873, this effayift feems to fay that poets are not authors! talks (p. 334.) of Bacon's novum organum as an excellent example of experimental philofophy! and, in page 302, tells us, in nearly the fame words, in which he had twice told us before, that in the 17th century began the civil wars between Charles and his parliament, which ended in the murder of the king, and the eflablifhment of the commonwealth!" To the following obfervation, which occurs pp. 420, 421, our readers are, by this time, probably as much disposed as we are to give an unlimited affent. "Though it is known that the exercife of the mental faculties ftrengthens and enlarges the mind, yet this is moft remarka ble in perfons whofe capacities are above mediocrity; for it is lefs and lefs perceptible, as we approach the clodpole, whose mental powers are fo extremely limited as to be incapable of much exercife. This is, perhaps, the true reafon, why men of mean parts, who attempt literary purfuits, improve fo little, in the manner of treating their fubjects." The ftyle of thefe effays is in general mean, and fometimes ungrammatical. Like many of his countrymen, Dr. Gardiner often confounds the words thefe and thofe, fhall and will, but no Scotchman well educated omits the relative pronoun, as he does, in any fpecies of compofition afpiring to dignity above that of a familiar letter. The following fentences are, by this omiffion, rendered extremely aukward. "Moft of the treatifes on this fubject (which) I have had an opportunity of perufing, were chiefly calculated," &c. Vol. I. p. 161.) "In many converfations (which) I have had with the teachers of charity-fchools in the country, thefe (thofe) good men uniformly agreed," &c. (p. 279.) "From this laft circum. ftance, which has taken place from the increafed wealth of the kingdom, as well as from other powerful caufes (which) I shall prefently have occafion to mention, there has been," &c. (p. 410.) "But for want of that correct information (which) I find fo difficult to obtain, it will not," &c. (p. 466.) "From the very large quantity of grain (which) the diftillers every day commit to their mash-vats, it is probable," &c. (p. 479.) "From the ftrictest examination, however, (which) I have been able to make, in the perufal of the hiftories of different nations," &c. (p. 548.) But there would be no end of pointing out fuch omiffions as thefe; for Dr. Gardiner feems to have a deeprooted antipathy to the ufe of the relative pronoun. The following violations of the common rules of grammar may account, perhaps, in fome degree, for this author's fingular fingular opinion that to form grammar rules must have been a more difficult tafk than to invent the radical words of the firft language. "Let them be informed, that he who ftrikes, unprovoked, and wantonly, either man or beast, whom he knows dare not, or cannot return the blow, is always known to be a daítardly cow. ard," (p. 212.) It fhould be "who, he knows, dares not, or cannot," &c. the relative being here the nominative to the verbs dares and cannot, and the claufe-who dares not or cannot return the blow-fupplying the place of the objective cafe to the verb knows." Thefe early impreffions, which I have fo often endeavoured to inculcate, is (are) ftrongly recommended in the holy fcriptures," (p. 260.) "Such a degree of freedom and fecurity as is enjoyed by the inhabitants of Britain, gives a fteady support to every fpecies of manufacture, which are numerous and extenhive," (p. 315.) It fhould be to all the fpecies of manufacture, &c.; for the words every fpecies cannot be the nominative to are in the plural number. "Farmers, in general, are well acquainted with the average quantities of grain that are brought annually to their nearest market, or that has (have been demanded of them for exportation," (pp. 361, 362.) "Let us not fay with the fe ditious of thofe times, that because our conftitution is improveable, that it is bad." Surely the word that should have been omitted; but the author proceeds thus: This has, however, been the language of the ringleaders of fedition, who have held out, with great art, and fpecious but falfe arguments, to the deluded multitude, that our government was (is unquestionably) in its nature bad, and ought to be totally changed," (Vol. II. Pref. P. 13.) "The oftenfible caufe of the religious wars in France and Germany against the Proteftants, and for (of) the maffacres, profcriptions," &c. (Vol. II. p. 84.) This raifes a general outcry againft duties, and the government who impofe (which imposes) them," (p. 108.) "It is the fettled plan of those gentle. men to oppofe, right or wrong, every motion of the minister, unlefs where it would lead to abfurdity." P. 128. Oppofitions are often crofs enough; but we remember no oppofition which fupported fuch minifterial meafures as led to abfurdities. Probably the Doctor meant to fay, that thefe gentlemen oppofe every motion of the minifter, unless where oppofition would lead to abfurdity; but if this was his meaning, he has not expreffed it. This appeared to us a mere typographical error, and as fuch, we intended to pafs it without notice, till we met (p. 422.) with an expreffion exactly fimilar. Such a repetition of the word that, is, in fact, a very prevalent inaccuracy, with careless or incompetent writers. Rev. By By the help of the context, it is perhaps poffible to difcover, who are faid, in the following fentence, to have been infected, and to have perfifted, as well as the measures which were perfifted in, and even who or what brought about the martyrdom; but to reduce the fentence itfelf under any rules of grammar, if at all practicable, would require more room than we have to beflow. Speaking of Charles the First and his fon James, Dr. Gardiner fays, By adhering to the impreffions, received in their early edu cation, of the hereditary, indefeasible, and divine right of kings, and their being ftrongly infected with a paffion for abfolute power, perfifted in with ftedfaft and almost incredible obftinacy, brought about the martyrdom of the one, and the banishment of the other from thefe kingdoms." P. 141, &c. Our author occafionally makes ufe of words which are either not known in England, or not authorized by any claffical writer. Such are compulfitor (p. 209, v. 1.) for motive or inducement, illiterateness, (p. 235); and fractious (Vol. II. p. 53.) for irritable. He fpeaks likewife (p. 154) of Seleufian, meaning, we fuppofe, Eleufinian, myfleries; of the hierarchical, instead of theocratical, government of the Ifraelites (p. 441) and fays (p. 273.) that the Dictator Gemillus was fined in fifteen hundred affes by the people! not finding, we fuppofe, in Ainsworth's Dictionary, a proper tranflation of the Latin word as. But a more ferious objection than any of thefe againft his flyle may be urged. Finding (Vol. I. p. 455.) a reference, in the margin, to Lord Kames's Sketches of the history of man, as authority for what is there faid of the confequence of Colbert's prohibiting the exportation of corn from France, we naturally confulted that ingenious work, which happened to be lying on our table. Upon doing fo, we difcovered, with no fmall furprife, that Dr. Gardiner had, without acknowledgement, tranfcribed from the Sketches no fewer than three consecutive pages of his effuy on the caufes that promote or retard population. Of this the reader may convince himself by comparing paragraphs 69 and 70 of that effay, with pages 407, 408, 409, and 410, of the 2d vol. of the 2d edition of the Sketches! The arrangement of fome of the fentences is, indeed, flightly changed, not always for the better, and fome Upon confulting Johnson's Dictionary, we find that illiterateness was ufed once by Boyle; but we do not believe that it is to be found in any fubfequent author. C BRIT. CRIT. VOL, XXVIII, JULY, 1806, words words and phrafes are occafionally inferted; but the alterations are not greater than what are almoft unavoidable in the tranfcribing of any thing by thofe not accustomed to take literal copies; and it is not improbable that they have all been made by the author himself in the edition of the sketches to which Dr. Gardiner is indebted. We believe that it would be eafy to convict him of tranfcribing likewife from the hiftorian Hume, paffages of confiderable length *, without a proper acknowledgment; but we are fick of fo ungracious a tafk, as the reviewing of thefe volumes has been, and hope that, in our critical capacity, we have done with them and with their author for ever. ART. IV. Poems and Plays. By Mrs. Weft; author of "A Tale of the Times,"" A Goffip's Story," &c. &c. Vol. III and IV. 12mo. 12s. Longman and Co. 1805. EVERY opportunity of doing juftice to merit,.fo con fpicuous as that of Mrs. Weft, is truly welcome to us. We have before praised her Plays and Poems; the now again claims attention by a third and fourth volume of fimilar productions. Purity and propriety of language, conveying fentiments always of the beft tendency, are the general characteristics of this lady's writings; nor are her poetical compofitions ever deficient in thofe qualities which render poetry attractive. The plays contained in thefe volumes are only two, and both tragedies. For the latter of them, which is formed on the Hiflory of Edmund Ironfide, Mrs. W. thus apologizes in a note. "This tragedy was a very juvenile compofition. It was fomewhat improved when printed in the year 1790; the author now lets it go, "with all its imperfections on its head," confcious that at last she could but make it a thing of "fhreds and '. patches." Vol. 1v. p. 3. Notwithstanding the modefty of this apology, the tragedy of Edmund Ironfide will be confidered as an undoubted proof of the genuine talent for poetry manifefted by the author in early life. The firft fpeech prefents a picture of * The reader who thinks it worth his while, may compare pages 90, 91, 92, 93, &c. with the hiftory of the houfe of Stuart, and with Hume's Appendix to the reign of James the First. a re a retired castle, not indeed equal to that of Macbeth's, but touched with genius. "Here diftant from the cruel rage of war, The tragedies of Mrs. W. appear to us rather to prove poetical talent in the writing, than a particular defignation of genius to the drama. The fubject of the Minstrel, which is in the third volume, is fomewhat trite; the concealment of the true heir to a title, in the castle of the tyrant who ufurped it; nor, though the character of a minstrel, affuming an appearance of infanity may be new, is there any thing in the fituations produced, which can diftinguish this tragedy from the multitude. On the other, though the author's own fentence is too harsh, we cannot find inclination to expatiate, unless it were to exemplify the merits of the language, which feems to be unneceffary. The poems contained in these two volumes are very miscellaneous, and, in taking fpecimens from them, we can only regret that we muft produce fo fmall a number. There are few among them which do not deserve the commendation fuited to their class and style. The fonnets in vol. 111. which are 16 in number, have the unity and fimplicity of thought which become that compofition; and are confined to that conftruction of rhymes which is confidered as regular. The elegies in the fourth volume have the penfive ftyle and equable flow of that fpecies of poem. The odes have fpirit and variety; the pastoral ballads are good imitations of a flyle, not perhaps quite worth the imitation of fuch a The four characters of females, illuftrated from plants, have more originality of defign, and certainly not lefs felicity of execution, than many of the other poems. Of thefe, therefore, we shall lay the firft before our readers. "Behold the venerable aloe meet The froft of ages with perennial bloom; Have pour'd from Leo's height the torrid lay. |