fpace of time between condemnation and execution is frequently too fhort to awaken in their minds a just apprehension of that Being, whofe name they have never uttered but with blafphemies, whofe mercies they have never invoked, one of whose anger they were regardlefs; that thus apathifed, they meet their fentence with the most perfect unconcern, and look upon it as the confequent finale of the part they have acted, and infinitely preferable to confinement or labour.'

If there is any argument in this paffage, it applies to the fe vere fpirit of our laws, which, in a variety of inftances, inflict capital punishments for offences merely of human institution; and against the total want of an education, not a misguided one. But though the former may be the caufe of many unhappy men falling victims to the laws of their country, it certainly seldom or never prompts them to felf-destruction. Suicide we may more often attribute to a falfe refinement of manners, to

fell defpair,

Wild diffipation, and infatiate care,

Luft, avarice, or difingenuous fhame.'

Indeed not one of the characters introduced in this poem appears to have owed its fate to a defective education; for Chatterton may be confidered as felf-taught, and his genius fuperfeded the want of it. In general they were accomplished in arts or arms, confpicuous for birth and talents. In a poem containing but eighteen pages, and entered at Stationer's hall, we fhould fcarcely have expected fuch weak carelefs lines as,

Ah where was Marcia, whofe care fhould fave.'

To her hand Amalthea gave the horn.'

Much less fuch very incorrect ones as thefe :
And every bright idea refrain'd.'

'Coward, fayft thou, was Caithness base?'

We meet likewife with fome unwarrantable rhymes; notwithstanding which we fhall not with-hold from Mrs. Blackett her due praife. Many paffages are marked by elegance and harmony; and Chatterton's unhappy end is thus feelingly defcribed:

Not fo, poor Chatterton, whofe tuneful lay,
Had crown'd his youthful brow with living bay ;
Short was his reign, though genius ftrung his lyre,
Wak'd each bright thought, and gave his numbers fire.
With rapid hand he fwept the trembling ring,
And taste and judgment paus'd to hear him fing:
The forceress Hope bade expectation rife,
And Flattery bore his plaudits to the skies.
On all his hours the playful fifters fmil'd.
And with fresh promifes his heart beguil'd.

At length repulfe drew the thin veil afide,
Shock'd at the fcene, he bow'd his head and died.
He died, but ah! what horrors urg'd his death,
No waiting cherub caught his fleeting breath;
No friend affiduous pour'd the parting tear,
Watch'd his laft glance, or grac'd the mourning bier.
Oh! fay, all-potent goddefs, Nature, fay,
How could a foul like his, defpair obey;
A foul which genius, taste, and truth refin'd,
A foul where all the virtues were combin'd;
Where filial duty and fraternal love
Did every thought and every action move.

Ah! had Reflection, to her office true,
Shewn the fad mother's anguish to his view;
When all her hope, her pride, her joy, represt,
Sad defolation feiz'd her widow'd breast;
Then had he paus'd, and, ere he closed his course,
His guardian genii had awoke remorse;
In gentle whispers footh'd his foul to peace,
Reviv'd his hopes, and bade his forrows ceafe.
But ah! too fenfible of want and fhame,
Too gentle to endure uncandid blame ;
Afraid to brave the cenfures of the throng,
And wanting means his being to prolong:
Unus'd to beg, unwilling to offend,
Without a patron, advocate, or friend:
No fympathetic breast to share his grief,
To footh his forrows, or afford relief:
Alone and unprotected in life's void,
His honour blafted, and his hopes destroy'd;
No chearful ray to gild the gloomy fcene,
By malice darken'd and difturb'd by spleen;
His foul indignant brav'd its awful fate,
Unthinking, brav'd, or thought, alas! too late!
Unable to endure the fcoff of pride,

By his own hand the hapless victim died.'

A General Hiftory of the Othoman Empire. Dedicated to the King of Sweden. Tranflated from the French of M. de M— D'Ohoffon. 4to. Vol. I, with French Plates. Folio. 51. 550

in Boards. Robinfons.

WE

E examined the original of this work in our LXVth volume, p. 473. at fome extent, and gave a general account of our author's plan, the execution, and the embelJishments. The English edition does not equal the original in fplendor; but the plates, which are bound feparately in folio, appear to be the fame; and the execution in other refpects, though not equally brilliant, cannot be cenfured. This volume is handfomely printed on a good paper.

The

The tranflator fays nothing for himself or his work, We have compared it with fome care in different paffages, and the verfion appears to be neat and accurate. It is, however, correct rather than elegant; and the tranflator, like his author, prefers perfpicuity to animation. The language is not tortured into harthnefs, or rendered unpleafing by foreign idioms. We need not again analyse this work, but shall content ourselves with extracting a fhort paffage, selected without any great care, to enable our reader to judge impartially of the general merits of this English verfion.

The tombs of the patriarchs and prophets are alfo in the eyes of Muffulmen an object of veneration. Selim I. after having fubjugated Syria in 922 (1516), and paffed the winter in Damas, would not march against Egypt till he had vifited Jerufalem, attended by fome officers: he went thither incognito with the greatest expedition, and immediately on his arrival he repaired to mount Keoahh-Khali!, to pay homage to the tombs of Abraham, Ifaac, Jacob, Jofeph, &c. A heavy rain was no impediment to this pious vilit; he difcharged without delay his religious duty, and fet out immediately on his return to Damas.

Befides that profound reverence with which the Mahometans regard those whom they believe to have died in a state of holinefs, they have a great respect for those who are diftinguifhed by their piety, particularly the dervifchs, or hermits, who, devoted to a life of retirement and contemplation, pass their days in the auftere practice of the moral virtues. These fentiments are equally refpected by the fovereign, as by persons of all ranks under their authority. The leaft religious among the khaliphs, the most diffolute and impious princes, have in all ages given proofs of a particular regard for thefe penitents. Among others, hiftory mentions the celebrated Timour. This Tartar hero, the fcourge of the Eaft, marching over Herath in 782 (1380), paffed by Taïbad. Ebu-Bekir Zein'ud-dinn, a hermit, excited the devotion and attracted the vifits of all the people in that district. Timour wifhed to fee him, and fent him an invitation to come to his camp. The hermit refufed peremptorily complying with his request." I fhould condemn myself," faid he," if I were to fet my foot in the tent of a prince who is fuch an enemy of mankind, so careless an obferver of the Cour'ann, and of the precepts of the prophet." Aftonished at the firm and decided conduct of this anchoret, Timour determined to go to fee him: he repaired to his cell; and this renowned conqueror, fays Ahmed Efendy, this fierce and imperious prince, the glances of whofe eye no mortal prefumed to fuftain, was fo affected by the aspect of the venerable fage, fo much awed by his virtue, that he could not refrain from tears. He liftened with eagerness to his falutary inftruction; he heard with terror the menaces which he de

nounced,

nounced, in the name of heaven, against wicked, inhuman, irreligious princes, and left him with tranfports of admiration, and with the most striking proofs of his bounty and regard.'

The Letters of Simpkin the Second, Poetic Recorder of all the Proceedings upon the Trial of Warren Haftings, Efq. in Weftminfter Hall. 8vo. 5s. in Boards. Stockdale.

Letters from Simpkin the Second, to his dear Brother in Wales. 12mo. 3s. 6d. Bell.

TH

HESE Letters were originally printed in the World; and, when taken, out of the World,' our author tells us, that his undertaker is Stockdale. On comparing these different. editions, we find the first to be the most full and complete, but Sheridan's remarks on Mr. Middleton's evidence, which are, truly humorous, occur only in the fecond. The address too is peculiar to Mr. Bell's edition. On the other hand, the additional letters, greater accuracy, and the apparent authenticity, render Mr. Stockdale's, on the whole, much fuperior.

Our readers need not be told of Mr. Anftey and the Bath Guide. Thefe Letters do not poffefs the unimpaired spirit of that admirable work; but, on a theme apparently unpromifing, we receive more entertainment than we could have expected. Some parts are highly coloured, and fome characters humouroufly caricatured. The incidents of the trial are well known, fo that we need only tranfcribe a fpecimen: perhaps the introduction of Mr. Sheridan's speech will be fufficient. We copy from the octavo volume:

Permit me, my lords, ere I fpeak more at large,
To disclaim every motive for making this charge.
Has the nabob complain'd? Is the prifoner accus'd
At the fuit of thofe ladies we fay he abus'd?
'Tis the cause of mankind, led by Edmund the brave,
His object is man, from man's baseness to save.
The minifter Pitt fays, "the Treafury is drain'd;"
But all must admit they are much entertain'd.
However, I'd have it be well understood,
If we have any motive, 'tis certainly good,
My lords, you expect proofs conclufive and strong;
But in that expectation, your lordships are wrong;
From documents written, no proof can we draw,
Nor can any one swear-to what nobody faw.
I'm not pleading excufe for our failing in proof,
For tho' we bring none, we can make out enough:
I fhall make out enough from the pris'ner's defence,
By giving my meaning, and taking his fenfe.
'Tis faid, when the house a delinquent impeaches,
The managers fhould be correct in their speeches;

That

That is, they fhould make a plain fimple narration
Of facts, well attefted, without aggravation:
That legal chicanery fhould not allift,

To give the plain fenfe an ingenious twist.

But, my lords, by your leave, the diftinction I'll trace,
Betwixt mifdemeanour and capital cafe;

For unless we were certain your lordships would hang him,
The managers' tongues claim a licence to bang him.'

We find the Letters are to be continued; and fome additional ones on the late edition of Bellendenus are promifed.

FOREIGN LITERARY INTELLIGENCE.

WE

7E have not been fo attentive to the claffical publications of the continent, or, in other words, to the foreign claffical intelligence, as the fubject may seem to deferve. In re ality, information of this kind is confined to the publications of the continent, and fince it is not always eafy to procure them, we must trust to accounts, which have often deceived us, and we may, by thefe fallacious guides, mislead our readers. We have, however, formerly given a fketch of this kind, and we find our correfpondents with for its continuation; ́ so that we shall comply with their wishes, and give our Intelligence as correctly and completely as we can.

It would be claffical herefy not to begin with Homer. The library of Saint Marc, at Venice, has furnished two manufcripts of Homer, which M. Villoifon, a name well known in. the literary world, has published at Venice, in folio, with a copious introduction, and numerous notes from the same MSS. The firit belongs to the tenth century, and is confequently two hundred years older than Euftathius; the fecond, a production of the eleventh century. The firit is valuable for having the text with the variations of the older readings, which are to be found in no other manufcripts, as well as indices in the margin to point out the obfcure or corrupted verfes. The other contains fome very useful notes, to facilitate the knowledge of the text. Some other advantages occur in this edition, for which the editor is indebted to a manufcript in the library at Leipfic, and to an other from the Vatican: from the latter the observations of Porphyry on the Iliad are extracted. The introduction is full of excellent critical remarks; and the impreffion is faid to be no lets accurate than elegant. From the fame collection M. Villoifon, in the first volume of the Anecdota Græca, p. 226. drew his information of the difcovery of two new treatises of Plotinus, one on the influence of the heavens on the earth; the other on unity, as the origin of the univerfe. The learned world formed fome expectations from this difcovery; but M. Grimm's publication at Leipfic feems to check their curiofity. In this little tract, entitled Plotini de Rerum Principio, Ennead