204 PRIZE POEM 



" An excellent subject," I replied. " I hope you 

 mean to try. It would be a great gratification to your 

 friends were you to obtain the Chancellor's medal." 



"It is my intention to do so, provided you will give 

 me your assistance." 



At this I laughed, and, indeed, almost ridiculed the 

 idea of my very limited capacity being required for a 

 purpose so much beyond its sphere. But he would not 

 be put down. He had heard of me at my sister's in 

 Hampshire, and had seen what he called proofs of my 

 capability. 



" Pooh, pooh," I exclaimed ; " I may have been guilty 

 of twisting some sorrowful reflections, or some morbid 

 fancies, into verse and indulged in amatory effusions in 

 rhyme — that is all. You must not consider that this 

 is any proof of the talent necessary for composing, in 

 heroic metre, a fine historical subject like the one you 

 name." 



Finding he could not succeed with me, he addressed 

 the lady facing me, and endeavoured to enlist her 

 influence for the purpose he required. 



After some varied and general conversation, in which 

 I spoke of the impracticability of two persons Avriting 

 together one poem, it was agreed, before we parted, that 

 he should write one, and I attempt another ; and that he 

 should have his choice of the two — or send both in if he 

 pleased. 



During the time of my daily sojourn at Redbourn, I 

 remember to have had placed in my hands the works of 

 M. Volney, the only infidel writer of his nation, or, 

 indeed, any other, who invites the reader, by the ease 



