SUPPLEMENTART NUMBER 



TO THE TWENTIETH VOLUME of the 



MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 



Vol. 20, No. 138.] January 31, 1806. [Price Is. 6d. 



HALF-YEARLY RETROSPECT OF DOMESTIC LITERATURE. 



HISTORY. 



THE fecord and third volumes of 

 " Froissart's Chrcnicles,'" from 

 the Hafod prefs, deierve the firll netice in 

 the clafs ot hiltoi)'. The principal cir- 

 cumftance in v/hich they differ from the 

 former volume is in the plates, which are 

 no longer given in aqua-tint, but outline. 

 The notes and correiSiions fiill continue to 

 be valuable ; and the work itfelf forms an 

 elegant acceffion to our ftores of national 

 hiftory. 



The fourth volume of the " Hljfory of 

 the Jliglo-S axons, ^' by Mr. Turner, 

 claims the next place in our review. The 

 three former, which wc^e noticed long 

 ago, comprized their civil and military 

 hiftory ; but in tl;is we are made acquaint-; 

 cd with them in their private life j and 

 their manners, laws, cudoms, poetry, re- 

 ligion, literature, and language, are Cuc- 

 cefllve objeifs of attention. Many inte- 

 refting particulars concerning our Anglo- 

 Saxon anceftors, which had been lelt un- 

 ncticcd in their ancient maniifcripts, are 

 hi-'re prelerved ; and confiderable light is 

 thrown on thole parts of their hiftory 

 which have been ufually deemed confu feci 

 and obfcure. •' Some of the fubjecfs of 

 thig volume (fays Mr. Turner) have been 

 the objesSts cf zcal(;us controverfy." But 

 in fhefe quefti. n» he has difregaided all 

 theory and difjute, and confii.ed himfelf 

 to the t;>,(k of ftating with care and trutli 

 the facis which he found recorded on fucli 

 points in the Anglo-Saxon writers. On 

 their chivalry, their laws, tenures, and 

 aits, l;e has m:tny ne* and curious ob- 

 fcrvitions, but the portion of the wojk 

 vvhich hai occupied hiscliiet notice is their 

 literature. About a century ai^o,Rcft:arches 

 into Saxon liteiature were more coniman 

 than at prefent j but its (tores were 

 found not altogether fo a'tri61ive as was 

 at firft txpcfted, and theftudy fell gndii- 

 aily into dilrepuie. The Sixon (Chro- 

 nicle and Law<i, Al^re.l's Orofius, Bede"» 

 Eccltfiaftical Hiftory, arid the. Four Goi- 



MuNTHLY Mac. No. 138, 



ptls, were found to be the chief works of 

 intereft. The reft conlifted either of ho- 

 milies or b'loks which miglu be better 

 read in the tongues from wliich they were 

 tranflated. Mr. Turner has however 

 fhewn, that, even from thefe, occafional 

 notices may be gathered, highly illuftra- 

 tive of ancient manners. Uorh of the La- 

 tin and the na'i»e poetr) of the Anglo- . 

 Saxons he has given the beft fpecimens 

 with which we are acquainted, lome of 

 them from works which have been already 

 primed, and others from msnufci ipts that 

 had never kta the liglit before. The paf- 

 fages from the Saxon are tranflated with 

 correftnefs. Many of them tend to con- 

 firm the high character we have been fo 

 long accuftomed to hear of the compofi- 

 tions of King Alfred. But the beft arc 

 from the fecond Casdmon's Paiaphrafe on 

 Genefis, who in polifti and fubiimity had 

 no competitor among the Anglo-Saxon 

 poets. On the formation cf the Anglor 

 Saxon language, Mr. Turner has followed 

 the theory of Mr. Tooke. Altogether, 

 the w<yk, though not without faults, is 

 highly creditable to his talents and his in- 

 djifry. 



The fplendour and magnificence o.f 

 Qneen Elizabeth's reign has been ftrongly 

 m irked by Mr. Nichols, in the third vo- 

 lume of her " Prognjfes aijii Fublic Pro- 

 ceffio/!S." The two tirft appeared fo long 

 ago as 1788. It contains, befides a col- 

 lei5\ion of her Vilits and Progrefics, a va- 

 riety of conceits, devices, poem.s, fbng») 

 f'peethes, orations, &c., which accompa- 

 nied the excurfions, or were exhibited on 

 other occafions. Among thefc, fome are 

 of a graver, fome of a loolier kind j Conic, 

 odd or hunjiiuroBs, fome learned, wittyo 

 or inftruiHive ; all nr.uking a period to 

 which men were einuging from the bar.^ 

 harity and ignorance wheiein they iiaii, 

 long brrn held boih by the church an<i> 

 ftafe, Thircare likcwiic (bme dnciimi nt« 

 routing to the unfortunate Lady Jane 

 Qrey, who for a few day* poti'cfl'cd lua 

 4 F ^adow( 



