parent, whofe itching ears tingled with the plaudits, that refounded through the theatre, where virgin modefty depofited its blufhes, beware how his aching heart fhall throb with forrow, when the daughter, que pudica ad theatrum accefferat, inde revertetur impudica. (Cyprian. ad Donatum.)

So much by way of caution to the guardians and protectors of innocence; let the offence light where it may, I care not, fo it ferves the caufe for which my heart is pledged.

As for my opinion of private plays in general, though it is a fashion which hath kings and princes for its nurfing fathers and queens and princeffes for its nurfing mothers, I think it is a fashion, that fhould be cautiously indulged and narrowly confined to certain ranks, ages and conditions in the community at large. Grace forbid ! that what the author of my motto faid fcoffingly of the Greeks fhould be faid prophetically of this nation; emulate them in their love of freedom, in their love of science; rival them in the greatest of their actions, but not in the verfatility of their mimic talents, till it shall be faid of us by fome future fatirift

Natio comeda eft. Rides? majore cachinno
Concutitur: flet, fi lacrymas afpexit amici,
Nec dolet. Igniculum bruma fi tempore pofcas,
Accipit endromidem: Si dixeris, aftuo, fudat.
Non fumus ergo pares; melior, qui femper et omni
Nocte dieque poteft alienum fumere vultum.

"Laugh, and your merry echo burfts his fides;
"Weep, and his courteous tears gufh out in tides:
Light a few sticks you cry, 'tis wintry-Lo!
"He's a furr'd Laplander from top to toe;
"Put out the fire, for now 'tis warm-He's more,
"Hot, fultry hot, and feats at every pore:

"Oh!

"Oh! he's beyond us; we can make no race

With one who night and day maintains his pace,
"And fast as you shift humours ftill can fhift his face."

Before I close this paper I wish to go back to what I faid refpecting the propriety of new and occafional dramas for private exhibition: Too many men are in the habit of decrying their contemporaries, and this difcouraging practice feems more generally levelled at the dramatic province, than any other; but whilft the authors of fuch tragic dramas as Douglas, Elfrida and Caractacus, of fuch comic ones as The School for Scandal, The Jealous Wife, The Clandeftine Marriage and The Way to Keep Him, with others in both lines, are yet amongst us, why fhould we fuppofe the ftate of genius fo declined as not to furnish poets able to fupport and to fupply their honorary reprefentatives? Numbers there are no douht, unnamed and unknown, whom the fiery trial of a public ftage deters from breaking their obfcurity: Let difinterefted fame be their prize and there will be no want of competitors.

Latet anguis in berba,

There is a ferpent in the grafs, and that ferpent is the emblem of wifdom; the very fymbol of wit upon the watch, couching for a while under the cover of obfcurity, till the bright rays of the fun fhall ftrike upon it, give it life and motion to erect itself on end and difplay the dazzling colours of its burnished fcales.

Though thou, vile cynic, art the age's fhame,
"Hope not to damn all living fame;

"True wit is arm'd in fcales fo bright,

"It dazzles thy dull 'owlifh fight;

C 2

"Thy

Thy wolfish fangs no entrance gain,

"They gnaw, they tug, they gnash in vain, "Their hungry malice does but edge their pain.

"Avaunt, profane! 'tis confecrated ground: "Let no unholy foot be found

"Where the Arts mingle, where the Mufes haunt,
"And the Nine Sifters hymn their facred chaunt,
"Where freedom's nymph-like form appears,
"And high 'midft the harmonious spheres
"Science her laurel-crowned head uprears.

"Ye moral mafters of the human heart!
"And you advance, ye fons of Art!
"Let Fame's far-echoing trumpet found
"To fummon all her candidates around;
"Then bid old Time his roll explore,
"And fay what age prefents a store
In merit greater or in numbers more.

"Come forth, and boldly strike the lyre,
"Break into fong, poetic choir!

"Let Tragedy's loud ftrains in thunder roll;
"With Pity's dying cadence melt the foul:
"And now provoke a sprightlier lay;
"Hark! Comedy begins to play,
"She fmites the ftring, and Dullness flits away.

"For envious Dullness will effay to fling
"Her mud into the Mufe's fpring,
"Whilft critic curs with pricking ears
"Bark at each bard as he appears;
"Ev'n the fair dramatist, who fips,
"Her Helicon with modeft lips,
"Sometimes alas! in troubled water dips.

"But stop not, fair one, faint not in thy task,
"Slip on the fock and fnatch the mask,
"Polish thy clear reflecting glass,
"And catch the manners as they pass;
"Call home thy playful Sylphs again,

"And chear them with a livelier ftrain;

"Fame weaves no wreath that is not earn'd with pain.

"And thou, whose happy talent hit

"The richest vein of Congreve's wit,

"Ah

"Ah fickle rover, falfe ingrateful loon,
"Did the fond eafy Mufe confent too foon,
"That thou fhould't quit Thalia's arms
"For an old Begum's tawny charms,
"And shake us, not with laughter, but alarms?

44

"Curft be ambition! Hence with mufty laws!
Why pleads the bard but in Apollo's caufe?
Why move the Court and humbly apprehend
"But as the Mufe's advocate and friend?
"She taught his faithful fcene to fhow
"All that man's varying paflions know,
"Gay-flafhing wit and heart-diffolving woe.
"Thou too, thrice happy in a Jealous Wife,
"Comic interpreter of nuptial life,

"Know that all candid hearts deteft
"Th' unmanly fcoffer's cruel jeft,
"Who for his jibes no butt could find
"But what cold palfy left behind,
"A fhaking man with an unfhaken mind.

"And ye, who teach man's lordly race, "That woman's wit will have its place, "Matrons and maidens, who inspire "The scenic flute or fweep the Sapphic lyre, "Go, warble in the fylvan feat,

"Where the Parnaffian fifters meet, "And stamp the rugged foil with female feet.

""Tis ye, who interweave the myrtle bough

"With the proud palm that crowns Britannia's brow, "Who to the age in which ye live

"Its charms, its graces and its glories give; "For me, I feek no higher praife,

"But to crop one fmall sprig of bays,

"And wear it in the funfhine of your days."

N

N° CXXIV.

I THINK the ladies will not accufe me of bufying myself in impertinent remarks upon their drefs and attire, for indeed it is not to their perfons my services are devoted, but to their minds : if I can add to them any thing ornamental, or take from them any thing unbecoming, I fhall gain my wish; the rest I fhall leave to their milliners and mantua-makers.

Now if I have any merit with them for not in. truding upon their toilets, let them fhew me fo much complaifance, as not to read this paper, whilft they are engaged in thofe occupations, which I have never before interrupted; for as I intend to talk with them a little metaphyfically, I would not wish to divide their attention, nor fhall I be contented with lefs than the whole.

In the first place I must tell them, gentle though they be, that human nature is fubject to a variety of paffions; fome of these are virtuous paffions, some on the contrary I am afraid are evil; there are however a number of intermediate propenfities, most of which might alfo be termed paffions, which by the proper influence of reafon may become very useful allies to any one fingle virtue, when in danger of being overpowered by a hoft of foes: At the fame time they are as capable of being kidnapped by the enemies of reason, and, when enlifted in the ranks of the infurgents, feldom fail to turn the fate of the battle, and commit dreadful havock in the peaceful quarters of the invaded virtue. It is apparent then that all these intermediate