CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS.

TheShipwreckis one of those happy productions in which talent is seen in so exquisite adaptation to the nature of the subject, that it is difficult to determine whether the author is the most indebted to his subject, or the subject to the author. No one who had not passed through the circumstances which Falconer describes, could have painted them as he has done; and of the comparatively few who have had the opportunity of drinking in the fearful inspiration of such scenes, and survived to tell of them, Falconer is the first who appears to have possessed the genius requisite to retain and embody the impression, with the vigour of imagination and the fidelity of memory. It was not more necessarythat he should be a poet, than that he should be a seaman. He was eminently both; and the Poem is as perfect in every technical excellence, as it is in respect to the simplicity of its plan, the classical elegance of its composition, and the pathos of its narrative. It is altogether a unique production.

Falconer originally designed the Poem, (as appears from an advertisement prefixed to the second edition, published in 1764,) for the entertainment of “the gentlemen of the sea;” but he complains that they had not formed one tenth of the purchasers. He printed that edition in a cheaper form, expressly with a view to render it more acceptable to the inferior officers. Falconer was thoroughly the seaman; he was warmly attached to the profession, and prided himself more on his nautical science than on his literary talents. The author of theShipwreckcompiled a “Universal Dictionary of the Marine,” a work which cost him years of extraordinaryapplication. TheShipwreckis said to comprise within itself the rudiments of navigation, so as even to claim to be considered as a grammar of the nautical science. The correctness of the rules and maxims laid down in the Poem, for the conduct of a ship under circumstances of perilous emergency, render it extremely valuable to the seaman. The notes originally affixed to the Poem, in explanation of the technical terms, the frequent introduction and euphonous arrangement of which, form so striking a peculiarity of the composition, were thought necessary by the Author, on account of there being, at that time, no modern dictionaries to which he could refer the reader, without forfeiting, by his implied commendation of them, his claim to the professional character he had assumed,—a claim of which he professes himself to be much more tenacious, than of his reputation as a poet.

Fresh-water critics venture out of their element in entering upon a minute examination of such apoem as this. The care with which it appears to have been elaborated, has, however, left little for the invidious notice of criticism. In a few instances, the hand of correction has been injudiciously applied in the editions of the Poem subsequent to its first appearance; it is conjectured, that some of the alterations in the third edition, which are of this nature, are to be attributed to his having left the final revision to his friend Mallet, who, although a poet, was not a seaman. If the style of the Poem is faulty in any respect, it is in that of the too ambitious phraseology, by which it seems to have been Falconer’s effort to sustain the epic dignity of the narrative. Into this fault the models of the day were adapted to seduce any young writer, and the versification he adopted, presents a constant temptation to artificial and inverted forms of expression. Thus, for instance, to weigh anchor, is paraphrased in the following line:—

“Or win the anchor from its dark abode.”

The frequency of the classical allusions, by which also the Poet probably intended to render his work moresecundum artempoetical, is justified by their local propriety. As suggested by the surrounding scenery, they seem perfectly natural, and they are introduced, generally, with considerable skill and effect. The most pleasing parts of the Poem, however, are those in which the narration is characterized by all the simplicity of the seaman, rather than by the embellishments of a half-learned taste.

Short and simple are the annals of poorArion’shistory. He was born at Edinburgh, about the year 1730. His father was a poor but industrious barber, who had to maintain a large family, under the distressing circumstance of all his children, with the single exception of William, being either deaf or dumb. Reading English, writing, and a little arithmetic, comprised the whole of Falconer’s education, although he afterwards acquired some knowledge of the French,Spanish, and Italian languages, and, it is added, even of the German. When very young, he entered on board a merchant vessel at Leith, in which he served an apprenticeship. He was afterwards servant to Campbell, the author of Lexiphanes, when purser of a ship, who is stated to have taken considerable pains in improving the mind of the young seaman, and to have subsequently felt a pride in boasting of his scholar. At what time the calamitous event occurred, which furnished the subject of theShipwreck, has not been ascertained: he was then, it appears, employed in the Levant trade. He continued in the merchant service till 1762. In that year, theShipwreckmade its first appearance, in quarto, dedicated to his Royal Highness Edward, Duke of York, who had hoisted his flag as rear-admiral of the blue, on board the Princess Amelia, of eighty guns, attached to the fleet under Sir Edward Hawke. The Poem immediately took with the public, and Falconer, having, as it is said, at the Duke’s recommendation, quitted the merchantservice for the royal navy, was soon after rated a midshipman on board the Royal George.

At the peace of 1763, the Royal George was paid off, and Falconer, in the course of the same year, was appointed purser of the Glory frigate. Soon after this, he married a young lady of the name of Hicks, who survived him. From the Glory, he was, in 1767, appointed to the Swiftsure.

In 1764, he published a new edition of his Poem, in octavo, corrected and enlarged, and, in the following year, a political satire on Lord Chatham, Wilkes, and Churchill, of which it is enough to say, that had Falconer never written any thing but satire, his name would long since have been forgotten. His Universal Dictionary of the Marine, was published in 1769, at which period he was resident in the metropolis, supporting himself chiefly by his literary exertions. Among other resources, he is said to have received a pittancefrom writing in the Critical Review, under his countryman Mallet. He had received, the preceding year, proposals from his friend Mr. Murray, to enter into company with him as a bookseller, on his taking Mr. Sandby’s business in Fleet-street; it does not appear from what cause he was led to decline the offer. While he was preparing to publish a third edition of theShipwreck, he obtained the highly advantageous appointment of purser to the Aurora frigate, Captain Lee, which was ordered to carry out Mr. Vansittart and the other Commissioners to India, with the promise of being made their private secretary. The catastrophe is well known. The Aurora frigate sailed on the 30th of September, 1769, left the Cape on the 27th of December, and was heard of no more. It is the most probable opinion, that she foundered in the Mozambique channel, the dangers of which, the captain, in spite, as it is said, of remonstrances, was rash enough, although a stranger to its navigation, to encounter.

In 1773, a black was examined before the East India Directors, who affirmed that he was one of five persons who had been saved from the wreck of the Aurora, and that she had been cast away on a reef of rocks off Mocoa.

To these particulars, for which the public are chiefly indebted to the assiduous researches of the Rev. James Stanier Clarke, it may be added, on the same authority, that Falconer was, in his person, about five feet seven inches in height, of a thin light make, hard featured, and weather-beaten, of blunt and aukward manners, but cheerful, kind, and generous. He was, however, inclined to be satirical, and delighted in controversy: strange characteristics of a man who was a thorough seaman and a poet!

THESHIPWRECK.

INTRODUCTION.

’Tis mine, retired beneath this cavern hoarThat stands all lonely on the sea beat shore,Far other themes of deep distress to singThan ever trembled from the vocal string;DRAWN BY RICHARD WESTALL, R.A. ENGRAVED BY EDWARD PORTBURY.PUBLISHED BY JOHN SHARPE, PICCADILLY,OCT. 1, 1819.

’Tis mine, retired beneath this cavern hoarThat stands all lonely on the sea beat shore,Far other themes of deep distress to singThan ever trembled from the vocal string;

’Tis mine, retired beneath this cavern hoar

That stands all lonely on the sea beat shore,

Far other themes of deep distress to sing

Than ever trembled from the vocal string;

DRAWN BY RICHARD WESTALL, R.A. ENGRAVED BY EDWARD PORTBURY.PUBLISHED BY JOHN SHARPE, PICCADILLY,OCT. 1, 1819.

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