I can only say, "Me-me adsum qui feci," that any proceedings directed against you, I beg may be transferred to me, who am willing, and ought to endure them all; that if you have lost money by the publication, I will refund any, or all, of the copyright; that I desire you will say, that both you and Mr. Gifford remonstrated against the publication, as also Mr. Hobhouse; that I alone occasioned it, and I alone am the person who either legally or otherwise should bear the burden. If they prosecute, I will come to England: that is, if by meeting it in my own person, I can save yours. me know, you sha'n't suffer for me, if I can help it. Make any use of this letter which you please.-Yours ever, BYRON. TO A LOG OF WOOD UPON THE FIRE. WHEN Horace, as the snows descended That Logs be doubled, Until a blazing fire arose, I wonder whether thoughts like those Poor Log! I cannot hear thee sigh, To let thee know it. Peeping from earth-a bud unveil'd, While infant winds around thee blew, Earth-water-air-thy growth prepared, Or if some nightingale impress'd And in the leafy nights of June Let Thou grew'st a goodly tree, with shoots That thou whom perching birds could swing, Thine offspring leaves-death's annual prey, In heaps, like graves, around thee blown, Bursting to life another race, At touch of Spring, in thy embrace Aloft, where wanton breezes play'd, How oft thy lofty summits won How oft in silent depths of night, "Twere vain to ask; for doom'd to fall, O'er thee impended : The hatchet, with remorseless blow, But not thine use-for moral rules, So when Death lays his axe to me, Like thine my latter end be found New Monthly Magazine. Cum fortis armatus, custodit atrium suum, etc. Si autem fortier eo THIS hero, after vanquishing his enemies and escaping the perils of war, meets at length with a foe he resists in vain. At a distance another death appears, beating a drum, and leading on a company of soldiers to battle. In the original cut, Death is more characteristically armed with a thigh-bone, instead of a dart. THE COUNTRY CURATE. I AGREE with you, any dear friend; the physician who devotes his days to lengthening those of his fellow creatures, [VOL. I. No. VI.] R "One the warrior who dies in defending his country, the advocate whose eloquence enforces justice, the writer whose genius does honour to his nation, have indefeasible rights to our esteem; but without pretending to fix the precise boundary to this sentiment, it is but natural to infer, that they are all stimulated by the hope of a worldly remuneration. Interest, ambition, and glory, are the incentives to their activity; deprive the physician and the advocate of their fees, propose to the soldier and the author no more than barren laurels, let fame drop her trumpet, and posterity renounce their gratitude, and you will then perhaps throw a damp on that ardent zeal which urges them forward in your service, that unbroken courage which enables them to triumph over death in the hope of immortality. "You think, then, that it is impossible to do a good action, for the mere pleasure which the doing of it affords.”does a favour from vanity, another from interest; the physician multiplies his visits to restore the health of a great lord, who is but slightly indisposed, and neglects the mechanic, who is dying in torture. The advocate measures the extent of his memory and the power of his eloquence, according to the means and the promises of his client. The soldier saves the life of his commander to day, and to-morrow solicits him for promotion. The usurer will lend to a man in power, from whom he never expects payment, but who will every where vaunt his liberality, the 1000l. which he refuses to a relation, who would have repaid him without saying a word. In this age, a good action is done for the highest price that can be got for it. So many people have made their fortunes by bad ones, that it is not at all astonishing people should be unwilling to do good ones for nothinga man does well only for his own sake, and ingratitude, which is always ready to jump at an excuse, has long vociferated this maxim, when a kindness done is but a matter of calculation, gratitude is mere weakness hypocrisy."" ог Such, or to such purpose, were the last sentences of a conversation, held the other day with an old friend, who is foolish enough to perplex himself about the motive, where he ought to be content with the result. It was in vain that I contested his opinion, that I recited examples, and adduced names; I could not convince him of the fallacy of his reasoning; he even went so far as to defy me to produce a man, whose conduct could challenge a scrutiny into the secret motives by which it was actuated. Jealous for the honour of my species, I had long sought through Paris for an instance which should make a convert of him, when I recollected that I possessed a relation in the country, who might probably conquer the prejudices of my friend against the human race. The neighbourhood of a capital savours more or less of the vices which hold their court there; corruption and the fine arts, intrigue and good breeding, ambi tion and taste, are not closely confined by the barriers. Some villages, however, escape the infection, and still possess a few obscure inhabitants, whose virtues have not been blasted by the curse of excessive civilization. I scarcely dared suggest my hopes to Darvis; (such was my friend's name) one can be sure of nothing, and my cousin, whom I had not seen for a long time, might have altered in disposition. Frequently it depends not on ourselves to retain that which we have laboured to acquire; and so few people confine their views to one object. I contented myself with inviting Darvis to pass the day with me, at the village of Ant, which he agreed to do, for want of better amusement. At seven in the morning, we started in a little carriage, intended to hold four, though not very conveniently, which though but two, our contact with each other was more forcible than pleasant. I remarked to my friend the civility of the driver, who, upon our representation that we were in a hurry, tormented both with words and whips a wretch of a horse, much too used to this species of discipline to suffer his pace to be greatly accelerated by it, and who consented to increase his speed only, when having passed the barrier, he found the vehicle contained but half its usual load. 1 relied upon this instance as somewhat in favour of my opinion, till Darvis stopped my mouth by reminding me of the trifle to drink, which the postillion would expect at the end of our journey, and which the good youth himself did not fail to remind me of, when we reached the parsonage. I had not told Darvis that my relation was a country curate, and he was pleased to hear it; no doubt in the expectation that his reverend profession would furnish him with fresh food for satire on the duplicity of human pretensions. The good old Monimia, who received us in her master's |