Some other storms raised by his works, such as his _Lettres
Philosophiques_ and his _Epitre a Uranie_, he weathered by flight, or by
unscrupulously denying their authorship. The rest of his works, contained
in seventy volumes, do not concern our present purpose.
Our English poet James Montgomery began life as a poor shop-boy. At an
early age he began to write verses, and became editor of a Sheffield
newspaper. The troubles of the French Revolution then broke out, and fired
the extreme Radical spirit of the poetical editor. His writings attracted
the attention of the Government, and he was sent to prison, where he wrote
several poems--_Ode to the Evening Star, Pleasures of Imprisonment_, and
_Verses to a Robin Redbreast_.
As late as the middle of the seventeenth century a young unfortunate poet,
in spite of the interest of powerful friends, was hung and burnt at Paris.
This was young Pierre Petit, the author of _La B---- celeste, chansons et
autres Poesies libres_. His productions were certainly infamous and
scandalous, but that was no reason why the poet should have been hanged.
Moreover the poems existed only in MS.; subsequently they were published
in a _Recueil de Poesies_. The manner of the discovery of the poems is
curious, and serves as a warning to incautious bards. Leaving his chamber
one day, he opened the window, and unfortunately a strong gust of wind
carried several pages of MS.
Pages:
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168