Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

do they think I'm a cat, that have as many
stomachs as lives?

Gallypot. He looks a little wild, brother.
Captain. What! are you brothers?
Clyster. Pray, sir, be seated; we shall ex-
amine methodically into the nature of your

case.

Captain. What the devil do they mean by taking me by the wrists? Maybe 'tis the fashion of compliment in London.

Captain. Well but, my jewels, let there be no difference nor falling out between brothers about me, for a small matter will serve my turn.

Clyster. Sir, you break the thread of our discourse; I was observing that in gloomy opaque habits the frigidity of the solids causes a continual friction in the fluids, which by being constantly impeded grow thick and glutinous, by which means they cannot enter the capillary vessels, nor the other finer rami

Gallypot. First, brother, let us examine the fications of the nerves. symptoms.

Captain. By my soul, the fellows are fools! Clyster. Pray, sir, how do you rest? Captain. In a good feather-bed, my jewel, and sometimes I take a nap in an arm-chair. Clyster. But do you sleep sound?

Captain. Faith, I sleep and snore all night, and when I awake in the morning I find myself fast asleep.

Gallypot. How do you eat, sir? Captain. With my mouth. How the devil should I eat, do you think?

Gallypot. Do you generally drink much? Captain. Oh, my jewel, a couple of quarts of ale and porter wouldn't choke me. But what the devil magnifies so many questions about eating and drinking? if you have a mind to order anything, do it as soon as you can, for I am almost famished.

Clyster. I am for treating him regularly, methodically, and secundum artem.

Captain. Secundum artum! I don't see any sign of treating at all. Ara, my jewels, send for a mutton chop, and don't trouble your selves about my stomach.

Clyster. I shall give you my opinion concerning this case, brother. Galen says. Galen is of opinion that in all adust complexions

Captain. Well, and who has a dusty complexion?

Clyster. A little patience, sir.

Captain. I think I have a great deal of
patience, that people can't eat a morsel with-
out so many impertinent questions.
Clyster.

Qui habet vultum adustum
Habet caninum gustum.

Captain. I'm sure 'tis an ugly custom to keep a man fasting so long, after pretending to treat him.

Gallypot. Then, brother, from your position it will be deducible that the primæ viæ are first to be cleared, which must be effected by frequent emetics.

Clyster. Sudorifics.
Gallypot. Cathartics.
Clyster. Pneumatics.
Gallypot. Restoratives.
Clyster. Corrosives.
Gallypot. Narcotics.

Captain. How naturally they answer one another, like the parish minister and the clerk; by my soul, jewels, this gibberish will never fill a man's belly.

Clyster. And thus to speak, summatim and articulatim, or categorically to recapitulate the several remedies in the aggregate, the emetics will clear the first passages and restore the viscera to their pristine tone, and regulate their lost peristaltic or vermicular motion, so that from the oesophagus to the rectum I am for potent emetics.

Gallypot. And next for sudorifics, as they open the pores, or rather the porous continuity of the cutaneous dermis and epidermis, thence to convey the noxious and melancholy humours of the blood.

Clyster. With cathartics to purge him.
Gallypot. Pneumatics to scourge him.
Clyster. Narcotics to dose him.
Gallypot. Cephalics to pose him.

Captain. These are some of the dishes they are to treat me with. Why, my jewels, there's no need for all this cookery; upon my soul, this is to be a grand entertainment. Well, they'll have their own way.

Clyster. Suppose we use phlebotomy, and
take from him thirty ounces of blood.
Captain. Phlebotomy, d'ye say?
Gallypot. His eyes roll, call the keepers.

[The keepers enter and strive to seize the

Gallypot. Ay, brother, but Hippocrates Captain, when he catches up a chair and rushes at them like a madman. They fly for their

differs from Galen in this case.

Captain. Faith, my dear cousin, since love is the cause of your mourning, I forgive you with all my heart.

lives, and he, following them, gains the street | the light of an unfortunate rather than a bad in a few minutes. On reaching his lodgings man. he dresses and presents himself at the house of Mr. Trader, Lucy's father. He finds the house in confusion, Mr. Trader having just learned that he is ruined by a failure in business.]

Lucy (to the Captain). Sir, your generous

Trader. O Captain, I'm ruined, undone behaviour, so frankly shown on so melancholy

broke

Captain. Broke! what have broke? you Trader. Oh! sir, my fortune's broke, I am not a penny above a beggar. So

an accident, has entirely gained my heart, nor do I value your estate when set in comparison with your noble soul.

[The Irish captain is so delighted with the turn affairs have taken that he volunteers a

now, Captain, I have not concealed my mis-
fortune from you, you are at liberty to
choose a happier wife, for my poor child is song.] (Sings.)

miserable.

THE BRAVE IRISHMAN'S SONG.

Captain. I thought your ribs was broke; I'm no surgeon; but if it is only a little money that broke you, give me this sweet lady's lilywhite hand, and as far as a good estate in land and stock will go, I'll share it with her and with yourself. Cheatwell. (Enters.) Gentlemen, I beg Since the first time I saw you I take no repose, pardon for this intrusion.

Wherever I'm going, and all the day long,
Abroad and at home, or alone in a throng,
I find that my passion's so lively and strong,
That your name, when I'm silent, still runs in my song.
Ballynamony, ho ro, &c.

Captain. Oh! by my soul this is my friendly cousin, that bid the old conjurors phlebotomize

me.

Cheatwell. Sir, I beg your pardon in particular, and I hope you'll grant me it; nothing but necessity was the cause of my ungenteel behaviour. This lady I had an esteem for; but since things have turned out as they have, my pretensions are without foundation; and I, therefore (turning to Trader), raised the report of your ships being lost at sea, in hopes that this gentleman would decline his addresses to your daughter when he found she had no fortune.

Captain. Oagh! my dear, we play no such dirty tricks in our country.

Cheatwell. And now, Captain, I hope you'll grant me your pardon, and look upon me in

I sleep all the day to forget half my woes,
So strong is the flame in my bosom that glows,
By St. Patrick, I fear it will burn through my clothes.
Ballynamony, ho ro, &c.

By my soul, I'm afraid I shall die in my grave,
Unless you'll comply, and poor Phelim will save;
Then grant the petition your lover doth crave,
Who never was free till you made him your slave.
Ballynamony, ho ro, &c.

[blocks in formation]

ANDREW MAGRATH.

BORN ABOUT 1723 - DIED AFTER 1790.

[Andrew Magrath, one of the most witty, | Hardiman says of him, that “ eccentric, and high-spirited of the poets writing in Irish, was born in Limerick about the year 1723. He was the author of a great mass of songs and poems "of a jovial, amatory, and political nature, which are current and popular chiefly in the province of Munster."

as a poet he not only excelled the mob of English gentlemen who wrote with ease, but also many of those whom Dr. Johnson has designated English poets. His habits and writings closely resembled those of Prior. Like him, Magrath delighted in mean company.

His life was

irregular, negligent, and sensual.

He has tried all styles from the grotesque to the solemn, and has not so failed in any as to incur derision or disgrace."

Magrath, the last of the poets who wrote in his native Irish, was, and is still, generally known among the peasantry by the nickname of Mangaire Sugach ("mixture of drollery"). He was alive so late as 1790, but when his death took place has not been ascertained. In addition to an English translation of the "Canticle," we give two pieces in Irish which have never been translated. The first of them, the "Song to Drink," is Magrath's, and the "Fragment," which is especially popular among the peasantry of Munster, is generally accredited to him.]

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

OL DAH.-SONG TO DRINK.

Nuair theidhim go tigh an tabhairne,
Budh ghnath liom fuireach oidhche ann
Agus buidhean shultmhar sasta,
Ag ól slainte am thimchioll.-
Mar budh mhiann liom an t-árthach,
Bheith lán gan aén chinnteacht,
Agus gasraidh bhreagh, ghradhmhar
Na'r ghnáthach a bheith cinnte.-
Síud ort féin 's an g-ceart,

A rúin-ghil súidh le m'ais,
Bidh sugach a's ól do dhram,
A's an cerusga-so go fras,
Go n-diugaim é go cneas,
Go n-glaodham tuilleadh a steach,
As a threin-fhir na treig me.

Glór pibe agus bheidhlin,
A's ceól cruite gan aimhreas,

Nior mhór liom a bheith am thimchioll,
Ag ól punch go meadhrac,

No beóir maith agus cider,

Is iad do dhiugadh le h-intinn,

'S go m-budh léor liom mar shaidhbhreas,
Iad do rúsgadh le h-adhmad,
Mar do'b fhonn sin mar acht,
Gach n-aon ag ól a dhram,
Go fiúghantach córach, ceart,
S'an crúsga tar ais

Ag tnuth le tuilleadh théacht
Go n-diugamaois ar g-can

Ag ól slainteadha chéile.

A chuideachta bhréagh, bheusach, A ta taobh liom 's a g-cuibhreann,

The Treaty of Limerick.

A contemptuous epithet for the English.

[blocks in formation]

came acquainted and fell in love with each other. A secret marriage followed, on the knowledge of which the earl became merciless. After a time, however, a reconciliation was effected, and the earl, finding his son-in-law a man of wit, talent, and sense, requested him to produce a dramatic piece, to be played at a fête-champêtre to be given at the family seat, The Oaks, on the occasion of the marriage of a second daughter. Burgoyne consented, and produced the Maid of the Oaks, a piece far too clever to be buried at a rural fête, and which accordingly soon found its way to the London boards.

[The precise date of the birth of John, after- | Stanley, daughter of the Earl of Derby, bewards General, Burgoyne, we have not been able to discover. He is generally said to have been a natural son of Lord Bingley, and we find him lieutenant-colonel of the 16th Light Dragoons in August, 1759. In 1761 he served at Belle Isle, and in 1762 he commanded a force sent to defend Portugal against the Spaniards. In the operations there he distinguished himself by the surprise and capture of Alcantara, and before his return to England he was made colonel. Already, in 1761, he had been elected M.P. for Midhurst, and in 1768 he stood as candidate and was elected M.P. for Preston. In this latter election, however, his supporters were In the following year (1775) he went on guilty of bribery and other misdeeds, for which active service to America, and in 1777 he he was prosecuted and fined £1000. Six years was appointed to the command of the force later he wrote his first dramatic work, the that captured Ticonderoga, but was ultimately production of which was brought about in this obliged to capitulate to General Gates at Saraway:-Years before, while serving as a sub- toga. On his return to England he was treated altern in Preston, he and Lady Charlotte | rather harshly, but he defended himself with

I'll engage with none whose triumph I could not submit to with pleasure.

Sir C. (Apart.) Pretty significant on both sides. I wonder how much farther it will go. Lady E. Uncle, did you speak?

Sir C. (Reading to himself.) "And the parties to this indenture do further covenant and agree, that all and every the said lands, tenements, hereditaments-um-um." How useful, sometimes, is ambiguity.

(Loud enough to be heard.)

spirit, and demanded a court-martial, which
was refused. On this he resigned all his ap-
pointments, but when a change of ministry
occurred he was made commander-in-chief in
Ireland. This post he held for two years,
when he resigned it and devoted himself en-
tirely to literature. He had already produced
in 1780 the comic opera Lord of the Manor,
and now he contributed to The Rolliad the
"Ode to Dr. Prettyman" and "Westminster
Guide." In 1786 he ventured into a new
field of literature, and, guided by higher art
than hitherto, produced The Heiress, a comedy
on which his fame as an author chiefly rests.
This play, which might have been written by
Congreve in his best mood, was a great suc-
cess, and was soon followed by Richard Cour
de Lion, an operatic piece adapted from the
French. On the occasion of the trial of
Hastings, Burgoyne was appointed one of
its managers. He did not live to see the end
of this celebrated trial, however, as he died
of gout on the 4th of June, 1792, and was
buried privately in a cloister of Westminster-day of-um-um—”
Abbey.

There is no doubt that had the author of The Heiress devoted the better days of his life instead of its odds and ends to literature, he would have attained a high position. As it is he has done enough to deserve a place in the rank and file of the shining battalion of men of talent and genius.]

THE LADY AND THE CYNIC.1

An Apartment in Sir Clement Flint's House.

LADY EMILY GAYVILLE and CLIFFORD discovered at chess. SIR CLEMENT sitting at a distance, pretending to read a parchment, but slyly observing them.

Clif. A very natural observation of Sir Clement's upon that long parchment. (Pauses again upon the chess-board.) To what a dilemma have you reduced me, Lady Emily! If I advance, I perish by my temerity, and it is out of my power to retreat.

Sir C. (Apart.) Better and better! To talk in cipher is a curious faculty. Clif. Sir!

Sir C. (Still reading.) "In witness whereof, the said parties have hereunto, interchangeably, set their hands and seals, this-um-um-um

Lady E. Come, I trifle with you too long. There's your coup de grace. Uncle, I have conquered. (Both rise from the table.)

Sir C. Niece, I do not doubt it; and in the style of the great proficients, without looking upon the board. Clifford, was not your mother's name Charlton? (Rises.)

Clif. It was, sir.

Sir C. In looking over the writings Alscrip has sent me, preparatory to his daughter's settlement, I find mention of a conveyance from a Sir William Charlton, of Devonshire. Was he a relation?

Clif. My grandfather, sir. The plunder of his fortune was one of the first materials for raising that of Mr. Alscrip, who was steward to Sir William's estate, then manager of his difficulties, and, lastly, his sole creditor.

Sir C. And no better monopoly than that of a needy man's distresses. Alscrip has had Lady E. Check! If you do not take care twenty such, or I should not have singled out you are gone the next move.

Clif. I confess, Lady Emily, you are on the point of complete victory.

Lady E. Pooh! I would not give a farthing for victory without a more spirited defence.

his daughter to be Lord Gayville's wife.

Clif. It is a compensation for my family losses that, in the event, they will conduce to the interest of the man I most love.

Sir C. Heyday! Clifford, take care, don't trench upon the blandish; your cue, you know, is sincerity.

Clif. Then you must engage with those (if those there are) that do not find you irre- Clif. You seem to think, sir, there is no sistible. such quality. I doubt whether you believe Lady E. I could find a thousand such; but there is an honest man in the world.

Sir C. You do me great injustice; several,

1 This and the scene that follows are from The Heiress. several; and upon the old principle, that

« AnteriorContinuar »