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Than stared both Fang and Snare, when now unroll'd
The talisman of mighty power they saw:

That wondrous amulet at once controll'd,
As with the force of an acknowledged law,
The disappointed bailiff's outstretch'd paw.
Fang and his follower both stood astonished,
With gaping mouths and eyes distended wide:
Them Lawless thus with gravity admonished,
While peals of laughter rang on every side
From guests and waiters, who the scene had eyed :
"Good evening, friends; enjoy your jubilee;
And, if you think yourselves well Frenchified,
Whene'er you pass the square remember me:
And never above all
forget Oui, Oui.'”

He said; and though like famish'd wolves they raged,
Or tigers disappointed of their prey,
His person Lawless quickly disengaged,
And left them to the mercy of Jaunay,
Who forced reluctant Fang a bill to pay,
Whose length and total fill'd him with affright,

Swearing, he left the house; and, ripe for fray,
His spleen soon vented in a drunken fight,

That lodged him in the watch-house for the night.'

Were we disposed to be grave at this moment, we should censure the levity which thus treats of shameful occurrences: but there are many other matters in the book, almost as well executed as the foregoing, and this is all that we shall say about it; excepting that, towards the conclusion, the author becomes very personal; and whatever indulgence we might be disposed to feel for him, on account of his wit and his misfortunes, while he confines his attacks to his fellow-men, his mal-treatment of a female is not so amiable!

He abuses Genevra' most shockingly; and as we partly guess who the lady is, we really cannot suffer the author, even on our supposition, to calumniate her in so gross a manner, without admonishing him that, whether in the "House of Correction" or any other "House," personality is a rock on which men of the greatest talents have split for ever.

Some clever little frontispieces and tail-pieces are interspersed with the poetry.

Art. 17. Too Late for Dinner, a Farce: in Two Acts. Performed at the Theatre-Royal, Covent-Garden, with unbounded Applause. Second Edition, corrected. By Richard Jones, Esq. of the Theatre-Royal, Covent-Garden. 8vo. pp. 55. Sams. 1820.

This farce is as vivacious as its author, who has assigned to himself a character which is admirably adapted to his own bustling powers; thus proving that he has benefited by that most difficult advice of the philosopher, "Know thyself." The very title of Farce so nearly disarms criticism, that we shall only add that Mr. Jones

17

Mr. Jones has not made us regret the approbation which we expressed on the publication of his former drama, called “The Green Man," in vol. lxxxviii. p. 110.

Art. 18. Henri Quatre; or Paris in the Olden Time; a Musical Romance, in Three Acts. As performed at the Theatre-Royal, Covent-Garden. By Thomas Morton, Esq., Author of "A Cure for the Heart-Ache," &c. 8vo. pp. 86. 2s. 6d. Low.

1820.

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The audience at the theatre are the best critics of such a production as this. It has passed under their review, and they have given their fiat of approbation; from which we do not mean to record our dissent, as the author acknowleges the piece to be of ' unambitious character and pretension.'

EDUCATION.

Art. 19. Elements of Greek Prosody and Metre, compiled from the best Authorities, antient and modern. By Thomas Webb. 8vo. pp. 84. 6s. Boards. Baldwin and Co. 1819.

It seldom happens that, on the publication of such a work as the present, the author's name stands simply forwards on the titlepage without the adjunct of some literary distinction, or academical degree. In the case before us, however, we have to enter on a brief examination of Mr. Webb's elements in complete ignorance regarding the writer's situation, calling, or honors.

The volume admits of a quadruple division; of which the first portion, frequently termed Prosody, in a restrictive sense, relates to the quantity of syllables, and concludes with a summary of the feet applied in Greek poetry. The second, allotted to metre, commences with a definition of that term, and subsequently comprizes an analysis of the nine principal Greek metres, with exemplifications of the varieties in each. The third portion contains a praxis on the metres previously illustrated, including passages in choral metres from Dr. Burney's Tentamen de Metris Eschyli. Part IV. and last, which is the only one that appears to us to have been rather unduly compressed, is devoted to the parts of the antient tragedy. A little inconvenience occurs to the eye throughout all those divisions of the work, in which the quantities of syllables are marked, arising from these marks having been placed under instead of above the syllables, to the quantity of which they are indexes: for, so strong is the force of habit that, even when we were fully aware of this novelty, we were constantly puzzling ourselves by attempting to apply to a succeeding line that which was intended to illustrate the quantity of the one immediately

above it.

It will at once be evident to the reader that this little treatise contains a larger portion of matter than Seale's Analysis, at

*As it regards Greek metre.- An useful appendix is subjoined to Mr. Seale's book on the Lyric Metres of Horace: but, as Dr. Carey has supplied any desiderata in this latter branch more recently, such an addition to the work before us was clearly not required.

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least than the last edition of it which we have seen, viz. that of 1812, which has now become necessarily imperfect from the absence of the metrical canons of Porson, and various critics of a later date than Mr. Seale. Otherwise, in form and method, the two treatises bear a close resemblance.

The first portion of this work appears to be primarily taken from the fourth chapter of Greek Prosodia in Morell's Thesaurus, but with reference to the metrical rules in Porson's preface to the Hecuba, and the new notes of Dr. Maltby in his late excellent edition of Morell. The whole is much compressed from the original in the citation of authorities, and offers great advantages to the student from the simplicity with which the rules are detailed; a convenience which we desire in vain in the Thesaurus, where the double references, and double set of notes, detract much from the facility of obtaining a perspicuous view of any question. In the division relating to the different kinds of metre, the same nine principal metres are considered which are given in Morell and Seale; and the canons of Porson are here embodied in a very intelligible manner. In the third portion, the examples are chiefly adduced from the learned Tentamen of Dr. Burney.

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This brief account of the volume will afford the classical reader a sufficient idea of its substance and mode of execution. To criticize it farther would be only to enter into the opinions of the learned, on the several abstruse matters to which the subject leads; which is not requisite on this occasion. The book itself is a compilation, for the purpose of instruction; giving the results of the examination of the learned, not reasoning on their decisions; and it is very considerably the best adapted treatise for this end that has fallen at any time under our notice.

Art. 20. Homeri Ilias, ex recensione C. G. Heynii fere impressa; cum Notis Anglicis, in usum Scholarum. 8vo. pp. 640. 12s. 6d. Bound. Longman and Co.

As far as the text of Homer is concerned, this volume is a clearly printed and apparently correct school-edition of the Iliad, generally from the revised text of Heyne. The notes, which occupy more than one-third of it, and are (contrary to usual custom) in the English language, embrace a variety of matter not generally introduced in such publications and undoubtedly some of them are of a nature which would render them very difficult of comprehension to the learner, who ought to be somewhat advanced in his studies. The brief preliminary observations on the poem itself, and its author, are taken from one of Dr. Blair's Lectures.

This prefatory matter is succeeded by a dissertation on the Holic Digamma; a subject of no slight intricacy, and on the doctrines regarding which the editor evinces much scepticism. He finally adheres to Professor Dunbar's opinion; who has at least the merit of having greatly simplified that which, perhaps, has never been rendered altogether intelligible or satisfactory. Of the present editor, it may be remarked that he rather exposes the inconveniences and contradictions of many critical opinions on this sub

ject,

fect, than promulgates any new one, or indeed adds any subsidiary strength to that which he is inclined to adopt.

The other notes, which extend only through the first six books, are explanatory, philological, and generally illustrative. Those which relate to the various significations of the Homeric particles, and which are taken from the best writers, appear to us to be the most useful class, and in every way adapted to the purposes for which they were intended.

The incompleteness of a volume in which six books alone, out of twenty-four, are thus illustrated, will strike all those who take it up. Every peculiarity of language will probably have occurred, and may consequently have been illustrated, in this quarter of the work: but it does not follow that, because the more we advance the necessity of philological notes decreases, we should also have no occasion for explanatory remarks on a variety of passages. Art. 21. Stories selected from the History of Greece, for Children. By Sarah Lawrence. Small 12mo. 3s. 6d. Half-bound. Boosey

and Sons.

1820.

Most of these stories are evidently abridged from Plutarch, although the writer does not acknowlege her obligation to him. They have the merit of being short and amusing.

Art. 22.

The Orphan Girl; a Moral Tale, founded on Facts. By Mary Robson. Small 12mo. 2s. Half-bound. Darton, jun. 1819.

An interesting little story, which may be particularly useful to children in humble life.

INDIA.

Art. 23. Sketches of India; or, Observations descriptive of the Scenery, &c. in Bengal: written in India, in the Years 1811, 12, 13, 14; together with Notes on the Cape of Good Hope, and St. Helena, written at those Places in February, March, and April, 1815. 8vo. pp. 261. 78. Boards. Black and

Co.

We have lately noticed many works of travels in India: but the region is vast, and every new writer still finds some unnoticed object to indicate, some unmade reflection to record. The sketches now before us are divided into seventeen chapters, and will add to the instruction and amusement of the European.

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Chapter i. describes the author's departure from Calcutta, the ' scenery of Bengal in general, of Plassey in particular, and Moorshedabad. The island of Cossimbazar, the hills of Rajemal, the ruins of the Nuwab's palace, Boglipoor, Monghir, Patna, Buxar, Gazypoor, and Jionpoor, are the successive resting-places of attention. These have mostly been as well described already.

Chap. ii. treats of Benares, Rhamnagur, Allahabad, Chunar, Mirzapoor, Currah, Manipoor, the ruins of Palibothra, Futteyghur, Bareilly, Anopsheher, Meerut, and Sahranpoor. A tribute of applause is given at p. 29. to the services of Warren Hastings, who is represented as the victim of faction and malignity, and as the

preserver

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preserver to Great Britain of a vast empire, which in 1781 was held on the precarious tenure of opinion. Sahranpoor being new ground, we will extract what the author says of it.

'On the morning of the 4th of February, 1813, I reached Sahranpoor. The snowy mountains of Tibet*, which divide Hindostan from Tartary, lay before me: the sun shone bright upon them, and the dazzling spectacle may be easier conceived than described. Between the first range of hills, which is distant only eighteen miles from Sahranpoor, and the second, which is about forty, lies the valley of the Goorkahs, forming part of the dominions of the Rajah of Nepaul. Between the second and snowy range, which rises pre-eminent above the rest, and which are distant nearly two hundred miles from Sahranpoor, a chaos of vast rocks and mountains appears to prevail. Even the camel is useless in these regions; and when, after crossing the Ganges, which flows at the foot of the second range, you ascend and look down on the pretty village of Colsee, the Oases of Upper Tibet, you are almost tempted to consider it enchantment.

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Sahranpoor has a small fort, and cantonments for one native battalion. The town is ancient and rich; some of the oldest and most respectable Hindoo families having, since the prevalence of the British interest in the Dooab, adopted it as their residence.

I sojourned at Sahranpoor three months, and then, accompanied by a friend, prepared to visit Hurdwar, celebrated for its sanctity, the resort of innumerable pilgrims; and more interesting to me as being the spot at which the Ganges first enters Hindostan.

• We departed on the 2d of May, 1813, and reached Hurdwar on the 5th. It is here that the Ganges rushes with impetuosity between two ranges of hills which impend over it, and whose feet it washes into the plains below. Here a small stream, after receiving the waters of eleven rivers, many as large as the Rhine, and none smaller than the Thames, and after performing a circuitous course of more than two thousand miles, it falls into the sea a little below Sagor island. Who could have supposed that the stream I now contemplated formed a river on which I have often sailed in places eight miles broad? With all the reverence of the most holy Brahmin, I immersed within the sacred water, and could not have been more refreshed, after partaking of the blessings of Ganga, had I been one of her sincerest votaries.

May the 6th, at sun-rise, ascended the Chand-Puhar, or Mountain of the Moon, sacred to Mahadeva, and on the top of which is erected, in stone, the image and trident symbolical of his power. This mountain rises near a quarter of a mile above the surface of the earth. It is ascended with enthusiasm by the zealots of either sex; and few shells or halfpence, the prescribed donation, suffice to support an aged woman who conducts them to

By a late measurement, the altitude of these mountains is found to be considerably greater than that of the highest peak of the Andes, being 23,000 feet above the level of the sea."

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