Retrofpcci of Domejtk Literature-^Mifc^llayiies. ^ii 



%t the liottom of whicJi the egg flips anJ 

 tumbles about, far below the reach of 

 your finireib aud diC fpooii. 



" After liaving toiled and mcltcfl j'our- 

 fclf to an oil, ia nikiiij_ out a huge huJ 

 obltinate fire, at ttoiiig to bed, which at 

 liilt you fcoiii to bavf elTcCtt'd — Luinlng 

 round at the door, and feeing it bm-niui; 

 Jiud roiuing up far more fiercely timu 

 ever — and this, tied fires inflead of one." 

 A few of thofe little torments are de- 

 tailed in caricature ; but, upon the whole, 

 we think the volume entertaining. 



" More Mijli'iei" by another hand, 

 feeui to have its fair a claim -to notice ; 

 thougli we mult confeis that fome of them 

 partake more of the nature of real than 

 i'aucied torments. 



In Mr. BrcLANu's " EJfaj/ii'* we find 

 a great deal of good fenle directed by a 

 candid and liberal fpirit. One of the 

 moft important is, the ellay on the Li- 

 berty of Confciencc. Another relates to 

 llie fubjeCt of a National Eltablilhment 

 of Education for the lower Ranks of So- 

 ciety. Ill an elniy on FriendQiip, Mr. 

 Biglaud controverts the fentimental and 

 romantic notions of perfect friefldlliip, 

 and defends the prudential maxim attri- 

 buted to Bias, of conducting ourfelves to- 

 ward oiir friends as if they were one day 

 to be our enemies. The flyle, however, 

 which they are written in wants fpright- 

 Jinefs. 



The " Tlcflorution of (he ancient Mode 

 •of bejiouiiig Nuines on the liiveiS, llilU, 

 Valiics, F/ains, and Settlennnts of Bri- 

 tain, recorded in no Author," by Mr. 

 Dyr.p,, feems to add very little to our 

 ftock of etymology. It is his opinion. 

 " that to the Gaelic languaf:e alone we 

 arc indebted for the names of all our 

 rivers, hills, &c. ;" forgetting that, in a 

 country which lias been often overrun by 

 dnferent nations, varieties of etymology 

 may be expected. 



Mr. BitEWEii's " Hours of Leifnre^' 

 confdl of eflays and chara(^teri(lics, writ- 

 ten profefildly after the manner of Gold- 

 liiiith, with a ercai deal of point and hu- 

 iMour. 'I'he belt p.irtiait perhaps will be 

 found in the Itory of Matthew Merry- 

 tiiought. 



*' The BilHo graphical Mifcellani/," in 

 two volumes, fonns a valuable fupple- 

 inent to tlie dictionary which was pub- 

 lilhcd a few years ;igo. The firll volume 

 contains, 1. An Account of the Englilh 

 Tranllatltnis of all the Greek and Roman 

 ClalVics and Ecclchafiical VVraers ; the 

 authors alphabetically, and tha trrmlla- 

 iions clnonologicaliy arranged j with the 

 MoMHii' Mac. i\o. Wi, 



time, as near as could be afcertaineil. in 

 which each writer flourilhed ; and criti- 

 cal judgments on the merit of the princi- 

 pal tranllations, extracted from the boll 

 authorities. 2. An cxtenfive Liil of Ara- 

 bic and Perfian Grammars, Lexicons, and 

 Elementary Trcatifes ; with a particular 

 delcrlption of the principal works of the 

 bell Arabic and Perlian prole and poetic 

 writers, whether printed or in manu- 

 fori[)t; with fuch Enghlh tranllations of 

 them as have already a[)])eared before 

 the public. At the conclulion we have 

 this remark : " Tiie purchall'r of Oriental 

 M8S. muli not expett to find the title of 

 the work eitiier at the beginning or in u 

 head-line : the hitter practice is never 

 followed by the Ahatics, and but very 

 rarely the former. The name of the 

 work, however, may be frequently found 

 at the conclulion, with the year, month, 

 day, imd tranfcriber's name. 



The contents of the fecond volume are 

 more numerous ; chiefly conlilHng of fub- 

 jects which are rather connected with, 

 than form a part, of the fcicnce of bi- 

 bliography. It ojiens with Rcmarkson the 

 Origin of Language and alphabetical 

 Gliara6ters ; followetl by a Ihort Hiftory 

 of Printing, and a more particular ac- 

 count of the introduction and perfeftion 

 of the art iu Italy. The catalogue of the 

 authors Pud their works on bibliography 

 and typography, is divided into four claf- 

 fes ; accompanied by another lill of all 

 the towns and cities where printing was 

 carried on in the lifteenth centuiv. An 

 clfay on Bibliography, is followed by 

 fpocimeas of dirferent bihliographical fyf- 

 tcms, cliicily from French writers: and 

 the whole ciofed with feveral chronolo- 

 gical and- archa;ol(;gical Tables, which 

 the reader will find of confideiable ufe. 

 As a book of reference we deem it an 

 important work ; whether by itfelf, or as 

 a Supplement to the Bibliograpliiciii Dic- 

 tionary. 



Mrs. West's " Letters to a Young 

 Lady," are entitled to a high degree of 

 approbation: althougiithe authorefsfeeins 

 to have tilled too many of' her pages with 

 hihjects which are hardly appropriate to 

 female inltrattion. Too much is faid 

 upon rehgious controverfy ; and there are 

 too many dJgreirion.s, On the fubjects in 

 which the fex are cxclufively concerned, 

 her remarks are unobjectionable. 



" Cltironoiid'x ; or, a Treatife on Rhe^ 

 toricul Deliver I/," by Mr. Austin, is a 

 publication whicii we fear will not be 

 Viewed as a fiifi-nUc work. The terms 

 which he nfe.s are frequeutiy vague and 

 ■4 N ii^dcfuiite ; 



