trimmed with a little tarnished gold, there lolls the luxurious Catullus, in the warmth of a Russian costume-Little Moore and Anacreon look out side by side, scarcely distinguishable from each other, except in the difference of their ages. On one side is to be seen Milton, who, despite his blindness, is ever in a conspicuous place, opposite to him Addison eyes him with respectful but scrutinizing attention. Shelley, Cornwall, and others, in French halfdress, cast a careless glance upon him from an upper shelf, looking shewy, but within a little worm-eaten from neglect--Bowles, in a complete suit of calf, crushes poor little Pope, but in his turn is nearly squeezed to death by an awkward pamphlet which has been thrust in much against his will, at the other side of him. As he advances down the street, he sees with pain many of the most venerable of the classic authors in a sorry plight, ill-dressed, ill-lodged, and apparently far advanced in decay. The elegant and dignified Caesar, with difficulty conceals a rent which I suppose some "envious Casca" has made in the hinder part of his tunic, and I blush for the gallantry of my country when I think how much poor Madamoiselle Dacier is exposed. Many of the heroes, both ancient and modern, of Swift's ever- memorable Bibliomachia are forced to carry their prices ticketed on their backs, and to offer their services to an ungrateful public at a shamefully reduced rate. But it would be endless to particularize,-Divines in their ecclesiastical habits-Plowden, Coke, Hale, with leathern aspects-Euclid, Locke, Newton academically attired, all crowd this literary Necropolis, and "bend forward from their dust" over the narrow cause ways, like Ossian's ghosts from their "clouds," or my worthy friend B.'s waxen fashionables from the no less ambrosial atmosphere within his perfumed window. It was on a stormy evening at the beginning of the present year, when sleet was careering along the pavement in blinding gusts, and no star appeared to dispute the light with the Hickering flame that rose and fell within the gas-lamp, and gave a transient illumination to the pale mist that swept past its narrow influence,-when the watchman gathered his streaming coats within his bulk, and betook himself to his own atmosphere as a last desperate figure within. It was standing over against the door, turned from me, and reaching down a book from an upper shelf. Its proportions were gigantic, and the extraordinary costume which it wore, and an indescribable something about it which rivetted the attention, were sufficient to call for a narrower scrutiny. Whoever the personage was, there was that in his appearance which struck me with awe as well as curiosity. From his huge and corpulent form hung innumerable ells of broadcloth, such as I have heard my grand-father describe as constituting the coat of his youthful days. Its loose standing collar was white with the powder which had fallen from the tufted perri, wig, and the inner rim of a large shovel hat partook of the same huc. Below, his ample limbs were cased in black sattin to the knee, whence shone a buckle, which was magnified in enormous reflection from his square-toed shoes. All this I beheld from the outside of the window; and my curiosity having been effectually wakened I opened the glass-door of the little shop, just as he had addressed himself to an officious looking gentleman who stood beside him, somewhat similarly attired, and caught the last part of a sentence, pronounced in tones that seemed to come from the depth of unfathomable lungs, and uttered under the influence of sudden and unrestrained anger :"I said so, Sir, and is not that enough?' There was something so unnatural in the voice, that I felt a secret dread infuse itself through me, and was impelled by an almost irresistible desire to make good my retreat, and again brave the less alarming rage of the elements without. I had not time for a retrograde movement, however, when both of the figures turned round, and I was at once struck by the face of the larger; I recognised the features, but where or when I had seen them was more than I could recal. They were of colossal magnitude, and their expression was heavy and sensual; huge beetle brows, half concealed eyes, which the excitement of anger had left yet warm with its lightnings; a heavy nose depended over a mouth, fit to be the portal through which a voice, such as I had heard, should issue, and in keeping with the shaven jaw and dewlap that reached over all the space usually allotted to cravats, collar, &c., till they were lost in the volu minous folds of his waistcoat. "I fear, Sir," said I, as his ferocious stare fell upon me, "that I have intruded in an unwarrantable mannerbut the increasing fury of the storm, and the rain, and--and besides." "Sir, I am a visitor here myself,” he growled, “and you may remain if you choose, as far as I am concerned." 66 "I-I almost fancy, Sir," said I, hoping to conciliate him, which I saw was necessary," at least, I should say, if I am not much mistaken, that I have had the honour of meeting you be fore." Meeting me, Sir "Yes, Sir, I assure you, that your face is familiar to me, and I charge myself with culpable forgetfulness in not being able to address you by name; I am Mr., I live at No. —, in -street; and I cannot help thinking, that I have met you in the society of several mutual friends." "Perhaps so, Sir," said the uncommunicative stranger, and I will take it for granted that you know me. And now, Šir," he resumed, turning to his companion, who instantly, though of a gentlemanlike and almost commanding appearance, drooped into the submis sive attitude of a delinquent Spaniel, 66 now, Sir, did you mean to tell me, in the face of my avowed and published opinion, that the true ode might be a mighty maze without a plan?** "I protest, my dear Sir, I almost begin to be ashamed of my own words, but 66 " Sir, so you ought—they were illadvised.". "But still," continued the other, "the example I have just adduced from one of the best of living poets, certainly tends in some measure to confirm my rule." "No, Sir, but, as an exception, to prove mine, which, ever since the regularity of Pindar was discovered, is universally recognized." He spoke with a vehemence that almost rivalled the "os rotundum” of the ancient, all the while appearing wholly regardless of my presence, and having resumed the position in which he was standing at my entrance. I was also obliged to find for myself an employment, and to take down several volumes under the pretence of examination. "What is this duodecimo in green binding" said the larger stranger to his companion, "Byron told me the other day, that an error in punctuation, which had been negligently overlooked in the original edition, has crept through nearly every subsequent one, even to the last, and makes rank nonsense of one of his sonnets. He desired me to find it out, and I perceive that contrary to my expectation the book is here." I no longer made even a semblance of continuing my objectless search; "What, in the name of all that is mysterious!" thought I, is this great folio talking about? Does he mean the present Lord? No," was my conclusion before his sentence was finished. I felt a mortal fear creep round me such a fear as I hope no defineable danger would have the power to produce; I thought the light burned feebler, and that the great form, that breathed like a Hippopotamus within a few feet of me, expanded gradually and terrifically in its proportions, until no trace of humanity remained; I scarcely dared to look, and casting a furtive glance at the door, I equally wanted courage to rush forth into the night, and separate myself at once from the object of my dread. "I have found it, Boswell!" "Your quickness, my dear Doctor, surprises me." "It should not; my method of search ensures speedy discovery." "Well, I made as rapid a discovery myself in the Isle of Sky, as you may remember, without any system." He "Sir, that was all accident. alludes to the passage, printed thus :- ⚫ of two fair virgins, modest, though admired, Heaven made us happy; and now, wretched sires, Heaven for a nobler doom their worth desires,' &c. The semicolon in the second line should change places with the comma at its termination. The Italian original shews the proper punctuation. Of trifling errors like these, are composed enigmas for posterity. Our language is never stationary; the best becomes, in a certain degree, antiquated in a few years, and then the misprint, easily corrigible at first, is set down to some disused form of expression, and tortured into a reluctant meaning, under the inquisitorial hand of some future Theobold or Warburton, just as was the fate of the great original, round many of whose beauties irretrievable obscurity has been thrown by the then trivial negligence of his transcribers."* In spite of myself, my terrors, my perplexity, and, above all, my utter inability to explain to myself what all this meant, amounting almost to a doubt of the reality of the whole scene, I could not but listen with awestruck in terest to the personage before me, who, whether body or spirit, was-sense and reason, observation and reflection, head and heart told me so-nothing less than the companion of my studies the oracle of my reference-the stupendous compiler-the unrivalled criticthe sublime moralist--the mighty-the immortal Samuel Johnson! Any knowledge is a relief after uncertainty, and the identification of the being before me, the laying, as it were, the ghost, gave me some comfort, and enabled me to attend to the conversation as it proceeded. Still all was mystery: how we should have conversed with Byron a few days ago?-what brought him here ?---what was he? These were the questions which I could not answer? "That I hold to be a translation deserving of praise," said the inferior personage, whom the Doctor had already addressed as Boswell, "it is literal, and at the same time poetic." Sir, it may be called an original sonnet. This is a transfer of Vittorelli to the banks of the Thames. The first merit of a translator, you know, is to be read with pleasure.'t A translation like this may be placed side by side with its parent, and you will not * See Johnson's Preface to Shakspeare. be able to say which is the sire and which the son; they stand like twinbrothers, equal in strength of limb and manly proportion, and each independent of the other, while they both bear the impress of their common parent, nature. Yes, Sir, there are some exceptions to to the rule which lays it down, that the act of sonnet-writing is lost." I believe that nothing short of the tingling consciousness of having myself at various times wooed immortality in fourteen lives, could have induced me to interpose an observation. "I fear I interrupt you, Sir, and I am the more diffident in doing so, as I am now aware that the acquaintance which I claimed as a title to address you, I share with the whole civilized world; but I wish to set you right upon one point, and that is, as to your opinion that sonnet-writing has deteriorated; believe me, Sir, the world now appreciates true sonnet-writing, and give me leave to add-” 66 Sir," interrupted the Doctor, in a voice that effectually cut me short, "you know not what you say." Mr. Boswell was on thorns-" My young friend, we are better acquainted with present events and opinions than you are aware of." I seized the opportunity to entreat an explanation of their appearance, and he at once complied with my request. takes a corresponding place with corresponding powers. The absence of the body has, however, expanded the spirit considerably; it is no longer cabined, cribbed, confined," but possesses the most exhilarating facility of locomotion, and, more than all, it enjoys an unlimited power of memory; or rather the veil of forgetfulness which years on earth were silently and inperceptibly drawing over past knowledge like a toil, is removed, and all ideas that have been once received into their spiritual receptacle are ever present, uncovered, and ready for application. It is needless to tell you how this adds to our resources, though, perhaps, none of us have derived less advantage from it than my illustrious friend who had so little imperfection in this respect while here below." The Doctor continued to read, averted from us, as Boswell continued- We literary characters wander up and down through the lunar groves, and study from our own memories and experience, as we before did from those of others, collected in libraries." "But can you select your own company?" said Ï. united in perfect felicity, beyond the chance of separation." (A groan, less dubious than the former, followed this sentence.) "We have a society," he replied, "much on the principle of the Club, and in addition to our old members, we have since balloted in some kindred spirits that have arrived above in these latter times. Our last member is a man after "The little that I can tell you," he Doctor Johnson's own heart, and litesaid, "I will. You know how divided rature and politics alike endear the the world is on the subject of the in- authors of Rasselas and Waverley to termediate state between death and each other. I still find my pride and doom; while men are wrangling about pleasure in attending on my friend," it, we are enjoying ourselves according (here a dubious grunt from Johnson) to our bent, and some of us even derive" and hope that we may at last be our greatest amusement from standing invisibly by at such discussions, and shaking our sides with aërial laughter at the incontrovertible arguments brought to prove that we could not be in the very spot where really we are at the moment. The truth is, and it is scarcely a violation of spiritual secrets to tell you what no one will believe you to have ever heard, that the moment the soul is loosed, like a balloon, from the chords of the body, it mounts up through the atmosphere, past its confines to the moon, and there it continues pretty much in the same state as before it left the earth. It there meets with mankind in societies similar to those it left, and there it 66 But," said I, musingly, “ I am still at a loss to account for your appearance here." "I will explain it to you in a few words. Our minds being our only libraries, we are, of course, except from new comers, in ignorance of what is doing and publishing at the present. We have, however, frequent permission to descend by night, and examine the publications and transactions of sublunary life, and on one of these excursions you have chanced to meet us." "But wherefore here?" said I, "at this miserable stall, in this miserable region of this miserable town?" Sir," said Doctor Johnson, turning full upon me, "I came from no regard for your country, as a literary country or otherwise, (for I conclude from your accent that you are an Irishman), but to search for a book by one of your compatriotes that had been mentioned to me above. I was told that it was not as well known as it deserved to be, and I thought it more probable that I should find it here than in the depositories of more saleable commodities." Perhaps, Sir," said I, "If you were to tell me the name of the author, I might be able to direct you." "I know not whether it was published with a name; but I have seen some minor poems and extracts by : the same writer, and am surprised at the medium through which he has thought proper to put them forward. He might have taken a higher stand, and maintained it at least with respect.ability." "You then object to an author's apappearing in cheap publications," said Boswell," as I perceive that you allude to such." “I do allude to such, Sir; and when I said that he might have taken a higher stand, I meant with respect to the class in whose hands such works place the criticism of his effusions. Nor do I object to authors in general appearing in such publications. No doubt the best political economist, natural historian, topographer, or philologist in the world may appear with credit, and be circulated weekly amongst the artizans and apprentices, the milliners and the milk maids, who may be allured by the cheapness and probably good plain sense displayed in their pages. But, Sir, that the poet-he whose ideas, and therefore whose expressions soar above the reach of such classes-nay, who is refined, or ought to be, to a degree undiscernible to mere ordinary examiners of any station -that he, who professes to be skilled to touch the finest and most complex of our feelings alone, should thrust his beauties upon the reluctant or jeering attention of the forge or the barber's 66 Sir, I doubt whether you understand the meaning of the terms you have used." I was nettled at this remark, and replied with considerable warmth, " I do, Sir, though but one of them is to be found in your dictionary. It is not enough that there be hendecasyllabic measure, properly adjusted rhymes, and a clause of fourteen lines. More than this is wanting to constitute a sonnet. As to the harmony, its measure must be true to the ear as well as to the fingers, and for oneness, its very essence consists in the conformation and arrangement of its sentiment. A sonnet may be compared to one full and swelling cadence of music-the breath of the breeze upon an æolian harp-it is the embodying of one long and engrossing thought, taking its origin from the external world, and pursued through its windings, till the full eloquence of I find since the above was written, that the poet has lately taken higher perio dical ground. VOL. I. 4 Y |