PARALLEL PASSAGES. The commencement of Harold's Ballad, in "The Lay of the Last Minstrel," is as follows: No haughty feat of arms I tell.” Thus runs a certain letter, dated Bath- In Marmion we find these lines→→→→ "Of all the palaces so fair, In a book of Poems by one Mrs. Cassan, these→ "Sweetest spot in all Creation, Prettiest we can light on, Every other in the nation Yields the palm to Brighton." The Ballad of The Grey Brother opens magnificently- A previous bard opens his ballad more magnificently→→ All on a summer's day.” Mr. Scott will, perhaps, maintain, that it is at least excusable to steal from himself, and will quote Mr. Southey, in whose Thalaba this passage,― "Go not among the tombs, old man, There is a madman there-" is a somewhat severe parody on "Nay, gather not that filbert, Nicholas, There is a maggot there." But, even so weighty an authority as that of him, "who fram'd of Thalaba the wild and wondrous lay," will scarcely bear out the Minstrel of the Scottish Border, in the following robbery. In his Lay, &c. he says "Not all the pearls Queen Mary wears, We have the same observation in Marmion, viz. "Not England's fair, nor France's queen, Were worth one pearl drop, bright and sheen, If these Remarks should prove worthy of a place in your Mirror, they will more than answer the expectation of Your humble Servant, THE JUDGE AND THE PLEADER. H. W. S. Addressed to Mr. PERCEVAL, CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER, and all the CROWN LAWYERS, on their Mode of sitting in Judgment on the Conduct of the DUKE OF YORK. GENTLEMEN, WILL you be pleased to read what a certain Bishop of Avranches has said, respecting the opposite characters of a Judge and an Advocate; and then tell me, whether, through inveterate habit, or quid aliud, you did not recently, though "all honourable men," mistake the latter for the former? "The Judge strives to discover the truth-the Pleader to conceal or disfigure it. The Judge keeps the medium, which is the point of equity-the Pleader searches out the extremes. The Judge must be rigid, austere, and inflexible-the Advocate supple and accommodating, complying with the inclinations of his Client, and entering into his interests. The Judge should be steady, uniform, and unvariable, pursuing ever one direct line-the Pleader adopts every mode of proceeding. The Judge must divest himself of the influence of his passions-the Advocate endeavours to excite those of his audience, and appears to sympathize with the feelings of his Client. The Judge should hold his scales in the same straight lines, and preserve the equilibrium-the Advocate flings a weight into one scale, and destroys the balance. The Judge holds a sword in his right hand-the Pleader endeavours to wrest it from him." COBRE CAPELL. I THE COWARDICE OF DEMOSTHENES. DEAR SIR Ανης ὁ φεύγων παλιν μαχησεται. "The man that fights and runs away, AM a disbeliever in the anecdote, of Demosthenes having quoted the above line and applied it to himself. This decorous and severe deputy, would hardly have been so unseasonably ludicrous. And, though in martial character he was not a Philip or an Alexander, I do not believe that he made, as Plutarch has represented, from some unknown author, a hasty flight from the field of Charonea, into which he had led his countrymen, or to which rather he had flown with them, bearing them irresistibly along with him, by the enthusiastic force of his sublimeorations. The energy of those wonderful orations, and the calm intrepidity of his death, do not suffer me to believe that Demosthenes fled like a coward; and, as another anecdote would assure us, called to a bramble which stopped him in his flight, thinking himself seized by an enemy, and entreating it to accept ransom. Such a man would not have been entreated by the people to pronounce the funeral eulogium on those who fell in that fatal engagement, and if that had been possible, it is not credible that he could have complied. It is very unhappy that Plutarch and other writers, have been obliged to trust as to that memorable æra of the greatest men, memoirs much less imperfect than those which remain to us, but yet scanty and broken, compared to the original sources of information. I dare say you do not believe, nor do I, though no one can be less partial to him as a public man, that Mr. PITT would have fled from a battle on which the fate of England depended; and I see no reason why we should believe it of DEMOSTHENES. I do not compare their eloquence. Mr. Fox was much nearer to that simple and concentrated energy, that animated reason, that sublime enthusiasm. But I only say, that great and ardent minds, and that of DEMOSTHENES assuredly was a mind of the highest order, are not to be suspected, on the credit of idle tales, of having deserted their duty, their honour, and that public which, confiding in their councils and their example, has committed itself to the utmost peril, The exaggerations of ESCHINES and DINARCHUS, cannot be taken as authorities upon such a point. And the author of the Lives of the Orators, speaks of it as a report, doxɛide rny TağıV DITTEIV. It is AULUS GELLIUS who quotes the verse Aνης ὁ φευγων κ. τ. λ. and says DEMOSTHENES quoted it on being reproached with flight: but it is very unlike the manner of DEMOSTHENES; we know not upon whom AULUS GELLIUS relied for the story: and we do know what heaps of modern anecdotes, some of which unhappily will find their way to posterity, are entirely without foundation. C. L. A GOOD LORD OF Sг. DENIS, who was born on the 1st of April, 1613, but no fool, has made some remarks on WOMAN, which, as fellow men, we ought perhaps in charity to allow to weigh in mitigation of the severe judgment, which we might otherwise be inelined to pass on the late conduct of his royal highness the DUKE of YORK. "WOMEN either sweeten or poison the cup of life; so great is their power of producing evil or the contrary, by their conduct. Under the influence of love, a dull man becomes brilliant, and, to` please his mistress, cultivates in himself every agreeable accomplishment, that can adorn a human being. When women know the power of their sex, and use it discreetly, the philosopher, the man of phlegm, the misanthrope, and the person of amiable qualities, alike confess themselves but men. The dominion of the sex subjugates those likewise who appear to govern others. A woman soon gains admittance to the cabinet of the politician; to them every door is open, and every secret disclosed. The magistrate and the prince think no more of their honour, their grandeur, or their power; all restraint, all reserve is laid aside; and puerile freedoms of speech, succeed to studied harangues and affected gravity of looks. The man of business and of retirement, the young, the old, the sage, drop their characters before women. The studious man leaves his closet, the man of employ his negociation; the aged forget their years; young men lose their senses; and the sage forfeits his virtue. Whatever ill, men report of women, they cannot hate them; and if they say they do, their conduct proves them dissemblers." If this be the case, and it be really true, that “"Tis woman that seduces all mankind," young, old, wise, and foolish; is a man more to blame for falling by her arts, than by any epidemic disorder? Duke or no duke, a woman will still be our commander◄ in-chief. Had it been so in David's time, he would surely have not written" Deliver my darling from the power of the dog," but Deliver the dog from the power of the darling! Psalm xxii. v. 20. JAQUES. TO THE EDITOR OF THE MONTHLY MIRROR. SIR, UNDER an impression that a series of papers, the object of which is to illustrate the countries, history, literature, and arts and sciences of the Portuguese, will at this time afford amusement to many of your readers, I send for insertion, should it meet with your approbation, the first number of such series. As the emigration of the royal family of that nation has so lately occupied the public attention, I flatter myself that it will not only be acceptable, but also interesting, if I commence by tracing the illus trious family of Braganza, from its origin up to that period, when, animated by the call of freedom, the Portuguese were roused to throw off the galling yoke of Castile, and place upon their throne a duke of that house. I have the pleasure to be, Sir, Gateshead, March 12. JOHN ADAMSON. |