support and illustrate our remarks; and the poem itself is, probably, in the hands of most of our readers.

1

The sweetest of the poetry is in the first canto. There are some vigorous passages in the second; but the poet seems to be labouring, and fills up his spaces with extraneous matter. The beginning of the third is interesting, although the chase of Bertrand occupies too large a portion for its importance; and in the latter part, the reader is restless that so much powerful poetry is lavished on such worthless subjects. There is a delightful amenity diffused over the commencement of the fourth, which continues till the introduction of the history of O'Neal, which is disgustingly abrupt; there is then some nampy pampy about the baby loves of Redmond and Matilda: and the story of the remainder is badly complicated. The fifth canto, we are inclined to think, will be the most popular. It has various kinds of merits, and suited to various descriptions of persons. The landscape in the beginning is designed in an exquisite taste: the conference of the lovers is full of generosity and feeling: the music-men will pounce, with eagerness, upon the songs: and every one must be agitated by that rapid, moving, tumultuous scene which concludes the canto; and in the description of which scenes Scott so eminently excels. Three days elapse between the end of the fifth and the beginning of the sixth canto. A poet, skilful in the construction of a fable, would have filled up this space by some agreeable underplot. But when the personages are brought upon the field, they move forward with a vigorous impetuosity; and amidst bustle and uproar, but not confusion, the poem concludes well, although not so gracefully as in the "Lady of the Lake." It is one of the excellencies of Scott that he does not, like a common poet, fatigue his reader with the detail of those events which the imagination, of itself, can body forth; neither does he minutely display all the possible varieties of feeling which the situation of his characters would naturally excite; and, in this view, the elisions, occasioned by the dramatic form of his composition, have their charm, by perpetually calling for aid upon the reader's mind, and thus keeping his power in unremitting activity. Scott, through the whole of his

poem, has not deviated into any wildness of versification, but has adopted the regular stanza which he first used in the apologues of the Minstrel of the Law, whose grace and beauty obtained the approbation of every critic.

The general defects of Rokeby we have already detailed; and it would be tedious to enumerate the various marks of negligence which appear throughout the work.

There is in Rokeby not so vast a profusion of Runic words, and hard names, as in his former works. But we sometimes meet with such lines as

"Slieve-Donard wild and Clandebray;"

and sometimes with such couplets as

"Of Gilbert Griffinson the tale

"Goes, and of gallant Peter Dale."

Surely such couplets as this would disgrace any poem subsequent to "Sir Tristram."

We have reserved to the last, a few observations on that universal exclamation which meets our ears" how similar is Rokeby, in all its elements, to the other poems of Mr. Scott." He is a man who possesses a mind of vast reach, and every attribute of a poet: in fancy, in taste, in power of language, in quick and delicate conception, is superior to any living bard, except it be Campbell. Over these gifts he has a ready exercise: he is conscious that they will prevent him from writing any thing contemptible; and we know he may plead for his precipitance, and want of variety, the high offers of his booksellers. But he should remember, that there is something due to his own fame as well as to his fortune. The advice of Evander, when applied to Mr. Scott, is as requisite to form a great poet as it was to form a great hero:

"Aude, hospes contemnere opes; et te quoque dignum,
Finge Deo."

With the "Lady of the Lake" Mr. Scott attained the summit of his reputation. If chivalry was not novel, it was not ex

hausted; and policy should have whispered to him not to hazard his glory presumptuously in the same field. In that production he had given adherence to his story; he had symmetrized his versification; he had presented us gallantry without guile, courtesy without rudeness, a view of feudal manners without any shocking absurdities, and, what he had never produced before, a female character, in which sweetness and dignity were mixed together with the most perfect nature. Three years have scarcely elapsed, part of which was consumed on another work, and we have again another poem of nearly the same.age, the same character, the same style of composition. This facility of writing we fear will Be his ruin; for we cannot forbear regarding him as a spendthrift, who is destroying himself by foolishly squandering those rich endowments, which, if judicially applied, would form his support and ornament. The public, we are persuaded, will not patiently bear many more of these chivalric romances; and should Mr. Scott again strike his lyre to the same note, if the music be not adorned with richer melodies than that which is now ringing on our ears, we cannot say that the old age of the minstrel will be despised, but we can predict, without any vast power of prophecy, that he will never rise to his fine estate.

"Qui propter amare senectæ

Pondera despicitur, nec quo prius ordine regnat."

Ovid.

Let him then task his invention, draw out his powers upon another field, restrain his unfortunate facility at composition, erect to himself a noble name of noble materials; remembering, that a monument of marble is more honourable than a mountain of rubbish.

NAVAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.

Sketches of the Naval History of the United States, from the commencement of the Revolutionary War to the present time; containing detailed accounts of all the interesting actions of the public vessels of the United States, and of privateers; and an historical view of the policy and acts of the United States government relative to the naval establishment: likewise an appendix, wherein the chief part of the important documents concerning the navy are collected. By Thomas Clark, U. S. topographical engineer. pp. 320.-1813.

THIS is a very interesting collection of facts and documents, no where else to be found in so convenient a form, on the most important subject which now engrosses the attention of the American people. The naval history of this country is a theme on which we all dwell with peculiar pleasure, since our national pride cannot fail to receive its highest gratification from a series of brilliant and daring achievements. The author of the present work has therefore rendered a useful service, by enabling the public at large to become more familiar with our naval annals. As a literary production the work has not much pretension. The arrangement of the materials is not, we think, judicious; the narration is too much broken by an unnecessary division into particular periods, and there is a general want of perspicuity, which renders the volume less agreeable than more leisure on the part of the author might easily have rendered it. But these faults are in a great degree repaired by the diligence of the author, who has collected a number of highly curious particulars, which had been almost forgotten since the revolution, some of which we shall extract for the information of our readers.

The first formation and exploits of the American navy are thus mentioned:

The attention of the general congress was at an early period of the war turned to the formation of a navy. On the 13th of December, 1775, they determined to have thirteen frigates built, namely; five of 32 guns, five of 28, and three of 24. On the 23 of March, 1776, they issued letters of marque and reprisal against the enemies of the United States colonies. At the close of the year 1775 Congress commissioned several vessels, and appoint

ed Ezekiel Hopkins to command them. This small fleet was fitted out in the Delaware; and consisted of the Alfred, commodore Hopkins, 30 guns and 300 men; the Columbus, Whipple, 28 guns and 300 men; the Andrew Doria, Biddle, 16 guns and 200 men; the Sebastian Cabot, Hopkins, jun. 14 guns and 200 men; and the Providence, Hazard, 12 guns and 150 men. It was at first contemplated to send this squadron against lord Dunmore, who was then committing great depredations along the coast of Virginia; but before the fleet was prepared to sail, the navigation of the Delaware was suspended by ice. On the opening of the river the ships dropped down; and on the 17th of February, 1776, they left cape Henlopen. The commodore, judging it improper to remain on the coast, appointed Abacco, one of the Bahama islands, a rendezvous for the fleet. Here the commodore was informed that at New Providence there was a considerable quantity of military stores, and that the place was not prepared to resist an attack. He resolved to make an attempt against it. For this purpose the marines of the fleet, amounting to upwards of two hundred, under the command of captain Nicholas, were landed on the east end of the island, without any opposition from the terrified inhabitants. As soon as the captain had formed his men, he marched forward to attack the fort between the town and the landing. The garrison after firing a few rounds, spiked their cannon and retired. On the next day the Americans marched to the town, of which they took possession without meeting any opposition. Here they found forty cannons loaded, fifteen brass mortars and a great quantity of shot and shells: but the principal object of their expedition, 150 barrels of powder, had been removed by the governor. The governor and lieutenant governor were carried off as prisoners by the commodore.

The establishment was soon enlarged, and the following resolution of congress will give the situation of the navy at the latter end of the year 1776:

Resolved, that the rank of the captains be as follows: viz. 1. James Nicholson, of the Virginia, of twenty-eight guns, 2. John Manly, of the Hancock, of thirty-two guns, 3. Hector M'Neil of the Boston, of twenty-four guns, 4. Dudley Saltonstall, of the Trumbull, of twenty-eight guns, 5. Nicholas Biddle, of the Randolph of thirty-two guns, 6. Thomas Thompson, of the Raleigh, of thirty-two guns, 7. John Barry, of the Effingham, of twentyeight guns, 8. Thomas Reed, of the Washington, of thirty-twe guns, 9. Thomas Grennall of the Congress, of twenty-eight guns, 10. Charles Alexander of the Delaware, of twenty-four guns, 11 Lambert Wickes, of the Reprisal, of sixteen guns, 12. Abraham Whipple, of the Providence, of twenty-eight guns, 13. John Hop