like a deep well whofe mouth is covered with fmiling plants!

Dufem. (Afide.) The rufticity of her education makes her fpeak thus angrily and inconfiftently with female decorum-She looks indignant; her eye glows; and her fpeech, formed of harsh terms, faulters as he utters them. Her lip, ruddy as the Bimba fruit, quivers as if it were nipped with froft; and her eyebrows, naturally fmooth and equal, are at once irregularly contracted.— Thus having failed in circumventing me by the apparent luftre of fimplicity, fhe has recourfe to wrath, and snaps in two the bow of Cama, which, if the had not belonged to another, might have wounded me.-(Aloud.)-The heart of Dufhmanta, young woman, is known to ali; and thine is betrayed by thy pre

fent demeanour.

Sac. (Ironically) You kings are in all cafes to be credited implicitly: you perfectly know the refpect which is due to virtue and to mankind; while females, however modeft, however virtuous, know nothing, and speak nothing truly. In a happy hour I came hither to feek the object of my affection: in a happy moment I received the hand of a prince defcended from Puru; a prince who had won my confidence by the honey of his words, whilft his heart concealed the weapon that was to pierce mine. (She bides her face and weeps. Sarn. This infufferable mutability of the king's temper kindles my wrath. Henceforth let all be circumspect before they form fecret connections: a friendship hastily contracted, when both hearts are not perfectly known, muft ere long become enmity.

Dufom. Wouldft thou force me then to commit an enormous crime, relying folely on her fmooth fpeeches?

Sarn. (Scornfully.) Thou haft heard an anfwer. The words of an incomparable girl, who never learned what iniquity was, are here to receive no credit; while they, whofe learning confifts in accufing others, and inquiring into crimes, are the only perfons who fpeak truth!

Difom. O man of unimpeached veracity, I certainly am what thou deferibeft; but what would be gained by accufing thy female afsociate?

Sara. Eternal mifery.

Dufem. No; mifery will never be the portion of Puru's defcendants.

turn.

Sarn. What avails our altercation ? O king, we have obeyed the commands of our preceptor, and now reSacontala is by law thy wife, whether thou defert or acknowledge her; and the dominion of a husband is abfolute. Go before us, Gautami. [The two Mifras and Gautami returning.

Sac. I have been deceived by this perfidious man; but will you,my friends, will you alfo forfake me? (Following them.

Gaut. My fon, Sacontala follows us with affectionate fupplications. What can fhe do here with a faithless hufband: fhe who is all tenderness ?

Sarn. (Angrily to Sacontala.) O wife, who feeft the faults of thy lord, doft thou defire independence?

Sarad. Let the queen hear. If thou beeft what the king proclaims thee, what right haft thou to complain? But if thou knoweft the purity of thy own foul, it will become thee to wait as a handmaid in the manfion of thy lord. Stay, then, where thou art: we muft

return to Canna.

Dusbm. Deceive her not, holy men, with vain expectations. The moon opens the night flower; and the fun makes the water lily bloffom: each is confined to its own object: and thus a virtuous man abftains from any connection with the wife of another.

Sarn. Yet thou, O king, who fearest to offend religion and virtue, art not afraid to defert thy wedded wife; pretending that the variety of thy publick affairs has made thee forget thy private contract.

Dufom. (To his Prief.) I really have no remembrance of any fuch engagement; and I ask thee, my fpiritual counfellor, whether of the two offences be the greater, to forfake my own wife, or to have an intercourfe with the wife of another?

Prief. (After fome deliberation.) We may adopt an expedient between both. Dufom. Let my venerable guide command.

Prieft. The young woman may dwell till her delivery in my house.

Dushm. For what purpose?

Prieft. Wife aftrologers have affured the king, that he will be the father of an illustrious prince, whose dominion

will be bounded by the western and eaftern feas: now, if the holy man's daughter fhall bring forth a fon whose hands and feet bear the marks of extenfive fovereignty, I will do homage to her as my queen, and conduct her to the royal apartments; if not, she shall

return in due time to her father.

Dufom. Be it as you judge proper. Pricft. [To Sacontala.] This way, my daughter,follow me.

Sac. O earth mild goddess, give me a place within thy bolom!

[She goes out weeping with the Prieft; while the tro Mifras go out by different way with Gautami. Dufbmanta ftands meditating on the beauty of Sacontala; but the imprecation fill clouds his memory. Behind the Scenes. Oh! miraculous event!

Dufom. (Liftening.) What can have happened!

The Prief re-enters.

Prief. Hear, O king, the ftupendous event. When Canna's pupils had departed, Sacontala, bewailing her adverse

fortune, extended her arms and wept ; when

Dufom. What then?

Prieft. A body of light, in a female fhape, defcended near Apfaraftírt'ha, where the nymphs of heaven are worshipped; and having caught her hastily in her bofom, disappeared.

[All exprefs aftonishment.

Dufom. I fufpected from the beginning fome work of forcery.-The bu finefs is over; and it is needless to reason more on it. Let thy mind, Somarata, be at reft.

Prief. May the king be victorious. [He goes out. Dufbm. Chamberlain, I have been greatly haraffed; and thou, Wardour, go before me to a place of repose.

Ward. This way; let the king come this way.

Dufbm. [Advancing, afide.] I cannot with all my efforts recollect my nuptials with the daughter of the hermit; yet fo agitated is my heart, that it almost induces me to believe her story.

[All go out.

Thefe and a thousand others well demand

Darwin's bold pencil,and botanick hand.

The rofes fade, the garden's pride is fled,

And Flora's children fleep among the dead;

The Muses, fick'ning, long the scene to change,

Wide ope the garden gate, and let them

range.

Delightful fcenes, which late I wrapt furveyed,

As robin fifed, and patridge drummer played; Farewel! When gladsome fpring returns to cheer

The fad furvivors of the mournful year, Then will I meet you at the early dawn, And print with lighter steps your dewy lawn.

Lo, winter comes in dread, terrifick form, Her fteeds the winds, her chariot the storm,

A cloud her vesture, icicle her crown, Her hair in fnowy curls hangs loosely down;

Perched on her forehead, raven-like, fets night,

Froft in her left hand, buil-ftones in her right,

With fhoe of ice fhe treads out life and beat,

And fmiles at dying nature's laft defeat. So death will foon this bounded profpect clofe,

And hufh life's turmoils to a calm repofe,

Unveil new scenes; in truth's clear mirrour show

The moral portrait, that each drew below;

Which, fix'd in fadelefs tints, fhall ever ftand,

Approved, or cenfured, by the Master's hand.

For earth's frail flowers, det earth-born fpirits figh;

But man, the nobleft flower, shall never die.

Though earth and stars their leffening courfe fhall run,

And in dread ruin mingle with the fung The fun himself behind his clouds shall

keep,