prejudiced against Dibdin. So far is it the reverse, that we were
brought up from childhood 'in belief' of that gifted lyrist: our
father repeated to us in early life his finest songs, and we have
never ceased to regard him with sincere admiration. He was a man of
true genius in his peculiar walk, and it has been well and truly said
of him, that, 'had he written merely to amuse, his reputation would
have been great; but it stands the higher, because his writings always
advocate the cause of virtue: charity, humanity, constancy, love of
country, and courage, are the subjects of his song and of his praise.'

Dibdin himself was not a sailor, and his knowledge of sea-life, of
seamen, and of sea-slang, is generally attributed to the instructions
of his brother, the master of a ship. This brother was subsequently
lost at sea, and Dibdin is said to have written _Poor Tom Bowling_ as
his elegy. Dibdin's sea-lore was, therefore, altogether second-hand
and theoretical; and his songs, on the whole, present an idealised and
exaggerated embodiment of the characteristics, life, and habits of
seamen; but it is wonderful how accurately and skilfully he introduces
allusions to sea-man[oe]uvres, and how very rarely he errs in nautical
technicalities. They were written in war-time, when the nation was
excited to a pitch of frenzied enthusiasm by a succession of
unparalleled naval victories--when a prince of the blood trod the
quarter-deck, and Nelson was 'Britannia's god of war.' Their
popularity with _landsmen_ was then incredible. Everybody sang
Dibdin's sea-songs, deeming them a perfect mirror of sea-life and
seamen's character. The truth is, he has exaggerated both the virtues
and the follies of sailors to an absurd degree; and his blue-jacketed
heroes are no more to be accepted as a fair type of sailors, than are
Fenimore Cooper's Chingachgook and Leatherstocking as types of the Red
Men and trappers of North America. Herein, we conceive, is the primary