Unknown to sex the pregnant oyster swells, And coral insects build their radiate shells." During the numberless ages that intervened between the advancement of vital fibres to animals, the different circumstances to which individuals were exposed by exciting different wants and sensations, would produce corresponding changes in their organization, and in some of the most complicated sexual reproduction would commence. At first the two sexes would be united in the same individual, as we find to be the case in snails; but this soon proving inconvenient, the hermaphrodites, by the help of wishing and imagination, or (in the fanguage of another school of modern philosophy equally rational with Dr. Darwin's) by exerting their energies, would be able to separate the sexes into distinct individuals, and by successive improvements convert a snail into a man and presides, ind sex from sex the nascent world divides." The evolution of this supremely aband system is the main object of the wo first cantos; the ingenious author, wever, finds occasional opportunities informing us how the more compliated animals originated from the simder ones. Animal life begun while the rth was yet covered with water; but hen the continents were raised by cenil volcanoes, multitudes of microscopic malcules would find themselves in the For on the moist earth, and being thus ged to adopt new habits and modes life, would, by degrees, convert their atic organs into aerial ones; their ANN. REV. VOL. II. fins would become legs and wings, and their gills be changed into lungs, &c. "As in dry air the sea-born stranger roves, .Each muscle quickens, and each sense im proves; Cold gills aquatic form respiring lungs, It grieves us to throw any suspicion on the originality of this luminous theory; but truth obliges us to say that the Abbate Fortis has at least as strong a claim to it as Dr. Darwin: this philosopher being of opinion, not merely that microscopic animalcules and some of the simpler animals have learnt to accommodate themselves to a terrestrial instead of an aquatic existence, but that the human race has originated from mermen and mermaids; he is inclined to believe that the celebrated Neapolitan diver, surnamed the fish, was, like Achilles, Aristæus, and other heroes of antiquity, very that the Greenlanders have but very nearly allied to the oceanic nymphs; and lately emerged, as is evident from their strong attachment to whale oil and seal-flesh. In a note to the "Botanic Garden," Dr. Darwin throws out a hint that insects may have originated from the male and female blossoms of vallis. neria, and other diæcious plants; the same idea is repeated in the present work, whence we may conclude that the author considered it as by no means improbable. He repeats also with seeming satisfaction the old Egyptian and Rabbinical notion, that man was formerly hermaphrodite, and sagely remarks, in confirmation, the existence of the rudiments of nipples in the male. That the human from a family of monkeys on the banks race was formerly quadruped, and arose of the Mediterranean, who had accidentally learnt to use the adductor pollicis, he is well disposed to believe, on the authority of those profound and accurate observers, Buffon and Helvetius! The philosophical notes," which, from the title page, seem to have been of at least equal value, in the estimation of the author, with the poetical text, besides serving to illustrate the proper subject of the poem, are occupied with various geological and chemical discussions. These exhibit as noble a contempt of facts and philosophical precision as any part of the work; but to enter into a formal refutation of them is neither consistent with our plan, nor with the limits to Q ૧ which we are restrained. A short ex- harmonious; the second describes the ample will be sufficient. cavern of Oblivion. "It is probable that much oxygen enters the composition of glass, as those materials which promote vitrification contain so much of it, as minium and manganese; and that glass is hence a solid acid in the temperature of our atmosphere, as water is a fluid one." All future chemists will, we doubt not, hold themselves indebted to Dr. Darwin for informing them that an acid may be composed of siliceous earth, metallic oxyds and alkali, and that water and sulphuric acid are similar substances, though they have not a single characteristic property in common. We have already observed, that the poetry of this volume is by no means so deeply impressed with the characters of genius as the "Botanic Garden;" there are no passages to be compared with the splendid simile of the balloon, or the sublime description of the army of Cambyses, in the African deserts, perishing by hunger and overwhelmed by sand. We are disgusted by perpetual repetitions, and no author ever so strikingly exemplified that odious fault of imitating himself: the structure of the verse too is remarkably monotonous, and destitute, in several instances, of that rich harmony which so eminently distinguishes the former productions of Dr. Darwin. As pleasing exceptions, however, to these faults we shall quote two passages: the first of which is taken from the tri umphal progress of Cupid and Psyche, in the second canto, and is exquisitely In twinkling shoals the scaly realms adore, The feather'd nations shed a floating shade; Admiring Fauns pursue on dancing hoof, move, CHAPTER XI. PLAY S. THE loss of popularity which Drury-lane theatre experienced last year from the secession of Mrs. Siddons and her brother, was most amply retrieved by the in. vention of a thing in which a dog and a wooden doll were the most interesting characters. After such a proof of the public taste, we cease to be astonished at the miserable trash contained in the following articles. ART. I. Hear Both Sides; a Comedy, in five Acts; as it is performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. By THOMAS HOLCROFT. 8vo. pp. 90. THIS comedy acts extremely well: there is a good deal of bustle and plot in it, and the dialogue is supported with a considerable degree of spirit. Sir Ralph Aspen, a valetudinary, both in body and mind, is a well drawn character, and has something of originality in it. There s an inconsistency in suffering Fairfax, who is represented as having so much real disinterestedness and generosity about him, to behave with such unfeeling contumely, and inhumanity to the starving Milford. His restitution of Old Travis's fortune, too, should have anticipated the personal reproaches of Headlong, Transit, &c. It should not have been possi ble to have attributed his conduct to a double motive. ART. II. Delays and Blunders; a Comedy, in five Acts; as performed at the Theatre Royal Covent Garden. By FREDERICK REYNOLDS. 8vo. pp. 74. THE critics of box, gallery, and pit, ave passed judgment on this play; we submit in silence: if they have blundered upon applause, we shall delay censure. ART. III. The Voice of Nature; a Play, in three Acts; as performed at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. By JAMES BOADEN. IN the third chapter of the first book Kings is that celebrated judgment of olomon between the two harlots, which ade his wisdom renowned throughat all Israel. A French dramatist, M. aigniez, selected this as the subject of a lay, and Mr. Boaden's "Voice of Natre" is avowedly imitated from the agement du Salomon. The story is simple ad affecting, and Mr. Boaden has cerinly confided its effect upon the audi ence entirely to its own intrinsic simplicity and pathos. It has succeeded upon the stage without show or bustle, with out the aid of elevated sentiment or spirited dialogue. The voice of nature has prevailed; it must indeed find its way to every maternal bosom, and we consi der it as honourable to the feelings of an audience, that it should be gratified with such a plain unvarnisheď tale as this. RT. IV. A Tale of Terror; a Dramatic Romance, in three Acts; as first acted at the Theatre Royal Covent Garden. By HENRY SIDDONS. WE are sorry to see the name of Siddons annexed to any thing so foolish. T. V. The Maid of Bristol; a Play in three Acts; as performed at the Theatre Royal in the Haymarket. By JAMES BOADEN. With an Address to the Patriotism of the British People, as an Epilogue, written by George Colman the Younger. 8vo. pp. 48. MR. Boaden is an old stager; he knows ty well what will draw a clap from the gallery, and is not at a loss to throw out something every now and then to please the pit, and eke the boxes. Every other sentence in this play is in honour of the humanity, the generosity, the nobleness, the tenderness, the patriotism, the every thing else that is godlike of the British tar. In times like these, as Mr. Colman says in his epilogue "In times like these, the sailor of our play Much more than common sailors has to say." ed out. But Mr. Boaden is no party. man: he is too prudent to trust the fate of his play to the sailors alone; and very wisely, now that two-thirds of the audi ence are soldiers, or soldiers' wives and daughters, very wisely he divides his compliments with an even hand between the red coats and the blue trowsers. glibly off his tongue, and his is the most The sea-slang of Ben Block glides very entertaining character of the piece. ART. VI. Hearts of Oak; a Comedy, in five Acts; as performed at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. By JOHN TILL ALLINGHAM. 8vo. pp. 71. MR. Allingham seems to have had Kotzebue's Stranger in view when he wrote this play. Dorland suspects Eliza, his wife, of infidelity; is absent from her seventeen years; returns to England in disguise, is introduced to her, finds her innocent, implores pardon for his injurious suspicions, and the play closes with the prospect of their living very happily afterwards. The singular character of the stranger, however, is not transferred to Dorland, but to Dorland's friend, Ardent, where it is preposterous and unaccountable. When Dorland leaves the country he gives charge of his daughter to Ardent; Ardent receives very large remittances for the education of his adopted child, and, in order to stifle any jealousy which might arise in the bosom of his own daughter, at the superior af fluence of his friend's, he sends the former out of the way. Can any thing ex ceed the absurdity of supposing that a man would turn his own child out of doors, and neglect her, that he might take somebody's else! Mr. Allingham must study the human heart a little more before he can excel as a dramatist. ART. VII. Mrs. Wiggins; a Comic Piece, in two Acts; as performed at the Theatr: Royal Haymarket. By JOHN TILL ALLINGHAM. pp. 49. THE audience had sense enough to express their disgust at such insufferable nonsense. ART. VIII. Raising the Wind; a Farce, in two Acts; as performed at the Theatr Royal Covent Garden. By JAMES KENNEY. SVO. pp. 37. 8vo. · THERE is a good deal of dry humour in this after picce; the principal character, Diddler, is very well supported, and with the assistance of Mr. Lewis's act ing, we hope Mr. Kenney has found: answer his purpose of raising the wind ART. IX. The Caravan: or, the Driver and bis Dog. A grand serio-comic Reman Written by FREDERICK REYNOLDS. The Music by Vilham Res in two Acts. 8vo. pp. 46. IT is curious enough that the principal personage in this "grand serio-comic romance" should be omitted in the dra matis persona! Carlo-the dog Car who has brought so many good house CHAPTER XII. ROMANCES AND NOVELS. IT is a singular circumstance, that the once popular, but, of late years, almost forgotten romance of Amadis de Gaul, should have been brought to public notice by two writers in the course of the last year. To Mr. Southey we are indebted for a compressed prose translation of the whole; and to Mr. Rose for a metrical version of the first part of this celebrated work. Of the novels which have appeared since the publication of our last volume, we have selected Delphine, translated from the French of Madame de Stael, and The Depraved Husband, originating also from a French female writer; because, from their popularity, we suspect that they have already done some mischief, and, if not timely opposed, may be productive of more. Miss Riversdale's Letters, the St. Clair of Mrs. Helme, and Thaddeus of Waraw, by Miss Porter, are added to our list, as the best among the many incentives to idleness, which the last year's stock of the circulating libraries can exhibit. ART. I. Amadis de Gaul: a Poem, in three Books; freely translated from the first Part of the French Version of Nicholas de Herberay, Sicur des Essar, with Notes. By WILLIAM STEWARD ROSE, Esq. 12mo. THIS venerable romance has been chefly known to the public through the medium of Mons. de Tressan's French abridgment. Although we admit that gentleman's lively talents, as well as the extent of his researches into ancient lore, we have never been quite satisfied with s romances, and particularly with his Amadis. It is difficult, perhaps impossible, for any Frenchman so absolutely to forget his country, his age, and above all, his own dear person, as to execute a good and sustained picture of former Baaners. Above all, the solemn and dignified stile of chivalry, exalted too by the formality of the Spanish character, sits awkwardly upon the Pa risian man of fashion. It is a masquerade disguise which he finds it imsible to maintain with uniformity; and he therefore ever and anon lifts the mask, slides into a bon-mot, a compliment, or a trite sentiment about la dance humanité: all which is utterly in Consistent with the grave and masculine Thanners of the knights and dames of old, and with the corresponding tone of their historians. Impressed with these feelings, it is with great pleasure that we behold an emulation among the English literati to restore to his pristine honours Amadis de Gaul, the model of romance and flower of knights errant. The public have been at the same time favoured with a poetical version of the first book by Mr. Rese, and with a prose translation of the whole four books by Mr. Southey, of which in our next article. Amadic de Gaul differs from most romances of chivalry in the unity and simplicity of the plot, and affords at the same time a greater display of the author's inventive powers. The numerous romances of the Round Table, as well as those of Charlemagne and his Paladins, concern a set of actors, to each of whom earlier tales, or perhaps remote tradition, had already affixed a local habitation and a discriminate character. The story, therefore, frequently referred to older romances on the same subject, ૨૧૩ |