for the farit veneration is due to the Conftitution. It is likewise ro be fuppofid, that the King will do no wrong; and as to prevent this, a Privy Council is appointed by the Conftitution to aflft the King in the execution of the government, so if any wrong be done, “ these men," as Montesquieu expresses it, “ may be examined and punished " But if

any future King Mall think to screen these evil counsellors, from the jutt vengeance of the people, by becoming his own Minifter; and, in so doing, shall take for his fanction, “ihe attribute of perfection," hall trult to the deception of bis being “ a superior being," and cloak bimfelf under the maxim, that "the King can do to wrong ;" I say, in fuch a case, let the appeal already made to che Constitucion, to nacare, to reafon, to common senie, to experience, 20 fact, to precedent, and to Sir William Blackstone himself suffice; and preciude the necessity of any further Remarks from me 1.'

After enumerating the various diforders under which the Constitution is supposed to labour, this state physician, whose abilities, independent of other confiderations, fufficiently fave him from the imputation of being a quack, recommends as a restorative that an Adt should be immediately passed declara. tory of the constitution, for fettling the consticution, and for obtaining uniformity in the State.' Those who wish to know what is advanced on this subject muft be referred to the book itfelf, in which its noble Author has displayed great extent of political knowledge. His Lordthip, though not an elegant, is a

Except the parliament, which is the great council of the nation, the judges, and the peers, who, being the hereditary counsellors of the crown, have not only a right, but are bound in Foro Confcientia 80 advise the King for the public good; the Constitucion knows of no other council than the Privy Council

. Any other council, like Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Athley, Lauderdale, and as the initial letters of the names express, is a CABAL, and as such should be fupprefied. Nat. Bacon, speaking of the lofs of power in the grand council of Lords, fays, • The sense of State once contracted into a Privy Councit, is soon recontracted into a Cabinet Council, and Jalt of all into a favourite or two; which many times brings damage so the Public, and boch rhom/elves and Kings into extreme precipices ; partly for want of matarity, but principally through the Providence of God over-ruling irregular courses to the hurt of such as walks in them.' Pol. Disc. part 2. pag. 201.

I For experience, fail, and precedent, fee the reigns of King John, Henry III. Edward II. Richard II. Charles I. and James II. See also Mirror of Justices, where it is said, that this grand affembly (meaning the now Parliament or then Wittena-gemotte) is to confer the government of God's people, how they may be kept from fin, live in quiet, and have right done them, according to the cuso toms and laws; and more efpecially of corong done by the King, Queen, or their children :" to which Nat. Bacon adds this note, At this time the King might do wrong, &c, and so fay Bracton and Fleta of Kings in theis time.' Difc. part 1. pag. 37. Lond. 1739.

mervous and manly writer; one who seems more desirous of exploring truth, than ambitious of embellishing it with unne. cessary ornament. Of the facts on which his arguments are founded he appears to be fully informed, and his mode of arguing is close and convincing:

We have only to regret that Lord A. in treating a subject in which every Englilaman is so deeply interested, has fallen into the error of thofe politicians who have imagined that property (not the people) is the object of parliamentary representation; a do&rine fo abfurd, that we want words to express our astonishment at its existence in a country where the invaluable rights of the lowest citizen, whose only property is his FREEDOM, CIVIL and RELIGIOUS, are surely as much the objects of conftitutional protection, which implies representation, as the dirty acres and money-bags of the opulent, but less numerous and less useful, part of the community!

A

Art. XIV. A Poetical Epiftle to his Excellency George WASHING

TON, Esq; Commander in Chief of the Armies of the United States of America, from an Inhabitant of the State of Maryland. To which is added, a Sketch of the Life and Character of General Washington. 410. 2 8. 6 d. Annapolis printed, 1979; London reprinted for Dilly, &c. 1780,

LTHOUGH America is, or lately was, like all rising

countries, in a general state of improvement, yet poetry, in particular, does not yet seem to have been highly cultivated in that soil. But great events will produce great poets

Homer, perhaps, had never immortalized himself in song, had the Liege of Troy never taken place.--The specimens of American poetry which we have hitherto met with, are, probably, the dawnings of that brighter day which may, ere long, shine forth in full splendor,

The little poem kere republished, from the original American edition, is chiefly intended by its Author (a native of America *) as a compliment to his celebrated countryman, the Commander in chief of the Congress' troops.

Having paid due respect to the merits of the hero to whom this Epistle is immediately addressed, and reprobated the hostile

• Say, where along yon venerable wood,

My native Arcam swells thy Potomack's food,
Shall my untutor’d Muse begin the song,
Which future bards in rapture shall prolong:
Or there my little bark presume to sail,

Fann'd by fair Liberty's inspiring gale ?" By his native fream, the Author means the river Wiccomico, which emprics itself into the great river Potomack.

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conduct of Great Britain towards his native country, with a warmth of resentment which was to be expected in a poem of this kind, the Western Muse thus contraits the bloody picture with a prophetic delineation of the state of America, happily settled in the enjoyment of that freedom for which she is now struggling :

Great without pomp, without ambition brave,
Proud, not to conquer fellow men, but fave:
Friend to the weak, a foe to none, but those
Who plan their greatness on their brethren's woes ;
Aw'd by no titles, undefil'd by luit;
Free without faction, obstinately just;
Too wise to learn from Machiavel's false school,
That truth and perfidy by turns should rule ;
Too rough for Aattery, dreading ev'n as death
The baneful influence of corruption's breath;
Warm’d by Religion's facred genuine ray,
That points to future bliss th’unerring way;
Yet ne'er contrould by Superllition's laws,
That worst of tyrants in the nobleit cause ;
The world's great oiart, yet not by gold defiled,
To mercy prone, in juilice ever mild,
Save to the man who strikes at FreeDOM's roots,
And never curs'd with M-sf -- ds, N-ths, or B-tes.

Such be my country; whai her fons should be,
0! may she learn, great WASHINGTON, from thee!
Thy private virtues be their public rule,
Thy public conduct be the patriot school !
That living law, from whence her rising youth
May gaiher wisdom, constancy, and cruth,
Of independence catch the generous flame,

And learn to shudder at oppression's name! : It is the custom of some painters to draw flattering resemo blances; and we fear that this artist is of their number. We apprehend that the world never yet raw, and never will fee, human society in the high state of perfection which he has to fondly imagined

The memoirs of the life, and the sketch of the character of Mr. WASHINGTON, feem to contain the most authentic, as well as most circumstantial, account of this modern FABIUS, that hath yet appeared. The half-length portrait, given by way of frontispiece, is engraved from an original painting; and it is said to bear a juft resemblance of the General's person.

To This pamphlet is published for the benefit of the American prisoners in England. - It is true, as the benevolent Editor observes, in his prefatory advertisement, the pains of captivity cannot be much lightened by this small mite of an obscure individual ;' but, as he juftly adds, such munificent donations as have been made by Englishmen toward the relief of the Amo,

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rican prisoners, confined in this country, 'must stamp a lesson on the minds of those unfortunate captives, and our American brethren in general, that they fhould not withdraw all national affection from a country, the bulk of whose inhabitants have not withdrawn all national affection from them."

Ef ART. XV. Poems and Miscellaneous Pieces, with a free Translation o

the Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophocles. By the Rev. Thomas Maurice' A. B. of University College, Oxford. 4to. 10 s. 6 d. Doulley 1779.

OST of the poems contained in this volume hare already

appeared in print, and have been noticed in our Review. We observed in them a genuine poetical spirit, and melodious versification, with a mixture of inequality and incorrectness. We remember to have remarked, on one occasion, that as the Author was of inexperienced age, we might hope for better things; and, accordingly, several of the original pieces in this collection demonstrate that our hopes were not without foundation *. The Great have been too frequently addressed, even by good poets, in strains of servile adulation. Mr. Maurice's verses to the Marquis of Blandford, after having seen Blenheim-house, afford a manly, decent compliment.

After a natural introduction of the great Marlborough's triumphs, the poet thus proceeds :

• Here BLANDFORD, oft, as to thy wond'ring eyes
His deathless feats in bright fucceflion rise,
Congenial transports in thy borom roll,
And half his spirit fires thy infant soul,
Bus far from thee be war's tumultuous rage,
Nor let ambition taint thy tender age;
Let Spenser's bright example teach thy mind
Sublimer joys, and transports more refin'd:
Like him, thy hand to pining want extend,

Protect the orphan, and the wretch befriend.' The situation of Blenheim affording occasion, he mentions the story of Henry II. and Rosamond; which not inelegantly finishes the piece :

. But short che bliss unholy joys afford,
His raging confort seeks her abient lord;
And Rosamond, from love and Henry torn,
Retires to weep in yonder glooms forlorn.
Oh never more may guilty transports ftain
These hallow'd hadnis, nor jealous fires profane;
But ev'ry future lord, like Spenser, prove

The sweets of social life, and spotless love!' Hinda, an Eastern elegy, is not, as the Author informs us, a particular imitation of any Asiatic poet, but was written when

• See Hagley, a descriptive poem, Monthly Review, vol. Ivi. p. 156.

his

his imagination had been animated with the perufal of those beautiful specimens of Eastern poetry given to the world by Mr. Jones and Mr. Richardson, This elegy is the complaint of an Arabian lover, for the loss of his deceased bride. The Oriental character is, in general, well fustained, most of the images are local, and the language is marked by dignity and ease;

• Led by the far of evening's guiding fires,
That Ihne serene on Aden's lofty spires,
Young Agib trod the solitary plain,
Where groves of Spikenard greet his sense in vain :
In wealth o'er all the neighbouring Swains supreme,
For manly beauty every virgin's theme;
But no repose his anxious bosom found,
Where forrow cherish'd an eternal wound.
The frequent figh, wan look, and frantic start,
Spoke the despair that prey'd upon his heart.
The haunts of men no more his steps invites
Nor India's treasures give his soul delight.
In fields and deep'ning lhades he fought relief,

And thus discharg'd the torrent of his grief.'
After an apostrophe to happier Nymphs and Swains,' the
Soliloquist thus discloses the cause of his griefi

“ HINDA, once faireft of the virgin train,
“ Who haunt the forest, or who range the plain,
“ Sleeps were the boughs of yon black cypress wave,
“And I am left to languish at her grave!

" To that dear spot, when day's declining beam
“ Darts from yon shining towers a farewell gleam,
« Conftant as eve, my sorrows I renew,
“ And mix my tears with the descending dew,
“ The last fad debt to buried beauty pay,

“ Kiss the cold fhrine, and clasp the mould'ring clay." Refeating on past pleasures, he then episodically introduces a kind of epithalamium ;

« Prepare, I cried, prepare the nuptial fealt,
“ Bring all the treasures of the rihed East :
" The choicest gifts of ev'ry clime explore,
“ Let Aden + yield her tributary fore;
“ Let Saba all her beds of spice unfold,
" And Samarcand send gems, and india gold,
“ To deck a banquet worthy of the bride,

« Where mirth Mall be the guest, and love preside." Then expatiating on his own poffeffions, and describing the person of his beloved, his digression concludes with the following passage, in which the luxuriant pictures of Eastern poetry are happily imitated :