And tell him this too: if in midst of winter Byr. 'Tis more than strange, Laf. Who cannot friend himself, is foe to any, Byr. How fit a sort were this to hansel fortune! 66 The following speech of Henry is, I think, eminently wise, humane, and, as a poetical composition, truly beautiful. Roiseau has just described the attempts to seduce the duke.” Hen. It may be he dissembled, or, suppose He be a little tainted : men whom virtue Forms with the stuff of fortune, great and gracious, Must needs partake with fortune in her humour Of instability; and are like shafts Grown crook'd with standing, which to rectify Must twice as much be bow'd another way. He that hath borne wounds for his worthy parts, Must for his worst be borne with. We must fit Our government to men, as men to it. In old time, they that hunted savage beasts Are said to clothe themselves in savage skins : They that were fowlers, when they went on fowling, Wore garments made with wings resembling fowls : To bulls we must not shew ourselves in red, Nor to the warlike elephant in white. In all things govern'd, their infirmities Must not be stirr’d, nor wrought on. Duke Byron Flows with adust and melancholy choler, And melancholy spirits are venomous, Not to be touch'd but as they may be cured. I therefore mean to make him change the air, And send him further from those Spanish vapours, That still bear fighting sulphur in their breasts, To breathe awhile in temperate English air, Whose lips are spiced with free and loyal counsels ; Where policies are not ruinous but saving ; Wisdom is simple, valour righteous, Humane, and hating facts of brutish force, And whose grave natures scorn the scoffs of France, The empty compliments of Italy, The any-way encroaching pride of Spain, “ But,” resumed Egeria, “it is not my intention to analyze the play ; I shall therefore only read to you one or two of the similes. The state of a man whose fortunes have shot beyond the foundation of his merits is thus magnificently compared :" “ As you may see a mighty promontory, “ And I think the following description of a horse very spirited :—it is Byron's comparison of his own manner.” « To whom I came, methought, with such a spirit Cuts air in high curvets, and shakes his head ; 66 Henry's blessing upon his infant son is also a very fine passage, and much deserves to be better known.” “ Hen. Have thy old father's angel for thy guide; Redoubled be his spirit in thy breast; Who when this state ran, like a turbulent sea, In civil hates and bloody enmity, Their wraths and envies, like so many winds, Settled and burst, and like the halcyon's birth, Be thine to bring a calm upon the shore, In which the eyes of war may ever sleep, As overmatch'd with former massacres, When guilty, mad noblesse fed on noblesse ; All the sweet plenty of the realm exhausted : When the naked merchant was pursued for spoil ; When the poor peasants frighted neediest thieves With their bare leanness, nothing left on them But meagre carcasses sustain’d with air, Wandering like ghosts affrighted from their graves ; When, with the often and incessant sounds, The very beasts knew the alarum-bell, And, hearing it, ran bellowing to their home : From which unchristian broils and homicides Let the religious sword of justice free Thee and thy kingdoms govern'd after me." CHAP. V. PERIODICAL LITERATURE. ONE morning as the Bachelor's Wife, having no other household care, was reading the backs of his books, she paused before a goodly range of reviews and magazines, and said to him, “ I do not think it has been half considered by the world how much has been added to our pleasures by the invention of periodical publications. It has domesticated learning, deprived it of all its formality, put the shovel-hat, the square cap, the wig, the gown, and all those antique trappings and devices, which were wont to inspire so much wonder and awe, quite out of fashion. It has made gentlemen of authors, and authors of gentlemen. For this, as well as for its other singular merits, the Edinburgh Review stands pre-eminent. You cannot open a volume without finding some topic of science, or of erudition, treated in a much more popular and engaging form than it was ever done before.” In saying this she put forth her hand, and taking down the tenth volume, opened it, and read aloud the following excellent condensed account of the religious sentiments of the Turks. MAHOMETANISM. “ The religion of the Turks is Mahometanism in its utmost purity, and in complete preservation from the |