Measure is a merry meane, In volewmes full or flat, There is no chapter nor no sceane DIONYSIUS, KING OF SICILY. DIONYSIUS THE ELDER, King of Sicily, possessed a passion for poetry. He contended for the prize at Athens, and, when he gained it, shewed more satisfaction than when victory crowned his arms in the field. On that occasion, he entertained the whole city with extraordinary magnificence, and spent an immense treasure in public feasts and banquets, which continued several days. In the midst of this rejoicing, he was seized with a disease, which terminated his life. MRS. PILKINGTON. MRS. PILKINGTON, whose poetical talents and frailties were, at one time of day, the alternate theme of praise and commiseration, tells us, in her Memoirs, that "from her earliest infancy she had a strong disposition to letters;" but, her eyes being weak, her mother would not permit her to look at a book, lest it should affect them. As she did not place so high a value, however, on those lucid orbs as her mother, and as restraint only served to quicken her natural thirst for knowledge, she availed herself of every opportunity that could gratify it; so that, at five years old, she could read, and even taste, the beauties of some of the best English Poets. She continued in this manner to improve her mind by stealth, till she had accomplished her twelfth year, when her brother, a little playful boy, brought her a slip of paper one day, and desired her to write something on it that would please him; on which she wrote the following lines: Oh, spotless paper, fair, and white! On thee by force constrain'd to write, The fairest servant of the Muse. Dear friend, to whom I oft impart The choicest secrets of my heart, How fair, how lovely, didst thou shew But now, alas! become my prey, That what destroy'd shall make thee live. GEORGE GASCOIGNE. "Chaucer by writing purchas'd fame, Then thither let good GASCOIGNE go, His THERE are several reasons for which Gascoigne claims a particular notice in a work illustrative of English Poetry and Poets. "Steele Glas" is one of the earliest specimens of blank verse, as well as of legitimate satire, in our language; his "Jocasta" is the second theatrical piece written in that measure; and his "Supposes," (a translation from the Italian of Ariosto,) the first comedy ever written in prose. Shakspeare's obligations to the latter piece, in his "Comedy of Errors," have been accurately stated by Warton and Farmer; they are not, however, very extensive. George Gascoigne was born of an ancient family in Essex, but, for some unknown reason, disinherited by his father. Having," says Anthony Wood, "a rambling and unfixed head, he left Gray's Inn, went to various cities in Holland, and became a soldier of note, which he afterwards professed as much, or more, as learning, and therefore made him take the motto, Tam Marti quam Mercurio. From thence he went to France and fell in love with a Scottish dame." The latter part of this account rests on very slight foundation; it is doubtful whether or no he went to France, and the story of the "Scottish Dame" relies only on some lines in his "Herbes," written, probably, in an assumed character. What is more certain is, that he took service in Holland, under the gallant William, Prince of Orange, who was then (in 1572) engaged in the glorious struggle which emancipated his country from the iron yoke of Spain. He there acquired considerable military reputation; but quarrelling with his Colonel, he repaired to Delf, where he resigned his commission into the hands of the Prince, who in vain endeavoured to reconcile his officers. About this period, a circumstance occurred which had nearly cost our poet his life. A lady at the Hague (then in possession of the enemy) with whom Gascoigne had been on intimate terms, had his portrait, (or his "counterfayt," as he calls it,) in her hands, and resolving to part with it to him alone, wrote a letter on the subject, which fell into the hands of his enemies in the camp, and from which they meant to have raised a report unfavourable to his fidelity. On its reaching his hands, however, Gascoigne immediately laid it before the Prince, who saw through their design, and gave him passports to visit the lady. The Burghers, however, watched his motions with malicious caution, and he was called in derision " the Green Knight." At the siege of Middleburg, he received from the prince a sum of 300 guilders in addition to his regular pay, with a promise of future promotion, for the zeal and fidelity which he displayed there. He was, however, soon after surprised by 3000 Spaniards, when commanding, under Captain Sheffield, 500 Englishmen lately landed, and retired in good order, at night, under the walls of Leyden; but the jealousy of the Dutch was then openly displayed by their refusing to open the gates, in consequence of which our military bard and his little |