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  • Sept. 1, 1796
  • Page 47
  • REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.
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The Freemasons' Magazine, Sept. 1, 1796: Page 47

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    Article REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. ← Page 4 of 9 →
Page 47

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Review Of New Publications.

Letters ivrittc > i during a short residence in Sivedcn , Ncrivtty end Denmark . By Miry WolU . oiiecraft . % -vo . Pages-i !> $ . Price ij . Johnson . 179 6 . WE have in several former publicaions of Mrs . Wollstonecraft admired the strong—or , if the fair traveller will accept the epithet as a compfiiheiit , the nvscnline—mind of this female philosopher ; and these Letters f ' uriiish'us with new inducements to repeat it . The production before us is not ; indeed , written with laboured- accuracy : the thoughts are neither artfully arranged ,

nor expressed with studied elegar . ee ; and every sentiment appears to have been dictated by the present object , or the present occurrence , with no other care than to express it faithfully and forcibly ,: but if by fastidious delicacy this should bethought a deleft , it is amply compensated by the undistinguished disclosure of aneniightened and contemplative mind , and still more by the natural and energetic expression of feelings which do credit to the writer ' s heart , and will not fail to touch that of the reader ,

We shall first introduce the author to our readers in a mood of musing ' melancholy , on a summer ' s night , soon after'her arrival in Sweden : Nothing , in faft , can equal the beauty of the northern sumvrier ' s evening and night ; if night it may be called that only wants the glare of day , the full light , which frequently seems so impertinent : for I could write at midnig ht very well without a candle . 1 contemplated all nature at rest ; the rockseven grown darker in their appearance , looked as if they partook of

, the general repose , and inclined more heavily on their foundation . — 'What , I exclaimed , is this aftive principle which keeps me still awake ?—Why fly my thoughts abroad when every thing around me appears at home?—My child was sleeping , with equal calmness—^ innocent and sweet as the closingflower ' s . —Some recollections , attached to the idea of home , mingled with reflections respecting the state of society 1 had been contemplating that evening ^ made a tear drop on the rosy cheek I had just kissed ; and emotions that

trembled on the brink of ecstasy and agony gave a poignancy to my sensations , which made me feel more alive than usual . In this passage , we cannot help particularly pointing the attention of the reader to the highl y poetical image of the rocks looking as ' if they partook of the general repose , and reclining more heavily on their foundations . ' The glow of sensibility , which animates the passage , it is impossible not to admire . A gloomy obscurity hangs over the sentiment at the close , which we do not find ourselves capable of removing . Cf the writer ' s lively fancy , and tender ( perhaps ' morbid ) sensibility , we must give our readers a beautiful but affeCting specimen :

' Tonsberg was formerly the residence of one of the little sovereigns of Norway ; and on an adjacent mountain the vestiges of a fort remain , which was battered down by the Swedes ; the entrance of the bay lying close to if .-' Here I have frequently strayed , sovereign of the waste 1 seldom met any human creature ; and sometimes , reclining on the mossy down , under the shelter of a rock , the prattling of the sea amongst the pebbles has lulled me to sleep—no fear of any rude satyr ' s approaching to interrupt my repose .

Balmy were the slumbers , and soft the gales that refreshed me , when I . awoke to follow , with an eye vaguely curious , the white , sails , as they turned the cliffs , or seemed to take shelter under the pines which covered the little islands that so gracefully rose to render the terrific oce .-n beautiful . Thefishermen were calmly casting . their nets ; whilst the sea-gulls hovered over the unruffled deep . Every thing seemed to harmonize into tranquility—even the mournful call . of the bittern was in cadence with the tinkling bells on the necks , of the cows ,. that , pacing slowly one after the other , . along an inviting path in the vale below , were repairing to the cottages to be milked . With

“The Freemasons' Magazine: 1796-09-01, Page 47” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 12 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fmm/issues/fmm_01091796/page/47/.
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Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
Untitled Article 2
LONDON: Article 2
TO READERS, CORRESPONDENTS, &c. Article 3
THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE, AND CABINET OF UNIVERSAL LITERATURE . Article 4
A DEFENCE OF MASONRY, Article 10
FEMALE SECRESY. Article 17
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE OF WILLIAM OF WYKEHAM. Article 18
ON THE ABUSES PRACTISED BY MILLERS AND DEALERS IN CORN. Article 22
REFLECTIONS ON HISTORY. Article 24
ON THE POWER OF HABIT. Article 25
SKETCHES OF CELEBRATED CHARACTERS. Article 28
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF PROMISSORY NOTES AND PAPER CREDIT. Article 34
THE REMOVAL OF THE MONUMENTS OF THE FINE ARTS FROM ITALY TO FRANCE. Article 37
CURIOUS ANECDOTE OF A FRENCH TRAVELLER. Article 38
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE REPRESENTING A COMPANION OF THE ANCIENT KNIGHTS TEMPLARS, Article 40
ON THE DEGENERATE MANNERS OF THE ATHENIANS. Article 42
REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. Article 44
LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. Article 53
POETRY. Article 54
ODE TO FORTITUDE. Article 55
ELEGY, ON MR. MATTHEW WINTERBOTHAM, Article 56
VERSES, Article 57
SONNET. Article 58
THE SIGH AND THE TEAR. Article 58
EPIGRAMS, Article 59
THE CONJUGAL REPARTEE. Article 59
MONTHLY CHRONICLE. Article 60
INTELLIGENCE OF IMPORTANCE Article 62
ARMIES IN ITALY. Article 64
HOME NEWS. Article 66
THE ARTS. Article 66
OBITUARY. Article 68
LIST OF BANKRUPTS. Article 73
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Page 47

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Review Of New Publications.

Letters ivrittc > i during a short residence in Sivedcn , Ncrivtty end Denmark . By Miry WolU . oiiecraft . % -vo . Pages-i !> $ . Price ij . Johnson . 179 6 . WE have in several former publicaions of Mrs . Wollstonecraft admired the strong—or , if the fair traveller will accept the epithet as a compfiiheiit , the nvscnline—mind of this female philosopher ; and these Letters f ' uriiish'us with new inducements to repeat it . The production before us is not ; indeed , written with laboured- accuracy : the thoughts are neither artfully arranged ,

nor expressed with studied elegar . ee ; and every sentiment appears to have been dictated by the present object , or the present occurrence , with no other care than to express it faithfully and forcibly ,: but if by fastidious delicacy this should bethought a deleft , it is amply compensated by the undistinguished disclosure of aneniightened and contemplative mind , and still more by the natural and energetic expression of feelings which do credit to the writer ' s heart , and will not fail to touch that of the reader ,

We shall first introduce the author to our readers in a mood of musing ' melancholy , on a summer ' s night , soon after'her arrival in Sweden : Nothing , in faft , can equal the beauty of the northern sumvrier ' s evening and night ; if night it may be called that only wants the glare of day , the full light , which frequently seems so impertinent : for I could write at midnig ht very well without a candle . 1 contemplated all nature at rest ; the rockseven grown darker in their appearance , looked as if they partook of

, the general repose , and inclined more heavily on their foundation . — 'What , I exclaimed , is this aftive principle which keeps me still awake ?—Why fly my thoughts abroad when every thing around me appears at home?—My child was sleeping , with equal calmness—^ innocent and sweet as the closingflower ' s . —Some recollections , attached to the idea of home , mingled with reflections respecting the state of society 1 had been contemplating that evening ^ made a tear drop on the rosy cheek I had just kissed ; and emotions that

trembled on the brink of ecstasy and agony gave a poignancy to my sensations , which made me feel more alive than usual . In this passage , we cannot help particularly pointing the attention of the reader to the highl y poetical image of the rocks looking as ' if they partook of the general repose , and reclining more heavily on their foundations . ' The glow of sensibility , which animates the passage , it is impossible not to admire . A gloomy obscurity hangs over the sentiment at the close , which we do not find ourselves capable of removing . Cf the writer ' s lively fancy , and tender ( perhaps ' morbid ) sensibility , we must give our readers a beautiful but affeCting specimen :

' Tonsberg was formerly the residence of one of the little sovereigns of Norway ; and on an adjacent mountain the vestiges of a fort remain , which was battered down by the Swedes ; the entrance of the bay lying close to if .-' Here I have frequently strayed , sovereign of the waste 1 seldom met any human creature ; and sometimes , reclining on the mossy down , under the shelter of a rock , the prattling of the sea amongst the pebbles has lulled me to sleep—no fear of any rude satyr ' s approaching to interrupt my repose .

Balmy were the slumbers , and soft the gales that refreshed me , when I . awoke to follow , with an eye vaguely curious , the white , sails , as they turned the cliffs , or seemed to take shelter under the pines which covered the little islands that so gracefully rose to render the terrific oce .-n beautiful . Thefishermen were calmly casting . their nets ; whilst the sea-gulls hovered over the unruffled deep . Every thing seemed to harmonize into tranquility—even the mournful call . of the bittern was in cadence with the tinkling bells on the necks , of the cows ,. that , pacing slowly one after the other , . along an inviting path in the vale below , were repairing to the cottages to be milked . With

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