acids. And unlefs the materials for the new-wanted fubftances be Tupplied by the food, they cannot in many cafes be formed at all. Thus the canary bird cann cannot complete her eggs u unlefs the be fur nilhed with lime nguoni nisiŞY As this great agent which characterizes living bodies does not appear to act according to the principles of chemistry, any enquiry its nature would be foreign to the fubject of this work, Phyfiologifts have given it the name of the living or animal principle; and to them I beg leave to refer the reader." P. 518.

Dogs as fine sing aflixe sad

We have now exhibited as complete a view of this Syftem of Chemistry as our limits would admit; and we recommend it with confidence to every lover of the feience. In no work perhaps, in any language, will the reader find fuch a collection of chemical facts, fo judicioully arranged within the compafs of four octavo volumes; while the author, though the appears every where as an original thinker, never indulges himself in the fabrication of ingenious hypothefes or hazardbus theories. Whatever Dr. Thomfon advances as a truth, will be found to be indeed a truth, established either by expe'fiment or by demonftration; and of the theories which he adopts from others, or frames for himself, he never fails to point out the defects as well as the merits. To the fourth voTume is added a full and accurate Index; a valuable addition to fuch an extenfive fyftem of fcience.

ART. XIII. Poems on various Subjeds. By Mrs. Grant. Laggan. 8vo. 447 pp. 10s. 6d. Edinburgh printed; Longman and Rees, &c. London. 1893.

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Na remote and most romantic part of Scotland, two ftages north-west from Blair of Athol, is the little lake of Laggan, with a town or village of the fame name on its border; this is doubtless the place where Mr. Grant, the hufband of this poetefs, refides in quality of minifter. From intimations feattered in her more familiar Poems, we find that the paffed her childhood in America, in part near the Mohawk river, and in part on the banks of the lake Ontario, where fhe would naturally imbibe a tafle for the grand and magnificent fcenes of natured afterwards to be confirmed by a refidence among the Scottish alps and lakes. She fpeaks alfo with affection of the harive tribes of America, as well as of her kindred High. landers; calling them "generous nations," and afferting, that they have always been beloyed by perfons any time refident

among

among them." She appears, by calculation from her own data, to have been married about the year 1780, and in 1794 had fix childrent. She is evidently affectionate to her family, and warm in her private friendships; and that the and her hufband are refpected in their own country, is proved by one of the moft copious and refpectable lifts of fubfcribers we have ever feen. Her Mufe, fhe tells us, was filent for fixteen years; which feems to have been from 1778 to 1794. Since that peried the has been a frequent and fuccefsful writer; fuccefsful at least as to the quality of her compofitions, though they have not till now been generally known to the public.

The firft of thefe Poems, in point of time, though the fourth in the volume, is the narrative of a journey from Glasgow to Laggan. It is a journal of five days, told in familiar but pleafing verfe, and conveys the chief intelligence from which we have attempted to fketch the author's hiftory. She goes from Glasgow to Stirling in the Stirling coach, how the proceeds to Crief the next day, the Mufe has not explained; but at Cricf fhe is met by the paftor, ler mate, with the whifky, and the yellow horfe (i. e. roan) and black Paddy; and thus they travel to their home, attended by their faithful fervant Angus, on foot," it having been difcovered, the fays, in the Highlands, that two animals eat more than one. In this little journal there are many pleafing paffages; the accidental acquaintance formed with her fellow traveller, and the various remarks on the places paft, keep up the reader's attention; but the following paffages, in point of poetry, is perhaps the moft worthy of notice.

Along the pure tranflucent Tay,
Delighted, now we hold our way;
Of Scotia's clear, romantic ftreams,
That fweetly foothe the poet's dreams,
None glides thro' fcenes fo richly gay,
Or boldly wild, as wand'ring Tay:
Not Tweed fo copious, Clyde fo clear,
Nor 'midt his mazy circles near,
Does Forth impel his wat'ry courfe
With fo much dignity and force!
Nor Leven, late renown'd in fong,
So far his fhaded courfe prolong!

+ Page 207.

Page 298; alfo 180. + There is a Song at p. 407, on the departure of the Marquis of Huntly for the Continent, with his regiment, which much refembles the favourite "blue bell of Scotland;" whether both are not taken from an older original, we cannot at this moment fay.

Nor

Nor rufhing Spey that floods the plain,
So blefs the labours of the fwain !
From where in youth Tay wildly ftrays
Thro' Athol's bonny broomy braes,
To where, mature, it joins the fea
Where plenty failing decks Dundee:
Along its banks the Naiads fport,
And health and rural joy refort;
And fweet retreats of eafe around,
And groves and fertile meads abound.
Still grateful ftream, mellifluent mourn,
And murmur round thy Patron's urn!
Who deck'd thy beauteous banks with bow'rs,
Who wreath'd thy fedgy brow with flow'rs,
Who dwelt contented by thy fide,
With Truth and Nature for his guide;
His country's father, wifdom's friend,
He knew no private, selfish end,
From every mean ambition free,
His only pride adorning thee!
To fhield thee from the fultry skies,
He bade yon lofty planes arife,
And

evergreens a shelter form

To fereen thee from the wint'ry ftorm:
Nor ceas'd when glowing, feverish pains,
With tumult fill'd his throbbing veins,
To linger near the wonted scene
And haunt thy fteepy borders green,
Till he, whom all the virtues weep,
In thy clear bofom funk to fleep.
Each wat'ry nymph affrighted fled,

And Nature mourn'd her lover dead." P. 197.

In the Highlanders, which is a long Poem, in five Parts, written in heroic couplets*, the author fhows a strong attachment to the fubject of her lay, not without fome fpleen against those who live more luxuriously. It is however on the fuppofition, that the latter adopt modern philofophy, and follow the falfe lights of France, in which cafe we heartily fubfcribe to her fatire. If in this, and other Poems, the author appears to be tinctured with fome local prejudices, they are mingled with too much honefty and benevolence to give offence to any candid reader. What is much more worthy of remark, is the original picture of the Highlanders, drawn from nature, and prefenting feveral views of nature not elsewhere to be found. Thus the departure of the inhabitants to the mountain Sheals

This Poem ftands firft in the volume; but was written a year after the other, in recovering from a fevere illness.

or

or Shealings, their Summer abodes, which removal they call their Summer-fitting, defcribed in the third Part or Book of the Poem, forcibly excites the attention and gratifies the curio fity of the reader. We cannot extract much of this defcrip. tion, but the setting out may be given as a fpecimen. M

"When dappled grey firft ftreaks the eastern sky,
With quick dispatch the cottage matrons vie,

to Who first fhall load the fleeds that lead the way,
And wheels and vessels in due order lay,
Then, in collected numbers duly rang'd,

With lighten'd hearts, to care and fear eftrang'd,
The train proceed-and firft the motley herd,
For greater strength, or agile force preferr'd

Lead on, the milky mothers following near, and tak »
Their fportive young behold with matron fear;
Then come the bleating kind, with plaintive cry,
And children overjoy'd, they know not why;
And mothers, fmifing on the guiltlefs race,
Or clafping infants in their fond embrace.
High on the mountain's fide, or in the wood,
Where Nature reigns in favage folitude;
Or deep embofom'd in fome narrow glen,
Where coy Retirement fhuns the haunts of men,'
The shelter'd bothys* rise to shield the train,
Who joy to view their fummer-haunts again;
For here again the fylvan age returns,

Nor man the curfe of ceafclefs labour mourns;
Fair Freedom walks abroad, untics her zone,

And joys to fee the landfcape all her own." P. 46.

The fourth Book of this Poem is made interefting by the very pleafing epifode of Farquhar, and his adventures in the mountains; and the fifth, by the picture, drawn with new fpirit, and many original features, of the well-known hazards and fufferings of the young Pretender in his escape. Flora Macdonald is here celebrated with high and juft encomiums; and many particulars of her fubfequent history are related in the notes, which have been hitherto but little known. The verfification is in general good, though not perhaps of the first order; but the fubjects make the poem highly pleafing. It would carry our account to a fatiguing extent, were we to characterize every poem in this collection; but a few of more peculiar intereft we fhall point out. Among thefe must be mentioned, the Ballad founded on fact, occurring at p. 145; an affecting

+ " Bothy is a provincial phrafe, fignifying a booth, or flight building, applied to the huts in the healings.

picture

295

picture of the inevitable confequences of civil war. A Poem on Robert Burns, with fome excellent remarks on his character (p. 256) must by no means be overlooked. In celebrating the heroifm, and lamenting the death, of Abercromby, Mrs. G. raifes her ftrains, even to Epic dignity, and not with out fuccefs: her lines are fpirited, and her pictures well drawn, particularly the famous landing of the troops. In a light and paftoral ftyle, the Addrefs of the Nymph of the Fountain to Charlotte well deferves to be noticed (p. 278;) and in a graver ftyle, the following Hymn, which we infert entire.

" HYMN FOR THE SONG Of the ClergY. ย

« And behold I have taken the Levites from among the children of If-
rael." Numbers iii. 12.

"How bleft thofe olive plants that grow
Beneath the altar's facred fhade,
Where streams of fresh inftruction flow,
And Comfort's humble board is spread.
"Twas thus the fwallow rear'd her young,
Secure within the house of God,
Of whom the Royal Prophet fung,
When banish'd from that bleft abode.
When, like the fwallow's tender brood,
They leave the kind paternal dome,
On weary wing to feek their food,

Or find in other climes a home;

"Where'er they roam, where'er they reft,
Thro' all the varied fcenes of life,
or ca Whether with tranquil plenty bleft,
Or doom'd to fhare the deadly ftrife;

woa duw
zbroxo awStill may the streams of grace divine
87017
Glide foftly near their devious way;
znuimone And faith's fair light ferenely fhine,
ni bsul To change their darkness into day.
nwoStill may they with fraternal love

9dT

Each other's fhield and aid become; bluow I And while thro' diftant realms they rove, -do Remember fill their childhood's home; 19 97 The simple life, the frugal fare,

benom The kind parental confels given,~ The tender love, the pious care,

That early winged their hopes to heav'n.

And when the evening thades decline,

A

A

9

toilfome talk is a 6 24 de 19

-blind sdgin And when life's to

May they each earthly with refign,ds of badloge are
Ánd holier, happier climes explore.

5

And