Thus virtue stands with placid mien, ART. 17. Life's Viciffitudes, or Winter's Tears; Original Poems. By Mrs. Savory. 8vo. Robinfon. 10s. 6d. 1810. Poor Mrs. Savory! her Poems are original indeed, and the reader who likes the following fpecimen may have a great many more and a great many worfe for half a guinea. EPIGRAM. "Upon a young Lady who took off a Necklace at a Public Place on "obferving Two Young Ladies wore the fame fort. "Oh, never in public let Paffion intrude, "Thofe beads whofe refemblance two fifters did wear. "And hence dubs you, vain Anna, of pride, the proud DRAMATIC.. ART. 18. Hit or Mifs! a Musical Farce in two Acts, as performed by their Majefty's Servants of the late Theatre Royal Drurylane, at the Lyceum Theatre. By J. Pocock, Efq. Author of "Yes or No," Ec. The Mufic compofed by Mr. C. Smith. The third Edition. 8vo. 48 pp. 25. Wyatt. 1810. In these trifles, there is not much fubject for criticifm; an Irishman, an English bumpkin, and a fafhionable Coxcomb, brought together in ftrange dialogues, by the most improbable events, form the general tilfue of fuch pieces. To us, who live remote from the dashing world, at least, if not the world at large, nothing can be more ftrange than the cant terms, and the jargon which are given in fuch farces as fashionable. We cannot but fuppofe the characters who utter them to be highly caricatured, but, with all poffible allowance for exaggeration, the picture must ftill continue ftrange and monftrous. Taking for granted that there is fome likenefs in them, and giving the parts to able actors, we can suppose that they may create a laugh, and, by the aid of the mufic may produce fome gratification: in the closet they are perused with something more than gravity. ART.19. High Life in the City, a Comedy of Five As, now Perform ing with great Applaufe at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. By 5 Edmund Edmund John Eyre, formerly of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Svo. 2s. 6d. Wyatt. 1810. It is remarked by fome fagacious obfervers, that the theatrical tafte of the metropolis is at the prefent period in fo depraved a state, that, generally fpeaking, the frequenters of the Theatres are not deferving of the productions of undoubted genius and talent. If any proof of this were wanting, it may be found in this dull farrago called a comedy, which, however, is now faid to be performing with great applaufe. The exhibition may perhaps force a smile, and fo does the perufal, but very different from that of approbation. TRAVELS. ART. 20. Sketches of the prefent Manners, Cuftoms, and Scenery of Scotland, with incidental Remarks on the Scottish Character. By Elizabeth Ifabella Spence; Author of Summer Excurfions; The Nobility of the Heart; The Wedding Day, &c. 2 vols. 12mo. Longman and Co. 1811. This is a pleafing little work, in which the Author performs, more than, in her title-page, the promises. The style is eafy and animated; the remarks on the scenery of Scotland difplay delicacy of tafte, and thofe on the manners and cuftoms of the people, foundness of judgment; but we must confefs, at the fame time, that fome of Mifs Spence's fentences are ungrammatically conftructed, and that the feems to have been occafionally misled by thofe in whom he placed confidence. In a word, the prefent Sketches have all the merits and moft of the defects, which we pointed out in her Summer Excurfions; but from a variety of circumftances, the scenery here described must have stronger attrac tions to the generality of English readers. The following extract, whilft it will furnifh a fufficient fpecimen of her manner, proves the truth of our obfervation-that he has performed more than fhe has promifed; for the information, which it communicates, though certainly curious, is not, we apprehend, generally known. "When the rebels in Britain, under Cromwell, had triumphed over Charles the First, the regalia of Scotland was (were) deliver. ed to the custody of the Earl Marifchal, and were lodged in the ftrong caftle of Dunnotter, as a place of the greateft fecurity, and distance from the enemy. "The Earl, being in the field to defend his King and Country, against the Ufurper, made choice of George Ogilvie of Barnes, as the fittest man for his valour, prudence, and loyalty, to intruft (to be intrufted with) the care of the caftle of Dunnatter, (and) with the crown, fceptre, and fword, and other monuments of the Kingdom; making him Lieutenant. The Earl Marifchal, having intrusted the government and honours to him, accompanied Charles the the Second into England, and afterwards to the battle of Wor. cefter; where he was taken by the Englith, carried to London, and detained a prifoner in the Tower for a long time. "George Ogilvie being fole governor of the Caftle, which had not fufficient force and provifions, to hold out against a long fiege; and obferving the advances which the English daily made in reducing the nation, was much perplexed how to prevent the army from getting the regalia into their hands. He confulted his. lady, a woman of great prudence and undaunted courage; who happily contrived that the fhould convey the regalia privately out of the caftle, and fecure them in a place of fafety unknown to her husband, who might then freely declare to the enemy (that) he knew not where they were. The plan being agreed upon, Mrs. Ogilvie fent for Mr. James Granger, the minister of Kinnaff, aid imparted to him and his wife, on their promifed fidelity, her defign, which was accordingly executed by putting the honours in a fack amongst fome flax, and conveying them out of the castle by that means on the back of a female fervant. They were fometimes kept in the Church of Kinnaff, under the pulpit, and at other times laid in a double bottomed bed in the manfe. "After the furrender of the Castle, the English demanded the regalia of the governor. He declared he knew not where they were, his wife having taken them privately away; upon which he was put into clofe confinement in the Castle, and his lady threatened with torture. She boldly affirmed, by way of evafion, for her own fafety, that she had delivered the honours to John Keith (afterwards Earl of Kintown), who carried them abroad to the King. The English diftrufting her, put her alfo in clofe confinement, and fent a party to the houfe of Barnes to apprehend their fon, that they might torture him in (the) fight of his parents, to extort a confeffion from them; but he providentially made a timely efcape, and underwent much fatigue, travelling night and day, until he reached his friends in Angus, with whom he remained concealed." Vol. II. p. 134. The regalia of Scotland were thus preferved, and George Ogil vie was, at the refloration of Charles the Second, most deservedly created a Baronet. Mifs Spence fpeaks of Lord Moira's government of Stirling Caftle; defcribes the Dungeon in that tort refs where Walter Scott's Roderic Dhu is fuppofed to have been confined; and men. tions an arch of the date 1658, through which Fitz James entered after the tournament, at which Douglafs difcovered himself; but we are not aware that a nobleman of the title of Lord Moira was ever governor of Stirling Cattle; and our intelligent author is furely aware that the whole ftory of Roderic Dhu's confinement is a fiction, as well as that the era of Fitz James was more than a century prior to the year 1658. These however, and fimilar inaccuracies are of very little importance; and will be readily forgiven, O BRIT. CRIT. VOL. XXXVII, AUG. 1811, forgiven, or indeed overlooked, by every reader who is delighted with picturefque defcription, or with fimple, unaffected, and fometimes profound obfervations, on popular manners and popular prejudices. DRAWING. ART. 21. Calcographia, or the Art of Multiplying, with Perfection, Drawings, after the Manner of Chalk, Black-lead Pencil, and Pen and Ink; exemplified by progreffive Specimens of the various Styles which may be produced by this ufeful Invention, from Drawings by Mers. Morland, Ibbetson, Clennel, Munns, and Haffel, for which the Author was honoured with a Medal, and Thirty Guineas by the Society of Arts, &c. &c. &c. To which are added practical Illuftrations of the Art of Re-biting, to produce Strength and Effect. By J. Haffel. 4to. 37 pp. with 8 plates. 15s. Sherwood and Co. 1811. A very ufeful and ingenious tract by this author, entitled Speculum, was noticed by us fome time ago, (Brit. Crit. vol. 37. p. 89.) and we here find him again, facilitating the Art of Multiplying Drawings, by a new and valuable invention. On the efficacy of that method, which has received fo decided approbation from the Society of Arts and. Commerce, it must be superAuous to expatiate; it is fufficient for us to fay, that the fpecimens publifhed in this book give a very favourable notion of its effects. The following information from the Author will certainly tend 10 encourage the trial of his plan. "The advantages of this ftyle of imitation are fo fimple that any lady or gentleman may amufe themfelves by their fire-fide, with as little trouble as that of pencilling a drawing; add to this a common copper-plate prefs can print them, and they can be prepared with unprecedented facility." P. 9. We ought not to omit to fay, that complete directions for every part of the process are given in this book, fo clearly, as apparently to make any other inftruction unneceffary. LANGUAGES. ART. 22. Latium Redivivum; or, a Treatise on the modern use of the Latin Language, and the Prevalence of the French. To which is added, a Specimen of the Latin Language, accommodated to modern Ufe. By the Rev. Samuel Seyer, A. M. 147 pp. 4s. 6d. Murray. 1808. 8vo. This is an inftance of a book almoft entirely omitted, merely from the defire of taking a more extended notice of it. The opportunities for doing this have flipped from us from time to time, till it is come almost to now or never. The latter we do not with, and her fore have refolved upon the former. The leading idea of the author is that the prevalence of the French language in Europe is but too favourable to the political afcendancy fo long fought by Fra ce; and now unhappily fo widely prevailing. He propofes, therefore, to reltore the Latin language to that privilege which it once poffeffed of being the general and official language of Europe. To the Ruffian, the Dutch, and the British nations in particular," he fays, "thefe obfervations are directed; but more efpecially to the German, if fuch a nation there be."-P..xx. To the motives which fuggefted this publication, drawn up at firft, merely as a philological fubject," ani to the learning and ingenuity difplayed in it, we are happy to bear testimony; but in the hope of practically effecting fuch a change, we feel it im poffible to participate. However ftrong the arguments for it may be, fuch things are never governed by reafon, but by the opera tion of various confpiring caufes, fome of them perhaps estrenely minute, which are beyond the reach of individual influence; and the decline of claffical learning, in almost every part of Europe, adds a vast degree of difficulty to any fuch attemp. The author's view of this part of the fubject ought ho vever to be given. "In defcending to our own times it may be maintained, that the ftudy and the knowledge of this language (Latin) is far from decaying; that, through al noft all Europ, it forms the diftin. guishing character of a libe al education; that its principles and its accuracies are as perfectly understood now, as at any former period; that from Europe it has extended to the coafts of America, and the banks of the Ganges; that no gentleman would willingly be thought ignorant of it; and no man, however elevated his fituation may be, is infenfible to the reputation of understanding it well: yet the practice of fpeaking and writing it has much declined. In Holland, in Germany, and in Italy, the speak. ing of it is not wholly laid afide; in Poland and Hungary, we are told by travellers, that it till continues to be fpoken by all ranks. But in Britain it has been discontinued among the learn. ed for very many years; even in the universities, where the academical difputations and exercifes are made in it, and where the ftatutes require it, very few perfons are able to express themfelves in it readily, or to ufe it in converfation." .37. P. Many parts even of this statement are u favourable to the au thor's with, and his work can only be recommended as a philological fpeculation of much ingenuity. Much more than one half of his book (from p. 67.) is occupied by a nomenclature of words and phrafes relative to time, intended as a fpecimen of a more ge neral nomenclature, which should facilitate the adoption of the author's plan. Of this part of the work, if we were to say any thing particular, it could not be a little; but this we may state in a 0 2 general |