"Now God be thanked that our laird's come hame; On the foreground, in the view prefixed, Symon is reprefented as having come up the burn from his dwelling, oppofite to Glaud's, below the Craigy Bield, to fee Hab on his arrival, and reft himself at the bottom of the turn with the turf feat upon it, liftening to Halbert's ftories, who had left his family and hut, on the eminence, to meet him. At the beginning of this dialogue, there feems to be a reference to the after perfecution of the prefbyterians; and in the progrefs of it, the two old fhepherds appear intimately acquainted with the hiftory of the civil wars, and the circumstances attending the refloration. This is perfectly confiftent with the fituations the poet is believed to have had in his eye for their dwellings, and the information he doubtlefs found the inhabitants really poffeffed of, from the tranfactions in their neighbourhood. Glaud's cottage, where the dialogue is fuppofed to have been carried on, ftands at the foot of Monk's Burn, and at the head of Monk's Haugh, both of which, according to the popular account, were named from the General it celebrates; and Symon "came o'er the burn," from his habitation fouthward on the other fide of the Efk, "to tell" his neighbour the glad tidings he had got in town, and from little more than a gun-fhot north of the Harbour Craig, with its "hidlings on the heather braes." In this converfation, however, congruity is not equally preferved throughout. Ramfay fhows little acquaintance with the life of Monk, or Scotch affairs, before the restoration, or must have forgot himself, when he makes the hiftories of Montrofe, Cromwell, and the Rump Parliament, familiar to the tenants, and in the fame breath, Sy mon fpeaks of "ane ca'd Monk,” as "o'er "País this afternoon with glee and game "And drink (their) mafter's health and Indignor, quandoque bonus dormitat Ho- merus, um. The rapturous manner in which the fhepherds and their families exprefs their attachment to Sir William, and their exultation at his return; the eagerness of Glaud to know what Halbert faid, and his fond reflection as to both of them, They have been e'en a dreary time away," befpeak a feudal affection, a warmth of heart, and a degree of benevolence, purity, and innocence, judicioufly fuited to fuch a distance from the metropolis, as to place them without the fphere of its selfishness and depravity. The impatience of the one fhepherd to hear, and the importance with which the other communicates "a' the news in town," imply infrequency of intercourfe, and fuch a degree of remoteness, as to render the journey of fome confequence. And, And, as fhall be more particularly noticed in defcribing Glaud's houfe, even the fpecies of fuel affigned them, is fuch as to mark the diftance of their habitations from the capital, and to fix them to the fpots, which in every refpect are fo accurately defcribed. At the beginning of the paftoral, the scenes are laid "some few miles from Edinburgh; and in order to fhew it was farther off than "My heart's e'en rais'd!-Dear nibours, will ye ftay Is fuch uncorrupted conftancy and On the other fide of it, Dr Alexander Pennecuick, formerly of New Hall, refided, and is faid to have affifted the author in forming his plot, when he was the guest of Mr Forbes, the fucceffor of the one and the friend of the other. Even the use of the sled, which had given way to wheeled carriages in the vicinity of the metropolis, is a circumftance in point in fettling the positions of the scen ery. If one might indulge a wifh, as to any alteration in this exquifite transcript from nature, it would be, that inftead of keeping Hab behind the fcenes, as Symon's prompter, he had been introduced, to give the welcome intelligence in perfon, and also an account of the adventures of his master and himself, whilt abroad, from the time of their flight till their happy return. He might have affifted the knight in masquerade," and raised his dignity, by attending him afterwards among his old friends. His new ha bits would have had a ftriking effect, contrafted with theirs. His import ance, precifion, and military language; his jumble of mutilated, foreign words and accents, from affectation and fo long an abfence, might have been characteristic and humor ous; and the introduction of this steady veteran and traveller, with his mafter, among the wondering fhepherds, might have added to the perfpicuity, heightened the interest, and increased the entertainment arifing from the piece, if drawn, like them, from nature, and fupported with art. (To be continued, with a View of the entrance into HABBY'S HOW.) THE HISTORY OF KNOWLEDGE, LEARNING, AND TASTE, IN GREAT BRITAIN, DURING THE REIGN OF CHARLES II. (Concluded from last vol. p. 411.) EDMUND WALLER was born in ther was. Robert Waller, Efq. and Herefordshire, 1605. His fa- his mother daughter of John HampEd. Mag. Jan. 1802. den den, and fifter to the celebrated patriot of that name. His father died while an infant, and left him a yearly income of 3,500l. He was educated at Eton, and removed afterward to Cambridge. Waller's political and poetical life began nearly together. He was fent to parliament in his eighteenth year, and at the fame time wrote the poem which appears first in his works, "On the Prince's Efcape at St Andero;" a piece which justifies the obfervation made by one of his editors, "that he attained, by a felicity like instinct, a ftyle which will never be obfolete: and were we to judge only by the wording, we could not know what was wrote at twenty, and what at fourscore." By the perufal of Fairfax's tranflation of Taffo, (to which he confeffes himself indebted for the fmoothness of his numbers) and by his own nicety of obfervation, he had then formed fuch a fyftem of metrical harmony as he never afterward much needed, or endeavoured to improve. Denham corrected his numbers by experience, and gained ground upon the ruggedness of the age; but what was acquired by Denham was inherited by Waller. Waller was not one of thofe idolaters of fame who cultivate their minds at the expence of their fortunes: rich as he was by birth, he took care early to grow richer by marrying Mrs Banks, a great heirefs in the city. At her death, which was foon, he fixed his heart ambitioufly on the Lady Dorothea Sidney, daughter of the Farl of Leicester, whom he courted by all the poetry in which Sachariffa is celebrated. This high-born dame afforded wit no opportunity of boaft ing its influence; unfubdued by his verfe, the rejected his addreffes with difdain. When he had loft all hopes, he looked round for an eafier conqueft, and gained a lady of the family of Breffe, of whom nothing is recorded but that he brought him many children. His uncommon qualifica. tions recommended him to the moit illuftrious fcholars and flatesmen ; and during the long interval of parliament he is reprefented as living among thofe with whom it was most honourable to converfe, and enjoying an exuberant fortune with that independence and liberty of speech which wealth ought always to produce. He was confidered however as the kinfman of Hampden, and therefore fuppofed by the courtiers not to favour them. When the parliament was called in 1640, it appeared that Waller's political character had not been much mistaken: the king's demand of a fupply produced one of those noify fpeeches which difaffection and difcontent regularly dictate; a fpeech filled with hyperbolical complaints of imaginary grievances. He then proceed. ed to rail at the clergy, being fure, at that time, of a favourable audience. His topic is fuch as will always ferve its purpofe-an accufation of preaching only for preferment; and he exhorts the commons to provide for their protection against pulpit law. The fpecch is vehement; but the great pofition, that grievances ought to be redreffed before fupplies are granted, is agreeable enough to law and reafon: nor was Waller fuch an enemy to the king as not to wish his diftreffes lightened. In the long parliament, Waller was confidered as a man fufficiently truly and acrimonious, by the discontented party, to be employed in managing the profecution of judge Crawley, for his opinion in favour of fhip.money; and he did not difappoint their expectations. He was not, however, a bigot to his party, nor did he adopt all their opinions. When the great question, whether episcopacy ought to be abolished? was debated, he spoke againft the innovation fo coolly, fo reafonably, and fo firmly, that it is not without great injury to his name that his fpeech was omitted in his works; works; and it is much to be lament ed, that he who could plead in so able a manner in a right caufe, had not acted throughout with fpirit and uniformity. The engagement, known by the name of Waller's plot, was foon afterward difcovered. Waller had a brother-in-law, Tomkins, who was clerk of the queen's council; and at the fame time had great influence in the city. Waller and he, converfing with great confidence, told their own fecrets, and thofe of their friends; and, furveying the wide extent of their acquaintance, imagined they had found, in the majority of all ranks, great difapprobation of the violence of the commons and unwillingness to continue the war. They knew that many favoured the king, whofe fear concealed their loyalty; and many defired peace, though they durft not oppofe the clamour; and they fuppofed, that if thefe could be informed of their own ftrength, and enabled to at together, they might overpower the fury of fedition, refufe the taxes levied for the rebel army, and, by uniting in a petition for peace, restore the king, and fave the country. Lord Conway joined in their defign, which chiefly was, to bring the loyal inhabitants to the knowledge of each other. It is the opinion of Clarendon, that no violence or fanguinary refistance was intended only to abate the confidence of the rebels by public declarations, and to weaken their power by an oppofition to new fupplies. About this time another plot was formed by Sir Nicholas Crifpe, a man whose loyalty has tranfmitted his name to pofterity:-flattering himself that fome opportunity would encourage the king's friends to break out in open refiftance to the commons, and then would only want a lawful ftandard, and authorized commanders, he extorted from the king a commiflion of array, directed to fuch as he thought proper to nominate. This commiffion, which could only be intended to lie ready till the occafion fhould require it, was an act preparatory to hoftility; and Crifpe would undoubtedly have put an end to the feffion of parliament, had his ftrength been equal to his zeal. Out of the design of Crifpe, and that of Waller, which was an act purely civil, the commons compounded a horrid and dreadful plot: guards were fent to apprehend Tomkins and Waller, the laft of whom was fo confounded with fear, that he confeffed whatever he had heard, feen, faid, or thought; all that he knew of himself, and all that he fufpected of others, without concealing any perfon, of any degree or quality whatfoever, or any difcourfe which he had npon any occafion entertained with them. He accufed the Earl of Portland and Lord Conway as co-operating in the tran faction; and teftified that the Earl of Northumberland had declared himself favourable to any attempt which might check the violence of the parliament, and reconcile them to the king. Tomkins partook of his cowardice, for he gave notice of Crifpe's commission of array: and Pym was fent to tell the citizens of their happy efcape. Their defign was, to feize the Lord-Mayor and all the committee of militia, and deliver the parliament and city into the hands of the cavaliers. Waller immerfed himfelf ftill deeper in ignominy. The Earl of Portland and Lord Conway denied the charge; and there was no evidence against them but the confeffion of Waller, who endeavoured to perfuade Portland to a declaration like his own; but it had little effect upon his ftronger mind: and the lords ordered them, to be confronted together, when the one repeated his charge, and the other his denial; and no tellimony but Waller's appearing, Portland and Conway were admitted, after a long imprifonment, to bail. The Earl of Northumberland was too great for profecution; and Tomkins was hanged near his own door. Wal Jer, though confeffedly the moft guilty, with incredible diffimulation, (fays Clarendon) affected fuch remorfe, that his trial was put off out of Chriftian compaffion, till he might recover his understanding. What ufe he made of this interval, with what liberality and fuccefs he diftributed flattery and money, and how he confeffed and lamented when he was brought before the houfe, may be read in the Hiftory of the Rebellion, book vii. The fpeech to which Clarendon afcribes the prefervation of his dear-bought life is inferted in his works. After a year's imprisonment, in which time refentment grew lefs acrimonious, by paying a fine of 10,cool. he was permitted to recollect himself in another country. Of his behaviour, in this part of life, it is not neceffary to direct an opinion. "Let us not," fays his ingenious biographer, "condemn him with untempted feverity, becaufe he was not a prodigy which the world hath feldom feen; because his character included not the poet, the orator, and the hero." He chofe France for the place of his exile, and lived with great fplendour and hofpitality at Pais; amufing himfelf with poetry, in which he fpeaks of rebels (of whom he had fo obfequioufly begged his life) with the vehemence of a loyal ift. Of Cromwell, now protector, he folicited permiffion to return to England; and obtained it through the in tereft of his fifter, married to colonel Scroop. Cromwell received him as his kinfman, and he repaid his favour by the famous panegyric which has always been confidered as the firft of his poetical productions. His choice of encomiaftic topics is very judicious; for he regards Cromwell in his exaltation, without inquiring how he attained it; confequently there is no mention of the rebel or the regicide; nothing is brought to view but "the defender of England's glory, and the enlarger of her dominion." The poem on his death feems to have been dietated by real veneration for his memory. Soon afterward the restoration fupplied him with another fubject; and he exerted his imagination, his elegance, and his melody, with equal alacrity for Charles II. It is not poffible to read, without indignation and contempt, poems of the fame author, afcribing the highest degree of power and piety to Charles I.; then transferring the same power and piety to Oliver Cromwell; now inviting Oliver to take the crown, and then congratulating Charles II. on recovering his right. Neither could value his testimony as the effect of conviction, or receive his praises as the effufions of reverence; they could confider them but as the labour of invention, and the tribute of dependence. Poets indeed prefer fiction; but the legitimate end of fiction is the confequence of truth; and he that has flattery ready for all whom the viciffitndes of the world happen to exalt, must be fcorned as a prostituted mind, which may retain the glitter of wit, but has loft the dignity of virtue. The account of Waller's parliamentary eloquence is attefted by Burnet, who calls him "the delight of the houfe;" but adds, "he was only concerned to fay (that which should make him be applauded) he never laid the bufinefs of the house to heart, being a vain and empty, though a.. witty man." Clarendon, to whom he was familiarly known, records, "that he appeared in thefe affemblies with great advantage, having a graceful way of fpeaking; and, by thinking much on feveral arguments, he seemed to fpeak upon the fudden, when the occafion had only administered the opportunity, which gave a high luftre to what he faid, which yet was rather of delight than weight. There needs no more be faid to extol the excellence and power of his wit, and pleafantnefs |