If, instead of aiming at every fpecies of manufactures, Ireland would more particularly cultivate her ftaple commodities, and feek rather a barter trade with us than a rivalry, the language of the two countries to each other might then be, You fhall take our provifions and linens; we will, in exchange, take your woollens, iron wares, cottons, &c. to an equal amount, if we can confume as much. This is my idea of reciprocity; and this mutual dependence, drawing the two countries closer together, would unite them by the bonds of intereft, which history fhews us fuperfedes the faith of the most folemn treaties in all our compacts it must be made our intereft to deal with you, and yours to return the favour: every thing fhort of this is mere expedient, too much in ufe with the adminiftrations of this country, and the echo only of reciprocal benefits.

If the charms of that fascinating word independence have not deluded too many, and disabled them from coolly ruminating on the confequences of it, in all its effects, and on the probable events which may arise therefrom, it may be worth the while of Ireland to recollect, that no nation on earth has the means of supplying her on equal terms with Great-Britain, the articles fhe in general ftands in need of, or can give her the credit we are enabled to do; and the fhould likewife remember, that her provifions not many years ago were prohibited here, a proof we can fupport ourselves without, and fpare to our foreign dependencies. In refpect to linens, it is well known Germany can fupply our confumption as well, if not better, than Ireland; and to encourage our importation from her, would in a particular manner favour our cutlery and hardware trades in exchange. It cannot be wished by any friend to the empire at large, that the mal-administration of either country fhould render it neceflary to adopt or impose any protecting duties on the commodities of the other, or partial bounties on their own: fuch a warfare must inevitably ensue as might end in ruin to the competitors.'

It is much to be wifhed, as Mr. Gibbons obferves, that we would, on found grounds, compare the two kingdoms to two adjoining counties; as Yorkshire, for example, and Lancafhire. But thofe two counties, as he alfo juftly obferves, pay the fame customs on all imports-are both taxed equally to the excife-and are governed by the fame laws, none of which militate in favour of the one county against the other. But if Great Britain and Ireland are put into the balance, with refpect to taxes, in what does their equality appear? The equilibrium is loft at once, and the lightest kicks the beam. It is only by an union between Great Britain and Ireland that the fuccefs of the one can become the intereft of the other, and that the riches and ftrength of either kingdom can become the property of both.

ART.

ART. VI. Florio: a Tale, for fine Gentlemen and fine Ladies: and, the Bas Bleu; or Converfation: Two Poems, by Hannah More, 4to. 3s. Cadell, London, 1786.

as

FLORIO, the hero of the firft of thefe poems, is represented a modern youth of gay renown," who inherited many good qualities from nature, but, being " by fate predeftined to a large eftate," disappointed the hopes that were formed of him, and was feduced by the two celebrated fyrens, pleasure and flattery. He was frivolous, however, rather than corrupted; for we are told,

His mornings were not spent in vice,
'Twas lounging, fauntering, eating ice;
His utmost credit, as a finner,

Was that he fometimes fpoilt a dinner,'

by coming too late, from fyftem. Such accomplishments, one would think, might have been acquired without any extraordinary pains bestowed on his education; yet he was partly indebted for them to the inftructions of a friend and tutor, hight Bellario." This Bellario was

A reasoning, reading, learned wight;
He was a prodigy of reading:
He knew each ftale and vapid lie
In tomes of French philosophy;
And then, we fairly may prefume,
From Pyrrho down to David Hume,
'Twere difficult to fingle out

A man more full of jhallow doubt.'

That David Hume was one of the shalloweft reafoners, from the age of Pyrrho down to the prefent times, has been demonftrated by the irrefragable affertion of that zealous defender of the faith, Dr. Beattie, whofe original genius, and bold difcoveries in philofophy, can only be equalled by the Chriftian meeknefs and gentleness of his temper, which have fo properly recommended him to the protection and gratitude of the Church of England as by law eftablifhed.

This Bellario, among other things, knew the "fceptic prat"tle," and the "fophift's battle," and

• Talk'd gravely of the atomic dance,

Of moral fitness.'

If our fair authorefs had ever read thofe "tomes of French "philofophy" which the condemns, fhe would have found, that though the French are very much addicted both to atheism and to dancing, they do not suppose that the world was framed

by

by a dance of atoms. The fyftem of morals which places virtue in acting agreeably to certain relations, and to moral fitnefs, was the production of the venerable Dr. Clarke; and that excellent philofopher and divine would be surprised to find himfelf introduced into fuch company as Pyrrho, Lucretius, and the French atheists.

In the account of Bellario's library, there are ftrictures on fome modern hiftorians, which do credit to the writer.

• He worshipp'd certain modern names
Who hiftory write in epigrams,
In pointed periods, fhining phrases,
And all the fmall poetic daifies,
Which crowd the pert and florid ftile,
-Where fact is dropt to raise a smile;
Arts fcorn'd by history's fober mufe,
Arts Clarendon difdain'd to ufe.'

We are at no lofs to guess the "modern names" to whom Mifs More alludes, who have debafed hiftory by points, antithefes, and all the falfe and artificial figures of ftile: and we give praise to the juftnefs as well as boldnefs of her taste, in marking them as the objects of cenfure, though fupported by the current of fashion.

The defcription of the country fquire and his daughter, though not remarkable for the originality of the characters, is among the best parts of the poem.

'Young Florio's father had a friend,

And ne'er did Heav'n a worthier fend!
A cheerful knight of good estate,

Whose heart was warm, whose bounty great,
At Chriftmas ftill his oxen bled,

With which the grateful poor were fed.
Refentment vanished where he came,
And law-fuits died before his name.
The old efteem'd, the young carefs'd him,
And all the fmiling village blefs'd him.
Within his caftle's gothic gate

Sat Plenty, and old-fashion'd State:

Scarce Prudence could his bounties stint ;-

Such characters are out of print!

O! would kind Heaven, the age to mend,
A new edition of them fend,

Before our tott'ring çaftles fall,
And fwarming nabobs feize on all P
This good and venerable knight
One daughter had, his foul's delight:
For face, no mortal could refift her;
She fmil'd like Hebe's youngest fifter:
ENG. REV. Vol. VI. April 1786.

S

Her

Her life, as lovely as her face,

Each duty mark'd with ev'ry grace:
Her native fenfe improv'd by reading,
Her native sweetnefs by good breeding:
No pretty starts of feign'd furprise,
No Tweet minauderies clos'd her eyes:
Led by Simplicity divine,

She pleas'd, and never tried to shine;

She gave to Chance each unschool'd feature,
And left her cause to Sense and Nature.'

Florio's father had decreed Celia (above described) to be his fon's bride; and the youth, in obedience to the last request of his honoured father, went to the country, reluctant and murmuring all the way, to pay his addreffes to his fair mistress. His heart, however, ftill hankered too much after the pleasures of the town, to relish a country life: from paftoral fhades and purling fireams he caft a wifhful look to London; like the Jews in the wilderness, who grew difgufted with the heavenly manna, and longed for more fubftantial fare-the flesh-pots of Egypt. To town accordingly he went, at the fummons of the gay Bellario, who introduced him to the all-accomplished Flavia, th'unrivall'd mifirefs of bon ton. This lady, a wit, a gamefter, and remarkable for her skill in cookery, plundered him of fome thousands at play, and reduced one of his friends to bankruptcy. Difgufted with French cookery, bon ton grimace, and afraid of an execution, he refolved to betake himself to the arms of folitude and Celia; and to live on roasted mutton, which was Celia's " standing difh." With her he acquired a taste for the fimpleft and the best pleasures; and was fo frugal of his time, that "he fwore that Titus wore a wig" to fave the time and fatigue of hair-dreffing. The delicacy of the fex, and of our authorefs in particular, appears in a striking light by the manner in which the defcribes the confummation of the marriage, leaving it entirely to the reader's imagination.

The reft, fuffice it now to fay,
Was finished in the ufual way.
Cupid, impatient for his hour,-

The poem then concludes with an excellent panegyric on good nature, which was reprefented and typified by the standing dish of roafted mutton: fo that, contrary to our expectation, the poem turns out not to be a tale, but an allegory!

It is obferved by Swift, that the Irish generally fet down their feats and caftles very near a good fituation: and the ftructure of the fable we have been reviewing approaches very nearly to a good fubject. The power of female beauty and virtue, arrayed in innocence and adorned with elegance, over

a youthful

a youthful and fufceptible heart; the force of an attachment to a fine woman to draw thofe, who are not totally corrupted, from the circle of diffipation; form an excellent fubject for a poem or a novel. But, though there be no occafion to reprefent fuch a heroine as a goddefs, the ought to poffefs other qualities befide good nature. "Always roafted mutton" would even pall on the taste of a clown.

The Bas-bleu is a panegyric on the well-known blueftocking fociety, in which there is a great deal of learning and a great deal of freedom difplayed. In the exordium our authorefs goes back to the beginning of things, and traces the hiftory of learned ladies from the famous Afpafia, the first Bas-bleu at Athens." This lady was admired for her wit and her beauty, and very liberal of both; and though a heathen, was by no means an atheift, for fhe worshipped Venus very devoutly. Our poetess next transports us to "Lucullus's fuppers in the Apollo," to liften to the bon mots of Pompey and Cefar, whofe convivial hilarity and cordial friendship would no doubt furnish a very elegant entertainment. We are next fet down in the quaint hotel de Rambouillet,

• Where point and turn and equivoque

Distorted every word they ipoke.'

At last we are introduced to "fage Bafcawen and bright Montague, who inherit an equal divifion of Leo's triple crown*." The quadrature of the circle, (fays our learned authorefs) is an eafy operation; Mrs. Vefey's plaftic genius can make a circle affume every figure,

Nay, fhapes and forms which would defy
All fcience of geometry,

Ifofceles and parallel,

Names hard to speak and hard to spell."

The fcience of geometry, ifofceles, and parallel, is not only hard to speak and to fpell, but fo very hard to be understood, that we doubt much if Sir Ifaac Newton himfelf could compre hend it.

Mrs. Vefey not only makes improvemements in geometry, but in chemistry also.

• But chymifts too, who want the effence,
Which makes or marrs all coalefcence,

*This reminds us of a theatrical anecdote of the last century. A queen dying, on the stage, fays to her two fons "Betwixt you two I will divide my crown. Right, cries a wag from the pit, it will be half a crown the piece to them." But it would not be quite fo eafy to divide a triple crown.