form our Readers, that it is quite exempt from that arrogance of temper, and that bitterness of invective, in which philological writers often indulge themfelves to a most unjustifiable and most odious excefs. As no work of Xenophon is more generally read, or more juftly admired, than the Memorabilia, we have employed our remarks upon the editor rather than the author. The limits of our Review will not permit us to enter minutely into the merits of the feveral manufcript readings. Upon one of thofe readings there is the following note:

Ρ. 3. 1. 1. ἐγίγνωσκεν ] ἐγίνωσκεν, Par. 1. et γίνωσκω fæpius apud Xenophontem, ut dulcius et άTTIXTEрov, invenitur.' We differ toto cœlo from the very candid and learned writer, for yiγνωσκω, not γινώσκω, is the Atticif. Γίγνεται, αττικώς. γίνεται, ελληνικως. Μaris. In confirmation of our opinion, which ought to be confirmed by every poffible proof, when we differ from an authority fo refpectable as Dr. Owen's, we will produce a note of Valckenaer Mewing, γίγνωσκειν et γιγνεθαι veterem effe verborum fcriptionem: firmat illam Latinam Gigno. Græcorum obfoleta forma fuit activa multiplex : γίνω γείνω γίνω οι γίνω, γιγίνω, γίγνω" ficut a' πέτω, πιπίτω, πιπτω· μένω, μιμένω, piper. This nose is on the 13-6th line of the Phaniffa.

To

We fufpect that Valckenaer's obfervation had been read, though it is not acknowledged, by the acute writer of the Fragmenta Grammatica Grace, publifhed in Edinburgh 1782, while we obferve that he diduces πίπτω from πίτω, not πέτω. put the fpelling of yigrúsaw beyond all doubt, we will quote a paffage from Heraclides, quoted by Euftathius on Odyf. M. p. 489. Γιγνώσκω δια των δύο γ ὡς εἶναι τῷ λόγῳ αὐτῷ, ἡμαρτημένον τὸ γινωσκώ бья могу ты катя αρχην γάμμα. ἐν δὲ τέτο τειότον καθ' Ηρακλείδην, πλαισιο ἂν ὁμοίως, καὶ τὸ γίνεθαι καὶ τα κατ' αυτο παλά, εἷς ἐν μὲν παλαιὸν, ἐν δυσὶ γάμμα έχρώντο, γίγνομαι λέο μενες καὶ γιγνομενοι, ὅὕτω δὲ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα.

We will clofe our eafons for diffenting from Dr. Owen, with quoting the note of Brunck on the 52d line of the Rane of Arif tophanes- dvayıyıŵoncılı μo-fic B. duplici 2, rectè-propriam hanc Atticis fcripturam, tum codicum, tum veterum grammaticorum auctoritate utique apud comicum reftitui.' Euftathius, p. 1064. 1 1. τὸ δὲ γινώσκειν, ἐν μὲν ὑστερον ̓Αττικοὶ μετὰ καὶ δευτέ του γάμμα γιγνώσκειν φασιν ὡς καὶ ὁ κωμικός δηλοι, καθα, καὶ τὰ gazi, y grwar. He then refers to the note of Valckenaer, γνεθαι, γ γνεθαι. quoted above. We add, that Zeunius in all his indices to the works of Xenophon, of which he is the editor, preferves the true (pelling.

We shall conclude our remarks on the V. L. with the follow ing obfervation of Mr. Belin, to which, after mature confideration, we cannot accede: Page 69. line 7. Si verba, pyès, θάλπες et πίνω, cum προς επιθυμίαν congruere, viris quibufdam

doctis,

doctis, non vifa funt, in animo non habebant non folum defiderii, fed cujus libet animi difpofitionis enouía effe fignificationem, inde dici poteft Juuía móve, James yes, Cl. Belin.' Upon comparing the criticifm of Belin with the text of Xenophon, we, at fift, did not abfolutely reject this interpretation; and we shall now endeavour in fome measure to illuftrate, for we mean not directly to juftify it, by a paffage in Andronicus Rhodius megi nadáv: Vid. p. 739. edit. Leyden. Τα γενικωτατα πάθη τέσσαρα, λυπή, φόβος επιθυμία, ηδονή. He then dehnes επιθυμία επιθυμία ἐστὶν ἀλόγο ὄρεξις ή δίωξις προσδοκωμένο αγαθε-Επιθυμίας δὲ ἔίδη, fays he, p. 742. are, Οργή, θυμες χόλον, πικρία, μήνις . κότα. ἔρως . ἵμερος, πόθῳ, δυσμένεια, δύσνοια, αψικαρία, ριψοφθαλμία. σπανις . τραχύτης, ερισπροσαλπάθεια : Φιληδονία. Φιλοχρηματία. φιλοτιμία, φιλοζωία. φιλοσωματία . γαστριμαργία. οινοφλυγία. hayveix. Andronicus afterwards proceeds to explain thefe words in detail, and his explanation fhews the latitude in which EISUpix, when used to exprefs the animi affectus, is understood. We confefs, however, that Belin's interpretation of Xenophon is circuitous, and fomewhat harth; and therefore, on the whole, we wou'd understand the paflige according to the plain and wellfounded canon, which Erneftus would apply to it. Subftantiva ad idem verbum referri fimul, quæ fingula commode non poffent, et fufficere, quod proximum verbo locum occuper, ei accommodatum verbum effe.' Dorville, as Zeunius well obferve, has moft ably and moft fully illuftrated this ufage, in his notes on Chariton; and who can recollect without indignation, the in- . jurious and illiberal treatment, which that great fcholar has experienced from the author of a Commentary on the Epifle to Auguftus, not quite fo READABLE as David Bume's Hiftory of England-in grafting fylte n on writings, where fyftem, probably, was never defigned, Dr. E. and Dr. H. feem Arcades ambo. The Fellow of Jefus College was perhaps not quite equal to the Paftor of "Thurcafton's Low Vale," either in acutenels of reafoning, or ingenuity of refinement; but he had too much good fenfe to fcoff at philology, and too much liberality to fieer at his fuperiors. P-17.

ART. V. Poems, chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. By Robert Burns. 8vo. Kilmarnock printed. No Bookfellers Name, nor Price. 1786.

POETA nafcitur, non fit, is an old maxim, the truth of which

has been generally admitted; and although it be certain that in modern times many veries are manufactured from the brain of their authors with as much labour as the iron is drawn into form under the hammer of the faith, and require to be afterwards fmoothed by the file with as much care as the burnishers

FI4

of

of Sheffield employ to give the last finish to their wares; yet after all, these verses, though ever fo fmooth, are nothing but verses, and have no genuine title to the name of Poems. The humble bard, whose work now demands our attention, cannot claim a place among these polished verfifiers. His fimple strains, artless and unadorned, feem to flow without effort, from the native feelings of the heart. They are always nervous, fometimes inelegant, often natural, fimple, and fublime. The objects that have obtained the attention of the Author are humble; for he himself, born in a low ftation, and following a laborious employment, has had no opportunity of observing scenes in the higher walks of life; yet his verfes are fometimes ftruck off with a delicacy, and artless fimplicity, that charms like the bewitching though irregular touches of a Shakespear. We much regret that thefe poems are written in some measure in an unknown tongue, which muft deprive most of our Readers of the pleasure they would otherwife naturally create; being compofed in the Scottish dialect, which contains many words that are altogether unknown to an English reader: befide, they abound with allufions to the modes of life, opinions, and ideas, of the people in a remote corner of the country, which would render many paffages obfcure, and confequently uninterefting, to those who perceive not the forcible accuracy of the picture of the objects to which they allude. This work, therefore, can only be fully relifhed by the natives of that part of the country where it was produced; but by fuch of them as have a tafte fufficiently refined to be able to relish the beauties of nature, it cannot fail to be highly prized.

By what we can collect from the poems themselves, and the fhort preface to them, the Author feems to be ftruggling with poverty, though cheerfully fupporting the fatigues of a laborious employment. He thus fpeaks of himself in one of the poems:

The ftar that rules my lucklefs lot,

Has fated me the ruffet coat,

And damn'd my fortune to the groat:

But, in requit,

1

The magic wand then let us wield;
For ance that five and forty's fpeeld
See crazy, weary, joylefs Eild c,

With wrinkled face,

Comes hoftan, hirplan owre the field,
With creeping pace.

When ance life's day draws near the gloamine,
Then farewell vacant, careless roamin,

And farewell cheerful tankards foamin,
And focial noise;

And farewell dear deluding woman,

The joy of joys!'

Fired with the fubject, he then burfts into a natural, warm, and
glowing defcription of youth-

• O life! how pleafant in thy morning,
Young Fancy's rays the hills adorning!
Cold-paufing Caution's leffon fcorning,
We frisk away,

Like school-boys at th' expected warning,
To joy and play.

We wander there, we wander here,
We eye the rose upon the brier,
Unmindful that the thorn is near,
Among the leaves;

And though the puny wound appear,

Short time it grieves.'

None of the following works' [we are told in the Preface] were ever composed with a view to the prefs. To amufe himfelf with the little creations of his own fancy, amid the toil and fatigues of a laborious life; to tranfcribe the various feelings, the loves, the griefs, the hopes, the fears in his own breaft; to find fome kind of counterpoife to the ftruggles of a world, always an alien fcene, a tafk uncouth to the poetical mind; the fe were his motives for courting the Muses, and in these he found poetry its own reward.'

Thefe poems are chiefly in the comic ftrain. Some are of the defcriptive caft; particularly Hallowe'en, which contains a lively picture of the magical tricks that ftill are practifed in the country at that feafon. It is a valuable relic, which, like Virgils eighth Eclogue, will preferve the memory of these fimple incantations long after they would otherwise have been loft. It is very properly accompanied with notes, explaining the circumftances to which the poem alludes. Sometimes the poems are in the elegiac ftrain, among which clafs the Reader will find a Once. b Attained, or past. c Age. a Comes coughing, halting, [hirplan means rather walking crazily, through age and pain, than lamely, ftrialy fo called] over the field. glooming; the clofe of day; after fun-fet, before it be dark.

e Gloamin,

much

much of nature in the lines to a moufe, on turning up her neft with the plough, in Nov. 1785-and those to a mountain-daily, on turning one down with the plough, in April 1786. In these we meet with a ftrain of that delicate tendernefs, which renders the Idylls of Madam Deshouliers fo peculiarly interefting. Some of the poems are in a more ferious ftrain; and as thefe contain fewer words that are not pure English than the others, we ha felect one as a fpecimen of our Author's manner.

The poem we have felected exhibits a beautiful picture of that fimplicity of manners, which ftill, we are affured, on the beft authority, prevails in thofe parts of the country where the Author dwells. That it may be understood by our Readers, it is accompanied by a Gloffary, and Notes, with which we have been favoured, by a friend, who thoroughly understands the language, and has often, he fays, witneffed with his own eyes, that pure fimplicity of manners, which are delineated with the moft faithful accuracy in this little performance. We have used the freedom to modernife the orthography a little, wherever the measure would permit, to render it lefs difgufting to our Readers fouth of the Tweed.

The Cotter's Saturday Night. Infcribed to R. A**** Esq.

I.

My lov'd, my honour'd, much refpected friend,
No mercenary Bard his homage pays;

With honeft pride, I fcorn each felfish end,

My dearest meed, a friend's esteem and praise;

To you I fing, in fimple Scottish lays,

The lowly train in life's fequefter'd scene;
The native feelings ftrong, the guileless ways,
What A**** in a cottage would have been;

Ah! tho' his worth unknown, far happier there I ween!

II.

November chill blows loud with angry fugh ;
The fhort'ning winter-day is near a clofe;
The miry beafts retreating from the pleugh;

The black'ning trains of craws h to their repofe:

The toil-worn Cotter from his labour goes,
This night his weekly moil is at an end,
Collects his fades, his mattocks, and his hoes,
Hoping the morn in eafe and reft to spend,

And weary, o'er the moor, his courfe does homeward bend.

f Cotter is a labouring man, who rents a small house from a farmer. Sugh, the found made by a ftick, or other thing, drawn forcibly and quickly through the air; or the found of the air among trees, or other oppofing objects. b Crows, or rooks.

moil is ufed in this fenfe, in many parts of England.

Labour;