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Weft of England. The refpective hiftories of these accomplished female Worthies, with their motives for retiring from the world, and forming this delightful connection; together with a particular defcription of their refidence; an account of the rules, and orders of the fociety; and a view of the very laudable manner in which the amiable Reclufes employed their time and their fortunes;-thefe are the outlines of a work well calculated, as the title juftly profeffes, to infpire the Reader with proper fentiments of humanity, and the love of virtue. We have perused it with pleafure; and heartily recommend it, as a very entertaining as well as a truly moral and fenfible performance.

POETICA L.

Art. 22. The Poetical Mifcellany; confifling of felect Pieces from the Works of the following Poets, viz. Milton, Dryden, Pope, Addifon, Gay, Parnel, Young, Thomson, Akenfide, Philips, Gray, Watts, &c. For the Ufe of Schools. 12mo.

Becket.

35.

Nothing, fays the Editor, can be more abfurd than the common practice of making fuch young Gentlemen as are not defigned for any of the learned profeffions, drudge for feven or eight years, in order to acquire a fmattering in two dead languages. Part of the time, he adds, which is thus wafted, might be more profitably employed in making them acquainted with our best English Poets. The Collection which is here offered to the public, was made with this view. Such Matters, continues he, as think proper to use it, may make it fubfervient to feveral important purposes of education. They will have an opportunity of pointing out to their Pupils, the peculiar beauties of our most eminent Poets, of making them acquainted with the force and beauty of our language, and of impreffing many noble fentiments upon their minds. Young perfons are, in general, fond of poetry; and when the language of the Poet is eafy and familiar to them, they readily enter into his fentiments. And the Editor farther prefumes, that every fenfible and unprejudiced Parent will be better pleafed to hear his fon repeat fifty lines of Milton, Pope, or Thomfon, than five hundred of Ovid or Virgil.- To thefe juft obfer.. vations we cannot refuse our fuffrage. We muft likewife add, that, in our opinion, the extracts here made, are, in general, tho' not all, judiciously felected, and the Authors well chofen, both in regard to their poctical merit, and the moral and useful tendency of their compofitions.

Art. 23. The Minister of State.
A Satire 4to. Is. 6d.
Wilfon and Fell.

The Author erects an altar to our new Secretary, Lord Hallifax, and thereon facrifices the characters of all our Prime Ministers, from Burleigh down to B. The poetical flowers with which it is decurate, are only thofe produced by the nettles and weeds of

Parnaffus.

Parnaffus. The fentiments are hackney'd and infipid, and the verfiindifferent.

fication very

As the practice of puffing is now arrived at the utmoft height of offurance, it will not be improper for the Reviewers occafionally to mark fome of the groffer inftances that may occur of this kind. The prefent pamphlet was introduced to the notice of the public, by the following lying paragraph in the news papers.

"A noble Peer has abfolutely given directions to his Sollicitor, to commence a profecution against the Author of the poem called, The Minifter of State, a Satire, as a moft licentious and libellous compofition.-The Writer, no doubt, merits a feverer cenfure of the law than any of his brethren, because inftead of employing thofe great talents for poetry and fatire, for which he is fo defervedly celebrated" [what does he not deferve for his effrontery?]" in the service of virtue and his country, he has bafely" [bafely enough!]" prostituted them to the unworthy purpofes of defaming, lampooning, and abufing fome of the greatest characters in this kingdom." [all a puff to excite curiofity.] "We think this literary LUMINARY of the age" [this illiterate farthing candle!] "fhould pay a greater deference to the words of his predeceffor Mr, Pope

Curs'd be the verfe, how smooth fe'er it flor

&c",

We doubt, however, if any of this honeft Gentleman's Readers will think his verfes worth a curfe; whatever they may think he deferves for his impudence.

* One of the papers, however, had the discretion to print it as an Advertisement; thereby fufficiently indicating what quarter it came from.

Art. 24. The Wedding Day. In three Parts. By a Citizen of London. 8vo. Is. Keith.

That the Citizens of London are the greatest Politicians in the world, will hardly be difputed in any coffee-room or porter-house between Temple-bar and Whitechappel: that they fhould bear away the palm in poetry too, may be thought, however, a little more than comes to their share. Yet what have not your Covent-Garden Wits, and St. James's Poetasters to fear from the present phenomenon? So extraordinary a Genius, we will venture to fay, never before made his appearance in the republic of letters.

Pallida mors æquo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas
Regumque turres, O beate Sexti!

Vita fumma brevis fpem nos vetat inchoare longam.

Hey! what is all this? Why, Sir, it is the motto to the Wedding Day, a poem. You probably would think it better adapted to a Dying Day!-But this it is to want genius; you would keep plodding on in the dull tract of propriety! ten to one if you do not imagine too, that our Poet gives a defcription of the matrimonial ceremony,

the

the nuptial feaft, and connubial conflict. Alas! how little do you know of the fublimity and excentricity of a city Genius! Would you have the Mufe tack a young couple together, call the fiddles, and fall to finging a wedding and a bedding, with as little formality as the Sailors ufed to make matches at May-fair and the Fleet? What a protitution of poetic talents! No, Reader, our London Citizen is as much a Philofopher as a Poet, and behaves himfelf in a very different and difcreet manner. It is true, he acquaints us there is a wedding, that the Bride is a Maid, and that her name is Phoebe. The Bridegroom probably was a ftranger, and therefore is nameless. The Poet calls the company together, however, Tom, and Will, and Jack, and Dick, and Hal, and Jem, with their refpective Laffes," fets them to dancing, and then introduces the fage Sophronius (fome Common-council-man no doubt) to read them a fermon; a philofophical, philological, fatirical, and moral fermon. A pretty entertainment for a wedding day! and fo you will fay, Reader, if you fhould ever peruse it.

As to our Poct's philofophy, he does M. Pope the honour of adopting fome of his principles, as alfo fome of his lines; but how far he rifes fuperior to his model, let the world judge.

"Ceafe then, nor order imperfection name,

fays Mr. Pope, to which our Author, elegantly, fmoothly, and fignificantly adds,

Christianity and Reaf'n's perfection are the fame.

How much fuperior alfo to the Twickenham Poet's are our Author's talents for fatire. This may be gathered from the following ftrictures on the vice of gaming, and the affembly at Haberdashers

Hall.

Cits grafp a vice expelled the Court;
The great reject, the little court her fway,
Promote her growth on evens of Thursday.
With human heads if brainless blockheads bawl,
Who finds them gaming in a thread-man's hall?
Who finds them not? fure not a City's King!"
Patterns how great feme Magiftrates can bring!
So Cits refufe their Sovereign to aid,
And ftudy arts that rafcals make a trade.
Conduct how worthy of a trading town!
(So graceful a tafle, records! write it down.)
If humble verfe to future day defcends,
Judge ye, pronounce, pofterity, my friends!
This came to pafs, (and be it known to you)
The year one thoufand feven hundred fixty-two.

As this fecond 'Squire Prynne hath already made pofterity his friends, he may probably think himfelf entitled to throw up the Poet's trade, which notwithstanding his great talents, he defpifes fo much, that he

had

Rather

Rather become of fhoes a dirty fcraper,

Him foot who fweeps, or beft, a moufe-trap maker.

For the honour of the city, however, we furely cannot help withing he would confider this matter better; or that the Aldermen and Common-council would take fome measures to prevail on him to change his refolution.

Art. 25. The Spring. A Paftoral. the Theatre-royal in Drury-Lane. del, and other eminent Mafters.

As it is now performing at The Mufic by Mr. Han4to. Is. Davies.

To fay that we owe this elegant little Drama to the very! y learned and ingenious Author of the ESSAYS on Mufic, Painting, and Poetry, and of HERMES, is faying enough to excite the curiofity of our Readers; but they can form no adequate idea of the entertainment from a mere perufal of the printed copy. Those who faw and heard it performed on the stage, by Mr. Norris, Mr. Vernon, Mrs Vincent, and Mifs Young, could belt judge with how much fuccefs fome of the most admired airs and choruiles of Handel, and other eminent Ma-" fters, are here introduced, and connected with a recitative, compofed" by a Gentleman, whofe tafte and knowlege in mufic (as the Publifher obferves in his Advertisement) are, perhaps, his leaft merit.

Art. 26. Select Poems from Mr. Gefner's Paftorals. By the Verlifier of Anningait and Ajutt. 4to. is. Newbery. We mentioned this Lady's verfion of Mr. Johnfon's Greenland Tale, of Anningait and Ajutt, in Review, vol. XXIV. page 315. Her verfe flows in an eafy and harmonious ftrain; but not always correctly, nor is the very exact in her rhymes. The following couplet is a remarkable inftance of the laft mentioned defect,

A chaplet for her brow I yet can form,
Myrtle and ivy fhall the wreath adorn.-

Of inaccuracy, take the following specimen ;

What a rich fhade of flowers are here display'd!

But not to dwell on the flight imperfections of a female pen, we fhail only add our friendly advice to this ingenious Poctofs, to finish her future productions with greater care; as we really believe her capable of more correctness and elegance than fhe has manifefted on the prefent occafion."

Art. 27. A Mixrour for the Critics. Written in the Year 1759. By an Oxfordshire Ploughman, &c. &c. 8vo. 6 d. Whitridge.

This Oxfordshire Wife-acre feems to have put himself to the expence of printing twenty-four pages of wretched verfes, chiefly with

intent to abuse the Reviewers: fome of whom, nevertheless, ill-natured as he deems them, are really forry for the lofs the poor man will probably fuftain on this idle occafion. Pity it is, that when he put his hand to the plough, he could not keep it employed to fome useful purpose. His Sifter too, who compofed the fine Varfes annexed to this brightest of Mirrours, had better amuse herfelf at the churn and the cheese-tub, than in teizing "fad Melpomene fo unmercifully about the untimely death of General Wolfe, and the advanced price of Strong Beer.

*

Two of her poems, one of them immediately following the other, begin with Come fad MelpomeneThis reminds us of an old difmal ditty, which we have heard the dish-washing damfels melodiously chant forth, in the strain of

Mournful Melpomene,
Affift my quill,-

Guide thou my hands to write,

My fenfes to indite, &c.

Our Authorefs, however, had better invoke fome good old Schoolmistress to teach her to spell,

Art. 28. The Visions of Farcy.

horne. 4to. Is.

In Four Elegies. By J. LangPayne and Cropley.

We have frequently introduced this ingenious young Writer to the acquaintance of our Readers; and given fo many and fuch various fpecimens of his poetic abilities, that we think it unnecessary to enlarge on the prefent publication. Suffice it therefore to add, that in these natural, eafy, and flowing Elegies, he has not difgraced his former productions. We refer to our accounts of his Hymn to Hope, Tears of Music (on the death of Handel) Translation of Bion's Elegy, on the Death of Adonis, and fome other pieces.

Art. 29. Providence: or Arandus and Emilec. A Poem. 4to. 2s. Becket and De Hondt.

Had the Author of this piece continued to maintain his first plea, in making pretenfions to no greater merit than that of an humble imitation of Parnell's Hermit, we fhould have been forry to deprive him of that pittance of fame which he might hope for, as the reward of his labours: but we do not think this plea at all confiftent with his immediately difclaiming the name of an Imitator, and fhrewdly intimating, that if Parnell may be compared to an fchylus, he is himself equal to a Sophocles or an Euripides. Indeed, we can by no means reconcile that indifferent eftimation in which fome Authors affect to hold their own productions, with their actual refolution of obtruding them on the public. A Writer who admires his performances, and conceives they will afford inftruction or amusement to his

Readers,

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