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between the two, unless his Lordship, which we do not suppose, mean to be satirical. Several quotations, in which the same fault exists, though not so glaringly, might be made had we sufficient room.

We cannot say that the descriptions of scenery in Switzerland are, in general, to our taste; his Lordship appears to have had little profound feeling instilled by them, sometimes, indeed, he is vigorous and eloquent in painting the fearful, but when he speaks of the beautiful, he derives comparatively small enjoyment from it, and consequently fails in the attempt to place the object before the eyes of his readers. Before his Lordship can have a full participation, at least, in the lovely of nature, he must cease to be a misanthrope: the very composition of his mind is at war with the scenes themselves; we have ever seen the haters of their species retire to dismal caves or lonely towers, retreats like themselves, because they were incapable of according with objects that gave soul-felt delight to those whose hearts, free from guile, suspicion, and animosity, respond to every pleasing sound, and harmonize with every lovely sight" In nature there is nothing melancholly."

It seems to us that Lord Byron, in the canto under review, has been more than usually indebted to contemporary poets. Many traces of an imitation of the manner of Mr. Wordsworth are to be found throughout, and to this, in our view, may be attributed some of the advantages of this part of the pilgrimage over the two others formerly published. The lines

"I live not in myself, but I become

Portion of that around me; and to me
High mountains are a feeling, &c."

almost deserve the name of plagiary from an eloquent passage in Mr. Wordsworth's poem upon Tintern Abbey.* The idea of the subsequent stanza is unquestionably copied from one of the finest parts of Mr. Coleridge's Christabel, a poem highly, and deservedly, applauded by Lord Byron.

It is scarcely fair not to subjoin the original, that the reader may judge if we are correct, especially as the poem is not very well known.

The sounding cataract

Haunted me like a passion: the tall rock,
The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood
Their colours and their forms, were then to me
An appetite: a feeling and a love

That had no need of a remoter charm, &c.

Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads, Vol. I. p. 195. 3 T

CRIT. REV. VOL. IV. Nov. 1816.

"Now, where the swift Rhone cleaves his way between
Heights which appear as lovers who have parted
In hate, whose mining depths so intervene,

That they can meet no more, though broken-hearted;
Though in their souls, which thus each other thwarted,
A Love was the very root of the fond rage

Which blighted their life's bloom, and then departed :--
Itself expired, but leaving them an age

Of years all winters,-war within themselves to wage."
The original, our readers may recollect, is as follows

-03

"They stood aloof, the scars remaining

Like cliffs which had been rent asunder;
A dreary sea now flows between,

But neither heat, nor frost, nor thunder,
Shall wholly do away, I ween,

The marks of that which once hath been."

11

Christabel, Part II.

A coincidence worthy of remark is contained in the second stanza of this canto, where Lord Byron dwells on his embarkation from England.

1

s" Once more upon the waters! yet once more! Rod And the wayes bound beneath me as a steed That knows his rider."

Chapman, in his Byron's Conspiracy, (the coincidence of the name is singular), has this comparison

The Duke Byron on his brave beast Pastrana,
Who sits him like a full-sail'd Argosea ar
Danc'd with a lofty billow, and as snug

Plies to his bearer, both their motions mix'd," &c.

The figure of a broken heart multiplying objects like a shattered mirror, in stanza XXXIII, is not, in our opinion, very happy, but it is plain that his Lordship thinks otherwise, for he has twice used it; once in prose, in note 6 to the Bride of Abydos, and again in the poem before us. This repetition of himself is more pardonable, though it indicates some want of fertility. T To pown ngge

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#.SWINK YA zľ envesiɔ suod♬ Atiwa sdt 979dw „wo3⁄4 “ ART. VII. Observations on The Game Laws, with proposed Alterations for the Protection and Increase of Game, and the Decrease of Crimes. By JOSEPH CHITTY, Esq. of the Middle Temple, Barrister at Law. London. 1816. 8vo. pp. 35. moo'd say reds baidynd dondW MR. CHITTY is well known to the profession of the law, yIE b, aet;R69f budlVjr9Ybatl as a most laborious and very useful writer and compiler of practical law books. This class of works has been uniformly exempt from the jurisdiction of those se courts of criticism which, like other courts, sit periodically. In the present pamphlet, however, the author has brought himself within our verge, and we avail ourselves with alacrity of the opportunity thus afforded us, to promote the circulation of valuable suggestions on a subject of such importance to the rural economy and police of this country. Mr. C. recently published a treatise on the law of game and the fisheries, and in that work, written only for lawyers or men of business, with great propriety restricted himself to the developement of the actual law; in the present, he comes forward as a speculative reformer of the law. In this little tract he takes an historical view of the game laws of this and other countries; but we are not disposed to follow him in the discussion, because we are satisfied that in all matters of legislation, disquisitions concerning the origin of laws serve rather for ornament than use. Whenever we may feel ourselves called upon to consider the system of tythes, we shall assuredly leave the jewish priesthood out of the argument; and, in considering the game laws, shall equally disregard the feudal system, and the debated question concerning the prerogative rights of the crown and its grantees, the lords of manors, over the wild beasts of the land. All laws have their origin in power: concerning all laws there is a specu lative rule of right by which liberal legislators will allow themselves to be directed-not governed: but the expeperienced evil or good, and the reasonable expectation or apprehension of good or evil from the projected change, will be the cardinal points in the eye of the statesman.

From this point of view, we own, we contemplate the game laws with other feelings than those which impressed the mind of Blackstone. That very liberal judge considered them chiefly as the instruments of oppression. He observed, with his characteristic elegance, that while "the

forest laws established only one mighty hunter throughout the land, the game laws have raised a little Nimrod in every manor. And this often repeated sarcasın, and the authority of his name, have had a permanent effect upon the public mind. This evil, admitting that it actually subsists, in our opinion is but of rare occurrence, nor are its consequences very serious: while the actual evils, which, if they do not arise out of these laws, are intimately connected with the object of them, the preservation and pursuit of game, are of a most alarming description, and yearly as sume a more serious aspect. They lie, in a word, in the temptation they furnish to poaching; and as the habits of smuggling have corrupted the morals of those who dwell near our sea coast, so poaching, which is a sort of intermes diate act between smuggling and theft, has, more than anỹ other single cause, tended to destroy the virtuous habits of the peasantry of our inland villages; and it well deserves consideration how far that pernicious practice may be lessened by a change in the existing laws.

In the first place, we would observe, that the opinion so generally prevalent of the game laws, has much attributed to this breach of them. We may be thought to impute too much sentiment and reflection to the lower classes of the peasantry, yet it is our deliberate opinion, that many a man snares a hare, who would, on no account, plunder a hen roost; but it is very certain, that those who are long praetised in breaking, by might, into inclosures for game, will, with less scruple, break into a home-stall for poultry or farming stock. The first seduction to this dangerous prac tice is the thought that, after all, no man's property is taken away. The lower classes are well aware, that the game does not belong to the occupier or owner of the land that nourishes it, and they have little scruple in appropriating to themselves what is the property of no man. For even those Nimrods, the lords of manors, notwithstanding their high sounding name, cannot enter the enclosure of the meanest copyholder; and the unqualified tenant is not more completely forbidden to kill upon the land on which he is, than the qualified landlord is to enter on the lands in order to kill, unless he has reserved to himself a special right to 'do so.

For the benefit of both landlord and tenant, and in order to create a kind of propriety, in every way beneficial to the country, our author's most important proposal is 219, 198

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"1st. With respect to the qualifications, or authority to kill game, it has already been observed that the extension of this power to oc cupiers of land, whether owners or tenants, subject to restraint by particular stipulation, would necessarily increase the interest to preserve the game, and consequently add to its general stock, and the amusement of the fair sportsman; and therefore it is proposed that instead of confining the power to persons having an estate of inheritance of 1001. per annum, or an interest for life, or a long term of years of the yearly value of 1501. according to the existing regulations, it should be extended to all owners of lands, whatever may be the quantity, and to all occupiers of land, exceeding twenty acres, not adjoining a preserve or wood of another person, and to authorize the owner or occupier of land to empower any person obtaining a stamped licence to sport over his land for a limited time. By this latter permission persons of opulence having no interest in land might legally obtain amusement in sports of the field, and by this means one of the principal objections to the Game Laws would be avoided, without any probability of the quantity of game being diminished; for the occupier finding pleasure and profit thus incident to game, would adopt all possible means to keep up the breeding stock, and renew his annual profit or pleasure. (p. 32-33.).

Though fixed notions are not to be easily or soon eradicated, yet it may be hoped, that whenever game becomes property, like other property, it will derive some protection from the moral feelings and habits of the people. It must be confessed, however, that other provisions have been hitherto, and will continue to be requisite for that purpose.

In order to render poaching more perilous, and less productive, every one is acquainted with the formalities at tending the carriage of game; and that, like exciseable commodities, it cannot travel without a kind of permit. Every one knows that, by law, game cannot be sold; and that, in fact, it is sold every day, and with a very slight attempt at concealment. The inefficacy of these laws is the strongest reason for their repeal. Instead of them 'Mr. Chitty proposes these regulations.

2dly, With respect to the power to sell game. For the reasons before suggested, it may be expedient to enable the licensed owner and occupier of land to sell game, either to an immediate consumer, or to a poulterer, or innkeeper licensed by magistrates, to sell game, as already proposed; and regulations might be introduced, so that evidence of the game coming from and with the authority of à qualified killer, might accompany it on its lawful passage to the consumer; and all other game, not so documented, should be liable to

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