B E A 



, Bcattie, 

 Bettunurjs. 



374 



than these 



BEA 



more congenial to the poetical characte 

 sombre discussions. 



The true character of poetical genius is in love 

 with the wild and the wonderful j it has nothing to 

 do with abstract views of nature, or moral actions ; it 

 believes and enjoys implicitly, and delights neither in 

 creating nor resolving doubts. The actual enjoyments 

 of the poet are inimitably pourtrayed in the first part 

 of the Minstrel; in the second part \\ leave him to 

 the study of ethics, with ai little interest as if he were 

 discoursing with Adam Smith on the wealth of na- 

 tions, or with Malthus on the checks to population. 

 Yet the moral tenets in the second part, though in- 

 aptly placed, are elegantly delivered. The first part 

 of the Minstrel is a gem of the purest water ; Edwin's 

 character is a most interesting portrait of moral beau- 

 ty, supported without the aid of drama, dialogue, or 

 action ; yet as finished, distinct, and original, as a dra- 

 matic or epic action could have made it. It is won- 

 derful, at the end of sixty stanzas, to find what a new, 

 yet recognizable being we have been made acquaint- 

 ed with, a being so unlike the world, and yet so na- 

 tural. The writer who described Edwin might well 

 felicitate himself, in the words of the French poet : 



heureux le genie 



Qui 



San.s masque sans cothurne et sans illusion, 

 D'un style simple et vrai fait parler la raisonl 

 11 n*entend pas pour hit retcntis la theatre 

 Des suffrages bruynnts iVunefovle idolutre; 

 Mais le sage le lit. I.c sage quelquefois 

 Pour revcr avee lui, ifenfonce dans les bois 

 Et, eharme' de ses vers, n'en suspend la lecture 

 Que pour voir lesfort'ts, ics cieux et la nature. 



De Lille sur I'lmagination. 



The particular and minute beauties of this popular 

 poem we need not trouble our readers with pointing 

 out. Its general characteristic merits are an un- 

 affected elevation and sweetness of sentiment, terse 

 and comprehensive description of rural scenery, and a 

 style of pure and transparent simplicity. The beauty 

 of external nature was never more finely worshipped 

 than in the conclusion of the ninth stanza, which 

 Gray so truly pronounced to be inspired : " Oh ! 

 how canst thou renounce, and hope to be forgiven." 

 Dr Aikin, with his usual coldness as a critic, has ob- 

 jected to the fairy vision of Edwin as too splendid 

 and artificial for the fancy of an untutored youth. 

 This is a most absurd objection. If we suppose 

 Edwin to have lived in minstrel days, untutored as he 

 was, he must have heard the ballads of his country ; 

 and in these there is sufficient mention of all the ma- 

 terials which constitute his dream. The description 

 of Edwin's walks, and of the hermit's valley in the 

 second book, are perhaps the very finest poetical 

 paintings of landscape which our language possesses. 



BEAUMARIS, or Beaumarsh, the principal 

 town of the isle of Anglesea, in South Wales, is si- 

 tuated at the north entrance of the Menai strait, 

 which forms here a spacious bay. The town, which 

 is extremely neat, has two large streets, which con- 

 tain 267 houses, a handsome church adorned with a 

 lofty square tower, and an elegant and commodious 

 town-hall. A free grammar school, and eight alms- 

 houses, evince the charitable disposition of the inha- 



bitants. But the most remarkable object at Bean- Bcauniwis. 

 maris is its castle, to which the town originally owed * v~' 

 all its importance, and probably its existence. When 

 Edward I. had subjugated Wales, he found it neces- 

 sary to erect fortresses in different places, to overawe 

 the inhabitants, whose spirit, still unbroken and ex- 

 tremely impatient of the yoke, panted for an oppor- 

 tunity of regaining their independence. Magnifi- 

 cent castles had already been reared in Caernarvon 

 and Conway; and the insular situation of Anglesea 

 rendered it still more necessary to have it commanded 

 by a fort and an English garrison. Accordingly, in 

 the year 1275, the foundation of a castle was laid in 

 a place called Bonover Marsh, which afterwards re- 

 ceived the French appellation Bemimarais, or beau- 

 tiful marsh. Its situation enabled the engineers to 

 surround this castle with a ditch, which might con- 

 stantly be filled with water from the bay ; and to cut 

 between the river and the castle a canal by which 

 small vessels might convey their cargoes up to the 

 very walls. When tins castle was completed, it was 

 garrisoned by twenty four soldiers, and entrusted to 

 a governor, who was also made general of the town. 

 As this fortress became extremely oppressive to the 

 town, many contentions arose, and several bloody 

 encounters took place between the inhabitants of the 

 town and the soldiers. One of these encounters, 

 called the black-fray, which happened in the reign 

 of Henry VI. was attended with great slaughter. 

 The insolence both of the governors and the soldiery 

 in all these Welsh garrisons, was indeed intolerable. 

 Their general object was to exclude the native inha- 

 bitants from the towns dependent on their fortresses ; 

 and so far had they succeeded in Anglesea, that in a 

 rental of the borough property of Beaumaris, taken 

 so late as 1608, there appear only seven Welsh names, 

 and one burgage in the tenure of a Welshman. In 

 the turbulent reign of Charles I., the gentlemen of 

 Beaumaris and Anglesea, animated with the warmest 

 loyalty, determined to oppose the parliamentary forces 

 which had assembled at Conway, and had deputed 

 five commissioners to manage their business. But 

 their loyalty was of no avail against the superior dis- 

 cipline and courage of their antagonists. They were 

 routed and dispersed in every direction ; and on the 

 2d of October 1648, the town and castle surrendered 

 to general Mytton, and the inhabitants came under 

 an obligation to pay to their conquerors the sum of 

 seven thousand pounds within fourteen days. This 

 castle, which is now the property of the crown, 

 stands on the grounds of lord Bulkely. It is attach- 

 ed to the east end of the town, and covers a consi- 

 derable space of ground. Part of it lies in ruins; 

 but its outer walls, several towers, and many other 

 parts, still remain to mark out its dimensions, and to 

 shew the style of its architecture. 



Beaumaris cannot boast of great antiquity. Be- 

 fore the erection of the castle, it seems to have been 

 an obscure, insignificant place. Edward I. surround- 

 ed it with a wall, made it a corporation, and endowed 

 it with some privileges. Since the time of Edward 

 VI., it has regularly been represented by one mem- 

 ber in parliament, the right of electing whom is vest- 

 ed in the mayor, bailiffs, and capital burgesses only, 

 amounting to twenty-four in number. This is the 



