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have been rather severe. I have somewhere read, that when the judges once went to Westminster with the chancellor at their head, he viewed them as they passed, and, terning to a friend who stood near them, said he had flogged them all. What are Busby's dates?,

count says in 1673, and that he was buried at St. Giles's in the Fields.

Joseph Addison, son of the Rev. Lancelot A. rector of Milston, near Ambresbury, was born at Milston, 1672. He was educated first by his father, then by Mr. Naish of Ambresbury, and afterwards by Miss K, Richard Busby, the ce- Mr. Taylor of Salisbury. He belebrated master of Westminster came one of the principal secretaschool, was born at Luton, Lin-ries of state; in 1716 he married colnshire, 1606; died 1695, and the Countess dowager of Warwick; was buried in Westminster Abbey, died at Holland-house, near Kenwhere he has a monument, with hissington, 1719, and was buried in effigy.

Westminster Abbey. He left behind an only daughter, by the Countess of Warwick, who, in 1797, died and was buried at Bilton, near

her estate to the third son of Lord Bradford.

Miss Eve. Where was the Rev. Stephen Duck, the writer of Joe Miller's epitaph, born? Miss K. He was son to a cot-Rugby, in Warwickshire, and left tager, and born, in 1705, near Clarendon park, Wiltshire, the seat of Peter Bathurst, Esq. Like Ramsay and Burns, he was self-taught. For some time after he was married, he threshed in a barn at four shilJings a week. His poetry happened || to be seen by Miss Clayton, one of the maids of honour to Caroline, queen to George II. about 1730. She shewed it to the queen, who patronized and advanced him: at last he became lunatic, and, throw-ever brought upon the stage, but ing himself from a bridge near Reading, was drowned in May or June, 1756, aged 51.

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Addison's dramatic works are, Rosamond, an opera, 1702, set to music by Mr. Clayton, in 1706, in the Italian manner, and since by Dr. Arne; Cato, a tragedy, 1712; The Drummer, or The Haunted House, 1715. Voltaire admires and censures Addison's Cato extravagantly. The higher characters he allows to be superior to any thing

says, that all the love scenes are absolutely insipid. I think the poetry, as well as the sentiments, in Cato, cannot be praised too much.

Miss Eve. In my opinion, Addison's rhyme is not so flowing, nervous, and manly as that of some of his contemporaries; but his prose has an original excellence, a smoothness and dignity peculiar to itself. He certainly contributed much to the purity of English prose. What does Dr. Johnson say of Addison?

Miss K. He says that Addison's

known: but when Sir Richard Steele, in the preface, informed the public, that it was written by Addison, it was immediately re

Such is sometimes the effect of partiality and prejudice.

I think two of the actors whose names are in your list, were poetlaureats-Ben Jonson and Colley, Cibber?

powers were such as might have satisfied him with conscious excellence; that, of very extensive learning, he has given us no proofs. He seems to have had a small acquaint-vived and universally applauded. ance with the sciences, and to have read little except Latin and French: but his dialogues of medals, shew that he had perused the works of the Latin poets with great diligence and skill. The abundance of his own mind left him little need of adventitious sentiments; his wit could always suggest what the occasion demanded; he had read with critical eyes the volume of human life, and knew the heart of man from the depths of stratagem to the surface of affectation.

Addison's Cato was performed eighteen times during its first run: it first appeared, when printed, with eight complimentary verses, among which was one by Sir Richard Steele; also a prologue by Pope, and an epilogue by Garth.

Miss Eve. I think the scene lies throughout the whole piece in the governor's palace at Utica?

Miss K. Yes. Sir John Suckling has written a poem, in which he supposes Apollo about to bestow the laureatship on the most deserving. These lines shew the names of many of the writers. at that time, about 170 years ago.

Miss Eve. Will you repeat them?

Miss K.

A sessions was held the other day,
And Apollo himself was at it they say;
The laurel that had been so long reserv'd,
Was now to be given to him best deserv'd.
Therefore, the wits of the town came thither;

'Twas strange to see how they flock'd to-
gether;

Each strongly confident of his own way,
Thought to gain the laurel away that day.

There Selden and be sat hard by the chair, !
Weniman not far off, which was very fair;
Sands with Townsend, for they kept no order,
Digby and Shillingsworth a little further.

There was Lucau's translator too, and he

That makes God speak so big in's poetry,
Selwin, and Walter, and Bartlett's both bre-

thers,

Miss K. Yes: it has been observed, that the beauties of poetry and the spirit of liberty which shine in the piece, scarcely more than compensate for its want of pathos and the deficiency of dramatic business. The plot of his opera of Rosamond exceeds, in the beauty of the diction, any English perform-The first that broke silence was good old Ben, ance of the kind. It was originally but indifferently set to music, on which account it met with less success than it deserved. The scene is in Woodstock park.

. Miss Eve. It is said, that when the Drummer, er Haunted House,

Jack Vaughan, and Porter, and divers others.

And he told them plainly he deserv'd the bays,

Prepar'd before with Canary wine;'

For his were called works, where others were but plays:

Bid them remember, how he had clear'd the
stage

Of errors that had lasted many an age;
And he hop'd, they did not think the Silent
Woman,

was first performed, it was much The Fox, and the Alchymist outdone by us condemned, its author being un

man..

Apollo stopp'd him there, and bid him not | And priz'd black eyes and a lucky hit

go on;

Twas merit, he said, and not presumption,
Must carry 't; at which Ben turn'd about,
And in great choler offer'd to go out.

Those that were there, thought it not fit
To discontent so ancient a wit;

And therefore Apollo called him back agen,
And made him mine host of his own new inn.

Tom Carew was next, but he had a fault
That would not well stand with a Laureat;
His Muse was hard bound, and th' issue of his
brain

Was seldom brought forth but with labour and
pain.

All that were present there did agree,
A Laureat Muse should be easy and free;
Yet sure 'twas not that, but'twas thought that
his grace

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Consider'd he was well, he had a cup-bearer's place.

Will Davenant, asham'd of a foolish mis-
chance

That be had got lately travelling in France,
Modestly hop'd the handsomeness of's Muse
Might any deformity 'bout him excuse.

Surely the company would have been content,
If they could have found any precedent;
But in all their records, either in verse or prose,
There was not one Laureat without a nose.

To Will Bartlett sure all the wits meant well,
But first they would see how his snow would
sell;

Will smil'd, and swore, in their judgments they went less,

That concluded of merit upon success.

Suddenly taking his place again,

At bowls, above all the trophies of wit :
But Apollo was angry, and publicly said,
'Twere fit that a fine were set upon his head.

Wat Montague now stood forth to his trial,
And did not so much as suspect a denial;
But witty Apollo ask'd him first of all,
If he understood his own pastoral:

For if he could do it, 'twould plainly appear,
He understood more than any man there,
And did merit the bays above all the rest;
But the Monsieur was modest, and silence
confest.

During these troubles, in the court was hid
One that Apollo soon miss'd, little Cid;
And having spied him, call'd him out of the

throng,

And advis'd him i' th'ear, not to write so strong.

Murray was summon'd, but 'twas urg'd that he
Was chief already of another company.

Hales, set by himself, most gravely did smile,
To see them about nothing keep op such a coil:
Apollo had spied him, but knowing his mind,
Pass'd, and call'd Faulkland, that sat just
behind.

He was of late so gone with divinity,
That he had almost forgot his poetry;
Though, to say the truth, and Apollo did
know it,

He might have been both his priest and his
poet.

At length, who but an Alderman did appear,
At which Will Davenant began to swear;
But wiser Apollo bid him draw nigher,
And when he was mounted a little higher,

He gave way to Selden, who straight stepp'd in; Openly declared, that the best sign

But, alas! he had been so lately a wit,
That Apollo hardly knew him yet.

Toby Matthews (p-x on him!) how came he

there,

Was whispering nothing in somebody's ear;
When he had the honour to be nam'd in court,
But, sir, you may thank my Lady Carliel for't:

For had not her care furnish'd you out
With something of handsome, without all
doubt,

You and your sorry Lady Muse had been
In the number of those that were not let in.

Suckling next was call'd, but did not appear;
But straight one whisper'd Apollo i' th' ear,
That of all men living, he car'd not for 't,
He lov'd not the Muses so well as his sport ;

Of good store of wit's to have good store of

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A TOUR THROUGH DERBYSHIRE AND PART OF STAFFORDSHIRE.

(Continued from p. 207.).

ASHBURN, Sept. 13, 1788. valley. I arrived at Derby about eleven o'clock, and upon entering

Dear Friend, You will naturally suppose,,the town, met my companions in that I left Matlock with reluctance. the street, in company with a Mr. With a few select friends and some Brown, a considerable dealer in occasional employment, I think Derbyshire productions. They had that a few weeks in the season might been to inspect the silk-mills before be spent there very agreeably, and my arrival. We all went together with much benefit to a crazy con- to see the china manufactory, which stitution. It does not seem as if is now carried on very extensively, Matlock, or any other watering- and brought to great perfection. place, was resorted to as much as The proprietor having been under as formerly for medical purposes. some particular obligation to Mr. One sees some, to be sure, whose Brown, is always extremely civil complexions betray either real or to any person whom he introduces. imaginary ailments, and who bathe We were shewn all the different and drink the waters; but the major operations which the china under-. part are such who resort together for goes, and were surprised to see the: fashion's sake. Was it not for the number of hands through which variety which those places of pub- some pieces of work pass before lic amusements present, how many they are completed, particularly people of quality are there, who the figured and ornamental. The would be at a loss to pass away their fine rose and purple colours used time, which would be found insup-in the painting are preparations portably burthensome, if confined to their solitary country seats, but who find a continued dissipation in the variety which change of situation and company affords!

from gold, and when laid on the china, before they are fluxed with the enamel in the furnace, appear of a dull brown or brick colour. There was a very rich assortment for inspection in the sale-room, both for use and ornament; among the rest, three elegantly finished. vases, richly decorated, and painted with fine views from nature in Derbyshire. They were rated at 35 guineas. The painting in ge

Nothing material occurred, nor did any striking prospects present themselves, worth describing, between Matlock and Derby. Just after you leave Crumford, a few minutes' attention to the country on the right hand will not be regretted: it opens very extensively,neral was well executed, though and discovers the village of Wirksworth to advantage at about a mile distance. The road then leads over Bilber Common, a barren spot of some miles extent, from which there is a sudden descent into a pleasant No. LIX. Vol. X.

Mr. Heithausen would not admit it into competition with the Dresden manufacture. From thence we went to the iron-mills, where the machinery for rolling the bars of iron into large flat plates is very

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curious; also an enormously large | casionally to practise an innocent imposition, by inviting an hungry guest to cut and eat a slice. About four o'clock, after parting with our two agreeable fellow travellers, we set off for Ashburn. Young : Mr. Brown having some business, to transact in those parts, accompanied us thither. We rode through a flat fertile country and several villages, as Mackworth, Longly, and Brailsford; the latter is above a mile

dens that separate the houses, which looked remarkably neat, clean, and rural. It is impossible to view a neat country village, with all its

pair of shears, worked by water, that will instantly cut a bar an inch in thickness across. The copper-mills are contrived upon a similar plan. They have a ponderous sledge for hammering out the sheets of copper into pan-bottoms, &c. which, striking when lifted up against a large beam that acts like a spring, is forced down with increased violence. After noticing every thing curious there, we walk-in length, occasioned by the gared about the town, which is neat and populous. Besides other principal buildings, it has five churches. That of All-Saints is distinguished from the rest by a fine Gothic tow-variety of rural objects, without er, which is much admired. The the greatest delight and satisfaction. body of the church is of later date, How often have I paus'd on ev'ry charm! and built in the modern style. The The shelter'd cot, the cultivated farm; Devonshire family have their bury-The never-failing brook, the busy mill, ing-place in one corner, where a great number of the ancestors of that ancient house are deposited. We were shewn, among other antiquities, a large tomb-stone, that was found under the old floor when the body of the church was rebuilt. The date discovered it to be very ancient, and, if some antiquary had been with us, he would, no doubt, have put on his spectacles with great ecstasy, and endeavoured to decypher its contents. For my part, researches of this kind never struck my fancy, or yielded me much pleasure.

The decent church, that tops the neighbring hil.

I could not help contrasting the appearances of the villages in these parts with many in Yorkshire; as for instance, Pudsey, Bramley, and many others, which are unavoidably black and dirty, from thẹ nature of the manufacture carried on, but are still rendered worse by the naturally filthy disposition of the inhabitants, whose noses have been so long accustomed to the effluvia of urine and swine's dung (two essential ingredients in the coloured cloth business), that, if they do not actually esteem them fragrant, they however find nothing at all disgusting in the smell. It was half-past seven and dark before we reached Ashburn, where we proposed lodging, that night; put up at the George, and found ourselves not disappointed of the

Mr. Brown then invited us all to dinner at his house, where we were very well entertained. We thought ourselves under some kind of obligation to make a few trifling purchases in his line. Some bread, cheese, and eggs, made of Derbyshire materials, and tolerably imitated, tickled my fancy very much, and I bought them, intending oc-good usage we had been assured

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