• What is that worst? Nay, do not ask,
In pity from the search forbear;
Smile on, nor venture to unmask

Man's heart, and view the hell that's there.”

The following is from the Albanese.

Tambourgi! Tambourgi! thy 'larum afar
Gives hope to the valiant, and promise of war;
All the sons of the mountains arise at the note,
Chimariot, Illyrian, and dark Suliote !

Oh, who is more brave than a dark Suliote,

In his snowy camese and his shaggy capote?

To the wolf and the vulture he leaves his wild flock,
And descends to the plain like the stream from the rock.
Selictar!+ unsheath then our chief's scimitar ;
Tambourgi! thy 'larum gives promise of war;
Ye mountains that see us descend to the shore,
Shall view us as victors, or view us no more.'

Having endeavoured to point out to our readers a few, and only a few of the many beauties of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, it is now our less agreeable duty to solicit their attention, or, if untitled critics might presume so far, that of the noble author himself, to what we consider to be its principal blemishes. And, first, we think, that Lord Byron labours under a very unfortunate mistake as to his gifts and qualifications as a satirist. Conscientiously we speak it, when we say, that we are really alarmed for his fame, if he will not give over this preposterous ambition. Can it be believed, that the author of the passages we have quoted could write such stanzas as the following?

The seventh day this! the jubilee of man.

London! right well thou know'st the day of prayer:
Then thy spruce citizen, wash'd artizan,

And smug apprentice gulp their weekly air:
Thy coach of hackney, whiskey, one-horse chair,

And humblest gig through sundry suburbs whirl,
To Hampstead, Brentford, Harrow, make repair;
Till the tir'd jade the wheel forgets to hurl,
Provoking envious gibe from each pedestrian churl.
Some o'er thy Thamis row the ribbon'd fair,

Others along the safer turnpike fly;

Some Richmond Hill ascend, some scud to Ware,' &c. &c. p. 45.

Can any thing be more flippant than the foregoing passage? -unless, indeed, it be the ingenious personification of the

* Drummer.

+ Sword-bearer.

imp "Convention," who, it seems, has taken up his abode in some infernal shape at the palace of Marialva ever since the period of the convention of Cintra,-or the following caustic animadversions on a book called Ida of Athens, the production of a Miss Owenson, who, it seems, is just now a popular writer of novels.

Before I say any thing (says the noble poet) about a city of which évery body, traveller or not, has thought it necessary to say something, I will request Miss Owenson, when she next borrows an Athenian heroine for her four volumes, to have the goodness of marrying her to somebody more of a gentleman than a Disdar Aga, who by the bye is not an Aga; the most impolite of petty officers, the greatest pattern of larceny, Athens ever saw, except Lord E. &c. &c. I speak it tenderly, seeing I was once the cause of the husband of Ida, of Athens, nearly suffering the bastinado, and because the said Desdar is a turbulent husband and beats his wife; so that I exhort and beseech Miss Owenson to sue for a seperate maintenance in behalf of Ida,' &c.

The next complaint we have to make against Lord Byron, is of a much more serious nature than that of a defect in satirical powers. Not only does he never cast a look beyond the present world, of which he often and pathetically laments the miseries and disappointments, but he seems not ashamed to avow distinctly his belief, that the hopes of a future state of being are to be classed among the idle dreams, with which either wisdom or necessity has taught man to mitigate the sufferings he cannot avoid. To attempt by argument to prove the folly of such opinions, would be a very fruitless expence of time, for it is not by argument are supported, nor do we believe that it is to argument they owe their existence. But is it not at once strange and melancholy, that in these days any one should be found, and, most of all, such a man as Lord Byron,-a man of taste, of fancy, and of genius, who, for the paltry praises of a few of his most worthless contemporaries, is content formally to renounce the only consolation to which he can look, amidst the troubles of life, the only guide amidst its difficulties, and the only protector from its dangers. Is he a wise man? And is he really contented to make such a sacrifice? Is he a philanthropic man? And can he willingly lend his hand and talents-his great and captivating talents to blast, as far in him lies, the happiness of millions, by undermining the only foundations on which their happiness rests. Nay, is he a man of taste? And can he without reluctance throw from him the means of enriching his verse with the only sentiments to which all ages and all nations will listen with delight, because they are the only sentiments in which all nations and all ages are equally

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interested. If he prefers the applauses of fools, he will not improbably have his reward; but we beseech him to remember, that "the fulness of satiety" is not the less certain consequence of unlawful indulgence, in those appetites, which have for their object the flattery of the multitude, than in those sensual tastes which feed upon grosser pleasures,-that if there is a being more worthless and more miserable than his Childe Harold, it is that man who has been dependant for his happiness on the praises of those whom in his heart he has despised, and who, having sacrificed every object to the pursuit of this wretched gratification, finds himself, at last, unable to relish the pleasures he has bought so dear.

Besides the principal pcem, there is much in this volume which deserves an attentive consideration, Lord Byron has in the course of his travels been very laudably anxious to collect specimens of the popular poetry of the several nations through which it was his good fortune to wander. We have already extracted a few stanzas from a song, compiled by the noble author, from the scattered fragments of the national poetry of Albania. It is impossible, however, to receive this composition as a fair illustration of the taste and habits of thought of this uncultivated race: for no man, we suppose, can read these lines, without discovering in them an elaborate imitation of the peculiar manner and phraseology of the celebrated author of "Lochiel." There are, however, some other examples of Albanese songs, which we think will not b deficient in interest, for those who delight to compare the expression of passion, as dictated by untaught nature, with the mode in which men give utterance to the same feelings when their fancy is incumbered, and their language impeded, by the ceremonials and courtesy of polished life.

Of all the shorter pieces which Lord Byron has published, there are none equally interesting with the Romaic songs; both the originals and translations of which are printed at the conclusion of the volume. If the noble author has more materials of the same description, he would deserve well, we think, of all Greek scholars, by giving them to the world. Not that there is any thing especially engaging in the language, or in the sentiment of these compositions. They are neither gay, nor witty, nor animated, nor very touching; nor are they such as any human being would incumber his memory with, who possesses, and can understand, a page of Euripides or Anacreon. But they have much interest of another kind. They afford a curious illustration of the declension of the human faculties under the pressure of servility and tyranny, and a not less remarkable proof of the imperishable nature of a language strictly analogical. The mere man of taste will pro

bably think that the specimens, which Lord Byron has already collected, are more than sufficient for any purpose of instruc tion or amusement: they will, however, be but barely suffi cient to awaken the curiosity of the grammarian and the scholar.

Of the minor poems in this collection, and of the notes which are attached to it, we shall say nothing; for we know not how, upon that subject, any thing could be said, with truth, which would not qualify the praise we have felt ourselves compelled to bestow upon the other parts of Lord Byron's publication.

Art. XII. Political and Historical Arguments, proving the necessity of a Parliamentary Reform, and pointing out the means of effecting. that important measure without injuring Individuals, or convulsing the Nation. To which is prefixed, a candid view of the present state of the National affairs, addressed to the Electors of the United King doms. By Walter Honeywood Yate, Esq. Two Volumes. pp. 312, 340. price 18s. Jones. 1812.

THE appearance of this work is in every respect prepossessing. It is well printed and on a good paper, and is published under the respectable name of a gentleman who styles himself "a late Member of St. John's College, Oxford, one of his Majesty's Justices of Peace, and deputy Lieutenants for the county of Gloucester," and who claims relationship to the member for Kent. The volumes are, by a singular process, dedicated to three individuals-William Honeywood Esq.-Sir William Berkely Guise-and "by permission" to Sir Francis Burdett. And yet with all these specious sanctions, we can scarcely persuade ourselves, that the name of the author is not fictitious, and the respectable names connected with the work introduced merely for the purpose of masking one of the grossest attempts at literary imposition that we have been yet called upon to expose.

We shall, however, take it for granted that Mr. Yate is a real personage, thus respectably connected, and presenting himself before the public as the avowed author of the work before us; and under this impression, we accuse him of a direct and most unjustifiable appropriation of the production of another writer.

With the exception of the dedication, and of about 20 pages at the close, the whole of the second volume, and more than one third of the first, are copied (a very few alterations and interpolations excepted) verbatim from the admirable Political Disquisitions of James Burgh. We have collated the two works, chapter by chapter, sufficiently to convince ourselves of the accuracy of this statement; and have turned over the republication, page by page, for the express purpose of finding the name of Mr. Burgh but we have not, in any shape either of reference or acknowledgement, been able to meet with it, and if it is any where to be found, it has most strangely escaped us. Indeed the matter of plagiarism is put beyond all doubt by Mr. Yate's own phrases. He expressly claims the work as his own-he asks pardon for the deficiency of intellect

:

and the want of ability in the author' he talks of 'diffidence' in inscribing these sheets with all their imperfections' he speaks of arrogance in conjecturing the effect of the work'-he apprehends that the doctrine' he has adopted' may be found novel and the arguments new (Mr. Burgh's Disquisitions were published nearly forty years back)- I am not,' Mr. Y. observes, actuated by literary fame, still less have I the presumption to lay claim to any uncommon share of abilities or superior discernment,' he sets merciless and malevolent critics' at defiance,→ and finishes by tendering his obligations' to some of the most enlightened and patriotic Members of both Houses of Parliament, for their candid and valuable communications, and for their approbation and support of the work.'

In the few alterations which he has ventured to make, he has gene. rally blundered. At page 202. Vol. I. Mr. Burgh quotes from a judicious writer' in the London Magazine, for January 1760. Mr. Yate, we suppose to give greater consequence to the quotation, ascribes it to Sydney. At page 182, Mr. B. attributes a remarkable_speech to the electors of Westminster to their then Member, Lord Percival. Mr. Yate without any hesitation gives it to Mr. Fox, although we believe Mr. Fox did not sit for Westminster till after 1774, and though it asserts a doctrine adverse to the general tenor of his sentiments. In a particular instance (p. 344.) Mr. Burgh omits his authority, stating that he had neglected to note it in his memoranda, a neglect for which he occasionally apologizes as accidental. Mr. Yate, ignorant, as he well might be, of the original source, and unwilling to lose the opportunity of a flourish most graciously and oracularly informs his readers, that he has omitted adding his authority, for particular reasons. Even where he servilely copies Mr. B. he cannot help tripping. Mr. Burgh publishing in 1774, mentions a fact as happening a few years ago." Mr. Yate, writing 38 years after, uses, in reference to the same fact, precisely the same phrase.

Burgh's work is uncommonly scarce; and the fact seems to be, that Mr. Yate finding it unknown to his friends thought it practicable to pass it, in a new garb, and with a few variations for his own. We soon, however, detected an old favourite; and on making a little further progress, ascertained his complete identity. Still, however, there is something most unaccountable in the transaction;-and it is utterly inconceivable how any man could expect so gross a deception to pass undiscovered.

Art. XIII. Scripture History: Or, A brief Account of the Old and New Testament. 12mo, Williams. 1812.

THIS little work contains a plain and unaffected detail of the Historical parts of the Scriptures, with references to the books whence they are taken, interspersed with a few observations in illustration of the customs of the oriental countries, or directing to practical instructions which may be drawn from the narration. It is divided into twelve parts, each of which seems to have been published in succession.