Item 22 - Letter from Basil Champneys to Henry Sidgwick

Expresses his gladness that Henry has got a good mortgage, and reports that he hears from Mr P[ ] that it was 'perfectly sound'. States that he has looked over Bridges' pamphlet [Robert Bridge's Prosody of Milton?] again, and remarks, on reading it again, 'how very little [ ] prosody can carry you in explaining the secret of good verse...', and that he quite agrees with Henry about the end of lines. Goes on to discuss the content and form of the verse, and refers to the use and accentuation of foreign words, e.g., in French and Latin. Refers to Milton, Pope, and Shakespeare. Asks Henry if he knows P[atmore's]. 'Studies of the English Metrical Law', published as a preface to Amelia. Also refers to [a report] in the Globe of the previous Friday that 'German bands in Melbourne had been compelled to play "Rule Britannia" all the time'.