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kind, it cannot be expected that fuch behaviour fhould en tirely ceafe. Farther, we hope that the wealthy in general will collect from it, that they fhould at no time employ as a lacquey, or in any base and servile way (as is much too commonly feen), the person on whom they may have conferred an obligation; but carefully keep in remembrance, that it is not the favour received, but the manner in which that favour is granted and continued to him, that can bind in the ties of gratitude the fenfible, feeling, well-judging man.

The following remark is pointed; and we recommend it to the attention of all whom it may concern:

-What are you, gentlemen politicians, more than the rest of mankind, that you alone fhould be exempted from going through your degrees, and start up at once doctors and profeffors of the untaught myfteries of government? Happy infpiration, if it were fo! miferable people, to be governed by upftarts and empirics, if it be not fo!'

The ftory of this novel is conducted with fome degree of art. The language is, for the moft part, clear and perfpicuous, though occafionally fullied by vulgarifms +. We are surprised at finding the following expreffions in letters fuppofed to be written by well-educated people. That fetch would not fave me' It was to be apprehended certain names would be used that I was determined should not get out if I could avoid [hinder] it' My impatient brother opened upon me'' Mr. A. is of a fudden become heir,' &c. He called upon my uncle and began to round him with fine fpeeches' I must give him a flat refufal the very next time he baits me with his addreffes'-' His whole frame trembled, and if he had not fquatted down upon the fteps Sir G. Revel, whom all the ladies think fo great a catch,' &c. &c. Thefe, perhaps, will be confidered by many as petty blemishes. They are, however, fuch as ought by no means to fall from the pen of Mr. Cumberland.

The little pieces of poetry which are scattered through these volumes, are of a fuperior kind. We will transcribe a ftanza or two from the Addrefs to Solitude.

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Thou, Solitude, art Contemplation's friend,

On thee the rational delights attend ;

No gilded chariot haunts thy door,

No flambeaux blaze, no drunkards roar,

No rattling dice, no clafhing fwords,

No fquand'ring fool, no wretch that hoards,

No lordly beggars, and no beggar'd lords.'

* "Dans l'adverfité de nos meilleurs amis, nous trouvons toujours quelque chofe qui ne nous deplait pas." LA ROCHEFOUCAULT.-How difgraceful to our nature! and yet how certainly true!

Near the conclufion, alfo, in particular, it is somewhat reprehenfible on the fcore of voluptuoufnels, and even indelicacy.

• No.

Nobility! thou empty, borrow'd name!
I leave thee for fubftantial, felf-earn'd fame;
And ye that on the painted wing
Flutter awhile, then fix the fting,
Ye infect tribe of pleasures gay,
I brush your flimfy forms away,-

Be gone, impertinents! you've had your day.'
And, O deceitful world! too well I know,
How little worth is all thou can't be flow,

The reputation of a day,

Which the next morning takes away,

The flattery that beguiles the ear,

The hypocrite's fictitious tear,

These thou can't give, this semblance thou can't wear." Mr. Cumberland has been ftyled by a late ingenious writer, "The Terence of England, the mender of hearts ;"

and we think him highly deferving the commendation. His compofitions have ever had for their object the establishment of moral goodness, by inculcating its principles and perfections with unwearied affiduity and care.

A.B.

ART. XII. An Account of the Advantages and Method of watering Meadows by Art, as practifed in the County of Gloucefter. By the Rev. T. Wright. Small 8vo. 14 Pages. 1s. 6d. Scatcherd and Co. 1789.

N the Correfpondence, at p. 671 of our lxxviiith volume, we printed a letter from Mr. Wright, correcting a small mistake into which we had fallen on the subject of watering meadows, with a fhort note, inviting the writer to publifh an account of that improvement as practifed in Gloucefterfhire, which we are glad to find has been in fome measure inftrumental in producing the prefent pamphlet: a publication which, we have no doubt, will prove very beneficial to many parts of the country, where water is fuffered, at prefent, to run entirely to waste.

The ingenious writer of this fmall performance divides the fubject into three parts; viz. The advantages of watering-the method-directions in each month-and anfwers to objections.

Thofe perfons who have never had an opportunity of feeing the effects of water properly diftributed on grafs-land, will be difposed to think that Mr. Wright has fomewhat exaggerated under the first head, when he fays that land, by watering, whatever be its kind and quality, is increafed to double or treble its former value-that land under this management does not require dung, but is itself a conftant fource of manure to other fields-that it raises grafs in the fpring a full month fooner than the fame fields could otherwife be made to yield it-that the fpring feed is worth at least a guinea per acre-that it will yield of hay, befide the fpring feed and aftermath, two tons per acre-and that the lat

ter math is always worth a pound, &c. &c. But we, who have ourselves feen and experienced the effects of this improvement, have no doubt of the facts; and therefore warmly recommend this fubject to the attention of our agricultural readers.

The directions in this treatife are plain and concife; but the author is right in advifing those who are not at a great distance from Gloucefterfhire, to get fome perfons from that county, who are acquainted with the operation, to teach them the practice; at flight idea of which may be obtained from the few following hints:

The fall of the ground in every meadow ought to be about half an inch in a foot [but great diverfity in this refpect is admiffible]. The water ought never to flow more than two inches deep upon the furface of the land. When the grafs is two inches high, the water ought never to fhow itself except in the various ditches.' - - - Every meadow, before it is well watered, must be brought into a form fomething refembling a ground that has been left by the plough in a ridged ftate.'

He advises the water to be turned on the field in the beginning of November, after a fhower, when the water is thick and muddy. In this month, he adds, the water contains much more falt and richness than later in winter. This laft pofition is difputable, and many practical waterers will be of opinion that the muddinefs of the water is of little confequence.

In December and January, the chief care confifts in keeping the land fheltered by the water, from the feverity of the frofty nights. In February, if you fuffer the water to remain for many days, a white fcum arifes that is very deftru&tive to the grafs and if you now expofe the land, without the covering of the water, to a fevere frofty night, the greatest part of the grafs will be killed. The only way to avoid both these injuries is, to take the water off [in the morning] and turn it over at night. At the beginning of May, when the fpring feed is eaten off, the water is ufed for a few days, and again when the hay is carried off."

In other diftricts where watering has been used, the practice varies from that defcribed in this effay, in feveral refpects; and we hope the public will foon be favoured with diftinct accounts of this improvement as it is practifed in Hampshire, Herefordfhire, and other places. It is probable that ufeful hints may thus be obtained from their different modes of practice, which may tend to the advantage of each.

The public are much indebted to Mr. Wright for this treatife, which we beg leave to recommend to the perufal of all our country readers. Could gentlemen be induced thus to publifh diftinct accounts of particular ufeful practices in agriculture, unfophifticated by theoretical gloffes, they would confer a great and lafting benefit on the community. An.....n. ART.

ART. XIII. The Botanic Garden. Containing, The Loves of the Plants; a Poem: with Philofophical Notes. 4to. pp. 184. 12s. Boards. Printed at Litchfield; and fold in London by Johnfon. 1789.

TH

HE general defign of this very fingular work is (according to the advertisement prefixed to it) to inlift Imagination under the banner of Science, and to lead her votaries from the loofer analogies, which dress out the imagery of poetry, to the stricter ones, which form the ratiocination of philofophy. The particular defign is, to induce the ingenious to cultivate the knowledge of BOTANY; by introducing them to the vestibule of that delightful fcience, and recommending to their attention the immortal works of the celebrated Swedish naturalift, LINNEUS.'

The whole work confifts of two parts, but only the fecond is now published; in which the fexual fyftem of Linneus is explained, with the remarkable properties of many particular plants.' The first part is entitled, the Economy of Vegetation, and in this the physiology of plants is delivered, with the operation of the elements, fo far as they may be fuppofed to affect the growth of vegetables: but the publication of this part is deferred to another year, for the purpose of repeating fome experiments on vegetation.

By way of preface, the author gives a general view of the fexual fyftem; and in the poetical exhibition of each particular plant, he has diftinguished its place in the fyftem, by printing the name or number of the clafs, or order, in Italics. Thus, Two brother fwains-Five fifter nymphs-One house contains them-Secret or clandeftine loves.

Previous to the opening of the poem, he invites the reader, if perfectly at leifure for fuch trifling amufement, to walk in, and view the wonders of his INCHANTED GARDEN.

Whereas P. Ovidius Nafo, a great necromancer in the famous court of Auguftus Cæfar, did, by art poetic, tranfmute men, women, and even gods and goddeffes, into trees and flowers; I have undertaken by fimilar art to restore fome of them to their original animality, after having remained prifoners fo long in their respective vegetable manfions; and have here exhibited them before thee: which thou mayft contemplate as divers little pictures fufpended over the chimney of a lady's dreffing room, connected only by a flight feftoon of ribbons and which, though thou mayft not be acquainted with the originals, may amufe thee by the beauty of their perfons, their graceful attitudes, or the brilliancy of their drefs.'

We have accordingly walked in, and viewed the whole exhibition; and we have received from it fo much pleasure and inftruction, that we give our readers a warm invitation follow us, and do not hesitate to enroll the author among the difREV. April, 1789. tinguished

Z

tinguished favorites, as well of the Mufes, as of Minerva. Though the different objects are connected, as he acknowleges, but by flight feftoons, they are rendered interefting by high poetic imagery, and many beautiful allufions, both to claffic fable, and to modern perfons, manners, and inventions. The verfification is, in general, harmonious and elegant; but we will transcribe the exordium, and let our readers judge for themselves:

Defcend, ye hovering Sylphs! aerial quires,
And fweep with little hands your filver lyres;
With fairy footsteps print your graffy rings,
Ye Gnomes! accordant to the tinkling ftrings;
While in foft notes I tune to oaten reed
Gay hopes, and amorous forrows, of the mead.
From giant Oaks, that wave their branches dark,
To the dwarf Mofs, that clings upon their bark,
What beaux and beauties crowd the gaudy groves,
And woo and win their vegetable loves;
How Snow-drops cold, and blue-eyed Harebels blend
Their tender tears, as o'er the ftream they bend;
The love-fick Violet, and the Primrose pale
Bow their sweet heads, and whifper to the gale;
With fecret fighs the virgin Lily droops,
And jealous Cowflips hang their tawny cups.
How the young Rofe, in beauty's damask pride
Drinks the warm blushes of his bafhful bride;
With honey'd lips enamour'd Woodbines meet,
Clafp with fond arms, and mix their kiffes fweet.

Stay thy foft-murmuring waters, gentle Rill;
Hufh, whispering Winds; ye ruftling Leaves, be ftill;
Reft, filver Butterflies, your quivering wings;
Alight, ye Beetles, from your airy rings;
Ye painted Moths, your gold-eyed plumage furl,
Bow your wide horns, your spiral trunks uncurl;
Glitter, ye Glow-worms, on your moffy beds;
Defcend, ye Spiders, on your lengthen'd threads;
Slide here, ye horned Snails, with varnish'd fhells;
Ye Bee-nymphs, liften in your waxen cells.-'
The BOTANIC MUSE is then invoked, to

Say, on each leaf, how tiny Graces dwell;
How laugh the Pleasures in a bloffom's bell;
How infect-Loves arife on cobweb wings,

Aim their light shafts, and point their little ftings.'

The plants which the poet has felected for his exhibition, are chiefly thofe which have fome peculiarities in their own œconomy and procefs of fecundation, or fome remarkable properties, beneficial or injurious, to man or other animals. By judiciously availing himself of thefe circumftances, he has produced a moft pleafing variety in his poetic defcriptions, and made every plant an entire new object. We fhall cite one or two of the shorteft examples:

• The

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