tianity, and of my country, for you my love, for my children, for my family, and for my friends. But honour, which I have always had in view, and laboured for during the whole of my career; honour, also, ought to be dear to me! to conclude, I think I can conciliate all these interests, and I trust to do so with the aid of the Almighty." "That he had faults and blots in his character, in short, that he was human, is undoubted. But how immensely did his great and good qualities overbalance his less praiseworthy ones. As Charles the Twelfth, then a boy of only fifteen, said when he heard of his decease, "Such men should never die."-pp. 174 to 177. The last extract for which we can find room, is an Anecdote of Frederic of Prussia, after the battle in the Forest of Torgau : "It is related that Frederic, after this battle, approached, during the night, a fire, where some of the grenadiers of his own regiment were sitting, and entered, as was his habit during his campaigns, into conversation with them. One of them said to him at length, Where were you during the battle? Generally you lead us yourself where the fire is hottest, but this time nobody saw you, and it is not right to abandon us so." The king replied with mildness, that he had remained at the left wing of his army, which had prevented him from being at the head of his own regiment. While speaking, the heat of the fire obliged him to unbutton his great coat, and a ball dropped out, which he had received in his clothes. The hole the ball had made in the great coat and coat were also perceptible. Upon this the enthusiasm of the soldiers was no longer to be restrained. They cried out, with all the tenderness of expression belonging in the German tongue to the singular pronoun, "You are our own old Fritz; you share in all our dangers with us; we will all die for you!" There is something in this simple language of the common soldiers more affecting and more gratifying than the the most studied harangues or panegyrics."pp. 306 to 308. We cannot dismiss this volume without especially recommending it to parents, on account of the excellent moral tendency of all its contents. We are pleased to find in these pages an ample justification of those expressions of respect in which we indulged in our Memoir of Lord Dover, contained in our last number. His lordship's surviving and afflicted family are much to be congratulated, on the mitigation of their regrets which the delightful contents of this volume are calculated to afford. REVIEW.-Remarks on the United States of America, with regard to the Actual State of Europe. By Henry Duhring. Simpkin and Marshall. London. 1833. ONE of the greatest critics, and one of the greatest men of the past day, once remarked in conversation, that the perfection of bookmaking was to leave nothing for any one to say after you on the same subject. fear we must not bring the work before us to the formidable test of this principle. Its great fault appears to us, to be that it gives so little information. It is just such a book as we should naturally expect from a man We who had never seen the country about which he writes. The author thinks for us, from the beginning of the book to the end of it, and gives us no facts; by both which means, we are left in a most piteous state of intellectual starvation. The book is divided into eight chapters, the subject of the first of which is expressed in the following somewhat vague query prefixed to it. "Will the North American Union last?" A propos of queries: This is another exception which, with deference, we must take against this volume. It is perfectly crowded with interrogatories and appeals; nothing to be seen but notes of interrogation. It is a perfect luxury to meet with a full-stop; and when we arrive at one, we stand flat-footed upon it, and recover from the unnatural tip-toe attitude in which the mind has been kept by an almost endless succession of questions.-But to return to the North American Union. The chapter commences with another question, (as do also the two following chapters,) and instead of giving us any information respecting the recent differences of the, northern and southern States, instead of alluding to slavery, to the increase of the black population, to the clashing interests of the agricultural and manufacturing districts of the country, he treats us to a host of vague and declamatory appeals, of which we shall transcribe rather more than we otherwise should do, on a principle borrowed from the educational policy of Lycurgus. "If time and experience should have proved, as I think they have, that these different compacts suit the different States, and that also the federal government does not, nor can, at least for any length of time, misuse its delegated rights, or exercise them to the prejudice of one or more of the different states of which the Union is composed, what reason may we then have to doubt the stability of the Union? And let us suppose that those contracts above alluded to, were found defective, what prevents the Americans to alter them, without thereby disturbing the whole Union? Have not the Americans, separately and collectively, the power to do so? Does not the his tory of the United States prove that many such revisions of their constitutions have already taken place wiihout the least emotion or embarrassment."-pp. 5. "Governments, too dull and too uniform, may also be compared to standing waters, which, after a time, corrupt. Do we not observe a perpetual change in all the innumerable surrounding objects? Is any creature, any plant, nay, the grain of sand we tread on, exempted from it? Would it, therefore, not be idle to suppose human institutions more stable? Do not the principles which constitute the groundwork of these institutions depend on the minds that first conceived them? If, however, these minds have become enlarged, or died away, and yielded the place of authority to others of a different stamp, will not this change affect the institutions themselves? Have not all human attempts to impede this change proved as vain as they have been destructive? Must we not acknowledge herein the hand or power of Providence? How beautiful is this idea expressed in the following words of Pasthofer! [Here follow the French passages.] And is this idea not further elucidated and confirmed by the following words of a man so enlightened as Herder? [Here follow the German passages.]—pp. 6, 7. Indeed, our author introduces passages throughout his book from modern French and German writers, with a profusion that reminds us of Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy. The chapter closes with a very droll instance of bathos occasioned by the author's deserting his usual course, to answer his own questions. "Will, then, citizens, who from their very infancy have breathed the air of freedom, and felt its inspiring energy, who by the experience of more than a century have learned to appreciate the great influence of their civil rights, their independence, and prosperity, will not such citizens feel a deep interest in the preservation of their actual independent and prosperous condition? Will they not have resolution enough to defend their rights, if necessary? Yes, they will!"-pp. 25, 26. The subject of the second chapter is given in the following words, "Examination of an opinion somewhat prevalent in the mother country, that the want of an established church has produced want of religion in the United States;"-p. 27. and contains some of the most rational views which we have found in his bookthat is, we should premise, if he contemplated the answers to his questions, which we presume he did. One of its mottoes (for, by another curious predilection of the author, each chapter is ushered in by two of these,) is selected with so much taste as to hide a multitude of the faults of style with which the chapter abounds. It is as follows: "Nature is indeed the only temple worthy of Deity. There is a mute eloquence in her smile, a majestic severity in her frown, a divine charm in her harmony, a speechless energy in her silence, a voice in her thunders, that no reflecting being can resist. It is in the beautiful scenes and seasons that the heart is deepest smitten with the power and goodness of Providence, and that the soul demonstrates its capacity for maintaining an existence independent of matter, by abstracting itself from the body, and expatiating alone in the boundless regions of the past and the future."-p. 29. There is only one more chapter to which we think it necessary to allude, and the attractive subject of it is thus stated by the writer: "Some remarks regarding a statement made by a very popular English writer, "that the women do not enjoy in the United States that station in society which has been allotted to them elsewhere."-p. 61. Here again we came looking for facts, but found none. We had hoped here to find some "kind antithesis" to Mrs. Trollope. We had expected to have seen some sketches of American domestic life, and to have risen from its perusal with the conviction that American gentlemen (bless the mark) do not puff tobacco-smoke into ladies' faces, nor make love to them with their boots in the middle of the table. Instead of this, we meet with an interminable procession of questions of a most lacka-daisical kind, of which the first words must serve as a sample:-" With regard to men, can they be accused," &c. "And are women gifted," &c. "Do we men, poor creatures?" &c. "To what does our REVIEW.-Evenings by Eden-side, or Essays and Poems by George Pearson. 12mo. pp. 137. Kendal. Branthwaite. THIS little volume, although it contains many original thoughts and much sound truth, can never expect to elbow its way through the dense mass of publications issuing from the press, and gain that elevation in public esteem which all desire to attain. It has, however, one good qualification, which it would be injustice to conceal-its contents tend ❝to promote the love of virtue, philanthropy, and patriotism." As a specimen of the style in which the subjects are treated, we have selected the following short Essay, "On Laying Foundation Stones." "I have often thought the great men of our land might better convey their names down to posterity in laying foundation stones of Churches, Bridges, Jails, &c., than in inscribing them and their titles on a piece of plate-for instance, in laying the foundation stone of a church, would not a copy of the Scriptures be more appropriate?-Of a theatre-supposing the works of Shakspeare or his illustrious satellites were deposited? Of a town-hall-the plan and eleva-tion of it, as also the population, extent, situation, &c., of that town, and so on. If these could be preserved from the ravages of time, would they not be a more acceptable bequest to our descendants?-Had the ancients adopted this method, what inestimable treasures had been preserved for the present as well as succeeding generations! Besides, I would just hint, that titles, which at present add lustre to wealth, and command the respect of the community, may in the course of revolving ages lose their dignity, and be coupled with very different associations, or perhaps be converted into terms of reproach or ridicule. Who answers to the high and mighty names of Cæsar or of Pompey, now, but a growling mastiff or a I exult in its lady's puppy? I love my country. past and present greatness, and verily believe that Britain will, in times now seen in far distant and dim perspective, be visited by the wise and good; and if London like Balbec should sink under the weight of accumulated years, its ruins will be the subject of intenser regrets, will touch a deeper chord of the heart, than those of Tadmor or even immortal Athens. -The children of the rude Hottentot and the savage Zealander, ascending to knowledge and to greatness, may yet come to gaze upon and admire a land, that first communicated to them the light of truth, and the blessings of civilization. Entertaining these ideas, I feel anxious that the names of my countrymen should float down the stream of time with a better passport to the homage of posterity than the slender, the twiglike security of a title or degree which may then be obsolete, discarded, or perhaps entirely unknown. Even taking the most favourable supposition, how much would these dignities be enhanced if they were handed down with something that is valuable and useful.-Yes, unborn millions might acknowledge the boon-might ratify and per petuate the honours and distinctions awarded by us their great-great great grandfathers!-but a thousand years hence, alas! for human greatness,-His Royal Highness the Duke of S****, may only be looked on as a Master Mason, and K.G.-G.C.B.-D.C.L.F.R.S. and A.S. may be solved by some cunning antiquary, as the initials of his workmen-his journeymen!-Modern antiquaries, at least, often make wider shots than this. And poor Nash, when the ploughshare turns up his respected name, will only cut a poor figure in being recorded as the architect of a building of which neither the shape, nor size, nor even a stone or stump remains. I merely throw out these hints in the hope of directing attention to a custom, which, though a very laudable one, would certainly, I think, admit of considerable improvements. pp.4 to 7. Our young readers will be pleased with the following verses, and we hope all our married friends experience their truth. LINES, WRITTEN IN A MARRIED LADY'S ALBUM. "Let others sing-long as they please, Of damsels young, and fair, and gay; None then with him compared may be; For with the truant god they rove, "Is wedlock such? Eliza, say, Does Love ne'er to thy dwelling come? Though romping with the girls all day, Thy cottage is the urchin's Home. "Oh, wedded life! though poets may Few wreaths around thy tresses twine, To thee, I dedicate my lay, Whose heaven of peace and love is mine." pp. 118, 119. To persons who have a taste for reading and thinking, but to whom the higher walks of literature are closed, such volumes as this may prove not only acceptable but serviceable. REVIEW. A Popular History of Priestcraft in all Ages and Nations. By William Howitt. London. Effingham Wilson. 1833. THE title of this volume is attractive, and its contents cannot fail to make a strong and permanent impression. It is well for Mr. Howitt that he lives in the nineteenth century. His person is now secure from injury, though he may expect his reputation to be inercilessly assailed. At a former period of our history, he would have been recompensed for this publication with fires, imprisonment, or death; but he may now smile at the impotent rage it will elicit, and calculate on the gratitude of no inconsiderable portion of his countrymen. The revolution which the public mind has lately undergone, respecting the established church, is too palpable to escape even a casual observer. Its real character is now appreciated, the purposes it is adapted to answer are better understood, and the distinction existing between the hierarchy and Christianity is very generally admitted. It is in vain that the established clergy attempt to arrest the progress of the public mind. The arts which were successful in former days are now unavailing; the spell which bound the human spirit is effectually and for ever dissolved, and a loud voice is heard from one extremity of the land to the other, demanding the immediate and thorough reformation of our ecclesiastical system. This state of feeling has called forth numerous publications, amongst which the History of Priest craft will be assigned a distinguished place. "It shall be my task," says the author," to shew that priestcraft in all ages and all nations has been the same; that its nature is one, and that nature essentially evil; that its object is self-gratification uses the and self-aggrandizement; the means it basest frauds, the most shameless delusions, practised on the popular mind for the acquisition of power; and that power once gained, the most fierce and bloody exercise of it, in order to render it at once awful and perpetual. I shall shew that nothing is so servilely mean in weakness, so daring in assumption, so arrogant in command,-earth, heaven, the very throne and existence of God himself being used but as the tools of its designs, and appealed to with horrible impudence in the most shameless of its lies."-p. 3. Every reader of such a history must be solicitous to know something of the creed of the writer, and Mr. Howitt fearlessly supplies this information. "There will be some," he remarks, in his advertisement," who will exclaim, when I come to the English Church, oh! the author is a dissenter!-I am a dissenter; and therefore, as a looker on, according to a favourite popular maxim, am likely to have a truer view of the game than they who are playing it. I am a dissenter; and one of the most sturdy, and ceremony despising class; and therefore, having deserted the beggarly elements' of state creeds, am more anxious to release my fellow-men from the thraldom of state priests. I am a dissenter; and therefore, feeling the burden and the injustice of being compelled to support a system whose utility I deny, and whose corruptions need little labour of proof, I have the greater reason to raise my voice against it." That part of the volume in which readers will most generally be interested, pertains to the English church. The impositions which are practised in the name of religion, on the people of this country, the hypocrisy which is engendered, the subversion of all moral principle and of Christian charity, by which a state religion is upheld, are pointed out to the reprobation of the reader in strong and impassioned terms. The religious sensibilities of the author have evidently been deeply offended by the enormities he has witnessed, while his acquaintance with the spiritual nature of Christianity has deepened his disgust at the secularity of the established church. We scarcely need recommend to dissenters the perusal of this volume. They cannot fail to sympathize with its spirit, and to approve its principles. But, to churchmen we would say, Read it without delay; acquaint yourselves with its details; study the records of the past, and the signs of the future: you will act unwisely, if you refuse to acquaint yourselves with the aversion that has been engendered from your church: the determination of the public mind has been formed, and your ignorance cannot retard the consummation at which it aims. The following passage is a fair sample of the author's style, which is, throughout, animated and powerful "And let one great truth be marked.-The prevalent character of a public body stamps itself in the public mind as faithfully as a man's face in a mirror. There may be exceptions to a body, and they may be considerable; but when that body becomes proverbial; when it is, as a whole, the object of the jokes, the sarcasms, and contempts of the people, that body is not partially, but almost wholly corrupt. Now, such is the character of the church of England clergy, in the mind of the British people. We may be told it is vulgar opinion, and the vulgar are wrong. In judg ments of this kind the vulgar, as they are called, are right. They always were so: but this, too, will be denied. A body in its corruption, never did, and never will admit it; its only feeling will be anger, not repentance. When the Romish church was utterly corrupted; when its priests and monks were the scandal and the scorn of all men, did the church admit it? Did it reform them? When Luther's artillery was thundering against it, and shaking it to its foundations, did it admit the justice of his attack? No! it only turned in rage, and would have devoured him, as it devoured all other reformers. When he had knocked down many of its pillars. blown up many of its bastions, laid bare to public scorn and indignation its secret fooleries and horrors, it relaxed not an atom of its pretensions, it abated not a jot of its pride, it stayed not its bloody arm, shunned not to proclaim itself still holy, invulnerable, and supreme. While Dante and Bocaccio laughed at its errors, or declaimed against its abuses, in its own territories; while Erasmus in the Netherlands, Chaucer in England, and Sir David Lindsay, the Chaucer of Scotland, were pouring ineffable and everlasting ridicule on its monks, its priests and pardoners, they were told that theirs was but the retailing of vulgar ignorance and envy: but what followed? Time proclaimed it Truth. The corrupted tribes were chased away by popular fury and scorn, and have left only a name which is an infamy and a warning. "From age to age, the great spirits of the world have raised their voices and cried, Liberty! but the cry has been drowned by the clash of arms, or the brutish violence of uncultured mobs. Homer and Demosthenes in Greece, Cicero in Rome, the poets and martyrs of the middle ages, our sublime Milton, the maligned, but immoveable servant and sufferer of freedom, who laid down on her altar his peace, his comfort, and his very eyesight; our Hampdens and Sidneys, the Hofers and Bolivars of other lands, have, from age to age, cried Liberty! but ignorance and power have been commonly too much for them. But at length, light from the eternal sanctuary of truth has spread over every region; into the depths and the dens of poverty it has penetrated; the scholar and the statesman are compelled to behold in the marriage of Christianity and Knowledge, the promise of the establishment of peace, order, and happiness, -the reign of rational freedom. We are in the very crisis in which old things are to be pulled down, and new ones established on the most ancient of foundations,-justice to the people. To effect safely this momentous change, requires all the watchfulness and the wisdom of an intelligent nation. The experience of the world's history, warns us to steer the safe middle course, between the despotism of the aristocracy and the mob, between the highest and the lowest orders of society. The intelligence, and not the wealth or multitudes of a state. must give the law of safety; and to this intelligence I would again and finally say-be warned by universal history! Snatch from your priesthood all political power; abandon all state religion; place Christianity on its own base-the universal heart of the people; let your preachers be as your schoolmasters, simply teachers: eschew reverend justices of the peace; very reverend politicians; and right reverend peers and legislators, as you would have done the reverend knights and marquises and dukes of the past ages. They must neither meddle with your wills, nor take the tenth of your corn; they must neither tax you to maintain houses in which to preach against you, and read your damnation in creeds of which no one really knows the origin; nor persecute you, nor seize your goods for Easter offerings and smoke money. The system by which they tax you at your entry into the world; tax you at your marriage; tax you at your death; suffer you not to descend into your native earth without a fee, must be abolished. The system by which you are made to pay for everything, and to have a voice in nothing-not even in the choice of a good minister, or the dismissal of a vile and scandalous debauchee; by which you are made the helpless puppet of some obtuse squire, and the prey of some greedy and godless priest, must have an end. "On this age, the happiness of centuries-the pros perity of Truth depends;-let it not disappoint the expectations, and mar the destinies of millions!" -p. 274-276. REVIEW.-Piozziana; or Recollections of the late Mrs. Piozzi. By a Friend. Moxon, London. 1833. EVERY reader of the above title will guess, by the name of this book, in what class it is to be placed. It is a rambling, miscellaneous, but withal a very interesting volume. It relates to a woman of extraordinary talents, and of conspicuous position in literary society. It does not profess to give a memoir of Mrs. Piozzi, but simply a series of anecdotes illustrative of her character. Some of these are of a very interesting kind, and place us in the brilliant society of Johnson, Burke, and their great contemporaries. With these, however, are associated, as is invariable in works of this kind, a great deal of private history, and some particulars and sayings of the lady herself, in which no one but a personal friend would feel much interest. One of the most interesting passages in the book is that in which Mrs. P.'s manners are described. It is as follows: "In general society Mrs. Piozzi was retiring and reserved; at least as reserved as is consistent with good-breeding, of which she was a perfect mistress. "In large assemblies, at her own house, or elsewhere, she talked, but in a subdued tone, and only on common topics; for she knew the world of politeness too well not to remember that absolute silence is as vulgar and vexatious as loquacity, or claiming too much attention to ourselves, would be. "In familiar conversation with a few intimates, she was animated and interesting, certainly beyond any person I ever met. She excelled in the delicate art of exciting and encouraging others to talk; quickly discovered the points on which each was most likely to be best informed, and would then either express her wish to one of the party, to be better acquainted with such or such particulars, or put a question, as if she actually did want information. "She attended eagerly to the expected reply; and seemed so grateful for the communication made to her, that the person appealed to, felt himself for the time in a state of superiority to the inquirer. In fact, she perpetually contrived to appear at first less learned than she really was; and not only avoided hurting any one's self-love, but had the ingenuity to augment it, and afford others the triumph of thinking that their agreeableness was the cause of hers! "She told a story incomparably well; omitting every thing frivolous or irrelevant, accumulating all the important circumstances, and after a short pause (her aspect announcing that there was yet more to come,) finished with something new, pointed, and brilliant. "To render all this more fascinating, she would throw into her narrative a gentle imitation, not mimicry, of the parties concerned, at which they might themselves have been present without feeling offended. "In this way she once, I remember, gave us two scenes; one at Streatham, and the other, I think, in London; both infinitely interesting, but for different reasons; and rendered surprisingly dramatic by her mode of relating what passed. The first referred to one of Johnson's eccentric habits. A large company had just sat down to the dinnertable, where Johnson's chair was, however, still vacant; for, though the Doctor had been heard descending the stairs, he was not yet withinside the door, 'So,' said Mrs. P., 'I supposed there was something wrong, and making my excuses, started up, and ran in search of my loiterer; and there was he in the passage, indulging in one of his strange whims; stepping forward, drawing back his leg, and then another step! I scolded him soundly; not for affectation, nor absence of mind, for, to do him justice, of all such absurdities he was incapable; but for pursuing a queer practice at a time when others were waiting. At length I got him in; and after dinner he made us ample amends by his talk, as he did invariably. In telling this, she bent her neck sideways, looked solemn, and stepped to and fro, so as to transmit, I have no doubt, a very good notion of Johnson's air. "The other anecdote to which I have alluded is altogether exceedingly curious; involving a serious charge against Johnson's dignity of mind; and that of another equally distinguished man. I should observe, that this was told to me, when but two or three of those most intimate with the narrator were present. I had remarked to her that Johnson's readiness to condemn any moral deviation in others was, in a man so entirely before the public as he was, nearly a proof of his own spotless purity of conduct. She said, 'Yes, Johnson was, on the whole, a rigid moralist; but he could be ductile, I may say, servile; and I will give you an instance. We had a large dinner-party at our house; Johnson sat on one side of me, and Burke on the other; and in the company there was a young female (Mrs. Piozzi named her) to whom I, in my peevishness, thought Mr. Thrale superfluously attentive, to the neglect of me and others; especially of myself, then near my confinement, and dismally low-spirited : notwithstanding which, Mr. T. very unceremoniously begged of me to change place with Sophy, who was threatened with a sorethroat, and might be injured by sitting near the door. I had scarcely swallowed a spoonful of soup when this occurred, and was so overset by the coarseness of the proposal, that I burst into tears, said something petulantthat perhaps ere long, the lady might be at the head of Mr. T.'s table, without displacing the mistress of the house, &c. and so left the apartment. I retired to the drawing-room, and for an hour or two contended with my vexation, as I best could, when Johnson and Burke came up. On seeing them, I resolved to give a jobation to both, but fixed on Johnson for my charge, and asked him if he had noticed what passed, what I had suffered, and whether, allowing for the state of my nerves, I was much to blame? He answered, 'Why, possibly not; your feelings were outraged.' I said, Yes, greatly so; and I cannot help remarking with what blandness and composure you witnessed the outrage. Had this transaction been told of others, your anger would have known no bounds; but, towards a man who gives good dinners, &c. you were meekness itself!' Johnson coloured, and Burke, I thought, looked foolish; but I had not a word of answer from either."—pp. 18-23. A number of letters and notes from the pen of Mrs. Piozzi are to be found here, all of which are lively and elegant, and some of which indicate great talent in epistolary composition. One of her characteristic witticisms, contained in one of them, is as follows: "What a brawling election this has been! My best joke was correcting the motto worn on a flag belonging to fourteen associated tailors, who went to vote for some flourishing fellow, under canopy of the words Liberty and Independence: I said, let it be Men and Measures. And now, if this never was in a jest-book, it deserves to be there-does it not? Among les bon mots d'une octogenaire !”— p. 92. On the whole, it is a very amusing volume, though we fear its exorbitant price will prevent its being very generally read. Seven shillings for an unadorned small octavo of 230 pages is rather an exception to the market price of books in the present day. BRIEF SURVEY OF BOOKS. 1. The Pulpit, Vol. XXI., (Harding, Paternoster Row, London.) This volume, like most of its predecessors, contains a number of abbreviated discourses, of va rious degrees of merit, the claims of which must be settled by the equally varied taste |