ously to prepare for its embarkation to the Brazils. The negociation was protracted till the middle of October; and the French and Spanish legations left Lisbon on the 29th. M. de Lima, the Por tuguese envoy at the court of France, was dispatched by Bonaparte to Lisbon, in order, if possible, to induce the Prince to alter his resolution of transferring the court to the Brazils. But the Prince was not lulled into a perilous security by the professions of friendship, which he, at the same time, received from the Gallic emperor. Bonaparte now determined, if possible, to prevent the embarkation of the Portuguese court by the intervention of the sword. The French troops were ordered to double and, if possible to treble their marches; but they arrived too late to effect their purpose. Mr. Lingham says that no "vacillation ever took place in the mind of the prince regent of Portugal;" that the prince who might, like the houses of Bavaria or Wurtemburg, have obtained favourable conditions by a timely submission to the favourite of fortune, had de. termined from the beginning, if he could not preserve his neutrality to relinguish Portugal for his transmarine possessions. We think that what Mr. Lingham has advanced tends to render this probable; and we really wish to believe it true, that we may have at least one instance to record of the wisdom and constancy of princes. ART. 25.--Latium redivivum ; or a Treatise on the modern Use of the Latin Language and the Prevalence of the French; to which is added a Specimen of the Latin Language accommodated to mo dern use. By the Rev. Samuel Seyer, A.M. 8vo. 4s. 6d. Murray. 1808. IT may seem, at first, rather improper to class this ingenious performance under the head of politics; but as the principal end of the publication seems to be to discourage the use of the French and to revive that of the Latin language for reasons which are chiefly.political, we thought that the work itself might most properly be arranged in this place. In the prevalence of the French language the learned Mr. Sayer discerns one of the leading causes of their political preponderance. The diffusion of their literature and the use of their language have prepared the way for the introduction of their principles, their sentiments and modes, have promoted their intrigues, favoured the communications of their various emissaries, facilitated the triumph of their arms, and must ultimately contribute to the establishment of that universal empire, to which they have so long aspired and which they now seem so likely to obtain. In order to place some impediment in the way of this scheme of unbounded domination Mr. Seyer proposes to restore the use of the Latin language in our political negotiations, and indeed in all our intercourse with other nations. During the proud period of the English commonwealth, the great men, who were then at the helm, refused to em. ploy the French or the language of any other foreign state in their diplomatic transactions. They resolved not to carry on any fo reign correspondence, except in the language of antient Rome. The pen of Milton, says Mr. Seyer' has proved that the Latin tongue is fully capable of expressing the relations of foreign states with each other. Some little difficulty would occur in fixing names to many characters and things of later times: yet a vocabulary of such words might in a short time be compiled by competent persons; and when it was published by authority, the difficulty here mentioned would be at once removed.' Mr. Seyer strenuously recommends the practice of writing and speaking Latin in our universities and schools; and he endeavours to obviate many of the objections which may be urged against it.-A large part of this performance is occupied with the specimen of a nomenclatura or English and Latin dictionary, such as Mr. Seyer would wish to see publish ed, if this plan were put in execution. We are fully convinced with him that a good English and Latin dictionary is still a desideratum. In the specimen of a nomenclature, which Mr. Seyer has published, he has shewn how to express all the modern divisions of time in classical latinity. From this specimen we have conceived a very favourable opinion of Mr. Seyer's erudition. With respect to his plan for rendering the Latin the language of diplomacy, we think it would have been better if the practice of the commonwealth in this respect had not been so readily abandoned; but now it is abandoned, we hardly think that it would be worth while to continue the war for the sake of its restoration. We should be happy to see our diplomatists better-scholars and wiser men; and we should, at the same time readily concur in any plan that could in the least diminish the political ascendancy of France; but we fear that, as far as these purposes could be at all produced by reviving the use of the Latin in our foreign intercourse, that opportunity is lost; and that the French will preserve the preference it has obtained in the language of cabinets and the correspondence of states notwithstanding all the efforts of counteraction which may be made by Mr. Seyer or any scholar of the present times. Fuit Ilium !-We shall say no more. ART. 26.-Hints respecting the Education of the Children of the Poor. By a Clergyman in the Diocese of Canterbury. Harding. 1808. INSTEAD of any new plan of education for the lower orders this writer recommends a restoration of the old; or the practical obser vance of the fifty-ninth canon; which orders every parson, vicar, or curate, under the pain of excommunication upon every Sunday and holy day before evening prayer, for half an hour to examine and instruct the youth and ignorant persons of his parish in the ten com mandments, the creed, and the Lord's prayer. The rubric subjoined to the catechism also orders the curate of every parish to instruct and examine the children publickly in some part of the catechism. ART. 27.-Public Spirit. 8vo. 3s. Asperne. 1808. AN excellent pamphlet might have been written under this title; but we are sorry that we cannot bestow that commendation on the present performance. A writer on the grand topic of public spirit ought to be divested of all party-views; but unfortunately the author before us seems to be only the menial organ of a party; and of a party too, whose long domination in the councils of this kingdom is likely to prove subversive not only of the freedom and the happiness but of the very existence of the empire. A writer on public spirit ought to be a man of enlightened mind and a capacious heart; of a mind full of wisdom and a heart full of charity; but the present writer is a man of a cloudy intellect and we fear of no very comprehensive benevolence.-A writer on public spirit ought to be a lover of truth; but in the present pamphlet, we have noticed some disgusting calumnies and unfounded misrepresentations.—It is not expressly said, that during the revolutionary war the opposition, which was headed by Mr. Fox, were in the pay of the French government, but it is expressly intimated that they were the dupes of French intrigue and in the interest of France. The author, p. 17. says that the enemy, not confining himself to attack the feelings of the mass of the people grappled with us still more to our hazard in his other aim of domineering over parliament. Opposition presented itself to his fertile and active spirit, as the spring which might possibly be set in motion. Therefore the French embassy here was dedicated for some time to besiegethe avenues which were likely to secure possession of the feelings of the leaders of opposition; and soon found that their frailties were as accessible as those of other people.'--Iu the progress of his work the author omits no opportunity of aspersing the wis dom and the worth of Mr. Fox;-the administration of Lord Grenville comes in for a due share of envenomed aniinadversion; and from the whole, all that we can infer is that the author esteems public spirit to consist in giving an unqualified support to the present ministers. LAW. ART. 28.-A Treatise on the Law of Idiocy and Lunacy, to which is subjoined an Appendix containing the Practice of the Court of Chancery on this Subject, and some useful practical Forms. By A. Highmore, Solicitor, Author of the Law of Mortmain, Law of Excise, &c. &c. 8vo. Butterworth. 1807. THE subject of this Treatise is of considerable importance, and the law which relates to it is arranged by Mr. Highmore with precision and perspicuity. We recommend it with confidence to the professional student as a work of much utility; and to the legal practitioner as containing a judicious compendium of the leading and most important principles, together with the most requisite precedents and practical forms. POETRY. ART. 29-Lyric and other Poems, by Laura Sophia Temple. 12mo. Longman and Co. THE contents of this volume of poems are numerous and diversified, in which we have Dreams of Horror, Treasury of Thoughts, the Storm King, a Lock of Hair, the Death of Brunswick, a War Ode, and a Penitent Wife; with a variety of other equally common-place and trifling subjects, vastly pleasing in MS. to read in a family circle over a clean hearth and cheerful fire. Though we cannot extol the versification of Laura Sophia Temple we give her every praise for chasteness and delicacy of thought. There are no very grand and elevated ideas,nor figurative and glowing descriptions, but what there are may be read without disgust. They may amuse, but they will not corrupt; a mother may put them in the hands of her daughter without any dread of their vitiating qualities. This at least cannot be said of all the poems which are brought before our critical tribunal. We select one amongst the best, by way of specimen. Ode to Morning. 'Breeze of morn; whose waking sigh Steals along the eastern sky, Breeze of morn! whose pinion light Flies to hail yon vision bright, Which o'er the welkin darts a ray That turns the blushing dawn to day,. And I for thee will tune the reed, Will swear thou art the sweetest gale That roams the hill or skims the vale: Let me range the fields of air, And view the wonders planted there; Let me with the wild bee go Where sweets are born, where roses blow, And sip with her the honied store, And pay my visits o'er and o'er. Let me seek the briny deep To distant lands, their course pursue; NOVELS. ART. 30-Riches and Poverty, a Tule. By Miss Barrell. Tipper. 12mo. 1808. AMELIA Herman is left by her father, who died in embarrassed circumstances, to the care of his particular friend sir Edward Wybrow, who resides in Glamorganshire, till her uncle returns from India who has promised to make her heiress to his acquired wealth. This sir Edward Wybrow evinces a melancholy, reserved and reflective turn, and is by no means pleasing in the eyes of Miss Herman. His residence would be extremely dull to so young a lady had she not the society of a Mrs. Lochardan who resides in the cottage of sir Ed. W. and a Mrs. Melville who is also his near neighbour and friend. These amiable women see sir Edward's character in a light different from that in which it is viewed by miss Herman, and extol him as a model of perfection. During her residence at the cottage sir Edward improves in her opinion as well as she does herself in sir Edward's. An invitation however from town to visit a Mrs. Anselm and her daughters, with whom she had been at school, elates the spirits of Miss Herman in the same degree as it depresses those of her guardian; and he gives his consent with palpable dissatisfaction. He parts from her with a coldness which betrayed his chaguin; and sends an old faithful man servant to attend and watch over her. At the house of Mr. and Mrs. Anselm she is treated with great civility and tenderness; she is regarded as an heiress; and addressed by their son with the highest approbation of the family; in fact she is launched into the gay world thoughtless of the future, enjoying the present, and perfectly happy in the prospect of her marriage with Albert Anselm. Miss Herman is depicted with every amiable quality and a good deal of penetration; she is, therefore, not insensible to the cruel and illiberal treatment which this family displays to a young lady resid ing with them, a niece of Mr. Anselm's, but her inexperience, her partiality for one of the daughters and her affection for the son, make her attend to it less than she would do in any other circumstances. In the midst of all this happiness letters arrive announcing the death of her uncle, who it is said had previously married and left his fortune to his widow. This sudden change in her prospects makes as sudden an alteration in the sentiments of the Anselms, who take little pains to hide the unfavourable impression. They disapprove the actions which before they had extolled; and finally give Amelia to understand that she is not a match proper for their son. Distressed and disgusted she quits their house and goes into a lodging till she can form some plan for her future life. She is soon insulted by a dishonorable offer of her lover Mr. Albert, who is very desirous to possess her charms on any other terms than those of matrimony. This cruel letter converts her former affection for |