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But, mark me! not a word!!!" some little mercy,,
"That Heav'n for this must surely reimburse ye!"?
Thus to the Captain!-and the piteous look
His ev'ry nerve with agitation shook !--
But then it was his firmly fix'd resolve,
That let destructive fate howe'er involve
Himself, his ship, and more-his gallant crew,
Still would he at his station'd post be true!!!
• Whiz -again comes another murd'rous ball
Sweeping down some, unnerving even all!
This, human nature cannot now withstand,-
They turn when, hark!-the ardent chief command,
"Stand to your Guns, Men," in a voice of thunder,'
"Stand, I say, Sailors, tho' you're cut asunder."!!!!
Scarce was the energetic hero heard,

Than they attend! aye, dread! his angry word
Far more than Death's uplifted vengeful stroke;
No more aghast!-the spell of Terror's broke,—
Again their deep-mouth'd guns with fury rattle,
And yet more deadly fierce! they urge the battle,
The more they're crush'd, the more they raise the cheer!
Banish'd is every sense of panic fear.

At length the fruits of such brave toil they share,

For lo! the stubborn foe explodes in air!!!

The dread concussion, and the splinters, force
Our batter'd hulk, at last, to alter course;
Tho' ne'er before! altho' the rival ship

With heavier metal did her vitals rip.'

The Glatton, and the Isis, were the only fifty-gun ships in Lord Nelson's squadron, that were engaged in this affair; and we suspect that in one of them our naval poet was stationed, probably the Isis, the loss of men in which vessel best corresponds with the above description.

Art. 22. Naval Triumph; or, Nelson's last Wreath, a Poem. By Faulder. 1809.

2 S.

W. D. Matthews. 12 mo We were more interested in the subject than delighted with the execution of this poem. Mr. Matthews' is welcome to add another wreath to those which already encircle the monument of Lord Nelson: but he must not displace a single stone, to make room for either flowers or weeds.

• The sad muse devotes' an episode to hapless Love, and we do not object to her following her fancy in this particular: but when the author calls on Celestial Tub' to rouse the lofty strains,' he should neither alter nor add to the information which he receives from her. He, however, makes the Foe confederate' steal away in the night, for the mere pleasure, as it should seem, of hearing Ocean growl once more beneath the prow,' while he sends the British fleet in chace of them. He also mistakes in calling Captain afterward Admiral) Hervey a Baronet.-In short, though Mr. Matthews seems to cherish a reverence for his hero, and an enthusiasm for his theme, in which we perfectly

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coincide, yet Celestial Truth' obliges us to acknowlege that his feelings as a Patriot are very superior to his conceptions as a Poet. Art. 23. The Senses. An Ode ; in the Manner of Collins's Ode on the Passions. 4to. 48. Ridgway.

We have here a sort of parody on Collins's Ode on the Passions, with which it has more imitative analogy than the author seems wil ling to allow. It is certainly a disadvantage to any poem to be so far modelled on another of acknowleged superiority, as to remind the reader every moment of the charms of its rival:-but, as this misfortune is voluntarily incurred, its consequences must be unrepiningly endured. The ode before us, however, has merit enough to please, notwithstanding the comparison to which it lies open. It is written with taste and spirit; though we observe a confusion of qualifications in some of the figures, as when we read that

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HEARING poured her tuneful tongue,'

and that Jealousy bade enlivening HOPE despair!!

Art. 24. Sonnets of the 18th Century, and other small Poems. Crown 8vo. 5s. Boards. Kearsley. 1809.

It appears that these sonnets were written in the 18th, and published in the 19th century; by which means it is ingeniously contrived that two centuries shall have witnessed their existence: but as for the third, we fear that it has little chance of receiving them among the literary legacies of its predecessor. Their style is in general harsh and inflated, and their subjects are trite: but we find one, on Cold,' which is picturesque and descriptive; and another, on the Revels of children, which is pleasing and simple.

Art. 25. Short Pieces in Verse. By Clericus. 12mo. 18. Crosby

and Co.

Since this collection of verses is published for the benefit of a Luna tic Asylum in the city of Lincoln, we are unwilling to check its suc cess by too severe a scrutiny of its poetic merits; particularly as the chief purpose of its publication may be fulfiled by the purchase without our insisting on the perusal of it.

Art. 26. Ronald, a Legendary Tale; with other Poems Crown 8vo. 48. Boards. Hookham, jun. 1809.

In these tales, we have evidently the effusions of a School-boy, in love: but, as he appears to be a lad of some feeling, we rejoice that he has suppressed his name, and that his future respectability and comfort are not dependant on the success of this juvenile performance.

Art. 27. Miscellaneous Poetry by Thomas Green, jun. of Liverpool. 12mo. 4s. Longman and Co

This is in general a poetical catalogue of the author's good deeds, interspersed with a few stanzas on his hopes and fears, to which are added his angryThoughts at meeting with a cool reception, in a friend's house '-The good action, which forms the subject of the first poem, was that Mr. Green gave a dinner to a beggar, and, on hearing his story, invited the said beggar to live with him.-Another

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of his exploits was rushing out in the dark, in defiance of his wife's entreaties, to save the life of a ship-wrecked boy; and in another poem, equally long, he describes the assistance which he and his companions afforded at sea to the crew of a sinking vessel : though, in this instance, all that we learn of Mr Green's magnanimity is his joining in the cry of Huzza' when he saw them safe.

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This volume may for obvious reasons prove interesting to the writer's father, to whom it is dedicated: but we have not the same curiosity for private biography which is conspicuous in the author, who makes both his beggar and his ship-wrecked boy repay their entertainment by a narration of their lives. The tale of Don Fer dinand,' from Shenstone's Essays, is among the best of these com positions but altogether we cannot promise our readers much of either pleasure or profit from a perusal of this collection.

Art. 28. Poems, by Miss S. Evance. Crown 8vo. 5s. Boards. Longman and Co.

Although in some of these poems the verse is not smooth enough to convey all the beauty of the ideas, yet many of them display a purity of sentiment and a delicacy of feeling which intitle them to a considerable portion of our approbation. Miss Evance is not, however, always happy in her comparisons; she talks of a butterfly playful as the waving trees; and she sometimes writes in a tone of querulous despair which we hope was not so much a habit of the mind as a transient affection, vanishing with the clouds,' the dew-drops, and the waves,' that occasioned the lines in which this mournful spirit predominates. When fictitious wretchedness gives way to more rational considerations, she pleases by her power of imagery, her justness of reflection, and her elegance of thought.

EDUCATION.

Art. 29. Tales of the Hermitage, in English and Italian, translated by V. Peretti. 2d Edition. 12mo. 38. fewed. Dulau, & Co. 1809. Signor Peretti has already distinguished himself by the publication of a very useful Italian grammar; and this translation of some Tales, written by an English lady, will be a valuable present to youthful students of the Italian language. The nature of the Tales, which are intended merely for the amusement of children, will probably prevent them from ciculating beyond the school room: but a perusal of them might be more extensively advantageous in teaching the pronunci. ation of Italian In the preface, several plain and important rules for placing the accents are laid down, while every word throughout the Taks is accented so as to indicate the pronunciation which it requires: the English and Italian are printed opposite to each other; and the corre sponding paragraphs are judiciously numbered, to prevent any difficulty to the most ignorant, in tracing their affinity.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Art. 30.
A Series of Mercantile Letters, intended to give a general
Knowlege of Business to those young Persons whose Views are

directed

directed to Commerce, and for the Use of Schools. By E. Hodgkins. Small 8vo. pp 241. 4s. Boosey.

This work is introduced by an Essay on Exchanges, containing tables of the monies of different countries; which is followed by a short description of foreign weights and measures, shewing their proportion to the weights and measures of England, and by an alphabetical list of technical mercantile expressions. After these preliminary notices, we come to the Letters, which are selections from real correspondence, and are chosen so as to present a great variety of mercantile communications: One letter contains a list of prices, another a note of exchanges, a third an invoice, a fourth an accountsale, &c. No doubt will remain on the part of those who read this little volume, that it has heen carefully and judiciously executed but a general disposition prevails on the part of mercantile men to distrust, in toto, the efficacy of any other instruction in trade than that which is acquired by practice. This feeling proceeds from a confined view of the subject. No instruction, we allow, can supersede the necessity of practice, but the attainments of practice are exceedingly accelerated by the collateral assistance of study. The man who, on going abroad, determines to confine himself, in learning a foreign language, to the benefit which is derived from actual conversation with the natives, will find his progress much slower than if, in addition to conversation, he had called in the aid of a grammar and dictionary. The progress of a youth in a Counting house is generally very slow. He is employed, during several years, in doing little else than carrying messages and copying letters; it rarely hap pens that he has the benefit of an instructor; he is left to collect and digest information in the best way that he can devise; and he would often run the hazard of being ridiculed, were he to seek that information in books. The consequence of this very defective mode of education, joined to the frequent want of superintendance out of doors, is that, of the youth introduced into Counting-houses, a considerable proportion become tired of their situations, and abandon them; while of those who remain, many continue so ignorant as to be unfit for employments of trust or difficulty. We cannot, however, enter into the wide field of discussion which the subject of mercantile education would suggest,; and we shall only farther remark that, among the means of amending it, we are disposed to lay considerable stress on plain and well-digested books on commercial topics.

Art. 31
The Cottager
ers of Glenburnie; a Tale for the Farmer's
Ingle-Nook. By Elizabeth Hamilton. 8vo. 7s. 6d. Boards.
Cadell and Davies.

The second title of this tale almost serves to announce the great mixture of Scotch dialect which it contains; enough is however intelligible to gratify every reader of taste, and every lover of humour; and perhaps few writers, without overstepping the modesty of nature," can produce scenes and situations equally comic, or, without departing from the airiness of narration, administer counsel equally weighty. We the less regret that our limits do not permit us to

make

make extracts from this work, because we rather wish to induce than to supersede the perusal of it; and we are convinced that no extracts can afford so much pleasure as the whole tale will inevitably yield.

Art. 32. Letters of the Swedish Court, written chiefly in the early Part of the Reign of Gustavus III. To which is added an Appendix, containing an Account of the Assassination of that Monarch, with some interesting Anecdotes of the Court of St. Petersburg. 12mo. pp. 282. 6s. Boards. Cradock and Joy. 1809.

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Several facts, derived from the private and public history of the court of Stockholm during the early part of the reign of Gusta, vus III., are here related in letters, supposed to be written by the persons themselves who were principally interested in them. The main subject is the temporary coolness between Gustavus and his royal consort, soon after their marriage, with the means by which a reconciliation was effected. We are assured, in the preface, that not a circumstance is stated which is not sanctioned by the history of the times. This may be true; and the facts may be as honourable to the memory of the King and Queen of Sweden, as the author he lieves them to be: but the dress, in which he has made them appear before us, certainly does not contribute to excite our admiration for nor to interest our feelings in behalf of the principal characters. All the letters are very indifferently composed; and they do not even express the characteristic distinction of their supposed authors, Those of the King and the Queen are, however, the worst; and some of them are entirely in the style of the commonest novel which is issued from the manufactory in Leadenhall street. A couple of very short extracts will fully satisfy our readers, and exhibit the talents of the writer for describing interesting scenes and delineating great characters. Count Scheffer gives the following picture of the effect which the first discovery of the Queen's real attachment to the King, and of the injustice of all suspicions entertained against her, produced on the Monarch.

Eagerly perusing the letter, I observed his eyes brighten and a glowing colour mount into his face; he seemed to proceed with a sort of breathless impatience. By a sudden motion he upset the small table with the chessboard, and king, queen, knights, bishops and pawns came rattling about our heels. Amazed at the noise and unconscious of the cause, the King looked for a moment angry seeming to mistrust his eyes; he caught up one of the candles, extinguished it by his quick motion; and, complaining there were no lights in the room, was proceeding to the next apartment.” P. 112.

Soon afterward, His Majesty himself is made to write to his Queen from Finland, whither the most important concerns of the state had called him :

Nothing but imperious duty should detain me; smarting under this uncertain absence, I am ready to abjure the motives, right as I thought them, which have brought me so far from my capital. In

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