It must be owned, however, that although the part of Almanzor contains these and other bombastic passages, there are many also which convey what the poet desired to represent--the aspirations of a mind so heroic as almost to surmount the bonds of society and even the very laws of the universe, leaving us often in doubt whether the vehemence of the wish does not even disguise the impossibility of its accomplishment. Good heaven! thy book of fate before me lay, But to tear out the journal of this day. Or, if the order of the world below Will not the gap of one whole day allow, Give me that minute when she made her vow. That minute, even the happy from their bliss might give, And those, who live in grief, a shorter time would live. So small a link, if broke, the eternal chain Would, like divided waters, join again. It wonnot be; the fugitive is gone, Pressed by the crowd of following minutes on: That precious moment's out of nature fled, And in the heap of common rubbish laid, Of things that once have been, and now decayed. In the less inflated parts, the ideas are usually as just, as ingenious and beautiful; for example. No; there is a necessity in fate. Why still the brave bold man is fortunate; He keeps his object ever full in sight, And that assurance holds him firm and right. True, 'tis a narrow path that leads to bliss, } But right before there is no precipice; } Fear makes men look aside, and then their footing miss. } The character of Almanzor is well known as the original of Drawcansir, in "The Rehearsal," into whose mouth parodies of some of Dryden's most extravagant flights have been put by the duke of Buckingham. Shaftesbury also, whose family had smarted under Dryden's satire, attempts to trace the applause bestowed on the "Conquest of Granada" to what he calls "the correspondence and relation between our _Royal Theatre_ and popular _Circus_, or _Bear-Garden_. For, in the former of these assemblys, 'tis undeniable that, at least, the two upper regions, or galleries, contain such spectators as indifferently frequent each place of sport. So that 'tis no wonder we hear such applause resounded on the victories of an _Almanzor_, when the same parties had possibly no later than the day before bestowed their applause as freely on the victorious _Butcher_, the hero of another stage." _Miscellaneous Reflections. Miscell. 5._ The other personages of the drama sink into Lilliputians, beside the gigantic Almanzor, although the under plot of the loves of Ozmyn and Benzayda is beautiful in itself, and ingeniously managed. The virtuous Almahide is a fit object for the adoration of Almanzor; but her husband is a poor pageant of royalty. As for Lyndaraxa, her repeated and unparalleled treachery can only be justified by the extreme imbecility of her lovers.