1805.] Epigrams, Fragments, and Fugitive Pieces fromthe Greek. 215 
ture, and recommended a book: fociety on 
a {mall feale, he has been told that the in- 
habitants of Kirkbyftephen were not in- 
clined to read books, and that an inftitu- 
tion of that nature would meet with no 
The truth of this infor-. 
encouragement. 
mation he had no reafon to doubt.. A few 
years ago, indeed, a Mr. Powfon had 
about twenty or thirty volumes cfnovels, 
&c. which he lent-to yead at fo much per 
week ; and this, which has for fome time 
been difcontinued, was the only circulat- 
ing library (if it deferve the name) of which 
the town of Kirkbyftephen could ever . 
boaft! Befides its weekly market, this 
town has three fairs €very year: one of 
which is held onthe Monday before Mid- 
fummer, when numbers of men and women, 
boys and girls, are hired during a month in: 
the hay-harveft ; the fecond, on the 2d of 
October, which isthe day after Brough hill 
fair; and the third, which is chiefly in- 
tended for the fale Cf cattle and fheep, on 
the 27thoof O&stober. 
The mode of cultivation, and Hie 
ments of agriculture employed in this 
parifh, prefent nothing perhaps worthy of 
any particular notice. It is not many 
years fince the abfurd and unproduétive 
fyftem of hufbandry, which fo long dif- 
graced this part of the ifland, began to be 
Jaid afide in this parifh, and a more {kilful 
and {pirited praétice fucceeded. The ge- 
neral ufe of lime and other manures has 
been adopted with beneficial effe&s; a more 
judicious and profi:able rotation of crops 
has been followed, and bo:h meadow and 
pafture gound have been much improved, 
by the culture of artificial grafles. But, 
notwithitanding the evident fuperiority of 
the prefent fy tem of management over that 
which prevailed, there is no reafon to 
doubt, that it has by, no means attained 
that degree of perfeStion, at which it may 
probably arrive, by increafing wealth and 
experience, even in a diftri&t not naturally 
the moft fertile. Hitherto, however, im- 
provement in the feveral branches of huf- 
bandry, and in the general ftate of the 
country, has advanced with as much ra- 
pidity as could be expected ina parith, in 
which the accumulation of ftock has been 
very little affitted by the introdu&tion of 
trade or manufactures. 
The Scotch ploughs are chiefly ufed; 
but fome “easy who plough clayey or 
wet ground, have the Yorkfhire plough, 
Only one man and two horfes are employ- 
ed in a draft, which will plow one acre 
and a half of fallow, or one acre of freih 
ground, ina day. 
(To-be continued, ) 
For the Monthly Magdzine. 
EPIGRAMS, FRAGMENTS, «aud FUGI« 
TIVE PIECES, from the GREEK. (Con- 
tinued from p. 138 of laf? Number.) 
No. II. 
Hunc quoque fumma dies nigro fubmerfit 
Averno. 
Diffugiunt avido3 carmina fola TOZOS durat 
opus vatum. 
HAVE, in my lat eeuer mentioned 
the impropriety of combining in our 
minds with the word epigram, wheo applied 
to Greek compofitions which bear the Hame, 
any ideas of the nature which that term is 
apt toexcite inthe mind of a mere Eng- 
lith {cholar, or one whois converfant only 
with thofe ne of Martial and Anfonius, 
which are fo called. It is owing to this 
impropriety chiefly, that thofe beautiful 
remains of antiquity are fo little known 
to the Englifh reader, and that fo few of 
them have been familiarized to. him 
through the medium of tranflation. 
They relate to fubjects that will be in- 
tereiting and affecting as long as youth 
and gaiety delight, as wine and flowers 
and beauty captivate, or the contrary ideas 
of old age, and death, of Gcknefs, banith- 
ment, neglested i or forfaken friend- 
fhip can- “melt into pleafing forrew, or 
chaften into mild melancholy. 
From the hiftories, orations, and noble 
poems which have come down to us, we 
know how to appreciate the bold and maf- 
terly characters, who. in long fucceffion 
were the pilots ef Greece, and whofe 
fteady guidance dire&ted her with fatety 
cand with glory through tempelts, which 
other ftates were unable to withftand. 
From documents fo ample we become 
acquainted with ber greateit heroes and 
fiatefmen. 
For private events and doméftic man- 
ners, we are (o look to the fugitive pieces, 
which, like planks of a mighty wreck, 
have conveyed to us fome idea of the ma- 
jefty of the veficl that has gone to pieces. 
in thefe minor pieces, many, events are 
recorded beneath the dignity of hiftory to 
commemorate, and which introduce us to 
the private characters, cuftoms and events 
of theage. We foilow obf{cure individuals 
into their places of retirement. We are 
made companions of their feftivities, are 
prefent at their tables, games, births, 
nuptials, and funerals. 
I have faid that we are made acquainted 
with the leading characters and events of 
Greece by the ancient hiltorians, and 
have commended the lighter poems for 
permitting us to defcend from public trant. 
action$ into thofe of privacy and .~ we- 
Eez ment. 
