"Though in this wilderness below We rejoice to fee that the worthy author is well patronized. ART. 14. La Fete Royale; or the Vifit to Stowe. A Poem, in two Cantos. I 2mo. Hatchard. IS. 1808. A well meaning tribute to English hofpitality, perhaps by fome one who attended this fame feaft out of livery, we need only tranfcribe a few lines at a venture to prove that the gentleman does not wear the livery of the Mufes. "To the hall they afcend as the king leads the way, ART. 15. Traveller's Recreations. By William Parfons, Efq. The author of thefe Poems is well known and much refpected among the gentlemen who write with eafe;" and as he aspires to no other clafs, this may readily be allowed him. In his wanderings from Paris to Vienna, from Vienna to Rome, from Rome to Madrid, he has meditated, commenced, and abandoned many large works, both in verfe and profe; but is at present fatisfied with prefenting the world with what has been his folace in poft chaifes, inns, and temporary lodgings. A very agree. able folace they must have proved; for many of them indicate much tafte, and a confiderable degree of poetic feeling. They have given us much amufement. We fubjoin a fhort fpecimen. "VERSES FROM MADAME LA MARECHALE DE MIREPOIS, TO MONSIEUR LE DUC DE NIVERNOIS, WITH A LOCK OF HER HAIR, AND HIS ANSWER. "Imitated. "Behold this lock, which deck'd my face, Long fince hath time forbade to fhine Yet, Yet, while my faithful friends remain, "Friendship's bright ftar, with purer rays, We dread fierce Love's tumultuous fway; Sufpect him veil'd in Friendship's guife; This freedom, ne'er enjoy'd before, Has age beftowed with-treffes hoar." P. 68, 69. 66 THE ANSWER. "O talk not thus of "treffes hoar!" Let TIME his deftin'd courfe pursue; The charms he cannot fteal from you. "For me, while I fo far am blest "If I had at this prefent hour Juft eighteen fummers meafur'd o'er, I could not, could not, feel it more!" P. 70. ART. 16. Eulogies; or, political Characteristics: a Poem; em bracing feveral Topics: with fome Sketches of Grenville, Pitt, Fox, Earl Moira, Petty, Windham, Erskine, the Jeweller, &c. &c. Addreffed to the Right Hon. Lord Sidmouth. By the Author of Hezekiah, a facred Drama. 8vo. 55 PP. Vernor and Hood, &c. 1806. 1S. This compofition confifts of meafured lines of two forts; fome that are right measure and fome that are wrong; fome that will fcan fcan and fome that will not, and all terminated by rhymes, but all agreeing in being, as to all other qualities of writing, complete profe. If, therefore, the author had ftyled it any thing rather than a poem, the title would have fuited better. Peace is a fubject which generally infpires poets; obferve then how this writer has treated it. "Hence why not liften to the charming voice, "Hail, lovely offspring of the pow'rs above! Yet these belong to the lines that will fcan. In the next page, at the feventh line, begin a fet that will not. The Eulogies, conveyed in fuch ftrains, will not add much fplendour to the names of Grenville, Pitt, Fox, nor even Earl Moira, though he alone, out of many noble peers, is allowed the ufe of his title. ART. 17. An Evening Walk in the Foreft. A Poem, defcriptive of Foreft Trees. By a Lady. 12mo. 36 pp. 1s. 6d. Jordan and Co. 1807. If these verses are confidered merely as technical lines, to affist the memory in retaining the names, and diftinguishing the properties of the principal foreft trees, they may have their ufe: nor does the author, from her prefixed advertisement, appear to have any higher ambition. This being the cafe, it would be invidious to show that her lines are profaic; and that though they may afford inftruction, they cannot convey much delight. DRAMATIC. ART. 18. Antiquity. A Farce, in two Acts. 8vo. 45 pp. Chapple. 1808. 15. The writer of this farce informs his readers that he has ano ther, and a very different, profeffion. Wishing well to his prof. perity in the world, we felicitate him upon the circumftance; nor can we forbear to add, that the more different it is, the more likely he will be to profper in it. So very fimple is this fpecimen, both in plan and execution, that they only who were themfelves completely fimple, could poffibly fmile at it. POLITICS. POLITICS. ART. 19. Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the Houfe of Commons. 8vo. 4. yols. 21. 2s. Longman and Co. 1806. Had it been poffible to obtain authentic copies of the important fpeeches made by our great ftatefman, in the courfe of his political career, much fhould we have delighted to dwell upon them, and on no account would have thruft the volumes in which they were comprifed into this obfcure part of our Review. As it is, we have little more to do than to announce the existence of the collection; and, giving praife to the defign of forming fo extenfive a body of political wifdom, in fuch a way as the circumstances rendered practicable, to point out what the Editors profess to have performed towards its completion. The dedication to Lord Grenville is figned W. S. Hathaway, by which act the Dedicator ftands pledged to the Public alfo for the affertions made in the preface, the most important of which are these. "From the Journals of Debrett and Woodfall, and from other public reports of admitted authenticity, the work has principally derived its materials. Thefe, however, have not been the only channels through which intelligence has been received. Other fources of more difficult accefs, but at the fame time of more authoritative information, have been confulted, and have contributed very valuable affiftance; and it has been by collating thefe various authorities, by detecting the mifreprefentations of fome, through the avowed fidelity of others, by difcarding errors where they could be afcertained, and supplying defects where the means of amendment were within reach, that a compilation has been formed, not inadequate, it is hoped, to the expectations. of the public. Some few of the fpeeches that appear in this col lection underwent the revifion of Mr. Pitt himfelf; fome were communicated by refpectable members of the House of Commons, from private notes in their own poffeffion; and of the remainder, the greater part has been fanétioned by the teftimony of thofe whofe frequent obfervation of the ftyle and character of the speaker enabled them to determine the degree of accuracy with which the fpeeches were reported." P. vi. This is as much as could with any probability be promised by an Editor after the death of Mr. Pitt. Had we any means of giving a found opinion or real information concerning any of the leading points of the fpeeches, we should delight to do fo; but as it is, we leave the collection, without further remark, to the ufe and examination of the public. ART. ART. 20. A plain Addrefs to the People of England in Explana. tion of the Secret Caufes which occafioned the Difmiffal of his Majefty's late Minifters. 12mo. 24 pp. 6d. Clarke. 1807. The caufes which occafioned the difmiffion of his Majefty's late Minifters, are not, we conceive, involved in the leaft obfcurity; nor, if they were, is any new explanation of them given by this author. He merely goes over the ground fo often trodden by others, alleging that the propofed extenfion of the Roman Ca tholic Bill (as it was, perhaps improperly, term'd), beyond the Irish Act, was fufficiently notified by them to their Sovereign, and that the pledge or promife required of them by the King would have been contrary to their oaths and their duty. He alfo, like other writers of his party, perfifts in afcribing their difmiflion to the advice of their fucceflors, in oppofition to the moft notorious facts. As nothing new is brought forward in fupport of thefe affertions, it will be fufficient for us to refer to the opinions we have frequently given on that fubject in our ac count of other and abler publications. The language of this author is (what cannot be faid of many party writers) fufficiently temperate, and, as to the Sovereign, whom we all revere, very laudably respectful: though we cannot intirely reconcile to that refpect, the terms in which he speaks of the interpretation which is understood to have been put by his Majefty on the coronation oath. ART. 21. Vindicia Lufitane, or an Answer to a Pamphlet enti tled, The Caufes and Confequences of the late Emigration to the Brazils. By Edward James Lingham, Efq. 8vo. 67 pp. 2s. 6d. Budd. 1808. The pamphlet to which this work profeffes to be an anfwer, has not yet fallen into our hands; but if the representation here given of it be, in any degree, juft, it undoubtedly deferves the fevereft cenfure. In that pamphlet the author, it feems, affects to investigate the folution of a problem, ftated by himself, refpecting a different conduct of this country towards Denmark and Portugal, and thence (according to the work before us) Jaunches into an hiftorical difcuffion on the rife and decline of the Portuguese power. This difcuffion the prefent author shows to be founded on a partial and inaccurate view of the fubject. He alfo contradicts (with what juftice we do not pretend to decide) that writer's affertion, refpecting the bad condition of the Portuguefe army and navy, and cites the high authority of the late Sir Charles Stuart for a much more favourable opinion of the Portuguese troops. Eut the chief objects of this author (in which, we think, he has, in a great degree, fucceeded) are, to fhow that the Prince * See Brit. Crit. vol. xxx. p. 315, 316. 319, &c. Regent |