Quam demum optata attigerint, metamque laborum. Hinc primum ut turres, et sole micantia MМессӕ Jamque adeo intrarunt urbem, temploque propinquant. Quinquaginta aditus illi, centumque columnæ Ex solido stant ære, illas argentea circum Volvitur, et nodis ambit capita alta catena. Tum rutilæ fulvo dependent lampades auro. Ipsa autem, tanta quanquam septa undique mole, Parva ipsa, et simplex, et nullo splendida luxu, Stat sacrata domus; sed quæ sibi nomen Abrami Vindicat, auctoremque Deum: nec sanctior ulla Relligio est, Mahumeda, tuis, nec quam magis isti In votum metuunt conceptis poscere verbis, Ambiguaque fide, et perjura fallere lingua. Ergo ubi jam admissam excepit vasta area turbam, Dilectam venerantur humum, et ferventia figunt Oscula parietibus: tum summi in culmine tecti Obducunt nigros, solennia dona, tapetas. Ipse olim quales, antiqua ex urbe Damasci Misit Omar, quales, dum res et fata sinebant, Pollentes opibus Pharii misere tyranni, Inclyta progenies Fatimæ; nunc maximus ista Tum passim sternuntur humi, et ter voce vocantes Tu solus penetrare polum, et spatia ultima cœli; Hæc adeo, hæc turpes tangentia præmia sensus ADVERSARIA LITERARIA. No. XXXIII. Lord Byron's simile from "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers." So the struck eagle stretch'd upon the plain Idem Latine redditum. SAUCIUS haud aliter campo prostratus aperto, Ipse suam pennam, quam gesserat ipse sub armo, R. TREVELYAN, A.M. On Epistolary Formulas and Dedications. " Litera scripta manet." THE same principle, which has established laws for our conduct and behaviour, seems to have prescribed forms for our correspondence. Fallacy, as the schoolmen have decreed, lies in universals, for which reason we invariably find that regulations are not immutable; because, although instituted with a view to general circumstances, there are peculiar ones in which their futility is apparent. Aristotle, while discoursing on the Predicaments, lays it down as a fixed principle, that doubts may be reasonably entertained of particulars: one topic appears replete with anomalies, and as such, fit for investigation and reproof,— I mean the formulas of epistolary intercourse, viz. superscriptions, commencements, and conclusions; the three distinguishing parts of a letter, which, although varying with times and manners, remain essentially unaltered: the fourth part, or letter itself, being more immediately subject to contingencies, must be dismissed, as a subject to which no invariable rules can be assigned. The three sable Graces, Law, Physic, and Divinity, have severally established forms for their votaries. Conveyances and wills retain their original shape, because it is the legal one, and their validity would be questionable were any other employed: a prescription always did, and always will, consist of certain talismanic characters, backed by a signature: and a sermon must be composed of text and comment, or its nature is materially changed. This is perfectly in character, because the circumstances which prescribe those forms are invariable: a deed of gift is the same to all intents and purposes, as when wax and parchment first became symbols of security; a prescription of Latham or Marcet does not differ from one of Mead or Freind; and a sermon, whether intitled a lecture or exhortation, is employed to the same effect in a modern mahogany pulpit, as in the open conventicles of the Druids, or the more secret ones of the Magi. But Epistles have undergone alterations, and that they are yet capable of improvement may easily be shown. No one can object to the retaining of distinct forms for friend and foe, for the distant and the familiar; but it is the application of these forms which must appear reprehensible. I have often felt, in perusing the letters of the dead, a most insuperable disgust at the terms in which they are couched, when compared with their real contents. One man shall address another with the accustomed "Dear Sir," and subscribe himself "Your humble servant," or some other modification of profession, while he invites "his former friend and future foe" to an exchange of bullets, drawing the flimsy mask of Honor over his blushes. Let the galled jade wince,-fools may rail against criticism and '" A man may rail in generals for a week, Ask for particulars, he cannot speak." -Oxford Spy. satire, but the most honorable contest is that of the pen; words break no bones, and mutual weariness at last induces a cessation of arms. But to return. Superscriptions are now settled by a proper directory, so that no latitude can be allowed to fantastical scribblers in that department. They were formerly ridiculous in the extreme. It is difficult to peruse with gravity such expressions as "these present with care and speed"-" to my most honored good friend, these," &c., however common in a former century: surely the writers must have meant them for a sample of the affectionate contents; in romance they would have an admirable effect, in parody still more. We all remember "To the most amiable Lindamira," and "For her Ladyship, Of all her sex most excellent: Commencements have materially changed: every body knows how wives are at present addressed, -" Sweet heart" and "Dear heart" are the obsolete appellatives, and whether the existing expressions rival them in tenderness I cannot pretend to say. Lord Strafford, on being committed to the Tower, writes to his wife nearly in these terms, -" Sweete harte, I am in sore trouble," where the words come home to our feelings, and excite immediate sympathy: but when the libertine Rochester styles his injured consort "Dear heart," the formula carries with it every appearance of deceit, although the letter professes penitence. Nevertheless there are extant some precious deviations from the legitimate form. Queen Elizabeth, wishing to compel Martin Heyton, Bishop of Ely, to exchange some lands belonging to his see, writes the following tender billet : "Proud Prelate, "I understand you are backward in complying with your agreement: but I would have you to know, that I, who made you what you are, can unmake you; and, if you do not 2 The Secretary's Assistant, 12mo. Pope's Works, edit. Warton. Vol. VI. Memoirs of Martinus Scrib lerus; this portion is omitted in many editions. 3 Hudibras, Epistle to his Lady, 1. 348. |