602 
‘Terms + containing, among other matter, 
a fuccinét Account of the different Syftems 
of Fortification, Taétics, &c. alfo the vari- 
ous French Phrafes and Words that have 
an immediate, or relative, connection with 
the Britifh Service, or may tend to give ge- 
neral Information on military Subjects in 
either Language. By CHARLES JAMES, 
‘Author of the Regimental Companion, 
Comprehenfive View, &c. &c.” 
jJosePH CounT TRucisess has pub- 
‘Jithed ‘*Propofals for the Eftablifhment 
ofa Public Gallery of Pictures in Lon- 
don, addreffed to the Nobility and Gentry, 
of the Britifh Empire, and particularly to 
the Inhabitants of the Metropolis.” 
Count Truchfefs (of Zeyl-wurfach, Grand 
Dean of the Cathedral of Strafburg, and 
Canon of the Metropolitan Chapter of 
Cologne,) propofes to begin fuch an efta- 
blifhment by the purchafe of 700 feleé 
pictures, from his great ‘collection, at 
2 _~» Retrofpedt of Spanifh Literature: 
Vienna. This he thinks’ may be done by 
10,000 fubfcribers, at fix guineas each. 
We fhould irnagine that fuch a propofal © 
is, worth attending to: but Lord Orford’s 
collection of pi€tures was fuffered to be 
fent to Ruffia, and parliament refufed to 
become ‘the purchafer of John Hunter's 
mufeum. : 
‘< Proviiicial Coins and Tokens, iffued 
from the year 1787 to the year 18071: 
Engraved by CHaRLES Pye of Birming- 
ham.” ‘This feems to be avery com- 
plete collection : the piates, fifty-five in - 
namber, each containing, generally, eight 
or ten coins, obverfe and reverfe, are very 
neatly executed. oe 
Having exhibited, we truft, fairly and 
as fully as the very limited nature of our 
article will admit, the prefent ftate of do- 
meftic literature, we retire for the prefents 
intending to refume the labour ona fu- 
ture occafion. 
HALF-YEARLY RETROSPECT OF SPANISH LITERATURE. 
a 
WD Y thefe pages it will appear, that 
pharmacy, theology, and jurifpra- 
dence, are the fubjeéts that have been 
lately moft attractive to the Spanifh litera- 
ti: in other enquiries the fubfequent ca- ~ 
talogue will be found to be deficient in 
many effential particulars. It.is the pre~ 
fent policy of the Catholic Court to in- 
dulge in expenfive amufements, and to 
gratify the curiofity of the idle with {plen- 
‘did progrefles. If the authority of Louifa 
Maria be as complete in her dominions as 
that afflumed by the late Imperial Cathe- 
Tine on her folitary throne, the munifi- 
eence of the one is directed to the gratifi- 
eation of inordinate pride, when the libe- 
rality of the other was fubfervient to the 
purpofes of national improvement. The 
elegant arts are not to be allured by empty 
arrogance, or to be dazzied by the 
blaze of oftentation; to pleafe their ‘dif- 
‘er. minating tafte, the ufeful and the fair 
muft be blended with the gay and the 
gorgeous. From the exclufion of thefe 
chaite inmates, the effulgerxce of the court 
of the royal Italian has impoverifhed the 
coffers of the ftate, and has pampered the 
minions of the crown, without increafing 
the means of public felicity or enlarging 
the {phere of private enjoyment. The 
artift or the fchelar has little to fupply to 
the clamorous feftivity of a diffipated 
court, he continues in his retirement m 
proud contumacy; and the lofty embel- 
jifhments of fcience and literature are not 
gtanted to dignify the fcene. 
The torpor of the writers naturally in- 
fufes the {ame inaétivity into thofe whe 
depend upon their labours. While the 
bookfellers of France, Germany, and 
England, compofe an opulent body, and 
conduét an extenfive trade, fupplying the 
medium not only of mental improvement, 
but of corporeal a¢tivity; the fame order. ~ 
of men in Spain are few in number, weak 
in their refources, and the habitual tardi- 
ne{s of the native character is increafed by 
the abfence of the lucrative impulfe. It 
is on this account that the low ftaté of | 
erudition in Spain appears in ourcatalogue 
yet more degraded. The difhculty of 
procuring books from thence feems daily 
to increafe and, however ardent literary 
curiofity, the fire is extinguifhed long be-— 
fore the favoured hour of its gratification 
arrives. We mention this circumftance, 
that, if our retrofpect fhould appear in- 
correct or incomplete to the natives of that 
country, the deficiency may be attributed 
to their own procraftination, not to our 
indolence in feeking the materials of our 
fubje&t ; and we truf that this public in- 
timation will ‘be lefs ineffectual than we 
have hitherto found private remonftrance.* 
7 
# We take this opportunity of acknow- 
lJedging our obligation to Mefirs, Gameau and 
Co. of Albemarle-ftreet, for the affiftance 
they have given in farnifhing us with many 
important works to render the Retrofpect we. 
now fubmit to the public lefs deficient. 
Thefe 
‘ 
