ments, to load her language with epithet, and to twist her expression with inversions. The verses of my correspondent are free from that defect; he breathes the artless sentiments of ingenuous love, and clothes them in a suitable simplicity of language. Z ODE to a LADY going abroad. I. FAR, far from me my Delia goes, Companion of the wretched, come, Fair Hope! and dwell with me a while; Oh! who can tell what Time may do? Can Delia e'er forsake her friend? Unkind and rude the thorn is seen, No sign of future sweetness shows; And spreads the blushes of the rose. Then come, fair Hope, and whisper peace, II. Hope, sweet deceiver, still believ'd, Then hear, ye Powers, my earnest pray'r,' This pang unutterable save; Let me not live to know despair, ་ But give me quiet in the grave! Why should I live to hate the light, But far from her all ills remove, III. But if, to prove my love sincere, The fates a while this trial doom; Then aid me, Hope, my woes to bear, Nor leave me till my Delia come; Till Delia come, no more to part, And all these cares and fears remove, My Delia come! whose looks beguile, Oh, come! and make me full amends, N° 86. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1786. I HAPPENED to spend some days lately in the coun try, at the house of a gentleman distinguished in the republic of letters, and whose conversation is at all times in the highest degree instructive and entertaining. On my road home from his house, my whole thoughts were taken up with the agreeable entertainand I was ment I had received from his company, employed in treasuring up in my mind the many useful observations that had fallen from him. When I arrived in town, the first person I met with was my old acquaintance Symposius. Symposius is what is called a good bottle companion; that is, one who thinks none, talks little, and drinks a great deal. He is much in company, and good company too; because he keeps his seat quietly, has a steady hand at decanting a bottle, never forgets where the toast stands, never interrupts a story except by filling a bumper, can make punch, brew negus, and season a devil. With this combination of qualities, Symposius is oftener seen at good dinners than any man in town; and were it not for the liquor he consumes, would be as harmless as e'er a bottle-slider at the table. At some house of my acquaintance he had heard of my country-excursion, and where I had passed my time. You are a happy man.' said he, in possessing an intimacy and friendship so valuable as that of Mr. I was once accidentally at his house: he had the finest batch of wine of any man in the country. life.' I never drank such Old Hock in my --. I could not help smiling at Symposius's idea of a matter a little more closely, I began to think that in most men the same disposition might be traced, to value others according to the standard of themselves; to form their opinions and their attachments from circumstances as partial, though not so ridiculous, as the friendship of Symposius for the cellar of Mr. I had not long parted with Symposius when I met with my old college-companion Dr. Syntax. He was, when I knew him first, a tutor at one of the universities, which he left on the death of a relation in India, who bequeathed him a considerable annuity for life. When at the university, he was remarkable for his skill in the Latin language, and still consi-. ders the knowledge of that tongue as the only thing which can conduct a man to eminence. I remember to have had some conversation with him about a gentleman, who, in his younger years was one of Syntax's pupils. This gentleman had been bred to the bar; and after having figured in his profession, he became a member of the legislature, and was considered as one of the ablest speakers in the house in which he sat. 'Yes,' said my learned friend, 'I always knew the lad would do well. When he was under my care, he wrote Latin verses faster than any boy I ever knew, and composed the best discourse I ever read upon Patavinity. Patavinity. I took care not to let Syntax know that the first thing his pupil did, was to endeavour to forget almost all he had learnt from his master, and that to this he principally ascribed his success in life. But it is not only amongst men of learning that this narrowness of opinion is to be met with. It is to be found in all professions and in every situation. Ditticus is a man of fortune, and indeed he has this merit, that it has been principally made by himself. To men whose wealth is of their own acquirement, it naturally appears of the highest value, as the Israelites worshipped the golden image they had made. Ditticus supposes, that the possession of wealth constitutes the great happiness of life. In this perhaps, however false the supposition, Ditticus is not singular; but he carries the matter a good deal farther, and thinks that wealth confers not only every blessing, bnt every talent and accomplishment. He thinks meanly of the sense, the learning or the taste of any man who walks on foot, a little better of one who rides a-horseback, but his idea of supreme excellence is confined to the person who lolls in his coach and six. When you see Ditticus with a stranger, you may judge of the weight of his purse from the degree of complaisance and attention which Ditticus pays to his opinions. Ditticus would not for the world be thought to be intimate with a poor man; and avoids as much as possible being seen with persons suspected of poverty; and if he should be so unlucky as to encounter with any of them, he takes care to shew, by his behaviour, in what repute he holds their abilities and understanding. If he has a rich man at his table, he sends him a larger slice of his mutton than to any other person, as if his stomach were proportionally capacious as his purse; if he is engaged in a party at cards, he chuses the wealthiest man of the set for his partner, as if riches could give skill in the game. I dined t'other day with Ditticus, when, upon his telling me a story that appeared not a little improbable, I expressed some difficulty to give entire credit to it; Ditticus, with great earnestness, assured me it was most certainly true; for he had heard it from a gentleman of 3000l, a-year. The character of Valens is very different from that of Ditticus, but he is guided by principles equally |