076 
poems in the language, under the title 
of the Lower World. Itadvocates with 
disinterested affection, the cause of 
persecated aud tormented animals, 
and forcibly appeals to all who 
have power to correct those abuses 
by their influence or example. We 
recommend it to the heads of public 
schools for the purposes of public reci- 
tiation, and avgur the best effects from 
a diffusion of its sentiment in that 
way. ; 
Nor must we here forget the North- 
ern Garlands, first published by the 
late Mr, Joszrn Rrrson. They have 
been re-edited together, by Mr. Hasre- 
woop. 
Romances, Noveus, &c. 
The celebrated Poem, by Mr. Walter 
Scott reviewed in our last retrospect, 
has given rise to a Lady of the Lake 
in prose: aromauce, in two volumes. 
Ferdinand and Ordeilu, a Russian 
Story, with authentic Anecdotes of the 
“Russian Court, after the Demise of Peter 
the Great, is another production of the 
romantic kind, well suited to the tastes 
of those who delight in the terrific. 
Black-Roel: House, or Dear-bought 
Repentance, exhibits considerable 
knowledge of. human nature. 
The Acceptance; by the author ef 
Caroline Ormsby, has the disadvantage 
of being written in the epistolary style. 
There is, otherwise, much in it to be 
commended. he 
Here also may be noticed, The Of- 
ficer’s Daughter, or a Visit to Freland 
in 1786. Sythe Daughter of a Captain 
in the Navy, deceased. 
~ The Reformist !!! a Serio-Comic Po- 
litical Novel, intwo volumes; though 
good-humouredly written, and unob- 
jectionable on many accounts, is not 
entitled to unqualified apprebation. 
It is, in fact, a broad satire on Metho- 
dism: and we do not think a novel the 
proper vehicle either forexamining cr . 
refuting the religious tenets of any sct 
or sect of persons. Seed 
The Scottish Chiefs, a Romance, by 
Miss Jane Porter, extends to five 
volumes. The principal hero is Wil- 
liam Wallace. Whether the generality 
of novel readers are gainers or losers 
by a mixture of real history and ro- 
mance, need not be discussed here. 
_Miss Portier has mixed them; though 
certainly with great judgment. 
“MISCELLANIES. 
been se fone concluded that some of 
Our readers way possibly be. surprised 
lo. hear Of a 
he Chattertonian controversy has. 
Retrospect of Domestic Literature— Miscellanies. 
Introduction to an Examination of 
some part of the internal Evidence re- 
specting the Antiquity and Authenticity 
of certain Publications,said to have been 
found in Manuscripts at Bristol, written 
by a learned Priest and others in the 
15th Century; but generally considered 
as the supposititious Productions of an 
ingenious Youth of the present age, by 
Joun Suerwen, M.D. 
It will, however, be found to contain 
much valuable criticism; and some 
just strictures even on the pamphlets 
of Messrs. Warton and Tyrwhitt. 
The Conquest of the Miao-tse, an 
Imperial Poem by Kien-lung, entitled 
a Choral Song of Harmony for the first. 
part of the Spring, by Stepnen Wes- 
ron, F.R.S. §.A. is as literal a ver- 
sion from the Chinese as can be made 
intelligible to an European reader. 
The poern itself consists. of thirty. 
stanzas. ‘* The occasion is the defeat 
and entire subjugation ofthe Miao-tse, 
an independent people in the province 
of Hounan, and the very heart of Chi- 
na; whose government, laws, and lan- 
guage were peculiar to themselves 
and exclusively theirown. What this 
poem records is the third campaign 
against these people. : In the first, the 
emperor was foiled ; in the second, the 
general who commanded, alarmed at 
the. fate of his predeeessor, who was 
putto death for want of success, uh- 
dertook to bribe the enemy into sub- 
mission, to which he consented with a 
certain mental reservation, that he 
would break his engagement on the 
first favourable occasion. This he ac- 
cordingly did, and forced the emperor 
into a third campaign, and second five. 
years war.” : 
The two first stanzas will probably 
afford a sufficient specimen of the 
composition. eee 
The Emperor speaks. 
‘It was the. twenty-fourth of the 
eighth moon, between the second and 
third wateh, in the middle of the night, 
in the camp of Mou-lam, that they 
came to tell me of the arrival of a 
messenger from the army with a red 
flag. How could I believe that this 
night I should see the certain sign — 
of victory, and have so early an occa-~ 
sion of proclaiming the glory and re- 
ward of my army ?” 
STANZA Ue or 
‘¢ The couriers from distant coun- 
tries, through roads almostimpassable, 
shew that their heart is right with the 
king’s heart; for they have assed in 
eight days, what hitherto it has cost. 
mere 
