crets in learning which he had before communicated to him in private lectures; concluding, that he had rather excel the rest of mankind in knowledge than in power.

Louisa de Padilla, a lady of great learning, and countess of Aranda, was in like manner angry with the famous Gratian, upon his publishing his treatise of the Discreto, wherein she fancied that he had laid open those maxims to common readers which ought only to have been reserved for the knowledge of the great.

These objections are thought by many of so much weight, that they often defend the above-mentioned authors by affirming they have affected such an obscurity in their style and manner of writing, that, though every one may read their works, there will be but very few who can comprehend their meaning.

Persius, the Latin satirist, affected obscurity for another reason; with which, however, Mr. Cow ley is so offended, that, writing to one of his friends, 'You,' says he, ' tell me, that you do not know whether Persius be a good poet or no, because you cannot understand him; for which very reason I affirm that he is not so.'

However, this art of writing unintelligibly has been very much improved, and followed by several of the moderns, who, observing the general inclination of mankind to dive into a secret, and the reputation many have acquired by concealing their meaning under obscure terms and phrases, resolve, that they may be still more abstruse, to write, without any meaning at all. This art, as it is at present practised by many eminent authors, consists in throwing so many words at a venture into different periods, and leaving the curious reader to find the meaning of them.

Charles Careless shot flying by a girl of fifteen, who unexpectedly popped her head upon him out of a coach.

Josiah Wither, aged threescore and three, sent to his long home by Elizabeth Jetwell, spinster.

Jack Freelove murdered by Melissa in her hair. William Wiseacre, gent. drowned in a flood of tears by Moll Common.

John Pleadwell, esq. of the Middle Temple, barrister at law, assassinated in his chambers the 6th instant by Kitty Sly, who pretended to come to him for his advice.

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N° 378. WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 1712.

Aggredere, O magnos! aderit jam tempus, honores.

VIRG. Ecl. iv. 48.

Mature in years, to ready honours move.

DRYDEN.

I WILL make no apology for entertaining the reader with the following poem, which is written by a great genius, a friend of mine in the country, who is not ashamed to employ his wit in the praise of his Maker.

MESSIAH:

A SACRED ECLOGUE,

Composed of several Passages of Isaiah the Prophet:
Written in Imitation of Virgil's Pollio.

Y nymphs of Solyma! begin the song:
To heavenly themes sublimer strains belong.
The mossy fountains, and the sylvan shades,
The dreams of Pindus, and th' Aonian maids,
*Pope. See No. 534.

Delight no more-O Thou my voice inspire,
Who touch'd Isaiah's hallow'd lips with fire!
Rapt into future times, the bard began,
A virgin shall conceive, a virgin bear a son!
From Jesse's root behold a branch arise,
Whose sacred flower with fragrance fills the skies:
Th' æthereal Spirit o'er its leaves shall move,
And on its top descends the mystic Dove.
Ye heavens! from high the dewy nectar pour,
And in soft silence shed the kindly shower!
The sick and weak the healing plant shall aid,
From storms a shelter, and from beat a shade.
All crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall fail ;
Returning justice lift aloft her scale;

Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,
And white-rob'd Innocence from heaven descend.
Swift fly the years, and rise the expected morn!
Oh spring to light, auspicious Babe, be born!
See nature hastes her earliest wreaths to bring,
With all the incense of the breathing spring :
See lofty Lebanon his head advance,
See nodding forests on the mountains dance;
See spicy clouds from lowly Sharon rise,
And Carmel's flowry top perfumes the skies!
Hark! a glad voice the lonely desert cheers;
Prepare thy way! a God, a God appears :
A God! a God! the vocal hills reply,
The rocks proclaim th' approaching Deity.
Lo earth receives him from the bending skies!
Sink down, ye mountains; and ye valleys, rise!
With heads declin'd, ye cedars, homage pay;
Be smooth, ye rocks; ye rapid floods, give way
The SAVIOUR comes! by ancient bards foretold!
Hear him, ye deaf; and all ye blind, behold!
He from thick films shall purge the visual ray,
And on the sightless eye-ball pour the day.
'Tis He th' obstructed paths of sound shall clear,
And bid new music charm th' unfolding ear:
The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego,
And leap exulting like the bounding roe;
No sigh, no murmur, the wide world shall hear,
From every face he wipes off every tear,
In adamantine chains shall death be bound,
And hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.

Isa. xi. 4.

xlv. 8%

XXV. 4.

ix. 7.

XXXV. 2.

xi. 3, 4.

xlii. 18.

Xxxv. 5, 6.

xxv. 8.

xl. 11.

#1.4.

As the good shegnerd sends nos feecy care,
Serks fresnest pastures and (de purest kut,
Explores the lost, the wandering sweep directs,
By day o'ersees them, and by a.qht protects,
The tender amb ne faises in his artas,

Peads from his hand, and in his bosom warns ;
Mark disha.. this his guardian care engage,
T. ix. 6. The promis'd father of the future age
No thote shau nation against nation rise,
Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes,
Nor helds with gleaming steel be cover'd o'er,
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more:
Put useless lances into scythes shall bend,
And the broad falchion in a plough-share end.
Av. 21, 22. Then palaces shau rise; the joyful somn

Shall Snish what the short-liv'd sire begun,

Their vines a shadow to their race shall yield, And the same hand that sow'd shall reap the field. xxxv. 1.7. The swain in barren deserts with surprise Sees lilies spring, and sudden verdure rise, And starts amidst the thirsty wilds to hear New fails of water murmuring in his ear: On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes, The green reed trembles, and the buirush nods, Waste sandy valleys, once perplex'd with thorn, The spiry fir and shapely box adorn:

xli, 19, and iv. 13.

To leafless shrubs the flowering palms succeed,
And od'rous myrtle to the noisome weed.

wi. 6, 7, 8. The lambs with wolves shall grace the verdant

mead,

And boys in flowery bands the tiger lead;

The steer and lion at one crib shall meet,

And harmless serpents lick the pilgrim's feet:

The smiling infant in his hand shall take

The crested basilisk and speckled snake-
Pleas'd the green lustre of the scales survey,

And with their forked tongue and pointless sting

shall play,

Rise, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rise l
Exalt thy towery head, and lift thy eyes!
See a long race thy spacious courts adorn!
See future sons and daughters yet unborn
In crowding ranks on every side arise,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies!

See barb'rous nations at thy gates attend,
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend!
See thy bright altars throng'd with prostrate kings,
And heap'd with products of Sabæan springs!
For thee Idume's spicy forests blow,
And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow.
See heaven its sparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee with a flood of day!
No more the rising sun shall gild the moru,
Nor evening Cynthia fill her silver horn,
But lost, dissolv'd in thy superior rays,
One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze
O'erflow thy courts: the LIGHT HIMSELF shall
shine

Reveal'd, and God's eternal day be thine!
The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay,
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away;
But fix'd His word, His saving power remains ;
Thy realm for ever lasts, thy own Messiah reigns,

Isa. Ix. 3.

lx. 6.

lx.

Ix. 19, 20. li. 6.

li. 6. and

liv. 10.

T.

N° 379. THURSDAY, MAY 15, 1712,

Scire tuum nihil est, nisi te scire hoc sciat alter.

PERS. Sat. i. 27.

Science is not science till reveal'd.

DRYDEN.

I HAVE often wondered at that ill natured position which has been sometimes maintained in the schools, and is comprised in an old Latin verse, namely, that A man's knowledge is worth nothing if he communicates what he knows to any one besides.' There is certainly no more sensible pleasure to a good-natured man, than if he can by any means gratify or inform the mind of another. might add, that this virtue naturally carries its

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