EUR. MED. 193-203. Voce aut fidibus pellere docuit; Τοῖος "Αρης βροτολοιγὸς ἐνὶ πτολέμοισι μέμηνε, Καὶ τοῖος Παφίην πλῆξεν ἔρωτι θεάν. The above is a version of a Latin epigram on the famous John duke of Marlborough, by the abbé Salvini, which is as follows: Haud alio vultu fremuit Mars acer in armis : Haud alio Cypriam percutit ore deam. The duke was, it seems, remarkably handsome in his person, to which the second line has reference. SEPTEM ÆTATES. PRIMA parit terras ætas ; siccatque secunda; a HIS Tempelmanni numeris descripseris orbem, y To the above lines, (which are unfinished, and can, therefore, be only offered as a fragment,) in the doctor's manuscript, are prefixed the words "Geographia Metrica." As we are referred, in the first of the verses, to Templeman, for having furnished the numerical computations that are the subject of them, his work has been, accordingly, consulted, the title of which is, a new Survey of the Globe; and which professes to give an accurate mensuration of all the empires, kingdoms, and other divisions thereof, in the square miles that they respectively contain. On comparison of the several numbers in these verses, with those set down by Templeman, it appears that nearly half of them are precisely the same; the rest are not quite so exactly done.-For the convenience of the reader, it has been thought right to subjoin each number, as it stands in Templeman's works, to that in Dr. Johnson's verses which refers to it. In this fist article that is versified, there is an accurate conformity in Dr. Johnson's number to Templeman's; who sets down the square miles of Palestine at 7,600. a The square miles of Egypt are, in Templeman, 140,700. b The whole Turkish empire, in Templeman, is computed at 960,057 square miles. In the four following articles, the numbers in Templeman and in Johnson's verses are alike.-We find, accordingly, the Morea, in Templeman, to be set down at 7,220 square miles.-Arabia, at 700,000.-Persia, at 800,000.-and Naples, at 22,000. d Sicily, in Templeman, is put down at 9,400. • The pope's dominions, at 14,868. f Tuscany, at 6,640. Genoa, in Templeman, as in Johnson likewise, is set down at 2,400. h Lucca, at 286. Ut dicas, spatiis quam latis imperet orbi Se quinquagenis octingentesima jungit Ter tria myriadi conjungit millia quartæ, Et quadragenis decades quinque addit Ierne'. Millia Belga novem. Ter sex centurias Hollandia jactat opima. Undecimum Camber vult septem millibus addi. * 193 TRANSLATION OF DRYDEN'S EPIGRAM ON MILTON. Quos laudat vates, Græcus, Romanus, et Anglus, Tres tria temporibus secla dedere suis. 1 The Russian empire, in the 29th plate of Templeman, is set down at 3,303,485 square miles. k Sardinia, in Templeman, as likewise in Johnson, 6,600. The habitable world, in Templeman, is ́computed, in square miles, at 30,666,806 square miles. m Asia, at 10,257,487. n Africa, at 8,506,208. Europe, at 2,749,349. P The British dominions, at 105,634. ¶ England, as likewise in Johnson's expression of the number, at 49,450. r Ireland, at 27,457. • In the three remaining instances, which make the whole that Dr. Johnson appears to have rendered into Latin verse, we find the numbers exactly agreeing with those of Templeman, who makes the square miles of the United Provinces, 9540-of the province of Holland, 1800-and of Wales, 7011. Sublime ingenium Græcus; Romanus habebat Quæ potuere duos tertius unus habet. EPILOGUE TO THE CARMEN SÆCULARE OF HORACE; QUE fausta Romæ dixit Horatius, SUCH strains as, mingled with the lyre, TRANSLATION OF A WELSH EPITAPH (IN HERBERT'S INCLYTUS hic hæres magni requiescit Oeni, Servilem tuti cultum contempsit agelli, Et petiit terras, per freta longa, novas. THE HISTORY OF RASSELAS, PRINCE OF ABISSINIA. PREFATORY OBSERVATIONS. THE following incomparable tale was published in 1759; and the early familiarity with eastern manners, which Johnson derived from his translation of father Lobo's travels into Abissinia, may be presumed to have led him to fix his opening scene in that country; while Rassela Christos, the general of sultan Sequed, mentioned in that work, may have suggested the name of his speculative prince. Rasselas was written in the evenings of a single week, and sent to the press, in portions, with the amiable view of defraying the funeral expenses of the author's aged mother, and discharging her few remaining debts. The sum, however, which he received for it, does not seem large, to those who know its subsequent popularity. None of his works has been more widely circulated; and the admiration, which it has attracted, in almost every country of Europe, proves, that, with all its depression and sadness, it does utter a voice, that meets with an assenting answer in the hearts of all who have tried life, and found its emptiness. Johnson's view of our lot on earth was always gloomy, and the circumstances, under which Rasselas was composed, were calculated to add a deepened tinge of melancholy to its speculations on human folly, misery, or malignity. Many of the subjects discussed, are known to have been those which had agitated Johnson's mind. Among them is the question, whether the departed ever revisit the places that knew them on earth, and how far they may take an interest in the welfare |