ways unknown; it is different in different men; it is cafual, and de-
pends upon conflitution, temper, and paffion. In the beft it is often-
times caprice; in the worst it is every vice, folly, and paffion to which
human nature is liable.'

POETICAL.

6d.

St.
Art. 36. A Poetical Epifle to the Author of Verfes addreffed to
John Wilkes, Efq; on his Arrival at Lynn. 4to.
London.
1771. Sold by the Bookfellers of Lynn and Cambridge.
From the few fpecimens which we gave of the Verfes lately pre-
fented to Mr. Wilkes at Lynn †, our Readers may perhaps readily in-
fer with us, that the Encomiaft's station on Mount Parnaffus is fome-
where on the declivity of the mountain; though we will not pretend
to mark the identical fpot, or its elevation, precifely. We can speak
with more confidence and precision with regard to the ftation of his
prefent Anfwerer; who is evidently a lowlander, and appears to
have his fettlement in fome dark and deep cavern at the foot of
the mountain. He talks indeed of flying, with great confidence, in
the very first line ;

My mufe on daring pinions takes her flight

but his mufe and he are a couple of arrant cheats: for they never
once budge from the earth; nor can we difcern the fmalleft rudi-
ments of wings any where about them. He does indeed endeavour
to clamber up to the mountaineer; but his foot flips inceffantly. He
gets however within reach of his fatellite, the poor printer, who is
fomewhat nearer his level, and catches hold of him by the flap of
his coat-his best Sunday cloaths too-in which, he tells us, the
caitiff on his knees prefented the obnoxious Verses to Mr. Wilkes,
most gorgeously bound, and infcribed with golden capitals. For
this tranfgreffion he rolls the culprit in the mud brought down from
Helicon, till this poor Wilkite typographer's holiday coat is in fuch
a pickle, that the man can never furely appear in it any more
without turning it. After this most intemperate act, he defcants
a while on the good of Old England, and concludes with an invoca-
tion, and a prayer for poor Britannia, whofe cafe must be defperate
indeed, if it refifts the powers of verfe like this.
Art. 37. LEONIDAS; a Poem. The fifth Edition.

2 Vols. 6s. Cadell, &c.

1770.

B--y.

12mo.

That this well-known English Epic hath had many admirers, is evident from the circumftance of its having paffed into a fifth edition. Its first appearance in print was feveral years before the commencement of our Review; fo that any remarks on the merits and character of this poem, would be foreign to our province. We fhall, therefore, only add, for the information of our poetical Readers, that Mr. Glover, the ingenious Author of Leonidas, hath, in the prefent edition, not only corrected the poem throughout, and extended it from nine books to twelve, but hath alfo added several new characters; befide placing fome of the old ones in new fituations.

+ Review, March, page 259.

Art. 38. The Love of Money; a Satire. 4to. 2 s. Evans.

1771.

To be hungry, and to own it too, is at this time of day a very meritorious degree of modefty:

Write, write I muft; 'tis a licentious age,

And vices croud to feed a poet's rage.

Shame on the times

No! that ingratitude spoils all.

Shall I, with equal blame,

With equal lofs of honourable fame?"

Remember the Italian proverb, and fear nothing. He who affects to lofe what he never bad, lofes nothing but his fenfes.

And therefore caft my inborn worth aside.'

Read ftill-born.

' without remorfe,

Or pious looks, or fill more pious tears,
We'd hang all villains'-

Surely! why fhould not a hangman look like himself?
But where begin?'

At home.

I would, would I had a friend !"

That is true; hang him first by all means.

• Wilt thou affift me S

No; he is appointed Firft L-d of the Ay and has fomething else to do.

Thou canst tell

Where to begin; what characters of hell

I know the road, and felf-inftructed run.'

Occupet extremum fcabies! If you are for that road, good bye to you.
Here honour's loft, for Churchill is no more;
Churchill is gone, and G.

is a w

Whereas, had he been living, her ladyship would have been as chafte as Diana of the Ephefians.

*** bought a feat, will*

the truth disown,

Bought others virtue, while he fold his own:

And when the wretch his own can fell no more,
He fells that virtue which he bought before.'

Braviffimo! Encore!

So goody Jobfon went to Wakefield fair,

And fold fome eggs, and bought fome chickens there :
But when of eggs fhe had no longer store,

She fold the chickens that the bought before.

This worthy Gentleman informs us that he is himself very fond of the ladies at prefent, and that he loves them '

money;' but that, when he grows old and grey-headed, he intends aye, more than to turn pimp for the benefit of fociety, and,

prove what woman is the cause of vice.'

But, poor Gentleman! he is at present in a pitiable fituation indeed. 'But now I burn, and in the flower of youth.'. He threatens, however, to exert himself again the first opportunity : • Yet I may fting, when once love's fire is o'er,'

for

for the good of our countrywomen we would not recommend his refolution in the next line,

And, if provok'd enough, muft fting before.' L. Art. 39. The Book of Nature; a Poem. 4to. 1 S. Carnan. A fpiritlefs, well meaning poem, recommending moral improvement from the ftudy of Nature. Art. 40. Mifcellaneous Poems on various Subjects and Occafions. Revised and corrected by the late Mr. William Shenstone. 4 s. Boards. Newbery, &c. 1771.

8vo.

The Author of thefe poems is faid to be Mr. Jofeph Giles, who fome time fince refided at Birmingham, was intimately acquainted with Mr. Shenftone, and wrote fome pleafing poems in Dodfley's Mifcellanies. However the laft circumftances may feem to speak in his favour, the poetry here prefented to us is far beneath mediocrity. We prefume not to fay what the late ingenious Mr. Shenstone might be induced to do from motives of private friendship or benevolence. We are fenfible that with him thofe virtues had no narrow limits: but thefe poems were every way unworthy of his attention, and in truth we can fee no traces of that attention in them. L. Art. 41. The Dramatic Works of Mark Antony Meilan. Confifting of three Tragedies, Emilia, Northumberland, the Friends. As they were prefented to the Managers of both our Theatres, but refufed. Published by Way of an Appeal from the arbitrary Decifions of the Defpots of the Drama to Candour and the Lovers of theatrical Amufements, whofe Liberality fo amply aggrandizes thofe Defaulters. 8vo. 6 s. White, &c.

How the Author of this wretched ftuff could prefume to impeach the taste or impartiality of the managers for rejecting it, would be aftonishing, did not daily experience convince us that the vileft fcribblers believe their own compofitions excellent. In fuch cafes as thefe, the managers require no other pity than we ourselves do, that they are in fome meafure under a neceflity of looking into fuch performances.

L. Art. 42. Cricket, an Heroic Poem; illuftrated with the critical

Obfervations of Scriblerus Maximus. To which is added, an Epilogue, called, Bucks have at ye All. Spoken by Mr. King at the Theatre Royal in Dublin, in the Character of Ranger in the Sufpicious Hufband. By James Love, Comedian. 4to. 1 s. Davies. 1771. This is really a very decent claffical poem, does credit to the tafte, fpirit, and good fenfe of the Author, and may give pleasure as well to the critical as to the cricketical Reader. It was first published about 30 years ago. L Art. 43. The Temple of Compaffion; a Poem: Addreffed to a Lady, by an Officer in the Guards. 4to. I s. Ridley. The Author of this poem informs us that it was written chiefly for the pleasure of dedicating it to a lady,' and that it was a hafty, careless compofition.' This is certainly a very unfoldier like compliment, and the lady was but little obliged to the poet, who "could profeffedly be careless in the execution of a piece he honoured with her name. However, his total want of abilities as a poet will

i

L.

exempt him from the attention of minute criticism, and we shall al low him a place in his Temple of Compaflion. Art. 44. An Epifle from the Princefs Fa, at Naples, to the Countess of in London. Tranflated from the Italian, and addreffed to G. S—w―n, Esq; 4to. I s. White. 1771. This is a wretched attempt at wit; in the preface, against the patriots, who, the Tranflator fays, are Speechifying away; and, in the poem, against the coterie, which is certainly entitled to an abler fatyrift. น.

Art. 45. The Loves of Medea and Fafon; a Poem, in Three Books. Tranflated from the Greek of Apollonius Rhodius's Argonautics. By the Rev. J. Ekins, M. A. late Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and Rector of Quainton, Bucks. 4to. 3 s. 6d. Payne. 1771.

The Argonautics of Apollonius were of fuch high repute in antiquity that Virgil has not fcrupled to borrow very largely from that' writer, both in the conftruction, the fentiments, and imagery of his Eneid; yet we have never tranflated him; and indeed the dry detail of his fabulous heroes, and their uninterefting exploits in the two first books, is very forbidding. The prefent Tranflator has wifely enough, therefore, omitted them, and fallen only on that more interefting part which defcribes the loves of Medea and Jafon. But a mediocrity of art and genius (which if we allow Mr. Ekins, we grant him rather too much) was by no means fufficient here. And, indeed, this is a very tame and inadequate tranflation. To point out the feeble lines were endlefs; but the Tranflator has fometimes as little propriety as poetry. He reprefents the blooming Medea as an old hag, who, in the morning,

"Smooths her parched cheeks :"

She then gives orders to the female band,
Who in attendance near her chamber stand!'

L.

Art. 46. Eve's Legacy to her Daughters. In two Cantos, With her Epitaph: And Tirefias. 8vo. 1 S. Davies.

A graceless wag, making merry with his great grandmother,the apple, the ferpent, and the good man Adam. Some fcrupulous Readers may think the Author's humour (while employed on a fcripture fubject) not quite free from prophaneness. The transformation of Tirefias, however, was lawful plunder, as being an Heathen ftory. Vide Ovid's Metam. lib. iii.

Art. 47. The New Foundling Hofpital for Wit. Being a Collection of curious Pieces in Verfe and Profe. Part IV, 12mó, 2 s. 6 d. fewed. Almon. 1771.

A few choice bits may be picked out of this basket of scraps.

* See more of this collection, Review, Aug. 1769, p. 156.

ERRATUM.

In the Review for March, page 188, line 2, read, This he had promised to Dr. Priestley in one respect; and there can be no doubt but that in others Dr. Furneaux's accurate, &c.

THE

MONTHLY REVIEW,

For M Á Y, 1771.

ART. I. Obfervations on modern Gardening, illuftrated by Defcrip

tions. 8vo. 3 s. 6 d. Boards. T. Payne. 1770.
T. Payne. 1770. By Mr Wheat

HIS Author confiders Gardening as not confined to the

fpot from which it borrows its name, but as regulating the difpolition and embellishments of a park, a farm, or a riding; fo that the bufinefs of a gardener is to felect and apply whatever is great, elegant, or characteristic in any of them; to difcern and to difplay all the advantages of the place upon which he is employed; to fupply its defects, correct its faults, and improve its beauties. He obferves that the fcenes of Nature confift of ground, wood, water, and rocks, in various proportions and combinations; to which art has added buildings, and he treats of these separately.

Ground he confiders as mere furface, which may be varied into fwell, hollow, and level: he obferves that the convex and concave are in themselves lefs uniform than a plane, but that planes fhould not for that reafon be wholly rejected; a gentle concave declivity, fays he, falls and fpreads eafily on a flat; the channels between feveral fwells degenerate into mere gutters, if fome breadth be not given to the bottoms by flattening them; and in many other inftances, fmall portions of an inclined or horizontal plane may be introduced into an irregular compofition. Care only must be taken to keep them down as fubordinate parts, and not to fuffer them to become principal.

There are, however, occafions on which a plane may be principal: a hanging level often produces effects not otherwife attainable. A large dead flat, indeed, raises no other idea than of fatiety the eye finds no amufement, no repofe, on fuch a Level: it is fatigued, unless timely relieved by an adequate termination; and the ftrength of that termination will compenfate for its distance. A very wide plain, at the foot of a mountain, VOL. XLIV.

A a