APPENDIX.

NOTE-page 106.

Whatever truth there may be in Dr. Yvan's narrative (and we have no reason to doubt his statement), there is considerable romance in it; but whether the so-called Mr. Braone (or Brown as it should be spelt) was in joke or in earnest, in displaying his tastes and mode of life in his solitary exile, we have no grounds on which to form a correct opinion; if the former, it appears to have been a successful ruse, and if the latter, the hero, or rather culprit, is by no means a fit representation of his countrymen; nor is his manner of life calculated to sustain the rectitude and honour of his country. It savours too much of the wild theories and utopian schemes of those infidel writers of the Robert Owen school, who are more despised than respected. The allusion to the habits of patriarchal times, is too shallow to lead any into a violation of conscience, or of the laws of a now enlightened and civilized age; and the exhibition of Biblical knowledge falls somewhat short of a justification of the mode of life referred to. For whatever reason polygamy was permitted among the Jews, in ancient times, we need not here inquire; its abrogation by Jesus Christ was absolute and complete, and restored

marriage to its primitive institution, and secured for it the respect and homage of enlightened men of all nations.

NOTE-page 299.

The beautiful and very interesting allusion to the Albatross, reminds us very strongly of the no-less beautiful and romantic poem-" The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner," the most exalted and characteristic of all the productions of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It is the wildest and most unnatural play of a vivid and exhaustless fancy of any poem in the English language. Nothing in it but the three gallants and the wedding feast at the beginning, and the moral at the end, appear to belong to man, or his pursuits in this life," so far removed is it," to quote the language of Delta," beyond the boundary of common association."

The Ancient Mariner clothes his narrative with superhuman incident and scenery, "his figure is long, and lank, and lean, as is the ribbed sea sand; he is himself under a spell, and has strange power of speech; he wanders from land to land involuntarily; and in his glittering eye abides a snaky fascination, which compels even the abhorrent to stand still and listen."

This unequalled poem is founded on the killing of an albatross, this" pious bird of good omen" to sailors; and nothing short of the complete poem can convey the exquisite touches of tenderness, beauty, and fancy, abounding in it.

THE RHYME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER.

PART I.

It is an ancient Mariner*,

And he stoppeth one of three,

By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?

"The Bridegroom's doors are opened wide,
And I am next of kin ;

The guests are met, the feast is set :

May'st hear the merry din."

He holds him with his skinny hand,
"There was a ship," quoth he.

"Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!"

Eftsoons his hand dropt he.

He holds him with his glittering eyet—

The wedding guest stood still,

And listens like a three-years' child:

The Mariner hath his will.

The wedding guest sat on a stone;

He cannot choose but hear;

And thus spake on that ancient man,

The bright-eyed Mariner.

An ancient Mariner meeteth three gallants bidden to a wedding feast, and detaineth one.

The wedding guest is spellbound by the eye of the old seafaring man, and constrained to hear his tale.

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APPENDIX.

The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared,

Merrily did we drop,

Below the kirk, below the hill,

Below the light-house top.

The sun came up upon the left*,

Out of the sea came he;

And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea.

Higher and higher, every day,

Till over the mast at noon

The wedding guest here beat his breast,

For he heard the loud bassoon.

The bride hath paced into the ha’†,
Red as a rose is she;

Nodding their heads, before her goes
The merry minstrelsy.

The wedding guest, he beat his breast,
Yet he cannot choose but hear;

And thus spoke on that ancient man,

The bright-eyed Mariner.

And now the storm-blast came, and he ‡

Was tyrannous and strong;

He struck with his o'ertaking wings,

And chased us south along.

* The Mariner tells how the ship sailed southward, with a good wind and fair weather, till it reached the line.

The wedding guest heareth the bridal music; but the Mariner continueth his tale.

The ship drawn by a storm toward the south pole.