1816.]

study is favourable to health and long life, this mean of human happiness will in that case bear to be thoroughly investigated and enforced. Many names might be added to the list, particulary the controversialists Bishops Hoadley and Sherlock, who died within a few months of each other, at above fourscore; Dr. Franklin, who died above eighty-four; that remarkable instance of activity and temperance John Wesley, who lived to be

eighty-eight; with Charles Macklin and Fontenelle,

who reached the period of one hundred years.

Illustrations of Hogarth; i. e. Hogarth illustrated from passages in Authors he never read and could not understand.

343

ing that Junius must have been a foreigner, might as well have been alleged in support of the con trary position.

The London Savings Bank: an Account of its Formation, Progress, &c. with Directions for the Establishment of similar institutions. By Charles Taylor. 1s. 6d.

Researches into the History of Playing Cards, with Illustrations of the Origin of Printing and Engraving on Wood. By S, W. Singer. 4to. 41. 4s.

The Quarterly Journal of Sciences and the Edited at the Royal Institution of Great Britain. No. I. 7s. 6d.

In this curious tract, we think it is easy to trace the classic genius of an old friend, who has long been known to the world as a commentator of the first degree of eminence; and an original writer in various branches of literature. The present performance cannot but afford an exquisite treat to all the admirers of our great moral painter, who are capable of comparing the works of that master with the passages which are here selected from ancient authors in the elucidation of them. It is indeed extraordinary that so many coincidences should exist, and that a man who could scarcely write his mother tongue should have happily embodied and graphically expressed many of the neatest and some of the most whimsical descriptions

Prize Essays and Transactions of the Highland Society of Scotland, with an Account of the principal Proceedings of the Society from April, 1807, to January, 1815, drawn up by Henry Mackenzie, esq. Vol. IV. 8vo. 15s.

Encyclopædia Edinensis. By James Millar, M.D. Editor of the Fourth, and the greatest part of the Fifth Edition of the En

some slight variations, are here arranged in the order of the pictures, and now and then enlivened with the commentator's notes. Perhaps the grueral utility of the work, as a new illustration of Hogarth, would have been increased by literal. versions of the quotations for the benefit of the acre English reader. In the Introduction, Dr. Farmer's Essay on the Learning of Shakspeare is aptly mentioned, and we shall add, that what is advanced in that elegant disquisition, might furnish a hint to the farther prosecution of this subject; since the painter, though he could not read the works here mentioned in their original language, might have been familiar enough with the translations of them. Prefixed to this agreeable pamphlet is a portrait of Hogarth, engraved after an original drawing on vellam, by Worlidge.

Arguments and Facts demonstrating that the Letters of Junius were written by John Lewis de Lolme, LL.D. Advocate. Accompanied with Memoirs of that Illustrious Foreigner. By Thomas Busby, Mus. Doc. 8vo. 10s. 6d.

We are heartily sick of so disgusting a subject as that of Junius: and if any thing can exceed the fully of those who gave popularity to the wretched ribaldry of that assassin, it is the miserable ambition which in the present day has set many on the scent to discover the author. The disquisition now before us has the merit at least of endeavouring to free this country from the disgrace of having given birth to the libeller; but though we are far enough from being satisfied with the proofs here brought forward to identity De Lolme as Junias, we have been amused with the perusal of the book, and particularly with the anecdotes of that extra. ordinary, but certainly far from illustrious, foreigner. We also knew De Lolme, and our recol. lection of his conversation and mauners. would alone convince us that, with the exception of the irascibility of his diposition, he was totally unequal to the production of the Letters in question. The parallelisms here brought forward prove nothing; and the phrases adduced for the purpose of shew.

pleted in 6 vols.) 4to. 8s.

A Letter of Advice to his Grandchildren. By Sir Matthew Hale. Now first published. Fc. 8vo.

Annual Gleanings of Wit and Humour, in Prose and Verse, consisting of a Selection of Anecdotes, Ben Mots, Epigrams, &c. chiefly gleaned from the numerous periodical Works and Journals of the Day, both Foreign and English, with many Original Pieces by a celebrated Wit of the Age. 18m0. 7s. large paper 10s. 6d.

An Address to the Special Jurymen of Wiltshire. By Rob. Gourlay.

A Complete List of all Agents licensed by the Treasurer of the Navy up to Dec. 81, 1815, with an Abstract of the Acts of Parliament connected with the Receipt of PrizeMoney. 3s.

NATURAL HISTORY,

The Natural History of British Birds. By E. Donovan, F.L S. Vols. VI. and VII. 31. 12s.

NOVELS.

Collin St. Clyde. 3 vols.

The favourable reception which Waverley and Guy Mannering met with, has induced several Scottish authors to adventure in the same road to fame, and the work now before us is not the least happy in execution. The tale is not so connected as its author might have made it, still it is full of bustle, character, incident, local manners, fendul customs, superstitious anecdote, sentiment, pious feeling, aud resiguation, The plot is of itself simple-a Highland laird obtains for his son a commission in the renowned forty-second regi. ment; this son is supposed to fall in battle, and his father, the laird of St Clyde, is found drowned in a lake, and his brother in-law Villigueve, ob. tains possession of the estate of St. Clyde. The son returns after some years abscuce; Villigueve

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flies; the murderer of the aird is found, who proves to be his uncle, and the hero of the tale marries the object of his first love. This is the outline of the plot, but there are numerous circumstances connected with the division of it, developing the causes which led to Collin's entering into the army, the murder of his father, and the discovery of the perpetrator, which are well kept up, and never loose their interest. The circumstance of the author having placed his hero in the 42d regiment, affords him an extensive field for that irregularity of genius which he so ably displays. The descriptive scenery and local manners convince us that the author is a native of the place his plot is laid in, for the topographical allusions are true to the veriest village, glen, wood, and loch, and he takes his characters just as he finds them, observing however, always to make them support their several parts in the drama with all the national pride, superstition, cunning, learning, perseverance, and clanish attachment for which the north is so notorious. The description of a highland farewell and welcome, are drawn with mach pathos and feeling. The style of writing throughout is correct, and often elegant, and notwithstanding the Scottish words which we frequently meet with, and which in some measure retard the progress of the English reader, it may be fairly said to be a most amusing and instructive work of its kind.

Jane of France, 2 vols.

By Madame de Genlis.

There is a peculiar kind of romance in which the French have always surpassed the writers of other countries, for with the exception of the "Recess," we have nothing of this description that deserves to be put in competition with the works of our neighbours. The present tale is one of the most beautiful and instructive works in this class of composition; and it is impossible to read it without feeling an awful respect for the exalted virtues of Jane, the daughter of Louis XI. of France, and the wife of the Duke of Orleans, who succeeded to the throue at the demise of his brother-in-law Charles VIII. On the story of that accomplished woman, Madame de Genlis has contrived to raise a delightful structure, enriched with some touching incidents, and characters that are strongly drawn, and admirably contrasted; but the prevailing merit of this historical novel is, that it exhibits the power of moral and religious principles in the subjugation and right direction of the passions.

Julia of Ardenfield. 2 vols. 12mo. 10s. 6d. There is a touching simplicity in this tale, which cannot fail to please even those readers who have hardly any relish for natural characters and proba ble descriptious. The admirers of extravagant ro wance must feel an interest in the lovely orphan whose unassuming virtues and gentle disposition, in trying but not uncommon situations, constitute the basis of the story. But the levity of Lady Bellamour, her fall, and repentance; with the exalted forbearance and sterling piety of her injured Lord; afford equally powerful lessons for the restraint of the passions and the conduct of life. The other personages introduced throughout the work are admirably sketched, and in every instance with a strictly moral tendency. The language is good, and the sentiments are altogether so excel. lent, that we can have no hesitation in saying, that the history of Julia of Ardenfield ought to be read in all families, and put into the hands of every young lady.

Faith and Fiction, or Shining Lights in a

[May 1,

Dark Generation. 5 vols. 11. 7s. 6d. Brougham Castle. By Jane Harvey. 2 vols. 10s. 6d.

By Elizabeth Bennett,

She would be a Heroine. By Sophia Griffith. 3 vols. 15s.

PHILOLOGY.

English Synonyms explained in Alphabetical Order, with copious Illustrations and Examples. By George Crabb. 8vo. 11. ls.

POETRY.

The City of the Plague, and other Poems. By John Wilson, Author of the Isle of Palms. 8vo. 10s. 6d.

This is genuine poetry, though rather of the mournful cast. The principal piece, which gives a title to the volume, is of the dramatic character, and exhibits a dreadful picture of the English metropolis during the latter part of the fatal plague year. Two young naval officers are described as entering the city together, amidst the awful scene of desolation; and nothing perhaps can be ima gined more truly affecting than the fond anxiety and fearful expectation of one of them during his inquiry after the fate of his mother. He arrives just time enough to weep at her funeral, and that of his little brother; but he finds his Magdalena moving among the living and the dying, as an angel of peace, exhorting the oue to repentance, and consoling the others by her prayers. The picture of this wonderful female, and that of the pious clergyman, who also remained unshaken in the work of benevolence, surrounded by the horrors of pestilence, is wrought up with the glowing spirit of poetic and religious feeling. Nor should we pass over in silence the remarkable character of the astrologer, aud the eagerness with which the distracted populace crowd around the imposter to learn their destiny and that of their friends. This description corresponds with what is related of the strange infatuation of the times; and equally so does that of the shocking depravity which prevailed among the people, notwithstanding the sad spectacles hourly presented to their view. Of the other poems which make up the volume, the "Convict" is perhaps the most impassioned and pathetic, but that of the " Children's Dance" is superior to it in pleasing imagery. From this last piece we shall extract the introductory lines. and then heartily recommend the entire collection to the perusal of our readers:

"How calm and beautiful the frosty night
Has stolen, unnotic'd, like the hush of sleep.
O'er Grassmore-vale! Beneath the mellowing

1816.]

Thomson, who said that "he had not written a line which he would wish to blot." The two leading pieces here reprinted from the daily papers are so disgraceful to the noble writer, that his most ardent admirers cannot but regret their publica. tion, and reprobate the composition. Hypocritical affectation is the characteristic of the first, and ve nomous malignity pervades the latter address to a degree unparalleled, we hope, in the history of literary depravity. That a man should mourn in rhyme at being separated from a wife who has been driven by his conduct to the necessity of seeking shelter under her paternal roof, would of itself entitle the poet to the contempt of every man of common discernment. But that in the same breath the author should turn from whining cant, to utter the most deadly curses and infamous epithets against another female, whose only misfortune, if it can be one, is that of having been lowly born, must excite detestation in all honourable minds.

Lord Byron belongs to that school of modern phi losophy in which the distinctions of society are little respected, and he has the merit, such as it is, of enrolling among his chosen associates those scribblers who have been long endeavouring to level all ranks, and to raise the vulgar herd to a complete equality with their betters. What, then, will be thought of his liberality in attacking a woman with worse than Billingsgate scurrility for her "parchment-coloured skin," and above all the rest for having been "born in a garret and bred in a kitchen."!!! If personal blemishes, which arise in the common course of nature, are to be blazoned into a disgrace, would his Lordship's own figuie be exempted from ridicule? And if the casualties of humau birth are to be considered as a disgrace, we trow there are many noble persons, and some noble writers too, who would do well to learn a lesson of humility, by reading the history of their own families.

A Year in Canada, and other Poems. Anne Cuthbert Knight. 5s.

By

The Aerial Isles, or the Visions of Malcolm. By J. Ingle, of the Northampton Militia. 8vo. 7s. 6d.

The Relicks of a Saint. By Ferdinand Farquhar, esq. 12mo. 5s.

Mont St. Jean. 8vo. 5s.

Theodore and Laura. By J. S. Anna Liddiard.

4s.

The Dance of Death in England, containing 73 Designs by Rowlandson, with Metrical Illustrations by the Author of the Tour of Dr. Syntax in Search of the Picturesque. 2 vols. royal svo. 31. 3s.

POLITICS AND POLITICAL ECONOMY.

Idea of a New Law for the Civilized World recommended to the consideration of France, Great Britain, and the American States. By the Author of "A Letter from Athens," &c. 8vo. 3s.

Neither the praise of good writing nor of good intentions can be denied to this author, and yet his plan is altogether so extravagant that it is impossiNEW MONTHLY MAG.-No. 28.

345

8vo. 12s.

We have heard of a sign painter who could never paint but one figure, which always served for the king, a general, or an admiral, and might very truly be said to represent either the one or the other. This collection of portraits forcibly brought to our recollection the ingenuity of that sagacious artist, for a more wretched groupe of daubings, under the appellation of political cha racters, was never obtruded upon the public obser vation. But the reader should be informed, that be will find in this volume an uncommon treat under the head of the Duke of Wellington, being no less than eighty-three stanzas on the Battle of Waterloo, parodied from Chevy Chace. As this precious piece of poetry will no doubt be transmitted down to posterity with the same care that has preserved the ancient ballad on which it is founded, we shall only excite the public attention to it by an extract or two that would almost make Longinus wish himself on earth again to write com ments on the whole in a new treatise concerningthe sublime. Speaking of Duke Arthur, the author very finely thus apostrophizes:

"Where was where was he not that day?
But as no nan knows where,

I answer, and I do believe,

When wanted, every where "

Then comes an animated picture of the Marquis of Anglesea; but for fear the noble general should not see it in this place, the stanzas are given again under his own portrait:

"Brave Paget saw the danger great,
And keen, keen grew his looks;
And forward, as he dash'd his men,

Now for the household troops.""!!! To have perfected the sense and the rhyme, particularly with a view to the gratification of the keen appetite of the gallant general, the word cooks should have closed the last line. This, as Justice Greedy says, would have had a delightful effect, and been far inore agreeable than sharp air and cutting of throats.

The Speech of Chas. C. Western, esq. M. P. on the Distressed State of the Agir culture of the Kingdom. 13. 6d.

An Essay on the Reduction of the National Debt, proving that this is the only possible Means of relieving the Distresses of the Commercial and Agricultural Interests. By J. R. M'Culloch, esq. Catechism of Political Economy, transVOL. V. 2 Y