No More Learning

Proud bird of the mountain, thy plume shall be torn!
Say, rushed the bold eagle exultingly forth,
From his home in the dark rolling clouds of the north?
Lo! the death-shot of foemen outspeeding, he rode
Companionless, bearing destruction abroad;
But down let him stoop from his havoc on high!
Ah! home let him speed,- for the spoiler is nigh.
Why flames the far summit? Why shoot to the blast
Those embers, like stars from the firmament cast?
'Tis the fire-shower of ruin, all dreadfully driven
From his eyrie, that beacons the darkness of heaven.
O crested Lochiel! the peerless in might,
Whose banners arise on the battlements' height,
Heaven's fire is around thee, to blast and to burn;
Return to thy dwelling! all lonely return!
For the blackness of ashes shall mark where it stood,
And a wild mother scream o'er her famishing brood.
LOCHIEL
False Wizard, avaunt! I have marshaled my clan;
Their swords are a thousand, their bosoms are one!
They are true to the last of their blood and their breath,
And like reapers descend to the harvest of death.
Then welcome be Cumberland's steed to the shock!
Let him dash his proud foam like a wave on the rock!
But woe to his kindred, and woe to his cause,
When Albin her claymore indignantly draws;
When her bonneted chieftains to victory crowd,
Clanronald the dauntless, and Moray the proud,
All plaided and plumed in their tartan array
―
WIZARD
Lochiel, Lochiel! beware of the day;
For, dark and despairing, my sight I may seal,
But man cannot cover what God would reveal;
'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore,
And coming events cast their shadows before.
I tell thee, Culloden's dread echoes shall ring
With the bloodhounds that bark for thy fugitive king.


## p. 3173 (#143) ###########################################

THOMAS CAMPBELL
3173
Lo! anointed by Heaven with the vials of wrath,
Behold, where he flies on his desolate path!
Now in darkness and billows, he sweeps from my sight:
Rise, rise! ye wild tempests, and cover his flight!
'Tis finished. Their thunders are hushed on the moors:
Culloden is lost, and my country deplores.
But where is the iron-bound prisoner? where?
For the red eye of battle is shut in despair.
Say, mounts he the ocean wave, banished, forlorn,
Like a limb from his country cast bleeding and torn?
Ah no! for a darker departure is near;
The war-drum is muffled, and black is the bier;
His death-bell is tolling: O Mercy, dispel
Yon sight, that it freezes my spirit to tell!
Life flutters convulsed in his quivering limbs,
And his blood-streaming nostril in agony swims.
Accursed be the fagots that blaze at his feet,
Where his heart shall be thrown ere it ceases to beat,
With the smoke of its ashes to poison the gale-
LOCHIEL
Down, soothless insulter! I trust not the tale:
For never shall Albin a destiny meet
So black with dishonor, so foul with retreat.
Though my perishing ranks should be strewed in their gore,
Like ocean-weeds heaped on the surf-beaten shore,
Lochiel, untainted by flight or by chains,
While the kindling of life in his bosom remains,
Shall victor exult, or in death be laid low,
With his back to the field, and his feet to the foe!
And, leaving in battle no blot on his name,
Look proudly to Heaven from the death-bed of fame.
THE SOLDIER'S DREAM
Ο
UR bugles sang truce-for the night-cloud had lowered,
And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky;
And thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered,
The weary to sleep, and the wounded to die.
When reposing that night on my pallet of straw,
By the wolf-scaring fagot that guarded the slain,
At the dead of the night a sweet vision I saw,
And thrice ere the morning I dreamt it again.


## p. 3174 (#144) ###########################################

3174
THOMAS CAMPBELL
Methought from the battle-field's dreadful array,
Far, far I had roamed on a desolate track:
'Twas Autumn,- and sunshine arose on the way
To the home of my fathers, that welcomed me back.
I flew to the pleasant fields traversed so oft
In life's morning march, when my bosom was young;
I heard my own mountain-goats bleating aloft,
And knew the sweet strain that the corn-reapers sung.
Then pledged we the wine-cup, and fondly I swore
From my home and my weeping friends never to part;
My little ones kissed me a thousand times o'er,
And my wife sobbed aloud in her fullness of heart.
"Stay, stay with us,- rest; thou art weary and worn! "
And fain was their war-broken soldier to stay:-
But sorrow returned with the dawning of morn,
And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away.
A
LORD ULLIN'S DAUGHTER
CHIEFTAIN, to the Highlands bound,
Cries, "Boatman, do not tarry!
And I'll give thee a silver pound,
To row us o'er the ferry. "
-
"Now who be ye, would cross Lochgyle,
This dark and stormy water? »
"O, I'm the chief of Ulva's isle,
And this Lord Ullin's daughter.
"And fast before her father's men
Three days we've fled together;
For should he find us in the glen,
My blood would stain the heather.
"His horsemen hard behind us ride;
Should they our steps discover,
Then who will cheer my bonny bride
When they have slain her lover? "
Out spoke the hardy Highland wight,
"I'll go, my chief-I'm ready:-
It is not for your silver bright,
But for your winsome lady:


## p. 3175 (#145) ###########################################

THOMAS CAMPBELL
3175
"And by my word! the bonny bird
In danger shall not tarry;
So though the waves are raging white
I'll row you o'er the ferry. "
By this the storm grew loud apace,
The water-wraith was shrieking;
And in the scowl of heaven each face
Grew dark as they were speaking.
But still as wilder blew the wind,
And as the night grew drearer,
Adown the glen rode armèd men,
Their trampling sounded nearer.
"O haste thee, haste! " the lady cries,
"Though tempests round us gather,
I'll meet the raging of the skies,
But not an angry father. "
The boat has left a stormy land,
A stormy sea before her,
When, oh! too strong for human hand,
The tempest gathered o'er her.
And still they rowed amidst the roar
Of waters fast prevailing:
Lord Ullin reached that fatal shore;
His wrath was changed to wailing.
For sore dismayed, through storm and shade,
His child he did discover:
One lovely hand she stretched for aid,
And one was round her lover.
"Come back! come back! " he cried in grief,
"Across this stormy water:
And I'll forgive your Highland chief,
My daughter! -oh, my daughter! "
'Twas vain: the loud waves lashed the shore,
Return or aid preventing:-
The waters wild went o'er his child,
And he was left lamenting.
-


## p. 3176 (#146) ###########################################

3176
THOMAS CAMPBELL
THE EXILE OF ERIN
T
HERE came to the beach a poor Exile of Erin,
The dew on his thin robe was heavy and chill:
For his country he sighed, when at twilight repairing
To wander alone by the wind-beaten hill:
But the day-star attracted his eye's sad devotion,
For it rose o'er his own native isle of the ocean,
Where once, in the fire of his youthful emotion,
He sang the bold anthem of Erin go bragh.
Sad is my fate! said the heart-broken stranger;
The wild deer and wolf to a covert can flee,
But I have no refuge from famine and danger,
A home and a country remain not to me.
Never again, in the green sunny bowers
Where my forefathers lived, shall I spend the sweet hours,
Or cover my harp with the wild-woven flowers,
And strike to the numbers of Erin go bragh!
Erin, my country! though sad and forsaken,
In dreams I revisit thy sea-beaten shore;
But, alas! in a far foreign land I awaken,
And sigh for the friends who can meet me no more!
O cruel fate! wilt thou never replace me
In a mansion of peace, where no perils can chase me?
Never again shall my brothers embrace me?
They died to defend me, or live to deplore!
Where is my cabin door, fast by the wildwood?
Sisters and sire! did ye weep for its fall?
Where is the mother that looked on my childhood?
And where is the bosom-friend, dearer than all?
Oh! my sad heart! long abandoned by pleasure,
Why did it dote on a fast fading treasure ?
Tears, like the raindrop, may fall without measure,
But rapture and beauty they cannot recall.
Yet all its sad recollections suppressing,
One dying wish my lone bosom can draw;
Erin! an exile bequeaths thee his blessing!
Land of my forefathers! Erin go bragh!
Buried and cold, when my heart stills her motion,
Green be thy fields, sweetest isle of the ocean!
And thy harp-striking bards sing aloud with devotion-
Erin mavournin-Erin go bragh!


## p. 3177 (#147) ###########################################

THOMAS CAMPBELL
3177
YE MARINERS OF ENGLAND
E Mariners of England!
That guard our native seas;
Whose flag has braved, a thousand years,
The battle and the breeze!
Your glorious standard launch again
To match another foe!
YE
And sweep through the deep,
While the stormy winds do blow;
While the battle rages loud and long,
And the stormy winds do blow.
The spirit of your fathers
Shall start from every wave! —
For the deck it was their field of fame,
And Ocean was their grave:
Where Blake and mighty Nelson fell,
Your manly hearts shall glow,
As ye sweep through the deep,
While the stormy winds do blow;
While the battle rages loud and long,
And the stormy winds do blow.
Britannia needs no bulwark,
No towers along the steep;
Her march is o'er the mountain-waves,
Her home is on the deep.
With thunders from her native oak
She quells the floods below,—
As they roar on the shore,
When the stormy winds do blow;
When the battle rages loud and long,
And the stormy winds do blow.
The meteor flag of England
Shall yet terrific burn,
Till danger's troubled night depart,
And the star of peace return.
Then, then, ye ocean-warriors!
Our song and feast shall flow
To the fame of your name,
When the storm has ceased to blow;
When the fiery fight is heard no more,
And the storm has ceased to blow.


## p. 3178 (#148) ###########################################

3178
THOMAS CAMPBELL
HOHENLINDEN
ON
N LINDEN, when the sun was low,
All bloodless lay th' untrodden snow;
And dark as winter was the flow
Of Iser, rolling rapidly.
But Linden saw another sight,
When the drum beat, at dead of night,
Commanding fires of death to light
The darkness of her scenery.
By torch and trumpet fast arrayed,
Each horseman drew his battle-blade,
And furious every charger neighed,
To join the dreadful revelry.
Then shook the hills with thunder riven,
Then rushed the steed to battle driven,
And louder than the bolts of heaven
Far flashed the red artillery.
But redder yet that light shall glow
On Linden's hills of stainèd snow,
And bloodier yet the torrent flow
Of Iser, rolling rapidly.
'Tis morn, but scarce yon level sun
Can pierce the war-clouds, rolling dun,
Where furious Frank and fiery Hun
Shout in their sulph'rous canopy.
The combat deepens. On, ye brave,
Who rush to glory or the grave!
Wave, Munich! all thy banners wave,
And charge with all thy chivalry!
Few, few shall part where many meet!
The snow shall be their winding-sheet,
And every turf beneath their feet
Shall be a soldier's sepulchre.


## p. 3179 (#149) ###########################################

THOMAS CAMPBELL
3179
THE BATTLE OF COPENHAGEN
F NELSON and the North
Sing the day!
When, their haughty powers to vex,
He engaged the Danish decks,
And with twenty floating wrecks
Crowned the fray!
Ο
All bright, in April's sun,
Shone the day!
When a British fleet came down
Through the islands of the crown.
And by Copenhagen town
Took their stay.
In arms the Danish shore
Proudly shone;
By each gun the lighted brand,
In a bold determined hand,
And the Prince of all the land
Led them on!
For Denmark here had drawn
All her might!
From her battle-ships so vast
She had hewn away the mast,
And at anchor to the last
Bade them fight!
Another noble fleet
Of their line
Rode out, but these were naught
To the batteries, which they brought,
Like Leviathans afloat,
In the brine.
It was ten of Thursday morn,
By the chime;
As they drifted on their path
There was silence deep as death,
And the boldest held his breath
For a time-
Ere a first and fatal round
Shook the flood;


## p. 3180 (#150) ###########################################

3180
THOMAS CAMPBELL
Every Dane looked out that day,
Like the red wolf on his prey,
And he swore his flag to sway
O'er our blood.
Not such a mind possessed
England's tar;
'Twas the love of noble game
Set his oaken heart on flame,
For to him 'twas all the same-
Sport and war.
All hands and eyes on watch,
As they keep;
-
By their motion light as wings,
By each step that haughty springs,
You might know them for the kings
Of the deep!
'Twas the Edgar first that smote
Denmark's line;
As her flag the foremost soared,
Murray stamped his foot on board,
And an hundred cannons roared
At the sign!
Three cheers of all the fleet
Sung huzza!
Then, from centre, rear, and van,
Every captain, every man,
With a lion's heart began
To the fray.
Oh, dark grew soon the heavens-
For each gun
From its adamantine lips
Spread a death-shade round the ships,
Like a hurricane eclipse
Of the sun.
Three hours the raging fire
Did not slack;
But the fourth, their signals drear
Of distress and wreck appear,
And the Dane a feeble cheer
Sent us back.


## p. 3181 (#151) ###########################################

THOMAS CAMPBELL
3181
The voice decayed, their shots
Slowly boom.
They ceased—and all is wail,
As they strike the shattered sail,
Or in conflagration pale
Light the gloom.
Oh death! - it was a sight
Filled our eyes!
But we rescued many a crew
From the waves of scarlet hue,
Ere the cross of England flew
O'er her prize.
Why ceased not here the strife,
O ye brave?
Why bleeds old England's band,
By the fire of Danish land,
That smites the very hand
Stretched to save?
But the Britons sent to warn
Denmark's town;
Proud foes, let vengeance sleep;
If another chain-shot sweep,
All your navy in the deep
Shall go down!
Then, peace instead of death
Let us bring!
If you'll yield your conquered fleet,
With the crews, at England's feet,
And make submission meet
To our king!
Then death withdrew his pall
From the day;
And the sun looked smiling bright
On a wide and woful sight,
Where the fires of funeral light
Died away.
Yet all amidst her wrecks,
And her gore,
Proud Denmark blest our chief


## p. 3182 (#152) ###########################################

3182
THOMAS CAMPBELL
That he gave her wounds relief;
And the sounds of joy and grief
Filled her shore.
All round, outlandish cries
Loudly broke;
But a nobler note was rung,
When the British, old and young,
To their bands of music sung
'Hearts of Oak! '
Cheer! cheer! from park and tower,
London town!
When the King shall ride in state
From St. James's royal gate,
And to all his peers relate
Our renown!
The bells shall ring! the day
Shall not close,
But a blaze of cities bright
Shall illuminate the night,
And the wine-cup shine in light
As it flows!
Yet-yet-amid the joy
And uproar,
Let us think of them that sleep
Full many a fathom deep
All beside thy rocky steep,
Elsinore!
Brave hearts, to Britain's weal
Once so true!
Though death has quenched your flame,
Yet immortal be your name!
For ye died the death of fame
With Riou!
Soft sigh the winds of heaven
O'er your grave!
While the billow mournful rolls,
And the mermaid's song condoles,
Singing-Glory to the souls
Of the brave! »


## p. 3183 (#153) ###########################################

THOMAS CAMPBELL
3183
FROM THE ODE TO WINTER'
B
UT howling winter fled afar,
To hills that prop the polar star,
And loves on deer-borne car to ride
With barren Darkness by his side,
Round the shore where loud Lofoden
Whirls to death the roaring whale,
Round the hall where Runic Odin
Howls his war-song to the gale;
Save when adown the ravaged globe
He travels on his native storm,
Deflowering Nature's grassy robe,
And trampling on her faded form:-
Till light's returning lord assume
The shaft that drives him to his polar field;
Of power to pierce his raven plume
And crystal-covered shield.
O sire of storms! whose savage ear
The Lapland drum delights to hear,
When Frenzy with her bloodshot eye
Implores thy dreadful deity,
Archangel! power of desolation!
Fast descending as thou art,
Say, hath mortal invocation
Spells to touch thy stony heart?
Then, sullen Winter, hear my prayer,
And gently rule the ruined year;
Nor chill the wanderer's bosom bare,
Nor freeze the wretch's falling tear;-
To shuddering Want's unmantled bed
Thy horror-breathing agues cease to lead,
And gently on the orphan head
Of innocence descend. -
But chiefly spare, O king of clouds!
The sailor on his airy shrouds;
When wrecks and beacons strew the steep,
And spectres walk along the deep.
Milder yet thy snowy breezes
Pour on yonder tented shores,
Where the Rhine's broad billow freezes,
Or the dark-brown Danube roars.


## p. 3184 (#154) ###########################################

3184
―
CAMPION
(-1619)
BY ERNEST RHYS
D
SR. THOMAS CAMPION, lyric poet, musician, and doctor of medi-
cine, who, of the three liberal arts that he practiced, is
remembered now mainly for his poetry,- was bor about
the middle of the sixteenth century; the precise date and place being
unknown. It has been conjectured that he came of an Essex family;
but the evidence for this falls through. Nor was he, as has been
ingeniously supposed, of any relationship to his namesake Edmund
Campion, the Jesuit. What is certain, and thrice interesting in the
case of such a poet, is that he was so nearly a contemporary of
Shakespeare's. He was living in London all through the period of
Shakespeare's mastery of the English stage, and survived him only
by some three or four years. From an entry in the register of St.
Dunstan's-in-the-West, Fleet Street, we learn that Campion was buried
there in February, 1619-20. But although it is clear that the two
poets, one the most famous, the other well-nigh the least known, in
the greater Elizabethan galaxy, must have often encountered in the
narrower London of that day, there is no single reference in the
lives or works of either connecting one with the other.
We first hear of Campion at Gray's Inn, where he was admitted a
member in 1586, from which it is clear that his first idea was to go
in for law. He tired of it before he was called to the bar, however;
and turning to medicine instead, he seems to have studied for his
M. D. at Cambridge, and thereafter repaired again to London and
begun to practice as a physician,- very successfully, as the names of
some of his more distinguished patients show. A man of taste, in
the very finest sense,-cultured, musical, urbane,-his own Latin
epigrams alone would show that he had all that social instinct and
tact which count for so much in a doctor's career. He was fortu-
nate, too, in finding in London the society best adapted to stimulate
his finely intellectual and artistic faculty. The first public sign of
his literary art was his book of 'Poemata,' the Latin epigrams referred
to, which appeared in 1595, and every copy of which has disappeared.
Fortunately a second series of epigrams, written in maturer years,
gave him an excuse to republish the first series in connection with
them, in the year of his death, 1619. From the two series we learn
many interesting facts about his circle of friends and himself, and the


## p. 3185 (#155) ###########################################

CAMPION
3185
evident ease and pleasantness of his life, late and early. There is
the same sense of style in his Latin verse that one finds in his Eng-
lish lyrics; but though he had a pretty wit, with a sufficient salt in it
on occasion, as in his references to Barnabe Barnes, his faculty
was clearly more lyrical than epigrammatical, and his lyric poems.
are all that an exacting posterity is likely to allow him to carry up
the steep approach to the House of Fame.
His earliest collection of these exquisite little poems was not
issued under his own name, but under that of Philip Rosetter the
musician, who wrote the music for half the book; the other half
being of Campion's own composition. This, the first of the delight-
ful set of old music-books which are the only source we have to
draw upon for his lyric poems, was published in 1601. There is no
doubt that for many years previous to this, Campion had been in
the habit of writing both the words and music of such songs for
the private delectation of his friends and himself.
Some of his very
finest lyrics, as memorable as anything he has given us, appear in
this first volume of 1601.
-
The second collection of Campion's songs was published, this time
under his own name, probably in 1613. It is entitled 'Two Books of
Airs': the first, 'Divine and Moral Songs,' which include some of
the finest examples of their kind in all English literature; the second
book, Light Conceits of Lovers,' is very well described by its title,
containing many sweetest love-songs. We have not yet exhausted
the list of Campion's music-books. In 1617 two more, The Third &
Fourth Books of Airs,' were published in another small folio; and
these again afford songs fine enough for any anthology. Meanwhile
we have passed by all his Masques, which are among the prettiest
of their kind, and as full of lyrical moments as of picturesque effects.
The first was performed at Whitehall for the marriage of "my Lord
Hayes" (Sir James Hay), on Twelfth Night, 1606-7. Three more
were written by Campion in 1613; and in the same year he published
his 'Songs of Mourning,' prompted by the untimely death of the
promising young Prince Henry, which had taken place in November,
1612. These songs, which do not show Campion at his best, were set
to music by Copario (alias John Cooper). This completes the list of
Campion's poetry; but besides his actual practice in the arts of poetry
and music, he wrote on the theory of both. His interesting 'Observa-
tions in the Art of English Poesie (1602) resolves itself into a
naïve attack upon the use of rhyme in poetry, which comes paradox-
ically enough from one who was himself so exquisite a rhymer, and
which called forth a very convincing reply in Daniel's 'Defence of
Rhyme. ' The 'Observations' contain some very taking examples of
what may be done in the lyric form, without rhyme. Campion's
VI-200


## p. 3186 (#156) ###########################################

3186
CAMPION
musical pamphlet is less generally interesting, since counterpoint, on
which he offered some practical rules, and the theory of music, have
traveled so far since he wrote. It remains only to add that Campion
remained in the limbo of forgotten poets from his own day until
ours, when Professor Arber and Mr. A. H. Bullen in their different
anthologies and editions rescued him for us. Mr. Bullen's privately
printed volume of his works appeared in 1889. The present writer
has more recently (1896) edited a very full selection of the lyrics in
the 'Lyric Poets' series. Campion's fame, without doubt, is destined
to grow steadily from this time forth, based as it is on poems which
so perfectly and exquisitely satisfy the lyric sense and the lyric rela-
tionship between music and poetry.
srest Rhys
A HYMN IN PRAISE OF NEPTUNE
F NEPTUNE'S empire let us sing,
At whose command the waves obey;
To whom the rivers tribute pay,
Down the high mountains sliding;
To whom the scaly nation yields
Homage for the crystal fields
Wherein they dwell;
OF
And every sea-god pays a gem
Yearly out of his wat'ry cell,
To deck great Neptune's diadem.
The Tritons dancing in a ring
Before his palace gates do make
The water with their echoes quake,
Like the great thunder sounding:
The sea-nymphs chant their accents shrill,
And the Syrens, taught to kill
With their sweet voice,
Make every echoing rock reply,
Unto their gentle murmuring noise,
The praise of Neptune's empery.
From Ward's English Poets. '


## p. 3187 (#157) ###########################################

CAMPION
3187
OF CORINNA'S SINGING
WH
HEN to her lute Corinna sings,
Her voice revives the leaden strings,
And doth in highest notes appear
As any challenged echo clear.
But when she doth of mourning speak,
E'en with her sighs the strings do break.
And as her lute doth live and die,
Led by her passions, so must I:
For when of pleasure she doth sing,
My thoughts enjoy a sudden spring;
But if she do of sorrow speak,
E'en from my heart the strings do break.
From Ward's English Poets>
FROM 'DIVINE AND MORAL SONGS›
(A. H. Bullen's modern text)
NE
EVER weather-beaten sail more willing bent to shore,
Never tired pilgrim's limbs affected slumber more,
Than my wearied sprite now longs to fly out of my trou-
bled breast.
O come quickly, sweetest Lord, and take my soul to rest!
Ever blooming are the joys of heaven's high Paradise;
Cold age deafs not there our ears, nor vapor dims our eyes:
Glory there the sun outshines, whose beams the Blessed only see.
O come quickly, glorious Lord, and raise my sprite to Thee!
TO A COQUETTE
(A. H. Bullen's modern text)
WHE
HEN thou must home to shades of underground,
And there arrived, a new admired guest,
The beauteous spirits do engirt thee round,
White Iope, blithe Helen, and the rest,
To hear the stories of thy finished love
From that smooth tongue whose music hell can move;
Then wilt thou speak of banqueting delights,
Of masques and revels which sweet youth did make,


## p. 3188 (#158) ###########################################

3188
CAMPION
Of tourneys and great challenges of knights,
And all these triumphs for thy beauty's sake:
When thou hast told these honors done to thee,
Then tell, O tell, how thou didst murder me.
SONGS FROM LIGHT CONCEITS OF LOVERS'
HERE shee her sacred bowre adornes,
The Rivers clearely flow;
WHER
The groves and medowes swell with flowres,
The windes all gently blow.
Her Sunne-like beauty shines so fayre,
Her Spring can never fade :
Who then can blame the life that strives
To harbour in her shade?
Her grace I sought, her love I wooed;
Her love though I obtaine,
No time, no toyle, no vow, no faith,
Her wished grace can gaine.
Yet truth can tell my heart is hers,
And her will I adore;
And from that love when I depart,
Let heav'n view me no more!
GIVE beauty all her right,-
She's not to one forme tyed;
Each shape yeelds faire delight,
Where her perfections bide.
Helen, I grant, might pleasing be;
And Ros'mond was as sweet as shee.
Some, the quicke eye commends;
Some, swelling lips and red;
Pale lookes have many friends,
Through sacred sweetnesse bred.
Medowes have flowres that pleasure move,
Though Roses are the flowres of love.
Free beauty is not bound
To one unmovèd clime:
She visits ev'ry ground,
And favours ev'ry time.
Let the old loves with mine compare,
My Sov'raigne is as sweet and fair.


## p. 3189 (#159) ###########################################

3189
GEORGE CANNING
(1770-1827)
HE political history of this famous British statesman is told by
Robert Bell (1846), by F. H. Hill (English Worthies Series),
and in detail by Stapleton (his private secretary) in 'Polit-
ical Life of Canning. ' He became a friend of Pitt in 1793, entered
the House of Commons in 1794, was made Under-Secretary of State
in 1796, was Treasurer of the Navy from 1804 to 1806, Minister for
Foreign Affairs from 1807 till 1809, Ambassador to Lisbon from 1814
to 1816, again at the head of foreign affairs in 1822, and was made
Premier in 1827, dying under the labor of forming his Cabinet.
Soon after his birth in London, April
11th, 1770, his disinherited father died in
poverty, and his mother became an unsuc-
cessful actress. An Irish actor, Moody,
took young Canning to his uncle, Stratford
Canning, in London, who adopted him and
sent him to Eton, where he distinguished
himself for his wit and literary talent.
With his friends John and Robert Smith,
John Hookham Frere, and Charles Ellis,
he published a school magazine called The
Microcosm, which attracted so much atten-
tion that Knight the publisher paid Can-
ning £50 for the copyright. It was mod-
eled on the Spectator, ridiculed modes and
customs, and was a unique specimen of juvenile essay-writing. A
fifth edition of the Microcosm was published in 1825. Subsequently
Canning studied at Oxford. He died August 8th, 1827, at Chiswick
(the residence of the Duke of Devonshire), in the same room and at
the same age as Fox, and under similar circumstances; and he was
buried in Westminster Abbey by the side of William Pitt.
It was not until 1798 that he obtained his great reputation as a
statesman and orator. Every one agrees that his literary eloquence,
wit, beauty of imagery, taste, and clearness of reasoning, were
extraordinary. Byron calls him "a genius-almost a universal one;
an orator, a wit, a poet, and a statesman. " As a public speaker, we
may picture him from Lord Dalling's description:-

GEORGE CANNING
"Every day, indeed, leaves us fewer of those who remember the clearly
chiseled countenance, which the slouched hat only slightly concealed; the lip
satirically curled; the penetrating eye, peering along the Opposition benches,


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3190
GEORGE CANNING
of the old Parliamentary leader in the House of Commons. It is but here
and there that we find a survivor of the old days to speak to us of the sin-
gularly mellifluous and sonorous voice, the classical language, - now pointed
with epigram, now elevated into poetry, now burning with passion, now rich
with humor, which curbed into still attention a willing and long-broken
audience. »
As a statesman his place is more dubious. Like every English
politician not born to a title, however, - Burke is an instance, — he
was ferociously abused as a mere mercenary adventurer because his
livelihood came from serving the public. The following lampoon is a
specimen; the chief sting lies not in Canning's insolent mockery,-
"Every time he made a speech he made a new and permanent
enemy," it was said of him,- but in his not being a rich nobleman.
THE UNBELOVED
.
Not a woman, child, or man in
All this isle that loves thee, Canning.
Fools, whom gentle manners sway,
May incline to Castlereagh;
Princes who old ladies love
Of the Doctor * may approve;
Chancery lords do not abhor
Their chatty, childish Chancellor;
In Liverpool, some virtues strike,
And little Van's beneath dislike.
But thou, unamiable object,
Dear to neither prince nor subject,
Veriest, meanest scab for pelf
Fastening on the skin of Guelph,
Thou, thou must surely loathe thyself.
But his dominant taste was literary. His literature helped him to
the field of statesmanship; as a compensation, his statesmanship is
obscured by his literature. Bell says of him:—
"Canning's passion for literature entered into all his pursuits. It colored
his whole life. Every moment of leisure was given up to books. He and
Pitt were passionately fond of the classics, and we find them together of an
evening after a dinner at Pitt's, poring over some old Grecian in a corner
of the drawing-room while the rest of the company are dispersed in con-
versation. . . In English writings his judgment was pure and strict;
and no man was a more perfect master of all the varieties of composition.
He was the first English Minister who banished the French language from
our diplomatic correspondence and indicated before Europe the copiousness
and dignity of our native tongue. "
* Addington.


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GEORGE CANNING
3191
Part of the time that he was Foreign Secretary, Châteaubriand
held the like post for France, and Canning devoted much attention
to giving his diplomatic correspondence a literary polish which has
made these national documents famous. He also formed an intimate
friendship with Sir Walter Scott, founding with him and Ellis the
Quarterly Review, to which he contributed with the latter a humor-
ous article on the bullion question.
In literature Canning takes his place from his association with
the Anti-Jacobin, a newspaper established in 1797 under the secret
auspices of Pitt as a literary organ to express the policy of the ad-
ministration, similar to the Rolliad, the Whig paper published a few
years before this date; but more especially to oppose revolutionary
sentiment and ridicule the persons who sympathized with it. The
house of Wright, its publisher in Piccadilly, soon became the resort
of the friends of the Ministry and the staff, which included William
Gifford, the editor,-author of the Baviad' and 'Mæviad,'— John
Hookham Frere, George Ellis, Canning, Mr. Jenkinson (afterward Earl
of Liverpool), Lord Clare, Lord Mornington (afterward Lord Wellesley),
Lord Morpeth (afterward Earl of Carlisle), and William Pitt, who con-
tributed papers on finance.
The Anti-Jacobin lived through thirty-six weekly numbers, end-
ing July 16th, 1796. Its essays and poetry have little significance
to-day except for those who can imagine the stormy political atmo-
sphere of the Reign of Terror, which threatened to extend its rule
over the whole of Europe. Hence the torrents of abuse and the vio-
lent attacks upon any one tainted with the slightest Sans-culottic
tone may be understood.
The greater number of poems in the Anti-Jacobin are parodies,
but not exclusively political ones. The Loves of the Triangles' is
a parody on Dr. Erasmus Darwin's 'Loves of the Plants,' and con-
tains an amusing contest between Parabola, Hyperbola, and Ellipsis.
for the love of the Phoenician Cone; the Progress of Man' is a
parody of Payne Knight's 'Progress of Civil Society'; the 'Inscrip-
tion for the Cell of Mrs. Brownrigg' a parody of Southey; and 'The
Rovers, of which one scene is given below, is a burlesque on the
German dramas then in fashion. This was written by Canning,
Ellis, Frere, and Gifford, and the play was given at Covent Garden
in 1811 with great success, especially the song of the captive Rogero.
'The Needy Knife-Grinder,' also quoted below, a parody of Southey's
'Sapphics, is by Canning and Frere. The poetry of the Anti-
Jacobin was collected and published by Charles Edmonds (London,
1854), in a volume that contains also the original verses which are
exposed to ridicule. Canning's public speeches, edited by R. Therry,
were published in 1828.


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3192
GEORGE CANNING
ROGERO'S SOLILOQUY
From The Rovers; or the Double Arrangement >
ACT I
The scene is a subterranean vault in the Abbey of Quedlinburgh, with cof-
fins, 'scutcheons, death's-heads, and cross-bones; toads and other
loathsome reptiles are seen traversing the obscurer parts of the
stage. -Rogero appears, in chains, in a suit of rusty armor, with
his beard grown, and a cap of a grotesque form upon his head;
beside him a crock, or pitcher, supposed to contain his daily allow-
ance of sustenance. A long silence, during which the wind is heard
to whistle through the caverns. — Rogero rises, and comes slowly
forward, with his arms folded.
R
OGERO Eleven years! it is now eleven years since I was
first immured in this living sepulchre-the cruelty of a
Minister-the perfidy of a Monk-yes, Matilda! for thy
sake alive amidst the dead-chained-coffined — confined — cut
off from the converse of my fellow-men. Soft! what have we
here! [Stumbles over a bundle of sticks. ] This cavern is so dark
that I can scarcely distinguish the objects under my feet. Oh,
the register of my captivity! Let me see; how stands the
account? [Takes up the sticks and turns them over with a mel-
ancholy air; then stands silent for a few minutes as if absorbed in
calculation. ] Eleven years and fifteen days! -Hah! the twenty-
eighth of August! How does the recollection of it vibrate on
my heart!
It was on this day that I took my last leave of
Matilda. It was a summer evening; her melting hand seemed to
dissolve in mine as I prest it to my bosom. Some demon whis-
pered me that I should never see her more. I stood gazing on
the hated vehicle which was conveying her away forever. The
tears were petrified under my eyelids. My heart was crystallized
with agony.
Anon I looked along the road. The diligence
seemed to diminish every instant; I felt my heart beat against
its prison, as if anxious to leap out and overtake it. My soul
whirled round as I watched the rotation of the hinder wheels.
A long trail of glory followed after her and mingled with the
dust it was the emanation of Divinity, luminous with love and
beauty, like the splendor of the setting sun; but it told me that
the sun of my joys was sunk forever. Yes, here in the depths
-
――――


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GEORGE CANNING
3193
of an eternal dungeon, in the nursing-cradle of hell, the suburbs
of perdition, in a nest of demons, where despair in vain sits
brooding over the putrid eggs of hope; where agony wooes the
embrace of death; where patience, beside the bottomless pool of
despondency, sits angling for impossibilities. Yet even here, to
behold her, to embrace her! Yes, Matilda, whether in this dark
abode, amidst toads and spiders, or in a royal palace, amidst the
more loathsome reptiles of a court, would be indifferent to me;
angels would shower down their hymns of gratulation upon our
heads, while fiends would envy the eternity of suffering love-
Soft; what air was that? it seemed a sound of more than human
warblings. Again [listens attentively for some minutes]. Only
the wind; it is well, however; it reminds me of that melancholy
air which has so often solaced the hours of my captivity. Let
me see whether the damps of this dungeon have not yet injured
my guitar. [Takes his guitar, tunes it, and begins the following
air with a full accompaniment of violins from the orchestra: -]
[Air, Lanterna Magica. ']
SONG
Whene'er with haggard eyes I view
This dungeon that I'm rotting in,
I think of those companions true
Who studied with me at the U-
-niversity of Gottingen,
-niversity of Gottingen.
[Weeps and pulls out a blue kerchief, with which he wipes his eyes;
gazing tenderly at it, he proceeds: -]
Sweet kerchief, checked with heavenly blue,
Which once my love sat knotting in! -
Alas! Matilda then was true!
At least I thought so at the U-
-niversity of Gottingen,
-niversity of Gottingen.
[At the repetition of this line Rogero clanks his chains in cadence. ]
Barbs! barbs! alas! how swift you flew,
Her neat post-wagon trotting in!
Ye bore Matilda from my view;
Forlorn I languished at the U-
-niversity of Gottingen,
-niversity of Gottingen.


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GEORGE CANNING
3194
This faded form! this pallid hue!
This blood my veins is clotting in!
My years are many-they were few
When first I entered at the U-
-niversity of Gottingen,
-niversity of Gottingen.
There first for thee my passion grew,
Sweet, sweet Matilda Pottingen!
Thou wast the daughter of my Tu-.
tor, law professor at the U-
-niversity of Gottingen,
-niversity of Gottingen.
*Sun, moon, and thou, vain world, adieu!
That kings and priests are plotting in:
Here doomed to starve on water gru—
el, never shall I see the U-
-niversity of Gottingen,
-niversity of Gottingen.
[During the last stanza Rogero dashes his head repeatedly against the
walls of his prison, and finally so hard as to produce a visible contusion.
He then throws himself on the floor in an agony. The curtain drops, the
music still continuing to play till it is wholly fallen. ]
THE FRIEND OF HUMANITY AND THE KNIFE-GRINDER
FRIEND OF HUMANITY
N
EEDY Knife-grinder! whither are you going?
Rough is the road; your wheel is out of order-
Bleak blows the blast; your hat has got a hole in't,
So have your breeches!
Weary Knife-grinder! little think the proud ones
Who in their coaches roll along the turnpike
Road, what hard work 'tis crying all day, "Knives and
Scissors to grind O! "
Tell me, Knife-grinder, how you came to grind knives?
Did some rich man tyrannically use you?
Was it some squire? or parson of the parish?
Or the attorney?
This verse is said to have been added by the younger Pitt.


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GEORGE CANNING
3195
Was it the squire, for killing of his game? or
Covetous parson, for his tithes distraining?
Or roguish lawyer, made you lose your little
All in a lawsuit ?
Have you not read the Rights of Man,' by Tom Paine?
Drops of compassion tremble on my eyelids,
Ready to fall, as soon as you have told your
Pitiful story.
KNIFE-GRINDER
Story? God bless you! I have none to tell, sir;
Only last night a-drinking at the Chequers,
This poor old hat and breeches, as you see, were
Torn in a scuffle.
Constables came up for to take me into
Custody; they took me before the justice;
Justice Oldmixon put me in the parish-
Stocks for a vagrant.
I should be glad to drink your honor's health in
A pot of beer, if you will give me sixpence;
But for my part, I never love to meddle
With politics, sir.
FRIEND OF HUMANITY
I give thee sixpence! I will see thee damned first-
Wretch! whom no sense of wrongs can rouse to vengeance!
Sordid, unfeeling, reprobate, degraded,
Spiritless outcast!
[Kicks the Knife-grinder, overturns his wheel, and exit in a transport
of republican enthusiasm and universal philanthropy. ]
ON THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION
From the Speech on Parliamentary Reform›
O
THER nations, excited by the example of the liberty which
this country has long possessed, have attempted to copy
our Constitution; and some of them have shot beyond it
in the fierceness of their pursuit. I grudge not to other nations
that share of liberty which they may acquire: in the name of


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3196
GEORGE CANNING
God, let them enjoy it! But let us warn them that they lose
not the object of their desire by the very eagerness with which
they attempt to grasp it. Inheritors and conservators of rational
freedom, let us, while others are seeking it in restlessness and
trouble, be a steady and shining light to guide their course; not
a wandering meteor to bewilder and mislead them.