1798-1 
and amuting views of manners are given 
in a*volume of *§ Letters om Scandi- 
mavia, on the paft and -prefent State of 
the Northern Nations,’ written with 
fome prolixity, but with feeling and libe- 
rality. 
weg | OPOGRAPH YT. 
- "The fine arts have, of late, been very 
. fuccelsfully employed in aid. ok. letters, 
in feveral mecant TOPOGRAPHICAL. 
works. Uferul information, elegant 
writing, and a highly finifhed ftyle of 
graphical embellithment, are very hap- 
pily united in Dr. Aikin’s “ Hitory of 
the Country- round Manchefter,” iluf- 
trated with many plates, at the expence 
of the publither, Mr. Stockdale. The 
sf Hiftory ©f Monmouthshire,” by Mr. 
D. Williams, recommends itfelf to ge- 
neral readers by a force of fyle, and a 
depth of hiftorical and political refearch, 
by no means ufual among thofe dry com- 
pilations, which, for the moft part, ap- 
pear under the title of County Hiftories., 
It is fplendidly adorned with views, ex- 
cuted by the Rev. Mr. Gardnor, in aqua 
tinta. ‘To the fame general clafs belong, : 
“A awe Guide to Ba th and’ 
Briftol,’ by Mefirs. Tbbetfon, La Porte, 
and H Mim Walker's “ Seleét 
Views a Piéturefque Scenery in Scot- 
Jand;” and Select Views in Mytore, 
taken on the Spot, by Mr. Home, with 
hiftorical Defcriptions,” is avery elegant 
and fplendid publication. . 
CRITICISM. 
The department of CRITICISM “has, 
of late, keen chiefly indebted tothe learn - 
ing , induitry, and tafte of Mr. Wake- 
field. He has prefented the public with 
elegant editions of $4 Bion and Mofchus,” 
and Horace.” If Mr. Wakeneld be a 
bold emendator, his corrections are made 
by the hand of a mafter. His comments 
and annotations difcover deep erudition, 
and an exquifite relifh of poetic excel- 
lence. In this path or literature, he has 
few equals, As an editor, and critic on 
the Enelith clafiics, he is lefs fuccefsful : 
~ his ¢ Obfervations on Pope,” though not 
without juft criticifm and fine illuftra- 
tions, will not be ranked among his moft 
happy productions, ‘The learned) Mr. 
Bryant has written “ Obfervations on 
M. Chevalier’s Defcription of the Plain 
of Troy,” in which he ingemioufly con- 
troverts the accuracy of that writer’s in- 
veftigations, and the truth of his conclu- 
fons: Mr. Piumptre has atrempted to 
prove, that the play of Hamlet was in- 
tended, by Shak{peare, as an indireéy, 
he 
Topography «++ Criticifm os. Oona Poetry. 
me 
Muence of Local Attachment, 
487 
cenfure on Mary Queen of Scots, but 
the conjecture is feebly fupported. 
ORIGINAL POETRY. 
“Of ORIGINAL POETRY, commonly 
fo named, the ldf& few months have been 
abundantly prolific; but impartial eri- 
ticifm is obliged to confefs, that very few 
of thefe numerous produétions can be 
claffed among the legitimate offspring of 
the Mufes.. Paffing over a long lit of 
poems, which are, probably, 1 DY this time, 
fent im vicum ene thus ef odores, 
to the paftry- -cooks and chandlers, we 
fhall mention, as productions which, 
though net deftitute of merit, are yet 
ftamped with the charaéters of medio- 
evita Cole's; ‘© Life’ of Hube rt; Afh— 
burnham’s ‘* Klegiac Sonnets; * Couriers 
‘f7 Poems, f° The SealSuk Minfirel,”” 
Parfon’s ‘* Ode to a Boy at Eton; 
** Poetic ‘Uuiles,’ am Harley's 
* Poems; In a higher clafs of poetical 
merit we are inclined to rank Kaight’s 
“+ Didactic Poem on the Progrefs of Civil 
ee which, though in fome parts 
diffufe and languid, in others dNcovers 
confiderable vigour of fancy ; Bowles’s 
‘Blegiac Stanzas,’’ elegantly exprefiive 
of juft and interefting “fentiments ; Sir 
Brooke Boothby’s a Sorrows, a pa- 
thetic’ tribute of pas ernal affeétion ; 
Coleridge’s *‘ Poems,’’ which, though 
negligently compofed, difcover through 
out the genuine ae of genius; 
Burges’s ‘Birth and Triumph of Uae 
an incongruous and sited fable, con~ 
ceived with ftrength of far io and de- 
livered in polified. verfe;  ¢ In. 
a truly 
elegant performance, m which philo- 
fophy, and poetry are happily united ; 
Mifs Seward’s Cue and highiy 
finmifhed pieces, entitled, “ Liangcilen 
Vale,” &c.; and Mr. Southey’ s Joan of 
Afc,’’ an epic poem. This lat Piece is 
certainly entitied to the firft \wieathe of 
honour among our late poetical produc- 
tions. To “. run a race with the prefs,” 
in an epic poem, as Mr. Southey es 
to have done, was juvenile preiumptioa, 
of which the neceflary confe Cones aas 
been many defective and faulty pefluzes : 
but, viewed/as'a whole, the performance 
has fingular merit. It abounds in lofty 
onceptions,« vigorous. fertiments, rich 
imagery, and ail the fablimer graces of 
poetry. The author pet uncom-= 
mon powe's of poetic invention; and 
with that diligence of ftudy, and feverit ‘ty 
of Coprectidn. to which genius fo reluc+ — 
tantly fubmits, may become a poet of 
the fir order, 
as ae 
93 
~ciles 
DRAMATI2 
