in Chorlton-upon-Medlock. He was a member of the Society of Friends, a gentleman of refined manners, and possessed of much dignity without ostentation. His love of literature was ardent and discriminating, while the encouragement he gave to men of genius was generous and judicious. He was the attached and faithful friend of the celebrated Joseph Lancaster, who founded free schools on the monitorial system, and was one of the first trustees of the Royal Lancasterian School in Marshall-street, Oldham Road, Manchester. When Lancaster fell into disfavour, and every door in Manchester was closed against him because he refused to account for the moneys supplied to him by the public for the promulgation of his system, although misappropriation or extravagance of living was never proved, and the latter never charged, David Holt received him into his own house, and gave him monetary assistance, and still more, valuable advice. He possessed qualities in an eminent degree which inspired and invited trust, for his sympathy was never diminished by his wisdom, nor his wisdom by his sympathy. We are told he was sought after by all who were well affected toward practical movements for lessening the evils of poverty and ignorance, and he had probably not an enemy in the world. In literature he found a perpetual delight. He published a book of miscellaneous selections in prose and verse which does him almost as much credit as if the selections were original productions, for they reveal alike the extent of his reading and the maturity of his judgment, as well as his fondness for quiet beauty and dignified simplicity. One of his objects in issuing this volume was, he states in the preface, "To give an additional relish for correct composition," an object, by the way, still only attained in part. David Holt died at his residence in York-street, Stretford Road, Manchester, May 30th, 1846, at the age of eighty-two. In the book of selections there is a fine engraved portrait of him, which is a revelation of the nobility of his character as well as a true likeness of the man. The following pieces are quoted as fair examples of the contents of the volume. They may or may not be original, but they are so like the man that no disparagement of any author can result from giving him the credit of them : "WHAT IS CHARITY? "It is not to pause, when at my door A shivering brother stands; It is not to ask why he is poor, Or why he help demands. It is not to spurn a brother's prayer I notice in this collection a poem, which, although popular, is attributed to no known author. In Richard Wright Procter's collection it is said to be anony. mous. I refer to "The Gatekeeper's Daughter." If we might believe that this piece was the composition of David Holt it would more than justify the inclusion of his name in this volume. It is indeed of as much value as many a library of metrical, but not poetical, productions. How delightful, for example, are the following four lines: "I then, too, was young and buoyant in soul, To win from young Mary a beautiful smile." If the critic should demur to the praise bestowed upon David Holt's book, and regard it as a little too old-fashioned and dull for modern readers, let him suspect the rectitude of his judgment-wisdom well uttered, and in a pleasant vein, is never dull or old except to the depraved or stupid. A FORGOTTEN LANCASHIRE POET. JOHN FITCHETT. It is not generally known that the longest was the English language written poem _in by a Lancashire man, the date of whose birth is not mentioned by those who have called attention to him as a forgotten author. He lived at Warrington, where he was probably born, for a considerable part of this century, and died there in 1838. This great poet (if the quantity a man produces in proportion to his fellow-men entitles. him to the appellation) bore the name of John Fitchett, and was an attorney, carrying on a lucrative business in what was, even in his day, an unpoetical but thriving town. The subject of his great poem was "King Alfred," consisting of six octavo volumes. and 129,807 lines, or more lines than are contained in the following books: The number of pages occupied by the great epic were 2,946. The composition of this prodigious poem occupied forty years of the author's life. The labour he bestowed upon its composition was herculean, no pains being spared to build, on historical truth, a national monument worthy of the truthtelling King. He consulted antiquities, books, and rare documents where the most trustworthy information could be found, and visited in person every scene where the events which he describes transpired. He also published a volume of miscellaneous poems, and wrote an epigrammatic epitaph on the eccentric Samuel Johnson, who was better known as Lord Flame or Maggoty Johnson. In form, the great poem of Fitchett is Miltonic. It was edited by the late Robert Roscoe, the uncle of the late M.P. for South Manchester, who was a solicitor, having been articled to Fitchett, as appears from the editor's preface to the work. The following passage is quoted from this preface: -"The editor having received his first professional instruction under the care of the author, was instructed by him, with a knowledge of the progress made, even at that distant time, in his favourite undertaking. During the lapse of many following years the editor had the advantage of his continued friendship, and of an occasional personal intercourse; but in common with the author's intimate connections, he was far from being aware of the extent to which his luxuriant imagination and unrelaxing diligence had led him to dilate his views. In complying with the request of the author's representatives, arising from the circumstance above adverted to, and in contributing even in the small degree which_the occasion demanded, or his own abilities allowed, to the realisation of the great ideas embodied in this poem, a more than sufficient recompense has attended the slight trouble consequent on his duties. As the poem so nearly reached its conclusion it was thought advisable that the comparatively very small part remaining unfinished should be added, to the 66 best of his ability, by the editor. The outlines of this portion of his argument had been drawn up by the author, and the editor has been compelled to content himself with winding up the fable in as short and simple a manner as could be made consistent with the variety of its incidents and the intelligent development of its results. The attempt will appear in a distinct form as the concluding book of the poem." From this quotation it will appear that Fitchett died before his great work was completed, and that Mr. Robert Roscoe, the once articled clerk to the poet. finished the work in a chapter or book of his own, as Tupper made an ending to Coleridge's unfinished Christabel." This concluding book or poem, the forty-eighth, contained 2,585 lines. As I have not had the advantage of seeing this prodigious poem, I can offer no opinion on its merits, nor will I join others in the depreciation of it on the ground that the public paid so little attention to it, for merit is not sure of reward in this world, whatever the critics may say to the contrary. Dr. Johnson apologised for the smallness of his dictionary by saying, "A great book is a great evil," and if the public desire to find an excuse for their utter disregard of John Fitchett's prodigious achievement, the best they can have is that the magnitude of it was appalling; and yet, unless a writer produces quantity, there is but scant praise for him. It is, moreover, difficult to believe that so splendid a theme, so well studied, should be devoid of use and interest. Perhaps the explanation of this disregard of magnificence may be, that Fitchett was not well advertised. In literature, as in salvation, narrow is the way that leadeth unto life. DAVID HOLT, JUNR. Let us now turn to David Holt, junior, who was born at Chorlton-upon-Medlock on the 13th November, 1828. The relationship between the two Holts has not, as far as I am aware, been made out, though probably the younger was the grandson of the elder man. After spending some time in the establishment of Mr. Dawson, the well-known Manchester chemist, Mr. Holt entered the service of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, of which he subsequently became assistant secretary. His first publication was in 1846, and was a small volume entitled "Poems Rural and Miscellaneous." Four years later he issued "Lays of Hero Worship, and other poems." Finally, in 1886, there issued from the press a selection of his poems. The following specimen from his volume may serve as an example of his power and method of expression: "TO THE MOSS AND THE IVY, Twin sisters! growing on the ancient walls, A chart whereon to trace the lapse of years, In old ancestral mansions, where, oh, where Are lordly brows and eyes-the soft and bright? Where the brave soldier? where the matchless fair? The gentle lady and the courtly knight? Through the high lattice moss and ivy still Peep forth and whisper, 'We their places fill.' The following lines are from "Lays of Hero Worship": 66 CASTLES IN THE AIR. "Delusions in the garb of truth, Dreams of the hopeful heart of youth, How bright and beautiful ye rise, Ye are the freshness and the bloom Of life, ere life is tinged with sorrow, Through casements of the glittering towers. The sun of hope is o'er you playing, Fairies and nymphs are round you straying, |