ART. 19. The Wife of Auchtermuchty, an ancient Scottish Poem. With a Tranflation in Latin Rhyme. 8vo. 24 pp. IS. Neil and Co. Edinburgh. 1803. "About fix months ago, a fmall publication appeared at Edinburgh, entitled Carminum rariorum Macaronicorum Delectus, in ufum Ludorum Apollinarium, fafciculus fecundus." Now we have to regret, that we have never feen either the fecond or the first fafciculus of this work; nor have we heard before of the learned conclave from which it proceeds; in which the "Scriba Prætorius is directed by the Gymnafiarchus Magnificus, Pontifex Maximus, Archi Laureatus, Prætor homaratus, and other officers of the Gymnaftic Club," to return thanks to the unknown tranflator, for the prefent verfion of that " celebrated, though now very fearce Poem, the Wife of Auchtermuchty." The truth is, that there is great humour in the Scottish original; and that the tranflation is executed with claffical skill and elegance, and with little lofs of humour. It opens thus, In Auchtermuchtia notatur Vixiffe quondam bomo gnavus, Inediæ, fitis, hoftis gravis. 2. Solvebat boves ante horam Confuetam hic, defeffus multum, Invenit lautam, comptam, cultam. Nil mirum vifus turbat mentem." That no mean hand has been employed upon this jocular verfion, we are perfectly convinced; and we beg the Scriba Prætorius to accept our cordial thanks for having communicated it to us. The Poems of William Mefton we happen to poffefs, and therefore did not find equal novelty in his diploma. 2s. 6d. ART. 20. A fpecimen from the beginning of this Poem will fufficiently de termine its character and merits. "Arife my Mufe and touch the tuneful Lyre, Gg 2 Britannia Britannia fporting on the waving Main, And fea Nymphs follow in a ftate divine. As from the fkies great Neptune views her charms, To their dark Dens, the howling Tribe must go." P. 5. Neptune, after this fpeech, courts and is united to Britannia. From this celestial union fprung Lord Nelfon, the mention of whom fuggets a poetical defcription of the battle of the Nile, in which Bacchus figures as the chief enemy to our British hero, who is of course protected by Neptune. Various other perfonages are introduced; but, as the whole is in the fame ftrain as the lines which we have quoted, and equally deftitute of poetry and good fenfe, we will only add, that we are concerned when, as in the prefent inftance, we find good in tentions fo ill fupported by talent or skill in compofition. ART. 21. The Powers of Imagination. A Poem. In Three Parts. Written at the Age of Sixtern. By Mifs Charlotte Seymour. 4to. 130 pp. l. 18. Longman and Kees. 1803. In a well-written Preface to this Poem we are told, that the author's object was not to give an analyfis of imagination, but to difplay its active force." In pursuance of this plan, the effects of imagination in producing the fineft poetry, in different ages of the world (and particularly that of Milton and Shakespeare) are described in the firft Part; its effects on the paffions form the fubject of the fecond; and the religious impreffions excited in the young author's mind" are defcribed in the third Part of the Poem; in the "meritorious tendency" of which, we entirely agree with the author of the Preface, and are therefore unwilling to damp the hopes of so young a poetefs. In this attempt, however, we fee more fymptoms of a great fondness for poetry, than of extraordinary genius or infpiration. We can pafs over a thoufand faults in fo young an author, and a female; but, in truth, Mifs S. feems to have acquired confiderable skill, or at leaft fluency, in verfification, and rather to want originality of thought and expreffion; for the Poem is chiefly made up of trite thoughts frequently repeated. The fecond Part is the best. In the third, with more piety than judgment, the author ventures rather too far upon ground, where the fublimeft of our poets have not always trodden with fecurity. This accords the lefs with the general texture of the work; because, in the former Parts, we have Dian, and the Queen of Love, and Cupid, and many heathen powers. Let us give, however, a Short fpecimen. Imagi "Imagination hail! thy pow'rs I'll fing; Where, fmiling through the azure clouds, thou'rt feen, Thy laughing eye undimm'd by thought or care." P. 2. Fancy hovering over the head of Imagination is a little like Prince Volfcius killing Prince Volfcius. The fault of a publication fo very premature muft lie with the relatives of the author; yet their partiality is amiable, were it not made too public. What to early a promife may in future produce is, after all, problematical. Mifs C. Seymour is certainly an ingenious young lady; whether fhe will ever be a diftinguifhed poetefs, time only will prove; but maturity of judgment must first arrive. ART. 22. An Elegy on Colonel Robert Montgomery, written on the fatal 4(0. We think that Swift muft have been reading fome fuch poetry as this, when compofing his famous riddle on the Gulf of all Human Poffeffions. "A treasure here of learning lurks, A very fuitable candidate for a place in such a Dome, must be the author of fuch verses as these which follow. My friend be firm, let not thy manhood shake; My heart is funk; heavens, alas, the freak, To be very ferious, we do in folemn conclave convict this author of moft barbarous word flaughter; and do condemn him, ou patu of our feverer displeasure, never to prefume to write again. DRAMATIC. ART. 23. Buonaparte; or, the Free-Booter. A Drama. In Three Is. Highley, A kind of mock Advertisement prefixed to this little Drama, fays that it was left fealed up, by an officer going on the fervice of his country in May laft, and ordered not to be opened till Christmas; but that the curiofity of a young girl of 15 broke the feal, and caufed it to appear prematurely before the public. It is a kind of anticipation, dramatizing the arrival of the Corfican invader in England, and difplaying the heroism of our countrymen and women, in the deftruction of the French army. Buonaparte is made to fall by the hands of a young officer. It may be numbered among the laudable efforts of the time, to prepare the minds of the people for the expected crifis; and fhould it prove in any degree prophetic, will afford a peculiar caufe of triumph to its author. ART. 24. The Royal Penitent, a Sacred Drama. By John Bentley. 12mo, Is. 6d. Button. 1803. It feems to have been the intention of Mr. Bentley to show what may have been the workings of a mind like that of David, under the circumftances in which he was placed, by his offence refpecting Bathfheba; and thus to obviate the objections which fome may have raised against the rapid fucceffion of conviction, repentance, and pardon at his interview with Nathan. He does not appear to have compofed his Drama with any view to reprefentation. It is written in profe, interfperfed with hymns, and other lyrical compofitions. The laudable design of the author restrains us from making any critical obfervations on his production. There is too much reafoning, and the fpeeches are too long for dramatic effect, even in perufal; and fome of the verfes rather fuggeft a wish, that there had been more poetry and lefs profe in this Sacred Drama. NOVELS. ART. 25. Den Raphael, a Romance. By George Walker, Author of the Three Spaniards, Vagabond, Poems, &c. In Three Volumes. 12m0. 13s. 6d. Author, No, 106, Poland Road. 1803. Mr. G. Walker has written feveral times with a fuccefs, which does unequivocal credit to his ingenuity and application; his Vagabond, in particular, is one of the mott lively attacks upon the Democratic and Godwinian fyitem that have appeared. In the prefent Novel, he has been rather too much influenced by the prevailing fashion, and has facrificed probability to tales of wonder and of horror. By calling it a Romance, he probably intended to allow himself that licence; but if this be the prefent diftinction between Romance and Novel, we muft fay, that the latter is by much the more refpectable compofition. An imitation of nature, though but moderately fkilful, is furely preferable to the wanderings of an extravagant imagination. ART. 26. The Vale of Clwyd; or, the Pleafures of Retirement: a This Tale will excite no very particular intereft; for it relates but one fimple fact. An Irishman returning to his country through Wales from from Egypt, falls in love with, and marries, the lovely daughter of a Welch Harper. However, it is certainly worth fixpence. MEDICINE, ART. 27. Advice to Mothers on the Subject of their own Health, and on the Means of promoting the Health, Strength, and Beauty of their Offspring. By W. Buchan, M. D. &c. Author of Domeftic Medicine. 8vo. 6s. Cadell and Davis. 1803. If the author of " Domestic Medicine" had written no other work but this, he would have been held in higher estimation by his medical brethren; for, in the first-mentioned work, he has attempted that which is not poffible, that is, to render perfons, uneducated in the medical profeffion, their own phyficians, in all diforders to which the hu man body is liable; whereas, in the prefent treatife, he merely offers advice to mothers on fubjects within the reach of their understandings, without entrenching upon the proper province of phy ficians. To this we can have no objection. One of the chief recommendations of the prefent work confifts in expofing the mifchief occafioned by the too early and too frequent employment of medicines, in the cafe of infants. Nothing, he obferves, can be more abfurd and unnatural than the cuftom of giving to new-born infants certain purgative drugs, for the purpofe of bringing away the dark coloured fubftance contained in their bowels, termed meconium, which in due time would come away of itself. In like manner opiates, carminatives, emetics, &c. are officiously adminiftered, to the great, and fometimes irreparable, injury of their tender frames. In proof of this, the author mentions a remarkable diminution of mortality among the children in the Foundling Hofpital at Ackworth, in Yorkshire, to which he was once attached. While the attending apothecary went on plying them well with phials and gallypots, one half of the children (he fays) died annually; but when this traffic was fuppreffed, or at least reftrained within due bounds, not more than one in fifty died. But might there not (we would afk) have been other caufes concurring to produce this mortality, fuch as bad nurfing, bad food, want of cleanliness, &c. or fone epidemic complaint? On the fubject of Foundling Hofpitals in general, we cannot but believe the author has carried his ftrictures too far. There are doubtless abufes in thefe, as in all other public cttablishments; but we hope and truft not to the extent (fuch as the employment of "excellent killing nurfes !") here mentioned. If it were nerally practicable, it would, we agree, be preferable for the children of the poor to be nurfed by their mothers at home; but, in the prefent ftate of fociety, we fear that if the neceffary allow ance for this purpofe were to be paid to the parents, it would often be mifapplied, and there would be a neceflity for a houfe of reception for the children fooner or later. Nevertheless, we should rejoice to fee the humane propofal adopted of diftributing a portion of the parochial rates, in annual premiums, to fuch mothers, among the neceffitous clafs of the com |