3.

The Village-Schoolmaster.

Beside yon straggling fence that skirts the way,
With blossomed furze unprofitably gay,
There, in his noisy mansion, skilled to rule,
The village master taught his little school:
A man severe he was, and stern to view,
I knew him well, and every truant knew;
Well had the boding tremblers learned to trace
The day's disasters in his morning face;
Full well they laughed with counterfeited glee
At all his jokes, for many a joke had he;
Full well the busy whisper, circling round,
Conveyed the dismal tidings when he frowned:
Yet he was kind, or if severe in aught,
The love he bore to learning was in fault;
The village all declared how much he knew,
'Twas certain he could write, and cipher too;
Lands he could measure, terms and tides presage,
And even the story ran that he could gauge:
In arguing too, the parson owned his skill,

For even though vanquished, he could argue still;
While words of learned length, and thund'ring sound,
Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around;
And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew,
That one small head could carry all he knew.

But past is all his fame. The very spot
Where many a time he triumphed, is forgot.

3. CHARACTERS OF BURKE, GARRICK, AND REYNOLDS.

(From Retaliation.)
I.

Here lies our good Edmund, whose genius was such,
We scarcely can praise it, or blame it too much;
Who, born for the universe, narrowed his mind,
And to party gave up what was meant for mankind.
Though fraught with all learning, yet straining his throat,
To persuade Tommy Townshend to lend him a vote;
Who, too deep for his hearers, still went on refining,
And thought of convincing, while they thought of dining:
Though equal to all things, for all things unfit,
Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit;

For a patriot too cool; for a drudge, disobedient,
And too fond of the right, to pursue the expedient.
In short, 'twas his fate, unemployed, or in place, sir,
To eat mutton cold, and cut blocks with a razor.

II.

Here lies David Garrick, describe me who can,
An abrigdment of all that was pleasant in man;
As an actor, confessed without rival to shine;
As a wit, if not first, in the very first line:
Yet, with talents like these, and an excellent heart,
The man had his failings, a dupe to his art.
Like an ill-judging beauty, his colours he spread,
And beplastered with rouge his own natural red.
On the stage he was natural, simple, affecting;
'Twas only that when he was off, he was acting.
With no reason on earth to go out of his way,
He turned and he varied full ten times day:
Though secure of our hearts, yet confoundedly sick,
If they were not his own by finessing and trick:
He cast off his friends, as a huntsman his pack,

For he knew when he pleased he could whistle them back.
Of praise a mere glutton, he swallowed what came,
And the puff of a dunce, he mistook it for fame;
Till his relish grown callous, almost to disease,
Who peppered the highest was surest to please.
But let us be candid, and speak out our mind,
If dunces applauded, he paid them in kind.

Ye Kenricks, ye Kellys, and Woodfalls so grave,

What a commerce was yours, while you got and you gave!
How did Grub-street re-echo the shouts that you raised,
While he was be-Rosciused, and you were be-praised!
But peace to his spirit, wherever it flies,

To act as an angel and mix with the skies:

Those poets, who owe their best fame to his skill,
Shall still be his flatterers, go where he will,

Old Shakspeare receive him with praise and with love,
And Beaumonts and Bens be his Kellys above.

III.

Here Reynolds is laid, and to tell you my mind,
He has not left a wiser or better behind;
His pencil was striking, resistless, and grand;
His manners were gentle, complying, and bland;
Still born to improve us in every part,

His pencil our faces, his manners our heart:

To coxcombs averse, yet most civilly steering,

When they judged without skill, he was still hard of hearing: When they talked of their Raphaels, Correggios, and stuff, He shifted his trumpet, and only took snuff.

By flattery unspoiled

.....

4. TONY LUMPKIN'S SONG.

(From She Stoops to Conquer.)

Let schoolmasters puzzle their brain,

With grammar, and nonsense, and learning,

Good liquor, I stoutly maintain,

Gives genus a better discerning.

Let them brag of their heathenish gods,

Their Lethes, their Styxes, and Stygians, Their Quis, and their Quæs, and their Quods, They're all but a parcel of Pigeons. Toroddle, toroddle, toroll.

When methodist preachers come down,
A-preaching that drinking is sinful,

I'll wager the rascals a crown,

They always preach best with a skinful.
But when you come down with your pence,
For a slice of their scurvy religion,
I'll leave it to all men of sense,

But you, my good friend, are the Pigeon.
Toroddle, toroddle, toroll.

Then come, put the jorum about,

And let us be merry and clever,

Our hearts and our liquors are stout,

Here's the Three Jolly Pigeons for ever.

Let some cry up woodcock or hare,

Your bustards, your ducks, and your widgeons;

But of all the gay birds in the air,

Here's a health to the Three Jolly Pigeons.
Toroddle, toroddle, toroll.

DAVID HUME.

1711-1776.

David Hume, skeptisk Filosof og Historieskriver, var en Skotlænder, født i Edinburg 1711. Han var først bestemt for Skranken, og siden for Handelen, men hans Hu stod til Literaturen Han lod sig udbetale en liden Arvepart, som var tilfalden ham ved Faderens Død, og gik til Frankrig, som var et billigere Opholdssted. Her tilbragte han tre Aar, dels i Rheims, dels i Jesuiterkollegiet La Flêche i Anjou, ganske optaget af Studeringer. I 1737 vendte han tilbage og udgav en Afhandling om den menneskelige Natur (1738), senere omarbeidet og udgivet under Titelen Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, et Skrift, som har øvet stor Indflydelse, men som, da det fremkom, kun vakte ringe Opmærksomhed i England. En gunstigere Modtagelse fik hans næste Arbeide, Essays Moral, Political, and Literary (1742), som senere fulgtes af en anden Del under Titelen Political Discourses (1752). I 1746-48 ledsagede han som Sekretær General St.-Clair paa en Sendelse til Hofferne i Wien og Turin, og skrev under denne Reise en Dagbog, hvilken siden er udgivet. Efter forgjæves at have søgt et Professorat først i Glasgow, siden i Edinburg, blev han Bibliothekar ved de skotske Advokaters Bibliothek i denne By, en Post, han fornemmelig attraaede for at kunne have uhindret Adgang til den rige og udsøgte Bogsamling. Denne Stilling førte ham fra hans filosofiske Spekulationer ind paa historiske Studier, hvis Frugt blev hans berømte Englands Historie. Hans oprindelige Plan var kun at skildre Tidsrummet fra Englands og Skotlands Forening indtil Dronning Annas Død (1714), men han førte aldrig Værket længere ned end til Revolutionen (1688). Det første Bind, som udkom i 1754, indeholdt Jakob den Førstes og Karl den Førstes Regjering, men fik en meget kjølig Modtagelse; det andet Bind, omfattende The Commonwealth, Karl den Anden og Jakob den Anden (1757), mishagede Whiggerne mindre, og „bragte ogsaa det første Bind flot", som han siger i sin Autobiografi. Han gik nu tilbage og skildrede Tudorernes Tid (1759), og den Lykke, som denne Afdeling gjorde, bevægede ham til at føie Boghandlerne og afslutte Værket med en Skildring af Tiden fra Cæsars Indfald til Henrik den Syvendes Thron

bestigelse (1761-62). Denne sidste Del er det svageste Parti, hvilket er let forklarligt, da de vigtigste Aktstykker for dette Afsnit paa den Tid endnu vare ganske ubekjendte og ubearbeidede. Det store Værk indbragte

dets Forfatter Ære og Penge i rigeligt Maal, og han levede i saa behagelige Forhold i Edinburg, at det kun var meget modstræbende han gav efter for Markien af Hertfords indstændige Anmodninger, og fulgte denne, der var udnævnt til britisk Ambassadør i Versailles, som Gesandtskabssekretær til Paris i 1763. Her var hans Ry gaaet forud for ham, og han blev strax Dagens Løve i det fornemme parisiske Selskab, men viste sig tillige som en dygtig Diplomat, og styrede for en kort Tid Gesandtskabet som Chargé d'Affaires. I 1766 vendte han tilbage til England, og blev Understatssekretær hos Udenrigsministeren, General Conway, en Broder af Lord Hertford. Da Ministeriet opløstes i 1769, vendte Hume tilbage til Skotland. Han døde ugift i Edinburg 1776.

Humes Englands Historie hører til den engelske Literaturs klassiske Værker. Alle ere enige i at berømme hans fortræffelige historiske Stil, dens Klarhed, Naturlighed og Livlighed, hvorimod Dommene (i England, som naturligt) have været mere delte angaaende Indholdet. Den første Afdeling, eller Stuarternes Historie, vakte formedelst den antipuritanske Tone Anstød hos Whiggerne, men det modsatte Parti var heller ikke ganske fornøiet med hans Skildring. Hume siger herom selv: „Min Maade at bedømme Tingene paa nærmer sig mere Whiggernes Principer, min Maade at skildre Personerne svarer mere til Toriernes Fordomme; men de fleste Mennesker se mere paa Personerne end paa Tingene; det bedste Bevis herfor er, at jeg i Almindelighed bliver regnet til Torierne". Han sagde om sig selv, at han var en Whig, men en skeptisk Whig, hvorved han antydede, at han ikke fulgte Whiggerne i deres yderste Konsekventser, hvilke efter hans Mening førte til Republikanisme; thi Hume var en bestemt Tilhænger af Monarkiet. Den tyske Historieforsker Fr. v. Raumer dømmer meget gunstigt om Humes Værk; han finder en upartisk Sandhedskjærlighed hos ham; „at flere politiske Partier i England vare utilfredse med Hume, viser, at han netop ikke er nogen Partiskribent, men forblev den ved alvorlige Studier vundne Overbevisning tro" *).

Humes Afhandlinger over historiske, politiske og statsøkonomiske Æmner ydes af anseede engelske Forfattere den høieste Ros, og de ere endnu, efter hundrede Aars Forløb, lige saa tiltrækkende ved sin Fremstilling, som lærerige ved sit Indhold.

*) En anseet engelsk Kritiker, John Allen, en streng Whig, har i Edinb. Review (Nr. 83, S. 3) bemærket Følgende om Humes Værk:,,In vain shall we look elsewhere for those general and comprehensive views, that sagacity and judgment, those masterly lessons of political wisdom,

that profound knowledge of human nature, that calm philosophy and dispassionate balancing of human opinions, which delight and instruct us in the pages of Hume". Mahon's History of England, Ch. LX.