Here to the ferule ROLLE his hand resign’d,
Here to the rod he bar’d the parts behind;
But him no stripes subdu’d, and him no fear
Of menac’d wrath in future more severe.
How oft the youthful circle wond’ring saw
That pain from him nor tear, nor groan could draw!
How oft, when still unmoved, he long’d to jerk,
The master’s wearied hand forsook the work!
Go, boy; and scorning rods, or ferules, aim
By equal worth to rival ROLLE in fame.
The beauty of these lines, we presume, is too obvious to require any comment. We will confidently affirm, that they record as glorious an example of patience as any to be found in all the History of the Flagellants, though the ingenious M. De Lolme has extended the subject into a handsome Quarto.
The Italian inscription is a kind of short dialogue, in which the traveller is introduced, demanding the name of the person to whom the pillar is erected.
A chi si sta questa colonna? Al ROLLE;
Che di parlar apprese in questo loco
Greco e Latino nò, ma Inglese—un poco.
Basta così. Chi non sa il resto, è folle.
This abrupt conclusion we think very fine. It has however been censured as equivocal. Some critics have urged, that the same turn has, in fact, been applied equally to men greatly famous and greatly infamous; to Johannes Mirandula, and Colonel Chartres: and in the present case, say these cavillers, it may be construed to signify either that the rest is too well known to require repetition, or that there is nothing more to be known. But the great character of Mr. ROLLE will at once remove all ambiguity.
The French inscription was furnished by Mr. ROLLE himself on the day of his election. The idea was first expressed by him in English, and then done into French verse by the [5] Dutch dancing master at Exeter, to whom Mr. ROLLE is indebted for his extraordinary proficiency in that science.
Ne pouvoir point parler à mon chien je reproche;
Moi, j’acquis en ces lieux le don de la parole:
Je vais donc, & bien vite, à Londres par le coche,
Faire entendre au Senat, que je suis un vrai ROLLE.
The par le coche seems to be an addition of the Dancing-master, who was certainly no very great Poet, as appears by his use of feminine rhymes only, without any mixture of masculine: an irregularity perfectly inadmissible, as all our polite readers must know, in the nicety of French prosody. We shall subjoin for the entertainment of our readers an inscription in the parish school at Rouen, which was written about a century since on the original Rollo.
Ici ROLLON fessé soir & matin,
Beaucoup souffrit, point n’apprit se Latin.
Aux fiers combats bien mieux joua son rôle:
Tuer des gens lui parut chose drôle.
Femme epousa, plus douce que satin,
Et, par bonheur, déjà veuve & catin;
D’elle reçut un fils & la v———le.
Ainsi, Lecteur, naquit le premier ROLLE!
But to return to our author. After the vision of the column, MERLIN proceeds in a short speech to intimate to ROLLO, that higher honours may yet await his descendant in the House of Lords,