ART. 15. Poems, illuftrative of the Genius and Influence of Chriftianity. To which are fubjoined, feme fugitive Pieces. By the Rev. William Robb, Epifcopal Clergyman in St. Andrew's, and Chaplain to the Right Honourable Lord Elibank. Embellished with a highly-finished Engraving of the Ruins of the Cathedrał of St. Andrew's, and Chapel of St. Rule. Svo. 265 pp. 75. Hill and Co. Edinburgh; Vernor and Co. London. 1810.

An epifcopal clergyman in Edinburgh, St. Andrew's, or any principal town in Scotland, labours under confiderable difadvan ages. His miniftry is merely tolerated, and if he can colle& fuch a congregation as to procure for him a decent fupport, he does as much as can reasonably be expected. When we fee therefore fuch a perfon publifhing an expenfive volume, in the hope, as we understand, of purchafing an organ for his chapel, we naturally feel interefted for his fuccefs. His principles appear to be unequivocally good; and if his poetry be not fuch as to make its way to great popularity, it is made the vehicle of fuch fentiments as every well difpofed mind muft receive with pleafure. From the principal poem, which is entitled "Elyfium; or the Reign of Reafon and Religion," we fhall give fuch a fpecimen as will convince our readers of the truth of our account.

"The path of Vice, in whofe enchanting maze,
With heedlefs steps, her willing victim ftrays,
(Though few the flow declivity deters,
Where first from Virtue's paths the wand'rer errs,}
Becomes, at ev'ry ftep the wretch defcends,
More steep, till in a precipice it ends;
And, as the ftone by gravitation falls,
And down the steep with growing fury rolls;
So finners to their common centre tend,
And with increafing impetus defcend,
Till, to the voice of Reafon deaf, at laft,
Their confcience fear'd, their day of mercy paft,
Impell❜d amain to the tremendous brink,
Headlong they plunge, and in perdition fink.
As well the ftone in its defcent arrest,
Or check its rage by thy oppofing breast;
As well the favage wolf or tiger tame;
As harden'd guilt and villainy reclaim.
Can AFRIC's fable fons their colour change,
Or fpotted pards, that o'er her defert's range?
Then may the flaves of Vice her magic fpell,
Break, or be refcu'd from the jaws of hell.

"The freams the fource, the fruits the tree, declare.
Say, grapes do thorns, or figs do thiftles bear?
Do nectarines on deadly nightshade grow?
From turbid fprings do ftreams pellucid flow?

May

May He, who only can, his aid impart
To heal the poifon'd fountain of the heart!
But ye, who on his future grace prefume,
Steel'd in impenitence, provoke your doom.
Your youth, your health to Vice you dedicate,
Nor for your pleasures deem the price too great;
The dregs of life, when you your round have trod,
That precious off'ring, you will give to God!
When on the brink of the devouring grave,
You'll cry to Him, omnipotent to fave!
For lying vanities, in Reafon's eye,

You facrifice a bleft eternity.

Now is th' accepted time, falvation's day;

Your fouls, your all, you hazard by delay." P. 117.

Mr. Robb has illuftrated his Poems by abundant notes, which confift, very principally, of parallel paffages from other authors; but contain alfo fome interefting and original remarks. His pre. face we rather regret than approve, as being calculated to create enemies, or to irritate thofe already hoftile.

ART. 16. The Minstrel; or the Progress of Genius. In Continu ation of the Poem left unfinished by Dr. Beattie. Book the Third. 4to. 31 pp. 6s. Longman and Co.

1808.

We feize on this fpecimen, which chance has restored to our obfervation, left it fhould again be overlooked and forgotten. Arduous as the task is of continuing an approved poem, this author is by no means unfuccefsful in it; and the modeft manner in which he prefents it to the public renders his work the more interesting. "Notwithstanding the encouragement given him by his friends, he is," he declares, " very diffident of fuccefs with the public. He therefore offers his poem in its prefent unfinished ftate, not as a pledge for its completion, but that he may find, in the manner of its reception, a touchftone by which to afcertain its real merit." Though unknown to the author, we would will. ingly ftand among the friends who encourage him to proceed. He writes with purity and elegance, and we fee no deficiency of poetic talent of any kind, which fhould prevent his concluding the tale with fuccefs. The following paffage will probably induce many of our readers to judge as we do.

43.

"Twas on a night moft fuited to his foul,
Silent and dark, fave when the moon appear'd
Thro' fhadowy clouds at intervals to roll,
And half the fcene with partial luftre clear'd;
Save that the ftillness of the air was cheer'd
By waters pouring from the heights above;
Save that by fits the ocean's voice was heard,

With fudden gufts of wind that stirr'd the grove,
And rofe and fell again, like tender fighs of love.

44.

"Soothed by the fcene, he traced the ftraggling courfe
Of a small stream, which from the diftant steep
Of hills defcending, pour'd its rocky force,
With many an eddying whirl and foamy leap,
Through a dark narrow valley, to the deep.
Shunn'd was the dell by every earthly wight,
Where ghofts and wicked elves were faid to keep:
True 'twas a haunted fpot; for Edwin's fprite
Oft' loved to linger there, and there the Mufe invite."
P. 24.

If the prefent book has met with lefs notice than the author might with, it may in part be accounted for by the unneceffarily expenfive manner in which it is printed. A paper and type fo fplendid that only 31 pages can be afforded for fix fhillings, will difcourage more purchafers than they will attract, unless they had the additional attraction of plates or wood-cuts, which would authorize even a higher demand.

NOVELS.

ART. 17. The Acceptance. By the Author of Caroline Priny, sc. 3 Vols. 8vo. 155. Booth. 1810...

When we are able to fay of fuch a production as this before us, that there is no harm to be apprehended from perufing it, as great a compliment is paid, as nineteen out of twenty of fuch works deferve. There really is no harm in this work, the moral tendency is good, and fome fenfible arguments are intro. ducded in vindication of chriftianity, if fuch indeed were wanting. But the tale is trite, and has little to intereft from variety of incident or novelty of character. The catastrophe is almoft ridiculous; a large proportion of the dramatis perfonæ are loft in an excurfion of pleasure, on the fea, from one of the watering places. The heroine efcapes by a fick head-ach, which detains her at home, and the hero is faved in a moft miraculous manner; but all ends happily in a wedding.

ART. 18. The Daughters of Iferberg, a Bavarian Romance, in Four Volumes. By Alicia Tyndal Palmer, Author of the Hufband and the Lover. 4 vols. I 2mo. il. 45. Lackington. When we recollect the time, the thought, the pains which muft be employed in contriving, arranging, and executing a work, which is extended for four volumes, and know how fcanty the re

muneration

muneration is for fuch an exertion of their literary labour, we are inclined oftentimes to feel fomething like compunétious vifitations, for confining our account of them to a few lines only. But what are we to do? We do not deny our fympathy for our bro thers and fifters of the craft, but our fenfe of duty is imperious, and must be obeyed.

This work fhows evident marks of ingenuity, and fome of the characters are exceedingly well drawn and preferved, that of the principal heroine in particular. The catastrophe alfo, though fomewhat abrupt, is entitled to praife, and if the whole had been comprised in a fmaller compafs, which it eafily might, it would in our opinion, as leaft, have had better claims to our recommen dation. However there are different palates to be fatisfied with thefe viands. Some are faftidious, and cannot well digeft more than one or two volumes, but there are gourmands alfo, whofe mighty appetites require two courfes and a defert, with entertain. ments, &c. &c.-Peace to all fuch.

MEDICINE.

ART. 19. The Encheiridion Medicum; or Young Practitioner's Pocket Companion: being a Confpe&tus of the London, Dublin," and Edinburgh Pharmacopeias, with a Collection of Formula and the requifite Tables of Synonimes, [Synonyms] by W. Hamil ton, M. B. of Magdalen Hall, Oxford. 12mo. Longman and Co. 1810.

We are difpofed to applaud every attempt, provided its author be fufficiently diligent and accurate, that is made to render fa miliar to the ftudent or young practitioner of phyfic, the nu merous changes which have been introduced into the new editions of the Pharmacopaiæ, published by the London, Edinburgh, and Dublin colleges but in fuch performances, diligence and accuracy are indifpenfably requifite; otherwife the greatest mifchief mult

enfue.

To the plan of this fmall volume we have no objection to offer. It is borrowed, as the author candidly acknowledges in the preface, from the fmaller publication of Dr. Greaves, with the addition of a fet of formule, which formulæ are, on the whole, very well adapted to the difeafes in which they are re commended, and are expreffed in the language of the last edition of the London Pharmacopoeia.

But if we are fatisfied with the arrangement of this Enchi. ridion, (for fo cuftom writes the word) we have too much ground of cenfure in refpect to its execution. It abounds, we are forry to remark, with innumerable and very grofs grammatical errors. We are willing to make large allowance for the neglect and ignorance of thofe who fuperintend the prefs; but a very great proportion of the errors of which we com

plain cannot be laid to the prefs, but muft fall upon the Au thor. For example: in the rft Part, p. 63, 1. 6 and 7, fint, Pil. xx, fumat jij vel iij; p. r. n. vel una, for unam ;i P. 37, -1. 20, poftquam fubfiderint faces, for fubfederint; the fame grammatical error again at p. 98, 1. 29: In the 2d Part there occurs in the very firft Formula, p. 137, unciis duobus for duabus; Page 140, 1. 3, radicis incifi contusique; and again, 1. 4, radicis contufi, for incife and. contufe; p. 149, 1. 29, Miftura Camphora compofitus, for Mistura Camphoræ compofita; ibid, 1. 32, addentur, for addantur; p. 155, at the bottom, uno vice, for und; Page 156, 1. 5, pofteriori collis parti applicantur, for pofteriori colli parti applicentur; p. 162, 1. 7, cujus myrifticæ magnitudo fumendus eft, for fumenda eft; p. 172, 1. 19, regioni epigaftrico, for epigastrice; p. 173, at the bottom, cujus myrif tice magnitudo fumendum eft, for fumenda eft; Page 179, 1. 25, confectionis aromatici, for aromatice; the fame error again at P. 186, 1.3; feveral words are wrong fpelled, as equalis, and equales, (pp. 171, 180, 190.) for æqualis and equales; gly, cyrrhizze, (pp. 166-169) for glycyrrhize: the word however is right in its alphabetical place, at page 65..

The errors in marking the quantity of the latin names in the rft Part are too numerous for fpecification. We fhall content ourfelves with pointing out a few: Corica (p. 41.) Corticis Querci, (for Quercus); Filicis, (p. 63); Mille pedæ, (p. 84)s Olibanum, (p. 90); Pilulæ, (p. 96.) Sulphuris, (p. 119); Zingi beris, (p. 136). Of all thefe, not to mention others, the penulti ma is marked long instead of fhort: on the other hand, in the fol lowing words, the penultima is marked fhort inftead of long: Hyffopus, (p. 70); Lichinis for Lichenis, (p. 74); Piperita, (p. 83, 116); none of thefe miftakes are fpecified in the Author's lin of errata inferted at the end of the volume.

We would advife the Author to cancel this firft impreffion and reprint the book. In its prefent ftate it is not fit to be put into the hands of the perfons for whom it is defigned.

AGRICULTURE..

AR1, 20. The Art of improving the Breeds of Domestic Animals. In a Letter addreffed to the Right Hon. Sir Jofeph Banks, K. B. By Sir John Saunders Sebright, Bart. M. P. 8vo. 31 pp. Harding. 1809.

We agree with the gentlemen to whom this Letter is addreffed, in thinking that thefe obfervations well deferved to be printed, and in attaching to them no finall value. They are "the refult of many years experience in breeding animals of various defcriptions." P. 30. We find here fo much matter in a little compafs, (which X