A BRILLIANT AND INTIMATE RECORD

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 68, 17 September 1927, Page 21

A BRILLIANT AND INTIMATE RECORD

MORE ABOUT THE "ROLLIAD"

(By "Ajax.")

Lord Rolle had a long but entirely on/distinguished life, and the two titles to such fame .as belongs to him nearly 'hundred years after his death rest Upon two accidents separated by an interval of more than half a century and pbout as different as could well be Imagined. In 1784, the zeal with which bs ;a. supporter of Pitt he coughed and groaned confusion to Fox and Burke, pind his claim to descent from the Norman Duke Eolio, resulted in Eolle's feeing made the hero of an imaginary jepic . called, the "Rolliad," which bejeame the vehicle of some of the most fcrilliant political satire in the language. 2a an equally involuntary fashion Rolle established a second title to fame at the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838. When the old man came to offer his homage he Btumbled on the steps of the throne, and the Queen came forward.to shorten'his climb. " The Queen, wrote Disraeli to his sister, behaved with great grace and feeling about I/ord Rolle; nothing could be more effective. She seemed for an instant to pauso whether etiquette would allow her to rise from the throne, and then did so and held out her hand with infinite dignity, and yet delicate sentiment. The graciousness of this unconventional greeting • extended. by a Queen who had ' just turned 19, to a courtier of 87, naturally made a deep impression, but - according to Disraeli there were those who believed that, at any rate on the courtier's side, the. incident had I een well rehearsed. The .foreigners, he wrote, thought that Lord Rolie'i tumble, was a tenure by which ho held his barony. If. so, the motto of the house, which, according to the authors of the "Rolliad," was. "Jouez Bien "Votre Role," may! have changed with the title to *'We Fall to Rise." ' ..••♦. * * • * How the squibs, destined afterwards, as I mentioned a week ago, to run through 22 editions in book form under the' title "Criticisms on the Rolliad," took the town as they appeared in the "Morning Herald" in 1785, is vividly kit the town as they appeared in the Berkeley Square to Sir Horace Mann ©n the 3.0th 1 October in that year, he says:-;-. '■ . We have at present here a most Incomparable set (of poets) not exactly known by, their names, but who, till tho dead of summer, ■ kept ■ the town in a roar, and. I suppose, :klll revive by tho meeting of Parliament. They have poured forth a torrent of odes, epigrams, and part of an Imaginary epic poem called the "Rolliad" with a commentary- and notes, that is as good as the "Dispensary" and "Dunciad," with more case. These poems are all anti-ministerial and : the , authors are young men, and but little known- or heard of before. I would Berid them, .but you would want too many keys: and indeed I want some myself; for, as there are continually allusions to Parliamentary speeches and events, they are ■often obscure to me till I get them explained; and, besides, I do not know several of the satirised heroes even by however, the poetry and wit make amends, for they are superlative. If even' Walpole, living in tho centre ©f politics and fashion, was baffled by many 7 of the allusions in the "Rolliad, 1? what'chance has an inquirer 140 years -la.terf Yet according to W. J. Courthope,. careful inquiry would be well worth while, even for. one whose quest yras something more solid than laughter. • Llt is not too much to' say, he writes In his -"History of English Poetry," that any reader who will take the trouble to master the details of the "Rolliad," will be able .to obtain for himself a more vivid conception .of the actual life and feeling of English ; political warfaro in the decade preceding the outbreak of the French Revolution than he could get. from the narrative of the most accurate historian or the most'brilliant essayist. ... Though Rolle was in a spirit of sheer foolery made the eponymous hero of the "Rolliad" its real heroes—or villains^were Pitt' and Dundas, and its aim" was to ridicule their party and their policy. But whereas Pitt's character was too good to provide' a target proportionate to his importance, that of Dundas made ample amends. Much of the" fun poked at .Pitt —in respect, for instance, of his youth and his continence—was essentially compliment, but there, was no balm for the blows that •were" rained on the dissoluteness and other vices of his right-hand mau. Even in. that so-called "severe attack" on Pitt .which I quoted at length last week, beginning ' • Pert without fire, without experience sago Toung with more art than Shelburne glean'd ' from age, Too proud from pllfer'd greatness to descend. Too humble not to call Dundas his friendthere was,a worse welt for Dundas in that single backhander than for his ebief in the whole passage. Such backhanders on Dnndas abound, but in these anes, which recall'the fierceness of the Anti-Jacobin," he gets it straight from the-shoulder: • : , . ■-> ■ . .. , Whose exalted soul 1.0 bonds of vulgar prejudice controul ■^or,shame unconscious in his hold carbfiUo spurns that honour which tho weak •revere: For.true to public Virtue's patriot plan, '"- ?ntI OT?£ *h i 8 HMinistDr and n°t the Man; milkei tha AdT <"»te of North and-Wit ; Pitt °f S 'helbUrne' and Ole eUldB of ;: His'ready tongue with sophistries at will Can «ay, unsay, and be consistent still'; This day can censure, and the next.retract In; speech extol; : and stigmatise in act: ■ y*\ -re -Ttnps whole hours at Hastings Defend! praise, thank, affront him, and re- ?'.: opposition, ho his.King shall court; And damn the People's cause by his support ■•-..-.■*:. "*■'.* : • But after'ten more lines the passage is cut' short 1 on the groundthat, "this gentleman's character is so perfectly Understood by the public," and a less /vicious catalogue follows 'of "some" among the inferior Ministerial Heroes tcho hive'hitherto' been'less frequently described," Drake, whose cold' rhetoric freezes in its . course. Banks the precise, and fluent Wilberforce, TVith either Phipps, a scribbling, prattling And-Vlilers, comely with tho flaxen hair; -■*h«-K nt!S Grenvllle's ever-grinning Son An 4 the dark brow of solemn Hamilton! Next to the.two leading figures in the Cabinet,'however, "the Reverend Mr' Secretary Prettyman," Chaplain to the King and confidant . of Pitt, attracts Biost -attention. Some of his ■.mannerisms are .very happily hit off:— Oh! had you seen his lily, lily hand : Stroke his spare cheek, and coax his anow- . white band; . That adding force to all his pow'rs of speech This the protector of his sacred breech; That point the way of Heav'n's coelestlal This, keeps his small-clothes In their proper . place. Oh! how the comely preacher you had . prals'd, ■■...■ ■ ■ As' now. the right, and now the left he . rais'd! 11 .'..';•' , • ' • • ■ But the Rev. Dr. Pretyman (as the Dame is correctly spelled) is charged ■with a; moral weakness which concerned,the witsof the "Rolliad" even more than the tracks of "his. lily, lily hand." He had, not to put too fine a point upon it-—and they.were not accustomed to put too, fine a point, upon anything—an unfortunate habit of lying. Tho candour and the frequency with which they disensa and illustrate this habit are

appalling. Mr. C. W. Previte-Orton, who writes of the "Rolliad" with refreshing enthusiasm in the "Cambridge History of English Literature,'' remarks that "the Political Eclogues have lost their savour, with the exception of Fitzpatrick's immortal |Lyars.' " One of these immortal liars is Rev. Dr. Pretyman, who competes with one of Pitt's colleagues after the manner of the shepherds in Virgil's Third Eclogue, except that the subject is not singing but lying. The neatest of their interchanges is as follows: — Prettyman. Sooner the ass in field of air shall graze, Or Warton's Odes with Justice claim the bays; Sooner shall mackrel on the plains disport, Or Mulgrave's hearers think his speech too short; r Sooner shall sense escape the prattling lips Of Captain Charles, or Col'nel Henry Phipps; Sooner shall Campbell mend his phrase uncouth. Than Doctor Prettyman shall speak the truth 1 . . Banks. When Fox and Sheridan for fools shall pass. And Jemmy Luttrell not be thought an ass; When all thjlr audience shall enraptur'd sit With Mawbey's eloquence, and Martin's wit; When flery Kenyon shall with temper speak, When modest blushes dye Dundas's cheek; Then, only then, in Pitt's behalf will I Refuse to pledge my honour to a lie. • • • • . True to the Virgilian precedent, Pitt declines to adjudicate in a contest between two such accomplished competitors, but he rewards them both arid states, his reasons with admirable frankness:— Pitt. Which hath more boldly or expertly lied, ,Not mine th' important contest to decide. Take thou this Mitre, Doctor, which before A greater hypocrite sure never wore; And if to services rewards be due, Deal* Banks, this coronet belongs to you; Each from that Government deserves a prize, Which thrives by shuffling, and subsists by lies. So far as Dr. Pretyman. was concerned, the.award proved.to be prophetic. He became Bishop of Lincoln a year or two later, but apparently after one of:the most brilliant squibs in the "Rolliad" had been discharged at the whole Bench:— Ton rev'rend prelates/ robed in sleeves of lawn. Too meek to murmur, arid too proud to fawn Who, still submissive to their Maker's nod Adore their Soy'relgn, and respect their God; And wait, good men! all worldly things forgot In humble hope of Enoch's happy lot. ' "We apprehend that in the fourth 1 line, by an .error In the Press, the. words 'adore', and 'respect' must havo been misplaced; but our veneration for our author will not permit us to hazard ever the slightest alteration of the text. The: happy ambiguity of the word •Maker', is truly beautiful." ••. • • The delightful contributions to the "Probationary Odes for the Laureatship"" which are attributed to Lord Mulgravc and his brothers, Harry and.Charles Phipps, may fittingly conclude my samples of a work of which, despite its extravagant licence of abuse, the dominant note is merriment rather than malice:— ODE ON THE.NEW TEAR. (By lord Mulgrave.) Strophe. 0 for a Muso of fire. With blazing thumbs to touch my torpid Iyrel Now in the darksome regions round the Pole, Tigers fierce, and Lions bold, i With wild affright would see the snow-hills roll. I Their sharp teeth chattering with the cold,— But that Lions dwoll not there— . Nor beast, Sibr Christian—nono but the . , White Bear! . The whito bear howls' amid the tempest's And list'ning Whales swim headlong from tho , shorol ANTISTROPHE. -"■'- ■'■'■'■ (By Brother Harry.). ; Farewell awhile, ye summer breezes! • What Is tho life of man? 1 Sometimes it thaws, sometimes It freezes. Just as it pleases! If Heaven decrees, flerco whirlwinds rond the air,' ■ And then again (behold!) 'tis fair I Thus peace and war on earth alternato reignAuspicious George, thy powerful word Gives peace to Franco and Spain, And sheaths the martial sword. STROPHE 11. (By Brother Charles.) And now gay Hope, her anchor dropping, And blue-oy'd Peace, and black-ey'd- pleasures And plenty. In light cadence hopping, Fain would dance to Whltchead's measures. But Whltehead now In deatli reposes, Crowri'd with laurel I crown'd with roses I Yet we, with laurel-crown'd, his dirge will And thus deserve fresh laurels from the King.