metrical limbs of our very beft Poets ad libitum, as her mufical exigencies might require." P. 259.

We have been unable to refrain from giving a detailed account of this little book, the contents of which are fo curious, both in point of historical deduction and opinion. We apprehend, however, that the propofitions of the author are too far removed from common practice and ideas, to be adopted literally; but if the work thail tend, on the whole, to enforce the propriety of being fimple, folemn, and intelligible, in all compofitions intended for the Church, or pieces there performed, it will render no unimportant fervice.

ART. XI. The Natural History of British Birds; or, A Selection of the most rare, beautiful, and interefting Birds which inhabit this Country: the Defcriptions from the Syftema Nature of Linnæus, with general Obfervations, ether origi nal or collected, from the latest and most esteemed Ornithologifts; and embellished with Figures, drawn, engraved, and coloured from the original Specimens. Vol. 1. and II. By E. Danivan. 8vo. 3. Rivingtons. 1795.

BIRDS,

IRDS, as well as infects, feem peculiarly calculated for the imitation of the artift; their plumage exhibiting every poffible variety of tinge, from the lightest to the deepett; and the most delicate tranfitions, from the foftest to the moit glaring and decided colours.

From the rude reprefentations exhibited in the works of Gefner and Aldrovandus, the faftidious fpectator of the prefent period turns with a kind of difguft; or at most regards them as curious examples of the awkward imitations of nature, with which our ancestors were contented. Those of Johnfton and Willoughby are fometimes fufficiently expreffive; but in the major part of fuch figures, it is in vain to look for that precifion of character and accuracy of reprefentation, which modern natural hiftory fo particularly demands, and without which it is impoffible for ftudents in the fcience to be properly inftructed.

The ornithological Work of Albin is fo wretched a production, that we concur entirely in opinion with the celebrated Edwards, namely, that fo mean a performance ought not to be quoted by any fcientific naturalift: we may add, that it is almost inconceivable how the fame artist who produced the work on English infects (which, though by no

I

means

means a first-rate performance, is at least tolerable) could poflibly have executed fuch miferable figures of birds.

The incomparable Edwards, by his own ornithological publication, feems to have formed a kind of epoch in natural hiftory: fuch is the fpirit and force with which the generality of his figures are conducted, that, had they been executed in mere outlines, their effect would fill have been ftriking and inftructive; and, in fpite of the comparative coarfenefs of the etching, it is impoffible for a judicious eye to view a greater contraft than between the animated propriety of Edwards's figures, and the tame, inexpreffive infipidity of those given by many fucceeding authors; notwithstanding the great fuperiority of thefe latter in point of engravings. Let the real naturalist compare the figures of Edwards with thofe of Sepp, and afk himself, which convey the moft impreflive ideas of nature?

The Planches enluminées, published under the aufpices of the Count de Buffon, conflitute a moft valuable feries of plates, in general well executed, but inferior in their effect to those of our own countryman: they have alfo the fault of being by far too glaringly and fometimes carelessly coloured.

Of late years feveral other ornithological publications have appeared in different parts of Europe; fome containing the birds of a particular country, and others of a more general nature. The little work to which we now advert, profelles to give only a felect number of English birds, and particularly fuch as recommend themfelves by any remarkable elegance of plumage. They are, in general, executed on too fmall a fcale, but are remarkable for the neatnefs of the engraving. The colouring is alfo, in general, good, but fometimes not quite fo accurate as might be wifhed: the Jay may be adduced in proof of this, in which (exclufive of a wrong tint throughout the whole colouring) the beautiful mail of the wing, which forms the most confpicuous feature in the bird, and which is generally confidered as one of the most agreeable spectacles which the feathered tribe can exhibit, appears in Mr. Donovan's reprefentation like a miniature view of a blue and white checked apron. The rofe-coloured Ouzel is beautifully executed, except that the tail is confiderably too long. The Dartford Warbler, a rare fpecies, is exceedingly well expreffed: the figure is indeed, as in moft others, too much reduced; but the chara&teriftic marks and plumage of the bird are remarkably well conducted.

The Ptarmigan is fomewhat amifs in point of the variegated plumage on the back, and feems to have been taken from an ill-ftuffed fpecimen. The black Woodpecker is a good figure,

and

and perhaps would have been ftill better, if the characteristic ftiffness of the tail-feathers, which in the birds of this genus is very remarkable, had been better preferved. The Ruff, from the elaborate defire of giving a lively colouring, fails in its effect, and appears as if carved out of wood.

As a particularity in the colouring of Mr. Donovan, we cannot help noticing a fingular fpecies of glofs, accompanying all the blacks, which greatly refembles the appearance of black-lead. It is in the Duck tribe that Mr. Donovan's figures appear to the greatest advantage; as in many of those birds there is room for that minute and glofly style in which this artist feems to delight; and the flender and varied lines on the feathers of thefe birds are extremely well conducted in the Garganey, &c. One of the plates which feems moft happily executed, is that of the Water-Ouzel, in which the attitude of the bird, anxiously waiting for the appearance of its fub-aquatic prey, is extremely well expreffed; and the figure is alfo remarkably well coloured. The Oriole, the Cuckow, and feveral other birds, are expreffed with equal neatnefs and elegance. But what exceeds all wonder is, that Mr. Donovan has given us, on Plate XXV, a Lapwing with webbed feet! This, we apprehend, is one of thofe accidents which have been fometimes known to happen, when artifts engaged in a work of natural hiftory, have sketched their figure from the fubject itfelf, and afterwards finifhed it at their leifure ; overlooking, perhaps, at the fame time, fome important particulars, which, when the plate is published, strike at first view even a general fpectator, if in any degree converfant with the fubject. Thus the celebrated Madam Merian, in her fplendid work on the Surinam Infects, has fo far forgotten herself in a representation of the Anacardium (Cafhew) as to have reprefented, on one part of the plant, the nut growing at the base of the receptacle or fruit (as it is commonly called) instead of placing it on the top.

The defcriptions are generally taken, with flight occafional variations and remarks, from Pennant, Latham, &c. Generic and fpecific characters are alfo prefixed to each, together with a lift of fynonyms.

ART. XII. Confiderations upon the State of Public Affairs at the beginning of the Year 1796. Second Edition. 8vo. 97 pp. 2s. Owen. 1796.

AN inveftigation, very far from flight or fuperficial, of the caufes and tendency of the prefent ftate of public events, is given in this pamphlet, which throughout abounds with proofs

proofs of very fingular intelligence and fagacity. The author begins by brief, but ftrong reflections, on the long-established fyftem of political balance in Europe, and the natural preponderance of France from her local advantages; and then, fuppofing the period of a general pacification to approach, declares it his intention to fhow, "firft, that the state of this kingdom is not fuch as to compel us to any deviation from our old maxims and policy, nor that of the enemy, if it were fo, fuch as to entide or enable it to profit by our embarralments. Secondly, that the ftate of the colonies or poffeffions of Europe, in other quarters of the world, is not fuch as to afford any reafonable hope of our finding a counterbalance there to the predominance of France, if we were to affent to her pretenfions upon the territories fhe has conquered from our allies." This promife the author fuifils, in the courfe of his tract, with no fmall degree of ability. The ambitious defire of aggrandizement, which marked the conduct of France in her infraction of treaties, particularly that of Munfter, is well expreffed in the famous queftion of Mirabeau, cited at p. 9. What has France to do with the pretended balance of power? With ten years of a good adminiftration, fhe would regain her natural fuperiority over all Europe together." This is the true motive for wifhing to annex the acquifitions on the Continent to the Republic of France, and this is amply fufficient to juftify the defenfive refiftance of all Europe. On the war at large, we meet with a paffage fo admirable in all its parts, that we think it a duty to lay it entire before our readers.

"It is no difcovery of to-day, nor of the philofophy of to-day, that war is an evil, nor that it is followed by a train of evils, nor that it has been frequently provoked by the violence of a king or the paffions of a people; but it would be extraordinary indeed, if a fpirit which neither piety nor reafon, neither faith nor philofophy have been able to fubdue, fhould vanifh at the bidding of his fellow-devil Sedition. I confefs my aftonishment is not excited only, but my indignation alfo, at all that cant and whining which have overwhelmed the prefs, and the debates of both houfes of Parliament, and at those perfidious tears which fall fix times a week over the unavoidable calamities that purfue its steps, because I obferve them to proceed from men, more anxious to call it nearer home, and to light it up in the bofom of their country, than to drive it to the confines of the earth, or extinguifh it altogether.

"Thofe who would run the risk of civil war, cannot take it ill if I fufpect them of exaggerating in fome degree the antipathy they bear to foreign war. Thofe who extract the immorality from infur rection and revolt, who reduce fedition and rebellion, fo long taught as a fcience and a duty, to a frigid calculation of prudence, and appre

hend

hend nothing from violence and treafon, but the improbability of their fuccefs:-Thofe who would turn our fwords into our own bojoms, and fhed our blood in our own fields, have no reason to be offended if it is not only to the delicacy of their nerves, and the excefs of their fenfibility, that I attribute a part of the repugnance they exprefs at the fpectacle of our contefts with rival and hollile nations.

War, however, is an evil, and no man can be more fenfible that it is fo, than they whofe duty it is to declare its neceffity, and announce the fatal fentence to their country.-They act under a dreadful refponfibility to the laws, to public opinion, to pollerity, and to heaven. It is not the whining of the prefs, it is not the phrafefactory of the oppofition, that can deplore or exprefs the evils of war, as they are felt by thofe, who every moment compare them with the evils which are avoided by war; who make the estimate and set-off in their bofems, and weigh the blood which flows, with the caufe that demands it. But when all its miferies are numbered and detailed, there is a balance to be ftruck at home, and a comparifon to be adjufted abroad. On the one fide, we fee our fields remain with their ancient proprietors, the laws maintained, and juftice administered, our temples unpolluted, and our conftitution perfect on its bafe. On the other, when we contemplate the ftate of our enemies, we do not find them exempted from impartial calamity, the war has dealt out deftruction with an equal hand, and measured the difaiters of mankind.

"Sunt illis fua funera, parque per omnes
Tempeftas.

"I fee the ocean covered with their defeats, and the forefts of Germany reeking with their blood: and turning from that disgusting fpectacle to their interior fituation, what do I behold in the wide defert of their empire, but a pale and emaciated people, expiring with famine, or fiinting with fatigue and oppreffion? I fee their fufferings, and their greans firike upon my ears, but I cannot difcover the religion, or the juftice, or the fundamental laws for which they are fighting; I do not find the hufbandman in the fields, nor the merchant in his counting-houfe, nor the cities upon their foundations, nor, in the cause for which they are contending, any thing that is refpectable, but the enchanting name of their country!

"Yet for this I find them brive every thing, and bear every thing, and am compelled to admire their mistaken patriotifm, as well as their military prowels, and their political refolution.

"Imagination cannot paint a fpecies or excefs of mifery, which they have not felt and complained of; they have endured and perpetrated every horror, and fufered the action and re-action of every crime, with a name or without one; full of indignation and remorse, afhamed of the past, and hopeless of the future, they derive a conftancy from defpair, and perfèvere in the inextinguishable defire of aggrandizing their country-their country, which panting at the heart, and bleeding at every pore, affumes the attitude and language of a conqueror, and dictates the terms of an infulting peace, with a firra voice and an impofing countenance.