And from that moment made his passions bend,
And all his powers to compass one great end.

'Ardent of mind, and conscious of his force,
He join'd his rivals in the arduous course,
Yet far too wise to waste his strength too soon,
For mightier toils he stored the precious boon,
His fiery spirit, fretted by delay,

Discreetly curb'd, and for a time gave way;]
With eye observant mark'd the "vantage ground,"
Where best a certain footing could be found,
And when the lucky moment came at last,
Whole ranks of lazy, lagging loiterers pass'd,
And, while he left them all upon the stare,
Shot by, and took his seat" within the bar."

O'er rough or smooth he glides, or pro or con,
And though not shallow, still runs dimpling on;
Yet, as the subject swells, the interest grows,
His eloquence with greater volume flows,

Though deep, yet clear, though gentle yet not dull,
Strong without rage, without o'erflowing full,"
Sweeping before him, with resistless force,
All that obstructs his proud triumphant course.
Clear-sighted, eloquent, acute, refined,

No point escapes his penetrating mind,
And while his rival from the broad highway,
The wavering judgment strives to lead away,
And like a will-o-wisp, now in, now out,
Involves the light of truth in mist and doubt,
Moving the mind's all powerful lens at will,
To one bright focus, with consummate skill,
And matchless art, he draws the scatter'd
Before the jury in one brilliant blaze,
Who, as the clouds and fogs all disappear,
Fancy they see their way as day-light clear.
He sees the flattering dream, and ere they wake,
Lulls and confirms them in the fond mistake.-

rays,

• Yet, trust me, Scarlett's not in fact or law,
"That faultless monster which the world ne'er saw,"
But has, partaking of the common lot,

His failings and his faults, as who has not ?

Keen and astute, to biting satire prone,

His spirit oft assumes a hostile tone,

And while you study for the cause in vain,

Inflicts a wound regardless of the pain.

But should some luckless scrivener - hapless wight!

Incur his high displeasure, wrong or right,

Then on the trembling slave's devoted head,
With double vengeance, falls his anger dread.'

The contrast of Mr. Scarlett in many perhaps, for his professional reputation, too many,-respects, is Mr. Brougham.

With meagre form, and face so wondrous thin,
That it resembles Milton's "death and sin,"

Long arms that saw the air like windmill sails,
And tongue that in its duty never fails,
Behold the hero of the North! make room,

For Scotia's "babe of grace"- great Harry Brougham.
A chieftain he of strong elastic mind,

That covets all the knowledge of mankind,

And though elusive as the subtle air,

--

statesman

Grasps and retains a more than common share.
To the huge wonder of each brainless dunce,
He's critic
- lawyer — all at once.
Yet if (as sings or says the immortal wit)*
"One science only will one genius fit"
Far better had his passion never stray'd
From that to which his early vows were paid,
For he who nobly dares aspire, her mind
And its vast treasures to possess, will find
A mistress that will "not unsought be won,"
Nor tamely bear a rival near her throne.'

Yet, while his venial errors to descry,

We look with keen and microscopic eye,
Let equal justice, with impartial view,
Give to his sterling merit all its due;

And own his faults, though scann'd with truth severe,
But like dark spots upon the sun appear,

Which not a moment cloud its brilliant rays,
Lost and extinguish'd in the general blaze.

'Behold him, then, with large and liberal mind,
Of richest, rarest, qualities combined,
Bottom'd in solid judgment and sound sense,
Adorn'd by chaste, yet powerful eloquence,
Where strength unites with eloquence and ease,
A classic union that must ever please.

• Thus form'd, when courts of law demand his care,
You see at once his province is not there.
He labours hard, 'tis true, takes endless pains,
And all his subject to the bottom drains,
And when some latent fraud he would descry,
Darts from his keen and penetrating eye,
A burning glance that makes the witness start,
Piercing the inmost secret of his heart;
And, like the touch of great Ithuriel's spear,
Compels the "lurking" devil to appear.

Yet, spite of all his zeal, his boundless pains,
A deficit, a want of tact remains,

A certain nameless something, more or less,
Far better to imagine than express,

And which, beyond the art of man to reach,
Nothing but vast experience can teach.

*

REV. SEPT: 1825.

'Pope.'
G

• But,

But, break the fetters that enthrall his mind,
And leave his genius free and unconfined,
Then in his proper sphere, the senate, placed,
Give him some subject in which stands embraced
Topics of interest and vast magnitude,
But little canvassed, and less understood,
Which moot the dearest interests of a state,
A people's welfare, or an empire's fate;
Such mighty questions, with momentous sway,
Brings his transcendent talents into play,
And as into its hidden depths they wind,
Draw from the vast resources of his mind,
A mass of varied knowledge, bright and sound,
With views now luminous, and now profound,
Resistless arguments brought forth at will,
Enforced with vigour, and wound up with skill,
Which put all trivial cavils to the rout,

And leave the captious mind no room to doubt.'

The peculiarities of Messrs. Starkie, Tindal, Pollock, Holt Alderson, and Blackburn, are boldly and very correctly struck off in the following lines:

Starkie, than whom, none with a quicker eye

A slip, or lurking nonsuit, can espy,

Or should he fail to creep out by the flaw,
Suggest a doubt, or raise "a point of law;"
And if his client in despair appears,

To save his pocket and assuage his fears,
None with more judgment, or with less pretence,
Knows when to make a well-timed reference;
Thus to put of awhile" the evil day,"
And give him, for another chance, fair play.

• Tindal, beneath whose sleepy lurking eye

A fertile mind Lavater would descry,
A treasury, fill'd with intellectual store,

From which, the more he takes, it grows the more,

A thing unheard of in historic fame,

Would the King's treasury always did the same!':

Pale Pollock who consumes the "midnight oil,"

And plies his task with unremitting toil,

Till, as the life-drops from his cheeks retreat,
He looks as though he had forgot

to eat.

Holt, who in every thing he says or writes,
Sagacity with sound good sense unites.
Aspiring Alderson- a sessions" star,"

Already "cuts a figure" at the bar,
Maintains his academic honours past,
And every subject wrangles to the last.

Broad Blackburn of a strong and sturdy mind,

By nature for conflicting war design'd,

A grap

A grappler of the genuine bull-dog breed,
Must fight, not fawn his way, if he succeed,
For, trust me, come what will fees or no fees
He'll never study Chesterfield to please.'

We might justify our complaint of the frequent irregularities, which are to be met in the measure of this poem, by several examples. But the specimens which we have given will have been sufficient to shew, that harmony and propriety of versification are by no means the author's forte. On the truth of his sketches must rest his fame; and though it may not be brilliant, it will be sufficient to rescue him for a while from the abyss of obscurity.

ART. XII. The Works of Matthew Baillie, M.D.; to which is prefixed, An Account of his Life, collected from authentic Sources. By James Wardrop, Surgeon Extraordinary to the King. 2 Vols. 8vo. 11. 5s. Boards. London. Longman and Co.

THE

1825.

HE claims of Dr. Baillie to posthumous notice are various and uncommon. Himself a physician, the most eminent of his day, he was the nephew of the Hunters, the brothers, whose names are rendered illustrious by their interesting labors and their benefactions to medical science; and he was the brother of Joanna Baillie, whose genius is sufficient to shed a lustre on all her race. Dr. Baillie was a native of the county of Lanark, in Scotland; and losing his father, who was a Scottish clergyman and professor, while he was yet young, he was destined by his mother for the medical profession, her choice being no doubt directed by the opportunity of placing her son under the care of her two brothers in London. After passing through the usual course of studies at Glasgow, Dr. Baillie obtained an Oxford "exhibition," and at eighteen years of age became a member of that University. The following letter was written by him to his uncle William a short time before he quitted his native country :

"Dear Sir,—I have now got every thing prepared for my journey in the most expeditious manner I could. My friends in the College think that the sooner I set off it is the better; I therefore intend (since you have not disapproved of it) to set off about the beginning of next week by the way of London. I am told, that upon the whole this is as ready a method of conveyance to Oxford; but besides this, I would wish to receive your advice as my parent about that plan of study you would wish me to pursue at Oxford, I would wish likewise to talk over with you the manners of the place, that I may not go unguarded, or unprepared to it.

G 2

I am

I am told that there is a great deal of dissipation in it, I would therefore wish your warmest advice with regard to my behaviour.

"I have prevailed with my mother and sisters to stay two or three days at Glasgow, about the time of my departure, that they may be diverted from reflecting too much upon it; they are all of them very susceptible of impression. I would wish to make it as light as possible. I hope, that the consideration that I am going to a person who will protect me as long as I deserve it, will render this far easier than otherwise it might have been. My mother gives you thanks for having been so exact in ordering the payment of the annual settlement you have been pleased to fix upon her. Accept of every thing a grateful heart can give. I must confess I am in some measure afraid to appear before you, lest my progress should seem much inferior to what might have been expected; but I trust much in your goodness, that you will make every reasonable allowance for these deficiencies which may appear. My mother and sisters have their love to you.

I remain affectionately yours, MATTHEW BAILLIE.

"Glasgow, March 18th, 1779.

"To Dr. Hunter, Windmill-Street."

He arrived in London on his way to Oxford, and presented the following letter from his mother to the same person :

"Dear Brother, I beg leave to introduce to you my son, who is now on his way to Oxford, by London.

"I have furnished him out in the best manner my situation could afford. I now give him over entirely to you. Be a father to him you are the only father he has alive. I hope you shall never be ashamed of his conduct, but that he shall obey your directions in every thing..

"My daughters present their love to you.

"I am your affectionate sister,

"Glasgow, March 21st, 1779.

• “ Dr. Hunter, Windmill-Street."

DOROTHY Baillie.

Young Baillie began his medical studies under William Hunter, one of the best teachers of anatomy that the profession has known; and by his diligence and capacity made such progress, that, in two years after the commencement of his studies, he became himself an assistant teacher in anatomy., He had not filled this situation above a year when his uncle and patron died, leaving him the use of his celebrated museum, which was afterwards deposited in the University of Glasgow, and also bequeathing to him his anatomical theatre and house in Windmill-Street. He also left him one hundred a year, saying, that he had derived too much pleasure in making his own fortune to deprive his nephew of a similar enjoyment. But a small family-estate which was repurchased by William Hunter, and bequeathed to Baillie, was, with characteristic generosity,