The Sun.
London, England, 1815-08-16 00:00:00

ARRIVALS IN LONDON.

The Earl and Countess of Besborougli and their sod, Col.
Ponsunby, from Brussels; Sir, Abm. Hume, Bart. from
Brumley Hill, Kent.

TITE SUN REVIEW.

(No. -XC.)

The WirtTE Don, bp ItrLiTosn; a-, The &le of.tiie Nor-
tons,: a
.I.;oeur, by W1.L.1.1.1m WonnsiyonTn. Longman,
Hurst, Rpcs, Opne, and Bisowne, 410. pp. Iti

4tuong the pho.tnomena of t his criltc•al ago may
be ranked the diversity of opinion to whi:h the
writings,ofMr. WoßDswowru and of the peculiar
school to which he belongs, have given birth.. Not
only is the same production applauded to the Clio by
one set of sage Reviewers, and utterly condeinu7-
ed by another set eqiially sage, but the same in-
dividual prtssages are cited by both in support of
their different, ,opinions. One. says, -" that is
sublime," which anotherpronounees 6'. to be stark
nonsense ;" one says,. "that is a.,beautifid and
natural' image," which another
.calls " silly and
puerile;" one says, " that is the true: spirit of
poetry," which another denominates the" maudlin
ravings of perverted enthusiasm,"—and they pro
duce the very identical lines to justify their very
opposite verdicts. It is rather a curious fact too,
that while persons who do not take much trouble
in thinking for themselves, peruse these criti-
eisms, they generally agree with that -immediately
before them, like the countryman. who listened to.
the pleadings in a law suit, awl first thought Pro
right, and next con,' and lastly, when the judge
summed up, neither.—We arc somewhat 'of this
frame of mind, for though we will confess. that
4's panegyric, and B's abdse staggered even us,
as if we had belonged to the anWeighing multi-
tude, the first into admiration, and the last into
disgust ; when "we resolved to take a view of the
case, we found that both had exaggerated like
Lawyers, to make the best for their own side,
and that the truth lay between the unmerited
praise of the one, and the unprovoked dispa.age-
ment of the tither. We found that Mr. WORDS-
WORTH was neither the beit of bards nor the
worst ; that he occasionally manifested the work-
ings of the GOD, and poured forth the legitimate
effusions of inspiration ; and that he frequently
dwindled into a sort of metaphysical abstraction
and childish sentimentality which insulted the
Deity, and proved:any thing but a derivation frOtu
the Pierian spring.

. _
It pains us to add, that the latter description is
so generally applicable, that we were glad to have
it in our power to experiment upon 'so' short a
Poem as the White Doe, and to be thus enabled
to refrain from pursuing investigations, for our
own information, on the promised Land, over a
small part of which the Author has already taken
an " Excursion."

This ‘llite Doe is a rerfect example of all that
is admired, and all that is contemned in the Au-
thor's style and manner. .It is a strange medley
of feeling, affectation, poetry, doggrel,
folly, elevation, weanness,—all the peculiarities to
which a tine imagination and a perverted. taste so
naturally lead. But in these Critical notices,
circumscribed
_as they are in bounds, we cannot,
like our gigantic Brethern who sally forth in
volume's, spare much of our limits for general re 7
flections : we must hasten to' our extracts, and
while 'we "slim their eyes," we trust our Readers
will not think that we have any intention to
" grieve their hearts ;".—rather let our quota-
tions

" Come like shadows—so depart!"

The Poem of the White Doe is founded upon
a tradition connected with Balton Priory i❑ York-
shire, of which, en passant, there is a very good
engraving in front of the volume, from .a painting
by Sir GEORGE-BEAUMONT. The whole story inay
be coinprized in feW words. Ric-BARD NORTON,
of Rylstone, with eight of his SonS, joined the
Northern insurrection, in 1569 ; were taken by
Queen ELIZABETH'S army, and, executed as Trai-
tors. NORTON'S eldest.. Son FRANCIS, and his
only Daughter, adhered to the Reformed Church,
and, though they took no part in .the Rebellion,
the latter wrought'a Sacred Standard for her Fa-
ther,• which the former, in the extremity of his
Family's distress, and at the dying request of
his aged Parent, undertook to deposit on the
altar in Bolton Priory. This filial act exposed
hint to the suspicion of the Royalists ;
.he was
_pursued and slain. The young Lady became a
Devotee, and the familiar Doe having attended
her in her seclusion, used,' after her death, to
frequent these favourite haunts as when she ac-
'conipanied her Mistress. This gave rise to many
superstitious fables, and to Mr. WORDSWORTH'S
book. •

• Previous to introducing the Doe upon the
scene, we have a description of the Sabbath re-
sort of the people to the Chapel of Bolton, which
is far, less picturesque and poetical than tnigl►t
have been expected. Indeed, we cannot tell what'
sort of versification this

Fast the churchyard fills;—anon
Look Again, and they all are gone.;
The cluster round the porch, and the folk
11 •
ho sate in the shade of the Prior'S oak !
&c. &c.
Hating housed the congregation in church,'
however,

Comes gliding in with lovkly gleam,
Comes gliding in serene and slow,
Soft and silent as a dream,
A solitary Doc.

This Doe, which in the course of the Poem at-
tains the diversified epithets of " bright creature"—
" brilliant creat tire"-4‘ radiant creature"-" love-
ly creatur6---," innocent creature"—" fair, meek,
happy, single, inferior, gentle, creature,'' &c. &c.
is then very sweetly described (in the conception,
though the executiou is indifferent), in her pas-

szgc
among the ruins to tire churchyard, where
she can Otes by a grave at a distance from all the
rest. Nothing can be more delightful than a cum.;
paiisdn here introduced • •
On she in s