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Whom neither wealth, nor grandeur can allure;
With whom our choiceft bleflings are fecure;
Arise to save, once more, your native isle,
And Virtue ftill on Alfred's realm fhall smile.
• Ye the defpotic refcript can refcind,
And give the cruel edict to the wind,
Repair the honoured paths of old renown,
Tranfmit our rights to diftant ages down,
Recal our armies o'er the Atlantic flood,
(Compelled no more to shed a brother's blood,)
Commerce, and ancient amity, restore,

While fhouts of joy refound from shore to shore.'

GENIUS facrificing to VIRTUE is an object which muft ever be contemplated with pleasure and veneration; and yet, we are not to let our veneration for the action make us inattentive to the manner in which it is performed. This poem is certainly not fo highly finished as it might have been: had this amiable Writer exerted himfelf, we doubt not but that he might have produced a poem which would not have been deficient either in ftrength or elegance. Art. 20. The Noble Cricketers. A poetical and familiar Epistle, addreffed to Two of the idleft Lords in his Majefty's Three Kingdoms. 4to. 1 s. Bew.

The two idleft Lords in his Majesty's three kingdoms are undoubtedly very fair objects of fatire. Were our Author as happy in the execution of his performance as in the choice of his fubject, he might poffibly be entitled to fome praife; as it is, we doubt whether SAM SMALL, LUMPY, or even HORSE FLESH, Would not blush to have written fuch ribaldry.

Art. 21. The Aufpices of War; an Ode. Infcribed to the Memory of Admiral Bofcawen. To which is added, the Prophecy of the Union; a narrative Poem. 4to. 1s. Dodfley. 1779.

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As this Writer pleads that he is not an old offender,' we are the lefs difpofed to be fevere in our fentence upon him. He is to ob. ferve, however, that as this apology will not avail him in future, he muft, when he next appears before the tribunal of the Public, bring with him fome more effectual plea to entitle him to its indulgence; of which, indeed, we by no means despair. The prefent fpecimen of his abilities is far from being unpromifing. Art. 22. Poems on various Subjects. By Ann Murry, Author of Mentoria. 4to. 5 s. fewed. Dilly, &c. 1779. The greater part of thefe Poems, as the Writer tells us, were defigned to defcribe the advantages refulting from rectitude of manners; to imprefs on others the conviction produced in her own heart of the inftability of human happiness; and to direct the mind to what ought to be the chief object of its attention, the hope of attaining a ftate, "where the wicked ceafe from troubling, and the weary are at reft." That they may anfwer the ends for which they were written, cannot but be the wish of every good mind. In fome of thefe pieces, though there be inaccuracies to which the faftidious will object, and in others a gravity, which, for the diffipated and thoughtlefs, may have no great charms of allurement, yet there are many readers to whom they will prove both inftructive and amufing.

Art. 23. The Belles of Bury; a Poem.

4to. 6d. Bury

printed, by W. Green. 1779.

Miranda firft, amidst the fplendid throng,

Claims all the merit of my advent'rous fong.'

Aye, good Miranda! do, take the Gentleman's fong.-Nothing, you know, like poetry for curling the hair: " it makes it fo pure and fo crips!"

Art. 24. Meritorious DISOBEDIENCE: An Epiftle to a Minifterial Marine Favourite, on his late unexpected Escape from the - Hands of Juftice. 4to. 2 S. Bew.

Our old friend again!-Again! and again, Crifpinus!-Sir Hugh Pallifer now takes his turn * for a fcalping: and the Reviewers come in, en passant, for a scratch or two.

Art. 25. Ode on the prefent State of English Poetry, occafioned by reading a Tranflation of felect Parts of Shakespeare, Milton, Thomson, Warton: Simonides, Sophocles, and others. By Cornelius Scriblerus Nothus. With Remarks. To which is added, a Tranflation of a Fragment of Simonides. 4to. I s. 6 d. Oxford printed; fold by Elmsley, &c. in London.

1779.

We are glad to find this Writer has fhewn fo much deference to our authority as to affume his right name +. As a farther proof of his obedience, we fhall expect him to cancel the prefent title to this fillieft of all filly productions, and to fubftitute in its place its true. one, namely,

A Progrefs to the Paftry-cooks.

Art. 26. The Temple of Proftitution; a Poem. Dedicated to the greatest ***** in her Majesty's Dominions. Written by a Woman of Fashion. 4to. 1 s. 6 d.

6d.

Harrington.

"Impure defcription holds the place of fenfe ."

If we may trust to the evidence of ftyle, this licentious publication had not a woman for its parent.

Art. 27. The Priestess of Devonshire-wall. A poetical Satire. Embellished with Characters of diftinguished Perfonages, &c. &c. 4to. I S. Dixwell.

Obfcure, low, and filly.-We cannot difcover who is meant by The Prieftefs: but fome female of diftinction feems to be aimed at, under the name of W**t*n.

Art. 28. Patriotic Perfidy; a Satire. 4to. 2 s.

Bell. 1779

A furious invective against some leading men in what is called The Oppofition Party, or The Patriots. The names upon which the Author empties his Jordan of fcurrility are, the Dukes of Rd.

Vid. laft month's Review, p. 396, Art. 29. Reviewers Reviewed.

+ See Bagley, a defcriptive poem; with annotations by Scriblerus Secundus. Monthly Review, vol. Iviii. p. 160.

There are, indeed, many forts of fenfe. Of one kind there is enough in this pamphlet; but that is not the fort meant by Mr. Pope, in the foregoing line, which we have prefumed to adapt to the prefent occafion.

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the Earl of B

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fs of R

-m, Lord Cn, and

"Rebels, the damn'deft of rebellion's crew,

As boldly bafe as England ever knew."

If the Reader wishes for more, he must buy the pamphlet, for we think it neither fafe nor decent to tranfcribe any farther.

Art. 29. Fanatical Converfion; or, Methodism difplayed; a Satire. Illuftrated and verified by Notes from J. Welley's tanatical Jour nals, &c. 4to. 2 s. od. Bew. 1779:

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Are we for ever to be teazed with the nonfenfe and (alleged) impoftures of Methediftie Saints,' and Perfectionists? Spare us, good Bard, and turn, at length, thy invective weapons on other objects. The nation abounds with knaves and hypocrites, of numerous claffes, and various denominations: wherefore, then, expend all thy poetic ammunition only on a particular fet of fanatics, and let all other culprits efcape?-But what do we fee-yet another piece levell'd at the Moorfields game! Vid the fucceeding Article: Art. 30. Voltaire's Ghost to the Apostle of the Sinless Foundery: A familiar Epittle from the Shades. 410. 2 s. 6 d. Bew. 1779. The fame hot fatirist (fee the preceding Article) here puts the rod into the cold hand of the deceased Voltaire: this being the mode in which dead men are enabled to flog their furviving enemies —The memory of the celebrated Bard of Ferney having been lately infulted in fome of our news-papers, by the Rev. Mr. John Wesley, the affront is refented by our Author, and repaid with an Hudibraftic cat-o'nine-tails. The Ghost of M. de Voltaire may, indeed, condefcend to cope with an itinerant preacher; but the living Voltaire would not have deigned to notice fo unequal an antagonist:

"Goliath's fpear ne'er kill'd a louse.' GHOST, p. 46. This antimethodiflic Poet continues to employ the hoftile graving tool, as well as the fatiric pen: thus affailing the foe from a battery of two preffes at once.

Art. 31. Satire for the King's Birth-day. By no Poet-laureate, 4to. 1 S. Wilkie. 1779.

Ironical, complimentary, and dull as a laureate's panegyric. Art. 32. Spirit and Unanimity; a Poem: Infcribed to his Grace the Duke of Rich-d. 4to. 2 s. 6 d. Piguenit. 1779..

As this Writer feems to mean well (viz. to promote unanimity in the operations of government), we could with his pervers were equal to his will.

Art. 33. A new Plan to fave the State; addreffed to the Ladies. By a Gentleman of the Univerfity of Cambridge. 4to. 1. S. Dodiley.

This rhyming planner has attempted what, we apprehend, his ftrength is no way equal to. His project will not be much regarded by thofe to whom it is addreffed, and the poetry will not greatly recommend it.

:

Foundery-Saints,'

This is our Author's fixth attack on the and their Hierophant, as he terms them fee the Love-Feaft, Sketches for Tabernacle Frames, the Temple of Imposture, &c.

Art.

Art. 34. The Boftonian Prophet: An Heroi-comico-ferious-parodical-pindaric Ode, in Imitation of The Bard.

With Notes cri

tical, fatirical, and explanatory, by the Editor. 4to. I S. Etherington. 1779.

Not a bad parody of Mr. Gray's celebrated ode, and yet not good enough to entitle its Author to much praife. Much praife, indeed, is more than any parody feems entitled to. Of all literary efforts, the Parody is not only one of the most humble but also the feebleft. Where little exertion is required, little praife can be expected. Art. 35. The Works of Hugh Kelly. To which is prefixed, the Life of the Author. 4to. Il. I s.

Printed for the Author's

Widow; and fold by Cadell, &c. 1778.

This handfome edition of the poetical works of an ingenious and much efteemed Writer, comprehends his Dramas, his Thefpis, in two books, and Fugitive Pieces. By the former, which were his most confiderable productions, he acquired no fmall reputation. They are Falfe Delicacy, a Comedy; A Word to the Wife, a Comedy; Clementina, a Tragedy; The School for Wives, a Comedy; and The Romance of an Hour, a Comedy of Two Acts. His Thefpis, which contained a critical examination into the merits of the principal performers at the theatres royal, was an imitation of Churchill's Rofiad; to which it was equal in point of elegance, if not of ftrength.

Art. 36. The Satires of Perfius paraphraftically imitated, and adapted to the Times. With a Preface. 8vo. 2 s. fewed. Dodfley, &c. 1779.

Imitations, as well as tranflations of the ancients, have been happily attempted in our language. Some of the fatires of Horace have indeed been fo fuccefsfully modernized by Pope, that they almoft difpute the palm with the Roman original: but it required the skill and genius of Pope to produce fuch an effect, which must not be expected from the efforts of Edward Burnaby Greene, the paraphraftical imitator of Perfius.

It is a maxim laid down by Rofcommon and others, that the talents of an original author, and thofe of his tranflators or imitators, ought to be congenial: but the kindred defects of Perfius and Edward Burnaby Greene militate against this doctrine. On the fide of excellence, there is no appearance of poetical confanguinity.

Difficulty of conftruction, and obfcurity of allufion, have generally been confidered as the chief objections to the fatires of Periius; objections which even an able translator would have endeavoured to remove, and which a paraphrastical imitator cannot poffibly be justified in fuffering to remain valid against a manner of verfion, whose fcope and freedom afforded ample room for ease and perfpicuity. In Mr. Greene's work, however, the Reader will find no traces of Perfius, except his obfcurity; no sparks of his fire, but a volume of fmoke.

By a perufal of Dryden and Brewfter, an English reader may form a tolerably adequate idea of the fix fatires of Perfius; but in the paraphrafe of Mr. Greene he will rarely discover any idea at all; for the work is fo ancient, yet fo modern all the while,' the colours fo run into each other, that the refult is nothing but confufion.

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To add to this chaos, there are, prefixed to thefe imitations, we know not why, a medallion, very well executed, of the late Earl of Chatham, a monumental inscription, and an argument on the American contest. With the fame propriety are fubjoined a fonnet and epigram on Admiral Keppel!

DRAMATIC.

Art. 37. The Dramatic Works of Philip Maflinger, complete, Revited and corrected, with Notes critical and explanatory. By John Monck Mafon, Efq. To which are added, Remarks and Obfervations on the old English Dramatic Writers; and a short Effay on the Life and Writings of Maflinger, infcribed to Dr. Johnson. 8vo. 4 Vols. 11. is Boards. Davies, &c. £779. Old authors, who do not foar with NATURE in her SUBLIMEST flights, nor follow her through the various freaks and changes of her humour, but only copy the wit and character of the times in which they wrote, are like old coin, not so much admired for their intrinsic value, as for the mint from which they are dated: and the ruft of antiquity, perhaps, has more charms than the beauty of the impreffion.

Mafinger has, undoubtedly, an equal claim to esteem with moft writers of the fame age and class: and Mr. Mason, the ostensible Editor of thefe dramas, has, like the generality of commentators, elucidated fome paffages, and explained away others, as his judg ment has bit or missed the true reading of his author.

Mr. Davies, the publisher of the volumes before us, discovers a confiderable share of biographical indultry, and judgment, as well as critical tafte, in his Life of Maflinger, prefixed to this edition; which alone gives it the preference to all former impreffions.

On a candid review, we may venture to affert, that those ladies and gentlemen who have a relith for the ancient literature of this country, may gratify their taste, in the perufal of these volumes; and as the prefent impreffion is the fairett we have hitherto feen of the Author, we can fo far recommend it to those curious collectors, for a place on the dramatic helf in their libraries.

NOVELS and MEMOIR S. Art. 38. The Indifcreet Marriage; or, Henry and Sophia Somer ville. In a Series of Letters. By Mils Nugent and Mifs Taylor, of Twickenham. 12mo. 3 Vols. s. bound. Dodfley, &c.

1779.

A novel which appears before the Public under the fanction of two female names, feems entitled, if not to favour, at least to lenity. Instead, therefore, of entering into a particular enumeration of the defects of this work, we thall only exprefs a with, that those females | who think themselves poffeffed of fufficient genius and invention to write for the entertainment of the Public, would not content themfelves with that moderate fhare of literary reputation which a tolerable facility in the art of epistolary writing may have obtained among the circle of their friends, but by converting intimately with the bet models of good writing, acquire that elegance and refinement of tate, which will neither be capable of being pleased with, nor ex, pea to please by, mediocrity,

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