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conduct; but yet remember, if this letter fail of producing any salutary effect, and if you can peruse it with out emotion, it will add to the enormity of your guilt, render you more inexcusable, and at the day of judgment be a witness against you.-The only hope with which I'close life, and with the expression of which I will terminate this epistle is, that you may be so visited by divine grace in this world, that when you take your leave of it I may be permitted first to welcome you to the etherial man

sions; for I die animated with the brightest hopes of being admitted, through the merits of my all gracious Redeemer, into the presence of my GOD, where boundless streams of bliss for ever flow; and surely it will be an addition even to celestial bliss to be permitted to hover round your dying pillow-to watch the decays of nature-to breathe in gentle whispers divine consolations-with rapture to guide you in your flight through the planetary and starry regions, and to introduce you into the empyreal heavens, and the presence of your GOD! Till that blissful day

Adieu!"

"Had this letter reached my hands a few days sooner, I should have regarded it as nothing but enthusiastic extravagance; but my present circumstances taught me to feel the force and significance of every sentence.— And is she gone?' cried 1.-' Ah! what prayers did the dying saint 'pour out for me!-And could she indeed forgive the inconstancy, the ingratitude, the perjury of the wretch who prematurely hurried her to the grave!-Not only forgive, but could she pray and plead, and weep for him? Amiable goodness! Nor have her prayers been offered up in vain; I am indeed awakened; but alas! it will never be permitted her to welcome me to the seats of bliss; my guilt has been too aggravated, my crimes have been too ' atrocious!' These, and such as these, were my soliloquies, the genuine reflections of a soul, on which the light of truth began to dawn; but the sequel of my melancholy narrative must be the subject of another letter p. 94-108.

It was deemed necessary for Philario to retire into the country for the restoration of his health; he unexpectedly meets Clarinda, and a com

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Egypt, Babylon, and Tyre thus described:

"Past is the fame of Egypt, whose pale son Fast by the midnight lamp, with learned 、toil

Skilful to wind the hieroglyphic maze,
Por'd on the treasur'd page, by double fate
Denied to future times. With prone descent
Great Babylon is fallen; amid the dust,
Vainly inquisitive, the traveller pries

In fruitless search where Syrian BELUS rear'd
His idol form: no human trace around
Informs his doubtful step; no friendly tone
Breaks the disastrous silence. At the hiss
Of serpents haply rustling through the brake,
As parch'd by tropic fire and wild with
thirst,

Their sanguine eye-balls flash, his sinking

heart

Beats with thick fear; meanwhile the bit

tern moans

In hollow-sounding note; and the lone owl, Dusky and slow, with unauspicious scream Adds horror to the gloom. Beneath the

waves

Old Tyre is whelm'd, and all her revelry: Those bosts, who barter'd ISRAEL's sons for gold

(The traffickers of blood) no more renew Th' abhorred merchandize; no more with glance

Of keen remark compute the sinew's force, Or weigh the muscles of their fellow-man. "And thou, bethink thee, ALBION, ere too late,.

Queen of the isles and mart of distant worlds, That thou like Tyre (with hands as deep in blood

Warm from the veins of Africa, and wealth By arts more vile and darker guilt acquired) Shall meet an equal doom. The day will rise,

If justice slumber not, when those proud ships

The grace at once and bulwark of thy coast, That now 'mid baffled tempests range the globe

Unequal to a foe so oft engaged,

So oft subdued, shall through their yawning sides

Receive the victor main; and in the abyss Thy cliffs shall sink, their chalky tops alone Extant above the brine: While as from far Across the wintry waste the seaman views The humid net outspread, his piteous heart (Piteous, though rugged) sorrows o'er thy fale." p. 15-17.

The return of the Jews is thus represented :

"And see! they come! Survey yon sweeping bands;

Countless as Persian bowmen, who beset
Freedom exulting on her Attick rock,

When Asia rous'd her millions to the war,

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On the destruction of Babylon, in describing the devastations made by the conquering army, we notice particularly the following passages:

"Now yield those gods, whom prostrate realms ador'd:

Though gods, unequal to a mortal sword! In aweless state th' unworshipp'd idola stand,

And tempt with sacred gold the plunderer's

hand." p. 42. "Now stoops that tower, from whose broad top the eye

Of infant science pierc'd the midnight sky; First dar'd mid worlds before unknown to stray,

Scann'd the bright wonders of the milky

way;

And as in endless round they whirl'd along, In groups arrang'd, and nam'd the lucid throng :

Nay, in their glittering aspects seem'd to spy
The hidden page of human destiny!
Vain all her study! in that comet's glare,
Which shook destruction from its horrid
hair,

Of her sage train deep-vers'd in stellar law,
Not one his country's hapless fate foresaw;
No heaven-read priest beheld the deepening
gloom,

Or with prophetic tongue foretold her doom.” p. 43.

This poem concludes with the following warning:

And true to order, and of all the friend,
To varied rank unvarying law extend.
Ah! in the snowy robe of peace array'd,
Led by the virtues of the rural shade,
Return, and let advancing time behold
Regenerate man, and other years of gold.
"Then shall no feuds our triple realm di-
vide,

No traitor point the dagger at its side;
But each with patriot toils his hours shall
crown,

And in his country's welfare find his own." p. 44-49.

The date on the title page is 1795, for which the author, in his preface, assigns the reason that the greater « And thou, Augusta, hear in this thy day;' part of the poems were published the

For once, like thee, lost BABYLON was

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latter end of that year.

CL. JOURNEY INTO SOUTH WALES, through the Counties of Orford, Warwick, Worcester, Hereford, Salop, Stafford, Buckingham, and \ Hertford, in the Year 1799. By GEORGE LIPSCOMB, Esq, 8vo. Embellished with an engraved From tispiece of the Fall of the Mynach.

To give our readers an idea of

the nature of this work, the following extract from the preface may

suffice.

The author writes. "Although I cannot boast of having enjoyed many opportunities, or much leisure, for antiquarian researches, nor of having minutely illustrated the history of any of the places mentioned in that book, I flatter myself that the strict veracity every where observed in the descriptions, and the attention with which I have endeavoured to discriminate between the truth of history and the legendary impositions of romance, have rendered my publication at least as respectable in the rank to which it belongs, as those which are placed on the same shelf of the library: for while its Author aspires not to the dignity of an historian, he has the satisfaction of being conscious that he has, here and there, suggested a hint, not unworthy of being attended to, by those who walk in that distinguished path; and that there is nothing cotained in his performance which was intended to feed credulity, or to countenance error." p. xii, xiii.

The work is divided into thirtyeight chapters: the first of which

contains observations "On the Effects of the different Dispositions of Travellers.-On Wit and Learning mis applied.-On Ill Humour.-On Criticism, with a Word to the Reviewers."

After shewing the advantages of a serene temper, and not to allow anticipation in travellers, the author writes. "With regard to the effects produced in descriptive writing, from the possession of superior learning and wit, I think it may be said, that the proper application of wit can alone afford entertainment; the rational display of learning can alone effect improvement; for authors, who have enjoyed all the advantages of profound learning, superadded to the brilliancy of the most poignant wit, have, not unfrequently, bordered on pertness, and sometimes soar into the gloomy regions of scholastic dul

ness.

"Wit changed into satire, or twisted into pertness, becomes despicable. Learning, applied to childish subjects, or distributed at random, sinks into contempt. They are then the fair game of criticism, and deserve to be exposed to everlasting ridicule." p. 3, 4.

A severe censure is introduced here on Peter Pindar, and the author proceeds thus. "Wit, then, to be agreeable, and to afford entertainment, should be directed by good humour: and learning, to be useful and instructive, must serve the cause of truth and promote the practice of virtue. Wit must be devoid of keen severity, and learning of ostentatious pedantry." p. 5.

The influence of the peculiar temper, habit, and nature of the accustomed studies of a traveller upon his observations are noticed; and the author closes his animadversions with the following remarks: "He who drives from Dover to the Land's End in search of the best fish, should not dare to call this travelling; and yet how often do we discover, that the only taste which is displayed in two or three hundred pages, is that of port wine, and the only addition made to the general stock of knowledge, is a catalogue of sign posts, and a detail of a bill of fare.

"It is of very little consequence whether the Black Bull or the Marquis of Granby's Head afforded the VOL. I.

choicest dinner, or whether my Lord This, or Sir John T'other, slept more soundly at the Bugle Horn or the Star and Garter; whether the mutton was better roasted at the Blue Boar or the Golden Lion; or the eels better fried at the Dog and Pincushion or the Pig and Carrot. A man must be ill employed to travel only to eat, because, in general, this may be done more conveniently at home; but his time is thrown away to a still worse purpose if he plagues the world with a publication of his gormandizing adventures." p. 8, 9.

Some severe reflections on the conduct of the Reviewers finish this chapter.

The second chapter describes the author's journey from London to Oxford in a stage-coach, at which place he quitted it and walked on to Woodstock, where, meeting with a funeral, he notices the manner in which the service of the church is sometimes read, and from the negligence of the officiating clergyman, which he describes, offers the following remarks.

"No man can read well who does not possess some degree of judgment, who has not some little understanding of the subject and the language; but I am sometimes at a loss to know how it can happen for a person ever to read at all, without obtaining at least sufficient knowledge of the subject, and sufficient acquaintance with the language, to make him read much better than even clergymen often do.

"If their lordships the bishops would be pleased to pay some attention to this very necessary and commendable qualification, as well as to the acquirement of Greek and Hebrew learning, I cannot help thinking that they would do more to prevent secessions from the established church than will ever be effected by the most florid harangues, or the most logical arguments against 'heresy and schism.'

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"The finest language, the most exalted sentiments, and even the soundest piety itself, unaided by propriety of elocution, will produce but little effect on the minds of a mixed congregation; while the sublime truths of the Holy Scriptures, and the excellent Liturgy of the Church of England, when delivered with that serious energy by which they ought 4 I

to be enforced, can scarcely fail of making a due and lasting impres-,

sion.

"Far be it from me to depreciate the necessities and the advantages of the learned languages; but i hope I shall be pardoned by the reverend bench in suggesting, that the prevalence of a careless and inattentive habit of reading the service of the church is really one great cause of the number of dissenters, or rather seceders from the church. All men cannot judge of the learning of the clergy, but there are few so ignorant or unfeeling as not to distinguish between a good reader and a bad one." p. 26, 27.

In the third chapter the account of the journey is continued to Stratford on Avon, where the author made the following observation. “It too frequently happens that a man's poverty is as insurmountable a bar to the good opinion of his neighbours, as to his advancement in life. Of this remark had an ample illustration at Stratford. The story is very short, and simply this.

"Having an inclination to be present at divine service, I made some enquiries respecting the afternoon preacher, but received such a forbidding account of the clergyman, that no other excitement but that of curiosity could possibly have induced me to have become one of his auditors. I went, however, and though with no design to scoff,' certainly with no very fervent hope of improvement, but how happily and agreeably I was disappointed, this sentence shall be a lasting testimony.

of Stratford would have praised and adored him' as readily as their God." p. 37, 38.

The journey is then pursued to Hereford, and the author notices the following places as he proceeds: Alcester; Ragley; Droitwich, and salt springs; city, cathedral, and bridge of Worcester; Severn's famed meads; Malvern village, hill, and bath; Morton Castle; Ledbury; Firzons; Stoke Court; Mordeford; and Fown hope.-The Man of Ross is also introduced with eulogiums by Pope and Goldsmith; history of the Dragon of Mordeford, and of other dragons, legendary tales, the first of which was communicated in consequence of our traveller enquiring the reason for a painted figure of a dragon upon the wall of Mordeford Church; Hereford cathedral, monuments of the prelates, and scite of the castle close the eighth chapter. We meet with the following account of Hereford. Hereford is not a populous town: there is no manufactory yet esta blished here; the inhabitants are in consequence poor and idle; they are said to be proud too; and it is certain that pride often accompanies idleness and cathedral churches." p.82.

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From Hereford, passing Foxley, the beautiful eminence called Lady Lift, the village of Lyon's Hall, Eywood, the seat of the Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, and the extensive encampment called Wabley or Weobley Ditches, our traveller arrives at Presteign, and gives us the following description of the inhabitants of the country.

"The Welch, bold, free, quick, and ardent, are a brave, generous, and hospitable people: prone to anger; but though vehement in their animosities, neither malicious nor implacable.

"The language and sentiments of the preacher soon recalled my attention, and rivetted it upon the sacred truths which issued from his lips with irresistible force. The discourse was every thing which it ought to be;it was plain, correct, and intelligible-it was nervous, classical, and impressive! I know not whether it came from the heart, but every one of the congregation must have felt that it reached to it-which is, I believe, the best proof we could have of the sincerity and earnestness ofning and wickedness." p. 89,90. the preacher. I found afterwards that this clergyman was poor and unfortunate: had he been rich and ostentatious, the scribes and pharisees'

The commonalty still preserve the character of our British ancestors; 'robust and hardy; their nerves strung by the energy of toil, and their blood purified by simplicity of diet;' and as Diodorus Siculus observed, they are simple in their manners, and equally void of cun

Walking in the church-yard of Presteign, the author introduces the following anecdote of a fifer in the Radnorshire militia.

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