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of the great number of perfons whom it unfortunately concerns, the hiftory of the frands practifed by gambler, and other harpers, at Faro and other gaming tables, kept in the houses of perfons of fuperior tank, and in Subfcription-boufes, in open defiance of the laws, and in Lottery infurance offices, Our author has taken indefatigable pains to invefligate this laft evil, being of the first magnitule; and he has fo clearly demonftrated that all perfons infuring numbers in the Lotteries with there notorious cheats and impoftors are moft egregious dupes, as 'to leave no poflible excufe for the folly (ignorance being removed) of thofe who during the drawing of the next Trish and Englih Lotteries, fhall be tempted to throw away their money, in hopes of great gains, in this illegal and fraudulent branch of gambling, after they have read the cau tions and advice given in Chapter VII. This clafs of tharpers," fays our author, take Lottery infurances where gambling, among the higher and middling ranks, is carried on to an extent which exceeds all credibility, producing confequences to many private families, of great worth and refpectability, of the moft diftreffing nature, and implicating in this milery the innocent and amiable branches of fuch families, whofe fuffer ngs, arising from this fource, while they elim the tear of pity, would require many volumes to recount; but filence and fhame throw a veil ever the calamity, while urged by the hopes of retrieving former loffes, or of acquiring property in an eaty way, the evil goes on, and feems to increafe, in fpite of every guard which the legislature has wifely established."

the English and Irish Lotteries: fer thịs purpose, they are induced to fell or pawan the property of their mafters, wherever it can be pilfered in a little way, and fo as to elude detection, till at length this species of peculation, by being rendered fa miliar to their minds, too often terminates in more atrocious crimes. As for the labouring poor, they refort to this de ceitful and fraudulent expedient, at the expence fometimes of pledging every article of household goods, as well as the laft rag of their own, and their children's wearing apparel, not leaving a single change of raiment!

It is calculated that at thefe fraudy, lent infurance offices (about 400 in num ber) infurances are made to the extent of 8oo,cool. which they receive in premiums during the Irish Lottery, and above One Million during the English; and it was eftimated that this infamous confederacy, during the laft Lottery, fupported about 2000 agents and clerks, and nearly 7500 Morecep men, including a confiderable number of Ruffians and Bludgeon-men, by whom the civil power was trampled upon, and put to defiance in a molt alarming and fhameful manner, difgraceful to its Police; a pre-concerted plan being formed and executed by a fet of mifcreants, compofed chiefly of the more opulent part of the fraudulent infurers, for the purpofe of alarming and terrifying thofe officers of Justice with whom, by pecuniary gratuities, they could not pre viously make their peace, by the threatnings of hired ruffians and bludgeon-mes, whom they employed and furnished with arms to reift the civil authority, and even to commit murder, if attempts fhould be made to execute the warrants of the civil magiftrates. The remedies propofed, in order to diminish, and finally to root out this enormous evil, are claffed under eight diftinct heads, and appear to be judicioutly calculated to aniwer the purpose; but they occupy more space in the treatife than we can poffibly allow them in our review. To be concluded in our next.)

Independent of the fuperior ranks of life, we find the greatest encouragement is given to thefe fraudulent iniurance offices by the lower orders of the community, more especially by the pampered male and female fervants in the houries of perfons of fashion and fortune, who are faid, almoft without a single exception, to be in the conftant habit of infuring in Perfons who go about from houfe to houfe among their former customers, and, attend in the back-parlours of public-hicules, where they are met by their customers who make in furances.

A Letter to the Right Honourable John Loid Sheffield, on the Publication of the Memoirs and Letters of the late Edward Gibbon, Ffg. Strewfbury. 8vo. 1796. Eddowes.

THE Author of this Letter propofes in the ift place to examine Mr. Gibbon's own ac

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tion by the prefent writer. They are @xamined with great freedom, and cenfured, we think, with justice and without referve. * When we confider," fays the Author, addrefing himself to Lord Sheffield, their principal tendency and probable effects, whatever their fortune may be, one of the things which you, my Lord, and every friend of man kind ought most to with, is, that they may fpeedily perith! But, alas! this is not the ufual fate of noxious things: he (Mr. G.) has left the world á lafting memorial of HIMSELF: fo long as any regard for virtue, any reve rence for true religion fhall remain-He will ftand forth a melancholy monument of mif applied talents and mischievous endowments." This pamphlet is evidently the production of no trdinary writer.

Joam 144 A Novel, by Matilda Fitzjohn. 4 Vol 12mo. Hookham and Carpenter.

The Author of thefe volumes, by the motto in the title page, appears to difclaim any great pretenfions to wit or sprightlinefs of genius, She poffeffes, however, the powerof delineating characters, and is not without obfervation on Nife and exifting manners. The heroine of the Work is the daughter of the Lady whofe name gives the title to the performance. The freations the is thrown into are fometimes within the bounds, hút moft Requertly cut of the reach of probability, and the young Lady herfelf at fome times has too much fim. plicity, and at others too much threwdnefs. The fentiments are fuch as deferve to meet the approbation of the reader, and the moral inculcated is favourable to the interefts of virtue.

Original Letters, &c. of Sir John Falstaff, and bis Friends, now first made public, by a Gentleman, a Descendant of Dame Quickly, from Cine Manufripts, which have been in the Pfef fen of the Quickly Family near Four Hundred Tart. 120 Robin fors. Robinfors.

The late enormous forgery attempted to be impofed on the Public has evidently given rile to this publication, which, however, is an effort at humour too teenie to be entitled to much praife. Our old friends Falftaff, Piftol, Nym. Shallow, &c. ufe the fame words as in the Plays of Shakespeare, but the fpirit which originally produced the characters is totally evaporated.

The Cottage. An Operatic Farce, in Two Alis. By James Smith. Tewkesbury. Sve Krafty. Th

This piece is founded on the hackneyed aircumftance of a gentleman affuming the dif guide of a fervant, for obtaining a more free access to his milliefs. The execution of it VOL. XXX, OCT. 1796,

is entitled to but a small degree of praise, though it seems from the Advertisement prefixed to have been acted at the place where it was printed.

Inftruction to the Children of Sunday Schools, and other Charitable Seminaries of Learning; defigned for the Promotion of their Wilfare in the Present Life, and of their Happiness in that which is to come. By Abraham Crocker. Frome." 12me. Wills. 4d.

A useful, cheap, and unoftentatious manual,

from the Clouds, both in these Days and in Antient
Remarks concerning Stones faid to have fallen
F. 4. S. 4to. Nicol,
Times. By Edward King, Esq. F. B. S, and

and modern of ftones fuppofed to have fallen
In this pamphlet all the accounts antient
from the clouds are with great industry col-
lected together and brought into one point of
view. Many of thefe are very extraordinary,
though they do not appear to have been re-
ceived with implicit credit by the philofophical
part of the community. Mr. King has not
given a decided opinion on the fabject him-
felf, though it is evident that the refult of his
enquiries lean to the fentiments of those who
give credit to the reality of a confolidation
of certain fpecies of ftone in the clouds.
Whatever may become of the philofophy of
the pamphlet, we are at leaft indebted to Mr.
King for the facts contained in it.

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Revolutions, a Poem, in Two Bocks. By P. Courtier. 8vo. 1796, Law,

of Revolutions both in profe and verse, and The world is already fickened with the noise

found lefs difgufting Declining any introducthe prefent Author is not likely to render the tion in the fhape of an argument, he begins with ftating the generat intent of his poem in the following manner {

"After fome preliminary obfervations, the American is the first Revolution noticed in the enfuing pages; as a relief between this and that of the French, a few conjectures are offered on the primary effects of printing, with a view of the benefits resulting from the difcovery of that art. France then becomes the fubject of attention; and the principal events of her Revolution, till the fall of Robespierre, form the greater part of the first book; which terminates with fome refloca tions on the difmenaberment of Poland, and the probability of that country regaining its independence."

"The second book commences with comparative retrofpect of Hiftory and Prophecy, whence is hewn their relative harMm mony;

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THE fubject of this prophecy is Polyxena. She was flain by Neoptolemus, who, according to Lycophron, was the fon of Achilles and Iphigenia,

Ptolemy's poets read the Bible both in the Greek verfion and original Hebrew. The refemblance between the ftories of Iphigenia and Jephthe's daughter, and between the names Jephthe and Iphi, could not escape their obfervation. Iphi is a corruption from Jephthe; and the import of the word annexed is evident. But the familiar currency of common words by no means recommended them to our poet's choice. His language muft

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be oracular, for the fpeaker was Caffan dra. His terms must be obfcure and rare, for oracles were ambiguous.

He therefore, in the ftead of the wellknown word Iphigenia, has fubitituted 'Ips; which is a patronymic noun, formed from 'Io. It is formed by the fame analogy that regulates the words Exvis, Пgrauis, and others. Thus is 'Ipie, which means Iphi's, . e. Jephthe's daughter, ufed as an equivalent for Iphigenia Canter, Meuriius, and Potter, are filent with regard to this word; and the Scholiaft's remark upon it is by no means latisfactory,

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SOME ACCOUNT OF ROBERT BURNS. SIM i

IT is not likely that the extinction of
a fpirit like the late Robert Burns
hould be unattended with a variety of
pofthumous anecdotes, memoirs, &c. re-
lative to the very rare and uncommon
perfonage whom it animated. I fhall
not attempt to enlift with the voluminous
corps of biographers, who, it is proba-
ble, may, without poffefling his genius,
arrogate to themselves the privilege of
criticifing the character, or writings of
Mr. Burns
"The infpiring mantle"
thrown over him by that tutelary Mufe
who first found him, like the prophet
Elisha, at his plough, bas been the
of few, may be the portion of
portion
fewer still; and if it is true, that men of
genius, have a claim in their literal capa-
Cities to the legal rights of the British
Citizen in a court of justice, that of be-
ang tried only by their Peers," (Ibor-
row here an expreffion I have frequently

heard Burns himself make use of) God forbid I fhould, any more than the gen generality of other people, affume the Hattering and peculiar privilege of fitting apon his jury. But the intimacy of our acquaintance, for feveral years paft, may perhaps jullify my prefenting to the Public a few of thofe ideas and obfervations I have had the opportunity of forming, and which to the day that clofed for ever the fcene of his happy qualities and of his errors, I have never had the malleft caufe to deviate in or to recall.

It will be the misfortune of Burns's reputation in the records of literature, not only to future generations and to foreign countries, but even with his native Scotland and a number of his cotemporaries, that he has been regarded as 1 poet, and nothing but a peet. It must not be fuppofed that I confider this title as a rival one; no person can be more

The poetic genius of my country found me as the prophetic bard Elijah did. Elisha, at 3. the plough; and threw her infpiring mantle over me. She bade me fing the loves, the joys, the rural scenes and rural pleasures of my natal foil, in my native tongue, &c.

ad not; awo in 910 9 x -Burns's Prefatory Addrefs to the Noblemen and owl tud Jigarwonder -Gentlemen of the Caledonian Hups.

Pene

penetrated with the refpect due to the wreath bestowed by the Mules than myfelf; and much certainly is due to the merits of a felf-taught bard, deprived of the advantages of a claffical education, and the interccurfe of minds congenial to his own, till that period of life when his native fire had already blazed forth in all its wild graces of genuine fimplicity, and energetic eloquence of fentiment.

a

It

dent fallies of enthufiaftic patriotifm.
The keennefs of fatire was, I am at a lofs
whether to fay his forte or his foible: For
though nature had endowed him with
portion of the moft pointed excellence in
that "perilous gift," he suffered it too
often to be the vehicle of perfonal, and
was not alwafo de partivities.
that sportiveness of hu-
was
mour, "that unwary pleasantry," which
Sterne has defcribed to us, in colours fo
conciliatory; but the darts of ridicule
were frequently directed as the caprice of
the inftant fuggefted, or the altercations
of parties or of perfons happened to kin-
dle the reftleffness of his fpirit into inte-
reft or averfion. This, however, was
not unexceptionably the cafe; his wit
(which is no unufual matter indeed) had
always the start of his judgment, and
would lead him to the indulgence of rail-
lery, uniformly acute, but often unac-
companied with the least defire to wound.
The fuppreffion of an arch and full-
pointed bon mot from the dread of injur-
ing its object, the fage of Zurich very
properly claffes as a virtue only to be fought
for in the Kalender of Saints; if fo,
Burns must not be dealt with unconfcien-
tioully for being rather deficient in it.
He paid the forfeit of his talents as dear-
ly as any one could do ; " 'twas no ex-
travagant arithmetic" to fay of him as of
Yorick, "that for every ten jokes he got
an hundred enemies.

But the fact is, that even when all his honours are yielded to him, Burns will undoubtedly be found to move in a sphere lefs fplendid, lefs dignified, and even in his own paftoral ftile, less attractive than Jeveral other writers have done: and that poely was (I appeal to all who had the advantage of being perfonally acquainted with him) actually nor his forte. If others had climbed more fuccefsfully to the heights of Parnaffus, none certainly ever outfhone Burns in the charms-the forcers I would almoft call it, of fafcinating converfation, the fpontaneous eloquence of focial argument, or the unftudied poignancy of brilliant repartee. His perfonal endowments were perfectly correfpondent with the qualifications of his mind. His form was manly, his action -nergy itself, entirely divefted, however, of all thofe graces, of that polish acquired only in the refinement of focieties in which he feldom had the opportu nity to mix; but where, fuch was the irrefiftible power of attraction that encircled him, though his manners and appearance were always peculiar, yet he never failed to delight and to excel. His figure certainly bore the authentic imprefs of his birth and original station of life; it feemed rather moulded by nature for the rough exercifes of agriculture, than the gentler cultivation of the belles lettres. His features were ftamped with the hardy character of independence, and the firmaets of conscious, though not arrogant pre-eminence. I believe no man was ever gifted with a larger portion of the "vidida vis animi." The animated exprefhons of his countenance were almoff peculiar to himself. The rapid lightnings of his eye were always the harbingers of fome flath of genius, whether they darted the fiery glances of infulted and indignant fuperiority,or beamed with the impaffioned fentiment of fervent and impetuous affections. His voice alone could improve upon the magic of his eye; fonorous, Peplete with the finest modulations, it alternately captivated the ear with the melody of poetic numbers, the perfpiquity of "nervous reasoning, or the are

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And much allowance fhould be made

by a candid mind for the fplenetic warmth of a spirit whom "diftrefs had often fpited with the world," and which, unbounded in its intellectual fallies and purfuits, continually experienced the curbs impofed by the waywardness of his fortune; the vivacity of his withes and tem per, checked by almoft habitual difappointments, and endowed with a heart that acknowledged the ruling paffion of independence, without having ever been placed beyond the grafp of penury. His foul was never languid or inactive, and his genius was extinguished only with the laft fparks of retreating life. His paffions rendered him, according as they difclosed themselves in affection or antipathy, the object of enthufiaftic attachment or moft rancorous malevolence For he poffeffed none of that negative infipidity of cha racter whofe love may be regarded with indifference, or whofe refentment could be confidered with contempt. This it fhould feem, the temper of his companions took the tincture from his own; for he acknowledged in the univerfe but two

M m 2

claffes

claffes of objects-thofe of adoration the moft fervent, or of avertion the most invincible. It has been frequently reproached to him, that unfufceptible indifference, often hating where he ought to have defpifed, he alternately opened his heart and poured forth all the treafures of his understanding to fuch as were incapable of appreciating the homage, and elevated to the privileges of an adverfary many who were unqualified in talent, or in nature, for the honour of a conteft fo diftinguished.

It is faid, that the celebrated Dr. Johnfon profeffed to love a good hater :" -A temperament that had fingularly adapted him to cherish a prepoffeilion in favour of our bard; who, perhaps, could fall little short even of the furly Doctor in this qualification, as long as the difpofi-, tion to ill will continued; but the verfatility of his paffions were fortunately tempered to their fervor; he was feldom, never indeed, implacable in his refentments; and fometimes, it has been alledged, not inviolably fteady in his engagements of friendship. Much indeed has been talked ef his inconftancy and caprices; but I am inclined to believe, they originated lefs from a levity of refentment, than from an impetuofity of feeling, that rendered him prompt to take umbrage; and his fenfations of pique, where he fancied he had discovered the traces of unkindness, fcorn, or neglect, took their measures of aiperity from the over-flowings of the oppofite fentiment which preceded them, and which feldom failed to regain its afcendancy in his bofom on the return of its cahner reflection. He was candid and manly in the avowal of his wrongs, and his avowal was a reparation:-His native fierté never forfaking him a moment, the value of a frank acknowledgement was enhanced tenfold towards a generous nind, from its never being attended with fervility His mind, organized only for the stronger and more acute operations of the paflions, was impracticable to the efforts of fuperciliuinefs, that would have depreffed it into humility, and equally fuperior to the encroachments of venal fuggeftions, that might have led him into the mazes of hypocrisy.

It has been obferved, that he was far from averle to the incenfe of flattery, and could receive it tempered with lefs delicacy than might have been expected, as he feldom tranfgreffed in that way himfelf; where be paid a compliment indeed it might claim the power of intoxication, as ap

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probation from him was always an hoteft tribute from the warmth and fincerity of his heart.

It has been fometimes represented by thofe who, it should teem, had a view to detract, though they could not hope wholly to obicure, that native brilliancy** which the powers of this fingular man had invariably beftowed on every thing that came from his lips or pen, that the hiftory of the Ayrshire Plow-boy was an ingenious fiction, fabricated for the purpoles of obtaining the intereft of the great, and enhancing the merits of what, in reality, required no foil. The Cotter's Saturday Night,-Tam O'Shanter, and the Mountain Daify, befides a number of later productions, where the maturity of his genius will be readily traced, and which will be given to the Public as foon as his friends have collected and arranged them, fpeak fufficiently for themfelves and had they fallen from a hand more diftinguifhed in the ranks of fociety than that of a peafant, they had perhaps beftowed as unufual a grace there, as even to the humble fhade of ruftic infpiration from which they really fprung."

To the obfcure fcene of Mr. Burns's education, and to the laborious, though honourable station of rural industry in which his parentage enrolled himh, almott every inhabitant of the fouth of Scotland can give teftimony. His only furviving brother, Gilbert Burns, now guides the ploughfhare of his forefathers in Ayrhire, at a fmall farm near Mauchline and cur poet's eldest fon (a lad of nine years of age, whofe early difpofitions already prove him the heritor of his father's talents, as well as indigence) has been deftined by his family to the humble em-" ployments of the loomi.

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That Burns had received no claffical education, and was acquainted with the Greek and Roman authors only' through the medium of tranflations, is a fact that can be indifputably proved. E have feldom feen him at a lofs in converfation, unlefs where the dead languages and their writers were the fubject of difcutfion, when I have preffed him to tell me why he never took pains to acquire the Latin in particular, a language his happy memory had fo foon enabled him to be master of, he used only to reply,. with a finile, that he already knew all the Latin he defired to learn, and that was, "ommia vincit amor 3" a' phrate, that from his writings, and moft favourite purfuits, it hould undoubtedly feem he

was

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