to render Mr. Burke some service in his native country. The Earl accordingly wrote to Lord Halifax, and recommended the bearer of it as a man of promising genius, who would reflect honour on his patronage and protection. The new appointed Viceroy expressed the deepest regret that every department in his appointment, except that of private secretary to his own secretary, was filled up. Mr. Burke was accordingly appointed private secretary to the Right Hon. Gerard Hamilton, commonly called Single Speech Hamilton, in consequence of his having made only one speech in the House of Commons during all the time that he sat in Parliament, but which has ever been considered as an effort of unprecedented talent, and is thought to have been composed by the subject of these memoirs." Leaving our readers to their own reflections on the circumstances of the foregoing anecdote, we shall proceed to observe that the writer of this sketch insinuates that AMBITION was the ruling passion of Mr. Burke. It is highly probable. What but the irresistible desire of rising above that safe and happy station, which science and philosophy might have adorned with a mild though not a dazzling lustre, could have tempted a mind possessing such powers to stoop to the meanness of courting patronage? His breaking with his first political friend Mr. Hamilton, 'because (to use the words of this writer) he began to think his patron did not exert all the influence he possessed, to usher him into life,' is a circumstance which seems to confirm the opinion that Burke was ambitious.' Several others of the same tendency are given in this sketch; with one of which we shall close this article. • Though Mr. Burke affected to despise popularity, yet no man, perhaps, was ever more susceptible of flattery, which he always paid in kind; but a stroke of wit, or a single paragraph in a newspaper, were sufficient to discompose his temper, particularly when he was sinking into the vale of life. A few years since, he happened to call on an old friend, who was very fond of collecting prints of British patriots. Mr. Burke was not a little pleased to see one of himself in that list, with the following rude, but pointed lines written under it with a pencil, which he did not immediately perceive; • Pelliculam veterem retinet, ac fronte polite • The old gentleman saw, by Mr. Burke's countenance, that it displeased him, but protested he was wholly ignorant of the writer, and that, as he did not understand Latin, he thought the lines were filled with his praise, and immediately effaced them, but they had sunk too deep in Mr. Burke's memory to be effaced; he took a hasty leave, and never after entered the house." We have chosen to extract from the original matter of these volumes, rather than from the selections themselves, which are. their principal contents, because the former will, and the latter would not, be new to our readers: but we hope that they will be able to form a sufficient judgment of the merits of the work. whisky* is not so scarce as gin and brandy. Port wine is extremely good, and is sold from 12s. to 15s. per dozen: a single bottle at the inns is charged 28.; but if bought in quantities, may be had for less than these prices. ART. V. A Tour through the Isle of Mann, in 1797 and 1798; comprising Sketches of its Antient and Modern History, Constitution, Laws, Commerce, Agriculture, Fishery, &c. including whatever is remarkable in each Parish, its Population, Inscriptions, Registers, &c. By John Feltham. Embellished with a Map of the Island and other Plates. 8vo. 7s. Boards. Bath, Cruttwell. London, Dilly. 1798. A SPIRIT for topographical inquiries,' says Mr. Feltham in one part of this work, has lately been prevalent, and every year produces new accessions to this department of literature; these researches have been sanctioned with a considerable share of public approbation, which evinces in some degree their utility.' This observation is well founded, and we beg leave to accompany it with another; viz. that, however useful or entertaining topographical inquiries may be when they are guided by taste and ornamented by genius, there is yet no species of composition more dull, flat, and puerile, when genius and taste do not afford their embellishments. We do not advance this remark in order, as Mr. F. expresses it, to silence totally the jejune and obtruding muse,' but with a view of obtaining from his muse, hereafter, productions less jejune than that which she here presents: or at least of dissuading him from that funereal work with which he threatens us, a collection of all the epitaphs which are to be found in all the churchyards of the Isle of Mann! In the present work, consisting of 290 octavo pages, the reader will certainly find something to inform and something to amuse him: but we are sorry to say that the entertaining and instructive matter bears but a small proportion to the bulk of the volume. In the common mistake of young authors, Mr. F. seems to have been more attentive to the expansion of his work than to the selection of his materials: whatever he could learn, therefore, respecting any of the topics enumerated in his title page, great or little, public or private, trivial or important, he has heaped together; and the consequence is, that the reader frequently passes over not only pages but whole sheets, before he meets any thing to interest his attention. We mention this in kindness to Mr. F.; hoping that, if he shall again write for the public, he may avoid an error so unfavorable to his literary reputation. The The following extracts are taken from those passages which seem to give the best general view of the former and present state of the island, so far as it is likely to interest the majority of readers. This "Navel of the sea" possesses many privileges. The unfor tunate may find it an asylum; the economist a place exempted of all taxes; the epicure may enjoy fish, port wine, hams, and poultry *, cheap; and the philosopher a place of rest from bustle and faction. The native goodness of the Manks has been too often imposed on by strangers, and justly engendered a prudent reserve; and some slight introduction is rather expected before a comfortable connection with them can take place.' In emigrating from England, many advantages must be given up. Money, here, loses much of its omnipotency; the pleasures of a luxu rious table cannot be had without difficulty: markets are thin, and but ill provided, and there are not any butchers' shops. The pigs are larger in proportion than their other cattle, and extremely good and plenty. Fat meat is scarce, and the veal in general indifferent; the mutton is sweet and delicate. But a very peculiar. breed of sheep is found here, the wool of which is of a red sandy colour, or the fauncoloured Turkey wool used by hatters in this country.' • Poultry of all kinds are numerous and cheap; fish and eggs are plenty and reasonable. The better kind of fruits are not to be had; Major Taubman's was the only walled garden I observed, and that would grace any place. Apples are not grown in any quantity.' The want of trees and hedges gives a barren aspect to the island; but it is not unpleasing from the undulation of its surface, and the sublimity of its mountains, of varied shape, distances, and termination; whose sides afford a frequent specimen of that adventitious beauty occasioned by floating clouds intercepting the sun-beams, and giving to the fields glowing and varied tints. But it could not have always been without trees, for by a statute of 1570, a forester is allowed to range the forest for unshorn sheep, &c. + Thus, though its rocks are not, like those in Devonshire, "fringed with ornamental plants and shrubs;" nor "its gardens surrounded with myrtle hedges covered with most delicious bloom;" yet its rugged rocks, and bold mountains, whose outlines are abruptly varied, adorned with the health, gorse, and fern, that spread over its surface, form somewhat of a picturesque scene; but a general want of trees, &c. for a fore-ground, and a requisite variety of well-disposed objects, render it not adapted for the composition of a landscape painter.' • The mountains abound in springs, but the water, though good, is not of a superior kind. Of spirits, rum is generally drank, and * Does there not seem to be a little contradiction to this account in the next extract? Rev. + The Druids found this island well planted with firs; quantities have been dug up some depth under the surface of the earth; and some oaks, which, it is supposed, being their favourite tree, was introduced by them.' REV. DEC. 1798. 6 Economy prevails in household management, and the female branches spin, at leisure, flax; and thus produce excellent diaper, check, linen, &c. for family use. The fairs, which are not infested with sharpers, showmen, &c. as in England, serve to enliven the friendship of different parts; and the assemblies, races, &c. that originate from them, afford an opportunity of a mutual association of the northern beaux and belles, with the southern.' • The ladies are sensible, polite, and accomplished; pleasing and, elegant in their address, and of a more domestick turn than the ladies of England of the same rank or fortune. They are also fond of music and dancing, and excel in each. Fashion soon finds her way hither from the three kingdoms. "The packet's come, I'll lay my life upon it : I know by pretty Betsy's helmet bonnet !" The native charms of the belles, assisted by milliners and mantuamakers of judgment and taste, dignify an assembly, and enliven society, with as great a degree of spirit as any in England; nor do' they recur to foreign artifices to solicit love and admiration.' The natives of the lower classes are of a swarthy complexion, stout, with an air of melancholy pervading their countenances; the men are indolent, but the women are active and lively; they wear no stockings nor shoes, except on particular occasions; the men wear, shoes or sandals, which they call kerranes, made of untanned leather; their cottages are low turf buildings, thatched in an humble style, and the thatch is bound down with a network of straw ropes intersecting each other.' Those who wish to read the succession of vicars and rectors in the different parishes, the proportion of births to marriages, and deaths, extracts from parish registers, and a collection of epitaphs from the several burial-grounds, may consult the Parochial Tour which is annexed to the general account given in the letters. ART. VI. Arminius; a Tragedy. By Arthur Murphy, Esq. 8vo. 28. 6d. Wright. 1798. T HIS fresh offering from an old and respected dramatist-consists of two parts; a political dissertation in prose, called the Preface; and a tragedy in blank verse, called Arminius. ** The word whisky signifies water, and is applied by way of eminence to strong water, or distilled liquor. It is drawn from barley, and is preferable to English malt brandy.. Johnson's Journey to the Western Islands, 8vo. 1775. In the preface, after a few words relative to the spirit of reform, or revolution, which, at the period of the French national assembly, made its appearance among our active politicians, Mr. M. passes on to the origin of the war; which, in the phraseology of administration, he terms 'just, necessary, and unavoid-. able. On this point, he enters into a long and elaborate discussion, quoting Tacitus, Polybius, Montesquieu, &c. &c. and warmly proving his attachment to our venerated constitution, and his abhorrence of the enormities which have been committed by Gallic innovators. This path, however, is so much beaten, and is so entirely unembellished by the flowers and agree able views which ornament other walks of literature, that we hope to be excused from following the author's steps in his present excursion through it: we shall direct our attention, then, to the Drama. In undertaking a tragedy on the story of Arminius, or Herman, as the Germans call him, by his native name, Mr. Murphy enters the lists with the first poet of Germany, with Klopstock; who, in three noble chorus-dramas, has immortalized the principal events in the life of this hero of independence *. It is seldom prudent to provoke comparison with the classical writers of any age; and least of all with those of our own, whose beauties cannot be transplanted without a charge of plagiarism. On this charge, Mr. Murphy is not to be arraigned: but it is scarcely possible to read any of the scenes suggested to both poets by their common intimacy with Tacitus, without missing the lofty heroism and heart-cleaving feeling which characterize the German bard. Mr. Murphy is no contemptible tragedian: though his Grecian daughter has been thought to disappoint the reader, that performance is never beheld at the theatre without sensation, from the rapid alternations of emotion, from the ebb and flow of joy and sorrow, which its trying-its electrifying situations produce. Had we never known the Thusnelda of Klopstock, we might, on this occasion, have assigned to the daughter of Segestes a rank near to that of Euphrasia among the heroines of the domestic charities and the patriotic virtues. The story of the play is this: Act 1. Segestes, a German chief in the service of Rome, is besieged in a strong hold by Inguiomer, a German opponent. The Roman General Cæcina is hastening to relieve his ally Segestes; and Arminius is approaching to reinforce the German * He was co-temporary with Tiberius, and bravely though not always successfully withstood the incursions of the Roman invaders: Germanicus had the honour of finally vanquishing him. : Ee 2 camp. |