publicans of his college, he was, with some others, ejected from the university, and went to St. John's college, Oxford. His attachment to the royal cause, added to his literary talents, introduced him to the favour of the great. He was intimate with lord Falkland, and engaged in the confidental service of the king. During the civil wars, he was settled in the duke of St. Alban's family, and was absent from England above 10 or 12 years; during which time he performed some very dangerous journies, to Jersey, Scotland, Flanders, Holland, and other places, while he conducted the correspondence between the king and his consort, and the various bodies of loyalists dispersed through the kingdom. In 1647 he published his "Mistress," consisting of amorous ef fusions to an ideal fair-one. Of these pieces it has been observed that they "have as little real love in them as if they were written on a system of logic; they are exercises of wit, which might have been composed by an academic or monk in a cloyster, who had never known the far sex but from books."-Dr. Aikin on English Poetry. In 1656, Cowley ventured to return into his native country, but he remained concealed. He was notwithstanding this caution arrested through mistake; yet after his examination, was put into confinement, from which he was not liberated, till doctor Scarborough gave bail in 10007. Soon after this period he published his poems, and took out a degree in physic at Oxford, tho' he never practised medicine as a profession. After Cromwell's death, he returned to France, and at the restoration he determined to retire to solitude and learned ease. This design was rendered practicable by the liberality of the duke of Buckingham and lord St. Alban, who gave him an estate, and the last 8 years of his life were spent in that secluded retirement for which he had long sighed. The plan to which he had been most partial was that of emigrating to America, but now he was enabled to retire from the “busy hum of men," to a rural abode at Barn Elms in Surry. The situation, however, proved damp and unhealthy. He then removed to Chertsey, but his constitution, previously weakened by a slow fever, was unable to resist a severe defluxion of the lungs, occasioned by a neglected cold, which hurried him off the stage of life, after a fortnight's confinement, on the 28th of July, 1667, aged 49. His funeral was sumptuously attended to Westminster Abbey, where his remains were deposited between those of Chaucer and his beloved Spencer. An edition of Cowley's works was published by doctor Spratt, afterwards bishop of Rochester, who prefixed to it an account of the author's life. Cowley's moral character, from this account, is excellent. He is represented by doctor Spratt as the most amiable of mankind; and "this posthumous praise may be safely credited," says Johnson, as it has never been contradicted by either envy or faction. He wrote with abundant fertility, but negligent or unskilful selection; with much thought, but with little imagery; he was never pathetic, and rarely sublime; but always either ingenious or learned, either acute or profound." Tho' many of Cowley's productions are by some esteemed scarcely worth a perusal, yet others esteem him, or, rather, esteem something that is in his genius and turn of mind, with a degree of sensibility that is very delightful. pleasant, easy manners, the enthusiasm of his imagi nation have many charms in them; and when he Hii speaks of rural life, and the retired enjoyment of nature, he carries his reader, without reluctance, into the scenes which he describes. Bishop Hurd published the "Select Works of Mr. A. Cowley, in two volumes, with a Preface and notes." Dr. Beattie has characterized Cowley in the following terms. "I know not whether any nation ever produced a more singular genius than Cowley. He abounds in tender thoughts, beautiful lines, and emphatical expressions. His wit is inexhaustible, and his learning extensive; but his taste is generally barbarous, and seems to have been formed upon such models as Donne, Martial, and the worst parts of Ovid: nor is it possible to read his longer poems with pleasure, while we retain any relish for the simplicity of ancient composition. If this author's ideas had been fewer, his conceits would have been less frequent; so that in one respect learning may be said to have hurt his genius. Yet it does not appear that Greek and Latin did him any harm; for his imitations of Anacreon are almost the only parts of him that are now remembered or read. His Davideis, and his translations of Pindar, are destitute of harmony, simplicity, and every other classical grace. Had his inclinations led him to a frequent perusal of the most elegant authors of antiquity, his poems would certainly have been the better for it." Dr. Beattie, in his last remark, is undoubtedly mistaken. It is evident from Mr. Cowley's writings, that no man could be more conversant with the most elegant authors of antiquity; but, notwithstanding this, he was led astray by the false taste of the age in which he flourished. UPON THE SHORTNESS OF MAN'S LIFE. Mark that swift arrow, how it cuts the air, Fool! 'tis thy life, and the fond archer thou. Our life is carry'd with too strong a tide, But his past life, who without grief can see, to outlive Nestor in a day. THE CHRONICLE. A BALLAD. Margarita first possess❜d, if I remember well, my breast, Margarita first of all; but when a while the wanton maid When fair Rebecca set me free, |