POETRY.
ONE distinguishing feature of the late Whig Administration was its love of literature. It did not wait superciliously till a man's literary talents were proved by works : with generous haste it recognized• the undeveloped germs of genius, and occasionally dignified the poet yet to be. This must be kept in mind in attempting to ap- preciate the' propriety with which honours have been lately showered on various heads. All the world, for example, knows that Sir EDWARD Limon Buewea owes his title to his literary eminence ; but up till Wednesday evening it might have been ne- cessary to state for the information of the uninitiated, that Sir JOHN EASTROPE was indebted for his to the Premier's detection of his latent poetical genius. Now such an explanation would be superfluous : on the evening alluded to the poet stood confessed. Mr. BYNG, in the course of the entertainment at Brentford Butts, chanced to defend his support of the late Ministerial Budget, by saying---" I am certain that if the corn of the world is made a com- mon stock, that it will raise the price of corn all over the world ; it will also raise as a matter of course the price of freight ; and, adding 8s. duty, which the manufacturers are willing to afford, I am certain it will give full compensation to the agricultural-interest." These delicate and generous sentiments so touched the heart of " the last of the Baronets," that he burst out into the following dithyrambics- " He must take leave to express to Mr. Byng,
His grateful, fervent acknowledgments, For the truly benevolent, Just, and patriotic Sentiments which he had expressed, In one of the most honest And interesting addresses He had ever beard.
It would reach the suffering manufacturer, And encourage him patiently to endure His unjust and severe treatment, In the hope of better times." *
"Is poetry a true thing ?" asks Audrey : " No," replies Touch- stone. We fear the motley philosopher was right. The " benevo- lence" mentioned in Sir Joins EASTHOPE'S lines is the mere child of his teeming fancy : we seek for it in vain in the calculating and somewhat selfish declaration of Mr. BYNG. There is about as much correct portraiture of character in Sir JOHN'S eulogium on Mr. BYNG'S speech, as there is of truth in Mr. Buses saying that " the manufacturers are willing to afford" 8s. discriminating duty on imported grain.
* The reporter for the Morning Chronicle has "curiously marred" Sir Joss's verses by printing them in continuous lines like prose : but we will be judged by the Poet Laureate as to the music of their rhythm.
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