moment, he never wrote a fyllable concerning him in the whole courfe of his life." Had the author of the Baviad confined his juftification of himfelf to fuch a plain and pofitive affertion as this, he would have anfwered every laudable end, and have kept himself on a level with thofe gentlemen who, though equally attacked with himself, have had too much prudence to return any anfwer whatever. But the greater part of the Introduction, almost the whole of the Epistle, and more particularly the anonymous Poftfcript, are compounded of fuch low and Billingfgate abufe, fuch outrageous contempt of all that decorum which fhould ever regulate the language of the gentleman and the fcholar, and which the public has at all times a right to expect from those who appeal to its judicature-fuch dark inuendos, and unfupported hints of the fouleft of vices, that we have feldom feen their fuperior, and truft we fhall never again be forced to witnefs their equal. We fhall conclude with extracting the following note from page 18, to which we cordially with the author had paid more. attention, I am much pleafed,' fays he, with a paffage in the Life of Burus. "I never faw him angry but twice," fays his biogra pher: "once for fome neglect in the foreman of the band; and the other time it was with an old man, for ufing fimutty inuendos and double entendres. Were every foul-mouthed (old) man to receive a check in this way, it would be to the advantage of the rifing generation."-Excellent!'. The Battle of the Bards; an Heroic Poem. In Two Cantos. The Author Mauritius Moonfine, F. R. S. &c. 4to. 25. Lackington. 1800. It is not often that poets themselves compofe the dramatis perfone of their own pieces, and ftill lefs frequently that they realife in their own conduct the peripetia of blood-ftained tragedy: yet fuch was the dénouement we were led to expect from the ardour of the two foregoing publications; and a "battle of the bards," though not quite fo bloody as many of which we have lately heard, was at least as much a matter of courfe, from the declarations of war and the terms of defiance with which they were fo highly feafoned. Our readers are already fufficiently acquainted with the tranfaction in the humble profe of the diurnal papers; and we fall only, therefore, notice, that the prefent pamphlet furnishes us with a repetition of the fame, in mock heroics, embellifhed with fuitable machinery and other poetical decorations, I is divided into two cantos; and, though the balance is fuitained with a tolerable degree of impartiality, we think we perceive an inclination rather in favour of Sir Pindar than, Sir Giffard Peter and Efop; a St. Giles's Eclogue. 4to. 25. 6. Murray and Highley. 1800. Ecce iterum Crifpinus! By tii, quotation we mean, however, no affront to either of the combatants. The fubject of the foregoing pamphlet is in a confiderable meafure purfued in the prefent; though the ground, it must be confeffed, is fomewhat different. The dernier refource of a battle is at laft appealed to; but it is preceded by a poetical dialogue between the parties, in a burlesque eclogue, happily parodied from Spencer or Virgil, and animated with all the fpirit and flowers of eloquence with which the original publications of thefe redoubtable bards have of late abounded. Thefe flowers,' fays the writer, it has been my business to weave into a chaplet, to ornament their respective brows; and which, I truft, are of that amaranthine nature as to continue for ever in unfading beauty and luftre. With these I have intermixed others, taken from their own hot beds. There were fome, indeed, of fuch peculiar fragrance, and of fuch indefcribable delicacy, that I thought it better they should "wafte their sweetness on the defert air" than run the rifque of being injured by a removal. To fpeak more plainly: Peter and his opponent are equally unknown to me but by their writings. To their talents, of which no man can think more favourably than I do, I am ready to do homage; but I muft ever exprefs my difguft, or be permitted at leaft to laugh, at the miferable, not to fay beaftly, ufe thefe irritable men make of fuch valuable endowments.' But enough of this abfurd and unnatural difpute. We truft the combatants have now peaceably returned to their own barmonious profeffion; and that the only conteft which will in future fubfift between them will be for the laurels of Apollo rather than the laurels of Mars. Bardomachia Poëma Macaronico-Latinum. iSco. 410. 15. Johnfon. Bardomachia: or, the Battle of the Bards. Tranflated from the original Latin. 4to. 15. Johnfon. 1800. Here we meet with another fpecies of humour exercifed upon this unhappy conteft of the fons of Apollo, and which has by far the advantage of all the productions to which this fertile theme has given birth. It is publimed anonymously; but the name of the writer appears in every line we have perufed: and we have no hesitation in attributing it to a learned and facetious divine, who has formerly amufed us with fimilar effufions. We fele&t the following, containing the entrance into Mr. Wright's fhop, and the dreadful flaughter that inftantly eufued, as a fair fpecimen of the whole. Pindarus, hoc vifo, majori ferbuit ira; Bili ac difficili tumuit jecur anfere majus! "Mæviades ego fum: fed non fum furcifer:" inquit "Furcifer es certô-sed cur contendere verbis ? Protenus, elapfus nimbofa per æthera, Phoebus, Tresque fimul Superi, non æquâ lege, laceffunt Dum Ledæ fratres, magnâ vi, brachia ftringunt Him Peter fpying, quickly to him ran, "But not a rascal" "Not a rafcal?" cries But why in idle words confume our time? } 3 I mean the product of his fertile brains; And, fiift, Dan Phoebus, with a sudden stroke, Tie both his hands, and push him to the door.' P. 11, MISCELLANEOUS LIST. A Defence of the Profeffion of an Actor. 8vo. 15.6d. Miller. 1800. Our author, in polifhed, though occafionally in too highly laboured, perhaps inflated, language, defends the profeffion of a theatrical performer, and contends that he who animates the words of the poet ought to flare at least in his fame and eftimation. But the poet, whofe memory is now adored, might, if alive, be equally neglected with the player; and, in our own times, Mrs. Siddons and Mr. Kemble may boaft of attentions, in private, as great as thofe which once diftinguifhed Rafcius or fopus. Perhaps the irregular conduct of fome eminent actors may have fullied the character, and occafioned the members of the fame profeflion to be received with caution; yet thofe whofe private lives have been irreproachable, have never found the attentions lavifhed on the ftage withholden at other times. On the contrary, the stream of kindnefs, by having been occafionally restrained, has on other occafions flowed perhaps with profufe liberality. Providence Difplayed: or, the remarkable Adventures of Alexander Selkirk, of Largo, in Scotland; who lived Four Years and Four Months by himself, on the land of Juan Fernandez; from whence he returned with Capt. Woodes Rogers, of Bristol, and en whofe Adventures was founded the celebrated Novel of Robinson Crufoe. With a Defcription of the land, and an Account of feveral other Perfons left there, particularly William, a Mofquito Indian, and Capt. Davis's Men, including brief Memoirs of the famous Capt. Wm. Dampier. To which is added a Supplement, containing the Hiftory of Peter Seriano, Ephraim How, and athers, left in fimilar Situations. By Ifaac James, 12mo. 31. Button. 1800. We have often thought that the enthufiaftic admirers of Shakfpeare are the worst enemies of his fair fame, by tracing the original fource of fome of his ftriking beauties, and pointing out The prototypes, of what had before been confidered as his inventions. If the merit of De Foe could be leffened, it would be in fome degree tarnished by the narrative before us, could we fuppofe him to have been acquainted with all the circumfiances of the different perfous left on rocks and defert islands. These adventures form an entertaining compilation; though the ingenuity of De Foe (who details every contrivance with a fimplicity which, in fpite of conviction, almoft perfuades us that the whole is real) will render his mixture of fiction, with a little truth, ftill more interefting. We seem to feel his narrative to be a real detail of events, and even truth fuffers in the comparison. A Meteorological Journal of the Year 1799, kept in London, by William Bent. To which are added, Remarks on the State of the Air, Vegetation, &c. and Obfervations on the Difeafes in the City and its Vicinity. 8vo. 25. Bent. The fituation of the inftruments employed, particularly of the thermometer hung out at a window up one pair of stairs' in Paternofter-row, is not the most eligible; and, from fome comparative obfervations, two or three degrees of temperature may be detracted from the obferved height. Of the hygrometer we can obtain no adequate correction, fo that we shall not notice it. The mean of the barometer for 1799 was 29.85; its greatest and leaft heights were 30.65 and 28.94 in December and November respectively. The mean height of the out-door thermometer was 48.8; 46° nearly: the mean heat of April 44.5; March and June were the dryeft months; July and September the wetteft: yet, on the whole, the quantity of rain which fell fcarcely exceeded twenty-one inches. Elegance, Amufement, and Utility; or the whole Process of Varnishing en l'aper and Food, with every Improvement. By J. Creafe, Bath. To which is added, Gilding, Working in Black and Gold, mounting Drawings, cleaning Pictures, &c. &c. Champante and Whitrow. 8vo. 2s. 6d. The directions in this little tra& are clear and judicious. We therefore can fafely recommend them to the practitioners of those elegant amufements which the author profeffes to teach, and in which our fair country women are now fo great proficients. Plan of Proceeding: Octavo.-Firft Part. Holmes' Tract on Bodies Corporate generally, thofe in Exeter Specially, which includes thè novel County-Rates, Exeter, 1799.-Second Part. Holmes' Epitome of Political Hiftory, ancient and modern, commented on, in Hope of affording fome Information to the middle and lower Claffes of Mankind, countenancing Virtue and difcouraging Vice.-Third Part. Holmes on the Police of Exeter Specially, ancient and modern, as an Accompaniment to Izaacke's Memorials of the City. δυο. 13. No Publisher's Name. After all the attention that we can bestow, we find it very diffi. cult to afcertain the object of this very obfcure author. He feems to be displeased at the levying new county rates, while fufficient revenues, given for the fame or fimilar purposes, are poffeffed by the corporation. Non noftrum eft tantas componere lites.' A's an apology, however, for our uncertainty refpecting the author's meaning, and our inability to understand his very inverted incom. prehendible ftyle, we fhall tranfcribe his first paragraph. |