While, link'd in close friendship, Cecilia is seen

With Camilla, who braves life's rough storm like a

queen.

Close at hand are Lieutenants Smith, Lennox, and

Roche, (w)

Who seem to command no one else to approach.

(w) The writings of Charlotte Smith are of a very superior cast; and her knowledge of men and manners is conspicuously blazoned throughout her prose effusions, while her poetry, and particularly her sonnets, approach nearer to those of Petrarch than any that have yet made their appearance. One trait I shall detail of this author, which sufficiently demonstrates her being possessed of genius, if, as it is said, improvidence and want of thought be the characteristics of inborn talent. The writer was once present at a bookseller's when Mrs. Smith drove up to his door in a post-chaise and four, and after being for a time closetted with the publisher in question, the chaise was discharged, when it afterwards appeared that she had brought up a manuscript from the country to be disposed of; and, until an advance upon the same had been made, she literally was without a shilling to discharge the vehicle which had conveyed her to the metropolis. Mrs. Lenox, though not

The first, though at times having scarcely a souse, Talks loudly, forsooth, of her Old Manor House;

And vows that the first who with her wants makes

free,

As sure as a gun shall a Banish'd Man be.

The second, quite high toss'd, wields pen in fine

style,

And, instead of tales hatch'd on her own native

isle,

possessed of the high literary requisites of a Burney or Smith, has given to the world some specimens of ability which will never fail to rank her among the higher class of novelists. From the quantity of trash that has issued from Leadenhall Street, it has been justly remarked that, instead of Minerya, a goose should have been the designation of its far-famed press; but, as there is no rule without an exception, so, in the present instance, we may with justice allow that Mrs. Roche's Children of the Abbey is certainly a counterpoise to hundreds of novels which should never have met the light; wherefore this may be justly esteemed as one of Mr. Lane's most fortunate hits; for, while this species of composition is favourably received by the public, the fame of Minerva can never be tarnished.

The feats of Euphemia prefers to explore,
Whose pilgrimage grac'd the American shore.
Roche, last of this trio, may well her front rear,
For Babes of the Abbey in splendor appear;

A brace that must always be comely to view,
Since fair is the style-the tale well conceiv'd too.
As our ship's a first rate, troops of officers grace her;
Then bold must that foe be that ever dar'd face

her:

So now to pipe hands sweet Perdita behold, (x) Whose form e'en a Prince might be proud to enfold;

(x) If the above unfortunate lady's effusions are characterized by an acute knowledge of life, there is nothing surprizing, as few females had greater cause to abhor the other sex. Had this personage merely displayed the attractions of face and form, the unmanly neglect she experienced might have been accounted for; but, possessing a mind cultivated in the extreme, and formed, as it were, to render a person of polished manners completely happy, we are at a loss how to account for the shameful depravity of the human heart. Independently of the two productions entitled Angelina, and the

Still the traces of sorrow with loveliness blend,

As with tears in her eyes she upbraids A False

Friend.

Philosopher Holcroft, (y) once pac'd the deck glum, And swore sense of feeling was all a mere hum; Which plain doth appear, since in vain his wit strives

To please through seven volumes of Anna St. Ives;

False Friend, this writer produced several poetical specimens, which bespeak a mind fraught with pathos and the keenest sensibility. The writer was once in the company of Mrs. Robinson's daughter, who had caught from her parent the divine spark of poetry, and was, to all appearance, gifted with talents of a very superior nature.

(y) There is a studied and pedantic affectation about the novel productions of Mr. Holcroft which render his volumes tedious to the reader; his Anna St. Ives, in particular, reminds one of such antiquated lucubrations as Cassandra, and other folio works of this description, the perusal of which, to a man of letters of the present æra, would be worse than a pilgrimage barefoot to the chapel of our Lady of Loretto.

Since he that can read all her feats without snoring, Possession of feeling need ne'er be deploring,

A Cumberland next (2) grac'd our mania-mann'd ship,
Who certainly quaff'd of Parnassus's flip;

His prose chastely flowing proves classical skill,
The style unencumber'd, and always at will:
This fact must his Henry and Arundel show,
Au contraire, De Lancaster's John trudging slow;
Who, pompously turgid, throughout his career
Of fame thus departed, displays the cold bier.

but

(z) The novels of Mr. Cumberland, like his dramatic productions, display an elegant and easy flow of language; he is peculiarly happy in eliciting the sentimental or the moral, his attempts at wit are very feeble. If any particular fault be attachable to a publication of this writer's, such reprehension must attend the perusal of his John de Lancaster, which is what may be termed a dull prosing composition; however, notwithstanding his faults, this gentleman must always command admirers, if it were only on account of his chaste style, and the celebrity attached to most of his theatrical compositions.