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Qua vero in medio tantæ pars maxima pompæ,
Votivæ portantur opes, aurumque tapetesque,
Ipsius dona Othmanidæ prætoria circum,
Densa magis glomerari acies, horrentibus hastis,
Tympanaque, et strepere assiduo resonantia pulsu
Æra; et vexillis fluitantibus intertexta,

Sanctum insigne, micant crescentis cornua Lunæ.
Vos, altæ O Solymarum arces! vos sæpe superbam
Conspicitis pompam vestra inter moenia duci.
Namque illos, spreto quantumvis Numine Christi,
Relligio tamen ista tenet; sanctosque verentur
Præteriisse locos temere, et juga celsa Sionis
Plena Deo quandam, et summo dilecta Jehova.
Mox ubi jam ulterius tendunt, jam mille laborum
Tædia perpessi, et discrimina tanta viarum;
Hic vero trepidant animis, ubi vasta sine ullo
Hospitio immensi pandunt sese æquora campi,
Foda situ informi, et congestis obruta arenis.
Illa ergo nec læta suo se gramine vestit;
Nec cultu, tellus, hominumque exercita curis,
Induit auratas, Cerealia munera, messes,
Aut viridem ramorum umbram; tam fervida cœli
Urit humum rabies, tanto impete tela diei
Lucida, perpetuumque jubar puro æthere fundit,
Arentesque siti torret sol igneus agros.

Infelix! quicunque istis se ignarus arenis
Credat, ubi infido, tanquam maria alta, tumultu
Fluctuat omne solum, et vestigia fallit euntis.
Præsertim magno incumbat si turbine ventus,
Pulvereamque trahat, miscens late omnia, nubem.
Volvitur illa alte coeli sublata per auras,
Et sæpe errantes confusa strage catervas
Obruit, ingentique premit sub mole sepultas.
Quin et sæpe illic trans æquora lata citatis
Fertur equis effrænus Arabs, aut cum alta soporem
Nox tulerit, prædæ cupidi rapiuntque feruntque
Castra virûm; aut sepsere vias, et euntibus ultro
Opposuere acies, atque aspera prælia miscent.

Ergo omnis properanda via est; nec si obvia forte Prodat se, tenui prorumpens gurgite lympha, Arboribus circum, et muscoso cespite cincta; Non tamen hic, licet herba virens invitet, et amnis Purus aqua, et gelidæ texant umbracula palmæ, Ullam audent trahere ante moram, confinia Mecca

Quam demum optata attigerint, metamque laborum.
Est locus aërii propter latera ardua montis,
(Bederam indigenæ dicunt) ubi prima movebat
Prælia, et ibat ovans primis Mahumeda triumphis.
Nunc etiam lustrare locum juvat, omniaque ultro
Facta referre Ducis, totamque ex ordine pugnam.
Quanta hostes coiere manu, quam tenue Prophetæ
Agmen erat; stetit ille tamen, nomenque verendum
Extulit, alta sonans, Allæ; tum, pulvere jacto,
Occupat adversos hostes, ac devovet Orco.
Tum vero et referunt, medio in certamine, qualis
Etheream prodens speciem, cœlestiaque arma,
Palantes ageret Gabriel magno impete turmas,
Et dira ultrici misceret prælia dextra.

Hinc primum ut turres, et sole micantia Mecca Culmina, delubrique vident fastigia summi; Solvunt se in lacrymas omnes, et quos sibi quisque Intus habet scelerum stimulos, culpæque nefandæ, Jam tacita sub mente dolent, vestesque nitentes Protenus, externæque adeo decora omnia formæ Projiciunt, et membra nigro velantur amictu. Tum pura purgantur aqua, et, de more, fluentem Cæsariem ferro minuunt; deinde agmine facto Incedunt; passim audiri suspiria ab imo Ducta sinu, et tunsis resonantia pectora palmis. Jamque adeo intrarunt urbem, temploque propinquant. Quinquaginta aditus illi, centumque columnæ Ex solido stant ære, illas argentea circum Volvitur, et nodis ambit capita alta catena. Tum rutila fulvo dependent lampades auro. Ipsa autem, tanta quanquam septa undique mole, Parva ipsa, et simplex, et nullo splendida luxu, Stat sacrata domus; sed quæ sibi nomen Abrami Vindicat, auctoremque Deum : nec sanctior ulla Relligio est, Mahumeda, tuis, nec quam magis isti In votum metuunt conceptis poscere verbis, Ambiguaque fide, et perjura fallere lingua.

Ergo ubi jam admissam excepit vasta area turbam, Dilectam venerantur humum, et ferventia figunt Oscula parietibus: tum summi in culmine tecti Obducunt nigros, solennia dona, tapetas. Ipse olim quales, antiqua ex urbe Damasci Misit Omar, quales, dum res et fata sinebant, Pollentes opibus Pharii misere tyranni,

Inclyta progenies Fatimæ ; nunc maximus ista
Jura habet Othmanides, solium magno omine firmans,
Et sanctum imperii pignus sibi vindicat uni.

Tum passim sternuntur humi, et ter voce vocantes
Alla, colunt; solus nutu qui temperat orbem,
Sincerumque Deum, purosque Unius honores.
Inde decus, Mahumeda, tuum, et tua carmine dicunt
Rite ministeria; ut lectum Deus ipse Prophetam
Per medios hostes, per tanta pericula belli
Sustulerit, demumque æterna in pace locarit.
Tu solus penetrare polum, et spatia ultima coli;
Tu super Angelicis cinctos custodibus orbes
Tendere iter potuisti, et puro in fonte lavari,
Et scelerum ad terras abluta labe remitti.
Tu quoque læta potes venturæ gaudia vitæ,
Coelorumque arces, sedesque aperire beatas.
Dulcis ibi requies, et molli stratus in herba
Somnus, et egelidis placidæ in convallibus umbræ ;
Alta domus, lautæque epulæ, et madentia fusis
Vina favis; trepido miscens ibi murmura lapsu
Lactea purpureos interstrepit unda lapillos.
Quin sese fidam, roseo suffusa pudore,
Accinget lateri comitem, amplexuque fovebit
Ambrosio, et teneros virgo spirabit amores.

Hæc adeo, hæc turpes tangentia præmia sensus
Pollicitus, stimulisque animos haud mollibus urgens,
Terrarum Mahumeda æqua plus parte triumphat.
Atqui non tali studio, nec ritibus istis,
Integra se jactat pietas; neque inania nobis
Tu, Christe, officia, et tantum cumulanda superbis
Muneribus templa, et steriles vano ordine pompas,
Mandasti! Tibi firma fides, Tibi criminis expers
Vita placet, puroque incoctum pectus honesto!
Ergo te, natumque Deo, soliique Paterni

Participem, humano commistum corpore Numen,
Te memores colimus! Tu nostram, Maxima, culpam
Victima, morte luis! Tu nobis, sanguine fuso,
Sola Salus, sola amissi Spes reddita cœli !

Ex ÆDE CHRISTI, 1789.

G. CANNING.

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So the struck eagle stretch'd upon the plain
No more through rolling clouds to soar again,
View'd his own feather on the fatal dart,

And wing'd the shaft that quiver'd in his heart,
Keen were his pangs, but keener far to feel
He nurs'd the pinion that impell'd the steel-
Whilst his own plumage which had warm'd his nest
Drank the last life-drop of his bleeding breast.

Idem Latine redditum.

SAUCIUS haud aliter campo prostratus aperto,
Non iterum ausurus volventes ire per umbras
Nimborum, regalis avis, si forte videret

Ipse suam pennam, quam gesserat ipse sub armo,
Ipse suam urgentem trepidum in præcordia ferrum.
Angor acerbus erat, multum heu! sed acerbior isto
Pluma quod ipsa eadem, quæ telo præbuit alam,
Et quæ natali fovit lanugine nidum,

Ultima vitaï exhausit stillantia corde.

R. TREVELYAN, A.M.

On Epistolary Formulas and Dedications.
"Litera scripta manet."

THE same principle, which has established laws for our conduct and behaviour, seems to have prescribed forms for our correspondence. Fallacy, as the schoolmen have decreed, lies in universals, for which reason we invariably find that regulations are not immutable; because, although instituted with a view to

general circumstances, there are peculiar ones in which their futility is apparent. Aristotle, while discoursing on the Predicaments, lays it down as a fixed principle, that doubts may be reasonably entertained of particulars:' one topic appears replete with anomalies, and as such, fit for investigation and reproof,I mean the formulas of epistolary intercourse, viz. superscriptions, commencements, and conclusions; the three distinguishing parts of a letter, which, although varying with times and manners, remain essentially unaltered: the fourth part, or letter itself, being more immediately subject to contingencies, must be dismissed, as a subject to which no invariable rules can be assigned.

The three sable Graces, Law, Physic, and Divinity, have severally established forms for their votaries. Conveyances and wills retain their original shape, because it is the legal one, and their validity would be questionable were any other employed: a prescription always did, and always will, consist of certain talismanic characters, backed by a signature: and a sermon must be composed of text and comment, or its nature is materially changed. This is perfectly in character, because the circumstances which prescribe those forms are invariable: a deed of gift is the same to all intents and purposes, as when wax and parchment first became symbols of security; a prescription of Latham or Marcet does not differ from one of Mead or Freind; and a sermon, whether intitled a lecture or exhortation, is employed to the same effect in a modern mahogany pulpit, as in the open conventicles of the Druids, or the more secret ones of the Magi. But Epistles have undergone alterations, and that they are yet capable of improvement may easily be shown.

No one can object to the retaining of distinct forms for friend and foe, for the distant and the familiar; but it is the application of these forms which must appear reprehensible. I have often felt, in perusing the letters of the dead, a most insuperable disgust at the terms in which they are couched, when compared with their real contents. One man shall address another with the accustomed "Dear Sir," and subscribe himself "Your humble servant," or some other modification of profession, while he invites "his former friend and future foe" to an exchange of bullets, drawing the flimsy mask of Honor over his blushes. Let the galled jade wince,-fools may rail against criticism and

"A man may rail in generals for a week,

Ask for particulars, he cannot speak."-Oxford Spy.

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