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N thofe Poems (which are miscellaneous) we find much to com

I'mend, and little that feems to stand in need of correction.

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principal pieces are four paftorals; but we are by no means of opinion that the chief excellence of Mr. Rannie confifts in this fpecies of poetry.

His forte feems to lie in the fonnet, of which he has given fome good fpecimens. His verfification is every where polifhed, his lines poffefs both ftrength and harmony, and the plaintiveness which has been fo much admired in the fonnets of Charlotte Smith, will also be found in the poems of this author.

We fhall felect two for the perufal of our readers:

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Written on the Banks of DEE.

To this lone valley I was wont to stray,

Thro' which, O Dee, thy winding current flows;
Thy wild woods fcreen'd me from the glare of day,
And gave the balmy bleffing of repose.
Ah! often led by Cynthia's filver beam,
When not a cloud deform'd the azure sky,

I fought the flow'ry margin of thy stream,

And fondly watch'd the wave that wander'd by.'

But now, the victim of corrofive care,

Forlorn and cheerlefs, on thy banks I rove,
Purfu'd, where'er I wander, by defpair;
The haggard offspring of neglected love!
From grief I vainly hop'd a refuge here,
Where fad reflection prompts the flowing tear.

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Ah! why recall the hours that faw me bleft?
Why bring the fcenes of dear delight to view,
When innocence, in virgin fplendour dreft,
Beheld the fairy forms my fancy drew?
When, void of care, I path'd the flow'ry plain,
Serene my mind as fummer's mildeft breeze:
Thefe vain regrets but aggravate my pain,
And all the forrows of my foul increase.

Thon

Thou canst not to my woes a balm impart,
And fnatch me from the grafp of pining care!
Nor draw her lovely image from my heart,
Whose cold neglect configns me to defpair! .
In pity to my fufferings then forbear

To edge, with pangs acute, the foul-corroding smart.'

Thefe promise a richer harvest when Mr. Rannie, who we underftand is young, is matured by a riper age and additional study.

ART. 12. As it should be; a Dramatic Entertainment, in one Act, as performed at the Theatre-Royal in the Hay-Market. 8vo. is. Lowndes. London, 1789.

As it should be, if we may be allowed a clinch upon the title of this dramatic entertainment, is not quite as it should be: but as the author fays he is but a young beginner,' we fhall dismiss him at prefent without farther animadverfion, hoping, as the writer does in his dedication, that hereafter he will produce fomething more deferving.'

ART. 13. The Festival of Love; or, A Collection of Cytherean Poems. Procured and felected by Ge P e, and dedicated to his Brother. Containing elegant Tranflations from Anacreon, Sappho, Mufæus, Coluthus, Secundus, &c. and innumerable original Pieces, never before published, by the D-e of B. Mr. S. Mr. T. &c. &c.

Forfter. London, 1789.

12mo. 35.

The liberty of the prefs, like every other bleffing, is abused. Of this the publication before us is a ftriking inftance; it should have been entitled the Festival of Luft. Why the ftupid editor of this grofs felection should have affixed to well-known poems by Prior, Chesterfield, &c. the names of lords and gentlemen of the prefent day, who never tagged a rhyme, we shall leave him to explain.

ART. 14. Narrative of the Shipwreck of the Antelope Eat-India Packet on the Pelew Islands, fituated on the western Part of the Pacific Ocean, in August 1783. 12mo. 12mo. 3s. Perth: printed by Morrifon. Elliot and Kay, London. 1788. ART. 15. The Shipwreck if the Antelope Eaft-India Packet, c. By one of the unfortunate Officers. 8vo. 3s. fewed. Randall. London, 1788.

In either of these publications the reader will find every effential particular contained in the account in quarto we have already noticed in our Review. Thofe, therefore, who cannot fo conveniently purchase the larger work may here fatisfy their curiofity at a cheaper rate.

ART. 16. The Blossoms of Morality. Intended for the Amusement and Inftruction of young Ladies and Gentlemen. By the Editor of the LookingGlafs for the Mind. 12mo. 2s. 6d. Newbery. London, 1789. The Bloffoms of Morality is partly a compilation, and partly original; it may be read with profit by the youth of both fexes.

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ART.

ART. 17. The Bee; a Selection of poetical Flowers from the most ap proved Authors. 12mo. 1s. 6d. boards. Chalken. London, 1788.

There is taste in this felection; and the pieces it contains will inftruct as well as please.

ART. 18. Half an Hour after Supper; an Interlude, in One A, as performed at the Theatre-Koyal in the Haymarket. 8vo. is. Debrett. London, 1789.

To fhew the bad confequences of novel-reading is the object of this little pièce. The defign merits praife; as to the execution, if we could pass over improbabilities in the plot, the grofs wulgarity' of Mrs. Sturdy, and fome other matters, why then the interlude might pafs.

ART. 19.

dian.

The innocent Fugitive; by the Author of the Platonic Guar12mo. 2 vols. 6s. Hookham. London, 1789.

Pleafing and pathetic; and free from the infipidity of most modern novels. The tale is well told, and awakens the fenfibility of the heart. The little anecdote of the parfon's fpectacles we recommend, with all due deference, to the confideration of the touchy.

ART. 20. Fashionable Infidelity, a Novel. 12mo. 3 vols. 95.

Hookham. London, 1789.

Moral and fentimental; the characters well fupported; the manner, a mixture of the epiftolary and narrative kind, which carries an air of novelty. Most of thefe incidents we understand to have lately occurred, and the parties to be ftill exifting in the fashionable world. If we are not farther mifinformed as to the profeffion of the author, we think, though we may not difapprove of his work, that his time might be employed with more dignity to himself than in labours of this kind.

ART. 21.

The Life and Adventures of Anthony Leger, Efq. or the Man of Shifts. 12mo. 3 vols. gs. Bew. London, 1789.

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See where he comes,

Who has profan'd the facred name of friend
And worn it into vilenefs!

With how fecure a brow and fpecious form

He gilds the fecret villain!

A revival of the old file of novel-writing, and much after the manner of Fielding. The hero of the tale is a well-wrought picture of thofe gentry who live by their fhifts, yet make a fhift to evade the punishment due to their villainy. The work is full of incidents, many of them interefting and entertaining.

ART.

ART. 22. The Contest of Divinity, Law, Phyfic, &c. for the Prize of Infamy; an original Poem. By Timothy Pheon. 4to. 2s. 6d. Kearsley. London. 1789.

Some attempts of our author in the paftoral walk, having, it feems, on a former occafion, met with a cold reception from the public, owing to the corrupt tafte of the faplings' of the prefent age, made him determine,

Since fentiment, thefe fenfelefs blockheads fwear,

Is more terrific than a Ruffian bear,?

to quit the flowery fields, the filver lake, the cool reclufive grot, and to enter on the thorny road of fatire:

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For once my mufe fhall foar on fatire's wing,

And arm herfelf with Churchill's fearching fting.'

I'll follow, prince of fatire, then, thy plan,
And lafh, like thee, defigning, crafty man."

Having unfolded his defign, our author proceeds to represent VICE holding her court, and fummoning her votaries before her. Amongst those who appear, divinity, law, and phyfic, form the principal figures. The reprefentations they make of their various and irrefiftible claims to her favour, conftitute the greater part of the poem. They are rewarded by the demon according to their feveral demerits-the fanatic, as her greateft favourite, with a penfion; the pettifogging lawyer with a fervice of plate; and the quack doctor comes in for a coach and fix. Whilft they are arranging thefe matters, VIRTUE unexpectedly appears amongst them, and, having made an excellent fpeech,

'She wing'd her way to heav'n, and ey'd th' admiring train.'

Such is the outline of this poem, and the different characters contained in it. Of the author's talents for fatire we cannot speak very highly; his genius feems better adapted to paftoral poetry. His verfification is smooth, and his language correct; but he does not discover either strength of thought or energy of expreffion—an original or pointed ftroke of fatire we have not feen throughout the whole poem.

The author is certainly entitled to praise for attacking those miscreants the quacks of the three learned profeffions; but unfortunately his arrows are deftitute of force as well as point, fufficient to pierce the brazen fhields of these impoftors.

The well known affertion of Horace, mediocribus effe poetis, &c. like many other good maxims, is oftener admired for juftnefs of remark, than followed as a rule of conduct. Though it has stood for more than seventeen hundred years as a memento mori to middling poets, they ftill keep thrumming their lyres, and foothe every difappointment with the idea that all those who will not liften to them are ftupid fellows unworthy of their notice. Our author, alluding to his former attempt in the pastoral line, declares from experience,

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"Tis all in vain ;-a peaceful fong like this, Where one applauds, a thousand fools would hifs.'

By the by, it may be observed that there is no fet of mortals fo prompt at calling mankind, in the aggregate, a pack of fools, as our modern poetafters. We muft place this practice to the score of retaliation; for it is well known that the world in general confiders those as no better than ideots who write and publish what no one will read. We cannot offer a better apology for the unwarrantable liberties with which these fing-fong gentry treat John Bull in his public capacity

Since the faplings of the present day will not admire the productions of our author, he does not hesitate to declare

That wisdom now is fairly fled their doors,

And virtue and morality turn'd

-s.'

O ye faplings of the age, what have ye to answer for! what dreadful work has happened through your neglect of Timothy Pheon! How hard, cries Timothy,

How hard, alas! the placid poet's cafe;
How difficult to write without difgrace :'

To make this a triplet we ask,

Then why will Pheon join the fcribbling race?

In the following couplet the author feems to be of opinion that wickedness and wit increase in a proportionate ratio; and thinks, with Lord Chesterfield, that laughter is a fure fign of folly:

For fure 'tis true as fools are grinners,

Great geniuffes are greateft finners.'

We will leave great geniuffes to dispute their own point with him, and in reply to the other axiom, maugre Timothy Pheon and the noble peer, we will say with honest Mat Prior,

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ART. 23. Authentic Copy of the Proceedings of a General Court-Martial on Colonel Hugh Debberg, c. 8vo. 2s Debrett. London, 1789. The trial before us affords a very striking proof of human fallibility. Colonel Debbeig, a man of an irreproachable character, and who has rendered his country moft effential and fingular fervices, actuated by pique at a conceived neglect, accufes his commanding officer, the Duke of Richmond, with ignorance and neglect of duty, and of having invited the enemy into the very bofom of Britain.

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