ADVERTISEMENT. MRS. Gilbert, the Lady whose memory it is intended to perpetuate in the following Poem, was a most amiable and accomplished woman. Mild, pious, charitable, and humane, she was particularly favoured by Providence in the possession of affluence, which enabled her to render the practice of those virtues more extensively useful. She was also eminently fortunate in her matrimonial connections; she had seen much of the world, and had enjoyed either the acquaintance or correspondence of several of the most distinguished persons who have appeared during the last fifty years. Her memory was unimpaired, and, as she retained all the vigour of her youthful intellect, her conversation was peculiarly agreeable and interesting. If any person should suppose that some parts of the Poem have received a high colouring, let him recollect, that some indulgence is due to the admiration of a writer and the regret of a friend. I did not intend, originally, to have written more than a hundred verses; but the heart was full, and the subject was copious, and as the thoughts flowed in rapidly, I determined to work up the whole into a regular Poem. On reconsideration, I have thought proper to divide the subject into Eight Cantos. The Title has been suggested by the Triumphs of Petrarch, to whom I am indebted for the imitation of several passages. In a moral and religious Poem it is to be expected that Scriptural allusions should often occur. It is not common to use the elegiac stanza for long poems, but there is no measure that is so appropriate to solemn and melancholy subjects. Dryden was so fully convinced of its beauty, that he used it in his ANNUS MIRABILIS. It is the metre which approaches nearest to the TERZETTI of Petrarch, and like him I have endeavoured to make the sound of the numbers correspond with the sense. The Poem was finished before last Midsummer; but unexpected delays have prevented its publication till the present moment. No pains have been spared to revise, correct, change, add, and improve; and, if some weak. lines have still escaped, it is owing to that imperfection from which no human composition can be free. EDWARD DURELL Bodmin, Nov. 26, 1818. The Most Noble, The Marchioness Dowager of Bute, 10 Copies. Rev. H. Banfather, Norwich, T. F. Barham, Esq., Penzance, Rev. C. Prideaux Brune, Place, Rev. C. Parr Burney, F. R. S., J. Bussell, Esq., Exeter, Dr. Clements, for the Book Club, MI. Thurston Collins, Bodmin, T. F. Le Couteur, Esq., Jersey, Master E. G. Le Couteur, The Rt Hon Lord de Dunstanville, Miss Dobson, Norwich, The Rt. Hon. The Earl Mount Edgcumbe, Mount Edgcumbe, 4 Copies, The Hon. and Rt. Rev. The Lord Rev. J. Fayrer, Grammar School, Miss Fayrer, Bodmin,. George Fox, Esq., Gonvena, Wadebridge, Davies Gilbert, Esq., M. P., F. R. S. Eastbourne, 2 Copies, R. Gatty, Esq., Finsbury Square, London, Rev. J. P. Gilbert, Windsor House, Bodmin, Mrs. Gilbert, Miss Gilbert, Exmouth, Rev. R. G. Grylls, Jun., Luxulyan, Mrs. Hudson Gurney, Norwich, Mr. W. Hicks, Bodmin, W. R. Hill, Esq., Carwythenack, Mrs. Hill, Mrs Hunter, Grov. Square, London, 4 Copies. Mr. John Johns Crantock, Lord R. Kerr Edinburgh, Rev. John Kempe. Fowey 2 Copies, Rev, H.J. Knapp St Paul's, London, Rev. Hugh Littleton, St. Germans, carrow, Lady Molesworth, Mr. W Michell, Bodmin, John Howes Millington, Esq., Coln Rev. W. Molesworth, St. Breock, Mr. W. K. Norway, Rev. C. Paynter, Lower St. Columb, 2 Copies, F. Paynter, Esq., Trekenning, Rev. W Phillipps. Bodmin, W. Rashleigh, Esq. F. R. S., T Rawlings, Esq.. Saunders Hill, Mrs. J. Redgrave, Norwich, 2 Cop. Miss Read, Tremeere, Rev. O. Rouse. Tetcott, Devon, Mr. Sargent, Bodmin, J. Sawle Sawle, Esq., Penrice, Mr. W. Stark, Norwich, Mrs Stone, Bodmin, T. Turner Esq., Cathedral Yard, Rev. E Valpy, Grammar School, N. Vye, Esq., Jun., Ilfracombe, Dr. Waldon, M. D., Bodmin, Rev. T. B. Whitehurst, Westoning, Mrs. Woolcombe, Alphington, Mrs. Baillie, 4 Copies, Sir Everard Home, Bart., 4 Copies. |