Poems, and Tales; by Miss Trefusis, 12mo. 2 vols. 10s. Tipper. 1808. With many faults, these poems possess great excellencies: an elegant simplicity is their prevailing character; and the amiable author, who survived the publication but a few months, seems to have been careful to blend the purest morality with the effusions of her fancy. We cordially recommend them to her fair country womeu. Observations on Seduction and Prostitution, and on the evil Consequences arising from them; extracted from Matthew Henry's Exposition on the Old and New Testament; by Mary Smith, a Penitent, late of the Magdalen Hospital; and published for her Benefit : with a Poem, by Mr. Pratt, on the same Subject. Second Edition. To which are prefixed, preliminary Observations; and an Address to the Legislature, containing some proposed Measures for the Suppression of Seduction and Female Prostitution. 12mo. 2s. 6d. Hatchard, 1808. The shocking prevalence of Seduction, of which Prostitution is the necessary and almost unavoidable consequence, demands the serious attention and strongest check of the legislature. In what mode, and to what extent, the law should be allowed to act, we do not presume to suggest; but surely some measures should be devised and sanctioned by Parliamentary authority, for the severer punishment of seduction, and adultery, crimes which stand foremost among the crying sins of the nation. In these observations their moral and religious guilt is forcibly painted, and, as brought forward, or rather compiled, by a Penitent female, who has tasted the bitterness of Prostitution, but has happily been snatched from the perdition to which it leads, they may have a beneficial effect if properly circulated among her more unfortunate sisters. Under this impression we strongly recommend the present painphlet, which may also be read with advantage by every description of perSOAS, male and female. We are aware of the difficulty of adopting new legislative measures for the punishment of seducers and adulterers, and that some of our most zealous moralists have been foiled in the benevolent attempt to establish them. But the endeavour is not yet hopeless; and when the times shall be under less political pressure, we trust that this interesting point will not pass without the serious consideration due to it. We need not offer any apology for quoting the following Observations from Mr. Colquhoun's Treatise on the Metropolis. "In contemplating the case of those unhappy females who support themselves by prostitution in the metropolis of London, and in the country towns, it is impossible to avoid dropping a tear of pity. Many of them, perhaps, originally seduced from a state of innocence, while they were the joy and comfort of their unhappy parentsmany of them born and educated to expect a better fate, until, deceived by falsehood and villany, they see their error when it is too late to recede. In this situation, abandoned by their relations and friends, deserted by their seducers, and at large upon the world, loathed and avoided by those who formerly held them in estimation, what are they to do? In the present unhappy state of things, they seem to have no alternative, but to become the miserable instruments of promoting and practising that species of seduction and immorality of which they themselves were the victims. And what is the result?— It is pitiable to relate-They are compelled by necessity to mingle with an abandoned herd, who have long been practised in the walks of infamy, and they too become speedily polluted and depraved. Oaths, imprecations, and obscene language, by degrees become familiar to their ears, and necessity compels them to endure, and at length to imitate, and practise, in their turn, upon the unwary youth, who too easily falls into the snare. "Thus it is from the multitudes of those unhappy females, that assemble now in all parts of large cities and towns, that the morals of the youth are corrupted; that unnecessary expenses are incurred; and undue, and too often criminal, means are resorted to for the purpose of gratifying passions, which, but for these temptations constantly assailing them in almost every street in the metropolis of London, and in all the large cities and towns in the country, would not have been thought of. Through this medium, apprentices, clerks, and other persons in trust, are seduced from the paths of honesty, masters are plundered, and parents are afflicted; while many a youth, who might have become the pride of his family, a comfort to the declining years of his parents, and an ornament to society, exchanges a life of virtue and industry for the pursuits of the gambler, the swindler, and the vagabond. Nor is the lot of these poor deluded females less deplorable. Although some few of them may obtain settlements, while others bask for a while in the temporary sunshine of ease and splendour, the major part end a short life in misery and wretchedness. "What has become of the multitudes of unfortunate females, elegant in their persons, and sumptuous in their attire, who were seen in the streets of the metropolis of London, and in other large cities, and at places of public amusement, twenty years ago? Alas! could their progress be developed, and their ultimate situations or exit from the world disclosed, it would lay open a catalogue of sufferings and affliction beyond what the most romantic fancy could depict or exhibit to the feeling mind. "Exposed to the rude insults of the inebriated and the vulgar, the impositions of brutal officers and watchmen, and to the chilling blasts of the night, during the most inclement weather, in thin apparel, partly in compliance with the fashion of the day, but more frequently from the pawnbrokers' shops rendering their necessary garments inaccessible, diseases are generated which even their unhappy vocation does not produce. No pitying hand appears to help them in such situations. The feeling parent or relation is far off. An abandoned monster of the same sex, inured in the practice of infamy and seduction, instead of the consolation which sickness requires, threatens to turn the unhappy victim out of doors, when the means of subsistence are cut off, and the premium for shelter is no longer forthcoming; or, perhaps, the unfeeling landlord of a miserable halffurnished lodging afflicts the poor unhappy female, by declarations equally hostile to the feelings of humanity, till, at length, turned out into the streets, she languishes and ends her miserable days in an hospital or a workhouse or, perhaps, perishes in some inhospitable hovel alone, without a friend to console her, or a fel low mortal to close her eyes, in the pangs of dissolution. "To restore to a virtuous and industrious course of life the unfortunate victims of seduction, is, no doubt, one of the greatest acts of mercy we are capable of performing. Several institutions, for this truly Christian purpose, are established in or near this metropolis-the Magdalen Hospital, the Lock Asylum, and the London Female Penitentiary. It is scarcely possible to imagine a situation more wretched, and more to be pitied, than that into which many of these unhappy sufferers are plunged, by the wicked arts of their seducers; and great indeed must be the joy of those persons who are inore immediately employed in bringing back these miserable young women to the paths of virtue, and restoring them to the arms of their afflicted parents and friends but our endeavours should not only be exercised in reclaiming those who have fallen into such misfortunes, we ought likewise to do what lies in our power to protect the unwary female from the snares of the cruel seducer, the plunderer of virtue and innocence." The Contrast; a Poem: including Comparative Views of Britain, France, and Spain, at the present Moment; in two parts; addressed to an English Nobleman. By Mr. Pratt, Author of “ Sympathy, Gleanings," &c. &c. 3d Edit. corrected, 12mo. p. 28. Cradock and Joy, 1803. The primary object of Mr. Pratt, in these lines, was to congratulate Lord Shaftesbury on his return to England from his confinement in France, and to contrast the situation of the two countries; which he has done with great force and feeling: but the noble resistance to the Gallic yoke in Spain prompted him to enlarge his Poem, and "build the lofty rhyme" in celebration of an occurrence which is worthy of the best offerings of the Muse, and, whatever may be the fate of the contest, will conduce to the everlasting glory of the Spanish character. After dwelling on the atrocities of the French, and the state of wretched degradation to which Bonaparte has reduced his subjects, Mr. Pratt finely adverts to the noble efforts in Spain. " But, O! what visions, awful and profound, From Heav'n from highest Heav'n, descends the flame, "Twas thus the pillar'd fire its beam display'd, To gild the sacred path which Heaven had made." We have only room for one more extract. The brief recapitulation of some of the ancient exploits of the Spaniards is highly animated. He urges the brave patriots to proceed in imitating the valour of their ancestors, and set the same brilliant example to their posterity. * Hence may the captive nations nobly rise, And feel the tinge of mingled rage and shame. Whom honour, virtue, and the Muse inspire!" He concludes with panegyrizing Great Britain for lending its aid to the Spanish cause; an aid which we almost fear has been afforded too late; at least, from what has recently occurred, without giving way to despondence, we have certainly more to apprehend than to hope or expect. Heaven prosper the right! |