It is the object of this incorrect and bombastic production to shew that, in consequence of the death of the Princess Charlotte and her infant, the throne of this empire may hereafter be claimed by a descendant of the Bonaparte family: Jerome Bonaparte, when King of Westphalia, having married a daughter of Frederick King of Wirtemberg by Caroline of Brunswick his first wife, and having a son by that marriage; and Caroline of Brunswick being daughter to the Duchess of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel, sister of our venerable Sovereign. Remote as the contingency is that this son of Jerome Bonaparte, or his heirs, may ever be intitled to contend for the British crown, it certainly is within the limits of possibility; and therefore the present loyal attorney maintains that the senate must pass a bill of exclusion, or be for ever exposed to the spawn of the spider Bonaparte, whose sedulous villainy has entangled in his loathsome web the royal houses of Austria and Britain.' We hope with him, and do not doubt, that the subject will obtain all the attention which it demands.

RELIGIOUS.

Art. 25. A Manual of Instruction and Devotion, on the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper: containing, I. Three Sermons on the Subject. II. The Communion-Service, with Notes. III. Heads of Self-Examination. IV. Practical Instructions for Young Persons. V. Select Texts of Scripture for Meditation, and Six Prayers suitable to the Occasion. By the Rev. John Hewlett, B. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to His Royal Highness the Prince Regent; Morning Preacher at the Foundling Hospital; and Lecturer of the United Parishes of St. Vedast Foster and St. Michael-le-Quern, 12mo. 5s. Boards. Rivingtons. Mr. Hewlett's title-page will save us the trouble of enumerating the contents of his book, or the different topics which it comprehends. In devotional pieces of this kind, the writer should endeavour not only to convince the reason but to interest the affections. Devotion, when of the best and purest kind, is regulated by the mind: but it is, at the same time, warmed by the sympathizing action of the heart. Mr. Hewlett is sensible and intelligent: but his performance does not abound in that glow and animation which we find in the writings of Bishop Hall, of Jeremy Taylor, and some other divines.

Art. 26. Dissertations on various interesting Subjects, with a View to illustrate the amiable and moral Spirit of Christ's Religion; and to correct the immoral Tendency of some Doctrines at present popular and fashionable.. By the Rev. Thomas Watson. 8vo. 6s. Boards. Longman and Co.

We can safely recommend these dissertations as likely to furnish an antidote to that corrupted Christianity of the present day, which the zeal of those persons who are called evangelical preachers has so generally diffuséd. A few brief extracts from the work itself will prove the justness of our commendation. We will begin with the following sensible remarks on the doctrine of those

Ff4

instan❤

instantaneous conversions, which so often take place or are reported to take place within the pale of Calvinism.

6

Preaching the doctrine and efficacy of sudden conversions cannot fail to have an unfortunate effect upon the religion and morals of such as listen to such doctrines. They must look upon religion not as the work of their lives, but as a change that may be effected at any time by a sudden exertion; that the mercies of the Most High hang upon the will, the humour, and caprice of mortals; and that a heavenly inheritance may be procured by a fortunate chance, similar to those by which men sometimes raise a rich inheritance in this earth. Such doctrines encourage a perseverance in wicked courses under the persuasion, that, at any time, when disgusted with the world and the ways of sin, and when they find dangers approach, they can have recourse to those flattering prospects which those gospel-preachers hold out, and warrant to be efficacious, and the operation of which is so sudden; and under the positive assurance that their former wicked lives, so far from being a bar, will be a recommendation to their admission.' (P. 90, 91.) The Calvinists maintain that all good works done before justification partake of the nature of sin; and that the vilest of sinners will be more readily received by Christ, than those who have been labouring all their lives to live soberly, righteously, and godly, and to do all the good they can. Upon this principle, we must esteem as highly the priest and the Levite, who turned aside from the distressed object who fell among the thieves, as the tender-hearted Samaritan, who, when he saw him, had compassion on him, went to him and bound up his wounds, and took care of him.'-' But these very people, who strenuously maintain such principles, belie them in the judgments they pronounce on the passing transactions of life. They must approve of a good deed when fairly stated to them, without enquiring whether it was done before or after justification.' (P. 80, 81.)

6

Mr. Watson truly remarks, p. 43., that some of those who came to Christ even before they had embraced the gospel, were men of the greatest worth, and acknowledged as such by Christ or his apostles. Nicodemus was a respectable character; Nathaniel was the Israelite in whom there was no guile. Cornelius, the heathen centurion, is represented by the sacred historian as a person of the most exalted goodness; and neither Jesus Christ nor his disciples enjoined them to acknowledge their own unworthiness, or to call themselves the vilest of sinners. From whom, then, have men received that authority which they have assumed, for thus libelling all mankind?'

We have spoken with praise of former works by Mr. Watson, in our Reviews for December 1807, August 1811, and November 1813.

Art. 27.

EDUCATION.

An Introduction to the Latin Tongue, on the Eton Plan; with Notes, &c. 12mo. PP. 79. Longman and Co. The author of this volume, which professes to be written on the Eton plan,' has in fact made, as far as we have been able to

observe,

observe, a literal transcript of the Eton-grammar, down to the end of the Accidence; adding a few desultory notes, which, if they were always correct, would seldom be intelligible to beginners. Instead of the most important part of the Eton-grammar, viz. the Syntax, he has substituted a short appendix of his own, in explanation of his notes.

Art. 28. A Grammar of the English Verb, founded on the Remarks already published by the same Author, on the Auxiliary Signs, &c. 12mo. pp. 48. Longman and Co.

We are here doomed to encounter another grammatical performance by the author of the "Introduction to the Latin Tongue on the Eton Plan," just noticed. This gentleman is a grand refiner of received opinions, a very double-distiller of all approved authorities. He not only reprehends the grammatical inaccuracies of the standard English writers, Dryden, Addison, Burke, and Johnson, but presumes to find fault with the language of Cicero and Terence. An arrangement of the verb,' we are told with an air of confidence, must have some advantages.' Granted: but has the verb not yet been arranged? Have successive grammarians, from the revival of learning to the present day, in vain endeavoured to effect a systematic arrangement of the different modifications of the verb? The question needs no reply. In the room, however, of arrangement, the author has, in our opinion, given us little else than disorder and confusion, and has augmented rather than diminished the labour of the student. What, may we ask, is meant by an 6 interrogative mood? Is the mood of the verb ever altered by the interrogative? Does the author mean to say that "I love," and "do I love?" are not one and the same mood? Such distinctions do not convey to us a very favourable impression of this gentleman's grammatical accuracy. We remember a line in a favourite author, (who, by the way, was no bad grammarian,) beginning" Non fumum ex fulgore;" which we could wish that some of our modern improvers of established systems would adopt as their motto.

Art. 29. A practical English Grammar; or an easy Introduction to the Beauties of the English Language, by Question and Answer, &c. &c. By William Wyndham Rawlinson, Master of an Academy at Keynsham, near Bristol. 12mo. pp. 132. Walker

and Edwards.

The design of this compendious work is to unite brevity with utility, and accuracy with cheapness; and it is not intended to supersede the use of larger grammatical treatises, but to serve as an acceptable auxiliary to those which have been already offered to the public. The advantage of the junior tribe of students is consulted by the simplicity of the expressions, and the order of the arrangement; while the memory of the learner will be found to be assisted by the adoption of the interrogative system. The list of French and Latin phrases, of which the sense and the pronunciation are supposed to be correctly explained at the end of the work, we consider as entirely useless, if not liable to prove detrimental, to

the

the learner. Would not a young person be more likely to acquire a wrong than a right pronunciation of the French language, by being told that "je ne sais quoi" is to be pronounced thus: zheuneu say-kwau; "bon ton," bong-tong; "congé d'élire," conzhay da leer? The author, moreover, appears in this instance to have forgotten the words of his preface; viz. that his treatise is designed for the use of the junior classes previous to their studying the Latin or French languages:'-what is this, then, but to forestall their date of grief?"

Art. 30. An easy, natural, and rational Mode of teaching and acquiring the French Language, on a Plan entirely new; in which the Anomalies and Irregularities of Verbs are clearly demonstrated and reduced to rule; the whole deduced from the Philosophy of Language and an Analysis of the human Mind. By William Henry Pybus. 8vo. pp. 305. 8s.

Boards. Baldwin and Co. 1816.

It is amusing to find those who profess, with all imaginable gravity, to instruct the world in the true mode of composition, falling into the very mistakes which they censure in others, and, after having laid down a variety of rules for brevity and clearness, trespassing as much in prolixity and vagueness as any of their predecessors. Such, we have more than once had occasion to remark, is the case with writers of grammars; and with none more, we may now say, than the author of the present publication: who has no idea of conveying any thing that is novel or useful in his method in a few plain paragraphs, but calculates on extending his work to the unconscionable length of three octavo volumes. The volume before us contains the elementary part, given or rather professed to be given in a philosophical manner. I have shown,' says Mr. Pybus, the genius of the French language by tables which express the different sounds in a succession of phrases, and have exhibited the verbs in all the variety of conjugation.' Now our grand objection to the book is that these conjugations are too numerous, and that Mr. Pybus attempts to accomplish by a long series of separate lessons that which can be impressed on the mind only by a frequent repetition of the same thing, and by gradually exciting the habit of forming general conclusions. We have always been of opinion that, in French grammar, the rules are already too much multiplied, and that the true plan would be to reduce the number both of them and of the examples of irregular verbs; confining the attention of the learner to the thorough acquisition of a few conjugations, and accustoming him, by the medium of phrases, to impress the language mechanically on his memory. Nothing is more dry or difficult of retention than abstract grammar-rules; examples and the aid of phrases are indispensable to the recollection of them; and, if a French grammar must necessarily be of considerable length, the space should not be occupied, as in the present case, with that which is dry and intricate, but with dialogues, exercises, and petty narratives, all of which possess attraction to the youthful mind.

The second part of the volume contains an analysis of the parts of speech, followed by several lists of words; one of which contains those that have the same meaning and spelling in French and English; another, those which differ very slightly; with a farther list, which has reference to the pronunciation of the French. These collections are not liable to the same objections as the first part of the volume: but we cannot, on the whole, recommend this production of Mr. Pybus as an useful or instructive work.

MISCELLANEOUS.

· Art. 31. A Narrative of Occurrences in the Indian Countries of North America, since the Connection of the Right Hon. the Earl of Selkirk with the Hudson's Bay Company, and his Attempt to establish a Colony on the Red River; with a detailed Account of his Lordship's Military Expedition to, and subsequent Proceedings at Fort William in Upper Canada. 8vo. pp. 239. 5s. Egerton. 1817.

By an accidental mistake, we mentioned in our last Number the publication which has appeared on behalf of the Earl of Selkirk in answer to the Narrative now before us, which ought to have stood first in our report. It is proper, however, still to insert a notice of this tract, which may be considered as an authorized and even an avowed statement on the part of the merchants who are adverse to Lord Selkirk's project of colonizing the neighbourhood of the Red River. It consists of a narrative of his Lordship's proceeding in that attempt, (which we have already stated in our Number for January,) and contains (p. 52.) a very different version of the death of Mr. Semple from that which is acknowleged by the friends of that gentleman. It is here asserted that Mr. S. and his party were the aggressors; an allegation to which we must be very slow in giving credit, whether we advert to the personal character of Mr. S. or to, the result of the conflict, since more than twenty persons were killed on his side, and only two on that of his opponents. The narrative is followed by an Appendix of considerable length; containing, first, the opinion of eminent counsel in opposition to his Lordship's title to the country in question; next, a number of affidavits relative to the late transactions; and, lastly, several memorials to government from the two mercantile houses which transact business in London for the North-West Company, or great association of fur-traders in Upper Canada.

We decline to enter into any discussion of the points at issue, as the matter is both complicated in itself and intitled to but a subordinate share of the public attention: but we cannot help remarking how singular it is that, where the tracts of unoccupied land are so vast and the individuals in quest of them are so few, they should not find it practicable to follow up their respective objects without such ruinous hostility.

Art. 32. A new View of Society: or Essays on the Formation of the Human Character, preparatory to the Developement of a Plan for gradually ameliorating the Condition of Mankind. By

Robert