Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1852-03-04
VOL. xLVI, NO. I5...WHoLE NO. as6s.

-
.'-----'s
uationesne. am reyes qui omnes familiu nostrr
ob vesiram omictiam infesu stunt an quo qusrn
adire licct uhi non mniorum meorum hostilla
monumental plurima stint a quisonaid uosfri
miserori potest, qni { guam 10 vobis hosts fuit?
Al ego lnicliX, IN tanta maa prmcipiiaius ex
ptrIo regno, rerum humanlrum spectacular
pu9eo mcertus qud again iuasne uurias per-
seQnear' ipse auxili egcns; an regno consulam
GUNS yi'm necisqge potestas OK opibus aliens
u hHet. Ulnain emori lortuns meis honostus
cEiius rsaet. neu yivcre coufomuus y1dorer. -.
uele.sus innhs, iniurH coacoss.ssem: nunc ne
que Nvarc Tibet. noque mort licet sine dedecore
faircs cunscripti. per vas per nheros atone M
rgu'es YES .ros, per msiesatem popui Romani.
snoveiute misero minis lite obvnm niurm no
lite pat regnnn Numidim, per scelus ct sangui-
nom lamilin nostrn tnbescere"
While confess myself not competent 10
so IN judgment on the great masters OF
Roman story, san. il has always struck me,
iAat ln the style of Liry there was so much
latlucss, so much accumulation Of circum-
-lance, as occasionally tended to turgifity
! speaN if h-eeeter. with tl,e create, y.
gree of di1idence. f.ivy seems to me like
the rivers under the influence of copious
spring ifeshets, when not only is the main
channel Iull, bat ai ihe tributary streams are
tending To overflow; while Saliust, think.
lakes care only that there shall be one deep.
clear, siroug and rapid current, to convey
hum, and his thoughts, to their destined end.
/ do not mean 60 say that the skilul use
OF circumstance, either in the hand of his
toriau or poet is not great power. |
, What we call graphic descrp-
idea, with discreet accompain5hpss.aet 'oiP1'
ieresiiug concomtanis.
ihe introduction az single auxiliary
thoughtor expression sometimes gives new
elo@ 10 the historical or poeiicai picture.-
Particularly, wen set forth, enchans atten-
uon In our language, no writer mas under
stood this better than Milton. HIS poetcial
limoges and descriptions are sure to omit
nothing which can make those images aud
those descriptions striking, distinc, and GER
tain, while all else is iudustriously repelied
Witness the la.l of Luciier
" isoH mon
go NOON ho i.ii. ftaa noon 20 jcgcy eve
d .rumo's ily anl win, t.e setting sun
ou tenlasth -E-oln isle."
Ills description of vocal music in the Al.
legro Is another instance OF the same kind
Lap uc ID .o0 lyaia atr.,
Mauiei to immortal verso, 81.
Such as the melting sonl may pcrcr,
la notos, will many a winding bent,
ninkcd sweetness long dawn oat,
With aGrion hood and siidy cun0ing,
The melting voice through running.
Uriwsung on he chains That tic,
1ao hidden soul gharmony.
That Orplou.' selfmay bcave bis head
From golden sumber Bod
ofheaFi Ebsan flowers. and hear
Such .inius would have chrnuedthe err
ofPluio, to havo quie SCI foo
fis halfmsancd Eurydice."
hardly know anything which surpasses
these exquisite lines SO poetical. and, at
the same time, so thoroughly aud absolute
N English, and free from al foreign idiom.
The first three stanzas Of Gray's Elegy
in country Church ward, .ere also remark
able for tie power aud accuracywith which
rural scenery is presented, by grouping to-
gether many objects IN one picture.
Auoiler poetical instance of the same
beauty, Is the Burial ofSir John Moore
There are remarkable instances of the
same skill IN writing III some of the English
prose writer's, aud especially ia the produc-
uous of Daniel De Foe No boy doubts
Ihal every Thing told Of Robinson Crusoe is
exactly true, because all is so clrcumstan-
TALLY told aud no man doubts, until he is
informed of The contrary, that the historian
OF the plague of London actually saw all that
he described, although De Foe was not bors
ull afterwards
It's weli-kBown saying, that the lie
with circumstance IS exceedingly calculated
To deceive. and that is rue, and it is equal
ly trae, not only that fictitious history gains
cfedit and belief by The sklIlul use Of cir
cumstances but that irue history, also, may
derive much additional interest from the
same source.
la general, however, historical facts are
TO be related with rather a close aud exclu-
sire regard to such, and such only as are
Important
i he art Of historical composition owes its
origin to the institutions OF political free
A.. dom. Under the despoiisms of the Ganges
aud the Indus, poetry ilourshed'with orien-
tal iuNurance, IRON the earliest times but
40 The immense compass Of that rich, prime
val literature there is 10 history in the
high sense of that term. The banks OF the
Nile were crowded with historical monu-
meuis and memorials, stretching back into
D. the rcmoiesi antiqsHy; and recent re-
searches have discovered historical records
% The Pharoahs in the scrolls Of the Papy-
rus, some Of them as ahcirnt as The book Of
Moses. But in all these, there is no history
composed according to the principles OF art.
10 Greece the Epic Song, founded on ,radl-
, iouary legends, long preceded historical
composition. remember when | thought
/ Il the greatest wonder in the world, that
the puems of Homer should have been writ
ten at period SO remote hat Tie earliest
, Gfecian history should have given no ac-
. count Of their author did not then know
FOR had not then considered, that poelical
i. writings, hymns, songs, accounts of person
; al adyeHHtes, like those OF Hercules and
Jason, were, in the nature of ifngs, earlier
= than regular historical narratives. Eerodo-
ius informs US that Homer lived four hun
bred years before his time. There is new
euhelcss, something wonderful in the poems
of Homer.
In general, il Is true Of The languages of
nations that, IN their earlier ages, they con-
Is tain the substantial bone and snew charac-