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employed to denote populousness and opulence

"Huge cities and high-tower'd, that well might feem

"The feat of mightiest monarchs.

Par. Reg. B. 3.

-Such qualities as might fit the imagistry cities for thofe fcenes with which the Poet was preparing to enliven them, and which are by no properties at once fo trikingly and fo concitely marked, as by the aspiring battlements and pinnacles of castles, churches, palaces, and public buildings. This will hardly be contested. In what then confifts the impropriety of referring to these objects for this purpose, at any time, or on any occafion? If not difcernible, they ftill exit; and exifting, they must still fuggeft thofe qualities which the Poet withed to indicate. But there is no neceffity for this conceffion. Whoever has entered a confiderable city in the evening, either by moonlight, or amidst the glare of high rejoicings, cannot fail to have been truck with the magnificent effect of its public edifices, either repofing in filent majefty under the pale but refplendent tint which "Jeeps" (as Shakefpear fo exquifitely defcribes it) upon the face of nature; or blotting the sky in dark and dubious maffes, here and there perhaps illumined with a gleam, but contrasting for the most part, in dufky gloom, with the immediate blaze of lamps and torches. Such objects may be more picturefque and lively, viewed at a diftance (Milton had before fo viewed them)-gilded by the morning fun, or trembling in the haze of noon; but they are incomparably more grand and ftriking, when approached-(and the Poet here evidently fuppofes them near)-under either of the former afpects.

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This brings us to the fecond objection, "the bufy hum of Men." Does not this defcription, it may be urged, very decidedly point out the noontide buzz of populous towns; the indefatigable murmur of Cheapfide or the Change? Can fuch an image poffibly agree with the ftillness and folitude of night?-With tilnefs and with folitude fuch an image is doubtlefs incompatible but are ftillness and folitude the neceffary accompaniments of the clofe of day? Are they fuch accompaniments as the inhabitants of crowded capitals are accustomed to

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witnefs? Are they the accompaniments of fuch an evening as, we contend, the Poet is about to introduce? To fecluded peasants, indeed, fuch an image might well appear unfuited to the evening; but a frequenter of the parties of gaiety and fashion, will furely atteft its admirable adaptation to exprefs the first effect upon the ear, of a fcene

"Where throngs of knights and barons bold, [hold; "In weeds of peace, high triumphs "With ftore of Ladies

The bufy bee may close his labours with the day: but man, intent on pleafure, holds another language

Rigour now is gone to bed, "And Advice, with fcrupulous head z "We, that are of purer fire, "Imitate the starry quire, "Who, in their nightly, watchful fpheres, [years. "Lead, in fwift round, the months and

"What hath night to do with fleep? "Night hath better fweets to prove

Venus now wakes, and wakens Love "Come! Let us now our rites begin." COMUS.

I really fee no force whatever in this objection.

In the next and laft objection, were it founded on fact, there would not only be force, but a force which could

not be refifted-a force decifive of the

question. If tilts and tournaments are really introduced as parts of the entertainment in the Town-fcene, the time undoubtedly is fixed to day-light. Let us view the paffage then. "Where throngs of knights and barons

bold

"In weeds of peace high triumphs hold; "With store of Ladies, whofe bright

eyes

"Reign influence and judge the prize "Of wit or arms, while all contend "To win her praife whom all commend." In all this there is indeed a manifest and direct allusion to joufts and tour. naments; but nothing, I think, of such a fpecific defcription as determines them to be paffing at the time. On the contrary there are two expressions which feem purpofely introduced to obviate fuch an interpretation-the knights and barons are emphatically stated to be clad in "Weeds of Peace," whereas a tournament was, in all refpects, and particularly in drefs and accoutre

ments,

ments, the exprefs image of war ;— and the prize of wit is adjudged as well as of arms. Whatever interpretation explained in an easy way thefe apparent inconfittencies, would merit attention, if not reception, on that confideration alone. Now it appears from M. St. Palaye's Memoirs of Chivalry, that it was cuftomary to clofe thele martial exhibitions of our ancestors with a folemn banquet-a fupper-called the Feast of Tournaments; that at this high feftival (the pride of chivalry), all the guests, the dames, the barons, knights, and fquires, appeared in their robes of ftate and ceremony; that, in the course of it, the prize of arms was frequently adjudged; that the parties afterwards engaged in contentions of wit and games of skill; and, that the fplendour of the evening was often till farther heightened by the introduction of nafques and pageants, after the taste and fashion of the times.

"There let Hymen oft appear, "In faffron robe, with taper clear; "And pomp, and feat, and revelry, "With mark and antique pageantry." We have only to conceive ourselves tranfported to a banquet of this nature, and every circumftance of Milton's defcription will correfpond exactly with the fcene into which we are uthered there can be little difficulty therefore in admitting, that this is the fcene which the Poet defigned to exhibit.

Such are my reafons for confidering Warton's conftruction as admiffible. It now, therefore, only remains for me to fhow its fuperiority in poetical effect and I confefs that I proceed to this part of my task, under the most encouraging expectations of fuccefs.

Milton's defign in the two charming pieces, the Allegro and Penferofo, has perhaps been regarded with too much refinement by Johnson*, when he confiders it as being, not as Theobald (with ftill more refinement) fuppofed, to thow how objects derived their colours from the mind, by reprefenting the operation of the fame things upon the gay and the melancholy temper, or upon the fame man as he is differently difpofed," but rather, "to illuftrate, how, among the fucceffive variety of appearances, every difpofition of mind takes hold on thofe by which it may

be gratified." To me the Poet's aim appears fimply, to exhibit a fucceffion of fuch appearances as are best adapted to intereft and engage a cheerful or penfive difpofition. But, however this may be, his conduct in the attainment of his immediate purpofe, is clear and admirable: he perfonates, in turn, both characters; and conducts himself through a series of fcenes and images most congenial to each. Thefe fcenes and these images are not promifcuously chosen they are exhibited in the order in which they naturally occur, in the fuccefion in which they might have actually been witnelled and enjoyed; and thus effentially contribute to the vivacity and dramatic efect of the piece. In the Penferolo, the fcene commences in the evening, and is purtued through the next day in the Allegro, it opens in the morning, when firit

"the Lark begins his flight

"And finging startles the dull night," through periods marked by the most characteristic and expreffive imagery, true to nature, and exquifitely touched, "Till the livel ng day-light fails." But the recreations of a country life are not yet exhaufted: the fpicy, nutbrown ale is introduced; and the ruftic beverage is accompanied with tales, which, however fcornfully rejected by faftidious pride, are ftill dear to the imagination of fequestered villagers, till the hour of reit (an early hour) arrives, the whifpering winds lull all to flumber, and univerfal ftillness clofes up the evening. Then at this paufe-if Warton's interpretation be admitted-the Poet fhifts the fcene; and from the fecluded hamlet, hushed in filence and repole, tranfports us fuddenly, and by an unexpected and awakening contrast, into the midst of luxurious cities, now revelling in the height of their feftivities, where he mingles with whatever is most crowded, and brilliant, and exhilarating-the fumptuous feaft. the gorgeous pageant, the fplendid drama, and the infpiring concert. A tranfition more animating and delightful never was conceived: it has the fame effect as if, after a mufical movement gradually retarded in its progrefs, and melting gently away in a clofe that dies upon the ear, the whole force of the orchestra should abruptly burft forth in a new key and

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to brifk measure. The transition is not only exquisite in itfelf, but its introduction is infinitely happy: it poffeffes perfectly both the requifites of that "curiola felicitas" which constitutes the fondeft with of the afpirer to elegance of compofition-it has all the eafe which feems the gift of fortune, with all the justnefs which forms the triumph of art. After having chafed the pleasures of the country through the day, the Poet is naturally led to refort in the evening to cities; and cities, at this juncture, naturally furnish thofe magnificent fpectacles which contrast fo admirably with the tranquil pleafures of the day. -Subftitute the fup pofition that the Poet goes over again the fame ground in the town, which he bad jur completed in the country, and

I will not say that the spirit of the piece is destroyed, but I am fure it is

miferably impaired. Every reader of tatte will feel the difference: he will abandon, if he be compelled to abandon, the illufion arising from the ob vious interpretation of the contefted paffage, with fincere regret; and will be tempted with the enthufiaft in Horace, to exclaim to the turdy difciplinarians who should force him to fuch a measure,

"Pol me occidiftis, amici, "Non fervaftis, ait; cui fit extorta vo luptas, [error." "Etdemptus, per vim, mentis gratiffimus Ep. 2, Lib. 2, v. 13.

G. N.

Errata in our Mag. for October laft. Page 283, Col. 2, Line 18 from bottom, for ready, read reedy. Page 285, Col. 2, Line 19 from top, ftrike out the epithet “fuperior.”

VESTIGES,

COLLECTED AND RECOLLECTED,

ON SKULLS.

BY JOSEPH MOSER, ESQ.

NUMBER VI.

SPEAKING of the battle of Pelufium,

Herodotus takes occafion to ob. ferve an extraordinary circumftance of which he was a witnefs: the bones of the Perfians and Egyptians were fill in the place where it was fought; but feparated from each other: the Skulls of the latter were fo hard that a violent ftroke with a tone would fcarcely break them; and thofe of the former fo loft, that they could be broken or pierced with the greatest ease imaginable. The reafon of this difference (which, from the highest claf fical authority, frongly marks the diftinction betwixt Block-beads and PaperJkulls) was, that the Egyptians had from their infancy been accustomed to have their craniums fhaved. and to go uncovered, while the Perfis (whofe heads, notwithstanding, I do not hold to have been half fo valuable) had them always enclofed in their turbans, or tiaras, which were indeed confi dered by them as their principal or

naments,

Paying all that deference and refpect to the opinion of this philofopher to which it is fo eminently entitled, and viewing the contrast to which I have alluded in every light in which it is in the power of my contracted fphere of vifion to confider it, I fill conceive, that he is mistaken in the caufe which he ftates produced the effect fo cbfervable. The experience of many ages has convinced even the moft fceptical, that an infinite number of skulls, extremely foft, have from time to time appeared upon the theatre of the world, which have never worn either turbans, tiaras, or, what would have kept them quite as warm, hats and wigs; and, vice versa, that many heads, extremely thick, and confequently hard as ftones, have been enclofed in these teguments, and have, in fact, been taken as much care of by their proprietors, as if they were as liable to be fractured as egg-thells.

It would, I should imagine, in these ingenious times be deemed unphilofophical, fhould any one affert that the

* Her. L. 3. C. 11.

air,

air, that new field for the fpeculative traveller, has either an offifying or petrifying quality; and though we know, with respect to the latter, that fuch a property is inherent to many forts of water, yet, waving the inftance of Achilles, which must be confidered as fupernatural, it would be difficult to prove that while the head remained upon any boly, it ever became harder by bathing.

Thefe Obfervations upon Skulls, it ftrikes me, would make a capital exordium to a Lecture upon Heads; and, were I difpofed to treat lightly or ludicrously a fubject of fuch gravity and importance, I might defcant upon the ftrength or weakness of a number of Polls, ancient and modern, which would show in the strongest point of view, that the philofopher had not confidered his deduction from the different textures of the Perfian and Egyptian Skulls with his ufual accuracy; but this will appear evident when I ftate, that craniums of confiderable thicknefs were known in Greece a very few years after the deluge, or inundation of Ogyges, fome of whom were fuppofed to be

L

the defcendants of the Perfians. From the owners of thefe, it is hinted, that Prometheus, who, by the bye, is the firft Iculptor upon record, made many elegant models of the hunan figure of clayt, and afterwards ftole fire from Heaven, which had the double property of baking and animating them. No one will, I think, quetion the hardness of the Skulls of thefe beings, which were made of a kind of artificial ftone.

Pheron, as he is called by Herodotus, is a thick Skull of confiderable eminence on the ancient hiftorical records; he was an Egyptian, therefore his example rather makes for, than against, the opinion of the phi lofopher. The men and women, fo ingeniously formed by Deucalion and Pyrrha, one might, from the materials of which they were compofed, fuppofe had Skulls as impenetrable as any that have adorned the Claffical periods: the cranium of Jafon was alfo, I think, tolerably fubitantial. The Skulls of the Grecian and Trojan heroes exhibit a variety of characters: Menelaus and Paris, for not taking the advice of $Poltis, have been deemed Sap-fkulls; Ajax, a Thick-skull; the head of

A fingular propofal was made while the Bridge at Black-friars was erecting, in order to fill, with propriety, the niches betwixt the columns upon the piers, which, every one knows, were, by the ingenious architect who conducted the work, defigned for the reception of Statues ; namely, to procure the bodies of thofe ditinguifhed patriots, whofe political labours had for a number of years caufed a violent ébullition in the public mind, as falt as they died, and fend them to a fpring then most opportunely difcovered in Yorkshire, where, fuch was its petrifying quality, after a short immertion, they would have been as furely changed into ftone, as if they had endured the grief of Niobe, or had had a glance at the Shaky head of Medufa. Seeing the niches ftill unoccupied, it may naturally be afked, how it came that a project to cheap and claffical was not carried into effect? To this I can give no anfwer, but can only lament that subjects who had, when living, been fo useless, could not by this procefs, or fome other which would have rendered them equally confpicuous, have been made, after death, ornamental to their Country.

The brother of this ingenious artift, Epimethus, invented the art of making veffels of earth. (Apoll. in Biblio.) Applying the fanatical phrafe, veffels, allo to the works of Prometheus, it might be a curious fpeculation to inquire which of their efforts has been the most ufeful to the World? Pygmalion, we likewife underftand, thinking the heads of the women of Cyprus had taken a wrong turn, whether with respect to diefs or undrefs we are not informed; he, however, refolved to die a folitary batchelor until he had contrived to make for his amusement the figure of a lady in ivory, with which he became fo enamoured, that he gave Venus no reft from his orifons till the animated it. This I fhould fuppole was effected by an antipetrific process.

This is the fame with Pharoah.

During the Trojan war, there was a King of Thrace, named Poltis, to whom both the Greeks and Trojans fent amballadors, to require his affiftance and advice. To whom he anfwered, that his advice was, that Paris fhould deliver Helen, and Menelaus refule her; and, instead of her alone, they thould have of him two fair ladies. The admirable ufe which Prior has made of this hint from Plutarch may be feen in his Alma, p. 50.

Achilles

Achilles had been petrified in his in fancy, yet, when Minerva pulled his red hair, he feemed to have had fome fmall fenfe of feeling in it. Diomede and Ulyffes might, had I not more than one opinion to produce that controverts the pofition, have been deemed Long-beaded-fellows; the latter is faid by Plutarch to have been a Sleepyhead. Agamemnon was a Strong. head, or rather a Head-ftrong herof; Pandarus an Addle-head; Troilus a Paper-skull; and so of the rest.

The head of Alexander the Great, if we may judge from his eccentric excurfions, was of a moft dangerous fubftance; which obfervation will apply to the heads of Pyrrhus, Demetrius, and a hundred other heroes of antiquity, from Menes downward to Auguftus. With refpect to the Skulls of more modern times, the fyftem of Herodotus ieems to have been exploded, and a new one, which does not appear to be more philofophical, adopted; upon this I fhail, in the course of this diiquifition, have occation to animadvert, but mult fift obferve, that the Goths and Vandals, thofe ravagers of Rome, Sicily, &c.; thofe warriors that feem to have tranfpofed that well-known fentence Cedant arma toga; thofe heroes who acted as fans to the real, and extinguishers to the metaphorical, flames arising from arts and letters; were certainly the most eminent Thick-skulls of the fourth, fifth, and fixth centuries.

It will not here be neceffary to contraft the hollownefs or denfity of the Skulls of the defcendants of Charle magne with thofe of the heads of other European nations; and it would be equally ufelefs to inquire into the faculties of their owners, as both the objects of their Wars and their Councils render those properties fufficiently ob.

vious.

Peter the Hermit feems to have been the poffefior of a head which, had it not been for the theories to which I have alluded, would certainly have been deemed a long one; of what fub ftance and ftrength thofe millions of Skulls were compofed that he prevailed upon to undertake the Crutades, I muft leave the reader to conjecture; "having

it only in my power to aid his fagacity by one flight hint, namely, that in thofe expeditions the word Religion was used as we should now ufe the.. word Liberty, as a ftimulus to popular frenzy: which leads me to introduce a ftory connected with the fubject in more points of view than one, as it ferves to fhow how, in confequence of the fafcinating but false influence of the latter word, an army of Block-heads were led to venture their Skulls; and how their faid Skulls were treated by men who, under the wholesome reftriction of law, really pofleffed this ineltimable bleffing.

When Charles the Bold (or Rash), Duke of Burgundy, invaded Switzerland, in order the more effectually to fecure the Liberty of the people, he carried with him many waggon loads of chains and fetters, and having fome reafons, with which we are unacquainted, to imagine that the inhabitants of the large Canton of Bern were the most difpofed of all the Helvet.c body to criticile his (at that period) new notions of Freedom, he

fued a Proclamation, threatening, that if they could not comprehend the advantages of his fytem, or were any ways indocile, he meant to illuminate then by tetting their towns and villages on five, and awaken their jenjibuity by the words of his legions.

he

This Manifefto was, by his intended pupils, received with the confternation which it was calculated to excite. Aftonishment, in this inttance, made them mute. He miftook their filence for putilianimity, and, looking upon them as already conquered, marched his troops into the country with leis confideration, and, with refpect to the rabble bands that followed his itandard, in a more relaxed state of difcipline, than even these had been ufed to obferve. When he had beaten in the first poft of the Switzers, he gave them notice, that as he had conquered them, he would cause a most itately monument to be erected to celebrate his martial fame. This promife was at length fulfilled, though not exactly in the way that the Duke intended; for it fo happened that he had fold the Lion's (or rather, as appli

Ulyffes is rather thought, by the author I have quoted, to have been given to what is termed Dog fleep, and that he called for his night-cap in order to have a pretence to fend away the Phæacians who had conducted him.

† Agamemmonis hoftia.

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