1826.] 



Domestic and Forcisn. 



299 



iiiiie tliprii ; but wo enter our jjrotest 

 afdinst any man of talent — the translator 

 of this romance must be one — wasting his 

 hours ill translating works of this character. 

 It is ))intcd, that this book is an alle- 

 gory ; it is just as much an alligator. 

 We defy any one while reading it to dis- 

 cover, that they are reading abotit one thing 

 ivhicli means anollicr. Write and talk for 

 a month, and no dc/iiiition more according 

 with common sense will be rea<lily given 

 of allegory. The parables are perfect alle- 

 gories; the most beautifid and the only 

 perfect ones extant. Bunyan is the greatest 

 allegorist in our language. — " Theodore, 

 the Hermit of Teneritfc," by Johnson, is a 

 ,' beautiful allegory on the " force of habit ;" 

 ' and should be put into the hands of chil- 

 dren, for it conveys an admirable and use- 

 ful moral. 



Notwithstanding all that has been writ- 

 f J ten, it is but an individual opinion, so 

 it may be said : there may be some who 

 are so romantic as to doat on knights 

 and fights, horses and forces, tournays and 

 forays, loves and gro\'cs, things magic and 

 things tragic, improbabilities and impos- 

 sibilities, prancings and dancings, sleej)ings 

 and weepings, and think that high allegorical 

 instruction and a great knowledge of ancient 

 habits and manners, and a deep insight into 

 the obscurities of history is thus opened to 

 them ; all so disposed will find a choice col- 

 lection in the Magic Ring, well told, and 

 ingeniously varied. 



Ohl Friends in a New Dress, or Select 

 Fables of^sop. — It is unnecessary to quote 

 any single fable as a specimen of this little 

 book, as the whole constitutes an amusing 

 volume for the instruction of children. 

 The morals to the fables are concisely 

 written, and calculated to make impres- 

 sions on the youthful mind not very readily 

 obliterated. 



Naval Sketch-Book, or the Service Afloiit 

 and Ashore, S^c. <Jc. 2 lols., by an Officer of 

 Rank. — It is reported that a naval com- 

 mander, by the name of Glasscock, is the 

 author of this work. The title-page led 

 us to expect much more than we have dis- 

 covered after a careful perusal. We have 

 too much regard for the feelings of others 

 to condemn with severity ; or to use the 

 formidable weapons, sarcasm and ridicule, 

 unless the evident intention of a writer is 

 to do public injury. If we were, and we 

 have ample scope, to use this author, who- 

 ever he may be, with these weapons, we 

 should only do by liim as he has done by 

 others. 



We do not wish the guilty to escape 

 from deserved censiu-e ; in ever}' profes- 

 sion they should be held forth as exam- 

 ples : but we cannot approve of men being 

 lightly spoken of, who have done all that 

 men could do in the ser\'ice of their coun- 

 try. This author entitles Captain Lyon's 

 •la-st account of his Northern voyage a 

 ..Jeremiad." Captain Lyon, eveiy naval 



man acknowledges, in u ship the very woret 

 that ever sailed on such an expedition, con- 

 ducted himself in a persevering and most 

 seaman-like manner, and has written liis 

 account like a man of sense and feeling. 

 Men, imdcr the impression of dreadful 

 events, write more forcibly than when 

 merely amusing themselves with stories 

 and compilations like the author of Naval 

 Sketches. Captain Lyon's account of the 

 conduct of his crew, when in momentary 

 ex])ectation of death, is botli manly and 

 deeply interesting. Major McGregor's 

 narrative of the loss of the Kent East- 

 Indiaman, is one of the same class, only 

 far more harrowing and honible. Some 

 persons think that it savours a little too 

 much of inethodism. If it had been the 

 work of a i)erson who was not a witness 

 and a sufferer, we should rather lean to 

 that 0]>inion ; but it was the work of a 

 brave and cool-headed othcer, who relates 

 what he saw and what lie felt ; which ren- 

 ders that little volume a ver}' curious and 

 valuable dnciinieiit to the student of the 

 liuinan mind; as well as a most descrip- 

 tive narrative of an event, which the moot 

 heartless must read with excited feelings. 



Every English chieftain is wise, if he 

 fights, though the chances of ultimate suc- 

 cess are fifteen to twenty against liini. 

 Therefore we, in common witli most men, 

 regret that Sir R. Calder did not renew 

 his action with the enemy, though a fleet 

 might have come out from Ferrol, and 

 torn his laurels from his brow. He is 

 gone to his gnive broken-liearted, and his 

 consort suffered from mental delusion at 

 her husband's incomplete success ; and so 

 we are sorry that a higher sentiment did not 

 induce this author to let the matter sleep. 

 The tactique of the action may be dis- 

 cussed without reference to tlie unfortunate 

 brave. 



This author appears to us to write in a 

 tone savouring somewliat of the quarter- 

 deck : it is too positive, too arrogant in its 

 style, for us quiet civilians to admire, and, 

 after all, gives us but little information, and 

 not much amusement. 



His account of the victory on the 1st of 

 June 179-1, is very meagre, and in some 

 points incorrect; and his critical remarks 

 not such as might have been expected. 

 We have neither Admiral Sir Charles 

 Ekins' valuable work in our librarj', nor 

 even Mr. James's liistory, and so are com- 

 pelled to write from what we have learnt 

 among the best-informed naval men. 

 Lord Howe commanded a fleet officered 

 by men who had been growing rusty on 

 shore for years ; the ships composing 

 the fleet were many of them out of 

 trim, and not in that state of discipline 

 which was calculated to excite the entire 

 confidence of a commander. Tlie fleet of 

 the enemy was in a state of fanatical ex- 

 citement, and very finely manned. No 

 French ship on the 1st of June struck her 



■2 Q •> 



