Retrofpel? of Spanifh Literature.—Romances and Novels. 6 17 
ether dramatic dictator, but has confider- 
‘ed nature herfelf as his only model. T'wo 
defeéts lie has avoided, which deferve the 
attention of the Englith writer; the repe- 
tition of eloquent foliloquies, and the ad- 
miffion of domettics into the moft impor- 
tant fecrets of the families on which they 
attend. The Spirit of the Spanifh comedy 
‘too much confilted in a vat variety of 
complicated incidents, in which the lead- 
ing deiign of the poet frequently difap- 
peared, fo that when he again returned in 
the catattrophe, the auditory felt towards 
it coldne{s and indifference. In the Maf- 
culine ‘Woman this diffipation of fenti- 
ment from exceflive redundence is avoid- 
ed; although the plot is duplicate, yet the 
minor plot is fo neceffarily, connected with 
the major, that the a¢tion may be confi- 
dered as fimplé. The author felt appre- 
henfion, and not without caufe, that to 
fome ladies this drama would be objec- 
tionable.’ His heroine, in the termination, 
is not furrounded by glory and triumph ; 
fhe is not madé the queen of hearts, with 
all the knaves of the pack at her feet: the 
play is intended asa fatire on the tenden- 
cy of the fex to indulge in thofe pleafures, 
and to purfue thofe employments, which 
are alone fuited to grofler beings ; the au- 
thor, therefore; has placed his heroine in a 
very different fituatiom, in order to exhibit 
the injurious confequences of this perver- 
fion of the correct -and chafte dehgns of 
nature. * | etal 
As we are fenfible our reader would 
not be unwilling to become acquainted 
with this writer, wito is diftmguifhéed for 
his partiality to Englifh poetic compofi- 
tion, and who has colleéted fome of the 
moft beautiful flowers from the Britifh gar- 
den, we fhall conclude thefe fhort obferva: 
tions with a verfion of his own expreffions. 
<‘ ¥ prefume that the ftrong colours I 
have honeftly employed,to give the darker 
fades to. the fex, axowedly for their own 
improvement, will allow me to throw into 
the foreground fome little Inftructors, who 
will- perform the kind ofhce of hovering 
around my females, and whifpering in 
their ears fome friendly advice. I acknow- 
ledge myfelf a decided enemy to the de- 
viations from the purpofes of nature,which 
fometimes disfigure the’ fair obje&s of my 
profound adoration ; but I do‘not oppofe 
“the improvement of their underfanding 
“in thofe fubftantial attainments which will 
fit them to difcharge the duties, and ena- 
ble them to enjoy the pleafures, of their 
ftation: I with them only to draw the 
line in the right plaee, that they may 
never quit that modefty and candour, that 
“celeftial fottneis and fenfibility,which con- 
4 
verts the fair form of woman into the an- 
gelic, and extorts the reluctant obedience 
of the groffeft part of the {pecies.”” 
ROMANCES AND NOVELS. 
** La Victorina ; 6, la Joven Defconoci- 
da.”’—Vistorina; or,the Young Incognita. 
«© Tercera Edicion del libro el Diablo 
Coxuelo, Verdades Sonadas y Novelas de 
la otra Vida, traducidas a efta por D. 
Luis VeLez pe Guevara, anadidas 
con Enigmas y dos Novelas. "—ThirdEdi- 
tion of the Diabie Boiteux; or, Prophetic 
Dreams and News from the other World, 
tranflated by D. Lewis Velez de Guevara, 
with Enigmas, and two Novels in 1 vol. 
8vo. , | 
‘Los Enredos de un Lugar; 6, Hiftoria 
de los Prodigios y Hazafas del Abogado 
de Conchuela, el Licenciado Tarugo, y de 
otros Perfonages.”’--LocalEmbarrafiments; 
or, the Hiftory of the Wonderful Feats of 
the Advocate de Conchuela, the Licenti- 
ate T'arugo, and other diftinguifhed Per- 
fons. This detail is comprifed in three 
vols, 8vo. and is a fatire againft a variety 
of paffions of the human heart injurious 
to the caufe of juftice. — 
“¢ Los Viages del Capitan Gulliver a di- 
verfos Paifes remotos, obra Inglefa del 
Dr. Swift, traducida por D. Ramon 
Maximo EsparTaL.”’—The Voyages 
of Captain Gulliver into various remote 
Couniries, from the Englith of Dr. Swift, 
by D. Ramon Maximo Efpartel. This 
work, with the Spanifh type, is {welled 
into three vols. 8voe#and the facetious 
Dean of St. Patrick is dignified with the 
appellation, Signor Swift: It appears to 
us that the tranflator is wholly unacquaint- 
ed with the Englith language, and that 
he has availed him{elf of an imitation, ra- 
ther than a tranflation, in the French. 
-' © NuevaEdicion, en 12°. de los Traba- 
jos dc Pérhies y Sigifmunda,Hiftoria Sep- 
tentrional, por MigueL DE CERVANTES 
Y SAAVEDRA. ”—A newEdition,in 12mo. | 
of the Adventures of Pérfiles and Sigif- 
munda, a northern Tale, by Michael de 
Cervantes y Saavedra Although the ce- 
lebrated romance of Don Quixote has at- 
tracted fo much notice throughout Eu- 
rope, yet a variety of novels from the fame 
ingenious writer have remained in ob- 
{curity ; and among thefe is the produc- 
tion of which we now announce a new edi- 
tio in the native tongue. We fhall be 
happy to fee fome ftudent, familiar with the 
language, difpofed to give an Englith 
drefs to thefe incognita of the celebrated 
Cervantes, becaufe we are convinced,when 
the Spanifh veil fhall be drawn afide, his 
fair offspring will command the admira- 
tion of our countrymen. 
USEFUL 
s 
