Art. 36. The Laws respecting Highways and Turnpike Roads, comprising the Common Law relating to Highways, &c. the Statute Law relative to Highways and Turnpike Roads, &c. The Office and Duty of the Surveyor of the Highways, familiarly laid down and explained; a complete Abstract of 13 Geo. III. c. 84. reducing all preceding Statutes relating to the Turupike Roads into one general Act; and an Appendix of such Forms and Precedents relative to Highways and Turnpike Roads as are of most general Use. By the Author of the Laws of Landlord and Tenant, &c. &c. 8vo. pp. 120. 38. Clarke and Sons. 1801. How will such of our readers, as have not been cajoled into the purchase of this book, smile at being informed that it contains very, very little more than the statute 13 Geo. III. chapters 78 and 84, printed verbatim from the Statute Book, and inserted in aii the cditions of Burn's Justice under the title Highways!

Art. 37. The Laws respecting Commons and Commoners, in which the whole Law relative to the Rights and Privileges of both Lords and Commoners is laid down, &c. &c. To which is likewise added, an Appendix containing the Mode and Expence of proceeding in the Houses of Lords and Commons for the Purpose of obtaining Acts of Parliament for the inclosing of Commons and other Waste Lands. By the Author of the Laws of Landlord and Tenant, &c. 8vo. PP. 94. 38. sewed. Clarke and Sons. 1801.

This work will be found to contain more information, and to be better arranged, than either of the preceding; though it is chargeable, like the other publications of this author, with the fault of introducing too much of the contents of the Statute-book.-A neat and accurate abridgment of the principal regulations enacted by those statutes might be of considerable service to those readers, who are satisfied with a general view of a subject.

Art. 38. The Laws respecting Travellers and Travelling, comprising all the Cases and Statutes relative to that Subject. Including the using of Hired Horses: Robbery, Accidents, Obstructions, &c. upon the Road: and Land and Water Carriage in general. And also the Law relating to Inn-keepers, as far as respects the relation subsisting between them and their Guests, &c. &c. &c. Whole collected from the best and latest Authorities. Author of the Laws of Landlord and Tenaut, &c. 8vo. pp. 90. 35. sewed. Clarke and Sons. 1831.

The

By the

This treatise contains much information, which will be found useful by the general if not by the professional reader; for it discusses topics in which all ranks of society are interested. The seventh chapter, which treats of the duties of inn-keepers in respect to their guests, is amusing, and may be consulted with advantage, because the principal cases on the subject are introduced and neatly abstracted.As no improper supplement to his work, the author has inserted the Stat. 39 Geo. III. c. 58. which regulates the Porterage of Parcels; and with equal judgment, since it increases the usefulness of his publication, he has added the different Rates of Postage. Though these Jast have been increased by a late act, yet the information will be

found

found correct, if an addition of one penny be made to each rate; thus, the postage from Bristol is here stated to be 7d. and if one penny be added, the present rate will be immediately discovered.

This tract, and the subjects of the three preceding articles, are intitled by the author, Law Selections, and form the second and last volume of that publication.

Art. 39. Precedents of Warrants, Convictions, and other Proceedings, before Justices of the Pence, chiefly original; and containing none that are to be met with in Dr. Burn's Justice, to which this Publication is offered as a Supplement of Practical Forms, interspersed with Notes, References to Cases, and Observations. By Edward Williams, of Lincoln's Inn, Esq. Barrister at Law. 8vo. pp. 670, 98. Boards. Pheney. 1801.

We have frequently had occasion to express our regret at the useless multiplication of law-books, and the present performance furnishes us with an additional opportunity of repeating the complaint. The volume contains little that will be found useful by those gentlemen for whose particular convenience it is represented to have been compiled, and several pages are occupied with matters totally irrelevant to the duties of a Justice of the Peace.

Art. 40. A Compendium of the Law of Evidence. By Thomas Peake, Esq. of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister at Law. 8vo. pp. 190. 6s. Boards. Brooke and Rider. 1801.

The subject of this treatise is particularly interesting to every practising Lawyer; and the manner in which it is executed reflects considerable credit on the talents and information of the author.-It is divided into three chapters; in the first of which, the general rulės of evidence are discussed; in the second, written evidence is considered, comprising the law respecting records, which is chiefly taken from Chief Baron Gilbert's work, public writings not of record, and private writings: the doctrine of parole evidence is treated in the third chapter, in which Mr. Peake points out the incompetency of persons to be witnesses, arising from the imbecility of their understandings, the infamy of their character, their interest in the cause, or their relation to the Parties. In the Appendix, are contained some of the leading cases on the subject of Evidence, and some MS. cases cited in the course of the work.

POETIC and DRAMATIC.

Art. 41. Mutius Scavola; or, the Roman Patriot. An Historical Drama. By W. H. Ireland. 8vo. 28 6d. Badcock. 1801. This young author, who is already too well known by his concern in the pretended Shakspeare papers, has since ventured to appear at our bar in his own person. Perhaps he will scarcely take it as a compliment, when we say that in the present instance he writes rather better than his own Shakspeare; for we could afford but little praise to king Vortigern and Henry II.-Mutius Scævola, if not a dramatic gem of the first water, may at least be read without laughter; and it will draw no tears, from the excess either of that passion or of its opposite.

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If,

If, however, the structure of the lines be carefully examined, it will be found essentially the same with that of the mock-tragedies already mentioned: but the scythe and roller have been more industriously used in the present composition. We extract, in support of our opi nion, the following passage:

• Curse on his noble qualities, they blaze,

And like the noontide sun absorb the beams
Of every lesser orb.-Why do I shrink,
And like the silvery moon confess his power,
Wasting whene'er he darts his godlike rays
Athwart my envious soul? I know not why,
Yet there's in virtue's tone a 'witching charm
That doth unbend the purpose of my soul,
And make me reverence the theme hate.—
Down, busy thought! and in thy place arise
The drowning voice of bold Anition.-Who
But Lentellus now shall lead to vengeance,
And thus the soldiers' love obtain? To me
Deputed is the slaughter of the foe,
And sacking of proud Rome-this well shall aid,
And onward spur my dread intent-Once gain'd
The base plebeian voice, I'll mask no more
The love of sov'reignty wherewith I'm fir'd.
This hand shall beat the opposing barrier down,
And satiate my ambition with a crown.'

It has evidently been the wish of Mr. Ireland to assume the noble Irregularity and overpowering enthusiasm of our antient dramatists: but in this attempt he has totally failed, and has shewn that he is equally remote from the fervid genius of the older and the classical correctness of more recent writers. If we must speak plainly, he possesses all the faults, without the fire, of the authors of Hurlothrumbo and Chrononhotonthologos!

Art. 42. A Poetical Epistle to Sir George Beaumont, Bart., on the Encouragement of the British School of Painting. By William Sotheby, Esq. 8vo. 1s. 6d. Wright. 1801.

After Mr. Sotheby's perilous excursion to the domains of Virgil*, we are happy to meet him in his native "wood-walks wild," in Epping Forest, in which his descriptive powers are shewn to more ad vantage. He thus paints the attractions of his home-scenery:

Here, o'er its base no mountain darkly bends,
No boundless ocean spreads, no flood descends,
No isle, by morn empurpled, gems the deep,
No moon-light beams on silver turrets sleep.

Yet here green champaigns stretch, and grassy glades
Lead to wild walks and unfrequented shades;
Plains, o'er whose bosom, swelling to the day,
Sunshine and shadow sweep in broad array;

* See Rev. vol. xxxiv. N. S. p. 75.

Slopes

Slopes hung with fern, whose wavy tufts between,
Soft winds the village path of level green,
Smooth as the wake that gleams along the tide,
While the curl'd billows foam on either side.
And many a deep wood dims the noontide glare,
Whence the lone stag springs stately from his lair,
And, sweet at distance, float the horizon round
Fields gay with corn, the forest's golden bound.'

The poet then proceeds to celebrate the project of Sir G. Beaumont for an exhibition of celebrated pieces of the British School; and in describing the beauties and advantages of our landscape, he intro duces the following highly pleasing lines:

Say, where, by zephyrs borne, can Maia fling
Her flowers more fragrant on the lap of spring?
A robe more verdant dewy summer weave,
Or brighter colours tinge th' autumnal eve?'

Mr. Sotheby's patriotic zeal not only renders him desirous of exalting the artists of our country, but makes him view the assemblage of Chefs d'Oeuvre at Paris with jealousy and anxiety:

I dread not Gallia's desolating pow'rs,

"No hostile foot shall bruise our native flow'rs."
I dread her not, stern foe array'd in arms;
I dread the Syren deck'd in magic charms;
I dread her crown'd enchantress of the heart,
And hail'd by Europe, arbitress of art.

The feast is spred in proud theatric state,
Th' invited nations at her portal wait.
Transported guests! the golden gates expand,
The shout of rapture bursts from land to land..
Zephyrs, whose roseate wings soft dews distil,
The air around with sweets Sabean fill:
Banners where rainbow colours richly play,
Catch the soft gale, and stream a fairer day.
Above, below, around, the viewless choir.

Wake the soft flute, and sweep th' accordant lyre,
And, at each tuneful stop, from nymphs unseen,
Symphonious voices swell the pause between.
Others, by beauty moulded, move in sight,
And every sense by every charm delight,
With flowing locks, loose robe, and bosom bare,
Melt in the dance, that floats upon the air.
Th' enchantress smiles, her hands a goblet hold,
On Hebe's bosom Cupid wrought the mould:
Th' enchantress smiles, and mingles in the bowl
Drops of Circean juice, that drug the soul.'

For this new species of alarm, we hope that there is not much foundation. Our fashionable travellers will not more readily become revolutionists by looking at pictures and statues in Paris, than their

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forefathers

forefathers became Roman catholics by admiring the same masterpieces at Rome.-Though we differ in this respect from the present author, we must do justice to his verses; which are much superior to the common strain of poetical compositions, and are equally commendable for their elegance and their morality.

Art. 43. The Surrender of Calais, an Historical Drama, (printed at York). 8vo. 28. Crosby and Letterman. 1801.

Inattention to historical fact cannot be imputed to this northern genius: he rather falls into the contrary extreme, and turns his tragedy occasionally into a gazette. Witness the following speech of Sir W. de Manny:

J. de Vienne. The brave yield not to fortune, they controul it. W. de Manny. And so doth Edward; witness Cressy field, Sluys, Pontoise, Blanchetaque, and Norman Caen.

Present or absent, fortune still is his;

Proud Bergerac, unequal Auberoche,
Morlaix and Rochderien, all are his;
Villareal, Tonneins, and Sauveterre,
St. Jean de Angeley, and Mirembeaù,
Mortagne Sur-mer, Annày, Surgeres, Benòn,
Marans, and Taillebourg, and Lusignan,

Poitiers, and brave Aiguillon, all are his.'

In a succeeding part of the play, we learn that Edward's purpose, in besieging Calais, was to teach the walls to make a reverence to him:

Herald. The brave do love the brave, else had not Edward, Unus'd to sue, and jealous of denial,

So often importun'd these haughty walls
To bow them gently underneath his yoke.
Governour. What if they will not?

• Herald.

He will break them then.'

These stiff-neck'd walls certainly deserved to be set in the dancingschool-stocks! The monarch might have exclaimed, with Botton's Pyramus,

"O wicked wall! thro' which I see no bliss,
Curst be thy stones for thus deceiving me.'

On the whole, we apprehend that this Surrender of Calais' will be regarded as no great acquisition to our dramatic literature, though the author has avoided many errors of the modern stage. To be free from glaring faults is not sufficient to the complete success of a writer: it is requisite that he should attain some degree of excellence.

Art. 44. A Medico-Metrical Address to the Students at the University of Edinburgh. Containing Characteristic Sketches of the Medical Professors in that celebrated School. By Lemuel Lancet, Esq. 8vo. 6d. Jordan. 1801.

Old birds are not to be caught with chaff; and we have been too often deceived by title-pages and mottos, to put our trust in Mr. Lancet's affiche, "C'est bien Comique"-A perusal of these verses, in

deed,