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ed? His fond attentions poffeffing all the uniformity of affection, are not always received, and very feldom returned, with that kindnefs which they deferve; and the manner of life moft fuited to his character and wishes is continually interrupted by the capricious fancies of this unreflecting beauty. She will determine, on a fadden, to go into the country; and as he is never contradicted, the immediate arrangements take place or complying with her defire. In a ortnight, perhaps, her fpirits demanda range of air,and fome diftant bathingpace is thought neceffaryto relieve their Laguor. Her jewels are new fet every winter, the plate is frequently melted down to take a new form, and her coach is known to have been painted twice in fix months. Thus his amufements are obflructed, his agreeable focieties are troubled, and Se fruits of his ftudious enquiries blaited, by the elegant folly and uncorected vanity of a fantastic wo

man.

not being in a fituation to realize them by a practical obedience. I know, as well as you, that I have been wrong from the beginning; an unlimited indulgence to my wife, has been attended with very unpleasant effects: but what can be done? An alteration in my conduct would now be followed by the most unhappy confequences. There are, my friends, certain circumftances, and I feel myfelf at this moment to be furrounded by them, when it is an act of prudence. to let a woman play the fool, for fear the fhould play the devil."

A felect party of real friends, for he has many of them, finding that he diftant jeer or plealant farcafm, bowever varied and repeated, do not awaken him from that fupine ftate of nilion which feparates him from them, and keeps him a flave, where fa.ery is moit unmanly and dif,racefu, waited upon him fo lately as Veuerday morning, to remonftrate on me folly of his conduct, and to urge hin, in the ftrongeft manner, to fave hemelf and the object of his affection, by fpirited and timely exertions, from becoming the joke or the pity of all who know them. He received them this ufual kindness, pleaded guly, without the leaft referve or belitation, to all their accufations, and concluded his grateful anfwer to them in the following manner "I acknowledge the good fenfe of your reafonings, and the propriety of your aufels, and I feel my misfortune in

"You may, my good friend," faid Don Cleofas, call this prudence, if you pleafe, and it may be confidered as fuch by this very wife nation; but the unenlightened Spanish hufbands would vote, without a diffenting voice, that the Inquifition would be the fittest place for any one who should endeavour to promulgate fuch heretical doctrines. For my part, I am clearly of opinion, that a woman who is permitted to play the fool, is in an actual ftate of preparation for the fu ture game, and will never be fatisfied till fhe has played the devil."

"You are in luck," obferved Af modeus," for here is one who would be very ready to fupport your argument. Be to good as to obferve the lady who is paffing in a phaeton, drawn by four grey ponies, which the drives with all the dexterity of a stagecoachman. She is a woman of family, and was married to a man of fortune, from whom the has been fome time feparated. She played the devil with her husband, fhe now plays the devil with the man who keeps her, and the will, one of thefe days, play the devil with herself." "I prefume," faid the Count," that he played the fool fit." "By no means," anfwered the Demon; "that part of the piece was performed by the gentleman who married her."

Cca

Reviers

204

Review of New Publications.

Sermons, by Hugh Blair, D. D. F. R. S. Edin. One of the Minifters of the High Church, and Profeffor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres in the Univerfity of Edinburgh. 3d. vol. 8vo. pp. 434. 6s. boards. Cadell. 1790.

HE number of fermons in this r. On the true honour of man. 2. On fenfibility. 3. On the improvement of time. 4. On the duties belonging to middle age. 5. On death. 6. On the progrefs of vice. 7. On fortitude. 8, On envy. 9. On idleness. 10. On the fenfe of the divine prefcience. 11. On patience. 12. On moderation. 13. On the joy and bitterness of the heart. 14. On characters of imperfect goodness. 15. On the facrament of the Lord's fupper, as a preparation for death. 16. On the ufe and a bufe of the world. 17. C extremes in religious and moral conduct, 18. On fcoffing at religion. 19. On the creation of the world. 20. On the diffolution of the world.

Tvolume is twenty.

Such are the important and interefting fubjects, which Dr Blair has chofen for the difcourfes now publifi ed; and they, who are acquainted with the former volumes, wilt naturally anticipate the masterly manner in which they are treated. To fay, indeed, that these fermons are equal to thofe that preceded them, is perhaps, the highest praife that we can beftow; and while we willingly afford them this commendation, we likewife congratulate the literary world on the acquifition of thefe elegant models of compofition; at the fame time, ftill more warmly congratulating the world in general, on fo important an addition to the common stock of moral and religious inftruction.

The qualities which peculiarly diftinguish the compofitions of Dr Blair,

are an accurate and natural arrange ment; a talent for elegant and perfpicuous illuftration; and a fingular felicity in feizing those views of a fubject which come home to the underftanding and heart; and, which is more valuable than all, a spirit of rational and manly piety.

In fome of the fermons, however, we have more peculiarly admired a bolder or more pathetic tone of eloquence, than we generally meet with, even in the compofitions of Dr Blair. To thefe, we think that even a higher tribute of praife is due, than that which we have already paid; and it is pleafing to us to obferve, that the talents of the author feem to rife in proportion to his fame, and that his laft production gives evidence of pow ers, which, perhaps, in his earlier works, he feared to exert. Of this kind, the fermons that appear to us the most remarkable, are thofe on death, on the creation, and on the diffolution of the world.

If, in the general tenor of his fermons, the author has exhibited a model of found and elegant instruction ; if in fome, of the moft-fimple and per fuafive eloquence; in these laft fermons he has attained a height of fublimity which he feems not before to have attempted, and which, in our opinion, is almoft without a precedent in the history of this fpecies of conpofition in our country.

In the enjoyment of lettered fame, these are other men who participate with Dr Blair: but in the application of talents and of learning, to render mankind wifer or better, there are few li terary characters who can claim an equal fhare; and however we may be difpofed to confider his fermons 25 the productions of genius and of tafte, when we regard them in this more important light, we feel them intitled to that ft 11 more honourable fame

which is the portion of the wife and good alone, and before which all literary fplendor disappears.

Tranfactions of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, vol. 2. 4to. 1 1.5 s.
Dickfon

written language uniformly to correfpond. Were this scheme really practicable, which we very much doubt, it would fo entirely obfcure the analogy of the language, (an object by no means fo trifling as Dr H. feems to fuppofe) that it would merit confideration whether the benefits would overbalance the disadvantages of the plan.

In the Hiftory of the Society, we have alfo a letter from the Tefhoo Lama, to Governor Haftings, communicated by Mr Maconochie. This letter is interefting, as Mr Maconochie juftly obferves, on two accounts,

Firft, that it eftablishes beyond all. "queftion, that the Tefhoo Lama, "though a Pontiff of inferior rank to "the Dalai Lama, is understood to "poffefs the fouls of Saints or divine

WHEN focieties for the cultivation of literature and fcience were Springing up in many places, both of our fifter kingdom and the Continent, it was for fome time a kind of reAection on Scotland, that its capital, though abounding in men capable of giving luftre to any fociety, could boaft of no public inftitution of that nature; none at leaft that feemed difpofed to add to the celebrity of their country, by regularly imparting to the perfonages that flourished in formworld the refult of their labours. We "er times, and to retain the rememare happy, however, to find, that this "brance of what happened to them reflection will now be taken off, while" in thofe paft periods of exiftence. the Royal Society of Edinburgh con- "2dly, That the fame places which tinue to publish their Tranfactions." are regarded in Bengal as peculi A fecond volume of thefe is now be- "arly facred, are likewife regarded. fore the public, and will not, we be- by the religion of Fo, as holy; lieve, diminish the reputation the So-" that the Tehoo Lama, in fome of ciety defervedly acquired from the "his former ftates of existence, is first. We fhall endeavour to prefent "fuppofed to have refided in those our readers with fome flight view of "places; that the Ganges, foreverthe contents of the work. "ed among the Brahmins, is alfo This volume begins with the Hif" revered by the worshippers of Fo; tory of the Society from December "and that the reference by the fol1785 to December 1788. The first "lowers of that religion in Japan, to thing that ftrikes us here, is a pretty "fome region in India, as the origia copious abilract of a difcourfe, by Dr " and holy land of their faith, is Huttor, on the Elements of Speech. "here afcertained to belong to Benle it the Dr analyfes, with confider-"gal. Thefe circumftances fuggeft able acutenefs, the various organical "very important reflections with reinflections, by which the letters are "gard to the hiftory of the religions formed, from which he gives a fort "of Eastern Afia." of fyftematic arrangement of the Alphabet. The attempt is not new, but is followed out with confiderable ingenuity. Dr H. concludes with a propofal for the improvement of Alphabetical writing, by affixing to every letter a certain determinate and invariable found, and making oral and

Nothing further of confequence ap-. pears in the Hiftory of the Society, except an account of an attempt to diftil fpirits from carrots, which does not appear to promife great utility.

The Hiftory is followed by an Ap pendix, giving a lift of new members, and a biographical account of three

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that have died fince the Society's former publication, viz. the late Lord Prefident Dundas, Sir Alexander Dick, and Sir Thomas Miller. This part of the work feems to have been adopted in imitation of the French Academy,

Where Eulogy, with one eternal smile, Heaps her faint roles in a withering pile; But we doubt if it is a branch of the publication that will add much to the fame of the Society. Biographical Memoirs, if they are ever introduced into the Tranfactions of a Philofophical Society, ought certainly to be appropriated to fuch of the members only, who have been diftinguished for literary or fcientific purfuits. Thofe whofe celebrity has arisen from objects different from, and little connected with, the bufinefs of the Society, however meritoriously, it is as in proper to introduce there, as it would be to infert the memoirs of a phyfician in a military biography. The two eminent judges whofe lives are given to the world in this volume, merited and obtained univerfal applaufe for their conduct in the execution of the high offices they filled; but we fee nothing from thefe memoirs that could render their hiftory a proper appendix to the hiftory or tranfac tions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, however well entitled to a place in the annals of Scottish jurif prudence. This obfervation is not applicable to Sir Alexander Dick, whofe ardent regard to the interefts of fcience, juftified the Society in giving his life an honourable place in their records.

The hiftory of the Society is concluded with a lift of donations received fince lafl publication.

To be continued.

The Poems of Ferdofi. Tranflated from the Perfian by Jofeph Champion, Efq. 410. pp. 460. 125. boards. Cadell.

1

THE poetry of the Afiatics promi fes more than amufement. Their annals and their religion being exhibited in verfe, their poems folicit the examination of philofophers, and particu larly of hiftorians and divines. The original of the poems here tranflated by Mr Champion, are greatly admired in the Eaft. Ferdofi is the Homer, and his Shah Nameh is the Iliad, of Perfi. As a proper introduction to the tranflation of that part of this vo luminous poem, which has been prepared for the English prefs, Mr Champon has prefixed an amufing effy ou the life and writings of Ferdofi.

By this account, it appears, that Abul Caffem Munfuril Ferdoh was defcended from Ahmed ul Ferdofi, one of the principa inhabitants of the town of Sar, in the province of Tus, in the kingdom of Khorafan. As fuperlative abilities excite a kind of idelatrous admiration, mankind are not fatisfied unless they introduce fomething unufual, if not marvellous, into their hiftory. Various prefages of greatnefs have, according to ancient ftory, accompanied the births of remarkable perfons, whereby they have been diftinguished from the herd, marked as Beings pecuiarly blessed, and held up as objects whom Fame is to place on her highest pinnacle. It was in this way, as the Perfians relate, that Ferdofi was ushered into the world. His great celebrity as a poet was, at the time of his birth, revealed to his father in a dream, in which he faw the infant ftanding with his face to the weft, and elevating his voice; the echo of which reverberated from every quarter. This was explained by the interpreter whom Ahmed confulted, as meaning, "that the fame of his fon, and his poetic talents, would be the theme of the univerfe."

So the fact was: Ferdofi foon dif covered a mind remarkably vigorous; the ftrength of his memory was equal -to the intenfenefs of his application ; '

and

and the dawn of his poetic career evinced to the poet Affadi the glory of his meridian fun. Animated by him, Ferdofi applied himself to hif. tory, and conceived the noble defign of exhibiting the exploits of the kings and heroes of Perfia in verse. At the court of Mahmoud, fultan of Ghezny, poetry and hiftory were the purfuits which the fovereign at this time moft efpoufed, and which were, of course, the direct road to wealth and fame. Report foon carred the fingular reputation of Ferdofi to the fovereign's ear; he ordered his attendance, received him as the glory of his court, and honoured him with every mark of royal confidence. Ferdoft's defign coinciding with the with of the fultan, he was appointed, as the only man equal to the tafk, to write the annals of Perfia, which had been lately difcovered, and the atchievements of the heroes, in a series of heroic poems. For every thoufand lines, the monarch ordered him a thoufand dinars, (a dinar is nearly 8 s. 6 d. ;) whatever the poet compofed in each day, was read to him in the evening; and as the poen.s were fi nifhed, they were copied, and difperfed throughout the empire. In the 70th year of his age, (in the 374th year of the Hejira,) he finished his heroic poem entitled the Shah Nameh, which confifted of one hundred thoufand lines; and, prefenting them to the fultan, demanded his reward. Mahmoud, being a poet himself, exproffed his approbation of Ferdofi in verfe, and ordered the ftipulated fum to be paid to him; but the vizir being the poet's enemy, fent him, in fealed bags, fixty thousand filver, intead of gold, dinars. Thefe were brought to him as he was bathing; and Ferdofi, conceiving the filver dinars to be a defigned affront of the ful:an, immediately diftributed them to those about him, giving 20,000 to the keeper of the bath, 20,000 to a

fruiterer who attended, and 20,000 to the flave who brought the money.

The poetic courtiers, long envious of Ferdofi, interpreted this fpirited conduct of the poet as difrefpectful to the fultan; who was, by various infinuations, at laft irritated against him, and obliged him to fly from Ghezny.

Ferdofi fled, but he could not be difgraced, nor impoverished. Though abandoned by the fultan of Ghezny, various princes courted and protected him. His flight ferved only to diffuse his fame. At Bagdad he had an apartment aligned him in the vizir's palace; and the caliph, charmed with the productions of mis mufe, ordered him the fum that had been witn-held by the fultan. The enraged Mahmoud, hearing of his time at Bagáiď, demanded him to be delivered up; and to avoid his anger, our poer was obliged to proceed to Tus. Here, as a boy was repeating to him his verfes, he fuddenly expired; and as the people were carrying him to his grave, a prefent of 60,000 dinars arrived from the fultan, whofe refentmeat was now removed. These were tendered to, but refufed by, his daughter, who, in honour of her father, erected a famous ftone ftair-cafe on the banks of the river, which was to be feen a few years fince at Tus. It is related, alfo, that the foltan expended the 60,000 dinars in building a public edifice to the memory of the poet.

Thus was Ferdofi careffed when living; and though the lumptuous monument erected by Mahmoud to his memory is perifhed, his poems remain an everlasting monument of his learning and abilities. Homer was never more admired by the Greeks, than was Ferdofi by the Perfians. To his poems they attribute feven qualities; the bafis of knowledge, the fpring of excellence, a model of hiftory, the true portrait of religion, the exciting of joy, the exciting of for

row!

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