When, lo! his honest mem'ry did refuse To be the herald of a spurious mufe; Therefore, to speak the prologue to the play (Which, in like cafes, is the ufual way), His tender confcience wifely did decline, Because he had forgotten every line. And great his indignation was, and great his rage, When forc'd to read it from the prompter's page. Then follow'd Benfley, who began to pray, Hoping his orifons might fave the play; But finding all hope vain, like a wife wight, He went to bed, and wifh'd the house good night, And, in his fleep, chofe rather to be flain, Than in the second act to wake again!

CANTO II.

Kemble next grac'd the ftage, who well, I ween,
May fairly boaft,
To be bimfelf an hoft

Upon the tragic scene;

Nor on his manly form, before that night,
Had royal robes e'er aukward fat, or tight.
"Hyperion's locks-the front of Jove," and fo
To do him juftice, we fhould go on.

But this one needed not to tell,

Because all know it paffing well.

on,

Upon the ftage, and off, Tom King, the world can tell,
Hath often play'd the fool, and always well;
Nor e'et before had prov'd to be himself
So damn'd a fool, and fuch a fenfeless elf,
As thus to risk his talents and his fame,
And prostitute the fanction of his name,
To foift a part upon the partial town,
Which Merry Andrews would have blush'd to own!
Kemble the young, in well-feign'd earnest, spoke,
What he himself confider'd as a joke,

Grave as a judge, till paft his fixtieth year,
When symptoms of a finile gan to appear,

And

416 ON THE REPRESENTATION OF VORTIGERN.

And when he stuck Probofcis Phillimore,
He "fet" himself and audience in a roar;"
Nor caufe for wonder was there, as I ween
A merrier murder ne'er before was feen.

Jordan, like Benfley, with great pathos, pray'dAnd look'd-and figh’d--and fung--like any love-fick maidi And, truth to fay,

Full much the play

Did ftand in need of all fuch fing-fong aid.
But yet, (bowe'er array'd in blank verfe tears)
When Jordan in the tragic field appears,
'Tis ftill Thalia, in Melpom's fad part;
And, tho' fhe does not go-quite-to the heart,
She comes fo devilish near it, that our eyes
At once confefs our feeling and furprize.
But all the town can tell,

When coblers are abroad, how Nell
Forces pit, box, and galleries to adore her,
Storms John Bull's heart, and carries all before her.
Then, Jordan, be advis'd, nor e'er again,
Walk in your tragic fifter's weeping train,
And, 'ftead of of whining in a tragic court,
"Ecod"-get drunk with conj'rors-that's your fort!"

CANTO III..

Your beauty, Powell, and majestic mien,
Full well befit the perfon of a queen;
And you did look your fufferings fo well,
Fell critics ceas'd a while their damning yell,
In filence on thy lovely form to gaze,
And mute attention was the best of praise;
Calm'd was the troubled pit-the galleries too
All clamour ceas'd, except-applauding you.
Next fpeak we of the furious brothers two,
Tall Barrymore, and taller Caulfield) who,
With duty, and their damn'd long legs, did come
To Scotland, at a hop, step, jump, from Rome;
Prepar'd alike to murder-
-or to wed---
To kill a king--or feek a!

Miller perform'd with so much winning art,
And Benfon play'd fo well his pimping part,
That I defy all Drury's bawdy lane,
Aye, and all Covent Garden's lewd domain,
And every tavern, brothel, bagnio, stew,
(Each, in their way,) to find a fitter two;
And, if Dad Hengift, and the Saxon mifs,
Be not both satisfied with praife like this,
They muft the most unreasonable be
Of all old panders he,-of pretty harlots fhe!
Of portly British barons there were plenty,
Not fewer, I believe, than twenty;

Right beefy barons all-good men and round,.
Whole folid worth (wholefale, or by the pound,)
Would, in no fcale, I think, be wanting found;
And if together weigh'd against a team,
Waggon, broad wheels and all, would kick the beam;
Unless, by chance, a copy of the play,

Should in the bottom of faid waggon lay!
Before the critic's front row of the pit,
Methought Jack Bannister did, chuckling, fit,
Chin deep i' th' orchestra, and seem'd to say,
"If laughing be the order of the day,
"Damn me, I think, I should be in the play,"
And now we'll, (con amore) ípeak,

Though laft, not leaft, of little cherub Leak,
With laughing eyes, and rofey-dimpling cheek.
With lips (although the fimile's not new,)
"Like ripeft cherries moift with dew;"
And teeth more paffing white,
More dazzling to the fight,

Than fpotlefs fnow-drops newly-born,
Bright glittering in the eye of radiant morn.
Whenever, and wherever the appears,
Her fweet fimplicity and youthful years,
Her looks, her manner, and becoming fears,
Enchant all hearts, and charm all eyes and ears.
Her voice, far fweeter than all things on earth,
Except the breath itfelf that gives it birth!

STARVING

I

SRARVING STATE OF FRANCE.

A LETTER FROM AN ENGLISH GENTLEMAN IN PARIS.

SIR,

HAVE often expreffed my surprise at the ignorance betrayed in the London newspapers, when they pretend to give accounts of the state of affairs here. You may be affured, my dear Sir, that we are far from being in the flourishing fituation they are pleased to reprefent. For fix weeks paft, Paris has been one undivided and uninterrupted scene of famine, which exceeds any thing of the kind ever heard of, and if Paris has been so, you may form a judgment of the unhappy ftate of the other parts of the kingdom.

* This and the following article were written in ridicule of a number of paragraphs, which appeared in the Sun, True Briton, &c. and of which the following will ferve as a specimen.

Monday." The people of Paris are almost eating their laft cruft; they are extremely clamorous at the fhops of the bakers, grocers, &c. and nothing but the fear of the guillotine could poffibly restrain them."

Tuesday." -"The popularity of Robespierre, and the reft of the curfed Convention, is daily declining; the people are now beginning to see how much they are imposed upon by these tyrants.” Wednesday.-" "Such is the weak state of the French armies, and the increafing force of the allies, that hardly any circumstance which can arife will prevent the latter being at Paris before the end of the campaign.

Thursday." It is now pofitively faid, that the Royalists in La Vendee are fhewing themfelves with increasing formidability. A body of 10,000 Republicans was cut to pieces by them a few days ago, and 10,000 more are faid to have joined the standard of Royalty."

Friday.- "A report is current, which is generally credited, as it comes from the most refpectable authority, that Robespierre was affaffinated in his bed, at fifteen minutes and a half past five on Monday morning laft; that the other members of the Convention were afterwards massacred-the people mounted the white cockade, proclaimed the dauphin King, and a counter-revolution was completely effected."

Saturday." We are extremely forry to fay that the late accounts, fo confidently told, of the fucceffes of the Royalists in La Vendee—the affaffination of Robespierre-and the bringing about a counter-revolution, are at present rather premature :—We hope, however, in the course of a few days to have it in our power to present the public with a full confirmation of these important events."

It has, in particular, been faid, that our bread was made of chopped ftraw or hay. Alas! nothing of that kind have I been able to procure; the beft bread now to be had is made of rotten beams of wood, rasped fine, and mixed with foap-lather. This is 200 livres per pound, and very scarce at that price. As to butcher's meat, before it disappeared totally, a pound of beef fold for an affignat of 500 livres, and I faw a diamond ring of great value given in exchange for a calf's pluck. About the fame time 200 livres were given for a fmall loin of lamb, and fome chopped horfe-hair, of which they made mint fauce.

Occafional variations, but very flight ones will take place, but the following is I believe, the average prices of our present markets, if I may call them fo. Dog's flesh, fifty livres a pound; cat's ditto, eighty livres; a good fized rat, thirty livres; a brace of mice, thirty livres; a feaman's biscuit fresh, 100 livres; ditte, with worms, fifty livres; milk per pint, forty livres; the few cows that yield it, are obliged to have a guard of 200 foldiers each for their protection; wine, the fmalleft fort, 300 livres a bottle. Poultry has long disappeared, but a crow fetches fifty livres; and a parrot, killed by accident, a few days ago, was fold for double that price.-[Telegraph.]

L'ALLEGRO.

A PARODY.

OFF, blubb'ring Melancholy!
Of the blue devils and book-learning born,
In dufty schools forlorn,

Amongst black gowns, fquare caps, and books unjolly,
Hunt out fome College cell,

Where muzzing quizzes utter monkish schemes-
And the old Proctor dreams:

There, in thy fmutty walls, o'er-run with dock,
As ragged as thy fmock,

With rufty, fufty, fellows ever dwell.

But