། sate for defects of composition? The untimely death of dogs, cats, Though the author calls on a Muse in the first stanza, he bids her Amid the sacred griefs which rend my heart, Of fabled inspiration, light and vain.' The title of SIDNEY, which, like LYCIDAS, seems merely to imply 28. D! B....Y ope its Historical plays very rarely observe the truth of history. Faithfully to exhibit the march and issue of events in real life would not exactly answer the play-wright's purpose. Fiction must be invoked, in order to give a continued interest to the drama; and probability must be outraged, in order to surprise and give stage effect. Ghosts and spectres have lately received some countenance, to the no small satisfaction of the dramatic writer; who is happy, when put to a difficulty, to avail himself of the ready assistance of these preternatural beings. Hence a splendid and amusing scene is exhibited to the gal Ieries, but good taste is always disgusted. Mr. Boaden, in order to produce a sudden reconciliation between Llewellyn (the hero of the piece) and his brother David, makes the tomb of their mother "6 ponderous and marble jaws" to vomit forth her ghost; which being accomplished, the apparition magnificently ascends to the upper regions! Thus, by the intervention of this cerulean-coloured ghost, the angry hot blooded Welshmen are prevented from destroying each other; a momentary change from hatred to love is effected; and David, who just before was in rebellion against his brother Llewellyn and anxious to deprive him of his mistress, returns to his allegiance, renounces his passion, and undertakes to conduct Elinor from Chester, where she was in captivity, to Llewellyn's retreat in the fastnesses of Snowdon. It must be confessed that this maternal glost is not invoked for nothing, for no sprite could do more in less time: but was it necessary to oblige the tombs to give up their dead, in order to bring a rebellious brother to a sense of his duty? The stage stage cannot produce its proper moral effect by such a conduct. Are ghosts necessary to frighten to repentance? Is conscience so weak that it must be supernaturally aided before it can do its duty? Miserable erroneous doctrine! Would it not have been more judicious in the poet, to have brought the offending brother to seek for reconciliation with his prince by "compunctious visitings of nature?" The piece in other respects is not ill conducted, and the characters are well delineated. Welsh scenery and Welsh bards are introduced; and Llewellyn, instead of being conducted to a miserable end, triumphs, and becomes the ally of Edward. The play abounds with loyal sentiments, and is calculated to inspire ardor against an invading, enemy. Art. 36. The Patrons of Genius: a Satirical Poem. With Anec- This poem will probably be read by all parties, as the author calls "a spade a spade," and favours neither power nor person, nor profession. It is written on the plan (so often adopted) of the first satire of Persius. With respect to the little patronage at present bestowed on genius by the great, we must observe that the time,for expecting specific sums for dedications, and remuneration for flattery, is past. Authors are now too numerous, and the great are too poor, for such commerce. If a work has real merit, the PUBLIC does more for it, by enabling the booksellers to give a price for the copy-right, than, in times when a Mecænas could be found, any author could ever expect from individual patronage. Pope, the first poet who ceased to solicit patronage, (except for the subscription to his Homer,) was the first who acquired a considerable fortune by the sale of his writings. Every man can dedicate, but every man cannot produce a great work. It is well known that, in all countries, as civilization approaches, hospitality recedes: so in literature, while the writers and readers are few, patronage is wanting to encourage ingenuity and diligence to instruct and amuse mankind. Mo-y, The personages assailed in this satire have a sturdy foe to encounter. If, unluckily, some of our friends be among them, however we may wish to mount the stage in their defence, our interference might, possibly, have no other effect than to render future flagellation still more violent. We must therefore leave them to fight their own battles-for, though Broughton, the Pugilist and Beaf-eater, when in Germany, having had a quarrel with some soldiers of a Hanoverian regiment, is said to have offered to fight every individual of that corps, provided he might have leave to return home when he had done; we cannot screw our courage to the striking place" tight enough to fight for a whole regiment maltraité by one who might answer, perhaps, if asked his name,-" my name is Legion." We shall therefore, without attempting a defence of the nominal culprits, merely bear our testimony to the abilities of the judge, and present our readers with the exordium to his poem; which will at once manifest the author's design, and serve as a specimen of the polish and force of his numbers; • Reat 226 Beat to the ground at life's meridian stage, I summon'd all my friends :-My friends were two ; My other friend was hewn from sterner stuff. So the tall oak, by winds impetuous left These friends and I were met in close divan; We shall not cite personal accusations in the subsequent text,-nor the notes, which are written with still more spleen and personal obloquy, but hasten to p. 36; where, after a bitter invective against the Whig Club in the aggregate, the poet exclaims: No Whig is Cassius:- I should blush to see My name enroll'd in such society: A drinking, brawling, singing, motley crew, Discarded statesmen, disappointed dukes. Gods! how my bile o'erflows when men like these Corrupt society's most loathsome lees; Amaze the welkin with an empty cry Of Justice, Rights of Man, and Liberty, As if the villain, whom no ties can bind In private life, can cherish all his kind! On that dread day, for come it surely must, See 1 See there! Oh! see o'er all her fertile plains, A horrid concert-harmony of hell— And then, with rage more fell, set up their own.' Notwithstanding this Philippic against the Whigs, the author seems to have no partiality for Tories :-neither the Royal Family nor nobles are flattered, nor ever supposed to do any thing right:-nor can we rank him with Jacobins and Revolutionists. He complains in his preface, and in the opening of the poem, of something we know not what :-but if ever he was in humour with the world before his misfortune happened, it has had a mar vellous effect on his temper! His disorder is, peradventure, the jaundice, which has discoloured persons as well as things :-or, perhaps, his complaint is bilious. Art. 37. The Battle of the Nile, a Poem by William Sotheby, We hope that we shall not offend any of the preceding patriotic candidates for poetical fame, who have celebrated this signal and important victory, if we should deem the poem before us the best production on the subject, that has come to our knowlege. It possesses more nerve, more poetry, and a wider range of detail and description. DrB....y. The events in Egypt, subsequently to Buonaparte's landing, are accurately related, in lines which would not disgrace Dryden. One inaccuracy, however, will be laid to Mr. Sotheby's charge, arising from credulity in the rumour of the death of the French leader, p. 13, where it is said: Hark, the loud voice of rumour loads the gale, And loads with Egypt's curse his parting breath.? but, but, as Prior says: "Odzooks! must one swear to the truth of a song?" Mr. Sotheby was not singular in his belief of this rumour, which had penetrated every part of Europe; nor is the fallacy yet totally discredited among those who so ardently wished for the event. After the lines just cited, Mr. S. paints, with a glowing pencil, many of the revolutionary horrors in France, and the insidious arts with which she compassed the ruin, devastation, carnage, and plunder of other countries; particularly Switzerland. Speaking of the happiness of the latter, he says: • Did none resist ?-before the invading host The last of these lines, we think, is the most feeble in the poem. Did'st has scarcely been admitted in good poetry, since it was stigmatized by Pope : "While expletives their feeble aid do join.” Mr. S. admirably describes our military ardour in arming to repel invasion-the Foe's vain attempts on Ireland-and his threats against England-then bids Albion beware! • Trust not their oath, till heav'n accepts their pray'r— While frantic elders howl'd the shrine around? -and terminates the poem by recommending firmness in resistance, EDUCATION, &c. Art. 38. An Introduction to English Grammar: intended also to assist young Persons in the Study of other Languages, and to remove many of the Difficulties which impede their Progress in Learning. 4to 2s. 6d. Phillips, Lombard-Street, 4to2s. DrB....y. |