Show fitly how the pre-existent soul In which by sense and motion they may know, Wherefore the soul possess'd of matter meet, Can speak, can walk, and then dispear anon, Some heaving toward this strange activity All these declare the force of phantasie, But he that out of darkness giveth light, Up then, renowned wizard, hermit sage, There be six sort of sprites: Lelurion Is the first kind, the next are named from air; And worst, light-hating ghosts, more cruel far Cameleon-like they thus their colour change, And flaming brand, thou strike these shades in twain And truth he said, whatever he has told, Of leaping lamps, and of fierce flying stones, Which things much credence gain to past traditions. Wherefore with boldness we will now relate The walking skeleton in Bolonia, Laden with rattling chains, that show'd his grave In arctic climes an isle that Thule hight, And met departed, met with whom they've known, own. A world of wonders hither might be thrown In hot assault embroil'd in a long war; The seeds of hate by death so little slaked are. GEORGE ETHEREGE. [Born, 1636. Died, 1694?] George EthereGE first distinguished himself | knighthood, and, what was ill suited to his dissoamong the libertine wits of the age by his "Comical Revenge, or Love in a Tub." He afterwards gained a more deserved distinction in the comic drama by his "Man of Mode, or Sir Fopling Flutter," a character which has been the model of all succeeding stage petits-maitres. By his wit he obtained a rich widow and the title of lute habits, the appointment of plenipotentiary at Ratisbon. At that place he had occasion to give a convivial party to some friends, of whom George was politely taking his leave at the door of his house, but having drunk freely, he had the misfortune to conclude the entertainment by falling down stairs and breaking his neck. profession of an actor. The part which he performed was Duncan, in Sir William Davenant's alteration of Macbeth. He was completely unsuccessful. "Yet Lee," says Cibber, "was so MANY of the Bedlam witticisms of this unfortunate man have been recorded by those who can derive mirth from the most humiliating shape of human calamity. His rant and turgidity as a writer are proverbial; but those who have wit-pathetic a reader of his own scenes, that I have nessed justice done to the acting of his Theodosius must have felt that he had some powers in the pathetic. He was the son of a clergyman in Hertfordshire. He was bred at Westminster, under Dr. Busby, and became a scholar on the foundation at Trinity-college, Cambridge. From thence he came to London, and attempted the been informed by an actor who was present, that [* The period of Lee's decease has not been hitherto ascertained. That he was buried in St. Clement's Danes was a clue to the period, and searching the Burial Register there the other day, for some assistance, we found the following entry: "6 April 1692, Nathaniell Lee a man bur."] while Lee was reading to Major Mohun, at a rehearsal, Mohun, in the warmth of his admiration, threw down his part, and said, 'Unless I were able to play it as well as you read it, to what purpose should I undertake it?' And yet," continues the laureate, "this very author, whose elocution raised such admiration in so capital an actor, when he attempted to be an actor himself, soon quitted the stage in an honest despair of ever making any profitable figure there." Failing in this object, he became a writer for the stage, and his first tragedy of "Nero," which came out in 1675, was favourably received. In the nine subsequent years of his life he produced as many plays of his own, and assisted Dryden in two; at the end of which period an hereditary taint of madness, aggravated by habits of dissipation, obliged him to be consigned for four years to the receptacle at Bethlem. He recovered the use of his faculties so far as to compose two pieces, the Princess of Cleves, and the Massacre of Paris; but with all the profits of his invention his circumstances were so reduced that a weekly stipend of ten shillings was his principal support towards the close of his life, and to the last he was not free from occasional derangement. FROM "THEODOSIUS, OR THE FORCE OF LOVE." The characters in the following scenes are Varanes, a Persian prince, who comes to visit the Emperor Theodosius; Aranthes, his confidant; Leontine, the prince's tutor; and Athenais, daughter of that philosopher, with whom Varanes is in love. Her father Leontine, jealous for his daughter's honour, brings his royal pupil to an explanation respecting his designs towards Athenais; and Varanes, in a moment of rash pride, at the instigation of Aranthes, spurns at the idea of marrying the philosopher's daughter and sharing with her the throne of Cyrus. Athenais however is seen by the Emperor Theodosius, who himself offers her his hand. The repentance of Varanes for her loss, and the despair of Athenais, form the catastrophe of the tragedy. Leon. So, Athenais; now our compliment To the young Persian prince is at an end; What then remains, but that we take our leave, And bid him everlastingly farewell? Athen. My lord! Leon. I say, that decency requires We should be gone, nor can you stay with honour. Leon. The court is now at peace, Athen. Ah, sir, why will you break my heart? Thou art the only comfort of my age; Athen. Because you are so good, and will, I hope, Forgive my fault, who first occasioned it. [prince. Leon. I charged thee to receive and hear the Athen. You did, and, oh, my lord! I heard too Too much, I fear, for my eternal quiet. [much! Leon. Rise, Athenais! Credit him who bears More years than thou: Varanes has deceived thee. Athen. How do we differ then! You judge the prince Impiousand base; while I take Heaven to witness, If thou art false, there's no such thing on earth Leon. That day he'll make thee mistress of his power, Which carries a foul name among the vulgar. Borne a pale corpse, and gently laid in earth, Athen. O horrid supposition! how I detest it, |