515 Without attempting to enumerate the feveral parishes which this learned antiquary has defcribed, we fhall clofe this article with informing our readers, especially thofe who are in poffeffion of Mr. Thorpe's former curious publication, the Registrum Roffenfe, that the prefent volume contains corrections of feveral miftakes which had unavoidably crept into that work. The plates, in number 56, are views of churches, alms-houses, remains of antiquities, monuments, &c. and are neatly engraved. The frontispiece exhibits a reported ftrong likeness of Mr. Thorpe, at the age of feventy-two. ART. X. The Athenaid. A Poem, by the Author of Leonidas. 12mo. 3 Vols. 9 s. fewed. Cadell. 1788. M R. Glover's poetical abilities are already well known. His Leonidas, though not in the higheft clafs of Epic Poems, had, at its first publication, many admirers; and, in spite of its profaic numbers, is ftill perufed with pleasure. The Athenaid, which is a fequel to Leonidas *, is a pofthumous piece, prefented to the world by the Author's daughter, Mrs. Halfay. Though death prevented Mr. Glover from giving this work his laft revifal, it is not altogether unworthy of his pen: It is, indeed, fo much a counterpart to Leonidas, though ftill more profaic, as to fuperfede the neceffity of a particular critique. He who admires the bold fpirit of Liberty, and the generous, tender, and noble fentiments of the former poem, will be pleased to find the fame characteristics in the prefent work, Those who think Leonidas defective in its machinery and incident, and too abrupt and laconic in the structure of its periods to fuit the melody of verfe, will difcover the fame imperfections in the fequel. We fhall therefore leave the Athenaid on the fame fhelf with Leonidas, after giving our readers a fpecimen of the work in the following epifodical tale, related (to The miftocles) by an unfortunate youth; Then Hyacinthus: Mighty chief, recal Thy first fucceffes, when Euboea's maids To thine, and grateful pluck'd the flow'rs of May Then, at thy gen'rous inftigation fir'd, I track'd; my wonder faw a damfel there In fumptuous vesture, couch'd on fragrant tufts The death of great Leonidas aveng'd By Attic virtue' Of Of camomile, amid furrounding flow'rs Can thy fublimity of foul endure My tedious anguifh! Interpofing mild Th' Athenian here: Take time, give forrow vent, He now purfues: her fuppliant hands she rais'd, My father's fifter, Glaucé, close behind. How foft your fhade's refreshment! Founts and rills How sweet your cadence, while I won the hand By fpotlefs vows before thy image bound, O goddefs hymeneal! O what hours Of happiness untainted, dear efpous'd, Did we poffefs! kind Glaucé fmil'd on both. For For now my fword at Salamis prevail'd, my She gave, he took them all; return'd content; Of love for envious fate to leave unspoil'd. Meantime no rumour pierc'd our tranquil bow'r, My father's bofom as I took farewell. Yes, yes, Dwell on each hideous circumftance, my tongue; With horror tear my heartstrings till they burft: The fun was broad at noon; my recent lofs My home, th' abode of Glaucé. Clos'd, the door No voice replies: two villagers pafs by, I hurry on; a fecond, where my wife My friends; Nicanor to my father's home. Tranfports me. Ling'ring, torpid I confum'd Sev'n moons fucceffive; when too vig'rous youth Recall'd my ftrength and memory to curfe Health, fenfe, and thought. My rafhnefs would have fought Cleora ev'n in Oreus, there have fac'd The homicide her fire; forbid, with-held, Nicanor Nicanor I deputed. When I march'd To bid thee welcome, on the way I met That friend return'd-Perfift, my falt'ring tongue, Which all beheld. Her hand the tyrant doom'd And own'd our union, which her pregnant frait That deadlieft poifon through thofe beauteous lips I am not mad-ev'n that relief the gods Several other parts of this poem will be found equally interefting and indeed, the general character of the piece leans toward the tender, rather than the fublime, ART. XI. A Series of Adventures in the Courfe of a Voyage up the Red Sea, on the Coafts of Arabia and Egypt; and of a Route through the Defarts of Thebais, in the Year 1777. With a Supplement of a Voyage from Venice to Latichea; and of a Route through the Deferts of Arabia, by Aleppo, Bagdad, and the Tygris, to Bufrah; in the Years 1780 and 1781; in a Letter to a Lady. By Eyles Irwin, Efq. in the Service of the Hon. the Eaft India Company. Illuftrated with Maps and Cuts. The third Edition. 2 Vol. 8vo. 12s. Boards. DodЛley. 1787. A S we have already given an account of Mr. Irwin's Voyage up the Red Sea, and of his route through the Defarts of Thebais, in 1777, we fhall now confine our obfervations to the fupplement which is added to this edition, and which contains the description of a Journey from Europe to the mouth of the Euphrates. After the many hardships that Mr. Irwin underwent, and the numerous dangers to which he was expofed, during his journey from the Eaft Indies, it required no small share of refolution to re-encounter thofe difficulties which are unavoidable in croffing the Defarts of Arabia, and which he had fufficiently experienced in his former journey. *See Rev. Vol. Ixiii. p. 401. Mr. Mr. Irwin's fupplement commences with the journal of his travels from Venice. He had been unexpectedly detained in London until the month of October was far advanced, and the difpatches which he had in charge from the Eaft India Company were too important to admit of much delay. The winter was alfo approaching, fo that he was apprehenfive of the ftorms that might be expected in that part of the Mediterranean which he was to pass, for he intended to embark in the Gulph of Venice, for Latichea in Syria. From Oftend to Venice, he and his copartner in the expedition (Mr. Smyth) travelled in eleven days, fo that he had no opportunity of particularly obferving the variety of objects which Flanders and Germany presented to his view. Nov. 14, they embarked on board a trabacula with Major Nicol, who joined them at Venice, in order to return to his regiment in Bengal. The veffel had not been long at fea before a violent tempeft arofe, and the mafter announced to his paffengers, who were fea- fick below, the utter impoffibility of faving the fhip. The ignorance of the Sclavonian failors was as remarkable as their extreme pufillanimity and villainy. The matter of the ship, with his crew, got into the boat, and left Mr. Irwin, his fervant, Mr. Smyth, and the Major, to the mercy of the ftorm, in which they remained for 24 hours, when the hip's crew returned with the boat, and brought the four paffengers on fhore on an island about 60 miles weft from Venice, at eight o'clock the next evening. Our travellers returned to Venice, and, after bringing the Sclavonian failors to juftice, procured a paffage in another fhip, which carried them directly to Latichea. It was not, however, till the 12th of December that they left Venice; fo that Mr. Irwin having leifure to see much of that city, has given his readers an entertaining account of it, and of its inhabitants. The voyage was long, though not dangerous; and many islands in the Archipelago are described. Though the author is frequently minute in his details, yet his ftyle is not tedious; as a fpecimen, we shall tranfcribe the following paffage : It would be unpardonable in me to quit Cyprus, without faying a word on the fubject for which that ifland was celebrated of old. The fuppofed refidence of Venus, and the land on which numerous temples were raised to her honour, could not but have produced objects the most worthy of human idolatry. Beauty and love went hand in hand in this rendezvous of pleafure; and the votaries of the goddefs paid her clofer adoration in the perfons of her unrivalled daughters. Though beauty be but an annual* flower, its fpecies, like thofe of Nature's humbler growth, is fucceffive and unperishable. The cities of Greece exhibit nothing at prefent but heaps A happier allufion might furely have been chofen. of |