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from the impetuofity of the torrent, we cautiously picked our fleps, and, at length, after a four hours moft unspeakable fatigue, arrived at about three hundred yards beyond the spot, where the fubterranean paffage we had the day before explored, was expected to find an entrance into this dreadful place.

Here then we were obliged to ftop, a fall into a yawning gulph, in which I was providentially faved by a corner of a rock catching me by the knee, had hitherto given me an inconceivable degree of pain; but I had not fpoke; it now became fcarce bearable; out Bowever I was to crawl, and that too upon this tortured limb. The retreat accordingly began; but no anguish could furpass the excess of torment I was in. Often did I wish to remain where I was; no fuccour or affiftance could be given me: every man was painfully bufied in the charge of his own fafety. At length, having almoft worn out the other knee, and torn both my fides and back by forcing myfelf in thofe pofitions, I was compelled to call out for help, as we happily came to the firft opening where I could be raised. Languor and faintnefs from what I had fuffered, had totally deprived me of my ftrength: I was accordingly fcated on a rock, but in a few minutes, having collected my felf as much as poffible, I tottered through the reft of the cavern, helped where afiftance could be given me, and in that manner got to the bleffed funshine of the day. All the reft, however, were tolerably well, excepting two of our guides, one of whom had received a violent contufion on his head from a rock; and another feveral bruifes from a fall, in his climbing up the last aperture. Altogether, the depth we had defcended was about one hundred and forty fathom, or nine hundred and eighty feet, and the length about three miles, according to the miners calculation. Neither at this diftance were we at the end; a paffage ftill continued, but fo filled with water, and fo full of peril, that the miners themfelves were averfe to further trial. And here, my friend, I will take my leave of you for the prefent. The pains in my limbs are ftill excruciating, but a little time will fet all to rights again; all I have to fay is, that I never with even the greatest enemy I have in the world to be fo unpardonably led by curiosity as to tempt deftruction, where, independent of the dangers of the place, the falling of a fingle tone might bury him in eternity for ever.?

We have copied this under-ground excurfion at length, because we look upon it as a curiofity; no defcription of this three-mile cavern having, that we recollect, been given by preceding writers.

Many other entertaining extracts might be made, from various parts of this itinerary; but we have not room to enlarge. We must not, however, bid adieu to this agreeable roadcompanion, without hinting to him a particular correction or two, befide thofe which are pointed out by our Correfpondent, in the note. Thefe may prove to be of fome ufe to him, in cafe of a fecond edition; and thould a new impreffion be called for, the name of the Author affixed would certainly be of advantage, with regard to the reception which the Public might then give

to

to the work. Anonymous productions have feldom an equal chance of fuccefs: they have nothing to depend on, but real intrinfic merit; and even that may chance to be over-looked, in the crowd of unowned publications.

The paffages we have marked for the Author's reconfideration, in the work before us, are the following:

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P. 11, line 4. She, loved girl, was almost equally as fenfelefs.'-P. 21, 1. 14. His incitements to virtue are equally as ftrong. P. 23. Speaking of Cliefden Houfe, and Buckingham Houfe in St. James's Park, our Author miftakenly fays, they were both built by George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. We believe, that the first mentioned ftructure was raised by the celebrated Villiers, but the latter, now called the Queen's Palace, was undoubtedly built by John Sheffield, Duke of Bucks. P. 30, 1. 10. Within a small distance are fome tolerable coalpits: we are at a lofs to guess in what refpects a coal-pit can be deemed tolerable or intolerable. P. 33. The windows of the chapel in Wells Cathedral are faid to be too much darkened by the profufion of glass: this is an effect which we apprehend few readers of thefe Obfervations will be able to conceive, without fome explanation. P. 36, 1. 21, 'hung pendant': here is an explanation of one word by another, which was not wanted. P. 40, 1. 12, the number of travellers have [for hath] of late years decreased.' P. 42. Speaking of the Glaftonbury thorn, we are told, that this tree is of a remarkable fpecies in this country; but that it is common to a degree in the Levant and Afia Minor. This cant phrafe gives us no idea to what degree the tree in question is common in the Levant, &c. P. 91, The counties of Somerfet and Gloucestershire. P. 93, The profpect from Clifton-hill romantic and delightful to a degree.' We recollect no inftance of small talk looking well in print, but in the volume of Swift's Polite Converfation. P. 101, we read of a small room erected by itself.' By this, no doubt, we are only to understand that no other buildings were very near.

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P. 118, The infide of Gloucefter cathedral is clumfy to a degree. P. 125, 1. 18, for pairing, fhould we not read pareing? P. 140, Birmingham, it is faid, was, a few years ago, but an inconfiderable dirty village.' Camden would have told our Author, that, two hundred years ago, "Bremicham was fwarming with inhabitants, and echoing with anvils, &c." Our Author adds, that its fituation in Warwickshire, and on the borders of Staffordshire, gives it confiderable advantages;' but of what kind those advantages are, we are left to guess, without the smallest clue to guide us. P. 149, for Akover, read Okeover: by the country people pronounced Oker. P. 152, Proceeded on to Buxton, through a country as barren and defolate as one can well be conceived.'-Perhaps fome of the above are mere flips of the prefs.

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ART. V. An Effay on Hiftory; in Three Epiftles to Edward Gibbon, Efq. By William Hayley, Efq. With Notes. 4to. 7 s. 6d. Dodfley.

WE

1780.

E are happy to find this new ftar in the poetical hemifphere, whofe appearance we noted with so much pleafure, continues to fhine, if poffible, with increafing fplendor. The province of literature affords hardly any fubject of critical difcuffion that is of higher dignity and importance than that to which Mr. Hayley has now directed his attention. Simple and obvious as the rules of hiftory may appear to a fuperficial obferver, there are difficulties in the application of them that are in a great measure infurmountable; otherwife a perfect hiftorian would not have been fo long confidered as a literary prodigy. It will be found, however, if the matter be minutely examined into, that to be qualified for the compofition of hiftory will require talents and accomplishments that rarely are united there is fcarcely, indeed, any quality by which the human mind can be dignified or adorned, any excellence intellectual or moral, but will in fome degree, either immediately or remotely, be requifite in the man who fhall afpire to the title of a complete hiftorian. To delineate this character, and to point out the rules and precepts of his art, is the bufinefs of this admirable didactic Effay.

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The firft Épiftle opens, after a few introductory lines applicable to the gentleman to whom it is addreffed, with the connection between hiftory and poetry. The fubject of the prefent poem, he obferves, has been but flightly touched by the ancients; Dionyfius of Halicarnaffus and the inimitable Lucian being the only writers who have profeffedly treated of it. Having remarked the importance and advantage of hiftory, he then traces its origin and progrefs from Egypt into Greece. In his account of the Pyramids he has adopted, as he acknowledges in a note, the idea of Mr. Bryant; but the fublime and magnificent imagery, in which he has clothed it, is his own.

But in the center of thofe vast abodes,
Whofe mighty mafs the land of Egypt loads;
Where, in rude triumph over years unknown,
Gigantic Grandeur, from his fpiry throne,
Seems to look down disdainful, and deride
The poor, the pigmy toils of modern Pride;
In the clofe covert of those gloomy cells,
Where early Magic fram'd her venal spells,
Combining priests, from many an ancient tale,
Wove for their hallow'd ufe Religion's veil;
A wondrous texture! fupple, rich, and broad,
To dazzle Folly, and to fhelter Fraud!
This, as her cæftus, Superftition wore;
And faw th' enchanted world its powers

adore:

For

For in the myftic web was every charm
To lure the timid, and the bold difarm;
To win from eafy Faith a blind esteem,
And lull Devotion in a lafting dream.
The Sorcerefs, to fpread her empire, dreft
Hiftory's young form in this illusive vett,
Whofe infant voice repeated, as she taught,
The motley fables on her mantle wrought;
Till Attic Freedom brought the Foundling home
From the dark cells of her Egyptian dome;
Drew by degrees th' oppreffive veil afide,

And, fhewing the fair Nymph in nature's pride,
Taught her to fpeak, with all the fire of youth,
The words of Wisdom in the tone of Truth;
To catch the paffing fhew of public life,

And paint immortal fcenes of Grecian ftrife.'

At the clofe of this Epiftle, the hiftorians of Italy and Greece are characterized with fingular fpirit and difcernment. Of these, the laft whom he mentions is Anna Comnena, eldest daughter of the Emperor Alexius Comnenus and the Empress Irene, who flourished at the latter end of the eleventh century. She wrote the Hiftory of her Father in 15 books, first published in 1610, and afterwards reprinted in the collection of the Byzantine hiftorians. As this fair hiftorian, who, Mr. Hayley obferves, may justly be regarded as a fingular phenomenon in the literary world, is not generally known, we shall subjoin the compliment which he has here paid to her memory.

But while Monaftic Night, with gathering fhades,
The ruin'd realm of Hiftory invades ;

While, pent in CONSTANTINE's ill-fated walls,
The mangled form of Roman Grandeur falls;
And, like a Gladiator on the fand,
Props his faint body with a dying hand;

While favage Turks, or the fierce fons of Thor,
Wage on the Arts a wild Titanian war;
While manly Knowledge hides his radiant head,
As jove in terror from the Titans fied;
See in the lovely charms of female youth,
A fecond Pallas guards the throne of Truth!
And, with COMNENA's royal name impreft,
The zone of Beauty binds her Attic veit!
Fair ftar of Wifdom! whofe uprival'd light
Breaks thro' the ftormy cloud of thickest night;
Tho' in the purple of proud mifery nurt,
From thofe oppreffive bands thy fpirit burit;
Pleas'd-in thy public labours, to forget
The keen domeftic pangs of fond regret!
Pleas'd to preferve from Time's deftructive rage,
A Father's virtues in thy faithful page!
Too pure of foul to viclate or hide

Th' Historian's duty in the Daughter's pride!

Tho'

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Tho' bafe Oblivion long with envious hand
Hid the fair volume which thy virtue plann'd,
It fhines, redeem'd from Ruin's darkest hour,
A wond'rous monument of female power;
While confcious Hift'ry, careful of thy fame,
Ranks in her Attic band thy filial name,

And fees, on Glory's ftage, thy graceful mien
Close the long triumph of her ancient scene!'

The Preface to her Hiftory, in which "fhe feelingly displays the misfortunes of her life, and the character of her mind," is truly curious and valuable. Of this Mr. Hayley has given a tranflation in his Notes.

The fecond Epiftle is chiefly appropriated to the moderns. After confidering our obligations to the more rational of the Monkish hiftorians, and the indulgence due to writers of the dark ages, he contemplates the twilight of knowledge during the period of chivalry and romance, of which the principal luminary was Froiffart. He then adverts to the revival of ancient learning, the day-break of literature, under Leo X. The characters that now come in review are Machiavel, Guiccardin, Davila, Father Paul, the claffical Portuguese Bishop Oforius, the Spanish hiftorian Mariana, the Prefident De Thou, and Voltaire, whose portrait we shall exhibit.

Delighted Nature faw, with partial care,
The lively vigour of the gay VoLTAIRE;
And fondly gave him, with ANACREON's fire,
To throw the hand of Age across the lyre:
But mute that vary'd voice, which pleas'd fo long;
Th' Hiftorian's tale is clos'd, the Poet's fong!
Within the narrow tomb behold him lie,
Who fill'd fo large a space in Learning's eye!
Thou Mind unweary'd! thy long toils are o'er ;
Cenfure and Praife can touch thy ear no more:
Still let me breathe with just regret thy name,
Lament thy foibles, and thy powers proclaim!

On the wide fea of letters 'twas thy boast
To croud each fail, and touch at every coaft:
From that rich deep how often haft thou brought
The pure and precious pearls of fplendid Thought!
How didit thou triumph on that fubject-tide,
Till Vanity's wild guft, and ftormy Pride,
Drove thy trong bark, in evil hour, to split
Upon the fatal rock of impious Wit!
But be thy failings cover'd by thy tomb!
And guardian laurels o'er thy afhes bloom!

From the long annals of the world thy art,
With chemic procefs, drew the richer part;

*It may not be foreign to remark, that a copious and wellwritten hiftory of the Revival of Letters would be a valuable acquifition to English literature,

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