VI. Tory and Whig, in accents big, May wrangle violéntly: Their party rage shan't stain the page-- The neutral page of Bentley. VII. The scribe whose pen is mangling men And women pestiléntly, May take elsewhere his wicked ware,-- He finds no mart in Bentley. VIII. It pains us not to mark the spot Where Dan may find his rént lie; The Glasgow chiel may shout for Peel, We know them not in Bentley. IX. Those who admire a merry lyre,-- Those who would hear attent'ly A tale of wit, or flashing hit,-- Are ask'd to come to Bentley. X. Our hunt will be for grace and glee, Where thickest may the scent lie; At slashing pace begins the chase-- Now for the burst of Bentley. GEORGE COLMAN. That a life of this eminent and much regretted man will be written by some competent author, there can be little doubt. That he himself extended his "_Random Records_" no further than two volumes, containing the history and anecdotes of the early part of his career, is greatly to be lamented. What is here collected is merely worthy of being called "Recollections," and does not assume to itself the character of a piece of biography. Mr. Colman was the grandson of Francis Colman, Esq. British Resident at the Court of Tuscany at Pisa, who married a sister of the Countess of Bath. George Colman the elder, father of him of whom we write, was born about the year 1733, at Florence, and was placed at an early age at Westminster School, where he very soon distinguished himself by the rapidity of his attainments. In 1748 he went to Christchurch College, Oxford, where he took his Master's degree; and shortly became the friend and associate of Churchill, Bonnell Thornton, Lloyd, and the other principal wits and writers of the day. Lord Bath was greatly struck by his merit and accomplishments, and induced him to adopt the law as his profession. He accordingly entered at Lincoln's Inn, and was eventually called to the bar. It appears--as it happened afterwards to his son--that the drier pursuits of his vocation were neglected or abandoned in favour of literature and the drama. His first poetical performance was a copy of verses addressed to his cousin, Lord Pulteney. But it was not till 1760 that he produced any dramatic work: in that year he brought out "Polly Honeycombe," which met with considerable success. It is remarkable that, previous to that season, no new comedy had been produced at either theatre for nine years; and equally remarkable that the year 1761 should have brought before the public "The Jealous Wife," by Colman, "The way to Keep Him," by Murphy, and "The Married Libertine," by Macklin.