intereft to the work; this edition of which, as a brief preface tells us, is publifhed folely for the emolument of that artift. The plates are neatly executed by Alken in mezzotinto, and are in general tinged with brown. They are thirteen in number, representing Abergavenny and Caerfily Caftles, Pont-yprid, Melincourt Cafcade, Caraig-cennin, Dinevaur, and Haverford-weft Caftles, Neivegal Sands, Pont-aberglaslyn, Snowdon, the Eagle-tower Caernarvon Caftle, Druidical remains in Anglefea, and a View of Llangollen. Mr. Sotheby being thus incidentally brought before us, we may be allowed to fay of his Poems generally, that they poffefs many beauties, and indicate a good ear, with a confiderable fhare of tatte and talent; and that if he has not attained, what fo few are deftined to attain, the unaffected and ever-varied harmony of Cooper's blank verfe, or reached the fummit of Lyric compofition, he has at leaft written well in both ftyles. His Sonnets have full as much merit as that species of Poem ufually exhibits, and, in fome inftances, more; particularly the fourteenth, entitled Farewell to Bevis Mount.But his forte feems to be in couplet verfe, of which the concluding Poem on Llangollen, first publifhed in this edition, affords many proofs. For example, in its exordium: "Thou that embofom'd in the dark retreat, Veil'ft from profaner gaze thy hallowed feat, Woods, whofe free growth the gloom of midnight fpreads, And woo lone Nature's long-forgotten smile." Nor can it be faid that all the spirit evaporates in the beginning the following paffage at the clofe has yet more merit. After a fimile, in which he compares a man of middle life to a pilgrim who has pafled the more pleafant half of his journey, he proceeds: Pilgrim! thou once again mayeft haunt the bower Health, Health, whofe bright glow on rofeate vigour bloom'd; There can be little doubt that the union of Mr. Smith's landscapes with Mr. Sotheby's verfes will attract many purchafers; and the fhelf on which this book fhall be placed, will probably not contain many that, all things confidered, can rival it in elegance, ART. IV. Lieutenant Edward Moor's Narrative. (Concluded from our laft, p. 229.) NOTHING is more remarkable in this work than the talents the author difplays for ftriking, though unaffected defcription. The circumftances are selected with judgment, and expreffed with livelinefs, fo as to place a picture of the thing described before the mind of the reader. The following extracts from the account of the diftress for provifions in Purferam Bhow's army, may ferve to exemplify this fact. We premise the account of the elephants, because it is curious. "The bullocks of the Bhow's guns were now grown fo feeble, as to be scarcely able to drag them; the elephants were therefore feverely worked: they do not ufually drag guns, but walk behind, and, coming to a difficult place, the animal puts his forehead to the muzzle of the gun, and pushes it over: there is no occafion for attendants to fee that he does his duty; whatever he is told to do he will perform, if left to his own honour. As elephants will as long as poffible be taken care of, one of them was able to do the work of thirty or forty couple of bullocks, in the ftate they were in at this time. Elephants have been fuppofed to require a great deal of attendance, and fubject to many accidents, unless carefully and daintily fed: the idea is erroneous; for an elephant requires lefs attendance in proportion than any other animal, and will live where every other, neceffary for camp equipment, a camel excepted, will ftarve: in future, therefore, it is to be hoped that, in the movements of our armies, this noble animal will hold his deferved pre-eminence, and whatever confidence may be placed in him, in no inftance will he be found undeferving." The defcription then proceeds "In all parts of this army nothing is feen but defpondency and diftrefs; inftead of feeing every one bufied about their concerns, an univerfal languor and indifference prevails, and carcely a found is heard through this once noify camp. Horfes aud bollocks are dying in every for cr; whole lines of horfes are feen piketted in the fand, without a more to eat, while their melancholy maiters are fitting befide them, unable to relieve them, or their own wants, perhaps equally preffing. With whatever fcenes of mifery a perfon may be furrounded, it becomes more poignant when brought home to his own breaft; and we began now to feel in our own perfons, what we had hitherto only commiferated in others. Having the command of cash, we would not, of course, actually want, while money could prevent it; but money now began to have no value, as a common perfon could at one meal eat the produce of a whole month's pay; to give our people money, therefore, was to give them nothing; and those who brought any thing for fale, no longer demanded cash, but grain for their goods." P. 229. Rice and gram * for our family and cattle coft this day five rupees, at which rate, grain only, for a fingle horfe, would in one day coft upwards of three pounds fterling. "Will the following story be believed?-It is too true; and when retrofpection brings it to my mind, it furnishes other fenfations than the poor defire to excite attention by an improbable tale-other emotions than a wifh to deceive. A number of poor creatures, chiefly aged women, and children, having no means of earning a livelihood (and of whom could they beg?) for fome days exifted on the undigefted particles of gram, which they diligently picked from the excrement of the cattle. Now grain was no longer to be procured for the cattle, this wretched refource was cut off, and they foon found one in death!" P. 230. The defcriptions of places, and objects of curiofity, are not lefs remarkable. Chapter 23d is rendered very valuable by containing an ample account of the famous city of Brjapoor, more commonly known in Europe by the name of Vifiapour, but never before well defcribed. Tavernier, though in general a traveller of veracity, fpeaks fo flightingly of it, as almost to induce a fufpicion that he had never feen it: and other authors are greatly deficient in knowledge. "The firft view we had of Bejapoor, was from a rifing, half a mile weft of the outward city wall, from which point a large dome is the principal object; and on coming nearer, an incredible number of fmaller ones make their appearance. The outer wall, on the western fide, runs nearly north and fouth; and as we could fee no end to it in either direction, we concluded it to be of great extent: it is * A kind of vetches or tares. a thick a thick ftone building, about twenty feet high, with a ditch and rampart: capacious towers, built alfo of large ewn ftone, are at the dif tance of every hundred yards, but are, as well as the wall, much neglected, having in many places tum led into the ditch, from which, and from receiving other rubbish, that name cannot now with much propriety be applied to it. The towers are curiously con ructed: it appears, that after they were originally built, an ad litinal covering or cafing of large ftones was applied, which from feveral has fallen off and left the fuppofed original tower quite perfect." P. 310. Our traveller feems very fully to have employed his time, while he remained at Bejapoor, in viewing many curious and wonderfully extenfive pieces of architecture in that place. "Indolent, indeed,' he tells us, "must he be, who, to contemplate the magnificent variety of this once proud city. would not be roused to exertion." One of the most remarkable buildings is thus defcribed : Fronting the mofque, at the diftance of forty yards, having a piece of water and a fountain between, ftands the ftately mausoleum of the king (Ibrahim Padshah) an his family. It is a room of 57 feet fquare, inclofed by two virandas; the inner 13 feet broad and 22 feet high, the outer 20 feet broad by 30, fupported by seven arches in each face: the interftices of the ftones at top are filled with lead. and clamped together by ponderous bars of iron, fome of which have been wrenched from their holds by the deftructive Mahrattas, fuppofing, perhaps, that they were of a metal more precious. The ftones are fo neatly joined as not to be perceptible in the infe, where the tops of the virandas are ornamented with beautiful fculptures, chiefly paffages, from the Koran: but the fides of the room are in the most elaborate ftyle: it is indeed wonderfully fo. A black ftone, but not, we believe, marble, is the chief material, on which chapters of the Koran are raifed in manner of baffo relievo, and polifhed equal to a mirror. The part cut out to give a due degree of prominence to the letters, has on the northern fide been beautifully gilt, and adorned with flowers on a blue ground, in imitation of enamel. The doors, which are the only pieces of wood in the building, are handfone, and ftudded with gilt knobs; around the door ways in each face are a variety of ornaments exquifitely executed. There is a window on each fide of the four doors, and over them arches of open work, fo contrived, that what is not cut out expreffes paffages from the Koran. Around the fouthern door is a tetraftich, containing an account of the expenditure of this building; by which it appears to have coft fourteen lacs, and thirty-one thousand pagodas: it is not thus expreffed, but in a myftic manner, to bring in as often as posible the number NINE, which is of virtue in aftrological calculations; the lines conclude thus-one hundred and fifty-nine thoufand pagodas nine ties told. Eftimating the pagoda at its higheft value, the amount is nearly feven hundred thousand pounds fterling, which um we were informed was expended on the tomb alone, but we apprehend it in cludes cludes the mofque and adjacent buildings, and even then is an enor mous fum in a country where labour is fo cheap. Six thousand five hundred and thirty-three workmen, we were told, were employed on this elegant structure, thirty-fix years, eleven months, and eleven days." P. 312. Many other very elegant and extraordinary structures in this city are paticularly defcribed. One maufoleum contains a room 153 feet fquare, with a dome 117 feet diameter in its concavity. This, as the author obferves in a note, is fomething between the domes of St. Peter's and St. Paul's; the internal diameter of that of St. Peter's being 140, of St. Paul's about 100 feet. Most of the domes here are in the form of a globe, with only a finall fegment cut off at bottom: which feems intended for fhowing from the ground the greatest magnitude of the dome, which would otherwife be hidden by the body of the building. We should now difmifs this work, having given to it as much space as we can well allow, had we not promifed in a former number to make fome obfervations on the fuperftitions of India, and more particularly on the worship of the Lingam, and the women confecrated to that idol. Lieutenant Moor mentions thefe fubjects, upon his arrival at Bangoor, in fuch a manner as to make us believe he had never before had an opportunity, perfonally to verify the impurities of this worfhip, and feems to fuggeft an idea, as if the Bramins were afhamed of it, or concealed it, in places fubject to the infpection of Europeans. We hope that we do not miftake our author in imputing this fentiment to him, because it would be a proof that Chriftianity, however debafed by the Jives of Chriftians, can ftill put idolators to the blush. We are not ignorant that Sir William Jones, Bernier, Sonnerat, and many others, are defirous of acquitting the Bramins of the charge of idolatry; but we would defire thefe apologists for Braminifm to inform us, whether they argue on principles of religion, or philofophy. Religion will not countenance their opinions for a moment; for the religion they profefs exprefsly declares, that our worshipping the creature, inftead of the Creator-the work of men's hands, instead of the Living God, is the definition of idolatry. Religion knows no modification between an idol and a fymbol; and philofophy would inform them, that if the Bramins worship the unity of the Godhead, and teach the people to worship an infinite va * See p. 57. Madras. |