Nor e'er had she cause of his truth to complain,
Or a breach in the promise He made;
While in grateful return she assuag'd every pain ;
And each tender Attention repaid.

In the morning, her Pasture was close by his Side,
The gay Myrtle at noon was their shade;
While the Moss for repose, from a delicate Pride
In a separate Arbour was laid.'

Some lines might be pointed out which are incorrect in metre, and others which are inaccurate in expression. The passages marked by Italics we leave to the candid criticism of the good-natured reader. Art. 31. Tributes of Affection: with the Slave; and other Poems By a Lady, and her Brother. 12mo. 2s. 6d. Boards. Longman, &c. 1797. Although we cannot bestow on these small poems the praise (due alone to the higher ranks of poetry) of bold and appropriate imagery, and sentiments at once novel and striking, yet they have considerable merit. The versification is easy, and the thoughts are natural. The poem of the Slave' is written with true pathos and energy. In the Shakspeare Gallery,' the style of each artist is clearly discriminated, and their merits are judiciously appreciated. Of the smaller pieces, we consider the following Sonnet (the Lady's production) as most poetical:

To a young Lady desirous of writing Poetry.
O! thou, whose placid bosom never felt

6

The Hope deferr'd, which maketh sick the heart,

Whose feelings yet unwounded only melt

At woes where soft Compassion bears a part,
O! court not yet the soft poetic Art!
Alas! from Friendship unreturn'd,

From slighted Love, or sorrows canker'd Dart,
Too oft the Poet's flame at first has burn'd:
For few the Laurels which the Muse bestows,

Of no sad Cares, no hours of anguish born:
As few can scent the fragrance of the Rose,

Nor feel the sharpness of the neighbouring Thorn:
And foreign Trees their balmy Gums produce,

But first receive the Wound whence flows the fragrant Juice.'

The sixth line is deficient in a foot, probably through negligence. In the 12th line, the word nor, instead of and not, is an harsh and ungrammatical sacrifice to metre.

2 Vols.

Art. 32. Moral Tales in Verse, founded on real Events. Written by Thomas Hull, of the Theatre Royal, Covent-Garden. 8vo. pp. 150 and 200. 9s. Boards. Cawthorn. 1797. Though these tales are said to be founded on real events, yet we are not to expect that the author vouches for their authenticity; as he declares in his preface that he has always felt his attention peculiarly engaged by stories related in company, which have contained in them any thing of the marvellous and supernatural, and whence, pro

bably,

bably, he has so long retained many of the singular events on which the compositions are founded. The tales, therefore, are not his fictions, but founded on stories which he has heard.-We thought it necessary to state this, in order to remove any objections which the reader might raise after the perusal of some of the performances, against the propriety of their titles; as many of them are given without introductory accounts, and in some circumstances they partake of the marvellous and supernatural.'-If we cannot assert that Mr. Hull possesses, in a very high degree, the pleasing power

To point a Moral, and adorn a Tale,"

yet his diction is in general pure, his versification smooth, and his sentiments are unexceptionable: while the endeavour to enlist poetry on the side of religion and virtue does him much honour. He appears to us as exhibiting the most favourable proofs of his faculty of versifying in his elegiac measures, and in his hexameters.In the stanzas, in which eight feet and six are alternately used, he frequently falls into prosaic phraseology and feeble amplification: as in the Tale of Cadwall in two parts: the plan of which story is too similar to Goldsmith's Edwin and Angelina to excuse its admission in these volumes.

If advice would not be thrown away on farmers, we should recommend to them the Tale of Durand; who, in a time of scarcity, disdained to take advantage of the public wants. In a prayer, he thus

exclaims:

"But now, while scarcity prevails,

And Nature's wonted bounty fails,
Ought I from treasur'd hoards refuse
A moderate share for general use,
Or added profit dare to grind
From the afflictions of Mankind?
No-what thy bounty heap'd on me
To others I'll distribute free:
And if I act as I profess
Mayst thou the resolution bless."

In consequence of Durand's philanthropy, his fields yielded in the next year a threefold measure:

Each rising stem was seen to bear
Replete with grain, a triple ear*.
And none, save his prolific field,
So plenteous a display did yield.'

In some introductory verses, Mr. Hull informs us that Mr. Rich told him the above story, which happened in France.

Of the 13 stories contained in these two volumes, we particularly recommend Henry, or Virtue its own Reward,' and the Tale of Edward and Orra; we think that they are most capable of interest

Mr. Rich, late patentee of Covent-Garden Theatre, was not only an eye witness to this wonderful production in its state of vegetation, but likewise brought several of them to England, and shewed them to all his visitors. Author's ́note.

ing the reader by the circumstances which they relate, and by the superior beauties of the narration. To the first volume is prefixed a portrait of Mr. Hull.

Art. 33. Six Satires of Horace, in a Style between free Imitation and
literal Version. By William Clubbe, LL. B. Vicar of Brandes-
ton, Suffolk. 4to. pp. 136. 5s. sewed. Robinsons.
The design of Mr. Clubbe, in this translation of the most popular
of the Latin classics, deserves the attention of the English reader; and
the scholar will not entirely disapprove the execution. The language
is in general easy without feebleness; and the sense of the original is
for the most part retained with a happy fidelity. It was the aim of
the translator (as he informs us in a preface written with perspicuity
and modesty) to avoid the top literal mode of version adopted by
Francis, and the too partial paraphrase of Swift and Pope; and, in
short, to make Horace speak in English as he might have done, had
he lived in the country and age of his translator: but how far his sub-
stitution of modern names, customs, and manners, will prove accept-
able to men of a cultivated taste, is an experiment of which the re-
sult remains to be ascertained. For our part, we confess that we do
not much like to hear Horace talking of Borowlaski, Bamber Gas-
coigne, and Dr. Trusler.

As a specimen, we will present our readers with some passages from the 3d satire, in which the philosophical poet teaches us to think humbly and impartially of ourselves, and candidly of our friends:

"At, pater ut gnati, sic nos debemus amici,

Si quod sit vitium, non fastidire. Strabonem
Appellat patum pater; et pullum, malè parvus
Si cui filius est; ut abortivus fuit olim
Sisyphus ;"&c.

But let us copy (for that is not hard)
The partial judgment of the Sire's regard
Has he a Son that looks too much awry?
"Tis but a pleasing archness in his eye,"

Is he like Borowlaski, short and small?
"Tis true the pretty Poppet is not tall.”
« Parcius hie vivit : frugi dicatur. Ineptus
Et jactantior hic paulo est; concinnus amicis
Postulat ut videtur: at est truculentior, atque
Plus aquo liber; simplex, fortisq. habeatur.
Caldior est; acres inter numeretur: opinor,
Hac res jungit, junctos et servat amicos."

So for ourselves,-if chance our friend should be
In parting with his money not so free;
To put this best construction let us try;
"He has his motives for economy."
Does he love boasting? crack a silly jest?
"He means to entertain, and 'tis his best."
• But he is blunt: say 'tis dislike of art,
And the plain frankness of an honest heart.

"7

• Is he too choleric?' "Oh, no, 'tis spirit; For after all, good nature is his merit." Thus should we gain and keep our friends with ease, Pleas'd both with them, and sure ourselves to please,' Art. 34. The Epistle of Horace to the Pisos, on the Art of Poetry, translated into English Verse. By William Clubbe, LL.B. Vicar of Brandeston, Suffolk. 4to. pp. 42. 28. Rivingtons, &c.

1797.

We have read this version of Horace's celebrated Poem with some degree of pleasure and approbation; for we have found it, in the greater part, faithful to the original, and capable of conveying to the English reader the sentiments of the author in perspicuous language: but should the translator print a second edition, we recommend to his attention and revisal the following faulty lines and expressions.

In the 1ft paragraph we meet with this verse-
Induce a plume from every bird that flies.'

The words in Italics form a very harsh combination. The Laugh outright' is an inelegant phrase. In the 2d paragraph, the 4th line contains a strange inversion of terms- In every object of the view.' In the 8th paragraph, we meet with the following distich, which appears to us very flat and obscure :

Who from one simple subject hopes to bring
A train of prodigies, as every thing.'

The original proscribes the deforming a composition by an injudicious attempt at variety of parts.

In the toth paragraph, we object to the term elocution, as not conveying the meaning of Horace

A master of his subject need not fear
An elocution just and method clear.'
The original word implies a copiousness of matter.

In the last line of the following distich, we conceive that the translator has erred against grammar :

When Cato, Ennius, of ancient fame,

Dar'd and enrich'd their mother tongue the same.

The words the same, meaning, in the same manner, we cannot

approve.

In the 21st paragraph, the last line of this distich is too prosaic-
Thus Telephus! and Peleus!--will your woe
Affect my passions as it ought to do?

We have the same objection to this line in paragraph 34• Timid and cold in all he goes about.'

Between the paragraphs 34 and 35, the translator has omitted the lines which describe the laws and use of the Iambic foot; which omission seems unaccountable, as Horace chides the indolence of the Roman writers in this respect, and sends them for instruction on this subject to their Grecian masters, in the lines immediately following the 35th paragraph

<

Take your examples from the Grecian store, And in your study turn them o'er and o'er. REY. OCT, 1797.

In

In paragraph 37, the translator was inattentive to the following repetition of the same term, though possibly it was intended as a beauty; viz.

• Of various characters to mark the line,

*

They mark'd the face with soot and lees of wine.' The term beat, in the following distich, seems rather unbecoming La translator of Horace :

The flatterer so will over-act his part,

And beat the friend who praises from his heart."

But enough.-Perhaps a too great partiality for this poetic ornament of the Augustan age has suggested to us remarks on his English translator that may seem too minute and fastidious. We must add, nevertheless, that we were surprised at meeting, in these times, with lines terminating in such imperfect rhymes as the following:-Strain, obscene-young, song-win, scene-toil, file-sea, pay-shun, alone make, speak-mourn, return-too, woe-&c.

Art. 35. Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil: a Comedy in Two Acts, as performed by the Old American Company, New-York, January 1797. By William Dunlap. Sva. New York printed, by T. and J. Swords.

America bids fair to equal us in the productions of wit, as well as in science, in arms, and in commerce. With respect to the present little piece, many of our minor dramas of Covent-Garden and Old Drury, which have passed muster tolerably on the boards, are by no means superior to this New-York performance, either in respect of wit, humour, or poignancy of satire. Mr. Dunlap has prefixed to it the following advertisement :- Those who are curious to know how far this comedy is original, or how far borrowed, will be satisfied by consulting a French dramatic proverb of one act, called Jerome Pointu.

Art. 36. The Archers, or Mountaineers of Switzerland; an Opera, in Three Acts, as performed by the Old American Company, in NewYork: to which is subjoined a brief Historical Account of Switzerland, from the Dissolution of the Roman Empire, to the final Establishment of the Helvetic Confederacy, by the Battle of Sempach. By W. Dunlap. 8vo. New York printed, by T. and J. Swords. The author has given us, in his preface, the following historical account of this production of the American press :

In the summer of the year 1794, a dramatic performance, published in London, was left with me, called HELVETIC LIBERTY. I was requested to adapt it to our stage. After several perusals, I gave it up, as incorrigible; but, pleased with the subject, I recurred to the history of Switzerland, and composed the Piece now presented to the public.

<

Any person, who has the curiosity to compare the two pieces, will observe that I have adopted three of the imaginary characters, from HELVETIC LIBERTY,the Burgomaster, Lieutenant, and Rhodotphia: I believe they are, however, strictly my own. The other

* Thespis, and bis actors, in the cart.

similarities