chofe to repofe himself in the bofom of his native country.

In the year 1795 he was elevated to the rank of Field Marshal, and afterwards conftituted Commander in Chief of the British army. This latter promotion took place at the death of Lord Amherst, who attained to great celebrity in the military profeffion. His Royal. Highness's affiduity in his prefent high station, is known to all; and it is equally certain that, in the army, he has made many confiderable improvements.

In the prefent Expedition, in which his Royal Highnefs has now taken a diftinguished part, we must expect to meet with a vigorous oppofition. The French, it is known, are tenacious of their conquefts; and the Hollanders who have joined themselves to that party, will not eafily relinquish the power they have obtained.Terrible will be the conflict, and important the iffue.

It is a little remarkable, that about this time last century, the Stadtholder nobly came over to defend our liberties; and we are now engaged in reftoring the fame chief magiftrate to the throne of his ancestors. Every thing will be done which British valour can effect. The fleet of the enemy, indeed, is already in our hands, and their Territory, may foon fall into our poffeffion.

GOSSIPIANA,

[No. XXXIII.]

MUMBO JUMBO,

R. Park tells us, in his Travels through Africa,

MR

that he faw, near one of their villages, "a fort of masquerade habit hanging upon a tree, made of the bark of trees, which he was told belonged to MUMBO JUMBO. This is a ftrange bug-bear, common in ail the Mandingo towns, and employed by the Pagan na. tives in keeping the women in fubje&tion; for as they are not reftricted in the number of their wives, every one marries as many as he can conveniently maintain; and it often happens that the ladies difagree among themfelves: family quarrels fometimes arrive at fuch a height, that the voice of the hufband is difregarded in the tumult. Then the interpofition of MUMBO JUMBO is invoked, and is always decifive. This ftrange minifter of justice, this fovereign arbiter of domeftic ftrife, difguifed in his mafquerade attire, and armed with the rod of public authority, announces his coming by loud and difmal fcreams in the adjacent woods. He begins, as foon as it is dark, to enter the town, and proceeds to a place where all the inhabitants are affembled to meet him. The appearance of MUMBO JUMBO, it may be fuppofed, is unpleafing to the African ladies, but they do not refufe to appear when fummoned; and the ceremony commences with dancing and finging, which conti nues till midnight, when MUMBO feizes on the offender, The unfortunate victim being ftripped naked, is tied to a post and severely fcourged with MUMBO's rod, amidst the fhouts and derifion of the whole affembly; and it is remarkable, that the rest of the women are very clamorous and outrageous in their abufe of their unfortunate

fifter,

fifter, until day-light puts an end to this disgusting revelry"

RACINE, BOILEAU, AND POPE.

NATURE, fays Lord Orford, that produces famples of all qualities, and in the scale of gradation, exhibits all poffible' fhades, affords us types that are more appofite than words. The eagle is fublime, the lion majestic, the fwan graceful, the monkey pert, and the bear ridi. culously aukward. I mention thefe as more expreffive than I could make definitions of my meaning; but I will only apply the fwan, under whofe wings I will fhelter an apology for Racine, whofe pieces give me the idea of that bird. The colouring of the fwan is pure, his attitudes are graceful, he never difpleafes you when failing on his proper element. His feet are ugly, his walk not natural; he can foar, but it is with difficulty. Still the impreffion a fwan leaves is that of grace.-So does Racine.

Boileau may be compared to a dog, whofe fagacity is remarkable, as well as its fawning on its mafter, and its fnarling at those he dislikes. If Boileau was too ftern to admit the pliancy of grace, he compenfates by good fenfe and propriety. He is like, for I will drop animals, an upright magiftrate, whom you refpect, but whofe public juftice and feverity leave an awe that discourages familiarity. His copies of the ancients may be too fervile; but if a good tranflator deferves praife, Boileau deferves more; he certainly does not fall below his originals, and, confidering when he wrote, has a greater merit ftill. By his imitations, he held out to his countrymen models of tafte, and banished totally the bad tafte of his predeceffors. For his Lutrin, replete with excellent poetry, wit, humour, and fatire, he certainly was not obliged to the ancients. Except Horace, how

* For a further account of African manners, we refer the reader to a long and interefting extract in this Month's Re

view.

little idea had either the Greeks or Romans of wit and humour! Ariftophanes and Lucian, compared with the moderns, were, the one a blackguard, the other a buffoon. To my eyes, the Lutrin, the Difpenfary, and the Rape of the Lock, are standards of elegance and grace not to be paralleled by antiquity, and are eternal and mortifying reproaches to Voltaire, whofe indelicacy in the Pucelle, degraded him as much, when compared with the three authors I have named, as his Henriade leaves Virgil, and even Lucan, whom he more refembles, by far his fuperiors. The Dunciad is difhonoured by the offenfive images of the games; but the poetry appears to me admirable, and though the fourth book has obfcurities, I prefer it to the three others. It has defcriptions not to be furpaffed by any poet that ever exifted, and which, furely, a writer merely ingenious, will never equal. The lines on Italy, on Venice, on Convents, have all that grace for which I contend, as an ingredient distinct from the general beauties allotted to poetry; and the Rape of the Lock, befides the originality of the invention, is a standard of graceful writing, In general, I believe what I call is denominated grace elegance; but I think grace is fomething higher. I will explain myself by inftances rather than by words. Apollo is graceful-Mercury elegant.

LOCKE

HUMOROUSLY defcribes the mifery of the fchool-boy who is to write a theme, and having nothing to fay, goes about with the ufual petition, in thefe cafes, to his companions-"Pray give me a little fenfe ?"

ENGLISH STYLE.

DR. JOHNSON fays, that whoever would acquire a pure English ftyle, muft give his days and nights to Addifon. We do not, however, feel this exclufive preference for Addifon's melodious periods; his page is ever elegant, but fometimes it is too difffe. Hume, Blackstone,

Blackstone, and Smith, have a proper degree of ftrength and energy combined with their elegance. Gibbon fays that the perfect compofition and well-turned periods of Dr. Robertson, excited his hopes that he might one day become his equal in writing; but "the calm philofophy, the careless inimitable beauties of his friend and rival Hume, often forced me to close the volume with a mixed fenfation of delight and defpair." From this teftimony we may judge, that a fimple flyle appears, to the best judges, to be the more difficult to obtain, and more defirable than that highly ornamented diction to which writers of inferior tafte afpire. Gibbon tells us with great candour, that his friend Hume advised him to beware of the rhetorical ftyle of French eloquence. Hume, obferved that the English language and English tafte do not admit of this profufion of ornament.

MADAM ROLAND,

WHEN fhe was led to execution, exclaimed, as the pafsed the statue of liberty!“ Oh liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!"

COMPANY AND BOOKS.

FORMERLY it was wifely faid, "Tell me what company a man keeps, and I will tell you what he is;" but fince literature has fpread a new influence over the world, we must add, "Tell me what company he has kept, and what books he has read, and I will tell you what he is."

ARCHBISHOP BECKET.

He was archbishop of Canterbury and lord Chancellor in the reign of Henry II. Before he was raised to the fee of Canterbury, he was a very fupple courtier, and conformed himself in every thing to the humour of the king. But after he was made archbishop, he occafioned much disturbance by his pride, infolence, and turbulency,