well-brushed hat, seemingly very unhappy lest he should lose a spaniel that was following them; and a little girl of twelve or thirteen, who was devouring, with laudable diligence, a huge brioche which she had just bought. The second of these personages, addressing himself to the shoeblack and coco-merchant, exclaimed, “I say-quel est le cheming à Vivienne Street?" In answer to which they severally interjected "Comment?" and "Plait-il, Monsieur?" looking up to him with a vacant astonishment, when I came forward and informed him that he was then at the beginning of the Rue Vivienne. A loud whistle, and the cry of Carlo! Carlo!" were my thanks: the party, after proceeding a little way down the street, turned into a milliner's shop, and, as the rain began to increase to a smart shower, I followed them in, well knowing the courtesy of the Parisian shopkeepers upon these occasions. Taking a chair by the door, I overheard my country folks at the other end proceeding to purchase a bonnet, in which treaty the young lady, on the strength of having learnt French for several years at a Chelsea boarding-school, was put forward as principal negotiator. Of the poor girl's accent I can only say that it was worthy the French, which she began as follows:-"Nous besoinons, s'il vous plait, un bonnet."-This word unfortunately signifies a cap, several of which the marchande des modes proceeded to place before them, ejaculating at the same time— "Comme elle parle bien François! c'est étonnant! Mais, voyez donc Zoe, Celestine, Hippolyte, voyez comme elle a bonne mine!" and "Comme elle est gentille !" was echoed by the smiling demoiselles aforesaid. By pointing to some bonnets in the window, the young lady, whose name I found was Harriet, explained the object of their visit, observing at the same time that it was excessively stupid of the woman, for of course" bonnet" must mean bonnet; and, declaring that, in her opinion, the Parisians in general spoke very bad French, not at all like Mrs. Harrison at Chelsea. Carlo, meanwhile, was whisking about among the young ladies, who in various tones and attitudes of mincing terror exclaimed, "Est-il sage ?""They want to know if he is wise, Papa," said the daughter." Wise! no; what the deuce, do they take him for Munito ?" Miss Harriet gave them a negative reply, when their consternation expressed itself by simultaneous exclamations of "Eh Dieu! il n'est pas sage!-va-t-en !—ôtestoi de-lá !—O Ciel!” and "Mêchante béte !" until a whistle from his master brought him crouching to his feet, and relieved them from their apprehensions. The young interpreter now returned a bonnet which had been pressed upon their acceptance, with the observation-" Maman dit que çeçi n'est pas un bon un," and would have added that she wanted one lined with pink, but declared her ignorance of the French for "lined" and "pink;" whereat her father expressed some indignation, observing that it was a dead take-in of Mrs. Harrison to make him pay so much for French, and he always paid her bills regularly, when the child knew no more of it than the Pope of Rome. Signs-that cheap and convenient language which one may learn without Mrs. Harrison— supplied the defect, and the marchande produced a bonnet "doublé en couleur de rose," exclaiming, "Ah! celui-ci vous siéra bien," and pretending to be in raptures as she tried it on, she ejaculated, "Voyez, done, Anastasie, Cassandre, Flavie, Hortense, comme ça va bien à Madame :" VOL. VI. No. 32.-1823. 19 when the demoiselles respectively interjected, "C'est gentil-c'est joli -c'est charmant-c'est distingué !" This was decisive, the bonnet was selected, the husband put his purse upon the counter, and at the same moment Carlo, rising on his hind legs, as if to overlook the settlement, deposited his front paws on two pieces of white satin, leaving upon each a large sample of the black liquid mud collected in the kennels of the Rue Vivienne. Fresh exclamations were occasioned by this accident, and Miss Harriet was made to understand, with some difficulty, that it was necessary to take a yard of each piece. "Combien l'aune ?" inquired the father, who had accomplished that extent of French. "Monsieur, cette pièce se vend à sept francs, et celle-ci à neuf," which words she pronounced, as customary, sé and neú. "How much is that, Harriet?" "I'm sure I don't know, Papa; she says one piece is new."—" Well, well, we all know that, but how much is sé ?"—" Indeed, Papa, there is no such a number in Chambaud, nor Wanostrocht's Grammar, and they 've no right to invent words in that way." Papa shook his head, and began a new abuse of Mrs. Harrison; the marchande explained the price by uplifted fingers; the former objected to taking more than half an aune; Harriet exclaimed "Vous faut couper une demi ;" and, as I was in momentary apprehension of being appealed to by one or other of the parties, which I knew would entail a colloquy for which I had no time to spare, I made my bow of thanks, and hurried out of the shop, leaving the marchande des modes, Papa, Mamma, Miss Harriet, and Carlo, to settle the dispute in the best manner they could. H. SONNET FROM BENEDETTO DALL' UVA: In cui Cipro confide, in cui più spera? IN whom shall Cyprus hope, in whom confide, Her cry of desolation shall be pour'd, And led in chains before the Scythian horde Who sells be sorrowful-one equal fate, MEMOIRS OF HAYLEY.* In the general rush, which, within the last twenty years has been made into the literary market, by persons of every age, rank, and condition, men, women, and children, octogenarians and infants, lords and day-labourers, all eagerly exposing their wares to sale, the name of William Hayley, a great trader in his day, and whose credit stood exceedingly high, has been in considerable danger of being forgotten. The fashion of his goods is, indeed, that of the last century, and the public, always intent upon novelties, have of late years preferred manufactures from more modern hands. However, as Hayley was considered one of the most skilful workmen of his own times, this last specimen of his craft now before us may be regarded as a matter of interest and curiosity. To those persons who are attached to literary biography, and more especially to literary auto-biography, these volumes will afford much amusement. Education, habit, inclination, and fortune, all conspired to render Hayley a complete author. His existence was one round of reading and writing; he breathed in an atmosphere of books. He had no hopes, no wishes, no wants beyond literary eminence and literary ease. So deeply was he imbued with the quintessence of authorship, that every thing around him was tinctured with the same spirit. That his son should have repeated Pindar at the age of five, and should have become a poet before he was six, is not to be marvelled at; but that an ancient nurse should criticize the " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," would seem somewhat extraordinary, did we not remember that she resided under the roof of Hayley. The present Memoirs, then, are the faithful chronicle of an author's life, and as such are certainly highly curious. They contain no romantic adventures, no brilliant achievements, no wonderful accidents by land or sea, no surprising relation of political intrigues, and by some persons they may therefore be thought destitute of interest; but this is a mistake. Incidents like these would be strangely misplaced in the annals of an author. The only contest in which he engages, is "the battle of the books." His only travels are round his library. He mingles, it must be confessed, in politics, but they are those of Rome and of Athens. His biography is a history of his mind,-of his progress in his studies, of his connexion and friendship with men of similar habits and pursuits, and of his advancement and success in literary reputation. There is surely something better, and there ought to be something more interesting in this than in the hair-breadth escapes of the soldier or the traveller, Then we are admitted in some degree to inspect the mighty mysteries of author-craft; we see the mode (to be figurative once more) in which the commodities are prepared for the literary market, and we become acquainted with the bibliopolistic art. Moreover, by our familiarity with the corporeal man, we divest ourselves of a portion of that veneration and awe with which we are apt to * Memoirs of the Life and Writings of William Hayley, Esq., the friend and biographer of Cowper, written by Himself; with extracts from his private Correspondence and unpublished Poetry; and Memoirs of his Son, Thomas Alphonsa Hayley, the Young Sculptor. Edited by John Johnson, LL. D., Rector of Yaxham with Welborne in Norfolk, 2 vols, 4to. regard the abstract author;-but were we to enumerate the various pleasures and advantages of literary biography, we should consume all our ink, and, it may be, with it, our readers' patience. Hayley flourished at a period which some of our modern illuminati are apt to regard too lightly. In poetry, it is true, the standard of public taste is now considerably higher; but in almost every other branch of literature, there lived at that period many men whose names will be well and long remembered. Johnson and Garrick were passing away, but there was Gibbon as an historian, Warton as a critic, and Watson as a biblical scholar, who may certainly challenge a comparison with any succeeding names. Nay, in poetry itself, there was Cowper, whose excellences, notwithstanding the denunciation of my Lord Byron, are alone su ficient to rescue the age from the charge of poetical barrenness. With these, and with all the other "foremost men" of his time, Hayley was in habits of intimacy, and, in many cases, of correspondence. Of his friendship with Cowper, it is unnecessary to speak. To that friendship, the public owe their acquaintance with the character of that most amiable and admirable man; and to the same source Hayley is principally indebted for the additional share of reputation which he at present enjoys. For the information of such of our readers, who, inverting the rule observed at the Ancient Concerts, never open a book which has not been published within the present century, we shall trace a slight sketch of the Life of Hayley, which may serve to give some idea of his "Memoirs." He was born in 1745, and of his childhood he has left an account a little too minute and circumstantial.. His poetical propensities displayed themselves very early, and one of his first composition was "A voluntary Epistle to a young Lady, in Latin couplets." At the age of twelve, he was sent to Eton, where he remained six years-imbibed more than the usual share of Greek and Latin-wrote an Ode to Ingratitude, and received "a most severe whipping” for secretly visiting one of the London theatres. On leaving school, he paid a visit to his mother at Chichester, and here we would notice the very feeling and amiable manner in which the biographer expresses himself whenever he has occasion to mention this excellent parent, whose virtues indeed seem to have rendered her worthy of all filial love and reverence. It was now high time for Hayley to fall in love, which he accordingly did on the first opportunity. The object of his adoration was a young lady whom he denominates "the fair Frances of Watergate," and with whom there happened to him the following romantic love-passage." "When the young Frances and William had been a few days together, it happened that a thunder-storm surprised them in the groves mentioned above. The lady was constitutionally affected by the turbulent elements, and she actually fainted in the arms of William, an incident alluded to in the following impromptu of the young poct." Will the reader pardon the non-sequitur? We apprehend that this thunder-storm was ominous, for after a profusion of promises and poetry, vows and verses, the match was broken off in a very inexplicable manner. The worthy Divine, who has edited these Memoirs, has omitted a whole parcel of letters relating to this embroglio. We confess we thought this an hiatus valde deflendus. The occupations which employed the time of Hayley during his re sidence at college, and the friendships which he there formed, were such as might be expected from a person of his studious character and elegant taste. He devoted a portion of his time to improving himself in the art of drawing, reading Demosthenes until one o'clock in the morning, and "indulged his fancy on the probable occupations of the distant nymph" to whom he was attached. He appears at this time to have exercised his pen in poetical compositions with considerable assiduity. On leaving Cambridge, Hayley visited Scotland, and resided for a little time in Edinburgh. On his return to Chichester, the love-affair with the gentle Fanny terminated as we have mentioned above. He now began to think seriously of his prospects in life, for his fortune was by no means ample. At one period he had determined to pursue the law as a profession, and had even become a member of the Middle Temple; but the Muses triumphed over Themis, and Hayley became an author about the same time that he became a husband. His union with the Muse seems to have been more productive of happiness to him than his marriage with his mortal mistress, whose health and spirits were the victims of a nervous disorder. Determined to push his fortune in the literary world with vigour, Hayley visited the metropolis in the year 1769, and diligently applied himself to, dramatic composition. His tragedy of The Afflicted Father was offered to Garrick, who appears to have been unwilling to refuse it, but more unwilling to accept it. All the manœuvres of the manager were exerted to extricate him from this difficulty, which was not, however, effected without highly offending the dramatist, and more espe cially his young bride. The Syrian Queen met with no better fortune from Colman; and Hayley, tired of London and the theatres, returned to his paternal retreat at Eartham. Here he employed himself in various studies; composing poetical epistles to many of his friends, and throwing off copies of verses whenever he could find a fair occasion. In 1777, he produced his Epistle on Painting. So prolific was the poet's muse, that there was scarcely a single celebrated individual to whom he did not address some stanzas, which were frequently the means of his forming new intimacies and friendships. In this manner he became acquainted with the philanthropic Howard; and the Epistles on History, addressed to Gibbon, procured for their author the friendship of that illustrious historian. In 1781, The Triumphs of Temper, the most successful of all Hayley's works, made its appearance, and produced a most favourable impression upon the public. He became the popular poet of the day, and even the rough Chancellor Lord Thurlow sought his society. With Gibbon, who appears to have admired his poetry, he became very familiar. Encouraged by his new success, Hayley brought forward another tragedy in 1789, which was represented at Drury-lane and Covent-garden on the same evening. At the former it failed, but was received with tolerable favour at the latter theatre. Eudora, another tragedy, was withdrawn after the first night's representation. Hayley's talents were certainly any thing but dramatic. In 1792, he became acquainted with Cowper; but the public are sufficiently informed upon this part of his history. About this period he wrote his Life of Milton. Mrs. Hayley, who had been for some time separated from her husband in consequence of her peculiar state of health, died in 1797; and a few years afterwards the poet 8 s |