JOHN DYER.

Near the pavilions where we slept, still ran

To thee belongs the rural reign ; Soft tinkling streams, and dashing waters fell,

Thy cities shall with commerce shine; And sobbing breezes sighed, and oft began

All shall be subject to the main, (So worked the wizard) wintry storms to swell,

And every shore it circles thine..
As heaven and earth they would together mell;

Rule Britannia, &c.
At doors and windows threatening seemed to call
The demons of the tempest, growling fell,

The muses, still with freedom found,
Yet the least entrance found they none at all;

Shall to thy happy coast repair; Whence sweeter grew our sleep, secure in massy hall.

Blest isle, with matchless beauty crowned,

And manly hearts to guard the fair.
And hither Morpheus sent his kindest dreams,

Rule Britannia, &c.
Raising a world of gayer tinct and grace ;
O'er which were sbadowy cast Elysian gleams,
That played in waving lights, from place to place,
And shed a roseate smile on nature's face.

John Dyer, a picturesque and moral poet, was a Not Titian's pencil e'er could so array,

native of Wales, being born at Aberglasslyn, CarSo fierce with clouds, the pure

ethereal
space;

marthenshire, in 1700. His father was a solicitor, Ne could it e'er such melting forms display, and intended his son for the same profession. The As loose on flowery beds all languishingly lay. latter, however, had a taste for the fine arts, and

rambled over his native country, filling his mind No, fair illusions! artful phantoms, no!

with a love of nature, and his portfolio with sketches My muse will not attempt your fairy land;

of her most beautiful and striking objects. The She has no colours that like you can glow;

sister art of poetry also claimed his regard, and To catch your vivid scenes too gross her hand.

during his excursions he wrote Grongar Hill, the But sure it is, was ne'er a subtler band

production on which his fame rests, and where it Than these same guileful angel-seeming sprights, Who thus in dreams voluptuous, soft, and bland,

rests securely. Dyer next made a tour to Italy, to Poured all the Arabian heaven upon our nights,

study painting. He does not seem to have excelled And blessed them oft besides with more refined delights. his return in 1740, he published another poem, The

as an artist, though he was an able sketcher. On They were, in sooth, a most enchanting train, Ruins of Rome, in blank verse.

One short passage, Even feigning virtue; skilful to unite

often quoted, is conceived, as Johnson remarks, With evil good, and strew with pleasure pain.

'with the mind of a poet:But for those fiends whom blood and broils delight,

The pilgrim oft Who hurl the wretch, as if to hell outright,

At dead of night, ʼmid his orison, hears, Down, down black gulfs, where sullen waters sleep;

Aghast, the voice of time, disparting towers, Or hold him clambering all the fearful night

Tumbling all precipitate down dashed, On beetling cliffs, or pent in ruins deep;

Rattling around, loud thundering to the moon. They, till due time should serve, were bid far hence to keep

Seeing, probably, that he had little chance of suc

ceeding as an artist, Dyer entered the church, and Ye guardian spirits, to whom man is dear, obtained successively the livings of Calthrop, in LeiFrom these foul demons shield the midnight gloom ; cestershire, of Conningsby, in Huntingdonshire, and Angels of fancy and of love be near,

of Belchford and Kirkby, in Lincolnshire. He pub-
And o'er the blank of sleep diffuse a bloom; lished in 1757 his longest poetical work, The Fleece,
Evoke the sacred shades of Greece and Rome, devoted to
And let them virtue with a look impart:

The care of sheep, the labours of the loom.
But chief, awhile, oh lend us from the tomb
Those long-lost friends for whom in love we smart,

The subject was not a happy one. How can a man And fill with pious awe and joy-mixt wo the heart. write poetically, as was remarked by Johnson, of

serges and druggets? One critic asked Dodsley

how old the author of The Fleece' was; and learnRule Britannia.

ing that he was in advanced life, He will,' said the

critic, be buried in woollen.' The poet did not When Britain first at Heaven's command,

long survive the publication, for he died next year, Arose from out the azure main,

on the 24th of July 1758. The poetical pictures of This was the charter of the land,

Dyer are happy miniatures of nature, correctly And guardian angels sung the strain : drawn, beautifully coloured, and grouped with the Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves ! taste of an artist. His moral reflections arise naBritons never shall be slaves.

turally out of his subject, and are never intrusive.

All bear evidence of a kind and ntle heart, and a The nations not so blest as thee,

true poetical fancy,
Must in their turn to tyrants fall,
Whilst thou shalt flourish great and free,
The dread and envy of them all.

Grongar Hill.
Rule Britannia, &c.

Silent nymph, with curious eye,
Still more majestic shalt thou rise,

Who, the purple evening, lie More dreadful from each foreign stroke;

On the mountain's lonely van, As the loud blast that tears the skies,

Beyond the noise of busy man;
Serves but to root thy native oak.

Painting fair the form of things,
Rule Britannia, &c.

While the yellow linnet sings;

Or the tuneful nightingale Thee haughty tyrants ne'er shall tame;

Charms the forest with her tale; All their attempts to bend thee down

Come, with all thy various hues, Will but arouse thy generous flame,

Come, and aid thy sister Muse;
And work their wo and thy renown.

Now, while Phæbus, riding high,
Rule Britannia, &c.
Gives lustre to the land and sky!

WILLIAM HAMILTON.

Others of his amatory strains are full of quaint

conceits and exaggerated expressions, without any WILLIAM HAMILTON of Bangour, a Scottish gentle- trace of real passion. His ballad of The Braes of man of education, rank, and accomplishments, was Yarrow is by far the finest of his effusions : it has born of an ancient family in Ayrshire in 1704. He real nature, tenderness, and pastoral simplicity. was the delight of the fashionable circles of his As the cause of the composition of Wordsworth's native country, and became early distinguished for three beautiful poems, “ Yarrow Unvisited,' Yarrow his poetical talents. In 1745, struck, we may sup- Visited,' and Yarrow Revisited,' it has, moreover, pose, with the romance of the enterprise, Hamilton some external importance in the records of British joined the standard of Prince Charles, and became literature. The poet of the lakes has copied some the volunteer laureate' of the Jacobites, by cele- of its lines and images. brating the battle of Gladsmuir. On the discomfiture of the party, Hamilton succeeded in effecting

The Braes of Yarrow. his escape to France; but having many friends and admirers among the royalists at home, a pardon A. Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny bonny bride, was procured for the rebellious poet, and he was Busk ye, busk ye, my winsome marrow! soon restored to his native country and bis paternal Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny bonny bride, estate. He did not, however, live long to enjoy his And think nae mair on the Braes of Yarrow. good fortune. His health had always been delicate, and a pulmonary complaint forced him to seek the B. Where gat ye that bonny bonny bride ? warmer climate of the continent. He gradually A. I gat her where I darena weil be seen,

Where gat ye that winsome marrow ? declined, and died at Lyons in 1754. Hamilton's first and best strains were dedicated

Pouing the birks on the Braes of Yarrow. to lyrical poetry. Before he was twenty, he had Weep not, weep not, my bonny bonny bride, assisted Allan Ramsay in his ‘Tea-Table Miscellany.” Weep not, weep not, my winsome marrow! In 1748, some person, unknown to him, collected Nor let thy heart lament to leave and published his poems in Glasgow; but the first Pouing the birks on the Braes of Yarrow. genuine and correct copy did not appear till after the author's death, in 1760, when a collection was B. Why does she weep, thy bonny bonny bride? made from his own manuscripts. The most attrac- Why does she weep, thy winsome marrow ? tive feature in his works is his pure English style, And why dare ye nae mair weil be seen, and a somewhat ornate poetical diction. He had Pouing the birks on the Braes of Yarrow? more fancy than feeling, and in this respect his A. Lang maun she weep, lang maun she, maun she amatory songs resemble those of the courtier poets

weep, of Charles II.'s court. Nor was he more sincere, if

Lang maun she weep with dule and sorrow, we may credit an anecdote related of him by Alex- And lang maun I nae mair weil be seen ander Tytler in his life of Henry Home, Lord Kames.

Pouing the birks on the Braes of Yarrow.
One of the ladies whom Hamilton annoyed by his
perpetual compliments and solicitations, consulted For she has tint her lover lover dear,
Home how she should get rid of the poet, who she

Her lover dear, the cause of sorrow, was convinced had no serious object in view. The And I hae slain the comeliest swain philosopher advised her to dance with him, and show That e'er poued birks on the Braes of Yarrow. him every mark of her kindness, as if she had re- Why runs thy stream, O Yarrow, Yarrow, red ! solved to favour his suit. The lady adopted the counsel, and the success of the experiment was com

Why on thy braes heard the voice of sorrow?

And why yon melancholious weeds plete. Hamilton wrote a serious poem, entitled Contemplation, and a national one on the Thistle, which

Hung on the bonny birks of Yarrow ? is in blank verse :

What's yonder floats on the rueful rueful flude ? How oft beneath

What's yonder floats? O dule and sorrow! Its martial influence have Scotia's sons,

'Tis he, the comely swain I slew Through every age, with dauntless valour fought

Upon the duleful Braes of Yarrow. On every hostile ground! While o'er their breast, Wash, oh wash his wounds his wounds in tears, Companion to the silver star, blest type

His wounds in tears with dule and sorrow, Of fame, unsullied and superior deed,

And wrap his limbs in mourning weeds,
Distinguished ornament ! this native plant

And lay him on the Braes of Yarrow.
Surrounds the sainted cross, with costly row
Of gems emblazed, and flame of radiant gold, Then build, then build, ye sisters sisters sad,
A sacred mark, their glory and their pride!

Ye sisters sad, his tomb with sorrow,
Professor Richardson of Glasgow (who wrote a

And weep around in waeful wise,

His helpless fate on the Braes of Yarrow.
critique on Hamilton in the ‘Lounger') quotes the
following as a favourable specimen of his poetical Curse ye, curse ye, his useless useless shield,
powers :-

My arm that wrought the deed of sorrow,
In everlasting blushes seen,

The fatal spear that pierced his breast,
Such Pringle shines, of sprightly mien;

His comely breast, on the Braes of Yarrow,
To her the power of love imparts,

Did I not warn thee not to lue,
Rich gift! the soft successful arts,

And warn from fight, but to my sorrow;
That best the lover's fire provoke,

O'er rashly bauld a stronger arm
The lively step, the mirthful joke,

Thou met'st, and fell on the Braes of Yarrow.
The speaking glance, the amorous wile,
The sportful laugh, the winning smile.

Sweet smells the birk, green grows, green grows the
Her soul awakening every grace,

grass,
Is all abroad upon her face ;

Yellow on Yarrow bank the gowan,
In bloom of youth still to survive,

Fair hangs the apple frae the rock,
All charms are there, and all alive.

Sweet the wave of Yarrow flowan.

!

DR SAMUEL JOHNSON.

Thy every look, and every grace,

his love of argument and society, into which he So charm, whene'er 1 view thee,

poured the treasures of a rich and full mind-his Till death o'ertake me in the chase,

wit, repartee, and brow-beating-his rough manners Still will my hopes pursue thee.

and kind heart-his curious household, in which Then, when my tedious hours are past,

were congregated the lame, blind, and despised-his Be'this last blessing given,

very looks, gesticulation, and dress—have all been Low at thy feet to breathe my last,

brought so vividly before us by his biographer, BosAnd die in sight of heaven.

well, that to readers of every class Johnson is as well known as a member of their own family. His

heavy form seems still to haunt Fleet Street and the In massive force of understanding, multifarious Strand, and he has stamped his memory on the re

In literature his knowledge, sagacity, and moral intrepidity, no writer mote islands of the Hebrides.

influence has been scarcely less extensive. No prose writer of that day escaped the contagion of his peculiar style. He banished for a long period the naked simplicity of Swift and the idiomatic graces of Addison; he depressed the literature and poetry of imagination, while he elevated that of the understanding; he based criticism on strong sense and solid judgment, not on scholastic subtleties and refinement; and though some of the higher qualities and attributes of genius eluded his grasp and observation, the withering scorn and invective with which he assailed all affected sentimentalism, immorality, and licentiousness, introduced a pure and healthful and invigorating atmosphere into the crowded walks of literature. These are solid and substantial benefits which should weigh down errors of taste or the caprices of a temperament constitutionally prone to melancholy and ill health, and which was little sweetened by prosperity or applause at that period of life when the habits are formed and the manners become permanent. As a man, Johnson was an admirable representative of the Englishman--as an author, his course was singularly pure, high-minded, and independent. He could boast with more truth than Burke, that he had no arts but manly arts.' At every step in his progress his passport was talent

and virtue; and when the royal countenance and Dr Samuel Johnson.

favour were at length extended to him, it was but a of the eighteenth century surpassed DR SAMUEL ratification by the sovereign of the wishes and opiJohnson. His various works, with their senten- nions entertained by the best and wisest of the tious morality and high-sounding sonorous periods nation. -his manly character and appearance—his great Johnson was born at Lichfield, September 18, virtues and strong prejudices—his early and severe 1709. His father was a bookseller, and in circumstruggles, illustrating his own noble verse- stances that enabled him to give his son a good eduSlow rises worth by poverty depressed

cation. In his nineteenth year he was placed at Pem

Street Scene in Lichfield, including the birthplace of Johnson (being the under part of the lighted side of the large house on the right hand side of the picture )