Of the prefent work we cannot speak very favourably, though willing to grant every allowance for which the author pleads. He feems to have undertaken no easy tafk: to preserve the Persian manners and idiom, and make them appear to tolerable advantage in an English dress, required confiderable abilites; but it was not difficult to avoid fuch errors in grammar and profody, fuch inaccuracies and abfurd expreffions as frequently occur in this performance. The translation, however, it must be allowed, difplays occafionally marks of genius, and may be reckoned at least, on account of its subject, a literary acquifition. The following extract is no unfavourable specimen, and will give the reader a general idea of the wild and extravagant circumstances recorded in this poem. It relates to Zohak, who ufurped the throne of Perfia, and was the fifth monarch of the firft dynafty. He is reprefented as the fon of Merdas king of Arabia, remarkable for his virtues in early youth, and extremely defirous of acquiring knowlege. Ebles, the rebellious angel, appears to him as an ancient fage, and offers to render him fuperior in knowlege and power to the reft of mankind if he would fwear to obey his injunctions.

Th' unwary Zohak fwore: deluded youth!

To whom, unconscious, do you pledge your truth?
He fwore that filence should the tale conceal!
'Twas then that Ebles broke the fatal feal:
A fon like you with ev'ry talent blest,
With God-like virtues, in unwarlike rett,
Thus doom'd, depriv'd of empire and of pow'r,
To wait, unactive! for an old man's hour,
Argues a grov'ling foul-while thy ag'd fire
Lives glimm'ring on, fuppreft thy active fire-
Long will he rule; a flave thou must remain ;
Seize on his fceptre, and affert thy reign.
His throne is thine: obedient to thy guide,
The world will own thee with a conscious pride."
Zohak attentive heard; ambition, pow'r,
Rag'd in his foul, and mark'd the chofen hour.
A fpark of virtue ftruggled in his heart-
"Adopt fome mode, where nature will not ftart."
Ebles with fternness answered-" Take his feat,
Or perjury is thine shou❜dst thou retreat.

For perjury, will piety atone,

Thus, thus ejected from a fplendid throne?
For ages will your fire in triumph reign,

And thou, inglorious, curfe the pious strain!"
Alarm'd, the youth affents-no fears appal

But how, or where? the king's belov'd by all !"
Be filent only, and the means are mine;
Great fhalt thou be, and like yon fun fhall fhine"

A well

A well was funk, and covered in the night;
A level plain it feem'd to mortal fight.
Merdaz each eve within the garden roves,
And bow'd before his god in facred groves.
There lay the fnare, alas ! defign'd by hell;
In it at eve the pious monarch fell,

Fearless of ill. For lions, though they rage,
Submiffive wait upon a parent's age.

Zohak, whose foul was in th' infernal's power,
No fear or forrow knew" Let the fates low'r;
The throne is mine." So ancient annals tell;
And Ebles fimil'd to view the pow'r of hell.
Th' internal now a beauteous fhape affum'd,
And words more gracious all his thoughts illum'd.
Each pow'r was granted him; till then the earth
Yielded all food, and fimple was its mirth.
No luxury it knew; the fowl, the sheep,
With various birds, fish from the watry deep,
Were drefs'd by Ebles for the wood'ring king s
The winter, fummer, autumn, and the spring,
Were ranfack'd all to catch th' inglorious mind,
Whose senses were to luxury reign'd.

Zohak from Ebles, wond'ring, fecks to know
From whence fuch knowlege, fuch improvements flow
Whether of mortal or immortal race?

"Say, what rewards can fuch atchievements grace !"
To whom ;-"Oh monarch of Arabia's plain!
My schemes, my labours, fhall not prove in vain.
Your kindnefs warms the flave of your defire ;
One fole request I crave-one only boon require;
On thy immortal fhoulders let me place
My faithful head, and bow my bending face."
Zohak, not conscious of impending ill,
Bids him his wifhes and his boon fulfil ;
Ebles, the moment feiz'd with proud delight,
Touch'd either arm, and vanith'd from his fight.
Inftant two ferpents fpring from either arm,
All gaze all wonder, trembling with alarm;
Erect they rofe, and all around them view'd,
Their open mouths demand immediate food.
All skill'd in medicine, try their art in vain,
All herbs prove fruitless to relieve the pain.
Ebles, in habit of a feer unknown,
Appear'd, and thus addrefs'd the royal throne;
With brains of men alone these ferpents feed,
For this no herb, no med'cine is decreed.
This will deftroy them." Hell cou'd no more;
Th' infernal revell'd, pleas'd with human gore."

This ftory, at the first view, might lead the reader to conjecture that these historico-poetical annals of Perfia have as little foundation in truth as the Perfian Tales.' The present seems, indeed, almost a counterpart to that quoted in the Guardian (No. 148.) and entitled the Santon Barfifa. They both contain the fame moral: that a good man once feduced from the paths of virtue, is led imperceptibly to commit the most horrid enormities. But whatever the Santon might be, Zohak was a real perfonage; and, according to lefs figurative and eccentric hiftories, he reigned about eight hundred years before the Christian æra. His cruelty excited a revolt: ablacksmith, named Gao, headed the infurgents, flew the tyrant, and restored Feridoon, the right heir, to the throne. It is recorded as a fact, that the blacksmith's apron, which Gao difplayed as his banner when marching against the ufurper, was found by the Arabians. in the treasury at Ifpahan, richly ornamented with jewels, when they conquered Perfia in 636. This must have been at the time when the original annals on which this work was compofed, fo narrowly efcaped the deftructive zeal of Zohak's countryman, the caliph Omar. With the account mentioned above, relative to the former, this poem, giving proper allowance for embellishment and exaggeration, perfectly agrees. A circumstance that from analogy naturally leads us to conjecture, as we before observed, that however wild and extravagant the pccurrences here related may appear, yet when divested of their poetical ornaments, they will be found in general, faithful records of tranfactions in times but little known on which account this work may be confidered as of real value. The part of the Shâh Nameh, the only poem in this volume, is, according to Mr. Champion, the leaft interefting of the whole. performance. Should health permit him to reassume the undertaking, the heroic poem which includes the atchievements of Ruftem Sohrab, and Isfendiar, will be the continuation of his next performance.' Ruftem was the Perfian Achilles, and equally celebrated in history and romance. He flourished in the beginning of the Kianian dynafty, or fecond race of Perfian monarchs, which concludes in Ifkender, or Alexander the Great.

I propofe (Mr. Champion adds) felecting the most animating allufions, the moft fplendid actions, and most beautiful paffages from Ferdofi, without lofing fight of the concatenation of events. The number of lines will be equal to the Iliad of Homer. This forms what may be called the fecond divifion of Ferdofi's heroic poems. With refpect to the remaining part, it is impoffible to hazard, at this period, any decifive opinion.'

The

The Field Engineer; or, Inftructions upon every Branch of Field Fortification. (Concluded from Vol. LXVII. p. 330.)

THE

HE fecond volume commences with obfervations on parapets, fleches, redoubts, ftar-forts, and other works; and in this chapter, the author admits occafionally of the utility of hexagonal ftar-forts, particularly when defigned to occupy heights. Têtes du pont, works of confiderable importance, are explained at fome length. Trous de loup, concealed holes into which the enemy may fall, now much difufed; crows-feet, inftruments fharp-pointed, refembling the utenfil commonly called a cat, fcattered on the ground where cavalry are expected to attack; and turmbalken, heavy pieces of timber defigned to roll down from a height to oppofe an enemy who is afcending, next share the author's attention. Fougaffes, a kind of mine, and abbatis, a mode of entrenchment well known, are the next fubjects of examination. We shall extract our

author's very humane obfervations, for humanity is not always uppermoft in the mind of an engineer; and M. Tielke, though by no means rafh or cruel, talks frequently as a profeffional man in this refpect.

In time of war, no greater abuses are committed than by the unneceffary formation of abbatis. As they coft the mili tary nothing, the commanding officers of corps and detachments generally make ufe of them without the leaft fcruple, as well for the defence of their own troops, as for the purpose of deceiving the enemy: efpecially when they are defirous of recommending themfelves to the immediate notice of their fovereign, or the commander in chief of the amy, as prudent and cautious officers. A foldier fhould be ready to make every effort, even at the expence of his own property, whenever the fervice of his country may make a demand of it; but he should remember at the fame time, that war is not carried on against the countrymen; and it ought to be an invariable maxim with him, never to opprefs them with wanton injury, even in an enemy's country. The deftruction of wood is a great and permanent evil, and every benefit that can be derived from an abbatis, which we neither can, nor intend to maintain, are much too inconfiderable to justify it. I have already endcavoured to prove that the defence of abbatis is difficult and precarious, and that no fervice whatever can refult from them when unoccupied by troops. Confequently, whenever a general repofes much confidence in them, he will be the more embar railed, and the probability of his defeat will be augmented.

In the underimentioned cafes abbatis may be of real use. 'ift. When woods are included within the pofition of a corps.

C 4

zd. When you wish to put your advanced pofts or other fmall bodies into a state of defence, or to prevent their being carried off, and,

6

3d. When you wish to retard the enemy's march through hollow-ways, ravines, &c. or to make them impatiable.'.

The conftruction of dams to occafion inundations, the means of keeping an enemy at a distance from them, and of forming a fluice which fhall not be injured by cannon-fhot, are. explained with great precifion. The method of retrenching heights, of defending an army by lines and retrenchments, of defending ground and buildings of every kind, are well elucidated.

The third and laft part relates to taking up' ground, in other words furveying and planning it. In this part of the work there are many circumstances of curiofity and of use, which the practical furveyor may occafionally employ with advantage; but perhaps on the whole, trifling circumftances of curiosity or ornament are too much infifted on.

These volumes will, we think, prove a valuable addition to the ftock of English tactics: they are printed with great care and fome fplendor, and the plates, which are very numerous, greatly exceed thofe of the original.

The Partifan in War; or, the Ufe of a Corps of Light Troops to, an Army. By Lieut. Col. A. Emmerich. 8vo. 3. in Boards, Debrett.

THE

'HE duty of a partifan has often been confidered as a fevere but useful fchool for the more regular officer, and the commander in chief of future armies. It teaches fortitude, steadiness, a habit of finding ready refources, and a complete felf-poffeffion in the moft alarming circumstances. Our late war in America, from the nature of the service, formed light troops and partifan officers in great numbers, and in no inconfiderable perfection. Lieutenant-colonel Emmerich ferved not only in America, but in the feven years German war. He was formed in the fchool of prince Ferdinand, and, indifputably the first general of the prefent moment, the duke of Brunfwick; nor has he fince tarnished the laurels which he then acquired. The prefent flight sketch, the outline of the partifan's duty, furnishes ample proofs of his fpirit, his ability, his addrefs, and his honour. The partifan is not, as has been fuppofed, the allowed robber, the ikulking freebooter, or the difhonourable fpy. He conducts his band in fecret, to diftrefs the enemy in a manner to which force cannot be applied. In his fudden excurfions he darts on an unprotected magazine, or a carelefs corps; but he neither

plunders