The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1820-03-01 00:00:00

ledges Wild t IMO nil fete emit or
hie ipbtis. hoe sent* almost. 116% from
hid! prototypes. T bssamia-always, however, gene.
rarfestilleirsorVesetnblance in the works pf comet's.
very nallutes; tllttt ire not eh 'elite, bietoleid' from
visit ember es from the beer,
'cull tilde netts it the wide tvarldf they incorpo-
':nita with then owns eunceptiotiiihtliatatedotes and
thoughts whin •are current its society, and thtis
'Mad/ gemerathre 'hal ante feature, in etutifdois, every
,eseleer, Setae thhntteristic of the age in which he
livid. What sites peculiar value to the poem of
its that tt tiny be moldered • trtnscript of
(lie Royal Hard'utrtie feeling,, and the story of his
real loves and fortunes. It tis not often that sae"
reigns write poetry, or that poets deal in fact. It
is gratifying to the pride of a consume men, to find
a Monerot thee suing, at .41 were;.lllllV.admission
into hie eleset, and seeking VI win hielneur by ad-
ministering to his pleasure's-4.4'ft is • proof of the
honest equality of intellectund competition, which
strips off all the trapping. of factitious dignity,
brings the candidate down to a level with his
frl-
low men, and obliges him to depend on his own
native powers _for distinction. It is curious, too,
to get at the history of a Monarch's heart, and find
the simple affections of human nature throbbing
under the ermine. But James had learnt to be a
poet before he was a King; he was schooled in ad-
versity, and reared us the company of his own
thoughts.
" Monarchs have seldom time to parley with their
hearts, or meditate their minds into poetry; and
had James been brought up amidst the adttlatioo
and gaiety of a court, we should never have had
such a poem as the Quisir.
" In his first canto, lot makes several allusions
to his misfortunes, and Isis wearisome impriaon.
anent. They are extremely natural and touching,
and perhaps are rendered snore toncning by their
simple brevity. They Contrast finely with those
elaborate and iterated complaints, whielt we some-
' s meet in poetry, the effusions of morbid minds
sickening order miseries of their own creiting,
and venting their bitterness on an unoffetidusg
world. James speaks of his privation* with acute
sensibility; hut, leaving mentioned them, passes on,
as if his manly mind di-iiamed to Limit over un-
avoidable calamities. When swell a spirit breaks
forth into complaint, we are aware how great must
be the suffering that extorts the murmur. We
sympathise with James, a romantic, active, and ac-
complished Prince, cut off in the lustihood of
youth, from all the enterprise and noble uses of life,
as we do with Milton. alive to nil the beauties of
'suture and glories of art, when he_breathes forth
Isrief hut deep-toned lamentations over his perpe-
tual blindness. From a passage its the first canto,
we find, that the favourite book of James, while lii
prison, was &tints' Consolations of Philosophy,, a
work popular among,. 'tens of that day, and
which had beets tra tty his great predecessor
Chaucer. Aud, Intl ,it would be difficult to
tied, out of the 113efeli writing., a mote admirable
text book for meditation under misfortune. It is
the legacy of a iisible aid inducing spirit, purified
by sorrow amid suffering, beternitliiiig to all its sue.
CCONOrt in calamity the stores of eloquent but sim-
ple reasoning, by which it was enabled to bear up
aphid the various ills of life, It is a talisman
which the unfortunate may ',treasure up in his
/boson; or, like the good ICleg James, lay it up on
• his nightly pillow.
si At what period of his durance he fell in lose
twilding; Lady Asa is uncertain ; but frout that
moinent,it i•Polibilfilfe, lie !mug up philosophy and
became poetical. The descrupt lull of less first
her is picturesque. and given with great beauty of
detail ; he was in the midst of one of, hisidig, of.
ly weariness, despairing. as he suyt; of all joy
and remedy. Fur thud of thought, nod sou-begune,.
he wandered to the window to e‘a•.cli the passers.
by, and gaze out upon Ilse world, ilia poor solace
of the captive. The window looked forth op,„
• small garde's, which lay ut the foot of the tower; ,
it was a quiet sheltered PliOl, adorned with arbours
and greets alleys, and protected from the passing
gaze by trees and ban iilltlis hedges,
" Now was there made fast by the tower's wall,
A video faire, and in the corns rs Si
An arbour green, wills "rendes tong and small,
Railed about, and so with tries bevel
Wit. all the place, and hawthorn hedges keel,
'Flute 4r, was mote walkyn; thete 1., bye,
'Bust might within seam any night espye. •
u Ss thick she Aryl% nail the 15,,, green,
Ileshaded all the alleys that there were,
And midi,* of terry arbour might be strut,
The sharp, giros, sweet juniper.
Glowing so fair with broaches lure and there,
That aa it seemed to a lyp without,
The boughs dud spread the arbour all about.
" And us the small green twistis sat
The Wel saute nyghtingales, and sang
Sit lUlld and dire, the hymn! consecrate
(fl luvi. use, cow sat, mow loud sown,
• all the gaideis and the waits rang
Its its of their soot.
" It was its the month of May. when every OUT
was iii its bloom. As lie gazes on the •cene, anus
listens to the notes of the birds, he gradually lapses
into Otte of those fender and istitletito.bir reverses
that fill the youthful bosom to this delicious ors_
sou. He wonders what this love may be of which
he has so often read, and which thus •••enis breathed
forth in the quickening breath of Mu}, and melt-
ing all nature into et:wavy and song. If it tinily
be so great a felicity, and if it he a bOOll thus gene-
rally dispensed to the most insignilicaiit sit' beings,
why is lie alone cut off from its enjoyments?
Oft would I think ; ly Lord, what may this be,
That lure M of so noble inycht mid krillr,
Loving bis folk, soul such pensperiter
Is it of him, as we in bukis dud:
" May he our hertes awes and atubytitt.
Haiti he upon our hertea such maisLis)e,
Or Is all ibis but feyait fastoye.
" Fur gift lee be of so grete excellence,
That he of every wield hash care and charge:
What bare 1 gilt to him, or clone offense,
Thai I sus ibearti, aud birdie go at large?"
( To k ecriet in' ed. )