Mr. C. very comfortable, both to the people and the minister, but to make it credible. We, however, have some doubt whether this be possible. A French invasion, the author thinks it probable, will be at tempted; if it were only for the purpose of enabling the Directory to get rid of the army. Should the enemy's troops, contrary to all probability, effect a landing, he is of opinion that the numerous military levies and the ditches of the country will afford means of the most effective defence. Art. 26. Peace in our Power, upon Terms not unreasonable. By Charles Baring, Esq. 8vo. Is. Cadell jun. and Davies. 1798. Mr. Baring professes, and indeed appears, to be no party-man. He declares himself to have originally disapproved the war, but yet thinks that the indiscriminate opposition of Mr. Fox and his party was far from commendable, and that it tended rather to pros tract than to terminate the unhappy contest. From a continuance of this contest, the great danger to be feared is, in Mr. B.'s apprehension, the annihilation of our public credit, by the immense expence to which France may put us in maintaining an enormous mi litary and marine establishment. To obtain peace, therefore, appears to him of the last necessity; and peace, if properly sought, he believes to be within our own power. The means by which it should be pursued are, first, the formal renunciation by his Britannic Majesty of the title of King of France,' which the author thinks would give a decisive blow to the ruling powers in France, as it would furnish an unequivocal proof of the sincere desire of England for peace; the second step is to enter into immediate treaty with Denmark or Sweden, or Russia, or America, proposing that in future neutral ships should constitute neutral property, except in particular cases of contraband trade. The right claimed by England of seizing the property of enemies on board neutral ships, he says, has given general disgust; though the law of retaliation has made other nations adopt it, it is no more authorized by the law of nature than the right of breaking open the house of a stranger to seize the goods of an enemy; and the renunciation of it by England would considerably advance that perpetual peace which, we are told, is one day to take place. When his Majesty shall have consented to discontinue the title of King of France, and when it shall have been agreed or proposed to agree that neutral ships constitute neutral property, then, and not till then, the author would offer terms of peace to France, on the principle of resigning both to herself and her allies all our conquests, without reserve; which proposal should be transmitted by a common messenger, rather than through the hands of the Lords Auckland or Malmesbury. Such are the means by which Mr. B. thinks that peace may now be obtained; and some such means probably must be ultimately used to obtain it. Art. 27. A Plan for raising the Supplies during the War, humbly submitted to the Two Houses of Parliament, the Landed and Monied Interest, and to all Ranks and Conditions of People capable of contributing to the Expences of the State. 8νο. Is. Elmsly and Bremner. 1798. The plan here proposed is, "That under the authority of Parlia. ment, A GENERAL ASSOCIATION should be entered into for the defence of these kingdoms, and for the maintenance of our religion, laws, liberties, and the constitution of our government, in church and state; and that to this end, we should undertake TO RAISE THE SUPPLIES for the service of the current year, by a subscription, suppose of twenty millions in a three per cent. fund to be taken at fifty per cent. SUCH FUND NOT TO BE TRANSFERABLE DURING THE WAR: and that we should engage to hold ourselves in readiness to subscribe annually for the service of government upon the same terms, or terms more beneficial to the public, if the times will admit of it, as long as the war shall continue." It is proposed that the interest of the money to be thus borrowed should be raised by a per cen tage on all such taxes, as may be increased with the least possible inconvenience to the public, and by taxing such new subjects of taxation, as in the judgment of those who understand this business, will bear a tax; perhaps also by taking off parts of taxes where the article has been found to be so overloaded, as materially to lessen the consumption, and consequently the accuunulative produce of such taxes.' The principal difference between the loan to be thus raised, and the "loyalty loan," (which the writer acknowleges to have now become a term of reproach,') is that here the securities are not trans, ferable;-by which, he thinks, the maximum of the subscription will be fixed at its true point, as men will not in this case subscribe a larger sum than they can well afford to pay into the exchequer, The success of such a plan, it is obvious, must depend on the hearty concurrence of the great body of the people; and so sanguine is the writer in his opinion of their patriotism, that he thinks it cannot be supposed that there will be found, in these kingdoms, any considerable number of men so little affected by the arduous situation of affairs, as to canvass with the greedy attention of a money-jobber the terms of a supply upon which depends perhaps the fate of their country; he supposes that they will come in by thousands and tens of -thousands to lend their money in this way, though they might not be disposed to give it. We hope that there may be yet existing this spirit of patriotism: but we cannot help saying that recent facts, in both countries, have made it rather doubtful. In Ireland, during the last year, a loan for the small sum of 400,000l. was opened, at legal interest, without douceur or bonus, when only a few thousands were subscribed; and can it be supposed that, in England, the "loyalty loan" became a bye-word and term of reproach' only because the securities were transferable ? Art. 28. The Free-Man's Vade-Meçum; or, an intended Oration on Liberty, &c. With a Dedication to every Englishman who loves his Country. By Phileleutheros, a Pioneer in the Army of Reason. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Jordan. In this intended oration, the current politics of the times are rehearsed, with no small degree of censure on one side of the question, and many hints for the remedy of what is amiss. As the author is by no means an advocate for "things, as they are," he will in course, be ranked, by our violent ministerialsts, with the 'democrats:' but we do not mean to bestow on him this appellation: to us he appears to be a harmless retailer of such political wares as are in common circulation. Art. 29. An Address to the British Forces by Sea and Land, armed to resist the French Invasion. 8vo. 2 d. Yarmouth, printed by Bush. A high-flown declamation against the Gallic foe; intended to rouse and animate us not merely to defeat but to exterminate the daring and desperate invaders. No recreant survivor,' says the author, ⚫ shall carry the sad tidings home!'-Criticism would be ill employed în noting little defects in the execution of such a design as the present. At all events, it is to be hoped that we shall have no occasion for these incentives. Art. 30. An Alarm to the Publie, and a Bounty promised to every Loyal Subject who shall come forward to repel the Enemy. Arms and Accoutrements provided for every Man, Gratis. By J. Brown.. 8vo. 2d. Yarmouth, Bush, &c. 1798. This appears to be the production of the same pen, as well as the same press, to which the public is obliged for, the preceding Address. By a note at the bottom of the title-page, well disposed people are informed that the two tracts may be purchased for 10s. 6d. fer hundred copies, to give away. Art. 31. Libellus; or a brief Sketch of the Kingdom of Gotham. Containing Observations respecting its King, Princes, Nobles, Bishops, and inferior Senators; its Mode of Election; the Dura tion of its Parliaments; its Ministers of State, Judges and other Professors of the Law; Customs of the People, their Dress, and Amusements; their Agricultural Regulations, Commercial Pursuits, and the Natural Productions of their Country; their wellmanaged Police; their Ecclesiastical Polity and their System of Politics. To which is added an admirable Essay on Titles. 12mo. JS. Jordan. An attempt at irony. - When will another SWIFT appear! POETRY. Art. 32. A Poem on the Escape of Sir Sidney Smith from France, and his happy Arrival in England. 4to. 2s. Hatchard, &c. 1798. In perusing this publication, the reader will learn, from a few rapid allusions to the adventures and exploits of Sir Sidney Smith, that, when a midshipman on board the Sandwich, under Lord Rodney, he displayed an extraordinary cahnness and presence of mind, when the ship was in a critical situation in consequence of sustaining, for a length of time, the fire of five of the enemy's line of battle ships; that he took a chart of the Danube, and was charged by the Ottoman Porte with the repair and restoration of the fortress of Ismael;-that he saved the Swedish fleet off Wyburg and Biorko from a superior force of the Russians, and was created Knight of the Swedish order of the Sword; -that he was one of the first founders of "The society for the im. provement of naval architecture;"-that he volunteered the enter. prise of burning the enemy's ships at Toulon;-and that he took, in H 4 1795, 1795, the islands of St. Marcou. The subsequent capture, confine. ment, and escape of Sir Sidney, occupy a considerable portion of the poem. The versification is in general harmonious; and though we could discover nothing new in either the imagery or the sentiments, yet it would certainly not disgrace the pen of any person of a liberal and classical education. Whether the merits of Sir Sidney be only duly appreciated, or whether the Muse of Friendship has not heaped her honours too lavishly on his head, we leave others, who are better acquainted with the circumstances, to determine. We think, however, that it is introducing confusion into the language, and disturbing the scale of panegyric, to apply the same terms of eulogy to the able and enterprising partisan, (for such and such only we conceive the hero of this poem to have been,) as would become the commander whose comprehensive and determined mind is capable of conceiving and exe cuting the great design, and the complicated details, of an extensive campaign. Art. 33. Comus, a Mask, presented at Ludlow Castle 1634, before the Earl of Bridgewater, then President of Wales. By John Milton. With Notes critical and explanatory by various Commentators, and with preliminary Illustrations; to which is added a Copy of the Mask from a MS. belonging to his Grace the Duke of Bridgewater. By Henry John Todd, M. A. Minor Canon of Canterbury, &c. 8vo. pp. 280. 6 s. Boards. Rivingtons, &c. 1798. This edition of Milton's Comus introduces, for the first time, to the public, a copy of the Mask conformable to a manuscript preserved in the Duke of Bridgewater's library at Ashridge, which often varies from the established text. A fuller account than has yet appeared is given of Ludlow Castle, and of the Earl of Bridgewater and his family; the place and persons more peculiarly connected with this dramatic poem. To Warton's memoir of Henry Lawes, who set the songs to music, some information is also added. From New-. ton, Warton, and the more celebrated commentators, the most valuable notes are selected: -a collation of various readings is added; and many new and elegant illustrations are furnished by the editor, who adduces from the Italian poets several parallel passages hitherto unobserved: but who could no doubt have gleaned many others, had he consulted the classics of Italy with less discrimination. Art. 34. Blank Verse, by Charles Lloyd, and Charles Lamb. 12mo. 2s. 6d. Boards. Arch. 1798. Dr. Johnson, speaking of blank verse, seemed to have adopted the opinion of some great man, we forget whom, that it is only "poetry to the eye." On perusing the works of several modern bards of our own country, we have sometimes rather inclined to the same idea, but the recollection of Milton and Thomson presently ba nished it. We have more than once delivered our sentiments respecting the poetry of Mr. Charles Lloyd. To what we have formerly remarked, in general, on this head, we have little to add on the present occasion; except that grow weary of his continued melancholy mel strains. Why is this ingenious writer so uncomfortably constant to we begin to the mournful Muse? If he has any taste for variety, he has little to fear from jealousy in the sacred sisterhood. -Then why not sometimes make his bow to THALIA? Mr. Lamb, the joint author of this little volume, seems to be very properly associated with his plaintive companion. Art. 35. The Warning, a Poetical Address to Britons. To which is added a Report of the Proceedings of the Whig Club at their Meeting May Ist, 1798, in a Poetical Epistle from Henry Bumpkin in Town to his Brother in the Country. 8vo. Is. 6d. Hatchard. These politico-poetical effusions are perfectly ministerial and antigallican, and, we believe, will be found to possess much more political zeal than poetical merit. Art. 36. Poems on various Subjects. By Eliza Daye. 8vo. pp. 270. 7s Boards. Johnson. The moral and religious tendency of these poems we are ready to acknowlege in the fullest extent, and sorry are we that we cannot highly compliment the writer on her poetical talents. The following verses, written on seeing Mrs. Siddons in the character of Belvidera, we consider as some of the best in the volume: • Queen of expression! on whose potent aid, Art. 37. Windermere, a Poem. By Joseph Budworth, Esq. Author of a Fortnight's Ramble to the Lakes. 8vo. IS. Cadell jun. and Davies. In order to excel in descriptive poetry, accuracy of observation and great powers of discrimination and selection, joined to a frame of mind peculiarly susceptible of the beauties of nature, are essentially requisite; and even these qualifications are insufficient without a per * The Passions." fect |