fashion, independent of the viciffitudes of fortune, and unimpaired by the lapfe of time-I mean the conftant practice of perfevering in virtue and rational piety, the acquirement of ufeful knowledge, a delight in performing every, branch of duty, a tafte for good and improving company, a difpofition to be pleased with the common enjoyments of life, and to be happy by endeavouring to make all around you fo.

"Thefe are the good qualities and habits, in whatever relation of life difplayed, whether in the daughter, the filer, the wife, or the mother, which are calculated to refine the female character to the greatest degree of moral purity, to raise it to the highest pitch of earthly excellence, and to impart to it a portion of angelic beauty and loveliness."

P. 227.

- Of a book which contains fuch fentiments, and many others which we might quote, may we not fay, without undue partiality, that it deferves the attention of parents who have daughters! And if the author has fometimes been carelefs where he fhould have been correct, a few fuch blemishes cannot deftroy the merit of the whole, if ufefully planned. and condu&ied. Whether it fuited the ftation of the author to write it, is a different queftion, and certainly one which not at all concerns the multitude who may profit by it.

BRITISH CATALOGUE.

POETRY.

ART. 10. Selet Idylls; or, Paftoral Poems. Tranftated from the German of Salomon Geffner. By George Baker, A. M. Crown 8vo. 256 pp. 10. 6d. Longman. 1809.

Both space and time forbid us to give to every work, even of those which we approve, a principal place, and an extended critique; but we would gladly mark our admiration of this fmall volume, as ftrongly as can well be done in a fhort account. Of Geffner and Klopstock, the English public have heard much, but, having feen them only in profe tranflations, have little notion of their merits. It is indeed hardly poffible to read a profe tranflation of a poet, though till lately the French poffeffed few claffic poets in any better form. We rejoice, therefore, to fee a poetical tranflation of the Idylls of Geffner, and we more particularly praise the author for having felected, inftead of producing the whole.

The

The

The fame of Geffner on the continent, for elegant and tender fancy and expreffion, is unrivalled, and the turn of his fancy may be feen, even in the arguments of thefe paftoral dialogues. only objection to be made is, that Geffner's is an ideal world. His paftoral is not that of any age or country: but he conveys the reader to a delightful region, and peoples it with human beings worthy of fuch beautiful fcenes. His fwains and nymphs are heathens, and fome of his fpeakers are even ideal perfonages. But refign the imagination to thefe fictions, and all is exquifite. Beauty and variety are every where profufely fcattered. Nor has he obtained a tranflator unworthy of him. Mr. Baker proved his poetical powers three years ago, by a fmall volume entitled "Tenby ;" and he appears, in the interval, to have cultivated thofe talents with increafed fuccefs. Amidst a profufion of beau ties fupplied by the author, and happily given by the tranflator, we are peculiarly ftruck by the eclogue at p. 87; where two fhepherds drive their flocks towards the ruins of a fplendid maufoleum, and thence are led to reflect on the vanity of greatness, and the mifery of ambition. The thought fo new, and the management of it fo excellent, enfure the higheft commendation. We omit the beginning, though full of pastoral images, to take the more characteristic part.

MYCON.

"Daphnis, declare what means yon mould'ring pile?
Low in the fwamp are fhafts of marble laid,

Where weeds and rufhes wave their noifome fhade;

Around yon ruin'd arch dark ivy creeps,

And the wild thorn thro' every crevice peeps.

DAPH. 'Twas once a tomb.-MYc. Such is the form it wears; And lo, a proftrate urn its fate declares.

Grav'd on its fide, expreffive fhapes are feen

Of warring chiefs, and fteeds of angry mien ;
Mark! how their prancing hoofs beneath them tread
The flaughter'd heaps that on the ground lie spread!
He was no fimple child of thepherd race,

Whofe tomb fuch fanguinary fculptures trace!
He ne'er when living could have blefs'd mankind,
Whose bones unfhelter'd are to fcorn confign'd;
To him no tear fucceeding ages gave,
No flowers adorn'd his unlamented grave.
DAPH. Inhuman lord! to wafte the fruitful plains,
To bind the free-born husbandman in chains :
This was his joy-where'er his fquadrons rufh'd
Beneath their hoofs the nodding grain was crufh'd;

See Brit. Crit. vol. xxxii. p. 409.

As raging wolves the timid flock devour,
So girt with iron troops his ravenous power
Prey'd on the filent unoffending fwain,

And with remorfelefs rapine fwell'd the tyrants' gain.
He in high marble tow'rs entrench'd his state,
Gorg'd with the fpoil of hamlets defolate.

And rais'd himself yon ftructure to record

The graceless triumph of a life abhorred." P. 90. Geffner, we may fafely predict, will now be read and admired in England. The tranflator has added a few notes, at the end of the volume. They are chiefly claffical, and evince good tafte.

ART. 11. The O-Paiad; a Satire. By a Mad Bull. 8vo. IS, Cawthorne. 1810.

The writer of this fatirical trifle feems to have powers qualifed for higher and better undertakings. He will hardly, perhaps, thank us for noticing it, but we are not forry to have the opportunity of expreffing our abomination of the fcenes, which for fo long continued a period were allowed to endanger the tranquillity of the metropolis.

The writer is an advocate of the O. P. caufe, and exclaims with fury enough against the private boxes, and other prefumed encroachments and irregularities of the managers.

ART. 12. The Loft Child; a Christmas Tale, founded on Fa&. 12mo. 3s. Harris. 1810.

An interefting ftory prettily told, and a very fuitable prefent for children, as it inculcates the great duties of humanity, and a just confidence in the difpenfations of Providence.

DRAMATIC.

ART. 13. Grieving's a Folly; a Comedy, in Five Acts: as performed by the Drury Lane Company, at the Lyceum Theatre, Strand. By Richard Leigh, Efq. 8vo. 72 PP. 2s. 6d. Longman and Co. 1809.

This Comedy is in fome refpects, a counterpart of Sir Richard Steele's Funeral," and, though far below that performance in wit and intereft, has at least the negative merit of avoiding the grofsly improbable incidents and difgufting flippancy of ftyle that characterize the modern Farces, mifcalled Comedies. The affumed grief of a husband for the loss of a wife whom he detefted,

gives the name to this play: but there is another plot more interefting, and not ill conducted. Some circumftances are indeed rather improbable, but do not (as in most other modern dramas) ftrikingly offend against confiftency and propriety. We will not detail the plot, as we think it may be read with fome degree of intereft. In the characters there is not much novelty; nor are there, on the other hand, any that appear fervile copies. We know not what fuccefs this drama had on the stage, but we found it by no means tedious or uninteresting in the perufał.

ART. 14. The Abdication of Ferdinand; or, Napoleon at Bayonne ; an Hiftorical Play, in Five Acts. 77 PP. 2s. 6d. Longman and Co. 1809.

The fcenes and converfations fuppofed to have paffed at Bayonne, between the unfortunate Royal Family of Spain, and the treacherous invader and oppreffor of that kingdom, are here thrown into a drama, in which there is no poetry, and little intereft, except that which refults from the ftory itself. The dia logue appears to have been intended for blank verfe, but the metre is often faulty. The following fpeech of King Ferdinand is, we think, as fair a fpecimen of this author's ftyle as can be given.

Fer."'Tis true; but 'tis the government of heav'n. And there is juftice in it. Europe fuffers

Not for the blame and impotence of Kings,

But for her general depravity.

Every man blames the errors of the King,
When he should mend the frailty in himself :
A nation of all honourable men

Wants no affurance; but in a dry wood
One fpark may be the mifchief of the whole :
For nations that corrupt themselves, are like
Gathering of fuel for a conflagration;
This is my notice-Philofophers have written.
National wealth and furety as they please.
Some place it in the fortitude of foldiers;
Others in the dominion of the fea;
Others in populous numbers on the land;
Others in labour and fertility

Sufficient to the numbers and encrease ;
Others in laws and forms of liberty;.

But I afcribe it to an honeft heart,

That values the profperity of others

More than its own; and has no other fear
Than the apprehenfion of offending Heaven.

-Plenty, dominion, numbers, and brave men,

F 4

The

The form of liberty and honeft laws,
Are but the fruit and produce of the heart;
Corrupt that, and the whole is diffolute.

And hence the benefactor of mankind
Left nothing but morality to men." P. 71.

ART. 15.

NOVELS.

The Irish Reclufe; or, a Breakfast at the Rotunda. By Sarah Ifdell, Author of the Vale of Louisiana. 3 Vols. Booth.

Novels, romances, &c. are now intruded into the world for no other reafon, it would feem, than to encourage the papermaker or printer, for truly all idea of entertaining readers of common fenfe must be out of the queftion. The following extract much reminds us of school themes, where long and fine founding epithets are gathered together for the purpofe of what is technically, in fcholaftic language, termed filling up.

"Oh! God of mercy!" exclaimed the Earl in an agony of emotion" Ch! God of mercy!-is this the hiftory of my Elizabeth of my chief pride! of my heart's dearcft treasure !— is fhe thus abandoned? thus loft to me, to herfelf, and to all the world?

"Good heaven! fir, who are you? or what does this mean?" exclaimed Mrs. Middleton, examining his no longer averted face; and as its lineaments got familiar to her recollection, treachery, ingratitude and guilt feized upon her mind with fuch erident horror, as would have betrayed her emotion to any other than the Earl." P. 147.

The laws of gallantry, upon our first taking up the book before us, appeared to demand a favourable review, but upon clofer examination, our duty called for our decided difapprobation of the conftant exclamations of Good Heavens! God of mercy! &c. &c. fo frequently met with throughout the work.

POLITICS.

ART. 16. Addrefs to the Public, on the Subject of the late Parlia mentary Investigation. By Eugenio. 8vo. 20 pp. Hatchard. 1809.

Eugenio appears to be a candid and benevolent but rather a declamatory writer. He thinks, with most impartial men, that the Royal Duke, whofe conduct was lately the fubject of a parlia

mentary