560 



Literary and Critical Proemium, 



[July I, 



miliar life, apparently written in support 

 of rclig-ious principles of an Evangelical 

 tendency. There is nothing' striking or 

 novel in the structure of the story. 



Dr. John Reid has published a second 

 edition, with considerable additions, of his 

 Essays on Hypochondriasis, and other 

 Nervous Affections. On a subject like 

 this, many people feel inclined to dwell 

 with an intense personal interest ; and they 

 will certainly not be repelled by the style 

 in which Dr. Reid has treated it. We 

 have seldom read a more entertaining per- 

 formance. Many anecdotes, and some of a 

 ludicrous nature, are detailed. In one in- 

 stance, the Doctor was asked for bark, or 

 some corroborative medicine, to enable his 

 patient to go through an impending suit in 

 Chancery. He was not then ill, but he ex- 

 pected to be so ; aud, we think, very ra- 

 .tionally. The style of these essays is 

 lively and spirited, exliibiting great ease 

 of composition, and happiness of illustra- 

 tion. 



We recommend to the public attention, a 

 little work of a very unassuming cliaracter, 

 but well worth perusal, under the title of 

 Charles the First Pourtrayed. It is nov/ 

 republished from the edition of 1747, and 

 consists of a relation of authentic facts, re ■ 

 specting that monarch's conduct, in the 

 form of a Letter to a Clergyman, by G. 

 CoADE, jun. of Exeter. We esteem its re- 

 appearance to be peculiarly seasonable at 

 this period, when the exploded doctrines 

 of hcredilary right and non-resistance are 

 enforced by such acombination ofmonarchs 

 as the world never before saw. Despots 

 have always been sufficiently inclined to 

 make common cause, but it was reserved 

 for our own times to witness an association 

 of Kings, guaranteeing to each other the 

 mutual possession of their absolute power. 

 What might have been the consequence, 

 had Charles the First been backed by such 

 a league ? But we are happy in the confi- 

 dence, that iu all such contests, the victory 

 will ultimately incline to the scale of free- 

 dom. 



To the.5e who take much interest in the 

 enjoyments of the table, Mr. Accum's 

 Trccifisn on Culinary Chemistry, and the 

 scientific principles o/"C'oo/icn/, will form 

 unattractive object of study. After sundry 

 philosophical disquisitions on the food of 

 man, and an exposition of the importance of 

 the art of cookei'y,.he proceeds to analyze the 

 g'eneral operations of the kitchen, and con- 

 cludes with recommending and explaining 

 the best and most wholesome of its prepa- 

 rations. To some such work as this, Mr. 

 A'jcumwas in duty to the public bound 5 

 having- in his previous Treatise on the 

 " .'Vlulleiniion of Food, and Culinary Poi- 

 sons," inspired a honor of ordinary ali- 

 ments into our minds, which if is uncprtes- 

 lionably the purjioi?': of the present yoluine 



to allay. Oar satisfaction is great on find- 

 ing, on this occasion, not Death, but 

 " Health in the Pot." We are once more 

 reconciled to the flesh-pots of Egypt. For 

 what we shall venture to receive, we shall 

 be thankful to Mr. Accum. To say the 

 truth, there are manyplain and useful di- 

 rections laid down here, for which house- 

 keepers ai'e indebted to him ; being free 

 from the objeclions generally advanced 

 against the recipes of professeu cooks — va- 

 riety of materials and prodigality of ex- 

 pense. This work is published by Mr. 

 Ackermap, into whose hands it came iu 

 consequence of some unfortunate circum- 

 stances, well known to the public. 



We cannot say much in commendation of 

 Christina^ s Bevenge ; or, the Fate of Mo- 

 naldeschi, with other Poems, by J. M. 

 MoFFATT. The principal piece, with the 

 notes attached, will be perused with in- 

 terest, on account of the shocking and mys- 

 terious incident to which they relate. But 

 the style is prosaic and tame, and the ca- 

 tastrophe is disgusting, from the spiritless 

 way in which the hero of the tale submits, 

 we believe, with historical truth, to be 

 butchered. Such aversion of anexecution 

 into rhyme is not at all to our taste— it re- 

 minds us of a slaughter-house. 



" Yes, stranger, I belieUI the scene, 



Which ne'er will from my memory part: 

 I saw the victim'.'* ilyins mien, 



Mark'il the last frame, — convulsing start. 

 And when his throat the weapon tore, 



When freely gu.sh'd the living blood, 

 I watched thefa.si conf;ealingsore. 



While yet it ran a crimson flood." 



These are the first lines of the poem. 

 The versification is upon the model of Lord 

 Byron's, but strongly partakes of the ilat- 

 nessof the subject. If- Morialcteacbi' died 

 in the manner here represented, he has 

 found a poet worthy of him. The small 

 pieces have little interest, and may be 

 passed over in silence, except a translation 

 of the first and second books of the jEneis, 

 which a proper veneration for the name of 

 Dryden should have induced the author ta 

 suppress. 



The facetious Dr. Syntax has completed 

 his third and final tour, and, after various 

 misadventures in search of a wife, altoge- 

 ther different from those of Coelebs, has 

 passed from matrimony into nonentity. 

 The decease of the worthy Doctor is much 

 to be deplored. He was one of tho'^e who 

 might exclaim with the frolicsome boy — 

 " What a funny thing it is to be alive !" 

 For with the Doctor, life and fun were sy- 

 nonymous. His adventures, however, as 

 here recorded, and illustrated with appro- 

 priate p'ates, are left to console us. His 

 epitaph ought to be an epigram, and his 

 requiem a chorus of hearty laughter— in 

 which the reader, who fakes in hand this 

 orig-inal and grotesque piece of drollery, 

 will have no objection iojoin. 



ASTldVnlKi. 



