Scribbleomania Or, The Printer's Devil's Polichronicon. A Sublime Poem. Edited by Anser Pen-drag-on [i.e. S. W. H. Ireland] |
Topographers.
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Scribbleomania | ||
Topographers.
The toils of topographers now let us gaze on,A theme which few couplets anon shall emblazon;
So foremost the labours of Lysons's twain,
Prove industry ne'er is enlisted in vain;
But fram'd to instruct ages yet to succeed 'em.
On high Roman Causeways, with depth of research,
Hath treated Cloyne's Bishop, true sage of the church;
From labour determin'd—poor wits he wou'd spare 'em;
Research thus completed, as snug as a mouse,
In study safe coop'd—of his own dwelling-house.
Recorded alike on topography's nag,
Ride father and son of the Gentleman's Mag.;
Of London his annals, amended and new;
A father from regions terrestrial long fled,
Whose pages, though slurr'd with the dear egomet,
Demand from a public warm gratitude's debt;
Since quality keeps with his quantity pace:
Thus granting this writer a prominent place,
Both pleasing, instructive, and useful to read,
With whose praise I conclude the topographist's creed.
The persevering industry of the two Lysons forcibly brings to our recollection the never to be too much extolled Sir William Dugdale, to whose unremitting labours we are, to the present day, indebted for an insight into the topographical and antiquarian remains of particular parts of England, which, but for his acumen, had been lost to the present and future ages for ever; neither, while speaking of this great topographer, let me omit to record the memory of his pictorial assistant, the honest engraver Hollar, whose numerous plates present to the eye the remains of those edifices which the pen of Dugdale so ably pourtrays to the mind. Messrs. Lysons, in their literary march, pursue that solid track which must hand their names down to posterity with all those honours that are due to individuals, whose toils are intended for the entertainment, instruction, and benefit of succeeding generations. In company with the above-mentioned individuals should not be omitted the name of J. T. Smith, whose brain has for a series of years been uniformly in motion, that the remains of ancient London may not be lost to the rising generations; while, as an artist pursuing the line of antiquarian topography, Mr. Britton also claims a like honourable mention.
The Bishop of Cloyne's production on Roman Causeways, is one of the most scientific works of that description which has ever appeared before the public; while there is every reason to believe that the Iter Britanniarum, from the pen of Reynolds, instead of being the result of actual research, was absolutely a closet performance, with the help of a library, from whence was culled the matter contained in this publication.
These two gentlemen, whose Magazine has for a series of years been made the receptacle of antiquarian and topographical research, are usefully employed in this branch of literature; and, although it has been objected that their monthly number has frequently been the vehicle of falsehood, from mischievous persons remitting accounts from the country which had no foundation in truth, still the astonishing mass of original and curious information which actually is to be found in the work in question, and the very high price at which the series of volumes sell when complete, are sufficient proofs of the utility and high consideration in which the Gentleman's Magazine is held by the admirers of universal literature.
Mr. Pennant, jun. is stated to be occupied upon a new edition of his late father's London, the sale of which has been a sufficient indication of its worth with the public. With respect to the deceased writer, his labours are not only voluminous, but fraught with information that must at future periods prove of the greatest utility to such individuals as may be engaged in topographical researches. In addition to the names above recorded by Sir Noodle, I cannot refrain from adding that of Gough, the deceased antiquarian, whose Camden's Britannia, although in many respects an interesting labour, contains, I fear, too much vague matter from newspapers and other publications of a similar class. Bigland's Gloucestershire is arranged with care and industry, and the account of London by Dr. Hewson, alias Pugh, displays sufficient proof that the compiler was not a sloven in the progress of this work. To these might be subjoined a variety of other topographical labourers, such as Herbert, the Lambeth historian; Park, jun. engaged in writing a history of Hampstead: but a recapitulation of every name would far exceed the bounds of this volume, the annotations to which have already increased to a bulk beyond the editor's original intention.
Scribbleomania | ||