indeed furprising that our political guardians fhould overlook them for the fake of thofe dazzling but precarious advantages which arife from remoter fettlements! If the prospect of these islands, says the public-spirited Author, feems to occupy a large fpace in this volume, it may be fome apology to fay, that their having been hitherto very indifferently, indeed hardly known, and confequently little attended to, not only recommended them to, but required for them a larger confideration in a political furvey; and if still more is neceffary to be faid, let me have permiffion to obferve, that the prefent ftate and circumftances of this country made it at this time ftill more peculiarly requifite. For the British dominions being now grown not only to an empire, but to a moft extenfive empire, there feems to be nothing of fo great importance towards fupporting its fplendor and authority, as ftrengthening the center and feat of government, towards which, it can be efteemed no trivial fupply, if by connecting more closely to us these islands, we may have the ufe and affiftance of so many thousands of active and able men, equally capable of being employed at land or on fea, and who, from the fituation of the countries they inhabit, may be at any time employed to the most useful purposes with the greatest facility. These islands are our own, we have not only an indifputable title, but an uninterrupted poffeffion, fo that we need not go to feek or to discover them; but barely to examine their utility, and by what means and methods we may avail ourselves of them and their inhabitants to the utmoft.It ought to be no bar to fuch enquiry, that in their prefent ftate they seem to be almost useless; for if we call to mind the ancient condition of Cornwall, of leveral of the northern counties of England, and the best part of Ireland, and compare them with what we now fee to be the produce of these countries, and of which they were always capable; we can entertain no doubt that, by a like application of fkill and affiftance, the like effects may follow even here. Some difficulties will very probably occur, but they will be far from being great; for we need not either forces or fleets, we need not depopulate the happy regions of South Britain to plant these. They are for our purpofe fufficiently peopled already; and if those who now inhabit them had the power of providing for their pofterity, they would quickly become, in proportion to their extent, as populous as any other province that we have. The people who are at prefent in them are our fubjects, and as well affected as any fubjects can be, which affords them a juft claim to our protection and affiftance. That they have not either wealth or rich commodities to attract notice is alike their misfortune and ours. But if even in this ftate, they fhould be fo fortunate as to draw the attention of government, there there is no room at all to doubt, they would in a very fhort fpace emerge from this unhappy fituation, to the common benefit of themfelves and of the mother country. In refpect to religion, the far greatest part of them are fincere and zealous Proteftants, and the rest may be eafily made fo. The better fort every where speak the English language, and there are none amongst them who have not an ambition to learn it; nor arè they lefs defirous of feeling the benefit of our laws, and of participating in the effects of that admirable conftitution, which fecures to men wherever it reaches, the moft profperous ftate of rational liberty. Their old prejudices, which in giving their hiftory we have fairly reprefented, are long ago extinguifhed, their ill habits are entirely worn out, they are exceedingly fenfible of their own misfortunes, clearly difcern the causes of them, and would not only fubmit to, but eagerly welcome and embrace any new establishment by which they might be removed. As they must recover, if ever they recover, by the favour and kindnefs of Great Britain, fo in confequence of this recovery they must be always and entirely dependent upon her. The benefits they receive will, and of neceffity muft, be in proportion to the ftrictness of their connection; and in confequence of their utility, and from their fize, fituation, and circumftances, it is fimply impoffible, that their intereft and happiness can have any other bafis than the countenance and protection of Britain. In virtue of this, they may, by a proper divifion of what is now useless property, come to have all their lands cultivated that are capable of culture, and these will be then found of much greater extent than can be conceived even by themfelves at prefent; and, in conjunction with their ample fisheries, would furnish a comfer:able fubfiftence to the prefent poffeffors, and, however numerous they may prove, to their pofterity. If the certainty of this could admit of any doubt it might be removed, by confidering attentively the number of fhips of all nations which, by annually fifhing upon their coafts, extract that wealth which might be acquired by them with much more ease. If the permanence of their profperity should be queftioned, let us recollect, that if once they were in poffeffion of the fishing, curing, and exporting those inexhaustible ftores that are daily within their reach, they would be able to do this at fo cheap a rate, that, while under the protection of the mother country, no foreign nation could ever interfere with them more, as their numbers, and the capacity of managing their fisheries would increase every day.' We fhall conclude our account of this important work in our next Review. ART. IV. Poems, by Mr. Potter. 8vo. 3 s. fewed. Wilkie. 1774. HE Author of these Poems is known to the literary world by a pretty defcriptive piece, called Holkham, the celebrated feat of Lord Leicester; by Kymber, an encomium on the Wodehouse family, in the ftyle and tafte of Milton's Lycidas, and written with confiderable fpirit and enthufiafm; but, more particularly, by a very beautiful Farewel Hymn to the Country, in imitation of Spenfer. With thefe poems, already published at different times, and respectively noticed in our Review, a few others of lefs character and confequence contribute to make up this volume ;-at the end of which we find an advertisement, that the Author is preparing for the prefs a tranflation of the entire tragedies of Euripides; a piece of intelligence, which we cannot confider as unimportant to EngJifh literature, because fuch a tranflation was wanting, and it seems here to have fallen into proper hands. The Chorus of Trojan Dames, tranflated from the Hecuba, ftands at the end of thefe poems; and as we may prefume that it appears here by way of fpecimen, we fhall fo far coincide with the Author's defign as to allow them a place. STROPHE I. Tell me, ye gales, ye rifing gales, What proud lord's rigour fhall the flave deplore Where the rich father of translucent floods, Apidanas pours his headlong waves Through funny vales, through dark fome woods, I Bear to the hallow'd ifle my frantic woes, Beneath whofe bafe the billows roar, Spread their green honours o'er Latona's head, STROPHE. STROPHE II. Or where th' Athenian tow'rs arise Shall thefe hands weave the woof, whofe radiant glow Hurl hideous ruin from above, Roll his tempestuous flames, and vindicate his sky. ANTIS TROPHE II. Alas my parents! Let me drop the tear, Thy walls, thy bulwarks smoking on the ground, In fome strange land am call'd a slave, And for my nuptial bed find a detested grave. This is fpirited and poetical; but, perhaps, the Trochaic tone is too laboriously indulged. ART. V. Poefeos Afiatice Commentariorum Libri Sex, cum Appendice; fubjicitur Limon, feu Mifcellaneorum Liber: Auctore Gulielmo Jones, A. M. Collegii Univerfitatis in Academia Oxonienfi, & Societatum Regiarum Londinenfis atque Hafnienfis, Socio.Commentaries on the Afiatic Poetry, in Six Books, with an Appendix. To which is added Limon, or Miscellaneous Pieces. By William Jones, M. A. Fellow of University College, Oxford, and of the Royal Societies of London and Copenhagen. 8vo. 9 s. Boards. Cadell. 1774. N this volume the learned Author has treated, in an elegant and fpirited latinity, a variety of subjects relative to the Ŏriental poetry. The first book turns chiefly on that strong attachment the Afiatics in general have for poetry; fhews that their genius is particularly adapted to it, and enters into the caufe. The Author takes notice of the feveral Eaftern nations that appear to have cultivated poetry. The Indian, Chinese, Tartarian, Syrian, and Armenian, and even the Ethiopic poetry are refpectively attended to. Some incidental obfervations on the connection between the Afiatic and the Greek poetry likewife occur. These are followed by remarks on the Arabic, Perfian, and Turkish poetry in particular, fpecimens of which are C 3 introduced; introduced; and by a view of the characteristic excellencies of their different languages. The fecond book treats of the compofition of the Afiatic poetry; of the Arabic and Perfian measures which are generally ufed by the Turks. The Author obferves that the knowledge of the Hebrew metre is not fo entirely loft that we should defpair of recovering it; that it does not altogether correfpond with the Arabic metre, the verfes of the latter terminating in an uniform manner, which is not the cafe with the Hebrew; that in the Arabic poetry the fame measure is continued through the whole of a poem, but not quite fo in the Hebrew; yet that there is, notwithstanding, a great fimilarity, at leaft, in the numbers. In this book the Kasida of the Arabs, a species of poetry that answers to our elegy, or rather to the Greek Idyllium, is treated of, and a fpecimen of a fhort Idyllium is introduced; feveral of the best poems of this kind are noticed, together with the feven Idylliums hung up in the temple of Mecca, called Mallakat; and an elegy of Faredhi is tranflated in the manner of Ovid. This tranflation is fo truly ingenious, and fhews the happy imitative powers and command of language which Mr. Jones poffeffes, in fo eminent a degree, that we cannot forbear prefenting it for the entertainment of our learned Readers. ELEGI A. Num colit affuetos mollis amica lares? Lympha, Azibe, meam pellet, ut antè, fitim ? Gaudia va! mifero non renovanda mihi? Paftor amatorum fpefque metúfque canet? Hey! quid Cademeo in monte fodalis agit? |
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