THE GENERAL LOVER, AN OVIDIAN RHAPSODY. JAQUES. The worst fault you have is to be in love. As You like it. THOUGH I may be inconstant to "Elizabeth, Betsy, and Betty, and Bess," I am never inconstant to Love. But I will not defend myself. No, if it will do any good to confess, I own my fault, and will say, that I hate myself for it, but I must add, that though I wish it, I cannot be otherwise than what I hate. I am borne along like a vessel in a rapid current, impelled by wind and tide. I know not what form delights me most, therefore the causes are endless why I can never cease to love. If modest the nymph, with her eyes in her lap, Her blushing's eno', I am caught in the trap. If she is high-spirited, I am won, because she is not rustic.-Is she austere, I think her willing, but an admirable dissembler. If learned, than riches I prize it above, If not, sweet simplicity, O, how I love! Is there one who prefers my writings to those of the salacious warbler, the wanton, lascivious Little Moore?-She to whom I am pleasing, is ever pleasing to me. If she hates both me and my works, I long to give her reason to think differently of both. This fair one walks with grace, her graces captivate me. That sings, and her voice flows like honey from her lips; I pant to kiss the hive from which such honey flows. Her brilliant fingers sweep the chords; who can but love such well-instructed fingers! To love in every shape I bend my knees. Tho' her figure heroic would fill the whole bed, For me there'd be room where I'd lay my fond head. If she's little and short, I am equally glad, for then I can never have too much of her. Light hair-how lovely! Brown-I think it auburn! Black-how beautiful, when hanging in ringlets on her snowy neck! Is it red-what so rich as gold! Youth warms my heart, and later age I love; this pleases by its form, that by its conduct. Is she a slut-how saving! Is she delicate-how delightful! Is she my wife-I must love her— is she my friend's-how can I help it! The fatter, the warmer; the thinner, the less subject, perhaps, to the frailty of the flesh. Is she lame? how domestic! Is she deaf? 'tis well-is she blind? 'tis better-is she dumb? O, 'tis too much!! JAQUES NOTES ON ATHENÆUS. BY GRÆCULUS. No. XVIII. "The wit and genius of those old Heathens beguiled me, and as I despaired of raising myself up to their standard upon fair ground, I thought the only chance I had of looking over their heads, was to get upon their shoulders." HAVING just entered the Tenth Book, we find ourselves in a quarter very consistent with the feasting of this season of the year; among people who, like Ctesias, p. 416. E. know when to begin to eat, but never know when to leave off. With other instances of tolerable voracity, we find one of a man who, when he could wag his jaws no longer, was stuffed with food by his servants, as you fill an inanimate vessel, rather, I suppose, as we cram a turkey, p. 416. B. What equal title had Whittington to be chosen thrice Lord Mayor! A Boeotian was said to be worth as much as he could hold! Tertullian, reproving the Megareans, observed, that they eat as if they were to die next day, and built as if they were never to be buried. We now turn to the other side of the picture-Abstemiousness. It has been said, that we ought to rise from table with an appetite; and I have heard a physician declare, that “there is more danger in a buttock of beef than in a pipe of port;" not meaning thereby to recommend inebriety, but to insinuate that gluttony is the more dangerous evil of the two. According to p. 419 A. Pythagoras was in every way abstemious, being frequently satisfied with honey alone. History relates the same of Aristides, Epaminondas, Phocion, and Phormio. Manius Curius, called by Mr. Lempriere, Curius Dentatus Marcus Annius, and by Plutarch and Cicero, in Apop. and Cat, Marcus Curius Dentatus*, lived all his days on * Balechamp, Annot. 768. 419432 roots. When the Sabines * sent him a quantity of gold, he said he did not want gold while he could eat such food. On the advantage of " rising from table with an appetite," Alexis speaks, C. p. 419. How delightful is every thing in medium.-I retire now, not empty, but enjoying the agreeable sensation of lightness and satisfaction. He before says, that superfluous things are expence, not pleasure. In the same page, Ariston tells us, that Polemo exhorted some persons who were going to supper, that they should take a cheerful cup, cheerful not only then but next day-that is our 66 merry and wise." There is more in this place equally worthy of respect. In B. p. 421. for mλɛov, read πλɛιov, and x'e ti for xeι TI. In C. for δε εστεφανωμεθα, read δ' επεστ: and in D. κωμοι for κωμη. In this last passage we find something of the humour of Falstaff—ove καδοι, μαχαιρα. A cask of wine is my sword. 66 Falstaff. Nay, Hal, if Percy be alive, thou get'st not my sword, but take my pistol if thou wilt. (The Prince draws it out, and finds it a bottle of sack.)” Jan. 4. ESSAYS ON PATRIOTISM. ESSAY I. PERHAP God loves from whole to part; but human sou! Pope. ERHAPS there are few subjects on which moralists are at such extreme variance, as on patriotism, public spirit, or the love of our native country; and perhaps no subject has more frequently, or "Samnites," according to the Roman Authors. Mr. Lempriere, in his Clas sical Dictionary, follows them, but might, I think, have taken notice of the above varieties. He records this reply: "I prefer my carthen pots to all your vessels of gold and silver; and it is my wish to command those who are in possession of money while I am deprived of it, and live in poverty." more importunately solicited deliberate and scrutinizing attention. Some have described it to exist only in the breasts of the great and good; others have described it, as existing no where but in the fanciful productions of the poet, or in the artful declamations of the oratorical statesman; and only professed by those who either do not understand its prescribed duties, or who wish by such profession, to accomplish some sinister intention. The ancients seem unanimously to have adopted the former opinion; the latter is entirely of modern origin, and cannot boast of many proselytes. On a superficial view, singular as this difference of opinion may appear, it, however, requires no peculiar penetration to discover its origin. It often happens, that the most ardent supporters of a cause, prove ultimately its most fatal enemies; for extravagant eulogy never fails, in judicious minds, to produce suspicion. Thus, the orator and the poet, by their incessant and extravagant panegyrics on patriotism, have not only rendered its existence an object of examination, but have induced some people, without even submitting it to that fair test, to reject it entirely as a fiction. By endeavouring to exalt it above every other virtue, by extending its duties beyond the limits nature has prescribed, every other virtue has been exalted above it, and its duties have been denied existence. Mankind naturally go to extremes, and it may be attributed to this unfortunate propensity, that religion, and several other branches of morals, have been deprived of that influence, which is so important to human happiness. To produce arguments to prove that patriotism, or a partiality for that country in which we were born, is at least congenial to human nature, would, indeed, be unnecessary, when we can all consult our own feelings on the occasion. In this, all the inhabitants of the globe coincide; all feel its effects in some degree, whether the spot on which they exist be sterile or fertile, whether the climate be genial or ungenial. The cosmopolite may call this a weakness in human nature, but if we are persuaded of its existence, it is of very little importance what name we choose to give it. Perhaps, brought to the test of reason, the affection of one brother for another is a weakness; but, does it not exist? is it not inseparable from a virtuous disposition? It is observed by Dr. Adam Ferguson, in his valuable Essay on Civil Society, that no terms used in the discussion of such subjects, are less determinate in signification, than the terms natural and unnatural. All the actions of men, however irrational or capricious they may appear, are equally the result of nature. This remark is certainly true, and it is one instance, among many that might be produced, how necessary it is, in inquiries of this kind, to employ no terms but those which convey precise ideas. The mathematical mode of reasoning should be deviated from as seldom as possible. Discussions on intricate subjects should always be commenced by definitions of the most important terms to be employed; and then, whether those definitions were correct or not, provided the writer never used the terms without intending them to convey the same ideas, obscurity and ambiguity would be avoided, and a perspicuous statement of the author's opinions unavoidably be the result. Lord Kaimes, in his Elements of Criticism, adopted this mode; and few works are more perspicuous, where the reasoning is necessarily sa delicate. As the expressions, natural and unnatural, may perhaps be made use of in this way, it may be proper to mention, that by those terms is meant, what is apparently in agreement or at variance with the laws of nature; those laws which are derived entirely from our mental and corporeal conformation-from the spontaneous impulse of uneducated human beings. Self-preservation is a law of nature when exertions are made to preserve life, that law is conformed to, and we call the act natural: when suicide is committed, that law is apparently infringed, and we consequently call the act unnatural. Thus explained, the words convey ideas sufficiently precise. The great progress that has been made in natural philosophy, since the time of Lord Bacon, has fully displayed the superiority of the method of philosophizing, which he introduced. A similar method would, it is evident, be equally successful in morals. It has, however, seldom been practised, and moralists, with the exception of Hume, Lord Kaimes, and a few others who have since followed their example, instead of making their deductions proceed from experience, and a minute examination of human nature, have shewn their ingenuity in forming theirs from their own imagination, and in making, by distortion, the appearances of human nature conform, or seem to conform, to those theories. What useless discussions have originated in this error! Some |