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is not at all unlike our own, would come back to what it was, and that entre nous, is what the people desire.' PP. xlv-xlvi.

As a sort of sequel to the indications which have already appeared of the state of social accommodation in Sicily, the following characteristic circumstance may be taken.

Four hours and a half-for, travelling in Sicily, you never go out of a walk-brought me to Fiume Di Nisi, eighteen miles from Messina; where the muleteer informed me there was an excellent inn. It consists of an immense range of open stalls for the mules, and wretched lofts above, they call rooms. The supper-room you are shewn into, is a division of the stable; with a fire on the ground, or rather, bare earth,—a bed for the family-some casks full of wine-a pig lately killed, swinging from the rafters and a table and bench. Upon the ashes they toast you a slice from the pig: with two or three eggs, and a bottle of wine: and that forms your supper; while the muleteer stalks in with a satisfied air from having told you the truth. The chamber for sleeping is a wretched-looking garret, with a mattrass, en suite; shutters for windows; and a door that won't shut. Were an English lady's maid shewn in to such a place, at the worst inn on the road, she would immediately swoon, And take this for a picture of every locanda in Sicily, except in great towns, or the immediate beaten tract from one English post to another.'p. xlvii.

We shall, at present, leave these statistical facts for the reflections of our readers. To enter at large into the policy which has guided British statesmen in the maintenance of such a system as is here displayed, would be trespassing on the limits of a miscellaneous journal. We shall therefore content ourselves with transcribing a short passage from a speech of Lord Grenville, commenting on a similar policy, as exercised in another place. It is from the speech of his Lordship, in the debate in the House of Lords, 22d. February, 1811, on the message about taking 30,000 Portuguese into British pay. We quote from the Times newspaper, of 23d of February, 1810.

It was unnecessary for him to dwell upon the manner in which the measures taken in Portugal had been conducted. But if those who had the management of the public affairs, had possessed any wisdom, any capacity 'for enlightened policy in the regulations of a nation's 'interests and constitution, any right feelings with regard to 'the happiness of their fellow creatures, here had been a 'wide field opened to them. They had got the possession of the dominion of our ally, with its government dis'solved, and no means existing for the establishment of any regular authority or civil administration, but such as 'the British government alone could suggest. Here had been a glorious opportunity for raising the Portuguese

"nation from that wretched and degraded condition, to which 'mental ignorance, civil oppression, and political tyranny and prostitution, had reduced it. Was not that an opportunity which any men capable of enlarged and liberal views of policy, and influenced by any just feelings for the in❝terests of their fellow creatures, would have eagerly availed 'themselves of? Would not such men have eagerly seized the favourable occasion to rescue the population of that country, from that influence of ignorance and political de'basement which rendered the inhabitants of that wretched · country incapable of any public spirit or national feeling? 'Here was a task worthy of the greatest statesmen; here was 'an object, in the accomplishment of which there were · no talents so transcendant, no capacity so enlarged, no < ability so comprehensive, that might not have been well and beneficially employed. It was a work well suited to a wise and liberal policy-to an enlarged and generous spirit-to every just feeling and sound principle of national interest; to impart the blessings of the free institutions of a free government to the inhabitants of a country, so long op'pressed and disgraced by the greatest tyranny that had ever existed in any nation of Europe.'

Lord Grenville merits esteem for the enunciation of these opinions, as sound and prudent in policy, as they are elevated in sentiment. Change but the name of Portugal for the name of Sicily, and they are applicable to the latter in every tittle, and in their full force and extent. We leave it to our readers, at their leisure, to make the application in detail. Art. V. Select Poems, &c. By the late John Dawes Worgan, of Bristol, who died on the 25th of July, 1809, aged nineteen years. To which are added some particulars of his Life and Character, by an early Friend and Associate; with a preface by William Hayley, Esq. 12mo. pp. 311. Price 78. Longman and Co. 1810.. NEVER does the conduct of Divine Providence appear

more mysterious, than in the premature removal of early piety and genius. The rare combination of talents and virtue in an ingenuous youth, is one of the most gladdening sights in the creation. It is in itself an object of delightful interest, to witness the gradual expansion of a superior mind; to observe its rapid associations-its ardent vivacity-its glowing benevolence-its voluntary and decided consecration to the good of man and the glory of God. In the contemplation of such a character, advancing by the progressive developement of its powers to usefulness and honour, we feel

a peculiar elevation of soul. We see the hand of God at work: and in every operation by which his providence and grace are displayed, we are led to anticipate, with growing and unmingled pleasure, the intended result of this combined process. If, in such a frame of sanguine expectation, the stroke of mortality is inflicted, it is an event of inexplicable mystery to our reason and our feelings; it is a dispensation wrapped in shades and darkness,-a gloom which nothing can penetrate but the cheering rays of sacred truth. Viewed merely in its connection with the present scene of things, it looks as if God had left his own world, and abandoned it to the capricious arbitration of death; as if nothing remained for us, but the complaining appeal-" Wherefore hast thou made man in vain ?" But faith forbids the ungrateful exclamation! The fair plant, which, to our short sighted view, dimmed and confused by the very tears we shed, has disappeared for ever, is only removed to a kindlier soil and a more genial clime: there it flourishes, near to that "plant of renown," which sheds eternal fragrance on all the paradise of God, and blooms, in unfading beauty, for ever. Such must have been the feelings of those endeared relatives and friends who beheld the growing genius of Worgan; for they are the common feelings which arise on contemplating the display of early excellence; and such, we doubt not, are the consolations enjoyed by those who saw him meekly descend to the tomb, "rejoicing in the hope that is full of immortality." We have been frequently called to notice, in our Journal, productions of youthful talent, which, had the Sovereign Governor of the world permitted to attain the "fulness of its stature" on earth, might have been distinguished by qualities of the highest order. Henry Kirke White and Elizabeth Smith, were uncommon illustrations of the value of real religion, both in its influence on the mind and on the heart. The world, if the world could be brought to think on such a subject, might have learnt, from the interesting memorials of their worth, that there is nothing in religion to chill and retard the progress of genius; that, so far from there being any points of repulsion, the alliance between them is mutually assisting and ennobling; that genius refines religion, and that religion consecrates genius. The lives of poets,' indeed, have too often exhibited that high and brilliant faculty of the mind, in unnatural opposition to the dictates of conscience and the laws of God. Mental superiority has become, through the perversion of its power, an instrument of mighty mischief, and directly counteracted the end of its bestowment.

But

this has been its prostitution-its degradation; while, on the other hand, its union with piety has attempered its bright effulgence, directed its movements, and regulated its operation. In the one instance, it has been a raging fire spreading on all sides devastation and death; in the other, as the light of heaven, mild and beneficent in its splendour.

It has afforded us peculiar pleasure to find the biography of modern times, so frequently in aid of those sentiments which represent genius as worthy of admiration only when it is controuled by moral and religious principle. The memoirs of such men as Sir William Jones and Cowper, have an influence beyond the power of their living actions, and greater in its moral effect than that of the productions which gave them celebrity: and we doubt not that the impression produced by the lives of Kirke White and Miss Smith, has done more to guide and stimulate the energies of youthful minds, and by this means to promote the best interests of society, than their personal exertions could have effected, if their time on earth had reached the utmost limits of human existence. This is the best compensation for their loss-that their example and character have now an attraction, inseparable from that very event. which our feelings so poignantly deplore. We are not prepared to say that Worgan was in every respect equal to his exalted precursors; but we are confident that no one can read the interesting memorial before us, without regretting that talents so superior should be lost to the world so soon, or without rejoicing that he who possessed them was the only one who did not suffer by their removal. His piety was as distinguished as his attainments were respectable; and it is the blending of this heavenly principle with all his pursuits, that gives this little record of his worth such peculiar interest and importance.

John Dawes Wargan was born in Bristol on the 8th of November, 1791. His father's ancestors had been watchmakers for two generations; and his father, though ardently desirous of entering on holy orders in the establishment, was compelled to prosecute the family employment by a kind of hereditary entail.' From a short sketch of his own life drawn by Worgan, not long before his death, we learn that his father was an eminent Christian, and ́a 'faithful member of the church of England;' and that his mother belonged to the church of the United Brethren, or Moravians. When six years of age he was placed under the tuition of a good natured intelligent man' in Wiltshire, who, it seems, had the frailty of being too lenient towards the

faults of his pupil. Here he remained for two years-after having lost much and gained little.' His parents were desirous of immediately superintending his education, and, for that purpose, of placing him at some school in the neighbourhood of Bristol; but the habits of negligence and insubordination had become so stubborn by indulgence, that he was entered at three schools, but would remain at none, 'conceiving' according to his own account against each some vehement cause of complaint, and acting in pursuance of his ideas with unruly and uncontrollable principles of anger and pride.' The accidental visit of an acquaintance of his own age, who had been for a considerable time at the Moravian school at Fulneck, at length determined our hero to request the permission of his parents to accompany his young friend on his return; and with that request they very gladly complied. From this period he became a diligent scholar, though it appears, that he felt no predilection whatever for classical pursuits, but directed all his attention to other branches of learning. The description of Fulneck is given with so much of that pleasurable vivacity we feel in retracing the scenes of early life, that we shall transcribe it entire.

The village is situated on a rising ground; it is built in a straight line, the chapel is in the centre; the school for boys and girls, the houses of the single brethren and sisters, and the houses dedicated to mechanical labour, exactly corresponding on each side. A spacious and public gravel walk appeared in front of the buildings. The space before the chapel, however, was prohibited ground, and constituted the boundary between the male and female domain. From the gravel walk the ground exhibited a gentle declivity, which was covered with gardens, both for utility and ornament. The huts of the extremely poor were concealed, that the beauty of the scene might suffer no detriment. This little district was purchased by the Moravians, that they might there erect a secure and independent settlement, in which none but the members of their own society should be permitted to live, except children in the schools. For a series of successive years, their establishment has flourished and increased. It now affords no inconsiderable advantages for the education of youth of both sexes, of employment for the middle-aged, and of retirement for those who have known the world, and have learned to despise its follies.

When I had visited the various parts of the village in company with the resident clergyman, I was introduced with all becoming ceremony into my appropriate room, It was not the custom there for the whole school to assemble in one apartment, but we were divided into five classes, each of which had a separate room, with two instructors: in addition to this we had masters occasionally attending; and the head master was superintendant of the whole. Our advancement from room to room was guided by our improvement to learning. Our religious VOL. VII. 4 D