106 Bouille's Memoir's....Mr. Houfman's Tour continued. green ocean ftream, bordered with loud tumult; take a courfe, the third of the journey is done, fay that we fhall vifit Ardudwy. Meflenger, be fetting off along the fair bore ders of the country, which Mervyn fwayed; go and be a gueft with Nêft of Nevyn; speak of our coming to Leyn. Meflenger, be fetting off, drawing near a mild leader of magnanimous heart; go, armed knight, and traverse Arvon; fay that we visit Môn. The family of Owain the bounteous, to whom belongs the ravage of England, abun dant in fpoils, will meet with a welcome af. TOUR OF ENGLAND, (CONTINUED.) Journal of a Tour through almost every county in England, and part of Wales, by Mr. JOHN HOUSMAN, of Corby, near Carlife; who was engaged to make the Tour by a gentleman of dfitinction, for the purpofe of collecting authentic information relative to the ftate of the poor. This Journal comprifes an account of the gene. ral appearance of the country, of the foil, furface, buildings, &c. with obfervations agricultural, commercial, &c. ter a tedious journey: thall we abide one night AUGUST 13. Wolverhampton to at Rhôs? Young man, go from me, and no one greet, unless it be my mistress; fweep along on the fleet bay fteed; fay that we vifit Lamerç. Meflenger, be fetting off, over the strong region of a tribe deferving mead out of the horn, and traverse Tyno Bydwal; and fay that we vifit Iâl. Pafs onward to its extremity, heeding not the gallantry of its men with the long yellow fpears; take thy courfe on the first day of January; fay we vifit Maclor. Go, youth, and linger not, let not thy progrefs be half complete; to ftop thee is no eafy talk; from tedious Malor take thy way; make known we vifit Cynlaith. Young man, go with difcretion, announce not our troop, as of forry tribes; take thy courfe, with the fleetness of a ftag thy tidings bear fay we vifit Meçain. The family of Owain the chief withftood kingdoms, may the regions of heaven be our retreat! A range altogether pleafant, altogether profperous, with united pace, the cir cuit of Wales we have taken. The places mentioned in the foregoing verfes are all well known at the prefent time; they are points which nearly defcribe a circle round North Wales. Your's, &c. Jan. 6, 1798. MEIRION. Sutton Colefield in Warwickshire, 12 miles. The foil chiefly clay, and a heavy fourish earth. I obferved fome good wheat, for which grain most of the foil is very fuitable. The furface level till within a few miles of Sutton Colefield, where fome eafy rifing grounds are met with. The country populous; I paffed feveral villages inhabited mostly by iron ma mufacturers. A little way from Sutton I croffed a barren common, almoft wholly covered with heath, and of three iniles in extent---a number of bad oak and afh trees grow on the hedges. Near Sutton there is a park of 5000 acres, a great part of which is covered with wood. Farms in this dif trict are generally fmall, and the country, particularly towards Sutton, is open, Sutton Colefield is a fmall, but extremely neat, pleafant, and clean market town, and the furrounding country is equally pleafing; near the town I faw a field of oats cut. Harveft not fo forward as I-ex pected to find it in thefe parts: this only the fecond inftance I have feen of its commencement. August 15. Sutton Colefield to Litchfield in Staffordshire, 8 miles. Soil light and gravelly, and produces much barley, clover, and turnips. Surface unlevel and To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. irregular, the country open, except to SIR, N the Memoirs lately published by I the Marquis de Bouile, he fave, "The great Frederick himself confulted the conjuring tribe; and Guayus, of Sweden, his nephew, was not without this imperftition; a few days before he fet out for the Dict at Gellé, he went to confult a forcerefs named Harviffon," The fact thus related of the King of Sweden is fufficiently known; but I thall be much obliged to any of your correfpondents who may inform me what authority the Marquis has for charging the Prufian hero with this weakness. wards Litchfield, where the earth is flat, and the views more confined, but is a pretty country. In this district, feveral prids of barity and oats are cric Litch field is a fmall, pleasantly fituated city, containing three parish churches, and about 3,500 inhabitants. The cathedral is a remarkably fine ftructure; the high fpires at the weft end are now under repair. A fmall river runs through part of the town, and pretty walks are formed by the fides of it, through beautiful meadows. The fields in the vicinity of Litchfield are fmall, and very fertile, and the hedges neat. This town is remarkable for having given birth to two eminent men, viz. the late Dr. Johnson, and Mr. Mr. Houfman's Tour....Leicestershire....Northamptonshire. Mr. Garrick, the comedian. Staffordhire is noted for its potteries of coarfe carthern ware; thefe, however, are ef tablished further north than I have been: thofe parts of the country which I travelled through are pleasant, the foil generally rather dry than otherwife, and the furface even; in fome parts, the profpects are all clofed up with trees and high hedges. Farms are fmall in general, but I heard of fome as high as 1000l. a year, and their size is annually increafing, which circumftance is much complained of by the final farmers. The common rent is about 1. per acre. Auguft zo. I left Litchfield and went to Ahby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, 17 miles, Soil light, and very fuitable for turnips, barley, &c. to the production of which it is much applied: the furface pretty level; fine hedges, and a great number of trees thereon, particularly oak and afh, and the country in general is very pleasant. Here I fhall just remark to the north country farmer, that I do not remember feeing what he calls a dead hedge in any part of the fouth of England; every hedge is planted with fomnething or other, which, with a very little repairs, is a continual good fence, a cir cumftance which ought to be more attended to in the northern counties; growing hedges contribute much towards loftening the fharpness of the air. In this district I again have the pleature of fee ing the beautiful and profitable Leicesterfhire breed of sheep, feeding on luxuriant pafturage in pretty fields, a fight more truly pleafing, in my opinion, than all the fplendour the metropolis can afford. Ashby is a fmall market town, and is inhabited by farmers, common tradefmen, and manufacturers of stockings and hats; the country around it is fomewhat uneven, rather open, much in pafture, and, upon the whole, very agreeable. Farms from 40l. to 300l. a year, but moftly 50l. to gol. Rent of land 11. to 11. 1os. per acre. August 20. Afhby-de-la-Zouch to Leicester, 17 miles. The foil generally a ftrong clayey loam; land much in pafture, and grazed by fheep and cattle of the improved breeds. I croffed a long range of rocky hills, fome parts of which are rather mountainous; the rocks are hard, and of a blueish caft. This fcene -reminds me of Cumberland and Weftmoreland. Approaching Leicester on this road, the town appears all at once from a fmall eminence, at one mile and a half distance, and has a pretty afpect. The 107 five churches, of which three have fpires, are prominent features: the town has a modern alpect, itands on a fertile plain, is built with brick, and covered with tile, which tinges the whole with a red colour. The population of Leicelter is about 15,000 inhabitants; most of the streets are narrow and dirty; but the marketplace is remarkably large, and well fupplied with butcher's meat and vegetables of all förts; the former is the fartelt and belt I ever faw, which indeed is not wonderful to thofe who have feen the fine pattures and fuperior theep and cattle of this country. The principal manufac ture of this town is that of worsted stockings. August 24. Went from Leicester to Kibworth-Beauchamp, in Leicestershire, 9 miles. Roads in this, and last day's journey, neither very good nor very bad, but muft, I prefume, be rather unpleafant in winter. The foil a clay, or ftrong deep loam, and peculiarly fertile in grafs, to the production of which it is chiefly applied. This country was almost wholly in common fields 30 or 40 forty years ago, but now nearly all inclofed: it was then conftantly cropped with Corn, as is ufual in that cafe; but fince inclosing, the farmers have run into the contrary extreme, and now very little corn is grown. The luxuriancy of the pafturage is beyond any thing I ever faw, and well stocked with the finest animals. I took a pleasant walk to feveral villages on different fides, of this place, and paffed through many fine grazing farms of large extent, fome of which are occupied by gentlemen farmers at a great distance: this, as well as changing the corn for the grazing fyftem, is much complained of by the lower orders of people. KibworthBeauchamp is a pretty farming village; the furrounding country is beautifully uneven, but the floping grounds have no rapid afcents or defcents. A few trees on. hedges, and here and there a small plantation; these, added to the large pasturefields inclining to different directions, and depaftured with theep and cattle beautifully spotted with red and white, gives the whole country the air of one great park. Size of farms, 20l. to 300l. a year, average about 100l. Rent 20 to 26s. per acre. About the year 1780, 3,600 acres were inclofed here, when the rector wa allowed, and accepted, one feventh part o the incloure in lieu of tithes. August 28. Kibworth-Beauchamp to Brixworth in Northamptonshire, 17 miles. The roads pretty good, and for 10 or 13 miles A miles goes through a fine grazing coun- 1 For the Monthly Magazine. To compleat the fries of my new ments on Italian Literature, I now propofe to lay before your readers, a fummary view of the best writers of the preceding centuries, and fome general re marks on the language of that countryá I fhall infert here the former part of my obfervations, and referve for a future Number of your Magazine, the latter part. So great is the number of Italian writers upon all fubjects, that a foreigner, who wishes to acquire a knowledge of the tongue, is expofed to the hazard of making a bad choice, and to entertain, of courie, the most ftrange prejudices against the books and their writers. The notice of fuch authors as have obtained the approbation of all ages and countries, would be fuperfluous; the names of Dante, Petrarca, Ariofto, Tallo, Guarini, Taffoni, and Sannazaro, fpeaking fufficiently for themfelves, as beyond all cenfure or praife. My intention is only to give my ideas concerning fuch as are well known in the republic of letters, but whofe merit has not been as yet exIn this review I actly appreciated. fhall moreover limit myself to fuch writers as are of a general intereft, hiftorians, philologifts, poets, &c. and for fufficient reafons, I fhall take no notice of any of the prefent century, which is the true term from which the decay of the language has commenced. Montignor Della Cafa, is, in my opinion, the most truly correct and elegant of all the Italian writers. His works may be confidered as a model of what is called the didactic style. He was archbishop of Benevento in the kingdom of Naples, and one of the greatest men in the golden age of learning. He pub. lished, among other things, two ineftimable tracts on the "Civilities of Life," productions which must endure till the final diffolution of fociety. One of them is entitled, "Galateo," and contains precepts on the manners of common fociety; the other, intitled, " A Treatise on Common Duties," teaches how to behave in the relations connected with fuperior or inferior acquaintances. 143 A rival to the "Galateo" is the "Cortegiano, or Accomplished Gentleman," of Count Balthaffar Caftiglione, a Mantuan. ---That nobleman was bred in the fplendid court of the dukes of Urbino, and was well qualified, in every fenfe of the word, to write on the duties of courtiers. His style is fprightly, elegant, natural, and eafy. By the Italians, the "Cor tegid the called a golden book, and certainly the epithet is applied justly. Cardinal Bembo, a Venetian, was in the court of Leo X. what in another illuftrious age the Mecenafes were in that of Italian Literature. of Auguftus. He is one of thofe who have deferved the best of Italian literature. His style is admirable for the exquifite choice of words. He is cenfurable, however, for having conformed too much, by a fort of violence, to the genius of the Latin tongue; herein furmithing a bad precedent to the greater part of his cotemporaries. However great be the progrefs of philofophy, and the exact fciences in other parts of Europe, and in fpite of the prefent decay of Italy in history and poetry, the fuperiority of the Italians in hiftory cannot be called in queftion. What is still more remarkable is, that the best and greatest of those hiftorians are perfectly pure and elegant writers. Among thefe, Guicciardini and Machiavel take the lead. If the fciences could be appreciated by the judgment of men, like works of imagination, more difputes would have been ftarted in Italy concerning the respective merits of these two great political writers, than concerning the poetical fuperiority of Taffo and Arioito. Both Guicciardini and Machiavel are fovereigns in the subjects of history and politics; and the dignity of their ftyle is equal to their fentiments: it has been objected, however, to Guicciardini, that he is often too diffufe; and to Machiavel, that he has fometimes ftumbled in points of grammar. In the next rank to Guicciardini is Bentivoglio. This excellent hiftorian was a cardinal, and had formerly been papal nuncio at Paris. He wrote the hiftory of the memorable war of the Netherlands, under Philip II. of Spain. His ftyle is natural, eafy, pure, and concife. Davila, Nani, and efpecially Paruta, are not at all inferior to Bentivoglio. The various hiftories of Davanfati, and, above all, his tranflation of Tacitus, are, however, in my opinion, the best calculated to give an advantageous idea of the Italian language to foreigners. It has been often objected to this tongue, that it is diffuse and imbecile: to avert this reproach, Davanfati undertook to translate into it the most fententious writer of antiquity, and even to perform the task with a fewer number of words. His ftyle is therefore ftrong and pregnant with idea like the original: nor need any higher encomium be paffed upon him than to fay, that M. d'Alembert, al lowed to be the most concife of all the modern writers, has not been able to tranflate Tacitus with more precifion. The Italian philologists of the greateft repute are Varchi, Caftelvetro, 109 No one Muzio, and Beni, all of whom have greatly contributed to the perfection of the language. Their writings furnifh alike both precept and example. Varchi, a learned inan of the first eminence, was born in Florence, in the year 1502. His principal work is the history of his country during the last revolu tions of the republican government. Next to this is the "Ercolano," which treats wholly of language. ever expreffed in Italian a philofophical thought better than this elegant philologer. Caftelvetro was orn in Modena, in the year 1505, and lebrated for his "Art of Poetry." Mu. a Paduan, was born in 1460; he left a number of works, one of which is entitled "Struggles in behalf of the Italian Language." Beni was born in 1552, and was profeffor of the belles lettres in Padua. wrote a book called " L'Anticrusea,” containing judicious critiques on the ancient Tufcan writers. He The Italians have not excelled in political declamation, nor in bar eloquence. In pulpit eloquence, however, Father Segneri, a Jefuit, is not inferior to Maffillon or Tillotfon. He poffeffes a strong and infinuating elocution, and has carried the Italian language to its highest pitch of energy. He was born in Nettuno, near Rome, in 1694. Foreigners who cultivate Italian fhould, before they enter on the study of the claffical poets, make themfelves familiar with two of them, whose writings breathe the true genius of poetry, without the help of rhyme, figures, or common topics. I mean Alamanni and Marchetti. Alamanni wrote an excellent poem "On Husbandry," which has been compared to Virgil's" Georgics." Although he falls fhort of this comparifon, it is certain, that he has gained immortal honour in having been the first to employ the graces of poetry on didactic fubjects, and to rescue poetry itfelf from the thraldom of rhyme. Marchetti is, no doubt, the beft Italian tranflator extant. many paffages he has furpaffed the Latin original of Lucretius: besides this merit, he will be ever dear to the Italians for having given to blank verfe all the majefty of poetry. London. In J. DAMIANI. 110 On the Language of Natural Hiftory. ferving a treatise on the Latin terras ufed in Natural History; in which I expected to find a masterly difplay of the defects of the language ufed in defcribing the diverfified productions of nature; but was extremely pained in finding myself not only disappointed in my expectation, but in being abfolutely at a lois to comprehend the end and aim of Mr. BRAND (the author) in his erudite differtation. The harfhnefs and obfcurity of the Latin terms used in natural history have been long very justly and feverely centured; por have the tranflations of them in our language been lefs difapproved. As the attempts hitherto made to improve and familiarize thefe terms do not appear to have aided the promotion of the very important defideratum, a pure, claffical, and chatte language of natural history, I fhall endeavour, in the following curfory remarks upon this interefting fubject, to fhew the defects of our prefent English terms, and the inconvenience neceffarily arifing from them; and thence deduce the propriety of reforming them, together with the principles upon which fuch a reform fhould be conftructed. In this view I fhall wave any further notice of Mr. BRAND's treatise, it being, to the best of my judgment, though profeffedly written on the fame fubject, foreign to my purpose. and whatever the refult of their communication fhould be, at least produce an uniform language. This would be ef fected by laying down certain fixed principles or data, according to which all the Latin terms fhould be tranflated; and if even this fhould not be a perfect tranflation, it would nevertheless leffen the confufion and difficulties with which the elementary principles of natural hiftory are incumbered, by annihilating the diverfity of English terms now used by different writers to reprefent the fame Latin one. Another difficulty attending the ftudy of natural history ariles from the obfcurity of the terms used, which are frequently the moft obfolete and barbarous that could be colle&ed. I fee no reafon myself, why the fcience of natural history, in all or any of its departments, may not, like others, be as effectually ftudied and clearly underftood in language purely indigenous, as in foreign or naturalized terms. That the productions of nature may be as fully illuftrated as any other more popular fubject, in the common way, and yet at the fame time in a scientific manner, is evident from a very elegant and inftructive publication, intituled, "The Naturalift's Mifcellany," in which, to the ac, curacy of a complete naturalift, the learned author (Dr. SHAW) unites the Many of our most enlightened natu- perfpicuity of a chaste and claffical writer; ralifts have laboured to establish a verna--and that his work may be more excular language of natural hiftory; particularly in the fcience of botany; but most of them have loft fight of the great end intended by a tranflation, viz. the adapting the terms to the capacity of unlearned and female ftudents, either by adhering too clofely to the original Linnæan obfcure language, or by deviating too far from it, in introducing terms not reprefenting the ideas they fhould convey. Subjected to the former error are ProfefforMARTYN's and the Litchfield Society's anglicized terms; while under the latter error Dr.WITHERING's very crude language particularly fails. If an affemblage of experienced naturalifts were to convene, for the purpofe of eftablishing a standard language, the interchange of their different ideas upon the fubjeét, would certainly accelerate fuch a defign, It will be easily conceived, that this cenfure more particularly ftrikes at Dr. WITHERING's terms, in the 2d edition of his *Botanical Arrangement," he having in his laft edition, of that valuable work, much improved upon his language, though till very imperfect. tenfively useful in foreign countries, correfponding Latin defcriptions are annexed to the English ones, which may be held forth as fpecimens of Latinity not often equalled by modern writers of the higheft claffical reputation, and certainly unrivalled by any cotemporary naturalift. To a perfon habituated to the perufal of the Roman authors, nothing can be more grating than the unharmonious language of Linnæus, and those writers who have followed his juftly admired system; and I muft candidly acknowledge, that I derive greater fatisfaction from the language of Bauhin or Ray, than from the moft favourite productions of the illuftrious Swede; and often regret, that while he fo fuccessfully laboured in eftablishing the lucidus ordo in the science of natural hiftory, he fhould have introduced a language fo highly repugnant to that purity and energy which pervade the productions of the best claffical writers. Surely the dignity or the excellence of a fcience cannot confift in being clothed in asphrafeology foreign to every language, and confequently to the exclufion of |
