coffee,' while she and her lover are in the most imminent danger; and Mrs. Radcliffe certainly never thought of accommodating her imprisoned recluses with a large dumb waiter, that moved on castors.' (See Vol. iv. p. 140.) Still, as this novel contains nothing which is inimical to the cause of morality, it may be read with impunity, though scarcely with pleasure. 1811. Art. 21. Elfrida, Heiress of Belgrove. By Emma Parker. Art. 22.. Virginia; or the Peace of Amniens. By Miss Emma 1811. The same defects, which were conspicuous in this prolific writer's « Elfrida,” are manifested in the present work; while the story displays less ingenuity, since the dullest reader cannot fail to anticipate the sequel of Virginia's adventures when he has finished the first volume, and so many lovely and amiable females are introduced that the heroine is at first entirely eclipsed. The misunderstandings of Colonel Villeroy are too childish and improbable to excite sympathy": but the character of Clarence evinces the fair author's powers of observation, since we do not remember to have met with a similar personage in any other fictitious tale, though many such found in real life. Mrs. Pelliam, too, is an English Malade imagin may be aire, whose fancied infirmities are depicted with much nature and some humour. The last of these volumes offers considerable variety; and on the whole we think that this work will be found amusing. We would advise Miss Parker to aim at conciseness in the construction of her sentences, and to avoid such instances of incorrect grammar as the following, he could have ate;' &c. together with mistakes similar to that in Vol. ii. p. 186, in Virginia had arose,' which she says, ⚫ Charles reluctantly forbore to extenuate (instead of exonerate) himself,' &c. Art. 23. The Decision: by the Author of "Caroline Ormsby," "The Acceptance," &c. 12mo. 3 Vols. 15s. Boards. Colburn. 1811. We trace in these volumes a laudable endeavour to convey as much moral instruction as could be admitted into a work of fancy; and, since many useful reflections on the common subjects of death and marriage are here introduced, it is an advantage to the reader that he will always be sufficiently calm to attend to them, at whatever period of the narrative they may chance to occur. The style, however, of this harmless and well-intentioned novel, is disfigured by inaccuracies; and the want of very lively interest in the story may prevent it from being universally relished. REV. MARCH, 1812. Y Art. Art. 24. Seabrook-Village and its inhabitants, or the History of Mrs. Worthy and her Family; founded on facts. Written for the Amusement and Instruction of Young People. 12mo. 4s. 6d. Boards. Colburn. 1811. The practical tendency of these memoirs is unexceptionable, and their variety will probably render them amusing: but we think that much incorrect English, which is put into the mouths of the poor villagers, might have been omitted with advantage; and the language of Mrs. Worthy herself is not always faultless. In p. 125, we find her saying "thou hath:'-190. Total ignorance have many attendant evils ;' and 221. My heart regretted him with equal force it had ever done.' -The work appears to have been carelessly printed, and the speeches are often erroneously divided. Art. 25. The Welch Mountaineer. By Arthur Mower. 12mo. 2 Vols. 78. Boards. Crosby and Co. 1811. The moral of this tale is equally trite and true, since it shews that virtue leads to happiness, and vice to misery: but the language of the profligate Villiers is extremely coarse, and the epistles of the more amiable individuals possess little of either novelty or elegance. The author is guilty of an obvious impropriety when he talks of sailing for England from the Isle of Wight;-his female characters are uninteresting;-and we think that he is very unsuccessful in the delinea tion of modern manners. Art. 26. The Milesian Chief, à Romance. By the Author of "Montorio," and "The Wild Irish Boy." 12mo. 4 Vols. Il. 18. Boards. Colburn. 1812. We are frankly told by this author that he has never been praised enough; and he then informs the Philistines, who have undervalued him, of the gift in which his strength consists. If I possess any talent,' he observes, it is that of darkening the gloomy and deepening the sad, of painting life in extremes, and representing those struggles of passion when the soul trembles on the verge of the unlawful and the unhallowed.' Those who find this description attractive will do well to read the 'Milesian Chief;' though we must ourselves regret that the efforts of an original genius are wasted on so defective a performance. We think that the writer has completely failed in his delineation of Armida's character, since her conduct is a tissue of meanness, unworthy of the noble mind which she is described as possessing; her incessant mention of her own talents is disgusting, as well as her constant exhibition of them for the sole purpose of enslaving all beholders; the scene before her death in which she examines all her trinkets, and re-capitulates the occasions on which they adorned her, is absolutely ludicrous; and even her dress, of thin gauze over silken drawers,' is too flimsy to interest us old cynics in her favour. The character of Endymion is unnatural and indelicate, and that of Lady Montclare is an extravagant invention feebly pourtrayed. Connal excites more sympathy than any of the groupe; and some of his speeches are replete with pathos and beautiful imagery.-To conclude, though the personages and adventures in this work are carried beyond all probability, the language is in many passages highly poetical; several of the scenes would afford fine subjects for the painter; and the imagination which has dictated the whole, if directed by a purer taste, would be capable of pleasing in no ordinary degree. POETRY. Art. 27. Poems, by Lieutenant Charles Gray of the Royal Marines, Crown 8vo. 6s. Boards. Vernor and Hood. 1811. We must not be severe on the poems of a young officer which breathe a spirit of reflection and morality, and were written to beguile the time' when the worthy lieutenant bravely opposed the enemies of his country during the blockade of Venice,' as he himself informs us. —The Scotish dialect appears to be well imitated in many of his compositions: but it is difficult to repress a smile at the following encomium on 'sweet Edinburgh,' p. 64. Though ane wad search the warld roun' He wad be sadly plaguet, To find in it anither town, Sae neat, sae trigly bigget !' Art. 28. The Sgelaighe, or a Tale of Old, with a second edition of Poems published in Dublin, and additions. By Mrs. Lidiard. 12mo. 4s. 6d. Robinson. 1811. Mrs. Lidiard is very fond of personification. Among other images, she describes Ierne's Genius' leaning on a silver spear, and modestly observes in a note that silver is always symbolical of purity, therefore an appropriate device for Hibernia :'-(see p. 49.) but, although this ingenious compliment may win the smiles of her Irish readers, those who are unprejudiced will scarcely tolerate the feeble and bombastic strains which occupy this volume. Art. 29. The Widow and her Orphan Family, an Elegy, by Miss Stockdale. 8vo. 1s., or a cheap edition 6d., or 5s. per Dozen. Stockdale. 1812. Miss Stockdale has related a true and affecting scene with simplicity and feeling; we honour the benevolence which stimulates her exertions; and we sincerely wish that her readers may be induced to relieve the sufferings which she describes. Art. 30. Poems on various Subjects. By James Stuart. A. B. Armagh. 12mo. pp. 191. Price 7s. 6d. Boards. Printed at Belfast. 1811. Although Mr. Stuart's volume contains nothing that is strikingly new, his lays are pleasing and unaffected; his descriptive pieces will be found both elegant and natural; and many of the shorter poems may also be read with interest. Art. 31. The Poetical Chain: consisting of Miscellaneous Poems, moral, sentimental, and descriptive; on familiar and interesting Subjects. By Mrs. Ritson. 12mo. pp. 227. 78. 6d. Boards. Sherwood and Co. 1811. The first links of this poetical chain' are a deprecatory · Address Y 2 to to the reader,' with The Author's apology for rhyming, and farther on are lines intitled An excuse for the too frequent tender style of my muse.' We seldom augur favourably from such repeated apologies, well knowing that "Conscience does make cowards of us all." In fact, this lady's compositions are not only unpoetical but ungrammatical; and we trust that the modesty with which she speaks of them may prevent any great disappointment, should the public concur with us in our opinion of their merits. Poems of Eugenio. Art. 32. As these verses are said to have been written in the interior of India, we hoped to find their imagery somewhat different from that which is usual in such compositions in this part of the world; since we should have preferred Tygers and Jungles to Lambs and Meadows, for the sake of a little variety. However, we meet with fertile plains' and pensive strains' in the first two lines; and all which follow might have been conceived and composed in the very court of Holborn in which they were printed. In the performance intitled Alonzo and Hermit, we have indeed some unusual machinery ; such as an host of angels, who are sent down to dispel a hail-storm by waving their potent wands :' but we must confess that this volume offers little attraction, either from its subjects or the poetry in which they are introduced. Crown 8vo. Boards. Sherwood and Co. 1811. Art. 33. Agnes, the Indian Captive; a Poem in four Cantos; with other Poems. By the Rev. John Mitford, A. B. 12mo. 75. Boards. Longman and Co. 1811. The Poem of Agnes is in some parts a mere imitation of Southey and Walter Scott, yet it contains several new and picturesque descriptions, and a few passages of interest and pathos. It is more over a love-story, and may therefore obtain popularity from the causes which have assisted in procuring favour for many other compositions that might justly be termed novels in metre. In fact, those readers who begin to be tired and ashamed of attending to proseromances have now the pleasure of finding their old food dished up with fresh sauce, while they flatter themselves that they have acquired a taste for the fruits of Parrassus. Mr. Mitford talks somewhat affectedly of the Chacal and the Sameel, instead of the Jackal and the Camel; and we are sorry to meet with love-lit lamp,' and stealthy foot' in his sonnets: but his Poems display talent and research; and the Ode to Sophocles' is written with a portion of poetical enthusiasm. Art. 34. Leisure Hours; or Morning Amusements. Consisting of Poems on a variety of interesting Subjects, moral, religious, and miscellaneous, with Notes. By W. Steers. 12mo. pp. 178. 7s. Boards. Sherwood and Co. 1811. In his preface, Mr. Steers first persuades us that it is almost impossible for him to write well, by shewing how little leisure or edu cation he has ever obtained, and then insinuates his victory over these in pediments by recounting the unqualified approbation which an eminent - His lines on religious eminent Author has bestowed on his verses.' subjects are the worst in the collection; and we wish that the most sublime topics were attempted only by those who are endowed with superior talents. We give credit to the pious intentions of this writer, though we blame him for addressing his God and his Muse in the same stanza; (p. 20.) and we question the orthodoxy and propriety of that lay, (p. 40.) in which the Indian's adoration of snakes and stones seems to be put on a parallel with Christian worship, Mr. S. appears to think that no language is too harsh for an Atheist to use or to receive; and accordingly we find one of these characters (in p. 56.) who thus begins an apostrophe to believers; And why, ye sots!' &c. while Mr. Steers answers with a string of opprobrious epithets, sufficient to silence the infidel for ever. Among the miscellaneous poems, the same ideas are often repeated, and other writers are sometimes imitated: but the stanzas On the days that are past' are pleasing and natural. Art. 35. Ballad-Romances, and other Poems. By Miss Anna Maria Porter. 12mo. 78. Boards. Longman and Co. 1811. Miss Porter's Ballads display less invention than her other poems; and in the Knight of Malta,' which is the best of them, she hazards the following description of a "green and yellow melancholy:" His cheek was once like the But now like the olive palę. orange red, And his heart that erst with pity bled, Yet this volume contains much that is elegant and pleasing; the ingenious allegory of Youth' has many beautiful lines; the Address to a Regiment going on Foreign Service' is both spirited and pa thetic; while the Lines written after reading the "Corinne" of Madame de Stael, and the "Psyche" of the late Mrs. Henry Tighe,' are fraught with so much taste, feeling, and generous enthusiasm, that we should be glad to extract them at length. We shall, however, present our readers with a part of the apostrophe to the authoress of Psyche: Ah, sounds divine! whence flow ye? from yon copse, Seal on the depth of night melodious sighs From Love's own bosom heaved: the warbled lay, Now trembling with delight, with hope, half bliss, Y 3. Snatched |