510 



at in siich edifices, may not remind mc 

 of the jewels in llic Tower, or tlie 

 quadrupeds in the Excliiinge ; but I 

 cannot divest my thoughls ot' the ope- 

 rations of Papal relics, not to say the 

 beauties of the Inquisition. However, 

 the verger, after an lialf-hour's peep- 

 ing through iron-hearted gates, kindly 

 condescends to inform me, if I wish to 

 be seated, that I may be accommo- 

 dated in the gallery ; which pious 

 information very significantly tells mc, 

 ihat he wishes and expects to be 

 accommodated with a shilling! After 

 a walk in the sun, and iu a state of 

 ppispiriition, a sudden chilness seizes 

 liir vvliole animal frame on entering 

 this noble structure ; but, if persons, 

 who are not minute attendants, fail to 

 bo in time, and pay for admission into 

 the onfi-shil/iiig gallerji, should ascend 

 aud take their respective seats, — tlie 

 wind is intolerably keen, and corrobo- 

 rates witli (he worthy alderman's ex- 

 pression, who onc(\ very feelingly, no 

 doubt, called it " a curs'd cold 

 churcli !" cuiiuciafed with the three 

 K's, of course. Be this as it may, a 

 cold is taken to a dead certainty. The 

 next inconvenience arises from not be- 

 ing able to appreciate the want of 

 Christian charity, and 'not to hear the 

 sermon, which is talked over by an old 

 man with almost every degree but a 

 voice. Amid the number of stout 

 young cantabs and stalled divines 

 emidons of fame, it is strange a decent 

 preacher cannot be allowed to deliver 

 a sermon in an audible and animated 

 manner. 1 presume, the " calling aud 

 election" of these church-and-slate 

 dignitaries being made sure, exclusion 

 is studied. Another inconsistency 

 arises IVom the parade under the dome 

 during the whole of the worship : a 

 perpetual scraping of tiie feet of pro- 

 menading ladies and gents, about the 

 monuments, is extremely disagreeable, 

 and, in view of the worshippers, irre- 

 verent. 



Further observations, which I intend 

 making upon this suliject, I shall re- 

 serve for a future opportunity. 



Islington. J. 11. Prior. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



IF contemporary attention were 

 always commensurate with contem- 

 porary merit, bow dilferent, in many 

 instances, would be the proportion of 

 the reams of jjaper assigned to the 

 j-espcctive publications of tin' day, from 



Poetical Populurity. [J^'y t^ 



that which they now consume. How 

 many a splendid quarto would shrink 

 into a duodecimo. How many a vo- 

 lume, that bas run into a sixth or 

 tenth edition, with all the pomp of 

 picturesque emblasonment, would have 

 quietly expired with the first five hun- 

 dred copies, or have left one-half, per- 

 haps, even of that modest number, to 

 dose into dusty oblivion on the shelves 

 of the publisher. While, on the other 

 hand, how many a work, now destine<l, 

 "with difficulty and labour bard," to 

 " win its slow way" to distant reputa- 

 tion, or perhaps to perish " quenched 

 in boggy Sj'rtis" of contemporary neg- 

 lect and hypereritieism, would start at 

 once into merited reputation. 



Hut temporary popularity depends, 

 anil must inevitably depend, upon a 

 number of adventitious circumstances, 

 which have little reference to degrees 

 of inherent excellence; for temporary 

 eclat is but fashion ; and what than 

 fashion more reasonless, or more fan- 

 tastic? 



But for some of those adventitious 

 circumstances, it is surely not very 

 cynical to suppose that the recent 

 amoroso effusion of Mr. Moore, " thir 

 Loves of the Angels," with all its half- 

 sanctified voluptuousness and flimsy 

 prettinesscs " thick around it" might, 

 even before this time, have been con- 

 signed to the tomb of all the inanities ; 

 for what, in reality, has it to boast 

 which a poem of such pretension.'; 

 ought to exhibit? What but a few 

 pretty sing-song turns upon amorous 

 conceits? a few pretty toyings with 

 words and common-places, ratherthan 

 ideas? and a certain soothing smooth- 

 ness and easiness of versification, sus- 

 tained (where it is sustained, — for it 

 sinks occasionally in prosaic flatness,) 

 rather by the amplification of verbiage, 

 than by any subserviency to the ner- 

 vous conciseness and pregnant .signi- 

 ficancy which constitute the excellence 

 of the higher species of rhythmical 

 composition? 



The glow-worm scintillations of 

 fancji, indeed, it bas; and even the 

 pretty trillings of amoious sing-song 

 cannot pass current without these; 

 but what pretension has it to the co- 

 herent power, the solar warmth, of 

 creative imagination? 



The magic wand of Shakspeare 

 could call an Ariel from the clouds, 

 and a Caliban from the earth ; could 

 scare the blasted heath with witches, 

 and people the moonlight grove with 

 fairies; 



