thou never want a drap when thou art dry." He died next morning, about eight o'clock. THE TABARD. CHAUCER'S INN. As the Borough High Street was formerly the great passage into a great part of the kingdom, to and from the capital, it was well furnished with Inns; one of which has been immortalized by Chaucer. The sign is now perverted into The Talbot.'-It originally was The Tabard;' so called from the sign,-a sleeveless coat, open on both sides, with a square collar, and winged at the shoulders; worn by persons of rank in the wars, with their arms painted on them, that they might be known. The use of this coat is now transferred to the heralds. This was the rendezvous of the jolly pilgrims, who formed the group which our father of poetry describes, sallying out to pay their devotions to the great saint, Thomas à Becket, whose shrine, for a long time, superseded, in England, almost every other, being resorted to down to the Reformation by pilgrims from all parts of Christendom. "Befelle that in that season, on a day, In Southwerck, at the Tabard, as I lay, Redy to wander on my pilgrimage In felowship, and pilgrims were they alle, The chambres and the stables weren wide, ISABELLA ANDREINI, a native of Padua, was a very celebrated actress, towards the beginning of the seventeenth century. But her excellence was not confined to the stage: she was also an admirable poetess. Many learned and ingenious men have bestowed eulogiums upon her, and her own works sufficiently justify their panegyrics. The intenti of Pavia (so the academicians of this city style themselves) were of opinion that they did their society an honour, by the admission of Isabella as a member of it. In acknowledgment of this honorary distinction, she never forgot amongst her titles that of Academica Infanta.-Her titles were these: " Isabella Andreini, comica getosa, academica infanta detta l'accessa. She had a singular advantage which is not frequent among the most excellent actresses: she was very handsome. Her beauty and her fine voice united, enabled her to charm both the eyes and the ears of all who saw and heard her. Under her picture the following inscription is written: "Hoc histricæ eloquentiæ caput lector admiraris, quod si auditor scies?"" If you admire, reader, this glory of the theatre, when you only see her, what would you do if you heard her?" Cardinal Cinthio Aldobrandini, nephew to Clement VIII., had a great esteem for her, as appears by several of her poems. When she went to France, she was kindly received by their Majesties, and by all the highest quality at Court. She wrote several sonnets in their praise, which are to be seen in the second part of her poems. She died at Lyons, the 10th of June, 1604, in the forty-second year of her age. Her husband had her interred in the same city, and honoured her with the following epitaph: "Isabella Andreini, Patavina, mulier magna virtute predita, honestatis ornamentum, maritalisque pudicitiæ decus, ore facunda, mente fæcunda, religioša, pia, musis amica, et artis scenicæ caput, hîc resurrectionem expectat. "Ob abortum obiit 4 Id. Junii, MDCIV. annum agens 42. "Franciscus Andreinus mæstissimus posuit." Translation, "Isabella Andreini, of Padua, a woman of great virtue and honour, the ornament of con-, jugal chastity, of an eloquent tongue, and an elegant mind, religious, pious, beloved by the Muses, and the glory of the stage, here lies in expectation of the resurrection. She died of a miscarriage, the 11th of June, 1604, in the forty-second year of her age. Francis Andreini, her sorrowful husband, erected this monument to her memory." The death of this actress and poetess being matter of general concern and lamentation, there were many Latin and Italian elegies printed to her memory. Several of these pieces were printed before her poems in the edition of Milan, in 1609. Besides her sonnets, madrigals, songs, and eclogues, there is a pastoral of hers, entitled, "Mirtilla," printed at Venice, in 1610. She sung with great taste, and played on several instruments in a masterly manner. She was, also, acquainted with philosophy, and understood the French and Spanish languages. LADY CHUDLEIGH, a very philosophical and poetic lady, was born in the year 1656. She was the daughter of Richard Lee, of Winsloder, in the county of Devon, Esq.; and married to Sir George Chudleigh, Bart. by whom she had several children; among the rest, Eliza Maria, who dying in the bloom of life, caused her mother to pour out her grief in a poem, entitled, "A Dialogue between Lucinda and Marissa." She wrote another poem, called, "The Ladies' Defence," occasioned by an angry sermon preached against the fair sex. These, with many others, were collected into a volume, and printed a third time in the year 1722. She published, also, a volume of essays, upon various subjects, in verse and prose, in 1710, which have been much admired for delicacy of style. This lady, it is said, wrote several Tragedies, Operas, Masques, &c. which, though not printed, are preserved in her family. She died in 1710, in the 55th year of her age. ARIOSTO. THE Duke of Ferrara delighted so much in Ariosto's comedies, of which he wrote five, that he |