The gaunt yna's fhriek, the panther's growl, With thundering fhock, and thro' oppofing woods Sees fiery eyeballs glare: and hears the route Of countless antelopes, than tropic ftorms More fleet, rush headlong from the gripe of death: And cries and groans proclaim th' arreft Of victim after victim.. 66 ny forts of birds, lodged in the "woods, with the fkrieking and chat. "tering of a vast number of monkeys "and apes, fkipping and jumping " from bough to bough over our "heads, and the fweet gentle noise "canoes which accompanied us, made "our journey very delightful and In ftrength of colouring and accu- "over the river, in the figure of an racy of defign, this paffage hardly amphitheatre. This, with the proyields to the fublime delineation of" found filence on the water, and the foreft fcenery in the torrid zone, "various notes of a multitude of main Thomson's Summer. The ftupendous majesty of the woods" to ancient fong unknown, ftage above ftage high waving o'er the hill." The incomparable grandeur of the primæval trees that caft their ample fhade o'er Niger's yellow ftream," have of" of the blacks paddling the feveral ten elevated to enthusiasm, the inaccurate language of the most inelegant navigators and travellers. Barbot, one of the most uninterefting writers, has described various African fcenes with confiderable energy. He thus mentions an excurfion upon the Rio Seftro "It was funset when I parted "from the king, and a moft fweet lovely evening in the month of De"cember. We ran down the river, "carried only by the tide, very flowly, between the banks which are magnificently adorned, and fhaded "with evergreen trees, of many dif"ferent forts and forms, moft of "which ftretch their boughs far out charming."In the fourth Canto, the variegated appearance of a foreft in autumn, the different hues of the trees that mingle with a peculiar harmony are defcribed, with the birds thrt haunt the foreft in Autumn, as the fieldfare, the woodcock and gold. en crefted wren. This is perhaps fuperior to the other Cantos in every poetical beauty, and approaches pearer the ftandard of Thomfon both in harmony of verfification, and chatte energy of defcription. The autumnal harmony of nature is thus defcribed. Nature in all her works harmonious, blends Afpire to meet them. Spreads the furzy brake? And And the rude mofs with velvet maze divides.vfoss in paz Of humbler growth the many-coloured fruitalos() The fifth Canto defcribes the effects of frost and fnow on foreft fcene rys and represents a traveller caught by a fnow-ftorm in the middle of a foreft, rather with the grotesque, humour of Cowper, than with the chafte and pathetic pencil of Thomfon. It might have been much improved, from the circumstances of a story of ten related in Scotland. "A Scottish clergyman who was riding in winter, through the wilds of Sutherland, which were then covered with fnow, being caught by a fuow-ftorm, among the mountains, foon loft every tracè of the road he was purfuing. After wandering for fome time, amid the whit: wilderness where no object was ditinguishable, at the approach of night, he reached an open space that had been swept bare by the currents eddying between the hills. As he found it impoffible to emerge from this fpot without the most imminent hazard, he was neceffitated to remain; and aware of the danger of the froft, he immediately began to dance round his horfe with the utmoit. alacrity, and continuing this recreation till morning, arrived at the place of his deftination without any injury." This 5 z# ?}ft{r! " Canto is much more uninteresting than the sixth and last, in which the fame fubject is continued, but with much greater force and facility of defcription. The great defects of The Walks in a Foreft are the want of u nity and regularity of plan, and the inartificial arrangement of the feveral defcriptions of fcenes, which would all admit of tranfpofition without material injury. The proportion of moral fentiment interfperfed through the Poem, or rather series of Poems, is far too confiderable and frequently unimpreffive and feeble. Moral reflections in a defcriptive Poem, ought to arife fo naturally from the fcenery, that every mind fhould acknowledge their propriety. They ought not, however, to be fo obvious as to prefent themfelves fpontáneously to every perfon, or elfe they will be infufferably uninterefting. The intereft of the Poem is frequently injured by both these defects. The poetical figures are often original, and the minute circumstances of the defcription highly poetical, but the analogies between the natural and moral world are often obfcure, and the comparifons far-fetched, or what the French Critics critics term recherches. The fall of pared to the defcent of the northern leaves in autumn is beautifully com- fnow-fhowers --eddying wild Denfe as the fnow flakes which the unwearied North The fallacious bridges of ice are compared to those formed of Norwe, gian birch, the of which is more Awaited, and by torrents to the fea But when the encroachments of the wintry torrents upon the land are compared to the inroads of the Romans upon Britain, when the neverceafing speed of time is compared to the unrelenting fury of war, when the ftate of foreft and cultivated trees is defcribed as analogous to that of the British and Hindoos, we must allow that the author has either a very allegorical or metaphyfical genius. The blank verfe of Gisborne is often monotonous and profaic, and deficient in the important qualities of Auency and energy. It must be allowed that the prefent age is a more unpropitious period for the poetical decoration of Foreft fcenery than almoft any other. The moderns fee only trees and branches of various kinds and dimenfions; where the ancients could behold gods and goddeffes, Dryads, and Hamadryads, without number. In the prefent age, no aerial spirit lives under the bloffom that hangs on the bough; neither is this the time when, Beneath the shade of nodding branches The merry hunters wear the hours away, While rings the foreft to the joyous horn. The ancient Scots were accustomed to live like hunters beneath "the greenwood tree," and in the morning were more delighted to hear the loverock fing, than the moufe cheep." The ancient Germans were accuftomed to bury the dead beneath the roots of ancient oaks, and imagined, in the night that they faw the fires of death glimmer over the fepulchres of their friends. The Druids, the Magi, the Brachmanes and Samana of India haunted the deepest receffes of the forefts, to indulge in profound meditation and abftra&t themselves from the world. Our modern philofophers, however, are much fonder of indulging meditation in an elegant chamber, or amid the gaiety of a fashionable affembly, and have a proverb which they fometimes urge in the vindication of their conduct, "the man who haunts the wood, will at last be found hanging on one of its trees." "L. A [Strictures on Gifuorne's Vales of We ver in our next.] USE 168 USE OF SPIDERS AS PROGNOSTICATORS OF THE WEATHER. SIR, NONE of all the domeftic infects is more generally abhorred than the fpider, which, I think, is owing partly to its hideous form, and partly to the idea of its being poifonous I cannot but confefs, that I alfo was infected with this antipathy, and join. ed in the general warfare again't an infect which, by its external appearance, is fo little qualified to recom. mend itself to our fight, till of late I was unexpectedly cured of this habitual abhorrence. his cure was effected by the perufal of the account of a difcovery, made fome years fince by Mr Quatromere D'isjonval, adjutant general to the famous Pichegru, which convinced me, that this infect is not fo useless as we generally think, and that we rather ought to court than to loath its fociety. It is generally known, that the ftate of the atmosphere has a vifible effect upon certain animals, and that, for inftance, cats, dogs, frogs, hogs, &c. have a very strong prefentiment of every change, which is preparing in it. The abovementioned gentleman has difcovered that the fpider pof feffes this quality in a more eminent degree than all other animals, and is peculiarly fit to ferve as an unerring barometer. A brief statement of his obfervations will, I think not, be foreign to the scope of your useful and juftructive Magazine, and reconcile its readers to an animal, which they hither held in abhorrence, or, at least, thought to be one of the most ufelsfs in the creation of God. The fpider, fays Mr Q. D'Isjonval, is a more unerring indicator of impending changes in the atmof phere than the beft baromer. These infects have two different ways of weaving their webs, by which we can know what weather we are to have. When the weather inclines to turn rainy or windy, they make the prin cipal threads, which are the foundation, as it were, of their whole web, very short, and rather thick; where as they fpin them much longer, when fine and warm weather is to be expected. Thence it appears clearly, that the fpiders have not only a near, but also a diftant prefentiment of the changes which are preparing in the air. The barometer foretells the state of the weather with certainty only for about twenty-four hours, whereas we may be fure that the weather will be fine twelve or fourteen days, when the fpider makes the principal threads of its web long. It is obvious how important the confequences of this infallible indication of the ftate of the weather must be in many inftances, particularly with regard to the operations of agriculture; for which reafon it has been frequently lamented, that the best barometers, hydrometers, thermometers and eudiometers are principally in the hands of the confumers, and very rarely in thofe of the planters of the harveft. The barometers are frequently very fallible guides, particularly when they' point to fettled fair; whereas the work of the spider never fails to give the most certain information. This infect, which is one of the most economical animals, does not go to work, nor expends fuch a great length of threads, which it draws out of its body, before the most perfect equilibrium of all the conftituent parts of the air indicates with certainty that this great expenditure will not be made in vain. Let the weather be ever fo bad, we may conclude with certainty that it will not laft long, and that it will foon change for fettled fair, when we fee the fpider repair the damages which his web has received. Those who will take the trouble to watch the operations of this ufeful infect, will be convinced by experience, that Mr Q. D'Isjonval deferves the thanks of his co-temporaries for the communication of his important difcovery. W. P. OBSER 169 OBSERVATIONS ON THE ARTICLE CONCERNING PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN THE FRENCH CONSTITUTION. From the Rife, Progress, and Confequences of the new opinions and principles lately in troduced into France, &c.*. ONE of the general heads in the French conftitution is intitled' Public Inftruction. This article is not indeed introduced in its proper place, as connected with the end of government; yet lince it is introduced fomewhere, I fhall confider what it contains, without making any remarks upon the badness of the arrangement. "There are (Title IX.) in the republic primary fchools, where the pupils learn to read, to write, the elements of arithmetic, and those of morality. The republic provides only for the expence of the lodging of the indructors appointed to these schools. There are, in different parts of the republic, fchools fuperior to the primary fchools, and at least one for every two departments. There is for the whole republic a national inftitution, charged to collect difcoveries, to improve the arts and fciences." In hold falaries from all teachers, would I hope that thefe fchools will be inftituted upon a good plan, and fincerely wish that they may be attended with much utility. But there is one very effential defect, which it is impoffible to overlook; there is no public fund fet apart to encourage men of abilities to dedicate their life to the office of inftruction. The plan of providing only proper accommodation for inftructors, without appointing any falary, might be introduced with advantage into feveral great towns. In great towns there is generally a fufficient number of pu pils to reward the labours of men of talents; and therefore great falaries in fuch cases would not only be fuperfluous, but hurtful. But to with to t the *This interefting publication is, we are informed, the production of Mr Thomfon, a probationer of the prefbytery of Dumblane and author of the article Chemistry in the first vol. of Dr Gleig's Supplement to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Editor. |