The method which Monsieur Juigné has adopted for this table of the French verbs is very clear and distinct; and we are inclined to think that it will be found of great service to the pupil, as soon as he is familiarised to the mode of consulting it. The only objection is the magnitude of the sheet, which requires rolling and unrolling, and is not so readily handled as a book. The antients used parchment rolls of this kind: but our modern form of binding is much more convenient. Art. 29. A Genealogical Table of the different Parts of Speech adapted to the French Language. By R. Juigné, M. A. Folio Sheet. Dulau and Co. The utility of this table is not so apparent as the former; and we much suspect that it will rather tend to puzzle and perplex the young grammarian, than to bring him acquainted with the different parts of speech. Mans think off Do This composition will certainly conduce to obviate the objections to the genealogical table; and it is well arranged, and very neatly printed. The distinction of different conjunctions, however, as illative, causal, expletive, &c. &c. is rather too refined and minute for a young pupil but, in most of these matters, almost every thing de pends on the felicity of manner with which the teacher unfolds these arcana of grammar. Do Art. 31. A Family Tour through the British Empire; containing some Account of its Manufactures, Natural and Artificial Curiosities, History, and Antiquities. Interspersed with Biographical Anec, lotes. Particularly adapted to the Amusement and Instruction of Youth. By Priscilla Wakefield. 12mo. pp. 450. 5s. Buards. Darton and Harvey. A great variety of pleasing and useful information will be found in this volume; and either for those who travel through different parts of the British Empire, or for those who seek at home for some acquaintance with their own country, this tour will prove a very authentic and instructive manual.. Aided by the publications of modern tourists, Miss W. has with great discernment and felicity compressed into one volume the principal circumstances worthy of note, which are diffused over so large a field in other treatises. A very neat coloured map, and drawn, considering the price of the volume, on a larger scale than could have been expected, is prefixed; and it contributes to render this work, as the fair author expresses a hope that it may be found, a very valuable addition to a juvenile library. A similar tour through the metropolis of England is promised by Miss W. as a sequel to this undertaking; and we shall be happy in having another opportunity of introducing to our readers the journal of so attentive and judicious a tourist. SINGLE SERMON. Do Art. 32. Preached before the Society for the Suppression of Vice, in the Parish Church of St. George, Hanover Square, the 3d of May May 1804. By Richard Watson, D.D. F.R.S. Lord Bishop of Landaff. To which are added The Plan of the Society, a Summary of its Proceedings, and a List of its Members. 8vo. 18. Cadell and Davies. Among all the Bishops and Archbishops of the Christian world, perhaps no individual possesses a mind more vigorous by nature, or more expanded by genuine science, than Dr. Watson; from him, therefore, it would be a kind of miracle to hear a bad sermon. The composition now before us, drawn up for the occasion specified in the title, embraces subjects of great moment, and which the Bishop of Landaff has discussed with perspicuity and energy. Within the confined limits of a discourse, it was impossible for him to display at length the influence of national prosperity, and a crowded population, in corrupting the morals of a people; and to suggest the best means of correcting, or at least of counteracting, that influence: but he has stated the fact itself in a very striking manner; and by sanctioning with his approbation the proceedings of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, he manifests his persuasion of the fitness and beneficial tendency of the measures which it has adopted. The first period of the discourse contains an exhibition of an evil over which Moralists have mourned, and for which it is no easy matter to find a sufficient cure: Great cities have been properly called the Graves of mankind; and they may with equal propriety be called the Sepulchres of Virtue; the Nurseries of Vice; the Hot beds of Corruption, physical, political, and moral.' When mankind are assembled in large masses, they always corrupt one another. Between extreme affluence and extreme poverty, every vice is generated of which human nature is capable; while the pride of the former, and the abjectness of the latter, render the one regardless of reproof, and the other insensible to shame. When such is the state of Society, what is to be done to reform it? For its amelioration, it is necessary to convince its members of the importance of religious principle, to lessen the contagion of vice, to increase the means of becoming virtuous, and to maintain a rigid execution of the law against all who are irregular, riotous, and disorderly. The Bishop justly observes, in reference to those moral establishments in Society which would conduce to diminish its evils, that a tenth part of that treasure which is annually expended, by the different States of Christendom, in unchristian warfare, would supply for ever the expense of establishments in every country, in which the morals of thousands would be amended, their idleness changed into industry, their profligacy into sobriety, their lives preserved for the public good, and the peace of Society maintained.' To urge the well-disposed to exert themselves in concert with the Society to whom the discourse is addressed, he farther remarks that he who lessens the vice of his country does more for its prosperity than he who augments its wealth.-To lessen the vice of a nation, is to procure for it the protection of Heaven; whilst to augment its wealth is, ordinarily speaking, to augment its wicked ness. It is no doubt a lamentable truth that, in several respects, the manners of the people of this country have obtained an ascendancy over its laws; and that Fashion and the example of the Great are of more weight than the prohibitions of the Statute-book. The Bishop instances Duelling, Gaming, Profanation of the Sabbath, and Oaths of Office, (he does not mention Ordination oaths, which might have been fairly put in the list,) and hence he infers that the laws are fallen into contempt, and require the zeal, the activity, the discretion of such a society as this to renovate their vigour.' Laudable, however, as we deem the intention of this Society to be, we are not sure that the renovation of the vigour of the laws should be left to the discretion of its individuals; since in some cases they may exert" a vigour beyond the law," and in others no vigour that is effective. Instances may happen in which, under the notion of suppressing vice, a kind of persecution may be inflicted: but we trust that the Society will be on its guard, and distinguish between practicable and romantic reformation. Mo-y. CORRESPONDENCE. To the MONTHLY REVIEWERS. 'Imperfectly as ye profess to be acquainted with the discipline of the Quakers, no wonder that ye have been led to understand that its whole spirit (M. R. Aug. 1804, p. 430.) points to the formation of a society, &c. As their affairs of church and state (unnatural mixture!) unitedly make up the discipline, there is not anywhole spirit' to actuate the system. It has varied from the beginning according to the circumstances of the times, and the dispositions of the leaders, pillars of the society. In parts it is peaceful, philanthropic, evangelic, heavenly; in others it is mistrustful, uncharitable, superstitious, altogether worldly, and, in i's effects, most miserably misanthropic. The Separatists in Ireland, 'too much Quakers for the Yearly Meeting of London,' (M. R. Nov. 1803. page ult.) much redeemed from this latter spirit, have not conceived the discordant idea, that a human being who may be already prepared ' for the kingdom' is yet unfit to become united to their families by marriage. A youth, of no sect, attached to one of these philosophic females, is not only kindly received by herself (I speak what I know) but by the Brethren, who cordially attend at the solemn covenant, with out entertaining the notion of a fanatical Quaker or a Jew, that the marriage is mixed.' J.W.' 'Salisbury Square; 11, ix. 1804." A Correspondent, who signs his letter A Lover of Truth,' seems, by the strain of his note, to have united himself to one of the two parties to which Vaccination has unfortunately given rise; and he cannot therefore be regarded as free from a portion of that prejudice which he supposes to attach to his opponents, and which in many cases has been applied to the adherents of both sides of the question We know but little of the private character of the individual to whom he alludes, yet we are sufficiently acquainted with it to be convinced that many many of the assertions made by the letter-writer are ill founded. We are still not aware that any material fact, connected with the history of Cow-pox, has been omitted in the work in question; and we should have expected that our Correspondent would have instanced the gross omissions to which he refers, instead of indulging his personal feelings at the expence of his candour. We cannot very lowly bow to the expostulation of our fair Corres. pondent, l'Amie de la Décence; because we regard it as too serious and too little warranted. The testimony of all our long labours will shew that we ever regard the laws of decorum: but prudery must not always operate to the exclusion of matters of science, or of the traits of national character. In the case in question, both these objects were concerned. The Rev. H. Whitfield requests us to correct the surmise introduced into our last Number, p. 424, by stating that he is not the author of the Novel intitled Leopold. Inquisitor (whom we think we recognize) attempts to tax our pockets and intrude on our time: but he has no right to do either. The Post-office shall in future take care of us in one respect, and we shall take care of ourselves in the other. We are much obliged by the friendly offer of A. Y. : but, on consi dering all the circumstances of the case, we are induced altogether to decline the subject of his letter. We should have realized the hopes' which we held out to Mr. Pye, before this time: but the truth is that, after having long sought for his work, we can nowhere find it; and if it was ever received, it has been irrecoverably mislaid. Mr. Wakefield's political tract has not yet reached our hands. Our Correspondent at Belhaven Barracks is informed that we have on our table the publication to which he refers, and that we intend to give an account of it at an early opportunity. The object of a Constant Reader's' solicitude will not be overlooked. The APPENDIX to Vol. XLIV. of the Monthly Review is pub lished with this Number, and contains a variety of articles respecting curious and interesting Foreign Books. 91 Errons. pp. 58, 83, 87, 99, 106, 109. Yell. THE MONTHLY REVIEW, For OCTOBER, 1804. ART. I. Travels from Hamburgh through Westphalia and the Nether- 81. 8s. Boards; TRAVELLING opens a wide field for reflection, since it pre sents, in rapid succession, various features of man, and affords opportunities of comparison which are not enjoyed by the stationary philosopher. The mind of the tourist is brought in contact (if we may so express ourselves) with a multitude of objects which impel him to inquiry, which relax his prejudices, and which tend to enlarge the sphere of his benevolence. Yet the view which he takes of the picture is not so extensive as he himself is apt to suppose; for at best his observations are circumscribed; and unless the imagination be restrained and tutored by a sound judgment, he will, with a fallacious rapidity, deduce general conclusions from particular facts. If he sees more than the person who stays at home, much still remains to be examined by him before the information of which he is in pursuit can be fully acquired; and his journals exhibit Hittle more than the transit of an individual through the regions and the situations which he describes. When he hurries from place to place, his knowlege is merely that which is collected in public vehicles, at inns, and by the way side; and even when he be comes stationary, he has many things to learn, and many difficulties to surmount, before he obtains a thorough insight into the habits, manners, and character which discriminate the dif ferent classes of foreign society. Much, however, depends on the mind and sagacity of the observer. Some individuals are gifted in sketching characters, in marking the traits which distinguish man from man, and in rendering current events productive of improving reflections. Such are the persons who should travel, and such is Mr. Holcroft. He is always alert, intelligent, and (we believe) conscientious. He strives to rise above the dominion of vulgar and obscuring -prejudices, to paint with accuracy the scenes which presented * VOL. XLV. themselves I 4 |