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We proceed:

"Not wed thy daughter!" cried the astonish'd chief,
While Ivvor's paleness caught a hectic glow-

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"Not wed thy daughter? — ask me what thou wilt; I'll pave her floors with angels, each of gold; The wind of heav'n shall not salute her cheek, But thro' rich clouds of perfume, slow ascending From sandal-wood, or branch of burning cedar." That the author is not deficient in vigour of words, or rhythm, will be perceived; although both are occasionally rude and excentric: but what were the angels with which the floor was to be paved? Literally half-guineas, (not demi-sovereigns) or gilded cherubim? Adhuc sub judice lis est.

'Who boasteth of his might is mightiless.' P. 74.

A very admirable new compound; and by the way it would not be an unserviceable task, if any person of sufficient leisure would make a little collection of lately coined words and phrases in English poetry. We should have some choice flowers of speech among them.

We conclude with an extract which (as Mr. Jenkinson and his cosmogony appeared to the Vicar of Wakefield) appears not exactly new to us. Do we dream, or is there not a fire, at the end of Rokeby;" where Bertram is represented nearly in the same manner, though certainly not with the same degree of force and fury, as in the following quotation?

66

But where is Taran?* lo! he stalks along,
On yonder steep that overlooks the flame,
And, as it were, in superhuman mould,

Seems the grim fire-king of the burning mound.
Hemm'd in by crackling rafters, heat, and smoke,
What hand of rashness shall arrest his step?
""Tis done!" he cries: 66
they slumber with their friends:
Peace to their ashes! peace to all but Taran.
"Come to me, Desolation,
I'll hug thee to this breaking, bursting heart,
And laugh, forlornly, at thy meagre cheek;
Here will we sit all day beneath these walls,
And roll across their reeking, blood-stain'd floors,
Those human skulls that blacken at our feet."

9

If our readers wish for any more, they must refer to the book itself: :we depart, like satisfied guests; or, rather, like Domitian's senators, rejoicing to have escaped from the feralis cana; the gloomy entertainment provided for them.-The second edition of this poem is dedicated, in terms of gratitude which do honor to the writer's feelings, to that respectable and benevolent character, Mr. Capel Lofft; and we are moreover told, in this same dedication, of some favor with which the first edition has been

* This very question sounds familiar to us.

received.

received. If this be the case, we are sorry for it; because, in our judgment, it is another proof of the corrupt taste of the public, and may encourage a worthy young man to the prosecution of a study for which, according to all the established principles of criticism, he is unfitted. This is plain language, but it is very honest; and we shall ever use it, while we have a voice to raise against the degraded state of literary taste.

Art. 19. The Carnival of Death.

A Poem, in Two Cantos. By Thomas Bailey, Author of "What is Life? and other Poems." 12mo. 4s. Boards. Longman and Co. 1822.

We have already had occasion to notice some poetical effusions from the pen of Mr. Bailey, which we considered, with all their defects and the inaccuracies of a youthful hand, as deserving of our notice and encouragement.

We certainly discover a poetical vein, though not of the richest kind, in the pages of Mr. B.: which express humane and gentle feelings, as well as a spirit of elevated and generous rectitude, of which the bold assertion, however uncourtly and unpolished, does honor to his heart. If, however, it may be doubted whether poetry be always the best and most appropriate vehicle of moral sentiments, we cannot hesitate to observe that Mr. B. has in the present instance been far from happy in the selection of his subject. Neither has he treated it altogether in the manner which we could have wished, and of which its nature was susceptible. In the revolting picture that he has drawn, we have too much of the physical horrors and naked calamities of war; which are by no means so effectual in awakening sympathy, or interesting the attention, as the exhibition of mental sorrows and distractions, combined with cases of individual distress. Оссаsional passages and descriptions occur, however, which amply repay us for a perusal of the volume.

Art. 20. The Bridal of Caölchairn; and other Poems. By James Hay Allan, Esq. 8vo. pp. 344. Hookham. 1822.

Our readers ought to consider themselves under great obligations to us, for the laudable patience with which we perform our task of laboring through many dull and tedious volumes, in order that we may forewarn them of their contents. Thus, by glancing their eyes over half a page of our Catalogue, they may perchance avoid an encounter with a perilous octavo of three or four hundred pages, which, from bitter experience we can assure them, possesses very little to recompense the labour of perusing

it. Mr. Allan is one of the servum pecus who tread in the footsteps of Sir Walter Scott, and hope to revive the public admiration of a style of writing which even their great master's originality, and vivid powers of description, were not able to preserve in favour. We cannot forbear to quote the following stave of Border minstrelsy:

6 Quick March.

The Hay! the Hay! the Hay! the Hay!
Mac Garadh is coming, give way! give way!
H 4

The

The Hay! the Hay! the Hay! the Hay!
Mac Garadh is coming, give way,

Mac Garadh is coming, clear the way!
Mac Garadh is coming, hurra! hurra!
Mac Garadh is coming, clear the way,

Mac Garadh is coming, hurra!' (P. 232.)

Far be it from us to intimate that there are not less preposterous things in the volume than these lines; and the best, in our opinion, is the Lancer's song: but, on the whole, we are afraid that any grown person might say, "I'll rhyme you so eight years together, dinners and suppers and sleeping-hours excepted."

We should be glad to know from Mr. Allan why he invariably indulges in the orthographical whim of spelling lady with an e final, as ladye; and also what advantage he proposes, either to himself or his readers, (speaking hypothetically,) in printing the number of the page at the bottom instead of the top, like the attractive MSS. which issue from an attorney's office?

Art. 21. Woman in India, a Poem. Part I. Female Influence. By John Lawson, Missionary at Calcutta. 12mo. 2s. Lawson, Wesley, &c. 1821.

No species of criticism is more unwelcome to a mind of any delicacy than the censure of well-meaning pious men, who have fancied themselves poets, but whose fancies are justified by no adequate reality. Since we wrote our brief critique on Mr. Lawson's "Orient Harping," (Review for Sept. 1820,) we have heard much more of that worthy and indeed excellent man than we could possibly know before; and we therefore bear willing and pleased testimony to his merits as a Baptist-Missionary; to his devotion of time, health, talent, family, fortune, all earthly good, to the cause of Christianity in the East! Still, in the name of all that is sensible, what has this to do with his poetical powers, or correct literary taste? We must positively deny him the possession of either, in any eminent degree; and the grounds of our judgment are already before our readers. Mr. Lawson is either not a poet, or all the works of really vigorous and elegant writers are written on a wrong model, and they must bow to this mixture of prose and verse; of Cowper caricatured, and Grahame aggravated. We must cease, in a word, to profit by classical education, and corrected taste, before we can tolerate such writing as this:

Thus Doddridge, yet a child, gained the blest lore
Of chimney-ornament.'

That is, thus the youthful Doddridge imbibed some portion of scriptural knowlege, from an explanation of the subjects of the Dutch Tiles on the sides of his mother's fire-place!

In the more decidedly feeling passages, the author is not free from similar faults. No ordinary instance of the bathos is afforded by the subjoined passage, in which the poet recollects his home, associated with the tenderest filial images, yet deigns to dwell on and even to close his remembrances with such an object as that which ends our quotation,

Those

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The thousand nameless charms which hung about her-
The form benignant-the soft beaming face-

And sigh of calm solicitude low breathed

For me, when pale and sick I listless lay
Upon her neck

are ever brought to mind,
Connected with some object much endeared,
Some rural spot, or oft frequented glen,
Or note of bird, or form of wildest weed.'

We turn to more solid matters; and we have great pleasure in announcing that this very amiable and indefatigable Missionary still continues the useful labors which, for twelve years, he has bestowed on our eastern brethren. We understand that those labors have been of a very peculiarly advantageous kind: - that he has cut the punches of two complete founts of type in the Chinese character; besides several others in the most prevailing languages of the East;-and that he has saved, annually, several thousand pounds, by these improvements, to the Baptist mission; while, at the same time, he has incalculably increased the opportunities of diffusing a knowlege of the Gospel over those immense and benighted regions. Why should he, who has gained the imperishable leaf of the laurel in such a cause, aspire to the unattainable daisy of poetry?

EDUCATION.

Art. 22. Confidential Memoirs; or, Adventures of a Parrot, a Greyhound, a Cat, and a Monkey. By Mary Elliot, late Belson. 12mo. 6s. Boards. William Darton. 1821.

Due care is taken to inculcate moral lessons in this lively and entertaining publication: but, if it were not unreasonable to expect correct English from a Brazilian parrot, or an Italian greyhound, we should object to the following expressions: p. 41., 'My cage was covered, all to a small space at the top.' P. 85.,

'the

' not but I was sensible of Mrs. Dormer's kindness.' P. 127., servants never buffetted me as I have since been.' P. 197., immediately I saw him in a slumber, I leaped on his shoulder.' Mr. Julio the Italian is not successful in his French phrases; for in p. 62. he is made to say, The road was too moist for an elegante like myself.'

Art. 23. Prudence and Principle. A Tale. By the Author of "Rachel," and "The Authoress." 12mo. 5s. 6d. Boards. Taylor and Hessey. 1821.

The title of this book sufficiently announces the contrast which the writer intends to exhibit; and we may add that the tale is conducted with simplicity, while it has sufficient interest to attract the attention, and perhaps to influence the feelings and conduct of young readers,

POLITICS

POLITICS.

Art. 24. Substance of the Speech of the Marquis of Londonderry, in the House of Commons, 15th February, 1822, on the Subject of the Agricultural Distress, &c. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Hatchard. Art. 25. The Speech of the Earl of Liverpool, delivered in the House of Lords, 26th February, on the Subject of the Agricultural Distress, &c. 8vo. 3s. 6d. Hatchard.

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The principal object of both these official speeches is to attribute the distresses of the country to any other cause than the excess of taxation, and to prove that any farther retrenchment in the expenditure of government not only is impracticable, but, if practicable, would be inexpedient. The Marquis of Londonderry's speech has been much condensed and improved in its progress through the press.

Art. 26. Plain Reasons why political Power should not be granted to Papists. By Samuel Wix, A. M., F. R., and A. S. Vicar of Saint Bartholomew the Less, London. 8vo. 1s. Riving

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Mr. Wix grounds his objections on the temporal power which is assumed by the Pope in the territories of sovereign princes, and insists that, while Roman Catholics acknowlege such a right of interference in a foreigner, they ought to be excluded from political power. He goes farther, and brands the Catholics, from a little forgetfulness of history and confusion of terms, with the name of Schismatics; and, after having observed that we ought to contemplate with the deepest regret the prevailing separation of the Roman Catholics, he adds, separation from any branch of the church of Christ not corrupted by false doctrines and unscriptural novelties is a schism, and altogether indefensible.' We believe that all these arguments have been urged and answered as frequently as the warmest polemic can desire.

Art. 27. An Answer to the "State of the Nation at the Commencement of the Year 1822," &c. 8vo. 3s. Ridgway.

We gave in our Number for February rather an extended notice of the ministerial pamphlet to which the present is intended as a reply. The answerer's matter is much better than his style; and we think that the levity and flippancy with which the most important subjects are here discussed may with many readers not only create a prejudice against the author's opinions, but detract somewhat from the validity of conclusions which, if urged in a different manner, could not fail to make a considerable impression.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Art. 28. Memoirs of a Life chiefly passed in Pennsylvania, within the last Sixty Years. 8vo. pp. 430. 9s. 6d. Boards. Blackwood, Edinburgh; and Cadell, London.

This amusing volume appears to have been printed in America ten or twelve years ago, and is now republished by Mr. Galt, as

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