The inftances in which Mr. Warton has corrected the text are numerous. We fhall felect one note of this kind, as a ge neral specimen.

"And let fome ftrange myfterious dream

Wave at his wings in airy stream

Of lively portraiture difplay'd,
Softly on my eye-lids laid."

I do not exactly understand the whole of the context. İs the dream to wave at Sleep's wings? Doctor Newton will have wave to be a verb neuter and very justly, as the paffage now ftands. But let us ftrike out at, and make wave active.

"Let fome ftrange myfterious dream.
Wave his wings, in airy fream," &c.

"Let fome fantaftic Dream put the wings of Sleep in motion, which fhall be difplayed, or expanded, in an airy or foft ftream of vifionary imagery, gently falling or fettling on my eyelids." Or, bis may refer to Dream, and not to Sleep, with much the fame fenfe. In the mean time, fuppofing lively adverbial, as was now common, displayed will connect with pourtraiture, that is, "pourtraiture lively difplayed," with this fenfe, " wave his wings, in an airy ftream of rich pictures fo ftrongly displayed in vifion as to resemble real life." Or, if lively remain as an adjective, much in the fame fenfe, difplayed will fignify difplays ing itself. On the whole, we must not here feek for precife meanings of parts, but acquiefce in a general idea refulting from the whole, which I think is fufficiently feen. The expreffion on my eye-lids laid, is from Shakespeare, Midf. N. Dr. A. ii. S. i.

་

The juice of it " on fleeping eye-lids laid.”

In the fame ftrain, Fletcher in the Faithful Shepherdefs, A. ii. S. i. vol. iii. p. 126.

Sweetest flumbers

And foft filence, fall in numbers

On your eyelids."

And in the tragedy of Valentinian, in an addrefs to Sleep. A. 5. S. ii. vol. iv. p. 353.

"On this afflicted prince fall like a cloud

In gentle fhowers."

Nor muft I forget an exquifite paffage in Parad. Loft, b. iv. 614.

"The timely dew of fleep

Now falling with foft flumbrous weight, inclines
Our eye-lids.".

Where the language would infenfibly lull us afleep, did not the imagery keep us awake.

But for wildness, and perhaps force,

Y 2

of

of imagery, in expreffing the approach of fleep, Shakespeare exceeds all. Midf. N. Dr. A. iii. S. ii.

"Till o'er their brows death-counterfeiting sleep

With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep."

We have indeed chofen this note, to fuggeft an emendation which feems to restore order and clearness to the text.

"And let fome strange myfterious dream
Wave at his wings an airy ftream

Of lively portraiture difplay'd,
Softly on my eye-lids laid."

We were somewhat surprised at the note on the following line of Lycidas:

"Bring the rathe primrose that fo faken dies."

Mr. Warton feems unwilling to understand this line, or that paffage from Shakspeare, from whom it was certainly borrowed. The edition in 1638 reads unwedded,' and evidently betrays the origin of the image in the Winter's Tale. Shakfpeare was caught by the appearance of the pale colour, and it's fanciful coincidence with the malady most incident to maids,' confequently fuppofed the primrofe to die unmarried. Milton followed the image, but forgot, or did not choose to give the reafon. There is another oversight, in the interpretation of Shakspeare, in the following lines.

"There is an art which in their piedness shares
With great creating nature."

That is, fays Mr. Warton, there is an art which can produce flowers with as great a variety of colours as nature herfelf. In fact, Perdita is expreffing fome diflike to pied gilliflowers, because the fuppofes the variety of colour owing to art, while fhe is warm in her praises of nature. But we will not dwell on errors when there are fo many excellencies to deserve our notice; we fhall only remark farther, that Mr. Warton confounds the mummers with the waffailers. They both indeed are found in the Weft; but the mummers are a more harmless fpecies of dramatic performers, and not guilty of those irregularities which fometimes diftinguish the waffailers. The names are alfo confined to different countries. There are other errors, fome in the language, and others in the interpretation; but they are generally flight, and fometimes feem. to arife from hafte.

In fome instances Mr. Warton feems at a lofs. In the fol lowing line of Lycidas,

• He touched the tender flops of various quills.'

Mr.

Mr. Warton's note informed us, that the the ancient Syringa.

relates only to stops, and he has not quills' mean the feven unequal reeds of Again, in Comus, the editor observes, that it is not afcertained whether Milton's hæmony, the prefervative againft enchantments, was a real or poetical plant.' Hamiony is a name applied to two different European plants, viz. the 'Hucvoy of Theophraftus, the afplenium hemionitis. of Linnæus, refembling the harts-tongue, frequently called fpleen-wort. The other is the afplenium ceterach of Linnæus, more commonly called fpleen-wort. Thefe plants are often confounded, but diftinguished by the earliest Greek writers. They are fuppofed to be expectorants, but their power against enchantments we have found no foundation for, though we are ashamed to own, that we have spent fome time among rubbish of this kind to afcertain it. Perhaps this effect is traditional, and has not yet reached fyftems, or is found in those which we have not procured.

The notes are of two kinds, historical and explanatory. The principal historical note relates to Ludlow Castle, the fcene of Comus, and the earl of Bridgewater's family the principal actors of it.

Thomas Churchyard, in a poem called the Worthines of Wales, printed in 1587, has a chapter entitled "The Caftle of Ludloe." In one of the ftate-apartments, he mentions a fuperb efcocheon in ftone of the arms of prince Arthur; and an empalement of St. Andrew's crofs with prince Arthur's arms, painted in the windows of the hall. Ard in the hall and chambers, he fays, there was a variety of rich workmanfhip, fuitable to to magnificent a caftle. In it is a chapel, he adds, "moft trim and coftly, fo bravely wrought, fo fayre and finely framed, &c." About the walls of this chapel, were fumptuously painted "a great device, a worke moft riche and rare," the arms of many kings of England, and of the lords of the caitle, from fir Walter Lacie the first lord, &c. "The armes of al thefe afore fpoken of, are gallantly and cunningly fet out in that chapell.-Now is to be rehearsed, that fir Harry Sidney being lord prefident buylt twelve roomes in the fayd caftle, which goodly buildings doth fhewe a great beautie to the fame. He made alio a goodly wardrobe underneath the new parlor and repayred an old tower called Mortymer's Tower, to keepe the auncient recordes in the fame and he repayred a fayre roume under the court-hcafe, and made a great wall about the wood yard, and built a moft braue conduit within the inner court And all the newe buildings over the gate, fir Harry Sidney, in his dayes and government there, made and fet out, to the honour of the queene, and the glorie of the caftle. There are, in a goodly or ftately place, fet out my lorde earl of Warwick's arms, the earl of Darbie, the earl of Wor

× 3

Worcester, the earl of Pembroke, and fir Harry Sidney's armes in like manner; al these stand on the left fide of the [great] chamber. On the other fide, are the armes of Northwales and Southwales, two red lyons and two golden lyons [for] prince Arthur. At the end of the dyning chamber, there is a pretty device, how the hedge-hog broke his chayne, and came from Ireland to Ludloe. There is in the hall a great grate of iron, [a portcullis] of a huge height." fol. 79. In the hall, or one of the great chambers, Comus was acted. We are told by David Powell, the Welch hiftorian, that fir Henry Sidney, knight, made lord prefident of Wales, in 1564," repaired the cattle of Ludlowe, which is the cheefeft house within the Marches, being in great decaie, as the chapel, the court houfe, and a faire fountaine, &c. Alfo he erected diuers new buildings within the faid caftell, &c." Hift. of Cambria, edit. 1580. p. 401. 4to.'

At present these fplendid apartments, this scene of gaiety and gallantry, enlivened by Milton's Mufe in its early strength, are defolate. If the ruin were the effect of time, we should yield without a murmur to the general destroyer; but the defolation is anticipated by inattention. If materials are wanted for any trifling purpofe, the caftle is applied to; but, even within these few years, the hall, in which Comus was first performed, remained entire. Shakspeare and Milton have Joft many monuments of remembrance in our times; and, horrible to relate! they have been deftroyed by their own countrymen, to whom the poets do fo much honour.

Mr. Reed informed us of the probable origin of Comus, by the difcovery of a play, in which the general story and particular incidents are the fame. It was written by George Peele, and intitled, The Old Wife's Tale, from an artificial mode of introduction, at thofe times not uncommon. It is always pleafing to trace an idea from the bud, through its progreffive expanfions, till it delights us with the richness of it foliage, or the splendour of its flowers; nor is the borrower, who rifes above a copyift, difgraced by the examination. Mr. Warton has therefore obliged his readers, and added a leaf to the wreath of Milton, by fome account of this old play. We fhall infert a short fpecimen.

Among the

the many feats of magic in this play, a bride newly married gains a marriage portion by dipping a pitcher into a well. As the dips, there is a voice :

Faire maiden, white and red,

Combe me fmoothe, and ftroke my head,

And thou fhall haue fome cockell bread!

Gently dippe, but not too deepe,

For feare thou make the goulden beard to weepe!

• Faire

*

"Faire maiden, white and redde, Combe me smooth, and stroke my head;

And euery haire a fheaue fhall be,

comes up full of gold; fhe

And euery fheaue a goulden tree!" With this ftage-direction, "A head cor combes it into her lap."

In the notes on the Allegro and Penferofo, our commentator has pointed out Burton, who, in the Anatomie of Melancholy, was the predeceffor of Milton. Many marks of resemblance occur in the verfification and the images, but, as usual, our author foars with a bolder wing; and, though he can fcarcely give greater variety to the fubject, yet he describes the temper and the employments of the melancholy man, in a ftyle frequently original. After quoting fome of the introductory » verfes, Mr. Warton obferves,

As to the very elaborate work to which these visionary verfes are no unfuitable introduction, the writer's variety of learning, his quotation from fcarce and curious books, his pedantry fparkling with rude wit and fhapeless elegance, mifcellaneous matter, intermixture of agreeable tales and illuftrations, and perhaps, above all, the fingularities of his feelings, cloathed in an uncommon quaintnefs of ftyle, have contributed to ren der it, even to modern readers, a valuable repofitory of amusement and information.'

But Milton feems to have been more indebted to Burton than we at firft fufpect. The elder poet confines himself to melancholy, though, as he defcribes the different kinds of it, he comes very near to Milton's chearfulness. Dr. Johnson has properly remarked that, no mirth can be found in his melancholy; but I am afraid that I meet with fome melancholy in his mirth.' Even Mr. Warton owns, that Milton's is the dignity of mirth: his chearfulness is the chearfulness of gravity. Perhaps his Allegro is diftant both from mirth and chearfulness; he may be more properly ftyled ferene, or of a difpofition to be pleafed, rather than actually merry, and the defcription fcarcely differs from that of the PLEASING ME. LANCHOLY of Burton. }

When we contemplate the penfive philofophic caft of Milton's mind, and at the fame time reflect on the brilliancy of his imagination, and the force of his conceptions: when we fee thefe feemingly difcordant powers fo temper the whole, and prevent either from bearing an improper fway, we regret the circumftances which confined him to obfcurity, almost to poverty; which expofed the different parts of Paradife Loft to the mercy of every occafional vifitant, of every idle wanderer. Befides we may add, with Mr. Warton, that