The following will exemplify his talent in writing, and juftness of thinking. "The French lady, whom we have mentioned in the last chapter, had a daughter, who, having received part of her education in England, was perfectly well verfed in the language of both countries. "She was rather genteel in her figure than beautiful, though a pair of lively eyes, a very white fet of teeth, and an interefting fimplicity of manners, rendered her more an object of admiration than many regular beauties. She poffeffed all the natural vivacity of her country, which induced her frequently to bring forward the doctrines the had imbibed from the courfe of her ftudies; and thofe having chiefly been employed on the novels of England and France, gave her a turn for which we have no appropriate name equivalent with romantic, by which the difpofition of thofe young ladies was defined, who were tinctured with manners derived from the perufal of romances and the earlier novels. The characteristics of fuch a turn, were high notions of fentimental love; expectations of finding a fighing fwain in every man that appeared; chastity, platonism; and robbers and ravishers in every field, hill, and wood, which were converted by the fair enthu fiaft into wilds, forefts, and mountains :-the two points of honour of each sex, courage, and modefty, were raised to the highest pitch, and every damfel was a Lucretia, and every youth an Amadis. The characteristics of the prefent turn (for which, in default of a better, we will coin the word novelifm) are almost directly the reverfe. In fiction as well as reality, the age of chivalry is paft; the fentimental philofopher takes place of the warrior in the favour of the ladies; and, to quote the words of the ballad, "the captain is no longer the charming man." The hero of the modern tale muft be always depre ciating the glories of the field, and muft brand with infamy the fword of patriotifm, though it glows with the blood of those who draw theirs against every thing moft dear to him. The manly fports of the field stamp at once infamy on his character, though he may pursue natural history through all animated nature by the quiet apparatus of a diffecting knife and the air pump. Platonic love no longer foothes the fair enthufiaft, nor is the defert or the masquerade longer haunted by the ravisher. As the hero grows fentimental, the heroine becomes manly; the strides the courfer, or bends the bow with the nerve of a Thaleftris and curfing, like Eloifa, "All laws but thofe which love has made," if the husband is difagreeable, inattentive, or abfent, though on the fervice of his country, or in acquiring wealth for her, he is allowed to folace herself with fome gentle youth, whom the hand of fenfi. bility dreffes out in the most bewitching garb, while infidious luft in the fpecious form of refined delicacy, ftrews his false roses over the violated marriage-bed. "The warm fancy of young Madelain being cultivated in fuch a fchool, her imagination was filled with notions of blooming and innocent youths, unpolluted by the converfe of the world, mild and gentle as the inexperienced virgin: an excellent and feeling heart, an un Y 2 derstanding derftanding of no vulgar clafs, which, in proper culture, would have bloomed with every virtue of her fex, became a dupe to falfe opinions; and by forming notions of the world directly oppofite to the reality, the one only led her to error, the other to folly.' Vol. i. p. 53. There is a very pleafing copy of verses at p. 163, which we would gladly infert, if we had room. We paufe at p. 171, to afk the author if the "Rights of Man," and fubjects of metaphyfics and religion, are really fubjects of converfation with the ladies in the ball-room at Bath? We are inclined also to hefitate at p. 173, in our belief, whether the circumftances of the dael, as there defcribed, are at all probable. We are pleased with the following remarks. "In every other part of Europe, general manners, general jurif prudence, and French and Italian learning, form the bafis of converfation; but Britain is a microcosm, a little world of itself, and "Penitus toto divifos orbe Britannos" is as much our moral fituation row, as it was our political fituation in the time of Virgil. English manners, English jurifprudence, and English or claffical literature, form the bafis of English converfation. Men whofe minds are amply cultivated and fully informed, add the other attainments in the highest degree; but the difplay of them is rarely called for, while the others are in hourly ufe. A man will never feel awkward in English company from being ignorant of the Imperial Pandects, or the etiquette of the German Courts; but he will be perpetually put to the blufh, if he is unacquainted with the common terms not only of our own laws, but our own ordinary pro feflions. The fcholar and the fine gentleman are not expected to underftand all the jargon of the attorney, or all the appropriated terms of military and naval tactics: but fome knowledge of all is abfolutely neceffary to avoid ridicule; and the man will certainly be laughed at, who fays an officer is arrested for difobedience of orders by his colonel, and put under arreft by his taylor; who calls the colours of a regiment a flag, a firelock a gun, and the main-maft of a fhip a long thick pole and though no man can be completely fkilled in elegant literature without a knowledge of the beft writers of France and Italy, no man will be difgraced in the most learned and polite fociety, from being filent when the merits of Voltaire, Corneille, Ariofto, Taffo, and Metaftafio are difcuffed. But in no company is a man's reputation for the education of an English gentleman fafe, who cannot join in an argument on the merit of Shakspeare and Milton, of Addison and Swift, and who is totally unacquainted with the Latin claffics, or makes a quotation with an erronecus quantity, or a foreign accent. "Whether or not these things ought to be fo is another question, but that they are fo is certain; and if the proverb that tells us, "When we are at Rome we fhould do as they do at Rome," is true, we may furely apply the fame maxim to our own country." Vol. i, P. 176. The following peculiarity was unknown to us, and deserves infertion. " "When they had proceeded about two furlongs they came to a cottage, and the groom was deputed to inquire of the inmates, if there was any path that led up the mountain. He went in, and foon returned with an account, that he could neither underítand the people nor make them understand him, as they spoke French; for, as thi man had not been on the foreign expedition, he had adopted the vulgar notion, that every thing that was not English was French. "French, you blockhead!" faid Sir Edward, how fhould Frenchmen come here? Welch you mean." No, Sir," replied the man, "I don't: I am a Welchman." At this he was furprised, and went himfelf into the cottage, and found the people really spoke a language shat was obviously not Welch, having many words congenial with the English, but which he could not understand. When his French valet came in, he was aftonished to find he underflood and converfed with them very well. He inquired what the language was, and was told by the fervant it was Flemish, which he understood, having lived formerly in French Flanders. "His curiofity was much excited by this, and he inquired by the help of his interpreter, how they came fettled in that place. They were able to give him little information; but he found out they had always lived there, and that the neighbouring inhabitants spoke the fame dialect. On receiving this extraordinary information, he refolved to abandon his fcheme of exploring the mountain; and returning to the chaife, he ordered the driver to proceed on his way, but to ftop at the first village. "In the courfe of a mile he came to one, and halting at the door of the alehouse, as the moft likely place to get the information he wanted, he asked the reafon of the circumftances that had surprised him. But neither the landlord nor any of his guefts could give him any fatisfactory account; all they could tell him was, that in that part of the mountains, as long as could be remembered, the inhabitants had a language different from their neighbours; and that none of them either spoke or understood Welch, though fome of them had a flight knowledge of English. During this inquiry the clergyman paffed by; and from him Sir Edward gained a knowledge of this fingular event, which though authenticated in hiftory is little known, that in the reign of Henry the Second fome Flemish families fettled in that part of South Wales, and have retained to this day their language unmixed with the common dialect of the principality. "Sir Edward thanked him for his intelligence, and pursued his journey, thinking to himself that there was little occafion to hunt for the marvellous among the mountains of Abyffinia, when no very re mote part of our own ifland afforded fo wonderful a curiofity.” Vol. i, p. 180. We make but few objections, and we should not condefcend to particularities, if this work was not,obviously the produc tion tion of an elegant taste and accomplished mind. Mr. Mortlock is introduced with feeming parade, as if much was to depend upon him; but he vanifhes, as it were, in fmoke. The heroine, Emilia, is not fufficiently prominent; fhe is not brought forward fufficiently to intereft. The duels and attacks of robbers, exceed in circumftance and number all probability. The epifodes are certainly ingenious, but they are too obvioully artificial. It might be afked, whether it is poffible, that an English Baronet, however educated, thould not be capable, in cafe of accident, of fixing on his faddle. We however willingly repeat, that this is far beyond the common productions of the kind. The fentiments are juft; the ftyle generally good, and often elegant; the moral unexceptionable; and the tale full of intereft and entertainment. ART. XVI. Report of the Committee of Secrecy of the House of Commons. Ordered to be printed, 15th March, 1799. 8vo. 112 pp. 25. Stockdale, Piccadilly. WE E have here another inftance, where the turbulent politics of the times grow into volumes, that must take their turn, amongst other productions of the prefs, in the review of new publications. The prefent Report contains a great deal of new matter, mixed with that which has been before the public upon former occafions, but which was neceffarily interwoven in the prefent Report, in order to give an uniform history of the progrefs made by that fpecies of fedition, which commenced its machinations when French principles began to be infinuated into this kingdom. The detail of these operations comprehends a hiftory of the Society of United Iriihmen, the Corresponding Society, the Society of United Scotfmen, and that of United Britons; with a fhort notice of a Society which has lately been formed at Hamburgh and Altona, called "the Philanthropic Society," inflituted for the fimilar purpose of spreading fedition in Great Britain and Ireland, as well as in other places. The proceedings, views, and effects of all thefe Societies, are brought forward in a way that shows their connection, and co-operation in one uniform plan of mifchief, more diflinctly than has yet been feen; and in this light the Report is extremely interefting. The Committee, which makes this Report, was appointed, as is well known, to take into confideration fome papers which were prefented to the Houfe of Commons, fealed up. by Mr. Dundas, Dundas, by his Majefty's command. The Report opens with an Introduction, that gives a general view of the intended inquiry in the following manner. "The Committee of Secrecy, to whom the feveral Papers, which were prefented (fealed up) to the Houfe, by Mr. Secretary Dundas, upon the 23d day of January, 1799, by His Majefty's Command, were referred; and who were directed to examine the matters thereof, and report the fame, as they fhall appear to them, to the House; "Have proceeded, in obedience to the orders of the House, to the confideration of the matters referred to them. They have been prevented from fooner laying before the House the refult of their exami nation, not only from the extent of the matters which came before them; but because some of the recent circumstances which they have to state, could not, with propriety, have been disclosed at an earlier period. "In the whole courfe of their enquiry, your Committee have found the cleareft proofs of a fyftematic defign, long fince adopted and acted upon by France, in conjunction with domeftic traitors, and pursued up to the prefent moment with unabated perfeverance, to overturn the laws, conftitution, and government, and every exifting establishment civil or ecclefiaftical, both in Great Britain and Ireland; as well as to diffolve the connection between the two kingdoms, fo neceffary to the fecurity and profperity of both. "The chief hope of accomplishing this defign, has refted on the propagation of thofe deftructive principles, which originally produced the French Revolution, with all the miferies and calamities fince experienced in France, and now extended over a large part of Europe. "The most effectual engine employed for this purpose, has been the inftitution of political focieties, of a nature and defcription before unknown in any country, and inconfiftent with public tranquillity, and with the existence of regular government. The effects of this fatal caufe, operating in its full extent, have been unhappily felt and exemplified in the diftractions and calamities of Ireland. The fame caufe is known to have prepared the way for all the different revolutions by which France has fucceeded in fubverting fo many of the governments of Europe, and reducing fo many independent states to vaffaiage and subjection. In this country, fimilar measures have been attempted; and although they have been hitherto defeated, by the precautions of the legiflature, by the vigilance of his Majesty's government, and ftill more by the general good fenfe and loyalty of the nation, the object is not abandoned. The utmoft diligence is ftill employed in endeavouring, not only to fuftain and revive those focieties whofe feditious and treasonable purposes long fince attracted the notice of parliament, but to extend their correfpondence to every part of this kingdom, to Ireland, to France, and to those places on the continent, where French emiffaries are established; and to inftitute new focieties, formed precifely on the fame plan, and directed by the fame object, as those whofe influence in Ireland has produced fuch pernicious and formidable effects; and of which, the con fequences |