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Many an English ship is in the most imminent danger of being lost, from the commander or master not understanding the foreign pilot, who is to conduct her into port;-our navy officers and shipmasters are frequently at a loss to express their wants in foreign ports, and to examine accounts of repairs, &c. drawn up in foreign idioms, -and our merchants, ship-owners, brokers, and underwriters, are often necessitated, in regard to the true sense of the most important ship and average-papers, implicitly to rely on the imperfect knowledge of a set of translators, who boldly blunder through every translation, satisfied that the ignorance of their employers, in point of foreign seas terms, will bear out their own. The author of the Marine PocketDictionary flatters himself to have, in some measure, supplied the deficiency pointed out in the preceding remarks.'

We believe that, in this dictionary, not many material terms are omitted. They are rendered from each language into English, with. out additional explanations; more, indeed, was not to be expected in a dictionary of sea phrases in six different languages, comprized within so small a compass.

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In a note to the preface, occasion is taken to commend two Spanish works, Tratado de Navigacion, por Don Josef de Mendoza Rios, &c." 1787, 2 vols. 4to. and Reflectiones sobre las máquinas y maniobras de à bordo, ordenadas por Don Francisco Ciscar," &c. 1791, 1 vol. folio. which the author has no hesitation to prononuce the best works on navigation and naval tactics, hitherto published in any European language.' We have not seen either of the treatises here mentioned; and the present work does not furnish us with sufficient grounds to form an opinion concerning the degree of reliance which may be placed on the author's judgment in this matter. The world indeed, we must be sensible, is full of inconsistencies; yet we cannot hear, without experiencing considerable surprise, that seamanship is better explained by Spanish writers, than by the writers of any other

nation.

Art. 29. The Young Exiles, or, Correspondence of some Juvenile Emigrants. A Work intended for the Entertainment and Instruction of Youth. From the French of Madame de Genlis. 3 vols. 12s. Boards. Wright. 1799.

1 2mo.

It is generally with pleasure that we renew our acquaintance with this elegant and ingenious author, from whose writings the public have at various periods received that entertainment and profit which a lively imagination, and a well-cultivated understanding, necessarily produce to the reader who possesses similar qualities. The letters before is, though addressed to young persons, and written principally for their amusement and instruction, are by no means so frivolous as to preclude those of maturer years from a participation of the repast; for they are both moral aud entertaining, and are interspersed with variety of interesting anecdotes. Circumstances and situations of individuals, during the perils and horrors of the French revolution, are described with such pathos and energetic sensibility, as must excite the interest and engage the attention of the humane reader,

The adventures of the little emigrant, Eugene de Vilmore, a boy nine years old, and written by himself at that age, are rather more improbable

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improbable than even the generality of fictitious details: but we cease to wonder at the many instances of foresight in this infant MAN, when we become acquainted with the superior sagacity of his little female companion Lolotte, a girl six years of age, who was the partner of his exile. This little girl, hearing that there was a scarcity of bread in France, by frequently begging from a charitable miller a handful of flour, at length collects a sufficient quantity to fill a sack, which she sends as a present to her governess in France. This provident disposition in the little Lolotte induces us to imagine that she must have been a descendant of the Patriarch JOSEPH. There are many other examples of extraordinary wisdom in very young people:which almost tempt us to exclaim, "Ah! why did they emigrate? Surely they had before this settled the Government of France, if the older heads had consigned the power to the younger."

It will be supposed that, in the adventures of emigrants, politics could not be wholly avoided: but those that are introduced are of the most accommodating kind; such as, in these disturbed times, will be thought to merit praise. Vehemence shewn in political argument, especially by females, is well exposed, and treated with merited severity.

The translation is faithful; and, with the exception of a few inelegancies, such as-Lolotte being reared at the castle-casting her teeth-'tis A pity-oweing a grudge and a few more phrases not to be found in polished English,-it may be said to do justice to the original.

Art. 30. A Method of making Abridgments; or, easy and certain Rules for analysing Authors; divided into Two Parts; the First, containing preliminary Explanations, and the Rules for making Abridgments; the Second. the Application of those Rules to various Selections from the best Authors. By the Abbé Gaultier. Part the First. 4to. Pp. 100. 10s. 6d. Boards. Bremner.

1800.

We have had more than one opportunity of praising the ingenuity which the Abbé Gaultier has shewn in his mode of instructing young people; he cozens them into knowlege, by pleasing their fancy; and by holding out to them the appearance of pleasure, he entraps them into improvement. The present work is a kind of deduction from the author's games, and appears well calculated to fix the attention and exercise the talents of his pupils; it certainly proves the constant zeal which (as he professes) animates him in the pursuit of the most direct and expeditious means by which knowlege may be acquired.' We sincerely wish him that success to which such well-intended endeavours are intitled.

Art. 31. L'Amie des Dames ; &c. The Lady's Friend. By Madame Félicité Guériot. 12mo. pp. 184. 35. sewed. Dulau

and Co. 1799.

This lady appears to be a sincere friend to her own sex: she endeavours to regulate their conduct and to form their sentiments by good instructions; and she is a strenuous advocate for the energy and the possibility of highly cultivating the female intellect. The work can

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not be said to have any plan; its object is more discernible; yet we wish that her wholesome instructions had been recommended to the mental palate by a little garniture of illustration and example. A few strange apostrophes to Christian and heathen divinities, to the cardinal virtues, &c. are to be excused; and the laudable intention of instilling virtuous sentiments, and of teaching the decorums of life, makes us overlook many defects.

NOVELS.

Art. 32. A Northumbrian Tale. Written by a Lady. 12mo. pp. 301. 4s. 6d. Boards. Debrett. 1799.

This is a tale of other times; and while the readers of novels continue to tolerate the dolorous adventures of luckless knights pent up in the dungeons of moated castles, their entertainment may be cheaply, and we doubt not will be plentifully furnished. The most predomi nating characteristic of this species of composition is, that formal soporific manners are substituted for imitations of nature. Every thing in these novels partakes of the antique. The young men, except it be sometimes a squire of low degree," never relax from the dignity of dullness, either to smile themselves, or to occasion a smile in others. The figures are all cut in wood; and, if Chaucer had hot written, we might have been impressed with a belief that the English of those days were men of most immoveable muscles.--Such is the general character attributed to our ancestors by these writers. A few, and but a few, exceptions might be named. In the story before us, the author has not swerved from the example set by her predecessors: it has a competent share of subterranean horrors, and will afford as much entertainment as the majority of works of the same ⚫ class.

Art. 33. Adeline St. Julian; or, The Midnight Hour. By Mrs. Anne Ker. 12mo. 2 Vols. 8s. Boards. Kerby.

This performance shews that the writer, though she does not scruple to borrow, possesses fancy and invention; not indeed much restrained by attention to probabilities; nor is the style of the narrative always within the limits of grammar. We can however say that many of the novels, which we announce to the public, have afforded us less amusement. The representation of a ghost fronts the title page: (be not startled, gentle reader! it is no "goblin damned!") whether it be a good resemblance or not, we leave to the more experienced novel reader to determine. It seems to be drawn from the life, and apparently is much better flesh and blood than the persons to whom it is supposed to appear.

Fitzmaurice. By William Frederic Williams.

12mo,

Art. 34. 2 Vols. 6s. sewed. Murray and Highley. 1800. The author of this work tells us, in the preface, that he writes from a mania scribendi. We sincerely wish that it were in our power to administer to his disease; because, to deal candidly with him, it is impossible to prognosticate well either for him or for the public from his present symptoms. In the incidents of the story of Fitzmaurice, we find but little of nature or truth of character; and in the composi tion, nothing of the beauty of writing. Perhaps the utmost that can be, said in its praise is, that it does not offend against decency and morals,"

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POETIC

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POETIC and DRAMATIC.

Art. 35. Pindaries; or an Ode of Lamentation, addressed to Peter Pindar, Esq. on his Nil Admirari, &c. and a Disquisition con cerning the Crasis of Peter Pindar's Blood, &c.

Wallis.

4to. 29.

Man (says Lord Bacon) does not know how to keep a mean;" and no truth is more continually exemplified. On certain occasions, temper and moderation are scouted, as if they partook of the nature of sin. We, however, are at all times desirous of maintaining a most profound respect for these essential ingredients of sound judgment; and neither folly on one side nor calumny on the other shall ever divert us from the calm performance of our duty. Though Peter. Pindar has sinned, we shall not on account of his offence deny him, as some are now inclined to do, the merit of genius. The author of these Pindarics, as they are called, is of this number; and though he disclaims vague invective, he deals in it very liberally. He tells Peter that he has no title to renown; and he is so extravagant as to represent Mrs. More's name, as his tottering wit.' He ventures to assert, in the preface, that, 'the sole supporter of excepting the encomium paid by the bishop on Miss Hannah's works, and the witticism of the fiddle, there is not a single reference in the first three odes to any particular subject, thought, or expres sion, nor an indication that P. P. has read her works.' Was it possible for this critic to overlook Peter's censure of Mrs. More's severity on the fallen fair?

This writer humbly parodies Peter, and endeavours to turn his own artillery against him; but if Peter does not write himself down, he will not be written down by such a poet or such a critic as is now before us. As a specimen of his wit and accuracy, we shall only give the following stricture from the disquisition (as it is called) on Peter's blood:

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Peter, merely to cast a slight upon the very birth-place of poor: Hannah, has unmercifully soused all the natives of Bristol in a quagmire.

"The humming native of the Bristol pool."

How will this criticism stand when Peter is fairly quoted?
"The humming native of a Bristol pool?"

Art. 36. Peter and sop, a Saint Giles's Eclogue. 4to. 2s. 6d.
Murray and Co. 1800.

Scavengers and nightmen are respectable gentlemen, compared with the dealers in gross calumny and unqualified abuse ;—commodities which, to the disgrace.of the present polished age, have been of late brought in considerable quantities into the literary market. We hope that the consequences, which have lately resulted from this degradation of talents, will operate as a warning to all versemen and prose-men against the adoption of scurrility and blackguardism in aid of their scanty wit. To hard words, succeed hard blows; and when such is the nature of the combat, the parties make no bad figure in a St. Giles's Eclogue. While the town laughs,

let them blush.

The

The author of this poem has indulged himself at the expence of Peter and Æsop; and if he can shame them and others into a polite use of the pen, we shall congratulate him on his satire.

Art. 37. Joanna of Montfaucon a Dramatic Romance of the Fourteenth Century: As performed at the Theatre-Royal, Covent-Garden. Formed upon the Plan of the German Drama of Kotzebue and adapted to the English Stage by Richard Cum berland. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Lackington and Co. 1800.

Having already given our opinion of a literal translation from the German original of this play, (see Rev. for Jely last,) we have little to say of Mr. Cumberland's imitation. He has avowedly worked on his original, chiefly for the purpose of introducing pageantry and music; and he even leads us to understand, in his preface, that the encouragement given to the German Drama does not accord with his own opinion. Mr. C.'s performance, though in respect to language it is superior to the common Kotzebue-manufacturers, certainly inspires no wish to see farther experiments of this nature attempted.

Art. 38. Lodon and Miranda. By Romaine Joseph Thorn: to which is added the "Poor boy," a Tale. 12mo. pp. 230. 65% Boards. Longman. 1799.

This writer acknowleges that his poem possesses a hundred faults, for which he makes the common apology that it was written in a short space of time; viz. less than four months. As the insufficiency and impropriety of these excuses are too obvious to require any animadversion from us, we shall only add that the poem may with propriety be termed a novel in verse, of that sort which delights rather in romantic incidents than in just representations of human life; and that the composition is flat, inverted, and prosaic. Art. 39. Parodies on Gay; to which is added the Battle of the Busts, a Fable,-attempted in the Style of Hudibras. Izino Is. Jordan Hookham.

These parodies can boast more of easy versification than of entertaining point or of edifying moral; yet in these latter qualities they are not altogether deficient.-It were certainly vain to expect as much humour in an imitation of Hudibras, as that rich work itself produced; and though the fable here attempted after the manner of Butler undoubtedly is not an exception to the remark, yet it is no despicable performance. We have seen many worse copies of originals more easy to imitate.

Art. 40.

Morcar and Elfina :-A legendary Tale, by Edward Smith, jun. small 8vo. Is. Edinburgh.

A poetical Scotch Tale, in the measure and manner of Chevy Chase, by no means destitute of merit. A few shorter poems are annexed, which have less claim to praise.

Art. 41. Poems. By Edward Atkins Bray.

5s. Boards. Rivingtons. 1799.

12mo. pp. 240.

If these juvenile effusions be not very excellent, they are on the whole very innocent. There is nothing in them of loose morality,

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