"Nec tibi, si sapias," &c.
&c. Kalo T

b

Dream not that she will new admirers shun,
Who with such ease to your embrace was won;
Vain hope! hereafter, as Atrides now,
Shall Paris curse the frailty of her vow,
Who burns for him, as once with equal flame
For her last favourite burn'd th' inconstant dame:
In woman virtue ne'er resumes her throne,
But, once relinquish'd, is for ever flown!
How blest the lot of faithful Hector's wife!
Yet still more blest would glide Enone's life,
Would'st thou, by Hector taught, vouchsafe to prove
The thousand joys that wait on constant love;
But thou art frailer than the ripen'd ear,
When golden fields proclaim the harvest near,
And lighter than the leaves, when Autumn's breeze
Shakes the dead foliage from the sapless trees!'

Some parts of this passage would allow of condensation, but on the whole it is very well translated.

Art. 13. Kenilworth; a Mask, by J. S. Anna Liddiard. 8vo. 75. sewed. Longman and Co. 1815.

The subject of this poem is the fête given by the Earl of Leicester to our good Queen Bess at Kenilworth-castle, and it has afforded us considerable amusement and frequent fits of laughter. It manifests a bold spirit of originality, as well as a hardiness of language, that really are quite striking. Witness the first couplet :

• What silence reigns, where once gay revels danced

Where high-born knights on trapping'd coursers pranced.'

There is something remarkable, too, in the pleasing intermixture of seasons at that eventful period: poor hapless Kenilworth being condemned to endure at once the chilly rigours of Winter, and the Summer's scorching heat:

This court, to soft voluptuousness a prey,

Unsheltered now- stems Summer's burning ray;
The wintry snows and storms around it rave,
And sink it hourly in time's whelming grave.'

The picture of the Queen making her entry into the court-yard, frisking and curvetting on her favourite palfrey Gondibert, is finely drawn:

She bows to all with condescension sweet,

All press around their sovereign to greet;
The attendant grooms can scarce her steed restrain;
He
spurns the ground, as of his burden vain,
And champs his golden bit with proud disdain;
Then, high curvetting, seems to tread on air;
This ardent spirit pleased the royal fair:
Of all her stud she most liked Gondibert !'

The

The Earl of Leicester, better known in this poem by the respectful term Master of the Revels,' comes forth to greet and to pleasure his royal guest:

The Master of the Revels there was seen?

And all prepared to pleasure England's Queen.' Whereupon, the festivities commence; and the floating island makes its appearance on the lake, embellished and attended by Nymphs, Naiads, and a multitude of other watery inhabitants, who sing a choral song of praise and welcome to the Queen. Sundry messengers from old Thames are introduced, bearing urns of gold, and other precious materials, to be laid at her feet. Neptune's Satellites and Tritons, who make a considerable commotion among the waters, are next presented for the same purpose:

And who is he so roughly splashing by

Who views the passing nymphs with jealous eye?' &c.

Triton's my name."

At the conclusion of these amusements, the whole company repair to the Banquet-room; where, having reveled and pleasured themselves again for a considerable time, in all the true spirit of conviviality and merriment, after having crowned the sparkling goblets until the hour of midnight, and till they were one and all, we conceive, in a most happy state of inebriety, the bell is rung, bed-candles and chambermaids are demanded, and host and guests, with one accord, betake themselves to repose.

Such is the first day's fête at Kenilworth. We lament to be obliged to decline all mention of the rest of the entertainment; of the interesting contest between Cecil and Cobham, rivals, for the heart and hand of the Lady Helena; and of the prognostications of the Merlin, who foresees so divinely, about three centuries beforehand, the triumphs of England, the deliverance of Spain and Portugal, the glory of Wellington, and the downfall of Bonaparte. In taking leave, we commend this fair author to a re-perusal of her grammar and her horn-book, as well as some farther study of Mrs. Barbauld's lessons for children. When she is farther advanced in the elements, and has untaught herself the happy art of metamorphosing nouns into verbs, and making participles out of adjectives and adverbs, we shall be proud to announce her to the world as the wonder of the age; till that time, we must repeat her own words to her,

Farewell, from poetry refrain."

Art. 14. Sir Wilibert de Waverley; or, The Bridal Eve. A Poem By Eliza S. Francis, Author of "The Rival Roses," &c. Crown 8vo. 5s. Boards. Leigh. 1815.

Ut Rosa flos florum, sic est liber iste librorum! Yes, even " the Rival Roses" must yield to Sir Wilibert de Waverley; the engaging alliteration of whose very name prepossessed us in his favour. "Hush'd be every ruder breeze;" and with all the gentle preparation that ushered in the heroine of "The Foundling," the charming Sophia' of our favourite novelist, let our indulgent readers be led to welcome with a smile the soft, the refined, Sir Wilibert de Waverley. Be it

known

known, then, to all present that Sir Wilibert is in love with the fair Geraldine, who not as yet

His age her father's years might greet;"

and still more unfortunately he not only was as old as her father, but had actually been enamoured of her mother, previously to her own appearance on this mortal scene!

Shortly after this event took place, the fair apparent was entrusted to the care of Sir Willy; and, at the commencement of this story, Geraldine being then just rising eighteen, her tender-hearted guardian is about to leave her under the protection of his own aged mother, and proceed to the Holy Land. Much grief is excited by his departure but

tears will wash our grief away!
The maiden grew compos'd, nay, gay;
And oft her frolics would beguile
From the grave dame a pensive smile.'

During these frolics and pensive smiles,"

Three years were passed in Paynim land;"

and, just as poor Sir Willy is returning to England, he is taken prisoner, and carried into Africa,- but

1s bold-succeeds and he is free at last,'

Escapes from Afric into Asia's plain,'

and is here so completely overwhelmed with gratitude for his liberation, that he stays in Asia till he grows quite grey !!! As he is kneeling before the Holy Shrine, a stranger comes to him, and recognizes him by his hazel eye; exclaiming, pleasingly,

Sure, if I may believe mine *

eye,

I now behold De Waverley !'

The stranger does his best to persuade De Waverley to go home with him but no! Sir Wilibert

thinks it right a while to dwell

Far, far, from wordly joys away,'

and therefore only sends a locket by the stranger, not containing hair, our readers may be assured, Sir Willy being by this time as grey as a badger, but a crystal heart. With this ingenious emblem, the stranger sets out for Great Britain. Some time afterward, Sir Wilibert himself follows: but, meanwhile, his aged mother, having heard that he had fallen into the hands of the Algerines, dies of grief, and Geraldine is left completely alone: when

" as a Phœnix shone the dame,
Consumed amidst her own bright flame.'

* Quere, thine eye? from the context.
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REV. DEC. 1815.

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As she is one day playing on the harp, a stranger-knight comes behind her, who is the heir to the title and estate of De Waverley, if Sir Wilibert does not return. Sir Alwyn, in a word, is a very pretty fellow :

' through the long lashes of his eye Such dazzling beams effulgent fly,'*

that &c. &c. &c. and the fair Geraldine falls in love with him, but struggles against the feeling, yet yields to it. At this critical

juncture, arrives the crystal heart, and the faithless bearer

Tells a garbled tale replete

With broken truth and vile deceit,'

viz. that Sir Wilibert is false, &c. &c. He then begins to make love for himself, but wholly fails. Presently, however, some armed men come in and seize Geraldine; Sir Alwyn rescues her; and the consequence is that the rescuer and the rescued mutually yield to a pas sion equally pure, sincere, and lasting. On the bridal eve, arrives poor Sir Willy, in the character of a Friar of Orders Grey; and, on asking who is going to be married, he is told to take a glance' and he will see. Having ascertained who they are, he generously acquiesces in their arrangements, and determines to pay his orisons' in their neighbourhood during the rest of his life.

Art. 15. Sacred Sketches from Scripture History. By Mrs. Henry Rolls. 8vo. 6s. Boards. Law and Whitaker. 1815.

We think that this little volume, containing a collection of poems on different parts of Scripture History, is intitled to much praise. The subjects are interesting, and selected with judgment; the versification, though occasionally somewhat tame, is for the most part unobjectionable; and, though not peculiarly striking in point of brilliancy, the work displays throughout considerable marks of poetic taste, and frequently strong powers of imagination. If it be desirable, therefore, to diffuse, as widely as we can, the knowlege of the sacred writings, it is not impossible that this publication may tend, de lectando pariterque monendo, though in a contracted sphere, to assist so admirable and important a purpose. Not that it is with any such exalted idea that the fair author seems to have been induced to send it into the world, but rather in the humble hope that some perhaps of the younger part of the community, who have neither talents nor inclin ation for laborious research, may be induced to listen to the notes of poetry, and thus acquire a taste for the beauties of Scripture through the fascinating influence of the Muse. All judicious designs of communicating knowlege are doubtless, in themselves, highly meritorious; and when not only the purpose is laudable, but the execution is happy, we most gladly hasten to announce our approbation of the work.

NOVELS.

Art. 16. Howard. By John Gamble, Esq. Author of "Irish Sketches," "Sarsfield," &c. 12mo. 2 Vols. 9s. Boards. Baldwin and Co. 1815.

* What follows is burlesqued from Romeo and Juliet.

Mr. Gamble here occasionally describes scenes which are so little adapted to the contemplation of our fair readers, that we hesitate to recommend this novel to their perusal : he also retains his old habit of quoting irreverently the words of Scripture; and some passages of the work are very reprehensible on that account. Several of his expressions are affected, and others ungrammatical; such as Vol. i. P. 74. Had my hero written the entire of his story: p. 87. the emotion of the coach made her sick,' &c.; and we shall not be considered as too difficult if we object to the following long-winded epithets: Vol. ii. p. 194. the feeble sound of her vainly attempted to be raised voice: p. 168. the long fixed, grief and sickness bowed down eyelid,' &c. However, the tale is simple, and sometimes pathetic, being written in a strain of melancholy feeling well suited. to describe the discontented fatalist who is the principal character. Art. 17. System and no System, or the Contrast. By Maria Benson, Author of Thoughts on Education. 12mo. 6s. Boards. Hatchard. 1815:

The title is scarcely applicable to this tale, because it displays no different systems of education or their effects in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Glanville; the young men who behave ill having been educated by the same parents under whose tuition Lucy becomes amiable. We would also caution Miss Benson against beginning a tale as she has commenced in the present instance, by launching forth in praise of Mrs. Glanville's angelic patience; since the reader, who is quite in the dark as to what may have been the sorrows of his new acquaintance, can have no chance of sympathizing with her. The example of Lucy, however, will be useful; the story is sufficiently interesting; and the fair author has throughout inculcated virtuous principles. Art. 18. Henri Le Grand, i. e. Henry the Great. By Madame de Genlis. 12mo. 3 Vols. Paris; and reprinted in London for Colburn. 1815.

Madame de Genlis has here industriously collected the facts which are related, and the speeches which are recorded of Henry the Fourth of France: but, from a laudable anxiety to avoid amplification or imaginary embellishment, she has made her book somewhat dry, and has failed to excite the lively interest which might have been expected from the history of that great and amiable character. Those among our fair readers who remember how much this lady made out, from the materials furnished by St. Simon, respecting Madame de la Vallière, the Duke de Lauzun, &c. may feel surprized at her not having introduced a single love-affair into the memoirs of so galant a prince as Henri Quatre but she deserves praise for the clearness of her narration, and it may be safely put into the hands of youth. Art. 19. L'Hermitage St. Jacques, &c. i. e. The Hermitage of St. James; or, God, our King, and our Country. By M. DucrayDuminil. 12mo. 4 Vols. Paris. 1815. London, imported by De Boffe. Price 18s.

In this very loyal performance, the author has not only dedicated his work to the Duchess of Angoulême, but has prefaced every

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chapter