which is the edition in my possession, extending to 153 essays. The Observer, in six volumes, appeared in 1798; in 1803, it was incorporated with the British Essayists; and in 1808 it was reprinted in three vols. 12mo. The essays which compose these interesting volumes, may be classed under the appellations of Literary, Critical, and Narrative; Humorous, Moral, and Religious. To the Literary papers, which amount to about forty in number,` we are indebted for the most original feature in the work. These include, together with some account of the civil history of Greece, a compressed and connected detail of Grecian poetry, to the from the earliest era death of Menander. The research has been particularly directed to the remains of the Greek dramatists, and more especially to the writers of the Old, the Middle, and the New Comedy. Of these, the fragments, which the desolating hand of Time has spared, have been translated with uncommon felicity by Mr. Cumberland, and merit the eulogium which Mr. Walpole has so happily expressed. The easy and flowing metrical style of Fletcher and Massinger furnished Mr. Cumberland with an appropriate godel for his version, which he has imitated with fidelity and spirit. The patience and persevering labour required for the due execution of this task, may be estimated from the declaration of the Observer, that it was his ambition to give the world "a complete collection of the beauties of the Greek stage, in our own lan guage, from the remains of more The papers strictly Critical, in Of the Narrative portion of the Observer, which occupies no small Powerful share of the work, it is impossible not to speak highly. invention, strong delineation of character, and adherence to cos tume, distinguish the greater part of our author's fictions. The stories of Abdullah and Zarima; of Chaubert, the Misanthrope; of the Portuguese Gentleman who died by the rack; of Ned Drowsy, and of Nicholas Pedrosa, may be instanced as fully supporting the opinion that ws have advanced; the the last two more especially abound in the richest traits both of pathos and humour. There are many papers, likewise, in the Observer, which may more exclusively be termed Humorous; such as the Letters from Mr. Jedediah Fish, in Nos. 45 and 69; the Letter from Rusticus, in No. 80; the Letter from Posthumous, in No. 92; the Characters of Simon Sapling and Billy Simper, in Nos. 129, 131, and 132; the Adventures of Kit Cracker, in No. 134; and the Letter from Tom Tortoise, in No. 149. These, and others of a similar kind, very agreeably relieve the literary and didactic portion of the work; and at the same time exhibit a knowledge of the world, its follies, and eccentricities. It may be affirmed of this periodical paper, very highly to its credit, that almost every part of it, either directly or indirectly, possesses a Moral tendency; a considerable number of essays is avowedly appropriated to subjects of this kind, subjects calculated to improve the manners and meliorate the heart; and even in those which are set apart for literary and critical inquiry, great care has been taken to render them, in almost every instance, subservient to the best purposes of virtue and instruction. Nor should we fail to notice, that some papers of great value, strong in argument, and curious in research, are devoted to Religious topics. The comparison of Pythagoras with Christ, in No. 12; the defence of our Saviour's Miracles, in No. 13; the morality of Christianity, as compared with that of natural religion, in No. 83; and an argument for the evidences of the Christian religion, in No.93; together with three papers in volume the fourth, in answer to the cavils and objections of David Levi, are of this kind, and impress us with a deep sense of the piety of their author. The Observer, though the sole labour of an individual, is yet rich in variety, both of subject and manner; in this respect, indeed, as well as in literary interest, and in fertility of invention, it may be classed with the Spectator and Adventurer; if inferior to the latter in grandeur of fiction, or to the former in delicate irony and dramatic unity of design, it is wealthier in its literary fund than either, equally moral in its views, and as abundant in the creation of incident. I consider it, therefore, with the exception of the papers just mentioned, as superior in its powers of attraction, to every other periodical composition. POETRY. POETRY. E ODE FOR THE NEW YEAR, 1810, BY HENRY JAMES PYE, Esa. P. L. RE yet, 'mid Rhedecyna's bowers, Not rolling there a classic tide, Crown'd with our Sovereign's opening sway, And pour'd the verse to that auspicious morn, Which plac'd on Britain's throne a monarch Britain-bora. Raptur'd I pour the verse again, To hail the British monarch's lengthon'd reign, In which a King, to Britain dear, Bids every British breast with grateful lay From Thulé's Hyperborean reign, To where, upon the southern main, Bellerus frowns-to where the Atlantic roars, O, verdant Erin, 'gainst thy western shores, The Peans loud, of exultation rise, Wafting a nation's plaudits to the skies: And while the hallow'd rites of prayer and praise Spreads her blest influence o'er the smiling land; With With genial current far and wide, Flows of benevolence the copious tide, Grateful the boon, while shouting myriads see, Though looking back through many an age, The man they love-the Sovereign they revere. Though seated on her rocky throne, Britannia rears sublime her dauntless head, That hangs malignant now o'er Europe's sky; Infernal Discord's iron tempest cease, And GEORGE'S sun decline in glory and in peace! ODE FOR HIS MAJESTY'S BIRTH-DAY. HEN loud the wintry tempest roars, WH When dash the billows 'gainst the shores, And leading on the rosy hours, Shall strew the teeming earth with flowers; With young delight each bosom cheer, And wake to joy again the renovated year. Or if, it chance, the influence bland When When Maia's genial breezes blow; Then from Ambition's iron reign, When the proud Persian vainly tried, And while each isle that studs the western wave, Her barks commercial crowd the azure deep, Her fleets each hostile sail from Ocean's bosom sweep. THE STATUE OF THE DYING GLADIATOR. W (An Oxford Prize Poem.) By G. R. CHINNERY. ILL then no pitying sword its succour lend, The Gladiator's mortal throes to end; To free th' unconquer'd mind, whose gen'rous pow'r -Bow'd low, and full of death, his head declines; Yet o'er his brow indignant valour shines, Still |