f

from infecting the proceedings that may be adopted, in the event of such an emergency, he has submitted to discussion the subject mentioned in the title-page; which he has treated in his usual able and ingenious manner. The doctrine of two-fold election was first recommended to political reformers by Harrington, who had found that it was actually put in practice in the republic of Venice. The autho rity which it derives from this quarter is, we think, very much reduced by the circumstance of its being coupled with unqualified praises of the Venetian Constitution, of which it formed a part. Of its first English advocate, who, overlooking the admirable model of government which he had seen first violated and then subverted, racked his brains to devise schemes of a commonwealth for his country, Montesquieu beautifully observes, il a bati Chalcedoine, ayant le rivage de Bizance devant les yeux; and his ingenuity, though great, was accompanied with so little judgment, that his cotemporaries deemed him scarcely sane.-The Essay of Hume was an exhibition of the playfulness of his genius, and was never meant by him to be a guide for practice. As Plato wrote his Republic, and More his Utopia, se Hume penned his Idea of a perfect Commonwealth; the doctrine which he lays down is at variance with his avowed principles; and he could therefore scarcely be serious in what he advanced. - We next see the same notion applauded in the Vindici Gallica; the doctrines of which work, we are informed by Mr. Wyvill, have great weight with the friends of liberty, whatever the tenets may be which its learned author has since adopted. Earl Stanhope, also, it seems, in a letter to the author, applauds the dogma, and commends the part of the above work in which it is supported.

Such have been the inauspicious origin, and the limping progress, of the political device against which Mr. Wyvill has thought it worth his while to draw his able and elegant pen. The notion was adopted by a weak-judging philosopher, from the practice of one of the most oppressive governments in Europe; it exercised the ingenuity of a sceptical sage who was hostile to liberty; it passed thence into a modern publication, of the tenets of which its author publicly made something very like a formal renunciation; and the doctrine, thus abjured, Lord Stanhope has commended in a private letter. We cannot bring ourselves to think that there was any thing to be dreaded from an hypothesis, which has been so singularly circumstanced. Had it gained a footing that was in any degree formidable, we admit that the pamphlet before us would have been admirably calculated to undeceive its votaries: but, if we cannot allow that great practical benefit is likely to be derived from it, because the mischief which it is intended to correct scarcely exists, we should be unjust if we did not bestow praise on it, as containing a disquisition that will be read with pleasure by speculative politicians. Jo. Art. 19. Substance of the Bp. of St. Asaph's Speech in the House of Peers, July 23, 1804, upon the Motion for the third Reading of the Bill intitled, An Act for the Relief of certain Incumbents of Livings in the City of London. 8vo. 18. Hatchard.

The case of the city of London Clergy has previously been stated
REY. QST. 1804.
P

in Mr. Moore's pamphlet: (see M. R. Vol. xli. N. S. p. 94.) but
the Bishop of St. Asaph here reconsiders the subject, and argues with
fairness and ability in behalf of the objects of this bill. He contends
that, though the situation of the Clergy of the Metropolis is brought
before Parliament in the shape of a private petition, the bill ought not
to be regarded as a private bill, in as much as the matter to which it
refers is of a public nature, being the support of the religion of the
country, in the very seat of Empire.
Moy

Art. 20.
Hints to the People of the United Kingdom in general, and
of North Britain in particular, on the present important Crisis;
and some interesting collateral Subjects. By William Dickson,
LL.D. 8vo. 18. Ogle.

To an animated eulogy on our political constitution, Dr. Dickson
adds an account of the improvements which we have made in agri-
culture, trade, and manufactures, and by which Britain is farther
distinguished from other nations. While, however, he compliments
our manual exertions, he laments that we have been retrograde in re-
ligion and morality. The progress of luxury in the Lowlands of
Scotland, he describes, from his personal knowlege, to have been
from hovels to good houses, and in several of the towns, from good
houses to palaces; from home-made linen, stuffs, linsey-woolsey, and
honest hodden-grey, to calicoes, muslins, silks, and English broad
cloths; from brass sun-dials to silver-watches; from wholesome beer
and butter-milk to whisky; from porter to port-wine; from sub-
stantial oat-meal porridge to that miserable outlandish slop called tea;
and in many places from bread of oats, rye, barley, or peas, butter,
cheese, eggs, new milk, fish, and potatoes, with meat, and nutritive
barley-broth, occasionally, to wheaten bread (which 200 years ago,
`could be afforded only by the prime nobility), and butcher's.mcat
every day.'

Some of the alterations are allowed to be for the better: but against the use of cottons in Scotland, of tea, of spirits, and of butcher's meat every day, the Doctor offers his protest. Those who squander their money in ale-houses and gin-shops, or who sit in coffee-houses having silk stockings under their boots, and their bottle of port-wine before them,' ought not, he thinks, to declaim against the public burdens. Assured, however, that even croakers are good patriots at bottom, he offers his advice to them, and to the people at large; urging unanimity and zeal in the public cause, and reminding them of the superiority of British valour, and of the truly lamentable consequences which must result from their failing to exert it in the present important crisis.Though Dr. D. as he tells us in the advertisement, has no longer a right hand, having been disabled in the service of his country, he has still a British heart. He calls on Britons to arm and to go forth, relying on the help of the God of their fathers, whose holy protection has so often been as "a wall of fire" around their church and nation; to return victorious, or to make their graves with those of Falkland, Hamden, and Russel, of Bruce, Graham, Gardiner, and Abercromby.'

NOVEL SA

ᎠᎴ

Art. 21.

NOVELS.

The Duchess of la Valliere. An Historical Romance. By Madame de Genlis. Translated from the French. 12mo. 2 Vols. 8s. Boards. Murray.

It will readily be admitted by our readers, that any production from the pen of Madame de Genlis, to whose literary pretensions we have had such frequent occasion to bear our welcome testimony, is intitled to attention and respect. The history which is here given of the celebrated favourite of Lewis XIV. excites a very lively interest, not only on account of the natural goodness of heart which belonged to that unfortunate female, but from the agreeable manner of her historian, and from the many sensible reflections with which the narrative is enriched. Yet we cannot suppress a remark, which on similar occasions we have formerly advanced, that romances of this nature, in which liberties are taken with the records of history, and truth and fiction are blended together, have a pernicious tendency, proportioned to the importance of the historical facts which are thus violated. The more sensible and agreeable the writer, the more dangerous is the effect; since the fictitious incidents make the stronger impression, and are liable to be ever afterward associated in the mind of the reader with the recollection of real facts. We must add that, interesting as the present narrative undoubtedly is, we do not consider the life of such an heroine, all circumstances considered, as likely to advance the cause of religion and morals. Mans

Art. 22.
Nature; or a Picture of the Passions. To which is pre-
fixed an Essay on Novel Writing. By J. Byerley. 12mo. 4 Vols.
14s. Boards. Highley.

In his preface, this author candidly acknowleges that he has de viated in several instances from the rules which he himself prescribes for a novel writer, in his essay on that subject prefixed to the present work. It is properly observed in that essay, that the events recorded in a novel should be precisely what may be supposed to take place, without exaggeration, in common life: but we do not think that the passions, which are here depicted, especially in the character of the Cardinal de Viguel, could be brought with safety to that criterion. Nature is forced beyond her accustomed limits in these instances, and the savage scenes which are introduced shock the feelings of the reader. We meet with several innaccuracies in grammatical construction in these pages; as, for instance, the singular used for the plural, whom for who, and frequently the verb lay for lie: but the mo ral reflections of the writer are creditable; and if not in general de serving the praise of novelty, they have at least the merit of truth and propriety. We doubt not that every reader will sympathize with Mr Byerley, in the desire at least of having always a tear for distress, and a guinea for misfortune.'

The motto in the title-page is given with singular metaphorical/ impropriety:

Passions, like Winds, will have their ebbs and flows."
P 2

Art.

Art. 23. The Pride of Ancestry; or Who is She? By Mrs. Thomson. 12mo. 4 Vols. 16s. sewed. Parsons. 1804.

The object, which Mrs. Thomson appears to have principally in view in this performance, is to illustrate, by apposite examples on both sides, the truth of the observation, that tiles and elevated birth are dangerous to the possessor, on account of the many snares and temptations which they afford to vicious indulgence: while a more humble station of life furnishes an asylum for virtue, and is often enriched with the enjoyment of a greater degree of repose and self-approbation. We have repeatedly had occasion to introduce this author to the notice of our readers; and therefore we shall only observe that the present production is diversified with several agreeable and amusing scenes; and although it occasionally descends too low in the picture which it furnishes of unpolished life, and is sometimes less correct than might be wished in point of language, yet on the whole it will be read with pleasure and approbation. The history of Sir Giles Geffreys, in the 4th volume, is irrelevant with regard to the main story: but there are few readers who will not enjoy a laugh at the description of that worthy knight's character.

Art 24. St. Clair of the Isles; or the Outlaws of Barra, a Scottish Tradition. By Elizabeth Helme. Izmo, 4 Vols. 148. Boards Longman and Co.

In the reign of James I. of Scotland, towards the middle of the 15th century, the events recorded in these volumes are supposed to have taken place. St. Clair, and a party of his companions, are, by the cruel and unjust artifices of their relentless persecutors, rendered outlaws, and banished to the Isle of Barra, one of the Hebrides. After various occurrences during their stay in this place, at the succession of James II interest is made at court in their behalf, and the sentence of outlawry is reversed. They then return to the world, and pass the remainder of their days in the enjoyment of their freedom. The narrative is plain and inoffensive; and in one or two instances the incidents excite attention: but, generally speaking, there is not sufficient animation in the tale to intitle it to a rank above that of mediocrity in this class of productions.

$1 Man

Do Art. 25. Letters of Miss Riversdale. 12mo. 3 Vols. 13s. 6d. Boards. Johnson.

The heroine of this novel resides with her widowed mother, Lady Riversdale, at Geneva; and her brother, Sir Henry, is a very accom plished gentleman absent on his travels. The separation of this affectionate brother and sister induces the necessity of a punctual correspondence, as a means of alleviating the regrets of that state; and the scene opens with lamentations on this subject. Miss R. tells us that it is her brother's request that four-and-twenty hours may never pass without something being committed to paper; and the request is faithfully fulfilled on the part of Louisa, who, after the manner of other journalists, details every minute event of her life, and every emotion of her heart. As she is very young, and very beautiful, no man of course sees Miss Riversdale without being fascinated: hence ensue lovers innumerable;

"

innumerable; and, as it is the natural consequence of abundance to occasion a perplexity on the subject of choice, we perceive our heroine occasionally fluctuating between two opinions; till at last she decides in favour of Colonel Malcolm, who is such an Othello in jealousy that we tremble lest she should encounter a Desdemona's fate. We are, however, at length relieved from this anxiety by a sudden change of the scene; in which the Colonel retires to the back ground, drops his love and his jealousy, and accommodates his behaviour in a very gentleman-like manner to the imperious necessity of the history, which insists on his marrying Lady Mary Melville, who must have died had he not rescued her by a coup de bague. Miss Riversdale, having dissolved this chain, welcomes the return of liberty, and flies from place to place with the velocity of a bird. To-day, she is in London; to-morrow, she is at York; the next day she is in Scotland; and in every place she meets with great variety of characters, which she paints rather too much in the caricature style. They are merely sketches, hastily conceived and hastily executed; and by no means worthy of being classed as pictures of the general habits, manners, or language of the people whom Miss Riversdale describes. In many of the letters, however, we meet with good sense and good sentiments; and the student or proficient in French will be pleased. with some parts of the dialogue, and some whole letters, which are written in that elegant language. We think that the story of this work does not excite sufficient interest on the point of incident, to rank in the class of novels; and that it should rather have been in

titled, as the editor intimates, "Characters and Sketches of Manners." MrMoy. Art. 26. 4 Tale without a Title: give it what you please. By Eugenia de Acton. 12mo. 3 Vols. 12s. Boards. Lane and Coj

1804. Various changes of fortune in the life of Lady Laura Warburton, from the first instance of her relation's cruelty in consigning her to a vessel bound for America, to her final establishment in England, and her marriage with Mr. Conyers, excite a considerable portion of interest in the reader of these volumes. We may, however, object to the narrative in point of probability, and particularly to that part which relates her subsistence for several nights and days in a wild American forest. The author takes frequent occasion to intro. duce, in a sprightly and agreeable manner, reflections of a serious nature; and sentiments which, although little congenial with the spirit of the world, are, in our opinion, congenial with the spirit of true reli gion. The reader will question our approbation the less in this particular, when we farther inform him that this author is a disciple of the Reverend Robert Fellowes, whose "Christian Philosophy" and other publications we announced in former Reviews, in terms of high and merited commendation *. It gives us much pleasure to find, on retrospection, that our present opinion of this lady's merits, as a writer, coincides with that which we offered on a former production from the same pen.

Mans