the purpofe;-Cæfar had made it his point, and his point he would carry: word of Cæfar was law; and Laberius, this bird, which will be ftuffed, and fet up in its natural pofition. Its fkeleton will alfo be made up and fixed. Its ftomach, heart, lungs, &c. are pre-driven out of all his defences, was ferved in fpirits; and the whole, toge ther with the handkerchief, nails, brafs, &c. found in the ftomach, will be placed in the cabinet for exhibition. DELACOSTE AND CURLING. New York, 4th June 1804. On the ROMAN ACTORS. IT is well known how fond the Ro. mans were of acting plays; but it is to be lamented, that the koman theatre never furnished any ladies to match the heroines of our English ftage. Great encomiums have been bestowed upon Laberius, Rofcius, and the famous Pub. lius Syrus, which would not be inapplicable to fome of our prefent actors. I am forry to find that they were not in the habit of speaking epilogues in thofe days, though they fpoke prologues, of which I thall give my readers one as a fample, after telling them upon what occafion it was compofed. Laberius, whom I before mentioned, was a Roman Knight of good family, and a man withal of high (pirit and pretensions, but unfortunately he had a talent for the drama: he read his own plays better than any man then living could act them. P. Clodius, the fine gentleman and rake of the age, had the indecorum to prefs Laberius to come forward on the public ftage, and take the principal character in one of his own plays. Laberius was indignant, and Clodius proceeded to menaces. "Do your worst," fays the Roman Knight, you can but fend me to Dyrrachium and back again;" proudly intimating, that he would fuffer the like banishment with Cicero, rather than confent to his demand; for acting was not then the amusement of people of fashion, and private theatres were not then thought of. Julius Cæfar was no lefs captivated with Laberius's talents than Clodius had been; and being a man not apt to be difcouraged by common difficulties, took up the fame folicitation, and affailed our Roman Knight, who was now fixty years of age, and felt his powers in their decline. Confcious of this decline, no lefs than his own dignity, he refifted the degrading requeft, he interceded, he implored of Cæfar to excufe him:-it was to no obliged to submit and comply. Cæfar makes a grand fpeecle for all Rome; bills are given out for a play of Liberius's, and the principal part is an nounced to be performed by the author himself. The theatre is thronged with fpectators;-all Rome is prelent, and Decimus Laberius prefents himself on the stage, and addreffes the audience in the following prologue: Neceffitas, cujus curfus tranfverfi impe tum Voluerunt multi effugere, pauci potue runt, Quo me detrufit pœne extremis fenfibus ? Quem nulla ambitio, nulla unquam largitio, Nullus timor, vis nulla, nulla auctoritas runt, Hominem me denegare quis poffet pati? Ergo his tricennis annis actis fine nota Eques Romanus lare egreffus meo Domum revertas mimus: Nimirum hoc die Uno plus vixi mihi quam vivendum fuit. Fortuna, immoderata in bono æque atque in male, Si tibi erat libitum literarum laudibus Fioris acumen noftræ tamæ frangere, Cur cum vigebam membris præviridantibus, [vire, Satisfacere populo et tali cum poteram Non flexibilem me concurvalti nt carperes? [affero ! Nunc me quo dejicis? Quid ad fcenam Decorem formæ, an dignitantem corporis, Animi virtutem, an vocis jucundæ fo Now, lur'd by flattery in my weaker age, I fink my knighthood, and afcend the tage. Yet mufe not, therefore-how shall man gainlay Him whom the Deities themselves obey? Sixty long years I've liv'd, without dif grace, A Roman Knight; let dignity give place: I'm Cæfar's attor now, and compass more In one fhort hour than all my life betore. O, Fortune! fickle fource of good and ill, [will, If here to place me 'twas thy fovereign Why, when I'd youth and faculties to pleafe So great a mafter, and fuch guests as thefe, Why not compel me ther, malicious pow'r ! To the hard task of this degrading hour? Where now-in what profound abyfs of fhame [name? Doft thou confpire with Fate to link my Whence are my hopes,-what voice can age fupply [the eye? To charm the ear,-what grace to pleate Where is the action, energy, and art, The lock that guides its pathon to the heart? [trunk, Age creeps like ivy o'er my wither'd Its bloom all blafted, and its vigour frunk; [mains A tomb, where nothing but a name reTo tell the world whofe afhes it contains. The play to which this pathetic prologue was attached was a comedy, in which Laberius took the part of a lave, and in the course of the plot (as ufual) w beaten by his matter. In this condition, having marked his habit with counterfeited itripes, he runs upon the ftage, and cries out amain-Pono Quirites! libertatem perdimus. "In good faith, Countrymen, there is an end of freedom."-The indignant fpectators fent up a hout of applaufe. Laberius, not yet content with this atone nent to the manes of his knighthood, fubjoins the following pointed allusion: "Neceffe eft multos timeat, quem multi timent." "The man whom many fear, muft needs fear many."-All ey s were now turned upon Cæfar, and the degraded Laberius enjoyed a full revenge. We may naturally fuppofe this conduct loft him the favour of Cæfar, who immediately took up Publius Syrus, á Syrian flave, who had been manumitted for his ingenious talents, and was acting in the country theatres with much applaufe. Cæfar fetched him out of his obfcurity, as we bring up an actor from Bath or York, and pitted him againt Laberius. It was the triumph of youth and vigour over age and decay; and Cæfar, with malicious civility, faid to Laberius, "Fa-` vente tibi me victus es, Labere, a Syro." "You are furpaffed by Syrus," in fpite of my support." As Laberius was going out of the theatre, he was met by Syrus, who was inconfiderate enough to let an expreffion efcape him which was very dif refpectful to his veteran competitor. Laberius felt the unbecoming infuit, and, turning to Syrus, gave him this extempore anfwer: "Non poffunt primi effe omnes omni in tempore; Summum ad gradum cum claritatis veneris, Confites gre; et quam defcendes, de "To ftand the first is not the lot of all; 'Tis now your turn to mount, and mine. to fall: 'Tis flippery ground: beware you keep, your feet; For public favour is a public cheat." I need not remind the learned reader? in what credit the fayings of this Publius Syrus have been justly held by all the Literati fro.n Seneca to Scaliger, who turned them into Greek; and it is, for the honour of the fraternity of the Page, that both he and Sophron, whofe moral fentences were fouad under Plato's pillow when he died, were actors by profeilion. DRAMATICUS. with the original account of their manners, we shall find that there has been no deviation from the original; which evidently proves, that the human understanding has, for many years, made no progress in that vaft and populous country. How different are the prefent manners of the Germans from what they formerly were! though originally they were fuperftitious to an equal degree, and in many points fimilar to thofe of the Hindoos. There were two inftances of their love for divination worth obferving; -one particularly from the omens taken from their horfes. They kept in their facred woods, at the public expenfe, white horfes that did no kind of work for the fervice of man: when they were to be confulted to know the will of the Divinity, they were put into a facred car; the Prielt and King, or Chief of the Canton, walked by them as they went, and noted the fnortings and neighings of thofe creatures, as fo many indications of the will of Heaven. This was the moft refpected of all their aufpices, and had the greatest fanction of applaufe from all ranks. The Priests pretended to nothing higher than being minifters of the gods; but the horfes were their confidantes, and admitted into their fecrets. The fecond was their received opinion, that there was in women fomething facred, divine, and fit to make them interpreters of the will of the gods. Some pretended prophets always engroffed their confidence; and if the event happened luckily to agree with her anfwer, they inftantly honoured her as a goddefs, and that from a real perfuafion that he was fuch. Tacitus mentions one in particular, whofe name was Velida, who played thefe tricks in her time. She was a virgin, and fovereign of a large territory among the Bru&teri. To make herfelf more refpected, the dwelt in a high tower, and granted an eafy accefs to no perfon. Those who came to confult her were not allowed to prefent their petitions themselves; but one of her relations ufed to receive them, and brought back the prophetess's answer. In the marriage ceremonies, the hufband gave the wife a dowry; but the prefents that he made her were not fuch as tended to encourage drefs, luxury, or delicacy-they confifted in a yoke of oxen, a horse with a bridle (or bit), a buckler, a spear, and a fword, In return, the brought her husband fome piece of armour; and this ceremony formed between them the strongest and moft facred tie. The prefents given by the husband were of fuch a nature as contained an important lesson; for they brought her not to think herself, on account of her fex, difpenfed from being bold and courageous, or expoting herself to dangers or fatigues, which he was to fhare with her hufband, and be attached to him even to death. ་ If the difhonoured herself by adultery, the punishment foon followed the crime, and the husband himself was both judge and avenger. In the prefence of both families, he cut off his guilty wife's hair, ftripped her, and, turning her out of his house, drove her through the whole town on this point there was no remiflion, no indulgence; neither youth, nor beauty, nor riches, could protect from the ignominy of punishment the woman who had forfeited her honour; nor could they procure her another hufband. The law of conjugal fidelity was carried fo far among fome of thefe people, as to forbid all fecond marriages; as they had but one body and life, fo they were to have but one hufband. This was intended as a mean to prevent all idle withes and expectations extending beyond the husband's life, the wife's fate being for ever fixed to him; but the Heruli were ftill more rigid on this occafion. The wife was obliged to ftrangle herself on her hufband's grave, on pain of being reputed infamous, and difhonoured as long as the lived. The last thing that I fhall mention, is their exceffive fondness of dice; fo much, that they looked upon it as a ferious affair, and would play with all the attention they were capable of ;and even when perfectly fober and cool, would carry it to the greatest height of madnefs, often ftaking their perfons and liberty when they had nothing more to lofe:-thofe who loft would quietly fubmit to flavery, and, though younger and ftronger than the winner, would fuffer themselves to be pinioned, led away, and fold. Slaves of this kind were a fhame to their masters, who for that reafon were glad to get tid of them as foon as they could, and fold them to ftrangers, to be carried into remote countries. THE THE LONDON REVIEW, AND LITERARY JOURNAL, FOR JULY 1804. QUID SIT PULCHRUM, QUID TURPE, QUID UTILE, QUID NON. The Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery performed in his Majefty's Veffel the Lady Hellon, of Sixty Tons Burthen, with Sliding Keels, in the Years 1800, 1801, and 1802, to New South Wales. By James Grant, Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Illuftrated with elegant Engravings. 4to. THE principal object of this Voyage being to afcertain the utility of a new invention in the nautical art of very great importance, the narrative very properly opens with an account of the origin of fliding keels, and of the advantages refulting from them'; and the work is most humbly infcribed, from a principle of gratitude, to his Grace the Duke of Northumberland, "the liberal patron of good arts in general, and Naval Architecture in particular." The fliding keels are an improve ment in Ship-building, for which this country is, and all maritime Europe will hereafter, be indebted to the skill and ingenuity of Captain John Schank, of the Royal Navy, formerly one of the Commiffioners of the Transport Board. It was in America, during the fatal contest betwixt the mother-country and her Colonies, that Captain Schank obtained the favour and patronage of the Duke of Northumberland, then Earl Percy, who was on fervice there, (with his regiment,) as was Captain Schank in the naval department. In a converfation on the art of hip-building, betwixt the Earl and the Captain, the idea of Sliding Keels firft fuggefted itself to the latter-his Lordthip obferving, that if cutters were built much fatter, fo as to go on the furface and not draw much water, they would fail faster, and might still be enabled to carry as much fail, and keep up to the wind, by having their keels defcend to VOL. XLVI. JULY 1804 a greater depth; and that the flat fide of the keel, when prefented to the water, would even make them able to fpread more canvas, and hold the wind better, than on a construction whereby they prefent only the circular furface of the body to the water. Captain schank coincided in this opinion, and ob. served, that if this deep keel was made moveable, and to be fcrewed upwards into a trunk, or well formed within the veel, fo as that, on neceffity, they might draw little water, all these advantages might be obtained. Captain Schank having maturely confidered the principle thus fuggefted, was fully convinced of its ufe and practicability, and afterwards, viz. in 1774, folicited Lord Percy, then at Bofton, in New England, to permit him to build a boat for his Lordship upon that conftruction. He did fo, and it was found to answer in every refpect. In 1789, he built a boat at Deptford with three fliding keels, and in the following year the Trial cutter at Plymouth. Since that time, the Captain has built a number of other veffels on the fame construction, three of which are at this time in the fervice, of Government. Without adding to the number, we cannot avoid obferving the great lapie of time between the date of the firit invention, and the experiment made in fending out the Lady Nelfon to afcertain the great utility of the fliding keels in long voyages and dangerous navigations. The delay is not account ed for by our Author; and after the full proof exhibited in the narrative of the fuccefs attending the voyage to New South Wales, the reader's aftonifhment will be increafed that this confiderable improvement was not ear lier investigated and adopted in the Government G Government department to which it belongs, more especially as it appears from Captain Schank's papers, now first published in this work, that the advantages refulting from the ufe of fliding keels are comprehended under fix general heads of the first importance in the nautical art. In the first place, "Veffels thus conftructed will fail fafter, fteer eater, and tack and wear quicker, and in lefs room. Secondly, They will carry more, and draw lefs water. Thirdly, They will ride more ealy at anchor. Fourthly, they will take the ground better. Fifthly, In cafe of fhipwreck, of fpringing a leak, or of a fire, they are more fafe, and more likely to be faved. Lastly, They will anfwer better as men of war, bombs, fire-fhips, floating batteries, gun-boats, and flat-bottomed boats for landing troops." To thefe feveral heads Captain Schank annexes ample explanations, which Lieutenant Grant makes the bafis of the introduction to his voyage, during the courfe of which he had an opportunity, in the Lady Nellon, of experiencing most of the advantages defcribed under the foregoing heads. A large engraved sketch of the fliding keels is prefixed to the Volume, as a further illuftration of their conftruction. We fhall now proceed on the Voyage of Discovery, which commenced on the 13th of January 1800; and in going down the river to Gravesend, fevere reflections were made, as the paffed, against fo fmall a vellel being defined for fuch a long voyage. "The general appellation given to the Lady Nelfon was that of his Majesty's Tinder-Box; but a circumstance happened in the Downs which happily removed the apprehenfions of the crew, whofe minds had been prejudiced against her by the many unfavourable reports in circulation with refpect to the impoffibility of her performing the voyage. In aftrong gale of wind with a heavy fea, in the night of the 23d, many fignals of diftrefs were made in the Oing, feveral hips drove by the Lady Nelfon, and the following morning fix veffels were on fhore, difmatted, whilft the rode out the gale with eafe at anchor, the keels being found of great ufe in fteading her, and prevented her rigging from training. In her paffage from the Downs to Spithead, her Commander obferved, that the outfailed all veffels: of her fize going that way, and he found her to be a good fea-boat; the was likewife new, and very strong. But till many people who. faw her in Portfimouth harbour reckoned her unfit for fo long a voyage, which occafioned the desertion of the Carpenter and two more young men, whose minds were easily worked upon by repreienting the impracticability and risk of the undertaking. Anxious to fail, Lieutenant Grant reluctantly put up with his lofs. In the evening of the 18th of March, he took his departure from Dunnose, in the Ifle of Wight, in company with the Brunswick Eaft Indiaman, from which the parted in a heavy gale on the 23d; and from that day to their arrival off the Island of Salt, one of the Cape de Verds, nothing occurred worthy of particular notice, except an obfervation, that the Commander found the great benefit of the keels in facilitating the veffel's coming to and bearing up. With refpect to the Inland of Salt, he gives a defcription of it which differs from that which he found in the East India Directory, wherein it feems to have been confounded with Bonavista; the distinction between them is clearly pointed out by Mr. Grant, and may be of fervice to future navi gators. Arrived at Port Praya, in the Inland of St. Jago, the 13th of April, having performed this first part of his voy age in twenty-fix days from Portf mouth, our Author acknowledges the polite reception he met with from the Portugucie Governor, "who offered him every affistance in his power, that he might ftand in need of," he enter tains his readers with the remarks he made during his ftay on the Island, particularly in feveral excurfions into the interior. Accompanied by a guide, he travelled about twenty miles in one day to procure fome Guinea fowls, and in the purfuit of them they paffed feveral little farms inhabited by the natives, who refemble African negroes. Thefe farms are mostly fituated in the valleys, and appear to have had great labour bestowed on the lands: the houfes are mere cabins, exhibiting much mifery; yet wretched as they appeared, the women, on their entering, received them with kindnefs, and gave them fome eggs, a kind of macaroni which they used as bread, and milk; the men they faid were at work in the 6 fields, |