much of a 'queenlike' superiority in the earth; that, however much larger the other planets may be, they are not habitable by any living competency of life with which we are acquainted. To be habitable, by thinking and immortal beings, must philosophically constitute the earth's planetary superiority. The other objection as to sentiment is scarcely worth noticing. It is a charge of plagiarism from Mr. Moore, which charge is met by Mr. Robert Montgomery himself, who refers to the passage from the great modern lyrist in his notes.

He thrones a winter on his awful brow,

And lays the summer laughing at his feet.

The critic's allegation of a defect in the personifying antithesis, depends on the epithet laughing, which may be used impersonally for sunny, as Pope's laughing skies.' If, however, the passage were intended to imply a personated contrast, Mr. R. Montgomery may have had in view the Tartar custom of placing statues on the heads of others; or the Chinese, of sculpturing gigantic deities from the tops of mountains, their hair being forests, and their eyes caves*. The antithesis of such a frowning, wintry giant, to the laughing infant, Summer, at the foot of Ararat, would, in this case, be not only accurate in metaphor, but highly beautiful in local association. Come we next to the objections as to diction.

* Kircher's China Illustrata. He mentions the giant features of one which may be seen for many leagues in the plains of Tonking;—an instance of the sublime in art worthy of note by the Rev. Mr. Bowles.

I class them, according to legitimate critical rule, under the heads of sentiment and diction, though the vague manner in which all are jumbled with the bits of personality and dabs of joke, demonstrate that the writer had a great disdain' for any such old-fashioned restrictions on the march of criticism. But objections to diction are critical, and therefore deserve examination. The writer selects certain passages, and throws them into a prose form; arguing, in half a column of unnecessary verbiage, that true poetry will bear the test. It is at once admitted. More, indeed, might be admitted; true poetry may be written in a prose form (i. e.) without metre. Of this, Gesner's Idylls, and Klopstock's Messiah, are obvious proofs; but Bishop Lowth has proved that Hebrew poetry was as much unshackled by metre as by rhyme, depending on comparison, parallelism, antithesis, and climax of ideas, not words. Without reference to the notorious fact that Pitt scanned with his fingers, as he spoke, large portions of his speeches, as well as those of Burke and Canning, are the noblest poetry. The plea is, therefore, readily admitted, and thereupon issue' may be readily joined.' The following is the passage, as quoted by the author; it is not, of course, the best in the work; but mark how well it bears the ordeal. Italics, and notes of question and admiration, are the critical Fire King's pseudo ploughshares.

'The night hath drowsed, the revelry is o'er, and Nature wooes me. A dawn, like a shining sea, ad

vances through the orient heavens. Enormous funtusies of waking light, as foam from a volcano's fiery lips, now welter forth around in rich transcendency of beams (!!!) For, lo! the surfaced moon, arranged in clouds of crimson bloom, comes gliding o'er the waves that billow dancingly to wear her smile (!!) and veils the world with glory. Rocks and hills salute her with magnificence (!!!) With their greenest pomp the woods and plains are mantled, and night-tears glisten in her rosy beams (?)'

The real passage, misquoted and perverted in the second line, stands thus in that cogent answer to modern Zoiluses, an early second edition. The critic will see that he has been fighting, like Don Quixote, with windmill giants; or rather, like Tom Thumb, He makes the giants first, and then he kills them.'

The night hath drowsed, the revelry is o'er,
And Nature woos me. Through the orient heaven
A dawn advances, like a shining sea;

Around in rich transcendency of beams,
Enormous fantasies of waking light,

As foam'd from a volcano's fiery lips,—
Now welter forth, then wanton, and dissolve;
For lo! array'd in clouds of crimson bloom,

The sun-faced Morn comes gliding o'er the waves,
That billow dancingly to wear her smile,

And veils the world with glory! Rocks and hills
Salute her with magnificence; the woods

And plains are mantled with their greenest pomp,
And night-tears glisten in her rosy beam.

Here, with the exception of drowsed,' which is a phrase of Shakspeare's

'Good things of day begin to drowse,

6

any one may see that the corrected errata get rid of many of the critic's quicksilver objections, which are luckily fixed by his italics, or might otherwise evade the finger. The sun-faced morn, arrayed in clouds of crimson bloom,' is very different from the surfaced MOON, arranged, &c. Homer's Aurora, awaking on the bed of Tithonus, and, with rosy fingers, unbarring the gates of light, may be sun-faced *, may be attended by crimson clouds,' and may have rosy beams.' The weltering forth of light' is a strong phrase, and, though original, justifiable by light's wavy transmission, even according to philosophical theory and experiment: the phrase, enormous fantasies of waking light,' is also strong; but no one who has watched the gradual outbreaking of a fine summer morning from the sea, in long diverging and coruscating ribands of light, fluctuating like (but with far less velocity, and therefore flowing or weltering) the radii of an aurora borealis, can avoid being struck with the novel force, as well as graphic propriety, of the whole image. Here follows the remainder of the passage according to the critic's italicised version. But in yon valleys, where from bosomed (?) cots, like burning incense, wreathy smoke ascends, how beautiful the flush of life! The birds are winged for heaven, and steep the

*His face was like the sun-shining in its strength.'—Revelations. 'Black Memnon,' the Son of Tithonus and Aurora, whose statue welcomed the sun's rise in Egypt with its mystic basalt lyre, was 'sun-faced. The head of the extant statue, vulgarly termed Memnon (see Denon), is that of Leo surmounted by the solar disk -hieroglyphically implying the sun shining in its strength.'

air in song (?) while, in the gladness (?) of the newborn breeze, the young leaves flutter; and the flowerets shake their innocence (!) and bloom.' The first objection is to the word 'bosom'd'—'bosom'd cots;' the honor of the blame is shared with Milton.

Again

Bosom'd high in tufted trees.

The birds are winged for heaven,

And steep the air in song.

The critic objects to the latter forcible image: which, meo periculo, be it said, is one of great beauty. The 'flow of song' is proverbial. Nothing can be more common than the poetical use of this phrase. How often has the flow of song been compared to that of rivers ? * Darwin has the strong expression of melodious tears this is a conceit; but to steep in

6

song,' when it is one of the commonplaces of poetry to term song a liquid flow,' may assuredly be licensed. Shakspeare speaks of tears drowning the wind, which, despite his great authority, is undoubted fustian. Again

The young leaves flutter, and the flowrets shake
Their innocence and bloom.

The objection here possesses weight. The phrase, though an Hebraism, expressing a quality for a thing, is objectionably strong; but Milton uses a stronger

*Denham's most beautiful passage is the much-quoted comparison of his song to the flowing of the Thames. But Campbell uses a more analogous phrase:

And steep thy song in mercy's mellow stream.-Pleasures of Hope.