pery in England.-See, in the State Tracts, a piece called " Abbey Lands not assured to Roman Catholics,” Vol. I. p. 326; and more especially a tract, by some ascribed to Burnet, and by others to Sir William Coventry, entitled, "A Letter written to Dr Burnet, giving some account of Cardinal Pole's secret powers; from which it appears, that it never was intended to confirm the Alienation that was made of the Abbey Lands. To which are added, Two Breves that Cardinal Pole brought over, and some other of his Letters that were never before printed, 1685."

Note XIII.

Such were the pleasing triumphs of the sky,
For James his late nocturnal victory;

The pledge of his almighty Patron's love,

The fireworks which his angels made above.-P. 182.

The aurora borealis was an uncommon spectacle in England during the 17th century. Its occasional appearance, however, gave foundation to those tales of armies fighting in the air, and similar phenomena with which the credulity of the vulgar was amused. The author seems to allude to some extraordinary display of the aurora borealis on the evening of the battle of Sedgemuir, which was chiefly fought by night. I do not find the circumstance noticed elsewhere. Dryden attests it by his personal evidence.

Note XIV.

And then the dew-drops on her silken hide
Her tender constitution did declare,

Too lady-like a long fatigue to bear,

And rough inclemencies of raw nocturnal air.-P. 183.

This seems to be a sarcasm of the same kind with the following: "But," says the zealous Protestant of the mother church, "if you repeal the test, you take away the bulwark that defends the church; for if that were once demolished, the enemy would rush in and possess all; and it is a delicate innocent church that cannot be safe but in a fortified place."-"I must confess, it is a great argument of her modesty to own herself weak and unable to subsist without the support of parliamentary laws, to hang, draw, or quarter her opposers, and without a coercive power in herself to fine and excommunicate all recusants and nonconformists." "* One would wish to ask this Catholic advocate for universal toleration, if he had ever heard of a court in Popish countries for the prevention of heresy, generally called the Inquisition?

New Test of the Church of England's Loyalty.

THE

HIND AND THE PANTHER.

A POEM.

PART III.

THE

HIND AND THE PANTHER.

PART THIRD.

MUCH malice, mingled with a little wit,
Perhaps may censure this mysterious writ;
Because the muse has peopled Caledon

With panthers, bears, and wolves, and beasts unknown,

As if we were not stock'd with monsters of ourown.
Let Esop answer, who has set to view

Such kinds as Greece and Phrygia never knew;
And Mother Hubbard, in her homely dress,
Has sharply blamed a British lioness;

That queen, whose feast the factious rabble keep,
Exposed obscenely naked, and asleep.*
Led by those great examples, may not I
The wonted organs of their words supply?
If men transact like brutes, 'tis equal then
For brutes to claim the privilege of men.

Others our Hind of folly will indite,
To entertain a dangerous guest by night.
Let those remember, that she cannot die,
Till rolling time is lost in round eternity;

* Note I.

Nor need she fear the Panther, though untamed,
Because the Lion's peace was now proclaim'd ;*
The wary savage would not give offence,
To forfeit the protection of her prince;

But watch'd the time her vengeance to complete,
When all her furry sons in frequent senate met;†
Meanwhile she quench'd her fury at the flood,
And with a lenten sallad cool'd her blood.
Their commons, though but coarse, were nothing
scant,

Nor did their minds an equal banquet want.
For now the Hind, whose noble nature strove
To express her plain simplicity of love,
Did all the honours of her house so well,
No sharp debates disturb'd the friendly meal.
She turn❜d the talk, avoiding that extreme,
To common dangers past, a sadly-pleasing theme;
Remembering every storm which toss'd the state,
When both were objects of the public hate,
And dropt a tear betwixt for her own childrens' fate.
Nor fail'd she then a full review to make
Of what the Panther suffer'd for her sake;
Her lost esteem, her truth, her loyal care,
Her faith unshaken to an exiled heir,
Her strength to endure, her courage to defy,
Her choice of honourable infamy.t

On these, prolixly thankful, she enlarged;
Then with acknowledgment herself she charged;
For friendship, of itself an holy tie,

Is made more sacred by adversity.

*The Declaration of Indulgence.

+ The Convocation.

The adherence of the church of England to the interests of James, while he was an exile at Brussels, and the Bill of Exclusion against him was in dependence, is here, as in other places, made the subject of panegyric. Had the church joined with the sectaries, the destruction of the Catholics, at the time of the plot, would have been inevitable.