53. Results of Experience in the Practice of Instruction; or Hints for the Improvement of the Art of Tuition, as it regards the middling and higher Classes of Society, with a View to the general Attainment of an enlarged or encyclopediac Course of liberal Education during the Years usually spent at School,, being an Elucidation of the Basis of the System pursued at Stanmore Academy, conducted by W. Johnstone, M.A. 8vo. pp. 66. Goodhugh.

MR. JOHNSTONE has published this Pamphlet in explanation of his plans, which (provided his pupils are first made sound classicks) cannot be otherwise than beneficial.

54. Reasons for the immediate Repeal of the Tax on Foreign Wool. By James Bischoff. 8vo. pp. 43. Richardson.

IN a preceding Review on this subject we have given our opinions at length on the impolicy of partial Legislation, and of taxing the raw materials of our manufactures. Since

then, the tax has passed, probably (according to Mr. Bischoff, p. 23) because Lord Sheffield stated the woollen manufacture exported to amount to only one million; whereas it is seven millions. Mr. Bischoff also argues that the tax, instead of producing 300,000l. per annum, will only bring 57,000l. odd, of which the result will be this:

"The revenue will lose more than that sum in other duties; the importation of finer wool will also be considerably decreased by the exclusion of foreign trade, and must occasion considerable loss to the revenue, to which sum must be added the taxes on dying wares, oil, and many other articles, now used in the woollen manufacture. Instead, therefore, of an increase, it will cause a heavy loss to the revenue; more will be lost by the decrease of duties on the exportation of woollen goods, and on the articles used in the manufacture, than can be gained by the tax on wool," P. 29.

As the point will no doubt ere long be fully argued in the new House of Commons, we shall only say, that this Pamphlet, written in a proper statistical form, merits the most attentive perusal; and we only decline giving more of its valuable contents on the account which we have stated.

55. Extracts from a Pamphlet, entitled The Friend of Peace, containing a special Interview between the President of the United States and Omar, an Officer dis-· missed for Duelling; with Six Letters from Omar to the President, and Omar's solitary Reflections. The whole reported by Philo-Pacificus, Author of "A sn. lemn Review of the Custom of War." Printed in America; and reprinted by J. Lomax, Underbank, Stockport. 8vo. pp. 30.

No man can

THIS work is a fiction, founded upon Quaker principles, concerning War and Duelling. vindicate either in the abstract; but, while mankind are what they are, the evil of duelling retains the most uncontrollable profession within the bounds of good manners, like medicine formed of a poison, which nevertheless has sometimes, but rarely, a destructive effect. As to war, if men did not resist violence, the good must be slaves, and the bad masters. It has been most respectably observed, that the Quaker principles would occasion the extirpation of half the human species. No doubt, if mankind were as they ought to be, there would

be no such thing as duelling or war, but when will this desirable state of human conduct take place?

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56. Memoirs of the late John Tobin, Anthor of The Honey Moon," with a Selection from his unpublished Writings. By Miss Benger, Author of "Memoirs of Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton." 8vo.

THE Author of the Honey Moon is well entitled to the honourable memorial which this Volume offers of his talents and his virtues. It is im

possible to watch the progress of his hopes and fears, or to trace his early and continued disappointments, with out strong feelings of sympathy and regret. His fame was dearly pur chased, but it is a fair and unalienable possession: and, as his Biogra pher justly remarks, he has not merely caught the spirit, but participated in the privileges of our elder writers, while a few even of the early sketches, or unfinished productions, must be acceptable to the cultivated_reader.

But in the dramas, which form at least two-thirds of this Volume, we have discovered better claims to attention. The play of "The Indians" offers many striking passages. The musical dramas of "Yours or Mine" and the "Fisherman," if compressed,

would,

the last century, passed through several editions; and the respectable Re-publisher was so delighted with the orthodoxy of its doctrines, and the pure religion it inculcated, together with the correctness of its language, that he had no sooner read it, than he determined to send anew into the world.

"I have ventured, however," he says, "to make some alterations; they consist chiefly of abridgments. Intending the publication principally for the lower classes of the people, and to be circulated, widely and extensively, at the smallest possible expence, I have omitted those parts which appeared to be too learned or obscure to be readily understood, and others which, though useful, are less material."

The Letter, in its present form, is an acceptable present to the Publick, and the more so as it is offered at a very cheap price.

58. On Superstition; a Sermon, preached in the Cathedral Church, Lincoln; at the Visitation of the Archdeacon of Stow, on May 27, 1819. By the Rev. Roger Frampton St. Barbe, A. B. Rector of Sudbrooke. 8vo. pp. 36. Rivingtons. IN a very luminous Discourse, from Psalms xxxi. 7, after observing that

"True Religion will not admit of Error and Imposture as her supporters: she bears in her hand the word of life-genuine documents, to which 'if any man shall add, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in that book; and if any man shall take away from the words of that book, God shall take away his part out of the book of life'." (Revel. xxii. 18, 19.) -and that " Superstition and Infidelity reciprocate, when the direct path of pure Religion is forsaken;"

Mr. St. Barbe thus proceeds:

"The term Superstition, in its common acceptation at present, has been explained to comprehend unnecessary fears and scruples in religion; an observance of needless and uncommanded rites; the giving of reverence to beings which are not proper objects of reverence; a system of religion without morality *.' This should seem sufficiently broad, for it includes within its scope idolatry, will-worship, and fanaticism; and yet it does not altogether comprehend some of the most distinctive marks of superstition. Perhaps this disease of the understanding and of the affections may be said more generally to consist in some or all of these four

Dr. Johnson.

particulars: a vicious faith in the efficacy of unwarranted means to discover the will of the Deity, and to propitiate his regard; -an unreasonable fear of imaginary or at least of subordinate beings;—an excessive scrupulousness in things lawful;together with a very faulty system of morals. This description will perhaps touch upon most of the superstitious feelings and practices which have been indulged in by the votaries of false religions, or by the professors of that which is indeed true, but corrupted: such as divinations, auguries, and ordeals; charms, amulets, and relics; human sacrifices, self-inflicted torments, bodily maceration, and pilgrimages; enforced celibacy and compulsory seclusion from the world; enthusiastic experiences and ecstacies; to these may be added the nice performance of the lesser religious "ordinances, to the utter neglect of the main duties of life enjoined by God. In short, sion of Scripture, or from obedience in Superstition arises from a misapprehenmatters spiritual to suggestions of no divine authority."

The rise and progress of Supersti tion, from the idolatry of the remotest ages to the Emperors of Greece and Rome, and thence to the Papal Throne, and to the absurdities of modern Fanaticism, are well described, and illustrated by several appropriate and well-selected notes.

1820.]

ley, little more is told than that he was born at Nottingham, and educated partly there, and afterwards at Leeds, with a view to the University, and to Holy Orders, that his piety and his modest humble deportment endeared him to many highlyrespectable friends; and that he died of a fever in the prime of life.

60. Leolin Abbey, a Novel. By Alicia Lefanu, Author of "Strathallau" and "Helen Monteagle." Three vols. 12mo. AFTER attentively perusing this Novel, without pausing to detect particular blemishes; without staying to enquire whether certain parts might not be improved by curtailment, and others by extension; and without taking exception to some of the episodes as usurping too large a share of the interest that should

attach to the main story, we freely pronounce a summary decision in its favour. Most readers will frankly acknowledge the delight these Volumes have afforded them, which are constructed with that dramatic skill which prevents the slightest anticipation of the catastrophe, and are related in a strain of fervid eloquence, alternately serious and gay, according to the changeful complexion of the incidents. It is a tale which cannot be twice told, and which must greatly suffer, if divested of the animated language in which the Author has presented it. We shall therefore content ourselves with a concise sketch.

The time of the action may be supposed to include a period of some years, terminating about the close of the late war; and the scene, though principally in England, changes occasionally to Sicily, Greece, and the Ionian islands. The leading characters, or in the customary phrase, the hero and the heroine, are Alured Vere and his cousin Leonora Montre. sor; but the personage on whom their fate, and much of the interest of the story may be said to depend, is their grandsire Lord Trelawny, distinguished alike as a warrior and a statesman, and retaining, in the decline of life, the fire and ambition of youth. Alured has been estranged from him through the machinations of a concealed enemy, to whom his parents have already fallen victims, and who thwarts the growing attack

247

ment between him and Leonora. During a campaign in Sicily, the gal lant youth is recognized by a maternal relative, on whose death he succeeds to considerable estates in the kingdom of Naples. Under his new title of Chiaramonte, he gains the favourable regard of his commander Lord Trelawny, who, on their return to England, undertakes to advance his fortunes. The death of his Lordship's immediate successors, and certain political considerations, induce him to strengthen his influence by an alliance of the younger branches of his house with other noble families, and he discountenances the union of the plighted pair. Alured, inveigled by the arts of an intriguing lady of fashion, is on the eve of marriage with her, when a disagreement with his patron releases him from both engagements. A singular occurrence at length clears away the delusion which had alienated his parents from Lord Trelawny; the treachery of the intriguante is exposed, and the eclaircissement is attended with those consequences to the lovers which were devoutly to be expected.

This rapid survey affords no glimpse of the multitude of subordinate characters introduced, and of the felicity with which they are delineated.

In closing these sprightly and interesting Volumes, we have one hint to offer to the fair Author. If it be expedient that her next heroine should be introduced on the scene with an attendant animal, let it be of some gentle kind, a lamb, a fawn, or a greyhound, for instance. The tame lion that escorts Miss Montresor on her first appearance is too formidable, even in his rose-bound chain, to be tolerated in such company. This, and one or two other capriccios that we might mention, seem to have been purposely hazarded; and, indeed, if they are to be regarded as faults, it must be confessed that they have been amply retrieved./

61. Maurice and Berghetta; or, The Priest of Rahery. A Tale. 12mo. pp.306. Hunter.

THIS singular Volume (for such it certainly is) common Fame ascribes to the elegant pen of William Parnell, esq. M. P. for the county of Wicklow; who thus concludes a long and interesting introductory address: