Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

1818.]

New Publications, with Critical Remarks.

ground, the sheep, goats, and unloaded cattle being separately driven, to graze slowly and progressively in that direction. On their arrival in the evening, the tents of the party are found pitched either on the slope of a mountain, or in some sheltered spot, secured from the violence of winds, and not far distant from water. When the party is large, and the tents numerous, they pitch three or four in a group; at the distance of thirty or forty yards a similar group, and thus for the whole encampment; its general direction being parallel to the mountain which shelters them. The flocks belonging to each division are secured around its respective tents. By this regulation the flocks are kept separate, and obtain their due proportion of forage; and at the same time the various detachments composing the community are within call of each other when assistance is required.

"When the forage becomes exhausted in one spot, the party migrate to another, in the same order, and occupy it under the same regulation: thus making, during the summer and autumn, a circular trip or tour out and home. This mode of life, without any variation, is pursued by them in preference to any other."

The author visited the celebrated ruins of Shahpoor, of which he has given an interesting account, and his description of Shirauz is so excellent that we were almost tempted to give an entire extract, had not the sense of our contracted limits checked the inclination. The antiqities of Pentapolis occupy a more considerable space in the volume than we should have expected from the shortness of time in which they were viewed. Ispahan is also largely described, and indeed the whole of the author's route in Persia is marked by penetration and inquisitive curiosity. At Tehran, the colonel and his companion, Captain Salter, were introduced to the King, the particulars of which ceremonial visit are given with sufficient minuteness. The following is the form of introduction on these occasions :-"These gentlemen, King of Kings, have all their lives been anxious to touch the dust of your Majesty's feet, and this day forms a new beginning of their lives; they look on all their past days as nothing, and glory in the honour conferred upon them by your Majesty, King of Kings!!"

Near Shaingulabad our countrymen fell in with the Russian Embassy, from whom they received every friendly attention, and on parting were favoured with numerous letters of recommendation for the remainder of their journey. The description of Mount Ararat is a fine picture; and the account of the improved state of Georgia, under the Russian Government, excites many serious considerations in regard to the probable extension of that gigantic power. On their arrival among the Cossacks, our travellers suffered some temporary inconvenience, in

437

being subjected to quarantine restraint, from which they were soon freed by the generous Platoff, whose hospitality towards them knew no bounds. Here we close our notice of this agreeable narrative, at the end of which is an appendix, containing an itinerary of the route from Bussora to Hamburgh, and a table of the expenses incurred in a journey over land from India to England.

ASTRONOMY.

Times Telescope, for 1819. 12mo. 9s.

ARTS.

Useful Hints on Drawing and Painting, intended to facilitate the improvement of young persons. By J. C. Burgess.

This little book, the production of a very respectable and meritorious artist, will, we conceive, be found particularly useful in forming the taste, and guiding the talents of the youthful votaries of the Scenic Muse. We agree with its author, that elas. borate and abstruse treatises on the arts, often fail, in their effect from not being sufficiently adapted to the capacities of youth. This difficulty is, how. ever, obviated in the pages before us; and the observations introduced are given in a style as con cise and perspicuous as possible. The volume is certainly handsomely printed; but considering that it contains only 54 pages, the price affixed to it cannot but be considered as rather exorbitant. We mention this because we fear it will have the effect of restricting its circulation.

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]

Memoirs of the Public and Private Life of John Howard, the Philanthropist; compiled from his private diary and letters, the journals of his confidential attendant, &c.&c.7 By James B. Brown, esq. 4to. 21. 5s. 1a

CLASSICS.

The Tragedies of Sophocles, translated from the Greek, with Notes. By George Adams. 8vo. 12s.

DIVINITY.

Discourses on Various Subjects. By the Rev. Sir John Head, bart. A. M. 8vo.

Remarks upon the Service of the Church of England, respecting baptism and the office of burial. 12mo. 2s. 6d.

The Conversion of the World, or the Claims of Six Hundred Millions of Heathen, and the ability and duty of the Churches respecting them. By the Rev. G. Hall and S. Newell. American Missionaries, at Bombay. 8vo. 1s. 6d.

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

--The specimen here offered of the qualifications of Mr. Thomson, for the undertaking he proposes to execute, will, doubtless, render the public impatient for the appearance of his important forth. coming volume. The utility of etymological en. quiry is indubitable; indeed, to a certain extent, it is absolutely necessary, to complete a perfect system of education; for a man can scarcely he pronounced thoroughly acquainted with the language of his country, until he knows something of its primitive derivation. Much deep and scientific research is displayed in the few pages before us, with little or none of that parade so common with those who write on the more abstruse subjects.

Antiquitates Curiosa, the etymology of many remarkable old sayings, Proverbs,&c. explained. By Jos. Taylor. foolsc. 8vo. 5s.

[blocks in formation]

[Dec. 1,

1816, at the Royal Dispensary for Diseases of the Ear. By T. H. Curtis, 8vo. 2s. 6d.

Pathological and Surgical Observations on the Diseases of the Joints. By E. C. Brodie. 8vo. 10s. 6d.

Sketches of the Philosophy of Life. By Sir T. C. Morgan, M. D. 8vo. 14s.

Ayre's Observations on Marasmus, 8vo. 7s. Quarterly Journal of Foreign Medicine. No. 1. 8vo. 3s. 6d.

on

Ballingall's Practical Observations fever, dysentery and liver complaints. 8vo.

9s.

MILITARY.

A Narrative of the Operations of the French Army, during the one hundred days in 1815; including the battle of Waterloo. By General Gourgaud. 8vo. 10s.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Margaret Melville, and the Soldier's Daughter. By Catherine Alicia Mant, Author of Ellen, &c. 12mo.

This is an instructive and amusing little volume, and may be added to the Juvenile Library with considerable advantage; though we are not sure, considering the number of similar publications al ready in hand, that such a work was particularly necessary at the present time.

Seneca's Morals; by way of abstract: to which is added, a Discourse, under the title of an after thought. By Sir Roger L'Estrange, knt. 8vo. 10s. 6d.

Hypocrisy Unveiled, and Calummy detected; in a review of Blackwood's Maga

zine. 8vo. 1s. 6d.

Laskey's Description of the Napoleon Mint Medals. royal 8vo. 18s.

Vindicia Wykehamicæ. By the Rev. W. L. Bowles. 2s.

Naval Chronology of Great Britain, By J. Ralph. 8vo. 10s. 6d.

Encyclopædia Metropolitana. part 4. 4to.

21s.

[ocr errors][ocr errors]

Encyclopædia Edinensis. vol. 2. part 4.

4to. 8s.

NOVELS.

Florence Macarthy; an Irish Tale. By Lady Morgan, Author of France, O'Donnell, &c. 4 vols. 28s.

My Old Cousin; or, A Peep into Cochin China; a novel. By the Author of Romantic Facts. 3 vols. 12mo. 16s. 6d.

The Fast of St. Magdalen; a novel. By Anna Maria Porter. 3 vols. 21s.

Nightmare Abbey. By the Author of Headlong Hall. 12mo. 6s. 6d.

Brambleton Hall. 12mo. 3s. 6d.

POETRY.

Warwick Castle: a Tale, with minor Poems. By W. R. Bedford, B. A. of University College, Oxtord.

As a motto to this collection, the author prefixes a few lines from a celebrated poet, whom it were well if he had copied in bis epigraph alone; but be has gone farther, and the sentiments, the language, the warmth of amatory feeling, and the foutensemble of his poetry forces us into a comparison which must be fatal to himself. This felo-de-se is

1818.),

New Publications, with Critical Remarks.

the less excusable, as Mr. Bedford, though newly launched into the sea of authorship, seems to have that in him which, if duly appreciated and exerted, would probably make him a poet of no mean order; at all events would raise him above that style of verse in which, unfortunately, he has chosen to make his literary debut. The tale, we confess, two attentive perusls have not enabled us to unravel. Here and there we have a partial light, which serves but to make the darkness visible and it may be well for the author to know that his poetry is most pleasing when it is most plain. As for general readers in these days, since they may possibly most admire those parts which critics ought most to condemn, we shall not offer any selections, but leave them to consult the whole forty pages. For Mr. Bedford's sake, however, as we hope and expect to meet with him again, we will instance the few lines on the Pantheon as by far the best passage in the performance. What the University, of which it appears he is a member, may say to its publication, is another affair. But though unsuccessful he has not disgraced them, and would he be content to write rational verse upon rational subjects, might become an honour to their age of poetry.

Sensibility; The Stranger; Poems. By W.C. Harvey.

and other

We cannot speak in terms of particular com. mendation of this volume; for though it displays feelings and principles highly creditable to its au thor as a man, it is essentially deficient in that energy, fancy, and correctness which could alone obtain for its author the notice he appears to anticipate as a poet. To attain to any degree of excellence, in the species of composition with which Mr. Harvey's pages are, for the most part, occu pied, requires that the bard should write with his feelings about him rather than his books, and be impelled less by the desire of saying something than having something to say.

.

Of the two principal poems, Sensibility and The Stranger, we certainly prefer the former; the earliest, as we are informed in the preface, of the au thor's productions; since, notwithstanding its ge nerally defective versification, it contains many amiable sentiments pleasingly and feelingly conveyed. The Stranger does not possess similar claims to our attention; its fable and style being equally tedious and uninteresting. The minor poems are none of them above mediocrity.

The Immortality of the Soul, and other Poems. By Thomas Thomsor.

pam

439

Cobbin's Pilgrims' Fate; a poem. 12mo. 48. 6d.

Poetical Rhapsodies. By J. B. Fisher. 8vo. 7s..

The Minstrel of the Glen, and other poems. By H. Stebbing. 8vo. 7s. 6d.

Woman; a poem. By E. S. Barrett, esq. Author of the Heroine. 2d edition, revised."

The subject of the principal poem in this phlet is treated in too imperfect and desultory a manner for one of such awful importance. Indeed we consider it as an act of strong presumption for a youthful poet to dare so lofty a theme. Several detached passages, however, might be adduced of more than common pathos and energy: sufficient to prove that the author possesses, to a certain degree, the afflatus divinus," though not quite enough of it to qualify him for the task he has here undertaken. Of the minor productions, the stanzas beginning "The Rose may wither on the Tree," are singularly tasteful and pretty. The "translation of the 13th Psalm might have been spared, as it has already been effected by the allpotent pen of the Bard of Harold in one of his Hobrew Melodies.

POLITICS AND POLITICAL ECONOMY.

Extraordinary Red Book, containing a detailed list of all the places, pensions, sinecures, &c. 8vo.

A letter to H. Brougham, esq. M. P. in reply to the Strictures on Winchester College. By the Rev. L. Clarke. 8vo. 2s. 6d.

Lieut. General Thornton's Speech in the House of Commons, on his motion to repeal the declaration against the belief of Transubstantiation. royal 8vo. 6s.

TOPOGRAPHY.

Ormerod's History of Cheshire. part 8. History of the City of Dublin. By the Rev. Robert Walsh. 2 vols. 4to. 51. 5s.

VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.

Narrative of the Shipwreck of the Os wego on the Coast of South Barbary, and of the Sufferings of the Master and Crew while in bondage among the Arabs. By Judah Paddock, her late Master. 4to.

In the modest advertisement prefixed to this interesting narrative, its author informs us that it was committed to the press principally at the request and instigation of Capt. Riley, for the purpose of serving as an Appendix to his book, the veracity of which, it appears, has in part been thought ques tionable. As the fate of both these persons is strikingly similar, each having endured captivity among the Arabs, and in the like manner been redeemed from their barbarity, the evidence of the one will go far to corroborate the testimony already offered to the public by the other. Capt. Riley's detail, however, was likely to have been more minute and correct, from the circumstance of his having made notes upon the spot; whilst Captain Paddock, not having taken any such precaution, and being in the possession of no memoranda whatever, was obliged to rapsack his memory for the facts he wished to detail; by which means his story appears occasionally more confused and improbable than might otherwise have been the

case.

Recollections of Japan. By Captain Golownin, of the Russian Navy, Author of the Narrative of a Three Years Journey in that Country. 1 vol. 8vo. 12s.

History of Voyages into the Polar Regions, undertaken chiefly for the purpose of discovering a North East, North West, or Polar passage between the Atlantic and Pacific. By John Barrow. esq. 8vo. 12s.

Fearon's Narrative of a Journey of 5,000 miles through the Eastern and Western States of America. 8vo. 10s. 6d.

Narrative of the Expedition which sailed from England in 1807, to join the South AmeThe Anglo Cambrian; a poem, in four rican Patriots. By James Hackett. 8vo. 5s.6d.

cantos. By M. Linwood. 8vo. 5s.

[ocr errors][merged small]

( 440 )

MEMOIR

OF

Her Majesty Queen Charlotte.

(With a Portrait.)

A WRITER of no ordinary powers has said that history is philosophy teaching by example; and this is more especially true of biography, the only legitimate object of which is to excite the living to virtue by a faithful delineation of those eminent persons, who in their day shone as lights of the world.

It is our duty this month to exhibit, as far as our feeble powers will permit, the sketch of an illustrious character, who for more than half a century has, by her influence, realized the nervous remark of one of our oldest poets, that "A virtuous court, a world to virtue draws." Her late Majesty, Sophia-Charlotte, was the youngest of the two daughters of Charles Lewis, Duke of Mirow, by Albertine-Elizabeth, daughter of Ernest Frederic, Duke of Saxe Hildburghausen. This prince, Charles Lewis, being the second son of the Duke of Mecklenburgh Strelitz, entered into the imperial service at an early age, and by his noble conduct soon attained the rank of Lieutenant-General. On his marriage he went to settle at Mirow, where all his children, consisting of four sons and two daughters, were born. He died in 1751, the very year that his present Majesty lost his father; and a few months afterwards, Adolphus Frederic, the third Duke of Mecklenburgh Strelitz, departed this life, when that title devolved upon the eldest son of Prince Charles Lewis, who, with his mother and all the family, removed in consequence from Mirow to Strelitz. Here the Princess Charlotte, then seven years old, received her education, under the direction of Madame de Grabow, a lady of high endowments and noble family, who, on account of her lyrical compositions, obtained the title of the German Sappho.

Besides Madame de Grabow, other persons of the first talent were employed in the instruction of her Serene Highness, who was the delight of the whole family for the sweetness of her temper, and the quickness of her genius. The principal of these tutors, Dr. Genzmer, a Lutheran divine of considerable learning, and particularly distinguished for his extensive knowledge in Natural History, was called from Stargard to Strelitz, where he resided at the pace, till the marriage of the Princess

[Dec. 1,

rendered his presence there no longer necessary. Under his instructions the Princess made a great progress in every polite and useful branch of knowledge. She acquired a thorough acquaintance with the French and Italian languages; while her own she wrote not only correctly, but elegantly. Of this, indeed, no stronger proof could be given than the letter which she sent to the great Frederic of Prussia, congratulating him on his victory at Torgau, over Marshal Daun, November 3, 1760, when she was (not, as some of the journalists have said, thirteen years, but) sixteen years and a half old. This pathetic letter, in which she painted in glowing colours the distressed state of Mecklenburgh through the ravages of the war, is inserted in our second volume, and therefore need not here be repeated. At this time, his present Majesty having just succeeded to the British throne on the demise of his grandfather, it was the natural concern of ministers to look out for a suitable matrimonial alliance. One had been already under consideration in the time of the late King, who wished very much to unite his grandson to a niece of the Prussian monarch, by whom that overture was most cheerfully received. The Princess-Dowager of Wales, however, was extremely averse to the connection, and the Prince incurred his grandfather's displeasure for giving a flat denial to the proposal. Much has been said of an attachment to Lady Sarah Lenox, which circumstance induced the King's mother and Lord Bute to send Colonel Græme abroad in search of a proper wife for the King. All this is romance, and a poor compliment to his Majesty's judgment. The fact is, the Princess-Dowager had no other fears than those arising from a Prussian alliance, which was her abhorrence. When, therefore, she read the letter of the Princess of Mecklenburgh, (copies of which were circulated in Germany,) she made enquiries into the character of that family, and at the same time put the letter into the hands of her son, who was so struck with it as to tell Lord Harcourt "that he had now found such a partner as he hoped to be happy with for life."

In a short time every thing was settled; and on the 8th of July, 1761, the

[graphic][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small]
« AnteriorContinuar »