628 
felf the author of thefe interefting me- 
moirs. J/adame Clairon, though a cha- 
rater not immaculate, maintained through 
life a dignity and decorum of behavior 
which many perhaps who will cenfure her 
for occafional foibles, would not have beea 
able to have maintained againft the con- 
frant and feductive folicitations to which 
fhe was expofed. Her perfon was grace- 
ful, her accomplifhments elegant and va- 
rious, her natural talents, ike ber natural 
conffitution, ftrong and aétive. The pre- 
fent Memoirs contain anecdotes of feveral 
celebrated performers on the French ftage: 
they abound in moral and judicious ad- 
vice to females deftined to the theatrical 
profefiion, and give us no mean opinion of 
the moral and intelle€tual acquirements of 
this celebrated lady. 
Mr. REDE’s “* Anecdotes of Biogra- 
phy, mcluding many Modern Characters 
m: the Circles of Fafhion and Official 
Life,” are feleéted with judgment and re- 
Fated with fpirit. 
An Officer in the Eaft India fervice has 
publifhed ** Authentic Memoirs of T ip- 
poo Sultaun; Accounts of his Campaigns 
with the Mahrattas, Rajahs,. &c. with a 
preliminary Sketch of the Life and Cha- 
rater of Hyder Ali Khan.” This off- 
cer feems to have been very fcantily pro- 
vided with materials for fuch a publica- 
tron as the prefent ; they relatefalmoft ex- 
chifively to the wars of “the Sulgaun with 
the § Englith, the particulars of wibich have 
long fince been known. . Chafms of fome 
years occur in thefe meagre memoirs of 
Tippoo, which give no information of his 
internal polity and government. 
A feeond volume has appeared of the 
‘€€ Public Characters.” The account we 
gave of the former volumes is applicable 
to the prefent. It abounds with new and 
curious facts, colleéted, from the moft au- 
thentic feueee 
« Theatrum Roeerem Anglicanarum ; 
containing the Names and Charaéters of 
all the Englith Poets, from the Reign of 
Henry HI. tothe Clofe of the Reign of 
Queen: Elizabeth. By Edward Phillips, 
Nephew of Milton. Firft publifhed in 
1675, and now enlarged, by Additions to 
every Article, from fubfequent Biogra- 
phers and Critics.” This is a very ufeful 
book of reference; it is not, howev rers-a 
complete republication of Phillips’s work, 
as the prefent is reftriéted to Englith 
poetry. The editor, to make amends, has 
largely extraéted from Warton’s Hiftory 
of Poetry, and the works of other critics. 
NATURAL History. 
A work which for the delicacy of its 
Retrofpe& of Domeftic Literature—Natural Hifiers. 
engravings and fplendor of its typegra« 
phy, if it has any parallel, has certainly no 
fuperior in this country, is now publifhing 
in honor tothe memoryof Linnzus by Dr. 
Tuornion. His ‘ New Illuftration of 
the Sexual Syftem” of that great naturalift 
confifts of two parts; one containing the 
letter prefs, with the ‘explanations, plates, 
and MO ; the other, feleét fpecimens 
of plants, exhibited wit® the utmoft bril- 
liancy and elegance. It is propofed to 
complete this work in twelve numbers of 
one guinea each; three have already made 
their sie mea 
The Linnzan Society purfves its la- 
bors with ardor and fuccefs: a Sifth vo- 
lume of its ** Tranfaétions” has juft made 
its appearance, containing, as nfual, va- 
rious and valuable matter. 
Mr. Donov an, whofe elegant and core 
re€t publications are fo univerfally ad- 
mired by naturalifts, has publifhed, in 
one fplendid quarto volume, * An Epis 
tome of the Natural Hiftory of the Infeéts 
of China; comprifing Figures and De- 
fcriptions of one Hundred new, fingular, 
and beautiful Specimens, together with 
fome that are of Importance in Medicine, 
Domeftic Economy, &c.” This work 
confifts of 50 plates, fome of which con- 
tain one figure only, others feveral. The 
fpecific characters are added from Lin- 
nevus, Fabricius, &e. together with con- 
eife defcriptions. 
A very ufeful work to thofe who. are 
entering on the ftudy of Botany, is the 
« Britith Garden,’ in two oétavo vo- 
lumes. This work contams a defcrip= 
tive catalogue of hardy plants, indige- 
nous, or cultivated in the climate of Great 
Britain, with their general and fpecifie 
characters, Latin and Englifh names, na-~ 
tural countries, and time of flowering. 
The plan purfued in thefe volumes, 
namely, that of familiarifing to unlearned 
botanical fiudents the Linnean language 
by the ufe of correfponding Englifh 
Le was introduced by the Litchfield 
Society ; and from its obvious utility, has 
been very generally adopted fince. It 
ought to be mentioned, that the author 
of. this volume has abbreviated the Lin- 
nzan fyftem, by proceeding at once from 
Syngenefia to Cryptogamia, .and by dif- 
pofing among the fimple claffes thofe of 
Gynandria, Moneccia, Dieecia, and Poly- 
gamia. Thefe claffes, however, are given 
in an appendix in their oid form, 
Dr. Hubh1, in his ** Britifh Flora,” has 
ftri€tly adhered to the Linnzan claffiffiica- 
tion: this wleful little work is divided 
into two parts, the firft comprehending the 
firft 
