But now she is gone, and has left me behind; II. With such a companion, to tend a few sheep, My fair one is gone, and my joys are all drown'd, And my heart-I am sure it weighs more than a pound. III. The fountain that wont to run sweetly along, IV. When my lambkins around me would oftentimes play, I fling at their fleeces a handful of grass: Be still, then I cry; for it makes me quite mad, V. My dog I was ever well pleased to see VI. When walking with Phoebe, what sights have I seen. VII. Sweet music went with us both all the wood through, Winds over us whisper'd, flocks by us did bleat, VIII. Rose, what is become of thy delicate hue? IX. How slowly Time creeps, till my Phœbe return! I could breathe on his wings, and 'twould melt down the ead. And rest so much longer for't when she is here Ah, Colin! old Time is full of delay, Nor will budge one foot faster for all thou canst say. X. Will no pitying power that hears me complain, Or cure my disquiet or soften my pain? For ne'er was poor shepherd so sadly forlorn. Take heed, all ye swains, how ye part with your fair THE THREE BLACK CROWS. Two honest tradesmen meeting in the Strand, I have it from good hands, and so may you.— Sir, did you tell-relating the affair Yes, sir, I did: and if it's worth your care, But, by the by, 'twas two black crows, not three.- Then to his last informant he referr'd, And begg'd to know, if true what he had heard? Black crows have been thrown up, three, two, and one; DR. WILLIAM KING, born at Stepney, in Middlesex, in 1685, "was known and esteemed," says his biographer, "by the first men of his time for wit and learning; and must be allowed to have been a polite scholar, an excellent orator, and an elegant and easy writer, both in Latin and English." He died in 1763, having sketched his own character in an elegant epitaph, in which, while he acknowledges his failings, he claims the praise of benevolence, temperance, and fortitude. The work by which he is now chiefly known is that from which the following extracts are taken-"Political and Literary Anecdotes of his own Times." VIRGIL. Most of the commentators on the Greek and Roman poets think it sufficient to explain their author, and to give us the various readings. Some few indeed have made us remark the excellency of the poet's plan, the elegance of his diction, and the propriety of his thoughts, at the same time pointing out as examples the most striking and beautiful descriptions. Ruæus, in his comment on Virgil, certainly excelled all his fellow-laborers, who were appointed to explain and publish a series of the Roman classics for the use of the Dauphin. His mythological, historical, and geo graphical notes are a great proof of his learning and diligence. But he hath not entered into the spirit of the author, and dis played the great art and judgment of the poet, particularly his knowledge of men and manners. The learned Jesuit perhaps imagined that remarks of this sort were foreign to the employ ment of a commentator, or for some political reasons he might think proper to omit them. And yet, in my opinion, nothing could have been more instructive and entertaining, as his comment was chiefly designed for the use of a young prince. The Eneid furnishes us with many examples to the purpose I mention. However, that I may be the better understood, the follow ing remark will explain my meaning. In the beginning of the first book, Juno makes a visit to Eolus, and desires him to raise a storm and destroy the Trojan fleet, because she hated the whole nation on account of the judgment of Paris, or, as she was pleased to express herself, because the Trojans were her enemies. Gens inimica mihi, &c. Juno was conscious that she asked a god to oblige her by an act which was both unjust and cruel, and therefore she accompanied her request with the offer of Deiopeia, the most beautiful nymph in her train: a powerful bribe, and such as she imagined Eolus could not resist. She was not disappointed: Eolus accepted her offer, and executed her commands as far as he was able. What I have to observe here, in the first place, is the necessity of that short speech, in which Juno addresses her self to Eclus. She had no time to lose. The Trojan fleet was in the Tuscan sea, sailing with a fair wind, and in a few hours would probably have been in a safe harbor. Æolus therefore answered in as few words as the goddess had addressed herself to him. But his answer is very curious. He takes no notice of the offer of Deiopeia, for whom upon any other occasion he would have thanked Juno upon his knees. But now, when she was given and accepted by him as a bribe, and as the wages of cruelty and injustice, he endeavored by his answer to avoid that imputa tion, and pretended he had such a grateful sense of the favors which Juno had formerly conferred on him, when she introduced him to Jupiter's table, that it was his duty to obey her commands on all occasions: "'Tis your's, great queen, replies the power, to lay The task, and mine to listen and obey." And thus insinuated even to Juno herself, that this was the sole motive of his ready compliance with her request. I am here put in mind of something similar which happened in Sir Robert Walpole's administration. He wanted to carry a question in the House of Commons, to which he knew there would be great opposition, and which was disliked by some of his own dependants. As he was passing through the Court of Requests, he met a mem 1 Tuns, O Regina, &c., Æn. i. 76. ber of the contrary party, whose avar.ce he imagined would not reject a large bribe. He took him aside, and said, "Such a question comes on this day; give me your vote, and here is a bank bill of 20007. ;" which he put into his hands. The member made him this answer: "Sir Robert, you have lately served some of my particular friends; and when my wife was last at court the king was very gracious to her, which must have happened at your instance. I should therefore think myself very ungrateful (putting the bank bill into his pocket) if I were to refuse the favor you are now pleased to ask me.' This incident, if wrought up by a man of humor, would make a pleasant scene in a political farce. But to return to Virgil. The short conference between Juno and Æolus is a sufficient proof of the poet's excellent judg ment. It demonstrates his knowledge of the world, and more particularly his acquaintance with the customs and manners of a great prince's court. Hence we may learn, that a bribe, if it be large enough, and seasonably offered, will frequently overcome the virtue and resolution of persons of the highest rank, and that the power of love and beauty will sometimes corrupt a god, and compel him to discover a weakness unworthy of a man. A REPARTEE. A repartee, or a quick and witty answer to an insolent taunt, or to any ill-natured or ironical joke or question, is always well received (whether in a public assembly or a private company) by the persons who hear it, and gives a reputation to the man who makes it. Cicero, in one of his letters to Atticus, informs him of some reproaches, a kind of coarse raillery, which passed between himself and Clodius in the senate, and seems to exult and value himself much on his own repartees: though I do not think that this was one of Cicero's excellencies. Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester, when a certain bill was brought into the House of Lords, said, among other things, "that he prophesied last winter this bill would be attempted in the present session, and he was sorry to find that he had proved a true prophet." My Lord Coningsby, who spoke after the bishop, and always spoke in a passion, desired the House to remark, "that one of the Right Reverends had set himself forth as a prophet; but for his part he did not know what prophet to liken him to, unless to that furious prophet BALAAM, who was reproved by his own ass." The 1ishop, in a reply, with great wit and calmness, exposed this rude attack, concluding thus: "Since the noble Lord hath discovered in our manners such a similitude, I am well content to be compared to the prophet BALAAM: but, my Lords, I am at a loss how to make out the other part of the parallel: I am sure that I have been reproved by nobody but his Lordship." |