'A little before the manner of Pope is termed "A scism*, 'Nurtured by foppery and barbarism, 'Made great Apollo blush for this his land." "I thought "foppery" was a consequence of refinement; but n'importe. The above will suffice to show the notions enter'tained by the new performers on the English lyre of him who made it most tunable, and the great im'provements of their own variazioni. The writer of this is a tadpole of the Lakes, a young disciple of the six or seven new schools, in which he has learnt to write such lines and such 'sentiments as the above. He says, easy was the 'task" of imitating Pope, or it may be of equalling ' him, I presume. I recommend him to try before he ' is so positive on the subject, and then compare what 'he will have then written and what he has now written with the humblest and earliest compositions ' of Pope, produced in years still more youthful than 'those of Mr. K. when he invented his new" Essay ' on Criticism," entitled " Sleep and Poetry" (an ' ominous title), from whence the above canons are 'taken. Pope's was written at nineteen, and pub'lished at twenty-two. 'Such are the triumphs of the new schools, and such their scholars. The disciples of Pope were 'Johnson, Goldsmith, Rogers, Campbell, Crabbe, 'Gifford, Matthias, Hayley, and the author of the 'Paradise of Coquettes; to whom may be added Richards, Heber, Wrangham, Bland, Hodgson, Me' rivale, and others who have not had their full fame, because "the race is not always to the swift, nor the 'battle to the strong," and because there is a fortune in fame as in all other things. Now of all the new 'schools-I say all, for, like Legion, they are many -has there appeared a single scholar who has not 'made his master ashamed of him? unless it be * *. 'who has imitated every body, and occasionally surpassed his models. Scott found peculiar favour and 'imitation among the fair sex: there was Miss Holford, and Miss Mitford, and Miss Francis; but with 'the greatest respect be it spoken, none of his imi'tators did much honour to the original except Hogg, the Ettrick shepherd, until the appearance of "The Bridal of Triermain," and " Harold the Dauntless," which in the opinion of some equalled if not surpassed him; and lo! after three or four years they turned out to be the Master's own compositions. Have Southey, or Coleridge, or Wordsworth, made a follower of renown? Wilson never did well till he 'set up for himself in the "City of the Plague." Has Moore, or any other living writer of reputation, had a tolerable imitator, or rather disciple? Now it is ' remarkable that almost all the followers of Pope, 'whom I have named, have produced beautiful and 'standard works, and it was not the number of his 'imitators who finally hurt his fame, but the despair ' of imitation, and the ease of not imitating him sufficiently. This, and the same reason which induced 'the Athenian burgher to vote for the banishment of Aristides," because he was tired of always hearing him called the Just," have produced the temporary 'exile of Pope from the State of Literature. But the ' term of his ostracism will expire, and the sooner the better; not for him, but for those who banished him, ' and for the coming generation, who • Will blush to find their fathers were his foes.' LETTER 396. TO MR. MURRAY. 'Ravenna, 9bre 4, 1820. 'I have received from Mr. Galignani the enclosed ' letters, duplicates and receipts, which will explain ⚫ themselves*. As the poems are your property by purchase, right, and justice, all matters of publication, &c. &c. are for you to decide upon. I know not how 'far my compliance with Mr. Galignani's request might be legal, and I doubt that it would not be honest. In case you choose to arrange with him, I 'enclose the permits to you, and in so doing I wash my hands of the business altogether. I sign them 'merely to enable you to exert the power you justly possess more properly. I will have nothing to do ' with it farther, except, in my answer to Mr. Galig'nani, to state that the letters, &c. &c. are sent to you, and the causes thereof. 'If you can check these foreign pirates, do; if not, put the permissive papers in the fire. I can have no 'view nor object whatever, but to secure to you your ' property. Yours, &c. P.S. I have read part of the Quarterly just arrived: Mr. Bowles shall be answered:-he is not quite cor' rect in his statement about English Bards and Scotch Reviewers. They support Pope, I see, in the Quar'terly; let them continue to do so: it is a sin, and a shame, and a damnation to think that Pope!! should require it—but he does. Those miserable mounte * Mr. Galignani had applied to Lord Byron with the view of procuring from him such legal right over those works of his Lordship of which he had hitherto been the sole publisher in France, as would enable him to prevent others, in future, from usurping the same privilege. 'banks of the day, the poets, disgrace themselves and deny God in running down Pope, the most faultless ' of poets, and almost of men.' LETTER 397, TO MR. MOORE. • Ravenna, November 5th, 1820. Thanks for your letter, which hath come somewhat costively; but better late than never. Of it anon. 'Mr. Galignani, of the Press, hath, it seems, been sup'planted and sub-pirated by another Parisian publisher, who has audaciously printed an edition of 'L. B.'s Works, at the ultra-liberal price of ten francs, and (as Galignani piteously observes) eight francs only for booksellers! "horresco referens." Think of ' a man's whole works producing so little! Galignani sends me, post haste, a permission for him, from me, to publish, &c. &c., which permit I have signed and sent to Mr. Murray, of Albemarlestreet. Will you explain to G. that I have no right 'to dispose of Murray's works without his leave? and 'therefore I must refer him to M. to get the permit out of his claws-no easy matter, I suspect. I have ' written to G. to say as much; but a word of mouth great brother author" would convince him that I could not honestly have complied with his wish, though I might legally. What I could do, I have done, viz., signed the warrant and sent it to 'Murray. Let the dogs divide the carcass, if it is killed to their liking. tr I am glad of your epigram. It is odd that we should both let our wits run away with our sentiments; for I am sure that we are both Queen's men at bottom. But there is no resisting a clinch-it is 'so clever! Apropos of that-we have a "diphthong" also in this part of the world-not a Greek, but a Spanish one-do you understand me?-which is about to blow up the whole alphabet. It was first pronounced at Naples, and is spreading; but we are nearer the Barbarians; who are in great force on the 'Po, and will pass it, with the first legitimate pretext. There will be the devil to pay, and there is no saying who will or who will not be set down in his bill. If "honour should come unlooked for" to any of your acquaintance, make a Melody of it, that his ghost, like poor Yorick's, may have the satisfaction ' of being plaintively pitied-or still more nobly commemorated, like "Oh breathe not his name.” In case you should not think him worth it, here is a Chant for you instead— 6 • When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home, 'Let him think of the glories of Greece and of Rome, To do good to mankind is the chivalrous plan, Then battle for freedom wherever you can, And, if not shot or hang'd, you'll get knighted. So you have gotten the letter of "Epigrams "-I am glad of it. You will not be so, for I shall send you more. Here is one I wrote for the endorsement of "the Deed of Separation" in 1816; but the 'lawyers objected to it, as superfluous. It was written ' as we were getting up the signing and sealing. has the original. • Endorsement to the Deed of Separation, in the April of 1816. A year ago you swore, fond she! "To love, to honour," and so forth: 'Such was the vow you pledged to me, 'And here's exactly what 'tis worth. For the anniversary of January 2, 1821, I have a |