Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1826-06-09
forever buried in the grave with him who eaus-

| forever buried In the grave WIN "i'' NV N"Ao
ed it,"
production of his pen, should have been pro
forward to public notice SO cohsplcuousiy AZ
the course Of this angry controversy Mr' o.
maintains is not to be attributed TO himseli, ou'
to the very iliberal and unjust treatment winch
he has received from his adversarles. never
should have quoted the passage from rope
letter to Lady w. M. Montague" says Mr.. b
Z" if had not been compelled to show the dar'
inpness of their denial.
! aXVho brought into the full blaze OF light
Ponies most distinguished impurities! HIS de.
tenders? Who caused the obscene Imitation OF
Horace (ofwhich said not one word IN my lie
of Pope) to be brought into such infamous puo'
licity! ,Pope's defenders! Who forced Out the
specimens-someo of which were too scandaious
10 be printed, even in selfdetence-whoJ orcea
out these specimens Of his decency to married
and unmarried women? His defenders! VINO
dragged all his frailties most glaringly INTO
LIGHT His later stupid-his besotted-his ny
pocri,ical-and his blind defenders!!! although
their insane sentiments constantly recoiis OH
themselves and gives me, whom they valnly try,
10 overwhelm, fresh advantages at every step.
In his Letter to Mr.. Roscoe, Mr. B. opens
blazing battery upon that respectable veteran IN
literature, charging him with abuse, dlslngenu-
BUSINESS, concealment, quibbllng evasion, artiui
suppression, want of courtesy, SILLY criticisms,
unfairness in argument; and with almost every
other conceivable crime Of which one contro-
versial writer has ever been guilty towards ano-
Their Such charges as these, in the course OF
furious rencounter, must always be received
with many grains of allowance; and we have no
doubt but Mr.. Bowles, however contemptuous-
" he may think and speak OF Mr. Roscoe while
his pen is in his hand, would receive him most
politely, and treat him most kindly, at his beau
tiful and hosphable parsonage in Wiltshire,
should Mr.. Roscoe ever travel that way, and
feel disposed TO visit him.
Mr.. Roscoe having observed that Mr.. Bowes'
character, as man, had become involved IN
the controversy, the latter fepels the insinua-
ton with great warmth, and with much wrath
retaliatcs upon his adversary "Could have
seen only ,Ui," observes Mr.. B. Gin the most
profane, obscene, and immoral poem that ever
disgraced a libertine heart, and shut my eyes
at its auocious depravity; could use Roscoe's
backing or Roscoe's ,chiting with the same in
effectual attempt TO daub the characters Of the
irreproachable, and to hide the stains Of palpa-
BILE impurity; had manifested fellow-feeling
with celebrated poet in all his littleness, then
it would have been time for me to Look indeed
to my own character, 10 save it from that shade
which, fear, as long as your edition of Pope
is remembered, will attach 10 yours, both as
critic and man.
1t is really painful to witness men Of acknow-
lodged talents, virtue, and worth, thus unmerci-
fully pulling one another to pieces; and either
exciting the pity OF, or furnishing amusement
to the by-standers and spectators, who, general
ly speaking, care not a fagthing about the mat
ter in dispute between them.
With regard 10 the Quarterly Review, also,
Mr.. Bowles plunges so deep into the troubled
waters Of this stormy struggle, that 1t will not
be in odr power to give more than a general
view of his arguments, with the addition Of a
few quotations. With this sketch our readers,
too, will probably be satisfied. Those VINO
have relish for high seasoned discussion, ac-
rimonious personalities, and ridicule, with in
vective sometimes not little coarse, we must
refer 10 the volume itself.
In second Letter TO Mr. Roscoe, Mr.. Bowles
proceeds to the subject Of poetical criticism
and the "inyariable principles Of poetry on
which points, among other matters, he and MIR.
r. are at issue. Lord Byron had before taken
the same ground ot argument with Mr. Ros-
coe, and as we think, not more successfully than
he has done. On this ,opic we cannot but con-
graduate MIR. B. on a complete triumph. The
public voice is decidedly with him. We have
yet seen no arguments to prove that all subjects,
of whatever kind, whether Of "in-door or out
door nature" as IL has been quantity called, are
alike adapted to poetical establishment. MIR.
b. closely follows his adversary, Mr.. Roscoe,
through all his appeals to works Of genius on
poetcal subjects, and distinctly shews the faa-
lacy of his reasoning, though, perhaps in
style not peculiarly pala,abe. or na,tering to
his pupil. Raillery and reproach, however,
are all calculated TO conciliate regard, and
where that is not felt, the hes, instructors will
labor in vain TO conceive the Understandings
Let the reader Judge for himself "You are set
in the stocks, without foot TO stir, in the very
stocks formed for your own wooden ilustra-
TONS yourself smiling all the while, as if de-
lighted with your situation.
You raise a mist of verbiage and quibbles; and
in this respect you appear to me to resemble
some of those famous conjurors of old, who,
when they were vanquished, raised mist a
round them, but the mist does not hide the
'ludcrous' figure in which you appear, with
frog and mouse rampant for supporters, and Gu
cttm5er for crest!'
Yet Mr. B. has hopes of his pupil "Some
fine morning, sir, when you are taking walk
on the banks of the Mersey, and, perhaps,
brushing the dew towards Gilead Hail. the