Candid Review of Jeffe Foot's Obfervations on the new Opinions of John Hunter, in his late Treatife on the Venereal Difeafe. By John Peake, Surgeon. 8vo. 25. Johnson.

Mr. Peake thinks, that Mr. Foot's Obfervations are vulner able in other parts befides thofe at which the critical arrows have been directed: we agree with him, that much remains to be remarked; and that even another combatant may find fome weak fide, on which the attack may be fuccefsfully made. Mr. Peake follows the obierver very closely; but, though we do not differ from him in general points, there are a few particulars in which we would beg leave to hesitate at least, if not to oppofe our brother reviewer, They are not, however, of much confequence. As we were firft in the lifts against Mr. Foot, we are highly gratified at being attended by authors fo refpectable as Mr. Peake, Mr. Tyre, and Mr. Brand.

Alan Fitzofborne. 2 Vols. 12mo. 6s. Wilkins.

MISS

ISS Lee's Recefs, the parent of the modern hiftoric novels will ftrike too forcibly on the reader's mind, and will perhaps have gained too strong an intereft in his heart, to leave him an impartial judge, or an unprejudiced critic. When we fay that mifs Fuller is inferior to her predeceffor, we do not mean to deny her a proper fhare of praife. These volumes poffefs great merit; but they do not intereft us by events fo uncommon; they do not harrow up the foul by diftrefs fo accumulated, or roufe the attention by incidents fo unexpected as occur in the work juft quoted. Mifs Fuller's merit is of an humbler kind; the connects the outline of history with a chain of events in domeftic life; and interefts us as much by the tender affection of Gertrude, as the dazzles by the fplendid heroifm of Edward.

It too often happens, in this novel, that the men are jealous without reason, and the wives murdered without examination; nor is this the only mark of an unfruitful invention.-Fitzofborne is discovered, as other heroes have been; and Alan takes an eastern spouse, after the example of many of his predeceffors. A faftidious critic may also perhaps notice fome minute geographical errors, and a rigid moralift point out that the fpirit of vengeance is too eager and rancorous.

Notwithstanding thefe defects, Alan Fitzofborne will be read with much pleafure. The story is well connected, and generally interesting the language is ufually correct and often elegant: the diftinctions are juft; and the morality, with the little exception already noticed, unblameable. The great morals, which the fair author feems to have particularly aimed at illuftrating, are the advantages of an undeviating fincerity

and

and regard to truth; with the diftrefs which confcious guilt muft induce, even when most apparently profperous.

If this work be not the firft, it fhould be arranged in the frft clafs of hiftorical novels; and we have pointed out the faults, rather to affift the fair candidate for fame, in her future attempts, than to detract from her prefent merit.

The Hiftory of Leonora Meadowfon. By the Author of Betfy Thoughtless. 2 Vols. 55. Noble.

The Spirit which dictated Betfy Thoughtlefs is evaporated; the fire of the author fcarcely fparkles. Even two meagre volumes could not be filled, without a little Hiftory of Melinda Fairfax; without the Tale of Cornaro and the Turk,—a tale told twice, in verfe and profe,-a tale already often published, and as often read. Alas, poor author! we catch with regret thy parting breath.

But, as this is probably the last time that we fhall meet, as we owe fomewhat to the author of Betfy Thoughtless, our first guide in thefe delufive walks of fiction and fancy, we must give a fhort account of the prefent work.-Leonora yields indifcreetly to the wishes of her first lover; fhe then marries another; fhe marries again, before fhe is happy, with the faithful Fleetwood, whom the thought inconftant. Mrs. Munden acted more prudently, though at firft thoughtless and indifcreet. The tale is, however, neatly told, and we are interested in the fate of our heroine, notwithstanding her firft indifcretion, and her two fubfequent very unaccountable matches.

The ftory of Melinda Fairfax is that of the Guardian', which has been fo often feen on the ftage, though with some little variation. The Tale of Cornaro is well known; the poetical verfion we do not recollect. If it is the work of the author, he deferves our applaufe: the verfification is elegant, and fometimes highly poetical. The defcriptive parts are extremely well

executed.

The Apparition; a Tale. By a Lady. 2 Vols. 1210.

Hookham.

552

This is a pretty little ftory; but the invention of the author is fuperior to her powers.-The defk, the ring, and the apparition, are well conceived; but, from a want of force, their effects are inconfiderable. If this tale, as we fuppofe, is the production of a young author, we have reafon to expect fomething more important in her maturity.

Sidney Place; or the Bracelet. 2 Vols. 12mo. 55. Lane.

This novel is, in many refpects, fuperior to the numerous race of its companions; yet the author floops with too much fervility to the ufual inartificial expedients of common authors. Why is the novel called the Bracelet? Why muft elegance and beauty be difcovered, by accident, in a cottage? These are trite, worn-out anticipations and incidents. It is a queftion of more confequence, why every pert, flippant female must be the

counter.

counter-part of lady G. in fir Charles Grandifon ? Is it becaufe in every author the copy is drawn, with various fuccefs, from the fame original, nature; or that they are indifferent copies from a valuable painting? We fhall leave the queftion undecided. The religious topics are not managed with success: if the points' of difference between the Catholics and Proteftants were immaterial,' we cannot easily fee the reason why Clara, for their fake, fhould have left her father.

Augufta; or the Female Travellers. 3 Vols. 12mo. 7s. 6d. Lane.

The ftory is rather entertaining than interefting; and the entertainment is fometimes afforded at the expence of probability. The French adventures are extremely improbable, though they are, in other refpects, more agreeable than any other part of the work, as they difplay fcenes not ufual in novels, and the event is kept cautioufly out of fight. On the whole, there is little real merit in thefe volumes, and as little to blame: we were not greatly displeased, but we have no inclination to open them again.

MISCELLANEOUS. An Appeal to the Public, on the Conduct of Mrs. Gooch, the Wife of William Gooch, Esq. Written by herself. 4to. 2s. 6d. Kearsley.

Mrs. Gooch's appeal is dated from the Fleet Prifon, where we are forry to find that this unfortunate lady is at prefent detained for debt. She is wife of the gentleman who, a few years fince, brought into parliament a bill of divorce, which was oppofed by the lord chancellor, on the idea that there feemed reafon to fufpe&t a collufion between the parties. We fincerely fympathife with her diftreffes, and wifh that her family, which appears to be both opulent and refpectable, would afford her fuch relief as might extricate her from the horrors of a fituation fufficiently overwhelming to female fortitude, though it were not embittered by the pangs of remorfe, and the feverity of implacable relations.

The Flowers of Ancient History; defigned for the Improvement and Entertainment of Youth. By the Rev. John Adams, A. M. 1 2mo. 35. 6d. Kearsley.

Our author, in filling his bouquet, has given us flowers and weeds, artificial reprefentations, and fometimes the mifreprefentations of hiftorians. If we could diminish it to one quarter of its present bulk, we might fay, that the incidents were well chofen, related with skill, and occafionally illuftrated with judicious remarks. But the grains of corn, are in fo fmall a proportion to the chaff, that they do not repay the trouble of feeking them. Had our author ftyled his collection the fubjects of ancient hiftory, and at the fame time had mentioned what an Augæan ftable he had wandered in, we should have commended his patience, and pitied him for having been en gaged in fuch an uncomfortable labour.

The

The Flowers of Modern Hiftory. By the Rev. John Adamś, A. M. 12mo. 35. 6d. Kearsley.

When flowers are plucked from their native beds, they foon wither, and become offenfive`; while, in their best states, they are often misjudged, and ill-fancied ornaments. Mr. Adams has decked himself with the ftrength of Hume, the fplendor of Robertfon, the copioufnefs of Guthrie, the varied elegance of Burke, the curiofa felicitas of Chesterfield, and the unadorn ed neatness of Goldfmith; and, on the whole, has rendered himself difgufting with ornaments. They are misplaced and improperly connected. We are told, for inftance, that in the time of Henry II. Becket was at the head of affairs: it appears as if Henry found him in that fituation; and it is only obscurely hinted at, that he made him archbishop of Canterbury; nor is the motive mentioned, viz. that with his aid he might more fecurely oppose the pope. The penance of Henty at the shrine of Becket, a fact of confiderable importance, and the fource of much speculation, is not once mentioned; though the dif putes, in confequence of Dr. Sacheverell's fermon, occupy whole pages. When the compiler fpeaks of the crufades, and the military operations in Palestine, he does not diftinguish between the undifciplined multitude under the direction of Peter the Hermit, and the more regular armament that afterwards in vaded that country. In that fection where he treats of Magna Charta, he fays it was refigned' by king John, in 1216. The oppofition against Charles II. rifes and falls within the compafs of a line; and James II. is at once in poffeffion of the kingdom, immediately after the Reftoration.The prince of Orange lands at Broxholme in Torbay ;-James is naturally timid;-the duke of Argyle goes to Scotland, collects troops in Lothian, and returns to Stirling. Thefe are a few only of the little overfights, which are indeed of no great confequence to the well-informed hittorian, but which render this work very improper for thofe into whofe hands it must chiefly fall.

A Review of the Memoirs of the Protectoral House of Cromwell. By the Reverend Mark Noble, F. A. S. of L.&E. By William Richards. 8vo. 25. 6d. - Cadell.

We reviewed Mr. Noble's work in our LVIIIth volume, p. 42. with fome little indignation at feeing abilities and induftry mifapplied. Mr. Richards attacks Mr. Noble on account of many errors and mifreprefentations. Different miftakes are clearly pointed out; and the conduct of fome of the adherents of Cromwell, and of the diffenters of that age, has certainly been greatly mifreprefented. It is time now to rife above ridiculous prejudices there were undoubtedly fome wife and good men, who enlifted under the banners of the commonwealth on the purest and beft principles, while the opposite army was difgraced by its hypocrites and libertines. It is eafy to fee, that the juftice of the caufe is not to be decided by exaggerated praifes, or accumulated fatire on individuals. Mr. Noble was undoubtedly reprehenfible in this refpect, and our

author

author fneers improperly at bishops and the hierarchy, because fome bishops have been intolerant, unrelenting, and fevere. Mr. Richards, on the whole, is, however, much more candid than Mr. Noble, and the ftyle of this letter, addreffed to lord Sandwich, the patron of the Memoirs, is mildly expoftulatory, and occafionally indignant. Mr. Noble had reprefented Wales as a barbarous kingdom, and Mr. Richards engages in the defence of this (perhaps his native) country, with much zeal and fuccefs. Indeed, while England was harraffed with invafions, devaftations, and civil wars, literature fled to the fecluded corners of these islands, and we find her in Wales, in Ireland, in the Hebrides, and even in Iceland.

Tales, Apologues, Allegories, Vifions, Hiftorical Facts, and Anec dotes; in Verfe. By William Walbeck. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Faulder. These feem to be the gleanings of Mr. Walbeck's common place-book; but we do not perceive the brilliancy which adorned his firft sketches; and the humour which once amufed us feems to have loft fome of its zeft. Short pieces are not, probably, well adapted to our author's genius. He wants that fententious brevity which gives force to apophthegms: he has not the expreffive force which gives a poignancy to the epigram. His thoughts are expanded, and, like a diluted acid, lofe their fharpnefs by being diffufed. Yet, in thefe little pieces, we fee no malevolent farcafms: the arrows, though pointed, are not directed to a vital part; and our author's fallies are guided often by good humour, pretty generally by ftrict decorum. Laura, or Letters from fome Perfons in Switzerland. By the Author of Camille. Tranflated from the French. 4 Vols. 12mo. 105. Hookham.

In the origina!, we thought thefe Letters agreeable and entertaining in the tranflation they lofe much of their power to please, from the aukwardnefs rather than the incorrectness of the language. The tranflator cannot, however, deprive the reader of many judicious reflections; nor will his unskilfulness, on the whole, prevent thefe Letters from being read with some fatisfaction and information. The characters and manners, though they may appear to be peculiar, are faithfully drawn, and well fupported: to young ladies, in particular, these volumes afford many falutary leffons.

CORRESPONDENCE.

WE are well pleased to take our leave of the candid author of the Treatife on Gout and Gravel, in good humour. The experiment he recommended, of adding a few drops of muriatic acid to morning urine, we have tried: he fays truly, that the fmell is hepatic; but it is not the fmell of purulent matter in urine, which is much more naufeously fœtid. We suspect, however, that we added too much of the acid. The depofition is not like pus; it is the mucus which occurs in the catarrhus veficæ.

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