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Writings of Schiller.

with SCHILLER's poems, that he appointed him one of his Aulic Counsellors*, and conferred on him a profefforfhip of hiftory and philofophy in the univerfity of Jena. Here he compofed his "Hiftory of the Thirty Years War in Germany ;' a work of great merit, and, in the opinion of fome Germans, not inferior to the compofitions of Livy, Voltaire, or Gibbon. This, however, is a pardonable prejudice in favour of SCHILLER, fince his countrymen cannot boast of many good hiftorians, and perhaps of none of fuperior excellence, or at least equal to Hume and Robertfon. So much is certain, that the laft mentioned two writers greatly gain in the comparison with the best German hiftorians, namely, Häberlin, the two Henrys (Heinrich), Schmidt, Galetti, Buchholz, Wagner, and Baczko.

The next work of SCHILLER'S is, "The Hiftory of the Netherlands," which, however, he has not yet concluded; although it was begun feveral years ago.Perhaps, the fevere criticisms that appeared on this work in the German Reviews, have difcouraged him from profecuting this very important fubject+.

Another work of SCHILLER'S, that excited confiderable attention in Germany, is "The History of the most memorable Confpiracies."-But, as a work of imagination, difplaying all the powers of invention, his Ghost-feer," may be ranked among the principal compofitions of that kind. It has been very imperfectly tranflated into English; and many fuperficial readers have concluded, that the genius of the Germans ftrongly inclines to the marvellous and romantic, because this book was received with fuch fatisfaction by certain claffes of people in Germany, that it has been feveral times reprinted; though the first part of it only was published by the author. Another writer, of inferior talents, has published

*This is a mere title, attended with no other emolument than that of being called Her Hofrath, instead of the fimple word Herr, i. e. Sir, or Mr.-The Germans, however, are still very fond of titles-being an appendage of the old feudal fyftem: and as the petty fovereigns rarely reward a meritorious literary man in a more effectual manner than by loading him with an empty title, the first characters in Germany are reluctantly obliged to fubmit to this farcical mode of rewarding literary merit, until a better profpect opens.

Meanwhile, the Bishop of Antwerp has written a most valuable Hiftory of the Netherlands."

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a furreptitious continuation of the "Ghostfeer" which, notwithstanding its inferiority, has met with an unmerited degree of fuccefs.

SCHILLER now conducts a monthly publication, which is fupported by the firft German writers, among whom we find the names of DALBERG, ENGEL, GARVE, GLEIM, GOETHE, HERDER, HUFELAND, HUMBOLDT, JACOBI, MATTHISON, PFEFFEL, SCHUTZ, &c. This claffical Magazine is printed at Tübingen, under the title, " Die Hozen," alluding to the three graces, Eunomia, Dice, and Irene.

Befides thefe publications, SCHILLER is the editor of an annual poetical almanack, (" Mufen Almanack,") which ferves as a vehicle for the occafional effufions of young bards, who wish to bring their. poetical talents to the teft before the public, and to profit by the previous criticisms and corrections of the editor. In this almanack he alfo communicates the latest productions of his own muse.

Our poet is faid to have difplayed a ftrong propensity, in his youth, to whatever had the appearance of eccentricity. His drefs, his mode of life, even his courtships, were as original as his mode of writing. It is, however, not very difficult to account for thefe peculiarities. If we confider him as a youth endowed with a fertile and active mind, with the strongest fenfations of virtue and liberty, and, at the fame time, checked in his intellectual career, within the narrow path of a military fchool, where every thing moves by the dimenfions of space and time; his earlier productions, fuch as "The Robbers," and "The Confpiracy of Fiefco," are, in a high degree, characteriftic of the fituation and circumstances in which he was placed at a time of life, when the human mind is fufceptible of the strongest and most lafting impreffions.

We cannot fupprefs a fingular anecdote which forms an epocha in the life of SCHILLER. As a diftinguished favourite among the fair, his courtships in general were more of the paffive than of the active kind. Thus it happened, that a young lady, of rank and fortune, in the vicinity of Jena, fent him an unexpected challenge, by offering him her hand at the altar of Hymen. This he could not eafily refufe, without being guilty of great rudeness and cruelty; especially as the enamoured lady would undoubtedly have fallen a victim to an affection which he alone could relieve, and which fhe had contracted by the perufal of his poems.

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WHEN Eve walk'd forth at early hour,
Her only care was fruit, or flow'r;

Vacant of fcience was her mind,
To all the world of wifdom blind;
From idlenefs, her heart fhe fet,
On the firft prating* brute the met-
Do thou, whom early fenfe fupplies
With all that's good, and fair, and wife,
Not like unbidden Eve of yore,
With furtive hand, thefe fweets explore;
Pluck knowledge with each flow'r and fruit,
Nor fear a tempter in a brute. R. L. E.

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Thine ardent vot'ry,borne on Rapture's wing,

With golden radiance glows the winding ftream;

Rich with the rainbow's varied hues, the shower

Gleams from afar; the diftant village church Embow'r'd in gloom, in the fequefter'd vale, Peers o'er yon floping hill, o'erhung with birch,

Whofe light thin foliage wantons in the gale.

In fcenes like thefe, contented I could dwell, And bid, without a figh, the world farewell.

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To THE VIOLET.

In Fancy's wildest ftrains, thy praife fhall NOW winter's dark and cheerless morns are

grateful fing.

Banks of the Tweed.

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Original Poetry, by Capt. Morris, and Mr. Capel Loft.

LINES

Written in a Bower of Mr. SWAINSON'S Botanic Garden, at Twickenham.

By the elder Capt. MORRIS. HERE, to enjoy the filent and the cool, Sat one unknown among the proud or gay; Too wife was he to prove ambition's fool; Too dull to learn to trifle life away. Now, in the manfion, now, this fecret bow'r, Ten days of quiet did the mufer spend; There Swainfon's mirth beguil'd the tedious hour,

Here little Robin was his gueft and friend. Perch'd on his book, and perking in his face, The guileless Redbreaft feem'd to watch his thought:

Alas! he knew not man's perfidious race, By whofe allurement fimple birds are caught.

E'en man to man but rarely is fincere;

The love profefs'd is interested art: Tho' heav'n's bright image on his brow appear, Yet honeft Robin boafts a purer heat. Defpair not, Robin, tho' I take my flight; The gen'rous hoft, who oft hath feasted me, Shall, for my fake, thy amity requite, And, when he treats his friends, remember

thee.

Written on Seeing Mrs. SinDONS, as Mrs. HALLER, in THE STRANGER, Friday, 25th of May; and as ISABELLA, in THE FATAL MARRIAGE, Monday, 28th, 1798.

By CAPEL LOFFT, Esq. NO; we may speak of others :-but for thee;

'Tis not in poetry or mortal voice, Thee, SIDDONS, to pourtray !-the form, perhaps,

Thefe may defcribe: the elevated mien; The countenance of more than human air; The awful eye; the ftature goddefs-like; The ftep like her's who above equal reigns, Queen of Homeric verfe, and to her charms Subdues th' all-dreaded fov'reign of the ikies. But who fhall point that energy of soul Which animates the wonders of that form, Beyond all colours radiantly fublime;

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O never, glowing with the tints of heav'n, Such changeful splendour Iris gives the fkies, As from thy light'ning countenance beams forth

Each moment new, and vivid beyond thought.
Thy foul infpires them; ours can ill contain.
And if of thefe fome image could be given,
Still, ftill, thy voice..... that harmony which
earth

Wonders to call her own, and lift'ning feems
To think the mufic of th' immortal spheres....
Benevolence, and tenderness, and joy,
A fadness moft divine. Sublimeft love,
And ecftacies that fill the foul with heav'n,
Thrill in that voice through all its faculties.
But when not e'en thy voice may touch the

ear,

Nor fupplicate the bending of that neck,
Nor thofe extended arms call heav'n to aid;
When, in the majesty of facred woe,

In the unutter'd ftillness of despair,
Then, when thy form, in an aftonish'd trance,
Stands like a ftatue; motionlefs, as dead;
O how unlike thy grief to other griefs!
The mind fuperior, in itself retir'd
Awakes to refignation, holy hope
To fortitude fuperior to all ills;

Smiling in pangs triumphant over death.
Or must thou paint the ruin of a mind,
Great is that ruin, and the wreck itself
Bears witness to its prime fublimity,
Like temples, 'mid their falling walls, pre-

ferv'd.

O Haller; Ifabella!..... to thefe names, Living in thy action, by thy voice fuftain'd, 'Fill'd with the high affections of thy foul, Weak are all words, and pow'rlefs ev'ry praise. May 30, 1798.

LINES

On Valentine's Day.

AGAIN revolving time unfolds the day, When each plum'd choritter, with heart elate,

Salutes, O Nature! thy refiftlefs sway,
That re-unites him to his long loft mate.
See, from the flocks difpers'd, yon happy pair,
No longer they the pendant willow feek;
To mourn divided love and feafon drear,
Or fly for fhelter from the froft-wind bleak.

Breathes in each part, and confecrates the What pleafing rapture each fond breaft in

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Each trives with each, as emulous to prove, That wint'ry blafts ne'er chill'd their warm

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Original Poetry.....New Patents.

'Tis Love, fweet innocent, thy bosom robs, "Tis Love, thy state of difcontent has made. Ah do not murmur at thy hapless fate;

A heart with correfponding feelings fraught May fhortly bless thee, and a happier state Difpel thofe fears that eager fancy wrought. In vain will Spring's enliv'ning beauties bloom To him who lonely feeks the verdant grove, When filent thought depicts his mournful doom,

To pine for ever, ftranger to his love. Oh! yet, when circling pleafures round me grow,

When all creation owns affection's fway, Breathe, breathe my reeds, the raptur'd ftrains fhall flow,

SONNET to EVENING. By R. CARLISLE. EVENING! I woo thy dim oblivious fhade, When twilight fpreads her veil of mifty hue;

When day's bright garish tints begin to fade, And from the diftant hills, the vapours blue, In wreaths fantastic, beauteously afcend;

And while the humid earth exhales the dew,

To cool, fequefter'd haunts, my steps I bend; While in the weft, where the bright fun withdrew,

Still lingers many a streak of crimson glow, And tints the azure face of spreading lake, There blending foftly into fhadows gray:

Thro' the o'ergrown, and folitary brake, In penfive mood, I often love to ftray, More than amid the fcenes of pomp and fhew.

Tis Nature fpeaks, let all her fons obey.
F. LANTAFF.
NEW PATENTS,

Mr. CHAPMAN'S,

FOR A MACHINE FOR MAKING ROPES. TN March 1798, a patent was granted to Mr. WILLIAM CHAPMAN, of Newcastle on Tyne, for a method of laying, twisting, or making ropes or cordage. In the common method of making cordage, a walk, or rope ground, is requifite, of an equal length with the rope or cable intended to be made; at each end of which ground, are hooks, revolving round their axis by means of various machinary, to which the yarns or strands of which the rope is formed are fastened, and by which they are twifted together. By the machinery of the patentee, however, a much shorter space is requifite, and the whole procefs of the conftruction of a cable from the very yarn, is carried on in regular uninterrupted fucceffion, by the fame machine.

A cable is composed of three ftrands or ropes twisted together, and each of thefe ropes is again in like manner compofed of three ftrands or cords; each cord confifting of a certain number of yarns. A number of coils of varn is therefore procured, fufficient for the construction of a cable, and of a proper length, each of which is fixed on a feparate revolving axis. The yarns, as they are delivered off the reel, are divided into parcels, each parcel containing threads fufficient for the construction of a rope: the parcels of threads are then introduced into an equal number of fhafts, which revolving on their own axis, twift the threads into nine ropes, coiling them up at the fame time into round boxes; each of thefe boxes is then fet in motion, and gradually delivers out its rope; the ropes being then divided into three parcels of three

ropes each, are introduced into three revolving fhafts, by which they are twisted into three fhroud laid ropes, and coiled up as before. The laft procefs is perfectly fimilar to the foregoing one, by which the three throud laid ropes are twisted into a three ftrand cable. All these operations may be carried on at the fame time in different parts of the cable, and the whole machinery may be worked by a single principle of motion.

Mr. HOWELL'S MACHINE FOR HOLLOWING OR BORING WATERPIPES.

In May a patent was granted to Mr. JOHN HOWELL, of Olweftry, Salop, coalmafter, for an improved machine for the purpose of hollowing or boring wooden water-pipes, or aqueducts.

The ufual method of boring is by an augre, or fimilar inftrument, which cuts out the inner part of the wood in chips or fhavings. The new method is by ufing a hollow iron cylinder with a circular faw, by which means a folid cylinder of wood is procured, of nearly the fame diameter as the bore of the pipe, instead of cutting it up into ufelefs fhavings.

Mr. BELL'S, FOR A METHOD OF MAK

ING NEEDLES, BODKINS, &c.

In September a patent was granted to Mr. WILLIAM BELL, of Walfall, Stafford, for a method of making needles, bodkins, fifh-hooks, knitting-pins, netting-needles, and fail-needles.

This new method confifts in cafting the above-mentioned articles in moulds of fand or iron, inftead of making them of wire. The fteel, for this purpofe, is to be purified by ftirring it when melted, with a mixture of charcoal-duit and lime, or common falt.

THE

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VARIETIES,

LITERARY and PHILOSOPHICAL;

Including Notices of Works in Hand, Domestic and Foreign.
Authentic Communications for this Article will always be thankfully received.

HE complete tranflation of the Voyage of LA PEROUSE round the World, will be publifhed, in the courfe of a few days, by Mr. JOHNSON, of St. Paul's Church Yard. A fhort delay is occafioned, by the time that has been requifite to prepare the numerous plates. The courfe of LA PEROUSE, in this interefting voyage, was by the route of Cape Horn to La Conception in Chili, from thence to Eafter Iland, the Sandwich Islands, and the North West coast of America. He then failed across the great ocean, in the parallel of the tropic of Cancer, to Macao, thence to the Philippines, Formofa, and through the Chinese and Japanese feas to Corea, Chinese Tartary, the Ilands of Tchoka and Jeffo, the Kuriles and Kamfchatka. From Kamfchatka he fteered in a fouth ea direction to the Illes des Navigateurs and the Friendly Iflands, and from thence to Port Jackfon in New Holland. In the fpring of 1788, the two fhips failed from Port Jackson, and have not fince been heard of. Fortunately, LA PEROUSE had taken every opportunity to difpatch copies of his journals, accompanied by drawings, memoirs, &c. &c; in confequence, geography and the sciences are enriched by his difcoveries, made in the extenfive route above defcribed. The two fhips, when they failed from France in 1785, were literally freighted with fcientific men of

the

very firft eminence; the work is there fore rich, beyond any which has preceded it, in new difcoveries, connected with geography, aftronomy, navigation, natural history, manners, cuftoms, &c. &c. The knowledge of every place touched at or paffed, in the courfe of the voyage, is either rendered more accurate, or perfected; the Chinese and Japanese feas, and the north east coaft of Afia, were particularly explored, and that part of the voyage would, alone, entitle it to celebrity. The entire work in Mr. JOHNSON's edition, will form three large octavos, which will be embellifhed by the various illuftrative views, charts, &c. &c. engraved by the first English artists.

WELSH ARCHEOLOGY. For the gratification of those, who have a tafte for relearches into the more remote hiftory of Britain, we are enabled to announce, that

a gentleman, a native of Wales, has generously refolved to publish, at his own expence, all the ancient Weih manufcripts. With this view, the Rev LL. LLOYD, of Caerwys, Flintshire; 'the Rev. W. DAVIES, of Meivod, Montgomeryshire; and Mr. D. THOMAS, of Amiwę, Anglesey, in North Wales; Mr. E. WILLIAMS, of Flimfton, Glamorganthire, in South Wales; and Mr. W. OWEN, of Pentontreet, Pentonville, London, have been appointed to arrange, and print fuch of the faid manufcripts, as may be communicated to them, or as they may be able to collect, in addition to thofe which they now poffefs, in a regular feries, from the earliest times; at leaft fuch of them, both in profe and verfe, as may be deemed moft curious for illuftrating the language, or most useful for throwing light on the darker periods of our hiftory. It is propofed that the collection fhall be in an octavo form; and that one volume shall be ready for publication at the commencement, and at the conclufion, of each feffion of parliament, till the work fhall be completed. For fuch a collection a popular fale cannot be expected; and, being defigned chiefly for public libraries, and for individual admirers of ancient subjects, fuch a number of copies of it only will be printed, at firft, as may be fubfcribed for, during the prefent fummer. Names fhould be fent to any of the above-mentioned editors, before the first volume is put to the prefs.

Mrs. MARGARET LE, authorefs of Clara Lennox, or the Diftreft Widow, is engaged in a Hiftory of the Ifle -cf Man, to be comprised in two volumes. Mrs. LEE being a native of the Iile of Wight, fome new and interesting information may be expected in this werk.

Mr. JOLLIE, of Carlifle, the conductor of the Hiftory of Cumberland, is preparing to publish a weekly newspaper on an improved plan, under the title of the Carlile Journal. It is remarkable, that on the north-weft fide of the island there has hitherto been published but one provincipal paper (Mr. Ware's, Whitehaven), between Manchester and Glafgow. We are glad to obferve, that Mr. JOLLIE promifes a constant attention to local improvements and local facts, of every kind: neglect of these, greatly di

at

minishes

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