1803.] 
regiment, to be relieved at fhort intervals. 
Perhaps, for many reafons, it might be 
thougbt more advifable to have thofe 
' {mail parties each under the command of 
a commiffioned officer ; but, whether com- 
miffioned or non-commiflioned, probably 
neither the officer nor the private men 
would think it any great hardfhip tofpend, 
in turn, an occafional week or fortnight 
in thefe lonely quarters, if certain of a 
handfome falvage on all fhips and goods 
refcued from deftruction, and a reward 
from the treafury for every life faved. 
Tflington, I am, Sir, yours, &c. 
September 10, 1803. J. CAREY. 
; 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
T mut have been remarked by all who 
read books with attention and difcern- 
ment, that paflages in the moft eminent 
writers, which were at firft perufed with 
unqualified admiration, are frequently, on 
a more deliberate examination, found to 
contain fome ftriking defeé&t, which, when 
difcovered, occafions furprife that it ever 
could have been paffed over. An inftance 
of this kind lately occurred to me ona 
perufal of Gray’s admired ‘‘ Fragment of 
an Effay on the Alliance of Education 
and Government.”’ By the way, I mutt 
obferve, that it is too great an indulgence 
to an author to fuppofe, as is commonly 
done, that be could have finifhed all his 
fragments with the fame fpirit that he 
has commenced them, had he not been pre- 
vented by indolence; for it may eafily 
happen, that he has exhaufted the moft 
obvious and brilliant ideas offered by his 
fubje&t, and, to borrow a fport{man’s me- 
taphor, has run himfelf toa fault. This, 
I think, clearly appears to have been the 
cafe with Gray in the piece in quettion, 
as the defect [ have to mention occurs 
at the concluGion, and fhows a vacuity in 
his train of thought. Having advanced 
the pofition, that national manners will be 
influenced by the circumftances of foil 
and. fiiuations, and happily illuftrated it 
by the example of a race of mountaineers, 
whom neceffary hardfhips render both 
courageous to defend their own property, 
and difpofed to pillage their richer neigh- 
bours ; he proceeds toa contrafted {cene, 
and gives, in a fine ftyle of poetical paint. 
ing, a {ketch of Egypt under an inunda- 
tion. 
who, being accuftomed to the fea, would be 
better qualified to render effectual fervice on 
fuch occafions, 
Critique on Gray. 
$99 
What wonder, in the fultry climes. that 
fpread 
Where Nile redundant o’er his fummer bed 
From his broad bofom life and verdure 
flings, 
And broods o’er Egypt with his wat’ry - 
wings ; 
a noble exordium! but what is the fequel ? 
If with adventurous oar and ready fail, 
The dufky people drive before the gale ; 
Or on frail floats to neigh’bring cities ride, 
That rife and glitter o’er the ambient tide ? 
That isto fay, What wonder, if, when 
a country is all under water, the inhabi- 
tants fhould ufe boats or floats for their 
conveyance !—No wonder, certainly! the 
wonder would be if they fhould go from 
place to place in any other mode. But 
what has this to do with manners or cha- 
racter, and how is it a counterpart of the 
preceeding initance? If, indeed, fuch a 
circumitance had made them a commer- 
cial and maritime people, the parallel 
would have been a good one ; but this 
was little the cafe with the native Egyp- 
tians at any period, as they have always 
been moft diltinguifhed as cultivators of 
the land. The poet miltook a mere in- 
cident of rural economy, for a trait of 
character ; and has made from his fplen- _ 
did premifes what Shakefpeare terms<$ a _ 
moft lame and impotent conclufion !?® « 
Yours, &c. N.N. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. | 
SIR, 
T a moment when it is the duty of 
every Englifhman to contribute his 
perfonal fervice, or his, advice, in defence 
of his country, I afk permiffion to com- 
municate, through your Magazine, the 
two fellowing Queries to thofe whofe 
duty it may be to attend to them. 
1, If the enemy’s army fhould make 
good a landing, would it not tend to en- 
fure victory, if every man in our infantry 
were provided with a HORSE-PISTOL.? It 
might be carried in a belt adapted to 
the purpofe ; and as the enemy are fond 
of clofe quarters, and of the charge with 
the bayonet, it is obvious every infantry- 
man in the Britifh fervice would, by means 
of this additional weapon, BE SURE to 
kill his man! 
2. Is it not equally important, from 
the fame caufe, that the bayonets of the 
Englifh infantry. fhould be as long as 
thofe of the French? I am informed 
THAT AT PRESENT THEY ARE ONE OR 
TWO INCHES SHORTER!~—And why, in 
Qqz God's 
