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Description of Claremont.

of the sister of Prince Leopold, which is characterised not only by great beauty, but by a sweetness of expression which is more easy to be conceived than described.

Here ends the inspection of the house: these are the only apartments exhibited. There are four other rooms on the same floor, but these are not open to public inspection: they consist of the bed room, in which her Royal Highness breathed her last; her dressing room and that of the prince, and a breakfast room. In the hall there is a handsome brilliant table. Each room is attended by a female servant, who will give every information the visitors may require, and the whole household are attired in deep mourning.

From the mansion you are directed to the pleasure grounds, and in this excursion you are attended by a servant, who conducts you to those objects which are most worthy of your attention. You first proceed to the back front of the house, from whence there is a view of a pleasing vista, between rows of luxuriant trees, whose boughs sweep the sloping lawn; the lawn terminates with a rural cottage, intended as a music room, in front of which is a pond, bearing on its silver surface various aquatic birds. From this you are led by a circuitous path to what is called the Mount:" this is a hill of considerable elevation, clothed with shrubs and overhanging trees. On the summit is a building called Claremont, from whence the estate takes its title, as appears from an inscription on its front, bearing these words, <And Claremont be the name, 1715." This edifice was, no doubt, erected by the original proprietors of the place, on account of the beautiful prospect which is commanded from its scite. The view from its summit, to which you are led, is extremely fine, and extends over the greater part of the County of Surrey. During the life time of the Princess, it was fitting up as a conservatory, but this plan was abandoned, a more eligible spot for such a purpose having been selected elsewhere.

You are next conducted to the New Conservatory, which is not quite completed, but forms a very pleasing object.-From this you proceed, by circuitous paths, through the bosom of a wood to a small and elegant Gothic mausoleum, commenced in the lifetime of the Princess, and since finished under the direction of her heart-torn husband; who, in the completion of a work so peculiarly adapted to his frame of mind, and to the event which has reduced him to a state of "solitude even in the midst of society," seemed to enjoy a melancholy pleasure. In the centre of this little edifice is a pedestal, which also answers the purpose of a stove, and upon which is to be placed a bust of the Princess Charlotte. The limited character of the surrounding scenery, which is extremely circumscribed, consisting only of the varied hues of evergreens and forest foliage, the wide spreading

[Oct. 1,

cypress, the yew, and the larch, combining to make it still more gloomy, renders this place admirably calculated for those contemplations which may be supposed best suited to the nature of the building.

From this spot you are led through paths bordered by ever-greens, until you suddenly burst upon an extensive circular lake, surrounded by wood, and having in its centre an island covered with foliage, through which it would seem the rays of the sun can scarcely ever penetrate. In making the circuit of this lake, your attention is directed to a little cottage, which is the peculiar work of the Princess herself: it bears all the characteristics of rusticity, but at the same time fills the mind with an idea of perfect comfort. In this cottage resides a woman, eighty years of age, who was a favourite object of her Royal Highness's bounty. It appears that this poor old creature had, with her husband, lived servant in successive families who had formerly occupied this estate: at length worn down by age and infirmity, and unable longer to support herself by labour, she retired to a miserable little hovel which stood on the scite of the present building, where she lived upon occasional contributions from the mansion house, and the small earnings of her husband. On the arrival of the Princess, Dame Bewly, as she is called, soon attracted her notice. Her Royal Highness discovered her residence, and found her endeavouring to read an old bible, the small print of which, to her enfeebled eyes, was almost indistinguishable. Dame Bewly complained of this, but she complained no more. The next day she received what she considered an inestimable treasure, namely, a bible and a prayer book of the largest print, and, in a short time, through the same benevolence, her old and shattered residence was removed, and the present cottage substituted. To offer a word in praise of the heart that directed this change would be superfluous. The nation has already testified its feelings with regard to her in whose bosom that heart glowed; and sure are we, that there is not an individual who listens to the garrulous encomiums of poor Dame Bewly upon her whose loss she, as well as every inhabitant of the United Kingdom deplores--who will not add one more tear to the millions which have already been shed by those who fondly hoped at some future period to be her subjects.

From Dame Bewly's you pursue your course by the side of the lake through a wild, but artificial scene of hanging rooks, and from thence through various lawns and shrubberies, until you once more emerge in front of the mansion. You finally inspect the kitchen garden and green-houses, which are only interesting from the recollection of her under whose direction they have arrived at their present state of perfection. The whole excursion occupies about two hours, and although the pleasure to be de

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1818.] Original Letters of Robert Burns and Miss Williams.

rived may truly be said to be of a melancho-
ly description, yet it is a pleasure which we
would rather seek than avoid. The fond re-
collection of her who has endeared these
scenes to the British heart, as well as the
principle upon which that fondness is
founded, must, to all who are capable of a
refined sentiment, render a visit to Clare-
mont a gratification of no ordinary kind.

THE QUERIST.
SIR-on reading the other day that sin-
gularly curious book, lately published,
The Memoirs of John Evelyn, Esq."
I was struck with the following passage,
("On the 22d April, 1694, a fiery ex-
halation rising out of the sea spread
itselfe in Montgomeryshire a furlong

THE

227

broad, and many miles in length, burning all straw, hay, thatch and grass, but doing no harm to trees, timber, or any solid things, onely barns or thatched houses. It left such a taint on the grasse as to kill all the cattle that eate of it. I saw the attestations in the hands of the sufferers. It lasted many months.") I have endeavoured to account for this on some acknowledged system, but in vain. I shall therefore feel greatly obliged by your placing it in the list of queries in your useful miscellany, hoping to be favoured, through your superior knowledge, or from some of your learned correspondents, with a solution of the above singular phænomenon.

CABINET.

ORIGINAL LETTERS OF ROBERT BURNS AND HELEN MARIA WILLIAMS.

THE two following articles form part of a selection from the unpublished correspondence of Robert Burns. The first, a letter from the celebrated Helen Maria Williams to the poet, refers chiefly to some occasional verses by Dr. Moore, not in our possession, and about which it does not seem necessary to enquire more particularly. The second is a criticism by Burns, upon a poem of Miss 'W.'s, which, it appears, she had submitted for his opinion. The critique, though not without some traits of his usualsound judgment and discrimination, appears on the whole to be much in the strain of those gallant and flattering responses which men of genius usually find it incumbent to issue, when consulted upon the productions of their female admirers.

"SIR--Your friend Dr. Moore, having a complaint in his eyes, has desired me to become his secretary, and to thank you in his name, for your very humorous poem, entitled, "Auld Willie's Prayer," which he had from Mr. Creech. "I am happy in this opportunity of expressing my obligations to you for the pleasure your poems have given me. I am sensible enough that my suffrage in their favour is of little value, yet it is natural for me to tell you, that, as far as I am capable of feeling poetic excellence, I have felt the power of your genius. I believe no one has read oftener than myself your "Vision," your "Cotter's Evening," the “Address to the Mouse," and many of your other poems. My mother's family is Scotch, and the dialect has been fami

liar to me from my infancy; I was therefore qualified to taste the charm of your native poetry, and as I feel the strongest attachment for Scotland, I share the triumph of your country in producing your laurels.

"I know the enclosed poems, which were addressed to me by Dr. Moore, will give you pleasure, and shall therefore risk incurring the imputation of vanity by sending them. I own that I gratify my own pride by so doing: you know enough of his character not to wonder that I am proud of his friendship, and you will not be surprised that he, who can give so many graces of wit and originality to prose, should be able to please in verse, when he turns his thoughts that way. One of these poems was sent to me last summer, from Hamilton House; the other is so local that you must take the trouble to read a little history before you can understand it. My mother removed lately to the house of a Captain Jaques, in Southampton Row, Bloomsbury Square. What endeared this situation not a little to my imagination, was the recollection that Gray the poet had resided in it. I told Dr. Moore, that I had very solid reasons to think that Gray had lived in this very house, and had composed the " Bard" in my little study; there were but fifty chances to one against it, and what is that in poetical calculation? I added, that I was convinced our landlord was a lineal descendant of Shakespeare's Jaques. Dr. Moore laughed, as he has often occasion to do, at my folly; but the fabric which my fancy had reared upon the firm substantial air, soon tottered; for it became a mat

228

Original Letters of Robert Burns and Miss Williams.

ter of doubt if our habitation was in Southampton Row, or in King Street, which runs in a line with it. In the meantime, Dr. Moore called upon me, and left the enclosed verses on my table.

It will give me great pleasure, sir, to hear that you find your present retirenient agreeable, for indeed I am much interested in your happiness. If I only considered the satisfaction I should de

rive from your acquaintance, I should wish that your fortune had led you to wards London; but I am persuaded that you have had the wisdom to choose the situation most congenial to the Muses. I am sir, with great esteem, your obedient servant.

H. M. WILLIAMS, London, June 20th, 1787.

A few Strictures on Miss William's

Poem on the Slave Trade. I know very little of scientific criticism, so all I can pretend to in that intricate art is, merely to note, as I read along, what passages strike me as uncommonly beautiful, and where the expression seems to me perplexed or faulty.

The poeni opens finely. There are none of those idle prefatory lines which one may skip over before one comes to the subject. Verses 9th and 10th, in par

ticular,

Where ocean's unseen bound, Leaves a drear world of waters round, are truly beautiful. The simile of the hurricane is likewise fine; and indeed, beautiful as the poem is, almost all the similies rise decidedly above it. From verse 31st to verse 50th, is a pretty eulogy on Britain. Verse 36th, that foul drama deep with wrong," is nobly expressive. Verse 45th, I am afraid, is rather unworthy of the rest; "to dare to feel," is an idea that I do not altogether like. The contrast of valour and mercy, from the 46th verse to the

50th, is admirable.

Either my apprehension is dull, or there is something a little confused in the apostrophe to Mr. Pitt. Verse 55th is the antecedent to verses 57th and 58th, but in verse 58th the connection seems ungrammatical :

Powers

With no gradations marked their flight, But rose at once to glory's height. Ris'n should surely be the word instead of rose. Try it in prose. Powers their flight marked by no gradations, but (the same powers) risen at once to the height of glory. Likewise, verse

[Oct. 1,

52nd, "For this" is evidently meant to lead on the sense of verses 59th, 60th, 61st and 62nd; but let us try how the thread of connection runs.

For this

The deeds of mercy that embrace A distant sphere, an alien race, Shall virtue's lips record, and claim The fairest honours of thy name. I beg pardon if I misapprehend the matter, but this appears to me the only imperfect passage in the poem: the comparison of the sun beam is fine.

Richmond is, I hope, as just as it is cerThe compliment to the Duke of tainly elegant. The thought

Virtue

Lends from her unsullied source,

The gems of thought their purest force, is exceedingly beautiful. The idea from verse 81st to the 85th, that the "blest

decree" is like the beams of morning
ushering in the glorious day of liberty,
From
ought not to pass unnoticed.
verse 85th to verse 108th, is an animated
contrast between the unfeeling selfishness
of the oppressor on the one hand, and
the misery of the captive on the other:
verse 88th, might perhaps be mended
thus, "Nor ever quit her narrow maze.
quit a maze. Verse 100, is exquisitely
We are said to pass a bound, but we

beautiful,

They, whom wasted blessings tire. Verse 110 is, I doubt, a clashing of metaphors; to "load a span," is, I am afraid, an unwarrantable expression. In verse 114, "Cast the universe in shade," is a fine idea. From the 115th verse to the 142nd, is a striking description of the wrongs of the poor African. Verse 120, "the load of unremitted pain," is a remarkably strong expression. The address to the advocates for abolishing the Slave Trade, from verse 143 to verse 208, is animated with the true life of genius. The picture of oppression,

While she links her impious chain,
And calculates the price of pain;
Weighs agony in sordid scales,
And marks if death or life prevails,
is nobly executed.

What a tender idea is in verse 180; indeed, that whole description of Home may vie with Thomson's somewhere in the beginning of his Autumn. I do not remember to have seen a stronger expression of misery than is contained in these verses;

Condemned, severe extreme, to live
When all is fled that life can give.

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The comparison of our distant joys to distant objects, is equally original and striking.

The character and manners of the dealer in this infernal traffic is a well done though a horrid picture. I am not sure how far introducing the sailor was right; for though the sailor's common characteristic is generosity, yet, in this case, he is certainly not only an unconcerned witness, but in some degree an efficient agent in the business: verse 224, is nervous, and "the heart convulsive anguish breaks," expressive. The description of the captive wretch, when he arrives in the West Indies, is carried on with equal spirit. The thought, that the oppressor's sorrow on seeing his slave pine, is like the butcher's regret, when his destined lamb dies a natural death, is exceedingly fine.

I am got so much into the cant of criticism, that I begin to be afraid, lest I have nothing except the cant of it; and instead of elucidating my author, am only benighting myself. For this reason, I will not pretend to go through the whole poem. Some few remaining beautiful lines, however, I cannot pass over. Verse 280 is the strongest description of selfishness I ever saw. The comparison in verses 285 and 286, is new and fine; and the line "your alms to penury you lend," is excellent.

In verse 317, "like" should surely
be "as," or "so;" for instance,
His sway the hardened bosom leads
To cruelty's remorseless deeds;
As (or so) the blue lightning when it springs
With fury on its livid wings,
Darts to the goal with rapid force,
Nor heeds that ruin mark its course.

If you insert the word "like," where
I have placed
"us," you must alter
darts to darting and heeds to hecding,
in order to make it grammar. A tem-
pest is a favourite subject with the poets,
but I do not remember any thing even
in Thomson's 66
Winter," superior to

your verses from the 347 to the 351. Indeed that last simile, beginning with "Fancy may dress," &c. and ending with the 350th verse, is, in my opinion, the most beautiful passage in the whole poem; it would do honor to the greatest names that ever graced our profession. I will not beg your pardon, Madam, for these strictures, as my conscience tells me, that, for once in my life, I have acted up to the duties of a Christian in doing as I would be done by.

R. BURNS.

Spenser.

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IN Todd's 66 Life of Spenser," in which there is to be found much valuable information regarding the studies and pursuits of this great man, and the there is a curious letter of Spenser's state of English Literature at that period, friend, Harvey, in which he recommends to the author of the Faery Queen the study of Petrarch. trarche, and perhappes it will advaunce Think upon Pethe wings of your imagination a degree higher; at least if any thing can be added to the loftiness of his conceite, whom gentle Mistress Rosalind once reported to have all the intelligences at commandment, and another time christened him Signor Pegaso." The gentle Mistress Rosalind here mentioned, was a lady to whom Spenser was early attached.

with which he and his Mistress must have It shows the poetical conversations entertained themselves, alluding, as Todd says, to the "pleasant days that were gone and past;"-for the lady deserted Signor Pegaso, and married his rival. In July 1580, Spenser was, by the interest of the Earl of Leicester and Sir Philip Sydney, appointed secretary to He afterwards received, on his return Lord Grey, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. property in the county of Cork, from to England, a grant of a considerable spot around which is classic ground, is Queen Elizabeth. His residence, every described by Smith in his Natural and Civil History of the county of Cork. The castle was then nearly level with the ground. It must have been a noble situation; a plain almost surrounded by mountains, with a lake in the middle; and the river Mulla, so often mentioned by Spenser, running through his grounds. In this romantic retreat he Sir Walter Raleigh, himself an accomwas visited by the noble and injured plished scholar and poet, under whose encouragement he committed his Faery Queen to the press.

Anecdote of Heylin.

This celebrated man, soon after publishing his "Geography of the World," accepted an invitation to spend a few weeks with a gentleman who lived on the New Forest, Hampshire; with directions where his servant should meet him to conduct him thither. As soon as he was joined by the gentleman's servant, they struck off into the thick of the Forest, and after riding for a considerable time, Mr. Heylin asked if that was the right road; and to his great

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Anecdote of Frederic the Great.-Discovery of a Murder. [Oct. 1,

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The conduct of a man in public life, occupied in concealing his ignorance, is an absolute system of tactics. It is curious to remark his studied silence when the conversation turns upon a subject which he is conscious he ought to know well, and of which he is equally conscious that he knows nothing; to see how he slinks away when this conversation approaches too near him, and the looks of the circle around seem to express that they are all expectation to hear his opinion. He goes up in an absent way to the chimney-piece, takes up some papers that lie there, and begins to look them over with profound attention, while, nevertheless, if he hears any thing said on which he may venture with confidence to put in a word, 'tis so, says he, exactly so, not taking his eyes however from the papers till the moment when he can adroitly give another turn to the conversation; and to this resource he has been obliged to recur so often, that it has become entirely familiar to him.

Sometimes he will be a little more adventurous; and if a debate arises in his company upon the period when some event of antiquity happened, or upon the distance between two large towns, and several different opinions on the question are supported with equal pertinacity, one maintaining, for instance, that it was the year 300, before our era, another, that it was the year 200, one that the distance between the towns was 2000 leagues, another that it was 2400, he will fix the period at the year 250, the distance at 2200 leagues this is a medium he ventures to take without having any notion whatever upon the subject, only he feels confident that he cannot be very wide of the mark. But with such fortunate opportunities to display his knowledge, he is not often favoured. It is more easy for him to terminate a controversy on any axiom laid down, since he has always some common-place remark, or assertion ready at hand, suited to the occasion. Some

times he takes his revenge; and if he happens to have been reading in the morning, in the way of his business, any paper or papers, through which he has acquired some piece of statistical knowledge, he does not rest till he gives the conversation such a turn, as will enable him to bring it out. Woe, then, to any one who thinks he shall pay his court to him by making many inquiries upon the subject, or who offers some slight objection, that he may ask for an explanation-our man of ignorance is already at the full length of his tether; he answers only by monosyllables, and becomes evidently out of humour.

Madame de Stael.

Anecdote of Frederic the Great.

Frederic the Great, being informed of the death of one of his chaplains, a man of considerable learning and piety, determining that his successor should not be behind him in these qualifications, took the following method of ascertaining the merit of one of the numerous candidates for the appointment. He told the applicant that he would himself furnish him with a text, the following Sunday, when he was to preach at the Royal Chapel, from which he was to make an extempore sermon. The clergyman accepted the proposition. The whim of such a probationary discourse was spread abroad widely, and at an early hour the Royal Chapel was crowded to excess. The King arrived at the end of the prayers, and on the candidate's ascending the pulpit, one of his Majesty's aides-de-camp presented him with a sealed paper. The preacher opened it, and found nothing written therein; he did not, however, in so critical a moment, lose his presence of mind; but, turning the paper on both sides, he said, “My brethren, here is nothing, and there is nothing; out of nothing God created all things," and proceeded to deliver a most admirable discourse upon the wonders of the creation.

A remarkable discovery of a Murder.

The murderer of Mr. Martin, receiver of taxes at Bilguy, says a letter from Bar-sur-Aube, was discovered a few days ago, in the most singular manner, and arrested. The crime was committed on the 9th of February, on the high road, at one o'clock in the afternoon. The shot entered Mr. Martin's heart, and he fell down dead. He was

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