64 



CRITICS AND CRITICISM. 



Epitaph r/ii Ming Dnimmonrf. 

 Hence, stoic apathy to hearts of stone : 

 A Christian sage with dignity can 



weep. 



See mitred Drummond heave the heart- 

 felt groan, 

 \Vhcre the cold ashes of his daughter 



sleep. 

 Here sleeps what once was beauty, once 



was grace, 



Grace that exprets'd in each benig- 

 nant smile, 



Th.it dearest harmony of soul and face, 

 When beauty glories to be virtue's 

 foil. 



Or thus, 



That sweetest sympathy of soul and 



face, 

 "When beauty only blooms as virtue's 



foil. 

 Such was the maid, that, in the noon 



of youth, 



In virgin innocence, in nature's pride 

 Grac'd with each liberal art and 



crown'd with truth, 

 Sunk in her lather's fond embrace, 



and died. 



He weeps. O venerate the holy tear! 

 Faith soothes his sorrows, lightens 



all their load ; 

 Patient he spreads his child upon her 



bier, 



And humbly yields an angel to his 

 God. 



<3ray's reply is, as usual, to the 

 point : 



" Old Park, Sunday, 

 July 19, 1767. 



"DEAR MASON, I come forth- 

 "with to the epitaph which you have 

 had the charity to write at the 

 Archbishop's request. It will cer- 

 tainly do (for it is both touching 

 and new), but yet will require much 

 finishing. I like not the first three 

 lines : it is the party most nearly 

 concerned, at least some one closely 

 connected, and bearing a part of 

 the loss, that is usually supposed 

 to speak on these occasions, but 

 these lines appear to be written by 

 the chaplain, and have an air of 

 flattery to his patron. All that is 

 good in them is better expressed 

 in the four last verses; "where the 



! cold ashes," &c. These five verses 

 are well, except the word ' benig- 

 nant,' and the thought (which is not 

 clear to me, besides that it is some- 

 what hardly expressed) of 'when 

 beauty only blooms,' &c. In gems 

 that want colour and perfection, a 

 foil is put under them to add to 

 their lustre. In others, as in. 

 diamonds, the foil is black ; and 

 in this sense, when a pretty woman 

 chooses to appear in public with a 

 homely one, we say she uses her as 

 a foil. This puzzles me, as you 

 neither mean that beauty sets off 

 virtue by its contrast and opposi- 

 tion to it, nor that her virtue was 

 so imperfect as to stand in need of 

 beauty to heighten its lustre. For 

 the rest I read, ' that sweetest har- 

 mony of soul,' &c. ; 'such was the 

 maid,' &c. All this to the end I 

 much approve, except 'crowned 

 with truth,' and ' lightens all their 

 load.' The first is not precise ; 

 in the latter you say too much. 

 ' Spreads his child,' too, is not the 

 word. When you have corrected 

 all these faults it will be excellent." 



A week later, this was followed 

 by another letter : 



"Old Park, 2Gth July, 1767. 



"DEAR MASON, You are very 

 perverse. I do desire you would 

 not think of dropping the design 

 you had of obliging the Arch- 

 bishop. I submitted my criticisms 

 to your own conscience, and I al- 

 lowed the latter half to be excel- 

 lent, two or three little words ex- 

 cepted. If this will not do, for 

 the future I must say (whatever 

 you send me), that the whole is the 

 most perfect thing in nature, which 

 is easy to do when one knows it 

 will be acceptable. Seriously, I 

 should be sorry if you did not cor- 

 rect these lines, and am interested 

 enough for the party (only upon 

 your narrative) to wish he were 

 satisfied in it, for I am edified 

 when I hear of so mundane a man, 

 that yet he has a tear for pity. By 



