100 BIRMINGHAM. very high; for although possessed of the art of jingling bis lines well together, yet they are always mawkish and insipid; and the following may fairly be instanced as a proof of that assertion, and a specimen of the author's powers of versification : "Oh! had I been by fate decreed Some humble cottage swain, In fair Rosetta's sight to feed My sheep upon the plain, What bliss had I been born to taste, Which now I ne'er must know; Ye envious powers! why have ye plac'd My fair one's lot so low? LOvE IN A VILLAGE Far be it, however, from us to insinuate, that even Bick- erstaff has been outdone in dramatic song-writing of late years; no, with the exception of those casual fits of good nature with which the managers are seized, (about as often as light occurs at the Poles,) and we are treated with one of the heart-cheering effusions of Burns or Moore; we have just as much affectation, stupidity, and sickly sensi- bility as heretofore. SIR JOHN BIRMINGHAM, AFTERWARDs created Earl of Louth, made an important figure in Ireland in the time of Edward II. After the disastrous battle of Bannockburn, the Scots not only made many irruptions into England, committing terrible devas- tations, but also united with a party in Ireland, who chose for their king, Edward Bruce, brother of Robert, king of Scotland, and had him crowned at Knocknemelan, near Dunkald. Against these Sir John Birmingham was ap- pointed general, and by his valour and military skill, put an end to the war, and to a civil faction, which, though too weak to hope for complete success, might yet have
