pieces is at times amusing, and brings to our recollection the milk and watery features of the Wordsworthian style : A young Philo-misanthropist, But sought the open air, And o'er the fields he took his healthful way. In downy fur array'd: Poor animal, said he, I will not spoil thy play. He left the rabbit playing on the And near it would not pass, A glorious prize, grass, A pheasant-cock all starr'd with purple eyes. Fly on, said he, thank God I want not food.' All things considered, the author's age is somewhat surprizing: Twice one-and-twenty years have passed away, And now, once more, I see my natal day.' The succeeding line, however, exemplifies a truth for which we were more prepared : "Yet still Discretion lingers in the rear.' Art. 19. Amatory and other Verses. By Howard Fish. 8vo. Sherwood and Co. Is. 6d. 1817. We really feel obliged to Mr. Fish for having modestly designated these little pieces by the name of "Verses," and not, as is usually done in similar cases, calling them by that of "Poems." Mediocrity is their general feature; and the author himself does not appear to rank them in higher estimation than may be conceived to be due to such "trifles" as cannot cost either time or labour in the composition, nor, when composed, be productive of much utility. Since the author professes not to be above wholesome advice,' we would suggest the want of a correcting hand in the following lines: Would fell a son or parent with the dust.' P. 6. O God forefend, we never may behold Britannia's heroes slay her sons for gold!' P.6. We conceive that here the author has expressed exactly the reverse of his meaning; and that for never' we must read ever, in order to extract any sense from the couplet. The Bank is broke' (for broken). 'Tis he who checks rebels.' One evening, while musing along by the stream.' Proclaim thy requiem, dear fields." Let's stray the margin of the ripling stream, Do man, as ye'd be done unto,' &c. &c.j H 3 Art Art. 20. A Poetical Epistle to the King of Hayti. 8vo. 3. 6d. sewed. Sherwood and Co. 1817. If the public conduct and the private virtues of his Majesty of Hayti were modelled in conformity with the obliging counsels of his anonymous correspondent, there could be little doubt that a rich reward of happiness would result both to himself and to his subjects: but, if he were doomed to peruse the admonitory epistle before us, and enabled to "understand what he readeth," we have too much sympathy for human afflictions not to commiserate his case, and to wish him a safe deliverance from a sea of troubles, from which we have ourselves so lately and so fortunately effected our escape. Art. 21, The Search; and other Poems. By J. Edmeston, jun. 12mo. pp. 108. 4s. Boards. Conder. 1817. A spiritless and meagre collection of songs and ballads is here appended to a composition of somewhat larger dimensions, in which is represented the original and interesting game of hide and seek, by a company of hapless itinerants, who are all in pursuit of a fleeting and visionary phantom called Happiness.' After a long and unsuccessful chase, Religion' enters, and informs the travellers that she alone has the power to grant their desires, and to conduct them to the haven of which they are in search. The truth appearing undeniable, it gains immediate and universal assent; and the result is that they agree to take Religion' at her word, and embrace her offers. NOVELS. Art. 22. Northern Irish Tales. Two Vols. 12mo. Longman and Co. 1818. 12s. Boards. The author prefixes to these tales the promise of a continuation of them, and then offers to us this extraordinary passage: I regret that the present ones are not more worthy of the reader's attention. But with all our efforts, there are times when smothered imagination will not kindly kindle, and invention, like the sucker of a choked pump, brings up no water, or mixed with gravel and sand. Happily, there is a FLOW as well as an EBB, in the mind of man. I may hope, therefore, as I advance, to improve, and that my latter end will be better than my beginning.' Supposing the three tales related in these volumes to be written in the order in which they stand, this hope may perhaps be realized, since the last is undoubtedly the best: but why trouble the world with the sand and gravel?'-why not wait till the stream flows clearly? We could then excuse this happy confusion of metaphors, which leads us so quickly through fire and water, and encourage the author to proceed: but what encouragement can we give if the specimen be bad, and he acknowleges that it is? We cannot comprehend why these are called Northern Irish Tales, since they might as well have received their designation from any other quarter of the United Kingdom. No events happen but those which might have occurred as probably in the south of England, as in the scenes in which they have been introduced; few few or no peculiarities of Northern Irish manners are delineated; nor have we any characteristic evidence of their locality. Though the heroes in all the tales are called Irish, we have nothing to identify them; and Leslie, in the last tale, exhibits not the slightest mark of this pretended country of his nativity. As to the tales themselves, they certainly display some imagination, but more extravagance. What shall we say to the first, (Stanley,) in which not only is the hero brought to the gallows, but the prayer read by the clergyman, and the Psalm sung by the multitude, on the occasion, are introduced at full length? Nelson, the second tale, is insipid and common-place, but has the negative merit of occupying little more than 50 pages. Leslie fills the second volume, and, independently of the improbable incident of the virtuous Julia travelling forty miles to visit the betrothed of another woman, and who had declared love to her, it sickens the reader by foretelling mischiefs from dreams and ill omens that previously occur. It deserves, however, its share of praise; and indeed all of them bear the appearance of proceeding from a man of some genius and reading. I 2mo. Art. 23. The Advertisement, or Twenty Years ago. Three Vols. 16s. 6d. Boards. Longman and Co. 1818. We cannot but think that this novel contains even more egregious improbabilities than it commonly falls to the lot of man to observe in similar productions. A lady, with her infant, comes to England from abroad in search of her husband, but, happening to lose on the road the certificate of her marriage, delicacy deters her from presenting herself to her husband's family, and compels her to reside during twenty years with some obliging strangers; who, as we find in vol. i., page 73., had offered her an asylum equal with herself.' Indeed, throughout this performance, we meet with the same incorrect and affected jargon which we have so often occasion to censure: for instances: vol. i. p. 21., the sun had reached its highest climax ;' - vol. ii. p. 49., ' piquante airs ;' p. 81. he had taken the unprecedented liberty of introducing upon her privacy;'-p. 137. there was in Medora an archness of expression, &c. &c. so peculiarly her own that it was equally as vain to imitate as to describe its characteristic: it was like the ever-changing plumage of the cooing dove!' &c. &c. NATURAL HISTORY, BOTANY, &c. Art. 24. Observations on the Natural History of Swallows; with a collateral Statement of Facts relative to their Migration, and to their brumal Torpidity: and a Table of Reference to Authors. Illustrated with Figures of Five Species, engraved on Wood, by Willis. To which is added, a General Catalogue of British Birds, with the Provincial Names for each, &c. &c. &c. By Thomas Forster, F. L. S. Corresp. Memb. Acad. Nat. Sciences at Philadelphia, &c. &c. &c. Sixth Edition, enlarged. 8vo. pp. 113. 5s. Boards. Underwood. 1817. 1 This plenitude of title is immediately followed up by an equal liberality of prefatory matter, including general observations, some of which might have been prefixed to almost any work on Natural History, and others to almost any treatise on Ornithology. The third preface, or that which properly belongs to the present impression, apprizes us that the author has been induced to give the natural history of the Swallow in general, in addition to his observations on its brumal retreat. I have also,' he says, 6 added what is known of the remaining species of the genus, both with the view to make this monograph as perfect as possible, and to render the distinctive characters of the different species more familiar to those who may observe, or may be of assistance in determining, the brumal place of the Swallow, by noticing it on its passage, or by discovering it in its torpidity; since, from the indefinite descriptions of many of the ancient naturalists, it is often very difficult to ascertain the particular species of which they treated. And I have interspersed the whole tract with numerous new observations.' The species of Hirundo first and most particularly described are the four which visit Great Britain; and a plate is exhibited of the esculenta which furnishes the edible nests: but most of the exotic species are very briefly described, and in many instances only named or defined, with a notice of their residence. We suspect, also, that the list is not complete; because, though we have no correct catalogue at hand with which we can compare it, we miss the Ludoviciana, violacea, and the marsh, crested, and fawn-coloured species, of Levaillant. The account of each of the British species is preceded by a list of its more common appellations in different countries: but the manners and economy of the various sorts might have been more copiously detailed. A remark or anecdote, however, is occasion. ally introduced, which is not to be found in the more ordinary compilations. Thus we are told that the common Sparrow frequently occupies, during winter, the nest of the absent Martin; who, returning in spring, is forced by actual combat to regain its nest. It is said sometimes to call in the aid of other Martins, and to plaster up the nest with mud when the Sparrow is in it, and thus smother him. In the year 1800, I saw a contest between a Sparrow and a Martin, which lasted some hours, under the eaves of a house at Tunbridge Wells, in Kent.' Mr. Forster supports the argument in favour of the migration of the Swallow tribe. The opposite reasoning, so ingeniously urged by the late Hon. Daines Barrington, might have been more minutely sifted but the present author has, perhaps, said enough to convince the candid inquirer that many of the alleged accounts of the immersion and torpor of Martins, &c, are either fabulous or exaggerated; that few of them are properly authenticated; and that the passage of the birds in question from one latitude to another, and their appearance in Senegal, &c. during their absence from the northern regions, are matters of well-attested fact. The rare examples of weak or young stragglers being overtaken by the cold, and being found in a benumbed or starving condition, can never solve the disappearance of the multitudes which flutter over immense immense tracts of country, during the summer, in quest of their insect-food; since, if all these fell into torpor on the first approaches of the cold season, they would be found in far greater numbers than the dormant Bats. There is reason to suppose, also, that the migrating squadrons direct their course at an elevation in the atmosphere beyond the range of human vision; and that such detachments, as occasionally alight on ships in a very languid and debilitated state, have been driven out of their course by violent winds. Of all migratory birds, the Hirundines, from their capacity of sustaining long and rapid flight, seem to be the best adapted for distant travel; and yet their annual migration has been most obstinately contested. If we reflect, however, on the velocity of their motions, and the comparatively short stages by which they may proceed to the warmer latitudes, as, for example, by crossing the English Channel and the Straights of Gibraltar, we shall find nothing inexplicable in the now commonly received opinion of their shifting their quarters periodically, like so many other fami lies of their class. Besides, if the Swift be supposed to sleep during the whole time of its absence from England, i. e. nearly nine months out of the twelve, the preponderance of its torpid over its active state would be without a parallel in the annals of nature. Mr. Forster has agreeably sprinkled his essay with appropriate quotations from some of the antient writers: but he seems to have acquired somewhat of the fightiness of his subject, when he seriously maintains that the cranium of the swallow is indicative of its migratory propensities. To his section on the opinions of writers, in different ages, respecting the natural history of the Swallow, he has subjoined an index of the passages to which he refers; and extracts from journals, intimating the earliest and latest appearances of Swallows and some other migratory birds, in different places. By the comparison of a series of tables, constructed according to the pattern exhibited, and drawn up in different countries from accurate observations, the author is of opinion that much light may be thrown on the migration of the Swallow. The direction of the wind,' he observes, should always be particularly noticed at the time of the Swallow's arrival. The wind is often wrongly registered in journals of the weather, owing to the indicatorial letter under the weather-cocks being put up according to the compass instead of the sun. I had some difficulty in getting the meridian for fixing the letter of a large wind-vane which I put up at Walthamstow the present spring, and I was hence induced to inquire into the mode of fixing them in general, which led to the knowledge of the above fact. If the weather-cock be put according to the compass, then will the northern letter be above 20 degrees to the west of the true north.' The remainder of this small but not uninteresting volume is occupied with a catalogue of British birds, by Mr. Edward Forster, jun., exhibiting their scientific and provincial appellations. The work, on the whole, would admit of yet farther enlargement, andthe correction of a few verbal inaccuracies. Art. |