Garrick Plays. No. II. [From the "Parliament of Bees," a Masque, by John Day, printed 1607. Whether this singular production, in which the Characters are all Bees, was ever acted, I have no information to determine. It is at least as capable of representation, as we can conceive the "Birds" of Aristophanes to have been.] Ulania, a female Bee, confesses her passion for Meletus, who loves Arethusa. -not a village Fly, nor meadow Bee, And (like my champions) mann'd me out, and home: Has humm'd sweet Canzons, both in verse and prose, Yet in his full invention quick and ripe, Upon a woodbine blossom in the sun, (Our hive being clean-swept, and our day's work doɔɔ), Would play me twenty several tunes; yet I Nor minded Astrophel, nor his melody. Then there's Amniter, for whose love fair Leade (That pretty Bee) flies up and down the mead With rivers in her eyes; without deserving Sent me trim Acorn bowls of his own carving, To drink May dews and mead in. Yet none of these, My hive-born Playfellows and fellow Bees, Could I affect, until this strange Bee came; And him I love with such an ardent flame, Discretion cannot quench. He labours and toils, Extracts more honey out of barren soils Lose half the Swarm than him. If a Bee, poor or weak, A wing or leg against a twig; alive, Prettily pilfered from the sweet passage in the Midsummer Night's Dream, where Helena recounts to Hermia their school-days' friendship: We, Hermia, like two artificial Gods, Betwixt the Wasps and us; the wind grew high, And a rough storm raged so impetuously, Our Bees could scarce keep wing; then fell such rain, It made our Colony forsake the plain, And fly to garrison: yet still He stood, And 'gainst the whole swarm made his party good; With his sharp sting. To Arethusa's fame I have seen him write such amorous moving lines In Arethusa's praise, as my poor heart Porrex, Vice Roy of Bees under King Oberon, describes his large prerogative. To Us (who, warranted by Oberon's love, Biographical Memoranda. JOHN SCOT, A FASTING FANATIC. In the year 1539, there lived in Scotland one John Scot, no way commended for his learning, for he had none, nor for his good qualities, which were as few. This man, being overthrown in a suit of law, and knowing himself unable to pay that wherein he was adjudged, took sanctuary in the abbey of Holyrood-house; where, out of discontent, he abstained from all meat and drink, by the space of thirty or forty days together. Fame having spread this abroad, the king would have it put to trial, and to that effect shut him up in a private room within the castle of Edinburgh, whereunto no man had access. He caused a little water and bread to be set by him, which he was found not to have diminished in the end of thirty days and two. Upon this he was dismissed, and, after a short time, he went to Rome, where he gave the like proof of his fasting to pope Clement VII.; from whence he went to Venice, carrying with him a testimony of his long fasting under the pope's seal: and there also he gave the like proof thereof. After long time, returning into England, he went up into the pulpit in St. Paul's Church-yard, where he gave forth many speeches against the divorce of king Henry VIII. from his queen Katherine, inveighing bitterly against him for his defection from the see of Rome; whereupon he was thrust into prison, where he continued fasting for the space of fifty days: what his end was I read not.-Spotswood, &c. HART THE ASTROLOGER. There lived in Houndsditch, about the year 1632, one Alexander Hart, who had been a soldier formerly, a comely old man, of good aspect, he professed questionary astrology and a little of physic; his greatest skill was to elect young gentlemen fit times to play at dice, that they might win or get money. Lilly relates that "he went unto him for resolutions for three questions at several times, and he erred in every one." He says, that to speak soberly of him he was but a cheat, as appeared suddenly after; for a rustical fellow of the city, desirous of knowledge, contracted with Hart, to assist for a conference with a spirit, and paid him twenty pounds of thirty pounds the contract. At last, after many delays, and no spirit appearing, nor money returned, the young man indicted him for a cheat at the Old Bailey in London. The jury found the bill, and at the hearing of the cause this jest happened: some of the bench inquired what Hart did?" He sat like an alderman in his gown," quoth the fellow; at which the court fell into a laughter, most of the court being aldermen. He was to have been set upon the pillory for this cheat; but John Taylor the water poet being his great friend, got the lord chief justice Richardson to bail him, ere he stood upon the pillory, and so Hart fled presently into Holland, where he ended his days.* Autobiography. vol. ii. Lilly's Life. REV. THOMAS COOKE. The verses at the end of the following letter may excuse the insertion of a query, which would otherwise be out of place in a publication not designed to be a channel of inquiry. To the Editor. Sir, I should feel much obliged, if the Table Book can supply some account of a clergyman of the name of Thomas Cooke, who, it is supposed, resided in Shropshire, and was the author of a very beautiful poem, in folio, (published by subscription, about ninety years since,) entitled "The Immortality of the Soul." I have a very imperfect copy of this work, and am de sirous of ascertaining, from any of your multifarious readers, whether or not the poem ever became public, and where it is probable I could obtain a glimpse of a perfect impression. Mine has no title-page, and about one moiety of the work has been destroyed by the sacrilegious hands of some worthless animal on two legs! The list of subscribers plainly proves that Mr. Cooke must have been a man of good family, and exalted conections. On one of the blank leaves in my copy, the following lines appear, written by Mr. Cooke himself; and, considering the trammels by which he was confined, I think the verses are not without merit; at any rate, the subject of them appears to have been a beautiful creature. By giving this article a place in the Table Book, you will much oblige Your subscriber and admirer, G. J. D. Islington-green. AN ACROSTIC On a most beautiful and accomplished young Lady. London, 1748. Meekness-good-humour-each transcendent grace, Can aught compare successfully with those Go where I may, howe'er remote the elime, ike some enchantment shall my soul enthrall- A ad teach my tongue on this fond pray'r to dwell, Varieties. CURIOUS PLAY BILL. The following remarkable theatrical announcement is a mixed appeal of vanity and poverty to the taste and feelings of the inhabitants of a town in Sussex. (Copy.) At the old theatre in East Grinstead, on Saturday, May, 1758, will be represented (by particular desire, and for the benefit of Mrs. P.) the deep and affecting Tragedy of Theodosius, or the Force of Love, with magnificent scenes, dresses, &c. Varanes, by Mr. P., who will strive, as far as possible, to support the character of this fiery Persian Prince, in which he was so much admired and applauded at Hastings, Arundel, Petworth, Midworth, Lewes, &c. Theodosius, by a young gentleman from the University of Oxford, who never appeared on any stage. Athenais, by Mrs. P. Though her present condition will not permit her to wait on gentlemen and ladies out of the town with tickets, she hopes, as on former occasions, for their liberality and support. Nothing in Italy can exceed the altar, in the first scene of the play. Nevertheless, should any of the Nobility or Gentry wish to see it ornamented with flowers, the bearer will bring away as many as they choose to favour him with. As the coronation of Athenais, to be introduced in the fifth act, contains a number of personages, more than sufficient to fill all the dressing-rooms, &c., it is hoped no gentlemen and ladies will be offended at being refused admission behind the scenes. N. B. The great yard dog, that made so much noise on Thursday night, during the last act of King Richard the Third, will be sent to a neighbour's over the way; and on account of the prodigious demand for places, part of the stable will be laid into the boxes on one side, and the granary be open for the same purpose on the other. Vivat Rex.* Boaden's Life of Mrs. Siddons. Ir's NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND At Chester, in the beginning of the year 1790, a reputable farmer, on the evening of a market-day, called at the shop of Mr. Poole, bookseller, and, desiring to speak with him at the door, put a shilling into his hand, telling him, "he had owed it to him many years." The latter asked, for what? To which the farmer replied, that "When a boy, in buying a book-almanac at his shop, he had stolen another-the reflection of which had frequently given him much uneasiness." If any one who sees this ever wronged his neighbour, let him be encouraged by the courage of the farmer of Chester, to make reparation in like manner, and so make clean his conscience. CONSCIENCE. -There is no power in holy men, Would make a hell of heaven-can exorcise Byron. EPITAPH BY DR. LowтH, late bishop of Dear as thou didst in modest worth excel, INSCRIPTION From the book at Rigi, in Switzerland. Sulky and grim went we. Seven sleepless hours we past, and then, A goose-herd in the fen-lands; next, he Be-doctor'd Norfolk cows; much vext, he Turn'd bookseller, and poetaster, And was a tolerable master Of title-pages, but his rhymes Were shocking, at the best of times. However, he was very honest, And now, poor fellow, he is--" non est." For the Table Book. WILLIAM HALL, or as he used to style himself, "Antiquarian Hall," "Will. Willbe-so," and "Low-Fen-Bill-Hall," or, as .e was more generally termed by the public, "Old Hall," died at Lynn, in Norfolk, on the 24th of January, 1825. From some curious autobiographical sketches in rhyme, published by himself, in the decline of life, it appears that he was born on June 1, O. S. 1748, at Willow Booth, a small island in the fens of Lincolnshire, near Heckington Ease, in the parish of South Kyme. "Kyme, God knows, Where no corn grows, Nothing but a little hay; And the water comes, And takes it all away." His ancestors on the father's side were all "fen slodgers," having lived there for many generations; his mother was --"a half Yorkshire The other half was Heckington, Vulgar a place as and one."" "overstretching took a slip, And popp'd beneath a merchant's ship;* Nor could I call for one or other." She, however, at the hazard of her own life, succeeded in saving her son's. At eleven years old, he went to school, in Brothertoft chapel, for about six months, in which time he derived all the education he ever received. His love of reading was so great, that as soon as he could manage a gunningboat, he used to employ his Sundays either in seeking for water-birds' eggs, or to "shouve the boat A catching fish, to make a groat, Before he arrived at man's estate, he lost his mother, and soon afterwards his father A coal-lighter. married again. Wil.. himself, on arriving at man's estate, married "Suke Holmes,' and became a "gozzard," or gooseherd; that is, a keeper and breeder of geese, for which the fens were, at that time, famous throughout the kingdom, supplying the London markets with fowls, and the warehouses with feathers and quills. In these parts, the small feathers are plucked from the live geese five times a year, at Lady-tide, Midsummer, Lammas, Michaelmas, and Martinmas, and the larger feathers and quills are pulled twice. Goslings even are not spared, for it is thought that early plucking tends to increase the succeeding feathers. It is said that the mere plucking hurts the fowl very little, as the owners are careful not to pull until the feathers are ripe those plucked after the geese are dead, are affirmed not to be so good. The number of geese kept by Will. must have been very great, for his "brood geese," alone, required five coombs of corn for daily consumption. : The inundations to which the fens were then liable, from breaches, or overflowing of the banks, overwhelmed him with difficulties, and ruined his prospects. "The poor old geese away were floated, After many vicissitudes and changes of residence, he settled at Marshland, in Norfolk, where his wife practised phlebotomy and midwifery, while he officiated as an auctioneeer, cowleech, &c. &c. Indeed he appeared to have been almost bred to the doctoring profession, for his own mother was "a good cow-doctor, And always doctor'd all her own, Being cowleech both in flesh and bone." His mother-in-law was no less skilful, for in Will.'s words She in live stock had took her care, And of recipes had ample share, Which I retain unto this day." His father-in-law was an equally eminent practitioner; when, says Will., "I married Sukey Holmes, her father Will. tells of a remarkable and surprising accident, which closed his career as a cow.eech. "The rheumatism, (dreadful charm, So violent throbb'd, that without stroke I never dare attempt it more." Thus disqualified, he removed to Lynn, and opening a shop in Ferry-street, commenced his operations as a purchaser and vender of old books, odds and ends, and old articles of various descriptions; from whence he obtained the popular appellation of "Old Hall." On a board over the door, he designated this shop the Antiquarian Library," and thus quaintly announced his establishment to the public: "In Lynn, Ferry-street, He would turn out somewhat the wiser." He had great opportunity to indulge in "Bibliomania," for he acquired an extensive collection of scarce, curious, and valuable books, and became, in fact, the only dealer in "old literature at Lynn. He versified on almost every occasion that seemed opportune for giving himself and his verses publicity; and, in one of his rhyming advertisements, he alphabetised the names of ancient and modern authors, by way of catalogue. In addition to his bookselling business, he continued to practise as an auctioneer. He regularly kept a book-stall, &c. in Lynn Tuesday-market, from whence he occasionally knocked down his articles to the best bidder; and he announced his sales in his usual whimsical style. His hand-bill, on one of these occasions, runs thus: LYNN, 19th SEPTEMBER, 1810. AN AUCTION, At the stall That's occupied by WILLIAM HALL So best way is to come and see; |