rent sccnt soon tion which is essential to a great Between the cast and west ; and half the poet, and in Mr Shelley it over sky shadows even his powers of concep Was rooftd with clouds of rich embla. tion, which are unquestionably very zonry, great. It is by no means improbable, Dark purple at the zenith, which still however, that this extreme anxiety grew to embody his ideas in language of a Down the steep west into a wondrous hue lofty and uncommon cast, may have Brighter than burning gold, even to the contributed to that which is undoubt. edly the besetting sin of his poetry, Where the swift sun yet paus'd in his de.“ its extreme vagueness and obscurity, Among the many-folded hills,—they were and its tendency to allegory and per Those famous Euganean hills, which sonification. bear, Hence it is in the vague, unearth As seen from Lido through the harbour ly, and mysterious, that the peculiar piles, power of his mind is displayed. Like The likeness of a clump of peaked isles the Goule in the Arabian "Tales, he And then, as if the earth and sea had been leaves the ordinary food of men, to Dissolv'd into one lake of fire, were seen banquet among the dead, and revels Those mountains tow'ring, as from waves with a melancholy delight in the of fame, gloom of the churchyard and the Around the vaporous sun, froin which there came cemetery. He is in poetry what Sir Thomas Browne is in prose, perpe The inmost purple spirit of light, and made tually hovering on the confines of the Their very peaks transparent. " Ere it grave, prying with a terrible curiosity Said my companion, “ I will show you fade," into the secrets of mortality, and speculating with painful earnestness on A better station." So o'er the lagune every thing that disgusts or appals We glided ; and from that funereal bark mankind. I lean'd, and saw the city, and could mark But when, abandoning these darker How from their many isles, in evening's themes, he yields himself to the de gleam, scription of the softer emotions of the Its temples and its palaces did seem heart, and the more smiling scenes of Like fabrics of enchantment pild to Nature, we know no poet who has heav'n. felt more intensely, or described with How delicately beautiful are these more glowing colours the enthu stanzas from the Witch of Atlas ! siasm of love and liberty, or the varied aspects of Nature. His descrip- And down the streams which clove those tions have a force and clearness of mountains vast painting which are quite admirable ; Around their inland islets, and amid and his imagery, which he accumu. The panther peopled forests, whose shade lates and pours forth with the prodi. gality of genius, is, in general, equal Darkness and odours, and a pleasure hid ly appropriate and original. How forcible is this Italian sunset, from In melancholy gloom, the pinnace past, the first poem in the present collec By many a star-surrounded pyramid tion, entitled Julian and Maddalo, And caverns yawning round unfathom. Of icy crag cleaving the purple sky, a piece of a very wild, and not a very ably. agreeable cast, but rich in eloquent and fervid 'painting! The silver noon into that winding dell, With slanted gleam athwart the forest As those who pause on some delightful tops, way, Temper'd like golden evening, feebly fell; Though bent on pleasant pilgrimage, we A green and glowing light, like that stood, which drops Looking upon the evening and the flood, From folded lilies in which glowworms Which lay between the city and the shore, dwell, Pav'd with the image of the sky: the hoar When earth over her face night's manAnd aery Alps, towards the north, ap tle wraps ; pear'd, Between the severed mountains lay on Through mist, an heav'n-sustaining bul. high, wark, rear'd Over the stream, a narrow rist of sky. cast went : And ever as she went, the Image lay and how much it may be injured by With folded wings and unawakened a harsh line, an imperfect or forced eyes ; rhyme, a defective syllable, or, as is And o'er its gentle countenance did play often the case here, an unfortunate The busy dreams, as thick as summer [ ] occurring in the middle of a flies, stanza. Others, however, are fortuChasing the rapid smiles that would not nately in a more finished state ; and stay, though even in these it is probable And drinking the warm tears, and the sweet sighs that much is wanting, which the last touches of the author would have Inhaling, which, with busy murmur vain, They had arous'd from that full heart and given, we have no fear but that, imbrain. perfect as they are, they will bear us out in what we have said of the And ever down the prone vale, like a cloud powers of the poet. Upon a stream of wind, the pinnace What a quiet stillness breathes over this description of Now lingering on the pools, in which abode The Pine Forest The calm and darkness of the deep OF THE CASCINE, NEAR PISA! content We wandered to the Pine Forest In which they paus'd ; now o'er the shal That skirts the Ocean's foam, low road The lightest wind was in its nest, Of white and dancing waters, all be. The tempest in its home. sprent With sand and polish'd pebbles :-mor. The whispering waves were half asleep, tal boat The clouds were gone to play, In such a shallow rapid could not float. And on the woods, and on the deep, The smile of Heaven lay. And down the earthquaking cataracts, It seemed as if the day were one which shiver Their snow-like waters into golden air, Sent from beyond the skies, Or under chasms unfathomable ever Which shed to earth above the sun Sepulchre them, till in their rage they A light of Paradise. We paused amid the Pines that stood A subterranean portal for the river, The giants of the waste, It fled, the circling sunbows did up Tortured by storms to shapes as rude, bear With stems like serpents interlaced. Its fall down the hoar precipice of spray, Lighting it far upon its lampless way. How calm it was the silence there By such a chain was bound, By far the greater number of the That even the busy woodpecker pieces which the present volume con Made stiller by her sound. tains are fragments, some of them The inviolable quietness; in a very unfinished state indeed ; The breath of peace we drew, and though we approve the feeling With its soft motion made not less which led the friends of Mr Shelley The calm that round us grew. to collect thein all, we question It seemed that from the remotest seat whether a selection, from the more Of the white mountain's waste, finished pieces, would not have been To the bright flower beneath our feet, a more prudent measure, as far as his A magic circle traced ; fame is concerned. It dissolves entirely the illusion which we wish to A spirit interfused around, cherish as to the intuitive inspira- To momentary peace it bound A thinking, silent life, tion—the estro of poetry-to be thus Our mortal Nature's strife. admitted, as it were, into the work shop of Genius, and to see its mate For still it seemed the centre of rials confused and heaped together, The magic circle there, before they have received their last Was one whose being filled with love touches from the band of the poet, The breathless atmosphere. and been arranged in their proper Were not the crocusses that grew order. And it is wonderful how Under that ilex tree, much the effect of the finest poem As beautiful in scent and hue depends on an attention to minutie, As ever fed the bee ? tear 1 We stood beside the pools that lie I sit upon the sands alone, The lightning of the noon-tide ocean And each seemed like a sky Is flashing round me, and a tone Gulphed in a world below ; Arises from its measur'd motion, How sweet ! did any heart now share A purple firmament of light, in my emotion. Nor peace within nor calm around, In which the massy forests grew, Nor that content surpassing wealth As in the upper air, The sage in meditation found, And walk'd with inward glory crownd More perfect both in shape and hue Nor fame, nor pow'r, nor love, nor Than any waving there. leisure. Like one beloved, the scene had lent Others I see whom these surround, To the dark water's breast Smiling they live and call life pleasure ; Its every leaf and lineament To me thạt cup has been dealt in anoWith that clear truth expressed. ther measure. There lay for glades and neighbouring Yet now despair itself is mild, lawn, Even as the winds and waters are ; And through the dark green crowd I could lie down like a tired child, The white sun twinkling like the dawn And weep away the life of care Under a speckled cloud. Which I have borne and yet must bear, Till death like sleep might steal on me, Sweet views, which in our world above And I might feel in the warm air Can never well be seen, My cheek grow cold, and hear the sea Were imaged by the water's love Breathe o'er my dying brain its last of that fair forest green. monotony. And all was interfused beneath Within an Elysium air, Some might lament that I were cold, As I, when this sweet day is gone, An atmosphere without a breath, Which my lost heart, too soon grown old, A silence sleeping there. Insults with this untimely moan; Until a wandering wind crept by, They might lament, for I am one Like an unwelcome thought, Whom men love 'not, -and yet regret, Which from my mind's too faithful eye Unlike this day, which, when the sun Blots thy bright image out. Shall on its stainless glory set, Will linger, though enjoy’d, like joy in For thou art good, and dear, and kind, memory yet. The forest ever green, But less of peace in 's mind, The following lines also appear to Than calm in waters seen. us extremely beautiful, though, in We should pity any one who could order to preserve the full effect of the peruse the following affecting lines, rythm, they require some manage ment in the reading. entitled “ Stanzas written in dejection, near Naples," without the Lines. strongest sympathy for their unfortunate author. When the lamp is shattered The light in the dust lies dead The sun is warm, the sky is clear, When the cloud is scattered The waves are dancing fast and bright, The rainbow's glory is shed. Blue isles and snowy mountains wear When the lute is broken, The purple noon's transparent light Sweet tones are remembered not ; Around its unexpanded buds; When the lips have spoken, Like many a voice of one delight, Loved accents are soon forgot. The winds, the birds, the ocean floods, . As music and splendour The City's voice itself is soft, like Soli Survive not the lamp and the lute, The heart's echoes render With green and purple seaweeds strown; No song but sad dirges, Like the wind through a ruined cell, Like light 'dissolv'd in star-show'rs, Or the mournful surges thrown : That ring the dead seaman's knell. When hearts have once iningled, What difference ? but thou dost possess Love first leaves the well-built nest, The things I seek, not love them less. The weak one is singled I love Love-though he has wings, 0, Love! who bewailest And like light can tlee, But above all other things, The frailty of all things here, Spirit, I love thee Why choose you the frailest Thou art love and life! O come, For your cradle, your home, and your bier ? Make once more my heart thy home! Mutability. The flower that smiles to-day To-morrow dies ; Will rot, and thine eagle home All that we wish to stay, Leave the naked to laughter, Tempts and then Hies ; When leaves fall and cold winds come. What is this world's delight ? Lightning that mocks the night, The following appear to us very Brief even as bright. much in the style of our okl English Virtue, how frail it is! lyric poets of the age of Charles I. Friendship too rare ! Love, how it sells poor bliss For proud despair ! Spirit of Delight ! But we, though soon they fall, Wherefore hast thou left me now Survive their joy and all Many a day and night ? Which ours we call. Many a weary night and day Whilst skies are blue and bright 'Tis since thou art fled away. Whilst flowers are gay, How shall ever one like me Whilst eyes that change ere night Win thee back again ? Make glad the day ; With the joyous and the free Whilst yet the calm hours creep, Thou wilt seoff at pain. Dream thou-and from thy sleep Then wake to weep. Swifter far than summer's flight, Swister far than youth's delight, Thou with sorrow art dismayed; Swifter far than happy night, Even the sighs of grief Art thou come and gone : Reproach thee, that thou art not near, As the earth when leaves are dead, And reproach thou wilt not hear. As the nigh: when sleep is sped, Let me set my mournful ditty As the heart when joy is fled, To a merry measure, I am left lone, alone. Thou wilt never come for pity, Lilies for a bridal bed, Thou wilt come for pleasure ; Roses for a matron's head, Pity then will cut away Violets for a maiden dead, Thosc cruel wings, and thou wilt stay. Pansies let my powers be ; I love all that thou lovest, On the living grave I bear, Scatter them without a tear, Let no friend, however dear, Waste one hope, one fear for me. Autumn evening, and the morn The longer poems, from which we When the golden mists are born. have made no extracte, we think less I love snow, and all the forms interesting, though some of them, Of the radiant frost; and particularly the Triumph of I love waves, and winds, and storms, Life, an imitation of Petrarch's TriEvery thing almost onfi, are written with very peculiar Which is Nature's, and may be power and originality. Some transUntainted by man's misery. lations are also included in this voI love tranquil solitude, lume, of which the Scenes from And such society Goethe's Faust, and Calderon's “MaAs is quiet, wise, and good ; gico Procligioso," are the most in. Between thee and me teresting VOL. XV. с SCOTS JUDICATURE BILL, Courts of Law in Scotland. “Ji it were possible, by proper regulations, to remove these evils,” a “ new cha. racter would be given to the administration of justice in Scotland, favourable to the litigants, honourable to the Judges, and, in time, affording effectual relief to the Court of ultimate Appeal." —Report of Mr Cleghorn-Appendix, p. 76. The public are aware that the Principal Clerk of Session, were ap. present system of the forms of ade pointed Commissioners; and Royal ininistering justice in Scotland has instructions were issued to those been almost entirely regulated, since Commissioners. The opinions of sethe Union, by Acts of Sederunt. It veral eminent and learned persons in is undeniable that great abuses now Scotland were taken. Those opiexist. They have been forced upon nions, in an Appendix, and the Rethe attention of the Legislature by port of the Commissioners, have been the extraordinary number of appeals printed. An Act of Parliament has íroin Scotland, in comparison with been since introduced, which, after a those from England and Ireland. considerable struggle, was got postSome think that all the evils which poned till next Session, in order to have arisen are to be traced to the afford the people of Scotland an opBench; others, that “the principal portunity of expressing their opinions. point is, that Government shall do This liberality on the part of the its duty by giving us learned, expe- Legislature, although nothing more rienced, and conscientious Judges, than what the people were entitled who have not to learn their law on to expect, will, no doubt, be duly the Bench."- Opinion of Mr For- appreciated by the public. It is, insyth, Advocate, p. 146.) All are deed, more libera an any measure agreed that our forms of process established by the Acts of Sederunt “ stand in need of some improve of the Scotch Judges since the Union, ment, or at least of soine alteration, as to any of which it was never and that “ there never can be a bet- thought necessary to take the opinion ter opportunity than the present, of the country. for discussing and ascertaining what It has been truly observed, that are the improveinents or alterations no measure since the Union has most proper to be adopted, and how been set on foot, which is likely to they can be most effectually carried be attended with more important reinto execution.”—( Opinion of Mr sults to Scotland than this Commis. Swinton, W. S.) sion ; and no Scotsman can await the This subject originated in the Re- resolutions which may be adopted, port of a Committee of the House of without the most anxious solicitude." Lords. Afterwards, the Act of 4 - Opinion of Mr Put. Robertson, Geo. IV. c. 85, “ to the intent that Advocate.) salutary regulations should be made While appeals are competent to and established,” authorised his Ma- the House of Lords, and decided by jesty to appoint Commissioners to in an English Judge, it is not difficult quire into the fornis of process in the to anticipate, that, in the progress of Courts of Scotland, and appeals in time, the Scotch forms and principles the House of Lords. The Presidents of law must be assimilated to those of the Session, Exchequer, and Jury in England. From a conviction that Courts,-two Ordinary Judges of the the English system, upon the whole, Court of Session,-one of the Barons is better aclapted for dispatch, and of Exchequer,—the Lord Advocate the impartial administration of jusand Solicitor-General,—two Masters tice, than the Scots system, and that in Chancery,—two English Barris- the mode of administering justice in ers,—two Scots Advocates, -and one England has been attended with |