tunity of constructing. One of the apart ments of the dépôt contains models of fhips of war and other veffels, the leries of which fhews the progrefs of naval architecture for two centuries paft; and the models of the different machines employ. ed in the parts for the various operations relative to building, equipping, repairing, and keeping in order fhips and veffers of war. The Depot de la Marine publishes Lew fea charts, where new observations or dif coveries have rendered the old ones infuf ficient; and the engineers belonging to the establishment are occafionally detached to verify parts of the coafts of the French territory in Europe, or any other part of the world. In the French navy, commanders of hips and veffels are iupplied with ufeiul charts and atlaffes of every defcription, at the expence of the nation. Thefe are delivered into their care previcufly to the hip leaving port. When a captain is fuperfided in his command, he transfers them to his fucceffor; and when the fhip is put out of commiffion, they are returned to the proper cffice. lain buried in obfcurity. Intelligent officers were placed in the dépôt, and no lefs than thirty-eight perfons were employed in drawing plans of campaigns, fitges, &c. Ma hematicians and aftronomers were attached to the inftitution, and difpatched to different places, and the dépôt now contains one of the first collections in Europe of geographical works It forms various fections of geographers, who are at prefent employed in conftructing accurate maps of the four united departments, Piedmont, Savoy, Helvetia, and the part of Italy comprised between the Adige and the Adda. One fection, in conjunction with the Bavarian engineers, is conftructing a topographical map of Bavaria; another is carrying into execu tion the military furveys, &c. ordered by General Moreau, for the conftruction of a map of Suabia. It has juft published an excellent map of the Tyrol, and refumed the continuation of the fuperb map of Verfailles. Since the year 1795, it has formed a library compofed of upwards of 8000 volumes, or manufcripts, the most rare, as well as the most esteemed, respect-` ing every branch of the military art. The Dépôt de la Guerre is an establish ment of no inferior importance: it was founded by Louvois, in 1688. At the The accomplished General Andreoffy, beginning of its inftitution, the dépôt at this time, is at the head of the establishwas no more than archives, where were ment, and is on the point of publishing a collected and preferved with order, the periodical work, to be entitled Mémorial memorandums of the generals, their cor- du Dépôt de la Guerre, the object of which refpondence, the accounts yer imperfect, is to unite the expofition of the knowledge and the traces of anterior military ope- neceffary for the direction of the dépôt, for rations. The affitance and advantages, grographical engineers, ftaff-officers, mihowever, derived from this collection alone, litary men in general, and for hiftorians. fuggefted the idea of affembling it under We imitate the French in their fooleries a form and claffification nicre methodical. and frivolities, it would better become us Greater attention and exactress were ex-furely to rival them in establishments of erted in enriching the déjót with every fuch high national importance as thefe thing that might complete the theoretical are. works and practical elucidation of all the branches of the military art. Mahal de Maillebois, who was appointed director of this establishment in 1730, was one of the firit authors of the prefent exifting order. But the most important improvement was made by M. de Choiftui, who established a corps of geographical engineers, and charged this défot with the direction of their labours. De Vault fimplified thefe documents by retrenching what appeared fuperfluous, and claffing the remainder chronologically under the head of a different army or operation. During the late war, this eltablishment was enriched by the nunficence of individuals, who gave to government the fearçeft maps of their cabinets. The fuppreffion of monafte,iew and abbeys calltu to light thofe geographical treafures which had long Mr. REDHEAD YORKE's "Letters from France" are fufficiently amufing; the fame may be faid of Mr. EYRE'S " Obfervations made at Paris during the Peace," "Travels through France and Italy, and Part of Aufirian France, and the Dutch Netherlands, during the Years 1741 and 1746; by the late Rev. ALBERT BUTLER, Author of the Lives of the Saints.' The ftate of thefe countries fifty years ago diffeis fo materially from that which they exhibit now, that it is interesting enough, after the perufal of our modern tours, to compare them with the narrative which is unaffectedly given in this potthumous work. LAW. Under this head we have but little to notice, except the continuation of the va rious periodical Reports of Meffrs. EAST, BULLER, BOSANQUET, ESPINASSE, &c. Mr. COLLIER'S Ejays on the Law of Patents for New Inventions" is an useful book; the fame may be faid of Mr. HORNE'S "Compendium of the Statute Laws and Regulations of the Court of Admiralty;" of Mr. HAND'S "Solicitor's Practice on the Crown Side of the Court of King's Bench. Mr. PEAKE has published a second edition, with confiderable additions, of his "Compendium of the Law Evidence." દર TACTICS. Military Memoirs, relating to Campaigns, Battles, and Stratagems of War, Ancient and Modern, &c." This work cannot be too trongly recommended to military men, as the object of it is to fhew how battles have been loft and won; what qualifications are neceflary to the general, what knowledge, and how it is to be applied. The work is divided into three parts: the firft comprehends an account of war before the invention of gunpwder, beginning with the times of Homer, and ending with the laft battles which the English and Scotch fought during the reign of Eow rd II. and in the beginning of the reign of his fon. The fecond part Contains wars after the invention of gun powder, beginning with the battle of Crecy, and ending with the battle of Fon. tenoy. The third part delcribes war fince the introduction of the Pruffim tactics, and brings it down to the battle of Alexandria in 1801. The author of this very interesting and inftructive volume is Dr. W. THOMSON, the well known author of various hiftorical memoirs. A Treatise on the Duties of Light Troops: tranflated from the German of Colonel VON EHWALD, of the Danish Slefwick Yager Corps, &c." This ublication will be read with advantage by young officers of light infantry. Colonel HERRIES'S " Inftructions for the Use of Yeomanry and Volunteer Corps of Cavalry," are well drawn us. "The Nineteen Manoeuvres explained, &c." This little volume affords a ftock of v.ry uf fu! information. Major CUNNINGHAM has reduced "the Tadics of the British Army to de. tail." Gereral MONEY recommends the ufe of Ba toons in a fhort "Treatife" on the fubject. We must refer our readers to the monthly catalogue for a füller lift of mi litary pamphlets, and proceed to another divifion of our compendium, the FINE ARTS. "Obfervations on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening, including fome Remarks on Grecian and Gothic Architecture, collected from various Manufcripts, &c." be The price of this fhowy book is five guineas!! As guineas are now confidently afferted to an "" incumbrance on commerce," Mr. REPTON may probably take a few of these refuse counters in trade. The plates to this drawing-room quarto are numerous, many of them are drawn with tafte, and the fuggefted alterations are frequently judici ous. we Mr. Repton is a Brunonian: did flatter ourselves that Uvedale Price had broken up this flat, infipid, monotonous fchool; time and better tafte prevailing will do it. Among the plates we ought to mention that the intereft ng portrait of the Professor him:elf is not omitted! Mr. Repton, indeed, is too much of an egotist: he would be a lefs disagree able writer if he were lefs vain: that pert pronoun I is always obtruding itself in a very offentive and provoking manner. It is with pleasure we turn from these selffufficient pages to a work which is entirely without a rival-“ Oriental Scenery ; or, Views in Hindocftan. By THOMAS DANIELL, R. A. Howland-street. Three Parts; 24 Views in each." Antiquities of India. Tavelve Views." "Hindoo Excavations in the Mountains of El. lora, near Aurangabad, in the Docan. Twenty four Views; from the Drawings of Mr. Wales." The execution of thefe drawings is indeed matterly; there is every reason to confide in the fidelity of the reprefentations; and the effect produced by this rich and splendid display of oriental fcenery is truly hiking. Every thing indeed is drawn with the most astonishing accuracy: in looking at it one may almolt feel the warmth of an Indian sky; the water feems to be in actual moon, and the animals, trees, and plan s "6 are ftudies for the naturali." The views in the four first parts were taken by Mr. Danell, with finguar perfeverance and indultry, during a long refidence in India. They contain the feentry of the country, British and Mah mme lan buildings, In dian pagodas, and the excavations of Elephanta and Saliette; the views of the excavations of Ellora, which form the fifth part, were executed from the drawings of Mr. Wales, who was prevented by death from from finishing them himself. The whole are engraved in aquatinta, and coloured to the effect of drawings. "An Effay on Rural Archite&ure, illuftrated with Original and Economical Defigns; being an Attempt alfo to refute by Analogy the Principles of Mr. Malton's Efay on British Cottage Architecture, fupported by feveral D jigns. To which are added, Rural Retreats and Villas in the Gothic Caftle, Roman and Grecian Styles of Architecture, &c. &c. defigned by RICHARD ELSAM." There is a great deal of what may be called ftage-trick in this volume: when we fee plans for building a small house in the ftyle of a chateau, and a villa in that of an abbey, a cattle, &c. we are ftruck with the bad taste of an architect, who could affociate two fuch incongruous ideas. The plates are pretty well drawn and neatly engraved. "A Picturesque Representation of the Manners and Amufements of the Ruffians, in one hundred coloured Plates; with an accurate Explanation of each Plate, in English and French. In three Volumes. By JOHN ATKINSON and JAMES WAL the late Mr. Kirk." This very beautiful work, containing fixty-two plates, is felected from the two pu' lications of the late Sir William Hailt n the one in four volumes folic, and the other in three, edited by Tifchbein. The prefent is a felection; fome of the original defigns being exceptionable on the fc re of indelicacy. All of them are diftinguished by the beauty of the compofor, and the elegance and truth of the individual forms. "The various beantiful borders (ays the editor) which furround thefe defigns, were not fo placed in the original vales, but ferved there merely to ornairent the handles and other parts; nor were the border and figures which were upon the fame plate in this work, always upon the fame vafe :" of thefe differ en borders, the editor justly obferves, that nothing can exceed them in fimplicity, in variety, in elegance, in richness, or in beauty, and that all modern ornaments fink in the comparison. The introduction contains fome judicious remarks from the differtation by M. D'Hancarville, inferted in Sir William Hamilton's volumes; and a fhort but fatisfactory explanation of the fubject reprefented, accompanies each plate. "Six Picturesque Views in North Wales, engraved in Aquatinta by Alken, from Drawings made on the Spot; with poetical Reflections on leaving the Coun try. By the Rev. BRYANT BROUGHTON, M. A.” This elegant volume is alike creditable to the author, as a draftsman and a poet. The fketches of Mr. Brough ton's pencil are bold and ftriking, and the engravings are executed with great spirit and delicacy. POETRY. We have been much delighted in the peruial of two volumes of" Poems by GEORGE RICHARDS, M. A. late Fellow of Oriel College." The firit of the fe contains two dramatic pieces on the model of the Greek theatre the second confifts of odes and miscellanetereft by an attention to the fevere model cus poems. The modern attempts to inof the Greek drama have been very unfortunate; Mr. Richards, however, has caught the fpirit as well as the manner of his great exemplars, and has succeeded in producing two tragedies, Emma, and and Odin, which will be read with peculiar pleasure by thole who are acquainted with the fublime horror of So. phocles, and the grandeur and dignity of (Elchylus. The choral odes abound with paffages of very high poetic merit, and the poems are of furpaffing exWe cannot refift the temptation cellence. to indulge our readers with the following patriotic effufion. mifcellaneous Ode, written in July, 1803. 'Tis for Albion's happy plain : While tributes from the Atlantic main, Etefan breezes blow, and fan the fruitful plain. 'Tis for Albion's rock-built feat, Whofe hills the darksome forefts crown; Whose flocks in fleecy myriads bleat O'er many a far extenfive down. Ripen'd by autumnal skies, Rich her golden harvests rife ; While her loaded orchards gleam, Ruddy, to the mellowing beam; Bursting from a thousand hills, Flow the plenty-giving rills: Bright to the fun her rivers fhine, The haunted Dee, Northumbrian Tyne, Fam'd Severn's wide-expanded waves, And Thames, whofe entering ftream renown'd Augufta laves. 'Tis for Albion's wealthy fhores, Whose fleets on every ocean ride, To whom each region's richest ftores Are borne on every fwelling tide. There man, difdaining ftill to bow, Freedom pictur'd on his brow, And valour, native of his mind, Moves the lord of human kind. While with luftre half-divine Her love-infpiring daughters shine Beauteous as the fabled train Of Venus on the Idalian plain, Or those sweetly fmiling powers, The Houris, who repofe in Eden's fancied bowers. 'Tis for Albion, glorious power, Where oft, within the filent dell, Hath commerc'd with the ftarry sky; Where Marlborough rofe, the pride of war, And stay'd in mid career ambition's thundering car. "A Vindication of the Genuineness of the Ancient British Poems of Aneurin, Taliefin, Llywach Hen, and Merdhin, with Specimens of the Poems. By SHARON TURNER, F. A. S." This very curious work is from the hiftorian of the Anglo-Saxons, who has engaged in the study of Welth literature, and by a fevere inveftigation has endeavoured to establish the genuineness and antiquity of many of the great bards of Wales. If thefe poems be genuine, Mr. Turner justly obferves, that they must furnish very interesting matter for the contemplation of the antiquary and the philofopher, even though their rude and martial ftrains fhould want thofe elegancies which delight the refined taste. Their general subject, he continues, is above all MONTHLY MAG, No. 117. others interesting: it is the ftruggle of the Ancient Britons against the invading Saxons. They defcribe the battles of which all other memory has perifhed They celebrate many patriotic warriors, whom time has almost defrauded of their fame. They exhibit curious and striking manners, They throw much light on the history of their æra, and they contain many paffages which poets need not dif dain to applaud. It is much to be hoped that the powerful and connected body of evidence which Mr. Turner has brought to prove the genuinefs of thefe interesting relics, will excite the attention of other antiquaries and hiftorians.* "Ancient English Romances, felected and published by JOSEPH RITSON." No man was better qualified than Mr. Ritfon to be the editor of fuch a work as the prefent: "every article is derived, (we are adopting his own heterography, vile as it is) from fome ancient manufcript or old printed copy, of the authenticity of which the reader has all poffible fatisfaction; and is printed with an accuracy and adherence to the original, of which the public has had very few examples. The utmost care has been obfrved in the Gloffary, and every neceffary or useful information is given in the Notes." These volumes are prefaced with a long differta tion on Romance and Minstrelly, of which the first fection treats upon the origin of romance; the fecond is concerning the Saxon and English language; the third treats of English romances; and the fourth on minstrels and minitrelly. We are glad to fee publifhed a complete edition of "The Poetical Works of CHARLES CHURCHILL, with explanatory Notes, and an authentic Account of bis Life." The notes are exceedingly curious and interefting; they contain a number of anecdotes, illuftrative of allufions in Churchill's works. "Fables, confifting of felect Parts from Dante, Berni, Chaucer, and Ariofto. Imitated in English Heroic Verse, by RICHARD WHARTON, Efq. M. P." This felection from the principalItalian poets, is made with great taste, and the tranflation is executed with spirit, elegance, and harmony. "Poems from the Fortuguese of Luis de Camoens, with Remarks on his Writings, Notes, &c. by LORD VISCOUNT STRANGFORD." Camoens has been fingularly fortunate: he owes much of his eftimation in this Country to Mr. Mickle's faithlefs but de. lightful verfion of the Lufiad, and his character as a poet will now stand higher in the opinion of thefe who can only eftimate his merits by the more faithlefs and more exquifite verfions of Lord Strangford. The fe poems are, indeed, enchanting: nothing can exceed the delicacy and fweetness, both of language and of fenti. ment which pervade them. His Lordhip's notes are exceedingly appropriate, and the remarks on the life and writings of Camoens are compofed in a style of claffical correctness. "The Prefs, a Poem; published as a Specimen of Typography, by JOHN M'CREERY." The printer of this elegant volume, who modeftly calls the attention of the public to it as a fpecimen of typography," is himself the author of the poem, which does him very great credit. The verfe is in general fpirited and harmonious. "Glasgow, a Poem, by JOHN MAYNE." It is no mean honour to this little production that it attracted the notice of Dr. Geddes, who alluded to it in his Epiftle to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in very flattering terms. It is with great pleasure that we announce the publication of a third volume of the "Minfirely of the Scottish Border.” Mr. SCOTT has divided the contents of this, as he did of the two former volumes, into the three claffes of hiftorical ballads, romantic ballads, and modern imitations. The notes are rich in Antiquarian lore, and are made the vehicle of much curious iftorical information. Mr. GEO. ELLIS has published a new edition (the third) of his admirable work, "Specimens of the early English Poets, &c." We notice this, becaule the work has undergone very material improvements, and because we find a fecond fries of fpecimens announced as ready for the prefs, felected from our early metrical romances, in order to complete the fketch of our poetical antiquities. Mr. MAURICE has published a volume of "Select Poems." The fplendid genius, the fertile imagi. nation, and various knowledge of this gentleman, amply qualify him "to build the lofty rhyme" his poem to the memory of Sir William Jones, and the hymn to Mithra, are rich in oriental learning and allufion. Another volume is published of the "Poetical Register" it is a very elegant collection. "The Year of Sorrow, written in the Spring of 1803, by W. R. SPENCER Deeply affected by the lofs of leveral of his relatives and friends, who died early in the last year, Mr. Spencer has paid this mournful tribute to their memory. "The Fudge; or an Estimate of the Importance of the Judicial Character occafioned by the Death of the late Lord Clare." This poem is the production of the Rev. JEROME ALLEY, and it does credit to his tafte and abilities. We have noticed all the poetical publications which have any claim to attention; many of inferior merit, indeed, might be added. We proceed to THE DRAMA. "The Sea-fide Hero," is the production of Mr. CARR, author of "The Stranger in France." The feene of this drama is the fea-fide on the Suffex coaft, and the incidents are founded on the fuppofed a tack of the French. It is altogether a compo fition of confiderable merit. The Soldier's Daughter," by Mr. CHERRY, has been acted with great applaufe at Drury-Lane. Mr. COBB's Wife of Two Husbands” is altered from the French of Pixerécourt the mufic of this entertaining piece is compofed and felected from Mazzinghi. The "Counterfeit," "Love laughs at Locksmiths," and a few et ceteras, com. plete the uninterefting catalogue of dra. matic productions. NOVELS AND ROMANCES. It 4 "Amelia Mansfield" is tranflated from the French of Madame de Cotin. displays confiderable talent, but the tendency of it is to awaken thofe paffions which need no fimulant. The character of Madame Woldemar is extravagant and unnatural to the laft degree: the conduct of Erneft abounds with inco fiftencies and that of Amelia is not fuch as ought to be attributed to the heroine who is te call forth all our intereft and compaffion. The language in which Amelia relates the fcene of her feduction, is fhamefully voluptuous. Mifs HELME's St. Claire of the Ifles, &c." is a Scottish tradition, full of inte reft and novelty the work may be recommended as inftilling found morality, and affording rational amylement. An anonymous writer has made the |
