THE

MONTHLY REVIEW,

For JUNE, 1792.

ART. I. The Pleasures of Memory, à Poem, in Two Parts. By the Author of "an Ode to Superftition, with fome other Poems *." 4to. pp. 71. 35. 6d. Boards. Cadell. 1792.

I' the author of this poem be thought happy in the choice of a copious and fertile theme, which has yet, by no means, been exhaufted, he is equally fo in the manner in which he has treated it. Correctnefs of thought, delicacy of fentiment, variety of imagery, and harmony of verfification, are the characters which diftinguifh this beautiful poem, in a degree that cannot fail to enfure its fuccefs.

The work opens with the description of an obfcure village, and of the pleafing melancholy which it excites, on being revifited after a long abfence. The poet reprefents himself as furrounded with thofe objects which recal to his memory the days of his childhood; and, by means of the affociating prin ciple, excites à fucceffion of interefting emotions:

Mark yon old Manfion, frowning thro' the trees,
Whofe hollow turret wooes the whistling breeze.
That cafement, arch'd with ivy's brownelt fhade,
First to thefe eyes the light of heav'n convey'd.
The mouldering gateway ftrews the grafs-grown court,
Once the calm fcene of many a fimple fport;
When nature pleas'd, for life itself was new,
And the heart promis'd what the fancy drew.
See, thro' the fractur'd pediment reveal'd,
Where mofs inlays the rudely-fculptur'd fhield,
The Martin's old, hereditary neft.
Long may the ruin fpare its hallowed gueft!

As jars the hinge, what fullen echoes call!
Oh hafte, unfold the hofpitable hall!
That hall, where once, in antiquated ftate,
The chair of justice held the grave debate.

Now ftain'd with dews, with cobwebs darkly hung,
Oft has its roof with peals of rapture rung;
When round yon ample board, in due degree,
We sweeten'd every meal with focial glee.
The heart's light laughter crown'd the circling jeft;
And all was funfhine in each little breaft.
'Twas here we chas'd the flipper by its found;
And turn'd the blindfold hero round and round.
'Twas here, at eve, we form'd our fairy ring;
And Fancy flutter'd on her wildeft wing.
Giants and genii chain'd the wondering ear;
And orphan-woes drew Nature's ready tear.
Oft with the babes we wander'd in the wood,
Or view'd the foreft-feats of Robin Hood:
Oft, fancy-led, at midnight's fearful hour,
With ftartling ftep we fcal'd the lonely tow'r;
O'er infant innocence to hang and weep,
Murder'd by ruffian hands, when fmiling in its fleep.
Ye Household Deities! whofe guardian eye
Mark'd each pure thought, ere register'd on high;
Still, ftill ye walk the confecrated ground,
And breathe the foul of Infpiration round.
As o'er the dusky furniture I bend,
Each chair awakes the feelings of a friend.
The ftoried arras, fource of fond delight,
With old atchievement charms the wilder'd fight;
And ftill, with Heraldry's rich hues impreft,
On the dim window glows the pictur'd crest.
The fcreen unfolds its many-colour'd chart.
The clock ftill points its moral to the heart.
That faithful monitor 'twas heav'n to hear!
When foft it spoke a promis'd pleasure near:
And has its fober hand, its fimple chime,
Forgot to trace the feather'd feet of Time?
That maffive beam, with curious carvings wrought,
Whence the caged linnet footh'd my penfive thought;
Those muskets cas'd with venerable rust;

Thofe once-lov'd forms ftill breathing in their duft,
Still from the frame, in mould gigantic caft,

Starting to life-all whisper of the paft!'

This power of the mind he conceives to be called into action in two ways; either by the presence of fenfible objects, or by an internal operation of the mind. The former is the fubject of the first part, the latter of the fecond. The recollection, which is awakened by fenfible objects, is conceived to be produced by means of that power of affociation, by which the perception of any object leads to the idea of another, which was connected with it in time or place, or which can be compared or contrafted with it. This is illuftrated by a variety of examples; particularly

particularly by the attachment which we naturally form to inanimate objects; and by the pleasure derived from historic scenes, from painting, and from the review of juvenile days. The affociating principle, as employed by Memory, is fhewn to be conducive to virtue no less than to happinefs; addreffing our finer feelings, and giving exercife to every mild and generous propensity. Its power is felt through all animated nature, and its effects are peculiarly ftriking in the domeftic tribes:

Recal the traveller *, whofe alter'd form

Has borne the buffet of the mountain- ftorm;
And who will first his fond impatience meet?
His faithful dog's already at his feet!
Yes, tho' the porter fpurn him from his door,
Tho' all, that knew him, know his face no more,
His faithful dog fhall tell his joy to each,
With that mute eloquence which paffes fpeech.
And fee, the mafter but returns to die!
Yet who fhall bid the watchful fervant Aly?
The blafts of heav'n, the drenching dews of earth,
The wanton infults of unfeeling mirth;

Thefe, when to guard Misfortune's facred grave,
Will firm Fidelity exult to brave.'

She pre

Memory in her higher province is often bufily employed by man, when excited by no external cause whatever. ferves for her use the treasures of art and science, hiftory and philofophy; as this poet reprefents, under an image strictly accurate and exquifitely beautiful, in the following lines:

Ages and climes remote to Thee impart
What charms in Genius, and refines in Art;
Thee, in whose hand the keys of Science dwell,
The penfive portrefs of her holy cell;

Whofe contant vigils chafe the chilling damp
Oblivion steals upon her vestal-lamp.'

It is the office of Memory to colour all the profpects of life; for we can only anticipate the future by concluding what is poffible from what is paft. On her agency depends every ef fufion of the fancy, whofe boldeft effort can only compound or tranfpofe, augment or diminish, the materials which' fhe has collected or retained. When the first emotions of despair have fubfided, and forrow has foftened into melancholy, the amufes with a retrospect of innocent pleasures, and infpires that noble confidence which results from the consciousness of having acted well:

Ah! why should Virtue dread the frowns of Fate ?
Her's what no wealth can win, no power create!

Ulyffes's dog will here prefent himself to every reader's memory. Rev.

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A little

A little world of clear and cloudless day,

Nor wreck'd by ftorms, nor moulder'd by decay;
A world, with MEMORY'S ceafelefs fun-fhine bleft,
The home of Happiness, an honest breast.'

When fleep has fufpended the operation of the organs of fenfe, Memory not only fupplies the mind with images, but affifts in their combination; even in madnefs itfelf, the revives paft perceptions, and awakens that train of thought which was formerly moft familiar:-but her beft fphere of action is in a well-cultivated and well-regulated mind.

Ah, who can tell the triumphs of the mind,

By truth illumin'd, and by tafte refin'd?

When Age has quench'd the eye and clos'd the ear,
Still nerv'd for action in her native fphere,
Oft will the rife-with fearching glance purfue
Some long-lov'd image vanifh'd from her view;
Dart thro' the deep receffes of the past,
O'er dusky forms in chains of flumber caft;
With giant grafp fling back the folds of night,
And fnatch the faithlefs fugitive to light.

So thro' the grove the impatient mother flies,
Each funlefs glade, each fecret pathway tries;
Till the light leaves the truant-boy difclofe,

Long on the wood-mofs ftretch'd in sweet repofe.'

Nor are we pleafed only with a review of the brighter paffages of life; events, the moft diftreffing in their immediate confequences, are often cherifhed in remembrance with a degree of enthufiafm:-but the world and its occupations give a mechanical impulfe to the paffions, which is not very favourable to the indulgence of this feeling; it is in a calin ftate of mind, that Memory most perfectly performs her talk, and Solitude is her beft fphere of action. This conviction introduces a charming tale, which illuftrates the influence of Memory in folitude, fickness, and forrow. We could with pleasure tranfcribe it, but we must not foreftal the gratification which the reader will receive from perufing it in its proper place, in the work.

ART. II. Letters from America, Hiftorical, and Defcriptive; comprifing Occurrences from 1769 to 1777, inclufive. By William Eddis, late Surveyor of the Cuftoms, &c. at Annapolis, in Maryland. 8vo. pp. 455. 7s. 6d. Boards. Dilly. 1792.

TH

HESE letters include an interefting period, and relate to events, which, however painful in their detail, and difhonourable to the British name, have, in their confequences, been not altogether unpropitious to Great Britain; and are deemed, by fome prophetic minds, to contain, in their womb,

the

the germs of univerfal freedom. The bloody conteft with the Americans, though it increased our public debt and diminifhed the volume of the empire, has not deftroyed our refources, nor injured our commerce; and it is contemplated by the world as a proof of our energy, ftrength, and riches. Yet the object was unjust and impolitic; and our recollection looks back, with extreme concern, on the fcenes of carnage and horror which it exhibited. In reviewing Mr. Eddis's volume, this must be the cafe; for part of his correfpondence contains an account of the commencement and progrefs of the war: but we could not avoid obferving that, had all the communications to Government, from America, been of the fame complexion with those of Mr. Eddis to his friends, the Government could not have been fo fanguine in their expectations; for, before the fword was drawn, he fays, in one of his letters, that the fpirit of oppofition to minifterial meafures appears to blaze, fteadily and equally, in every part of America.'

Mr. Eddis arrived on the American continent in the month of August 1769, and, by virtue of his fituation, had an opportunity of collecting the prevailing fentiments and difpofitions of the Americans; fo that his reprefentations merit regard. He quitted it in Nov. 1777. His letters are forty in number. Those, which are placed at the beginning of the volume, contain fhort defcriptions of the country, of the government, and of the trade, manners, and cuftoms, of the inhabitants; thefe are followed by others, which give an account of the breaking out of the war, and of the vigour and unanimity with which the colonies engaged in it, together with its progrefs, till his departure from New York; the concluding letters narrate the difficulties and dangers which the author experienced, from the time of his difmiffion from his office at Annapolis, in confequence of his refufing to take the oath tendered him by the Americans, till he arrived at New York. Of this correfpondence, that part which defcribes the country and the ftate of fociety in America, will generally be thought the most entertaining. He touches on a variety of topics, but in rather a too curfory manner; he writes, however, with eafe, and his remarks are generally fenfible. In his fixth letter, he gives an account of the ftate of fervitude in Maryland; and as this may be acceptable at the prefent juncture, to many of our readers, we shall make no apology for laying a part of it before them:

• Perfons in a state of fervitude are under four distinct denominations: negroes, who are the entire property of their respective owners: convicts, who are tranfported from the mother country for a limited term: indented fervants, who are engaged for five years previous to their leaving England; and free-willers, who

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are