Review of New Publications. Hawkfworth's alterations as in general injudicious and proving him no poet. But Mr. Ferriar's principal defign is "to "communicate and extend thofe im"preffions of the African flave trade "which are already received by fo large "a proportion of the people of Eng"land." Already (he fays) are exertions promifed for fupprefling the flave trade of France. With a like view. this tragedy has been acted at the Manchefter Theatre, and favourably received. How far it, and the other exertions for reftoring freedom to the enslaved Africans, may meet with fuccefs, must be left to the wifdom of the legislature, and to time, to decide; for great care must be taken, that, under the fpecious name of Humanity, as already of Liberty, too great facrifices of national polity and intereft be not made. 75. Aura; or, The Slave: a Poem. By Thomas George Street. MR. STREET was formerly fcholar to Mr. Carr, of Hertford, to whom this poem is dedicated, and afterwards fettled three years at Jamaica, as a planter, till he could bear it no longer. "It "was a kind of mental neceffity, and he "could not have been happy if he had "remained in that fituation." He has therefore commenced poet; but without talents for aught but rhyming: for he has laid his African fcene in America, and talks of Ofwego, and the war-hoop, and made Afric an adjective. Aura, and her Afric lover, Almanzo, wandering by the stream of Formosa, whole golden waves lave the fores of Africa, they faw a thing majefic flowly rife; "Which, as they view'd approaching, feem'd 46 morenear, " fear !" "And Aura's gentle bofom heav'd withIt proved a flaving trader, which enticed them from their home, friends, "and every tie, "And carried them into captivity." Almanzo fwam after Aura and her father; was taken on board; knocked the planter their mafter into the fea; was killed with her father; and, laft of all, 343 drefs. We gave our plaudit to his firft tranflation, which was of ESCHYLUS, about ten years ago (fee vol. XLVIII. p. 34), printed in two vols. 8vo. 17793 to the fecond, of EURIPIDES, vol. I. 1781 (LI. 374), vol. II. 1783 (LIII. › 125). He has now completed the trio by adding a tranflation of SOPHOCLES, of whofe life he gives the following view: "Sophocles, the fon of Sophilus, an Athenian, was born at Colonn, and educated with great attention. Superior vigour and addrefs in the exercifes of the palestra, and fkill in mafic, were the great accomplishments of young men in the ftates of Greece. In thefe Sophocles excelled; nor was he lefs diftinguished by the beauty of his perfon. He was alfo inftructed in the noblest of all fciences, civil polity and religion: from the :: first of thefe he derived an unshaken love of his country, which he ferved in some embasfies, and in high military command with Pericles; from the latter he was impreffed with a pious reverence for the Gods, manifefted by the inviolable integrity of his life. But his ftudies were early devoted to the tragic Mufe; the fpirit of Efchylus lent a fire to his genius, and excited that noble emulation which led him to contend with, and fometimes to bear away, the prize from his great mafter. He wrote 43 Tragedies, of which feven only have efcaped the ravages of time and having teftified his love of his country by refufing to leave it, though invited by many kings; and having enjoyed the uninterrupted efteem and affection of his fellow-citizens, which neither the gallant actions and fublime genius of Efchylus, nor the tender fpirit and philofophic virtue of Euripides, could fecure to them, he died in the 91ft year of his age. The burial-place of his ancestors was at Decelia, which the Lacedæmonians had at that time feized and fortified; but Lyfander, the Spartan chief, permitted the Athenians to inter their deceased poet; and they paid him all the honours due to his love of his country, integrity of life, and high poetic excellence. Efchylus had at once feized the higheft poft of honour in the field of poetry, the true fublime; to that eminence his claim could not be difputed. Sophocles had a noble elevation of mind, but tempered with fo fine a taste, and fo chaftened a judgement, that he never paffes the bounds of propriety. Under his conduct the tragic Mufe appears with the chafte dignity of fome noble matron at a religious folemnity; harmony is in her voice, and grace in all her motions. From him the theatre received fome additional embellishments; and the drama, which made it more active and more interesting, the introduction of a third fpeaker: but his See it compared with Mr. Wodhull's trandation, LII. 491. diftinguifted diftinguished excellence is in the judicious difpofition of the fable, and fo nice a connection and dependence of the parts on each other, that they all agree to make the event not only probable but even neceffary. This is peculiarly admirable in his "CEdipus, King "of Thebes ;" and in this important point he is far fuperior to every other dramatic writer. Ariftotle, who formed his judgement from the three great Athenian poets, particularly from Sophocles, obferves, that Tragedy, after various changes, having now attained the perfection of its nature, attained at no farther improvements. The latter part of the obfervation was at that time juft. It continued just more than 200 years; but of perfection who fhall decide? The great critic did not conceive that Nature could produce a poet who, without any knowledge of his laws, or of thofe Grecian models, fhould exalt tragedy to an excellence of which neither he nor they had any idea. Shakespeare had a genius ardent and fublime as that of Efchylus. His diction is equally great and daring; his imagination was richer and more luxuriant; his obfervation of the living mariners, and his knowledge of the human mind, more comprehenfive: hence his wonderful power over the paffions. It is a proof of the commanding force of genius, that, as the "Agamemnon" of Efchylus, with all its faults, excels any thing that remains to us of the Grecian drama, so there are many Tragedies of Shakespeare, though with more and greater faults, which are fufuperior to the "Agamemnon." Nature may yet produce another poet, bleft with the powers of Shakespeare and the judgement of Sophocles; and the critic who fhall fee this may then fay, with Ariftotle, "Tra"gedy has now attained the perfection of its "nature." In the mean time, we glory in our countrymen, and look back with reverence on the three great poets of Athens. The fublimity and daring of Efchylus refemble fome strong and impregnable caftle, fettled on a rock, whofe martial grandeur awes the beholder; its battlements defended by heroes in arms, and its gates proudly hung with trophies. Sophocles appears with fplendid dignity, like fome imperial palace of the richest architecture, the fymmetry of whofe parts, and the chafte magnificence of the whole, delight the eye, and command the approbation of the judgement. The pathetic and moral Euripides hath the folemnity of a Gothic temple, whofe ftoried windows admit a dim religious light, enough to fhew, in its high embowered roof, and the monuments of the dead, which rife in every part, impreffing our minds with pity and terror at the uncertain and fhort duration of all human greatnefs, and with an awful fenfe of our own mortality.- -In works of literatune the publick is little interested in the moties of the writer; yet fome account of this tr nflation may be neceffary. It was often requested of me, immediately after the pub. lication of Euripides; but I withed to leave Dr. Franklin in the undisturbed poffettion of attempt, till a person of illustrious rank, and his well-acquired reputation, and declined the more illuftrious for mental accomplishments, did me the honour to defire that I would give the English reader all the remains of the tragic ruins of Greece. A requeft from fuch a perfon, and the manner in which it was communicated to me, could not be refufed. I undertook the work as a tafk, fenfible of its difficulty, and even defpairing of my power harmony, the force, and the dignity of Soto express the propriety, the sweetness, the phocles. As I advanced, I was not wholly diffatisfied with myself: from a task it befure. This tranflation profeffes to be faithcame an amusement to me, and then a pleaful to the original; and I flatter myself it is in fome small degree correct. This it owes to a learned friend, who did me the favour to well acquainted; and I confide in his interevife it. With his taste and judgement I am grity. My own attentions and exertions have not been wanting, as it has been my fon to whom it owes its existence, and of the ambition to make it worthy of the noble perpublick, to whom it is now prefented." It would be invidious in a reviewer to exalt the merit of a living translator at the expence of a deceafed one. Mr. Potter does not need this. We are only forry our limits do not admit of an extract at prefent. 77. Bigland's Collections for Gloucestershire. (Continued from vol. LVI. p. 1062). WE are glad to fee this fplendid work meet with the encouragement it fo well deferves; and fhall prefent from it to our readers two epitaphs by Swift, one of which is not to be found in the Dean's Works, and the other only in an undigested rough draught. 1. On a marble tablet in the church Baro Berkeley, de Berkeley Caft. Mowbray, Et Bruce, è Nobilitlimo ordine Balnei Eques, Et longo, fi quis alius Procerum stemmate (Tunc temporis præfertim arduis) per annos V. Quam Review of New Publications. Quam felici diligentiâ, fide quam intemeratâ, Ex illo difcas, Lector, quod, fuperftite Patre, In Magnatum ordinem adfcifci meruerit. Fuit à fanctioribus confiliis & Regi Guliel. & Annæ Reginæ, E Proregibus Hiberniæ fecundus, Comitatuum Civitatumque Gloceft. & Erift. Dominus Locumtenens. Surriæ & Gloceft. Cuftos Rot. Urbis Gloceft. magnus Benefcallus. Arcisfancti de Briavell Caftellanus, Obititit adverfa corporis valetudo. Quòd veritatem Evangelicam feriò amplexus; Men call'd him Dicky Pearce; Foor Dick, alas! is dead and gone, "Buried June 18, 1728, aged 63." 78. An Account of the Culture and Use of ibe Mangel Wurzel. The Fourth Edition. .TO what has been faid of this benevolent tract in vol. LVII. p. 702, we have only now to add the following "Addrefs:" "After having given the publick every ufeful information in my power, refpecting the Mangel Wurzel, or Beta Hybrida; and after having, at much labour and expence, difributed many millions of feeds, for the purpofe of experiment, time must determine how far my endeavours, directed to the good of the community, will prove fo eventually. It remains with me, however, publicly to thank my numerous correspondents; among whom I may include many of the first in national rank, who have condefcended to favour me with their approbation. “To those invectives which fome of the public prints have exhibited against me, I make no reply. However eftimable the regard of virtuous characters may be, he will involve himself in difappointment and remorfe, who acts merely, to gain the applaufe even of the good, or to deprecate the cenfure of the envious. If my conduct have acquired GENT. MAG. April, 1788. 345 the former, my motives render me indiffer ent to the latter. "I should conclude this letter with regret in being under the necellity of informing the publick, that I am now exhaufted of all the feeds of the Mangel Wurzel which I raifed myself, or procured from abroad, were it not in my power to add, that the feedsmen in London are now in poffeffion of a quantity to difpofe of. "As f with fully to appreciate the value of this vegetable, any future information refpecting it will be acceptable to "JOHN COAKLEY LETTSOM." London, April 22, 1788. 79. A Sermon preached at St. Paul's on January 27, 1788, being the first Sunday in Hilary Term, before the Lord Mayor, Judges, Adermen, and Sheriffs. By Richard Harrifon, Chapisin to bis Lordship. 8vo. This Sermon is published at the requeft of the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen, and recommends the better obfervance of the Sabbath, in conformity to his Majesty's Proclamation, and the infitution of Sunday Schools. 80. Obfervations relative to the Tixes upon Windows or Lights. By John Louis de Loline. 410. IF this be the author of The Conflity, tion of England,-quantum mutatus ab illo! that grave and judicious advocate of Geneva, whofe decifions were received with reverence as oracular, is degenerated to a political mountebank, cracking his jokes on the window tax, the fhop tax, the hawkers and pedlars act, and propofing lud.erous fubfiitutes and improvements. Fain would we per fuade ourselves that fome fcrit b ng Momus, in this fantastic age, has al fumed the name, without the character, of J. L. de Lolme l 81. Brother Peter to Brother Tom, an Exf sulatory Eple. By Feter Pindar, Efg. And why, Peter, publish fo late in the month The confequence is, the confideration of you reveries is unavoid. ably deterred till another opportuary. CATA *Bowdler's Letters from Holland, 6s Robles Harris on the Slave Trade, 15 6d Stockda Bew Faulder Cadell Delap's Elegy on the late Duke of Rutland, Longman Rivingtons ARTS and SCIENCES. Jekyll, an Eclogue, is 68 Debrett The Manoeuverer, or Skilful Seaman, if I The Abbey of Ambrefbury, 25 Cadell Hooter The Mithodion, zs 6d Gardner *Original Letters from Sterne, 3s Longman Brother Peter to Brother Tom, 38 Kearsley What AMICUS enquires after is in great In addition to the remarks, or rather in M. A. acknowledges to F. P. that he was EUTHELIUS, p. 109, miftakes New ford, belongs to the parish of Ealing, of Mr. Banifter's Letter on Mores's "Hif- tory of Tunstall" is not adapted to the plen R S. obferves, "A fquabble between Ba- SONNET Select Poetry, Ancient and Modern, for April, 1788. SONNET TO MISS SEWARD. BY HENRY F. CAR Y. WEET was the strain, that grac'd thine SWEE Andre's tomb, [lyre, Nor fweeter Milton ftruck the mournful When he invok'd each Mufe with vain defire, [doom; And call'd the Nymphs to weep his Lycid's But brighter does th' immortal chaplet bloom, That crowns our Elliott's brow-with mightier fire [wire Pindar ne'er burn'd. Proceed, the Epic Awake, and with a noble pride atfume That throne, affign'd thee in the Mufe's fane; The toils of wife Ulyffes' fon invite Erroneous, and great Maid! as yet the theme Unfung,-fo fhall thy glory eclipse the train Of female flars, that deck fair Greece with light, And fhine for ever with unrival'd beam. Sutton Coldfield, April 3. ODE XXX Book 1. OF HORACE. C Tranflated by the Sam:. NIDOS' and Paphos' lovely Queen! For once thy much-lov'd Ifle defpife, For once attend thy Glycera's votive fane, And view the fragrant odors sweetly rife. Let haste thy fervid boy with thee, The Nymphs and Graces arm in arm With loofen'd zones, perfuafive Mercury, And youth who knows not without thee to charm. FIVE SONNET6 TO EMINENT I. TO WILLIAM HAYLEY, Esq. CHA To thee, oh rapturous Hayley, bard divine, To thee, thou happy fav'rite of the Nine, My infant Mufe this early tirbute pays; For thee the fwells the notes of honeft praife, With firey wishes burns, at Honour's [twine, fhrine A bloomy chaplet round thy head to In Pity's glistening eye, the starts of fear, With fangs etherial shall th Aonian maids On golden harps extol, in Pindus feítal hades. II. To Mifs SEWARD ENCHANTING Seward, mistress of the lyre ! [fwain, Whofe glowing numbers animate each And into every breaft fuch rapturous fire Infufe, as late adorn'd fweet Hayley's strain ; What time he stray'd th' Aonian wilds among, Culling, with hafte refin'd and nicest care, 347 Each lovely fweet to decorate his fong: Deign now, of Poefy the brightest fair, Deign to accept a youthful poet's lay, Who, tracing oft with zeal thy numbers bland, Whether when Lucifer leads on the day, Or gentle Evening, with dew-sprinkled hand, O'er the hufh'd woods her fhadowy man tle throws, With Emulation's fires at every beauty glows. 111. To the R. T. WARTON. THEE, Warton! at whofe birth aufpicious fmil'd [ful queen The heavenly Nine, for whom the sportOf each romantic and bewilder'd scene, The bright-ey'd Fancy, wove of florets wild, A fragrant wreath, to deck her darling child, Who by her potent magic oft hast seen, Tripping in twilight circles o'er the green, The fays and dapper elves, when evening mild To the pent fold had drove her fleecy train : Thee do I hail, illuftrious Bard, of fame Renown'd, and of great Albion's tuneful quire The chief, happy from thy enraptur'd strain To catch fome fpark of bright, celestial flame, To thee devoting my unskilful lyre, IV TO JOHN HOWARD, Esq, |