VIII.] MELANCHOLY HOUES. 359 



Dr Drake, when treating on this topic, is, for once, in- 

 conclusive ; but his essay does credit to his discernment, 

 hoAvever little it may honour him as a promulgator of the 

 laws of criticism : the exquisite specimens it contains 

 prove that the Doctor has a feeling of propriety and gene- 

 ral excellence, although he may be unhappy in defining 

 them. Boileau says, briefly, " Les inscriptions doivent 

 etre simples, courtes, etfamiliires." We have, however, 

 many examples of this kind of writing iu our language, 

 which, although they possess none of these qualities, are 

 esteemed excellent. Akenside's classic imitations are not 

 at all simple, nothing short, and the very reverse of fa- 

 miliar, yet who can deny that they are beautiful, and in 

 some instances appropriate? Southey's inscriptions are 

 noble pieces ; — for the opposite qualities of tenderness 

 and dignity, sweetness of imagery and terseness of moral, 

 unrivalled ; they are perhaps wanting in propriety, and 

 (which is the criterion) produce a much better effect in a 

 book than they would on a column or a cenotaph. There 

 is a certain chaste and majestic gravity expected from 

 the voice of tombs and monuments, which probably would 

 displease in epitaphs never intended to be engraved, and 

 inscriptions for obelisks which never existed. 



AVhen a man visits the tomb of an illustrious character, 

 a spot remarkable for some memorable deed, or a scene 

 connected by its natural sublimity with the higher feel- 

 ings of the breast, he is in a mood only for the nervous, 

 the concise, and the impressive ; and he will turn with 

 disgust alike from tlie puerile conceits of the epigram- 

 suatist and the tedious prolixity of the herald. It is a 

 nice thing to address the mind in the workings of gene- 

 rous enthusiasm. As words are not capable of exciting 

 such an effervescence of the sublimer affections, so they 

 can do little towards increasing it. Their office is rather 

 to point these feelings to a beneficial purpose, and by 

 irae noble sentiment, or exalted moral, to impart to the 

 mind that j)leasure which results from warm emotions 

 when connected with the virtuous and the generous. 



In the composition of inscriptive pieces, great atten- 

 tion must be paid to local and topical propriety. The 



