FROM THE SAME. Vellinus, the treacherous brother of Elidurus, having fled to the Romans, Elidurus is sentenced to die-Evelina pleads for his life. Chorus, EVELINA, ELIDURUS, and Bard. True, thou must die. Chor. Elid. I pray ye then on your best mercy, fathers, It may be speedy. I would fain be dead, If this be life. Yet I must doubt even that: For falsehood of this strange stupendous sort Sets firm-eyed reason on a gaze, mistrusting, That what she sees in palpable plain form, Chor. WHATmay his flight portend? Say, Evelina, The stars in yon blue arch, these woods, these How came this youth to 'scape? Evel. And that to tell Will fix much blame on my impatient folly : For, ere your hallow'd lips had given permission, I flew with eager haste to bear my father News of his son's return. Inflamed with that, Think how a sister's zealous breast must glow! Your looks give mild assent. I glow'd indeed With the dear tale, and sped me in his ear To pour the precious tidings: but my tongue Scarce named Arviragus, ere the false stranger (As I bethink me since) with stealthy pace Fled to the cavern's mouth. Evel. Alas! he mark'd him not, for 'twas the When he had all to ask and all to fear, Oh how the tears coursed plenteous down his cheeks! Chor. caverns, Are all mere tricks of cozenage, nothing real, Evel. I can hold no longer! Oh Druid, Druid, at thy feet I fall: Yes, I must plead, (away with virgin blushes,) For such a youth must plead. I'll die to save him; Oh take my life, and let him fight for Mona. Chor. Virgin, arise. His virtue hath redeem'd him, And he shall fight for thee, and for his country. Touch we thy forehead with our holy wand: Nay, swear not, youth. Aul. Did. Fled! To the Romans fled; Yes, thou hast cause to tremble. Elid. Ah, Vellinus! Does thus our love, does thus our friendship end! Was I thy brother, youth, and hast thou left me! Yes; and how left me, cruel as thou art, The victim of thy crimes! FROM THE SAME. THE CAPTURE OF CARACTACUS. YE bloody priests, Behold we burst on your infernal rites, And bid you pause. Instant restore our soldiers, Nor hope that superstition's ruthless step Shall wade in Roman gore. Ye savage men, Did not our laws give license to all faiths, We would o'erturn your altars, headlong heave These shapeless symbols of your barbarous gods, And let the golden sun into your caves. Chor. Servant of Caesar, has thine impious tongue Spent the black venom of its blasphemy? It has. Then take our curses on thine head, Even his fell curses, who doth reign in Mona, Vicegerent of those gods thy pride insults. Trust me, they shall support the weightiest load Injustice dares impose Proud-crested soldier, [TO DIDIUS Who seem'st the master-mover in this business, Aul. Did. Bold priest, I scorn thy curses, and Say, dost thou read less terror on my brow, Than when thou met'st me in the fields of war thyself. Soldiers, gosearch the caves, and free the prisoners. Heading my nations? No! my free-born soul Take heed, ye seize Caractacus alive. Elid. I stand prepared to triumph in my crime. That tranced in grief, bends o'er yon bleeding corse, Evel. Aul. Did. Fear us not, princess; Would too to Heaven, And dost thou smile, false Roman? Do not think The caitiff round, the brave Caractacus I saw the slave, that cowardly behind Enter CARACTACUS. Car. Romans, methinks the malice of your tyrant Might furnish heavier chains. Old as I am, And wither'd as you see these war-worn limbs, Has scorn still left to sparkle And frown defiance on thee. Then I'm indeed a captive. through these eyes, - Is it thus ? [Seeing his son's body. Mighty gods! My soul, my soul submits: patient it bears The pond'rous load of grief ye heap upon it. Yes, it will grovel in this shatter'd breast, And be the sad tame thing, it ought to be, Coop'd in a servile body. And if he can, gods! must a Briton bear it! Shall to thy tomb with annual reverence bring Aul. Did. The morn doth hasten our departure. Prepare thee, king, to go: a fav'ring gale Now swells our sails. Car. Inhuman, that thou art! Dost thou deny a moment for a father I know you Romans weep not for your children; Rash that I was, ne'er knew the golden curb Aul. Did. But thou wast still implacable to Rome, And scorn'd her friendship. Car. (starting up from the body.) Soldier, I had arms, Had neighing steeds to whirl my iron cats, Shall the world tamely crouch at Cæsar's footstool! Aul. Did. Read in thy fate our answer. Thy pride had yielded Car. Yet if To bow a wretch, alas! how bow'd already! When trick'd and varnish'd by your glossing pen men, Will shine in honour's annals, and adorn Come hither, youth be thou to me a son, EPITAPH ON MRS. MASON, IN THE CATHEDRAL OF BRISTOL. TAKE, holy earth! all that my soul holds dear: Take that best gift which Heaven so lately gave: To Bristol's fount I bore with trembling care Her faded form; she bow'd to taste the wave, And died. Does youth, does beauty, read the line? Does sympathetic fear their breasts alarm? Speak, dead Maria! breathe a strain divine: Even from the grave thou shalt have power to charm. Bid them be chaste, be innocent, like thee; As firm in friendship, and as fond in love. And bids "the pure in heart behold their God." AN HEROIC EPISTLE*. TO SIR WILLIAM CHAMBERS, KNIGHT, COMPTROLLER-GENERAL OF HIS MAJESTY'S WORKS, AND AUTHOR OF A LATE "DISSERTATION ON ORIENTAL GARDENING"-ENRICHED WITH EXPLANATORY NOTES, CHIEFLY EXTRACTED FROM THAT ELABORATE PERFORMANCE. 1773. KNIGHT of the Polar Star! by fortune placed Like thee to scorn dame Nature's simple fence; [* Of this Epistle, which came so opportunely to the succour of native taste against the Chinese invasion, personal spleen was undoubtedly the main inspiration. Chambers had offended Mason by publishing the Dissertation so soon after his English Garden; ' and his crime, in the eyes of Walpole, was no less than using his elaborate work as a weapon to deter the king from introducing classic improvements into the gardens of Richmond.ALLAN CUNNINGHAM, Lives of British Art. vol. iv. p. 347.] Cynosure, an affected phrase. "Cynosura is the constellation of Ursa Minor, or the Lesser Bear, the next star to the pole."-Dr. Newton, on the word in Milton. "Many trees, shrubs and flowers," sayeth Li-Tsong, a Chinese author of great antiquity, "thrive best in low, moist situations; many on hills and mountains; some require a rich soil; but others will grow on clay, in sand, or even upon rocks, and in the water: to some a sunny exposition is necessary; but for others the shade is preferable. There are plants which thrive best in exposed situations, but, in general, shelter is requisite. The skilful gardener, to whom study and experience have taught these qualities, carefully attends to them in his operations; knowing that thereon depend the health and growth of his plants, and consequently the beauty of his plantations." Vide Diss. p. 77. The reader, I presume, will readily allow, that he never met with so much recondite truth as this ancient Chinese here exhibits. And, like old Orpheus, make some strong effort Thy satire sure had given them both a stab, * Vide (if it be extant) a poem under this title, for which (or for the publication of Lord Bolingbroke's philosophical writings) the person here mentioned received a considerable pension in the time of lord Bute's administration. This is the great and fundamental axiom, on which oriental taste is founded. It is therefore expressed here with the greatest precision, and in the identical phrase of the great original. The figurative terms, and even the explanatory simile, are entirely borrowed from Sir William's Dissertation. "Nature" (says the Chinese, or Sir William for them) "affords us but few materials to work with. Plants, grounds and water, are her only productions; and though both the forms and arrangements of these may be varied to an incredible degree, yet they have but few striking varieties, the rest being of the nature of changes rung upon bells, which, though in reality different, still produce the same uniform kind of gingling; the variation being too minute to be easily perceived." "Art must therefore supply the scantiness of Nature," &c. &c. page 14. And again, "Our larger works are only a repetition of the small ones, like the honest bachelor's feast, which consisted in nothing but a multiplication of his own dinner; three legs of mutton and turnips, three roasted geese, and three buttered applepies." Preface, page 7. + So Milton. Where the gorgeous East with richest hand Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold. Nor rest we here, but, at our magic call, Or, wanting these, from Charlotte Hayes we bring "In their lofty woods, serpents and lizards, of many beautiful sorts, crawl upon the ground. Innumerable monkeys, cats, and parrots clamber upon the trees." Page 40. "In their lakes are many islands, some small, some large, amongst which are often seen stalking along, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the dromedary, ostrich, and the giant baboon." Page 66. "They keep in their enchanted scenes a surprising variety of monstrous birds, reptiles, and animals, which are tamed by art, and guarded by | enormous dogs of Tibet, and African giants, in the habits of magicians." Page 42. "Sometimes, in this romantic excursion, the passenger finds himself in extensive recesses, surrounded with arbours of jessamine, vine, and roses; where beauteous Tartarean damsels, in loose transparent robes that flutter in the air, present him with rich wines, &c., and invite him to taste the sweets of retirement, on Persian carpets, and beds of Camusakin down." Page 40. "Their scenes of terror are composed of gloomy woods, &c.; gibbets, crosses, wheels, and the whole apparatus of torture are seen from the roads. Here too they conceal in cavities, on the summits of the highest mountains, foundries, lime-kilns, and glass-works, which send forth large volumes of flame, and continued columns of thick smoke, that give to these mountains the appearance of volcanoes." Page 37. "Here the passenger from time to time is surprised with repeated shocks of electrical impulse; the earth trembles under him by the power of confined air," &c. Page 39. Now to produce both these effects, viz. the appearance of volcanoes and earthquakes, we have here substituted the occasional explosion of a powder-mill, which (if there be not too much simplicity in the contrivance) it is apprehended will at once answer all the purposes of lime-kilns and electrical machines. and imitate thunder and the explosion of cannon into the bargain. Vide page 40. "In the most dismal recesses of the woods, are temples dedicated to the king of vengeance, near which are placed pillars of stone, with pathetic descriptions of tragical events; and many acts of cruelty perpetrated there by outlaws and robbers." Page 37. ** This was written while Mr. Wilkes was sheriff of London, and when it was to be feared he would rattle his chain a year longer as lord mayor. But say, ye powers, who come when fancy calls, Who of three realms shall condescend to know And o'er the Thames fling one stupendous line "There is likewise in the same garden, viz. YvenMing-Yven, near Pekin, a fortified town, with its ports, streets, public squares, temples, markets, shops, and tribunals of justice; in short, with everything that is at Pekin, only on a smaller scale." "In this town the emperors of China, who are too much the slaves of their greatness to appear in public, and their women, who are excluded from it by custom, are frequently diverted with the hurry and bustle of the capital, which is there represented, several times in the year, by the eunuchs of the palace." Page 32. † Sir William's enormous account of Chinese bridges, too long to be here inserted. Vide page 53. "Some of these eunuchs personate porters." Page 32. §"Fruits and all sorts of refreshments are cried about the streets in this mock city."-The name of a woman who kept a fruit-shop in St. James's street. While skulking round the pews, that babe of grace, Who ne'er before at sermon show'd his face, The Jews prevail, and, thund'ring from the stocks, Fair Schwellenbergen smiles the sport to see, ་ **The watch seizes on the culprit." Vide ibid. tt "He is conveyed before the judge, and sometimes severely bastinadoed." Ibid. "Quarrels happen-battles ensue." Ibid. §§"Every liberty is permitted, there is no distinction of persons." Ibid. This is done to divert his imperial majesty, and the ladies of his train." Vide ibid. ¶¶ [The laugh raised by these satiric rhymes in due season died quietly away; and Chambers, abandoning Chinese pagodas and Eastern bowers, confined himself to Roman architecture.-ALLAN CUNNINGHAM, Lives of Brit. Art. vol. iv. p. 250.] JOSEPH WARTON. [Born, 1722. Died, 1800.] lany*. In 1740, being superannuated, he left Winchester school, and having missed a presentation to *The piece which Collins contributed was entitled A Sonnet: "When Phœbe form'd a wanton smile, Strange that thy peace, thou trembler, flies From 'midst the drops, my love is born, Thus issued from a teeming wave (Signed) DELICATULUS. [Collins's other signature was Amasius. But only one of the poems with that name in the Gentleman's Maga |