Which oft the nut-brown maid, Erithacis, The conclufion of the Idyll is in the true language of a defpairing lover ready to give up the ghost. My head grows giddy-love affects me fore, The cafe and fimplicity of these feveral paffages are difcernible by every reader. Thefe are the traits of the Sicilian mufe, and for thefe uncommon tokens of excellence have, her ftrains been uniformly diftinguished. We fhall clofe this brief sketch of THEOCRITUS in the words of the editors of the New Biographical Dictionary-" "His Paftorals, doubtlefs, ought to be confidered as the foundation of his credit; upon this claim he will be admitted for the finifher as well as the inventor of his art, and will be acknowledged to have exceeded all his imitators, as much as' originals ufually do their copics. He has the fame advantage in the paftoral, as Homer bad in the epic poefy; and that was to make the critics turn his practice into permanent rules, and to meafure nature herfelf by his accomplished model. THEOCRITUS writes in the Doric dialect, which was very proper for his shepherds." B 3 "His "His ruftic and paftoral mufe," fays Quintilian, "dreads not only the forum but even the city.' The critic, however, did not mean any reproach to THEOCRITUS, as fome have foolishly conftrued, for he was too good a judge of propriety. He knew that this did not hinder the poet from being admirable in his way, "admirabilis in fuo genere," as he exprefsly calls him in the fame sentence; nay, he knew that he could not have been admirable without this rufticity, and would certainly have thought very meanly of moft modern paftorals, where fhepherds and country louts hold infipid converfation with the affectation of delicacy and refinement." AN EXCURSION INTO THE WEST OF ENGLAND, DURING THE MONTH OF JULY, 1799. IN FOUR LETTERS TO A FRIEND. BY THE REV. JOHN EVANS, A. M. LETTER I. DEAR SIR, A GREEABLE to your request I fit down to give you a plain narrative of the incidents of my jour. ney into the Weft; at least I fhall notice those things which appear moft worthy of attention. Your never having vifited this part of Britain, will induce me to enter into a detail which, otherwife, might have been deemed unneceffary. Travelling, during the fummer feafon, has lately become a fashionable amusement. However laborious fuch excurfions may prove, yet, in our beloved island, its fcenery in general affords a rich repaft to the imagination. To the tourist, indeed, the Weft Weft of England has been long a fubject of panegyric, and justice demands from me the declaration, that my expectations were not disappointed. I beheld many of its views, and gazed upon many of its felect fpots" with admiration: "In England's happy ifle we fee difplay'd The charms of nature and the force of art, All that can please the eye or cheer the heart!" In this letter I shall include my route to Sidmouth, fpecifying the towns through which I paffed, and noticing what may be thought most remarkable refpecting them. I left London on Tuesday, July 9, in a poft-chaife, accompanied by an intelligent friend, who once refided in the Weft of England, and to whom, therefore, I am indebted for many pleafing articles of information. After paffing through the populous villages of Knightsbridge, Kenfington, Hammersmith, and Turnhamgreen, we came to Brentford, the county town for Middlefex. Here, therefore, elections are held, and this was, of course, the fpot where the turbulent bufinefs of John Wilkes was tranfacted. The town itself has been long famous for its length and filth, which Thomfon, in his Castle of Indolence, has thus humorously retorded: "Behold, through Brentford town, a town of mud, The filthy beafts that never chew the cud, Still grunt and fqueak, and fing their troub'lous fong, But And ay of barking dogs, the bitter throng Makes them renew their unmelodious moan, Ne never find they reft from their unresting fone." A little A little beyond Brentford, on the left, the entrance into the Duke of Northumberland's park, makes a magnificent appearance, adorned with a lion, fphinxes, and other fculptured embellishments. Sion Houfe, within the park, is not feen from the road. It is a plain antique ftructure, chiefly remarkable for its great gallery, which extends the whole length of the east front, over the arcades. There is also an immenfe quantity of old china vafes, of different forms and fizes, crowded together in almost every apartment; and the Pedigree picture here is one of the greatest curiofities of its kind in England, exhibiting the noble and royal connections of the Percies, all which are now united in the present Duchefs of Northumberland. On the right, before we entered Hounslow, is the feat of Sir Jofeph Banks; a neat manfion, with confiderable gardens, where curious plants are reared with great care and affiduity. The learned proprietor accompanied Captain Cook round the world, is now Prefident of the Royal Society, and has long been diftinguished for his extenfive refearches into every branch of knowledge connected with natural hiftory. At Hounflow we just stopped to change horses, and then fet off over the dreary heath, on which has been committed many a depredation. Of late years the tra. veller has met with fewer interruptions, though ftill we hear, not unfrequently, of robberies in that quarter during the winter feafon of the year; a recent proof of which is exhibited by a new gibbet, erected not far from Belfont, on which we faw fufpended the body of Haines, generally known by the defignation of the wounded Highwayman. He was, apparently, a large tall man; his irons were fo conftructed that his arms hung at fome little diftance from his body, by which means the hideous fight was rendered more terrific and impreffive. The skirts of his coat waved in the wind, and, together with other parts of his appearance, fuggefted, gefted, with full force, the horrible idea of a fellowcreature deprived of the decent honours of fepulture, and configned, with every mark of execration, to the grinning fcorn of public infamy. The heath, about fifty years ago, ufed to be decorated with a long range of gibbets; but the Royal Family, frequently paffing and re-paffing to Windfor, occafioned their removal, and no renewal of them has been attempted. . Around the extremities of the heath are scattered a Few pleafant cottages, where, fecluded from the buftle of the adjacent metropolis, their peaceful inhabitants enjoy all the advantages of retirement. At one of thefe little manfions I have, occafionally, paffed many agreeable hours-"Teaching the young idea how to shoot," and witneffing the pleafures of domeftic tranquillity. We foon reached Staines, a pleafant town, feventeen miles from London. It derives its name from the Saxon word fana, which fignifies a ftone, and was applied to this place from a boundary ftone, anciently fet up here to mark the extent of the city of London's jurifdi&tion upon the Thames. The church ftands alone, almoft half a mile from the town. On the fouth-eaft fide of Staines lies Runnymead, the celebrated fpot on which King John was compelled by his barons to fign the famous charter of English liberties, ftiled Magna Charta; "Near Thames' filver waters lies a mead, Where England's barons, bold in freedom's caufe, With conftancy maintain'd the fubjects' right, Hume has thus briefly recorded the tranfaction "A conference between king John and the Barons was 3 appointed, |