BURKE, GARRICK, AND REYNOLDS. 181

XL. CHARACTERS OF BURKE,
GARRICK, AND REYNOLDS.

(Supposed epitaphs written by Goldsmith.)

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 Townsend 2 to give him a

vote;

Who, too deep for his hearers, still went on re

fining,

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, as in place, sir,
To eat mutton cold, and cut blocks with a razor.
1 Edmund Burke.

2 Tommy Townsend, a dull member of Parliament.

Nice used to mean scrupulous. The meaning of the whole character is that Burke, though devoted to the Tory party, was too clever and earnest to be always understood, and too conscientious to get on in the world.

Here lies David Garrick, describe me who can,
An abridgment1 of all that was pleasant in man.
As an actor, confest 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.
On the stage, he was natural, simple, affecting,
It was 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 a day;
Of praise a mere glutton, he swallowed what came,
And the puff of a dunce, he mistook it for fame.

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, and yet civilly steering,

When they judged without skill, he was still hard of hearing,

When they talked of their Raphaels, Correggios,2 and stuff,

He shifted his trumpet and only took snuff.3

1 Abridgment, Garrick was a very small man.

2 Raphael and Correggio, celebrated Italian painters.

Sir Joshua was very deaf, and used a trumpet. The meaning is that when conceited people laid down the law about pictures which they did not understand, he would not contradict them, and therefore took care not to listen.

XLI. THE ENGLISH VICTORIES
BY SEA.
i.

I. THE great desire of the French was to invade and conquer England, and never were her wooden walls more needed. There was a fleet constantly watching in the Channel, and in the country almost every able-bodied Englishman was in training as a volunteer, while all along the coast beacons were kept ready for being lighted, and arrangements were made for sending the women and children inland if the enemy should land.

2. However, Bonaparte had another plan. He meant to fall on the English in India, and in 1798, he set off with a fleet and army to Egypt, expecting to win his way there and over all the East to India. The English fleet, under Admiral Horatio Nelson, the greatest of all our sailors, followed him along the Mediterranean.

3. A thick fog prevented Nelson from overtaking the French before the army had landed in Egypt, but he found their fleet ranged in Aboukir Bay. He had only fourteen ships, not one with more than 74 guns; the French had seventeen, and their flag-ship, L'Orient, carried 120 guns. 'By this time to-morrow I shall have obtained a peerage or Westminster Abbey,' said Nelson, in the Vanguard.

4. The English fleet made the attack, and before the end of that 1st of August, thirteen French ships were burnt or taken, L'Orient had blown up, her dying Admiral on board, and also her Captain, Casabianca, and his little boy of ten years old. Attempts had been made to save the child with the sailors, who were taken on board English ships, but he would not go without orders from his father, who lay senseless on the deck. For one moment after the explosion, he was seen swimming, but in the confusion the noble child was lost. Nelson was wounded in the head, but he obtained his peerage, as he well deserved, for he had already been in 104 sea fights, and had lost an eye and an arm.

5. The battle of the Nile had quite cut Bonaparte off from France, and he had not much chance in India, even if he could have reached that country; for his ally, the Sultan Tippoo Sahib, had just been defeated and killed at Seringapatam. However, the French marched into the Holy Land, and subdued the country until they came to Acre. Here another English sailor, Sir Sidney Smith, so helped the inhabitants to defend the town that Bonaparte had to give up the siege. After this he always said that Sir Sidney had made him miss his destiny.

6. While treating with the French before Acre, Smith lent them some newspapers, and there Bonaparte found that affairs were getting into such a state in France that he had better return. So he

UNION WITH IRELAND.

185

hastened away, leaving an army in Egypt, which was totally routed by Sir Ralph Abercrombie ; Alexandria was surrendered to the English and Turks, and so ended the Eastern hopes of the French.

7. The Emperor Paul of Russia admired Bonaparte and wanted to unite the northern nations with him against England, to prevent other countries from trading with her. Lord Nelson was sent with a fleet which bombarded Copenhagen and made all the Danish ships surrender to him, thus forcing Denmark to keep the peace, and shutting Russia into the Baltic Sea. This was in 1801, and the Emperor Paul soon afterwards died.

ii.

8. In the year 1800, it was thought that Ireland would be more safe and loyal if, like Scotland, it were united with England, and sent its members to Parliament, not at Dublin, but at Westminster. This accordingly was done, but the Irish did not become more contented. Indeed, Mr. Pitt thought the Union with Ireland needful, and that some relief should be given to the Roman Catholics, and had made promises to that effect; but the King thought this contrary to his coronation oath, and was so much distressed at Pitt's proposals as nearly to have another attack of madness.

9. This resistance of George III. was the last