It is that we would thence create It is, to hallow-whilst regret To sanctify upon the earth Such and so fair, in Day's decline With loved remembrances to fill And lovelier seems that lingering light, And, record of Man's pride or power, In the soliloquies of man, To glory's shade an ampler span ! Still o'er thy temples and thy shrines, Of beauty in repose: Though all thy Oracles be dumb, To claim a fond-regretful sigh For triumphs passed, and times gone by. Still frowns, by shattering years unrent, By monarchs crowned, by shepherds trod, They were the Mighty of the world, The demigods of earth; Their breath the flag of blood unfurled, VOL. XIII. N. S. They lived to trample on mankind, The impress of their worth : To whom on earth were given The charities of heaven ;- To tell that thou hast striven, In which thy dust is hid, Thy simple Pyramid, Who mourned the rites they did Thy pilgrim-steps have trod, And seals his doom with blood ; The pestilent Abode The triumphs of the mind ! The friend of human kind ! In glory shall be shrined ; Those attributes of pride, Are pageants which but hide Who wept for none beside; • And many mourned that thou should'st lie And blend with Pontic waves; A land whose sons were slaves; And see her offered roses showered Which, mingled with the laurel's stem, Or pity cease the heart to swell TO THEE there can be No FAREWELL.' These stanzas are the pledge of better things. pp. 150-158. Art. IX. The History of the ancient Town and Borough of Uxbridge, containing Copies of interesting public Documents, and a particu lar Account of all charitable Donations, left for the Benefit of the Poor; with Plates, and an Appendix By George Redford, A.M. and Thomas Hurry Riches. 8vo. London, 1818. WE have been a good deal interested by this piece of local history. It is the result of much reading, and of diligent collection; and it is, moreover, written without the slightest tinge of that most intolerable of annoyances, antiquarian affectation. The Authors of this work have evidently possessed the command of a considerable mass of valuable, and not commonly accessible materials, of which they have made ample use, without neglecting the more obvious sources of instruction; and they have communicated their various information, in a clear, compressed, and sensible manner. After a preliminary inquiry into different matters of antiquity connected with the town of Uxbridge, they enter upon its history, to which they have contrived to give no little interest, especially in that portion of it which relates to the unsuccessful negotiation between Charles and the Parliament in 1645. The house in which the Commissioners met, is still standing, and three clear and well-selected views are 'devoted to the illustration of its interior and exterior. The description of the present state of Uxbridge is full and distinct, and the chapter on ecclesiastical affairs,' contains some curious matter. Great and commendable pains have been taken with the chapter on charitable institutions and donations. Addressing their fellow-townsmen' on this subject in the preface, the Authors state, That they have been sedulous to put them in possession of all those public documents that appeared of importance to the interests of the town of Uxbridge; and more especially to circulate complete information upon all the public charities and donations. Though, upon this subject, they have been at no inconsiderable pains, they have not, in all instances, succeeded to the extent of their wishes. They have reason to believe that several charities, anciently in the gift of this town, have been entirely lost, through negligence and inattention in preserving documents, and transmitting information. Those copies of original deeds and grants which are furnished in the course of the work, as of public interest, may, however, be fully relied on. Great inaccuracies have been detected even in parliamentary returns; and, in correcting these, the authors have observed the most scrupulous care, and have always referred to the original deeds or wills.' Preface, p. x. This is a most important subject, and one to which the attention of every man who has the opportunities of inquiry, ought to be directed. We believe that there are in this country few towns of any consideration, without some institution or bequest of this kind; and we suspect that the cases are very rare in which abuses have not taken place. The parliamentary commission now in progress, will, no doubt, effect much in the way of remedy; but much will still remain to be done, and if every qualified individual will contribute, in imitation of Messrs. Redford and Riches, his share of investigation to the general inquiry, we shall entertain a good hope of its satisfactory termination. A work of this description does not admit of analysis, and any really illustrative extracts must be on a scale too large for our arrangements: we shall content ourselves, therefore, with a general recommendation of this compact and well-arranged volume. The embellishments are judiciously chosen, fairly executed, and sufficient in number: the font in the chapel of St. Margaret is a rich specimen of wood-engraving, and the plate containing Basset's grant, is a skilful fac-simile of an ancient deed, with its old-fashioned court-hand, its creased parchment, and its appended seal. The book is well printed, and altogether does credit to the Uxbridge press. Art. X. Traité Théorique et Pratique. A Theoretical and Practical Treatise on the Knowledge necessary to every Amateur of Pictures, and to all who are desirous of learning to judge, appreciate, and preserve the Productions of the Art of Painting. To which are added, Observations on public and private Collections, and a descriptive Catalogue of the Pictures now in Possession of the Author, François-Xavier de Burtin. 2 vols. 8vo. Bruxelles, 1808. TH HESE volumes, recently put into our hands, are somewhat out of date, but we have taken them as the subject of an article, partly on account of some whimsical peculiarities which mark their composition, but chiefly with reference to some general circumstances connected with the purchase and management of pictures. The Author, M. Burtin-with a string of unimportant official additions tacked to his name in the titlepage-is, or was, the proprietor of a gallery of paintings, which, if we may trust his own panegyrics, was altogether unrivalled in its selection. He seems, indeed, to have considered each individual picture as a test or standard, by which the merits of all others of the same school and class might be determined; for we find him with the most amusing self-complacency, frequently referring to works of the highest rank and reputation, and completing his eulogy on each by the crowning compliment, that it is second only to some admirable chef-d'œuvre qui fait partie de ma collection. He makes, moreover, very high pretensions to admiration as an original discoverer, and a judge of scarcely fallible skill and acumen in matters of art, and he presents a very formidable aspect of defiance to all who may presume to question his decisions. Our estimate of his qualifications unhappily differs considerable from his own; but after deducting from the bulk of these volumes the large alloy of egotism, presumption, common-place declamation, and imperfect science, something will still remain to remain to repay the reader. In fact, the very defects of the work help to make it amusing; and though after we have been laboriously working up some steep climax, we have been frequently provoked on finding nothing at the summit to indemnify us for our pains, yet we have been kept in tolerably good-humour by the simple vanity of M. Burtin, who never fails to congratulate himself upon the skill with which his researches have been conducted, and the success with which they have been invariably crowned. The absurdity of his arrogance and dogmatism, is in no degree lessened by the admission, that he had never taken into his hand a brush nor a 'crayon,' which confession he really seems to think an enhancement, rather than an abatement of his pretensions to superiority. It would be an indulgence to our own partialities, to enter at length into the discussion of the question, whether the practice of the art of painting be indispensable, or not, to the entire qua |