178 



POETKY AND POETS. 



arrived, and the printer was ready 

 to commence his operations, nothing 

 liad been done towards preparing 

 the poem for the press, except that 

 a few verbal alterations had been 

 made. I was not, however, without 

 misgivings; and when the first 

 proof-sheet was brought me, the 

 more glaring faults of the composi- 

 tion stared me in the face. 



" But the sight of a well-printed 

 page, which was to be set olf with 

 all the advantages that fine-wove 

 paper and hot-pressing could im- 

 part, put me in spirits, and I went 

 to work with good will. About 

 half the first book was left in its 

 original state ; and the rest of the 

 poem was recast and recomposed 

 while the printing went on. 



"This occupied six months. I 

 corrected the concluding sheet of 

 the poem, left the preface in the 

 publisher's hands, and departed 

 for Lisbon, by way of Corunna and 

 Madrid." 



GOD SAVE THE KING. 



It is said that the English national 

 hymn, so called, "God save the 

 King," is of French origin, both the 

 words and the music. In the Me- 

 moirs of the Marquise de Crequy, 

 published in 1844, and containing 

 ner souvenirs from 1710 to 1800, 

 the original words are given in 

 French, as sung in French before 

 Louis XIV., when he entered the 

 Chapel of St. Cyr. The words are 

 as follows : 



" Grand Dieu, Sauvez le Roi ! 

 Grand Dieu, Venez le Roi ! 



Viva le Roi ! 

 Qui toitjours Glorieux 

 Louis Victorieux ! 



Voyez vos ennemis 

 Toujours sounds ! 

 Grand Dieu, Sauvez le Roi ! 

 Grand Dieu, Venez le Roi ! 

 Vive le Roi ! " 



The words are said to have been 

 written by Madame de Brinon, and 

 the music by the famous Sully. It 

 is also said that Handel, during a 



visit to Paris, got possession of the 

 music, and on his return dedicated 

 it to King George I. It must be 

 rather galling for a loyal English- 

 man, while bursting his lungs in 

 roaring "God save the Queen," and 

 knocking the hats over the eyes of 

 the refractory individuals who re- 

 fuse to join him in his folly, to 

 remember that he is glorifying his 

 " Mrs. Cobourg " in a French song 

 to French music. (American Anec- 

 dotes.) 



COWPER'S " JOHN GILPIN." 

 It happened one afternoon, in 

 those years when Cowper's accom- 

 plished friend Lady Austen made a 

 part of his little evening circle, that 

 she observed him sinking into in- 

 creased dejection. It was her cus- 

 tom, on these occasions, to try all 

 the resources of her sprightly powers 

 for his immediate relief. She told 

 him the story of John Gilpin (which 

 had been treasured in her memory 

 from her childhood), to dissipate the 

 gloom of the passing hour. Its 

 effects on the fancy of Cowper had 

 the air of enchantment. 



He informed her, the next morn- 

 ing, that convulsions of laughter, 

 brought on by his recollection ot 

 her story, had kept him waking 

 during the greatest part of the night, 

 and that he had turned it into a 

 ballad. So arose the pleasant poem 

 of John Gilpin. 



HENRY KIRKE WHITE. 



This youthful bard, whose pre- 

 mature death was so sincerely re- 

 gretted by every admirer of genius, 

 manifested an ardent love of reading 

 in his infancy ; it was a passion to 

 which everything else gave way. 



" I could fancy," says his eldest 

 sister, " I see him in his little chair, 

 with a large book upon his knee, 

 and my mother calling ' Henry, my 

 love, come to dinner ;' which was 

 repeated so often without being 

 regarded, that she was obliged to 



