ancient writers, may be inferred from the number of authors who wrote of them, previous to the time of Plutarch. The Aufidus, the Tiber, and the Po, have been celebrated by Horace, Virgil, and Ovid; Callimachus immortalized the beautiful waters of the Inachus; and while the Arno, the Mincio, and the Tagus, boast their Petrarch, Boccacio, and Camoëns; the Severn, the Ouse, and the Trent, the Avon, the Derwent, and the Dee, have been distinguished by the praises of many an elegant and accomplished poet. Who is not charmed with Spenser's Marriage of the Thames and the Medway?" And what personifications in Ovid or Hesiod are more beautiful than the "Sabrina" of Milton and the "Ladona" of Pope?

On the banks of Ilyssus, Plato taught his system of Philosophy; and on the shores of the Rocnabad, a river flowing near the Chapel of Mosella, the poets and philosophers of Shiraz composed their most celebrated works. Ossian is never weary of comparing rivers to heroes; and so enamoured were Du Bartas and Drayton of river scenery, that the one wrote a poetical catalogue of those which were the most celebrated, and the other composed a voluminous

work upon their history, topography, and landscapes. On the borders of the Cam, Milton enjoyed the happiest moments of his life.This Poet enumerates all the principal rivers in England, and gives to them their appropriate epithets, in a poem, which has been imitated by Drummond of Hawthornden..

"Rivers, arise! whether thou be the son

Of utmost Tweed, or Ouse, or gulphy Dun;

Of Trent, who, like some earth-born giant, spreads
His thirsty arms along th' indented meads;
Or sullen Mole, that runneth underneath,
Or Severn swift, guilty of maiden's death;
Of rocky Avon, or of sedgy Lee,

Or coaly Tyne, or ancient hallowed Dee;

Or Humber loud, that keeps the Scythian's name,
Or Medway smooth, or royal-tower'd Thame."

Not only rivers, but fountains, have been held sacred by almost every nation, and equally are they beloved by the Poets. Who has not perused with pleasure Sannazaro's "Ode to the Fountain of Mergillini;" Petrarch's Address to that of Vaucluse; and Horace's "Ode to the Fountain of Blandusium," situated among rocks, and surrounded with woods?

GAY'S "BEGGARS' OPERA," &c.

GAY got, altogether, about sixteen hundred pounds by the "Beggars' Opera." This play caused considerable bustle. In the year 1773, Sir John Fielding told the bench of Justices, that he had written to Mr. Garrick, concerning the impropriety of performing the "Beggars' Opera," which never was represented on the stage, without creating an additional number of thieves; and they particularly requested that he would desist from performing that opera on a Saturday evening.

Such, also, were the fears of the Church, as to the effect of this play, that Dr. Herring, then Archbishop of Canterbury, preached a sermon against it:-but Dean Swift wrote (as might be guessed) in favour of it in the "Intelligencer!" We learn, from Boswell's "Life of Johnson," that Mr. Courtney, in his lively way, called Gay (the author of it) "The Orpheus of Highwaymen." That ingenious Critic, Mr. Hazlitt, thinks" it is a vulgar error to call this a vulgar play: so far from it, that we (Mr. Hazlitt) do not scruple to declare our opinion,

that it is one of the most refined productions in the language."-(Round Table, vol. i., p. 209.) The quarrel-scene between Peachum and Lockit was a burlesque imitation of that between Brutus and Cassius.

While on the subject of the "Beggars' Opera," perhaps the reader will excuse our presenting a real Macheath.

On the 23d of March, 1761, was executed, at Oxford, Isaac Dark, alias Dumas, for a robbery near Nettlebed, in Oxfordshire. He was respectably bred, but unfortunately turned out a good fellow, a spirited dog, nobody's enemy but his own. He sung his song well, told a good story, was apt at a sentiment, drank freely, so that, at the clubs of the day-who but he? The ladies, of course, occupied his attention; and he became so great a favourite, that he soon took to the road, to consolidate his ascendancy-for he was very generous. In 1758, however, he was cast for death, at Chelmsford Assizes; but, on account of his youth, the sentence was commuted to fourteen years' transportation.

While he lay in gaol, a scheme was formed by the prisoners to escape, by murdering the

keeper; but he divulged the plot, and received a pardon, provided he went to Antigua. There he found soldiering so disagreeable, that, by bribery and address, he escaped, and, arriving in England, begun his new campaigns on the Bath road. Having replenished his purse, he entered as a midshipman on board the Royal George; and now and then, upon leave of absence, levied contributions as usual; one of which was upon Lord Perceval, for which he was taken up, but acquitted. While confined in Salisbury Gaol, he was frequently visited by ladies of the highest character and respectability, on whom he made such a sensible impression, by his genteel address and captivating manners, as to become the tea-table chat of that town. Immediately after his acquittal at the Assizes, he received the following: