It was not in the battle; No tempest gave the shock ; His sword was in its sheath; Weigh the vessel up, Once dreaded by our foes! And mingle with our cup The tear that England owes. Her timbers yet are sound, And she may float again Full charged with England's thunder, But Kempenfelt is gone, His victories are o'er ; And he and his eight hundred Shall plough the wave no more. SIR WILLIAM JONES. BORN 1746-DIED 1794. IN common with the Hammonds and Dorsets of a past age, and the Darwins and Hayleys of the present one, Jones has written a good deal of smooth verse, and a few occasional stanzas possessing spirit and elegance. He was a most assiduous student, a prodigy indeed of "varying lore," and was particularly distinguished in oriental literature. In 1783 Jones was appointed a judge in Bengal, and in 1794 died at his post, of the dreadful disease of India-inflammation of the liver, which in his case was unusually rapid in its progress. A PERSIAN SONG OF HAFIZ. SWEET maid, if thou would'st charm my sight, Boy, let yon liquid ruby flow, O! when these fair perfidious maids, In vain with love our bosoms glow: Speak not of fate: ah! change the theme, Talk of the flowers that round us bloom : Beauty has such resistless power, But ah! sweet maid, my counsel hear What cruel answer have I heard! Go boldly forth, my simple lay, SAMUEL BISHOP. BORN 1731-DIED 1795. THIS amiable and clever man was in orders, and was long head-master of the Merchant Taylors' School. TO MRS BISHOP, ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF HER WEDDING-DAY, WHICH WAS "THEE, Mary, with this ring I wed"- If she, by merit since disclosed, Here then to-day, (with faith as sure, And why? They show me every hour, Honour's high thought, Affection's power, Discretion's deed, sound Judgment's sentence, And teach me all things-but repentance. ROBERT BURNS. BORN 1758-DIED 1796. THE leading circumstances of the life of Burns are so familiarly known to every class of readers, that it seems superfluous to go over them, unless in a manner very different from what can be attempted in this limited publication. His own eloquent and energetic letters, whenever his genuine feelings guided his pen, afford the truest insight into his manly, and, in many points, noble character as a man and a man of genius. His single letter to Dr Moore is one of the most precious morsels of autobio |