BRITISH CATALOGUE. POETRY. ART. 12. The Sabbath: a Poem. 12mo. 96 pp. 35. Blackwood, Edinburgh; Longman and Co. London. 1804. On a facred fubject, it is particularly gratifying to a found mind, to meet with an auimated and fublime Poem. We by no means fubmit to the authority, however great, which declares fuch fubjects un. favourable to poetry. It is furely only neceff.ry to think and feel righly on topics of a devout and religious nature, and that which is in ittelf full of fublimity must convey a part of its grandeur to the compofition. The difficulty, however, be it greater or lefs, is here vanquished and the anonymous author of " the Sabbath, a Poem", proves hir felf to be an harmonious and a vigorous writer. But let us give the proof in his own words. After a fine defcription of the Service of the Church, with organ, &c. he proceeds: "No,'tis not only in the facred fane That homage thould be paid to the Most High; A melancholy, but truly poetical picture follows, of the time when the Scottish peasants were prevented, under Charles II. from attending their own minifters. In defcribing a funeral afterwards, which he fuppofes to be that of a pious and charitable young woman, the poet introduces this exquifite paffage: 66 Happy vifions blefs'd That heaven was nigh: O what a burst Of rapture from her lips! what tears of joy Her heavenward eyes fuffufed! Thofe eyes are closed: She fmil'd in death, and till her cold pale face โก In which the wintry ftars all bright appear, Is fhceted oy a nightly froft with ice, Unruffled by the breeze or fweeping blat." P. 21. Some poetry of great ftrength and beauty defcribes, as the Poem proceeds, the labours of the Milionary Voyagers, and ftigrarizes, with due strength, the cruelty of the flave-trade. An occafional, but very fparing introduction of a few Scottish words, rather elevates than corrupts the language. In a few places, we fufpect, that words have been omitted at the prefs, thus: "The thousand notes fymphonious rise,” (p. 5.) should have been, The thousand notes at once fymphonious rise. The author feems too skilful in verfification to leave imperfect lines; yet other such instances appear, which we can only account for as we have faid. ART. 13. A Hint to Britain's Arch Enemy, Buonaparte. An Effufion, appropriate to exifting Circumftances. By T. Strange, Mafter of the Academy at Wallington, Oxon. Second Edition. 8vo. 16 pp. 6d. Law, &c. 1804. A fpirited Effufion from one advanced in years, as we collect from the motto prefixed. Exhortations like the following are fit to be refounded (as in fact they now are) throughout the kingdom. "With hamlet hamlet vies, and town with town, Their youth deputing for the realm's defence; Nor they reluctant to the field repair, Like requifition levies, felons link'd, Difgerg'd by dungeons, who for life compound Victorious be the fword for Britain drawn! And ere ye Theath it, give to Europe peace." P. 15. ARE ART. 14. A Pindaric Ode to the Genius of Britain. By the Rev. Charles Wicked Ethelfton, M. A. Rector of Worthenbury. 4to. Is. Nanian, and Barrow, Manchetter. 1804. A fpirited and well timed effufion, which thus commences. "Genius of Britain, roufe; a hoftile band Is heard along our coaft; He waves his flickering fpear on high, Then raife thy nerve-ftrung arm, and grafp thy iron rod, year, This author published a small volume of Poems laft which were noticed by us, vol. xxii. p. 554• ART. 15. An inftructive Epifle to John Perring, Efq. Lord Mayor of Peter writing panegyric is not a little out of his element, and we much doubt whether he would ever have praised one minifter, if it had not been a convenient mode for indulging his enmity to another. Certain it is, that his praifes of Mr. A. are fo very luke-warm and feeble, that we feel no temptation to quote them. So little attention has been paid to the printing, that the following two fianzas, inuch the but in the pamphlet, and fill not very good, are not even printed as ftanzas, but wrongly divided. They contain Peter's anathema against an offending Alderman. "Of fuch-O, may the fav'ry haunch Great rival of a bag: Before their mouths may brawn advance, And baulk each well-worn fnag! Down their plump checks may cuftards ftream- And may they writhe and grin, And fpread their tantaliz'd poor chops, And not one drop get in!" The time muft furely be come, or nearly approaching, when fuch things as this Epiftle will not pay for paper and print. NOVELS. NOVELS. ART. 16. Travellers in Switzerland. By E. F. Lantier. Comprising Defcriptions of the romantic Scenery of Switzerland; Manners and Cuftoms of the Inhabitants; interefting Converfations with, and Anecdotes of, the principal literary Characters refident in that Country, never before published, viz. Diderot, Voltaire, Lavater, Rouffeau, Gibbon, Franklin, Munjireux, &c. Er. c. Tranflated from the French, by Frederic Sheberl. In Six Volumes. 12mo. 11. 45. 1804. Badcock. This appears to be another tranflation, or perhaps, as the publisher is the fame, only the fame with a new title, which we noticed in May Taft (p. 555) under the title of Adolphe and Blanche. It feems fcarcely worth while to recall the former volumes for the fake of comparing them. It is fufficient that the work is a copy from a pleafing and meri orious original. We have, however, little doubt that this book and the former differ only in the title page. ART. 17. The Pride of Ancestry, or Who is She? A Novel. In Four Volumes By Mrs. Thompson, Author of Exceffive Senfibility, Fatal Follies, the Labyrinths of Life, &c. &c. 12mo. 16s. Parfons. 1804. The titles of this lady's former publications in this way happily fupply us with a juft and pertinent criticifm on this her prefent work: "Exceffive Senfibility", "Fatal Follies", and "Labyrinths of Life". MEDICINE. ART. 18. A Medical Guide for the Invalid to the principal Watering Places of Great Britain; containing a View of the Medicinal Effects of Water, 1. as applied to the Body in its fimple State; 2. as exhibited in its impregnated or mineral Form; 3. as employed in this Form for the Cure of particular Difeafes; 4. as affifted in its Effects by the Situation and Climate of the Watering Places reforted to. By William Nifbet, M. D. 12mo. 295 PP. 5s. 6d. Highley. 1804. This is a compilation from the larger work of Dr. Saunders on Mineral Waters, in thofe parts which relate to the medicinal powers of fuch waters, and from a more recent and popular volume, publifhed by Phillips, under the title of a Guide to the Watering Places of Great Britain, in thofe parts which relate to the climate and fituation of the different watering places. In addition to this, the author has inferted an account of the feveral difeafes in which mineral waters are peculiarly ferviceable; together with obfervations on the particular treatment of each of thofe diseases; fubjects which have not been minutely difcuffed in either of the works above-mentioned. There There is a good deal of information comprised within this fmall volume; and, if it be proper for invalids to ftudy their own disorders, they have here an opportunity of doing it. ART. 19. A complete Syftem of Veterinary Medicine. By James White, Veterinary Surgeon of the Firft, or Royal Regiment of Dra goons. Vol II. The Materia Medica and Pharmacopœia. 262 pp. 58. Badcock. 1804. I 2mo. It is remarked in the Preface to this fmall volume, that although many books have been published concerning the diseases of the horse, yet the therapeutical part, or what relates to the medicines proper for the removal of thofe difeafes, has not hitherto been rationally and fatisfactorily explained. Hence the author has been induced to add the prefent volume to his compendium of the difeafes. After numerous and attentive obfervations on the operation and doses of various drugs, he trufts he has been able to furnish a volume, that will not be unacceptable even to the experienced practitioner. He has endeavoured to explain the general properties of the various fubftances employed in medicine, defcribing their particular operation on the body of the horfe, both in health and difeafe; the dofes in which they may be given; their compofition, &c. This conftitutes the Materia Medica, In the Pharmacopoeia are comprifed directions for preparing the various compofitions, including many receipts of established efficacy; exhibiting fuch a body of therapeutics as will (he flatters himself) enable those who are concerned in the care and management of horses to combat with fuccefs their various difeafes. We shall conclude this account by remarking, that it appears from Mr. W.'s trials, that many fubftances, which either operate violently or prove deleterious to man, may be taken without any bad effect, in very large dofes, by the horfe: thus he informs us, that he has often known two drachms of arfenic given for two or three days fucceffively to a horfe, without any other ill confequence than fome disturbance of the ftomach and bowels: and white vitriol, which, in the dofe of a few grains, excites ftrong vomiting in the human subject, has been given to a horse, in the quantity of eight ounces, without producing any violent effect. DIVINITY. ART. 20. The Ways of God to be vindicated only by the Word of God. A Sermon, preached at the Afylum Chapel, Leefon-Street, June 17, 1804. By the moft Rev. T. L. O'Beirne, D. D. Lord Bishop of Meath. 8vo. 40 PP: Is. 6d. Watfon and Son, Dublin; Rivingtons, London. 1804. In this animated and eloquent difcourfe, we meet with every thing that marks the hand of a mafter. After expatiating on the topic Of the first volume, which contains a defcription of the diseases to which horfes are liable, an account was inferted in the British Critic for 1802. fuggefted |