Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1849-1856, 1852-03-04

snima, clausi in tcnabris, cum mGrorc
ct Iuctu, morte, graviorem, vitam exi-
CUNT. 81 omnia, qur aut amlsl, aut ex
necessariis adverse lacta suat incolumia
mnncrent; ta,nen, si quid ex inn rovIso
Rccidis.cf, vos implorarem, patres con-
scripti. quibus, pro nagniiudine inpeS'i
ins OF injurias omnes cur1 esse decet'--
Nunc vero exsul patriadomo, solos et
omnium honestarum rerum egens, QUO
accedam, aut quos nppcIIem 2 naiiones
ne, an reyes. qui omnes iaInili9 oh YES
tram amiciiiam iniesti suni an quoquam
ndire licet, ubi non majorum meorum
hosiilia monumental plurima sint3 nut
quisquam nostri misereri potcst, qui
a,iquando vohis hostls fuit
A. ego infclix. in ianta mala pr9rip-
itatus ex patrio regno. rerum human
arsim spect,culum prGbeoj incer'us
Guid agam tnas ne injnrins persequar,
i.,se auxilii egens an regno consulam,
cuIus, vi'e necisque Potcslas ex op'bus
alienis pendet. Ulinam emori iortunls
meis nonestus exitus csset, neu Vivere
sontcmptus viderer, ri, deicssus malls,
iniurie econccssissem nnnc ncque vivere
tibet, neque niori licet sine tedecore.-
Patrcs conscriP', per vos, per hberos
a,que parentes vcstros, per majesta'em
populi Romahi. subvcni e misero mini
tie obv,am injurie, noliIc patti regnum
Numidie, per scclus ct sahgnlnem
iamilie nostre tabcscerc."
While I confess myself not competent
to sit in jud sment on the great mnsters
Of Roman story, still, !, has always
struck me thai IN the style Of Livy,
there was 10 much iullness, so much
accumulation oil circumstance, MS occa-
sionully tended to ,urgidi,y. speak
this. however. with the greatest degree
Of diffidcnce. Livy seems TO me like
the rivers under The influence oil copious
Spring freshets. when not only 10 the
main channel full. hut all the tributary
streams are tending to overflow F; while
Sailusi, think, takes care only that there
oh al he one deep, clcnr, strong and rap
id current to convey him and his thoughts
10 their destined cad.
do not mean to sny that the sklliul
use OF circumstance, either III the hand
OF a historian or a poet, Ia not great
power. | think IL is. What We call
graphic desc crir ton. is but the presenfa-
ton oil the principal idea with discreet
acco' ,panilncit OF interesting concoml-
tants.
The introduc ion ola single auxiliary
though, or expression sometimes gives
a new glow to the historical or p' e,ical
picture. Particularly. well ret forth,
encha,ns siiention. In our language, no
L. ,,..,l..,anl tI,io h..ff..r than
Milton His poe,ica! images and dcs-
cr.ptions are sure to omit nolhing which
can max. those images and those des-
sriptions striking, distinct and certain,
while all else is injusirlously rcrelled.
Witness the fall oi Lucl!er:-
--"lrom morn
To noon he fell. from noon TO desy eye,
A Sumuer's day; and with the setting run
Dropt from the zenith like q falling star,
On Lemnos the .Egan islc."
His description OF vocal muric in the
Allegro 10 another Instance OF tho same
kind:-
"And ever against eating csr"'.
Lap me in soft Lydian airs.
Married to immortal verse,
Such A. the melt ing soul may pierce
in notes, with many Il winding bout
or link ed sweetness long drawn out.
With wanion heed and gddy cunning,
The melting voice through maEes running
Untwisting all the chains that tie,
The hidden soul Of harmony.
That Orpheus' sell may hcave his hsad
From golden slumber, ON bed
OF fheap'd Ely sian flowers, and hear
Such strains would have won the ear
or Pluto, TO have quite s-t free
Ills hAlfreg ,ined Eurydice."
L.a.., o,, ,t,n. ,.,h;,b sr,
passes these exquisite lines, 80 poetical,
and, at the same time, so thoroughly
and absolutely English, aud SO free from
all foreign idiom.
The first three stanzns Of Grey's "El-
egy in a Country Church Yard" are
also remarkable for the power and ac.
curacy with which rural scenery is pre-
ssn,ed by grouping together many OBJ
jeots in one picture.
Another poeticai instance OF the same
beauty is, the Burial oi Sir John
u ,ore."
There are remark ,alc instances Of
the same sxal in writing in some OF the
English prose writer's, and especially in
the productions of Daniel De Foe No
boy doubts that everything told Of Rob-
inson Crusoe is exactly true, because all
j. 90 circumstantially told and 10 man
doubts, until he is informed Of the con-
rAry, that the historian of the pla lie Of
L ,ndon actually saw all that no des-
cribei, although De Foe was not born
till afterward
1t is a well known saying. that the lie
with circumstance is exceedingly calcu-
lated 10 deceive, and tha, is true, and Il
10 equally true, not only that fictitious
history gains credit and belief by the
skiliul use Of circum,tancc, but that
true history, also. may derive much ad-
diiional interest from the same source.
In general however historical facts
are to be related with rather a close
and exclusive regard to such, and such
only as are important
The art Of historical composition
owes its origin 10 tie institution OF po-
liflcal freedom. Under the despotisms
Of the Gangcs ard ,he Indus, poetry
Aourished, with Oriental luxuriance,
from the earliest times; but IN the i'm
mcnse compass Of that rich, primeval
literature, there i. no history, in the
high sense Of that term. The banks Of
the Nile were crowded with historical
monuments and memorials, stretching
back into the remotest antiquity and
recent reasearchcs have discovered his-
torical records of the Pharaohs in the
scro!ls oipapyrus, some Of them as an
cicnt as the books OF Moses.
But in all these, there is no history
composed according 10 the principles Of
art. In Greece, the epic song. founded
on tradiIlonnry legends, long preceded
historical composition. | remember
when thought il the greatest wonder
in the world, that the poems Of Homer