— 11—

Towards the end of the canto we come to a grave and beautiful picture of the servile foithlessness of cringing courtiers. It is a masterpiece of argumentative political poetry, very well interwoven in the action. Part of this reasoning poetry is put into Douglas's mouth, part into the king's, We already know the former to be an affectionate father, a bold sportsman, a gallant knight, an ever true friend. Here he proves a pattern citizen, for how truly noble is his self-denial, how beautiful are the words by which he prevents the tumult rising for the sake of his deliverance.— On hearing how the people took Douglas's part the king complains in very true and pregnant words of the fickleness of the multitude in a time of political excitement.

Last of all in canto V. we meet a stricking instance of the terrible consequences of Fitz-James's thoughtlessnes. We anxiously hope that Mar may yet come in time to prevent the slaughter of a battle, now become unnecessary by the captivity of Roderick and Douglas. But the gloomy rumour of"Tidings of fight on Katrine's shore“ fills us with apprehension, and when the canto closes with the verse»Till closed the Night her pennons brown“, we anxiously look forward for the fate not only of the heroes of the poem but also of the hostile armies.

In the beginning of canto VI. we find so lively a picture of the wild life of the hired soldiers in those times that we are even put in mind of the first scenes of Schiller's Wallenstein. The ribaldry which is put into the mouths of the soldiery in the guard room is the greatest blemish in the poem, put John of Brent's frivolous"Soldier song“, though much censured by Jeffrey, is, on the whole, more ludicrous than harmful, for he only ridicules a sullen vicar who

7v.. calls it damnation to rip, The ripe ruddy dew of a woman's dear lip.“

There is, perhaps, some exaggeration in the mixture of such excessive fierceness and sentimentality in that rough yet good natured and pleasant fellow who quarrels and weeps almost at the same moment. Ie is one of those fellows whose animating influence upon their comrades, particularly when they are low-spirited, is inestimable. With these semisavages Ellen is most beautifully contrasted. Even such men experience the ennobling influence of woman. They are awed into a more decent behaviour by her appearance so delicately drawn in these lines:—

„So from his morning cloud, appears The sun of May, through summer tears.*—

However, John of Brent's preferring thefempty purse to the money is, perhaps, out of character. We rather think such a quarrelling, swearing, drinking fellow would prefer the money at all events.

In the last canto the scene changes more frequently than in the preceding ones. From the guard-room we are ushered into Roderick's prison. It calls forth our deepest compassion to see that agile, strong and warlike chieftain in such a state of excessive weakness. But notwithstanding this weakness his first inquiry on recognising the minstrel is about Ellen, his mother, his clan, and Douglas. On this occasion the reader cannot suppress his regret at their speaking of the skirmisch without the slightest regret at the useless bloodshed(11² line of this page). Roderick's excitement on hearing how bravely his clan fought, is quite feverish. IIe does not seem to think of or feel his approaching death. An instant before he tried in vain to rise from his couch, but now The Chieftain reares his form on highi and desires the minstrel to give him a description of the fight, which the latter does in an impromtu.— Before we come to this ballad of the»Battle of Beal' an Duine“ we ought to mention the extremely graceful comparison of the gradual increase of power in the minstrel's music with the gradual gliding of a boat into the rapid current of a river:—

„As shallop launch'd on river's tide, But when it feels the middle stream,

That slow and fearful leaves the side, Drives downward swift as lightning's beam.“ The afore mentioned ballad is an exquisite description of a battle. The mysterious, solemn calmness of nature is contrasted with the tumult of battle in stanza 13. Among the beautiful passages we will only quote the following. The movement of the troops and arms,— the clash of swords and lances,— the rent flags, the critical moment etc., are excellently drawn:—

2*½

Canto VI.