garments, playing with their little ones, and having a little harmless chat with their friends and neighbours. And therefore, mamma, I am always sorry when the weather is bad on a Sunday,' said Agnes. So am 1, Agnes; but, even in that case, there are many pleasures within their reach. The very cessation of labour and exertion, to those who toil hard during six successive days, is no small blessing, and such as the wealthy and the indolent can form no just conception of.'There is something pleasant in the very idea, that even the poor beasts enjoy, on this day, rest and freedom from ill-treatment,' said Rosa. True, Rosa; and that man, under the most inclement seasons, has still his comforts. The wholesome meal, round which his family assemble, the blazing fire, beaming on many a happy face, the evening hours profitably spent in reading the sacred volume, which confirms our best purposes, and invigorates our highest hopes; or innocently cheered by the soothing notes of sacred melody of prayer and praise, or the social converse that, opening the heart, binds man to man in the strong link of social converse and friendly confidence.'-'You have left me,' said the attentive husband, to name one other Sunday blessing; the noblest joy of all.'-'I understand you, papa,' said Agnes; you mean the satisfaction of going to church.' You are right, Agnes; for, what can be a nobler employment than to offer, to the Great Giver of Good, the thanksgivings of our grateful hearts, to appear in bis more immediate presence, and, in his own sacred temple, confess our frailties, entreat his mercy, and adore his power? Oh, my children! what a blessing is this, what a high, what a glorious privilege!' The little circle listened with reverence to this affecting appeal. Their worthy father continued. How soothing to the best affections, to behold our fellowcreatures joining with us in this sacred act of piety, to look around us, and view a whole kneeling congregation uniting in the same expression of adoration; one great family, acknowledging their Universal Father! Who can so feel; and leave the house of God with any other feelings than those of pious awe and unbounded charity!'-The bell now proclaimed the hour of worship. The smiling family, with eager haste, prepared to obey the welcome summons; the little ones walked before, the grateful parents followed, their hearts swelling with unutterable content. After service, they enjoyed a walk, and met crowds of welldressed people indulging themselves in strolling through the beautiful fields and lanes that skirted the busy town. On their return home, they found a smoking dinner on the table, and sat down with excellent appetites to the welcome meal. Business, or other claims, sometimes dìvided the family on other days, but on Sunday they regularly assembled; and these occasional absences made them regard this meeting as a particular gratification. There was always something to be told, something to be described, something to be asked. Even the necessity of asking assistance or advice served only to unite the members of this family, as it proved their dependance on each other, and how little one could stand alone. If there was pleasure in asking assistance or advice, how much greater the satisfaction in bestowing it! and when Lionel, their elder brother, who weekly attended a master in a neighbouring town, begged his sisters would take care his neat supply of clean linen was more regularly forwarded to him, he felt almost as happy in thinking he had such kind sisters to apply to, as they did in promising to oblige him, and thus having the satisfaction of feeling that they could add to the comfort of their dear brother. Thus, obliging and obliged, the happy circle passed the hour of dinner. The tolling bell again called them to church. The twin-sisters, hanging on their brother's arm, attended the cheerful party to the sacred temple. The ailes were crowded with the decent poor, who, standing in rows, listened with reverence to their respected preacher." REVIEW OF NEW MUSICAL PUBLICATIONS. "There is in souls a sympathy with sounds; Is touch'd within us, and the heart replies." COWPER. 1. L'Orage, Rondo pastorale pour le Pianoforté, en imitation du celebre Rondo de Steibelt; composé et dedié à Mademoiselle Gibbings, par T. Latour. pp. 12. 4s. Chappell and Co. WHAT amusement is so innocent and social, so productive of benevolent feelings, so incapable of exciting vicious propensities, as Musick? In truth none. We know of no musical expression for malevolence, and think that no really wicked heart t was was ever truly sensible of its enchant ing powers. There is a something in musical expression that seems to bid defiance to philosophical explanation. Perhaps the very weakest of its influences can be ascribed to imitation. Musick is not essentially an imitative art; and therefore, as far as composition is concerned, it is more mysterious and difficult than painting. Musick has never been so much the fashion, the rage, in England, as at the present moment. All young ladies must now learn the pianoforte, or the more expensive harp. But, alas! this fashion is not founded on a generally increasing sensibility to the magical vibrations of sweet sounds; but the first aim is to flourish, to be dashing, to excel each other in the execution of some cramp difficulty. Young ladies sit in judgment on professors; and a man's reputation is disposed of before his character is properly known. Oh, it is a most ungrateful profession! The constant practice of the art, as a professor, in other words as a master, must practise it, works his nervous system into a state of the most dangerous susceptibility, while he is daily exposed to temptations and mortifications which are indescribable. Young men, are ye delighted with musick? Learn it then, as the sweetest and most innocent of all amusements for your leisure hours; avoid the profession, as the most unhappy of all occupations. The respect and the profit it obtains seldom bear any proportion to the difficulties to be surmounted. But, to close this long digression from our immediate business, we proceed to give our opinion of Mr. Latour's imitation. Indulgent Reader, accept our well-meant and sincere opinion; we have seldom room to express the reasons on which it is founded; and perhaps have not always clear reasons to give. In musick, "lu sensibilité fait tout notre génie." That our judgments may be impartial, consistent, and tend to the real advancement of the art, though but never so little, is all we dare hope. Our wish is to thrust assuming ignorance out of the way of modest talent; and secondly, to make-but here our limits and opportunities failto make this department of the Gentleman's Magazine a register of the best musical publications of the time in which we write. The beautiful subject of Steibelt's imitative rondo is truly and most delicately pastoral ; but the subject of Latour's has entirely the character of an opera dance. The first is in the major key of E; the second in that of F, being a semitone higher in pitch, but many degrees lower in excellence. On one account it will be preferred to Steibelt's ;it is equally rapid, and at the same time far easier of execution. The stormy part of it has the most merit; however, such a piece cannot do its Author much credit, except in so far as it is an acknowledgment of Steibelt's superiority. An imitation, in order to avoid being a mere copy, must have something of the imita tor's own; and generally, because genius is not general, this portion renders the imitation inferior to the original, Steibelt's musick has an expression peculiarly graceful and vivid: to compare musick with visi ble things, it has the softness and lustre of silk; Mozart's has the solidity and worth of gold; Haydn's, the purity and brilliancy of the diamond; and Latour's-what has it but the glare of tinsel ? 2. The Battle of Waterloo, or La Belle Alliance, a grand descriptive musical Piece, &c. Dedicated to his Grace the Duke of Wellington, by H. Liebe, Master of the Band of the 2d regiment of Life Guards; adapted for the Pianoforte. pp. 15. 4s. IF we were to form a scale of mu sieal excellence from Beethoven down to Sampieri or Watlew, Mr. Leibe would rank at a pretty comfortable distance from the bottom. Very few of these Imitative pieces satisfy us. Let them be performed without the auditor's having any previous knowledge of their intention, and rarely indeed will he be able to guess the things imitated, except such parts as are peculiar to horns, trumpets, or drums. The musick of this piece is tolerably good; but seldom expresses those feelings with which we should be possessed, either as spectators or actors in a battle. It is only when such suitable feelings are excited that the imitation is interesting. The compositions of every man will bear a certain relation to his own mental character: he cannot excite what he has never felt. Both in the real battle, and this imitation, we are most pleased with the finale. LITERARY Cambridge. The subjects for Sir Wil liam Browne's three gold medals for the present year are:-For the Greek Ode, Napoleon in insulam Sanctæ Helenæ ab legatus. For the Latin Ode, Statuæ, Tabulaque picta, Italiæ restitute.-For the Epigrams, Labor ineptiarum. The Hulsean Prize for the last year is adjudged to CHARLES J. LYON, B. A. of Trinity College, for his Dissertation on the following subject, "The distinct Provinces of Reason and Faith," which will speedily be published. The following is the subject of the Hulsean Prize Dissertation for the present year: "The Doctrine of the Atonement is agreeable to Reason," The subjects for the Bishop of London's two gold medals for the present year are:-For the Latin Dissertation, Veram esse Religionem Christianam probatur ex infirmitate ac simplicitate eorum qui eam imprimis docuerunt. -For the English, "Be ye angry and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath." -Eph. iv. 26. Nov. 30, being St. Andrew's Day, the Royal Society held their annual meeting at their apartments in Somerset-place; when the President, the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, in the name of the Society, presented the Copley medal to. Sir D. BREWSTER, LL.D. for a paper"On the Polarisation of Light by reflection from transparent Bodies," printed in the last volume of the Philosophi cal Transactions. In a f a few Days will be published: The First Volume of Mr. CLUTTERBUCK'S History of Hertfordshire. A new Edition of Mr. BLORE'S His tory of the Manor, and Manor House, of South Winfield, Derbyshire. The Ancient and Modern History, &c. of the Borough of Reading. By J. MAN. The History and Antiquities of Bicester, in Oxfordshire, with an Inquiry into the History of Alchester, a City of the Dobuni. By Mr. JOHN DUNKIN. The Third and last Section of Part II. of Dr. CLARKE's Travels-Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land. The First Number of the new Edition of STEPHENS' GREEK THESAURUS. Mr. CHITTY'S Treatise on the Crimi nal Law of England, with a copious collection of Precedents, in 3 vols. Preparing for Publication: The History of the Kingdom of Hanover, and of the Family of Brunswick; with a map and engravings, is about to be published by Mr. ORME, of Bond-, street; who also intends publishing, in numbers, Historical, Military, and Naval Anecdotes, of personal Valour and Bravery; and particular incidents which occurred to Great Britain and her Allies, in the last long-contested war; with plates from drawings by the first Artists. A new Edition of JEREMY TAYLOR'S Prayers differently arranged, by Mr. CLAPHAM. Sketches in Flanders and Holland," in a series of letters to a friend, by Mr. HILLS; comprizing a Tour through the Low Countries, immediately subsequent to the Battle of Waterloo, illustrated by thirty-six plates. The History and Antiquities of the Abbey Church of St. Peter's, Westmin. ster, illustrated with Fifty Engravings, after drawings by Mr. J. P. NEALE. The Descriptive, Historical, and Biographical Parts, by J. NORRIS BREWER. To be completed in Ten Parts. Proposals are circulated for publishing by subscription, a Translation of the Six Books of PROCLUS, on the Theology of PLATO; to which, a Seventh Book will be added, in order to supply the deficiency of another book on this subject, which was written by Proclus, but since lost; also a translation of PROCLUS' Eleinents of Theology. By THOMAS TAY. LOR. In these volumes will also be included, by the same, Translations, of the Treatise of Proclus on Providence and Fate; of extracts from his Treatise entitled Ten Doubts concerning Providence; and of extracts from his Treatise on the Subsistence of Evil; as preserved in the Bibliotheça Græca of Fabricius. [ Mr. H. WALTER, of Holyport, near Maidenhead, has issued Proposals for publishing by Subscription, a Map of Windsor Forest, embracing the country Black Water River, and the great Bath bounded by the Thames, the Loddon, and Western Roads; to be engraved in the best manner, upon two Sheets, on a Scale of 24 Inches to a Mile, describing, as well the several Properties, and their respective Owners, as the Rivers, Bridges, Roads, and other prominent features. We are glad to see by an Advertisement on our Cover, that an opportunity is offered to the Publick of purchasing the "Abridgement of the Philosophical Transactions," at less than half its ori ginal Price. Dr. SPURZHEIM has just finished a Course of Lectures on the Physiology of the Brain, delivered to a numerous audience of Medical and other Scientific classes at Dublin. Some eminent Professors of that University, it is said, are investigating this new Doctrine, A French paper states, that in the course of the excavations at Pompeii, an ancient Bathing-room was lately ex plored, in which were found an Antonine and an Agrippa, of the size of life, and of the finest workmanship. SELECT SELECT POETRY. On seeing the Head of DANTE, engraved by Mr. CARDON, from a Picture of RAPHAEL, crowned with Laurel. By EDWARD LORD THURLOW. THY mournful face, expressive of keen thought, Like pale and melancholy Winter drawn, Before my eyes by Raphael's pencil brought, Declares a soul, that was to misery pawn: Wither'd with woe, yet darting kingly fire, And the lean cheek laid out in sallow scorn, Methinks thou hast seen Hell, thy sad desire, [Morn! And pass'd between the amber gates of Is full of grief, oblivion, and despair! Lines on the late Dr. VINCENT, DEATH triumphs o'er the lifeless clay That late enclos'd a Vincent's soul: His spirit bows beneath the sway Which spurns mortality's controul. Lamented Shade! thy mind, full fraught With wisdom and with lore profound, Enrich'd the world with Learning's draught, And shed the beams of Truth around. Thy name survives that mould'ring hand Which skilful trac'd the distant sea Plough'd by Nearchus and his band, Unsought, unknown, till known by thee. The tomb enshrines his sacred dust, But Virtue claims immortal fame; And, Time, to Truth and Science just, Shall cherish VINCENT's honour'd name. WESTMONASTERIENSIS. To Miss W. of LIVERPOOL: Why I call thee "Euphrasia." GO ask the Greek, 'twill tell thee why The Scholar calls thee EUPHRASY. But ask the Botanist the same, He'll find a flow'ret of the name, That modest, pencil'd, pure, and bright, Gives in delightful days delight; And add, if needs, another reason It never blossoms out of season. The Poet ask, he 'It say his Muse is Allow'd to call thee what she chuses. A Chip of each of these am I, And so I call thee EUPHRASY. Llangollen, Jan. 1. J. F. M. DOVASTON. The Conclusion of GREGORY NAZIANZEN'S Poem, entitled" Admonitions to Virgins." Translated from the Greek by H. S. BOYD. WITH circumspection tread life's slippery ground, [be found. And pure in word, and pure in thought Be thou as Hesper mid the starry train; The pearl mid gems; the lily on the plain; Mid birds the dove; the olive in the wood; Lead him, O lead him, to thy hallow'd Let him thy bright, thy dazzling beauty see; [be: Let him thy Lover and thy Bridegroom Let him alone be all in all to thee. Lo! he bath drawn thy maiden veil aside, [bride; And deign'd to praise his all-transcending Enthron'd, enshrin'd, in orient pearl array'd; Lovely before, and now far lovelier made. Thy Lord will bear thee to his seat on high, And spread the bridal feast above the sky; While choral angels, with aerial strains, And heav'nly warblings, fill the golden plains. [bowers, Thy Lord will bear thee to his roseate And wreathe thy head with ever-blooming flowers; For thee the vine-empurpled cup infuse With balm nectareous and ambrosial dews ; Bid sacred Wisdom's awful page unroll, And pour its radiance on thy raptur'd soul. [fin'd, For here we faintly trace, with view conThe veil'd effulgence of th' Almighty Mind: [see But there 'twill prove our glorious lot to Th' unclouded blaze of naked Deity. This trail, this earthy frame will melt away, And the freed spirit drink the flood of day. Ye Youths and Virgins, who, with hallow'd fire, Adore the Leader of th' angelic choir; The heavenly nuptials of your God and Let holy words and actions fan the fire, Till the pure flame to Heaven's pure flame aspire. And thou, O Triene Power, benign descend: [bend, Deign from thy throne, benignly deign to While we with awe invoke thee. Let thy beam [gleam: Illume us here with mild attemper'd But O, hereafter, may thy glory stream In all the splendour of its brilliant rays, One flood of light, one clear refulgent of mine, I enclose an humble translation of it, the fruit of some of my leisure hours.. TIBULLUS, Book I. El. 1. And ye! who ampler riches knew*, Ye Thieves and Wolves, respect my And seek your prey from greater stock. Prostrate beneath some leafy bower, Perish all gold and jewels rare, |