2 Vaghe faville, angeliche, beatrici De la mia vita, ove il piacer s'accende ; Cosi vedess' io fiso Com' amor dolcemente gli governa! Sol un giorno d'apresso, Senza volgersi mai ruota superna; Ne pensassi d'altrui, ne di me stesso, E'l batter gli occhi miei non fosse spesso. 23. THE Great. The great have not been ill depicted in a work of the Abbé Régnier Desmarêts, who died in 1718, at the age of eighty-one. The piece contains this pretty metaphor: Ce sont des ballons, que le sort Pousse en l'air, ou plus ou moins fort, Et dont il joue à sa manière ; Des globes de savon et d'eau, Que pousse au bout d'un chalumeau D'un enfant l'haleine légère. Chaque globe est plus ou moins grand, Dulcis inexpertis cultura potentis amici, ...... Horatius, Lib. I. Epist. v. 18. 24. PAPAL FAMILIES. It is curious enough to consider how many families have been raised, strengthened, great All these families, except those which are marked with an asterisk, are still distinguished and powerful. The Colonna alone were very great noblemen before they had a pope of their name. The greatest part of the others whom I have mentioned in the list, owe their elevation and their riches to nepotism. 25. LE MÉCHANT, A COMEDY, BY GRESSET. I do not know any comedy which is better versified than the Méchant of Gresset. He particularly excels in his lively representations of the ridiculous. His picture of the city of Paris is admirable. Cléon, the hero of the piece, wishes to deceive Florise, who is afraid lest his taste for the capital should make him quit the country. He tells her : Paris! il m'ennuie à la mort; Et je ne vous fais pas un fort grand sacrifice Je suis tenté, parbleu, d'écrire mes mémoires; FLORISE. Cela sera délicieux. CLEON. Oh! fiez-vous à moi; je veux les célébrer Si bien, que de six mois ils n'osent se montrer. Un ridicule reste, et c'est ce qu'il leur faut. There are several passages of this sort in the comedy of the Méchant, and many of those verses are remembered and cited: such as, Les sots sont ici-bas pour nos menus plaisirs . ..... 26. A BLOW received patIENTLY AT ROME. I knew a nobleman of great rank at Rome, who, having received a blow in the street, |