She kindly hath withheld the reckless zeal
Of paffion; and fecur'd you from the cares,
Th' unnumber'd, agonizing cares, that swarm
Even in the bower of fancy. Ye enjoy
The fmile of this foft feafon, unallay'd
With reftlefs wishes for ye know not what;
Sublime, untafted pleasure, unallay'd
With grief fantaftic, or imagin'd woe.
Fram'd for difcerning ev'ry pleafing form
Of graceful elegance, your fouls are calm;
Calm as yon river, that fo flowly moves,
His progrefs paffes unobferv'd, the while
His breaft reflects the likeness of each shrub,
And bloffom, waving o'er th' enamel'd bank.'

E.

Art. 32. The Proclamation; or the Meeting of the Gothamites. A Poetical Epiftle, from Harry Gay to his Friend Richard Quiet. 8vo. pp. 23.. IS. Parfons. 1792.

Two or three ingredients are indifpenfably neceffary in making up fquibs of this kind; we require pointed fatire, humour enough to relax our mufcles, and that both thefe be conveyed in fomething refembling poetic language:-but the writer of this Poetical Epiftle' cautions us against the vanity of human expectations, in a couplet that includes alfo a fample of his verfification :

• What we hope for through life, we don't always obtain, Is a truth you'll allow, that's both obvious and plain.' The Mayor of Gotham can do no less than crown Mr. Harry Gay poet-laureat of the corporation! If he obtains this place, it will, probably, be all that he will gain by the publication of this fatire, which, certainly, will not procure him a place at COURT. N. Art. 33. A Poetical Epifile to the Right Honourable Lord Thurlow. 4to. pp. 23. IS. Parfons. 1792.

This epiftle, penned in a very decent ftyle, and in which, on account of the fubject, it would be invidious to point out blemishes, pleads a caufe that must find an advocate in every feeling heart, that of imprisoned debtors :-but, alas! among the viciffitudes of fublunary events, the patron addreffed is now out of office; and a ftatefman out of place, as a wag once obferved, "bears great refemblance to the last year's almanac." N. Art. 34. The Sturdy Reformer: a new Song. Exemplifying to the good People of England the Doctrines of the Rights of Man. To be fung to the Tune of Ballinamona, at all Revolution Dinners; and particularly recommended to the English Club des Jacobines. Concluding with fome wholesome Advice to JOHN BULL. Writ ten by W. T. F*** G****D, Efq. 4to. is. Symonds. A correfpondent informs us, that the Sturdy Reformer gave birth to John Bull's Opinion," noticed in our laft Number, p. 215. Hence it appears, that the prefent production of the Aristocratic Mufe ought to have been first mentioned in our Catalogue: but the

66

truth

truth is, that the Sturdy Reformer did not come in our way till after the parody on it had palled in review. The prefent piece is not deftitute of humour; and, when well fung at a Tory club, cannot fail to fet the table in a roar.

Art. 35.

The Revolution, an Hiftorical Play. By Lieut. Christian, 25. Hookham. 1791.

8vo.

Pp. 108.

A drama, exhibiting the most important events in British hiftory, is calculated, more especially at the prefent period, to excite a ftrong interest in British minds. While every public print is filled with the horrors and distractions into which the ftruggles for liberty have plunged France, our attention is with fingular pleasure recalled to the circumstances of the glorious event, that gave to Britain a conftitution, which, though not abfolutely perfect, has been found, from the experience of more than a century, to have been productive of fingular advantages to our country; fince it has annihilated that defpoufm which once reigned under the name of Prerogative, aflerted the true principles of legitimate government, and has given a $ firm bafis to public liberty.

In dramatizing this interefting portion of our hiftory, Lieutenant Christian profeffes an imitation of the hiftorical plays of our immortal bard. Like him, he introduces a multitude of characters; and, while he keeps close to hiftory, he blends, with the series of great tranfactions, fcenes of low life. He has even deemed it proper to carry his imitation fo far as to introduce that groffness of expreflion, which the chafte and corrected tafte of the prefent age can fcarcely tolerate in Shak fpeare, notwithstanding the richness of his wit. Had Shakspeare lived in the eighteenth century, and had he written for the audiences which croud our modern theatres, his wit would have been more refined and polished than that which he employed in the fervice of the theatres of the Globe and the Curtain. We think Lieutenant Chriftian might have enlivened his play without indecent wit; and as he chofe to introduce love into his fcenes, he might have made it more confpicuous. At prefent, Lady Agnes and Colonel Godfrey feem forced into the piece; and to groupe them with the other characters, appears a matter of embarrassment to the author. James II., King William, and the other principal characters, are faithfully drawn, and the bufinefs is kept alive:-but the dialogue is often too tame and profaic. The following fpeech of the Prince of Orange, after his landing at Torbay, which concludes the third act, may be given as a fpecimen :

We fhall tow'rds Exeter direct our march;
There, publish our intentions more at large,
And wait awhile the junctions of those friends
Whofe high foul'd valour will augment our force,
As yet in courage, fronger than in men.
Mean while I fhall your kind affiftance afk
To foften the direffes of the camp,
Which our brave officers feverely feel.
Their baggage yet remains on board the fleet,
And common food is not within their reach.

Drench'd

Drench'd as they are, the ground must be their bed,
Uncanopied, fave by the inclement sky;
While hunger fharpens ev'ry bitter hour,
And gives the piercing winds a keener edge.
Already I've difpatch'd my people forth,
To glean what help the country can afford.
Your zeal and influence will affift us much,
And hatten or enlarge the wifh'd fupplies.
May they be fwift and equal to their wants;
For, while they fuffer thus, I fuffer too.'

We shall add the fpeech of the Speaker at the Convention of the Lords and Commons, in Act v.

• Speaker.

Thus terminate our fubjects of debate.
We are agreed, my lords and gentlemen,
That, by the abdication of the king,

The throne is vacant. Next, that lawful power

Refides with us, to offer Britain's crown
To that exalted perfonage, whose aid
Hath our religion, laws, and liberties,
From fwift inevitable ruin fav'd.

And, as the faithful confort of the prince
From royal lineage fprings, it is approv'd
They both fhall fhare the regal dignity;
The power invested folely in the prince,
Whom virtue, valour, wisdom, all declare,
Form'd and matur'd to rule the helm of state.
This, the refult of cool deliberate thought,
Of free debate, of mutual accord,
We shall deliver to their Highneffes,
And make a folemn tender of the crown,
With all its juft and equitable powers,
To our deliverer, the Prince of Orange.
This bufinefs must not fuffer by delay.
Procrastination doth but fquander time;
Borrows its minutes, hours, days, and weeks,
Until the fum doth fwell to fuch amount,
Life's capital can fcarce repay the debt.
What is mere folly in a thoughtless brain,
In public minds becomes a ferious vice.
When millions wait the iffue of debate,
On which a nation's happiness depends,
Procraftination is a crime indeed.'

This play is dedicated to the Prince of Wales: but it does not appear that it has been offered to either of our theatres; though, with a little alteration, it may poffibly act well, and be better fuited to the 4th of November than Rowe's Tamerlane. We admire the motive which directed Mr. Chriflian's genius to the fubject of the Revolution.

Moo-YAit.

Art. 36. Reform: a Farce, modernifed from Ariftophanes, and published with the Annotations, felett of Bellend. Mart. Scrib. T. P.-complete of Cantab. Anti-P. Hyper-Bell. By S. Foote Junior. 8vo. pp. 29. 25. Edwards. 1792.

Whatever be the fubject, wits will laugh; nor are we fo faturated with gravity as not to join in their mirth. Ariftophanes (who, it will be recollected, is difgracefully famous for his fuccefs in traducing another character,) is here made the vehicle of abuse against Thomas Paine, and the rest of the Reformers. An English imitation is given of a fcene between Chremylus and Plutus, the former of whom is modernifed into Thomas Paine; the latter, into John Bull. The skill, with which the author has adapted the language of the Grecian dramatift to the occurrences of the prefent time, is occafionally very confpicuous; and his annotations difcover much reading, as well as humour. We fhall felect a fhort fpecimen.

T. Paire is exclaiming against the court on account of the influence which it poffeffes from the places in its difpofal:

• ΧΡ. Οτ' εδ' αν εις ΘΥΣΕΙΕΝ ανθρωπων ετι

O BOYN AN * [×X Yaiser].

T.PAINE. No off'rings would GEORGE from his fubjects receive,
Unless in return He had fomething to give:

No BULSES'

T. Paine afterward goes on to point out the power of money:
For money, at DURHAM does B-rr-ngt-n pray † ;
His modefter namefake at BOTANY-BAY:

For

This obfcure paffage has given rife to a great variety of conjectures; a few of which, for their ingenuity, deserve to be recorded:

1. Some commentators, without making any alteration in the text, interpret it of the advantages enjoyed by the K--g in buying cattle, which (as they infinuate) the fellers may figuratively be faid to facrifice to the honour of trading with His My.-2. Others read S, and fuppofe it to allude to the CARICATURAS which reprefent him as a Farmer amongst his Oxen, referring the go, (which is found in fome copies) to his Morning Muffins,-3. A third clafs, from the fimilarity of the Litere Majufcule and N, read Baha, (which conjecture is rendered plaufible by the previous occurrence of a) and infer thence that the Cabinet is not free from SECRET INFLUENCE.-4. The Rev. Bellenden hazards a ftill bolder conjecture in favour of a more invidious allufion: He affirms the N to be a corruption of AC, by which emendation the word becomes Behar: This reading, as leaft honourable to royalty, we have affiged to Paine'

In this couplet there are great variations: thofe, who agree in retaining pray, differ on the fubject of the petitions; and forgetting the "da Tero" of the original, or conceiving it to be implied in the change of fituation, for which their common prayers are fup:

9

poled

posed to be directed to the THRONE of Grace, by a bold emendation, read,

For DURHAM at LONDON does B-rr-ngt-n pray;

For LONDON his namelake at BOTANY BAY:'.

Others, without difputing their piety, obferve that the formal act of praying is not very fashionable with either of thofe claffes (whom by a very illiberal antithefis they denominate active and inactive citizens,) and therefore, in confideration of the close refidence of both at the places to which they have been refpectively transferred, for -pray correct ftay.'

66

* This piece of Univerfity Hiftory is well known to J-hnians: a brief account however is added in ufum TYRONUM. The Rev. Mr. C--," a gentleman by a thousand pretenfions, a Scholar, a Senior Fellow, a Dean, B. D." with unexampled generofity made it his practice for several years to furnish the newly-admitted members of his own fociety with razors, and was feldom known to clog the prefent with any other obligation than the trifling condition of paying feven fillings and fixpence for a trap! CANTAB.'

Thefe figurative versions of the two verbs (which literally mean to feal old clothes and to become fuller) are justified, the one by the paffage in the Pfalms addreffed (verbo fit venia) to the BISHOP of our SOULS" Wash me and Ifhall be whiter than fnow;" and the other by the Synecdoche (which is a favourite figure with our author) Loci pro Locato, or of the clothes for the money contained.

In altufion to the different deftination of thofe gentlemen on their laft removals, the celebrated line of Lucan was invidiously repeated,

Vidrix caufa Deis placuit, fed via Catoni:

And the following epigram on the fame fubject, notwithstanding the degrading affociation of two very different characters, has had its admirers:

Two namefakes of late, in a different way,
With fuch fpirit and zeal did beftir 'em,

That one was tranf-ported to BOTANY-BAY.
And the other trans-lated to DURHAM.

It will probably be reckoned too bold a conjecture to fuppofe that Ariftophanes by the oath NH Al' (which occurs on a fimilar occafion v. 18.) meant to fuggeft a palliation for the conduct of the English pickpocket: as our language however is faid to be femiGraca, I think we may venture, in reference to the neceffities of that unfortunate man, as well as the fuperior riches and moderation of the Bishop, for MODESTER to read NEEDIER.

CANTAB.'
We