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624 
be deftitute of that drynefs with which 
works of this nature are but too often and 
too jufily reproached... The publication 
by La Croix has hitherto been confidered 
as the beft in the French language; but 
fomething is ftill wanting ; and the one 
now before us, notwithftanding its pomp- 
ous title, is not capable of fupplying the 
deficiency. 
Principes Elementaires de Mufique, &ce. 
—Elementary Priaciples of Mutic, by the 
Members of the Confervatory, for the 
Ufe of this Eftablifiment, by the Citizens 
Acus, CaTaL, CHERUBIN!, GOssET, 
Meuut, LanGLE, LE SUEUR, and Rr- 
GEL. Part I. 
Traly, the cradle of modern mufic, ne- 
ver acquired eminence im that art by 
means of national confervatories ; her ce- 
jebrity has been attributed, either to the 
excellence of her climate, or the peculiar 
organization of her inhabitants. France, 
on the’other hand, has been lately convert- 
ed into a Aut-bed of melody, and we fhall 
feon fee, whether it be pofiible to force 
nature. The names affixed to this publi- 
cation give it a title to refpect. 
Sur le Refpect di aux Tombeaux, et 0 In- 
decence des Inhumations actuelles, &c.— 
On the Refpect due to the Tombs of the 
Dead, and the Indecency of the prefent 
Mode of Burial, by the Citizen Guit- 
Eon-PASTEL, 8ve. Paris. 
Paftel, the author of this pamphlet, 
after feverely condemning the prefent dif- 
regard of all funeral ceremonies, infifts, 
1. That it is the duty of the living to 
honour the dead. 
2. That all nations, whether favage or 
civilifed, have paid refpe€t to departed 
virtue. 
And 3. That this refpect is infpired by 
nature, and is confequently the juft tri- 
bute of fenfibility and cempaffion. 
Many pafiages of this work are truly 
eloquent, and we cannot refrain from 
tranicribing the following one:: 
«¢ The tyrant*, who but a few yearsago 
reigned over France—the tyrant, whofe 
throne was a {caffold, and whole fcepire 
was the hatchet of the ¢xecutioner—even 
this montier fpoke of the immortality of 
the foul! He alfo had commanded a fef- 
tival in honour of our anceftors, in the 
fame manner as the firkt fenators of Rome 
enjoined the apotheofis of Romulus, whom 
they had maflacred. In addition to this, 
he decreed the immortality of the foul, 
with the fame view as his accomplices 
talked of virtue—-it was doubtle/s with. 
ay) * Robefpierre. 
Retrofped? of French Literature—Mifcellancous. 
the fecret hope that it would be debafed 
in their mouths! , 
Chax des Meilleurs Morceaux, &c.— 
A Seleétion of the beft Pieces of Ruffian 
literature, from the earlieft Date to the 
reign of Catherine II. tranflated into 
French, by M.L. Pappapo Paulo, and 
the Cit. GaLLeET, 1 vol. 8vo. ; 
The Editors, with great propriety, re- 
mind the reader, that while perufing this 
colleétion, he ought never to forget, that 
but a century fince, Ruffia did not poflefs 
any. {pecies of literature, and that io late 
as 1735, there was not fo much as a 
Ruffian DiGionary in exiftence. We are 
prefented, on the prefent occafion, with 
an Ode by Frédiakowki, on the Surrender 
of Dantzig, in 1734; Six Odes of Lomo- 
nofow, on Births, remarkable Events, &c. 
during the years 1752, 1754, 1759, 1763s 
1762, and 1764. We alfo tind two Cantos 
of a Poem, intitled «* Peter the Great,” by 
Alexander Soumarocow, preceded by five 
chapters relative to the Revolt of the 
Strelitzes, in 1682; a Letter from Vsltaire 
to Soumarocow, ** Dimitri le Pfeudonyme,* 
a Tragedy, and the ** Ufurer, a Comedy, 
alfo by Soumarocow, “ie 
Some of the odes abound with genius, — 
but they are debafed by a fervile adula- 
tion, andthe poem is deititute of a pro- 
per plan. In the ** Falfe Demetrius,” 
there is a convincing proof, that the au- 
thor con idered the nation as emancipating 
itfelf from barbarifm, for he fpeaks of 
philofophy and the rights of the people, 
‘In the *¢ Ufurer,”’ it is obferved, “* that 
every animal experiences the paflion of 
love, and joins with a mate, but man a- 
Jone dreams of hoarding wealth.” Veltaire, 
according to the epiltle which-we have 
juft alluded to, after flattering both Sou- 
marocow and Catherine, concludes thus— 
«© At Rome we hear of nothing but pro- 
ceffions, and in Greece, of nothing but 
the baftinado. It is abfolutely neceffary,. 
then, to have fovereigns who love the 
aris, who are acquainted with, and who 
encourage them.”” 
It is thus that Voltaire, while-treating 
of Racine, and of love, writes to the 
Rofiian Poet :—** Corneille n’avait fait 
bien parler cite paffion que dans le Cid; 
et le Cid weft pas de lui!” ie 
Port Feuzlle Politique, &c.—The Port- 
folio of an Ex-Clerk, in the department 
of General Police; or, an Effay on Public 
Infruction, by Le Brun, of Grenoble, 
i vol. vo. 
This is one of the moft extraordinary 
pamohlets ever fubmitted to our confi- 
dcauon, Le Brun propofes, that the 
me ase i) 500,009 
