THE AUTHOR'S JEWEL, NUMBER I. THE FATE OF GENIUS. Oh! let th' Iambic Muse revenge that wrong As there be quills to write, or eyes to read; SPENCER. Ir is too frequently the fate of genius, when im. pelled by the lust of fame to meditate on the means of its fruition, to be suddenly checked in its fancied career of glory, by recollecting the failures, that have followed the exertions of their predecessors, in every track of polite learning; even when they have been transcendently endowed by nature; and amply enriched by instruction. Among the follies, of which every writer sometime discovers himself to be guilty, that of revolving in his mind, the va rious means of immortality may by distinguished as giving birth to projects and enterprises, which for a moment, impart the glow of ecstacy to the soul, only to leave it to the darkness of sorrow and B despondency. It seldom happens, that disappointment does not follow expectation, so much does fancied excellence, or success, always outrun reality and performance. No sooner does judgment fix upon a subject for composition, than memory chills and startles the fancy, by some recollection of failure in the same enterprise, even when a powerful genius, and exhaustless knowledge, gave an emphatic promise of success. Accident and misfortune, ever vigilent to produce mis-carriages, cross us at every step, in defiance of precaution, perspicacity or genius. As an Eagle, who from afar, should direct his flight to the towering summits of the Andes, may be encountered in his passage by a resistless tempest, and driven, in spite of his exertions; into the jaws of the cavern, which yawns below! : In no department of polite letters, does this liability to mis-carriage, in defiance of genius, appear so remarkable, as in Epic Poetry and exhibit in such glowing colours the immeasurable distance between the lust of Fame, and the difficulty of its fruition. Of those who have completely succeeded, in this path, the number is so small, when compared with those who have failed, that it will strike terror and dismay, into the most impassioned Adventurer. Nothing is so well calculated, to allay the vanity of authors, as this singular abortiveness of the best devised plans, prosecuted by the most powerful intellect. If we admit that two Epic Poets, have risen to universal fame, in the Greek and Roman worlds: and an equal number in modern times, we shall per. haps be nearer the truth, and freer from prejudice, than if we were less rigorous in our estimation of their celebrity-Homer and Virgil, were peculiarly the Poets of the People, in whose language they wrote, whose manners they pourtrayed, and whose glories they celebrated. So likewise was Milton though in a less degree, to the English; and Tasso, on an ampler scale, to the Italians. These are Poets of the heroic verse, who are confined to no class of readers; but all who read, read them! It is by this criterion of universal reception and applause, that I would decide the success, and measure the portion of Fame, which an Epic Poet extorts from mankind; and a better rule of judge. ment I am not aware of; for when we consider the comparative obscurity, into which all others have fallen, who have been endowed with all the divine fire peculiar to the Epic Bard, we shall perceive at once, the justness of the criterion. That they may be applauded equally, in the closet, by men of taste and rudition, that they may be equal in excel ence, to those more renowned, is not disputed; but this affects not the question of Fame, which lies not in corners, colleges, and libraries, but in the world, among all classes, and every people, Millions of opening mouths to Fame belong, We feel no desire to disparage those sublime Poets, whom we except fron this expansive glory On the contrary, we applaud their works venerate their genius, and lament their miscarriage. Their defi ciency was not in their genius, but the unfortunate choice of their subjects Who, for example, can peruse the Pharsalia of Lucan, and deny him the attributes, that inspire and ennoble the fancy of the Epic Bard? Yet how few, even of the Romans, cherished the recollection of the factions of Cæsar. And how much less a number, down even to existing times, are qualified to appreciate the genius, and virtues of Pompey?—The reason of the neglect of Lucan, is, that his subject is not of universal interest. All the Latin poets, inferior to him, must be embraced in the same remark; for they all failed to acquire glory proportioned to their lust of fame Ariosto, notwithstanding the brilliance of his genius, has likewise failed in the same object, if indeed, he can strictly be considered as an Epic Poet. Yet who reads his tales without rapture, who dwells on his romance, without fascination? who rises from his perusal, and does not forever cherish the delightful recollection of his beauties ?-Yet how limited is the renown of Ariosto; how few read him, to bestow on his genius the overflowing rapture of en. thusiastic applause! Dante shares a fate not more auspicious or happy. His works are alone confined to the hands of scholars, out of his native clime! But what production of the human fancy, can surpass his Inferno.Where shall we look for richer poetry, or more in spired genius? Camoens, the Epic Bard of Portugal, has been doomed to the same comparative insignificance and obscurity. His genius was competent to all that imagination can conceive; and his subject, the Dis covery of the East, and the progress of commerce, was one of universal interest; at once appealing to the strongest sentiment, and strongest passion in the human breast, avarice and curiosity. Where, however, shall we look for its celebrity: where listen to the echoes of his applauses? His Lusiad slumbers undisturbed in the closets of the learned; and few perceive those beauties, which upon acquaintance, would ravish them with pleasure, and transport them with admiration!-His episode of the Island of Venus, is equal in sweetness and fire, to the muse of Ovid, and in chastity, to that of Thompson. To Camoens, we may add another striking example of abortive fame, in the fate of Voltaire's Henriad; which though abounding in sentiments and maxims, congenial to every condition; which has for its hero the first Military and patriotic Monarch of modern times; and was indubitably the work of the first dramatic poet of that age, has notwith standing, been unanimously rejected as an Epic poem, and denied the suffrages of mankind causes of this failure appear twofold; an insufficiency in his subject, to attract universal attention, and the radical incompetency of French versification, to convey sublime, noble, and great impressions.French rhyme, too pompous for Tragedy, appears not to possess that majesty, which is indispensible to the Epopee The Let us turn, however, to climes, more congenial to Homeric grandeur; let us turn to Scotland and |