ON A RAINY-DAY. Fair Nature in tears, Fresh charms from her sorrow; Thus bitterly venting, For every gap, That saddens her law.' THE FLOWERET IN JUNE. As the flow'ret in June So is man in his prime; See he drops, and life's done!' Again, in a sort of dythyrambus, or rhapsody of verses ex cessively long and excessively short, we encounter the following noisy words: The vestibule reverb'd his wrath Call not reason; More in season; Music alone can quell his rage, Music the fatal storm assuage. CHORUS. · To calm his anger Call not reason; More in season; Music alone can quell his rage, Music the fatal storm assuage." Sin Down, Down, Down, Derry Down! Art. 23. Sir Hornbook; or Childe Launcelot's Expedition; a Grammatico-Allegorical Ballad. Pocket 4to. Is. 6d. and Hailes. 1814. Sharpe This little poem is not sufficiently plain to be substituted for the first pages of an English Grammar, but it is written with spirit, and it will both exercise and reward the ingenuity of its young readers. Art Art. 24. No Popery! George Gordon's Ghost; Catholic Emancipation; the Papists' Petition; the Prince Regent's Reply; the Middle Course; and other Poems. By Harry Hornet, Esq. 4to. 58. Eaton. The gentleman who here assumes the name of Harry Hornet would have us suppose that his poetry carries a sting in its tail; and the advocates for bigotry and intolerance may probably feel the sharpness of his goad, though no poison be injected into the wound. He inlists his muse on the side of Catholic emancipation, and in alexandrine stanzas pleads for liberal policy: but his verse is deficient in several respects, and will not be fully tolerated even by the warmest lovers of toleration. The very first line is sadly lame: In George Third fifty-second, what prescience e'er reckon'd?"" Indeed, this line is not English, and some of its brethren are in the same predicament. • The Papists' Petition' contains the following stanzas: O! grant us "Catholic Emancipation ;" Let Freedom's charter" be to all unfurl'd! Shall form, whose union may defy the world!” Nor zealots heed, who seek, to dash our hope, we own the Pope, Yes! for that Prince, and country, Truth declares, The Prince Regent is made to reply to the Catholic petition in a very rough and uncourtly style. In the petition itself, the Prince is reminded that "All England's greatest Kings were Catholics!" to which he thus answers: True Eighth Harry, his old teazing spouse to divorce, And, as to the title, the Pope once conferr'd; Why, what folly to think, "change of faith has repeal'd it.' Among the miscellaneous poems, is the Curate's Petition to the Chancellor; and it is urged with such earnestness that we should not be surprised to hear that H. H. was himself a poor curate; yet we should be sorry to have our conjecture verified, for surely so unceremonious an application to the giver of livings is not likely to gain a living. The curate threatens his Lordship that he will turn cobler, unless he be comfortably beneficed : Hear, generous Lawyer! hear my prayer! Say, by what name, the halpless bard And make the world say, "Well done!" In vain, without a patron's aid, I've pray'd and preach'd, and preach'd and pray'd; Such vain eclat let others share ; I ask not praise, but bread!' For me, unless hard Fate's obduracy, Yet scarcely "nine dark lustres" past, Such dire reverse, good Lord! forbid it; Mr. Hornet has point, but it is not duly polished. Elegant versification is not his forte. NOVEL. Art. 25. The Towers of Ravenswold, or Days of Ironside, a Romance. By William Henry Hitchener, of the Surrey Theatre, Author of "St. Leonard's Forest," &c. 12mo. 2 Vols. 10s. Boards. Chapple. 1814. Really, this novel is almost beneath criticism; its story, or, as the writer calls it, the intricate compound of this narration,' consists of improbabilities and anachronisms which would only excite a smile, if, after having recounted them, he had not the imprudence to challenge his reader's admiration for the miracles which Omnipotence could bring about; rewarding the helpless animal, man, according to his works.' He must indeed be helpless who can admire this performance. EDUCATION. Art. 26. The Elements of Arithmetic, being a full, clear, and comprehensive Introduction to the Science of Numbers. For the Use of Schools and Private Tuition. In five Parts, each published separately. By E. Ward, Teacher of Writing,. Part I. 10d. Part II. Geography, and Mathematics. 12mo. 18. 3d. Wilkie and Robinson. 1813. Art. 27. The Spanish Guitar; a Tale, for the Use of Young 12mo. We have often reported the claims and the faults of this fair writer. The present story has an useful tendency, and its simplicity may render it acceptable to very young readers. On the score of language, however, we have again to exhort Miss Spence. a contemptuous figure' is put for For instances: in page 55, contemptible: in page 71. Emily ought not to have been described being silent, and so abstract that her mother spoke to her once or twice before she replied:' (once, we should think, was necessary :) and p. 75., Your conduct and benevolence is' must be noticed as false grammar. as Art. 28. Difficult Pronunciation, with Explanations of the Words, by which an approved Pronunciation of the most difficult English Words in common Use may be easily attained. Also the Pronunciation and Significations of Latin and French Phrases which frequently occur in English Reading. Second Edition, with Ad6d. Kent. 1813. ditions. 12mo. This little work has the advantage of being cheaper and more portable than "The Pronouncing Dictionary," and it will certainly be useful to those who cannot obtain oral instruction for the pronunciation of various English words. We would, however, counsel such readers as are unacquainted with the French language to abstain from uttering its expletives, in preference to relying on the directions here given for their sound. What assistance can be gained from such an explanation as the following; argent comptant, de awr-zshong kong-tong? or from that of valet de chambre, võla 10 de shawm? It were better at once to say vally de sham, with Squire Blunderhead. HISTORY. Art. 29. Who wrote Cavendish's Life of Wolsey? 4to. pp. 56. 18s. Boards. Rees. 1814. (Only 110 copies printed.) In this tract, we are presented with a critical investigation which, although unpretending, discovers a masterly hand. So well is the author's task accomplished, that we are neither willing nor required to criticize the critic; on the contrary, we have ourselves been taking lessons from our able and accomplished brother. Become pupils, then, we lay aside our wonted functions, and shall confine ourselves to the formation of such an abstract and such selections from these attractive pages as shall apprize our readers of their curious and well stated contents. Sir William Cavendish, the fortunate founder of the two noble houses of Devonshire and Newcastle, has been long supposed to be the author of the work which is the subject of the present inquiry: but his possession of that title has not been undisputed. It is denied by the present inquirer; and he ascribes the biography to George Cavendish of Glemsford in the county of Suffolk, an elder brother of Sir William, and who spent a great many years in Cardinal Wolsey's service. In support of this proposition, the author adduces both external and internal evidence. Lord Herbert, in his life of Henry the Eighth, where the first mention of the disputed work occurs, assigns it to George Cavendish: but the author of the life of Sir William Cavendish, in the Biographia Britannica, (who, most probably, was Dr. Campbell,) and Collins, in his Peerage, assert that this must have been a mistake of Lord Herbert, and that the real author was Sir William Cavendish: but they allege not a single proof in favour of either supposition. This renders the point in dispute a question of authority between two modern writers, and one who lived at the time at which the transaction happened. The arguments drawn from internal evidence are that the author the life of Wolsey in question was hostile to the Reformation, and must have been a Catholic, which description exactly applies to Mr. George Cavendish; while Sir William Cavendish was a zealous Protestant, and actually held the situation of one of the auditors of the Court of Augmentation. The writer of the disputed Life had evidently not been favoured by fortune; for it contains the following remark, which could not well have been made by Sir William Cavendish : "Here," says he, "may all men note the chaunces of fortune that followethe some whome she intendeth to promote, and to some her favor is cleane contrary, though they travaille never so much, with all the painfull diligence that they can devise or imagine: whereof for my part I have tasted of the experience." It is then shewn that this biography of Wolsey was written about the middle of the reign of Queen Mary, the very time in which Sir William Cavendish is known to have been living in great luxury at his mansion of North Aubrey, near Lincoln. The author of the Life having related that the King had submitted to be cited by the two legates, and to appear in person before them |