Want mercy, If I do not join with him :
Yea, on his part, I'll empty all these veins,
And my dear blood drop by drop i' the dust,
But I will lift the down-trod Mortimer

As high i' the air as this unthankful king.

As a competitor for honor, how eloquently he cries out,
By heaven, methinks, it were an easy leap,
To pluck bright honor from the pale-faced moon;
Or dive into the bosom of the deep,

Where fathom-line could never touch the ground,
And pluck up drowned honor by the locks;

So he, that doth redeem her thence, might wear,
Without corrival, all her dignities.

"Sudden and quick in quarrel." The impetuosity of the soldier, and his violence of temper in opposing an insult, are admirably described

Nay, I will; that's flat;

He said, he would not ransom Mortimer;
Forbad my tongue to speak of Mortimer,
But I will find him when he lies asleep,

And in his ear I'll holla-Mortimer :

Nay, I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak
Nothing but Mortimer, and give it him,

To keep his anger still in motion.

Hotspur's solicitude for celebrity through the path of danger, is finely drawn in the following soliloquy :

Were it good,

To set the exact wealth of all our states

All at one cast? To set so rich a main
On the nice hazard of one doubtful hour?
It were not good for therein should we read
The very bottom and the soul of hope;

The very list, the very utmost bound

Of all our fortunes.

་

That fame which Hotspur hoped to acquire in the contest

with the Prince of Wales, but which proved "bubble repu-
tation," is painted in all the enthusiasm of poetry :-
Let them come;

They come like sacrifices in their trim,
And to the fire-eyed maid of smoky war,
All hot, and bleeding, will we offer them:
The mailed Mars shall on his altar sit,
Up to the ears in blood. I am on fire,
To hear this rich reprisal is so nigh,
And yet not ours.

At the moment of encounter, and till the "bubble reputa tion" is near his heart:

Nor shall it, Harry, for the hour is come

To end the one of us; and would to God

Thy name in arms were now as great as mine!

Hotspur's last words are highly expressive of Shakspeare's soldier :

O, Harry, thou hast robb'd me of my youth;
I better brook the loss of brittle life,

Than those proud titles thou hast won of me;

They wound my thoughts worse than thy sword my flesh.

Such is the illustration of the soldier described by Jaques; a profession truly honourable and glorious, when devoted to the defence of one's country.

Without a sign, his sword, the brave man draws,
And asks no omen but his country's cause.

Pope's Homer,

EPIGRAM.

Wheels run on waves, and cart wheels run
Till all of skill and toil is done;

But Fortune's wheel runs round and makes
Thousands by those her wheel forsakes.

· P.

the

THE DUKE OF CLARENCE*.

Others may use the ocean as their road,
Only the British make it their abode;
Whose ready sails with every wind can fly,
And make a cov'nant with th' inconstant sky.
Our oaks secure as though they there took root,
We tread on billows with a steady foot.

Waller.

The British Navy has always been a noble subject, and very name is a mighty and an inspiring sound. During the war, the bare report of it communicated vigor and strength, not only around the entire extent of our coast, but also through the whole interior of the kingdom, and over every dependent and friendly country the globe contained. When the army began its triumphs in Spain, and especially when it completed them at Waterloo, the navy seemed to decline in popularity and interest. Like many a hardy veteran servant, having done its work, it became slighted and almost forgotten amidst the enthusiasm, which the brilliant success of a more fashionable substitute suddenly inspired. This state of things continued till the death of the Duke of York, whose surprising efficiency, as commander in chief, had matured the system by which the victories of Wellington were achieved, and had raised the army to the highest pitch popular favor, as well as military excellence.

Now, however, the scene has shifted again, and the navy is suddenly restored to its former pre-eminence in the public esteem; or, to speak more correctly, to its former hold of the public feeling. We need not detail the causes and circumstances of this change. It is sufficient to remark that the illustrious subject of this sketch, if not the chief instrument in effecting the change, is likely to be the principal agent of its perpetuation. The appointment of the Duke of Clarence to that sovereign rule in the navy, which his lamented brother held so long and administered so well in the army, has given more complete and general satisfaction than any event

*As this volume is dedicated to His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence. the following memoir may not be inappropriately introduced. We are indebted for it to a very amusing volume, entitled "Public Characters," containing Portraits and Memoirs of distinguished living Persons,

G. 28.

Y

of the kind within the memory of the present race. How far previous neglect and abuse, in this essential department of our national strength, prepared the way for this sudden alteration, and the remarkable approval of it by the whole country, the present is not the work to determine or to discuss but in sketching the character of the royal duke it is of importance, after the long neglect with which he was treated, to ascertain the strength of the public feeling in his favor, and the great probability of his rewarding the confidence, which the nation is placing in his industry and talents.

The Duke of Clarence was born just three years after his present Majesty, in August 1765; and in the following month received at his baptism the name of WILLIAM HENRY. It is said that there was something in his countenance and behaviour when a child, and more especially when he rose to youth, which encouraged the purpose of the king to devote him to the naval service. In personal bravery he did not appear likely to surpass either of his brothers; but in corporeal strength, and constitutional hardihood, there was from the first a striking distinction in his favor : while he betrayed an early indifference to those refined studies of which they were fond, and in which they rapidly excelled him. Early as was the period of his departure to sea, there were much earlier indications of his preparation for the enterprising and perilous service. Aware of the subordinate rank and laborious station he was first to assume, and in which he was to continue the full period allotted to other midshipmen, he was notwithstanding, eager for the commencement, and reconciled to the continuance, of his arduous undertaking.

The first vessel in which he sailed was the Prince George, a ninety-eight gun ship, recently built, and named in honor of his royal brother, the present King. He was then just fourteen years of age, and well fitted by constitution, both of mind and body, for a service to which the progress of the war with America gave unusual importance. In this ship, under the command of Admiral Digby, his Royal Highness bore a part in the great naval engagement between the Eng lish and Spanish fleets, commanded by Admiral Rodney and Don Juan de Laugara. Before he left the Prince George, he was also present at the capture of a French man of war