obnoxious to imposture and caprice. A sagacious bookseller may palm upon them a work under the name of a famous author. They take the bait, laud the performance, and when the deception is exposed, their vanity is interested in persisting in the praise. Again the bookseller may assail them through some Review; though perhaps this method of administering admiration is more potent with the poorer orders. After all, caprice probably does more than trick; and the casual association of a leader in the polite circles is often the only cause of celebrity. The book to be sure which acquires popularity like a bonnet, loses it at the end of the season like a bonnet also; but nevertheless the temporary admiration which it obtains must have the effect of aggra vating the perversion of public taste; for, if we admire mediocrity, what should follow but that we imitate it; and as imitation never keeps up to the model, the result is a progressive decay in the works of art.'

Art. 32. Tales at the Fire Side; or A Father's and Mother's Stories. By Miss Emily Clark, Grand-Daughter of the Unfortunate Colonel Frederick, and Author of "The Banks of the Douro,' "" Poems," &c. 12mo. 3 Vols. Boards. Baldwin and Co. 1817.

Those fathers and mothers who expect to find these stories particularly calculated for the instruction of their daughters will be disappointed; since the tales are uninteresting and of a very hacknied cast, and in various instances the language is incorrect. In vol. ii. p. 14. it is said that Miss Dubbs was dressed very fine and tawdry. P. 55., Ninon told him how cruel Madame de Clemence had behaved to her young lady, and very unkind to herself.' In the third volume, at page 173., Lord Mowbray is made to perform rather an extraordinary feat; since, after the loss of his arm, he is represented as driving Julia in his curricle, 'with so much caution that it gave every feeling mind real satisfaction at viewing his tender affection-Caution, indeed, may be exercised in driving a curricle with one hand, but not much skill can be so displayed, or safety insured under such circum

stances.

Art. 33. A short Account of the Plan adopted at Dorking, Surrey, for establishing a Provident Institution for the Relief of the Poor during the Winter Season; shewing the Success of an Experiment to ascertain the Practicability and Advantage of engaging the Poor in Measures conducive to their own Support. Second Edition. 8vo. 18. Hatchard. 1817.

Art. 34. An Explanation of the Principles and Proceedings of the Provident Institution at Bath for Savings. By John Haygarth, M.D. F.R.S. and F.R.S. Ed. one of the Managers. To which are added the Depositor's Book, with the Regulations, Tables, &c.; the Bye-Laws; an Account of the Mode of transacting the Business; and the First Year's Report. 8vo. pp. 116. Longman and Co.

Art.

Art. 35. An Account of the York Saving Bank, instituted June 1816. Drawn up and published at the Request of the Directors, by S. W. Nicoll, Esq. 8vo. Is. 6d. Darton and Co.

1817.

Every endeavour to teach the poor the wisdom of the Ant should be seriously encouraged, and every successful experiment for that purpose should be hailed as a national benefit; not merely as conferring on them actual present advantages, but as contributing most essentially and in various ways to their permanent welfare and the improvement of their character. From the Saving Banks, or Provident Institutions, which have been lately introduced, we anticipate much good; and we look forwards with confidence to the effect which they will produce among the lower classes, if they be kept up. They are now very general, and we have no doubt that they will be still more widely extended. The system can be so easily explained to the most illiterate, the reason of it, when stated with simplicity, must stare them so directly in the face, its benefits are so palpable,-and its security is so evident, that the obstinate, the prejudiced, and the dull will soon follow their more judicious brethren, and determine at last to be as wise as their neighbours. They thatch the roof and repair the walls of their cottage in the summer to keep out the winter's storm, and they lay in their stock of potatoes for their winter's food, well knowing that the rainy day will come, and that potatoes grow only in summer. Will they not see that old age may also come as well as winter, and that they can work and earn only in the summer of their days? What, then, follows? That, out of their earnings in youth, they should lay up all that is not required for their present support, in order to provide for those rainy days, in which they may be prevented by age or by sickness from exerting themselves for their warmth and their sustenance. What individual, too, who has once felt the delights of independence, will not then prefer the comforts which he himself has earned, to those which he purchases (even if similar in extent) with the discreditable pittance received from the grudging hand of the parish-overseer? The plan of laying out the money in the funds, and making each depositor a stockholder, (for the suggestion of which Dr. Haygarth claims the merit,) is a great improvement on the original system; and the government-debentures which have been since substituted, though they give less interest, take away all risk and uncertainty. Thus every objection that could be raised against the responsibilty of this or that trustee is entirely removed; and many persons must have been induced to make their deposit, by being satisfied that the return of their money did not depend on individual but on national credit.

The Dorking Provident Institution does not properly come within these remarks, being confined to the grant of temporary relief during a hard winter: but the principle is the same; and it exhibits, "in little," the benefits to be derived from the more extended plan, giving the poor a foretaste of the advantage of contributing in the time of plenty towards their own support when

7.

when scarcity arrives. We recommend the pamphlet as a guide to those who may wish to introduce a similar plan into the parishes in which they reside.

The other two pamphlets are both good, but both too long; indeed, we think that in general the regulations are too diffuse. They should be made as simple, and stated in as few words, as the case will admit; because otherwise the poor, to whom they are addressed, will be puzzled, and where they are puzzled they will not be led.

Art. 36. The Beaulies of Owen Felltham, selected from his Resolves. By J. A. 12mo. pp. 93. Hodson. 1818. In our liid vol. N. S. p. 330., we mentioned a new edition of Mr. Felltham's Resolves, and gave a sufficient character of them. From the preface to the present selection, it does not appear that the editor was aware of that recent republication of the original work, since he regards it as long since consigned to neglect, if not to oblivion.' He speaks of it, however, with just praise, and adds: It has been the amusement of a few leisure hours to collect the most instructive as well as beautiful passages, and by bringing them into a more modern and compendious form, to endeavour to render them more useful. I have been induced to offer them to the public from the pleasure and satisfaction I have myself derived from them; and I think to many, particularly to youthful readers, they may, if attended to, prove an invaluable treasure.'

As it is probable that no great attention has been re-excited towards old Owen, whose lucubrations first appeared in 1661, and as we did not, in the article above quoted, make any extract from them, we may now give a brief sample of them; with the hope of aiding the present editor's laudable design in forming his

selection.

"The virtuous Man is a Wonder.

‹ That fire must be of an unusual composition that is made to burn in water, and so must his temper be that can remain unsullied, and retain its brightness, though encompassed with corruption's waves. When the handsome courtezan Theodata vaunted to Socrates how much she was to be esteemed before him, because she could gain, many proselytes from him, but he none from her, he replied, that it was no wonder, for she led them down the easy and descending road of vice, while he compelled them to the thorny and ascending path of virtue.. Virtue dwells at the head of the river, to which we cannot get but by rowing against the current: he that walks through a large field hath only a narrow path to guide him right in the way; but on either side there is wide room to wander in: what latitude can bound a prophane wit, or a lascivious fancy? the loose tongue hazards all, while the virtuous man sets a watch on his lips, and examines all his language ere it passes.

Every virtue hath two vices that close her up in curious limits, and if she swerve ever so little she steps into error: Religion hath superstition and prophaneness - Fortitude, fear and rashness Liberality, avarice and prodigality Justice, rigour and par

tiality

tiality and so in others; which has occasioned some to define virtue to be a medium between two extremes. Virtue is in truth a war, wherein a man must be perpetual .centinel, -Tis an obelisk, which though founded in the earth, hath a spire which reaches to heaven-like the palm-tree, though it hath pleasant, fruit it is hard to come at it, for the stem is not easy to climb.

Though surrounded with difficulties, the virtuous man hath a star within, that guides, and shoots its rays of comfort: he hath found the true philosopher's stone, that can unalchymy the alloy of life, and by a certain celestial process can turn all the brass of this world into gold.'

Twenty-five selections, under as many different heads, moral and pious, form this small volume."

44

SINGLE SERMONJUIS

Art. 37. Reflections on the sudden Death of a young Minister: a Funeral Discourse for the late Reverend Thomas Biggin Broadbent, M. A.; who died at Latchford, near Warrington, November the 9th, 1817, in the twenty-fifth Year of his Age. Delivered at Essex-Street Chapel, November 22. By Thomas Belsham, 8vo. Hunter.,

Mr. Broadbent, whose premature death is here earnestly deplored, appears to have been a young man of considerable industry and respectable abilities; and, as his mental endowments were united with exemplary regularity of conduct, great expectations were entertained of his future usefulness in the sacred profession which he had embraced. It was anxiously hoped, indeed, that he would be "a shining light" among the teachers of the Unitarian Christians:—but these expectations were not to be realized, and these hopes were indulged in vain, Mr. Broadbent being suddenly carried off by a fit of apoplexy. Mr. Belsham has converted the decease of this promising young man into a topic of affecting admonition, speaks solace to the afflicted, and makes the sudden and abrupt dissolution of virtue and intelligence an argument for the credibility of a future existence.<

CORRESPONDENCE.

Mr. Hewlett's second letter is received, but the absence of a coadjutor prevents us, at present, from making any observations: on it.

We will inquire for the work to which X. Y. directs our special attention.

The fault of which J. G. feelingly and justly complains is not cognizable by us; at least, we fear that no effort of our pens would tend to remedy it;-and we must be excused from printing his letter.

In the last APPENDIX, which was published with the Number for May, p. vi., Table of Contents, line t for p. 325 read P. 532...

3

THE

MONTHLY REVIEW,

For JULY, 1818.

ART. I. Account of a Voyage of Discovery to the West Coast of Corea, and the Great Loo-Choo Island; with an Appendix, containing Charts, and various Hydrographical and Scientific Notices. By Captain Basil Hall, Royal Navy, F. R.S. Lond. & Edin., Member of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, of the Literary Society of Bombay, and of the Society of Arts and Sciences at Batavia. And a Vocabulary of the Loo-Choe Language, by H. J. Clifford, Esq. Lieutenant, Royal Navy. 4to. With 15 Plates. 21. 2s. Boards. Murray. 1818.

WH

HEN we lately reviewed Mr. Ellis's Narrative of the Embassy to China, and Mr. M'Leod's Account of the Voyage, we mentioned our expectations of the present work. * We now find that the author of it, omitting all digressions relative to that political mission and its results, confines himself to his own observations on certain countries and people; which, previously to the brief report of some of them by Mr. MLeod, were little if at all known to European navigators.

Captain Hall has divided his volume into two distinct portions; the former containing an entertaining detail of the voyage, and consequently adapted for the amusement of the general reader; the latter including, in an Appendix, the nautical observations, which were the main object of the expedition, and which possess a character that will interest only the scientific and professional inquirer. This mode of distribution seems equally favourable to both parties, because neither the one nor the other need be interrupted in the pursuit of their own specific purpose. We will attempt to obtain the same end by the same means.

The time allowed for Captain Hall's survey of Western Corea, and the Loo-Choo Islands, proved wholly inadequate to an investigation of which the extent was altogether unforeThe eastern side of the Yellow Sea is studded with such innumerable clusters of islands, as to exceed in number

seen.

*See M. Rev. for January and February last.
Q

REV. JULY, 1818.

any