AYTOUN'S LAYS OP THE SCOTTISH CAVALIERS.

IT may be doubted whether past subjects can be properly revived in a past form, especially in a form so limited and local as the narrative or dramatic ballad. This objection does not apply to subjects drawn from ideas or manners akin to the writer's own age,—as Gray's "Black-eyed Susan" or Mallet's " William and Margaret ' ; or to any use of a ballad for the purpose of satire or burlesque ; but to that entire imitation which takes place when a writer chooses a remote topic and treats it in the manner of a contemporary writer, so far as mode goes; for the style of the author's own age will most assuredly creep in, and further injure the effect: The instances seemingly opposed to this opinion are Macaulay and Scott. Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome," though effective and strik• ing enough, are not made, we suspect, for permanence; and Seott'a bal- lads proper, though vigorous and spirited, are not numerous enough to settle the question. In fact, Scott's success as a poet arose from his re• viving the spirit of the old ballad in a form adapted to the likings of the time. The antiquarian taste for chivalry and feudalism, which had been stimulated by Percy and his successors, Scott gratified in the most at- tractive if not in the most truthful way. He changed the structure 01 be old ballad, extending it into a tale ; he stripped it of its coarseness nd tediousness ; he threw over ancient manners the splendours and races of fancy, rather than the spirit of truth. This gratification of a aprice succeeded for a time; but the fashion went out as quickly as it awe in. Ten years satiated the reading world with the revival of the old allads in a new form; and the familiar knowledge which posterity will ave of the works of goon will more likely be gained from his prose than is poetry. Mr. Aytoun's Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers are not of a kind to bange the opinion we have just expressed. The spirit of imitation stronger than in Scott; the treatment less independent. Scott caught e strain of the old ballads, but expanded and improved it. Mr. Aytoun o itates Scott, or perhaps, to speak more accurately, follows a fashion erived from him but set by others, of whom Macaulay may rank as the

st eminent. The Lays before its possess fluency, vigour, and move- ent, with an elevation of mind which is historical if not poetical ; they ave the polish, and the skill in the use of figures, which might be em- oted from the Professor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres; they are ani-

ted by the sentiment of Jacobitism which is reviving among a certain class of well-minded subjects of Queen Victoria; and they not only dis- play the common knowledge of history, but show, in the prose intro- ductions, that Mr. Aytoun has investigated and thought for himself. that is wanted is more originality, with the congruity which generally accompanies it. The reader is too often reminded of Macaulay in the anagement of the subjects, and not nnfrequently in the style : the dif- fuseness of the old ballads is there, but not their homeliness and simpli- city. Perhaps, too, there is sometimes an imitation of the ballad style pplied to subjects for which it is not well adapted : a mixture which it difficult to avoid. We should ascribe greater praise to the structure of veral of the pieces were it not evidently suggested by the " Lays of

cient Rome."

With the exception of "Edinburgh after Flodden" and "The Heart of e Bruce," the Lays relate to the misfortunes of the later Stuarts, or the in of their loyal adherents. Of these the most dramatic are " The Exe- ation of Montrose," and an incident in the annals of the Scottish regi- ent in the service of France formed after the hopes of James were ex- 'ngttished by the defeat of La Hogue. "The Old Scottish Cavalier" is direct imitation of " The Fine Old English Gentleman "; and is hardly interesting as the character of its hero, Lord Pitsligo, in the prose in- oduction. " The Burial-March of Dundee" and " The Widow of Glen- " strike us as the least successful : they want action, and the politi- 1 sentiments of the author are too prominent. The beat of the Lays is 'Edinburgh after Flodden" ; it has more variety and action than any

f the others. But " Charles Edward at Versailles " is more available or an extract with our present space. Charles is supposed, to immure imself on the anniversary of the battle of Culloden, and, highly excited,

o recur to the past in a condition of half vision, half memory. The allowing spirited passage will convey an idea of it.

" Had we but a thousand troopers, Had we but a thousand more!

Noble Perth, I hear them coming !— Hark! the English cannons' roar.

God! how awful sounds that volley, Bellowing through the mist and rain! Was not that the Highland slogan.? Let me hear that shout again !

Oh, for prophet eyes to witness How the desperate battle goes!

Cumberland ! I would not fear thee Could my Cameron see their foes: Sound, I say, the charge at venture-

'Tis not naked steel we fear; Better perish in the melee Than be shot like driven deer !

Hold ! the mist begins to scatter !

There in front 'tis rent asunder, And the cloudy bastion crumbles Underneath the deafening thunder; There I see the scarlet gleaming!

Now, Macdonald—now or never !— Wo is me, the Clans are broken!

Father, thou art lost for ever !

Chief and vassal, lord and yeoman, There they lie in heaps together, Smitten by the deadly volley, Rolled in blood upon the heather; And the Hanoverian horsemen, Fiercely riding to and fro, Deal their murderous strokes at random.

Ah, my God I where am I now ?

Will that baleful vision never Vanish from my aching sight? Must those scenes and sounds of terror Haunt me still by day and night?

Yea, the earth hath no oblivion For the noblest chance it gave; None, save in its latest refuge— Seek it only in the grave

Love may die, and hatred slumber, And their memory will decay,

As the watered garden reeks not Of the drought of yesterday;

But the dream of power once broken, What shall give repose again ? What shall charm the serpent-furies Coiled around the maddening brain?

What kind draught can nature offer Strong enough to lull their sting ? Better to be born a peasant Than to live an exiled king !

Oh, these years of bitter anguish !- What is life to such as me, With my very heart as palsied

As a wasted cripple's knee!

Suppliant-like for alms depending Oa a false and foreign court; Jostled by the flouting nobles,

Half their pity, half their sport. Forced to hold a place in pageant,

Like a royal prize of war, Walking with dejected features

Close behind the victors car; Styled an equal—deemed a servant—

Fed with hopes of future gain— Worse by far is fancied freedom Than the captive's clanking chain!'

The Lays are followed by some miscellaneous poems, which exhibit the same qualities. They have graceful thoughts and sentiments, with a style in which force and refinement are nicely blended; but they want that exact correspondence of thought and diction with the subject which belongs to poetical truth.