tree, the subject of another poem, was planted by Mæcenas: Mæcenas is the burden of every song in the book. The poetry is of that respectable mediocrity which characterises all Dr. Booker's publications.

DRAMA.

ART. 37.—A House to be sold, a musical Piece, in two Acts. As performed at the Theatre-Royal, Drury-Lane. By James Cobb. The Music composed and selected by Michael Kelly. 8vo. 2s. Robinsons.

1802.

6

Wherever Mr. Cobb has altered the French play Maison à vendre,' he has altered it for the worse. The phrases of Charles Kelson would shock the ear of a lob-lolly boy. A cable is turned to the use of a knot of spun-yarn-to splice two people together. Among the causes which have contributed to the flattering success of " A House to be sold,” are to be numbered the exertions of the manager, the composer, and the performers.'

ART. 38. The Female Jacobin Club: a political Comedy, in one Act. Translated from the German of Augustus Von Kotzebue; by J. C. Siber. 12mo. 28. Vernor and Hood. This little drama, no doubt, pleased well enough at the time of its birth it seems to have been produced by the spur of occasion. A club of female Jacobins deserved to be laughed at; and the author does it pleasantly. Its day, however, is now passed.

NOVELS, &c.

ART. 39.-The Lottery of Life, or the Romance of a SumBy Mr. Lyttleton. 3 Vols. 12mo. 12s. Boards. Lane and Newman. 1802.

mer.

This is a performance which has a fair claim to a mediocrity of praise. Where the author pursues the thread of his history, and relates the adventures of his principal characters, his manner is simple and impressive; yet, in his digressions, he is vague and languid. Mr. Lyttleton's thoughts on seduction are both just and pathetic: but we hope he will another time avoid the ridiculous affectation of quoting Latin scraps, in a work that is read by that class of persons only who are not likely to understand them.

ART. 40.-Victor, or the Child of the Forest. From the French of M. Ducray-Duminil. 4 Vols.

Boards. Lane and Newman. 1802.

12mo. 16s.

In this romance, are narrated, in the most turgid language, a series of improbable events. We do not know, as we have not read the original, whether the bombast exist in the French, or is of English manufacture: we suspect both author and translator

' par nobile fratrum.'

One or the other is also a poet: we will treat our readers with a single stanza out of four.

• Othon! unconscious of my ardent flame,
Who press the pillow of repose above,
Hear, ah! a moment hear my tender claim,
And listen to the voice of hapless love!
This blest asylum, and its master kind,
Alas! I fly, with ev'ry care to cope;
All that I ever lov'd I leave behind,

Nor take one charm away-not even hope!'

Vol.i. P. 103.

Now, be it known to all whom it may concern, that Victor, who here intreats Clementina for a moment's patience, to hear a hapless love of which she was unconscious, had but a little while before made her a long declaration of it, and had received, in return, from that tenderhearted damsel, a confession of a reciprocal attachment, and an assurance that her father would not think of opposing it. Perhaps the reader, who is not so much of a versifier as to forget grammar, will observe that press, in the second line, ought to be pressest; and may condemn the pathos of the last, by observing that hope is but a very little way behind enjoyment in its sensation, even if it be not, where some philosophers have placed it, a good deal before it. Why will novelists render themselves doubly liable to censure, by adding to bad prose worse poetry?

ART. 41.-The Travels of Alladin, Sultan of Egypt. An Eastern allegorical Story, from the Arabic of Hassan. Dedicated to the most noble the Marquis of Downshire. 12mo. 4s. sewed. Nicol. 1802.

There is nothing peculiarly interesting in the sentiments of Alladin, nor any thing astonishing in his travels or adventures. The language is frequently defective.

MISCELLANEOUS LIST.

ART. 42.-An Essay on Abstinence from Animal Food, as a moral Duty. By Joseph Ritson. Szo. 58. Boards. Phillips. 1802.

This singular Essay, deformed by an affected spelling, inculcating opinions still more affected, will not probably obtain great attention. The first chapter, on man,' is filled with a vast collection of facts relating to the human race; but the chief observations which bear on the subject are designed to demonstrate that no part of our structure proves us to be carnivorous. On the other hand, animal food is shown to be unnecessary, fostering cruelty and ferocity, pernicious to the spirits and the finer feelings; while, on vegetable aliment, we are told we should be equally strong, equally corpulent, more mild, gentle, and humane. We will not send our author to a court of aldermen, or even to a chapter dinner, for converts: even in our garrets we feel inclined to oppose him; and, could we oftener command better dinners, we should enjoy them, in spite of precepts. In a more serious strain, we think the writer, with a vast extent of quotation, has not proved his position. Human nature is not in its most perfect state without

some animal food; nor capable of such long, such continued, exer◄
cise. We will, indeed, admit that other animals, whose natural food
is grain, may be rouzed to unusual exertions, by some portion of meat
mixed with it, as fighting cocks, race-horses, &c. But man, with a
regular supply, feels a continued vigour, without relaxation, and
without injury to his constitution. Man, it may be said, attains a
mature age, when fed on vegetables: but he does the same, when he
bas lived on animal substances; and, among the oldest people, it will
be difficult to find that any peculiar mode of life has appeared to con-
We have never found those who have
tribute to their longevity.
habitually abstained from animal food possessed greater tranquillity
of mind, or freedom from passion, than their neighbours who indulged
in an animal diet.

ART. 43,-Mooriana; or Selections from the moral, philosophical, and miscellaneous Works of the late Dr. John Moore. Illustrated by a new biographical and critical Account of the Doctor and his Writings; and Notes historical, classical, and explanatory, by the Rev. F. Prevost, and F. Blagdon, Esq. 2 Vols. 12mo. 9s. Boards. Crosby and Co.

The and of the neighbouring kingdom have been long known as at least amusing, if not always instructive, collections. In many instances, however, they communicate information, in the pleasing form of conversation. Our authors have a design of offering to the public an extensive series of ana, selected from the productions of the most renowned and lately deceased authors of this country, as well as those of the continent.' Are not the works of Xenophon and Plato, they remark, strictly Socratiana? and does not the most fastidious critic read with enthusiasm the Orphica, the Pythagoræa, and the Æsopica ?* Our learning cannot keep pace with the authors'; for, though we know that there were Ogpaixwv Scripturæ, that Henry Stephanus has in his treatise De Poësi Philosophicâ, yet, of preserved some passages the other collections, we find no trace, even should they mean Pythagorica, instead of Pythagoræa.'

We would, however, suggest a question, whether selections from works published can be considered as of the same kind with the French ana. The latter are collections of the remarks that occurred in conversation-in their nature desultory, and, in some measure, unconnected-rescued from oblivion by eager admirers, or occasionally We prize them, therefore, as treasures by the authors themselves. that were hastening to the gulf of oblivion, preserved by accident, and valued in proportion to the danger they encountered in their progress. The Memorabilia of Xenophon are more near the table-talk of the French ana, and the 'Sententiæ' of Stobæus to the present plan. very diffeIn reality, the selection of passages from connected works is rent from what our authors appear to suppose. The occasional recollections of table-talk may be easily separated from any general subject: but, to separate passages from a narrative, or from a series of adventures, is to present them to the public in a very disadvantageous point

*Indeed the whole of the Orphaïca are suspicious, and attributed to Onomacritus, who probably discovered some fragments, and added what his fancy suggested. The Orphaïc preserved by Justin Martyr is evidently fictitious, as it treats of Abraham the Decalogue, &c.

of view. A jewel may sparkle with peculiar lustre in a given situa tion, while its effect may be totally lost in another; and, to come nearer to the point, the enormities of Zeluco can only be held up to view with peculiar detestation, when we behold the villain begin with killing a bird, and conclude with destroying his child. In many passages, we see the disadvantage of separation, of the injury which the liberal use of the scissors inflicts on the beauty and the spirit of diffe rent passages. The merit, indeed, of Dr. Moore's writings consists more in detached representations, than in general plans; and he therefore suffers less from this kind of mutilation, than a writer of a different character. Our editors' choice of passages, also, in general, we cannot disapprove: but of the attempt of this mode of representing an author by detached portions, we cannot speak highly.

The life of Dr. Moore, prefixed to the collection, is short, and not very satisfactory. The portrait, which precedes it, has the merit of a strong, but a somewhat harsh, likeness.

ART. 44.-Modern Discoveries; or a Collection of Facts and Observations, principally relative to the various Branches of Natural History, resulting from the geological, &c. Researches of modern Travelers in every Quarter of the Globe. Carefully translated, prepared, and re-printed, from the Works of the most eminent Authors. By Francis Blagdon, Professor of the French, Italian, Spanish, and German Languages. 2 Vols. 12mo. 10s. royal; coloured, 14s. Ridgeway.

The design of this collection is explained in the title; and it is but justice to add, that the editor and translator, so far as he has proceeded in the two volumes before us, seems to have completely fulfilled his promises. The works of the different travelers will be presented entire, except, in a very few instances only,' the condensing such matter in the original works, as may be conceived generally interesting.' These volumes professedly contain Denon's late splendid publication, without any mutilation-an assertion which we cannot support, as we confess that we have not engaged in the labour of collation, which, nevertheless, as far as our memory assists us, is correct. The maps are elegant and faithful, and the plates and vignettes sufficiently illustrative. They cannot claim the merit of superior elegance, as the latter are wooden cuts. To reduce, however, a work from twenty guineas to half the number of shillings, and to combine, at the latter price, elegance with accuracy, merits no common praise. The translator's preface relates to the supposed great object of Bonaparte, in the possession of Egypt; viz. to obtain an easy route for the Indian commerce, or, as a step to our Indian possessions. This object, once avowed, may be successfully opposed. The English have foiled all his schemes, as they will continue to do. All his power, his immense system of espionage, cannot prevent English goods from being publicly exposed to sale in his metropolis; nor will even the bonourable mission of Sebastiani fix his memory, with any favourable impressions, in the hearts of the Egyptians. Alexandria and Jaffa will not soon be erased from their minds.-On the whole, we wish the editor success in this attempt, as he seems to have merited it by his zeal and liberality. The translation, we observe, differs both from Mr. Aikin's

and Mr. Kendal's, in the parts which we have compared; but, that the work is wholly re-translated, we dare not affirm.

ART. 45.-Thoughts on the Formation of the Earth. By a Farmer. 4to. 1s. Richardson. 1802.

Our farmer,' if the appellation be not intended for a disguise, appears to have observed the little space to which his attention has been directed, with great sagacity. Placed in the neighbourhood of mountains abounding with marine exuviæ, he 'forms' this globe very plausibly, by means of subsiding water. He has not, however, confined his views to the Welsh mountains, but has extended them to Dartmoor and to Torbay. On the whole, this may be considered as the first sketch of a self-taught Neptunian geologist, and displays very considerable sagacity and penetration. Further inquiries would extend some of his views, and correct others; nor indeed can this, in any respect, be considered as more than an outline, consisting of suspicions and probabilities.

ART. 46.-An Essay on the Relation between the Specific Gravities and the Strengths and Values of Spirituous Liquors: with Rules for the Adaptation of Mr. Gilpin's Tables to the present Standard, and two new Tables for finding the Percentage and Concentration when the Specific Gravity and Temperature are given. By Atkins and Co. Mathematical Instrument Makers. 4to. 5s. sewed. Cadell and Davies. 1803.

This essay contains much valuable information on the different strengths of spirituous liquors, and the use of the hygrometer, adapted, however, rather to the trader, than to the philosophical inquirer. Yet the latter may derive considerable instruction from many parts of the pamphlet; and it is the minute nature of the inquiry only, joined with its not being peculiarly interesting, that induces us only to pass over the essay with general commendation.

The tables, added to facilitate the use of Mr. Gilpin's in the Philosophical Transactions, contribute greatly to the value of the work. ART. 47.-An Essay on the Character and Doctrines of Socrates. 4to. Is. No Bookseller's Name. 1802.

This is an essay from an unsuccessful candidate for an Oxonian prize. It is not without merit; and the printing it, though it cannot in the least challenge the decision of the examiners, will do the writer no discredit.

ART. 48. System of Book Keeping, on a Plan entirely new. By W. Boardman. 4to. 5s. sewed. Seeley. 1802. Systems of book-keeping are very numerous; and the mode of keeping accompts is very different in the various shops and 'comptinghouses of London. Mr. Jones's method served to put a large contribution into his pocket; but we do not find that it has met with much success in practice. The present plan has its advantages, and deserves the attention of those who give instructions in this branch of knowledge.