STRAWBERRY HILL, _April_ 4, 1760.
Sir,--As I have very little at present to trouble you with myself, I
should have deferred writing till a better opportunity, if it were not
to satisfy the curiosity of a friend; a friend whom you, Sir, will be
glad to have made curious, as you originally pointed him out as a likely
person to be charmed with the old Irish poetry you sent me. It is Mr.
Gray, who is an enthusiast about those poems, and begs me to put the
following queries to you; which I will do in his own words, and I may
say truly, _Poeta loquitur_.
"I am so charmed with the two specimens of Erse poetry, that I cannot
help giving you the trouble to inquire a little farther about them, and
should wish to see a few lines of the original, that I may form some
slight idea of the language, the measure, and the rhythm.
"Is there anything known of the author or authors, and of what antiquity
are they supposed to be?
"Is there any more to be had of equal beauty, or at all approaching to
it?
"I have been often told, that the poem called Hardykanute[1] (which I
always admired and still admire) was the work of somebody that lived a
few years ago. This I do not at all believe, though it has evidently
been retouched in places by some modern hand; but, however, I am
authorised by this report to ask, whether the two poems in question are
certainly antique and genuine. I make this inquiry in quality of an
antiquary, and am not otherwise concerned about it; for if I were sure
that any one now living in Scotland had written them, to divert himself
and laugh at the credulity of the world, I would undertake a journey
into the Highlands only for the pleasure of seeing him."
[Footnote 1: "Hardyknute" was an especial favourite of Sir W. Scott. In
his "Life of Mr. Lockhart" he mentions having found in one of his books
a mention that "he was taught 'Hardyknute' by heart before he could read
the ballad itself; it was the first poem he ever learnt, the last he
should ever forget" (c. 2). And in the very last year of his life, while
at Malta, in a discussion on ballads in general, "he greatly lamented
his friend Mr. Frere's heresy in not esteeming highly enough that of
'Hardyknute.' He admitted that it was not a veritable old ballad, but
'just old enough,' and a noble imitation of the best style." In fact, it
was the composition of a lady, Mrs. Hachet, of Wardlaw.]
You see, Sir, how easily you may make our greatest southern bard travel
northward to visit a brother. The young translator has nothing to do but
to own a forgery, and Mr. Gray is ready to pack up his lyre, saddle
Pegasus, and set out directly. But seriously, he, Mr. Mason, my Lord
Lyttelton, and one or two more, whose taste the world allows, are in
love with your Erse elegies: I cannot say in general they are so much
admired--but Mr. Gray alone is worth satisfying.
The "Siege of Aquileia," of which you ask, pleased less than Mr. Home's
other plays.[1] In my own opinion, "Douglas" far exceeds both the
other. Mr. Home seems to have a beautiful talent for painting genuine
nature and the manners of his country. There was so little of nature in
the manners of both Greeks and Romans, that I do not wonder at his
success being less brilliant when he tried those subjects; and, to say
the truth, one is a little weary of them. At present, nothing is talked
of, nothing admired, but what I cannot help calling a very insipid and
tedious performance: it is a kind of novel, called "The Life and
Opinions of Tristram Shandy;"[2] the great humour of which consists in
the whole narration always going backwards. I can conceive a man saying
that it would be droll to write a book in that manner, but have no
notion of his persevering in executing it. It makes one smile two or
three times at the beginning, but in recompense makes one yawn for two
hours. The characters are tolerably kept up, but the humour is for ever
attempted and missed. The best thing in it is a Sermon, oddly coupled
with a good deal of coarseness, and both the composition of a clergyman.
The man's head, indeed, was a little turned before, now topsy-turvy with
his success and fame. Dodsley has given him six hundred and fifty pounds
for the second edition and two more volumes (which I suppose will reach
backwards to his great-great-grandfather); Lord Fauconberg, a donative
of one hundred and sixty pounds a-year; and Bishop Warburton[3] gave him
a purse of gold and this compliment (which happened to be a
contradiction), "that it was quite an original composition, and in the
true Cervantic vein:" the only copy that ever was an original, except in
painting, where they all pretend to be so. Warburton, however, not
content with this, recommended the book to the bench of bishops, and
told them Mr. Sterne, the author, was the English Rabelais. They had
never heard of such a writer. Adieu!
[Footnote 1: "_Mr. Home's other plays._" Mr. Home was a Presbyterian
minister. His first play was "The Tragedy of Douglas," which D'Israeli
describes as a drama which, "by awakening the piety of domestic
affections with the nobler passions, would elevate and purify the mind;"
and proceeds, with no little indignation, to relate how nearly it cost
the author dear. The "Glasgow divines, with the monastic spirit of the
darkest ages, published a paper, which I abridge for the contemplation
of the reader, who may wonder to see such a composition written in the
eighteenth century: 'On Wednesday, February 2, 1757, the Presbytery of
Glasgow came to the following resolution: They, having seen a printed
paper intituled an admonition and exhortation of the reverend Presbytery
of Edinburgh, which, among other evils prevailing, observed the
following _melancholy_ but _notorious_ facts, that one who is a minister
of the Church of Scotland did _himself_ write and compose _a stage
play_, intituled 'The Tragedy of Douglas,' and got it to be acted at the
theatre of Edinburgh; and that he, with several other ministers of the
Church, were present, and _some_ of them _oftener than once_, at the
acting of the said play before a numerous audience. The presbytery being
_deeply affected_ with this new and strange appearance, do publish these
sentiments,'" &c., &c.--sentiments with which I will not disgust the
reader.]
[Footnote 2: Walpole's criticism is worth preserving as a singular proof
how far prejudice can obscure the judgement of a generally shrewd
observer, and it is the more remarkable since he selects as its especial
fault the failure of the author's attempts at humour; while all other
critics, from Macaulay to Thackeray, agree in placing it among those
works in which the humour is most conspicuous and most attractive. Even
Johnson, when Boswell once, thinking perhaps that his "illustrious
friend" might be offended with its occasional coarseness, pronounced
Sterne to be "a dull fellow," was at once met with, "Why no, Sir."]
[Footnote 3: Bishop Warburton was Bishop of Gloucester, a prelate whose
vast learning was in some degree tarnished by unepiscopal violence of
temper. He was a voluminous author; his most important work being an
essay on "The Divine Legation of Moses." In one of his letters to
Garrick he praises "Tristram Shandy" highly, priding himself on having
recommended it to all the best company in town.]
_ERSE POETRY--"THE DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD"--"THE COMPLETE ANGLER."_