strikingly fine, and not to be matched in any English writer for the last century and a half; but, as his late Majesty said to Dr. Samuel Johnson, "there were giants on the earth in those days."

"For the rest," says he, "if we seek a reason of the succession and continuance of this boundless ambition in mortal men, we may add to that which hath been already said, that the kings and princes of the world have always laid before them the actions, but not the ends, of those great ones which preceded them. They are always transported with the glory of the one, but they never mind the misery of the other, till they find the experience in themselves. They neglect the advice of God, while they enjoy life, or hope it; but they follow the counsel of Death upon his first approach. It is he that puts into man all the wisdom of the world, without speaking a word; which God, with all the words of his law, promises or threats, doth infuse. Death, which hateth and destroyeth man is believed: God, which hath made him and loves him, is always deferred. I have considered, saith

Solomon, all the works that are done under the sun, and behold all is vanity and vexation of spirit. But who believes it, till Death tells it us? It was Death, which, opening the conscience of Charles the Fifth, made him enjoin his son Philip to restore Navarre; and King Francis the First of France, to command that justice should be done upon the murderers of the Protestants in Merindol and Cabrieres, which till then he neglected. It is, therefore, Death alone that can suddenly make man to know himself. He tells the proud and insolent, that they are but abjects; and humbles them at the instant; makes them cry, complain, and repent; yea, even to hate their forepassed happiness. He takes the account of the rich, and proves him a beggar; a naked beggar, which hath interest in nothing but in the gravel which fills his mouth. He holds a glass before the eyes of the most beautiful, and makes them see therein their deformity and rottenness; and they acknowledge it.

"O eloquent, just, and mighty Death!· whom none could advise, thou hast persuaded!

what none hath dared, thou hast done! and, whom all the world hath flattered, thou, only, hast cast out of the world and despised. Thou hast drawn together all the far-stretched greatness; all the pride, cruelty, and ambition of man, and covered it all over with these two narrow words, HIC JACET!"*

SIR JOHN HARINGTON.

This agreeable beau of Elizabeth's court does not make his personal appearance in the novel

* P. 668-9. Rawleigh intended a second and third volume," which," says he, "I have hewn out;" but it does not appear that either of them was ever written, or that even collections were made for them. The story of his burning the MS. of the second volume is disproved by Oldys, in his life of Rawleigh. It is not the least of Rawleigh's merits, that, amidst all the active engagements of his foreign enterprizes, he did not overlook the humble potatoe, but introduced it from the West-Indies into his own country; conférring, thereby, upon the British empire, a benefit which (as far as the great mass of the population is concerned) has spread a wider comfort around, than all the advantages of all our possessions in or near the New World.

of Kenilworth; but is more than once alluded to, by the Queen, as a favourite, a godson, a wit, and a satyrist; and, as such, merits a place among the interesting circle of the characters which we are describing. John Harington, esq; and Isabella, daughter of Sir John Markham, (who were two, among the many, objects of Bishop Gardiner's persecution, as adherents to Queen Elizabeth before she ascended the throne,) were the parents of our witty knight. The particular cause which excited the prelate's indignation against his father and mother was as follows: A letter had been entrusted to Harington to be conveyed to Elizabeth during her con-. finement, but the watchful eye of Gardiner having discovered its delivery, John was immediately apprehended and imprisoned in the Tower; where being detained for twelve months, he was at length liberated, at the solicitation of Philip of Spain, with the loss and expense of £1000. The malice of Gardiner extended, also, to his wife Isabella; whom he separated from the service of Elizabeth; and, by affixing to her the odious appellation

of heretic, excluded her from the house of her own father. Fortunately, she found, in a Mr. Topeless, that assistance which parental affection would not afford her; and continued with him till Elizabeth's accession, when she became a lady of the privy chamber to the queen; who permitted her husband and herself again to enjoy their retreat at Kelweston, a manor and mansion, four miles from Bath. The issue of this couple were John and Francis. The elder was born about the year 1561, the fifth year of Queen Elizabeth; whose gratitude for the services of the father, during her perse. cution by Queen Mary, prompted her to stand godmother to the son. John was educated at Eton, and afterwards entered at Cambridge under the tuition of Bishop Still, whose attention made so deep an impression on the youth, that the remembrance of it never faded from his mind; and he himself says, he never went to him but he grew more religious, and never parted with him, but with additional instruction. Under so admirable a tutor, and with the advantages of great natural talents, Harington became soon conspicuous for his