a serious sedition in European history which has not had an immediate connexion with taxation. Now, war is the great cause of financial difficulties, and if the European congress shall render wars infrequent, and great military establishments, pro tanto, unnecessary, they will raise more effectual barriers against future revolutions than any other possible device of human wisdom can create. But alas, this wise system (if even to be persevered in) is only for the future. The French revolution, and above all, the gigantic ambition of " its child and champion," Bonaparte, have entailed upon Europe a load of expense and financial pressure which may, perhaps, be the germ of new troubles. They also have created a military spirit, which has rendered war the favourite speculation of great masses of the population of all Europe; and they have unfortunately concluded with consolidating the triumph of their mischievous principles, by the impunity which has been extended to all, and the rewards which have been lavished on most of the surviving criminals of that atrocious revolution. Let us hope, however, that the several governments have internal strength to enable them to weather the present difficulties, and that the judicial union of the sovereigns may continue to decide upon all national differences, and thus deliver mankind from internal wars for the future. M. ANA. I. EVERY one knows that in Burns' Arcum dola dedit, dedit illis alma Sagittam "Is there for honest poverty ?" the bard indulged in a levelling strain of sentiments, which some of his readers have blamed; yet one of the most forcible stanzas might have been borrowed (if Burns had ever borrowed) from a person who was not likely to have encouraged levelling principles, or to have underrated the authority of the princes of the earth. I mean King Lewis the XIV. of haughty and magnificent memory. Burns says, "A king may mak a belted knight, Freron tells us, that Lewis, walking one day in the garden of Versailles, with all his nobles around him uncovered, directed Mansard, an able architect and amiable man, who was, it seems, unwell, to put on his hat-the courtiers looked astonished at so great a condescension, but the monarch rebuked them by saying, "gentlemen, I can make as many dukes as I please, but I never could make a man like Mansard." Freron, vol. ix. p. 36. II. The Jesuits of Dole had two fine convents and estates, the one called L'Arc (the bow) in Lorrain, and La Fléche (the arrow) in Anjou; when the latter was given them by Henry the IV. the following distich appeared, bit? Dole gave these monks the bow-a shaft, the king; But who will give, what they deserve, a string! The anagram is pleasant; but, it seems, the Jesuits know how to have two strings to their bow. poetry, the idle vanity of those whose III. Pope exposes, in admirable Has crept through scoundrels ever since the ancient, but ignoble blood, flood. But I never have met this folly more strikingly exemplified than in an account of the family of Rosencrantz, in Hofman's Historical Portraits of the Worthies of Denmark. "This family, through a long train of descents of persons filling the highest offices, offers few events worthy of attention, except that one nobleman of this name was executed for forging, and another banished for a libel.” IV. A curious Trial by Jury.Christiern the II. had a mistress named Dyvele with whom he suspected one of his nobles, named Forben Oxe, to have been too familiar. She, however, died, and after her death the king asked Oxe to tell him sincerely if his suspicions were well founded. I own, said Oxe, I tried, but never could succeed with her. The furious king ordered Oxe to be tried for this intended crime before the senate-he was, of course, acquitted; if, said the enraged and disappointed tyrant, his neck were as thick as an ox's, I would have his head. He called, therefore, together twelve peasants, and forming a square with four spears, into which they entered, (an odd jury box,) he forbade them to separate till they should have agreed to their verdict upon Oxe. The peasants, perplexed what to do, returned a special verdict which would have done no discredit to a jury of Jesuits-" We cannot try him," said they, "when his own confessions have already condemned him." This was enough for Christiern, and poor Oxe did lose his head accordingly.-Frer. ix. 54. V.That madman Rousseau wrote to a farce called Narcissus a preface as full of the most absurd self-love, as the story of Narcissus itself But Ovid painted his maniac with a soft and harmonious pencil; Rousseau's portrait of himself is in the style of Spagnoletto-Amongst other fine sentiments which he means for philosophy, he says, "In labour, ing to acquire my own esteem, (it does not seem to have required much labour,) I have learned to do very well without the esteem of others." Thus the clear and christian duty of satisfying, in the first place, one's own conscience is parodied by Rousseau into an expression of that morbid vanity which can extract internal satisfaction from the disapprobation of all mankind. M. Ir has often struck me, that an interesting article might be supplied from the neglected (and, in some instances, rare) volumes, known generally by the titles Luctus and Gratulationes, of the two English Universities. From long desuetude it has now become matter of history, that these learned bodies were accustomed during nearly two centuries-for I cannot trace the practice to a remoter date to celebrate every event, sad or sprightly, which could be supposed to interest the nation or it's chief magistrate. An accession; a royal marriage; the birth, or the decease, of a prince or a princess; the recovery, restoration, or return of a sovereign; the successes of a war, or the conclusion of a peace; the restitution of a public library; nay, the deaths even of illustrious or ingenious subjects-Sir Philip Sidney, Mr Camden, Mr Edward King (Lycidas), General Monk, Sir Bevill Grenvill, or Dr Radcliffe-elicited the "melodious tears," or the not less melodious smiles, of the Cambridge* and Oxford muses. My own shelves furnish almost all those of the following dates: 1. 1586. Death of Sir Philip Sidney.-Acad. Cant. Lacrymæ, per A. Nevyllum. 1587. -Peplus, &c. Oxon. 1587. Exequiæ, &c. Oxon. 1589. 2. 3. 4 1603. Accession of James I.-Acad. Oxon. Pietas, &c. 5. 1612. Death of Henry Prince of Wales.-Epicedium Cant. &c. 6. 1619. 7. 1624. Queen Anne-Lacrymæ Cant. &c. William Camden.-Camdeni Insignia, &c. Oxon. 8. 1633. Birth of Duke of York.-Vitis Carolina Genma altera, &c. ad vada Isidis. 9. 1637. a Princess.-Evvadia Musarum Cant. &c. 10. Death of Edward King.-Justa Edouardo King, &c. Cant. 1638. 11. 1641. Return of Charles I. from Scotland.-Irenodia Cant. &c. -Eucharistica Oxon. &c. 12. America herself, in at least one instance, has not disdained to copy the mother-island. In 1761 appeared, from the Boston press, in an elegantly printed volume, upon the subject of the Accession, "Pietas et Gratulatio Collegii Cantabrigiensis (Harvard College, Cambridge) apud Novanglos." It's dedication, as contrasted with the grounds of the rupture which a few years afterward severed the two countries, supplies an additional instance, if indeed any such be wanting, of the short-sightedness of man. One passage, however, with an unconscious equivoque affirms, that "the commencing reign will form a new æra for North America!" "All the compositions, thirty-one in number, with the exception of that of the President, are anonymous; though some of them would not have disgraced a scholar. 13. - Marriage of Prince of Orange and Princess Mary.-gorskum Anglo-Batava, Pari plusquam Virgineo, &c. Oxon. 14. 1643. Return of Queen from Holland.-Musarum Oxon. Ezibarngia, &c. 15. Death of Sir Bevil Grenvill.-Oxford Verses, &c. (Reprinted, London, 1684.) 16. 1654. Peace with Holland.-Oliva Pacis, &c. Cant. 17. -Musarum Oxon. Exaipogia, &c. Genti Togatæ ad vada 18. 1660. Restoration.-Acad. Cant. Zwsga, &c. 20. 1669. 19. Death of Duke of Gloucester.-Epicedia Acad. Oxon. &c. 21. 16:0. 22. 23. 1671. Anne, Duchess of York.-Epicedia Cant. &c. 24. 1677. Marriage of Prince of Orange and Princess Mary-Epithalamium Cant. &c. 25. 1683. Marriage of George of Denmark and Princess Anne.-Hymenæus Cant. 26. 1685. Accession of James II.-Mæstissimæ ac Lætissimæ Acad. Cant. &c. -Supplex Recognitio, &c. et Pietas Acad. Oxon. &c. 27. 28. 1688. Birth of Duke of Cornwall. Genethliacon, &c. Cant. 29. 1695. Death of Queen Mary.-Lacrymæ Cant. &c. 31. 1697. Return of William III. after Peace of Ryswick.-Gratulatio Acad. Cant. &c. 32. 1700. Death of Duke of Gloucester.-Threnodia Acad. Cant. &c. 33. 1702. Accession of Anne.-Acad. Cant. Carmina, &c. 34. 35. -Pietas Univ. Oxon. &c. et Gratulatio, &c. 36. 1704. National Successes.-Plausus Musarum, &c. Oxon. 37. 1714. Accession of George I.-Mœstissimæ ac Lætissimæ Acad. Cant. Carmina, &c. 38. -Pietas Univ. Oxon. &c. et Gratulatio, &c. 39. 1715. Death of Dr Radcliffe.-Exequiæ, &c. Oxon. 40. 1727. Accession of George II.-Luctus Acad. Cant. &c. et Gaudia, &c. 41. 1733. Marriage of Prince of Orange and Princess Anne.-Gratulatio Acad. Cant. &c. 42. 1736. Frederick Prince of Wales. 43. 1738. Death of Queen Caroline.-Pietas Acad. Cant. &c. 4.4 Oxon. &c. 45. 1751...................... Frederick Prince of Wales.—Epicedia Acad. Cant. &c. 46. Oxoniensia, &c. 47. 1755. Restitution of Public Library.-Carmina ad Thomam Holles, &c. Cant. 48. 1760. Accession of George III.-Luctus Acad. Cant. &c. et Gratulatio, &c. -Pietas Acad. Oxon. &c. 49. 50. 1761. Marriage of George III.-Gratulatio Acad. Cant. &c. 51. -Epithalamium Acad. Oxon. &c. 52. 1762. Birth of George Prince of Wales.-Gratulatio Acad. Cant. &c. Solennis Acad. Öxon. &c. 53. 54. 1763. Peace of Paris.—Gratulatio Acad. Cant. &c. Beside these, however, (and in general it may be observed, that upon most of these occasions, except where the subject was strictly local, both universities came forward) others were published-in 1631, on a royal Birth; in the year following, on the King's Recovery from illness; on the Peace of Westphalia, I believe, in 1648; and, a century afterward, on that of Aix-la-Chapelle: with several more in 1691, 1708, &c. &c. which stronger memories, or wealthier libraries, will supply. † In some of the above are found the names of Herbert, Crashaw, Cowley, Milton, Locke, Barrow, Prior, Bentley, Jortin, and Gray-an illustrious decade! But such names, alas! are only the rari nantes in gurgite vasto; and even Gray's hexameters, in 1736, were not deemed worthy, by his friend and editor, of being preserved from the common fate. "Adulatory verses of this kind (Mr Mason observes), however well written, deserve not to be transmitted to posterity; and, indeed, are usually buried, as they ought to be, in the trash with which they are surrounded. Every person, who feels himself a poet, ought to be above prostituting his powers on such occasions; and extreme youth (as was the case with Gray, then It was upon this, or the preceding similar occasion, that the Epigram" While Cam and Isis, &c." made its appearance. + I have not named the " Luctus Britannici," on the Death of Dryden (fol. Lond. 1700), because it is not exclusively academical. twenty) is the only thing that can apologise for his having done it." Yet the compliments, or condolences, of Cowley and Marvell have been printed in their respective works; and the double-tongued Duport, with his inexhaustible urn, which (like that of the witty and unprincipled Dr South) flowed even during the Protectorate, when more loyal tongues were silent, fills nearly half his "Musa Subseciva" with verses of this description. Notwithstanding the protest of Mason, indeed who himself however both wrote, and reprinted what he wrote, (Il Pacifico) upon the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, at the age of twenty-three, I feel assured that one interesting duodecimo might be formed, by a judicious selector, out of these numerous quartos and folios. Tantula sunt vatum corpuscula! Neither is it unpleasant, even in less polished compositions, to mark the cloud-streaked east, which announces the coming day; and to observe, that Cowley from the first was quaint, and Milton sublime, and Barrow copious. Here we see embryo judges and bishops, secretaries of state and prime ministers themselves, first imping their wings for loftier flights. It is occasionally, also, not without it's uses to biography; nor will it pass without a smile from the reader, that the two eventful years of 1688 and 1715 are here only celebrated for the birth of the Pretender and the death of Dr Radcliffe!! Since the year 1763, however, as if the frequency of the recent demand had exhausted the academical Hippocrene, great events of various kinds have passed without receiving any poetical notice from either university. The almost unprecedented fecundity of the queen, which, from the speedy recurrence of births, must have drained the imaginations of the most inventive-the pacification with America-his majesty's illness in 1788, and his recovery-the marriage of the Prince of Wales-the truce of Amiens-the imperial visitTrafalgar, and Waterloo-and (last, not least) the death of the Princess Charlotte and her royal infant-what a succession of subjects! But the public, it may be apprehended, have lost little by the discontinuance of the customs in question; and as little the poets themselves. The verses were frequently composed, no doubt, by the school-fellows or friends of those under whose names they appeared; and time has abundantly repaid the generosity of the writer, for what was regarded perhaps at the moment as a sacrifice, by leaving his own name undiscoverable. Such, we must admit, is their general character, that if public records and parish-registers had not come in timely aid of college-numbers, the "sacred bard," in a large plurality of instances, it is to be feared, would have failed to protect his subject from the "long night" of oblivion. Exercises of this kind, however, are now presumptively at an end; and Laureates and Academies will hereafter, probably for ever, be spared the necessity of crying, Poscimur. Before I conclude, I will throw together the names of a few of the lofty or learned contributors upon each occasion; marking, by italics, such as recur also in subsequent years. Mere heads of houses, noblemen, &c., the "mob of gentlemen" scholars, are of course omitted. No. 4. 1603. J. Howson, Th. Ravis, J. Rainold, and Rich. Kilby (all translators of the Bible) Geo. Abbats (for so the Archbishop, then Dean of Winchester, spelled his name) Henry Marten, Lord Wentworth, aged 11, and his brother, aged 8! Rich. Carpenter, Jae. Cooke, Geo. Hakewill, Arthur Duck, J. Leynthal, Rich. Corbett, Thos. Cooper, Geo. Webbe, J. Prideaux, E. Coles, and J. Hamden. It may be noticed, as a striking fact, that the Oxford University-press at this time wanted types for a third line of Hebrew-typographo deerant characteres! p. 10. 5. 1612. Andr. Downe (Tr.), Jos. Blaxton, Rich. Moundeford,Balcanquall, GEO. HERBERT (the divine), Fra. White, Theoph. Wodenote, and Dens. Holles This was the era of chronograms and acrostichs, mesostichs, &c. 6. 1619. J. Hacket, Edm. Dickinson, Dudley North, Norton Knatchbull, James Willett, Ralph Winterton, and Abr. Whelock. Anagrams were now very general. In my copy, however, which formerly belonged Ex dono, &c., to his friend Professor Widdrington, along with a copy of remuneratory verses, is candidly inserted the following paragraph:-J. Duportus clarissimi, cujusque vitam egregiis carminibus exornat, ut aciamus ipsum plurimis virtutibus abundasse, qui alienas sic amavit. VOL. VI. G 7. 1624. Br. Twyne, Sidn. Godolphin, Will. Strode, Hen. Elsynge, Car. Deodati, and J. Harmar. In the collections of 1631, 1632, 1633, and 1637 occur the contributions. of Milton's friend, Edward King. 8. 1638. Brian Duppa, J. Rous, W. Cartwright, Rob. Waring, Geo. Ashwell, J. Halsey, Tho. Greaves, Fra. Rous, Hen. Killigrew, and Jasper Mayne. 9. 1637. Tho. Comber, Hen. Fern, James Duport, P. Samways, Hen. More, J. Sherman, Ralph Widdrington, Ed. Rainbowe, J. Wallis, Th. Norton, Ed. Penruddoke, And. Marvell, RICH. CRASHAW, and ABR. COWLEY. 10. 1637. Tho. Farnaby, J. Cleveland, and J. MILTON' 11. 1641. Rich. Sterne, Edw. Dering, W. Dillingham, Ja. Tabor, Ralph Cudworth, Abr. Cowley, and Oliver St. John. 12. 13. A. Woodhead, E. Gayton, T. Tullie, Hen. Vaughan, and J. Fell. Rich. Zouch, Ralph Bathurst, and J. Hall. 14. 1643. Dudley Diggs. 15. 1613. Ric. Baylie, Tho. Lamplugh, Hen. Harington, and Pet. Wyche. The Oxford verses often conclude with a copy by Leon. Lichfield, the University-printer. 16. 1654. J. Arrowsmith, B. Whichcot, Fra. Glisson, Tho. Fuller, and Geo. Bright. 17. 1654. J. Owen,-Bagshawe, Nath. Crewe, Rob. South, J. LOCKE, J. Forde, and J. Ailmer. 18. 1660. W. Disney, and ISAAC BARROW (and in the three ensuing numbers). 20. 1669. J. Pearson, J. Spencer, and T. Gale. 21. 1670. J. Battely, R. Garth, L. Milbourne, and Leo. Welstead. 22. R. Creyghton, W. Saywell, T. Gataker, and Nat. Lee. 23. 1671. T. W. (oolston ?) and J. Byrom. 24. 1677. R. Duke, Jos. Barnes, J. Glanvill, W. Fleetwood, and J. Hartcliffe. 25. 1683. Rob. Jenkin, Matt. Scrivener, and H. Gore. 26. 1685. Geo. Harbin, Charles Dryden, Geo. Stepney, Hen. Wharton, Tho. Johnson, Jac. Winstanly, W. Wotton, Tho. Baker, M. PRIOR, and Geo. Stanhope. Tho. Hyde, Edw. Bernard, Edw. Pococke, Geo. Smalridge, and Arthur Mainwaring. 27. 28. 1688. Bevill Higgons. 29. 1695. J. Covel, And. Snape, Fra. Hare, Rich. Cumberland, Tho. Sherlock, J. Trevor, A. Blackwell, James Upton, Will. Shippen, W. Willymot, Cha. Daubuz-Hoadly, and Ambrose Phillips. 30. 1695. H. Aldrich, Tho. Hanmer, Edm. Chishull, J. Freind, Hen. Sacheverell, J. Shadwell, Basil Kennett, Ant. Alsop, J. Potter, E. Thwaites, and Christ. Codrington. 31. 1697. H. Bland, Rob. Walpole, and Pet. Needham. 32. 1700. Marquis of Blandford, RICH. BENTLEY, W. Sherlock, Tho. Pilgrim, Tho. Ralph, and Pet. Allix. 33. 1702. Tho. Rymer, and A. A. Sykes. 34. W. Elstob, R. Boyle, W. Pulteney, J. Hilldrop, J. Cockman, W. Oldisworth, and Peter Foulkes. 36. 1704. Tho. Cockman. 37. 1714. J. Markland, Zach. Pearce, and Roger Long. 38. Rich. Grey, Rich. Rawlinson, Ralph Assheton, and Digby Cotes. 39. 1715. Phil. Barton, and J. Trenchard. 40. 1727. Rich. Dawes, Tho. Hayter, W. Battie, Rich. Mountney, J. JORTIN, S. Pegge, Seward, and Dr J. Taylor. 41. 1733. Phil. Yonge, J. Garnett, W. Cooke, and C. Anstey. 42. 1736. THO. GRAY. 43. 1738. Geo. Harvest, W. Whitehead, Israel Lyons, J. Upton, and Edm. Keene. 44. Rog. Newdigate, J. Coneybeare, James Merrick, Edw. Bentham, Wellbore Ellis, Jos. Trapp, J. Shipley, and Jos. Spence. 45. 1751. J. Green, W. George, J. Hallam, Geo. Baker, Beilby Porteus, Fr. Montagu, J. Hinchliffe, Erasmus Darwin, J. Foster, J. Parkhurst, R. Camberland, J. Cranwell, Fra. Maseres, and J. Symonds. 46. Lord North, Tho. Hunt, Rob. Lowth, Tho. Warton, Tho. Tyrwhitt, Benj. 47. 1755. Rob. Glynn, Cha. Emily, Rob. Tyrwhitt, Rich. Furmer, Elijah Impey, and Edw. Tew. 48. 1760. S. Ogden, J. Langhorne, R. Croftes, Benj. Heath, T. Zouch, J. Halifax, Tho. Powys, Hor. Mann, Joah Bates, and J. Law. 49. Brownlow North, Shute Barrington, James Macdonald, Lewis Bagot, Fra. |