On wing of jet, from his repofe Up flew the fnowy ptarmigan." P. 134. We should fill a confiderable space with that which many of our readers must have obferved before, if we were to extract all the paffages of admirable defcription, which occur in the fix Cantos of this poem. We may particularize, as remarkable, the views of the Scottish Camp, and the City of of Edinburgh in Canto 4;-the various troops defcribed in Canto 5; the figure of Lady Heron finging at the Scottish Court; Tantallon Caftle, in Canto 6; and the whole view of the battle, which for rapidity and liveliness exceeds almost any thing that we have feen. From this latter we cannot refufe ourselves the pleasure of taking a specimen, where the Scots begin the battle by firing their tents. "But fee, look up, on Flodden bent, "The Scottish foe has fired his tent'. Told England, from his mountain throne Until at weapon-point they clofe. They clofe in clouds of smoke and duft, And fuch a yell was there, Of fudden and portentous birth, And fiends in upper air. Long looked the anxious fquires, their eye "At length the freshening western blast Afide the fhroud of battle caft, X x 4 And And first the ridge of mingled fpears If any thing can place a quiet reader in imaginary view of a battle it must be fuch a defcription as this, which, even in its indiftin&tnefs, gives images fufficient to engage and fill the mind, Such are the defcriptive beauties abounding in this poem. The fituations alfo which call them forth are various and interefting. The touches of character are lefs frequent, but fometimes are frong. Thus the feelings of an ardent warrior at viewing a fplendid hoft, though of an enemy, are here well expreffed. "Lord Marmion viewed the landfcape bright, Such glance did falcon never dart "Oh! well, Lord Lion, haft thou faid, Were but a vain essay ; For, by St. George, were that hoft mine, Should once my foul to peace incline In glorious battle fray!" P. 217. The circumstances between old Angus and the King, and between the fame peer and Marmion at their parting, are alfo highly ch rafteriftic. The attractions we have here enumerated, added to that of an easy and natural verfification, which seems to be entirely unpremeditated, will fufficiently account for the great popularity of Marmion, notwithstanding the faults, which are many, in the plan and conduct of the ftory. But the beauties prevail over the faults, becaufe the former are feen feen and felt at a glance, whereas the latter are chiefly perceived upon reflection. It is a fault undoubtedly, in the first place, that the hero is a perfonage avowedly fictitious; but it is a much more confiderable blemish that his character is altogether deteftable. Befides his courage and warlike fkill he has nothing about him to create refpect. He is not only a feducer and forfaker of virgins, but an avaricious fortune-hunter, a falfe and treacherous accufer, a fuborner of forgery, an unfeeling confpirer against high merit. These low crimes, fo entirely inconfiftent with his high baronial pride, meet us at every part of the tale, and forbid us for a moment to feel in terefted in bis fate. The unfortunate nun whom he feduced, who might have been interefting, is alfo made odious by the unnatural and unrepented part which the bears in the confpiracy; a confpiracy fo evidently against herself, that the motive attributed to her can hardly be comprehended. In a tale of pure invention it is rather extraordinary that an author fhould fele&t circumftances, which, if they had been forced upon him by the ftubbornness of hiftorical truth, would have been deemed adverfe and unfortunate. Still Marmion is the hero, and, by the predominance of his odious figure, the char &ers which ought to have created intereft are thrown completely into shade. De Wilton, whofe nocturnal triumph over Marmion, and generous forbearance, seem intended to exalt him in the reader's opinion, lofes that advantage by the hobgoblin terror which overpowers his brave antagonist in the encounter. Nor is the motive for his for bearance very interefting. It is not any generous feeling of his own, but the mere recollection of a promife, not at all likely to have been exacted, and little likely to have been recalled, in the temper of mind attributed to him at the time. Even poetical juftice is but partially obferved, for though the odious Marmion dies, he dies like a hero; and though his injured rival is made happy, his actions are kept out of fight, and only briefly intimated at the end; nor has he any open fatisfaction againft his treacherous antagonist. We have spoken of the poem as known probably to every reader, and therefore have not attempted to detail the fable. In the briefeft form it is this. Lord Marmion, a nobleman of high rank in Henry the Eighth's reign, who has forfaken one lady unjustly, and is feeking another by ftill greater injuftice, is fent on an embally to the court of Scotland. At this very period the unfortunate female whom he has left is put to death, and by a ftrange accident the other falls into his power. He performs his. embaffy, and returns juft time enough enough to join in the battle of Flodden-field, where he is killed, and the rival whom he had moft treacherously fupplanted is reftored to his honour, and poffeffes the lady. The improbabilities in the conduct of the ftory are numerous and extraordinary, particularly the circumstances, without exception, that relate to the difguifed De Wilton. Infomuch that the preternatural tales adopted from the ancient chroni clers are hardly to be efteemed the most incredible paffages. Yet, notwithstanding thefe exceptions, there is a charm in the whole, which has pleased and must please. It is a work of genius, and of that rank of genius which dares to offend, and yet is juftly confident of fuccefs. The fix cantos of the poem have each a poetical introduction, addreffed to fome efteemed friend of the author. But thefe are fo entirely detached from the poem itself that they form no part of the confideration. Nor do we fuppofe that they are often read in their places, on account of the total interruption to the ftory which they produce. It would not furely have been difficult to have given them more connection, and to have made them properly introductory to the feveral parts to which they are prefixed. But this has not been attempted. The author is content to addrefs his friends on the fubject of their common taftes, purfuits, or focial intercourfe: or, where he comes the clofeft to his fubject, to introduce an apology for the style of his compofition. These introductions nevertheless have merit in themfelves, and fuffer chiefly from the impropriety of their fituations. They are very well bred gentlemen, but they intrude themselves where their company is not wanted. We should not do juftice to our own feel ings, nor to the patriotifm of the poet, if we inferted not the noble encomium on Pitt, which adorns the first introduc tion. "Nor mourn ye lefs his perifhed worth, * Nelfon, Who Who when the frantic crowd amain And brought the freeman's arm to aid the freeman's laws, Thy thrilling trump had roused the land, Our pilots had kept course aright; As fome proud column, though alone, Thy ftrength had propp'd the tottering throne. Now is the stately column broke, The beacon light is quenched in fmoke, The trumpet's filver found is ftill, The warder filent on the hill! “Oh, think how to his latest day, When Death, juft hovering, claim'd his prey, Firm at his dangerous poft he ftood, He who preferved them, PITT, lies here." P. g. In his various addreffes to his friends, Mr. Scott expreffes, with ability, much that is amiable in them and in himself: nor will many doubt the fincerity or the juftnefs of his praises, when they read the names of the perfons addreffed. In his language Mr. Scott has thought it allowable to preferve fomething of the Border ftyle, fomething of the ancient Scottish and English, as thinking his readers fuffici ently schooled to thefe by his former publication. We doubt not, however, that many readers find him obfcure in thefe inftances, in which he has indulged perhaps too far. They |