And mingled indignation thus exclaim'd.
"In this unwholefome fen, by the foul toad,
"And eyelel's newt inhabited, once stood
"The Bank and Treafury of England, fill'd
"With fhining heaps of beaten gold; a fum
"That would have beggar'd all the petty flates

Of Europe to have rais'd, here half the wealth
"Of Mexique and Peru was pour'd, and hence
"Diffus'd in many a copious ftream, was fpread
"To diftant towns, and cities, and enrich'd
"Induftrious commerce through the polished land.
"But now, alas! not e'en a trace remains,
"Not e'en a ruin of the fpacious pile,
"Raz'd even with the duft, by the joint hand
"Of the avenging multitude; what time
"The fall of public credit, that had long
"Tottered upon her airy bafe, involy'd
"In fudden and promifcuous ruin all
"The great commercial world —Then fell,
Struck to the heart by dark Corruption's arms,
"The British Lion-then the Flower de Lis
"Wav'd high on London's tower, and then funk
Beneath the tyrant's bloody hand, the laft
Remaining fpark of LIBERTY.-A dire
"And dreadful revolution! O my poor,

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My ruin'd country! long thou waft the pride
"And dread of nations; far above the reft
"Happy and great, nor would the envious foe
"Subdue thy warlike fons, but 'twas thyself'
"That kill'd thy felf.-O memory, that wounds
"My agonizing breaft!-O grief of heart
"That overturns all patience!"-Thus much
His plaintive voice was heard; the reft was choak'd
By fighs and groans, that would have mov'd the heart
Of favage rage to pity, much I griev'd

At Britain's downfall..

The only attempt at any thing like poetical defcription, is in the paffage that immediately follows:

thought revolv'd on thought,

And my rapt mind was held in fix'd fufpence,
And melancholy mufing, but foon rouz'd
By an unusual found;-the whistling wind
Mutter'd a hollow groan, the thicken'd sky,
Like a dark vault portentous ftood!—a blaze
Of reddeft lightning fhot across the gloom,
The thunder rais'd his dreadful roar, and clofe
Before my aftonish'd eyes a phantom stood,
In fhape and gefture like a warrior old;
Of afpect gaunt and grim; his grizzly beard
And fwarthy face was all befmear'd with duft,
And clotted gore, his fable armour pierc'd
Rev. Feb. 1780.

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With many a fhaft, upon his bruis'd limbs
And aged body feem'd a ufelefs load!
In his right hand he held a broken spear,
And in his left a moulder'd fcroll, whereon
The words of MAGNA CHARTA were engrav'd

In bloody characters.

The poem afterwards concludes with fome rhymes, which, we are of opinion, muft have been added by a very inferior hand, as they are fuch as would confer no honour on the belman.

The fecond piece in the collection is addreffed to Lady Catharine A-nf-y, on her departure for Ireland. This, as well as the poem that immediately follows it, addreffed to a friend from Venice, contains fome tolerable lines. The verfes we are most pleased with are

An Invitation to Mifs WARB—RT—N.

Already wafted from th' empurpled meads
Of bleft Arcadia, with soft vernal airs,
Zephyr had op'd the tender buds, that fear'd
Th' inclement fky, and now the genial fun
His vivid beams o'er herb, tree, fruit, and flow'r
Effufes, and calls forth the wanton spring
In all her charms-and fhall the spread around
Her honey'd treafures, and delicious bloom,
Whilft in dark cities pent, 'midft noxious fumes,
My Am'ret waftes the rofy hours, nor heeds
Their nectar'd sweets, unmindful how expand
The new-born leaves, or how th' enlivening ray
Paints ev'ry flow'r with green, and native gold?
O! come, thou faireft flow'r, by Nature's hand
Made not to bloom unfeen, where ardent love
Invites; and 'mid the love-inspiring gloom
Of HAGLEY fhades, deign tread the rural haunts
Of universal Pan; for there he dwells,

And thofe his lov'd retreats, where fhadowy woods
Weave leafy arches 'crofs the gufhing rilis,
That ever and anon from airy heights

Defcend, and gurgling through the op'ning vale,
Glide fmoothly onward, whilft the Naiads mark
Their calm foft courfe.-Such was the blissful feene
By fine poetic fancy view'd of old,

In Tempe's vale; where the delighted gods
With wood nymphs danc'd in chorus, to the tune
Of pipes and voices fweet, whofe charming found
The mute herds mov'd, and held their favage hearts
In rapture:-but not the who on thofe plains
With graceful step led on th' eternal fpring,
Fair Flora, nor the nymph whom gloomy Dis
Beheld in Enna's grove, and instant lov'd,
With Thee could be compar'd, nor could their charms
So touch the heart, or raise so pure a flame.

We

We almost imagine we perceive in the above little poem fome marks of the ftyle and fentiment of a former Lord Lyttelton. What, in fome meafure, favours our conjecture, is, that we find nothing in the prefent collection that bears any refemblance to it.

Befide the pieces already taken notice of, there is a tolerable imitation of the firft Elegy of Tibullus. The remaining part of the poems we pafs over as, in general, poor, contemptible, and vulgar.

Prefixed to this collection, is an apology for its noble Author, by a Gentleman who had been his intimate companion many years. From this intimate companion we learn, that no man ever experienced more illiberality; few men deferved it lefs.' And fpeaking of the obloquy and reproaches which his Lordfhip met with for his licentious and unprincipled conduct with refpect to women, this Apologift adds, there is no fituation in life which will admit of an avowed contempt of vulgar prejudices. We think this friend had acted more judiciously had he paffed over his Lordship's vices in filence, than thus by a feeble an ineffectual effort to excufe them, be the means of keeping up the memory of what, it might be hoped, would foon have been loft in oblivion.

ART. VIII. Letters on Patriotism. Tranflated from the French Original printed at Berlin. Small 8vo. 2 s. fewed. Conant. 1780. HIS work is introduced to the English reader by the following extract of a letter from Berlin:

T

The letters which accompany this, are at prefent read with the greatest avidity throughout Germany; they were lately published at this place in French, and are the production of our great northern hero.

"You will give the tranflation of them to the Public in whatever form you please. At this period, every incitement to patriotism is Jaudable; though the general conduct of your nation, which has justly excited the admiration of the world (I mean the general proofs of patriotifm), fufficiently fhew how little fuch incitements are wanted.

"In the tranflation, I am apprehenfive, fome traces may be dif covered of a pen difufed in its native language; but however it may fall fhort of the beautiful fimplicity and fpirit of the original, I believe it will be found no unfaithful copy of the illuftrious Author's meaning."

The above extract affords, in general, a pretty juft account of the work before us.

As to the authenticity of the Letters, we are difpofed to believe them genuine, when we view them in connexion with the other productions of the royal Author; but if we compare the generous, humane, and patriotic fentiments contained in the

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prefent

prefent work, with the life and actions of his Pn My, we fhall find as little reafon, perhaps, to afcribe it to him as to any other perfon in his dominions.

The Letters are fuppofed to pafs between Anapistamon and Philopatros; the former of whom is inftructed by the latter, in the duties which he owes to his country. These duties are enforced by every confideration (excepting thofe of RELIGION and LIBERTY) that can influence the minds of men. It is not in republics only that the virtues of the citizen ought to prevail.

Good monarchies, founded on principles of prudence and phi. lanthropy, conftitute in our times a fpecies of government approaching much more to aristocracy than to defpotifm; in fact, it is the LAWS only that reign in fuch a government.

Let us confider this matter a little-If we reckon up the perfons who have a thare in the feveral councils, in the administration of juflice, in the finances, in foreign miffions, in commerce, in the army, in the interior police of the nation; add moreover all those who have votes in the provinces; all thefe in fome degree partake of the fovereign authority. The Prince, in fuch a ftate, is far from a defpotic and arbitrary governor, acting only from his caprice; he is only the central point in which all the radii of the circle concur. In this form of government only, it is poflible for deliberations to be managed with a fecrecy unattainable in republics, and for the different branches of administration to proceed, like the quadriga of the Romans, marching abreaft, and concurring equally to the general welfare. If the Prince is endued with firmaefs, there will be much lefs room for faction than in republics, which are fo often ruined and fubverted by the iniquitous intrigues and confederacies of the citizens against each other.'

The Author, perfonating the Mother Country, fums up, in a few words, the principal arguments employed in the course of the work:

"Ah! ye degenerate and ungrateful children, indebted to me for your existence, will ye for ever remain infenfible of the favours which I heap upon you? Whence are your ancestors? It is I who gave them birth.-Whence did ye both receive your nourishment? From my inexhaustible fecundity; they were indebted to me for their education; their eftates and poffeffions are my ground, my foil. Ye yourselves were created in my womb; in fhort, ye, your parents, your friends, and whatever is dearest to you in this world, it is I who gave them being. My tribunals of justice protect you against iniquity; they defend and vindicate your rights; they guard your poffeffions; the policy which I efiablished, watches for your fafety; when ye walk the town, or ramble the fields, ye are equally fecure against the furprife of thieves, and against the dagger of affaffins;

* We leave it to our learned Readers to determine whether it is from ignorance of the Greek that the fecond and fourth fyllables of the word alluded to, are erroneously written throughout.

and

and the troops which I fupport, protect you against the violence, rapacity, and invafion of our common enemies. I not only provide against your neceffity, but my care extends even to the eafe and convenience of your lives. If ye are defirous of instruction," ye will find mafters of every kind; if defirous of rendering yourfelves ufeful, offices and employments are waiting for you; are you infirm or unfortunate, my affection has provided fuccour, and prepared affistance and for all the favours which 1 daily lavish upon you, I demand no other acknowledgment, than that ye entertain a cordial affection for your fellow-citizens, and intereft yourselves with a fin-、 cere attachment in whatever may be of advantage to them.-They are my members; they are myfelf; ye cannot bear any affection for them without loving me.-But your obdurate and intractable hearts defpife the value of my favours; ye fuffer yourselves to be directed by an unruly madness; ye are defirous of living feparate and abfracted from fociety, and of breaking the ties which ought to bind you to me. When your country is ftraining every nerve for your benefit, will ye do nothing for her?-Rebellious against all my care and anxiety, deaf to all my reprefentations, will nothing be able to foften or move your flinty hearts? Reflect-let the advantages your parents have enjoyed melt you! Let your duty and your gratitude unite! Let your future conduct towards me be fuch as virtue fhall dictate, and my care for your glory and honour demand."

Anapiftæmon, with the humble deference due to the royal Inftructor, yields a ready affent to the force of this eloquence. But in a country of LIBERTY it would not, perhaps, have been fo eafy to convince him. It is poffible he would have returned a manly, though refpectful anfwer to the artful demands of his fovereign. "You require," might he reply, "my gratitude, my fervices, my fortune, my life itself, in return for the favours which you confer on me. But it is neceffary first to examine whether thefe favours merit fo great a facrifice. • The troops which you fupport, protect me against the violence, rapacity, and invafion of our common enemies.' You forget that these enemies have been created by your ambition; and that it is only on your account I have the fmallest reafon to fear their refentment. The laws of my country defend me against affafins but fo will the laws of every civilifed country upon earth. The fame may be faid of the other boafted advantages which I derive from her. They are fuch as I may every where enjoy as a stranger, without laying myfelf under any burdenfome obligations. If my country would deferve my peculiar gratitude and regard, the muft diftinguifh me by peculiar favours, I mean not that he is to prefer me to my fellow-citizens; but she must make me feel the diftinction between citizen and stranger. She muft give me a conftitutional weight in the establishing, as well as in the adminiftration of thofe laws which defend my life, liberty, and fortune. Under their influence I must feel my own rights, and the rights of those who are dear to me, more fafe and fecure in my native country, than

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