
[In the summer of 1856, the author travelled with a friend
through Lombardy.  As they were on the road between Novara and
Milan, they were conversing on the subject of the legends
relating to that country.  The author remarked to his companion
that Mr Panizzi, in the Essay on the Romantic Narrative Poetry of
the Italians, prefixed to his edition of Bojardo, had pointed out
an instance of the conversion of ballad poetry into prose
narrative which strongly confirmed the theory of Perizonius and
Niebuhr, upon which "The Lays of Ancient Rome" are founded; and,
after repeating an extract which Mr Panizzi has given from the
chronicle of "The Monk of St Gall," he proceeded to frame a
metrical paraphrase.  The note in Mr Panizzi's work (volume i.
page 123, note b) is here copied verbatim.]

"The monk says that Oger was with Desiderius, King of Lombardy,
watching the advance of Charlemagne's army.  The king often asked
Oger where was Charlemagne.  Quando videris, inquit, segetem
campis inhorrescere, ferreum Padum et Ticinum marinis fluctibus
ferro nigrantibus muros civitatis inundantes, tunc est spes
Caroli venientis.  His nedum expletis primum ad occasum Circino
vel Borea coepit apparere, quasi nubes tenebrosa, quae diem
clarissimam horrentes convertit in umbras.  Sed propiante
Imperatore, ex armorum splendore, dies omni nocte tenebrosior
oborta est inclusis.  Tunc visus est ipse ferreus Carolus ferrea
galea cristatus, ferreis manicis armillatus, etc., etc.  His
igitur, quae ego balbus et edentulus, non ut debui circuitu
tardiore diutius explicare tentavi, veridicus speculator Oggerus
celerrimo visu contuitus dixit ad Desiderium:  Ecce, habes quem
tantopere perquisisti.	Et haec dicens, pene exanimis cecidit.--
"Monach. Sangal." de Reb. Bel. Caroli Magni. lib. ii. para xxvi.
Is this not evidently taken from poetical effusions?"

PARAPHRASE.

To Oggier spake King Didier:
"When cometh Charlemagne?
We looked for him in harvest:
We looked for him in rain.
Crops are reaped; and floods are past;
And still he is not here.
Some token show, that we may know
That Charlemagne is near."

Then to the King made answer
Oggier, the christened Dane:
"When stands the iron harvest,
Ripe on the Lombard plain,
That stiff harvest which is reaped
With sword of knight and peer,
Then by that sign ye may divine
That Charlemagne is near.

"When round the Lombard cities
The iron flood shall flow,
A swifter flood than Ticin,
A broader flood than Po,
Frothing white with many a plume,
Dark blue with many a spear,
Then by that sign ye may divine
That Charlemagne is near."

...


INSCRIPTION ON THE STATUE OF LORD WM. BENTINCK.

AT CALCUTTA.  (1835.)

To
WILLIAM CAVENDISH BENTINCK,
Who, during seven years, ruled India with eminent
Prudence, Integrity, and Benevolence:
Who, placed at the head of a great
Empire, never laid aside
The simplicity and moderation of a private citizen:
Who infused into Oriental despotism the spirit of British
Freedom:
Who never forgot that the end of Government is
The happiness of the Governed:
Who abolished cruel rites:
Who effaced humiliating distinctions:
Who gave liberty to the expression of public opinion:
Whose constant study it was, to elevate the intellectual
And moral character of
The Nations committed to his charge:
This Monument
Was erected by men,
Who, differing in Race, in
Manners, in Language, and in Religion,
Cherish, with equal veneration and gratitude,
The memory of his wise, upright, and Paternal Administration.

...


EPITAPH ON SIR BENJAMIN HEATH MALKIN.

AT CALCUTTA.  (1837.)

This monument
Is sacred to the memory
of
SIR BENJAMIN HEATH MALKIN, Knight,
One of the Judges of
The Supreme Court of Judicature:
A man eminently distinguished
By his literary and scientific attainments,
By his professional learning and ability,
By the clearness and accuracy of his intellect,
By diligence, by patience, by firmness, by love of truth,
By public spirit, ardent and disinterested,
Yet always under the guidance of discretion,
By rigid uprightness, by unostentatious piety,
By the serenity of his temper,
And by the benevolence of his heart.

He was born on the 29th September 1797.
He died on the 21st October 1837.

...


EPITAPH ON LORD METCALFE.

(1847.)

Near this stone is laid
CHARLES, LORD METCALFE,
A Statesman tried in many high offices,
And difficult conjunctures,
And found equal to all.
The three greatest Dependencies of the British Crown
Were successively entrusted to his care.
In India, his fortitude, his wisdom,
His probity, and his moderation,
Are held in honourable remembrance
By men of many races, languages, and religions.
In Jamaica, still convulsed by a social revolution,
His prudence calmed the evil passions
Which long suffering had engendered in one class
And long domination in another.
In Canada, not yet recovered from the calamities of civil war,
He reconciled contending factions to each other,
And to the Mother Country.
Costly monuments in Asiatic and American cities
Attest the gratitude of the nations which he ruled.
This tablet records the sorrow and the pride
With which his memory is cherished by his family.





End of Project Gutenberg Etext The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches
of Lord Macaulay, Volume 3 [Encyclopaedia Britannica, Poems, etc.]

