and thus constitute the moral of the fable: but they are allowed to give way too readily to their improper attachment, and to excite too much the sympathy of the reader. No failure of moral intention, however, can be attributed to the writer; who distinctly observes at the conclusion, Reader, I have told thee a tale of no ordinary woe; but it has a moral in it. Whatever thou mayest be, or however situated, guard well the first avenues which lead to sin; for if one false step be taken, thou canst not tell of how many evils it may prove the prelude."

Some Scotch characters and dialogue are introduced, and numerous unintentional nationalities of language mark the writer to be a native of the northern part of our empire.

EDUCATΙΟΝ.

Art. 18. Tales of Boys as they are. By the Author of Lives of Learned and Eminent Men. Small 12mo. Half-bound. Baldwin and Co. 1823.

Rightly disapproving of Fairy Tales for young children, this writer has set forth, in a few stories, the foibles of boys as they often appear in real life; and, by shewing their impropriety and bad consequences, he has conveyed a proper lesson for the correction of them. The errors being made to consist in the disposition, the precept is equally applicable to girls. At p. 39., when explaining the origin of the name Gazette, as applied to news-papers, it should not have been said that all news-papers are so called the word being limited in this country to official papers, or only occasionally borrowed, so far improperly, by others which would affect or assume the like authenticity. A little more attention,. also, to the constructive purity of language may be recommended to this author: who, in successfully attempting to write with an ease that is agreeable to young readers, sometimes uses colloquialisms that are not grammatical, and may lead children into maccuracy of style. We should make a difference between writing and speaking; and it is not true that the observance of grammar necessarily creates stiffness, or produces a pedantic appearance. Art. 19. Poetry without Fiction, for Children between the Ages. of Three and Seven with the Conversations of a Mother with her Children; intended to make the Latter comprehend what they learn, and to convey such Instruction as may arise out of each Subject. By a Mother. Small 12mo. Half-bound. Baldwin and Co.

We suspect that the author of the preceding Tales' here comes before us again in the shape of a Mother; and a sensible, kind, and intelligent parent she is. We agree with her that the form of rhyme is well adapted to convey impressive instruction to children, and that it is very advisable to explain the meaning of such didactic verses in the way which she has adopted: but why call her book Poetry without Fiction? The incidents fancied in the verses are fictions, though feigning ever ts that are sufficiently probable and even common. We have also some other objections to make.

At

-

At p. 28. the explanation of the practice of cats in teazing mice before they kill them should have been rather trusted to instinct, the same incitement of nature which induces them to kill and eat those little animals: though we would not omit the reprobation of it as cruel. In p. 34. that trust in God, which is properly inculcated, is rather too broadly intimated as likely to avert those afflictions with which He may deem it right to visit us. At p. 72., also, we object to the intentional error there inculcated that the sun goes round the world, (which the writer says it must be an after-work' to correct,) on the plea that infancy could scarcely comprehend the turning of the globe itself. Many facts may be impressed on the young mind which cannot then be explained; and it is better to leave them for such explanation, than to teach an error that must hereafter be corrected.

With regard to the poetry, we would not think of criticizing it severely as poetry; and in fact it is usually suited to the object, as well as agreeably varied: but such lines as the following are not to be tolerated:

'When we kill those poor things there their flesh for to eat.' P.97.

6

Indeed our remark in the preceding article on the language of the Tales' applies equally to this little volume; in which, pp. 55. and 77., we have eat for ate. P. 71. And many a child and many a bird doth now begin to wake.' P. 89. That have to little folks befell,' &c. The word that, also, is inelegantly used for which or who, especially when it occurs at nearly the same time in another signification: as in p. 86.,

And you shall read their story soon,
And learn that he's a silly loon

That cries when in cold water.'

The punctuation, moreover, is throughout very inaccurate.

MEDICINE, &c.

Art. 20. The Way to preserve good Health, invigorate a delicate Constitution, and attain an advanced Age; together with a Treatise on Domestic Medicine; pointing out, in plain Language, and as free from Professional Terms as possible, the Nature, Symptoms, Causes, probable Terminations, and Treatment of all Diseases incident to Men, Women, and Children, in both Cold and Warm Climates; as also appropriate Prescriptions in English, and the Doses of Medicine which are suitable to different Ages. Including likewise effectual Means for venting the Extension of all infectious Diseases, and annihilating the Power of every kind of Contagion; and Rules for enabling Europeans, who visit a Warm Climate, to escape the Yellow Fever, and long enjoy a good State of Health. The whole has been composed and arranged by Robert Thomas, M.D. Author of that very popular Work, "The Modern Practice of Physic." 8vo. pp. 705. Underwoods.

pre

If

If we do not entirely, and without exception, concur with those who condemn all works of popular medicine, we conceive that the great object of the authors of such publications ought to be to remove the prejudices of the vulgar, rather than to inspire the illiterate and the unprofessional with a confidence in their knowlege of the nature and treatment of diseases. The bulky volume of Dr. Thomas, therefore, professing as it does to give an account of the diseases of every climate, age, and sex, does not fall within our description of the best works of this kind; nor do we conceive that it can be with advantage intrusted to the hands of the public at large, to whom it is respectfully' dedicated by its author. To the well informed clergy, however, to managers of plantations abroad, and to masters of merchant-ships, to whom the Doctor especially recommends it, we have no doubt that it may often prove of much utility: but we could have wished that he had restricted himself to the consideration of diseases, without entering on the subjects of health and longevity; which, we regret to say, he has not treated in a manner that is worthy of the author of The Modern Practice of Physic. The utility and value of that compilation, notwithstauding all its imperfections, we freely admit; and the public have pronounced a decided opinion in its favor, by the purchase of six large impressions of it. In France, also, it has procured for its author the somewhat imposing designation of Thomas de Salisbury. The observations of the author on diet, also, do not in every particular accord with those which we have been accustomed to entertain: but we have been principally hurt by observing, in different parts of the volume, a remarkable deficiency of chemical knowlege. Ex. gr. p. 31.

• The recent discoveries of chemists have taught us, that the atmosphere consists of three differents species of air, viz. pure respirable vital air, or oxygen; azotic or phlogisticated air; and the fixed ærial, or carbonic acid air. The first consists of about 27 or 28 in an hundred parts; the second, of 72 or 73 in an hundred ; and the third, of about one part only in an hundred.

Vital air, or oxygen, seems best adapted for the purposes of respiration and animal life, and is more congenial to both than atmospheric air. Azot, or phlogisticated air, is perfectly irrespirable; it is produced by the change which atmospheric air undergoes in the process of combustion, putrefaction, or respiration, whether these changes be effected by nature or art. The carbonic acid air or hydrogen, in its pure state, is equally inimical to respiration as the azot, and is often very copiously supplied from mines, where its suffocating qualities are not only found very injurious to those who labour in them, but sometimes of so noxious a nature as to occasion instant death.'

A very little reading, indeed, would have informed the author that this account of atmospheric air does not accord with the statements of the most accurate chemists; that carbonic acid gas and hydrogen are two very different bodies; and that oxygen is

* Dr. T. is a physician at Salisbury.

not

not so well adapted to the functions of respiration, and of animal life, as the air of the atmosphere.

The volume contains, however, a great portion of useful information on the subject of diseases, and their appropriate modes of treatment; the result of Dr. T.'s experience in practice for nearly fifty years, in the West Indies and this country. Had it been conveyed with more attention to conciseness and accuracy of language, the book might have been advantageously diminished in size.

Art. 21.

MISCELLANEOU S.

Characteristics, in the Manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims. 12mo. 4s. 6d. Boards. Simpkin and Marshall. 1823.

It will scarcely convey any information to those who have read this volume, to tell them that the writer of it is no other than Mr. Hazlitt: for, like all the productions of that gentleman, it bears the marks of its parentage in every page. The pointed epigrammatic and authoritative tone, which a collection of aphorisms should possess, is well suited to Mr. Hazlitt's paradoxical and caustic genius; and accordingly his Characteristics' contain many sound truths, mixed up with not a few bold misrepresentations of human nature. It may be incidental to this style of writing to present overcharged and caricatured views of humanity, in order to render the maxims sufficiently brilliant and attractive: but employment would not be given to a portrait-painter, who, by exaggerating some peculiar and unfortunate feature, produced at once a libel and a likeness. It appears to us that Mr. Hazlitt's pages are filled with these libels. Who will believe, for instance, that we as often repent the good we have done as the ill;' or that vice is man's nature, while virtue is a habit or a mask?' We cannot agree with Mr. Hazlitt, moreover, that to think ill of mankind, and not wish ill to them, is perhaps the highest wisdom and virtue.' Many of these Characteristics' are evidently the result of temporary feeling, and are contradicted in different parts of the volume: but in others good sense and experience are conveyed in sentences worthy of remembrance.

What will the fair sex, or those of our sex who best know and best appreciate "the love of a virtuous woman" which "is above all price," say to such maxims as the following?

Personal pretensións alone ensure female regard. It is not the eye that sees whatever is sublime or beautiful in nature that the fair delight to see gazing in silent rapture on themselves, but that which is itself a pleasing object to the sense. I may look at a Claude or a Raphael by turns, but this does not alter my own appearance; and it is that which women attend to.'

If a man is disliked by one woman, he will succeed with none. The sex (one and all) have the same secret, or free-masonry, in judging of men.'

What will the honest man, whose heart is capable of real friendship when he has found a kindred soul, say to this satire on the human mind?

If we are long absent from our friends, we forget them; if we are constantly with them, we despise them.'

And what will THE PUBLIC say to this?

The public have neither shame nor gratitude!

Art. 22. A Dictionary of Quotations from the British Poets. In Three Parts. Part the First, Shakspeare. 12mo. 6s. 6d. Boards. Whittakers. 1824.

*

We do not actually discountenance the industry of persons who labor in these humble compilations: but we question whether literature, or conversation, will be much improved by such a collection as that which is now before us. Those who read at secondhand, and are ambitious of shining in company, may find it an useful manual: but we deprecate, for our own part, a conversation with a literary disputant ready primed and charged with quotations from such an arsenal.

The utility of the work is much diminished by there being no reference to the plays from which the quotations are taken. They are arranged alphabetically, according to subjects. The second part is to consist of extracts in blank verse, and the third in rhyme.' Art. 23. Italian Tales. Tales of Humour, Gallantry, and Romance, selected and translated from the Italian. With Sixteen Illustrative Drawings by George Cruickshank. Crown 8vo. 10s. Boards. Baldwyn. 1824.

The novelle with which the literature of Italy abounds is a rich, and to the English reader almost an unexplored mine of amusement. With the exception of Boccaccio, scarcely one Italian novelist is known in this country; and he is so questionable a personage, as to be excluded from the libraries of all who have the fear of "The Society for the Suppression of Vice" before their eyes. In fact, an Italian novelliero is little suited to the delicacy of our modern notions; and to render such a collection of tales fit for the table of an English drawing-room requires very considerable skill. The humor and wit of the narrative are often so intimately blended with its impropriety and grossness, that to separate them is difficult, and perhaps in some cases impossible.

It cannot, however, be doubted that, from the multifarious stores of the Italian works of fiction, an altogether unexceptionable selection might be made, preserving the spirit while it rejected the indecency of this amusing branch of literature. The materials for a publication of this kind should be so selected as to present a general view of the Italian novel, by which the English reader might be enabled in some degree to form a critical appreciation of its merits. Nothing has been done towards the accomplishment of this object in the volume before us; which, though not devoid of amusement, is in a critical point of view insignificant. Not even the names of the writers from whom the tales are translated are given, nor is the nature of the stories altogether unexceptionable. We are indeed told by the writer of the preface, when speaking of the indelicacy of some of the novelle, that such care has been taken with this selection, that it is hoped it