The vulgarest tool that Tyranny could want, XIII. An orator of such set trash of phrase That even its grossest flatterers dare not praise, XIV. A bungler even in its disgusting trade, And botching, patching, leaving still behind Something of which its masters are afraid, States to be curb'd, and thoughts to be confined, Conspiracy or Congress to be made Cobbling at manacles for all mankind. A tinkering slave-maker, who mends old chains, XV. If we may judge of matter by the mind, Hath but two objects, how to serve, and bind, Fearless 1 To worth as freedom, wisdom as to wit, because no feeling dwells in ice, Its very courage stagnates to a vice. For the character of Eutropius, the eunuch and minister at the court of Arcadius, see Gibbon. ["Eutropius, one of the principal eunuchs of the palace of Constantinople, succeeded the XVI. Where shall I turn me not to view its bonds, Italy! Thy late reviving Roman soul desponds Beneath the lie this State-thing breathed o'er thee Thy clanking chain, and Erin's yet green wounds, Have voices- tongues to cry aloud for me. Europe has slaves - allies -kings — armies still, And Southey lives to sing them very ill. XVII. Meantime Sir Laureate I proceed to dedicate, Apostasy 's so fashionable, too, To keep one creed 's a task grown quite Herculean; Venice, September 16. 1818. haughty minister whose ruin he had accomplished, and whose vices he soon imitated. He was the first of his artificial sex who dared to assume the character of a Roman magistrate and general. Sometimes, in the presence of the blushing senate, he ascended the tribunal to pronounce judgment, or to repeat elaborate harangues; and sometimes appeared on horseback, at the head of his troops, in the dress and armour of a hero. The disregard of custom and decency always betrays a weak and ill-regulated mind: nor does Eutropius seem to have compensated for the folly of the design by any superior merit or ability in the execution. His awkward and unsuccessful attempts provoked the secret contempt of the spectators; the Goths expressed a wish that such a general might always command the armies of Rome, and the name of the minister was branded with ridicule, more pernicious, perhaps, than hatred to a public character." - GIBBON.] [Mr. Fox and the Whig Club of his time adopted an uniform of blue and buff: hence the coverings of the Edinburgh Review.] 2 I allude not to our friend Landor's hero, the traitor Count Julian, but to Gibbon's hero, vulgarly yclept "The Apostate." DON JUAN. CANTO THE FIRST. 1. I WANT a hero: an uncommon want, When every year and month sends forth a new one, Till, after cloying the gazettes with cant, The age discovers he is not the true one : Of such as these I should not care to vaunt, I'll therefore take our ancient friend Don Juan We all have seen him, in the pantomime, Sent to the devil somewhat ere his time. 1 1 [Remodelled under the names of " Don Juan," "The Libertine," &c. &c., the old Spanish spiritual play, entitled "Atheista Fulminato," formerly acted in the churches and monasteries, has had its day of favour in every country throughout Europe. It was first introduced upon the regular stage, under the title of "El Burlador de Sevilla y Combidado de Pierra," by Gabriel Tellez, the cotemporary of Calderon. It was soon translated into Italian by Cicognini, and performed with so much success in this language, not only in Italy but even at Paris, that Moliere, shortly before his death, produced a comedy in five acts, called "Don Juan; ou, Le Festin de Pierre." This piece was, in 1677, put into verse by T. Corneille; and thus it has been performed on the French stage ever since. In 1676, Shadwell, the successor of Dryden in the laureateship, introduced the subject into this country, in his tragedy of the "Libertine;" but he made his hero so unboundedly wicked, as to exceed the limits of probability. In all these works, as well as in Mozart's celebrated opera, the Don is uniformly represented as a travelling rake, who practises every where the arts of seduction, and who, for his numerous delinquencies, is finally consumed by flames coram populo, or, as Lord Byron has it, "Sent to the devil somewhat ere his time."] II. Vernon, the butcher Cumberland, 2 Wolfe, 3 Hawke, 4 Prince Ferdinand, 5 Granby, 6 Burgoyne,7 Keppel, 8 Howe, 9 Evil and good, have had their tithe of talk, And fill'd their sign-posts then, like Wellesley now; [General Vernon, who served with considerable distinction in the navy, particularly in the capture of Porto Bello, died in 1757.] 2 [Second son of George II., distinguished himself at the battles of Dettingen and Fontenoy, and still more so at that of Culloden, where he defeated the Chevalier, in 1746. The Duke, however, obscured his fame by the cruel abuse which he made, or suffered his soldiers to make, of the victory. He died in 1765.] 3 [General Wolfe, the brave commander of the expedition against Quebec, terminated his career in the moment of victory, whilst fighting against the French in 1759.] 4 [In 1759, Admiral Lord Hawke totally defeated the French fleet equipped at Brest for the invasion of England. In 1765 he was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty; and died, full of honours, in 1781.] 5 [Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, who gained the victory of Minden. In 1762, he drove the French out of Hesse. He died in 1792.] [Son of the third Duke of Rutland - signalised himself in 1745, on the invasion by Prince Charles; and was constituted, in 1759, commander of the British forces in Germany. He died in 1770.] 7 [An English general officer and dramatist, who distinguished himself in the defence of Portugal, in 1762, against the Spaniards, and also in America by the capture of Ticonderoga; but was at last obliged to surrender, with his army, to General Gates. Died in 1792.] 8 [Second son of the Earl of Albemarle. Placed at the head of the channel fleet, he partially engaged, in 1778, the French fleet off Ushant, which contrived to escape: he was, in consequence, tried by a court martial, and honourably acquitted. He died in 1786.] 9 [Lord Howe distinguished himself on many occasions during the American war. On the breaking out of the French war, he took the command of the English fleet, and, bringing the enemy to an action on the 1st of June, 1794, obtained a splendid victory. He died in 1799.] |