elements, he deposited the crown from his anointed head, in homage to that supernal Power, by whom Kings reign and Princes decree justice.' "Investiture of inferior Potentates may be marked with more gorgeousness, but this solemn act of humiliation conferred an unction on the ceremonial, without a parallel in History. If the voice of a spiritual ambassador were audible in the Royal Courts, it should whisper in the ears of the Monarch, now contemplating his own inauguration, 'Go and do thou likewise.' The act itself would be impressive, but it would recal to remembrance the description of a higher solemnity: :-The four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O LORD, to receive glory and honour and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.'" The Appendix contains Royal Anecdotes, partly selected and partly ori ginal, consisting of amiable illustrations of character, the perusal of which cannot fail to gratify all those Readers who "fear God and honour the King." 26. Christianity pleading for the Patronage of the Civil Power, but protesting against the Aid of Penal Laws: Considered in Three Sermons preached in Essexstreet Chapel. By the Rev. Thomas Belsham, Minister of the Chapel. 8vo. pp. 97. Hunter. THE unwearied Author of these Discourses acquaints the Reader, that "His attention was naturally attracted to the long-controverted subject of the right and expedience of the civil power to interpose in the concerns of religion, and to the just limits of its authority; by the late prosecutions for impugning and reviling the Christian religion-the severity of the sentence passed upon the offenders and the unchristian exultation which was expressed, not only by the thought. less and superstitious multitude, but by many who should have been better acquainted with the mild and forbearing spirit of the Gospel, and even by some who were themselves not long ago equally amenable to the penal laws." On these grounds we are not surprized to find Mr. Belsham asserting most gravely, that "The absolute interdict which Christianity imposes upon the use of civil restrictions and penalties, against the im. pugners of its doctrines, is as wise as it is merciful: and that it is most favourable to the interest of religion itself, as well as to the peace of society, that divine revelation should be left to stand upon its own proper ground of evidence; that with regard to those who seriously disbelieve the Christian religion, it is most certam that visiting them with the penalties of law will never convince their understandings of its truth." And that "to what is called reviling the Christian religion," Mr. Belsham answers "directly and without hesitation, that no person ought to suffer pains and penalties for a charge of this kind, however plausible or even just." 27. A Collection of Miscellaneous and Religious Poems. To which is added, a Series of Odes, on various Subjects, illustrated with Original Tales. By Paul Thackwell. Foolscap 8vo. pp. 129. Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy. THERE is something very grateful to the philosophical mind, in beholding men of business, recreating themselves with literary amusements. It was by means of an intellectual bias, universally expanded over the whole Nation, that Greece became the arbiter of taste, and the standard of perfection; and had Wedgewood, Watt, and Bolton, limited their acquirements to the counting-house, no inconsiderable detriment would have been sustained in the arts, the commerce, and the glory of Great Britain, more properly Britain the Great. We say nothing of the tendency in Literature to domesticate the habits of those who otherwise might seek the coarse relaxations of the taverns and the happiness which results from reading habits. Mr. Thackwell is a worthy Burgess of the town of Ross, who possesses a clear head, and delivers his thoughts in prose and verse, with great neatness. The deep feeling which pervades his religious and moral pieces do honour to his head and his heart; nor do we find any traits of that Oriental voluptuousness which too commonly pervades the poetry of moderns, and makes the Muses agents of corruption. We select "The Country Schoolmaster, a Tale." "A Country Schoolmaster, hight Jonas Bell, Once undertook of little souls, To furbish up their jobbernowles, In other words he taught them, how to spell. And And well adapted to the task was Bell, Whose iron visage measured half an ell; With huge proboscis and eye-brows of soot, mute. Poor Jonas, tho' a patient man, as Job, (Yet still, like Job, was sometimes heard to growl) Was by a scholar's adamantine mob, 30. Religion, a Poem. 8vo. pp. 30. THE Poem under this incongrous title is a splenetic Calvinistic invective against the Established Clergy and Churchmen, in doggrels, which one line (p. 7.) will be sufficient to characterize. "Who, to bid conscience kiss their pos teriors For a seat on the Bench will not flinch." The vulgar Bard is alluding to Cle Beyond all patience, gravelled to the soul: rical Magistrates. We know that the I question, whether Jonas in the fish, Did ever diet on a bitterer dish. 'Twas thus, a lady who supported Bell, Came, unexpectedly, to hear them spell: The pupil fix'd on by the Pedagogue, Was eke, a little round-fac'd ruddy dog, Who thus his letters on the table laidM, I, L, K, and paused-' well, Sir, what's that? 'I cannot tell,'—the boy all trembling said. 'Not tell! you little blind and stupid brat?' Not tell?' roar'd Jonas in a violent rage, And quick prepar'd an angry war to wage, Tell me this instant, or I'll flea thy hide-; Come Sir? Dost thou this birchen weapon see?— Opposition has raised a clamour on this subject, because the Clergy are in general Tories, and cannot easily But be brought over to their views. whoever considers the inveteracy of Country Gentlemen, when offended, and how much their property favours to tyranny; how perpetually thegame generates hostile feelings; and how disinclined they are to tedious and patient investigations; such persons may think that a mixture of the Clergy with the Lay Magistrates is highly auxiliary to the humane and just execution of the Laws. Nor do we think that the business of the cour With lifted eyes the ragged rogue replied-try (so extensive is that of the Ma 'RUM, Sir!!!' " gistracy) could otherwise be conducted, especially during the shooting and hunting seasons. Acting Lawyers cannot sit on the Bench; Surgeons are too much occupied to study Burn's Justice. Without the aid of the Clergy, there would not in many parts of the kingdom be a Magis trate for miles, at least one qualified by education. Besides, the Clergy judge of men by their religious and moral characters, not by favouristism and such modes of judging upon Horace's "Vanæ leges sine moribus." They assist and support reverence for the laws, or supersede them by inculcation of principle. If Parishioners can settle worldly disputes by making their Pastor the umpire, why should such duties be limited to a Parish ?— In short, we think that Clerical Ma gistrates are not only necessary, but indispensable. 31. The Castle and Tomb of the Patriot Monarch; or, A Visit to Windsor, on occasion of the Funeral Procession of George the Third. With a Sketch of his Character, and an Engraving by Cruikshanks. A Poetical Narrative. By a Clergyman of Oxford. 8vo. pp. 66. Hatchard and Son. THE THE "Sketch" of our late beloved Sovereign contains some judicious remarks and pleasing anecdotes. "A foundation of good principles was laid in the mind of George the Third when a youth, upon which was raised the superstructure of a useful, patriotic, eventful, and beneficent reign. Our late excellent Sovereign was a Christian by education and by choice." "This prompted him to a regular at tendance on the house of God, and to family-religion with his own household, to whom he read Dr. Barrow's Sermons on a Sunday evening.-And so deep-rooted was his piety, that even in the depth of his malady, as he told a Bishop after his 'there was not a day in which recovery, he was not enabled to lift up his heart to God?'" "A Dean, who is now raised to the Episcopal Bench, was once called upon to preach before his Majesty, and he chose for his subject that all-important doctrine which, in Luther's opinion, is the test of a falling or a standing Churchthe doctrine of justification by faith in the Redeemer. His Majesty thanked the honest Dean for his sermon, and said he should like to hear such preaching more frequently." The Poem descriptive of the "Scenes at Windsor" consists of 58 stanzas ; one of which may suffice for a specimen: 66 That King, who for threescore fair summers has sway'd A bright sceptre of love o'er a virtuous nation, Aside all the pomp of dominion has laid, Whilst he soars to a nobler and loftier station!! With looks of affection his flight we pur sue, And My Father! my Father's!' the general cry; ForThe chariot of Israel and horsemen' we view, As the patriarch Monarch ascends thro' the sky." In 26 stanzas of a different measure is given" A Poetical Memoir of a Patriot Prince." (The much lamented Duke of Kent.) "Not a charity languish'd for want of his aid, As Patron or President six own'd his name; Kent ever prepar'd with a smile took the lead, And the virtuous rescued and guarded from shame." The whole concludes with "Sketch of the Character of the Duke of Kent, and the Testimonies of the Duke of Bedford, Mr. Wilberforce, Dr. Collyer, and other illustrious persons, to his virtues." 32. Varieties in Woman: A Novel, in three Volumes. 12mo. Baldwin, Cradock and Joy. IT is vexatious, in the view of society, to see how wretchedly insipid are the majority of girls. The strong educational check which is applied to liveliness, lest it should degenerate into romping, forwardness, or impudence, makes them merely animated clocks, striking only Yes and No, and dully diversified with the miserable chimes of "a handsome young man," or "a handsome gown;" or a "good ball"-nothing that refers to mind. Men of high knowledge of the world have uttered the dreadful opinion, that not one half of the girls now living in the British Empire will ever be married: and under this woeful prospect we would not be thought void of feeling. We think that naiveté, and everlasting good humour, are methods, next to a good fortune, the most likely to gain husbands. We do not undervalue good dancing, or good dressing; but they are not qualities which form the friend or companion. They do not store the heart with valuable principles, or the mind with social and conversational talents. Gracefulness, delicacy of sentiment, fine taste, genteel vivacity, studious suppression of every perturbed feeling or angry expres sion, form the fascinating woman of pattern character. We think that there is something of too mechanical a turn in the education of girls, as if they had nothing else but tongues, hands, and feet. We do not mean that they should be tutored into Philosophers, and Bas Bleus; but that taste, sentiment, feeling, and high morality, should take the lead: and above all, the commanding charms of perpetual temper and interesting conversation. All this is entirely lost by placing the desire to please in accomplishments only. In the Novel before us, the Heroine is a wise matron-like Reasoner, but of rather too masculine and intellectual a cast. Another is a fine girl, full of strong passion, but highly graceful and attractive. A third, a discon, tented tented mindless old maid. A fourth, an epicure abounding with mean qualities. A fifth, an affected doll of quality; the last, but not least, à Lady Fanny Lambeth, a fascinating, improved Die Vernon. In this character we think that the Authoress has done what very few are able to do, given us a correct picture of a truly lovely girl. Nature appears; and she is not converted by severe education into a mere cold handsome statue. She is playful and sensible, and elegant, and even her faults are pretty feminites. Her lover, Harley, is also a fine manly noble-minded fellow. As to the Hero, who in his searches after a wife, is just like a man going to buy a horse, he is a Clergyman more than a country Gentleman, and his flame a Clergywo man. They are therefore excellently matched. We remember a Mr. Cœlebs, half a Quaker, and half a Gospel preacher, converted into a Novel Hero; and we should not be surprized one day or other to see a Bishop undergo such an extraordinary translation.-Upon the whole, this is an instructive moral tale, which often rises above the whiptsyllabub character of most novels. 33. Zayda; A Spanish Tale, in Three Cantos; and other Poems, Stanzas and Canzonets. By Oscar. Small 8vo. pp. 163. Whittaker. THIS Collection consists of Poems uniformly sweet, of equable tone; though some of the forced ideas betray the hot-bed; and there is occasionally exhibited a propensity to alliteration. We speak thus, not in censure; but that the Author may in future prefer the simple sugges tions of nature; for we do not think that it was any improvement of the Venus de Medicis, that her hair was gilded. The model which this Author has chosen is chiefly Moore. We select the following lines on Grief, as being of high merit. "Yet 'tis a strange deceitful thing That feels, denotes misfortune's sting; And, as the timid blush of youth, It tells, and still denies the truth. And thus the feeling heart can hide Its love, its foudness, by its pride; Such is the tender smile of grief That fain would wear, yet mocks relief. Alas! it is a painful sneer, That laughs at Destiny's career; Dissembles what no power can steal, In these lines we see the merits and faults of the Author, genius united with point and concetto: but perhaps we go too far, for it is our opinion that Petrach is too subtle and artificial: and, if we are correct, it is a fault, which, even if it can command admiration, is a death-blow to sympathy; because none can feel it, who have not twin minds cast in the same mould. It is not a copy of Nature's drawings; but taken from the man's own private view. 34. A Letter to the Right Hon. George Canning, in Answer to certain Passages of a · Speech delivered by him at the Dinner given in celebration of his Reelection for Liverpool, March 18th, 1820; Third Edition, revised and corrected.' By John Colman Rashleigh, Esq. 8vo. pp. 72. Ridgway. A well-written and dispassionate argument for Parliamentary Reform. "I offer no apology (says Mr. R.) for addressing you through the same public press which you have so lately made the medium of a laboured and volunteer attack on the friends of Parliamentary Reform. But I have waited till the present moment, in the anxious hope, that some one would have been found among them, equally zealous with myself, and more competent to vindicate so excellent a cause; and to expose the fallacies by which you, with no common art and pains, have attempted to perplex it. "Mr. Cobbett, however, alone, so far as I am informed, has taken up your gauntlet: and his reply to your speech, however able, is occasional and partial. It appears to me, therefore, expedient, now that this great question is so soon to be brought up again under the consider. ation of the House of Commons, to give you, upon somewhat broader grounds, the satisfaction which you require of the Reformers to put it out of your power again to complain, that in various places, and on many occasions, you have stated certain questions on this subject, to which you have never yet been able to obtain an answer'." 35. A Speech upon moving certain Resolutions to Petition the House of Commons for a Reform in Parliament; delivered in the Common Council of the City of London, on Wednesday, the 26th of May, 1820. By Samuel Favell. Together with a Speech upon moving an Address to the Queen, on Wednesday the 14th of June, 1820. 8vo. pp. 48. Hunter. MR. FAVELL is a sensible man, and a good orator. His politicks are those of the Whigs under the guidance of Mr. Fox; and the memorable events of the present period could not well be passed over by him in silence. His arguments are strong; but, like those of a Barrister engaged for a Client, they are all on one side of the question. In a Prefatory Address to the Corporation Mr. Favell says, "As I may not be able much longer to continue the active duties of a Member of the Common Council, I am anxious to put upon record those opinions which have influenced the public conduct of my life." He subsequently observes, "One of the obnoxious public meetings in the City is the Livery in Common Hall, where it is said no person can be heard but on one side of the question; which is often true, but it is by no means peculiar to them. At the great meeting of Merchants and Bankers at Merchant Taylors' Hall, 1792, which meeting was supposed to have decided Mr. Pitt for the French war, not only were persons opposed being heard, but treated with barbarous violence; and, without attempting to speak, I narrowly escaped with life. The truth is, none of these large meetings are capable of much debate, and should only be assembled upon great occasions, suited to express public feelings." In a note Mr. Favell adds, "My peculiar danger arose from a libel which appeared in The Times (which at that time was very differently conducted from the present Times), describing me at great length as having got my money by cheating the sailors at Wapping, and concluding by giving a list of oaths I swore by the head of Carra and the heart of Dumourier, that I would dye the river with aristocratic blood; so that every one thought he saw an assassin ready to plunge a dagger in his breast." 36. A Fragment of the History of John Bull; with the Birth, Parentage. Edu cation, and Humours of Jack Radical: with Incidental Remarks upon Antient and Modern Radicalism. By Horace Hombergh, Esq. of the Middle Temple, London. 8vo. pp. 85. Hatchard and Son. Of this humourous pamphlet, we shall give an ample analysis. "1. The alarm of John Bull at a confiagration, discovered in the house of Lewis Debonuair. He offers his assistance, but too late. Il consequences of humanity misapplied. 2. John's determination to look his danger in the face, though advised to cover over the burning embers, and be easy. A reconciliation of civil discord amongst his enemies.-They are united in a firm Confederation, by the address and eloquence of Bony the butcher. 3. The solid wisdom of John's counsels confirmed and the ill effect of a contrary policy.-Triumphs of the butcher.-John crosses the water in quest of Bony-a combat at quarter-staff.--The butcher twice knocked known, and as good as dead-is captured and secured -John Bull gains by the victory.-Escape and recapture of Bony. The shop of the Debonnairs fitted again. John secures it against the robbers, by a watchman's box. 4. John's difficulties increased by the incumbrance of his glory. Hieroglyphics to impress lessons of fortitude.-Revolutionary crackers discovered in his kitchen.-His chimney fired.-Character of Master John. Early symptoms of obliquity.-Whispers as to his legitimacy disproved by the patish register.-Remarkable nativities in the year 1789.-High character of Mrs. Bull. 5. Good education ill bestowed upon Master John-yet he qualifies him. self for future celebrity.-Prefers modern to antient learning, and works of fiction to more solid studies.He sets up for a Reformer in politics and religion.-The nature and cast of his philosophy.-Applies his learning and talents to use. Young John's ambition.-His emulation of the glory of Bony in arts and arms.Is admitted a member of the fire eating club.'-General course of his studies.-He casts away his Bible, and throws himself into the arms of original liberty and the religion of nature, commonly called that of the Cocks and Hens.'-Becomes a student of music.-Falls in love and accepts the hand of Bet Radical. The ceremonial of their marriage. 7. Eminent conjugal affection of young John.-An eccentric proof of it, by his assumption of Bet's family name.-Makes the policy of Bony, his father's great enemy, his imi- . tation-and like him, he conquers by in.. timidation previous to actual hostilities.Falls into adversity by his deviation from this general plan of radical tactics-and determines to retrieve his false steps.The adventure of the Beehives prematurely encountered-it fails. Immense preparations 6. |
