xxii. IN MEMORIAM. 



proves anything, proves the genuine sincerity of the man. His 

 Jot had been cast and his earliest and deepest impressions had 

 been received inland, where neither sea nor mountain existed, and 

 he sung of what was in him impressions from the river, the 

 brook, the lake or pond, the coppice, the hedgeside, the farmyard, 

 the country folk of every degree, their thoughts, ways, habits, 

 employments, and amusements; these and such like formed the 

 staple of his song, and to say that he only sang of these, but not 

 of the sea or the mountain, is only equivalent to saying that a 

 nightingale sings only the nightingale's song, but never screeches 

 like the seagull nor croaks like the raven ; and what better proof 

 could be given than this that he had no keen ambition for any 

 such fame as a great poet, in the world's estimation, might aim 

 at ! No ! Mr. BARNES was here, as in all else, himself, and in his 

 songs he was, as he was, and always loved to remember that he 

 was, a Dorsetshire country-man. These few allusions to Mr. 

 BARNES' poems must suffice us here ; space prevents any quotations 

 from them. Others (notably Professor Palgrave, National Review, 

 No. 48, February, 1887, p.p. 818-839, and the Rev. Walter 

 Locke in an able Lecture at Dorchester, April 18th, 1887, to 

 be published, I believe, shortly) have gone very fully into them 

 and given numerous and apt quotations. Indeed, if anything I 

 have said be true, the whole volume might be quoted in proof of 

 Mr. BARNES having been a genuine staunch Dorset man ; and to 

 that proof I recommend every one who has not yet made a close 

 acquaintance with those genial and pleasant outflowings of a true 

 and loving heart. 



Although, as before remarked, Mr. BARNES did not write his 

 poems " with a purpose," he could, and did, write with a purpose 

 much, and to good purpose if some of his other works were 

 studied. I fear, though, that most of them are but little known. 

 I allude now to "Views of Labour and Gold," a volume of 190 

 pages, published in 1859. He speaks of this work as formed from 

 notes for a course of lectures ; but whether the lectures were ever 

 publicly delivered, or if so, when, I do not know. This work 



