Reproaching morn now blushes in the skies, : No far from its loud plaint she pillows her pale cheek. Full in her view stalk RUIN's ghastly train; These wring her throbbing heart and gender wild despair." Dr. B. declares that he will regard his Muse as amply repaid if she one votary saves,' Art. 16. Poetical Amusement on the Journey of Life; consisting of various Pieces in Verse: serious, theatric, epigrammatic, and miscellaneous. By William Meyler. 8vo. pp. 220. 6s. Boards. Bath, printed by the Author; and sold by Robinson, &c. London. 1806. We have derived little amusement from the first section of these fugitive compositions. A paraphrase of St. Paul's sublime description of charity is the first in the collection; and what rhyming imitation ean ever equal the original prose? Mr. Meyler's expansion is cold and lifeless.-The Sorrows of a favourite Spaniel' are vented with disgusting coarseness: but the Monody on the death of Garrick' possesses some poetical merit, and conveys us, by an easy and natu ral transition, to the second part, in which the author appears to much greater advantage. In most of his prologues, epilogues, and occasional addresses, which are varied with due discrimination, we discern much ease, and are now and then treated with a neat or witty allusion. We are inclined to particularize the Epilogues delivered by Mr. Jackson, Mr. Brunton, and Mr. Blisset, the apologetical address spoken by Mrs. Didier, and that which is intitled' Old Crop.' The epigrammatic specimens are generally well turned: as for ex ample: The Fair Equivoque. As blooming Harriet moved along, What roses deck that Grecian face! "Nay," Dashwood cries, "that bloom's not Harriet's, 'Twas bought at Reynold's, Moore's, or Marriott's; And though you vow her face untainted, I swear, by God, your beauty's painted.” A wager instantly was laid, And Ranger sought the lovely maid; The The pending bet he soon reveal'd, • The Retort Simple. • Cries a buck of a Parson, impatient and hot, • Emblem of death! come soothing, balmy sleep, : Mr. Meyler apologizes for blending with the Miscellaneous effusions several pieces which should have been placed under their proper heads. The Sonnet at page 161, and Billy Burrows,' for instance, belong, of right, to the first division; and they are sufficient to con vince us that the author, with a little pains, might succeed even in the graver walks of poetry; for both are characterized by tenderness of sentiment and simplicity of diction. The performance, indeed, on the whole, makes such a pleasing olla podrida, that it is with much reluctance we notice such imperfect rhymes as seat and gate, frame and gleam, came and beam, taste and feast, wake and bespeak, seen and lane, &c. We cannot, also, recognize the meritorious worth of the following lines: Celestial charity, generous and kind.' Long carried on in but one trader's name.' With such a charge for worlds I had not fell.' In works of length and transcendant merit, we are enjoined by high authority to overlook the pauca macula: but short composi tions, not hastily published, have no claims to similar indulgence. Several of the present juvenile productions, though honoured with myrtle wreaths at Bath-Easton villa, will bear revision might have remained in the author's repositories, without subtracting from the value of the collection: but from the charge of high crimes and literary misdemeanours, we willingly absolve Mr. Meyler, and he is hereby absolved accordingly." and some Art 17. Corruption, a Satire, with Notes. By Thomas Clio Rickman, &c. &c. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Author, Upper Mary-le bone Street. *Somne levis ! quanquam certissima mortis imago, Consortem cupio te tamen esse tori. Alma quies! optata veni: nam sic sine vitá Whether Whether it be a bad or a good symptom, we leave to the decision of our readers, but the fact is that the lynx-eyed observer of the defects of governments and of the faults of men in power is become a character which very few are disposed to caress. The orthodox political faith is that Ministers must be right, that their adherents and satellites cannot be very wrong, and that to expose them to the shafts of satire is a measure truly jacobinical. An acceptable satirist must now choose his game with discretion; he may hold up to derision a fine lady or a Bond-street lounger, if he will be content with "breasing such butterflies upon the wheel :" but he must not venture to charge Corruption on our rulers, nor hint at the existence of "rottenness in the state." Mr. Rickman, therefore, is not a fashionable censor; for he takes liberties with the Great, and tries to persuade us, (though by-the-bye no man who sees his own interest will believe it,) that modern statesmen and senators are capable of the vile obliquity of sacrificing the public good for their own private aggrandizement. Can he think that such heresy as his will be tolerated? • England! at that dear name my heart's blood warms, Weeping on recollection tears of blood, I once remember thee-how fair! how good! The fear and envy of the world beside: But now, alas! how weak-how fall'n-how chang'd-- I view thee, grasping for a moment's breath, It is not strange? no, 'tis a thing of course, Granting, however, that Corruption exists to the full extent of the Satirist's ideas, we do not think that he has exposed it with that energy and poetic vigor which we are justified in expecting in poems of this character. He applies the rod with a feeble arm; and many of his couplets are so tame and vapid, that they are more like sing. song than satire: E. G. To conjure in his brain the silly whim • Cunning Cunning and superficial, prating ever, Shame on their meanness who such things can do A poet who is solicitous to make things better should study to make better verse, in order to give effect to his expostulations. Art. 18. Sacred Dramas: intended chiefly for young Persons. To which is added an Elegy in Four Parts. By John Collett, Master of the Academy, Evesham, Worcestershire. 12mo. Longman and Co. 43. 6d. To the entertainment which the author received from a work of Mrs. H. More, bearing precisely the same title, and published by her in 1802. (see M. R. Vol. lxvii. p. 31.) we are indebted for this undertaking, in which Mr. Collett has endeavoured to increase the list of Sacred Dramas. The gentleman, however, does not presume to contest the palm with the lady; on the contrary, he ingenuously acknowleges that his Dramas are inferior to those already before the public. In one respect, Mr. Collett has exceeded the plan of his fair predecessor, having introduced persons of his own creation to fill out the piece and to sustain the dialogue: but he pleads in excuse that he has more occasion for imaginary characters, on account of the paucity of real ones.' How far this apology is strictly admissible, in the present case, is a point on which we shall not venture to decide. Poetic liberties are not allowed to be taken with Sacred Scripture; and it will be said by critics that, if a narrative in the bible includes fewer characters than are necessary for the compo sition of a Drama, the attempt to dramatize it should be abandoned. We are not sure that to works of this kind, as designed for young persons, it might not be objected that they tend to give to Sacred History an air of fable. A palpable defect consists in the unaccommodating nature of the subject, which rejects embellishments strictly poetical; while the very language, which is appropriated to it, is that which we employ in our devotions. Mr. Collett's first Drama is intitled Ehud, the subject being taken from Judges chap. iii.; the second, Naboth, from 1 Kings chap. xxi. ; and the third, Esther, from the canonical book of Esther only. In the first he has displayed most genius, having indulged in the greatest liberties. He has formed the story of Ehud into an interesting piece; and, employing the usual appendages of Dramatic exhibitions, with the introduction even of a song and chorus in the last scene, he has studied what is called stage effect. The dialogue is tolerably mana❤ ged: but occasionally the author is very negligent of rhythm, though he talks of his employment in measuring syllables;' and his language is sometimes extremely poor. And is the spirit of liberty destroyed?' • And Israel has oftimes done the same." • That can with more propriety be raised.' he 'he looks as he Would utter, Haman, I care not for thee, This, this I cannot bear.' Farewell, my Lord, we will erect the gallows.' Though we have mentioned Mr. Collett's Song and Chorus in the Anale of Ehud, we cannot compliment him on this lyric effusion: it is not like Eastern poetry, but has a bad resemblance to some of the poetry of the West, as the chorus of the warriors, &c. on bringing Ehud victorious into Eglon's Palace will evince: Raise your voices! sound your trumpets! Lo the conq'ring hero see! Crown him ruler! Crown him! Crown him He has sav'd from slavery.' On the whole, however, the characters are well sustained. The Elegy in four parts is in fact a series of Elegies on a brother and three sisters; the first of whom died March 3, 1791, and the last Oct. 7, 1802. In these mournful compositions, the author was no doubt inspired by affection, but not by the Muse; and they should not have travelled beyond his own family. Art. 19. Edgar, or Caledonian Feuds: a Tragedy, performed with universal Applause at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. By George Manners, Esq. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Tipper and Richards. 18c6. A rapid succession of incidents, producing the most unexpected and unexampled vicissitudes in the fortunes of the heroes of the piece, constitutes the chief interest of this performance.-In favour of the alleged inexperience of the writer, and the little time allowed him for preparing to meet the public, we are willing to overlook the harshness of his numbers, and the strange liberties which he has taken with the established laws of versification: but the total absence of that elevation of sentiment, and of that just and lively delineation of passion, in which consist the genuine graces of the Tragic Muse, forbids us to flatter Mr. Manners with the prospect of future celebrity beyond the walls of a theatre. LAW. Art. 20. Practical Points, or, Maxims in Conveyancing, drawn from the daily Experience of a very extensive Practice. By a late eminent Conveyancer. To which are added Critical Observations on the various and essential Parts of a Deed, by the late J. Ritson, Esq. 8vo. 5s. Boards. Clarke. The editor of these tracts represents them as containing a brief but instructive selection of maxims, which the student may turn to great advantage by diligent reading, and to a much greater by interleaving his own copy with writing paper, and making it his com mon place book.' Entertaining such high notions of their importance, he ought, we think, to have bestowed a little attention on their revisal. The passages here strung together might surely have been copied accurately, references made to the works from which they were |