Seventh, AMPHIAREUS. He bore no figure on his shield. Eighth, POLYNICES. Διπλών τε σημα προσμεμηχανεύμενον. Δικη αρ είναι φησιν, ως τα γραμματα Viz, “ He bore a double impress, Justice leading a man in golden armour, with this motto: «Τ WILL BRING BACK THIS MAN AND HE SHALL POSSESS THE CITY, AND HIS PATERNAL MANSION." Potter, in his excellent translation of this play of “ The Seven Chiefs against Thebes," says in the . preface, "The shields of six of these chiefs are charged with armorial bearings expressive of their characters, and as regular, as if they had been marshalled by an herald at arms. "The origin of these insignia is not known, but we have here a proof of their high antiquity; they were borne as marks of noble descent, or illus The edition of Eschylus used is the German one of Schultz, 2 vols, 8vo, 1782. trious action, and as such, were of distinguishing honour: but should they, in the ambitious meanness of future times (this age is too pure to admit of such a prostitution), be assumed by such as are neither distinguished by high birth nor virtuous action, by such as owe their wealth to the wantonness of fortune, or to deeds that deserve a different kind of elevation, they must necessarily suffer great abatement of honour, and the proud achievements of virtue sink into common charges." "e e I take the opportunity of this note to mention a curious coat of more modern times; no less than that of Joan of Arc. These arms, Azure, a sword in pale, the point upwards, argent crossed and pommelled, Or, between two fleurs de lis, and surmounted of a crown, all of the third, were granted to her by Charles VII. in the year 1430, together with letters of nobility; and they were to descend in her family, even in the female line: but they were afterwards deprived of this privilege. I am not sure where I met with this circumstance, which is not mentioned by Moreri; but I think I extracted it from Jean de Serres, a respectable old French historian. Oct. 1, 1808. N° LV. On the Beneficence of Providence in bestowing a Sensibility to the Charms of Nature; and on the permanent Power of delighting possessed by Poetry, which describes them. It is probably for the most beneficent purposes that we are endued with a keen sensibility for the charms of Nature. Even now, when winter howls round us, and a damp and black gloom hovers over the lawn, and the brown leafless woods that skirt it, I look abroad from my retirement, and feel my anxieties gilded by a solemn kind of pleasure. Addison has a paper on this subject written with all that philosophical truth, that beauty of imagery, moral pathos, nice discrimination, and felicity of language, which render his essays inimitable. From the very earliest period of my life, almost every thing which has been of sufficient interest to make a lasting impression on my memory, has intermixed itself with some look of the sky, or the fields, or the woods; or some other image of Nature. I remember, though I have not power to describe, a hundred' aspects of the sun and the moon over the scenes of my nativity, as connected with some childish exploit, from the age of six, nay of four, years. And surely, as sensations of this kind are among the most pure and virtuous of our existence, we may be allowed to look back upon them with satisfaction and delight! The remark may be sufficiently obvious, but I cannot help here expressing it, that this habit of associating all his feelings and every event which he describes with natural scenery, is among the principal charms of the poetry of Burns. It almost always makes the opening of his love-songs; and generally even of his songs of war. For this we need look no further than the index, containing the first lines of his songs, in the fourth volume of Currie's edition of his works. And I will only specify two or three, which immediately cross my eye. "The Catrine woods were yellow seen; The flowers decay'd on Catrine lee ; Thro' faded groves Maria sáng, Hersel in beauty's bloom the while ; Fareweel the braes p' Ballockmyle." &c. Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes; "Behold the hour, the boat arrive; Thou goest, the darling of my heart; But fate has will'd, and we must part. Yon distant isle will often hail : There latest mark'd her vanish'd sail!" &c. "Evan Banks.. "Slow spreads the gloom my soul desires; The sun from India's shore retires : O streams, whose murmurs still I hear! All, all my hopes of bliss reside Where Evan mingles with the tide !" &c. This last is from Mr. Cromek's new volume of " Reliques of Burns," just published, by Cadel! and Davies, 8vo. But it is now ascertained to have been Miss Williams's; and not by Burns. |