ART. XL. Works of Richard Owen Cambridge, Esq. with an Account of his Life and Character. By his S2, GLORGE GWEN CAMBRIDGE, M. A. Prebendary of Ely, 4to. pp. 580. WE have perused, with singular pleasure, the uneventful but extraordinary fe of Mr. Cambridge; extraordinary because we recollect no individual, ancient or modern, whose life was so uniformly happy. Too opulent to need a profession, too wise to chuse one, he pissed his days in the enjoyment of a literary leisure, and of a literary fame equal to his deserts and wishes; till the age of eighty-three, he lived without discase or infirmity, and then declining without pain for two years, he enjoyed, length, the last blessing which can be bestowed upon man, that suvoa, for which it has been well observed by Beddoes, the moderns have unhappily 10 name, that peaceful and placid death which may truly be called falling asleep. ιερον υπνον Κοιμαται θνήσκειν μη λέγε της αγαθός. nd thus he departed, a man of fourscore nd five, leaving his wife and all his chilren living, having never suffered sick. ess, sorrow, or any of the calamities hich flesh is heir to. Of the versatile talents of this gentlean, some interesting and uncommon cts are recorded in these memoirs. "Lord Anson, having admired the strucare and success of these boats, as used by the abitants of the Ladrone islands, a particudescription of which is given in his voyage, preparing to make trial of one in England, my father ventured to suggest his doubts whether a boat, whose safety depended upon the most exact equilibrium, would succeed in this uncertain climate, however well it might answer on the smooth sea, and under the steady breezes of the Pacific Ocean; proposing, at the same time, to construct a boat upon a plan somewhat similar, that might obviate those objections. The experiment, in both cases, was creditable to his knowledge of the subject. The flying prow was twice tried Leween Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, and each time (as I have been inhung up in the boat-house of the royal yard formed) it was overset ; after which it was at Deptford, where it has ever since remained, and may now be seen; but the double boat answered every purpose required, being so swift that no other boat could overtake it, and so safe that it was scarcely possible for it to be overset."* "For the ordinary diversions of the field, to which country gentlemen usually devote so much of their time and talents, my father had no relish; but instead of the gun, he took up the exercise of shooting with the bow and arrow, in which he acquired such a degree of dexterity, as with a little further prac tice might have enabled him to enter the lists with William Tell, or the man recorded in the Scribleriad, who deprived Philip of the sight of one of his eyes with an arrow, which was addressed To Philip's right eye.' The head of a duck, swimming in the river, was a favourite mark, which he seldom missed; he likewise shot many small birds perching on trees, and some of the larger sort he has brought down when upon the wing; until happening to see one of his arrows, that had accidentally dropped into a post, he was struck with the hazard he ran of injuring The double boat consisted of two distinct boats, fifty fect in length, and only eighteen ches wide, placed parallel to each other at the distance of twelve feet, and secured together transverse beams, over which a slight platform or deck was placed. Thus constructed, was enabled to spread a much larger portion of canvas than any other boat that presented mall a resistance to the element in which it moved. It is remarkable that Captain Cook ould, many years afterwards, find the ingenious inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands makuse of boats upon a similar plan, and which experience had shewn them was preferable the fiving prow. or any other form that could be devised by a people unacquainted with e of iron. some fellow-creature, and from that time relinquished this amusement. But as shooting fish was not liable to any risk, he continued that diversion, with arrows made for the purpose by the Indians of America, and was almost as expert in the use of them. Whatever pursuit he engaged in, he followed with uncommon ardour, and seldom desisted until he had reached the extent of the subject: this fondness for the bow, therefore, induced him to collect specimens of all the bows and arrows that could be met with in different parts of the world, and to make himself acquainted with the precise methods of using them. He likewise procured whatever books he could find upon the subject of archery, particularly those which related to the laws and practice of the old English bowmen, as well as what remained respecting the use of those weapons among the ancients." The Scribleriad is the most important of Mr. Cambridge's works. From this, well known as the poem is, we will select two passages for their singular and original excellence. "This Momus heard and from Olympus height, Next, an uncertain and ambiguous train Now forward march, then counter-march again. The van now first in order, duly leads, And now the rear the changeful squadron heads. Thus onwards Amphisbæna springs to meet Her foe; nor turns her in the quick retreat. To join these squadrons, o'er the champaign came A num'rous race of no ignoble name; And Rondeau, wheeling in repeated round. Without entering into any minute cri ticism upon this poem, which certainly deserves the reputation it has obtained we may observe that there is a radical fault in its design. The objects of Scrib lerus's pursuit are represented as actually attainable. The petrified city exists when he sets out in search of it; there is, therefore, no absurdity in his travelling to explore it ; the competitors of the games actually fly, and row under water, and there appears no reason in the poem why the transmutation of metals, which is the final action, should not be equally per formed. The prose part of the volume consists of the papers which he contributed to the World; concerning these a good but mot is recorded. A note from Moore, requesting an essay, was put into Mr. Cambridge's hands on a Sunday moru ing as he was going to church; his wife observing him rather inattentive during the sermon, whispered, "what are you thinking of," he replied," of the next World, my dear." We will add one anecdote more in the hope that it may operate as an example. "Of his attention to collect original papers, and the desire to make them useful to the public, a handsome testimony is given by Mt. Horace Walpole, who, actuated by the same liberal motives, printed at Strawberry-hill, 15 the year 1758, An Account of Russia as it was in the year 1710, by Charles Lord Whin worth. In the preface to this little book, Mr. Walpole, after stating that the manuscript was communicated to him by Mr. Cambridge, who had purchased it among a very curious set of books, collected by Monsieur Zolman, secretary to the late Stephen Poyntz, Esq. adds, This little library relates solely to Russian history and affairs, and contains in many languages, every thing that ART. XLI. The Pleasures of Nature; perhaps has been written on that country. Mr. Cambridge's known benevolence, and his disposition to encourage every useful undertaking, has made him willing to throw open this magazine of curiosity to whoever is inclined to compile a history, or elucidate the transactions of an empire almost unknown even to its contemporaries." or, the Charms of Rural Life; with other Poems. By DAVID CAREY. 12mo. pp. 164. THE principal of these poems is that from which the volume takes its title, "The Pleasures of Nature." It is written in the stanza of Beattie's Minstrel, and is principally characterized by the unpardonable crime of dullness. We suspect that Mr. Carey is more likely to excel in the burlesque than the serious. The Parody on Gray's Elegy is well done, and the "Illegitimate Ode to the Shop of an eminent Bookseller," is no bad travestie of a part of the same poet's Ode to Eton College. By J. C. HUBBARD, M. A. Author 4to. pp. 20. "Modell'd with happiest, unobtrusive art, Obliquely keen and elegantly warm, Instructing, flatter, and reproving, charm: easy numbers steal upon the heart, Unlike the torrent of a later age; When satire huri'd, in vain, the thunders of her age." His Mr. H. has shown the possibility of In a passage relative to Thomson, reading, admiring, quoting, and at the same time totally misunderstanding an author. He speaks of ART. XLII. The Triumphs of Poesy; a Poem. of Jacobinism, &c. THIS little poem has merit which en titles it to a longer date than the ephemeral productions of this prolific age. Its verse is correct, flowing, and unusually harmonious. The stanza is happy; it gratifies the ear of the reader with sufficient variety, without imposing too heavy shackles on the genius of the writer. Its style is lively, perspicuous, and dignified. Originality of subject, indeed, it cannot boast. The great lu minaries of poetry, Homer, Virgil, Milton, &c. would probably have been equally well known with their characteristic excellencies, to every reader, if Mr. Hubbard had never existed. Still it always gives us some pleasure to hear an old friend and favourite respectfully mentioned, particularly by a man who gives us at the same time a favourable opinion of his own talents and judgment. His character of Horace pleased us much: the fourth line is peculiarly applicablethe "cautious skill" of Horace in following Pindar must be apparent to every cbservant reader. "Correct and gay, as Horace sweetly sings, O; wakes with cautions skill the Theban fire; Resound the pleasing pangs, the wanton wiles of love. "The fleecy veil of falling snow That hides the blushes of the boreal morn," without once suspecting that the "boreal morn," or Aurora Borealis, is a quite different thing from a winter morning. Our Master of Arts is not more fortunate where he speaks of " the rich tissue of his Doric lay." A Doric lay, certainly means a rustic lay (if classical cant has any meaning); but what can be less so than the learned strain of Thomson? The author certainly confounds the ideas of rustic and rural. The poem concludes with a line slightly altered from Collins. Does Mr. Hubbard think originality equally to be dispensed with in modern English as in modern Latin verse? Let him break his college fetters, let him dare to indulge concep tions of his own, and he will find his Powers of versification fully adequate, without plagiarism, to express them with brilliancy and effect. ART. XLIII. Poems, by NATHANIEL BLOOMFIELD. 12mo. pp. 128. MR. Capel Lofft is the editor of this little volume; in deference to his im primatur, a bookseller of Bury has printed it at his own risk for the benefit of the author; and his probatum est is affixed to a tom-tit. It is from these causes, as wella each of the poems. "Whoever," says Mr. Lofft, "has read the preface to the Farmer's Boy, will hardly fail of recollecting the name of Nathaniel Bloom field, the author of the poems here offered to the public. It will be remembered, that he there ap pears, with his brother, George Bloomfield, standing in the place of the father, whom they had early lost, to their younger brother Robert. "It is natural to suppose, that this bro therly interference, and its consequences, greatly and advantageously influenced the dispositions, pursuits, and habits of thought and conduct, of all three of the brothers. And it is the more exemplary, when it is considered how young the two eldest were at that time. "It is an encouraging instance, how much may be effected for each other by the poor and uneducated, if they have prudence, activity, and kind affections and how unexpectedly, and to an extent far beyond apparent probability, success is given by Providence to virtuous and benevolent efforts. “Beyond question, the brothers of this family are all extraordinary men; and perhaps every one of thein is more so than he would have been without the fraternal concord which has animated them all, and multiplied the powers of all by union and sympathy." Nathaniel was apprenticed to a taylor, and at present works at that trade in London. He was not without his fears, "lest it should be thought that, although the muse can visit a Shepherd's Boy, there may be some employnients which exclude her influence. That a Taylor should be a Poet, he doubted, might appear too startling an assertion; and he had said accordingly to his brother George, in a letter, when this publication was first going to press, I want you to exclude the word taylor. Let there be no such word in the hook. But perhaps I am too late. I know there is in the public mind as great conterupt for him who bears the appellation of taylor, as Sterne has made old Shandy have for Simkin, Nickey, or Tristram. How many Cæsars and Pompeys, says he, by mere inspiration of the names, have been rendered worthy of them? And how many are there who might have done exceedingly well in the world, had not their characters and spirits been totally depress'd and Nicodemiz'd; and I will add (says Mr. N. Bloomfield) taylor'd into nothing? In the Rehearsal, the author, to make the most ridiculous part of it still more ridiculous, tells us, that it was written to a taylor, and by a taylor's wife. And even the discerning Spectator has given into this common-place raillery in the Monkey's Letter to her Mistress. He has made the soul which inhabited Pug's body, in recounting the humiliating state it had formerly been in, say, that he had been a taylor, a.shrimp, and from the habits and appearance contracted a recluse and sedentary life, that, in the et lightened, as well as the ignorant, the ide of taylor and insignificance are inseparab linked together." Tillotson's Sermons and a few relihe had removed to London he purchased gious tracts were his first studies; after the Night Thoughts, and by means ci stail-hunting collected a few other poets. It was his evening's amusement, when single, to read Entick's Dictionary, and to write down every word of which he wished to remember the spelling or the meaning. For the last fifteen years he has read but little, his family having claimed his utmost exertions; his bus ness allowing little loisure, and what leisure he had being generally employed in walking with his children. Though very poor he has been very happy. The Essay on War is designed to shew, says the author, "That war is an inevitable ill, An ill thro' nature s various realms dius'd, An ill subservient to the general good.” The paradox is supported by sundry trite arguments which we will not waste time in confuting. As a specimen (1 the poetry we seiect the personification of Gunpowder. Gunpowder! let the soldier's pean rise, Where e'er thy name or thundering voice is heard: Let him who, fated to the needful trade, Deals out the adventitious shafts of death, Rejoice in thee; and hail with loudest shout The auspicious era, when deep searching art From out the hidden things in nature's sto Call'd thy tremendous powers: and tuto:4 man To chain the unruly element of fire world. Or weak, or powerful, what escapes the free With teeth and nails-when close in view, and in Each other's grasp, to grin, and hack, and stab; Then tug his horrid weapon from one breast Of him whose breast he pierces-gunpowder! Of this essay, Mr. Capel Lofft says, that it displays a greater mastery in the mechanism, and greater power of numbers, than he should have almost thought possible in the first attempt in blank verse, even to a person of the best education. I regard it, he adds, as a poem of extraordinary vigour and originality in thought, plan, conduct, language and versification; I think it has much indeed of the philosophic character, poetic spirit, force of colouring, energy and pathos, which distinguish Lucretius. I am either ignorant wherein genius consists, or it is manifest in the idea, the style and numbers, the design and conduct of this poem. Having read our extract, the reader will see that there needs no waggoner's team to draw the inference. Mr. Capel Loft is ignorant wherein genius consists, or this poem has all the charms of thought and diction; but this poem has no other merit than what it derives from the situation of its author. It is remarkable, that a poor man, labouring at an unhcalthy and ignominious business, should be able to write verses at all. The reductio ad absurdum is mathematical demonstra None's poor but he, by sordid fears deterr'd, Who dares not claim the matchless wealth of love. "Virtue can make most rich thy little store; Virtue can make most bright thy lowly state; Murmur not then that virtuous thou art poor, While prosperous vice can make men rich and great. "The bad man may, his every sense to please, Each soft indulging luxury employ: The plenitude of elegance and ease He may possess, but never can enjoy. "No, though his goods, and flocks, and herds abound, His wide demesne to fair profusion grown; Though proud his lofty mansion looks around, On hills, and fields, and forests, all his own: "Tho' this may tempt thee, murmuring to complain, With conscience clear, and life void of offence, Verily, then, I've cleans'd my heart in vain ; In vain have wash'd any hands in innocence. "Yet could'st thou closely mark the envied Our coarsest fare, when sparingly we take, "Tis luxury, compar'd with other climes. Think of the poor Greenlander's dismal caves, Where thro' their long, long night they buried lie: slaves Hopelessly toil beneath the fervid sky. ton. The poem being bad, Mr. Capell Or the more wretched lands where hapless Lofft is ignorant, Q. E. D. lamentably 120rant, and presumptuously obtrusive e his ignorance. The other poems have more merit. We quote the following stanzas to praise them, and are happy that it is in our power to praise them. They are the advice of an old man to a poor lover: "Though envious age affects to deem thee boy, Lose not one day, one hour, of profferr'd bliss; "In Britain, blest with peace and competence, Rich fortune's favours could impart no more: Heaven's blessings equal happiness dispense, Eelieve my word, for I am old and poor. God." Mr.Capell Lofft supposes he has found a nest of poets. However much he is mistaken, the Bloomfields are certainly extraordinary men; and it gives us a |