the world. If, in these two attempts, fuccefs has proved inadequate to his hopes, the defign was at leaft laudable*. I need not, alfo, enlarge on the various paintings which, from the fame generous fource, adorn the principal room of Council in this city, and which are adapted not only to encourage the arts, but faithfully, and in a ftriking point of view, to difplay fome of the moft gallant exploits of the British arms and the valt extent of our commerce. It may not be improper, alfo, to hint at the various allegorical defigns, by the fame band, which are calculated to promote improvements in morals, fo very effential a part of true religion."

Mr. P. paffes to the reprefentation of St. Paul preaching at Lyfira, by Ra phael, "the work of the greatest man, in his employment, that the world has produced, the divine Raphael, and adorns the chief palace of our Sovereign, that munificent promoter of the elegant arts." (p. 13.).... “Allufions from this facred place of inftruction, and defcriptions of the generality of very good paintings for the illuftration of Scripture, might defervedly be confidered as objectionable; but when, pon a particular and rare occafion, fuch as the prefent (which will, perhaps, be the only one before the venerable perfonage above alluded to will, full of good works, bid adieu to his friends for ever), we have recourfe to the performances of him whofe excellence is eftcemed by the best judges as peculiarly tranfcendant-in this cafe it may, is to be hoped, be excufeable.” (pp. 13, 14.) "Befides the reprefentation of the very extraordinary event Lyftra, there are fix other feriptural pieces, well known almost through the world by the name of the Cartoons of Raphael, with the figures as large as life, and which, like the gem of mercy in the Royal crown, are incomparably the most valuable ornaments of the fane palace. The only reafon why, from among them, I have felected the prefent fubject is, on account of the facrifice which the inhabitants of the city. were about to make to the Apoftles; because it affords me opportunity of

It is a fact, that unforeseen, continual wars have proved the most deftructive enemy to the elegant arts. By thefe means former most numerous demands for English engravings have almost totally ceafed.

adverting, at the conclufion of this difcourfe, to the grand facrifice on the crofs, that fpotlefs Lamb of God, "flain from the foundation of the world."

Mr. P. having, in the ten following pages, "dared to defcribe, for the improvement of our faith, this famous. reprefentation of an Apoftolical scene at Lyftra," points out fome of thofe fenfes in which the word Vanities is ufed to become a proper leffon of caution to congregations in general; and concludes with an application to the occafion of the day. The fermon is one of the moft extraordinary we have ever read; highly deferving as the worthy Patron of the Art of Engraving is of the compliments here paid him: though, by-the-by, his fubjects have been of the facred kind only incidentally, nor has he attended to the Cartoons or Raphael, except in the general collection of original pictures copied under his patronage; nor fhoula paintings have been introduced or appealed to, unless the fubject had formed the altar-piece of the church in which the difcourfe was delivered.

132. A Univerfal Hiftory, antient and modern; comprehending a general View of the Tranfactions of every Nation, Kingdom, and Empire on the Globe, from the earliest Accounts of Time to the Peace of 1801. In Twentyfive fmall Volumes. By William Mavor, LL.D. Vicar of Hurley in Berkshire, and Chaplain to Earl Moira, &c. &c.

AMONGST the improvements of the prefent day, that refpect the culture and ornament of the human mind, there are none which have greater claim on the gratitude of the publick than thofe which facilitate the progrefs of ftudy and knowledge; and this is moft effectually done by the art of coucentrating and confolidating works of great pith and moment, by bringing them within the compafs, not only of the tender understandings of youth, but within the compafs alfo, generally fpeaking, of thofe who have the expence and conduct of their education. The art of Abridgment, indeed, is of more importance than is generally

*Mr. P. feems fenfible of the impropriety of "rifking, for the first time, aud probably the laft," a fermon fo unufual as this, from being perfuaded that Raphael had ftudied the works of Homer and Vir gil. (p. 18, n.)

imagined,

imagined, and is by no means one of thofe eafy operations fuperficial obfervers may be led to think it. To fhorten a long performance, and to make a little book out of a large one, is certainly no great difficulty; or, with a determined hand, to reduce any thing of vast bulk to a smaller fize, may be done with a proportionate degree of violence; as the woodman, by the relterated ftroke of his axe, may fell the largest tree of the foreft. But to lop the Juxuriant branches with fkill and care, and thereby to preferve the beauty and the figure of the whole, fo as to correct the luxuriance and affift the growth, is a matter of a very different kind.

Thefe remarks apply, in a particular manner, if we may be permitted to continue the allufion, to thofe literary abridgments of very valuable and extenfive performances, which, in them felves, are calculated, in point of perufal, chiefly for the learned and laborious, and, in point of purchase, only for the opulent, who confider books as fo many pieces of furniture, and add them to their libraries without any intention of reading them at all. And this art confifts not fimply in the reduction of unwieldy volumes, but in retaining all matter that is important, rejecting whatever is fuperfluous, and giving to the whole equal value and more interest; at the fame time to render the purchase as eafy as the perufal. It is only within a few years that this art of Abridgment (or, fhall we call it, of Compreffion?) has been brought to its prefent ftate; fince which, however, readers of almost every defeription, and of every age, have perceived and acknowledged it as a very beneficial improvement.

We deemed it proper to enter into thefe obfervations as highly appropriate to the important work immediately under our confideration. Dr. Mavor, indeed, may be confidered, if not as one of the inventors, certainly as one of the patrons, of the art, of which the volumes before us exhibit a moft unqueftionable confirmation. A compendious edition of the great "Univerfal Hiftory" (the original of which, every reader knows, is no lefs enormous in extent than in expence) has long been a defideratum in Literature and we congratulate the publick on its being at length fatisfactorily effected. It is equally impoffible, from the nature of the performance as from the li

133. Delectus Græcarum Sententiarum, cùm Notis tum Grammaticis, tum Philologicis, in Ufum Tironum accommodatis. Editio altera au&tior. Ex Prelo Nordosicenfi, apud R. Bacon, Celfiffimi Gulielmi, Glevi Princi · pis, Bibliopolam.

IN reviewing this publication, it will be fufficient to give an extract from the Author's Preface; and to add, that Mr. St. John Prieft has done full juf tice to the fubject he has undertaken :

"The great benefit derived from the use of Dr. Valpy's Latin Delectus induced the author of the following Delectus Græcarum Sententiarum to endeavour to compile marerials from the best Greek authors, in order to form an introductory book to the Greek language upon a plan fomewhat fimilar. After he had experienced the use of such a compilation in his own school, he communicated it to thofe perfons upon whose judgment and experience he relied; and, encouraged by them, has ventured to offer it to the publick, under the wish that it may prove ufeful to thofe who are concerned in teaching. The principal objects in this compilation are, to inculcate general principles of Grammar, and those of the Greek language in particular; to explain fome of the most common idioms; to lead the learner gradually from first principles, and to prepare him for productions of a higher clafs and importance," 134. Elements

THIS work, not having been duly reviewed at its firft publication, phas efcaped our attention till the prefent month. It is, however, more deferving our approbation, as the author has made feveral corrections in the courfe of the fucceffive editions. The publick have given fufficient proofs of their ap probation by the rapid fale of the work. Mr. K. thus commences his introductory chapter:

"To feperate tome of the most useful and the most beautiful parts from the great mafs of human knowledge, to arrange them in fuch regular order that they may be infected with eafe and varied at pleafure, and to recommend them to the carefal examination of young men who are ftudiouly difpoled, conftitute the defign of the author of this work."

The parts confift of the Chriftian Religion, Languages, Hiftory antient and modern, Philofophy, Tafte, Agriculture and Commerce, Foreign Travel, and the Profeffions.-The concluding addrefs is written with animation; and the lift of books, which is very felect and ufeful, is recommended by the affillance which the author procured from fome eminent fcholars both in Oxford and Cambridge.

135. Village Anecdotes; or, The Fournit of a Year, from Sophia to Edward; with inginal Poems. By Mrs. Le Noir..

THIS novel has very little the air of fetion. The author has aimed at fomething fo like truth, that her tale may be easily miftaken for a reality. It difplays at once fi.oplicity and variety; plicity in the deferiptions, and va riety in the characters; all, apparently, copied from nature, and all written from the heart. The narrative too is accompanied with many very beautiful pieces of poetry, which cannot fail to pleafe readers of talte; and the whole performance mult neceffarily be read with great intereft by fuch as have had an opportunity of contemplating village-manners, firipped of thofe artificial and extravagant ornaments with which they are fometimes embellished by novelifts and poets.

GENT. MAG. July, 1804,

The following is a fhort sketch of Mrs. Le Noir's Village Anecdotes : Mr. Willars is a feafaring gentleman, who relinquishes, for a feafon, the endearments of domeftic life for the duties of his profeffion. During his abfence, his wife, retiring to the family of a wealthy farmer, in a village called Oatlands, becomes acquainted with the characters and principal tranfactions in the neighbourhood. These Willars keeps, and which, in the narare defcribed in a journal, which Mrs. rative, has the appearance of being written as a feries of letters, in a regu lar correfpondence with her husband. The condition of a married woman,

feparated for a feafon from her bufband, furnishes a reafon for relating the fimple occurrences of the day, and fereens the narrative from the imputa tion of cenforioufnefs and indifcretion; for, amid many agreeable pictures of rural life and fine touches, that intereft the benevolent feelings, there occur examples of illiberality, felfifhnefs, and coarienefs, which difguft. Thefe, however, muft be allowed to be true delineations, and to poffefs a natural and important place i village anecdotes. Mrs. Le Noir's villagers, indeed, are but like the inhabitants of a great inetropolis in an undrefs, as defcribed by fome of our most admired and fashionable novelifts.

But the hero and heroine, Mr. Ewers and Mifs Harriet Peterfon, are fuperior characters; the foriner is manly, benevolent, and generous, of very exact judgment and the most refined delicacy; the latter, poffeffed of all the innocence and lovelinels of youth, a correct undertanding, and a good heart. The perplexities of Mr. Ewers' fitnation, the gradual removal of his difficulties, the filent progrefs of love in the breaft of the artlefs Harriet, and, at length, the happy union of the two lovers, confiitute what may be called the ftory of this piece, and form a very pleafing and interefting contraft to the other parts of the Village Anecdotes. In the management of this flory Mrs. Le Noir has difcovered great knowledge of the human heart, as well as much genius.

With the poetry, fome of which is original, and fome tranflated from the French, we have been much delighted; we fcruple not to pronounce it excellent; the thoughts are fimple and chafte; the verfification is very melod'ous; and there is a fine vein of fen

fibility

mies of the Reformed religion, a numerous party, thofe who dreaded the diminution of their power in the feveral districts which they had been used to opprefs, those who enriched themfelves and fupported their petty feuds by Irish exactions, &c. all came to Parliament with a determined refolution to oppofe every measure that came from the throne *.' Can we therefore wonder that a princefs of Elizabeth's temper, who treated her own Parliaments with fo high a hand, fhould have imprifoned thofe depaties whom this Catholic Opposition, which fo factionfly oppofed her favourite Reformation, and her plans for civilizing Ireland, fent to Loudon, to lay what they called their grievances at the foot of the throne? - Mr. P. forgot to inform his reader, that Queen Elizabeth, A. D. 1592, in the 35th year of her reign, founded and endowed the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, near Dublin: Adam Lof tus, Archbishop of Dublin, was the firft provoft.-Queen Elizabeth, in the first fifteen years of her reign, expended in Ireland the fum of 490,7791. 75. 6d. though the whole produce of the Irish revenue during that period was but 120,000l. Ware, chap. XV. In her reign, during the government of Lord Suffex, the first clock was fet up in Dublin, in the Caftle; which, fays Ware, being a novelty, was very pleafing to the common people, chap. III. In the 13th year of her reign alfo, the Irish characters for printing were firft brought into Ireland, by Nicholas Walth, Chancellor of St. Patrick's, Dublin. Chap. XIII. Ware.—The first book ever printed in Ireland was the Liturgy, in the year 1550, printed by Humphry Powell. An uals of Dublin. In the 30th year of her reign, Lilly's English Grammar was order ed, by an Act of Council, to be taught in Ireland. Ware, chap. XXX. And in her reign, in the year 1565, John Hawkins, from Santa Fe, in New Spain, originally. introduced potatoes into Ireland, the first brought into Europe: they did not become the general food of the Irish until after the Revolution. Sir W. Temple and Sir J. Dalrymple feem to confider (with good reafon) the idleness of the lower Irish to arife, in fome measure, from the eafe with which potatoes are cultivated, and from their being fatisfied with fuch food. Whilkey was in ufe in Ireland from a much earlier period. Some of the earliest acts in the Irish Statute-book are two or three prohibiting the making and ufing of aqua Vitz made from grain, Irish Statutes, vol. 1.-As to that unparalleled system of confifcation and depopulation which,' Mr. Plowden fays, began in this reign, and which, being in its nature fo diametrically oppofite to Union, pointedly marks the

♦ Leland, vol. II. book IV. chap. I.

evils which fo long afflicted Ireland for want of this falutary, measure,' I beg leave, in anfwer, to obferve, that this writer feems to have forgotten that confifcation of property, in confequence of treafon, was formerly, and ftill is, the law of England as well as of Ireland; nor has the Act of Union repealed this ftature: and as to the depopulation of which he complains, it arofe from the inevitable confequences of the infurrection of the Irish, who were then (as I fear many of them still are) only to be taught leffons of obedience in the field of battle. The lands of Ireland were forfeited for rebellion. That they have been forfeited over and over again, I admir; and this is easily accounted for, becaufe the history of that country is little more than the history of a series of rebellions. When, therefore, this writer condemns this fyftem of confifcation, he condemns the laws of our country; which, in fpite of the fenfibilities of modern philofophers, and the practices of modern reformers, will, I truft, be immortal.” (p. 37.) It is not improbable that the queftion of Catholic Emancipation (as it is called) may be foon agitated. To those gentlemen who have not already made this important up their minds on

point, we recommend the perufal of this tract. It exhibits, in one brief view, the state of the oppofite parties; it fhews what privileges have been already granted to the Roman Catholicks, what the confequences of fuch favours have been, and what farther demands of power they yet make. One inference, we think, is too obvious to efcape the most inattentive obferver: that, as long as the priesthood of that country, whofe influence over the minds of three-fourths of the people it is impoffible to doubt, is, either mediately or immediately, chofen and appointed by the Court of Rome, and as long as that Court is under the direc tion of France, fo long Ireland, inftead of affording a nervous arm to affift this Country in the conteft with her impla cable enemy, will hang like a pallied fide upon the Empire, impoverishing its refources and reftraining its vigour.

Mr. Plowden attributes this per formance to Sir Richard Mufgrave and Dr. Duigenan*; but we have realon to conjecture, from the praifes beftowed on thofe gentlemen, that neither of them is the author.

*Mr. Plowden, in his Poftliminious Pre

face, fays, he has traced the publication 'o Merion Avenue and the viciniy ut Lifmore, the country refidences of those gentlemen.

ELE