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will not merely at once communicate and transfer the emotions so expressed , but , in proportion to their conciseness , will be free from blemishes . By these tests let the excellence of * Bishop JLowth ' -s well-known inscription upon the tomb of his eldest daughter be determined .
I make no apology for giving a copy of the epitaph , first in the original , and afterwards in an English translation : * Cara , vale , ingenio praestans , pietatc , pudore , Et plusquam natse nomine cara 'vale
Cara Maria , vale ! at veniet felicius sevum , Quando iterum tecum , sim modo digiius , ero . Cara , redi , laeta turn dicam voce , paternos Eja age in amplexus , cara Maria , redi . "
** Dearer than daughter , parallelby few , In genius , goodness , modesty—adieu ! Adieu ! Maria — till that day more blest , When , if deserving , I with thee shall rest .
Come , then thy sire will cry , with joyful strain , O ! come to my paternal arms again . " DUNCOMBE , To these lines the bosom of every man who can judge of them instantly * returns an echo : " they breathe the
very soul of Affection chastened by Piety and animated by Faith . The sorrows of the bereaved , the exulting confidence and hope of the Christian , father , become , for the moment , our own . It is not until we have indulged and gratified these sensibilities of the
heart that we are conscious of any disposition to notice with minuteness the simple and pathetic language by means of which they were awakened . Our feelings enable us to decide whether the author has said too much or too little for the occasion and the
subject . Nor will our judgment refuse to ratify the decision . A gentleman to whom the lovers of English literature are considerably indebted , observes that " Lord Mansfield , wlio , in common with every scholar , much admired this beautiful epitaph , wad of opinion that ^ wo uld
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have been still stronger had it concluded with the fourth line . * ' * But , with great respect for the memory of so accomplished a person , I shall venture to question the justness of his
criticism . I grant that a truly classical epitaph must be concise : and such is the character of the composition of which this Essay treats . Digested of the two concluding lines , it would still be deeply impressive and affecting : yet I ask , whether it be not rendered unspeakably more engaging by the expansion of the thought at veniet felicius cevum , &c , by the actual
interview of the parent and the child , on the morning of the resurrection , by the rapture and triumph of their mutual recognition ( so accordant with the spirit of the Christian faith !) which are placed before our eyes ,
€€ Cara , redi , laeta turn dicam voce , paternos Eja age in amplexus , cara Maria , ¦ • • • recli . It is this compellation , if I may be permitted thus to style it , which presents an image that the painter and
the sculptor cannot exhibit with the same advantage as the poet . The genius of Flaxman has furnished an admirable design , in etching , to correspond with a part of Milton ' s Elegy on the Death of the Bishop of
Winchester , with lines of which I am reminded by those that I have just quoted . Yet how inferior is even this happy effort of the artist to Cowper ' s translation , and how far more to the original I
" Each chaunts his welcome , folds him to his breast , And thus a sweeter voice than all the rest , Ascend , my son ! thy father's kingdom share :
My son ! henceforth be freed from every care , * 4 < Quisque novum amplexu comitem cantuque sal u tat , Hosque aliquis placido misit ab ore sonos :
A ate , veniy et patrii , feliv , cape gaudia regni ! Semper abhinc duro , ? iate , laborc vaca /" Amplification frequently weakens * Nichols * Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Centurv , IX . 4 V 7 .
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338 Essay on Bishop ILoivth's Epitaph oh his Eldest Daughter ,
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1821, page 338, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2501/page/14/
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