no splendid court scenes, or powerful delineation of court language-pompous and affected feelings. It is not intended for those styled the Exclusives; but for the poor-the general mass of society, who, it is hoped, will find matter congenial to their feelings, their hopes, and aspirations. "As the many, I suppose, must ever be poor, their hopes and feelings will seldom present very different modifications; and it is with the many I think that my work will be popular. With the female world, too, I anticipate it would be a favourite.' "There is much taste and judgment shewn in the self-appreciation expressed in the above extract as to the style and object of this little tale. The reader will have to thank the writer for his unpretending simplicity. He will find no fustian-no bombast; but the feelings of nature, and the condition of life to which he belongs, pronounced without exaggeration, yet, nevertheless, with no ordinary power. Whether as much judgment was shewn in his disinclination to its appearance in a periodical work, may admit of doubt; but his reasons for it are at least characteristic. They were thus expressed. "I now sit down to write to you with the firm determination to reveal my inmost thoughts-to speak freely-to conceal nothing. Whilst I feel deeply grateful to your kindness-it is not in my nature to feel otherwise-whilst I cannot but respect the sympathy with misfortune that has induced you to take an interest in my little affairs; I am pained to think that you should seem to entertain any unjustifiable or ungenerous suspicions of my moral character. You appear to think that I should apply the sum of to a bad purpose. Now is it possible that I can have had such experience of the misery resulting from the want of money, and yet not make a proper use of it? "There is another thing. You have spoken of your intention, if you purchase the manuscript, to cut it up for the Magazine; not to publish it separately. I have a sort of feeling, in thinking of this, like that perhaps of one who would contemplate the amputation of a leg or an arm. I have, perhaps unfortunately, a father's feeling for this child of mine, and I could not bear to see it unmercifully cut up to suit the pages of a periodical publication. If, after undergoing this ordeal, it were published separately, I can have no objections. I have stated my wish to present a copy to one Harriet Hedges, (Rev. Edw. Kempe's, North Cerney, near Cirencester, Gloucestershire,) who has pledged herself to become my wife-one who is every thing I could wish woman to be, and whose virtues would adorn a more exalted station than the one she occupies. But this object would be defeated by your proposed arrangement. O! may I ask you to consider this? If it were only a sixpenny pamphlet, I could wish her to read it. Yes, I could love-it is the first wish of my heart--that she should possess a little volume bearing her future husband's name; not, heaven knows, from any feeling of personal vanity, but that I might receive her smile of approbation, that she might never blush for her connexion with me; and that I might give it into her hands as a mark of my admiration of her virtues, and her disinterested attachment to me. " "I do not know what to do, or what plan to adopt. I feel more unhappy than ever. My acquaintance with the world has not increased my respect for mankind. If an LL. D. were appended to my name, I might have some chance of success. "I have struggled and battled with fortune, with sorrow, with misery, and hardship; but, it would seem, to no purpose. What a world is this! Think, Ó think, of one who, from his squalid appearance, is ashamed to be seen in the splendid streets of this vast metropolis; and yet he feels himself, in a moral and intellectual point of view, as deserving of respect as the purse-proud lords of this world. "In my wildness I pray to my only Father and Friend in heaven; yet I am often tempted to arraign the goodness and benevolence of the Almighty. I have thought of walking to Cirencester-ay, if barefoot-and give my manuscript into her kind hands, as a last memorial of my love. Yes, let her preserve it as the only mark of affection her lover had to bestow. Let it remain with her till mankind shall have become sufficiently benevolent to assist struggling obscurity and indigence; till that time when they shall cease to be dazzled by the glare of external appearance and station. "As for myself, I am almost reckless of my fate. I live only for the amiable being to whom I am attached. I would cheerfully disclaim all community of feeling with the world, forsake society, write coherently.' Pardon this rambling letter-I cannot now "Such being the state of things, though desirous of serving the young man, nothing more could be immediately done than, as his furlough was expiring, to provide him with the means of returning to Londonderry, and to retain the M.S., in hope of making some use of it for the author's benefit. On the 16th of January last, Mr. Fraser was gratified by the receipt of a long letter from James Jolly, shewing that he had reached his quarters in safety. After leaving London, he spent two days in Cheltenham, in the society of Harriet Hedges. I left her," he says, "with a heavy "he heart; and I have since scarcely thought of her, or seen an object associated in memory with her, without tears of sorrow." The decision of James Jolly has not been without effect. His little work is published separately. NOTICES. ART. XX. - An Encyclopedia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture; Illustrated by numerous designs of Cottages, Farm-houses, Farmeries, and Villas, including their interior finishing and Furniture, accompanied by critical remarks. &c. By J. C. LOUDON, F. L. S. H. I. G. S. &c. Part XII. London: Longman, Rees and Co. 1833. THIS is the concluding number, that completes a work that for stability, diligence, practical utility, and interest, has only been exceeded by the author himself, in those extraordinary literary labours, by which he is so extensively known. It is quite surprising to see the minuteness with which every detail connected with country architecture, from the most expensively fitted up villa to the most economical cottage, is explained. The number and variety of the illustrations give a degree of assistance to the reader in understanding and executing any of the plans presented to him in these pages, which renders the work as a guide, quite unique in its merit. Although we cannot now enter into the contents of this excellent production, we may be permitted to remind the public of the nature of its objects. The principal end proposed by this publication then, is to improve the dwellings of the great mass of society, and next, to create and diffuse among mankind generally a taste for architectural comfort as well as beauty. With a view to render the work intelligible, and therefore useful, Mr. Loudon commenced it with designs. In this way readers, who had not a suffici ent education to enable them to enter into the principles of architecture at once, were led by degrees to understand those principles, laid down as they gradually and skilfully were, by such an experienced instructor as Mr. Loudon. Here then, we have a complete view of every plan of architecture whereby the dwellings of the whole mass of society may be equalized in point of all essential comforts. conveniences, and beauties. Independently of the actual practical benefit, which will immediately result from such a work as this, it will necessarily have the effect of implanting in the minds of youth, some knowledge of the differences between good and bad architecture. As a fine art also, and as a rational source of entertainment for the mind, it is recommended to our notice on the same principle as painting and sculp ture. ART. XXI.-The Political Unionist's Catechism; a Manual of political Instruction for the People &c. By JUNIUS REDIVIVUS. London: Wilson, 1833. THE object of this catechism is to show that the Reform Bill has by no means accomplished enough to satisfy the true lovers of liberty, and that the people should remember that their greatest strength depends on their union. The author inculcates that the best mode of securing the ballot and short Parliaments, will be, by procuring an extension of the suffrage; and this extension should be granted only on the principle, that ciple, that political knowledge should alone constitute a legal claim to the elective franchise instead of the "absurd test of property." ART. XXII.-Readings for Sunday Evenings, 1 vol. 8vo. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1833. THIS neatly printed work is composed of a selection of passages from some of the most famous Divines of the English and Scottish churches. The choice is judiciously made on the principle of suiting the extracts to the circumstances of a quiet domestic circle. This plan is undoubt edly an improvement on almost all those which have been made the foundation of works like the present; they almost uniformly consist of passages entirely destined to produce effect on large congregations, and cannot therefore be allowed to be well calculated for a small family assemblage, the members of which are associated altogether on a different footing. We strongly recommend the use of the book to families who are anxious to spend their Sunday evenings in a profitable manner. The selections are made chiefly from Tillotson, Atterbury, Locker, Clarke, Barrow, Blair, and Sir R. Moncrief. ART. XXIII.-Reflections on the Expediency of Adopting the Lituryical Reform recommended by the Royal Ecclesiastical Commission of the year 1689; also the Outline of a plan of Auxiliary Sunday Ritual, &c. &c. By the Rev. B. BASSNETT M. A. Incumbent of Gorton-cum-Openshaw, nkar Manchester. London: Broughton, 1833. THE reverend author commences by a declaration, which he seems to make with hearty good will, that there never was a period in which a more general desire existed of seeing old institutions re-modelled, obsolete and inapplicable laws revised or abrogated, and new and useful regulations adopted. Seeing that what had been deemed the firmest bulwarks of the ecclesiastical establishment removed-seeing that the Test and Corporation Acts, and the Penal Laws against Catholics, are done away with-seeing that other fundamental changes regarding the Protestant church, are likely to take place, the reverend author has a suspicion that the Book of Common Prayer will very speedily be subjected to some revision, in conforchange which is abroad. Having mity with the universal spirit of taken this view of the probable application of reform to ecclesiastical affairs, Mrs. Bassnett conceived the idea of adding what he calls his mite to the numerous plans of improvement in church matters, which were either developed or were yet in embryo. He accordingly proposes his outline of a project for amendments in, and additions to, the Liturgy. The simplest and best way, according to this divine, of improving the Liturgy, would be to confine the present Book of Common Prayer to the weekly devotion of the church, and to compile a new book for Sundays, Christmas-day, and Good Friday. Proceeding then with his plan, Mr. Bassnett enters largely into the history and early changes in the Liturgy, and suggests such changes as appear to him to be advisable. He boldly declares, that whilst he yields to no man in a sincere and rational esteem for the church of England, yet he does not feel all that blind reverence for its Liturgy which would prevent him from placing it amongst the catalogue of human productions. He has no doubt that the same spirit which actuated the Fathers of the Reformation, in the days of Henry the Eighth, would have actuated them in making further reforms, had they continued to mingle with the affairs of life; and if that would have been the case, in their comparatively barbarous and bigotted age, how much more justifiable is additional reform at the present day, when in fact the only danger to be apprehended for the church is entirely from delaying, or declining to admit improvements. The reverend author urges strongly the adoption of his propositions, as he thinks that if incorporated in the regulations of the church even now, they would succeed in silencing objectors, and the church would not only retain her present members, but would speedily receive an accessionof strength from without. ART. XXIV. A History of Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea, from the most authentic Sources. Vol. 78, of Constable's Miscellany. In 2 vols. London, Whittaker & Co. 183.3 In the early part of this Miscellany the subject of the present volumes was partially illustrated by some interesting narratives. The present work is a continuation of the former, and seems to form, with the earlier volumes on nautical dangers, a com plete view of the whole of the affecting events and disasters on sea, of which history makes mention. The production before us, which we are glad to find is placed under the able and judicious superintendance of Mr. Redding, commences at so early a period as the time of Henry I. of England. Proceeding in chronological order, the author presents to us in succession the calamities which was encountered by the two brothers Cortereals, in 1500, the sufferings of the crews of the Minion and Trinity, from famine in 1536— the death of Sir H. Willoughby by cold, together with a considerable number of other narratives, calculated, from the interesting manner in which they are told, to fix deeply our best sympathies. Amongst the modern portion of the record are accounts of the shipwreck of the Grosvenor East Indiaman, the Centaur, sufferings of David Woodward and five seamen, the loss of the Dutton, of the Nautilus, and the American ship Commerce in 1815, The contents of these two volumes are intensely interesting, and will well repay a perusal. ART. XXV. Romances of the Chivalric Ages. By PILGRIM BROTHERS. In 2 Vols. London, Bull. 1833. THESE tales are a capital treat to those whose minds are susceptible of being affected with strange events, heroic and gallant deeds, and traits of chivalry, which bring to our view all the romantic splendours of the age when the cross conducted its thousands of valiant bands over the wildernesses of ocean and of sands, to wrest the proud relics of the Christian creed from the profane hands of the infidel. The tales are beautifully written; their plots are well arranged, and generally carry the reader's attention uninterruptedly to the close; and we have seldom passed a series of hours in a more pleasant occupation than that of mingling with the glorious spirits which animated the knights of former ages, ere thirst of gold and the influence of luxury were exchanged for deeds of martial strength, valour, and generosity. A humorous, but perhaps ultimately somewhat too tedious, introduction ushers in these tales: it is, however, well worth a perusal. |