REVIEW OF LITERATURE.

NON QUO SED QUOMODO.

Anecdotes of Literature and scarce Books; by the Rev. W. Beloe, &c. In two Vols. Rivingtons. 1807.

THE editor of these volumes, which, from their title, promise much information and entertainment, has long had a certain name in the world of literature, and has of late been the subject of conversation on an occasion very distinct from literary merit, and the preface to this work is occupied in obviating the impression it has created; whether the endeavour succeeds or fails, it cannot but be owned that the apology is made with much self complacency; and as it has little to do with our present examination, we hope he will succeed in proving that his misfortunes arose from credulity rather than from guilt.

Judging from the situation, which Mr. Beloe held for many years, we should have considered it unlikely that any one was so well qualified for the execution of a work of this nature as the present editor; but from our examination, we have no hesitation in affirming, that there is scarcely one of the numerous harpies that watch and pounce upon the tables of Leigh, Sotherby, or King, to the annoyance of real literature and the indulgence of prodigal vanity, but (supposing them guilty of six months industry) could, with equal advantage and assistance, have produced the same quantity of information, at the same price. The editor is an old man without the benefit of experience;" he has seen the biblio-mania rage high; and he now and then deigns to stoop from his "pride of place," like a prudent general, to take advantage of the weakness of others. Sed de his satis. We now proceed to give some account of the miscellaneous contents of these volumes, which are upon a similar plan to the periodical production of Samuel Egerton Brydges, Esq. the intelligent editor of Phillips's Theatrum Poetarum, now publishing under the title of Censura Literaria.

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The leading part of the first volume contains little more than an account of the early editions of the Classics, in the collection bequeathed to the British Museum by the late Clayton Cracherode, and the majority of the observations are copied from the insertions Z-VOL. I.*

of the donor. Some of the notices of the Parisian library are new to us, and curious. At page 86 Mr. Beloe has corrected an error of George Steevens, Esq. relative to a copy of the second edition of Shakespeare, by committing one himself.

Mr. Beloe has given an account, at page 73, of" a pastoral history in smooth and easie verse, written long since by John Chalkhill, Esq." under the title of Thealina and Clearchus, printed in 1683, by Isaac Walton, and describes it as a book of extreme rarity. At the end of this article the editor adds, "there is no copy of this book in the British Museum, and I am indebted to a friend for being able to present the reader with this account." Perhaps we have been imposed on by a forgery; but we have now before us a copy of the work here described, which was bought of Mr. Beloe five years since, by Thomas Payne, at the Mews' gate; in which there is a long insertion in commendation of as dull and uninteresting a poem as ever occupied type, by this same Mr. Beloe, and for which copy Mr. Payne, and the subsequent purchaser, paid in proportion to the commendation. This is not the only volume we possess, under similar circumstances.

Under the title of James the 1st, we have the following gratuitous remark, the vulgarity of which is only equalled by its ignorance: "The writer of the following letter to this same monarch, would not easily have believed that the prince, his son, would afterwards be expelled from his dominions, for his extravagant attachment to that same Babylonish strumpet, on a deliverance from which he thus congratulates his father.”

Then follows the letter referred to.

We have as little respect for the corruptions of the Romish church, as the reverend author before us, but at the same time we cannot but remonstrate on the indecency of treating, with Billingsgate language, the supporters of opinions, by which the major part of Europe is now guided, and thereby checking that liberality of thinking, which placed the Protestant religion in the place of popery and superstition. Moreover, it is becoming every man who writes, particularly who abuses, to know the subject on which he descants; and if Mr. Beloe had as much historical knowledge as an almanack manufacturer, he would have known that the repudiated favourer of " the Babylonish harlot," was the brother of Charles the Second, and not the son of James the First. An account of the wanton Countess of Shrewsbury occurs at page 164; “whose name," says the editor, "was Anna Maria

Brudenell, daughter of Robert Brudenell, Earl of Cardigan; she was second wife to Francis Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, who was killed in a duel with the Duke of Buckingham, his wife's lover, in 1667." The Duke of Buckingham was her lover.

The account thus related on the authority of almost all contemporary historians, Mr. Beloe endeavours to invalidate by a reference to the " Mémoires de Grammont," and adds, "there is an Old English translation of these memoirs of the English court, by Count Hamilton, in the British Museum." Mr. Beloe seems very partial to the "Mémoires de Grammont," and at the same time does not appear to know that they were written by Count Antoine Hamilton; as the History of Charles the Twelfth, or of Louis the Fourteenth, by Voltaire.

An imperfect account of the early English critics occurs at page 229, given chiefly from the communications of that respectable antiquary, George Chalmers, Esq. who requested the editor to give a succinct account of such essays on the subject of English poetry, as are most remarkable for their scarcity and value. This advice Mr. Beloe followed as far as he was able, that is, as far as his friend instructed him. The plan was an excellent one, and we believe has been carried to a greater extent by a gentleman who, if we are not misinformed, intends to publish select specimens of early English criticism.

In one of the most interesting parts of the first volume, under the article Thomas Nash, we have another example of the editor's historical knowledge. "Thomas Nash was born at Leostoffe, in Suffolk, in the reign of Charles the First. His father was descended from the Nashes of Herefordshire, as he himself informs us, in his whimsical production, called the Praise of the Red Herring, &c." He adds, " he died about the year 1600, at the early age of 42."

How a man could be born in the reign of Charles the First, and die (as it is believed Nash did) in 1600, we leave to the ingenuity of the learned editor to prove.

The remainder of this volume is occupied with a list of rarities in the collection of Mr. Kemble, Malone, and Garrick.

The first article we stumble upon in the second volume, is "the secrets o angling," published by J. Davors, in 1653, a book o scarce, as to be only found in the library of Mr. Douce; a poetical volume so rare, as to "have escaped even the indefatigable industry of Ritson." As Ritson spared no oversight in others,

he deserves no mercy when at fault himself; but it is rather too much to chastise him for omitting a poet of the seventeenth century, when he professes to include only those of the sixteenth.

The poetry of Elizabeth Melville, (page 95) and Elizabeth Grymeston, (page 109) has been exemplified in former numbers

of the Mirror.

"A fig for Momus," 1595, the account of which the editor owes to Mr. Chalmers, forms an article at page 114, and Mr. Beloe considers this the first collection of English satires, and (to omit numerous other examples) immediately afterwards cites, from Meres, a reference to Pierce Plowman, &c.

We are obliged to Mr. Beloe for the copy of Dr. Tanners letter to Archbishop Wake (P. 304); but that letter, so far from proving that a great part of the additions in the second edition of Wood's Athenæ Oxonienses, were supplied by Dr. Tanner (as Mr. Beloe thinks it does) proves the very reverse. Dr. Tanner says, "I did do a little, &c. but not worth owning." P. 306.

Omitting to notice more trifling errors, we turn aside from these lacuna to point out, with pleasure, some articles which are curious, and for introducing which to our notice, the editor has our unfeigned thanks. Among these are the letters of Hickes, page 22; the account of the Devonshire gems, page 182; the additions to Granger, page 191; the account of Nash, and the account of the Malone, Garrick, and Kemble collections, in volume the first.

In the second volume, the songs extracted from curious and rare plays, are entertaining; and the catalogues of the works of Dekker, Greene, Gabriel Hervey, &c. with extracts from their writings, illustrative of contemporary biography, as well as several other articles in this volume, have considerable interest, and claim our applause. Having said thus much, we have little to add. In the execution of every work, an eye should be had to the author's impediments or advantages in the execution of his task : and when we consider that the present editor had the benefit and assistance of the libraries of Mr. Chalmers, Mr. Douce, Mr. Malone, Mr. Kemble, &c. &c. and the range of the British Museum, the libraries of the Marquis of Stafford, and the Duke of Roxburgh, we do not hesitate in saying, that no one ever sat down to a work under better auspices.

Upon the whole, then, it appears that Mr. Beloe intended to tell all he knew on the subject of literature and scarce books;

and, as he has not told us much, it follows that he knew but little.

The Stranger in Ireland; or a Tour in the Southern and Western Parts of that Country, in the Year 1805. By John Curr, Esq.* Author of a Northern Summer, &c. 4to. pp. 530. 21. 28. Phillips. 1806.

Ir is a miserable loom indeed that never produces a single piece of good stuff; a wretched mine that yields nothing but dross. Even Mr. Phillips weaves and digs to more advantage, for in Sir John Carr he has at least one piece of rich fancy goods, and a large lump of silver ore.

To our agreeable traveller the public are indebted for an abundance of amusement, as they must well recollect, when they perused his "Northern Summer" and "Stranger in France." He now presents them with a dish of equal dimensions, but its bulk need not alarm the literary stomachs of the most moderate powers of digestion, for it is a light and savoury composition, which may be devoured with vast ease and pleasure, notwithstanding its size,

After a dedication, by permission, to Francis Earl of Moira, and a preface, he enters on his first chapter, which, with several anecdotes, describes his journey through Wales to Holyhead, and in his second we find ourselves with him in Ireland. A minute and interesting description of Dublin then takes place, previously to the commencement of his northern and western excursions up the country. Boileau used to call Moliere the Observer, and Sir John, by the way of distinction, is justly entitled to the appellation, for nothing escapes his observation. A more lively, chatty, entertaining traveller we never met with. His remarks on the deplorable state of the coin in Ireland form the most serious and important part of the work-they deserve the consideration of government. From such multifarious documents we know not how to select, and perhaps, at this time of the day, it is scarcely necessary to give any specimen; however, we shall make one extract, to shew the easy and familiar style in which he writes.

"As I am no botanist, I beg leave to quit shrubs and flowers for beauties of another and far more interesting nature. As I returned to my hotel, my eye naturally endeavoured to ascertain the truth of an assertion made by a writer, who has justly rendered himself obnoxious

* Now Sir John Carr.