whatever description, provided they have the passport of reality, it is not easy to tell at what point the line of exclusion should be drawn, or why it should be drawn at all. No image of depravity, so long as it answers to some archetype in nature or art, can be refused the benefit of the general rule. It was the misfortune of Mr. Crabbe's former poems, that they were restricted to a narrow range. They treated of a particular class of men and manners, and therefore precluded those representations of general nature, which, it scarcely needs the authority of Johnson to convince us, are the only things that can please many and please long.' But, with respect to the present poem, this circumstance prevails to a much greater degree. In the inhabitants of a sea-port there are obviously but few generic traces of nature to be detected. The mixed character of their pursuits, and their amphibious sort of life, throw their manners and customs into a striking cast of singularity, and make them almost a separate variety of the human race. Among the existing modifications of society, it may be questioned if there be one which is more distinctly specified, we might say individualised."- GIFFORD. - The reader will find Mr. Crabbe's own answer to the foregoing criticism, in the preface to the Tales, in a subsequent page of this volume.]

OCCASIONAL PIECES.

[NOW FIRST PUBLISHED.]

VOL. IV.

H

THE LADIES OF THE LAKE.

WRITTEN ON VISITING NORMANSTON IN THE YEAR 1785.

["Normanston, a sweet little villa near Beccles, was one of the early resorts of Mr. Crabbe and Miss Elmy, in the days of their anxious affection. Here four or five spinsters of independent fortune had formed a sort of Protestant nunnery, the abbess being Miss Blacknell, who afterwards deserted it to become the wife of the late Admiral Sir Thomas Graves, a lady of distinguished elegance in her tastes and manners. Another of the sisterhood was Miss Waldron, late of Tamworth, dear, good-humoured, hearty, masculine Miss Waldron, who could sing a jovial song like a fox-hunter, and, like him, I had almost said, toss a glass; and yet there was such an air of high ton, and such intellect mingled with these manners, that the perfect lady was not veiled for a moment." -Life of Crabbe, antè, Vol. I. p. 147. A lady of rank, in Norfolk, has lately written as follows to the Poet's biographer: -"The enjoyment of your Memoir was much increased by my knowledge of several of the parties mentioned in it. Miss Blacknell and Miss Waldron were the acquaintance of my early youth: a visit to Normanston was always a joyful event; and, notwithstanding the masculine deportment of Miss Waldron, her excellent sense and good nature caused her to be preferred, by many judges of character, to her more dignified and graceful companion. I have in my possession a copy of very appropriate verses, which Mr. Crabbe addressed to Miss B. and Miss W. in the year 1785."

SHALL I, who oft have woo'd the Muse

For gentle Ladies' sake,

So fair a theme as this refuse

The Ladies of the Lake?

Hail, happy pair! 't is yours to share
Life's elegance and ease;

The bliss of wealth without the care,
The will and power to please,-

To please, but not alone our eyes,
Nor yet alone our mind;

Your taste, your goodness, charm the wise—
Your manners all mankind.

The pleasant scenes that round you glow,
Like caskets fraught with gold,
Though beauteous in themselves, yet owe
Their worth to what they hold.

Trees may be found, and lakes, as fair;
Fresh lawns, and gardens green;
But where again the Sister-pair
Who animate the scene?

Where sense of that superior kind,
Without man's haughty air?
And where, without the trifling mind,
The softness of the fair?

Folly, with wealth, may idly raise
Her hopes to shine like you,
And humble flattery sound her praise,

Till she believes it true;

But wealth no more can give that grace
To souls of meaner kind,

Than summer's fiery sun can chase

Their darkness from the blind.