1822.] Critical Notices of Books of the Month. 347 
tion of our readers, to a little volume, from 
the pen of Mr. Richard Ryan, whose 
critical knowledge of Irish literature is 
well known to the public, entitled, Eight 
Ballads on the Fictions of the Ancient 
Irish , and other Poems. They are marked 
by a rich and elegant vein of playfulness 
and humour ; and, in many instances, ex¬ 
hibit great depth and energy of feeling. At 
the same time we feel ourselves bound, as 
impartial critics, to observe, that the Eight 
Ballads with which the volume opens, 
though the most prominent, are by no 
means among the happiest efforts of the 
author. They appear to us deficient in 
spirit and animation ; the fourth, in parti¬ 
cular, can only be regarded as a very feeble 
imitation of the hacknied English song, 
How sweet are the flowers that grow by 
yon fountain r It likewise strikes us, 
that from so fertile afield as that of Irish 
tradition, a much more interesting aud ju¬ 
dicious selection of fictions than the pre¬ 
sent might have been made. Of the 
poems annexed to] the ballads, we can 
speak in terms of more unqualified ap¬ 
probation. They are at once lively and 
tender ; and are evidently the offspring of 
a vivid imagination and a feeling heart. 
The writer is of the school of Moore, and 
he does not dishonour the model he has 
chosen. We subjoin a small piece ex¬ 
tracted from Mr. Ryan’s volume-, which 
will, we have no doubt, in the opinion of 
our readers, justify the praise we have be¬ 
stowed upon it. 
Forget thee!—in my banquet hall, 
Go ask my fellow men, 
Or ask the tear that secret falls, 
If I forget thee then. 
The midnight hours with song and wine, 
I evershar’d with thee, 
The midnight hours, they still are thine, 
And fatal memory ! 
Forget thee!—in the mirthful dance, 
There .steals some eye’s bright ray, 
Liketliine—that makes me with it's glance 
Turn swift in tears away. 
Go ask my minstrels, when they breathe 
The verse, the poet’s pen 
Witli each Parnassian sweet hath wreath’d, 
Tf I forget thee then? 
Forget thee!—Oh, there is but one, 
Could from my mem’ry chase 
Each sweet charm I hav e gaz’d upon. 
Each soft ly winning grac . 
To be that one’s, my first, first vow, 
I pledg’d with infant breath, 
"And he comes to demand me now, 
Thy rival, love— is death ! 
Forget thee!—when my funeral urn 
Thy tearful gaze shall meet, 
And censers of aroma burn, 
■ Exhaling at my feet: 
When winds and storms careering sweep 
Unheeded o’er my breast, 
And cypress waves—then turn and weep, 
And own my love’s at rest! 
A pamphlet of considerable interest has 
just been published, under the title of War 
n Greece , in which the writer draws the 
following picture of the respective forces, 
&c. of the Turks and Greeks 
Greece at this moment is full of men highly en¬ 
dowed, and a powerful and general t hirst for know¬ 
ledge has filled the universities of Europe with 
Greek students, supported by the patriotic aid of 
their countrymen. 
Ido not say that the Greeks are pre-eminently 
industrious,brave, learned, patriotic, or religious ; 
but I do say, lhat to possess these qualities at all, 
is a stiong proof of their force of character, to those 
who know what the Turkish sway has been, and 
that it still is, with regard to civilization, an exter¬ 
minating principle. 
It is said that the Greeks lie—that they steal— 
that they assassinate—be it so ; but let it be asked 
what can men do that have no protection against 
conquerors, who at pleasure take from them t heir 
wives,theirchildren, their fortunes, and theirlives ? 
They will lie, whose destruction follows the 
truth ; they will steal, from whom all has been sto¬ 
len ; they will assassinate, who have no other pro¬ 
tection against murdereis. There was but one 
reproach against the Greeks: “ Why do you not 
rise upon your tyrants ?” and this reproach they 
have wiped away; let it not be said that a great 
people, struggling sword in hand for freedom, are 
a debased people ; say, rather, that those surround¬ 
ing nations who withhold their aid are debased. 
The writer gives the following estimale 
of the advantages possessed by each of the 
coni ending parties :— 
What is then the state of the Greeks ? 
1st. They are far more numerous than their 
enemies. 
2d. They possess equal courage. 
3d. They possess the greatest part of the coun¬ 
try, and many large tracts, and some islands where 
the Turk, even in the day of Ins strength, never 
could penetrate; and these form .so many impreg¬ 
nable fortresses from which to draw supplies. 
4(h. The Greeks have sailors; the Turks have 
none. 
5th. The machine of Turkish government has, in 
all its subordinate parts, been worked by Greeks, 
and will go on badly without them. 
6th. The Greeks are better informed on all sub¬ 
jects than the Talks. 
7th. They fightnot for civil and religious freedom 
alone, but for existence; extirpation is certain, it 
they are defeated; whereas the Turks have Asia 
Minor to retreat into, and only fight for a province 
belonging to their sovereign. 
8th. The best troops the Sultan had in his army 
are amongst those Greeks now in ai ms against him ; 
and 
9th. The Turkish army may have courage and 
arms, but nothing else, and is not entitled to the 
name of an army : it is a numerous banditti, so bad, 
that the last Enjperor lost his life by an attempt to 
restore discipline and introduce the European sys¬ 
tem among the Janizaries. 
Against these nine advantages may be 
placed these on the side of the Tnrks :— 
1st. Thev have an established government. 
2d. They hold most of the fortresses. 
3d. The Sultan may have great command of mo¬ 
ney if lie acts wisely. 
4th. He has greater means of forging arms and 
making gunpowder. A total ignorance of the art 
of war, and a complete want of discipline, is a dis¬ 
advantage common to both Greeks and Tnrks, but 
the former have the advantage of being aware of 
their ignorance, and eager to remedy the deficit. 
This feeling is a host of strength on their side. 
With respect 1o the manner of avmingthe Greeks, 
he proposes the pike as the best weapon ihey can 
adopt. It can be made by every peasant; it is 
cheaper than any other; it needs no ammunition 
but courage ; it is used without anv instruction ; it 
is terrible in attack, and offensive war is the gains 
for Greece to play : it is termed by Motuecucuii the 
queen of weapons. He does not assert that it is su¬ 
perior to the musket and bayonet generally, but it 
is superior to tbe Turkish musket that has no bayo¬ 
net. In retreating, a musket is a superior weapon, 
and he proposes that one-fourth of the army should 
