TO CLOE.

Leave off thy paint, perfumes, and youthful dress, And nature's failing honestly confess;

Double we see those faults which art would mend, Plain downright ugliness would less offend!

To CANIDIUS.

Thou strut'st as if thou wert the only lord;
When we all know of such there is a house,
Where I might sit, cou'd I the price afford,

And Child has now three earldoms out at use.
High expectation does attend good seed,
Yet none will buy a known jade for his breed;
Boast not too much thy mighty pedigree,
Were they alive they'd be ashamed of thee.

TO FLAVIUS.

Thou quibl'st well, hast craft and industry,
Flatt'rest great men, laugh'st at their enemies,
Rally'st the absent, art a pretty spy,

Yet for all this in court thou dost not rise;
Thou play'st thy court-game booty: I'm afraid
Th'ast promis'd marriage, when thy fortune's made,
And so thou dar'st not thrive upon thy trade.

TO THRASO.

Whil'st thou sit'st drinking up thy loyalty,
And rayl'st at laws, thou dost not understand,
Ador'st the ministers, who know not thee,

Sell'st thy long freedom for a short command, The power thou aim'st at, if o'er thee one have, In a rich coat th'art but a ranting slave.

On Coscus.

Coscus, thou say'st my epigrams are long;-
I'd take thy judgment on a pot of ale:
So thou may'st say the elephant's too strong,
A dwarf too short, the pyramid too tall;
Things are not long, where we can nothing spare;
But, Coscus, even thy disticks tedious are,

To MAXIMUS.

Would'st thou be free? I fear thou art in jest—
But if thou would'st, this is the only way ;-
Be no man's tavern, nor domestic guest;

Drink wholesome wine, which thy own servants
draw;

Of knavish Curio scorn the ill-got plate,

The numerous servants, and the cringing throng: With a few friends on fewer dishes eat,

And let thy clothes, like mine, be plain and strong; Such friendships make as thou may'st keep with ease, Great men expect what good men hate to pay; Be never thou thyself in pain to please,

But leave to fools and knaves, th' uncertain prey. Let thy expence with thy estate keep pace;

Meddle with no man's business; scarce thy own;
Contented pay for a plebeian face,

And leave vain fops the beauties of the town.
If to this pitch of virtue thou can'st bring
Thy mind, thou'rt freer than the Persian king.
TO MILO.

One month a lawyer, thou the next wilt be
A grave physician, and the third a priest;
Chuse quickly one profession of the three,
Married to her, thou yet may'st court the rest.

Whilst thou stand'st doubting, Bradbury has got Five thousand pound, and Conquest as much more; is made B- from a drunken sot: *

W

On

Leap in, and stand not shivring on the shore;

any one amiss thou can'st not fall,

Thou'lt end in nothing, if thou grasp'st at all.

On SEXTUS.

When I had purchas'd a fresh horse or coat,
For which I knew not how to pay,
Sextus, that wretched covetous old sot,
My ancient friend, as he will say;
Lest I should borrow of him, took great care,
And mutter'd to himself aloud,

So as he knew I could not chuse but hear,
How much he to Secundus ow'd,

And twice as much he paid for interest,
Nor had one farthing in his trusty chest ;
If I had ask'd, I knew he would not lend ;-
"Tis new before hand to deny a friend.

We have copied largely from these epigrams, which have been overlooked by former collectors, not only on account of their exhibiting the talent of wit, for which Sedley was celebrated in his day, to some advantage;* but also as they display the character and manners of that age, being doubtless, portraits drawn from the life.

*Was this meant for Seth Ward, Bishop successively of Exeter and Salisbury? He was a fellow collegian with Sedley at Oxford.

"Sedley," says Burnet “had a more sudden and copious wit, which furnished a perpetual run of discourse; but he was not so correct as Lord Dorset, nor so sparkling as Lord Rochester."-History of his own Times, vol. 1 p. 372.

APHRA BEIIN.

BORN ABOUT 1640.-DIED 1689.

Beauty may fade, but everlasting verse
Exempts the better portion from the hearse.
The matchless wit and fancy of the fair,
Which moves our envy and our son's despair,
Long shall they live a monument to her fame,
And to eternity extend her name ;

While aftertimes deservedly approve
The choicest object of this age's love.

For when they read, guessing how far she charm'd,
With that bright body with such wit inform'd ;
They will give heed and credit to our verse,
When we the wonders of her face rehearse.

(J. COOPER.)

Aphra Behn was born at Canterbury, in what year is uncertain. Her father's name was Johnson; he was a gentleman of good family, and patronised by Lord Willoughby, to whom he was related. This nobleman procured for him the appointment of Governor of Surinam, and the West India Islands, but he died on his passage; his family, however, among which was Our poetess then very young, arrived in safety, settled at Surinam, and continued to reside there several years.

During her residence at Surinam, she became acquainted with the history of the American prince, Oroonoko, of which on her return she availed herself in the composition of a tale which bears his name, and is one of the best of her literary productions; it had

also the good fortune to attract the notice of Southern, the dramatic writer, and constitutes the foundation of the most pathetic tragedy in the English language.

Aphra Johnson returned to England in the prime of life and beauty, and soon afterwards married Mr. Behn, a London merchant of Dutch extraction. What time she continued a wife is uncertain, probably not long; her marriage, however, gave her an opportunity of appearing with advantage at the gay court of Charles the Second, where she soon became an object of attraction, having all the personal and mental qualifications requisite to make a figure on such a theatre. It was the custom of that age, a custom which with characteristic propriety had its origin in France, to employ accomplished women for the purposes of political intrigue and information, and Mrs. Behn, then probably a widow, was chosen as a fit agent to reside in Flanders during the war with Holland. She selected Antwerp for the place of her residence, where she seems to have led a life of gaiety and dissipation. By means of one of her suitors, of the name of Vander Albert, she obtained a knowledge of the design formed by the Dutch to surprise London in 1667, and communicated the information in due course to the government by which she was employed. But she obtained no credit from her employers; the attempt was made, and as is well known with partial success. Disgusted with this want of confidence in her veracity, Mrs. Behn threw up her employment as a state-agent, and continued some time longer at Antwerp as a private individual. Her adventures during this period are related at some length in the narrative of her life, and are sufficiently amusing, but too long for insertion in this place.