fuch as lie in the beaten track of regular ftudy; from which if ever he departs, he is in danger of lofing himfelt in unknown regions. (p. 111) Yet it cannot be faid that his genius is ever unprovided of matter, or that his fancy languishes in penury of ideas. His works abound with knowledge, and fparkle with illuftrations. There is fearce any fcience or faculty that does not fupply him with occafional images and lucky fimilitudes; every page difcovers a mind very widely acquainted both with art and nature, and in full potion of great fores of intellectual wealth. (p. 112.) The power that predomin ted in his intellectual operations was rather strong reafon than quick fenfibility. Upon all occafions that were prefented, he ftudied rather than felt, and produced fenti ments not fuch as nature enforces, but meditation fupplies. With the fimple and elemental paffions, as they fpring feparately in the mind, he feems not much acquainted; and feldom defcribes them, but as they are complicated by the various relations of fociety, and confufed in the tumults and agitations of life. (p. 173.) He was a man of fuch eftimation among his companions, that the cafual cenfures or praifes which he dropt in converfation were confidered, like thole of Scaliger, as worthy of preferva. tion. (Smith, p. 249.) His phrafes are original, but they are fometimes harth; as he inherited no elegance, none has he bequeathed. His exprellion has every mark of laborious study; the line feldom feems to have been formed at once: the words did not come till they were called, and were then put by constraint into their places, where they do their duty, but do it fullenly. In his greater compofitions there may be found more rigid ftatelinefs than graceful dignity. (Prior, vol. III. p. 37.) If any judgement be made from his books of his moral character, nothing will be found but purity and excellence. (Addifon, vol. II. p. 373.) in cafes indifferent, he was zealous for, virtue, truth, and juftice; he knew very well the neceffity of goodness to the prefent and future happinels of mankind, or is there perhaps any writer who has lefs endeavoured to pleafe by flattering the appetites or perverting the judgement. (Savage, vol. III. p. 350) Such is the cento, Mr. Urban, if I may be allowed to call it fo, which, I have made out of the Doctor's Lives of the Poets. Every paffage may not be thought alike applicable; but whoever is converfant with his writings, and remembers his manners, will, I think, allow that, taken together, they form a more juft character of the Doctor, than we can expect from the partiality of his friends, or the rancour of his enemies. Perhaps, however, my felection will be called whimfical; and it will be faid, that there is not that happy appolition of fentiments which I fancy. If fo, the article will at leaft be amufing to fome of your readers, and offenfive, I hope, to Done. It may be neceflary to add, that the edition I used is that published in 4 vols. 8vo. 1783. But whatever opinion the world may entertain of Dr. Johníon, from reading the accounts given by his biographers, and however fuch accounts may be grateful to the tale of the age; I trust that the time is faft approaching, when all that is really valuable of Dr. Johnfor will acquire its due rank in the eftcem of the judicious, and when, all his foibles forgotten, the author of the Rambler will be confidered as one of thofe men, of whom the eighteenth century hath reafon to be proud. There is an opinion given by Dr. Johnfon, in his Life of Addifon, which, I confefs, I with had been deeply imprinted on the minds of fome of his friends, to direct their judgement, and check their zeal. "The delicate features of the mind, the nice difcrimination of character, and the minute pecuFarities of conduct, are foon obliterated; and it is furely better that caprice, obAnacy, frolick, and folly, however they might delight in the defeription, should be filently forgotten, than that, by wanton merriment and unfeasonable detec tion, a pang fhould be given to a widow, a daughter, a brother, or a friend." Yours, &c, AMERUS. Mr. URBAN, St. James's-fir. Feb. 5: Nthe Monthly Review for December, Ν 1787, my attention was particularly arrested by a levere critique on Walker's Hiflorical Memoirs of the Irib Bards. The great pains, which the author of this critique feemed to have taken to place thofe Memoirs in a ridiculous light, in duced me to fufpect him of fome invidious motive; therefore determined to read the work, and immediately or dered a copy from my bookfeller. I must confefs, I was particularly induced to this from having generally ob ferved, that all Irish productions, no matter how great their merit, are treated very illiberally by the London Review ers. Having gotten the Memoirs, I perafed them with ftri&t attention. The pleafure which they afforded me determined me to take this method of pointing out to your numerous readers fome inftances of grofs illiberality in the critique in queftion:-inftances, however, that muft ftrike every reader who will take the fame trouble that I have; though he may, like me, be a total ftranger to the antiquities of Ireland, and totally ignorant of the theory of mufic. Our critic (who makes feveral clumsy attempts at humour) will not admit that the work "has novelty to recommend it," because it treats of old fubjects. Now I have always thought, that it is not the fubject, but the manner in which the fubject is treated, that gives the air of novelty to a work. "Though Ireland (fays Mr. W.) has been long famed for its poetry and mufic, thefe fubjects have never yet been treated of hiftorically." This is certainly no bad reafon for Mr. W's affertion, that his work has novelty to recommend it, which our critic calls a Bull, but not a Jack Bull, as he wittily obferves. That the Irish fhould pretend to a high antiquity gives our critic great pain; and in revenge he makes Mr. W. talk ronfenfe, and groffly abufes his learned friend Colonel Vallancey. He alfo conftrues Mr. W's conjecture refpecting the true era of the Bards and Druids in Ireland into an affertion, wifely omitting the qualifying word "probably," which Mr. W.' not only modeftly ufes on that occafion, but frequently while treating of the dark ages. Our critic cenfures Mr. W. for giving to his Bards colleges, inftitutes, &c. and on the authority of Irish witneffes, whom he has taken the liberty to fuborn. Yet it was natural enough, I think, for our author to confult Irish hiftorians and Irish poets for information. Our angry critic too, happening to difcover the celebrated Abbé du Bos amongft Mr. W's favourite authors, lofes all patience, and not only abufes him in a moft ungentlemanly manner, but either ignorantly or maliciously tranflates his bafle continué" thorough base. I lay maliciously, becaufe by putting it into italics, he probably intended that it fhould be miftaken by his readers for Mr. W's translation.- -Another crime laid to our author's charge is his having given the lib. & fat. of a paffage from Horace.--But that he fhould defcribe the drefs of the Bards, because they are faid to have worn trueft, &c. is a crime of the blackest dye. Nor can he forgive him for prefuming to difplay a great deal of erudition in his account of the CAOINE, or Irish cry, and for telling us, that women are employed, even at this day, in heightening, "with the melting fweetnefs of the female voice," the folemn ceremony of a funeral in Munfter and Connaught. Yet it is in fuch a work one would naturally look for fuch information. As to the critic's witty observation on the effects and different fpecies of Irifh mufic, also on the Heirnine, the Jachdar-Channur, and the Horn, I fhall pafs them unnoticed, and leave him to laugh at his own jokes, convinced that he alone is capable of enjoying them. Nor fhall I comment on his unfair representation of Mr. W's conjectures concerning the ufe of the flute amongst the early Irish. But I cannot, in juftice to my author, pafs unnoticed over our critic's falfe quotation refpecting the musical contefts (p. 430). The paffage ftands thus in the Memoirs.-Speaking doubtfully of fuch contefts amongst the Irish, Mr. W. proceeds: "Keating, indeed, gives us room to think there were. According to this hiftorian, the Bards were obliged to affemble annually at Tamar, in order to exhibit their mufical as well as poetical compofitions; and thofe approved by the affembly were ordered to be taught in the schools. This implies a contest." In p. 432 our critic afferts, that becaufe an act was ordained in the reign of Edward 1II. reftricting the English nobility from entertaining Irish minstrels, &c. that therefore Frifhart's account of the refpect paid by the four Irish Kings who visited Richard II. to their minftrels, must be falfe. Now, our critic might have known, that the operation of this act was not only confined to the pale, but merely to the English; and that its operations, even thus circumfcribed, were not of long duration. But it was neceffary to endeavour to invalidate Froiffart's account, before he ventured to affert, that formerly "the cha racter of Bard in Ireland was little bet In the quotation of Mr. W's obfervation on the effects of Irish mufic, the critic has fubftituted infenfible for irresistible. ter ter than that of piper to the White Bovs." See p. 433. Our critic's tendernefs for Dr. Beat tie (who is perhaps his countryman) makes him with that Mr. W. may have quoted him talfely; but, on confulting the Doctor's work, I find that Mr. W. has not deviated from him even in a fellable. Neither has he faifely quoted Sir W. Jones. He has, indeed, unforta nately called Mell. Warton and Hawkins Doctors, and allowed a few errors of the prefs to escape his notice. But thefe are faults for which you, Mr. Urban, or any other liberal critic, would not, I am fure, cenfure him. Our critic certainly talks very learnedly about mufic, as learnedly as if Dr. Burney had flood at his elbow while he wrote. Here, undoubtedly, Mr. W. is no match for him; for he infinuates in his Preface his flender knowledge of the theory of mufic. "When I happen (lays ) to fpeak fcientifically of mufic, it is Mr. Beauford that generally dictates." But mufic was not his theme; his fubject, however, involving it, he was necellitated to speak occafionally of it, as an hiftorian. Both Bruce and Dr. Burney must certainly be very angry with Mr. W. for telling his mind, with all the candour of youth, about the Theban harp, and will probably, on that account, cenfure both him and his Memoirs, in their refpective publications now in the prefs. To this, however, I would advife him to fubmit patiently. So young an author fhould not attempt to enter the lifts with two literary veterans. But I fear I am trefpalling too much on your patience. I thall therefore teferve tor another letter my obfervations on other parts of this redoubtable critique. Nor fhall 1. left you should fuf. pect me of partiality, below any enco. mium on the Memoirs, not even on thofe beautiful tranflations from the lifh with which Mr. W. has interfperfed both the body of his work and the Appendix. To with-hold all praife is bet ter than to endeavour, like our critic, to damn with faint praife fuch parts as defy cenfure. P.S. I beg leave to obferve, that on Stepping into a foreign bookteller's fhop, fince writing the above, for the new Opera of li Re Teodore, I accidentally faw on the compter the Efemeridi Luérarie di Roma, for March, 1787; in which I read with much pleature leveral GENT. MAG. April, 17$8. paffages from Mr. W's work translated into Italian, and warm encomiums from the Land of Harmony on the work in general. L'erudizione del tutto pellegrina all' Italia, le differtazioni d'alcui dori antiquari dell' Accademia Reale Irlandife, gli aneddoti interesïanti, e rare cognizioni che ci s'efebifcono in ogni pagina, e le memorie biografiche d'alcuni Bardi recenti, fpecialmente dell' ultimo di effi, cisè del celebre Carolano, fono i pregi fingolari che richiamano a quef' opera l'attenzione dell' antiquario, del poeta, e di chiunque vuol confiderare gli nomini ne' primi avvanzamenti, e progrefli della focieta." Of the account of the CAOINE, which gave fuch offence to the English critic, the Roman critic thus fpeaks; "Meriterabbe altresì d'eflere tradotta per intiero la defcrizione che fa il Signor Walker del CAOINE o fia canto funebre, che face vano tutti gli ordini de' Bardi intieme fopra il corpo del defunto Eroe." I could not obferve the fpirit of liberality which breathes through this whole critique from a diftant clime, without bluthing for my countrymen. CANDIDE. Remarks on PINKERTON'S "Disserta"tion on the Goths,' &c. Concluded from p. 206. HOPE I fhall not be found to devi ate too much from the unity of my fubject, if I fubjoin a few remarks on the effects of an inaccuracy in another famous writer of antiquity relative to it. Calar begins the narrative of his affairs by telling us, that all Gaul was divided into three parts, and that the natives of one of them were called, in their own language, Celle, and in that of the Romans, Galli. Now it is appa rent that the diftinction is very negli gently noted, fince the fecond fyllable of what is given as the native name is itfelf a Latin addition. He feems afraid of blemishing the beauty of his page with fo uncouth a word as Cei, i e. Ket: and, according to the practice of his countrymen, foftened the initial into G, and gave a termination to the word; a convenience and delicacy whereof all the Northern languages are deflitute. But the greater confusion arifes from his method of divifion To fpeak in the terms of logic; he divides a genus into three fpecies, whereof one is the genus; the Beige and Aquitana being two, and the Celle the third. In conformity to this, the country which the latt-menti oned oned people inhabited is called by the geographers Gallia Celica, that is, Gallie Gaul. I mention not this in contempt of Cæfar, fince he was not write ing a natural history, but military and political memoirs: and the popular names and divifions of countries were fufficient for his purpofe. I advance it only to fhew how pedants are mifled by authority. North-weft corner of Spain (though it felf a Gallic country) diftinguished their acquifition by the name of Callacia, which is now called Gallicia: and thus the emigrants from the Continent gave the name Caledonia to the Northern end of Britain. A body of Galls, who occupied the territory on the Iberus in Spain, united their name with that of the natives, and were called Celtiberia; as a colony of Finns, fettling themselves in Ireland, became diftinguifhed by the term Fingals. When the Saxons conquered this ifland, the few natives who escaped the general destruction retired to the moun It may affift my defign to exemplify here with what fond veneration thefe Kelts or Galls always retained the gene ric name of their parent nation, in whatever age, to whatever country, and from whatever part of their own they migrated. And in this, that I may obtainous country beyond the Severn, to ferve the order of time, I fhall firft mention the city of Calydon, at the mouth of the Evenus, in Ætolia, to prove that, in the remoteft age, these people eftablished colonies, and calied them by their names, in countries far Eastward of their boundaries. which they gave the name, not of that which they had abandoned (however dear to them), but the generic one of their nation, Gall; the initial of which the Saxons, according to their practice, have changed into W, a letter peculiar to their own dialects *. About the 8th century, a colony of Galls established themselves in Dacia, upon the Danube, and called their territory Gallacia, which the Teutonic people who furrounded them have changed into Wallachia. About the time of Julius Cæfar, the Germans made frequent incurfions into Belgic Gall, from which they were feparated by the Rhine; and, as the Reman power declined, they got poffeffion of the whole country. And the pofte fiance, acquired the name of Walloons. For many years they continued to menace Italy and Greece with conqueft; and, about 270 before the Chriftian æra, an immenfe emigration of them, under the conduct of Brennus, having in a great battle defeated the Macedo. nians, whofe kingdom had been long the bulwark of Greece, poured down upon Ætolia and Phocis. A detachment of this army made its way through Theffaly; and, patling along the thores of Macedon and Thrace, croffed the Hellefpont, and fettled on the Northern_rity of these men, from that circumfide of Phrygia, between the Sangar and the Halys. This country they called Gallacia: but, from the circumstance of fome Greek colonies being betore fettled in it, it came to be called by the geographers Gallo-Gracia. The trangers, however, full preferved themfcives to diftinctly from the original inhabitants, or prevailed to completely over them, that when St. Jerome vifited the country 600 years after, he found the language of it the fame as that fpoken in his time at Treves; and fuch probably it ftill remains in appellative as well as in the names of places. Thus, thofe who feized the terms, On remarquera que dans le nom d'une manfion qui fur une autre voie port le nom d'Eccirigia, le terme purement Celtique ou Galate de briga etant connu pour defigner un pont, le cours du fleuve Halys doit en effect traverfer ce paffage. D'Arville. Bric, bride, however, is one of the terms common to the Gallic and Gottuc. Of Gallic diftricts, cities, rivers, and mountains, moft. of which fill retain enough of their ancient names to indicate their origin, is the coaft of Calabria in Italy, the more modern refidence of the Calabri, who before poffelfed the territory of that name in Apulia; the country of the Callaici in Tarraconia in Spain, whofe name is now loft; Calaete in Italy, now Coromin; the city of Sea Gallica near the Elis, on the Adriatic fhore, now called For those who will be led only by au thority, there is that of Walls: "Literarum G & W frequentifäma eft commutatio.” Prefice. And of Spelman: "Galli temper Cutunter pro Sax. p, i. e. pro W. Gloff. (Garrantia).—Examples of the Saxon pracice in appellative words beginning with G, are, Wager, Warden, Wardrobe, Warranty, War, to which may be added the name William, for Gager, Gardon, Guardrobe, Guarrantée, Guerre, and Guillaume. Senigaglia. Thefe examples I do not offer with much confidence; but I hope, from the previous ones, an argument is easily deducible to prove all that I have affirmed in the premises. Senigaglia. Calliopolis, in the Gulph retains its ancient name. Of rivers, are the Calycadnus in Cilicia, Calbis in Caria, Galefus, now Galejo, in Italy; and of mountains is Calpe in Spain, the Colum of Hercules, on which is fituated the modern fortrefs of Gibraltar. And, from all the examples of the cuttom of thefe univerfal fettlers, I would infer, that the country of Galiza, on the Northern frontier of Palestine, owes its name to them. When Salmanazar carried off the original inhabitants of this region, he supplied their place with a colony of Arangers from his own dominions, and, as they gave its prefent name to the territory, it is reafonable to believe that they were a nation of Galls who had fettled fomewhere in the vast empire of Allyria. On the fide of Palettine, next to Arabia Petra, is a diftrict diftinguished by the name of Galaaditis, from a mountain called Galaa.. And the country of Batanæa (a conqueft of the Iliaelites under Og, king of Bafan) is feparated from Lake Genazereth by a narrow margin of land, called Gauloniits, from Guulon, a ftrong place at the Southern entrance. * That is, Galli-ahiç. Some may chufe to derive the first word from xe^^, though there is no other relation between the two than the accidental fimilitude of found. Before I conclude, Mr. Urban, I would fain gratify your readers with the etymology of the term which I have made the fubject of this diflertation, but muft confcis my inability. The affumed or furnames of a people are more easily traced than the generic word, and are often mistaken for it. I proceed to a remarkable example. The Romans called more than one Gallic race by the name of Cimeri, and the peninfula of Jutland, from which Galls were doubtlefs expelled, Cimbrica Cherfonejus. The word is the Roman orthography for Cymmar, which is the more commen and familiar term by which the Welth (as we call them) defignate themfelves at this day, as they do their language by that of Cymraig. The words of this root may be thus traced and tranflated: concordia, cymmar, fodalis, quafi comrade (a word fill retained in the French, and thence adopted into our language), not from their going in troops, as our author fuppofes, but to diftinguish themtelves from foreigners, deriving the name of their nation from cymmeryd, capere, accipere; and thus come cymmeryd, dignitas, afinatio; ymmeradwy, attimarus, &c. Mr. Pinkerton notes thefe etymologies without remarking their analogy. Nor does he obferve that the names of his friends, the Gets and Goths, or, as the Romans called them, Getæ and Gothi, are derived alfo from their way of life, and fignify the fame thing. And yet, what is more obvious than that they come from the Teutonic verb Jerran, ger, got, gotten, and denote a people who profefs to get territory by expultion of the natives. In the days of violence and adventure, acquifition fignified right, and, in the language of our common-law, the terms conqueror and founder are fynonimous. Perhaps it would not pleate Mr. Pinkerton to learn that Scythian, which he venerates whofe name was as analagous to the name of Polybius tells us of another people, thefe as their way of life to theirs: "They fent amballadors alfo to the Gauls who lived on the Alps and along the Rhone: theft were called Gelatæ, because their custom was to ferve in armies for a certain hire; thr this is what the name imports." Hampton's Polyb. Gen. Hift. b. II. ch. 2. |