WALLBR.

DR.JOHNSON tells us in the life of this celebrated English Poet, that fome time before his death he made a journey

to Windfor to confult Sir Charles Scarborough, about a fwelling he had in his legs." I came," faid he, "to you as an old friend, as well as a Physician, to afk what this fwelling means?"-" Why to deal plainly with you," faid Sir Charles," blood will run no your longer;"-upon which, continues the Doctor, Waller repeated a paffage from Virgil, retired to his native feat, and foon

after died.

Now what this paffage from Virgil was, neither the Doctor nor Waller's other Biographers have told us; however, he himfelf has left us the Paraphrafe of it in the following lines, which were amongst the last of this bard's productions:

"The feas are quiet when the winds give o'er So calm are we, when paffions are no more; For then we know how vain it were to boaft Officeting things fo certain to be loft.

Clouds of affection from our younger eyes
Conceal that emptiness which age descries;
The foul's dark cottage, battered and decay'd,
Lets in new light thro' chinks that time has
made.

Stronger by weakness, wiser men become
As they draw near to their eternal home;
Leaving the old, both worlds at once they
view,

That stand upon the threshold of the new,”

COWLEY.

Abraham Cowley, our celebrated Eng. lifh Poet, borrowed his notion of a Philo fopbic College from Lord Bacon's Atalantis; and from Mr. Cowley's idea of fuch a College, the prefent Royal Society had its beginning.

An Author one brought a poem to Mr. Cowley, for his perufal and judgment of the performance, which he impatiently demanded at the next vifit. Mr. Cowley with his ufual modefty desired, "that he would be pleafed to look a little more to the grammar of it."-"To the grammar of it," echoed the Poetafter," what VOL. XXXI. FEB. 1797.

do you mean by this, Sir? would you fend me to fchool again ?"-" And pray, Sir," fays Cowley very drily, would there be any harm in that ?"

DENNIS

(The Critic).

Amongst the fingularities of this learned felf-tormentor, he either hated or affected to hate a pun fo much, that he either grew outrageously angry, or quitted the company whenever a pun happened to be let off in his prefence. He has expreffed his contempt of this fpecies of wit in many parts of his writings, particularly lar remark: " I look upon the difference in one where he makes this very particu. between a pun, and a fentiment well conceived and happily executed, to be as great, as the pain of teafing-and the exquifite pleasures of fruition."

With this well known prejudice against him the wits of his time conftantly availed themselves: One night in particular, at Button's, Steele wanted to make a party without Dennis, tho' he could not decently do it, as Dennis was in the coffee-house at the fame time; ruminating for fome time how to get rid of him, he at last observed Rowe fitting at the oppofite fide of the fame box, when coming up to Dennis he asked him aloud, "what was the matter with him ?"--"The matter with me," fays Dennis, "what do you mean by that?"-" Why," fays Steele, "I did not know; but you appeared to me to be like an angry waterman; you look one way, and Rowe another."

This was enough for our angry critic, who immediately bounced up, and left the room, thundering his anathemas against all puns and miferable punsters.

This acerbity of temper ftuck to poor Dennis to the faft, as the following anec dote, not generally known will prove; nor could even the liberality or affiduity of his friends allay it. Having outlived an annuity which he had of one hundred pounds per year, the latter part of his life was fupported partly by the benefactions of his friends, and partly by bene fit plays, which they occasionally pro

sured

eured for him. His laft benefit was "The Provoked Husband," which was obtained by the intereft of Pope and Thomfon; and as it turned out fuccefsful, Savage, who could contribute nothing but by his pen, wrote and publithed, in Dennis's name, fome complimentary verses on the occafion. When Dennis heard thefe llnes repeated to him (for by this time he was quite blind), he exclaimed in a great fury," Why am I treated in this manner? by G-d this can be no other than that fool Savage."

This was perhaps his laft flafh of critical resentment, as he died two days afterwards.

DUKE DE SCHOMBERGH.

This celebrated General, who from his eminent fervices raised himself to the title of a Duke in England, and hence is entitled to rank amongst celebrated English characters, was no lefs remarkable for his polite and eafy behaviour, and his attachment even to the laft to young and gay company, than for his military accomplishments. His perfon was agreeable; he made a fine figure on horseback; danced and walked well, and was fo far from feeling any of the incommodities of age either in body or mind, that in point of drefs, exercife, and fprightly humour, he came nothing fhort of the company he kept. He used to fay," that when he was young he converfed with old men to gain wildom and experience; and now that he was old, he delighted in the company of young men to keep up his fpirits."

The year before his death, as he was walking in the park with a number of young officers about him, a grave old Nobleman of his acquaintance met him, and rallied him a good deal on the youthful company he kept. "Why, yes, my Lord," replied Schombergh, "I do it on a military principle, as you know a good General fhould always make his retreat as late as he can.”

This veteran officer was killed by a cannon ball at the head of his regiment at the famous battle of the Boyne, in Ire Jand.

LORD STAIR.

ners, the King offered to lay a wager he would name an English Nobleman that fhould excel in thofe particulars any Frenchman about his Court: the wager was jocularly accepted, and his Majesty was to choose his own time and place for the experiment.

To avoid fufpicion, the King let the fubject drop for fome months, till the courtiers imagined he had forgot it; he then chofe the following ftratagem:- He appointed Lord Stair and two of the moft polished Noblemen of his own Court to take an airing with him, after the breaking up of the Levée; the King accord ingly came down the great ftaircafe at Veríailles, attended by thofe three Lords, and, coming up to the fide of the coachdoor, instead of going in first as usual, he pointed to the two French Lords to enter: they both, unaccustomed to this ceremony, fhrunk back, and submissively declined the honour; he then pointed to Lord Stair, who made his bow, and inftantly fprung into the coach; the King and the two French Lords then followed.

When they were all feated the King exclaimed, "Well, Gentlemen, I believe you'll acknowledge I have now won my wager."-"How fo, Sire?" replied the courtiers." Why," continued the King, "when I defired you both to go into my coach, you declined it; but this polite foreigner (pointing to Lord Stair) no fooner received the commands of a King, tho' not his Sovereign, than he inftantly obeyed."-The courtiers hung their heads in confufion, and acknowledged the juftice of his Majefty's claim.

Farinelli, the celebrated finger who made fo much noife in this country about half a century ago, having acquired a very confiderable fortune here, fettled in Spain, where he became fo great a favourite with the Queen (confort to Ferdinand), that he for a while not only governed her councils, but at her interceffien was made a Knight of Caravalla.

His

DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. The fortude of this Nobleman was so immenfe, that Voltaire fays his widow (the Dutchefs) told him, when in England in the year 1726, that after giving very handsome fortunes to his four children, he had remaining, independent of any gifts from the Crown, Seventy Thousand Pounds per annum, clear of all outgoings.-To this he adds, " had not his frugality been equal to his greatnefs, he might have formed a party in the kingdom that the Queen could not eafily have overthrown; and had his wife been a little more complaifant, the Queen would never have broken her chains."

MRS. BARRY, (The celebrated Actress). This great oranment to the Theatre, whom Cibber has praised fo highly (and of whom Dryden, in his preface to Cleomenes, has left this ftill ftronger eulogium: "Mrs. Barry, always excellent, has in this tragedy excelled herself, and gained a reputation beyond any woman I have ever feen on the Theatre)," poffeffed, befide her great theatrical abilities, almost equal talents as a finger, and in this line often bad the honour to affift at Queen's Mary's concerts, as well as at many of her private parties.

In the catalogue of her fongs fhe was particularly diftinguished for finging "Mad Befs," and the Queen often ufed to fend for her to Kenfington Palace to fing this fong, which was one of her greatest favorites. One day the happened to have the honour of a command when

fhe was dreffing for the ftage; and as the had but a few hours to fpare before the play began, fhe went in her morning gown and her hair in papillotes to the Palace, apologizing for her drefs and the fhortnefs of the time fhe had to stay. The the Queen graciously told her how much obliged to her fhe was for coming fo foon, and under fuch a preffure of bufinefs; but as there was a foreign lady of distinction, pointing to a lady who ftood oppofite to her, who was going abroadnext day, fhe had fent for her to oblige that lady with the fong of "Mad Befs." Mrs. Barry inftantly obeyed, and fung the fong with fuch a power of action as well as voice, that by the time she had finished, she had torn every one of the papillotes out of her hair, and scattered them on the floor.

The circumftances of this little anecdote come from the old Lord Bathurst (grandfather of the prefent Lord), who often told the story with a perfect remembrance of many of the particulars, which were afterward's confirmed to him by one of the Lords in waiting at that time. Lord Bathurst being about fix or seven years of age, he was conftantly at the Palace as a companion to the Duke of Gloucefter (the only fon of the Princess, afterwards Queen Anne), who was much about his age; and Lord Bathurst declared, they were both fo much frightened all the timeMrs. Barrywas fingingher fong, and tearing the papillotes out of her hair, that theywere doingnothingelfe butgather ing them up, under an idea that if they did not do this, that the would kill them.

Mrs. Barry died towards the latter end of Queen Anne's reign; and what was remarkable at her death was, the following expreffion which fell from her in her laft hours:

"Ha, ha! and so they make us Lords by dozens."

Tho' this fpeech in all probability was the effect of a delirium; yet, the Queen having just at this time created twelve new Peers (of whom Lord Bathurst was one), the public would underftand it as a political allufion, and thus circulated a laugh at the expence of adminiftration.

(To be continued.)

ufe of the African flaves.-I was aftonished one afternoon to obferve numerous parties of Indians about the dif

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