informed, very clever; but please to inform them of the necessity of my keeping good hours." Thus would this truly liberal and benevolent nobleman express himself in behalf of those persons he deemed worthy of his patronage. In consequence of my being thus zealously patronized by this distinguished-this truly noble-minded and highly talented personage, I was invited by some of the first inhabitants of Pembroke and Haverford West, to visit those Towns with my Company; but circumstances prevented me, and we set sail for Devonshire; where we passed the winter and the following spring. We stopped a short time where we first landed, at Ilfracombe; then we removed to Bideford, next to Torrington, then to Oakhampton, (during the time of an Election,) then to Tavistock; whilst there I performed one night at Plymouth Mr. Cooke played "Richard:" on the same evening, the farce was the "Review," and at the manager, (Mr. Foote's) request I played "Caleb Quotem," and was, for the first time, announced as the author of it. After finishing our season at Tavistock, I returned in the middle of September to Barnstaple, and commenced there very prosperously. At the period of Lord Nelson's Victory over the French Fleet at the Mouth of the Nile, I was with my Company at Barnstaple, when the news arrived. In consequence we immediately brought forward a Naval Spectacle, which was performed several nights, prefaced by the following poetic effusion, called NELSON'S GLORY. With anxious joy and intermingled grief No British heart but glows when worth's revered ; Britons know how to feel as well as fight! As when the sun darts forth his noon-tide ray, And drizzling clouds hang o'er the face of day, The Rainbow's radiance spreads a lustre round, While trickling drops fall copious on the ground! So the horizon of Old England shews, Strong rays of light gleam thro' a cloud of woes. Great Nelson's victory gladdens all the spheres, But, like heaven's bow, tis seen midst showers of tears. Still let us check the rising flood of grief; And felt, tho' doom'd to suffer nature's laws, But here we pause-nor longer weep in vain,— Chang'd be the measure, chang'd the tuneful strain. See Neptune, Ocean's God, with joy elate, The British Lion, when he's rous'd afar Sheds havoc, death and slaughter from his mane, But as he's fierce and terrible in War, In Peace 'tis lamb-like mildness marks his reign! Bright Hope anticipates the day at hand, The dreadful cry of War be lost, And Friendship, Peace and Plenty, bless the world! Soon after this I was warmly patronized by several Lodges of Freemasons at the different towns I visited, which induced me to compose the following MASONIC ODE. Some times sung to the Chorus tune of "Anacreon in Heaven." When Faith left her mansion celestial for earth, To join this lov'd pair, while discoursing below, Mild Charity came their associate and guide; All the blessings of life 'twas resolved they'd bestow, Where hon or, with Virtue & Truth, should preside. This world Faith supported-Hope promised another, While Charity bound man to man as his brother; By signs, words, and tokens, the system beganThe eye of the Deity sanctioned the plan. An abode free from guile these fair strangers now sought, Despairing they droop'd, long in darkness astray, O'er Masons presiding, these Virtues combine- END OF VOL. I. W, BRAGG, PRINTER, TAUNTON, |