the following verses to the King for hath obtained it.

"I that have robb'd so oft, am now bid stand;
Death and the law assault me, and demand
My life and means: I never us'd men so,
But, having ta'en their money, let them go.
Yet, must I die? and is there no relief?
The King of Kings had mercy on a thief!
So may our gracious King, too, if he please,
Without his Council, grant me a release.
God is his precedent, and men shall see
His mercy go beyond severity."

DRAMATIC POETS READERS OF THEIR OWN

WORKS.

NAT. LEE

was so pathetic a reader of dramatic poetry, that, while he was reciting one of his own plays in the Green-Room, to Major Mohun, the latter, in the warmth of his admiration, threw away the part, and exclaimed-" To what purpose can I undertake this character, if I am not able to play it as well as you read it?"

DRYDEN.

This great poet, though one of the first harmonizers of our language, was so indifferent

a reader, that, when he brought his play of "Amphytrion" on the stage, Cibber, who heard him give it the first reading, says, “Though he delivered the plain sense of every period, yet the whole was in so cold, so flat, and unaffecting a manner, that I am afraid of not being believed, if I should express it."

COLLEY CIBBER.

Though his voice, as an actor, was occasionally harsh and unmusical, more particularly in tragedy, he was a fine reciter of comedies in private. Foote and Murphy, both excellent judges, have given testimony of this, particularly the latter, who heard him read the scenes of Lord and Lady Townley, in "The Provoked Husband," to Mrs. Woffington. It is true, his voice partook of the old school, and, therefore, differed, in some respect, from that familiarity in modern dialogue which Garrick introduced; but it was, upon the whole, a fine picture of the manners of the age in which the play was written, and had a very impressive effect.

ROWE.

This poet was equally excellent in reading well. Mrs. Oldfield, herself a fine reciter, and

1

an acknowledged judge, declared, "That all the merit she acquired in the modulation of her tones, was, from Rowe reading his own tragedies."

THOMSON.

He read so badly, and with such a broad Scotch accent, that he, latterly, never attempted it, but to divert the company. One of the players was obliged to read his two Tragedies of "Agamemnon" and "Sophonisba."

CONGREVE.

Southern says of Congreve,

"That when he

brought a comedy of his own to the players, he read it so wretchedly ill, that they were on the point of rejecting it, till one of them goodnaturedly took it out of his hands, and read it, when they were so fully persuaded of the excellence, that, for half a year before it was acted, he had the privilege of the House."

ADDISON.

On the first reading of his "Cato," in the Green-Room, he succeeded so ill, that he would not attempt it a second time. He, therefore,

consigned that task to Cibber, who acquitted himself so much better than the author, that the latter requested he would perform the part of Cato. But Cibber knew his own talents too well for this, and he yielded the part very judiciously to Booth.

ISAAC BICKERSTAFF

recited in a voice so thick, and a manner so seemingly embarrassed, as rendered him not only incapable of giving variety to his tones, but, at times, scarcely intelligible. In reading his Comedy of ""Tis Well it's no Worse," since cut down to the Farce of "The Pannel," to a small circle of friends, he laid most of them asleep, though just after partaking of the hospitalities of his table.

DR. GOLDSMITH

read so slovenly, and with such an Irish brogue, that it was sometimes difficult to distinguish his poetry from his prose. He was sensible of this himself, and used to say, "I leave the reading of my pieces, and the punctuation of them, to the players and the printers, for, in truth, I know little of either."

EPITAPHS ON WOLFE.

ON the death of General Wolfe, a premium was offered for the best written epitaph on that brave officer. A number of poets of all descriptions started as candidates; and, among the rest, was a poem sent to the Editor of the "Public Ledger," of which the following was one of the stanzas:

"He march'd without dread or fears

At the head of his bold grenadiers;

And what was more remarkable-nay, very particular, He climbed up rocks that were perpendicular."

MILTON'S PORTRAIT.

GRANGER says, that Marshal's Portrait of Milton was the first print of him ever published; and Salmasius, in his "Defensio Regia," says, it gave him a more advantageous idea of his person than he ever had before. Milton himself, however, had a very different opinion of it, as may be gathered from the following translation of some Greek verses which he wrote under a copy of the portrait: "Will any one say that this portrait was the work of an ingenious hand? My very friends, looking at my own natural