markable and Mr. K. here makes a folemn paufe, as in bis former commentaries, at the period actually fuppofed to have arrived and he paufes with a fervent prayer for his country.

The remainder of this tract tends to fhow, what other writers have alfo fuppofed, that the latter days are approaching." But here the author fpeaks with exemplary caution and piety..

"We approach unto the latter days! I tremble whilst I write! God forbid I fhould mislead any. But if I do apprehend right, muft,—I ought, to speak, and write with circumfpection, that which I apprehend. I am no rafh en hufiaft. I defire to be exceedingly. guarded againft error: and I have not the leaft prefumptuous idea of pretending to prophecy. The word of prophecy is fealed for ever." P. 23.

The idea which he offers after this folem preparation is chiefly this, that the " Reftoration of the Jews," which is prophefied to happen before THE END fhall arive, may take place before their converfion.

Fully are we aware that the interpretation of prophefies, not yet fully accomplished, has been often made, by defigning perfons, an instrument of mifchief. From the interpretations of Mr. King, nothing of this kind can be apprehended. They will produce no wild enthufiafm. They may lead fools to fcoff: but they will induce the wife and pious at least to ponder with awe, upon the facred words of prophecy; and, in times the most extraordinary that the world has ever seen, to ftand prepared for all that may come to pafs, without prefuming to pronounce what will.

The remarks of Mr. King in his former work, the Morfels of Criticism, have been fo honourably noticed, and in words. fo admirably felected, by a very ingenious writer, that we cannot better prove our refpect for his endeavours than by citing what that author has faid.

"Thus did this very learned and moft pious man, in a strain of ferious, temperate, and impreffive eloquence, deliver his opinion and his interpretation. They will ftand before us and our pofterity, as the memorial of that lonely wifdom, that reverential application of the divine word, and of that filent dignity which can only be attained by a retirement (at intervals) from the world which God hath made ta HIM alone, and by that worship, in fpirit and in truth, which, when joined to human erudition, and to the fober cultivation of the under. standing, will produce fruit unto life*."

Purfuits of Literature, p. 409, 7th edition.

H h

BRIT. CRIT, VOL. XII, OCT. 1798.

The

The conclusion of the present publication is occupied by obfervations on fome paffages of the fecond book of Efdras, which the author confiders as a book of authority and authenticity. The frong objections to it are, that there is no fufficient evidence that it ever existed in Hebrew; nor was it ever admitted into the Hebrew Canon. Under these circumstances there is but too much reafon to fufpect that its apparent anticipations of the words of the Gofpels, or the paffages, which, on the fuppofition of its authenticity, muft have been taken from it by the evangelical writers, were in fact taken by the compilers of this book from the New Teftament. It cannot be denied that there is much in it very pious and inftructive, and strongly in the manner of the ancient prophets; but new arguments must be produced before we can confider it as the work of Ezra himfelf, or any infpired author. The heads of all that have hitherto been faid against or for it, may be found very ably collected by Mr. Gray, in his most useful and meritorious Key to the Old Teftament*.

BRITISH CATALOGUE

POETRY.

ART. 17. Rifing Cafle, with other Poems. By George Goodwin 8vo. 151 pp. 35. 6d. The Bookfellers, Lynn; Robinsons, London, &c. 1798.

Young men, of nineteen, are fo often worfe engaged than in writing verfes, that we are unwilling to difcourage their attempts in this way; efpecially, if verfifying be not made a ferious occupation, but (as we hear in this cafe) only a relaxation from the labour of profeffional ftudies and purfuits. Without venturing, therefore, to place Mr. G. high in the rank of poets; or to fay that he is likely, by the vigour of his genius, ever to attain fuch a diftinction; we may commend fome of his verfes (the Maniac, for inftance, though amplified only from Shakspeare's "poor Barbara") as evincing fenfibility; and all of them, as poffeffing good and laudable tendency. The Infcription

Gray's Key to the Old Teftament, p. 533-545, 1ft edition.

for a Summer House we shall infert, as breathing fentiments of religion, peculiarly praife-worthy at nineteen.

STRANGER! full well thou knowest that the world
Is full of trouble; and its bufy fcenes,
Awake no thoughts of happinefs in him
Delighting in retirement.-Here the foul,
Lull'd by the tranquil placidnefs around,
May find repofe, and footh'd by genial peace,
Look up to God! nor buzzing hum of trade,
Disturbs the fweet ferenity that reigns,
Nor the rude fhouts of revelry and mirth,

Speaking "the vacant mind." Here thou may'st rest
Free from the fun-beams, and expand thy mind
With knowledge. When the fhades of eve
With grey hues deep'ning, dim the village church,
Here thou may'ft paufe--and hearken the rude fong
Of cow-boy haft'ning from the diftant field,
Or the sweet mufic of the jetty bird,
Warbling her wild-notes to the fading fun.
Haply the tinkling of fome fheep-cote bell,
Or fhepherd whistling o'er the neighb'ring heath
Will break upon thine ear. Yet thou may'ft reft
Free from the bickerings of care-ting'd life,
And whilft furveying Nature's beauteous charms
Trace Him-the all-creating God, and bless

The mighty Ruler of all things below!" P. 96.

We should, however, have advised an exhibition of these Poems in general, in manufcript only, to friendly readers; rather than an appeal, by printing, to the judgment of a neutral public: and we venture to predict, that within a few years, the author will be a convert to our opinion.

ART. 18. Suicide rejected, an Elegy. By Charles James, Author of

Poems, dedicated, with Permiffion, to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales," and of feveral political Tracts. To which is prefixed, a Moral Difcourfe against Suicide (never before published) by the late Rev. Dr. J. Fordyce. The Whole addreffed to Lady James, with a Poetical Introduction. Published for the Benefit of Mrs. Clark (the Daughter of the late unfortunate Colonel Frederick) and her Children. 4to. Hookham and Carpenter. 1797.

The horrid and defperate practice of fuicide has lately met with fo many advocates, and unfortunately for mankind is become fo common, that, in our opinion, every man who attempts to check its progrefs deferves well of fociety. This publication has likewife another claim to favour; the motive is charity; which, combined with its own merit, will, we hope, prove a fufficient recommendation. The moral difcourfe of Dr. Fordyce, which the author modeftly offers as the bulwark of the whole, is well and feelingly wrigen; the Elegy Hh z 1tfelf

itfelf is a pleafing compofition; and the poetical Dedication to Lady James, is a juit tribute of praife to philanthropy and benevolence.

ART. 19. The Villain's Death-Bed; or the Times: a Poem. Dedicated 10 whom it may concern. 4to. 4to. 2s. 6d. Jofeph Bell. 1798.

It is an unfortunate circumftance, that men with the best intentions, frequently make themfelves appear ridiculous, from the exertions occafioned by their zeal. This author imagined that the amor patria, and his deep-rooted hatred of French liberty, muft have produced fomething poetical; but, unhappily for himfelf, he has mistaken his powers.

ART. 20. Public Spirit: a Lyric Poem, occafioned by the exemplary Zeal, Refolution, and Decorum, uniformly manifefted by the Yeomanry Corps of Ireland, in the facred Caufe of their King and Country. To which are prefixed, an Addrefs to the Right Hon. Thomas Pelham, and Obfervations on the Irregular Ode. Second Edition. 8vo. Is. Kelly, Dublin. 1797•

The addrefs which is prefixed to this poem, well deserves the ferious notice of every reader. Had it been published separately, we think it would have experienced a more general circulation. We wish the author had been as fortunate in his Obfervations, as in his production of the Irregular Ode; but truth obliges us to fay, that we were much difappointed; as, after our perufal of the Addrefs, we had flattered ourselves with having it in our power to commend the whole production as equally deferving.

ART. 21. Matriculation. A Poem. 4to. Is. 6d. Cadell and Davies. 1798.

This poem gives a facetious account of the perils to which a young man is expofed on his firft entrance at the University, from Rous of various kinds. Row is a local expreffion, which being interpreted, means Riot. The verfes are fpirited enough; and the description of the boxing match has fome merit.

DRAMATIC.

ART. 22. Stella; tranflated from the German of M. Goethe, Author of the Sorrows of Werter, &c. &c. 8vo. 2s. Hookham and Carpenter. 1798.

Whatever degree of credit may be given to the affertion of a mo dern author, that the Germans, have, for the last thirty years, in literature, and in genius alfo, furpaffed every other country in Europe; yet the want of morality in their works of fancy, will, we hope, always prove an obstacle both to our imitation and approbation of them. Whatever exclufive merit they may claim in the fertility of invention,

yet the ufe they make of that fuperiority (particularly in their plays) is fo exceptionable, and their conclufions approach fo near the confines of vice, that it feems to be the general rule of their drama, to invert the order of nature, and render virtue fubfervient to vice. We ought therefore to be doubly armed against the impreffions that the fafcination of their imagery and fingular fimplicity of language may produce in us, as these beauties in general appeal fo clofely to the paffions, that our feelings are worked up to the higheft pitch before we are fenfible that our compaffion has been excited for an object worthy only of horror and deteftation. Stella is a strong proof of these affertions; the hero of the piece, Ferdinand, leaves a wife and daughter, for no other reason than because he imagines them fetters to his liberty. In the course of his ramble he becomes acquainted with Stella, perfuades her to elope with him, and leave a fond uncle, fplendid fortune, &c. He then informs her that there is an inseparable barrier to their union; for this, however, the fafcinated fair one luckily frames every excufe that the delirium of love can fuggeft: feeling, however, fome qualms of confcience for forfaking his wife, and probably tired of Stella, he quits her as abruptly as he had done Cecilia; and, after wandering in fearch of her and his daughter for three years, he unexpectedly meets with them at an inn, where the latter is preparing to offer herself as companion to his former mistress; they are, however, not known to each other till he has returned to Stella, and is in the height of his dalliance. Finding it impoffible that their happiness can be complete any other way, and to prevent Ferdinand from the crime of fuicide, they all agree to live together. What more deftructive to the peace of fociety; what more adapted to burft afunder every folemn tie, can be prefented to the world, we know not. Instead of Ferdinand's being inade an example, to excite abhorrence for his villainy, in having feduced a beautiful creature from her friends, and left a wife and daugh ter to encounter the frowns of the world, and the bitter lot of poverty we behold him arriving at what feems the height of his wishes, without having fuffered more than momentary grief. The prominent faults and abfurdities of this play were moft happily ridiculed and exposed in the Anti-Jacobin Newspaper, by means of a mock drama, entitled "The Double Arrangement.' See the 30th and 31ft numbers of that very witty and ufeful publication.

ART. 23. Reform'd in Time. A Comic Opera. In Two Acts. As perform'd at the Theatre-Royal, Covent-Garden. 8vo. IS. Cadell and Davies. 1798.

This Opera appeared firft at a benefit, and was generally and eagerly applauded. The drama has fufficient contrivance and intereft for a drama of that kind; the mufic is good; and fome of the acting, particularly that of Mr. Munden (whom the author alfo compliments in a fhort Advertisement) remarkably excellent. How, with all thefe good qualities and attractions, the public fhould grow weary of it after a very few reprefentations, is more than we can conjecture: but there is a caprice in thefe matters, as well as many others, which is not perfectly amenable to the laws of criticifm.

ART.