1824.] Literary and Critical PrGemiwrt, 437 



in June 1823, icrtivoil (lom Sir Thomas vntehratcd iiuimais. — The Coniniissimi 

 Rrishane. — M. GoolTmy prereiitcil a on Gus Jlinsniiiiition [>ro«-i!lc<l soniu 

 Tftlile of corrcspondinir Nompnelaliiie tirw pioposilions relative to Gasomeicis 

 of the sections of tiie skull of various jrlaced at atlistancc fioiii the Gas-works. 



NE^V BOOKS PUBFJSIIED IN MAY : 



WITH AN HISTOKICAI^ AM) CRITICAL PHOiilllUM. 



Authors or Puhlishers, desirous of sceins; an early notice of^ their Worhs, ore 

 requested to transmit copies brfare the 18<A of the lUoiith. 



THE pnhlic arc under great obliffations 

 to tlie ardimr anil activity of Mr. 

 Blaquiere, who lia-i done honour to liii 

 eountry by his zealon* exirtions both in 

 Spain and Grpee(^ 'I'lie Commitiet^ of 

 tl^e Greek subscriptions in London 

 evinced a ronimendaliU' discrimination in 

 appointing; Mr. Bhupiicre to be the me- 

 dinni of their eommiinicatinn with (he 

 chiefs of the Greek Hiroliition ; and Mr. 

 lilaqiiiere has proved !iis various qra'iii- 

 cations in a very intelligent and well- 

 written volume 01! the Origin itnd Prrgress 

 of that Revolution. Mr. !5. of course 

 writes ai an ailvocate and partizan ; but 

 lie does not aj'pear to have e\pns( d his 

 fidelity to snspicion, and we an' dispospd 

 to give hiui full credit for the ■jlowiu;; pir- 

 tHie which he has drawn of Ottoman bar- 

 barity and Hellenist patrioti:<ni. We 

 shnddpr, however, at the waste of hnmim 

 life that, on bnth sides, has restdtcd from 

 a contt'st in which relij;ion itself has ben 

 tike stimulating; eai\se. Priestcraft on borh 

 sides appears lo have been equally inia- 

 cbievons. 



Want of room has prevented us from 

 drawing the public attention earlier to the 

 reprint of Dr. P.iHCivAl,'.s Poema in 

 London. We have seen many sprcimcus 

 of American taslc and genius, but we 

 think this work or:eof the most lav(uir:!ble. 

 Dr. Percival resides in Connecticut, is 

 still a young man, and was an instance of 

 precocity of talent during his college stu- 

 dies. " The Wreck,"' " Prometheus," and 

 " the Suicide," are pieces the lent'tli of 

 which enables the author to exhibit his 

 powers of description, and display his 

 philosophical principles. The ti'st of 

 these is in the sitii;de but effective manner 

 of Wordsworth ; and the author writes 

 like a man of t'eelin;;, who l;as been acei's- 

 tomcd to the phenomena of the sea. In 

 " Prometheus" he displays his phvsics and 

 his metaphysics; but there is a tiuije of 

 that reliuious mysticism which, perhaps. 

 for another century, must be indulL'ed 

 amonz the descendants of the gloomy fa- 

 natics who fnst peopled New iCii::iand, 

 and whose j)reju(lices still restrain the 

 free exertion of American intellect. But 

 for this drawback, the Poems w-uiid be:\r 

 comparison with the most tasieful produc- 

 tions of the niuther country. We mij:lit 



introduce several examples similar to the 

 following : — 



MOHT OF LOVE. 



Fair as the first blown ro«e,— but, O ! as fjeetin?;, 



Soft a? Ihe down upon a cygnet's brcnst, 

 Swert ai the air »'lien gales and Ho'j'Prsatemeeling, 



Biijjhtas t':e jewel una sultan's vest. 

 Dear as the infant •snn.ilin.j when care'^s'd. 



Mild as the wind ,il dawn in ^prd blowing. 

 Calm as the innocent heart,— and O ! a< blest; 



Pure as the spring from mountain »raniie tlowing. 

 Gay as the lulip in its starred bed slowin;», 



As clouds that curtain round the west at even. 

 O'er eardi a canopy of glory throwing. 



And heralding the radiant path to heaven. 



Swe=t as the sound ■^hcn waves, in calm retreating, 



Tioll bacK in anrjling ripples from Ihe stiore, 

 witen in ihe curling well still waters, meeting. 



Clear from the spout the mol'en crvsial pour; 

 Sweet as. at distance heard, the C3scadi''s roar. 



Or ocean on the lone rock faintly da-hing, 

 Ot dying thunders, when ibc storm' is oVi, 



And dull-seen lightnings faraway are Hashing ; 

 Sweet as when spring isgarl inding the trees, 



The birds in all the hush of life are singing. 

 And as the iisht leaves twinkle in the breeze ; 



The woods wi.h melodv and joy are ringing. 

 When Uedsof mi;it, and flowering fii-ids of clover, 



A'eied dent of Nature's bilmiest store; 

 And the cool wind from rivers hurries over. 



And gathers sweets that Hybla never bore. 

 Fair as Ihe cloudless moon, o'er night presiding. 



When earth, and sea, and air. are hush'd and still. 

 Along ihc b'jning d imeof Na ure riding. 



Crowning with iiqu'd lustre rock and nill, 

 Pencilling with her silver beam the rill 



Thit o'er llie wave-worn matble falhn? plavs, 

 Sheeting with light the cascade at the mdl, 



.And paving ficcan with her tremulous rars. 

 Through ilic closed ii 'r of dewy violets stealing, 



And gemming with clear (jrops the mead and 



Such is ihf hghl the native heart of feeling 

 Throws round ilie stainless object of his love. 



Mr. Stekle has added to the maferia's 

 of history, in resard to the late degrada- 

 tion of huiUHU nature in the P'-ninsula, in 

 his Notes 'in the ^f'llT in Spain. He writes 

 as an eye-witness, and draws a disgusting 

 picture of the conseqnences of tieaehery 

 an-ong the Spanish leader*. ']"he soldiers 

 vvere thus tiislieartened, and an ingloiioiis 

 tritimoh obtained. One anecdote wliieli 

 he relates of .Sir Robert Wilson is wortli 

 all the stars and oiders with which th.it 

 hero was ever decorated. "A geiilleman, 

 (says Mr. Steele,) who had made a voyage 

 in his cmnpany, exclaimed jociiiaily, in 

 my presence, that .Sir Kohert Wilson, with 



his d d liiimanity, hati prevented tlieoi 



from shooting at the porpoises and sharks 

 tliaf swum al'inL'-ifle tiie vessel.'' 



The Hii'i^T' phij of the Britsh Singe is 

 ntucli superior in matter and luanner 

 10 Ihe gener.il run of such proiliictions, 



aud 



