the tube, is found sometimes to increase to such a degree as to occupy 5 on the scale, making the results so much too high. This happens annually at the first occurrence of frosty weather. To remedy this inconvenience, hold the instrument near the fire, and cause the bubble to pass to and fro in the warm spirit, driving it if possible into the large

« AnteriorContinuar »