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120. Characters omitted in Crabbe's Parish Register, with other Tales. By Alexander Balfour, Author of "Contemplation," &c. 12mo. pp. 277.

METAPHYSICS are the bane of poetry; and it is astonishing that numerous as are the writers of it, none of them seem to know the cause of their failure. Poetry, however, is as intimately connected with imagination, as music is with sound, and expresses itself by figurative representation, like the Orientals and nations in infancy, where abstract ideas are not yet formed into science; and all this is reasonable, for poetry is only the painting of matters of beauty, sublimity, and emotion, as they exist in Nature; in short, poetry is the picturesque of language. It must have effect, or it is good for nothing. Half the poetry which is written, is however nothing more than naked dreary common.

Mr. Balfour, though upon the whole so gloomy as almost to invite misanthropism, avoids metaphysical prosing, and gives us only natural sentiment properly expressed by sensible images, and of course we sympathize with him. Speaking of the pregnant wife of a Sailor killed in battle, which unfortunate female upon receiving the news of his death, died with the shock after bringing forth a posthumous son, Mr. Balfour says,

"By stranger's hands his mother's shroud was drest;

[rest And strangers bare her to her house of Untimely nipt, in youth and beauty's bloom, No tear of sorrow trickling on her tomb; No dimpling smile suffus'd the cheek of joy, No bosom glow'd and bless'd the orphan boy;

No father's love for him this sprinkling

sought,

[brought; By strangers to this hallow'd fountain No mother near, the sacred vows to share, Her heart responding to the pastor's prayer, The child more helpless than the creeping

[xcv.

121. A Letter to the Right Hon. Sir Charles Long, on the Improvements proposed and now carrying on in the Western Part of London. 8vo. pp. 37.

THE great increase of the Metropolis and the Watering-places is to be ascribed to the enormous enlargement of monied capital and income, independent of territorial revenue. Hundreds of fundholders, mortgagees, annuitants, pensioners, merchants, &c. &c. and hosts of tradesmen, to supply their wants, buy or occupy houses in town, and from August to November, migrate to the watering-places, or make tours. The country gentlemen, with some exceptions, on the contrary, have given up town-houses, and only reside in London for a very few weeks at hotels, or in furnished dwellings. The late long war, and the national debt, in short, appear to us to have been the main agents of thus extra-peopling the places in question, because the said war and debt have created thirty millions more annual income, the greater part of which is spent within the sound of Bow bells.

With new buildings improvement ought of course to be connected; and, as to the best plan of a crowded city, we have a capital model in Bath. But in that place did not exist the grand impediments which prevail in London, viz. the previous destruction of existing property at enormous expence. London," as our author says, (p. 6), "is so destitute of fine buildings, ornamental gates, &c. that, from its wide, dusty, un-avenued approaches, it has more the air of a vast overgrown town, than of a magnificent city." In. short, it is plain, that we discover none of the fine buildings until we advance into the heart of the town, and there they are smothered.

London, in fact, has no outside front; and, to show it off, the proper places for its magnificent buildings would be the banks of the river on both sides, the habitations of individuals, streets of houses, &c. being thrown back in the North-side of the Strand. The shores would then be lined with palaces, and have the same aspect, as it has, where Somerset and the Custom-houses now embellish it. That this would be the grandest possible improvement, because it would include the river and bridges in the view, is, in our judgment, undeniable. Wherefore instead of moving decora

PART II.]

tive buildings, to the Mews (as our author proposes, p. 26), we would place them on a line with the Adelphi, fill the bank between Blackfriars and the Custom-house, with Halls of the City Companies, connect wharfs with the Thames by arched tunnels, and hide the yards behind the buildings on the bank; make subterraneous railways to the Custom-house; make Thames-street a Bond-street for city beaux; in short, do many other things, perfectly feasible no doubt, for what is not so to joint-stock companies? who, however, we sadly fear, must go to the Devil to deal with him for the means of executing their projects; at all events ultimately to stay with him, either in remuneration of his aid, or in punishment for swindling.

A great part of London (say the newspapers) is however to be butchered for a certainty, and to be cut out into handsome joints, not steaks and chops, of which it has already too many in the form of streets, courts, and lanes. We beg the projectors not to forget removal of the markets to recesses behind thoroughfares.

An improvement of facility, recommended by our author, is judicious, viz. conversion of the grass-plot round the canal in St. James's-park into an elegant shrubbery or ornamented park. P. 14.

He also reprobates four palaces within the space of a mile, enough only for a single one, viz. Carlton and Buckingham Houses, St. James's and Yorkplace. In point of fact, Kensington alone presented sufficient domain for the palace of the Sovereign. There are space, insulation, wood and water, ready-made, and (we believe) the capability of a fine frontage, as a finish of Hyde-park, without sufficient vicinity to be annoying.

Two great evils, the insufficiency of the Strand and Thames-street for thoroughfares, ought to be removed. Our author observes (p. 20), that owing to the bend of the river being convex on the Middlesex side, and only concave on the other, a very convenient road to the City might be made on the Surrey bank, and much nearer, because it would only be the chord of the arc, formed by the river. At present the Strand and Thames-street are barely wide enough for the shadows of the objects, which try to pass them, because shadows may yield to pressure,

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but it would be as easy to squeeze a shoal of herrings, a mile long and broad, into the same length of the Paddington Canal, as to make the present width of these two streets sufficient for the passengers. We therefore think (so intolerable are the nuisances) that abatement of them, even at the national expence, would be justifiable.

122. Faustus: his Life, Death, and descent into Hell. 12mo. pp. 251. Simpkin and Co.

THE tale of the supposed league of Faustus with the Devil has given rise to many a romance, and has been several times dramatised, and received with applause on our own boards; but in every case the original tale has been so perverted, as to be hardly recognized.

This volume, as the title page imports, is "translated from the German," but who was the German author we are not informed; though we are told that a bad French translation was published soon after the appearance of the original German. The latter was adorned with excellent engravings, a specimen of which, illustrating the account of the Corporation feast, forms the frontispiece of this English version, and is well executed.

But we must proceed to the "Life." The ambitious Faustus imagining that the study of the sciences was the nearest way to honour and reputation, discovered the art of printing. This discovery being received with lukewarmness, he was reduced almost to beggary and starvation. To avert the horrors of such a situation, he travelled from Mayence to Frankfort to sell one of his Latin Bibles to the magistracy. At this time Mayence was greatly agitated in consequence of the dreams of Father Gethart, a Dominican Monk, respecting the lovely nun Clara, niece of the Archbishop. Meeting with disappointment at Frankfort, Faustus determined upon entering into a league with Satan, and, according to custom, drew the horrid circle. On this day his Majesty gave a grand route, the particulars of which are finely detailed. The Prince's table was supplied with the luxuries of the souls of "two popes, a conqueror, a celebrated philosopher, and a recently canonized saint;" whilst the "mean and vulgar herd" were fain to content themselves with the common food, lately arrived from the, French and German armies. After

dinner,

dinner, as usual, the Chairman makes a speech, and informs his guests of the occasion of the festival. In this Satanic speech, his infernal Majesty prophesied that the invention of printing would create sects, and by raising the heat of the sectaries, tend to dispatch a few more souls to the shades below. From this specimen, we have no very high opinion of this royal prophet's talents, for though the invention of printing has given rise to numerous sects, it has been a blessing rather than a curse. Instead of feeding the cannibals of his Satanic Majesty's "wide domain," it has prevented man from falling into that degrading ignorance and bigotry which was the source of all previous evils.

Having sprung out of the circle, and exclaimed "I am thy Lord," Faustus resolved to fill the cup of pleasure, and command the fulfilment of his wishes. The senate of Frankfort hearing of the splendid visit of the Devil (who they thought "a secret envoy of his Imperial Majesty") to Fausius, came to the resolution of purchasing the Bible of Faustus, previously refused, and invited them to a dinner at the Mayor's house. It was now Faustus's turn to act the hero; and accordingly to make the City a present of the Bible on galling conditions. See p. 57.

At page 59 the Devil (Leviathan) owns that he had never seen the ugly people of Frankfort equalled, except by the inhabitants of an English town, when dressed in their Sunday's best; envy, malice, curiosity, and avarice, said he, are here and there the sole springs of action, and both places are governed by a pitiful mercantile spirit, which prevents them from being grandly wicked or nobly virtuous." We suspect that these invidious remarks upon the good people of Norwich, are the unnecessary interpolations of the translator, as his preface is dated at Norwich ;-but we trust not. Having previous to the feast seduced the Mayoress, upon promise of a title to her husband; a very ludicrous farce, acted by way of revenge, was planned by Leviathan at the instigation of Faustus. The frontispiece is an excellent illustration of this "Corporation Feast." After this adventure they journey to Mayence, and the Devil contrives that Faustus should seduce the lovely Clara previously mentioned.

The Devil then led Faustus through

a series of adventures, at different places, of the most disgusting description, the latter sometimes acting the hero, murderer, and seducer. There is scarcely a crime in the whole calendar not mentioned in these volumes, either as committed by Faustus, or of which he was an eye-witness. At France he was present at the assassination of the Duc de Berri, and the barbarous and cruel execution of the rich Duc de Nemours. Of the latter event we have the following pathetic account.

"The tyrannic King had given orders that the Duke's children should be placed under the scaffold, so that the blood of their father might drop through the boards upon their white robes. The cries which the wretched parent uttered at the moment his darlings were torn from him, struck terror to the hearts of all around. Tristan alone, who was the executioner, and the King's most intimate friend, looked on with perfect coolness, and felt the sharpness of the axe. Faustus imagined that the groans of the unhappy parent would excite heaven to avenge outraged humanity. He lifted up his tearful eyes towards the bright blue sky, which seemed to smile upon the horrid scene. For a moment he felt himself strongly tempted to command the Devil to rescue the Duke from the hands of the executioner, but his troubled and agitated mind was incapable of coming to any resolution. The Duke fell upon his knees, he heard the shrieks and lamentations of his children, who were beneath the

scaffold; his own infamous death no longer occupied his mind; he felt, for the last time, and felt only, for these unfortunates; big tears hung in his eyes-his lips trembled the executioner gave the fatal blowand the boiling blood of the father trickled down upon the trembling children. Bathed with paternal gore, they were then led upon the scaffold. They were shown the livid headless trunk, were made to kiss it, and then reconducted to their prison, where they were chained up against the damp wall, so that whenever they took repose the whole weight of their bodies rested on the galling fetters. To increase their misery, their teeth were torn out from time

to time."

PART 11.]

Courts of Europe resembled each other in wickedness and crime, they journey to Rome, where the scenes, acted under the protection of him who claims infallibility, are of the most depraved class. The object of Leviathan here was to exhibit the clergy to Faustus as the most depraved, the most exalted in rank being the most wicked. The Pope is made to commit crimes which, besides our want of room, we will not outrage decency to mention.

After this they again visit Mayence, where Leviathan, after harrowing up the soul of Faustus by a recital of his crimes and their consequences, strewed the bloody members of Faustus about the field with fury and disgust, and plunged with the soul into the depths of hell, where his conduct is still more bold, and where he receives the severest torture.

We cannot but regret the publication of this work, as being likely to lead the minds of youth into the vortex of crime; for every vice is represented as easy and successfully accomplished. It carries its antidote, however, in the Devil's sermon at the end, and in the Translator's preface; but these things youth are inclined to cousider as cant and hypocrisy.

The tale itself is vigorous in conception, rich in invention, and glowing in description; the characters are well sustained in every page; and the gradual advancement of Faustus to the gloomy heights of despair well exhibited. The work reflects great credit on the translator for the spirited manner in which it is executed.

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the manual labour of the Press, and at no time able to multiply copies sufficient for public service (taking off but one page at a time), he now declines all attempts in the reserved provision for his latter days), that way: and (sacrificing, in this expence, he now presents to the public (in every way unsupported, after every solicitation for assistance), an improved copy of his last Volume; the whole extent of his former labours being too extensive (in his inferior state) to produce, upon his own strength only.

The following subjects, being extensively applied, are, therefore, divided into Parts or Sections, that the attention of the Reader may not be wearied;-and also, that he may pause to consider one argument before he proceeds to another,

"The Work itself, and the success of it, is humbly submitted to the Great Disposer of all things."

We do not find that the volumes but the worthy and intelligent author have as yet been ever offered for sale; has gratuitously distributed more than lowing separate introduction : 160 copies of the work, with the fol

"To the KING-To the Right Reverend the ARCH-BISHOPS and BISHOPS of ENG

LAND-To the VICE-CHANCELLORS of our Universities-To the Professors of Divinity in each, and other distinguished Personages in the Kingdom, this Copy is humbly inscribed."

There is given a List of "the distinguished persons to whom a Copy is sent," with the following Circular Letter:

"Be pleased to accept (as tendered with due deference) the accompanying Volumes; containing the select proofs, from our best Divines, on the subjects therein specified :The Contents will shew the nature of the work, and the Index will render it of general and easy application.

"Five Hundred, only, of the inclosed are printed, to the extent of the Editor's ability;-who, being now advanced beyond the 80th year of his age, and not expecting (in his inferior state) to see the full dispersion of it, un-supported, by the tedious process of a formal sale, thus humbly pre

sents it.