imaginable; but when the band began to play, they began to leap about, their very eyes dancing in their heads with the vivacity of their sympathy. So enchanted were they with this sight, that had the governour made his appearance, I am persuaded they would have regarded him only as a secondary character.

Having again made some stay in this colony, in which various improvements are noticed, Mr. Turnbull and the captain took their passage to England, where they arrived in safety after an absence of more than four years. The hopes which were once entertained of Otaheite are by this voyage considerably sunk. By disease and wars, by want of care, and by practices altogether hostile to population, the inhabitants have dwindled away to an extent scarcely credible. The other Society isles, also, as well as the Friendly islands, do not promise much. Botany Bay convicts have found their way to many of them; and perhaps future times may unfortunately see these delicious islands, instead of being stations for trade and resting places for refreshment, become nests of pirates, and the dens of banditti, who shall there revenge the injuries which they imagine they received in Bow street and at the Old Bailey.

On the whole, we have perused these three volumes with much pleasure, and do not hesitate to recommend them to our readers. They are written with neatness and interest, though not always with correctness, and promise to maintain their station among voyages which lie in the parlour, of which every one takes a spell when he can.

We have, however, one sin of omission to charge on Mr. Turnbull. He is a seaman by profession, and he visited many islands in the south sea, some of which were not previously known, or at least, before his voyage, were not inserted in the charts. He had thus great opportunities of making geographical remarks; and he must have been aware that information of this kind would be expected from him. Yet he has given no latitudes, no longitudes, nor any charts!

FROM THE BRITISH CRITICK.

The Theory of Dreams, in which an Inquiry is made into the Powers and Faculties of the human Mind, as they are illustrated in the most remarkable Dreams recorded in sacred and profane History. 12mo. 2 vols. 8s. London 1808.

THESE are two very curious, interesting, and learned little volumes. They demonstrate much diligence of research, much acuteness of remark, and no inconsiderable learning. Indeed they are evidently the production of a man of grave deliberation, and very extensive reading.

The general theory inculcated is this; that no dreams, excepting those involved in the history of Revelation, have any necessary connexion with or can afford any assistance towards discovering the scenes of futurity.

Every more remarkable dream recorded in sacred and profane history, in ancient as well as in more modern times, is introduced with sensible and pertinent remarks. Distinctions are very sagaciously made between them all, and many, at first sight mysterious and perplexing, are satisfactorily accounted for from particular habits of life; from feelings of superstition ; from peculiarity of constitution; or from local circumstances. The references throughout are very circumstantial and very accurate. The pious mind can no where be offended; the wayward and petulant no where provoked to ridicule; and above all the licentious no where be encouraged. The impression left upon every ingenuous mind from the perusal of these volumes, must necessarily be that they were composed and compiled entirely from a love of truth; from a desire to encourage a due investigation of recorded incidents; and to distinguish, as far as possible, between the delusions of fanaticism and the momentous warnings of the God of Truth.

SPIRIT OF THE MAGAZINES.

SKETCHES OF THE PUBLICK SERVICES OF THE LATE SIR JOHN MOORE [WITH A PORTRAIT.]

EVERY profession has participated in the honour of contributing to the defensive strength of the British empire, during those interesting events which late years have presented. Nelson was the son of a clergyman; Moore was the son of a physician; and the grandson of a clergyman of the kirk of Scotland. He was born at Glasgow. His father, Dr. John Moore, was educated at the university of Glasgow; but being called to exercise the duties of his profession in the military hospitals, and preserving at all times a considerable connexion among military men, the attention of his sons was very naturally directed toward the publick service of their country.

Dr. Moore was of extremely facetious manners, which, together with his skill, recommended him as a fit person to take charge of the two young noblemen, heirs of the house of Hamilton, who were constitutionally inclined to pulmonary consumption.

In company with Douglas Hamilton, the surviver of the two brothers, Dr. Moore made the tour of Europe, which occupied four or five years. The result of his observations was communicated to the publick, in his "View of Society and Manners in France, &c." 1799. In Italy, 1781. His eldest son, John, accompanied his father in this tour; and as the tacticks of the Prussian army under old Frederick were then supposed to be the ne plus ultra of military skill, they engaged the particular attention of our tra vellers, especially of young Moore, who could not but acquire ideas from them, to be afterwards employed in promoting his personal reputation. He entered the army early in life; and being favoured by the patronage of the Hamilton family (and of the duke of Argyle) his rise was rapid. He was successively lieutenant-colonel and colonel of the 52d regiment. Lieutenant colonel Moore was employed in the Mediterranean, and was at the evacua tion of Toulon in December 1793. In the capture of Corsica, which succeeded, early in the following year, he was one of two officers selected by lord Hood, to examine the state of that island, before an attempt was made on it. The other officer was major Koehler, of the artillery, who died while on a mission, in the service of Turkey. The famous defence of a small circular tower at Martello, occurred on this attack; and trifling as that tower was, as a fortification, from its construction and situation, it required a regular battery to reduce it. Lieutenant-colonel Moore was at this time extremely active, in attacking Fornelli, a small town, which from local advantages, was a place of some strength. The cannon, &c. destined to this attack were dragged for the space of several miles, over rugged mountains, with exemplary perseverence; and after a labour of four days continuance, were formed into a battery, on an eminence no less than 700 feet above the level of the sea. The defences of the town were commanded from hence; but the works were assaulted by lieutenant-colonel Moore, and carried after considerable resistance.

The skill and enterprise that distinguished lieutenant-colonel Moore on this occasion pointed him out for further services. He was the officer to whom was committed the attack on the Mozello, a strong star fort, which was carried by storm, at daybreak, after waiting in concealment among the bushes, as near to the fort as prudence permitted. The nature of the ground, and the resistance made by the enemy, occasioned a good deal of scrambling in this service: and here the lieutenant-colonel was wounded in the head, by the explosion of a shell. Nevertheless, he entered the place with the grenadiers; and the applause of the army, with the congratulations of his general, Stuart, induced him quickly to forget his wound. General Stuart also recommended the lieutenant-colonel now appointed adjutant general, to succeed him in the military government of the island: but his abilities were to find opportunities for distinction elsewhere.

In 1795, general sir Ralph Abercrombie was ordered with forces to the West Indies, and among his officers was general Moore, now brigadier general. He distinguished himself eminently at the reduction of St. Lucie. His promptitude in the attack on Morne [i. e. Mountain] Chabot, one of the strongest posts on the island, was conspicuous: for, having been detached with about 600 men, to advance by a circuitous path, he was misled by his guide; fell in with an advanced picquet of the enemy, and his design was discovered. Another detachment, under general Hope, was advancing by a nearer way; but general Moore, now depending on his own strength, by a decisive movement carried the post. He afterwards defeated a desperate sally of the enemy at the Vigie, and the island surrendered May 25th, 1796.

In 1798, brigadier general Moore was appointed major-general. He was at this period a representative in parliament for a district of North Britain.

The same officers were ordered on the expedition to Holland, in 1799. Sir Ralph Abercrombie appointed two brigades under major generals Moore and Burrard, to attack the Helder; but the enemy retired. In this country major general Moore received a slight wound. The English were successful; but their Russian coadjutors failed, and their failure ruined the enterprise.

Sir Ralph Abercrombie was afterwards sent to the southern part of Europe. He summoned Cadiz; but the Spanish governour refused to hearken to him. Egypt, being at that time in possession of the French, the British army bent its course thither, intent on dislodging them. While the fleet lay in Marmorice bay, major general Moore was sent to Jaffa, to learn by occular inspection the state of the Turkish army, under command of his highness the Grand Vizier.- -Such an army!

The British general, left to his own resources, arrived in Aboukir bay, March 7, 1801, and major general Moore, who commanded the reserve, in defiance of a hail storm of shot and shells, landed, formed his companies, and would have rushed up the sand hills; but, in truth, all that could be done was to clamber up them; and many of the same individuals who had effected it, when making this exertion, some days afterwards, in cold blood, found themselves unable to accomplish it. This movement, however, startled the French and seeing British soldiers rising over the ridges, in all directions, they abandoned their cannon, &c. and retreated.

At the battle of Aboukir, major general Moore was wounded, while leading on the reserve: yet he was not long laid aside; but assisted at the siege of Cairo, and escorted the French troops to their embarkation. At the siege of Alexandria, an attack was committed to his charge.

On returning to England, the major general was retained in active service; and had the command of the Kentish district.

Having been employed in several negotiations and services of observation, requiring a keen eye, a firm heart, and mature judgment, in union with promptitude and decision, sir John was selected for the purpose of assisting with troops, the king of Sweden, early in 1808. That monarch, it is shrewdly suspected, attempted to overbear the British officer, and to induce him to exceed his orders. This sir John peremptorily declined; and by his firmness incurred the displeasure of his Swedish majesty. Whenever the particulars of this affair shall be disclosed, we doubt not but that the principle on which sir John acted will do him honour. After a delay of two months, his departure from Sweden was sudden, and even rapid. In this he was assisted by the British ambassadour. He anticipated unpleasant circumstances, and escaped them by diligence.

In the meanwhile, the atrocities committed by Buonaparte in seizing the crown of Spain, had become too flagrant to be born; and resistance sprung up, in that country, almost in all parts of it at the same instant. Like a thunder storm which suddenly bursts over an extensive champaign, was the burst of Spanish patriotism: and the British ministry having determined on complying with the request of the Spaniards by sending them assistance, sir John Moore was one of the first officers selected for that purpose.

Very short was the interval between his arrival from Sweden, and his sailing for Spain. A few days spent in refitting the vessels, and in recruiting the stores and equipments of the army, sufficed to prepare this gallant band of heroes for their intended service. Sir John arrived after the battle of Vimiera: and when the officers whose testimonies were necessary to elucidate the convention consequent on that affair, were departed for England, sir John remained commander in chief of the British forces on the west of the peninsula. Conscious of the hazard of the undertaking, yet un willing to leave any thing unattempted, that had the smallest chance of cess, this gallant general determined on marching into the interiour, to assist the Spaniards. The scarcity of supplies was so great, that his army was obliged to march in small bodies; and when it had penetrated into the mountains that border Spain, it found itself reduced to little more than the supports it had brought.

suc

The country afforded no magazines, nor the means of establishing any. The governing authority in Spain had never possessed the power of effec tively remedying this deficiency: and the time necessary in which Spaniards might be supposed to attempt it, could not be obtained. The object of sir John's first anxiety, was, to assemble the divided corps of his army. To have left a detachment exposed to the enemy, would have appeared in his eyes no less dishonourable than treason. This junction he happily accom.

plished and though he knew that he must retire, ultimately, from scarcity of supplies, yet he determined to bring the French to action before that became notorious. His intention was to attack marshal Soult, who was posted in his neighbourhood, with about 30,000 men; but the French gene ral not daring to trust the event of a battle man to man with the British, clamoured so loudly for assistance, that Buonaparte, then at Madrid, complied with his demands, and forwarded all his troops that could be spared from every quarter. Intelligence of this determination did not reach general Moore so soon as it ought to have done. He was, therefore, under the necessity of ordering a sudden retreat, for which he was not prepared: nor did the rapidity with which he moved, allow him time to prepare.

The

country did not possess the means of supporting his army and had it possessed the means, they could not have been combined, owing to the shortness of the notice.

We fear he was not well seconded by those who would have reaped the benefit of his success; and that the scale of preparations and exertion required by an internal warfare, is not yet understood among them.

What happened, during this retreat, and at the close of it, has been extremely well described by those who were concerned in it, and to the publick documents on that subject, we must now refer our readers.

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Particulars of Sir John Moore's Death-by Colonel Anderson.

I met the general on the evening of the 16th instant, as some soldiers were bringing him into Corunna, supported in a blanket with sashes. He knew me immediately, though it was almost dark; squeezed me by the hand, and said: "Do not leave me!" He spoke to the surgeons on their examining his wound, but was in such pain he could say but little.

After some time he seemed very anxious to speak to me; and, at intervals, expressed himself as follows. The first question he asked was: "Are the French beaten ?"—which inquiry he repeated to all those he knew, as ( they entered the room. On being assured, by all, that the French were beaten, he exclaimed: "I hope the people of England will be satisfied. I hope my country will do me justice. You will see my friends as soon as you possibly can tell them every thing-say to my mother-[here his voice failed him] HOPE-HOPE-I have much to say, but cannot get it out. Is colonel Graham, and are all my aids de camp, well?-I have made my will, and have remembered my servants.-Colborne has my will, and all my papers."

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Major Colborne, his principal aid de camp, then came into the roomHe spoke most kindly to him, and then said to me: "Remember, you go and tell him it is my request, and that I expect he will befriend major Colborne-he has been long with me, and I know him most worthy of it." He then again asked major Colborne, if the French were beaten. And on being told they were repulsed on every point, he said: "It was a great satisfaction, in his last moments, to know he had beaten the French.” "Is general Paget in the room?" On my telling him he was not, he said: "Remember me to him."

"I feel myself so strong, I fear I shall be long dying-I am in great pain."

He then thanked the doctors for their attention. Captains Percy and Stanhope came into the room; he spoke kindly to both, and asked Percy, if all his aids de camp were well. He pressed my hand close to his body, and in a few minutes died without a struggle.

He said to me, while the surgeons were examining his wound : KNOW I HAVE ALWAYS WISHED TO DIE THIS WAY!"

"You

As far as I can recollect, this is every thing he said, except asking to be placed in an easier posture.