This when the people faw, who anxious prefs,
And long from him had waited for redress,
With fudden tumult and with wild uproar
They ftir up cruel ftrife thro' all the fhore.
For he had taught them each fhould have his will,
And innovation fhould their purfes fill,
They rife in arms, refolv'd t' avenge his cause,
Ripe for rebellion, prompt to fpurn all laws.

When Arthegall the lawless crowd beheld,
His breaft with doubt and indignation fwell'd,
For loth was he fuch rabble rout to chase,
Or his keen fword embrue in blood fo base:
Again, he fear'd, that fhould he thence retire,
His fame or life might fall beneath their ire;
He therefore, Talus, fent t' obtain a truce,
Or afk why teem'd their strength with fuch abuse.
But, foon as he approach'd, with blow on blow
They rude affault th' invulnerable foe;
He undifmay'd, unhurt, with iron flail
Their scatter'd ranks 'gan furious to affail,
None can withstand him, like a fwarm of flies
The crowd difpers'd, to holes and coverts hies;
As when a Falcon, gliding by the brook,
Darts at a flush of ducks with nimble stroke,
The trembling fowl at view of death difmay'd,
Hide them amid the flagger's friendly fhade.

So Talus, when he routs the rebel mass,
Returns to Arthegall, and on they país.

P. S. A verfion of the whole of the Fairy Queen, of which this may be confidered as a fpecimen, will probably be offered to the public before the clofe of the year 1892.

SIR,

TO THE EDITOR.

TF by chance you have in your Magazine a retired and unoccupied corner, where inexperience may find a quiet retreat, and if you can for a few moments defcend from the grandeur of that found morality, which is the characteristic ornament of your publication, to the fing-fong trifles of a canting poetafter, you will perhaps allow a place in your Review to these hafty rhymes of one, who has nothing to boast of but a fincere love for his country, and a fixed hatred against the prefent exifting enemies of all religion and morality, and every fpecies of civil government and good order.

Your good fenfe will, I know, point out to you, whether you ought to reject or receive this effay; in either cafe your decifion will be equally indifferent, though entirely binding, to me:-if you find it unworthy your notice, I addrefs you without the leaft refervation in the words of Horace :

"Si te forte meæ gravis uret farcina chartæ,

56

Abjicito."

One

One farther hint I will mention:-If the ridiculous appearance of the idea contained in these verses fhould be made an objection to them, it will be fufficient to remember to whom they are addreifed. Every man must be paid with his own coin; and to Libertinarians, the profeffed promoters and patrons of all strange and eccentric notions, nonfenfe is peculiarly dedicated:

A NEW AND IMPROVED PLAN OF FREEDOM,

FOR THE

LIBERTINARIANS.

[To the tune of "the World topfy-turvy."]

When Liberty's the gen'ral cry,
When Freedom fills each mouth,
Their wishes I would fain fupply,
And freely grant them both.-
For of two evils (as they fay)
"Twas always judg'd the best,
At every period when you may
To fimply take the least :-
Now as their Freedom is abfurd
Alike in deed and thought,
And it is plain in every word
That all muft come to naught,

·

A better plan I would propofe,
Which foon fhall make them free,
Shall put an end to all our woes
And give them Liberty.

To them a true and conftant friend
(If more they will not ask)
This fimple mode I'd recommend,
Nor difficult the talk;

And Minifters if they are wife

To every Freedom-man

Will foon their royal leave devife,
To fet about this plan.

First as the only with they have,

Is to obtain *Promotion,

All further care and time to fave
Let us adopt their notion.

*Cicero fays, in his enumeration of the different defcriptions of people which compofed Cataline's Confpiracy-" Alterum genus dominationem expectant: rerum potiri volunt: honores, quos quicta republica defperant, perturbati confequi fe poffe arbitrantur."-(Or. Id. in Catil.) And, indeed, were we to examine the lifts and descriptions which Cicero and SalJuft have given us of the reprobate followers of their Robespierre, we should recognize

003

Grant each a free exclufive right,
Upon a kindred tree,

"T exalt himself aloft to fight,
And teach us to be free.

Then will their utmost wifh be gain'd,
When rais'd above the crowd,

Their glorious deaths fhall be proclaim'd-
-In Tybune's lane's aloud!

And to immortalize each name,
Let Newgate's Records tell,
Amidft her favourite fons of Fame;
How thefe illuftrious fell.

But fhould this plan imperfect prove,
To gratify their hopes;

A further grant and mark of love
I'd let them buy their ropes;

Twill fave the ill-beftow'd expence
Of Sheriff or the King,

For necks that ne'er would recompenfe,
For half an ell of ftring.

One farther word I needs muft fay

.

To prove my plan the best,

To fhow it both will fuit their way,

And likewife please the reft.

You'll find impregnated with woe,
Their mode of exaltation,

It aims a deep and deadly blow,

At this devoted nation.

But mine I'll pledge my faith and word

Shall fpread impartial joy

To every foul as foon as heard,

Man, matron, girl, and boy..

Each glift'ning eye with triumph bright
Shall view them dangling there,

Expos'd as puppets to the fight,

*

Who living puppies were.

recognize not a few of our factions demagogues most thoroughly delineated. A modern author has told us (in the Freface to an Abridgement of Locke) that there never was a Jacobin, who was not either a knave, a rafeal, a coward, or a fool.

* It is obfervable that many headfirong young men, actuated by the fame felf-conceit and ambitious pride which loft Satan and his Angels Heaven, affert thefe fchemes of liberty, and free-thinking principles, merely to thew their fpiri; (or, rather to fenfible people their pup yifm).-In our behaviour towards fuch characters, we may take the advice of a modera author, who tells us, "When you hear a young prig abufe Minifters ftart another topic, or hum a tune."-(Vide Hints to Freshmen.)

Britannia

Britannia will exulting smile
Free'd from impending fate,*
And hail reliev`d her groaning ille
Difgorg'd this monstrous weight.

Peace hall exalt her exil'd form,
Hope re-illume his ray;

And faction hufh his giddy storm
To folemnife this day.

When hell's worst imps, the fons of fate,

Drew on their worthlefs felves,

The worthy deaths that alway wait,
+Such dark, defigning, elves!

TO THE EDITOR.

W-NT-NN.

April 2d, 1801.

SIR,

I ACHMENT, tranfplanted into

was very forry to fee fome lines which Mr. Pratt had quoted from Mr.

laft month. You extracted them, together with their context, from Mr. Pratt's "GLEANINGS IN ENGLAND.' But your Printer has 'made no lefs than four mistakes in four lines. In juftice to the author, reprint them as follows:

"How KEEN the pleasure that our grief repays,
When drinking every GALE from kindred earth
As redolent of youth's refreshing days
Fancy the wonders of her ART displays."

Afterwards, read

"Here, on my own old couch (the master cried.")

* Thus Cicero fays on the departure of Catiline from Ronte-2d Oration in Catilinam :-" Urbs quidem mihi lætari videtur, quod tantam peftem evomuerit."

+ Our ancestors, the antient Britons, punifhed even the deferters of their country by inftantaneously hanging them on trees; what punishment they would have thought fufficient for thefe profeffed enemies of their mother land, it may perhaps be difficult to imagine.

INDEX.

INDEX

TO

THE EIGHTH VOLUME.