Nor yet alone to full rob'd spring confin'd, While pink eyed "LADYSMOCKS I, all silver white," These lines remind us of the muse of Darwin; and we might easily select other passages which are little inferior in poetical merit. It is only justice to add that, if this first book be not replete with prominent beauties, it is at least free from glaring defects, extravagant theories, or sentiments inimical to truth and virtue. MONTHLY CATALOG U E, For NOVEMBER, 1806. BOTANY. Art. 15. A Synoptical Compend of British Botany, (from Class Monandria to Polygamia inclusive) arranged after the Linnean System; and containing the Essential Characters of the Genera, the Specific Characters, English Names, Places of Growth, Soil and Situation, Colour of the Flowers, Times of flowering, Duration, and References to Figures. By John Galpine, A.L.S. PP. ICO. 12mo. 10s. 6d. Boards. Bagster, &c. 18c6. A MODEST and commendable attempt to bring Dr. Smith's Compendium of the British Flora within the reach of the English botanist; being, in fact, a tabular and abbreviated exhibition of all When gorgeous Caltha] Caltha palustris, Marsh Marigold, splendidly adorns moist meadows, and the sides of rivers, with its large yellow blossoms. The country people hang them in bunches ound their doors, or strew them on the ground, in honour of MayDay. Eng. Botany, 506. + Stately Coltsfoot] Tussilago, petasites, giant Coltsfoot, or Butterbur, has the largest leaves of any British plant. Its purple, clustered spikes, mingling with the bright yellow of the Marsh Marigold, give a splendid variety to the appearance of the marshy grounds. Eng. Botany, 431. Pink-eyed Ladysmocks] Cardamine pratensis, Ladysmock, or Cuckow Flower, with pale blossoms, faintly tinged with purple, abounds in rich meadows, and is frequently found double in the neigh bourhood of Shrewsbury. Eng. Botany, 776,3 the the particulars mentioned in the title. The references include Sowerby's English Botany, the Flora Danica, Flora Londinensis, Jacquin's Flora Austriaca, Hortus Vindobonensis, the Transactions of the Linnean Society, Lobel's Icones, Flora Scotica, Martyn's Flora Rustica, Petiver's English Herbal, Ray's Synopsis, Stillingfleet's Miscellaneous Tracts, Withering's Botanical Arrangements, and Woodville's Medical Botany.-We have only to regret that the presswork is not immaculate, and that the price is far from moderate. In the present age of taxation, it is by no means necessary that a prac tical manual, destined to traverse hill and dale, should be embellished with an elegant frontispiece and wire-wove paper. The insertion of British plants belonging to the twenty-fourth class would, no doubt, have swelled the volume to an inconvenient size; yet we would exhort Mr. Galpine to extend his plan to a similar synoptical view of the cryptogamic tribes, when Dr. Smith shall have completed his more arduous design: for, though the examination of mosses be attended with appropriate difficulties, and makes unceasing calls on diligence and patience, it is not without peculiar advantages and gratifications. These humble, but singularly elegant plants may often be contemplated during the winter, when the larger and more conspicuous kinds have disappeared; they may, in general, be more easily preserved for useful or ornamental purposes; their vital principle may be revived long after it has, to all appearance, become extinct; and the study of their history promises to be rewarded by curious and important discoveries. This study we would espe cially recommend to such of our fair readers as enjoy retirement, have cultivated a taste for drawing, and love to direct their attention to the wonders and beauties of the vegetable world. BIOGRAPHY. Art. 16. Biographia Scotica; or Scottish Biographical Dictionary; containing a short Account of the Lives and Writings of the most eminent Persons and remarkable Characters, Natives of Scotland, from the earliest Ages to the present Time. By J. Stark. Embellished with Portraits. 18mo. 58. Boards. Constable and Co. Edinburgh; Murray, London. 1805. An alphabetical compilation, like the present, may often be found useful and entertaining, as a book of reference, or as an occasional source of amusement. The reviewer alone is doomed to peruse the whole; and to pass, at the mercy of six and twenty letters, from the philosopher to the soldier, or from the gay courtier to the solemn divine. If this jostling career disturbs the train of his associations, and make large demands on his patience and long-suffering, it also puts the judgment and ability of the writer to a severe test, because it more readily reveals his inaccuracies, and those inequalities of execution, which are more or less inseparable from every undertaking of a complex and miscellaneous description. A first attempt to produce a general biography of any country is at least intitled to commendation, and may serve as the ground-work of a more perfect delineation. The number of names included in this small volume is far from inconsiderable; the notices which accompany them are, for the most part, au. thentics thentic; and though many of the articles are meagre and scanty, others are discussed with more minuteness and interest than we could have reasonably expected. Only six short lines are allotted to Dr. Gerard, of Aberdeen, while Adam Gib, an obscure sectarian, is treated with two entire columns. We have looked in vain for the names of Sinclair, who published several philosophical works, and Satan's Invisible World; of Rutherford, the divine; of Zachary Boyd, who versified and dramatized the Bible; of the pious Scougal, who wrote the Life of God in the Soul of Man; of Lawson the friend of Linné; of Lawson, the astonishing calcu lator. who performed long and intricate arithmetical processes by the unassisted powers of his memory of Professor Spens, the translator of Plato's Republic; of Dr. Makni ht, author of an esteemed Har mony of the Gospels, and of learned Commentaries on the Epistles; of Dr. Doig, an elegant scholar and acute philosopher; of Professors Moore and Arthur, of Glasgow; of Arnot, author of the History of Edinburgh, &c.; of Dr. Henry Hunter, late of London, &c. &c &c. Yet these ingenious and worthy men had surely as fair claims to notice as William Christie, schoolmaster at Montrose, who wrote a Latin Grammar, and an Introduction to the making of Latin;' or as Thomas Hunter, the pedestrian, who possessed an extraordinary ge. nius in cutting velium with scissars' We could have helped the compiler to a greater prodigy, who spun glass, though deprived of both hands; and to Rob Ry, who possessed an extraordinary genius in cutting and carving on the lives and property of his neighbours. Of Lieutenant Patrick Baird, of the navy, the reply, though coarse, is energetic. When interrogated, ia the course of Byng's trial, concerning the practicability of throwing succours into Minorca, he is said to have answered, “If I had been ordered to throw relief into Hell, I would at least have attempted it." Let not our readers flatter themselves, however, that Mr. Stark has catered for them a plentiful supply of those humourous traits and witty anecdotes, which 30 much enliven the pages of the Nouveau Dictionnai e Historique. Whether we should ascribe this dearth of entertainment to the native gravity of the Caledonians, or to the writer's notions of abridged statements, we are at a loss to determine: but certainly we could have pardoned greater brevity in the accounts of Queen Miry, Murray the Regent, Kirkaldy of Grange, and other distinguished personages, who figure in the general history of the country. Where his soIN CTS of information lay ready at a call, Mr. Stark has not only availed himself of them without reserve, but has even allowed his style to receive a tincture from his documents: we cannot, however, assert that he has manifested much diligence or zeal in procuring materials of more difficult attainment. Art. 17. Circumstantial Details of the long Illness and last Moments of the Right Hon. Charles James Fox. Together with Strictures on his Public and Private Life. Dedicated to the Right Hon. Lord Morpeth. The Second Edition. 8vo. pp 79. 2s. (d. Jor dan and Co. 1806. Art. 18. Recollections of the Life of the late Right Honourable Charles James Fox; exhibiting a faithful.ccount of the most remarkable Events of his Political Career; and a Delineation of his Character as a Statesman, Senator, and Man of Fashion. Comprehending numerous Anecdotes of his Public and Private Life; and an accusate Description of the Ceremonies which took place at his Funeral, in Westminster Abbey, on the roth of October 1806 B. C. Walpole, Esq. 12mo. 6s. Boards. Cundee. 1206. By Art 19. Memoir of the Life of the Right Hon Charles James Fors late one of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, &c. &c. with Anecdotes of his Domestic Habits and Friendship Public Services; his Talents as an Orator, a Writer, a Statesman, and the Leader of a Party, &c. To which is added, The Character of Mr. Fox, by R. B Sheridan, Esquire. Second Edition. 8vo. PP ICO. 28 61 Symonds 1806. The first of these publications is written in rather an interesting manner, and contains a variety of Anecdotes of the illustrious de ceased: but as to the credit that is due to them, we have no means of judging. The author speaks of himself as being in the habits of associating with Mr. Fox, but gives not the sanction of his name to the statements which he offers to us. The author of the Recollections is, by fits and starts, extremely candid and grossly illiberal and unfair. On the whole, he is a severe sensor of the departed statesmen, to whom he deals out a hard measure; and in some instances his bitterness is excessive. A more warm partisan of Mr. Pitt is rarely to be found than in this biographer of Mr. Fox; and on every occasion, the subject of his warrative is made to serve as a foil to the fond object of his political idolatry. With such sentiments of the late Secretary, it is rather strange that he should have undertaken to write an account of his life. Why did he not rather employ his pen to transmit to the present age, and to future times, the traits of the minister who was perfect and immaculate; at least, who is so represented in these pages; for frequently as he is here opposed to his great rival, no failing or blemish is intimated to have belonged to him? If it be the feeling of Liberty to which we owe all our justly envied and universally allowed distinctions,-if this be the cause of our excelling all other people. if to this we are indebted for our pre-eminence, power, and prosperity, for our moral superiority, our political privileges, and our social blessings,-then is it important that the fame of Mr. Fox should be asserted, vindicated, and protected; to whose mighty efforts it is owing that, when betrayed by the false and exposed by the foolish, she has not been crushed or crippled by authority. If we value her as we ought, we cannot patiently witness insidious attempts to vilify and traduce the man who was her stay, her support, and her ornament; and in proportion as we prize the moderate and temperate liberty which we inherit from our ancestors, ought we to resent insults offered to the memories of those who have cherished and kept alive among us the sacred flame. In the discharge of this high and holy trust, during times of extreme peril from various quarters, none can vie with our ever to be lamented patriot. This appears to have been the august mission to which he was de puted puted by Providence; and boldly, intrepidly, and nobly was it ful filled by him. Mr. Walpole's narrative of Mr. Fox's public actions wants rather uniformity and symmetry than fidelity. It is at one time very full and particular, at others very brief and general; and no rule appears in this respect to have been followed. In his account of Mr. Fox as a private individual, there occur to our knowlege several inaccuracies, which induce us to regard the whole as highly questionable. Under this head, the author gives nearly the same particulars as appear in the Circumstantial Detail: but whether he has borrowed from the writer of that pamphlet, or whether each has taken from a common source, we cannot determine. The Memoir is also very similar to the pamphlet first mentioned.Altogether, then, the three productions can excite only temporary interest, and belong to the class of publications which are usually termed catch penny; an epithet which courtesy confines within limits far short of its legitimate bounds:-they are rather libels on than genuine accounts of Mr. Fox. Art. 20. NOVELS. The last Man, or Omegarus and Syderia, a Romance in futurity. 12mo. 2 Vols. Dutton. Of the design of this Romance in futurity, so utterly beyond the reach of our limited capacities, we can give no other account than that which is here afforded us in the words of a spirit in a tripod; - who, speaking without the agency of voice, says, "The last man will not have any posterity to know and admire him. I wish before his birth that he may live in memory."-After such a wish of such a spirit, the reader must expect something supernatural; and, truly, if he can find resolution to wade through this strange jumble, his expectations will be abundantly realized. Art. 21. The Eventful Marriage, a Tale. 12mo. 4 Vols. 18s. 6d. Consistently with justice, we cannot say any thing in favor of this Long story; which, we should imagine, would prove tiresome and insipid even to novel-readers. Art. 22. Adeline Mowbray, or the Mother and Daughter: a Tale. By Mrs. Opie. 12mo. 3 Vols. 13s. 6d. Boards. Long. man and Co. These volumes are, both in their design and execution, so superior to those which we usually encounter under the title of novels, that we can safely recommend them to the perusal of our readers. We wish, nevertheless, to hint to Mrs. Opie, that her work would be improved by a more strict attention to the propriety of some of her expressions, which at times are affected, and at others inelegant: but we forbear to point out instances, under the persuasion that our caution is already sufficient to a writer who possesses so much good sense. It is the intention of this work to portray the lamentable consequences, which would result from an adoption of some lax principles relative |