They could fcarcely believe, that a people, whofe valour they had fo recently extolled, whom Wolfe admired, and whom Chatham applauded, fhould be reduced to the fad alternative of perifhing at home, or embarking, with their families, on a voyage of 3000 miles, upon the hope of finding that relief in a strange land, which their native and highly favoured island had denied them.

Thus, what Britain loft, America gained; and it was not long before thofe very men became the involuntary inftruments of punishing the neglect of a country, which hath within itself the means of fuftaining a more numerous population.

It is difficult to afcertain what districts have fuffered most by emigration; but certain it is, that, between 1763 and 1775, above 30,000 people abandoned their habitations, befides great numbers from the Lowlands; and there is reafon to believe, that, in a few years more, the whole Highlands would have been greatly depopulated, except thofe diftricts under the paternal care of an Argyle, an Athole, a Breadalbane, and a few other patriotic chieftains. But, while the rage of emigration was thus depopulating the north, an order of Congrefs fhut up the ports of America, and prohibited, under fevere penalties, all intercourfe with Great Britain. To this fingular event, more than to the foftering hand of government, is owing the detention of those people, whofe calamitous fituation hath been the fubject of the foregoing pages; and whom to reftrain at home, by fuitable enCouragement, will be the fubject of what follows.'

But our author fucceeds better as an hiftorian than as a politician. His fchemes are not fufficiently digefted, and his projects are often wildly improbable. His writings, however, may tend to awaken his countrymen to a feeling of their fituation, and a fenfe of their duty. From the fpirited exertions of the Scottish reprefentatives, in either houfe, the improvement of the Highlands may become an object of attention to the British parliament.

Our author writes with earneftnefs; and, as he difclaims any pretenfions to elegance, it would be improper to criticise his tile. Peter the hermit, though neither remarkable for his wisdom nor his eloquence, roufed the powers of Europe to recover the Holy Land. The celebrated reformer of religion in Scotland was rude and illiterate; and we hope that John Knox, the fisherman, will be as fuccessful in enlightening and converting his countrymen, as John Knox the apostle.

ART. XV. The Exodus: a Poem. By the Reverend Samuel Hayes, M. A. of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Uber of Westminster School. Cambridge printed. 4to. 2s. Dodley. London, 1785.

CCE iterum Crifpinus!" Will there never be an end to the annual effufions of Mr. Hayes? Can Cambridge offer yearly nothing better to the public tafte, than the fame

cold

cold and heavy mefs? This we cannot fuppofe, and are therefore at a loss to account for the demerits of most of the poems which have appeared, "according to the tenor of Mr. Seaton's will."

The Exodus is incorrect, and, what is worfe, dull and frigid in the extreme; neither does the author feem to poffefs the fmalleft portion of tafte. To fupport this judgment, a few of the faults in this compofition fhall be noticed; to collect them all would be tirefome and unneceffary.

Speaking of the retreat of Mofes from Pharaoh's court, the author fays,

• When the fierce paffions burn with tenfold
When in the bosom diffolute defire
Awakens luft, and lights the wanton fire,
The son of Amram fpurns the regal prize :
From the rich fcene the zealous hero flies,
And dwells 'mongst Ifrael's fons.'

rage,

Here Mr. Hayes revels in the fuperlative degree of pleonafm. We are informed that diffolute defire (luft) awakens luft; and, not contented with this, we are further given to know that it "lights the wanton fire, (luft)." What he means by the fon of Amram fpurning the "regal prize" we are at a lofs to conjecture; but, if it means any thing, it seems to allude to fome Egyptian gallantry, hitherto unknown, and not much to the credit of a princefs, whofe virtue had remained unimpeached till the publication of The Exodus of Mr. Hayes. The effrontery of Potiphar's wife is fufficiently notorious; but, till the above discovery, the attempts of Pharaoh's daughter upon the chaftity of Mofes had remained a fecret.

The author thus tranflates, Mofes."

with wrath inflam'd,

"Pharaoh fought to flay

Pharaoh the bold offender's life proclaim'd."

Into what language it is tranflated we cannot tell, but we venture to pronounce, that it is not English. To say that a perfon who feeks to kill another, who pronounces judgment of death upon him, proclaims his life, is confounding language; and, if the mode of expreffion mult have a naine, can only be called an Hayeifm.

From the prolific river's flimy bed

Myriads of frogs arife. In dread array

The legions march, and dim the face of day.

In last year's production we recollect Mr. Hayes exhibited a fmiling lion, but he has now out-done his ufual out-doings. Aided by the monfter-breeding Nile, he prefents us with myriads of flying frogs, that "dim the face of day." We advise

him to keep to the miracles, as related in the Old Teftament, without pretending to regale us with any miracles of his own,' left" what should be grave he turn to farce."

Why darkness should make it impoffible for a mother to fing lullabies to her infant, is not eafily difcoverable, as it is an office which is often performed in the dark, but Mr. Hayes informs us that it was one of the effects of the plague of darknefs in Egypt.

And, fpite of nature's iterated cries,

The trembling infant unaffifted lies.

Fain would the mother ev'ry want fuppreft)
Breathe the foft flumber o'er the troubled breast!
Fruitlets her zeal. The deep involving fhade
Thwarts the fond with, and checks maternal aid.'

Of smaller inaccuracies the following will ferve as an example.

E'en a whole nation moves in long array,

And to the defert take their deftin'd way.'

Without entering into a more minute examination, we shall produce the defcription of the laft plague, which appears one of the most laboured parts of the work, as the fairest and moft complete fpecimen.

In darkness fhrouded, from th' ethereal height,
Th' exterminating angel takes his fight;
-Dread delegate of Ifrael's injur'd Lord!

In his right hand he bears th' attefting word,
And fmites th' Egyptian realm. Rous'd by the cries,
The groans, which now from ev'ry quarter rife,
Pharaoh starts up alarm'd, and fees, dire fight!
His fon confign'd to death's eternal night;
His eldeft fon, the parent's pleafing care,
Pride of his life, and Egypt's boasted heir!
Unfeen the hand which gives the mortal wound,
Life's ebbing current freams upon the ground.

Nor mourn'd the King alone; through all the land,,
Cut off by Heav'n's exterminating hand,

E'en from the palace to the rural fhed,
Egypt's firft-born, Jehovah's victims bled:

First-born of man and beast! Heaps of the flain

Strew ev'ry field, and cover ev'ry plain.

But O! what words can paint the dire affright,
Or match the horrors of the fatal night?
Amidst the judgments, from Jehovah pour'd,
In atteftat on dread of Ifrael's Lord,
Though of life's animating joys bereft,
When fearce a gleam of flatt'ring hope was left,
The parent (in misfortune's darkest hour,
So long, O nature, thy fuftaining pow'r !)

Bleft

Bleft by the prefence of her darling child,
Een then the parent ev'ry fear beguil'd.

Where now, fad change! Where can the fuff 'rer find
Affuaging comfort to the wounded mind ?
For ever loft is he, who could allay

Life's varied ills, chafe ev'ry care away:
In whom, when fortune fmil'd, the parent found
Her happierlot with two fold bleffings crown'd:
Pierc'd with the agonies of dumb defpair,
The mother finks upon her bleeding heir.
Amidst the gen'ral carnage of the night,
No terrors on the tribe of Ifrael light.

Aw'd by the fprinkled blood, which mark'd the place,
(Difcriminating fign of heav'nly grace !)

From them, in mercy's milder form array'd,

The angel turns afide the recking blade.'

In this extract the ftriking features of the work, incorrectnefs, a heavy, cumbrous manner, and a confpicuous want of tafte, are all united. The fomniferous verfification must be felt by every reader; it will likewise be perceived by

Strew ev'ry field, and cover ev'ry plain,'

that the favourite pleonafm is not forgotten. But the butcherly manner, in which the minister of divine vengeance is made to execute the work of extermination, is beyond the utmost efforts of gothic barbarifm. He is indeed an executioner. He brandishes "the attefting fword," which foon becomes in his hands a "reeking blade." He fairly cuts the throats of all the firft-born in Egypt, "firft-born of man and beaft." The "victims bleed" "Life's ebbing current ftreams upon the ground."-"Heaps of the flain ftrew ev'ry field, and cover ev'ry plain."It is a general carnage." Thus doth a teacher of the claffics defcribe the terrors of Jehovah, and travesty the word of God. From his long acquaintance with ancient authors has he not been able to acquire one spark of ancient tafte? Midas, it is faid, tranfmuted every thing he touched into gold; but the author of "The Exodus" feems to poffefs the debafing faculty of converting the gold of fcripture into lead. The original appears, after it has paffed through his hands, like Deiphobus in Virgil, "laniatum corpore totoinhonefto vulnere."

A laudable anxiety for the honour of Cambridge, our Alma Mater, has led us to spend more time on this performance than its merits required. For the future, fhould the author appear annually in the fame guife, viz. with no better claims to our attention, he fhall only be officially announced to the public by the quotation at the commencement of this Article, "Ecco iterum Crifpinus!"

ART. XVI. Letters on exceffive Taxation. From a Philanthropist, to bis Royal Highness George Prince of Wales, the Right Honourable Wil. liam Pitt, firft Lord of the Treasury, and Chancellor of his Majefty's Exchequer; and several other Noblemen of the first Distinction: with an Addrefs to the People of Great Britain. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Printed for the Author, and fold by Fryer, London, 1785.

THE philanthropist is one of that numerous fpecies of men, whose schemes for diminishing, or paying off the national debt, amuse the idle for a day, and then fink into oblivion. He fpeaks highly of his own noftrum. "I will bind myself, fays he, under the fevereft penalty, to find refources that fhall remove every obnoxious tax, diminish the enormous debt, and establish a system that will prevent in future its accumulation, even in war. Incredible as this may appear, I will answer for its fuccefs: I neither require honour, or emolument, I only ask your fupport." We have given the appellation of noftrum to his fcheme, because, like the medical quack, he folicitoufly keeps the ingredients of his panacea from public infpection. In his concluding letter to Mr. Pitt, he finishes with faying, "The plan I have the most fanguine hope of is by far more eligible, and may be put into practice without much difficulty, though I cannot communicate it in writing. Of its merits therefore we can form no judgment, and of course cannot decide. We can only fay, that, unless his talents for finance infinitely excel his literary accomplishments, all truft in the philanthropist must be at an end. There is an odd enthusiasm in this publication, not calculated to give the moft favourable impreffions with refpect to the understanding of the author, though it strongly marks the warmth and benevolence of his heart.

ART. XVII. Account of the prefent State and Arrangement of Mr. James Toffie's Collection of Paftes and Impreffions from ancient and modern Gems: With a few Remarks on the Origin of engraving on bard Stones; and the Methods of taking Impreffions of them in different Subflances. By R. E. Rafpe. London. 1785. No Bookfeller's Name,

UR countryman, Mr. Taffie, has been long diftinguished for the fuperior perfection to which he has brought his imitation of gems. His pafes are in the highest request over Europe, and the abilities of the ingenious artist rewarded with the warmest and moft general approbation. To merit the public applaufe, his endeavours have been equally indefatigable and fuccefsful, His former catalogue amounted to 3106 numbers;