people; he persuaded them that the drought and the failure of the crops, was a punishment which God inflicted on them, because they frequented the taverns kept by the Armenians; that to appease the divine wrath, it was necessary completely to destroy all these places, and to march with him to overturn them. Such appeal addressed to an unthinking hasty mob, completely succeeded, and they marched with him in tumult to the quarter occupied by the Armenians, and demolished in his presence, one of their churches, and sacked the houses of several wine sellers. The King was soon informed of this event; he was indignant at it, and ordered the Sheik-ul-Islam instantly to be arrested, and as well as the individuals he had led on to mischief, to be brought before him. But being warned of the King's wrath, they concealed themselves in various parts of the town, and the Sheik-ul-Islam, more particularly threat ened by his Highness, sought refuge in the mosque of Schah-Abdul-Azhim*, an inviolable asylum, situate one league and a half from Teheran, and where criminals and murderers, even, are sheltered from all dangers, and cannot be arrested, so long as they remain there. The guards, however, succeeded in seizing a dozen of these individuals, who were brought before the King. Surrounded by his ministers, "Audacious wretches," said he, with indignation, "who commanded you to act thus? What law authorised you ? - Is theSheik-ul-Islam your Sovereign, or master of this kingdom ? You have violated the laws of my states by these outrages. I condemn you: leave my presence." The legal punishments were instantly applied, and the offenders had to pay to the Armenians, 1000 tomans for damages. The King afterwards sent for the Chiefs of the Armenian nation, and * This village, built on the ruins of the ancient and great city of Ray (the Pasts of the Greeks) only enjoys the right of asylum, because itcontains the remains of an Iman Zadeh, called Schah-Abdul-Azhim, a saint greatly revered by the Mussulmans. The mosques, where the Imans, or their children are interred, as those of Koumm, of Iman Hussein, &c. &c. have the same privilege. addressed to them these consoling words. "It is my will that all the people of my states, whatever may be their religion, enjoy a just liberty, and live happily under the shadow of my royal authority." He promised them, besides, to punish severely the Shelk-ul-Islam, and desired them still to pray to God for his preser. vation. Feth-Aly-Schah ordered his treasurer at the same time to present them with 3000 tomans from his private purse, in order to relieve the Christians who had the most suffered by the excesses committed against them; he ordered besides, that the Armenian church should be repaired at the expence of government, and that the furniture and effects damaged or lost, should be replaced. The Aerial Isles; or the Visions of Malcolm, a Poem. By J. Ingle, Esq. Price 7s. 6d. Stockdale. London. 1816. (occasioned re The beautiful appearance of the heavens after sun-set on a calm summer evening, (occasio by the reflection aud fraction of the rays of light on the dense medium of the atmosphere) is perhaps one of the most sublime pictures in nature; and the variety of glowing colours which tinge the floating vapours, and clouds scattered over that part of the horizon where the sun sets, presents to the eye a landscape surpassing any earthly scene, where the mind lost in silent contemplation may form to itself islands floating in a sea gold; rocks and mountains arrayed with the most brilliant dyes, whose lofty summits seem to scale the vault of heaven; deep glens and caverns through which the eye obtains as it were the prospect of a much brighter region; and in fact every object, lovely or sublime in nature, wrought in the brilliant loom and tinged with the ethereal dyes of heaven. This note shews that the Author has contemplated the beauties of nature with no feeble eye, or feeble imagination; and the effect of the scene seems to us, to have formed the ground work of perhaps, to have given occasion to, Mr. Ingle's poetical labours. — So far Nature warrants the poet: but to form a poem of several books, the imagination of the Bard must far exceed the warrant of Nature, and he must finish the picture of these islands, must people them with sentient beings, and must contrive to interest mankind by | Those radiant eyne of the softest blue ! describing their manners, their enjoyments, and their powers, as sufficiently near to those of humanity, yet sufficiently distinct from them, to interest, to delight, and to startle us, without transgressing by excess, which would offend and repel us. To accomplish this, Mr. Ingle supposes a personage (Malcolm) led away by the powers of fancy, who wanders on the banks of the Dee, where he finds his Ellen, of course; she dies; and ever after the afflicted mourner strays over the scenes of his former delight, in the deepest sorrow, and bewildering grief. While thus straying, his active imagination beholds fays and fairies, mermaids, and spirits of mercy; and lastly, the spirit of Ellen, herself. Each of these furnishes a song; and we should willingly insert that of Ellen, had it been, as it ought to have been, the best of them. This machinery certainly was intended to give variety; which in a sense it does; yet, the fault of the poem is the repetition of descriptions; which in part arises from this very machinery, and unduly prolongs the whole. We give as a specimen the SeaNymph's Song, with its introductory description; because it is one of the shortest of these imaginary odes. That snowy bosom the still waves among, And hark! as she lingers near yon craggy Her wild ditty rings o'er the slumbering deep; arch sae blue Sips from [the] still ocean the evening dew THE SEA-NYMPH'S SONG. on the mountains of Dee the moon-beams glint, And the waters are glowing with many a tint ing deep, The sun 'neath our realm had sunk down to waves: Dee, For 'tis merriment all, in the moon's pale And we'll boune o'er the billow to lands far Oh! gay are the scenes that are glittering And we will ere long the revelry share; We cannot say that the introduction of a few "obsolete Scottish words," answers the writer's intention of giving "the Poem a greater similitude to ancient Ballad;" they display a species of affectation, against which we think it our duty to caution Mr. Ingle, in his future performances ; and with him, whoever might otherwise yield to the same temptation. [944 found prevalent; especially in France, Emigration; or, England and Paris. and above all in Paris. Now let us hear A Poem. 8vo. pp. 52. Baldwin and Co. EMIGRATION, in the sense of intended settlement, in either France or Italy, is not, we are persuaded, the purpose of any considerable proportion of the British travellers on the continent at, the present moment. A few, certainly, did entertain some thoughts of it, till experience rendered them wiser. The notion of greater cheapness of living in France than in England, was at one time prevalent; but, it was quickly found that though some articles were much cheaper, yet, that others were much dearer; and these dearer articles were those most necessary to an Englishman's comfort. Whoever, therefore, would live comfortably, must abandon all thoughts of effecting his purpose cheaply in France. As to Italy, it is well known, that the country is infested with robbers, even on the principal roads, and on all others is absolutely dangerous for travellers. There is a general relaxation of the Police in that country, which unless it be amended, will prove extremely detrimental. We do not mean by these remarks, to impugn the writer's patriotism; or his motives in publishing the present poem; but we must be allowed to doubt the correctness of his calculations, as exemplified in the following extract from his preface. We do not believe that the British absentees ever amounted to sixty thousand; -or that each of these on the average, spends abroad £200 per ann-or, that the nation loses the expenditure of twelve millions a year; -or that the inhabitants left at home, are so few, as to be unable to pay taxes and poor's rates. We believe, that of that mass of our countrymen who were moved by the spirit of curiosity to visit the continent, the far greater part made but a short stay, and returned, extremely disgusted with their reception, their accommodation, the manners, the principles, or rather the no-principle they our author. With regard to the political effects of the system at the present serious juncture no language can possibly be too strong. that charitable institutions are actually enAt a moment when labour is so scarce, gaged in discovering new modes of employing thousands of persons who are both able and willing to work, but who cannot procure occupation, it is no trifling offence to subtract from the demand for national industry, by residing in countries where none but foreign provisions and foreign surely not just or patriotic to pamper fomanufactures are of course required. It is reign artisans and labourers at the expense of our own. The periodical prints inform us that there are not less than 60,000 absentees, and reckoning that each of these, taking the average, derives from home an nation will be more than thirty thousand income of £200 per annum, the loss to the pounds sterling per day, or twelve millions a year! How this unexampled drainage is to be endured, and how the few who poor's rates, both for themselves and their are left are to be enabled to pay taxes and absent friends, is a question too serious for discussion in the limits of a preface, even were the writer competent to its solution. fashions, is well known: our countryThat we are no promoters of French men, and we add, our countrywomen, would do well to stand at the greatest possible distance from them: but, when did they so? We wish our author had dated the time when British maidens shunned French frivolities. We do not recollect it. The passage in which this is asserted, is a specimen of the Poem. Time once was happy stars That intervening waves had fix'd her lot Iu holier climes. Then purity was taste, Usurp'd by virtue; then chaste virgin garb A That Gallie arts should smoothe the slippery war, For Gallic morals, Paris, nurse of woes, Twice conquer'd and twice spared, suppress the blush Of conscious infamy, nor dread the arms That worked so late thy downfall? Smiles may win Where valour fail'd, and Gallia be revenged. The notes annexed to this poem, fully justify the author's severity;-no unpolluted mind can read Scott's Visit to Paris without being deeply shocked and disgusted. The Conflagration of Moscow: a Poem, By the Rev. C. Colton, A. M. London, Taylor and Hessey, 1817. This Poem, in its first edition, was not unfavourably received, but it was considered too short. It is now three times as long. Perhaps I have added many faults, to remove one. Be that as it may, the Poem is now long enough-if good for any thing, too long if good for nothing. It was written at such intervals as could be spared from the prosecution of a larger work; k; but although this may be some excuse for bad lines, I admit it is none for printing them. If fine themes always made fine poets, this little effort would be much more deserving of the public attention; but the converse is unfortunately the case. The subject, indeed, deserves a pen that has more leisure, and more ability than mine. The conflagration of Moscow is the most The Contemplative Philosopher : or short Essays on the various objects of Nature, noticed throughout the year. with poetical Illustrations and moral Reflections on each subject. By Richard Lobb, 2 vols. 12mo. pp. 784, price 16s. Sherwood and Co. London, 1817. An improved edition of a valuable work which had been out of print for several years. The present editor has not deemed himself justified in making any alteration in the plan of the work, or in suppressing any of the reflections which it originally contained, but has merely accomodated it to the present improved state of science. In this work, the various phenomena of nature are successively the subject of instruction, as introduced by the seasons of the year and the different portions of the globe. Information and entertaining improvement are hereby deduced from astronomy, mechanics, botany, physiology, meteorology, entomology, metaphysics, and other important branches of knowledge; and as the young student advances in the path of science, he is interested, engaged, incited by the flowers of poetry, which the author adduces to illustrate or embellish his subject. By selecting for description, explanation, or contemplation, those subjects and circumstances which are calculated to arrest most powerfully the enquiring mind, the author adopts the surest means of exciting and gratifying a wish for useful knowledge: at the same time, by chusing those which permit adequate elucidation, without the necessity of ask interesting event of these latter times-ing the aid of recondite learning, or ab947] The Home of Love.-P. Virgilii Maronis Bucolica Georgica Enis [948 whether we consider the immensity of the force that was put in array against her, the magnanimity of the sacrifice, or the incalculable importance of the results. Our modern manufacturer of Kings would certainly have issued a fresh batch from his imperial oven of the Kremlin, if it had not been overheated by some of the workmen. These Remarks from the pen of the author, in his preface, may answer the purpose of a Review of his poem. The subject is too superior to suffer contractron into poetic pamphlet compass; while our ignorance of many particulars and incidents forbids that enlargement which might confer a portion of epic dignity on more extensive effusions. VOL. V. No. 30, Lit. Pan. N. S. March 1. struse discussion, he encourages the student, by demonstrating at once the beauty of useful philosphy, and the facility of its acquirement. He says, I have, in particular, endeavoured to allure my young readers to these improving inquiries, by strewing, as it were, each winding path with flowers; shewing, at the same time, how much some of the finest passages in poetry are indebted for their beauty, to the gay and lively, or to the sublime, or even terrific images, which are every where so profusely scattered. But I have deemed this a consideration of infinitely less moment, than that of inculcating the principles of piety aud virtue, by occasionally introducing such religious and 2 L moral reflections, as each subject had a | aimed too highly, and by this modera tendency to inspire; and pointing out, as the glorious theme of all, the irresistable indications of the Supreme Being, the Great Creator and Governor of universal Nature. It is a debt justly due to a worthy and an ingenious man, to state that the Contemplative Philosopher was originally written by Mr. Richard Lobb, who, although he contributed largely to general instruction and entertainment in several works, was induced, by his great modesty, to conceal his name, and thereby to shun the justly merited commendation which was due to well-intentioned, and well-directed employment of his natural talents. In her Address, the poetess modestly says, tion she has fulfilled all that the reader expects from the Poem. This is no mean praise. Two or three smaller Pieces follow the "Home of Love," from which we extract SIGHS. There is a sigh-that half suppress'd, The first faint dawn of tender care. Tis heard where conscious lovers meet, There is a sigh-short, deep, and strong, That on the lip of rapture dies; Of bliss that ne'er must wake again. That the present is an age of liberality and kindness, few will be inclined to dis- It says the flowers that Love had wreath'd, pute; but if farther proof had been wanting, the reception I have thrice met with from an indulgent public has been such as to remove every doubt. There is nothing calculated to dazzle the judgment or impose upon the understanding in the name or station of a Village Curate's Wife, nor was the lustre of splendid patronage then lent to gild that lowly station. It may be easily supposed that the present bagatelle is merely a compliment to the late Royal Nuptials. Cupid, in his Paphian Bower, finds his power disregarded and his empire overthrown. There, hid beneath the myrtle shade, Britannia, however, comes to solicit his godship's aid, in behalf of a "beautiful Princess" and a " brave Prince," and asks him to come and fix his "Home" in England: the reader may easily divine the success of this request. Criticism would be ill employed in sternly analysing a jeu d'esprit like this; the fair writer's intention was not Are wither'd ne'er again to blow. There is a sigh-that slowly swells, That last worst pang, fond Love's despair. P. Virgilii Maronis Bucolica, Georgica, 24to Or this work we shall only say that the typographical department is executed with most laudable neatness; as for its accuracy, we need only name the Printer. the Preface, " that it is easy to say "Heyne has observed," says much about Virgil, but difficult to say a little, well. If the difficulty were felt by this great man in the range of four or five octavo volumes, how much more sensibly must it press his humble follower, within these narrow bounds? Among the various excellencies of our poet, it has been remarked that clear |