there are few things in the work very censurable; and indeed how could there be, when the author wanted that poetick fire, which a lone can infuse even into a trans lation of a Roman satire, the true spirit of that species of writing? We say, it contains little that is very censurable. There are some passages where we find words combined in a manner neither elegant nor correct; such as, "far more present," "chief (most) detest," "breathe a wretched vow" (for prayer.) The word rhetor is retained in the translation for rhetorician, which is also one word in a doggerel catalogue of professions, (lines 113-14) that will infallibly make the reader laugh. The examples of bad rhymes and false measure are very few; fewer than what may be found in the same satire in Mr. Gifford's translation.

While the author of London, an imitation of the third satire of Juvenal, was unknown to Pope, we are told, he exclaimed in the words of Terence, "ubi, ubi est celari non potest;" but we shall wave our curiosity to know the author of the translation, till in his own language, -waveringly prophetick indeed, "Perhaps, embolden'd by the voice of praise,"

he shall again appear before the publick, and, in a tone more commanding, claim admission into the temple of fame.

There are several smaller translations in this volume, from ancient and modern poets, in which there is little to censure or to praise. Two odes from Anacreon, a war song from Tyrtaus, an ode from the Spanish of La Vega, and portions from Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered, are among the number. Of the translations from Tasso, the author remarks, if, upon com

parison, they should be found to convey a juster representation of the original,than the corresponding passages of Mr. Hoole's version, the superiority must be ascribed to the peculiar fitness of blank verse, as the medium of translation, where the original is so remarkably distinguished by energy, majesty, and simplicity of style." We shall enter into no controversy with the writer on this subject. Hoole, in his Tasso, has always delighted us, and delighted the more for having, in imitation of his original, added to his correct versification the pleasing ornament of rhyme, which is not incompatible with true sublimity.] We do not say that a translation of Tasso, as good as Mr. Hoole's, can never be produced; but we are confident, that our author has too much modesty to stand forth for the prize of superiority.

The most considerable in length of the poems in this volume, called original, is one entitled "The Triumph of Woman." "There is," the author remarks, "a considerable hiatus in the manuscript of this poem; should the publick add valde deflendus, it may possibly be sup plied." The publick has hardly sensibility enough to weep on such occasions. We perused it in the night, and, perchance, shed a tear. In some instances we have remarked, in the smaller poems, an af fected use of obsolete terms. If ↳ L our poets continue this practice, (for others are guilty of the same) we shall soon have to repair to Ben Jenson, or the old ballad, for a glossary to poems of the nineteenth century. Another species of affectation in this writer is the peculiar and repeated use of the infini tive, with the omission of its appropriate sign to,—as, wont inspire, deign impart, chuse impart.

Sonnets compose a considerable portion of the original poetry; but as our author cannot expect to build his fame on the airy fabrick of sonnets, we make him no apology for neglecting them. Altho' there are pieces in this collection, which we are not disposed to censure, we think the writer has still before him the arduous task of establish ing his reputation as a poet. He certainly undervalues, or sadly neglects, the harmony of numbers; and, though he sometimes writes good sense, he fails in that callida junctura, or dextrous combination of words, which Horace, the great arbiter in matters of taste, tells us gives to an old thought the semblance of novelty.

There are a few small poems in this volume, communicated by the friend, who wrote the introductory letter. These are sometimes accompanied by a little marginal praise, which, as it is a mark of our author's gratitude, we highly approve. In the lines addressed to a lady, there are several verses which gave us pleasure; and, as we always wish our readers to participate with us the sweet as well as the bitter, we conclude with the two following verses :....

The trickling tears which flow'd at night Oft hast thou stay'd, till morning light

Dispell'd my little woes;
So fly before the sun-beam's power
The remnants of the evening shower,
Which wet the early rose.

As oft his anxious nurse has caught,
And sav'd his little hand, that sought

The bright but treach'rous blaze ;
So may fair wisdom keep him sure
From glittring vices, which allure
Through life's delusive maze.

ART. 61.

Memoirs of Richard Cumberland. Written by himself. Containing an account of his life and writings, interspersed with anecdotes and characters of several of the most distinguished persons of his time, with whom he has had intercourse and connexion. New-York, published by Brisban & Brannan. 8vo. pp. 356.

FROM the life of Cumberland we had expected much, and our expectations are not disappointed. Yet our gratification has not been uniform or uninterrupted. When the literary veteran speaks of his own services in the world of letters, he commonly fixes attention ; when he talks of the wits, his contemporaries, he is always listened to with pleasure; but he wishes us besides to be acquainted with all the branches of his family, with his masters and his rivals at the university, whose names we have seldom heard before, and of whom we shall never inquire hereafter. Much of his book is also devoted to his political concerns, and this we could contentedly have spared.

The chief difficulty in reading this work arises from the want of dates. The events of one season after another, from youth to age, are related by the biographer without designating the years, in which they happened; and he talks of the next spring, or the next winter, when we can hardly determine them with more certainty, than the chronology of Priam.

Of those productions, to which the world has showed little kindness, the author gives us large ex tracts. In the decline of life the offspring of his youth seem dearer to him than those of his maturity, and he vainly wishes them to be received into the same company.

The tedious transcripts in pages 85, 188, 341, besides most of the ninety pages of his diplomatick transactions in Spain, increase the cost of his book, while they add little to its value. During the visit to the lakes of Cumberland, "the sun," says our author, "was never very gracious to our suit ;" nor can this excite surprise, if his refulgence was only to be hoped from the languid invocation he has copied for us.

Of the style the general character is ease without grace, and it sometimes falls below the simplicity of conversation towards vulgarity. "I declare to truth" is is not the language of a gentleman. The thoughts are lively rather than instructive. There are few profound observations; but many animated similies, and many unexpected combinations.

remote

The anecdotes of the well-known characters of Johnson, Goldsmith, Garrick, and Foote will be often perused with delight. Of Gar rick, whose sphere was from his own, Cumberland speaks in the most generous and deserved commendation; but the domain of Goldsmith borders on the province of the biographer; and, in his notes of praise, we distinguish the tone of a rival.

From the account of those persons, whose virtues are less known than their names, we extract for general information the character of Lord North. "When in process of time I saw and knew Lord North in his retirement from all publick affairs, patient, collected, resigned to an afflicting visitation of the severest sort, when all, but his illuminated mind, was dark around him, I contemplated an affecting and an edifying object, that claimed my admiration and es

teem; a man, who, when divested of that incidental greatness, which high office for a time can give, self-dignified and independent, rose to real greatness of his own creating, which no time can take away; whose genius gave a grace to every thing he said, and whose benignity shed a lustre upon every thing he did; so richly was his memory stored, and so lively was his imagination in applying what he remembered, that, after the great source of information was shut against himself, he still possessed a boundless fund of information for the instruction and delight of others."

The last words of Viscount Sackville, more known in our country, as Lord Gorge Germaine, do honour to the memory of a man of talents. You see me now in those moments, when no disguise will serye, and when the spirit of a man must be proved. I have a mind perfectly resigned, and at peace within itself. I have done with this world, and what I have done in it, I have done for the best; I hope and trust I am prepared for the next. Tell not me of all, that passes in health and pride of heart; these are the moments, in which a man must be searched, and remember, that I die, as you see me, with a tranquil conscience and content."

The heart of the author, as evidently appears from many places in his narration, is of the most amiable disposition, deeply imbued with

"all the charities Of father, son, and brother." Though his family misfortunes allow us not to exclaim, happy old man! with more fervency than Horace we shall pray, serus in cœlum redeas.

ART. 62.

The Philadelphia Medical Museum. By John Redman Coxe, M. D. Vols. I. and II. 8vo. Philadelphia, Archibald Bartram, for Thomas Dobson.

PERIODICAL publications may be considered one effect of the new direction, which the genius of Bacon gave to the powers of the mind. Before that era of true philosophy the medical art obscured by hypothetical reasonings, founded on fancied properties of matter, or on the combina tion of certain elements, which existed only in the writings of the philosophers. From absurd theories resulted curious and unfortunate modes of treatment; and the evident incongruity, arising from the application of preconceived hypotheses to the cure of diseases, drew from a celebrated ancient physician the observation, that medicine was merely a "conjectural art."

The revolution, however, which the method of reasoning by induction produced on most of the physical sciences, was gradually extended to that of medicine. Theories were deserted for facts, and speculative opinions for the knowledge of the operations of nature. The science of medicine acquired new principles, and assumed a new character. Hence resulted the anxiety of philosophers to collect facts, and, from the same principle, proceeded the extensive epistolary correspondence, which, for a long period, was attached to eminence in the medical profession. Physicians were eager to obtain some portion of that practical knowledge, which the patriarchs of medicine were able and willing to impart. But this mode of communication was faborious in execution, and limited

in effect. The calls of duty, and the fatigues of practice, allowed but little time to be devoted to the arranging of those ideas, and description of those cases, which an acute and habitual observation had gradually collected. The inconvenience, resulting from this mode of publication, added to the conviction, that many useful observations and important discoveries were lost, merely through want of a proper vehicle to convey them to the publick mind, first suggested the idea of periodical works. The advantages of these were soon obvi

ous.

So soon as it was known, that detached portions of practical knowledge might be published, unconnected with systems, and unsupported by theories, every one was willing to contribute his share of experience to the publick good. Works of this nature multiplied, and were soon disseminated thro' almost every nation in Europe.Periodical publications, in fact, may be considered the indices, which mark the progress of the sciences. They are the depositaries of those researches and discoveries, which acute and sagacious minds have collected on those branches of general science, to which each of these works is respectively appropriated.

In our own country the progress of this great improvement was extremely slow. For a long period we were contented to reason on the facts, and practise on the principles of European systems. Societies for the advancement of medicine have successively pledged themselves to favour the publick with their transactions, but that responsibility, which is efficient in an individual, becomes weakened by extension. The ardor scientiæ,which glows in the bosoms of a few, is of ten extinguished by diffusion. This impediment is to be discov

ered in moral causes.

Our coun. try is certainly capable of affording rich and abundant materials for works of this nature. The territory of the United States is of immense extent, and comprehends within its boundaries, every variety of soil, and almost every modification of climate. Our fields are still unexplored by the botanist, and our mountains by the mineralogist. New diseases have arisen, whose origin and nature are still the subjects of controversy among our physicians; while the diseases of Europe, modified by our ch mates and modes of living, require new applications and different modes of treatment. Knowing, therefore, that we possess inexhaustible stores of new matter, it was with much pleasure we opened the work before us, the third of the kind devoted to medical pursuits, published in this country. In the formation of a work like this, the first object of attention, undoubtedly, for its importance, is a collection of facts on our diseases, particularly our autumnal epidemicks. It is well known,that the most respectable physicians of the southern and middle states have been and still are engaged in a controversy, respecting the origin, the nature, and the modes of treatment of the bilious remitting fever. A collection, therefore, of authentick documents, relative to this disease, so as to form a regular chronological account, may tend to elucidate these disputed points, and consequently to mitigate that rancour, with which this contest of opinion has been conducted, and which has thrown no small degree of odium on the medical profession, Next to these we class accounts of the vegetable and mineral productions of our own country. Here we find open to our view a

rich field of inquiry. This branch of knowledge has been too much. neglected. Physicians of the interiour have, from necessity, acquir ed a kind of empyrical knowledge of our indigenous plants. This, however, has been in general confined within their own sphere of practice. Yet medicines, for which the physician of the city is indebted to his retort and crucible, are often found by the "culler of simples," ready prepared in the great laboratory of nature. To these should be added accounts of the variations of the weather, and of diseases connected with these states.

The Medical Musuem, each number of which appears every four months, is divided into three heads.

The first is devoted to original communications; the second, denominated the Philosophical and Medical Register, contains extracts from European journals, and gives accounts of those discoveries, which tend to the advancement of medicine and of the sciences, with which it is connected; the third division is simply an enumeration of new publications. The limits of a review will not permit us to examine in detail the multifarious productions, by which works like these are necessarily. constituted. We shall only briefly notice those papers, which appear valuable to us for practical observations, or for the successful exhibition of new remedies in the cure of diseases. On the yellow. fever we find several communica tions. The first volume commen ces with the account of Dr.Mitchell, of the fever in Virginia, in 1741-2. This is communicated by Dr.Rush, and is the same, if we mistake not, to which he refers in his own work on that subject; and which gave him the bint, that first led to the