|IN the year 1718, and presumably after Mr. Matthew Prior had already printed his tall and extremely miscellaneous _folio_ of 'Poems on Several Occasions,' there was published separately a little _jeu d'esprit_ by the same 'eminent Hand,' which has not been regarded as the least fortunate of his efforts. In its first fugitive form, now so rare as to be known only to a few highly-favoured collectors, it is a single page or leaf of eight quatrains; and of this there are two issues, both attributing the verses to Prior, both claiming to be authentic, both unauthorised. The earlier, which is dated, is headed 'Upon Lady _Katherine H--des_ first appearing at the _Play-House_ in _Drury-Lane_;' the other, 'from Curll's chaste press,' bears the title of 'The Female Phaeton,' by which the piece is now known. The person indicated was the second daughter of Henry Hyde, Earl of Clarendon and Rochester, and the grandchild of the great Lord Chancellor and historian of the Rebellion. As she was born in 1700, she must at this time have been eighteen. She was 'beautiful,' says the poet; 'she was wild as Colt untam'd;' she was, besides,= ```'Inflam'd with Rage at sad Restraint, ````Which wise Mamma ordain'd.'= Her elder sister, Jane--the 'blooming _Hide,_ with Eyes so rare,' of whom John Gay had sung in the 'Prologue' to 'The Shepherd's Week'--was already married to the Earl of Essex. Why should not She, too, be a Toast, and 'bring home Hearts by Dozens'?= ```'Dearest Mamma, for once let me, ````Unchain'd, my Fortune try; ```I'll have my Earl, as well as She, ````Or know the Reason why.'= And so the stanzas, eternally human and therefore eternally modern, dance and sparkle to their natural ending:= ```'Fondness prevail'd, Mamma gave way; ````Kitty, at Heart's Desire, ```Obtains the Chariot for a Day, ````And set the World on Fire.'=