Mr. Dyer on English Verfification. Reluctant comes the timid fpring, The Firft of April. In this and the other two odes, there is a conftant varying from a line of eight fyllables to feven; from an Iambic to a Trochee. Some of Anacreon's defcriptive odes, alfo, are diftinguifhed by fome irregularity of measure, particularly his 4th and 37th. There is a fmaller fpecies of verfe, of very artificial conftruction, which, merely for the fake of concifenefs, I take the liberty of ranking among odes, though the generality of critics will think improperly, I mean the fonnet. The meafure is of Italian origin, and was first introduced into England by Milton; whofe fonnets, however, with two or three exceptions, are but indiffer ent. In the fonnets of Petrarch and Metaftafio, confifting of fourteen lines, the fenfe regularly clofes twice in the courfe of the eight first lines; fo that they might compofe two regular ftanzas of four lines. This is true of every fonnet of thefe writers that I have examined. I mention this circumftance the rather, because many modern writers of fonnets have departed from the Italian practice. It may be faid, and, I think, with reafon, that the flow of many of these verses, much refembling that of blank verfe, is adapted to the queruloufnefs of language, the meltings and varyings of thofe fenfibilities, which the fonnet wifhes frequently to exprefs; and that the ftrictnefs of the laws for the fennet, in other refpects, juftifies the poet's liberty in this particular in ftance. The following hints, though more immediately applicable to odes, will, many of them, apply to all other fpecies of verfification. The foftnefs and melody of verse are confiderably affifted by the use of liquids: for example, The laughing flow'rs, that round them blow, Drink life and fragrance as they flow. Gray. -Tu Tityre lentus in umbrâ, Formofam refonare doces Amaryllida fylvas. Virgil. Alliteration, or an artful repetition of the fame letter, was agreeable to the general practice of the Saxon poets, and was afterwards adopted by the English and Scotish. It afterwards gave place to See Pinkerton's Differtations prefixed to bis Scottish Ballads." Vol. i. MONTH. MAG. No. XXX. 263 The ftately tread, and folitariness of the raven feem well expreffed here.. Double rhymes are rarely admitted by correct verfifiers. In the following chafte ftanza, however, it has no unpleafing effect: Oh! that the chemift's magic art Would crystallize this facred treasure; Long fhould it glitter near my heart, A fecret fource of penave pleasure. Mr. Rogers's Verfes on a Tear. Generally speaking, it may be faid, that The rule with Greek and Latin writers, the verfe requires molt ftrength at the end. is, to clofe with a Spondee, two long fyl lables: the laft fyllable at leaft is confidered long, as being the clofing line of the verse, though by nature it should happen to be fhort:--a verfe ending with a fupernume rary fyllable, with a vowel, is no exception to this rule; the fupernumerary fyllable going on to the next verfe, which always begins, in that cafe, with a vowel. Quem non incufavi amens hominumque deo rumque Aut quem, &c. Virgil. Die ille, dies ir, Salvet fæclum in favilla, It is, however, by no means true, that rhyme was the inere invention of the dark ages. Sir William Jones has fhewn, that it was generally uled by the Arabian Ut nequeam mihi perfuadere, quin poets, metra etiam Hebræa Arabicis fuerint perfimilia, nifi quod Arabum verficuli fimiliter definant, veterum Hebræorum, non item It was alfo practifed by other nations the ancient Saturnine verfes were rhymes. Blank verfe is admirably adapted to exprefs ftrong conceptions, energy of paffion, and, even when properly contructed, melodioufnefs of numbers: Milton, in fome parts of his "Paradife Loft, is fuperior to any of our poets in melody. The principal excellence of blank verfe, confifts in its capability of varying the paufes with greater cafe, than rhyme: it is, therefore, lefs monotonous: ex. No more of talk with God, or angel guest'. With man, as with his friend, familiar uf'd To fit indulgent, and with him partake... Rural repaft, permitting him the while... Venial difcourfe unblum'd. Paradife Left. The following lines, though deftiture of rhyme, are too monotonous for blank verfe. And fee where furly winter paffes off Far to the north, and calls his ruffian blafts: Diffolving fnows in livid torrents loft, Thefe lines read like Pope's they have not the ftatelinefs of blank verfe, though the defcription is exquilite. With refpect to rhyme, it has been before obferved, that it has naturally a paufe at the end of each line; the clofing line of the rhyme not only requires a paufe, but a ftop. The contrary of this is true with respect to blank verfe: here the verses are "Porj. Afiat. Comment." Part, il cap, 2. not only permitted, but required to run frequently into one another. Tis paft the fultry tyrant of the fouth Has fpent his fhort-liv'd rage: more grateful hours Move filent o Mrs. Barbauld's Summer Exering Meditation. Some people feem to think, that all required of blank verfe is, that it should be measured into ten fyllables, or five feet, and free from rhyme. This is a great mistake.. The following lines have their proper number of fyllables, but are wretched verse. Delectable both to behold and tafte, For he who tempts, though in vain afperfes. Paradije Loft, b. ix. Thefe lines are deftitute of harmony, and have wrong quantities. The following line is accented wrong, that fyllable being acuted, that should be graved. His words here ended, but his meek afpect. The fame. Milton's verfe is fometimes defective and profaic. The double ending blank, verfe is rarely (though it is fometimes) admitted by the beft writers of blank verfe; except, indeed, in theatrical performances; it is well adapted to the familiarity of the ftage, and is perpetually ufed by Shakfpear: To be or not to be, that is the question, Milton occafionally ufes the double ending line. But that fine poet, and admirable verfifier, Akenfide, never. From what has been faid, it will be ealy to understand why the blank verfe of Shakspear, Milton, his imitator, Philips, and Akenlide are better models for blank verle, than Addifen, Young, and Thorton. The blank verfe of Mr. Southey's Joan of Arc, is very happy with fome exceptions, is very harmonious. with relpect to varying the paufes, and To the lift of publications on English verfe already recommended, I think it unneceffary to fubjoin more than one, par. ticularly as fome valuable books have been recommended by your correfpondent I. T. The book I allude to is, the first and fecond books of Paradife Loft," collated, the " Original Syftem of Orthography restored:" "The Punctuation corrected and extended" with the various Readings Incredibility of Plato's Atlantic Hiftory. Readings and Notes, chiefly Rhythmical By CAPEL LOFFT. These publications illuftrate by facts, not by arguments, the mechanical parts of Milton's blank verfe. I lament, that the whole of this work has not been published; particularly as the learned editor fays, in his preface," that the copy from which these two books are printed, has been revised and corrected, on the fame plan, to the beginning of the eleventh." It is not intended by these hints, to enfeeble the conception, or to retard the operations of genius: and, I hope, what has been faid, can offend none but fuch as hold the doctrine of plenary infpiration in poetry: but, even fuch should recol lest, that thofe poets, who were infpired by Apollo, and the nine Mufes, were of all people in the world meft fimple, and moft correct, that the casino mados, was followed by the lima labor; the enthufi alm of poetic feeling by the labour of the file. I Let us fee what are the teftimonies in favour of this extraordinary account of an ifland, and of a people, which are faid to have exifted nine thousand years before Solon; but which, although it thus contradicts the best and most generally received fyftems of chronology, is at leaft, we are told by Mr. T, as much deferving of belief, as any of the hiftorians of the Greeks or Romans. Solon relates this wonderful story to his friend Dropie (who by the Lye was a 265 poet); he tells it to his fon Critias, who, again, at the age of ninety tells it to his grandfon Critias, who was then a boy of ten years old. Add to this, the original furce of the whole hiftory was an Egyptian priest, who related it to Salon. Such is the foundation on which the authenticity of Plato's Atlantic hiftory is built; to prove the weakness of which, and how little it can be relied on, little need be faid, for the account fpeaks for itself. Is it probable that a boy, at the tender age of ten years old, fhould be able to recollect, with the precifion with which it is related, all the circumstances which Plato mentions? But even fuppofing this, and, what is not very often the cafe, that the story was neither increafed or diminished in its progrefs from Solon to Critias, yet ftill the original relator of the whole was an Egyptian Pricft. The extravagant and wild notions which the Egyptians had concerning the age of the world, and of the valt antiquity of nations, are well known; it is unneceflary, therefore, to fay any thing concerning them; but I would refer any of your readers, who with to fee this fubject difcuffed, to Mr. MAURICE'S "Hiftory of Hindoftan," and his "Indian Antiquities," in which he has ably confuted and explained the claims of both the Egyptians and the Indians to fuch vaft and fabulous antiquity. Can we then pretend to compare the Atlantic hiftory of Plato with thofe of the Greeks and Romans? Can it be confidered equally deferving of credit with the narrations of Thucydides and Herodotus, of Tacitus and Livy? Surely Mr. T. on confidering the matter, will not pretend to defend what he has fo rafhly afferted. Of the internal evidence in favour of the truth of the history in question, I will only fay, that it scarcely equals that of the "Arabian Night's Entertainments.” I am, &c. A. Q.Q. L. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, ECLAMATIONS upon the naD tional debt, and projects for paying it off, have been fo frequent with writers of every defcription, from the minifter of ftate, to the inhabitant of a garret, that readers of any political acumen, mult, by this time, be in tolerable poffeffion of the fubject. It is certain, that many, who cannot pay their own debts, have a peculiar facility in paying those of others: and, while their private concerns are in a ruinous, and embarrassed ftate, through inattention, or indolence, M m 2 266 Reply to Bishop Watfon on the National Debt. we find them generally facrificing their time and labour, to remedy the embarraffments of the public. Permit me, however, though neither spendthrift, nor projector, to offer, through the channel of your mifcellany, a few obfervations upon this fubject. Bishop WATSON, in his late "Addrefs to the People of GreatBritain," feems to be of opinion, that the national debt may, by a great exertion, be paid off, and pretty expeditiously too. As there are few writers who think more justly, or exprefs themfelves more clearly upon moft fubjects, than the Bifhop; fo there are few, to whom the pub lic are more indebted for many valuable publications. It is, therefore, with fome diffidence, I venture to diffent from fo refpectable an authority: but fo far am I from thinking with his lordship, that it would have been wife in the minifter, "inftead of calling for a tenth of a nan's income, to call for a tenth, or fuch other portion of every man's whole property, as would have enabled him, not merely to make a temporary provifion for the war, but to have paid off, in a few years, the whole, or the greateft part of the national debt;" that, in truth, I much doubt whether the thing be even practicable. Could the fcheme be put in execution, I perfectly agree with Dr. WATSON, that it would be a great and noble plan, well worthy the British character, on fo trying an occafion as the prefent; but the liquidation of the national debt is an object of great magnitude; and, if it be at all feasible, must be a work of gradual and tedious operation; by no means fitted to the immediate exigency, which demands prompt and decifive measures. Patience, tranquillity, and extenfive commerce, may enable us to do much in this way, at fome future period; but, under the prevailing fyftem of things, before we can bring men to make fuch a facrifice to poiterity, as this object would require; or to forego prefent advantage, fór future diftant good, we muft, I fear, regenerate them, by the introduction of new habits, and new paffions. Debts upon a country have often been compared to mortgages upon an eftate yet there is, I think, a confiderable difference between them. When an eftate is mortgaged, even admitting that the intereft of the mortgage amounts to nearly the income of the eftate, the proprietor, by a rigid fyftem of economy, may, in time, hope to liquidate the debt. But this economy, which is fo ferviceable to the individual, is often injurious to the ftate; for we must bear in mind the idea, that though the fee-fimple of the land ftands pledged for the payment of the public debts, yet a confiderable portion of our ability to meet the difficulty is derived from commerce; and commerce, and great oeconomy, are incompatible ideas. So far as relates to the governing part of the state, oeconomy is certainly as neceffary in the various departments of it, to guard the whole body politic against embarraffment, as it is neceffary in the mafter of a family to guard the individual members of it from diftrefs. But if we confider the state as one whole, of which the various component parts fhould contribute feverally to the general welfare, then fuch a defignation of the powers of each, as fhall contribute to form one beautiful, compact fyftem of induftry, contentment, and fupport, is neceffary to the happiness of the community. And this confifts in fuch habits of life among the opulent, as fhall afford the largest portion of commendable employ to the indigent. Public debts, when they become enormous, counteract this reafoning. They may be compared to falling bodies: the greater their magnitude, the more rapid their velocity downwards. If the public were fincerely difpofed to liquidate the national debt, we may amufe ourselves (for it is, I fear, but amusement) in confidering by what way they could most fuccefsfully fet about it. It is plain, for reafons already alledged, that habits of oeconomy, and felf-denial, fo much infifted upon, would not effect the purpose. And, if thefe would not, the natural queftion then is, what would? If the national debt is to be difcharged, through what circulating medium fhall we difcharge it? Not by the paper, large as it is, now in circulation; much lefs by the fpecie: nor, indeed, by both united. And nobody, I prefume, under the prefent state of affairs, would wifh to fee new paper coined for the purpofe. If, on the other hand, the stock-holders, as mortgagees, fhould foreclofe, without skill to cultivate, markets to confume, or experience to guide then in the management of land, they would be in but an aukward predicament. In fuch a cafe, we may prefume, that the flock-holders would be called upon, as Bishop WATSON juftly obferves, to bear their proportion in the exigencies of the ftate: hut after their quotas were ftruck off, there would ftill remain, the clergy, officers, naval and military, widows, annuitants, holders of life eftates, proprietors of land, with a long etcætera of debtors. If there is fo much Opinion of the Ancients respecting the Moon. much difficulty in an affeffment touching CARACTACUS. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. STRY HE perufal of The Parallel of the Tanions and Moderns, by M. Perrault, has induced me to collect the fentiments of ancient authors refpect ing the Moon. It is aftonishing that, without the means of afcertaining conjectures which we at prefent have, they have difcovered, by the mental eye, whatever. has fince been prefented to corporeal fight, through the medium of telescopes. The penetration and fagacity of the ancients have been particularly diftinguished in their ideas upon the moon. The Chaldeans and Egyptians, who affected the imaginary honour of the most extravagant antiquity, cultivated the fcience of aftronomy with peculiar diligence. The reliques of Chaldean astronomy are extremely few; and the refults, of their fudy munt necefarily have been frequently erroneous and indefinite, yet fill we find that the rays of real truth have fometimes beamed through.the dark obfcurity which enveloped them. In the Uranologion of Petavius, there is a quotation from Gemina, which indicates that they had difcerned that the motion of the moon was not uniform; and that they had attempted to align thofe particular parts 267 of her orbit, in which it was more rapid or more flow. If any credibility may be repofed in the writings and quotations of Ariftotle and Pliny; the Chaldeans were not unacquainted with the motions of the moon's notes, and that of her apogee; and they had rationally inferred, from the occultation of fixed: ftars by the moon, that this luminary was the cause of the eclipses of the fun. From the Hebrews the moon received infinitely more adoration than the fun. The festivals on the first day of the new moon, were folemnly celebrated, as appears from an expreflion of David's to Jonathan in 1 Sam. c. xx. v. 5. Apuleius celebrates the moon, as of the vivific feries, and confequently fuperior to the fun, which was of the harmonic. It is uncertain at what particular time aftronomical knowledge originated among the Greeks. Thales was the firft who reasoned upon the principles of the feience. Previous to the return of Thales from Egypt, the names of the conftellations were determined, and fome faint glimmerings of aftronomical knowledge perhaps fparkled for the inftant in the times of Hefiod and Homer, but certainly no confiderable advancement had been made. Thales firft taught that " the light of the moon was reflected from the fun." This fentiment was adopted by Anaxagoras, Pythagoras, and Empedocles *, his fucceffors, who, by means of this principle, accounted for the mildnels of its fplendour, and the imperceptibility of its heat. Many of the ancient Greek philofophers and aftronomers, not only imagined the ftars to be funs, about which rolled planets of their own, fuch as compofe our folar fyftem; they maintained that thefe myriads of planets were inhabited by beings, whofe natures and effences they could not defcribe. Próclus, in his commentary on Timæus, introduces three lines of a Fragment of Orpheus, which, in the most perfect and |