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Thus overfond on that which is not ours.
Thy going is not lonely-I will guard
Thy steps from harm, and all thy wants supply.

EVE.

Adam! I feel within new life, new hopes
By Heav'n and thee inspir'd. Then now lead on,
In me is no delay. "With thee to go,
Is to stay here. Without thee here to stay,
Is to go hence unwilling. Thou to me
Art all things under Heav'n, all places thou!
Who for my wilful crime art banish'd hence."
This further consolation yet secure

I carry hence-though all by me is lost,
Such favour I unworthy am vouchsaf'd,
By me the promis'd seed shall all restore.

So spake our mother Eve. And Adam heard
Well pleas'd, but answer'd not. For now too nigh
The cherubim advanc'd; and in their front
The brandish'd sword of God before them blaz'd,
Fierce as a comet, which, with torrid heat,
Smote on that clime so late their bless'd abode !
Some nat'ral tears they drop'd, but wip'd them soon:
The world was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide.

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THE form of this piece is an historical drama, for this reason amongst others, viz. the better to preserve the very words and manner of Milton, which must have been frequently altered, and in many instances greatly injured, by any other method. The recitative consequently is of two kinds, narrative and interlocutory. Again, the narrative is either descriptive, as in Act I. Scene I. and other places, or else introductory to the dialogue, as Scene II. and elsewhere. The composer will do well to have an eye to these distinctions, as mere description,

or the introductory narrative, will admit of a different kind of recitative from the conversation part; the one being like painting in still life, the other resembling the portraits of living manners.

Perhaps he will wish that the dialogue contained less of the recitative, and more of the air and chorus. The compiler, however, is of opinion that there is a due proportion of each. And if there is less opportunity for flourishes and repetitions, there is more room for spirited and sensible expression, to assist the effect of the dialogue upon the pas sions of the hearers, by means of an animated and pathetic recitative, as well as by a full exertion of the force of musical language in the airs, where the length of the performance will but seldom admit of dwelling for a long time together in a display of the minute excellencies of this art.

If the composer should think that in some places the recitative is continued too long without the intervention of airs, in this case he will find fit places for airs, besides what his own judgment will suggest to him, marked in this manner, page 323, &c.

"I, from the influence of thy looks, receive." Again, if he should think the parts assigned for musical airs too prolix, in some places they may be shortened, as in the Morning Hymn, from

to

Fairest of stars, last in the train of night,

Made vocal by my song, and taught his praise.

The compiler is sensible that he ought to make an apology to a composer, for presuming to interfere so much in his province, and he hopes the true reason will be accepted as such, viz. that having bestowed more attention upon this work than it was likely any other person would, he thought himself capable of pointing out the division of it into its several parts of act, scene, recitative, air, song, chorus, and the like; and of suggesting some few hints concerning the musical expression in general, though he confesses himself incapable, at the same time, of executing the most minute article of it.

THE

POEMS

OF

HENRY BROOKE.

THE

LIFE OF HENRY BROOKE, ESQ.

BY MR. CHALMERS.

THIS

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HIS amiable and ingenious writer was a native of Ireland, where he was born in the year 1706. His father, the rev. W. Brooke of Rantavan, rector of the parishes of Killinkare, Mullough, Mybullough, and Licowie, is said to have been a man of great talents and worth his mother's name was Digby. Our poet's education appears to have been precipitated in a manner not very usual; after being for some time the pupil of Dr. Sheridan, he was sent to Trinity College, Dublin, and from thence removed, when only seventeen years old, to study law in the Temple. Dr. Sheridan was probably the means of his being introduced in London to Swift and Pope, who regarded him as a young man of very promising talents. How long he remained in London we are not told; but on his return to Ireland he practised for some time as a chamber counsel, when an incident occurred which interrupted his more regular pursuits, and prematurely involved him in the cares of a family.

An aunt, who died at Westmeath about the time of his arrival in Ireland, committed to him the guardianship of her daughter, a lively and beautiful girl between eleven and twelve years old. Brooke, pleased with the trust, conducted her to Dublin, and placed her at a boarding-school, where during his frequent visits he gradually changed the guardian for the lover, and at length prevailed on her to consent to a private marriage. In the life prefixed to his works, this is said to have taken place before she had reached her fourteenth year; another account, which it is neither easy nor pleasant to believe, informs us that she was a mother before she had completed that year. When the marriage was discovered, the ceremony was again performed in the presence of his family.

For some time this happy pair had no cares but to please each other, and it was not until after the birth of their third child, that Brooke could be induced to think seriously how such a family was to be provided for. The law had long been given up, and he had little inclination to resume a profession which excluded so many of the pleasures of imagination, and appeared inconsistent with the feelings of a mind tender, benevolent, and somewhat romantic. Another journey to London, however, promised the advantages of literary society, and the execution of literary schemes by which he might indulge his genius, and be rewarded by fame and wealth. Accordingly, soon after his

arrival, he renewed his acquaintance with his former friends, and published his philosophical poem, entitled Universal Beauty. This had been submitted to Pope, who probably contributed his assistance, and whose manner at least is certainly followed. At what time this occurred is uncertain. The second part was published in 1735, and the remainder about a year after. What fame or advantage he derived from it we know not, as no mention is made of him in the extensive correspondence of Pope or Swift. He was, however, obliged to return to Ireland, where for a short time he resumed his legal profession.

In 1737, he went a third time to London, where he was introduced to Lyttelton and others, the political and literary adherents of the prince of Wales, "who," it is said, "caressed him with uncommon familiarity, and presented him with many elegant and valuable tokens of his friendship." Amidst such society, he had every thing to point his ambition to fame and independence, and readily caught that fervour of patriotic enthusiasm which was the bond of union and the ground of hope in the prince's court.

In 1738, he published a Translation of the First Three Books of Tasso, of which it is sufficient praise that Hoole says, "It is at once so harmonious and so spirited, that I think an entire translation of Tasso by him would not only have rendered my task unnecessary, but have discouraged those from the attempt whose poetical abilities are much superior to mine."

He was, however, diverted from completing his translation by his political friends, who, among other plans of hostility against the minister of the day, endeavoured to turn all the weapons of literature against him. Their prose writers were numerous, but principally essayists and pamphleteers; from their poets they had greater expectations; Paul Whitehead wrote satires; Fielding comedies and farces; Glover, an epic poem; and now Brooke was encouraged to introduce Walpole in a tragedy. This was entitled Gustavus Vasa, the Deliverer of his Country, and was accepted by Drury Lane theatre and almost quite ready for performance, when an order came from the lord chamberlain to prohibit it. That it contains a considerable portion of party-spirit cannot be denied, and the character of Trollio, the Swedish minister, however unjustly, was certainly intended for sir Robert Walpole; but it may be doubted whether this minister gained much by prohibiting the acting of a play which he had not the courage to suppress when published, and when the sentiments, considered deliberately in the closet, might be nearly as injurious as when delivered by a mouthing actor. The press, however, remained open, and the prohibition having excited an uncommon degree of curiosity, the author was more richly rewarded than he could have been by the profits of the stage. Above a thousand copies were subscribed for at five shillings each, and by the sale of the subsequent editions the author is said to have cleared nearly a thousand pounds. The editor of the Biographia Dramatica says that it was acted, in 1742, with some alterations, on the Irish stage, by the title of The Patriot. Dr. Johnson, who at this time ranked among the discontented, wrote a very ingenious satirical pamphlet, in favour of the author, entitled A complete Vindication of the Licensers of the Stage from the malicious and scandalous Aspersion of Mr. Brooke, Author of Gustavus Vasa; 4to. 1739.

The fame Brooke acquired by this play, which has certainly many beauties, seemed the earnest of a prosperous career, and as he thought he could now afford to wait the slow progress of events, he hired a house at Twickenham, near to Pope's, furnished it genteelly, and sent for Mrs. Brooke and his family. But these flattering prospects were soon clouded. He was seized with an ague so violent and obstinate that his physicians,

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