"The princes of the fouth prepare Their thoufand thoufands for the war: Against thee, Cyrus, they combine; The North and South their forces join, To crufh thee in the duft: But thou art fafe; Achates draws His fword with thine, and backs thy caufe: Yes, thou art doubly fafe, thy caufe is just. With dread the Turks have oft be- His fword wide waving o'er the field; When all the fury of the fight With wrath redoubled rag'd; When man to man, with giant might, For all that's dear engag'd; When all was thunder, fmoke, and fire; When from their native rocks the frighted fprings retire: "Twas then, throngh ftreams offmoke and blood, Achates mounts the city wall; Though wounded, like a god he flood,* And at his feet the foes fubmiflive fall. "Brave are the Goths, and fierce in fight, Yet thefe he gave to rout and flight: Proud when they were of victory. He ruth'd on like a form; difpers'd and weak they fly. Thus, from the Grampians old, A torrent deep and ftrong, 'Down ruthes on the fold, And fweeps the fhepherd and the flock along.' "When, through an aged wood, The thunder roars amain, And ruin marks the plain: "When, with their num'rous dogs, Surprize the aged lion's den, Th' old warrior rufhes to the charge, And fcorns the rage of dogs and men; His whelps he guards on ev'ry fide; Safe they retreat.-What though mortal dart Stands trembling in his breaft, his dauntless heart Glows with a victor's pride. "So the old lion, brave Achates And miracles of prowefs wrought; Till off his friends had march'd, and all was well. Ev'n he himself could ne'er do more, Fate had no greater deed in ftoreWhen all his hoft was fafe, the godlike hero fell." Thus as he spoke, each hoary fire Fights o'er his antient wars; The thunder of the battle guides ; After this performance, we hear no more of Mr. Macpherfon's metrical compofitions. It was intended that he should enter into the service of the church, but whether he ever took orders we are uncertain. Mr. Gray fpeaks of him as a young clergyman, but David Hume probably more truly defcribes him as "a modeft fenfible young man, not fettled in any living, but employed as a private tutor in Mr. Graham of Bal gowan's family, a way of life which he is not fond of." This was in the year 1760, when he furprized the world by the publication of "Fragments of NOTE S. Mafon's life of Gray." +Vol. V. page 337. ལ་ Antient Antient Poetry, collected in the High- ed by Dr. Blair and others, and their lands of Scotland, and tranflated from authentiticy afferted, there were not the Galic or Erfe language." 8vo. wanting fome of equal reputation for These fragments, which were declared critical abilities, who either doubted or to be genuine remains of antient Scot- declared their difbelief of the genuine. tish poetry, at their first appearance nefs of them. By this time the author delighted every reader; and fome very feems to have divefted himself of that good judges, and amongft the reft Mr. modefty which Mr. Hume had formerGray, were extremely warm in their ly commended, and treated his antago praises. As other fpecimens were faid nifts in an arrogant manner, not calto be recoverable, a fubfcription was culated to remove any impreffions they fet on foot to enable our author to quit had received. the family he was then in, and undertake a miffion into the Highlands, to fecure them. He engaged in the undertaking, and foon after produced the works whofe authenticity has fince occafioned fo much controverfy, but which now feem generally admitted to be the works of Mr. Macpherfon himfelf. In 1762 he published "Fingal, an Antient Epic Poem, in fix books," together with feveral other Poems, compofed by Offian, the fon of Fingal, tranflated from the Galic language. 4to. The fubject of this Epic Poem is an invafion of Ireland by Swaran, king of Lochlin. Cuchullin, general of the Irish tribes during the minority of Cormac king of Ireland, upon intelligence of the invafion, affembled his forces near Tura, a caftle on the coaft of Ulfter. The poem opens with the landing of Swaran; councils are held, battles fought, and Cuchullin is at laft totally defeated. In the mean time Fingal, king of the Highlands of Scotland, whofe aid had been folicited before the enemy landed, arrived, and expelled them from the country. This war, which continued but fix days and as many nights, is, including the epifodes, the ftory of the poem. The fcene the heath of Lena, near a mountain called Cromleach in Ulfter. This poem alfo was received with equal applaufe as the preceding Fragments. The next year he produced "Temora," an antient Epic Poem, in eight books together with feveral other Po. ems compofed by Offian, fon of Fingal, 4to. which, though well received, found the public fomewhat lefs difpofed to beftow the fame measure of applaufe. Though these poems had been examin "Since the publication," fays he, "of the laft collection of Offian's poems, many infinuations have been made, and doubts arifen, concerning their authenticity. I fhall probably hear mote of the fame kind alter the prefent poems make their appearance. Whether thefe fufpicions are fuggefted by prejudice, or are only the effects of ignorance of facts, I fhall not pretend to determine. To me they give no concern, as I have it always in my power to remove them. An incredulity of this kind is natural to perfons who confine all merit to their own age and country. These are generally the weakest as well as the molt ignorant of the people. Indolently confined to a place, their ideas are very narrow and circumfcribed. It is ridiculous enough, to fee fuch people as thefe are branding their ancestors with the defpicable appellation of Barbarians. Sober reafon can cafily difcern where the title ought to be fixed with more propriety. "As prejudice is always the effect of ignorance, the knowing, the men of true tafte, defpife and difmifs it. If the poetry is good, and the characters natural and friking, to them it is a matter of indifference, whether the heroes were born in the little village of Angles in Juteland, or natives of the barren heaths of Caledonia. That honour which nations derive from anceftors worthy or renowned is merely ideal. It may buoy up the minds of individuals, but it contributes very little to their importance in the eyes of others. But of all thofe prejudices which are incident to narrow minds, that which measures the merit of performances by the vulgar opinion concerning the country which produced them, is certainly the the most ridiculous. Ridiculous, how- Forbes's teftimony was given like an ever, as it is, few have the courage to officer and a gentleman.' reject it; and I am thoroughly convinced, that a few quaint lines of a Roman or Greek Epigrammatift, if dug out of the ruins of Herculaneum, would meet with more cordial and univerfal applaufe than all the most beautiful and natural rhapsodies of all the Celtic Bards and Scandinavian Scalders that ever exifted. (To be continued.) Brief Memoirs of the Honourable John Forbes, Admiral of the Fleet, and General of Marines. THIS HIS celebrated officer, who died at his houfe in Saville-row, on Thursday, March 10, aged 82, was remarkable above all other men, for his extenfive and univerfal knowledge of naval affairs, having ftudied them, in all their branches, with a perfeverance, and obferved upon them with an acutenefs and judgment, altogether unparalIeled. His mind was capable of embracing the greatest and most complicated objects; and having bent it to wards the ftudy of that profeffion, of which he was allowed, by the univerfal voice of his cotemporaries to be a principal ornament, he attained fuch a fummit of nautical fkill as rendered him the oracle of all thofe who were moft eminent, whether in the direction of the fleets of this nation, or in the equally arduous task of fuperintending the civil departments of the different branches of the marine. In the earlier part of his life he was peculiarly noticed as an able, enterprifing, and intrepid officer. He ferved with much reputation under fir John Norris; and was no lefs diftinguished as captain of the Norfolk, of 80 guns, in the action of Mathews and Leftock with the combined fleets of France and Spain, when his gallantry contributed in a high degree to fave his brave friend admiral Mathews, whofe fecond he was in that engagement. So bright was his honour, and fo clear his reputation in thofe turbulent days, that, though his evidence went wholly againft admiral Leftock, yet that officer was qiten heard to declare, "that Mr. In lord Chatham's glorious war, admiral Forbes was felected as the ablest affiftant the firft lord could have in the management of the admiralty, and conducted himself in a manner highly creditable to his abilities, and eminently ferviceable to his country. When the warrant for executing the unfortunate admiral Byng was offered, for fignature at the admiralty board, admiral Forbes refufed to fign it, at the fame time humbly laying at his late majefty's feet his objections. A copy of the paper given by the admiral to his majefty on that occafion may be feen in Smollet's Hiftory of England; it is well worthy the attention of all men of honour, as it contains, perhaps, the beft fpecimen of an upright and independent mind, and honeft and bene-. volent heart, that is to be found in any language. To detail the meritorious deeds of the venerable character before us, would lead to a difcuffion too extenfive: but the writer of this tribute to departed greatnefs cannot conclude it without inferting an anecdote, well known in the naval and political cir cles, and which, it is believed, even majefty itself will recollect with fuch feelings as are excited in benevolent minds by acts of genuine fpirit and difinterestedness. During a late adminiftration it was thought expedient to offer a noble lord, very high in the naval profeffion, and very defervedly a favourite of his fovereign and his country, the office of general of the marines. held by admiral Forbes, and fpontaneoufly conferred upon him by his majefty as a reward' for his many "and long fervices. A meffage was fent by the minifters, to fay it would forward the king's fervice if he would refign; and that he should be no lofer by his accommodating the government, as they propofed recommending it to the king to give him a penfion in Ireland of 3000l. per annum, and a peerage, to defcend to his daughter. To this admiral Forbes fent an immediate answer: he told the minifters, the generalship of the marines was Y y 2 a mili a military employment, given him by proper time placed at Rippon school his majefty as a reward for his fervices; in Yorkshire, where, it is believed, he that he thanked God he had never been continued until he was appointed chief a burthen to his country, which he had fupercargo of the Swedish thips to ferved during a long life to the best of China. In this fituation he did not his ability; and that he would not con- remain long, probably not more than defcend to accept of a penfion, or bar- one voyage. On quitting this employgain for a peerage. He concluded by ment he determined to follow the bent laying his generalfhip of marines, to of his genius, which led him to defign gether with his rank in the navy, at the and architecture. king's feet, entreating him to take both away if they could forward his fervice; and at the fame time affuring his maJefly, he would never prove himself unworthy of the former honours he had received, by ending the remnant of a long life as a penfioner, or accepting of a peerage obtained by political arrangement. His gracious mafter applauded his manly fpirit, ever after continued him in his high military honours, and, to the day of his death, condescended to fhew him ftrong marks of his regard. Such are the outlines of the public character of admiral Forbes. Infirmity deprived him of exerting his great ta lefits in his latter days publicly for the fervice of his country: but all who had the happiness of his acquaintance will agree, that in private life he continued to his laft breath an example of the brighteft virtues which can adorn the Human character. Account of Sir William Chambers. THIS gentleman, whofe fame will laft as long as the noble building of Somerfer Houfe fhall rear its majef tie head, was by birth a Swede. It has been faid, that he was defcended of the ancient family of Chalmers in Scotland, barons of Tartas in France, and that his father was a merchant, who fuffered much by fupplying Charles, XII. with money and goods during his wars, for which he received only the bafe copper coin of that monarch, ftruck for the purpofe in his emer gencies, and like the French affignats, afterwards depreciated; by which means the holder was involved in His first refidence in London was in Poland ftreet; but not, as has been afferted, in the business of a carpenter. He at an early period displayed the talents he poffeffed, and foon was confidered as one of the beft architects and draftfmen in Europe. His abilities in troduced him to the knowledge of lord Bute, by whofe intereft he was appoint ed drawing-mafter to his majefty, then prince of Wales. His firft work of confequence was. lord Befborough's villa at Roehampton, which, from his conduct in that bufinefs, procured him many other buildings. He gave in his plan to lord Bef borough with an effimate as an architect; but on that nobleman's applying to him to know whether he would build it humfelf for the money mentioned in the climate, he contented to undertake it. It was accordingly finished, and both parties, the employer and the builder, were fatisfied with their bargains, and each with the other. The intercourfe which fir William had obtained with his majefty foon after ་་ his fovereign's acceffion to the crown, procured for him the laying out and improving the gardens at Kew, which, from the nature of the ground, he was obliged to ornament in the Chinefe tafte. In 1763 he published Plans, elevations, iections, and perspective views, of the gardens and buildings at Kew, in Surrey, the feat of her royal highnels the princefs dowager of Wales," a magnificent work, in which the architectural defigns, were drawn by our author, the views hy meffrs. Kirby, Thomas Sandby, and Marlow, and the engravings by Paul Sandby, Woollett, Major, Grignion, and RookAt the age of two years Sir William er. In this work, fir William affigns was brought over to England, and at a, the reafon of his adopting the Chinese ruin. ftyle Ayle in this inftance. "The gardens, of Kew," fays he, are not very large, nor is their fituation by any means ad Vantageous; as it is low, and commands, no profpects Originally the ground was one continued dead flat; the foil was in general barren, and without either wood or water. With fo many difadvantages, it was not eafy to produce any thing even tolerable in gardening but princely munificence and, an able director have overcome all difficulties, and converted what was once a defart into an Eden." The difficulty of ornamenting fuch a fituation few perfons will deny; but as few will be inclined to defire the introduction of fuch exotics in places where Nature has been more bountiful. In the year 1771. our architect was announced in the catalogue of the Roy. al Academy as knight of the polar ftar, and the next year he published the work which has afforded much entertainment from itself, but more from the admirable piece fuppofed to be the production of Mr. Mafon, entitled, "An Heroic Epiftle." Sir William Chambers's work was entitled "A Diflertation on Oriental Gardening," 4to. which, in the preface, he fays, was collected from his own obfervations in China, from converfations with their artifts, and remarks tranfmitted to him at different times by travellers. A fketch of it had been published fome years before; but the performance itself appearing immediately after Mr. Mafon's English Garden, it was invidiously fuggefted, that the intention of our author was to depreciate English gardeners, in order to divert his royal mafter from his plan of improving the gardens at Richmond as they are to be seen at this time. The horrible and ftrange devices defcribed toexift in the Chinese gardens have been much ridiculed, but year 1775, on the building of Somerfet Houfe, be was appointed to conduct that great national work. He was allo comptroller general to the works of the king, architect to the queen and princess dowager, treasurer to the royal acade my, member of the royal academy of arts at Florence, and of the royal aca-: demy of architecture at Paris. After a long illness he died, at a very advanced age, the 8th of March 1796; leaving a fon, married to mifs Rodney, and three daughters, the wives of Mr. Cotton, Mr. Innes, and Mr. Harward, with a confiderable fortune, acquired honourably, and enjoyed with hofpitality bordering on magnificence; and, what is ftili better, quitting life with the regret and concern of all thofe with. whom he had been connected; efteemod, loved, and lamented, by all with whom he had any intercourse either as an artift or as a man. On the 18th of March, his remains were interred in the Poet's Corner, Weltminster Abbey, being attended by his fon, his fons-in-law, his executors, the dean of Lincoln, minifter of the parish, Mr. Penneck of the Museum, and a few other friends, the prefident, officers, and council of the Royal Academy, and the clerks of the board of works. In the Abbey they were joined by the mafter workmen belonging to the board of works, who attended unfolicited, to teftify their regret for the lofs, and their efteem for the memory of a man, by whom their claims had ever been examined with attention, and decided with juftice, and by whom themfelves were always treated with mildnefs, courtesy and affability. French Method of fucking fresh Wounds. are no more than had been before pub. THE following account of that lithed by father Auiret, in his account of the emperor of China's gardens near Pekiu, tranflated by Mr. Spence under the name of fir Harry Beaumont in 1753, and fince republished in Dodfley's Fugitive Pieces. Sir William Chambers' next work was on civil architecture; and in the curious and little known operation of empirical furgery, the fuction of freth wounds, is extracted literally from Bell's Difcourfes on the Nature and Cure of Wounds, lately publifhed. "Were this thing merely curious I fhould drop it here; but it is a fact fo little known, and fo useful and well authenticated, that I mult explain it to you; |