believe that he would have made an admirable Fife or DrumMajor. Hear him, Reader, when he fpeaketh of Britons rufhing to arms: -As from flood-gates iffuing rush the waves Banish corruption, every heart be free. Huzza! huzza! my heart leaps. SCRIBLERUS, thou canft yet wield a fword, although TIME hath scattered his fnow upon thy head. How great is the power of Tyrtaan verse ! But how judicioufly doth the poet vary his ftrain, when he fpeaketh of love, of George and Charlotte; he is then all gentle and placid: Another face Shall nature wear, and Eden's blissful bowers Be found, where GEORGE with gracious CHARLOTTE reigns. Freedom with innocence, with virtue truth, Pretty Charlotte! (weet fmiler! gentle poet! happy peace! How do ye delight and chear me? His grace's chaplain felt not a more fenfible re-juvenefcence upon the touch of lady Caroline, than I, Martinus Scriblerus, do feel from the perufal of thefe foft lines. The following defcriptive fcene in a Latin poem delighteth me much." Then," faith the poet, "did the clergy, nobility, and gentry step foftly up towards the cradle, and having peeped at the infant, were pleased to see him fo like his father; when, behold! a venerable man in a mitre took the child in his arms, and standing befide the altar, ready to wash him in the facred water, raifed his pious eyes to heaven, &c." But I had forgot, verily I was fo delighted with the smiles of the royal dame, that I had well-nigh paffed over Dr. Fortefcue's prophecy, which I fhall give thee, Reader, in his own words. Speaking of the young prince, he faith, He He fhall Iberia's haughty power fubdue, That is, he shall conquer both Britain and France. He fhall be great; new spirit give to laws; To all, fresh courage; and to Britons (more What can the Mufe prefage ?) much wealth, much peace. All this is paffing great; but, indeed, when a man is once in the way of prophefying, he might as well predict great things as fmall. As to the veracity of this prediction-aut erit, aut non. The next Poem I fhall take notice of is, indeed, a marvellous curiofity, and understood by no man in these kingdoms except the Author and myself. It is written in the true ancient Palmyrene language, and though the characters feem to the ignorant as fo many pot-hooks, yet it is replete with much good sense, witness the following tranflation which I have humbly attempted. Happy George! and happy Charlotte! Who can this sweet couple blame? When George fhall with his fathers fleep, And England o'er his afhes weep, This bleft babe fhall bear the fway : He fhall rule the land and main, Brave as Cæfar, mild as Titus, Ifis' fons fhall weep in folio. Such is the fubftance of the learned and induftrious Mr. Swinton's Palmyrene Poem, whofe merit, but for my poor tranflation, would have been unknown to this ignorant age. Ifis' fons fhall weep in folio. Truly, Ifis' fons are good and grateful children, and it must be owned they have had hard work of late; within these three years have they wept and fmiled three times fucceffively to please their king. This, as the above-mentioned Dr. Leigh faith in his Sapphic Ode, is great labour. Mufa et grave munus infat Oxonienfi. REV. Jan. 1763. "Here is a heavy task for the Mufes of Oxford." Very properly expreffed, and the task hath been as properly executed. Mr. Lewis Bagot, of Christ Church thus beginneth his gratulatory fong. Thofe votive ftrains, O Ifis, that but now I cannot bear the idle infinuations of a certain minor critic, who hath remarked upon this paffage, that there were not an hundred virgins in Oxford; and his obfervation, that the word beck is here to be taken in the fenfe that it bears in the North of England, and fignifies a ftream, is altogether abfurd; tend thy beck is the fame as await thy nod, but much more elegant. This poet doth make his majefty prattle moft prettily unto his infant, and tell it, that he is going to make peace: No, my little one, Should heav'n with folt'ring care thy tender age I'll peaceful trophies aife Mr. James Merrick addreffeth his verfes to the King, and maketh an apology to his majesty for not finging on his birthday, as he doth now on that of his fon. I think his apology ought to be admitted, as he affureth us that his brother died the fame day that his prefent majefty was born. There is no doubt but his fovereign will excufe him. It would have been unreafonable to expect that he fhould fing under fuch circumftances; and the verfes wherewith he complimenteth the prince, may do very well for the birth-day of his father. How liable to error are all human beings! Martinus ScribTerus himself is not infallible. I profefs that, at first fight, I took the poem written by Mr. Hugh Jones of Oriel College to be Welch; but I find that the Poet hath moft artfully repre· fented the young prince himself finging upon the occafion of his birth, and that the language is fuch broken English as children do fweetly lifp forth, upon their first learning to talk. After baving conquered all languages that are or have been spoken by men, I applied myfell to thofe of children and birds, of which I now find the great utility, in being able to decypher Mr. Jones's ingenious poem, fome fpecimens of which here follow. The The POEM. ; Ergydiau i'r thiwiau rhodd. Decyphered. Ah, there's an odd Urchin there with a rod.! I would proceed with my decyphering, but the language of infants, like that of dreams, is facred, and by no means meet for the vulgar car. Mr John Symmons defcribeth in pathetic ftrains her majefty's falling fick, and the concern of her royal spouse upon the occafion. The thing was very fudden. Long had his Charlotte bleft the godlike prince, Her manners mild, her fond endearing sense Attun'd. When lo! (fad change!) his confort faints. Sad change, indeed! what fhall be done? Shall we call for fpirits of hartfhorn, or a midwife? But the King, the poor King, is not much better; he is moft piteously affected; lo! he weepeth, and pulleth off his gown and his garters. Quick, mindful of her charms, and accents foft, But, good heaven! what a furprising thing is here! the King at the fame time, and in great Having put off his robe and his Then fought retirement to indulge a thought, Thefe furprifing turns fhew the great art of the poet, and are what Horace calleth Specifa miracula rerum. It is moreover the great art and excellence of a poet to throw new light upon his fubject, and to fay fuch things as might not occur to a common imagination. Thus Mr. Shackleford hath, in his Greek poem, complimented the Queen upon her majesty's handsome leg: Χαίρε γυνή ματες, Βρίονων καλλιστός άνασσα. That is, "Hail, matron; pretty-ancled queen of Britain!" A little farther he faith, that "the gods love her, because the brought C 2 brought her husband a fon in ten months," and he concludeth with a wish, that the may have a chopping boy every year. Mr. Dennis, having first maturely confidered his fubject, beginneth his poem on the birth of the prince very judiciously in the genuine language of a nurse.. Bleflings on heav'n's high King! Had this gentleman obferved the nutrician ftyle through the whole of his poem, I fhould have greatly praised him; but when he fpeaketh of heaven's high Queen, he uttereth words unmeet for nurfe's tongue. It feemeth, that thefe verfes of Mr. Dennis's were written on the very day the prince was born, for fo I understand the following line: He gave a royal babe to Albion and to Day. The learned Scriblerus having laid down the pen, we prefume to take it up, and to employ it a moment in favour of thofe few poems in this collection, which have given us either pleafure or entertainment. Among the Latin verfes, those of the honourable Mr. Lyttelton, Mr. Lawrence, and Mr. Jones deferve to be mentioned with diftinction. Mr. Jones's poem is written with the fpirit and ease of Catullus, and we shall therefore give it our Readers entire. Infans, delici et decus tuorum, Non hæc gratia funditus peribit Quam tu, Phæbe, novemque quam forores "De nobis meruiftis, et meretis: "Et me, numina, habebitis patronum.” Hos, dilecte puer, fonos per annos Proferre |