Minerva's creft the blinking owl adorn'd; The god of thieves this garb had stole And ftrait from his jacket "Confider thefe lines for my fake." Jove from his hand the letter took, HAL was a chopping boy." The introductions, arguments, and illuftrations of all forts are equally Peterifh. The beft thing in the collection is the parody of the "Blue Bells of Scotland," at the end; and that is no great matter, as may be fuppofed. 8vo. IS. ART. 15. Harry Dee, or, the Scotchman Detected, a Poem, in four Parts. By Edward Longshanks. Jordan and Co. 1805. 22 PP. As fome dogs have appetite enough to eat pudding, however dirty, fo fome readers are fond enough of abufe, to enjoy it, however coarfe and ftupid. To this clafs only can the prefent Poem be recommended, which, though on the fame fubject with the former, has not even rifen to Petro-pindaric humour. The liberality and elegance of the following exordium will strike every reader, except the clafs above-mentioned, "In that chill clime beyond the Tweed, There "Where honeft men are scarce indeed." It will be kept in memory throughout this poem, that the Author by no means would There Scottish bairns, both young and old For turn them round which wa' you wul, The quarto trafh profeffes to have gone to a fifth edition. No, fuch intimation is affixed to this, and we truft never will. ART. 16. The Young Rofciad, an admonitory Poem, well-feafoned with Attic Salt, Cum notis variorum. By Peter Pangloss, Efq. LL. D. & AS.S. 4to. 35 pp. Gordon. 1805. There is more of ill-nature than either of wit or good advice in this poem, though fomething of the latter may certainly be extracted from it. But we can by no means confirm the author's own critique upon it, that it is "well-feafoned with attic falt." Peter Panglofs, a laughable character in a favourite play, is the pretended writer of the Young Rofciad, which, both in the dedication and other parts, has many allufions to his dramatic origin. The real author, whoever he is, attempts to refer all the claims of the Young Rofcius to mere fashion, which is certainly not just. Few readers will fubscribe either to the truth, or poetical merit of fuch lines as thefe. "Where is thy wondrous merit, boy, Favours exceeding all due bounds? A rara avis-a black fwan A little proud phenomenon! This adulation has quite fpoil'd you! By your attempting much has foil'd you; For all the world can plainly fee That you and Shakespeare can't agree ; That is à ftudy rather cramp, Too much for genius of your tamp." P. 24. would have it underflood, that there is not any worth or virtue in a certain part of the globe, for he has the pleasure of being acquainted with individuals there of ineftimable character. When we fpeak at large, we allow many exceptions. He that fupports a noble character amidst a mean circle of acquaintance, is par ticularly worthy of our admiration." Y y z Here Here certainly, "facit indignatio verfus, qualescunque poteft," or perhaps it is invidia, who a much worfe poet. But why poor Prifcian's head fhould be attacked in the poet's wrath, as in the second of thefe lines, we cannot fay; except that the rhyme commanded. ART. 17. The Battle of Trafalgar. Stanzas by the Rev. James Beresford, A. M. Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. To which is added, Nelfon's laft Victory, a Song by a Friend. 4to. rs. 6d. Hatchard. 1805. We hope that there is ftill poetic genius left among us equal to the talk of recording the fame of Nelfon in enduring verfe. At prefent we have feen none but hafty and trifling effufions, which do greater honour to the fenfibility than the judgment of the authors: the following is one of the beft parts of the prefent compofition. "What dims the light'ning in Britannia's eye, His beft, his fovereign triumph o'er the foe?" ART. 18. Sonnets and other Poems; to which are added Tales in Profe. 12mo. Black and Parry. 45. 1805. Thefe Poems and Tales are infcribed by a mother to her fons, and an appeal is made to our gallantry as men, not too rigidly to cenfure the light effufions of a female pen. Though our age of gallantry has long been paft, we cheerfully accept the appeal; but there really feems no occafion for fuch appeal, for the poetry is very elegant, as wi fufficiently appear from the following fonnet. THE CARNATION, "Fair flower by Doris lov'd, fhall I prefume No No-fhe fhall place thee in her fnowy breaft, And thy delicious odours thence arife As incemfe when with Love's warm hopes imprefs'd, Ah happy flower these coral lips to kiss, And thence thy bright vermilion tints to steal, To live and thrive like thee, fweet flower! to die." There is a great deal of the genuine fpirit of poetry in this, little volume; the elegiac lines on the Duke of H. are reinarkably neat and elegant, and the profe tales evince a lively ima gination, connected by much good tafte. ART. 19. Nelfon's Tomb. A Poem. By William Thomas Fitz- 18 pp. 2s. 6d. The above Poems are the productions of a Mufe always publie. fpirited and patriotic. If fome lines may be found less vigorous and correct than the author might have rendered them, it may be justly attributed to the hafte of publication on a subject in fome degree temporary; although the fame of the Hero cele. brated will doubtlefs be immortal. On the other hand, the spirit and tendency of thefe Poems will intereft every lover of his country, and the praises of our departed heroic Chief will find"an echo in every bosom." Of the two Poems, the latter appears to us the most uniformly correct and animated. Yet the following paffage in the former presents an interefting picture. Speaking of the Tomb of Lord Nelfon, the author fays, "Then shall be feen, contemplating his grave, DRAMATIC. ART. 20. John Bull; or the Englishman's Firefide: a Comedy, in Five Acts. First performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, on the 5th of March, 1803. By George Colman the younger. 8vo. 102 PP. 2s. 6d. Longman. 1805. Few plays have had greater fuccefs than this. The run of it, in the first feafon, was prodigious; nor had it loft its attractions in the fecond or third. It cannot but be called, therefore, a very popular comedy. After ftating this fact, fhall we venture to own, that nothing has led us more deeply to despair of the recovery of our national drama, than this extraordinary fuccefs? A public which could run after John Bull, must have loft the very notion of genuine comedy. Our readers may not perhaps believe, authors certainly will not, that this ftrain of conftant complaint refpecting our dramas, is extremely irkfome to us. But what can we do? the fault is not in us who complain, but in thofe who give cause for it. A humane judge will feel much pain in condemning prifoners, but if they will commit atrocious crimes, his office compels him to pronounce the law; though he may never feel delight in his office, but when he is able to direct an honourable acquittal. In the prefent inftance, we judge not, as we do fometimes, from mere perufal. The great, and long continued popularity of John Bull, led us to the theatre, with rather fanguine expectations of amufement. But alas! what a disappointment! An Irish blackguard, with his wife, and a cornish boor, form about one half of the entertainment: the parts admirably acted indeed, (which was perhaps one great charm) but most difguftingly obtrufive in the piece. The dialogue, as is ufual with Mr. Colman, more lively than that of ordinary dramatifts, but difgraced by miferable puns: often particularly mi ferable, becaufe prepared by mere trick. Thus, in the first fcene, the Irishman fays, that his keeping the Red Cow, was rather a Bull. But, why was his fign the Red Cow merely to introduce this ftale and flat jeft. Of the very fame ftamp is the Horfe Traitor, in another paffage; and the reply of the fervant about the weather *, who had been fent out evidently for no other reason than to introduce it. We must not, how. ever, attempt to be too particular.` Poor John Bull, of whofe firefide we fee nothing, is, we prefume, reprefented by a very foolishly fentimental Brazier. In the other characters, there is either extravagantly romantic fentiment, or no lefs extravagant depravity; and the incidents, of the moft improbable nature, are conducted to their conclufion by * P. 49° the |