So in hopes that the Poet, of whom I now prate,
May adopt in the future a style more sedate,
I close my critique, since, by pathos subdu'd,
That feeling with sternness shall not be imbu'd:
For I hold it fair maxim, when merit I scan,
To white-wash all foibles as much as I can. (g)

(g) Having already descanted upon Mr. Wordsworth's talents as a poet, in my annotations upon the present laureat, I conceive it altogether superfluous to dilate further upon the subject, except it be to assure the above gentleman that I grant him every praise, as a writer appealing to the heart. I have, myself, very frequently owned the potency of his spells, which if uncontaminated by foppish singularity of style would place him in the most envied situation as a sterling delineator of the pathetic.

Mrs. Henry Tighe.

Quem circumcursans hinc illinc sepe Cupido

Fulgebat crocina candidus in tunica.

Catullus.

While arch young Cupid round me flutt'ring flew,

In his rich mantle, deck'd of Tyrian hue.

THO' slumb'ring my Minstrel, and cold in the tomb,

Her ashes waft widely a fragrant perfume;
The genius of Tighe robing Psyche with grace,

And to Cupid assigning a rapturous race:

Here taste, fancy, reading, their requisites grant,

Which, combin'd, yield a theme that must always

enchant ;

For purity reigns with the faith of the dove,
And celestial perfection emblazons sweet Love.
Ye daughters of Eve, then, who feel inspiration,
To Psyche's sweet lays offer up an oblation;
Catch the fervor of Tighe, (h) and no satyrists rash
Dare attack ye: so swears now Sir Scribblecumdash;
Who trusts that his praise, while it tends wit to
flatter,

May check would-be writers, and thus prevent satire.

(h) So many ladies have written, and still continue to produce trash, that no praise offered at the shrine of feminine excellence should be deemed fulsome; since the panegyric may prompt such unfortunate essayists to consult the productions of the personage so extolled, from whose style they may perhaps be prompted to correct their own effusions, or, if endowed with sense, to discriminate their natural inability, discard the pen, and thus relinquish all literary claims for ever. Independently of the poem of Cupid and Psyche, the lady now under Sir Noodle's review produced numerous other short effusions, all of which are characterized by every requisite that could tend to adorn a fe male of the most refined taste and exquisite sensibility.

Clio Rickman.

Cedite. Romani scriptores, Cedite Graii.

Relinquish the palm, ye Greek and Roman writers: yield to a competitor who surpasses all your efforts.

As of dogg'rel and bathos one sample will do,
My friends, I'll escort Clio Rickman to view;
Whose oddities nothing on earth can surpass,
For they stamp him the head of a numerous class.
So the rest of his compeers, I now mean to quote,
Shall be tack'd to his tail in the form of a note.

This waster of ink, this defiler of paper,

Destroyer of pens, and of Grub Street true scraper;

G

This broomstick of rhymsters, by Folly full cramm'd;
This wit, by the sisters of Helicon d—mn'd;
Whose rhymes are so bad, he was never yet able
To serve as last sweeper in Pegasus' stable;
But claims, for thus proving to Folly so steady,
The station of groom to a lanky-ear'd Neddy. (i)

() As the mention of this long-eared beast brings to my recollection some curious facts, I shall here annex the same by way of a note, for the edification of those writers, who, like Mr. Clio, may be led to imagine that the world can be amused with Braying.

Ammonius Alexandrinus, the master of Origen, informs us of an ass that was a pattern of wisdom. Midas was honoured with the vast auricular appendages of this animal; and, in holy writ, Balaam's Ass, on the appearance of an angel, was gifted with speech. But in order to prove still further the honours conferred upon this creature, on quoting an English writer of two centuries back, in whose work the ass is made to speak, he thus expresseth himself.