language is generally correct, and sometimes elegant; and the sentiments, though not in every instance perhaps above excep tion, are yet calculated to excite a spirit of thought and inquiry concerning subjects on which it behoves man to think and to determine. We confess, however, that in the second volume the genius of the writer seems to have been exerted with much less effect; the thread and spirit of the narrative are broken; and curiosity is baffled by long recitals of uninteresting conversations, by forced attempts to introduce living characters and local allusions, and by the pains taken to bring reviewers into contempt and abhorrence! In the remaining volumes, we were alternately prompted to proceed in our perusal by the occurrence of attracting situations, and to throw aside the work with disgust at the improbability and inconsistency of the incidents: but we persevered with fortitude to the end; when lo! the improbabilities and inconsistencies which had shocked us, and which, we apprehend, will shock many readers who have less perseverance than reviewers must have, resolved themselves into one great and gigantic WONDER-a touch of romance on which a novelist seldom ventures. Sir Sidney Aubrey-a young Welsh baronet, who had been the brave, the amorous, the generous, and the persevering rival of the hero of the story,-turns out to be a YOUNG LADY the daughter, not the son, of Lady Aubrey;and she at length becomes the wife of Walsingham! The concealment of Miss Aubrey's sex originated in the avarice of her mother; who, by the father's will, (who died during Lady Aubrey's pregnancy,) was allowed a very large sum annually for the education of the child if it proved a son; and which, by this stratagem, she and a rapacious confederate had combined to amass. Filial piety prevented Miss Aubrey from disclosing the secret, which her mother had made her swear to keep; though, from her earliest years, she had been attached to Walsingham, who was a dependent on the family. Of Walsingham's character, it cannot be said that it is either very natural, or such as may safely be held up to imitation. His sensibility, from his childhood, is of that kind which may fairly be called morbid, because it is inconsistent with the sanity of the understanding. His morality is the offspring only of his sentiment; and in some instances both his sensibility and his morals are forgotten, as in his unfeeling and criminal conduct towards the unfortunate Amelia Woodford; whose honor, happiness, and life, he suffers to fall a sacrifice to his passion, when, if he possessed either virtue or feeling, he would have rescued her from ruin and death. The character of Lord Kencarth is also extravagantly overcharged; and there is neither nature nor genius in marrying him with the accomplished and sentimental Isabella, whose charms had been able so long to enchain the heart of Walsingham. Dr. Pimpernel, Col. Aubrey, and Mr. Hanbury, are well conceived, and well drawn. With regard to Mrs. Blagden, and the many other characters from low life who are here made to speak in the language of vice and ignorance, of vulgar habits and provincial barbarism, it is not too much to say, that there is nothing in the vulgarity of their diction which is sufficiently descriptive of character to make their jargon interesting. The hero of this novel professes to be the Pupil of Nature; a title by which it seems to be insinuated that his opinions, his knowlege, and his principles, are derived rather from an immediate consideration of things themselves, than adopted from established systems. Of the process by which this knowlege is acquired, and these opinions are formed, the first volume gives several specimens; the following is one: On the following day we set out for Dover: the journey was pleasant, and my curiosity inordinate; every hour passed in questions on one side, and explanations on the other; for my tutor deemed no lesson of information too trivial, where a strong desire after knowlege animated the mind of his pupil. Every moment presented some new wonder; but when the wide and troublous ocean opened to our view, my agitation was infinite. I gazed, mute and immoveable during several minutes; my eye-lids never winked, lest I should lose sight of the object which awakened my astonishment; while the large, complicated, and moving bodies ploughing through the limpid element, and approaching rapidly towards that part of the liquid plain which seemed eternal, produced an awful consternation, and with a tremulous voice I inquired, "Whither are they going?" "Far beyond the edge of yonder horizon," replied my tutor. "Will they never return? Have they no home? Who will take care of them? were the next questions. "That Supreme Being," replied Mr. Hanbury," who can command the winds and waters! who can lift the waves like mountains, and quell the loudest howling of the tempest! He, who harmonizes the varying seasons, regulates the planets, and gives the wondrous faculty of thought which animates the mind of man!" "Where does he dwell?" said I, with fearful veneration. "Every where," replied my tutor. "He knows the secrets of all hearts. His power is infinite; his will, omnipotent! we are but creatures formed to obey him ;-yet there are those who dare rebel, and "How can we offend him, since he has power to command our actions and our thoughts?" interrupted I. Mr. Hanbury made no answer, but changed the subject, by remarking the beauty of the out-stretched ocean, faintly tinged with the crimson light which Hh 2 glowed glowed along the western horizon. It was the close of evening; the soft and refreshing breeze seemed to whisper over the gently bounding waters, as if fearful of disturbing nature, then sinking to repose. I returned to the inn, deeply ruminating on the new wonders which I had contemplated. Early on the following morning we embarked for France. My sensations were inconceivable when I found the vessel buoyant on the waves, and, as I thought, turned adrift, at the mercy of a tremendous element. The land, as it seemed to recede, acquired an interesting something, which awakened my affections, and blended with them a regret that was poignant. My tutor watched the rising emotions of my mind, and was delighted with them. He saw my eyes suffused with tears, my bosom struggling with half-stifled sighs;-I could not conceal my sensations;-the love of my country glowed in every vein, the stupendous cliffs, extending their white ramparts round my native island, led back my thoughts to the breezy mountains of Glenowen.' Perhaps there could not be a more striking instance of the difficulties which a mere Pupil of Nature' always finds in the pursuit of moral knowlege, than this passage exhibits. It was not kind in Mr. Hanbury to leave his pupil in the dark respecting the important point How can the Deity be offended,' &c.? We suppose that the writer intended to insinuate that it is an inquiry not easily solved in an orthodox way. Through these volumes are interspersed a variety of poetical impromptu's, which appear to be the production of long study: but they certainly add considerably to the merit of the work.. Wall. MONTHLY CATALOGUE, For AUGUST, 1798. EDUCATION, &c. Art. 14. A New and Complete Dictionary of the English and Dutch Languages, with a Vocabulary of proper Names, Geographical, Historical, &c. In two Parts: 1. English and Dutch; 2. Dutch and English. Compiled chiefly from the Quarto Dictionary of William Sewel; and containing not only all the Words to be found in that Dictionary, but also numerous and important additions, collected from the best Authorities in both Languages. Distinguishing the Preterits and Participles of all the Verbs, as well in English as in Dutch, with the Genders of the Dutch Substantives and their Diminutives. Including also in the Second Part, all such Foreign Words of general Use as have been incorporated into the Dutch Language, and which have never before appeared, as Part of it, in any Dictionary. By Samuel Hull Wilcocke. Large 8vo. pp. 623. 12s. Bound. Dilly. 1798. SEWEL'S dictionary being extremely scarce, and the demand for it greatly increased by the numbers of Dutch colonists whose connections now for the most part center in England, the proprietors were induced to consider the present dictionary as a desirable offering to the public, even at this otherwise seemingly unfavourable juncture. The modest and laborious compiler, therefore, anxiously expresses his wish that the result of a painful application to the uninviting toil of lexicography for upwards of three years, amid numerous other avocations, may be conducive to the convenience of the public; and he hopes that he is not too presumptuous in asserting that his dictionary, in point of copiousness and exactness, will be found superior to any other. We have given it a careful perusal, and can venture to pronounce it the best help that we know for the purpose to which it is directed. For an account of Janson's Dutch and English pocket dictionary, published in 1794, See Review vol. xv. N. S. p. 217. Art. 15. L'Institutrice & son Elève : &c. 12mo. The Preceptress and her Pupil Dialogues for the Use of Young Ladies 2 Vols. Sewed. Dalau and Co. &c. London. 1798. These ten dialogues are certainly written with elegance, but they are perfumed with a species of sentimentality which is of exotic growth, and unsuitable to the English soil: it abounds more with the words than with the offices of kindness, and is little adapted to the retiring character which our women are accustomed to cultivate. How disgustingly French is the turn (vol. i. p. 6.) Fi donc, des noms d'homme *! put into the mouth of a girl of fifteen. In the list of books recommended to young ladies (vol. ii. p. 179.) we should not have expected to find the novels of Le Sage, the comedies of Voltaire, the works of Scarron, the Secchia rapita of Tassoni, and some other writings of similar tendency. : Art. 16. Analysis of Education; and Plan of a Seminary for Young Ladies with the Form of Morning and Evening Prayers used at Sutton-house. By Miss Jones. 4to. Is. Longman. 1798. Education is doubtless an object of high moment: it requires great attention, regulated by wisdom and experience; for attention alone may exceed, as well as fall short. Whether under the modes which have of late years prevailed, the females of these times on the whole excel those of a more distant period, is a question which we will not presume to decide or even to discuss. This Analysis by Miss Jones proceeds from the health and care of the body to the faculties and culture of the mind, and makes distinct remarks on several articles relative to each: from these, we advance to accomplishments, and are pleased to observe that house-wifery and needlework are by no means neglected.-Geometry will not be considered as very requisite among female acquirements: but, we are informed, all that is here intended is, that young ladies may not be left ignorant of the ideas attached to the various lines, angles, surfaces, and solids, which are daily heard-of in conversation.' Morals, religion, and happiness, pass under a short review, which concludes with the fol * Theseus and Pirithous,-Pylades and Orestes, &c. Hh 3 * By Miss Le Noir lowing Tooke, Tay. lowing remarks:- The end of education is happiness: health, knowlege, and accomplishments are to be estimated but as they advance the happiness of others, or ensure our own. It is by virtue we promote the former, it is by prudence we secure the latter. Youth, well educated, will have learnt to depend on health, self-government, the recollection of good done, a clear conscience, (which includes the discharge of their various duties,) mental resources, and the delight of religion, as the only security they can have for happiness.”— 6 It is too much the lot of human beings never to rest in a due medium, but to rush from one point to the other extreme: thus, when guarded against disgusting selfishness,' as it is here properly termed, what evils have been produced to individuals, to families, and to the public, by extravagance and folly, under the ideas of generosity, contempt of money, and of discretion?-Religion, or rather piety, should, we apprehend, be instilled into the young mind as that principle which is to influence the whole conduct, and be regarded as the basis whence every virtue should arise it is far from being neglected in this concise Analysis: but, perhaps, it appears in some kind of separation from morality or virtue, of which it is the surest spring, and is too much confined to certain forms and performances. Here we must take our leave of this judicious, and, we doubt not, accomplished writer; who seems well qualified for that important and beneficial office in which she has engaged. LAW. Hi, Art. 17. A Practical Digest of the Election Laws. By Robert Orme, Art. 18. A Treatise on Leases and Terms for Years. By Matthew It is only necessary for us to inform our readers that this publication is a reprint of the same title in Bacon's Abridgment, which we noticed in our last volume, p. 290.-This Treatise on Leases and Terms for Years, well known to be the production of Chief Baron Gilbert, has always been considered by the profession as possessing great and unquestionable merit; and therefore, independently of the reasons assigned in the preface for the measure, it deserved a sepa rate publication. At the end the proprietors have subjoined some Precedents S.R. |