1

"Mortality entails, shall be remov'd,

"And from the mental eye the film withdrawn,
"Which in its corporal union had obscur'd
"And clouded the pure virtue of its sight.
"But to these purposes I must employ
"My ready spirit Ariel, some time minister
"To Prospero, and the obsequious slave
"Of his enchantments, from whose place preferr'd
"He here attends to do me services,

"And qualify these beings for Elysium-
"Hoa! Ariel, approach, my dainty spirit!
(Ariel enters.)

All hail, great master, grave Sir, hail! I come
To answer thy best pleasure; be it to fly,
To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride

On the curled clouds-to thy strong bidding task
Ariel and all his qualities

Shakespear.

"Know then, spirit,

"Into this grove six shades consign'd to bliss
"I've separately remov'd, of each sex three;
"Unheard of one another and unseen

"There they abide, yet each to each endear'd
"By ties of strong affection: not the same
"Their several objects, though the effects alike,
"But husband, father, lover make the change.
"Now though the body's perish'd, yet are they

"Fresh from their sins and bleeding with their wrongs;

"Therefore all sense of injury remove,
"Heal up their wounded faculties anew,
"And pluck affliction's arrow from their hearts;
"Refine their passions, for gross sensual love
"Let it become a pure and faultless friendship,
"Raise and confirm their joys, let them exchange
"Their fleeting pleasures for immortal peace :
"This done, with speed conduct them each to other
"So chang'd, and set the happy choir before me."

I have the whole of this puerile production, written in a schoolboy's hand, which by some chance has escaped the general wreck, in which I have lost some records, that I should now be glad to resort to. I am not quite sure that I act fairly by my readers when I give any part of it a place in these memoirs, yet as an instance of the impression, which my mother's lectures had made upon my youthful fancy, and perhaps as a sample of composition indicative of more thought and contrivance, than are commonly to be found in boys at so very early an age, I shall proceed to transcribe the concluding part of the scene, in which Romeo has his audience, and can truly affirm that the copy is faithful without the alteration or addition of a single word—

Romeo.

"Oh thou, the great disposer of my fate,
"Judge of my actions, patron of my cause,
"Tear not asunder such united hearts,
"But give me up to love and to my Juliet.

Shakespear.

"Unthinking youth, thou dost forget thyself; "Rash inconsiderate boy, must I again

"Remind thee of thy fate? What! know'st thou not "The man, whose desperate hand foredoes himself, "Is doom'd to wander on the Stygian shore

"A restless shade, forlorn and comfortless,

"For a whole age? Nor shall he hope to sooth

"The callous ear of Charon, till he win

"His passion by repentance and submission
"At this my fixt tribunal, else be sure

"The wretch shall hourly pace the lazy wharf
"To view the beating of the Stygian wave,
"And waste his irksome leisure.

Romeo.

Gracious powers,

Is this my doom, my torment-?

Heaven is here

Where Juliet lives, and each unworthy thing
Lives here in heaven and may look on her,
But Romeo may not: more validity,
More honourable state, more worship lives
In carrion flies than Romeo; they may seize

On the white wonder of my love's dear hand,
And steal immortal blessings from her lips,
But Romeo may not; "He is doom'd to bear
"An age's pain and sigh in banishment,

"To drag a restless being on the shore

"Of gloomy Styx, and weep into the flood,
"Till, with his tears made full, the briny stream”
Shall kiss the most exalted shores of all.

Shakespear.

"Now then dost thou repent thy follies past?

Romeo.

"Oh, ask me if I feel my torments present,
"Then judge if I repent my follies past.
"Had I but powers to tell you what I feel,

"A tongue to speak my heart's unfeign'd contrition,
"Then might I lay the bleeding part before you;
"But 'twill not be-something I yet would say
"To extenuate my crime; I fain would plead
"The merit of my love-but I have done-
"However hard my sentence, I submit.
"My faithless tongue turns traitor to my heart,
"And will not utter what it fondly prompts;
"A rising gust of passion drowns my voice,
"And I'm most dumb when I've most need to sue.

Shakespear.

"Arise, young Sir! before my mercy-seat

"None kneel in vain; repentance never lost

(Kneels.)

The cause she pleaded. Mercy is the proof, "The test that marks a character divine;

Were ye like merciful to one another,

"The earth would be a heaven and men the gods, "Withdraw awhile; I see thy heart is full;

"Grief at a crime committed merits more

Than exultation for a duty done.

(Romeo withdraws.)

Shakespear remains and speaks—

"What rage is this, O man, that thou should'st dare
To turn unnatural butcher on thyself,

"And thy presumptuous violent hand uplift
"Against that fabrick which the Gods have rais'd?

Insolent wretch, did that presumptuous hand

"Temper thy wond'rous frame?

Did that bold spirit

"Inspire the quicken'd clay with living breath? Do not deceive thyself. Have the kind Gods "Lent their own goodly image to thy use

For thee to break at pleasure?

"What are thy merits? Where is thy dominion?
"If thou aspir'st to rule, rule thy desires.
"Thou poorly turn'st upon thy helpless body,
And hast no heart to check thy growing sins:
"Thou gain'st a mighty victory o'er thy life,
"But art enslaved to thy basest passions,
"And bowest to the anarchy within thee.

Oh! have a care

Lest at thy great account thou should'st be found "A thriftless steward of thy master's substance.