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suffer ourselves to suppose that we are reading a play, which Milton did not mean to write. These splendid insertions will please, independently of the story, from which however they result; and their elegance and sublimity will overbalance their want of place. In a Greek tragedy, such sentimental harangues, arising from the subject, would have been given to a Chorus. On the whole, whether "Comus" be or be not deficient as a drama, whether it is considered as an epic drama, a series of lines, a mask, or a poem, I am of opinion, that our author is here only inferior to his own "Paradise Lost."-T. WARTON.

Milton's "Comus" is, in my judgment, the most beautiful and perfect poem of that sublime genius.-WAKEFIELD.

Perhaps the conduct and conversation of the Brothers, which Mr. Warton blames in the preceding note, may not be altogether indefensible. They have lost their way in a forest at night, and are in "want of light and noise:" it would now be dangerous for them to run about an unknown wilderness; and if they should separate, in order to seek their sister, they might lose each other: in the uncertainty of what was their best plan, they therefore naturally wait, expecting to hear perhaps the cry of their lost sister, or some noise to which they would have directed their steps. The Younger Brother anxiously expresses his apprehensions for his sister: the Elder, in reply, trusts that she is not in danger; and, instead of giving way to those fears, which the Younger repeats, expatiates on the strength of chastity; by the illustration of which argument he confidently maintains the hope of their sister's safety, while he beguiles the perplexity of their own situation. It has been observed, that "Comus" is not calculated to shine in theatric exhibition for those very reasons which constitute its essential and specific merit. The "Pastor Fido" of Guarini, which also ravishes the reader, and "The Faithful Shepherdess" of Fletcher, could not succeed upon the stage. However, it is sufficient, that "Comus" displays the true sources of poetical delight and moral instruction, in its charming imagery, in its original conceptions, in its sublime diction, in its virtuous sentiments. Its few inaccuracies weigh but as dust in the balance against its general merit: and, in short, if I may be allowed respectfully to differ from the high authority of a preceding note, I am of opinion, that this enchanting poem, or pastoral drama, is both gracefully splendid, and delightfully instructive.-TODD.

Dr. Johnson is more inclined to be favourable to "Comus" than to any other poem of Milton he begins fairly enough, and gives it some of the praises which justly belong to it; but he gradually returns to his captious ill-humour, and ends with saying that it is "inelegantly splendid and tediously instructive." After this close, what is the value of his praise? If it is truly poetical, it cannot be inelegantly splendid! Milton's decorations are never out of place in this Mask: it contains not a single image or epithet which does not fill the reader of taste with delight: it contains no passion, but he did not intend it. Masks were always designed to play with the fancy; and from beginning to end, without the abatement of a single line, Milton has effected this. Such a series of rural and pastoral picturesqueness was never before brought together. It is worthy of remark with what admirable skill the poet gathered from all his predecessors, Spenser, Shakspeare, Beaumont and Fletcher, Drayton, and twenty more, every happy adjective of description and imaginative force, and combined them into the texture of his own fiction. As his power of creation was great, so was his memory both exact and abundant: whatever he borrowed, he made new by the fervid power of amalgamation.

The flowing strains of the whole poem are eloquent and beautiful, enriched with philosophic moral learning, and exalted by pure, generous, and lofty sentiment. Thus :-

Again, v. 476

Can any mortal mixture of earth's mould
Breathe such divine enchanting ravishment?
Sure something holy lodges in that breast,
And with these raptures moves the vocal air
To testify his hidden residence!

How charming is divine philosophy!

Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose,
But musical as is Apollo's lute,

And a perpetual feast of nectar'd sweets,
Where no crude surfeit reigns.

This poem is stated to have been the congenial prelude to "Paradise Lost." In that opinion I do not concur: the fable is too gay; the images are too full of delight: all the topics lie too much upon the surface. There is a rich invention, but it has not the 1 depth, or strength, or sublimity of "Paradise Lost." This is playful; that is full of solemnity and awe. More than that, though the combination gives originality to "Comus," yet it has nothing like the degree of originality of the great epic; of which

a large portion of the invention has no prototype. Nor do I admit that even the language is of the same structure: it is, for the most part, more fluent and soft; it is, in short, pastoral, while the other is heroic.

The sort of spiritual beings, which is introduced into "Comus," is of a much more humble degree than those of the latter poems. These invisible inhabitants of the earth gratify the gay freaks of our imagination: they do not excite the profounder move ments of the soul, and fill us with a sublime terror, like Satan and his crews of fallen angels.

In the long interval between the composition of the Mask, and of "Paradise Lost," the wings of Milton's genius had expanded, and strengthened an hundred-fold: he was no longer a shepherd, of whose enchanting pipe the beautiful echoes resounded through the woods; but a sage, an oracle, and a prophet, with the inspired tongue of a divinity. I have observed, from the words of several of the critics here cited, that they have an opinion of poetry which I cannot believe to be quite correct. They seem to assume that picturesque imagery, drawn from the surface of natural scenery, combined with a sort of wild fiction of story which goes beyond the bounds of reality, constitutes the primary and most unmixed essence of poetry.-I admit that it does constitute very pure and beautiful poetry; but not the highest. The highest must go beyond sublunary objects: there must be an invention of character, not only ideal, but sublime: there must be intermingled intellectual and argumentative greatness: there must be a fable, which embodies abstract truths of severe and mighty import: there must be distinct characters, elevated by grand passions, each acting according to his own appropriate impulses, and all going forward in regular progression, according to the rules of probability, to the accomplishment of the end proposed.

This has been effected by Milton's epics; but there certainly is an implication on the part of these critics, that these compositions have not as much unmixed and positive poetry as the "Comus;" and this, because of the greater variety of their ingredients, and the introduction of other matter besides imagery and description. Such a reason shows the narrowness of their conception of this divine art. All the finest passages of poetry are complex, in which the heart and understanding have essential co-operation: the bard must imagine what the heart must colour, or perhaps instigate, and the understanding enlighten. Imagery is material, and will not do alone; there must be the union of spirituality with it. The fault of a great part of Pope is, that there is nothing but reasoning, without either imagination or sentiment.

But, to return to "Comus:" let it not be inferred that I mean in the smallest degree to detract from its merits. I only wish to protest against rules and definitions injurious to still greater poems of the same inimitable author! "Comus" is perfect in its kind; but a pastoral Mask cannot be put upon a footing with a grand heroic poem.

Milton, when he wrote these strains, was in the very opening of early youth, not more than twenty-four years old. Then all was,

The purple light of love, and bloom of young desires.

The woods and the rivers and all nature then seemed to his eyes to smile with delight; but as years passed along, and he saw the obliquities of mankind and the sorrows of life, his lays took a deeper tone, and his music was more magnificent and soul-moving The Lady and the two Brothers in "Comus" are all calm philosophy, and tender, hope ful confidence: to them the dawn is joy; the night-fall, peaceful slumbers: the demons of darkness dare not hurt them: the Lady has faith, even when left alone amid the dangers of a haunted forest. O fond imagination! O beamy visionariness of innocent inexperience!

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THE same character may be given of the style, sentiments, imagery, and tone of these Fragments, as far as they go, as of "Comus." Warton observes- ›

"Unquestionably this Mask was a much longer performance. Milton seems only to have written the poetical part, consisting of these three songs, and the recitative soliloquy of the Genius; the rest was probably prose and machinery. In many of Jonson's Masques, the poet but rarely appears, amidst a cumbersome exhibition of heathen gods and mythology. 'Arcades' was acted by persons of Lady Derby's own family. The Genius says, v. 26:

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Stay gentle swains; for, though in this disguise,
I see bright honour sparkle through your eyes:

that is, although ye are disguised like rustics, I perceive that ye are of honourable birth; your nobility cannot be concealed.""

Many parts of the soliloquy of the Genius are very highly poetical, as the passage beginning at v. 56:

And early, ere the odorous breath of morn

Awakes the slumbering leaves, or tassel'd horn
Shakes the high thicket, haste I all about,
Number my ranks, and visit every sprout

With puissant words, and murmurs made to bless.

PRELIMINARY NOTES ON ARCADES.

HAREFIELD.

WE are told by Norden, an accurate topographer, who wrote about the year 1590, în his "Speculum Britanniæ," under Harefield in Middlesex, "There sir Edmond Anderson, knight, lord chief justice of the common pleas, hath a faire house standing on the edge of the hill; the riuer Colne passing neare the same, through the pleasant meddowes and sweet pastures, yealding both delight and profit." "Spec. Brit." p. i. page 21. I viewed this house a few years ago, when it was for the most part remaining in its original state: it has since been pulled down: the porters' lodges on each side of the gateway are converted into a commodious dwelling-house: it is near Uxbridge: and Milton, when he wrote "Arcades," was still living with his father at Horton near Colnebrook in the same neighbourhood. He mentions the singular felicity he had in vain anticipated, in the society of his friend Deodate, on the shady banks of the river Colne. "Epitaph. Damon." v. 149.

Imus, et arguta paulum recubamus in umbra,
Aut ad aquas Colni, &c.

Amidst the fruitful and delightful scenes of this river, the nymphs and shepherds had no reason to regret, as in the third Song, the Arcadian "Ladon's lilied banks.”—T. WARTON.

See an account of Harefield, in Lysons' "Environs of London," with a print of the Countess of Derby's monument there.

It is probable that these "persons of Lady Derby's own family" were the children of the Earl of Bridgewater, who had married a daughter of the Countess: and "Arcades" perhaps was acted the year before "Comus." In 1632 Milton went to reside with his father at Horton, in the neighbourhood of Harefield; and might have been soon afterwards desired to compose this dramatic entertainment. Lord Brackley, Mr. Thomas Egerton, and Lady Alice Egerton, the performers in "Comus," appeared upon the stage at court in 1633, in Carew's Mask of "Coelum Britannicum;" and "Arcades" might be a domestic exhibition somewhat prior to that of Carew's Mask; as being intended perhaps to try, and encourage, their confidence and skill, before they performed more publicly. Among the manuscripts that once belonged to Lord Chancellor Egerton, and which are now in the possession of the Marquis of Stafford, there is a curious illustration of domestic manners, on three folio sheets, in an "Account of disbursements for Harefield, where the Lord Keeper Egerton and the Countess of Derby resided in 1602." -TODD.

COUNTESS DOWAGER OF DERBY.

ALICE, Countess Dowager of Derby, married Ferdinando Lord Strange; who, on the death of his father Henry, in 1594, became Earl of Derby, but died the next year. She was the sixth daughter of Sir John Spenser of Althorp in Northamptonshire: she was afterwards married [in 1600] to Lord Chancellor Egerton, who died in 1617. See Dugd. Baron. iii. 251, 414. She died Jan. 26, 1635-6, and was buried at Harefield: "Arcades" could not therefore have been acted after 1636.

Milton is not the only great English poet who has celebrated this Countess Dowager of Derby. She was the sixth daughter, as we have seen, of Sir John Spenser, with whose family Spenser the poet claimed an alliance. In his "Colin Clout 's come home again," written about 1595, he mentions her under the appellation of Amaryllis, with her sisters Phyllis, or Elizabeth; and Charillis, or Anne; these three of Sir John Spenser's daughters being best known at court. See v. 546.

Ne less praise-worthie are the sisters three,

The honor of the noble familie,

Of which I meanest boast myselfe to be;
And most that unto them I am so nie:
Phyllis, Charillis, and sweet Amaryllis.

After a panegyric on the first two, he next comes to Amaryllis, or Alice, our Lady, the Dowager of the above-mentioned Ferdinando Lord Derby, lately dead :—

But Amaryllis, whether fortunate

Or else vnfortunate may I aread,

That freed is from Cupids yoke by fate,

Since which she doth new bands aduenture dread.-
Shepheard, whatever thou hast heard to be

In this or that praysd diuersly apart,

In her thou maiest them all assembled see,

And sealed vp in the threasure of her heart.

And in the same poem, he thus apostrophizes to her late husband earl Ferdinand, under the name Amyntas: See v. 434.

Amyntas quite is gone, and lies full low,
Having his Amaryllis left to mone!

Helpe, o ye shepheards, help ye all in this;-
Her losse is yours, your losse Amyntas is;
Amyntas, floure of shepheards pride forlorne :
He, whilest he lined, was the noblest swaine
That euer piped on an oaten quill;
Both did he other which could pipe maintaine,
And eke could pipe himselfe with passing skill.

And to the same Lady Alice, when Lady Strange, before her husband Ferdinand's su cession to the earldom, Spenser addresses his "Tears of the Muses," published in 1591,

in a dedication of the highest regard; where he speaks of "your excellent beautie, your virtuous behauiour, and your noble match with that most honourable lorde, the verie patterne of right nobilitie." He then acknowledges the particular bounties which she had conferred upon the poets. Thus the lady who presided at the representation of Milton's "Arcades," was not only the theme, but the patroness of Spenser. The peerage book of this most respectable countess is the poetry of her times.-T. WArton. Alice, Countess of Derby, was the youngest of six daughters of Sir John Spenser of Althorp in Northamptonshire, who died the 8th November, 1586, by Katharine, daughter of Sir Thomas Kiston, of Hengrave in Suffolk, knight, which Sir John was son of Sir William Spenser, of Althorp, who died 22d of June, 1532, by Susan, daughter of Sir Richard Knightley, of Fawsly, in Northamptonshire. Sir William was son of another Sir John Spenser, of Althorp, who died 14th April, 1532, only two months before his son, by Isabel, daughter and coheir of Walter Graunt, of Snitterfield, in Warwickshire, esq.; he was son of William Spenser, esq., of Redbourne, in Warwickshire, who lived in the reign of Henry VII., by Elizabeth, sister of Sir Richard Empson, knight.

The Countess of Derby's five sisters were all honourably married; and her father was a man of a great estate.

Of her three daughters and coheirs by the Earl of Derby, Anne married Grey Brydges, fifth Lord Chandos; Frances married John Egerton, first Earl of Bridgewater; and Elizabeth married Henry Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon.

Todd mentions that Marston wrote a Mask, intitled, "The Lord and Lady of Huntingdon's Entertainment of their right noble mother, Alice, Countess Dowager of Derby, the first night of her Honour's arrival at the house of Ashby." This Todd found still remaining in manuscript in the Bridgewater Library; and has given a long account of it not necessary to be repeated here.

Lord Falkland wrote a poetical epitaph on this Countess of Huntingdon.

Sir John Spenser, of Althorp, the brother of Alice, Countess of Derby, died 9th January, 1599. His only son, Sir Robert Spenser, was created Lord Spenser of Wormleighton, by King James I., on 21st July, 1603, and died 25th October, 1627.

Camden, in his "Britannia," speaks thus of Althorp:-" Althorp, the seat of the noble family of Spenser, knights, allied to very many houses of great worth and honour, out of which Sir Robert Spenser, the fifth knight in a continual succession, a worthy encourager of virtue and learning, was by his most serene majesty, King James, lately advanced to the honour of Baron Spenser of Wormleighton."

William, who succeeded his father Robert, as second Lord Spenser, died 1636, aged forty-five, and was succeeded by his son Henry, third Baron, who was created Earl of Sunderland, 8th June, 1643, and slain at the battle of Newbury, on 20th September following, at the age of twenty-three: he married Lady Dorothy Sidney, daughter of Robert, Earl of Leicester (Waller's Saccharissa). See Lord Clarendon's character of him.

Part of an Entertainment presented to the Countess Dowager of Derby at Harefield, by some noble persons of her family; who appear on the scene in pastoral habit, moving toward the seat of state, with this song:

I. SONG.

Look, nymphs and shepherds, look,a

What sudden blaze of majesty

Is that which we from hence descry,

Too divine to be mistook:

See Mr. Gage's splendid "History of Hengrave."

Look, nymphs and shepherds, look, &c.

See the ninth division of Spenser's "Epithalamion;" and Fletcher's "Faithful Shepberdess," a. i. s. 1.-T. WARTON.

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