SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER 
Se 
TO THE 
MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
Vor. 12. No. 82.] JANUARY 20, 1802.. [Price 1s. 6d. 
— ———y 
HALF-YEARLY RETROSPECT OF DOMESTIC LITERATURE, | 
HANKS to the fcarcity of rags, 
to the dearth of paper-ftuff, to 
the excife on pulp, and to the law of 
libel! the mafs of publication begins to 
abate. Inftead of provinces, only acres 
of theets have been fullied ; inftead of 
aThames, only a Tweed of ink has been 
let loofe; and the tafk of furvey, if it 
be flat enough to annoy, is not long 
enough. to tire. If the Neckinger- 
mills become as efficient in withdraw- 
ing, as the price of publication is be- 
come in withholding, the fuperfluities 
of literature; we thall be compelled 
. foon to revert from the new to the 
good, to bring upon the parlour-table 
the claflics of our forefathers, to view 
at length the infide of volumes which 
the binder has labelled Addifon and 
Richard{fon,to learn ourAnti-jacobinifm 
in Berkeley, and cur myfticiim in Je- 
remy Taylor. 2 
The form and order of retrofpection 
are of little moment: yet the fewer 
the fubdivifions into which the books 
are parcelled, the more conveniently 
can the heaps be arranged on the floor; 
and the lefs turming to and fro among 
Reviews will fupply the reputed cha- 
rater of thofe, which one wants the 
leifure to flit open, or the will to read. 
A critical catalogue may be very equi-. 
table, if it only contains the criticifms 
of others ; and is perhaps moft merito- 
rious, when lea{t tinged with the per- 
fonalities of autopfy. Readers are not 
to claim from the advertifer of a Re- 
trofpect, that he fhould himfelf weigh 
every article he retales—it is enough 
to quote the avoirdupois of his in- 
voice. Still lefs may they expect from 
his induftry a complete lift; which can 
as little extend to all the mufhrooms of 
_ literature, as to thofe of vegetation. 
Civin History, BrocRAPHy, AND 
CHRONOLOGY. 
‘© A View of the Origin and Con- 
duct of the War with Tippoo Sultaun, 
by ALEXANDER BEATSON, 315, 6d,” 
Monruiy Mac, No. 82, 
If there be any part of the map of 
the globe, on which the eye of an 
Englifhman can repofe with fatisfaction 
—where the ftatefmanfhip of minifters. . 
has not flung away the acquirements 
of valour, or difappointed the confi- 
dence of voluntary fubmiffion, it is on 
Hindoftan. A vait diftrict has there * 
been added to Britith empire by the 
completed conquelt of Myfore. To 
the effential intolerance of iflamifm has 
fucceeded the unbigoted liberality of 
mercantile {way ; to the perfonal de- 
fpotifm of an irafcible and cruel prince, 
the mild fuperintendence of European 
gentlemen; to the intellectual twi- 
lights of printlefs hterature, the radia- 
tions of the prefs of Calcutta. Under. 
a fecurer and more {fkilful government 
the whole furface of the country will 
embellith. Traffic will f{mooth his 
roads; induftry widen his bazars; and 
agriculture collect in huger pools his _ 
hoards of irrigation. 
The fubftance of the narrative may 
thus be condenied. One Ripaud, cap- 
tain of a French veffel which touched 
at a port of the Myfore, by reprefent- 
ing the facility with which a large and 
efficient force of Europeans could be pro- 
curedfrom the Mauritius, induced Tip- 
poo to fend deputies thither to treat for 
the hire of French foldiers. The Englith 
Governor-general thought it neceflary 
to ftrike a decifive blow before faccours 
fhould arrive. A negociation was 
opened withthe Nizam, relative to the 
French army at Hyderabad, and leave 
was obtained to iurround their camp. 
After this enterprize was fuccefsfully 
executed, the Britifh army, in concert - 
with foldiers of the Nizam, marched 
forward to Seringapatam, where it 
was joined by troops from the oppofite 
fide of the penin{ula. The fiege was 
undertaken with a force of forty-five 
thoufand men; and the town eventu~ 
ally yielded to an aflault, during which ~ 
the Sultaun fell by a mufketebail. His 
4 E death 
ff 
