And hears and fees thee all the while,
Softly talk, and sweetly smile.

Now in fuch a fituation it seems very natural for the lefs happy Lover, to have added the youth emphatically after he ;that youth, nevos avnp, which would have been ftill more ex-. act and emphatical, being perhaps rejected by Mr. Phillips, from its lefs fluent and liquid found. And though, all the while, may be confidered as very bald language by many Readers; yet as the great excellence of this Ode confifts rather in an exquifite and natural delineation of the effects of Love, than in a ftudied expreffion of them, thefe words appear to us to have a fimplicity very little, if at all, improper on this occafion. We may add alfo, that the general use of the Æolic dialect in the original, (for which most of the Scholiafts contend) fo frequently coincident with the Doric, might, with fome propriety, warrant a familiar, or even a provincial phrafe or two in the tranflation: besides, that the liquid found of while feems to have rather a better effect in the tranffufion of this tender and melodious Ode, than the final's our Author ufes in the two following lines, tho' their hiffing is nearly effaced, or agreeably softened in these smooth words, His ears thy pleafing talk beguiles, His eyes thy fweetly dimpled fmiles.

We have the fame inducement, a foft and very liquid rhyme, for fuppofing Mr. Phillips' two concluding lines;

My feeble pulfe forgot to play,

I fainted, figh'd, and dy'd away,

at leaft equal to these final ones of our Author,

And lofing colour, fenfe, and breath,
Iem quite languishing in death.

Some of Bion's Idylliums immediately follow the Fragments of Sappho. That celebrated one on the death of Adonis, is well tranflated, fomewhat more diffufively, indeed, than the ingenious Mr. Langhorne has rendered it, and without omitting the pathetic circumftance of Venus' receiving the laft breath of Adonis, which our prefent Verfifier thus fondly and happily tranflates.

The laft fond token of affection give,

O! kifs thy Venus, while the killes live,
Till in my breast I draw thy lingering breath,
And with my lips imbibe thy love in death.

• See Review, vol. XX. page 570.

Το

To Bion's fucceed the nine Idylliums of Mofchus. Venus crying her loft fon, and the Rape of Europa, are extremely beautiful: but we fhall felect a pleasant Epigram of Mofchus', as the fhorteft fpecimen of our Author's tranflations from this Poet. Its title is, Cupid turned Ploughman, and the lines in the original are equal in number to the tranflation.

Difguis'd like a Ploughman, Love ftole from the sky
His torch, and his bow, and his quiver thrown by;
And with pouch at his fhoulder, and goad in his hand,
Began with yok'd oxen to furrow the land.

And "O Jove, be propitious, he cry'd, or I vow, "That I'll yoke thee, Europa's fam'd bull, to my plough." The entire poem of the Loves of Hero and Leander, is a charming relique of antique poetry; the Author, a later Mufæus, a Grammarian about the fifth century. The translation, as far as we have compared it with the original, is excellent; and tho' it may be difficult to give an idea (from a detached part) of the beauty of a poem, when the connection of the story greatly conduces to it; yet we shall present our Readers thofe verfes that immediately fucceed to the acknowleged foftnefs, which the paffion of Leander had excited in the fair Priestefs of Venus.

At length her face with lovely blushes spread,
She rais'd, and thus in fweet confufion faid.

"Stranger, thy words fuch magic founds convey,
"With foft compaffion rocks would melt away.
"Who form'd thy tongue with fuch persuasive art,
"To pour delightful ruin on the heart?

"Ah! tell me, who thus taught thee to explore,
"My lone retirement on the Thracian shore?
"Thy fpeech, tho' pleafing, flow'd to me in vain :
"How can a ftranger Hero's love obtain?
"Should I in public give to thee my hand,

My parents would forbid the nuptial band.

"And shouldst thou here in clofe concealment stay,
"Our fecret paffion would itself betray;
"For foon the voice of fcandal fpreading Fame,
"The deed of filence would aloud proclaim.
"But, gentle youth, thy name, thy country, tell;
For mine, alas! by thee are known too well.
In yon high tower, which close to Seftos ftands,
And all the roaring Hellefpont commands,
"With one attending damfel I remain;
"For fo my parents, and the Fates ordain!

No nymphs coeval to fweet mufic's found,

Lead the footh dance, or lightly beat the ground;

But

grace,

"But ftormy winds eternal difcord keep,
"And blustering bellow through the boundless deep."
Thus fpoke the Prieftefs, and, with modest
Conceal'd the new-born beauties of her face;
For on her cheeks the roseate blush that hung,
Seem'd to condemn the language of her tongue.

Having thus felected, we hope, an acceptable pofy for our Readers, from most of the flowery Authors, whose poems are, upon the whole, very agreeably, tho' not always with equal melody, transfufed in this performance, we fhall conclude with obferving, that the learned and ingenious Tranflator has enhanced the value of his work by a competent number, not an oftentatious and unneceffary load, of Notes, which illuftrate and even adorn it; as they prefent us with feveral parallel paffages in other antients, very generally tranflated with spirit and elegance, by other Writers, and by himself.

An Effay on the ancient and modern State of Ireland, with the various important Advantages thereunto derived, under the auSpicious Reign of his moft facred Majefty King George the Second. Including a particular Account of the great and glorious St. Patrick. Dublin printed, London re-printed. 8vo. 2S. Griffiths.

T

HE love of our country is certainly a laudable paffion, and wifely adapted to promote univerfal happiness, by fubferving that of every particular fociety: for, while the feveral parts are duly upheld, a general order is preserved, and the whole is admirably and permanently fuftained. But then, as is the cafe with all the other paffions, this principle must be kept within due bounds, otherwise, even public virtue may degenerate into private vice. If fuffered to overflow its limits,-to break the banks of univerfal philanthropy, instead of continuing to run in the honeft and peaceful current of Reafon and Justice, it serves only to deluge the world with robbery, rapine, and tyrannical oppreffion. Borne along with the maddening torrent, we are then apt to confider the world as made for us, and to look upon our neighbours with an evil eye, not as fellow-citizens of the globe, but as ufurpers of our rights as tho' their happinefs were incompatible with our own!

-

But

But should this political bigottry be so far restrained as not to run into fuch violent extremes, yet, (fuch is our propensity to ftray from the path of moderation !) it feldom fails to tincture the mind with a fupercilious kind of tribe-conceit, prompting us to over-value ourselves, in the fame proportion as we under-rate the merit of our neighbours. Thus, to a true-born Englishman, a native of France, for inftance, or an Irishman, is the grand object of ridicule: the first cannot boaft the tythe of our valour, nor the fecond any fhare of our fagacity. In fine, like the Athenians of old, we are too apt to deem the reft of mankind, no better than Barbarians, compared with our own moft excellent félves.

Warmed, as it fhould feem, by fome reflections of this kind, and resenting the indignity offered to his nation, the patriotic Author of this pamphlet has endeavoured to render that justice to his country, in which every one of his English Readers may not, perhaps, be impartial or generous enough to acquiefce.

He is particularly displeased with the frequent theatrical exhibition of exaggerated Irish characters. Some dramatic Scribblers,' fays he, (probably of our own degenerate growth) the better to qualify them for eleemofinary dinners, gave rife to this impertinent treatment of a nation, which, from the concurrent teftimonies of all the difpaffionate and learned, can, in reality, be as little the object of scurrility, as any other.'

But it appears the more extraordinary to our honeft Hibernian Farmer,- for that, we are informed, is our Author's rank and occupation, that poor Teague fhould prove so conftant, a butt to Farce-wrights, and hackney Laughers; when, upon examination, he is, by a thousand degrees, preferable to the British Hobbinol, or French Gregoire? For Teague is a very pattern of hofpitality; fo much fo, that if a Gentleman fhould happen to miss his road, and be neceffitated to feek the fhelter of Teague's cabbin, or hut, was poor Teague trufting to two fheep for his worldly fubfiftance, he would kill one, and fell the other at the next village or inn, for the better entertainment of his gueft, and think himself happy in such an occafion of approving • his generofity.'

.

He also expreffes his furprize, why a man fhould become a ftanding jeft for his ignorance in an alien tongue, almost the conftant fate of our countrymen in Britain; where, ⚫ whoever is not fmartly expert in the English language, is

immediately

immediately denominated a Teague, a Paddy, or I know not what, in the ftile of derifion at the fame time that the moft aukward-tongued Irishman in London, fpeaks English with far more propriety, and a better accent, than the fmarteft British Petit Maitre in Paris doth French,'

These short specimens may fuffice to fhew the temper as well as the ftile of this rural Patriot. As to his account of the ancient and prefent State of Ireland, it commences with the arrival of Milefias, a Spanish Prince, fo far back as the days of Solomon, and comes down to the prefent times. In his characters of most of our English Monarchs, (for he gives an epitome of each fucceffive reign, with its principal and diftinguishing events) the Author frequently manifefts a little national spleen and resentment of the manner in which they acquired their authority, and supported their government, in that kingdom; and he is particularly fevere upon the memory of Charles the fecond, for his ingratitude towards the Roman Catholics of Ireland, who (upon what principle we need not fpecify) certainly were to be numbered among the best friends of the Stuart-family.

Will late pofterity,' fays he, believe, that in favour of • mercenary Adventurers, who advanced money to provide for a desperate regicide army, in favour of the Officers of this fame army, whom their Ringleader Cromwell, feared • as his confcience was, indulged with no more than temporary grants of the eftates belonging to the King's most faithful fubjects: will pofterity, I fay, believe, that, in fpecial favour of fuch men, thofe identical fubjects, the braveft advocates, as well as the most affectionate undeviating friends of the Monarchy and Conftitution, were for ever deprived of their properties!

To remunerate the

others, the most inveterate and implacable enemies of ei⚫ther! Doing good for evil is a divine precept, and certainly includes a moft fublime moral; but rendering evil for good, is fuch a principle as muft carry horror with it, among favage nations !'

And yet, fuch is the force of religious attachment, this illufage did not deter the Irish Catholics from following the illfortune of James the fecond; in whofe caufe they fuffered no less than their fore-fathers had done in the days of the victorious Cromwell.

From what our Author has faid in behalf of the Roman Catholics of Ireland, as well as from his account of the Life of St. Patrick, we are led to conclude him of that perfuafion; which we are far from mentioning with defign of reflecting

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upon