gymnotus electricus, and think that he did God and man service. With men who will only view things, as in their opinion they ought to be, not things as they are, all argument is vain; but we may suggest to persons who know the world, that rational piety is the only possible means of introducing religion at all to the regard of men of rank or learning. We know an officer of the Guards, who was presented by a clerical friend, with a sermon which he had just published. A day or two afterwards the gallant soldier met the divine, and said, 66 you know one never reads these things through, but I have dipped into your sermon, and found many fine passages." 11. Some Account of an Establishment, instituted June 1816, by the Ladies' Association, formed in 1815, under the sanction of the Queen. Bath. 4lo. pp. 15. EVERY person acquainted with genteel life must know how essential are taste and sentiment to the refined habits of the well-educated. By the vulgar, the feelings of others are no more regarded than smiths' anvils, upon which violent blows may at option be inflicted; and where interest is not concerned, they do not care whom they insult. To much of this, elegant women, with small incomes, must inevitably be subjected by living in the great world; and, if they seek protection by cultivating intercourse with the rich, they are usually exposed to the caprices of temper, and the mortification of being treated and considered as humble friends. No man would wish to see that sex, from whom he derives his sweetest pleasures and his surest friendships, thus sentenced innocently to unmerited suffering. Who would desire to plant a flower-garden upon marine sands, exposed to the tides, and see sickly roses withering among fœtid seaweeds. Who would wish to see delicate women, born and bred as gentlewomen, living in courts or bad streets, without the necessary comfort of a servant, occasionally perhaps slaving at a washing-tub; or else sacrificing food to appearance, and resorting in an eleemosynary form to the tables of friends. These are every day cases; and such is the lot of numerous excellent females, of even high accomplishments and often family pretensions, where the style to which, as children, they have been used, must aggravate their misery. As much of this is owing to the laws of primogeniture and preference of males, most infamous will it be, if the noble and rich do not support this admirable institution, with their purses and their influence; to their protection therefore, after this proëmium, we earnestly recom mend the excellent establishment at Bailbrook-House *. "The general object of the plan, was the promotion of societies so regulated, that the larger payments of one part of the community thrown into a joint stock, should reduce the payments of the remainder to a convenient limit, without subjecting them to any unpleasant feeling of pecuniary obligation; and that all should engage themselves, as far as their situation would admit, in benevolent and useful occupation-their agreement in such pursuits serving as a boud of union." "It was thought, however, upon further consideration, that no institution ought to rest wholly for support on an arrangement, which would expose it to great inconvenience, perhaps total failure, upon the removal of the richer member"," "It was agreed therefore, that a sum of from 10 to 15,000l. should be raised by the association as an endowment for the Primary Establishment; and that, as an additional support, a limited number of ladies, friends of the undertaking, as would apartments should be allotted to such agree to reside there, paying a high yearly rent for their rooms to the Funds of the Establisment, and conforming equally with the other inmates to the rules of the Institution." pp. 3, 4. Her late Majesty, who visited the Establishment, pronounced it a “blessed asylum," p. 9. In 1819, it was further resolved to engraft on the Institution, a school for the orphans' of Gentlemen, and a stated number of Lady Associates, whose limited income entitle them to apartments, free of expence: widows and daughters of Clergymen and officers to have a preference over other candidates. There is no distinction of living in the classes, nor limitation as to age. The only condition is, that all should be gentlewomen in principles and manners. In promotion of these excellent purposes, they solicit further subscriptions, and we most sincerely *See an account of it, Part I. p. 418. hope, hope, that the Bishops and military Officers of rank, will commence a warm canvass on behalf of these views among the noble and wealthy. 12. Sæculomastix; or, the Lash of the Age we live in; a Poem, in Two Parts. By the Author of "Childe Harold's Monitor." 8vo. pp. 116. Porter. THE object of this animated Moral Satire is to notice some portion of what is wrong in each leading feature of national character; Religion and Morals, Politics and Literature. -To propose imaginary standards of excellence to the young, whether as. Churchmen, Patriots, or Scholars, The first part proceeds, "To aid his imagination by reference to what is really right and good in each department. First, Poetry-A great moral object essential, &c. &c. - Homer Virgil Spenser-Shakspeare-Milton Dryden-Pope-Modern insensibility to the full merit of our ancestors-Arrogant pretensions to superior Genius-Connection between rude and ignorant poets, and similar professors of Religious Instruction -Ramifications of Calvinism-Inquiry into some of the Causes of Dissent-Futility of such Causes- Dissent within the Church strongly condemned Mode of restraining this evil-Praise of Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge-Objections to Bible Society, &c. &c." In the Second Part "Literature" is resumed in "Critical and moral objections to several well-known authors-Political ble mishes-Want of seriousness and dignity in the Senate-Appeal to other times and loftier characters-National education." We are led to topicks of a more general nature: "The miserable effect of the Poor Laws -Practices requiring amendment in manufactories - Commerce-AgricultureUtopian project for the restoration of the character of the English peasant!-EduIcation of the rich-The public schoolsIndulgence of parents-Mania of sporting -Driving-Gambling-The Universities -Military glory-Treatment of Buonaparte Recapitulation of the general causes of decline and fall in powerful empires-Increase of crimes-Concluding prayer for our redemption from ruin." As a specimen of the Poetry, we select the following lines which conclude an eulogy on the "loved Swan of Thames:" "Now, strike your hearts, ye Britons! and confess That following fame is weaker and is less : That Pope's bright mantle decks no tune ful child, Fresh as in youth, and wholly undefiled, Renounce the little wits *, that toil to spau With puny grasp the giant stars of Anne, Whose orbs for all yet glitter-but the blind; [phist's mind. And warm whole nations-save the SoLet Gray, let Collins from the field re[lyre; And Fancy's self no later strain can show, Let partial love withdraw her Goldsmith's Soul-thrilling Heloise, to match thy woe; Or raise the soft complaint, so sadly made By yon dim ghost along the moon-light glade,' tire, voice But, clearer yet, if Wisdom's warning [choice, From Delphic Twit'nam guide our moral Shines thy fair title to unrivall'd fame, Guide of thy Country, o'er each after name! -Shall Cowper mate with thee?—tho' sterling sense, Kind love to man, firm trust in Providence, Raise, nobly raise, the Christian's guileless strains, [stains And leave, but here and there, some gloomy Still let the critic, undeterr'd, discharge His weighty task; and fearless, and at (Spite of an erring weakness that o'erlooks large, Faults, gross as day, in favourite men and books) yawn Expose the style, whose broken pauses [withdrawn; Like famish'd jack-daws, when their dam's Expose the style, whose roughly-measured [flows; prose, Like a canal, through locks unnumbered Sluggish, and colourless, with level banks, Where feeble poplars shook in formal ranks; Or, o'er the plashy marsh below, aspire Chaldæan willows-but without a lyre. -No! if in honest Essays, plainly bound And letter'd, without show of tuneful sound, The bard of Ouse had taught us to be good, His generous aim all hearts had understood; "And the Minute Philosophers. See a very weak and superficial article, in the Edinburgh Review, on the last edition of Swift. The "burden of the song," the design and worthy purport of this sublime and self gratulating critic, is to prove the superiority of the writers of his own day over those of the period of Anne, and George the First and Second. A most profound speculation indeed! "Err shall they not, who, resolute, explore [eyes; Time's gloomy backward with judicious And, scanning sage the practices of yore, Shall deem our boar progenitors unwise."" Burlesque Stanza, by Dr. Johnson. And And none denied the humbler bays awhile, When Selkirk, Gilpin, claim'd our tear or smile. Well knows the Monitor, what storms of rage, [page! What floods of bile, will pelt this hapless But welcome, Truth! for thee, whate'er they list, [dist; Tradesman, or Dunce, or Droll, or MethoYes, welcome all !-perchance, in brighter times, [climes, Perchance where ocean laves her Western When embryo seeds of greatness shall have burst, To raise a second world beyond the firstWhen, as in conquering Rome, arts follow arms, And the fierce soldier owns his captive's charms; Some bard, just labouring into grace, whose line [fine, Taste's filtering power stands ready to reOn Cowper's careless muse, unwarn'd, may fall, [all, And, pleas'd with Indolence, that pleases Snatch at his vulgar laurel, and forego The loftier crown that polish'd straius be stow Then, should these lowly numbers but retard [bard; The threaten'd downfall of Columbia's Should they but kindle one brief blush of shame, [fame, Thus to desert the immortal ranks of Where, trumpet-tongued, she sounds each classic name And, sweeter far! if yet one English heart Be thus recalled to Genius graced by ArtOh! doubly blest beyond her airiest hope, Truth grasps her prize, Ambition fills her scope." To some of the most eminent of our modern Poets both praise and admonition are given: "What rank has Southey?-Plain Ex Where Glory dwells-Vain labour, to Glides unrestrain'd, glides royally along, Another celebrated Poet is thus addressed: "And thou too, Wonder of the reason ing mind, [find Pain of the feeling heart-whom now we Nerv'd with deep lore of Plato's angel tongue, Now offering rudest models to the young, Forms by thyself and mystic Wordsworth made, Abstracts of vacuum, shadows of a shadeOr with favention's grave and stale pre[sense; Or tence worse new language clouding alien strangely charm'd with Belimen's phrenzied rant, And fancying clear profundity for Kant(To whom thyself, allow'd thy due degree, Wert Hercules to boneless Infancy!) What, Coleridge! honour'd, pitied, injured name, [shame ? What thus obscures thy glory with thy Oh! rouse thee from the dream indulged too long, List yet again to Nature's Grecian song; Hear, with thine inward sense, how watchful Art [part; Warbles beneath the whole her humbler Yet checks each loud extravagance the while [Isle, Like unseen Law, in some well-govern'd Whose ready power forbids excess to thrive, Whose cautious veil keeps energy alive; While, inly temper'd by her righteous rules, [cools." No Rage o'erflows, and no just Ardour 13. Retribution, a Poem: addressed to Woman. By Charles Swan, Author of "Omar, an Eastern Tale." 8vo. pp. 71. Chapple. THOUGH there is somewhat of obscurity in the title "Retribution," we are not disposed to quarrel with a name. The object of the Poem is, however, sufficiently manifest. The Author, disgusted with the narrow limits to which the understanding of females has been so long confined by the trammels of prejudice on one hand, and the tyranny of custom on the other, presents himself as the champion of their intellectual faculties, and the advocate of a more extensive and liberal system of education. We most cordially agree with Mr. Swan in the sentiments which he has espoused, and congratulate him on the successful manner in which he has recommended them to the publick. We shall, however, produce, as a specimen of the Poem, the following very beautiful description: "'Twas a sweet summer's evening-o'er [around Laugh'd every other flower:-the rills Leaped sparkling onward, to the silver the ground the descriptions rich with romantic interest, and the sentiments moral, tender, and exalted. Mr. Swan appears to have avoided the peculiarities of every school, he has obeyed the impulse of good sense and of good feeling; and his verse has consequently become an echo to the voice of Nature. The present period is, indeed, an age of mighty Poets; but the peculiar department in which Mr. Swan is destined to excel, is left open to his ambition. The free and vigorous versification of Dryden, united to the fine susceptibility of the beautiful and tender, which characterizes the style of Fletcher, would form an agreeable contrast to the pert flippancy and sickly affectation, which we are sorry to observe has already become too prevalent. Our Author appears naturally to possess much of the vigour of the one, and not a little of the tenderness of the other: we would recommend to his most serious attention a diligent study of their works. 14. The Poetical Decameron; or, Ten Conversations on English Poets and Poetry; particularly of the reigns of Elizabeth and James 1. By J. Payne Collier, of the Middle Temple. 2 vols, small 8vo. Hurst, Robinson, and Co. THE title of this work is at least inviting: it consists of ten conversations upon the English poets and poetry, principally of the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. with such references to, and illustrations by, more modern efforts in the same kind, as naturally connect the particular inquiry with the general pursuit both in this country and others. The author, Mr. Payne Collier, beyond a knowledge of the subject makes few pretensions in his Preface on which he writes, and we appre hend that our most learned Antiqua. ries will allow, that in these volumes he has exposed in a favourable light many rare and hitherto unknown productions of our elder poets, of considerable intrinsic value: he has shown that this interesting topic, merely even as regards research, has not been by any means exhausted. Among his discoveries we may mention a curious novel by B. Rich, published in 1606, upon which Shaks peare founded his Twelfth Night." it has escaped the patient industry of all all the Annotators upon our great Bard, from Rowe and Theobald down to Steevens and Malone. 66 Mr. Collier has also produced specimens of a poem dedicated to Isaac Walton, the celebrated author of "The Complete Angler," of the existence of which none of his biographers have given a hint. The Triumphs of Petrach," translated by Henry Parker, Lord Morley, in the reign of Henry VIII. (the only printed performance of this author, and not known to have been printed until very recently) are also examined by him; and he besides introduces many other poetical novelties connected with the more familiar names of Greene, Nash, Peele, Marlow, Churchyard, Marston, &c. We may add, among other things, that he disproves Spenser's claim to one of the most elegant poems hitherto attributed to him, even as lately as the publication of "Heliconia," by Mr. T. Park. The subjects, generally speaking, are treated systematically: thus, after having appropriately introduced the whole, he proceeds first to aninquiry into the origin and employment of blank verse in poems not intended for the stage, establishing between 15 and 20 examples, that it was used more than a century before Milton published his "Paradise Lost," where our Readers recollect, he puts in a claim as the first inventor of it. He certainly was the first who made the invention palatable. The rise and progress of satirical poetry in England, commencing with the earliest and rarest specimens, and bringing down the subject to the reign of Charles I. occupies a considerable space, in the course of which several new writers are brought forward. Here it is proved that Dr. Donne wrote his well-known satires 40 years before they appeared in print; and that Dr. Lodge, Rankins, and others, preceded Bishop Hall, who demands in his writings, the rank of the "first adventurer" in this department of literature. One of the most entertaining as well as informing parts of the work consists of a critical review of all the tracts written for and against theatrical performances, in the course of which fresh and important light is thrown upon the much investigated history of the stage. Connected in some degree with this topick is a review of, with extracts from, a few of the rarest novels to which Shakspeare was indebted in his plays, by Greene, Lodge, Brooke, Painter, and others. The Author states, that his great object was to treat an antiquarian subject in a popular way; but we cannot help thinking that in his desire not "to avail himself of other men's labours," he has wandered a little too much out of the beaten track, and that he might, without offence to the learned, have touched a little more freely upon the more notorious poets of the illustrious period to which he has chiefly limited his inquiries. 15. The Friend of God, a plain Sermon for 1820. 8vo. pp. 16. Printed at Exeter. Rivingtons. IN commenting on Genesis, xviii. 19, much useful advice is given, and more especially on the due observance of the Sabbath; and we are glad to see, among other remarks on the Liturgy of the Church of England, the following information: "The most judicious among our Dissenting brethren are so far from repeating the invectives of their ancestors against a precomposed form of prayer, that they are recommending the adoption of one for the purpose of remedying the acknowledged defects in their public worship. We do not presume indeed to claim for the Liturgy of our Church absolute perfection; but we may be allowed, with an eminent and most estimable Dissenter *, spired compositions."" to place it in the very first rank of unin Some of the " acknowledged defects," above alluded to, are extracted from the New Directory for Nonconformist Churches, 1812.' "It is a matter of notoriety, that some worthy Ministers among us sometimes appear, at least, to be so much embarrassed, for them, least they should be obliged to as to occasion their hearers to be in pain stop. In this case, the devotion of the people will be interrupted, as that of the Minister must necessarily be; who cannot be considered as praying, so properly as making a prayer. And the same, indeed, may be remarked of others, who, though they do not commit any gross blunder in speech, nor often recall their *"Rev. Robert Hall, M., A. of Lei-. cester." words, |