of God, and that it was by the grace of God that the most powerful have been always, and will be always seen to reign?

Louis caused himself to be preceded by proclamations, which promised an oblivion of the past; which promised to preserve to each man his situation, his honours, his salary. In what manner have his counsellors made him keep his promise? By causing him to drive from the Senate all those who might have appeared guilty in his eyes, had he not promised to forget every thing. But not an individual of those against whom the public opinion was raised, not one of those who, by the poison of their flattery to Napoleon, had reduced the French to the last degree of debasement. Thus it appears more and more evident, that flattery is the first want of princes, under whatsoever title they may reign.'

When the power of a King over his people is compared to that of a father over his family, the fiction is a happy one; but it is far, very far from the truth. Men speak rather of what ought to be, but not of that which can be, still less of what is. A good father does not establish odious distinctions among his children. His real quality of father inspires him with sentiments which are the inimitable work of nature, and cannot belong to a Sovereign, who is nothing more than a Sovereign. In a word, a father is not vindictive: he often pardons after threatening; but he never punishes after having promised to forget.

It is impossible to conceal that we experience this difference in an acute manner. The return of the Lilies has not produced the effect which was expected from them, the fusion of parties is an operation which has not been performed: so far from that, parties, of which a vestige hardly remained, have been renewed.

Those persons are very culpable, or very blind, who have commenced by detaching from the cause of the Prince every thing which had borne the name of patriot, that is to say, seven-eighths of the nation, and have changed them into a hostile population, in the midst of another to whom they have indirectly given a transcendent preference. If you wish to appear at court with some distinction, take good care that you do not mention that you were one of the twenty-five millions of citizens who defended their country with some degree of courage against hostile invasion; for you will receive for answer, that "those twenty-five millions of pretended citizens were twenty-five millions of rebels; and that those pretended enemies are, and always have been, friends." But you ought to say, that you have had the happiness to have been Chouans, or Vendeans, or deserters, or Cossacks, or English, or, finally, that having remained in France, you never solicited a place under the ephemeral governments which preceded the restoration, but for the purpose of betraying them more conveniently, and hastening their downfall. Then, indeed, will your fidelity be extolled to the skies: you will receive the tender congratulations, the decorations, - the affectionate answers of all the royal family.'

-

Notwithstanding the suppression of this pamphlet in France, it may possibly contain the sentiments of a large proportion of the population; and we have no doubt that this is the case when it ex

presses

presses the mortification which they feel in their present circumstances of humiliation. The loss of Belgium they cannot relish; and the strong force which we now maintain in that quarter sufficiently indicates our apprehensions. Some persons, indeed, are of opinion that this circumstance alone will generate a new war.

An unexpected stroke has brought us low: we feel in our hearts a void similar to that which a lover finds who has lost the object of his passion: every thing which he sees, every thing which he hears, renews his grief. This sentiment renders our existence uncertain and painful; every one searches to dissimulate that wound, which he feels at the bottom of his heart. We regard ourselves as brought low, notwithstanding 20 years of continual triumphs, because we have lost one game alone, which unfortunately was that of honour, and which made the guide of our destinies.'

Glancing at the deposed Emperor, who would still have remained on the throne of France had it not been for the perfidiousness and extravagance of his last expedition,' M. Carnot explains the cause of Napolcon's popularity:

What was it which made us support the tyranny of Napoleon? It was because he had exalted the national pride. With what devotedness did not even those serve him who detested him the most? It was despair alone which caused his eagles to be abandoned. His character imposed upon men, to the last moment, and even in his distress he treated on equal terms with the Allies, who dictated laws to us within the walls of Paris.'

The observations on History, on the Social State, on the Science of Government, and on Public Spirit, prove M. Carnot not only to have read much, but to have thought correctly; and, could we diffuse more virtue among men, some of his ideas would, no doubt, be realized. The republican, however, peeps out in his distinction between honour and honours; which, in the present day, none but Quakers will relish.

RELIGIOUS.

Art. 21. A Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Diocese of Chester, at the Primary Visitation of that Diocese, in July, August, and September, 1814. By George Henry Law, D.D. F.R.S. Lord Bishop of Chester. 4to. 28. Rodwell.

Prelates are the appointed guardians of our ecclesiastical establishment, and are induced by duty, by professional habits, and by the great interest which they have at stake, to watch with a vigilant eye over their own church, both to promote its prosperity and to secure it from every lurking evil. The Bishop of Chester, with the zeal of a true churchman, and with the policy of a sagacious advocate, brings into the fore-ground of his charge two objects which have obtained the warm approbation and the vigorous support of many of the most intelligent and liberal persons in the kingdom, but which nevertheless have been viewed with a suspicious eye by some individuals, as having an operation unfavourable to the established system of religion: we mean "The Bible-Society," and the Lancasterian mode of education. In lieu of the first, Dr. Law recommends "the

Society for promoting Christian Knowlege ;" and instead of the second, Dr. Bell's or the Madras mode of instruction. We shall not discuss these points with the Bishop of Chester: but we may observe that he does not appear to us to do justice to the Bible-Society; and that, though he disclaims all hostility' to it, his representation cannot fail to operate in a hostile manner. The tendency of the BibleSociey,' he thinks, is unfavourable to our Church Establishment; and he thus attempts to prove his proposition: The Bible-Society, by the very terms of its constitution, disperses the Bible alone, excluding the Prayer-Book. Now as the one has been heretofore accompanied with the other, the systematic rejection of the latter may induce the suspicion, that our Forms of Prayer are not held to be essential, and, by consequence, that our religious establishments are not necessary.' Why should such a suspicion be entertained, when the reason assigned for excluding not only the Prayer-Book, but even every note and comment, is the comprehension of all sects and parties? It would be fair for the clergy to say in return, "Will not our objection to the distribution of the Bible alone induce a suspicion that the Bible alone will not answer our purpose?"

On the Lancasterian Institution, we suspect that the R. R. author is rather too severe, when he remarks on it that it leaves the rising generation to pick up their religion as they can, any where or no where.' Surely, if the lessons in Lancaster's school are taken from the discourses of our blessed Saviour, may the children in his school be truly represented as left to pick up their religion as they can? Here its first rudiments must be found. We shall say no more on this occasion, than that we are sorry to perceive that a scheme, which was designed to amalgamate all parties, has excited so marked an opposition even from our bishops. Religion, it seems, must be conducted with human passions, and associated with human prejudices.

In the remainder of the Charge, the Bp. of Chester advises his clergy to be cautious in giving testimonials, and in lending their pulpits to itinerants. He adverts also to the cases of curates and non-residents, and gives a very favourable report of the state of his diocese. He orders the whole of the Liturgy to be read, without any alteration, and concludes with exhorting his clergy to set a good example to their flocks. It is not enough to be moral, you must be exemplary.' The clergy should not forget this short sentence. It is

multum in parvo.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Art. 22. Classical English Letter-writer: or Epistolary Selections, designed to improve Young Persons in the Art of Letter-writing, and in the Principles of Virtue and Piety. With Introductory Rules and Observations on Epistolary Composition, and Biographical Notices of the Writers from whom the Letters are selected. By the Author of "Lessons for Young Persons in Humble Life." 12mo. 5s. bound. Longman and Co. 1814. This cheap volume contains a considerable assemblage of letters, with a dissertation on the art of letter-writing, and a series of short biographical notices, respecting the persons whose epistolary remains have been ransacked for the compilation. The plan of the

work

work is good: but we think that the execution would admit of amendment.

The preliminary rules, for instance, are not very fortunate. The first rule, to write as you would talk,' is far from universally admissible. Many trifling and needless things may be said, rather than suffer dead pauses in conversation, but trifling and needless things should not be written. Much greater condensation is expected from the writer than from the talker. Some of the other rules are obvious enough, and proper.

Into the selection of letters, many models are admitted to which we should have objected: but Taste here becomes the arbiter, and is an ever-varying standard. In the third letter, Dr. Beattie writes to the Duchess of Gordon, "I take the liberty to inform you that my son James is dead;" and a mixture of obsequiousness and coldness runs through the whole epistle. Most of the letters are too long: that of Dr. Doddridge at p. 40. is a conspicuous instance. Those of Mrs. Carter want grace and vivacity. A decided preference has been shewn to letters filled with pious effusions, which gives a gloomy hue to the collection:-gaiety is the natural pitch of a correspondence undertaken to amuse. The letters of Pope and Gray strike us as containing the best specimens. None of those of Horace Walpole have been included, though excellent; and, among the female letter-writers, we lament to find no extracts from the admirable Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who is of all the best.

The biographical notices are drawn up with propriety: they are concise; and they include the several characters in favor of whom the previous correspondence had excited an interest.

Art. 23. A View of the Pleasures arising from a Love of Books; in Letters to a Lady. By the Rev. Edward Mangin, M.A. Crown 8vo. 6s. Boards. Longman and Co. 1814.

These Letters to a Lady may have deserved to be shewn about in the genteeler circles of Bath, (whence the author dates,) and to be praised for morality of purpose, selection of topic, and correctness of diction. Yet, if they had remained in modest manuscript, and had been communicated by particular favor only to the chosen few, or at most had been read aloud in a blue-stocking party, we do not think that the reputation of the author would have been less. That flower may be blighted in the attempt to expand, which would have lingered unblown in the shade, and would there have passed for a promising bud.

We have here nine-and-twenty letters, introduced by a preface, concerning various English poets: but we observe in them none of that precision of criticism which distinguishes Dr. Johnson, and which renders his censures, or his panegyrics, so characteristic, so appropriate, so untransferable. Praise, however, is ascribable to Mr. Mangin for perpetually cautioning his fair readers against passages of an indecorous or a prurient tendency. Thus, at p. 17., young persons are advised to skip over Pope's Eloisa to Abelard: in another place, Swift's Lady's Dressing-room is denounced; and, elsewhere, Fielding and Smollett are wholly prohibited. In the tenth letter, the writings of Sterne are harshly treated for the same reason: in the twelfth, Burns

II

Burns must be given up; and broad hints are uttered, as if even the Spectator should be read by a delicate woman only in a selection. While, however, as in the present day, the dress of our ladies is subject to the same reprobation which the Spectator bestowed on that of his female contemporaries, they can scarcely, without affectation, pretend to shrink from the papers which discuss it. - The poems of Prior, and of Little, are more justifiably attacked.

SINGLE SERMONS.

Art. 24. Preached in the Parish Church of Lancaster, August 25. 1814, at the primary Visitation of the Right Rev. George Henry Lord Bishop of Chester, and published at the Request of his Lordship and the Clergy. By Thomas Dunham Whitaker, LL.D. F.S.A. Vicar of Whalley, &c. 4to. Is. 6d.

Murray.

While this preacher strenuously and ably argues against Calvinism, he reprobates, in the strongest terms, the exercise of an acrimonious spirit in the controversy with Calvinists. He remarks that Calvinists have no very powerful claim upon the courtesy of those who differ from them: but what we do not owe to them we owe to ourselves. We applaud this learned writer for his attempt to suppress all acrimony in a controversy in which too much has been shewn, though we cannot subscribe to all the epithets which he bestows on the author of "Letters by a Barrister" since it is the tendency of Calvinism, and not Calvinists, which that work labours to expose. Dr. Whitaker's testimony in favour of the irreproachable characters of many Calvinists is, we know, very correct; yet this statement does not invalidate the arguments which have been and will be urged against the immoral operation, in many instances, of the Calvinistic creed.

Catholics will feel themselves less obliged to Dr. W. than Calvinists, for this discourse; and, as to Unitarians and Antinomians, the idea of fraternity with them is disclaimed. This declaration is not in unison with the general tenor of the sermon but it follows some obscure reflections on Bible-Societies, and the inference is manifest.

Art. 25. Preached at Blandford, at the Visitation of the Lord Bishop of Bristol, August 20. 1813; and at Knaresborough, at the Primary Visitation of the Lord Bishop of Chester, August 1. 1814. By the Rev. Samuel Clapham, M.A. Rector of Gussage St. Michael, Dorset, &c. 8vo. 16. Rivingtons.

Mr. Clapham is more decided in his opposition to the Bible-Society, and in his reprobation of an union of Churchmen with Dissenters for the purpose of distributing merely the sacred Scriptures, than the Bishop of Chester himself. Mr. C. calls the union heterogeneous,' is afraid of the liberality shewn to Dissenters, and prays God that the Church of England may not have cause deeply to lament it. One passage will display the views of the preacher in this respect:

Do we believe the doctrines, professed by the Church of England, to be true? If we do, we must, necessarily, believe the doctrines, professed by the Dissenters of every denomination, to be false: every Sect inculcating tenets, irreconcilable with those which we believe to

be