is to decide his doom, Richard acknowledges a conscience: bold in supernatural assurances of security from all peril, Mabeth sighs for the protection of his former popularity. 'Ambition is the sole impulse that directs every action of Richard's life: his heart, in which every malignant and violent passion reigns uncontrolled, is hardened in wickedness: his mind is sunk into that depth of hopeless depravity, where the bad be'lieve all other men to be as abandoned as themselves: he attains the crown by hypocrisy habitual to him, and by murders, that entail no remorse on the stern valour with which he maintains his ill-acquired sovereignty. Ambition is implanted in the nature of Macbeth; but it is a blameless ambition : * Thou would'st be great; Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it. What thou would'st highly, Macbeth, Act i. sc. 5, The predictions of the witches enflame him with the expectation of a crown, and the daring impatience of his wife determines him "to catch the nearest way" to it. Ambition, inordinate and lawless, now becomes the predominant motive of his actions; but it is not the single characteristic of his mind; his original sense of right and justice still holds possession there, continually to renew the remembrance of what he was, and sharpen all the stings of self-condemnation. The character of Richard is simple; that of Macbeth is mixed: Richard is only intrepid: Macbeth, intrepid and feeling. Richard's crimes are the suggestions of his own disposition, originally bad, and at last confirmed in evil; he knows no "compunctious visitings of nature;" alive only to the exigencies of his situation, he is always at full leisure to display his valour. Macbeth is driven into guilt by the instigations of others; his early principles of virtue are not extinct in him; distracted by remorse, he forgets the approach of danger in the contemplation of his crimes; and never recurs to his valour for support, till the presence of the enemy rouses his whole soul, and conscience is repelled by the necessity for exertion. 'It is now shown, that Macbeth has a just right to the reputa tion of intrepidity; that he feels no personal fear of Banquo and Macduff; and that he meets equal, if not superior, trials of fortitude, as calmly as Richard: it may, therefore, be presumed, that no future critic or commentator, in his observations on Shakspeare, will ascribe either the virtuous scruples of Macbeth, or his remorseful agonies, to so mean a cause as constitutional timidity. If so mistaken a persuasion could prevail, it would entirely counteract the salutary effect of the finest tragedy that has ever been written, and defeat the moral purpose to which, in every age, the stage has been indebted for the favour and the works of wise and virtuous men, and the protection and support of all good govern ments.' Mr. Mason, Mr. Mason, the author of a treatise on Ornamental Gardening, published many years ago a parallel between the character of Macbeth and that of Richard, which may be supposed to have given rise to the opposite points of view in which this controversy originates. Art. 26. Petition and Memoir addressed to the Chamber of Peers of France. By Lord Kinnaird. 8vo. 25. Ridgway. Art. 27. A Letter to the Duke of Wellington, on the Arrest of M. Marinet. By Lord Kinnaird. 8vo. 2s. Ridgway. 1818. Lord Kinnaird may well, we think, be indignant at the want of faith of the French government in arresting M. Marinet, and at the Duke of Wellington's abandonment of a cause in which not only he was so much interested, but his word for the safety of the man was so clearly given. His Lordship makes manly appeals both to the Chamber of Peers and to the Duke; and, from the inefficacy of each, he will learn the important but degrading lesson, that there is a wide distinction between the personal and the political character of men, and that he must never trust to ministerial faith without written documents to bind it. Art. 28. Errors of Pronunciation, and improper Expressions, used frequently and chiefly by the Inhabitants of London. To which are added, those in similar Use chiefly by the Inhabitants of Paris. Crown 8vo. pp. 72. 3s. 6d. Boards. Lackington and Co. 1817. - The inhabitants of London have always had much to bear in the way of ridicule for their mispronunciations and improper expressions, while provincial errors of the same nature (which are often as flagrant) are passed over in comparative silence. A partiality, perhaps, to the place of our literary nativity induces us to account for this inequitable distribution of censure, by supposing that the latter are too marked and universal to require notice, while it is in the nature of man to observe and to criticize that which approaches to eminence, and pretends to form itself on the best model; so that in London, which is the centre of the best society, and consequently contains the truest standard, the slightest discrepancy must be more prominent and observable. Another cause may be that London being visited by all, and the subject of general conversation, all know or pretend to know its faults, while those of each county can be but partially understood. Be this, however, as it may, if the present author has exhausted his subject, the Londoners have not to answer for so much as some people may suppose; since, though one half of the book is appropriated to the exposure of alleged Parisian errors, and the other half contains much that is not legitimately introduced, still a very thin volume is produced. The writer is so strict a champion for correctness that he would not permit any ironical expressions, and declares that it is very wrong to use the word fine to express a contrary meaning, as, "you are a fine fellow," &c. Neither would he allow a metaphorical phrase; and accordingly "half an eye, I saw it with half an eye,' is excluded as a 'ridiculous expres expression.' He may not, perhaps, be aware, when he complains of the pronunciation of Brummagem for Birmingham, that the latter is itself a corruption, the name being correctly Bromwichham. Of the French division we cannot so well judge, not being thoroughly acquainted with the familiar dialogue of the class of French people that is most likely to commit sins of this description: but we have no doubt that an English learner of French, or visitor of France, may be much benefited by consulting this manual. Indeed, we think also that equal utility might be derived by our countrymen, of the middling classes, from attention to the former part of this little volume: the author of which is an exact and qualified observer, though, as we have already said, perhaps rather too rigid; and though he may sometimes be caught tripping against his own rules. Thus, he properly exposes the tautological expression from whence, (p. 36.) yet almost immediately afterward (p. 38.) uses it himself. Art. 29. A Letter to Frankland Lewis, Esq. M. P., on Commutation of Tithes. By the Rev. John Fisher, Rector of Wavendon. 8vo. Pamph. Rivingtons. 1817. Mr. Fisher seems to think that no mode of commuting tithes can be devised, which will not be highly injurious to the ecclesiastical establishment. He even objects to an allotment of land in lieu of them; and the only alleviation of the evils of the present system, which he is willing to admit, is that which would render compositions for tithe more certain and permanent than they can be under the existing law, by power of granting leases of greater extent.' There can,' he says, ' under such protection or provision, remain no more check upon the spirit of agricultural improvement from tithes, than under the lease of a farm from the proprietor of the land. In both cases the joint-tenant may co-existent leases, and the interests of the joint-proprietors may go hand in hand; or, more to simplify the contract between landlord and tenant, the landlord may become the lessee of the tithes, which will enable him to let his land altogether unencumbered.' have Tithes are certainly most pernicious where they are exacted in kind; and any legislative provision, which should be made to prevent that exaction, would be so far a great benefit to the agricultural interest of the kingdom: but, though we should deem the universal leasing of the tithe of the country much preferable to the present uncertain and often most oppressive mode of collecting them, we are still of opinion that the tithing system will be always liable to great objections, under whatever form it may exist. It will always be an invidious mode of providing for the clergy. Though the amount may be paid in a rent fixed for a certain term, instead of a sum varying annually according to contingencies, or in money instead of produce, still the difference in the mode of the payment would not remove the main objections to the imposition of such a tax on the industry of the community. Art. Art. 30. Important Trifles: chiefly appropriated to Females on their Entrance into Society. By Emma Parker, Author of "Self-Deception," "The Guerrilla Chief," &c. 12mo. pp. 225. 5s. Boards. Egerton. 1817. These essays are too short, or at least too inconclusive, to become important' to young ladies; and Miss Parker seems to have allowed neither time nor room for discussing any of the subjects which she proposes: -to some she allots but a page and a half, and leaves both her opinion and her counsel ambiguous. In the paper upon trifling Occupations,' she observes that there are innumerable elegant accomplishments' which she would recommend to her young readers: but, instead of naming any of them, she gives only a specification of such employments as she reprobates. We would add also, that religious motives are not duly suggested in these crude and deficient essays; though we must still allow them to contain some candid and sensible observations. Art. 31. Some Philological Remarks concerning Beauty. By David Prentice. 8vo. pp. 32. Glasgow. 1817. We think that the term Beauty is erroneously derived by the author of this little work from the Latin verb beare, to bless; since we should rather suppose it to be the substantive of the Latin adjective bellus, of which the primary meaning seems to be nice, dainty, delicious to the palate. In Greek, καλος comes from xaos, splendid, as in German schön signifies that which shines. From any one of the senses, the radical idea of beauty can be taken; and the limitation of it to the higher degrees of gratification, to excellent delight, is a subsequent natural step in the progressive refinement of language. :: Mr. Burke would separate the beautiful from the sublime, and other writers would separate it from the ludicrous and from the pathetic but, in our judgment, in comparing two sublime mountain-scenes of nature, in actual existence or on the canvas of Salvator Rosa, it would be allowable to call the more impressive landscape the most beautiful of the two; and so likewise in comparing two comic scenes of Moliere and Sheridan, or two tragic scenes of Sophocles and Euripides. The beautiful may include the sublime, the ludicrous, or the pathetic, and is in fact only another word for the excellent. The same perfection, contemplated with a view to comparison, is excellence, and, contemplated with a view to admiration, is beauty. Taste is the art of discriminating delicate gradations of goodness; and it is only to merit above the average that it awards the designation of beautiful. Among the Germans, Wolf and Sulzer have written well concerning beauty; among the French, Marmontel and Diderot: in our own country, Burke, Hogarth, Reynolds, and the late Dr. Sayers, to say nothing of living authors: but, as the admirable disquisition of the last-mentioned writer is too little known, and has not been cited by Mr. Prentice in his some what what shewy annotations, we shall transcribe from it a few paragraphis. "It will readily be granted that those objects, which we are accustomed to call beautiful, make a pleasing impression on the mind; but the mere pleasure of simple perception seems by no means to account for the great degree of enjoyment which the contemplation of certain objects produces; for however the palate may be gratified by particular dishes, the eye by a peculiar tint, or the sense of smelling by odoriferous substances, yet it is certain that the view of a beautiful object occasions in us much more exquisite feelings of pleasure than the most delicious food, the most brilliant color, or the most grateful perfume: we must therefore seek for some other cause of this peculiar sensation of delight; this cause will be found in the association of ideas: with the forms which we esteem beautiful, it will appear that certain pleasing ideas or emotions are associated in our mind, which upon the presentation of such forms regularly arise, and produce those sensations which we attribute to the beauty of the object. The power, then, which an object possesses, of exciting pleasing ideas or emotions associated with it, is what determines us to ascribe to it beauty.". After having evolved and exemplified this theory, the Doctor proceeds to inquire concerning the standard of beauty, and thus sums up his investigation: "Hence then it follows, that the individual of a class of objects is justly to be esteemed more beautiful than the rest, with the whole of which, or with its component parts, when properly understood, the greater number of the excellences of its class are universally associated; the same may be asserted of any species of objects when compared with any other species of its kind, and that object may be justly esteemed a standard of beauty, with the whole appearance, or with the component parts of which, when properly understood, all the excellences of its kind are universally associated." Mr. Prentice has quoted the expanded but not precise dissertations of Mr. Stewart and Mr. Knight, and has criticized without ceremony the superior investigations of Mr. Alison: but he has not, as far as we perceive, added any thing to the extant mass of knowlege concerning this exhausted topic. We will make a short extract, which will suffice to exemplify his manner. The attainment of taste in literary composition is still more difficult than in painting. There are extremely few who qualify themselves to judge of excellence; and not a great many are able to discriminate between mediocrity and what is positively bad. Hence we may infer the nature of popular decisions concerning books. The voice of the people, it must be owned, is not in this respect an expression of truth. A great majority of mankind are as willing to echo the edicts of the rich about works of art, as to follow their fashions in furniture and dress. Now as the rich have no monopoly of learning and ability, but are rather disfranchised of those privileges, their taste must be considerably 12 obnox |