top of the tree—cpsarwy jAev wopu@acs axpe- 
Tav are tacav—difcovered that worldly 
diftin&tions feldom grow there. 
to experience, that the promife of a Queen 
could be retarded by the degrading infi- 
nuations ofa Lord Treafurer.—** What ! 
(f:id Lord Burleigh, interrupting her Ma- 
jefty’s bounty,).all this for a fong !” 
_ Cambridge was never altogether indif- 
ferent to scetry: but while Spenfer was 
as yet only gathering a few flowers, or 
feeding his flock, to ufe his own language, 
as a thepherd’s boy, he might eafily have 
paffed unnoticed, without any fault of his 
own, and without much diferedit to the 
College. For, though/uperior genius may 
feel a con‘cioufnefs of its own powers, it 
does not always pofiefs the means of exhi- 
biting them to the belt advantage. And 
amid the freaks of a juvenile fancy, of half- 
formed {chemes, and of inconftant refolves, 
the fantaftic appesrances, cf genius, 
when beginning to plume itfelf, and to 
make trial of its ftrength—to diflinguifh 
thofe eflays, which indicate future excel- 
Jence, requires confiderable penetration ;— 
more than always falls to the fhare.cf an 
individual, though a fcholar, or even of a 
college. 
Indeed, it feems moft probable, that 
Spenfer was fet afide from a fe!lowfhip, 
or that he had fome cther reafons for pri- 
vate difeuft: for it is worthy of notice, 
that he never once, in any of his poems, 
has alluded. to Cambridge; and this wiil 
appear the more remarkable, when it is 
recolleéted, that in his celebrated Poem he 
meant to be the herald and chronicler of 
the Virgin Queen ; 
That Goddefs heav’nly bright, 
Mirrour of grace, and majefty divine. 
, Spenfer. 
—that Elizabeth was very partial to this 
Univerfity—and that on leaving it, as fhe 
paffed Pembroke, fhe poured forthan ¢j1- 
culation in.Latin, expreffive of a peculiar 
attachment to that College. 
‘The beautiful Poem called the Fairy 
Queen is of that fpecies of poctry that may 
be called dreams or viflons: nor let the 
word offend theadmirers of the poets.— 
Thus Perfius, Milton, and others, {peak 
of poe:ry in general : i 
Nec in bicipiti fomniafe Parnafio 
Memini, ut repente fic poeta prodirem. 
And thus Miiton in his fine Poem addreff- 
ed to’/his father: Mer 
Et guod‘habenius opum charta numeravimus 
ifta, ie: rch Ne 
Quz mihi funt nulla, nifi quas dedit aurea 
Clio, 
-Cantabrigiance 
He lived | 
(Sept. 1, 
Quas mihi femoto fomni peperere fub antro, 
it nemoris Jaureta facri Parnaffides umbre. 
The defcriptions in the Fairy Queen are 
animated, and abound with the correétc i ~ 
morality ; the imagery is glowing, and 
adorned with the moft lively figures ; the 
limited ftanza, the frequent allufions to an- 
cient ftory, and the antique ftyle, are all 
appropriate and charaéteriftic; but the fa- 
ble is ill-managed, a labyrinth, half-con- 
cealed in obfcurity, lengthening almoft as it 
proceeds, and fullof perplexity. Bithop 
Hurd illuftrates what he calls the double 
fenfe, and what others call the germinant 
fenfe, of prophecy, from Spenfer’s Fairy 
Queen, ‘* thatglorious type,’ as Spenfer 
calls her, of Queen Elizabeth. 
_LXXXIII.—COWLEY. 
As Spenfer was the child: of Chaucer, 
fo was Cowley, while yet a boy, an ad- 
mirer of the fweet founds, the rural mujic, 
of Spenfer, and very foon lifped in num- 
bers himfelf. 
Having previoufly received the rudi- 
ments of his education at Weftminfter- 
fchoo], he was entered, in 1636, of Trini- 
ty-collece, which receives the greater part 
of the youth educated in that royal foun- 
dation. He tack his Bachelor's and Mat. 
ter’s of Arts degree at Cambridge; but 
in 1643, by order of Parliament, he was 
obliged to quit it. Bifhop Spratt tells us, 
that his Exercifes of ail kinds were Jong 
remembered in the Univerfity with ap- 
plaufe: it does not, however, appear, 
that he fucceeded to a fellowfhip. 
Cowley, amid the diffentions of thofe 
times, continued a ftaurch loyalift,devout- 
ly attached to the Church, and overflow- 
ing with affeGtion to alma mater. His 
enthufiafm for the Univertity he forcibly 
expreffed in an excellent Latin poem, en- 
iided, E£legza dedicatoria ad Iluftrifimam 
Academiam Cantabrigienfem, which is pre- 
fixed to Bifhop Sprart’s edition of his po- — 
ens ; and his fentiments on collegiate life 
may be ccileéted from his plan of a col- 
lege, a Propofition for the Advancement. 
ot Experimental Knowledge. In his clegy 
he gives the rein to his Mufe, and knows 
not when to ftop her : 
OQ! mihi jucundum Grantee fuper omnia no- 
men ! 
OQ! penitus toto corde receptus amor ! 
O! pulchre fineluxu ades, vitzeq: beatz ! 
Splendida paupertas, ingenuufq: decor ! 
©! chara ante alias, magnorum nomine re= 
gum 
Digna domus! Trini nomine digna Dei ! 
Englifhed : : 
