have heard, but have forgotten the characters, except CRUGER, that are mentioned there. A gentleman, I once knew, told me, that he was a school-fellow of CHATTERTON, and said what an extraordinary boy he was, but, continued he, we three, naming another person, carried all before us. I do not remember the surname of this gentleman, my acquaintance, but I recollect he was a merchant settled in our then North-American dominions. He had little appearance of a trafficker-he seemed more in his manner and conversation an elegant French wit; yet he understood commerce well, I was told. He remarked that Chatterton, himself, and their friend, were all poor boys of Bristol. Had CHATTERTON had management of his sense, like White, he would have shone in future life, for his life would then have been worth preserving; been a fixed star, and no meteor. Lord ORFORD should have been his friend. I remarked that Lord ORFORD more dwelt upon his conduct about CHATTERTON than any other subject, and this to all literary persons; yet I am not convinced that CHATTERTON acted prudently even to his lordship. How could Lord Orford imagine that the boy, for such he was, or at least a youth, would have had little guard upon himself, as he, it must be allowed, had? As to the idea of forgery-it was the folly, the literary crime of the day, and WALPOLE himself had been one of the leaders of the way. Dean MILLES and his partizans greatly exposed themselves, as did IRELAND's advocates. I was too young to be a judge of the Bristolian controversy, but the first pretended letter of Shakespeare, convinced me that it was a late manufactured article. I reprobate all deception. There may be skill in the imposition, but there is a degree of baseness-It destroys the nobleness of truth. CHATTERTON'S Works, had they come to me, since I have been used to works of learning, especially what relates to our English affairs, I should have immediately pronounced fictitious. As to the Fingalian fallacy, it is truly ridiculous. Barbarians to write, who never learned to read! The Welch, a written language, for a long succession of ages, inay boast ancient bards, but I would as soon believe in the genuineness of an Erse Poem, of five centuries standing, as I would a South-Seu song, of one hundred. Excuse all this from, My dear sir, June 5, 1809. Your's faithfully, REVIEW OF LITERATURE. Shall we for ever make NEW BOOKS, as apothecaries make new mixtures, by pouring only out of one vessel into another? Are we to be for ever twisting and untwisting the same rope? for ever in the same track---for ever at the same pace? Tristram Shandy. Hora Ionica: a Poem, descriptive of the Ionian Islands, and part of the adjacent Coast of Greece. By W. R. Wright, Esq. 8vo. pp. 67. Longman and Co. 1809. THE spot here proposed to be described will naturally awake in minds at all imbued with classic lore, a fond interest and an earnest curiosity. The poet, who has undertaken this delightful task, présents us with very fair credentials in his learning, as well as shews us that he has full power to treat of these matters, by having been some time his Britannic Majesty's consul-general for the republic of the Seven Islands. Many of the verses, that compose this poem, were written" amidst the scenes which they profess to describe," and we are ready to subscribe to any of them rather than the following: "My simple Muse in fancy's gilded ray May sparkle like the dew-drop on the flow'r ; The warrant of such a prediction will not be found in this lit tle volume. We shall give a single specimen without selection. "Hence to the left extends a spacious plain, Nor rich with pastur'd herds, nor waving grain :- There swells the fig to more than common size, Oft for these shades,* where nature reigns alone, Nor still the monarch nor the Muse they wrong, "It is impossible for any one, who traverses the shores of the old harbour, with the Odyssey in his recollection, to doubt the personal acquaintance of Homer with the scenery of Corfu, or to hesitate in assigning the garden of Alcinous to the spot here described, which lies at the western extremity of the harbour, and is still exclusively devoted to the same sort of culture." P. 7, 8. Thus in flowing numbers he proceeds throughout with fascinating descriptions of that ground, every inch of which is dear to the memory of the scholar, from the love and reverence inspired by his early studies and matured by his later judgment. For the sake of a pleasing anecdote, at p. 45, we shalladd these verses "In mingled notes the herdsman's strain I hear, List'ning his carol, as in uncouth rhymes He sings the warlike deeds of other times; His reed-the Doric reed of ancient days. * "The modern Greeks still retain a variety of traditional stories which they derive from classical antiquity; their national dance they pretend had its origin in the days of Theseus, and consider it as emblema. tical of that hero's adventures in the labyrinth; and the strain which accompanies it, is said to be the lamentation of Ariadne, when deserted by him at Naxos. See the interesting work of M. Guys. I once observed a circle of Albanian soldiers listening with great attention to a story, recited to them by a boy in the most animated manner. They seemed equally interested and delighted with the narrative, which excited from them loud and repeated bursts of laughter; I heartily regretted that my ignorance of the modern Greek prevented me from participating their enjoyment; especially as I could distinguish that the hero of the tale was Achilles, or, as the moderns pronounce his name, Achilevs." P. 44, 45. A postscript affords some desirable observations on the Romaic, or modern Greek language, as it is spoken in the Ionian islands. It is singular that the natives of Attica, though still remarkable for wit and acuteness of intellect, speak a more barbarous jargon* than even the inhabitants of these islands. "The ear," he adds, "which is accustomed to the English pronunciation of the Greek language, seeks in vain for that full, sonorous cadence which early habits have taught us to admire, and finds in its stead an acute, stridulous combination of sounds, which is far from being either agreeable or harmonious; while the mind is disgusted at the bar. barous structure of a dialect, which confounds the anomalies of ancient and modern grammar." P. 66. A satisfactory table is given of the difference between the English and Romaic pronunciation of Greek. From this elegant specimen of Mr. White's learned studies, refined taste, and rich poetical powers, we augur much future good to the public stock of instruction and amusement-Macte nova virtute. Anonymiana; or, ten Centuries of Observations on various Authors and Subjects. Compiled by a late very learned and reverend Divine, and faithfully published from the Original MS. 8vo. 12s. pp. 527. Nichols. 1809. We always take up works of this miscellaneous description with considerable pleasure, because we are sure to find something to please the palate of the reader, if we cannot recommend the whole to his attention. In this case, however, we can do both. A short advertisement, written about 1766, defends this sort of publication, and a P.S. dated 1809, and signed J. N. (John Nichols) tells us that the name of the reverend divine is withheld, merely because it would be contrary to the spirit of the title. The nature of the work will be best understood by a perusal of our selections. "II "It is noted in the Menagiana, that the surname of Devil has been borne by several persons. (See Dr. Tovey, p. 14.)—On the other hand, there is a person of the name of God mentioned in Hall's Chronicle.A lady called Deά; Misson, vol. I. p. 291.” P. 2. The long and short o are used, without any difference as to the quantity, and indeed frequently inverting them, vis.--Aveges is pronounced Argos." « VI. "The English word to whisper is a mere technical word, and intended to express the sound. The same may be said of the Latin superro, the French chuchuter, both of which represent the action.' P. 4. "X. "It is said the Peers sit in the House in right of their Baronies: but this cannot be true; for some Peers never were Barons; as Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, was created at first Viscount L'Isle, and never was a Baron: and I presume there are other instances besides this. The case is, every majus, includes its minus; and therefore, as a Baron may sit, every higher degree must enjoy the privilege." P. 6. "XI. "The first book printed by subscription, so far as I can recollect, is Minshew's Guide unto the Tongues.'" Ibid. "XII. "I know not where I picked up the following lines, but they are a severe satire on the insatiability of prostitutes: 'Celia's such a world of charms, "Tis heav'n to be within her arms; Celia's so devoutly given, She wishes every man in heav'n.'" Ibid. " XIV. "I have known some, out of an affectation of the etymology, pronounce onely for only; speaking the word as we do one, upon a presumption that it was derived from that adjective: but I take it to be deduced, not from one, but from alone; for it is written alonely twice in the letters which Anne Boleyn sent to Cardinal Wolsey." P.7. "Cancella are lattice-work, by which the chancels being formerly parted from the body of the church, they took their names from thence. Hence too the court of chancery and the lord chancellor borrowed their names, that court being inclosed with open work of that kind. And so to cancel a writing is to cross it out with the pen, which naturally makes something like the figure of a lattice." P. 8. "XXXIV. "In the year 1745, when the Scotch rebels entered England, and a general consternation was diffused over a great part of the north, a cer |