In other refpects the difcourfe is good and ufeful. The view of pharifaical merits and faults is, in the main, correct and clear, except that the author does not fufficiently mark their infincerity; -their being, what our Saviour fo often calls them, hypocrites. ART. 30. 1810. Dr. Pearfon points out the following faults in the Sermon above noticed. That the preacher declares too abfolutely upon the condemnation of all the Scribes and Pharifees; that he finks their hypocrify, and raises their character in other refpects, in order to comprehend a larger clafs in the comparifon with them; which Dr. P. (who knows and efteems Mr. S.) fuppofes him to direct against the Clergy in general. We imagined he might mean only thofe in authority where he preached. In either cafe, the innuation is extremely reprehenfible, and the artifice used for introducing it not very ingenuous. MISCELLANIES. ART. 31. Claffical Deferiptions of Love from the most celebrated Epic Poets. Homer, Ariofto, Taffo, Milton, Virgil and CaBy M. P. Grandmaison. Tranflated from the French. 12mo. Price 6s. 6d. Blacklock. 1809. moens. We have here in Poetic profe the Stories of Hector and Andromache from Homer; of Rinaldo and Armida from Taffo; Medor and Angelica from Ariofto; Adam and Eve from Milton; Eneas and Dido from Virgil; and laftly, the very luxuriant defcription of the Island of Love from Camoens. Now they may be all very well in the French, very fuitable to French tafte and French manners; but they will, we should think, hardly affimi late with English palates. But the moft whimsical thing of all is, we were almoft tempted to fay ridiculous, the book is infcribed to the grave and fage Hiftorian of India. Once more inviting him To fport with Amaryllis in the fhade, Or with the tangles of Nezra's hair, It is, however, but mere juftice to add, that thefe Defcrip. tions of Love, though warm, never exceed the limits of deli. cacy, and though they can hardly be fuppofed to amufe ancient kiftoriant and ancient critics, it will be fure of meeting with readers and advocates too, with the youth of both sexes. ART. 32. The New Family Receipt-Book, containing seven hundred truly valuable Receipts, in various Branches of domeftic Economy; felected from the Works of British and Foreign Writers, of unquejtionable Experience and Authority, and from the attefted Communications of fcientific Friends. Crown Svo. 419 pp. 78. 6d. Murray. 1810. To affert as much as a title-page, might, not improperly, be made a proverb, as the French have to lie like an epitaph;" but though we will not fay, with the writer of this epigraph, that all these feven hundred receipts are truly valuable, yet we have no fcruple to affert that many of them are fo, and perhaps as large a proportion as any book of the fame kind ever contained. A few are foolish enough. The book is a proper, and almost an indis. penfable companion for the "New Syftem of domeftic Cookery *,” now known to be the production of Mrs. Rundle: nor fhould we have hesitated to attribute this volume to the fame fkilful compiler, had not the editor in the preface been fpoken of in the mafculine gender. Thefe are fymptoms too of his being a North Briton. Out of fuch a mass of matter it is not easy to select a fpecimen, but perhaps the following fuggeftion may be of as extenfive ufe as any, being of importance to health, and, we should conceive, entirely efficacious. To detect dampness in a bed, it should be called, inftead of the title which is prefixed, where it profeffes to "prevent the effects of fleeping in a damp bed," which it has nothing to do with. "Let your bed be first warmed, and immediately as the warming-pan is taken out, introduce between the fheets, in an inverted direction, a clean glafs goblet; after it has remained in that fituation a few minutes, examine it; if found dry, and not tarnished with fteam, the bed is perfectly fafe, but if drops of wet or damp adhere to the infide of the glass, it is a certain fign of a damp bed." P. 89. That fome of the receipts are trifling, and a few erroneous, is no great detraction from a compilation fo extenfive, but the following judicious fuggeftion of the editor will we hope be attended to. "The editor and publisher cannot relinquish a hope that ingenious perfons may be inclined to affift its improvement, by correcting any article which may be found to fail, or by fuggefting a better one, or by the communication of new receipts of real value." P. vii. As it is, there are few things which the reader can seek, for domeftic use, on which he will not find fome useful intimation. See Br. Cr. yol xxx. p. 457, where, though we played upon the fubject, as not thinking cookery within the reach of our ferious criticism, we by no means meant to cry down the book. The The fubjects are claffed in the table of contents; in the book there is no arrangement. They amount to 36 heads, beginning with "Agriculture," and ending with "Wines." ART. 33. Liber Facetiarum, being a Collection of curious and interefting Anecdotes. 12mo. 344 PP. 6s. Akenhead, New1809. castle-upon-Tyne. A country book, like a country bank note, ought to have the name of fome London houfe upon it. The prefent is deficient in that refpect; but, as we believe it has been a good deal adver. tifed, our readers will probably be able to difcover it for them. felves. It is by no means an injudicious compilation. From: modern books (chiefly) of travels, and other works containing anecdotes, ferious or lively, the author has brought together a very extenfive collection, few of which appear to have been anti cipated by other collectors of the fame kind. Dutenfiana, Dibdin's Mufical Tour, and feveral English ana, are of course laid under frequent contribution. From the fecond of these the following anecdote may be given as a fpeci nen. A poet was noticing how fometimes the moft trivial and unforefeen accident overturns an author's hopes. "A thing, faid he, once happened to me, which was enough to make a man forfwear ever taking a pen in hand. I had a tragedy -Garrick performed in it. I must confefs the principal incident was a little fimilar to Lear's abdication of the throne in favour of his daughters. Mine were two daughters; and the king, after giving them a leffon fraught with legislative advantages, that might have done honour to Solon or Lycurgus,-finished his harangue by faying, and now I divide this crown between you.' Sir, a malicious fcoun drel, peeping over the fpikes of the orcheftra, and ftaring Gar. rick full in the face, cried out, Ah, that's juft half-a-crown a piece.' Sir, an inceffant laugh immediately prevailed, and, if it had been to fave your foul, another fyllable could not be heard,” P. 6. The French have fimilar theatrical anecdotes, as that of "la Reine boit," &c. and we recollect the complete coup-de-grace given to the nonfenfe of Vortigern, by the very grave repetition of one fatal line ; "When will this folemn mockery be o'er?" ot a word could be heard after, and the question was anfwered by the fhouts of laughter, which fhook the fulleft house that ever was affembled. ART. 34. Lockie's Topography of London, giving a concife local Defcription of, and accurate Direction to, every Square, Street, Lane, Court, Dock, Wharf, Inn, Public Office, &c. in the Metropolis and its Environs, including the new Buildings to the pre X 4 Sent fent Time, upon a Plan never before attempted. The whole al, phabetically arranged, and comprising the Defcription of more than three thousand Places, the Names of which are not to be found upon any of the Maps of the prefent Year, Taken from the actual Survey of John Lockie, İnĺpector of Buildings to the Phonix Fire Office, 8vo. Nicol. 8s. 18.10. We never faw a more useful book of the kind than this Topo. graphy of London. It must be a moft acceptable manual not only to ftrangers, but to refidents in the metropolis, It appears alfo to deferve the greate commendation for its accuracy, as no error of any importance has occurred in our examination of it, It is alfo remarkably cheap, confidering the variety of its con tents. We have no doubt that it will effectually anfwer Mr. Lockie's purpofe. A good map of London would be a material improvement, and juftify a correfpondent advance of price. ART. 35. The Expofé, or Napoleon Buonaparte Unmasked, in a conderfed Statement of his Career and Atrocities. Accompanied with Notes, &c. 8vo. 240 pp. 6s. Miller, 1809. This Expofé (as the author terms it) contains a brief ftate. ment of the principal events in the life of Buonaparte. We find in it fcarcely any fact which is not already generally known or publicly reported, and few obfervations worthy of any peculiar notice. The author appears to be deeply impreffed with a fenfe of the crimes and atrocities of this revolutionary hero, to whom he justly denics the character of great. The littleness indeed of his mind, in many refpects, and the total want of that generofity and elevation of foul, which have generally appeared in civilized conquerors, degrade him far below the rank of an Alexander and a Cæfar, however equal to theirs, or even more furprising, may be his military talents and fuccefs. To those who wish to see a brief compendium of his crimes, and a fhort hiftory of his extra. ordinary career, the volume before us may be an ufeful manual. If a few of the imputations laid to his charge remain in fome degree obfcure and doubtful, there is quite enough in the facts that are undoubted and acknowledged to ftamp him remorfelefs and unprin cipled. How long, and for what mysterious ends, he will be permitted to lord it over the greatest portion of the civilized world, is hitherto involved in impenetrable darknefs. We may, however, reft affured that fome great purposes are now fulfilling, which, through whatever calamities we may previously pafs, will prove ultimately and fignally beneficial to mankind. ART. 36. Bibliofophia: or Book-Wisdom. Containing fome Account of that glorious Vocation Book-collecting. By an Afpirant. 2. The twelve Labours of an Editor feparately pitted against thofe of Hercules. 12mo. 126 pp. 53. Miller. 1810. A more flat and abortive attempt at wit than the present has feldom fallen under our cognizance. The author's imagination appears to have been heated into a conception of his own humour, by a perufal of Mr. Dibdin's elegant trifle, entitled Bibliomania*; but the utmost he has been able to effect has been a kind of parody on that tract, in an oppofite ftrain of irony. Mr. D. affected to confider book collecting as a difeafe, which, as he was known himfelf to be deeply touched with the contagion, was the most goodhumoured fiction he could affume. This author affects to extol the paffion for collecting, in order to deprefs it the more by falfe encomiums; a more obvious and lefs temperate fpecies of irony. In purfuing it, he is unable to ftir a ftep without the aid of his prototype, whofe divifions he borrows, and whofe ideas he dif torts. The fecond part is a ftrained and unnatural attempt at a parallel, where, if a timilarity exifts, the author has not had in. genuity or fagacity to catch it. If the parent of this dull child be an Afpirant to literary eminence, let him be very careful how he takes his next ftep, for in this he has loft ground instead of gaining it. The extravagancies of any fet of men are easily ridiculed, but to make ridicule effectual it must be pointed and original, not flat and borrowed. ART. 37. A Tour through Part of the Atlantic, or Collections from Madeira, the Azores or Western Ifles, and Newfoundland; including the Period of Discovery, Manners and Customs of each Place, with Memorandums from the Converts, vifited in the Sum mer of 1809 in his Majesty's Ship Veftal. By Robert Steele, Lieutenant of the Royal Marines. With an accurate Chart of the Ship's Track. 8vo. 6s. Stockdale. 1810. This little volume is not without its fhare of merit, and will very well entertain the reader for an hour, but communicates no thing very important, and by no means juftifies the promife of the title-page. Indeed how could it poffibly do this in less than two hundred fcanty pages. Of Madeira we know all that can be known, and the detail from the Portuguese 'hiftory at the con clufion is out of place. The chart is very neatly executed. We do not mean to check the ardour of a young author, but we recommend to confideration an old maxim urged upon us in our youth-Read more-write less. |