AND Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, &c. This Journal is supplied Weekly, or Monthly, by the principal Booksellers and Newsmen, throughout the Kingdom; but to those who may desire its immediate transmission, by post, we recommend the LITERARY GAZETTE, printed on stamped paper, price One Shilling. No. 572. SATURDAY, JANUARY 5, 1828. REVIEW OF NEW BOOKS. Travels in America and Italy. By the Viscount de Chateaubriand. 8vo, 2 vols. London, 1828 Colburn. PRICE 8d. which design is strikingly mentioned in the states, where industry and the arts and the account of an interview he had with Washing-sciences flourish - these are glorious changes, ton at Philadelphia. and afford a proud example of what freedom "He was," he says, "a man of tall stature, and its natural energy can accomplish - no with a calm and cold rather than noble air: less than the formation (within so brief a Ora readers are aware, that a new and com- the likeness is well preserved in the engravings period as the span of human life) of a new plete edition of the works of M. de Chateau-of him. I delivered my letter in silence: he world! brand is being regularly put forth in Paris, opened it, and turned to the signature, which Upon such themes M. de C. is prone to and as regularly translated into English as the he read aloud, with exclamation, Colonel Ar- dwell in that poetical and imaginative vein rolames appear. The present is a portion of mand!' for thus he called, and thus the letter which is one of the great characteristics of his that design. was signed by, the Marquis de la Rouairie. writings: of this we shall offer a few speThough the author, from the peculiarity of We sat down; I explained to him as well as cimens. Our first are from the prefatorial his style, and from the nationality of his sen- I could the motive of my voyage. He answered coup d'œil. timents, certainly loses in being transferred me in French or English monosyllables, and The cities of India now blend the archiinto any other language from his own French, listened to me with a sort of astonishment. tecture of the Bramins with Italian palaces we are inclined to review him rather in our I perceived it, and said with some emphasis, and Gothic monuments: the elegant carriages than in his native tongue, for the same reason But it is less difficult to discover the north- of London are seen travelling together with that we are very select in our notices of foreign west passage than to create a nation as you palanquins and caravans the roads of the tiger iterature. The truth is, that the field of Eng- have done. 'Well, well, young man!' cried and the elephant. Large ships ascend the lish letters, in all its various produce, is so he, giving me his hand. He invited me to Ganges and the Indus: Calcutta, Bombay, fertile and so important, that we find it diffi- dine with him the following day, and we parted. Benares, have theatres, learned societies, printat to keep up our history of it in a satisfac- I was exact to the appointment. The conversa-ing-offices. The country of the Thousand and wry manner. We wish our Gazette to be a tion turned almost entirely on the French revo- One Nights, the kingdom of Cachemire, the Sr report and ample record of the progress lution. The general shewed us a key of the empire of the Mogul, the diamond mines of and state of literature, science, and the fine Bastile: those keys of the Bastile were but Galconda, the seas enriched with oriental arts, as they are cultivated and developed at silly playthings, which were about that time pearls, one hundred and twenty millions of Ame: catching only such collateral lights from distributed over the two worlds. Had Wash- men, whom Bacchus, Sesostris, Darius, Alexsad as are necessary to the complete under-ington seen, like me, the conquerors of the Bas- ander, Tamerlane, Genghis Khan, conquered, anding of the whole in the circle of general tile in the kennels of Paris, he would have had or attempted to conquer, have for their owners Improvement. Therefore, unless foreign works less faith in his relic. The gravity and the and masters a dozen English merchants, whose are remarkable for something ew or essential, we rarely direct attention to them; our object energy of the revolution were not in those names nobody knows, and who reside four sanguinary orgies. At the time of the revoca- thousand leagues from Hindoostan, in some being, not so much to borrow contributions from tion of the edict of Nantes, in 1685, the same obscure street in the city of London. These other countries, as to inform those countries of populace of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine demo- merchants care very little for that ancient China that is done in England. When, indeed, lished the protestant church at Charenton with which is the neighbour of their one hundred any distinguished production issues from the as much zeal as it despoiled the church of St. and twenty millions of vassals, and which Lord tinental press, or any valuable discovery is Denis in 1793. I left my host at ten in the Hastings offered to subdue with twenty thonmade, we are the first to spread the fame and evening, and never saw him again: he set out sand men. But then the price of tea would describe the nature of either; but in ordinary for the country the following day, and I con- fall on the banks of the Thames! This is all cases we are not tempted to occupy those limits tinued my journey." that saves the empire of Tobi, founded two which are too narrow to do justice to our BriOf the proceeding voyage from St. Maloes to thousand six hundred and thirty-seven years tish contingents towards the grand republic of Baltimore, and journeys thence to Philadelphia, before the Christian era; of that Tobi who was earning, and for the advancement of human to New York, to Albany, it is not necessary to contemporary with Rehu, the great-greattellect, by endeavouring to tell foreigners speak in detail; but it yields a deep and sen-grandson of Abraham. what they are better told by their own writers, sible gratification to the mind to be enabled to "In northern Africa, in the kingdom of er to cram our own countrymen with remote contemplate these places as described only six Bornou and Soudan, properly so called, Clapand sterile matters, in preference to what are and thirty years ago, and contrast them with perton and Denham found thirty-six towns me near and more interesting. With this explanation of our course and their present condition. The prodigious im- more or less considerable, an advanced state of provement in the chief cities, the immense civilisation, and a negro cavalry armed like , we proceed to M. de C. in his English increase of wealth and prosperity, the rapid b. The first volume commences with a advance in all that refines and exalts the chaface, which contains a brief general sketch racter of man, the conversion of impenetrable the principal voyages and travels, from forests and savage wildernesses into populous ze expedition of the Israelites under Moses, that of Captain Franklin among the Esqui. It is a curious summary; more appose, perhaps, to a collection of such undertags than to the narrative of an individual wanderer. This is followed by an introducrelating some of the family and personal raphy of the author; and stating his inEts to fly from France and its sansary revolution in 1791, and seek relief in er scenes among the wilds of America. His parse, at setting out, was to trace, by , the much-discussed north-west passage;" to proceed to the west," he tells his readers, amada. the west const of America « little above * the knights of the olden time. The ancient capital of a Mahometan negro kingdom exhibited ruins of palaces, the haunts of elephants, lions, serpents, and ostriches. We are in momentary expectation of hearing that Major Laing has reached that Timbuctoo which is so well known and so unknown." the Gulf of California. Thence following the outline of cording to their distance: the idea of infinity presents itself to my mind. desire to hear even a whisper of their well-months, and sometimes less; we set out in being. We take refuge from the thought by winter on leaving the opera; touch at the resuming our author. Speaking of the Pacific Canaries, Rio Janeiro, the Phillipines, China, "Six o'clock. Having got a glimpse of ocean, he observes :India, and the Cape of Good Hope; and return another light spot, I proceeded towards it. "The Sandwich Islands form a kingdom home for the opening of the hunting season. Here I am at the point itself:-a spot more civilised by Tamehameha. This kingdom has Steam-boats no longer care for contrary winds melancholy than the forests by which it is sura navy composed of a score brigs and a few on the ocean, or for opposing currents in rounded. It is an ancient Indian cemetery. frigates. Deserters from English ships have rivers; kiosks, or floating palaces, of two or Let me rest awhile in this double solitude of become princes; they have erected forts, de- three stories, from their galleries the traveller death and nature: is there an asylum in fended by excellent artillery; they carry on an admires the most magnificent scenery of nature which I should like better to sleep for ever? active commerce, on the one hand with Ame-in the forests of the New World. Commo- "Seven o'clock.-Being unable to get out of dious roads cross the summits of mountains, these woods we have encamped in them. The and open deserts heretofore inaccessible; forty reflection of our fire extends to a distance: ilthousand travellers meet on a party of pleasure lumined from below by the scarlet light, the to the cataract of Niagara. On iron railways foliage looks as if tinged with blood; the trunks the heavy vehicles of commerce glide rapidly of the nearest trees rise like columns of red along; and if France, Germany, and Russia, granite; but the more distant, scarcely reached thought fit to establish a telegraphic line to the by the light, resemble, in the depths of the wall of China, we might write to our friends in wood, pale phantoms ranged in a circle on the that country and receive their answers in the margin of profound night. space of nine or ten hours. A man commencing his pilgrimage at the age of eighteen years, and finishing it at sixty, if he had gone but four leagues a day, would have travelled nearly seven times the circumference of our paltry planet. The genius of man is truly great for his petty habitation: what else can we conclude from it but that he is destined for a higher abode ?" rica, on the other with Asia. The death of Tamehameha has restored the power to the petty feudal lords of the Sandwich Islands, but not destroyed the germs of civilisation. There were recently seen at the Opera in London a king and queen of those islanders who ate Captain Cook, though they worshipped his bones in the temple consecrated to the god Rono. This king and this queen fell victims to the uncongenial climate of England; and Lord Byron, the heir to the title of the great poet who expired at Missolonghi, was the officer appointed to convey the remains of the deceased sovereigns to their native islands: remarkable contrasts and incidents enough, I think, in all conscience!" "Midnight. The fire begins to die away; the circle of its light diminishes. I listen: an awful calm rests upon these forests; you would say that silence succeeds silence. In vain I strive to hear in a universal tomb some noise indicative of life. Whence proceeds that sigh? from one of my companions: he expresses pain, though asleep. Thou livest, then-thou suf ferest-such is man! A parallel drawn between Washington and "Half-past Twelve. The repose continues, Buonaparte displays much of M. de C.'s tact but the decrepit tree snaps asunder: it falls. and discrimination; but we remember Plu- The forests rebellow; a thousand voices are tarch, and hasten to plunge with his modern raised. The sounds soon subside; they die imitator into the wilds inhabited by the Onon-away in almost imaginary distances: silence dagas, where, by the by, we are treated with a again pervades the desert. rather flat piece of pathos in a story about a poor Indian woman and a half-starved cow. The following is more amusing: "One A.M.-Here comes the wind; it runs over the tops of the trees; it shakes them as it passes over my head. Now it is like the wave of the sea, sadly breaking against the shore. Sounds have awakened sounds. The forest is all harmony. Are they the full tones of the organ that I hear, while lighter sounds wander through vaults of verdure? A short silence succeeds; the aërial music begins again: every where soft complaints, murmurs, which com prise within themselves other murmurs; each leaf speaks a different language, each blade of grass has its particular note.' [To be continued.] This is a little of the bathos-more obvious in English than in French; but again: "Columbus discovered America in the night between the 11th and 12th of October, 1492: Captain Franklin completed the discovery of this new world on the 18th of August, 1826. How many generations have passed away, how many revolutions have taken place, how many changes have happened among nations, in this space of three hundred and thirty-three years, nine months, and twenty-four days! The world no longer resembles the world of Colum- "After traversing countries (says M. de C.) bus. On those unknown seas, above which where there were no traces of inhabitants, I was seen to rise a black hand, the hand of perceived the sign of an inn dangling from the Satan, which seized ships in the night, and branch of a tree by the road side, and swinging dragged them to the bottom of the abyss; in to and fro in the wind of the desert. Hunters, those antarctic regions, the abode of night, planters, Indians, met at these caravanserais: horror, and fables; in those furious seas about but the first time I slept in one of them I Cape Horn and the Cape of Storms, where vowed it should be the last. One evening, on pilots turned pale; in that double ocean which entering one of these singular inns, I was lashes its double shores; in those latitudes astounded at the sight of an immense bed conformerly so dreaded, packets perform regular structed in a circular form round a post; each voyages for the conveyance of letters and pas- traveller came and took his place in this bed, sengers. An invitation to dinner is sent from with his feet to the post in the centre, and his Thaumaturgus. 12mo. pp. 137. London, 1828, a flourishing city in America to a flourishing head at the circumference of the circle, so that Longman and Co.; Dublin, Milliken and city in Europe, and the guest arrives at the ap- the sleepers were ranged symmetrically, like Son. pointed hour. Instead of those rude, filthy, the spokes of a wheel, or the sticks of a fan. We have here a whim, a curious and unacinfectious, damp ships, in which you had no- After some hesitation, I took my place in this countable volume. It is the extravaganza of thing but salt provisions to live upon, and were singular machine, because I saw nobody in it. devoured by scurvy, elegant vessels offer to I was just dropping asleep, when I felt a man's Hibernian Pantagruela wild and strange mis. an Irish giant-the attributes of a modern passengers cabins wainscoted with mahogany, leg rubbing along mine: it was my great devil application of learning and intelligence, upon a provided with carpets, adorned with mirrors, of a Dutchman's [his guide, servant, and inter-plan hardly worthy of the author's acquire flowers, libraries, musical instruments, and all preter] who was stretching himself beside me. the delicacies of good cheer. A voyage requir- I never was so horrified in my life. I leaped something to shew us that if the writer had ments and powers. In every page there is ing several years' researches in latitudes the out of this hospitable contrivance, cordially chosen to be aught but eccentric, he could have most various, shall not be attended with the execrating the good old customs of our good employed his pen in another and superior way; death of a single seaman. As for tempests, we old ancestors, and went and lay down in my yet even in his vagaries, out-heroding Herod, laugh at them. Distances have disappeared. cloak in the moonshine: this companion of the he displays talents which force us to like him, A mere whaler sails to the south pole: if the traveller's couch was nothing less than agree-in spite of our disappointment in perusing his fishery is not prosperous, she proceeds to the able, cool, and pure." work. In fact, the absurdities appear to us to north pole: to catch a fish she twice crosses Nature, indeed, seems at all times to have want aim; and perhaps it requires a sort of the tropics, twice traverses a diameter of the had potent charms for the author of the Spirit spirit different from the dogged sense of a earth, and touches in the space of a few months of Christianity. His Itinerary in the woods Reviewer to enter into and enjoy such exagthe two extremities of the globe. On the doors will illustrate this-it has an Ossianic strain. of the taverns of London is seen posted the an- "In vain I seek an outlet in these wilds; gerated sport as that in which Thaumaturgus nouncement of the sailing of the packet for deceived by a stronger light, I advance through clothing, accomplishments, &c. &c. and any indulges. He gives a history of his birth, Van Dieman's land, with all possible conveni- grass, nettles, mosses, lianes, and deep mould, extracts will serve to exhibit the character of ences for passengers to the Antipodes, and composed of the remains of vegetables; but his style and humour. Ex. gr. his Spurs. beside that, the notice of the departure of the arrive only at an open spot formed by some packet from Dover to Calais. We have pocket fallen pines. The forest soon becomes darker Itineraries, Guides, Manuals, for the use of again; the eye discerns nothing but the trunks persons who purpose to take a trip of pleasure of oaks and walnut-trees, succeeding each other, round the world. This trip lasts nine or ten land appearing to stand closer and closer ac "These antique spurs, whose hoops of steel By turns, in buskin, boot, or clog, Had of the deluge got a sly hint, -se stated by a Rabbin)→→ Rad begynd a birth in Noah's cabin, ad not in that monstrous hulk ra o ha longimade and bulk lows, though authentic, index— huge Teutobocchus''Chako,' The bowl where glows my rare tobacco(Whor phthisics tease not, toil can't tire)-I Be from the peak of Dhawal'giri, Earth's newly-known, yet boldest boss, which leaps into the clouds two coss; In circuit, measured at the base, is half a crore of Pundit's paces. The pope's lip-piece, wherewith I cram mouth, On the alluvial isles of Oby: Its soldering is of molten lavat Its enbe the upas-tree of Java That tree, whene'er 1 visit, grows gay; I wear its blossoms as a nosegay. Sol, at the equator, crack'd (no small nut) 1 found-like stags in time of rutting- Walc, tis somewhere well express'd, * Bends oaks and soothes the savage breast:' I new, midst pastimes multifarious, He and each shaft at Taurus' side); Would miss a targe large as the moon, Th tmpelling string that swayed the yew; Saw the barb'd point transfix the 'bull's-eye.' The exuberant fancy, the learning, and the of rhyme, which pervade these extracts nd the whole of Thaumaturgus, will, we ani, induce our readers to wish with us im ve may again hear from the classic author more generally intelligible theme. successor; Mr. Rundell's younger brother, The Annual Biography and Obituary for the Plymouth. Year 1828. 8vo. pp. 476. London, 1828. Francis, was likewise a surgeon at Bath, having Longman and Co. been apprenticed to his uncle, Mr. Ditcher. THE task of writing or compiling contempo- where he was not more distinguished by his At an early age he was induced to go to India, rary biography is a very difficult one; beset professional skill, than admired for the bril on either side by the Scylla of panegyric and liancy of his wit and the variety of his accomthe Charybdis of envy. The editor of this plishments. This gentleman died in India, annual publication steers his way through the after having acquired a considerable fortune. middle course as ably as is possible; and the con- The female branches of Mr. Rundell's family sequence is, that his work is as respectable and trustworthy as it is possible for a publication of Mr. Rundell was educated at Bath, and was were all respectably married. the kind to be. During the past year he has bound apprentice to Mr. Rogers, an eminent had no want, but an abundance, of materials jeweller and goldsmith in that city. With him furnished to him by the unsparing hand of Mr. Rundell remained until he became twentyDeath. The high and the distinguished in every walk of life have fallen almost in crowds. It does not appear that during his stay with one years of age, when he removed to London. The prince, the statesman, the hero, the poet, Mr. Rogers he manifested that devoted attenthe artist, the man of letters, the critic, the tion to business of which his subsequent life divine, all have succumbed to the merciless afforded so conspicuous an example. It is prodestroyer, in numbers beyond the space of an bable that a handsome person, joined to a disannual volume to commemorate. The editor position of considerable vivacity, frequently led has, therefore, done for some what mortal him, in that early part of his life, to a relaxastrength could not do for any of them-post- tion of those habits which afterwards distinponed their obituaries till another year! Still guished him. A few months before Mr. Runhis list is very striking: our amiable friend dell quitted Mr. Rogers's establishment, Mr. Charles Mills; Flaxman, the foremost of Bri- Bridge was introduced into it as his intended tish sculptors; the kind, the worthy, and the accomplished Miss Benger; Dr. Daubeny; also ance which afterwards led to results the most and thus commenced an acquaintour lamented friend Lord de Tabley, the prosperous to both parties. On his arrival in greatest patron of his country's native arts and London, Mr. Rundell was introduced by a artists; Dr. Evans, the useful historian of relation, Mr. Cartony, to the late Mr. Alderreligious sects; the veteran of literature, John man Pickett, (who, however, had not then Nichols; Holloway, the engraver of the Car- attained that dignity,) into whose establishtoons; the worthy and eccentric Kitchiner; ment on Ludgate Hill he was accordingly, re. Lord Hastings; William Gifford, the ablest of ceived. This is believed to have been about critics; the Duke of York; Sir J. Brisbane; the year 1771. It will not be uninteresting to Mr. Cradock; Sir W. Stewart; the wealthy introduce here a slight notice of the origin of goldsmith, Rundell; Foscolo; and, last of all, that establishment which has since obtained he who concentrated in himself the gifts and such extensive and just celebrity. acquirements of a long catalogue of afflict- founded in the seventeenth century by a ing losses, George Canning, deplored by a Mr. Hurst, who is represented to have been nation at his tomb, and more and more lamented a man of high respectability, and also is said to as the progress of events develops the calamity have acquired a considerable fortune by his of his being taken from us at a time of difficulty, exertions there. Mr. Hurst was succeeded by when his master genius was required to pilot Mr. Theed: this gentleman was originally a us through the gloom and storm. Death's fishing-tackle maker; but Mr. Pickett, who shafts have indeed flown thick; and the noblest was by trade a silversmith, having married and the best have been stricken down. into the family, and having been admitted into united, and hence came the sign of the Golden partnership with Mr. Theed, both trades were Salmon, by which the house has been ever since distinguished. It cannot be necessary to allude very particularly to the history of Mr. Alderman Pickett: his memory still sur"It was observed by Dr. Johnson, that a man is seldom vives in the improvements which he suggested so innocently employed as when he is making money." "Mr. Rundell was born on the 15th January near Temple Bar, which was named after him, and carried into execution in Pickett Street, 1746, at Norton near Bath, where his family and in Skinner Street, and other parts of the had long resided. His father was a maltster city of London. in extensive trade. Several branches of his the family of Mr. Pickett, afforded an openA melancholy occurrence in family were settled at Bath, and some of them, ing for Mr. Rundell's introduction into an at an early period of Mr. Rundell's life, were active and important share of the business. leading members of the respectable corporation As his youngest daughter was dressing, her of that city. His maternal uncle, Philip clothes caught fire, and the accident terminatDitcher, Esq. was an eminent surgeon at ing fatally, her father was so affected by the Bath, and was married to Miss Richardson, daughter of the celebrated author of Sir Charles event, as to become indisposed for that active Grandison, Pamela, &c.; and to this gentleman Mr. Rundell, in his early youth, owed many obligations, which he often mentioned with gratitude. His elder brother, Thomas, also an eminent surgeon, resided at Bath many years. He was subsequently appointed surgeon-general to the western district, and in consequence of that appointment removed to As the most public of these characters have been much noticed in various periodical works, we shall take the biography of Mr. Rundell, as most likely to afford something new to our readers, and fairly enough illustrate the work before us. His Lordship has been succeeded, not in his title alone, but in his fine taste and love of the arts, by his son George, who, though only sixteen years of age, is already a most beautiful and skilful draftsman. His younger brother, William, is an heir to the same talents. It was pursuit of trade in which he had formerly en- : Shield's celebrated opera of that name,) who to a magnitude which will justify the denomina-course with the royal family. It appears that afterwards became the wife of the celebrated tion of its being the first of its kind in Europe. Mr. Rundell never but once attended the royal comedian long a favourite with the public, This object was in a great degree accom- summons: Mr. Bridge's manners have been and commonly known by the familiar appel-plished by his endeavouring to add the intelli- represented as better adapted to the duties of lation of Jack Bannister.' With the late gent taste of the artist to the manual skill of such an attendance: but however this might Mr. Wroughton also Mr. Rundell was inti- the artificer; and for this purpose he had re- have been, it is certain that the latter gentlemately acquainted. An anecdote connected course, on all requisite occasions, to the man always afterwards attended the royal with these associations may here be mentioned, choicest productions of art and the most ad- family; and it is well known that his conduct as an early indication of that liberality in which mired relics of antiquity. Paintings, statues, on those occasions rendered him a favourite at Mr. Rundell often indulged so largely. When gems, and other specimens of the antique, the palace. Two of Mr. Rundell's nephews, King, the celebrated representative of Lord were referred to, in order to unite correctness Mr. Edmund Waller Rundell, son of the Ogleby, Sir Peter Teazle, &c. retired from the of taste and accuracy of style to the perfection authoress of the celebrated book on Cookery, stage, his brother performers presented him of exquisite workmanship. Many of the works and Mr. Thomas Bigge, a gentleman of with a silver cup, as a compliment to his pro- which were produced from the manufactory of highly cultivated talents and considerable fessional talents, and as a mark of personal Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, have been con- literary attainments, were afterwards admitted esteem. His widow afterwards falling into sidered to rival, in classical conception and into partnership in this business; and subdistressed circumstances, she requested Mr. delicacy and splendour of execution, the pro- sequently a nephew of Mr. Bridge was also John Bannister to dispose of this piece of plate ductions of the celebrated Benvenuto Cellini. introduced as a partner. Mr. Rundell, in confor her he mentioned the application to We may instance, as one of the most distin- sequence of increasing bodily infirmities, though Mr. Rundell, who bought the cup in the ordi-guished of these works, the splendid Shield possessing all his powers of mind in unabated nary way of trade; but instantly purchased it of Achilles,' executed, according to Messrs. vigour, retired from business about Michaelfrom the shop out of his private purse, and re- Rundell and Bridge's directions, by the late mas 1823, leaving the prosecution of this great turned it to the widow. The approach of old Mr. Flaxman, and which is universally ac- undertaking to his continuing partners. age inducing Mr. Pickett to retire from busi-knowledged to be one of the finest perform. Mr. Rundell was never married, ness, he withdrew from an active participation ances of modern art. We abstain from de- although he always manifested much pleasure in it, leaving his property embarked in the scribing this chef-d'œuvre here, as we have in the enjoyment of female society; for which concern under the management of Mr. Rundell, already done so in a former part of this vo- the comeliness of his person, his conversational upon certain conditions agreed upon between lume; we shall content ourselves with stating, powers, and his habitual attentiveness, naturally them. Shortly afterwards Mr. Pickett died, on the present occasion, that it originated in fitted him. He was unassuming in his manbequeathing to his daughter the benefit of his the suggestion of Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, ners, and when relieved from the cares of property in the business; his capital, by the unprompted by any order, or expectation of business, was a cheerful and agreeable compaterms of his will, not being to be withdrawn order, and at their own sole expense. For the nion. He was fond of music, had a tolerable from it immediately. This lady having, as it model and drawing they paid Mr. Flaxman voice, and sang with taste. In the year 1772 is said, remonstrated with Mr. Rundell, on the sum of 620. Four casts in silver gilt, he was admitted a liveryman of the Drapers' what she considered his occasional inattention beautifully and elaborately chased, were exe- Company, and at the time of his death was one to the important concerns of the business in cuted from Mr. Flaxman's model, and became of the court of assistants of that company; but which she had so large a stake, he proposed the property of His Majesty, His Royal High- he never filled any corporate office in the city. that she should resign the whole of it to him, ness the late Duke of York, the Earl of Lons- When he was elected one of the sheriffs of in consideration of his allowing her an annuity, dale, and the Duke of Northumberland. Some London, he paid the usual fine to be excused the amount of which should be determined by idea may be formed of the magnificence of this serving the office, and he paid excusatory fines their mutual friends. The sum suggested by the production, when it is stated that the comple- to avoid serving the ordinary offices in the compersons referred to was 8007.; but Mr. Rundell tion of each cast occupied two experienced pany of which he was a member. During insisted on paying her an annuity of 10001. dur-workmen an entire twelvemonth. To this nearly the last twenty years of his life, in coning her life; by these means he acquired the sole notice may be added that of copies equally sequence of his assiduous attention to business, possession of the business. Shortly after this creditable to the spirit and liberality of Messrs. and latterly owing to an increasing deafness, period Mr. Rundell took into partnership his Rundell and Bridge, of the celebrated Portland and the painful effects of an internal disease old companion, Mr. Bridge, who also had come and Warwick vases. Among other means by with which he was long afflicted, he withdrew to London, and had been for some years an which the proprietors of this establishment much from society, and lived very retired. assistant in Mr. Alderman Pickett's shop. It sought to advance English manufacture in Mr. Rundell was, perhaps, not has been observed by those who were ac- their particular trade, was that of obtaining more distinguished by his peculiar excellencies quainted with them, that perhaps two part- the services of the best talents, both native and as a man of business, than by his personal ners never met, whose tempers, though in many foreign, which could be procured. Accordingly, qualities: both were alike creditable to him. respects different, accorded so well in the pro- artists and workmen of distinguished ability Of the former we have taken a hasty survey, secution of their common pursuits. Mr. Run- always found in their manufactory a certain of the latter it would be injustice not to say dell was a man of first-rate talent in his busi- and liberal engagement; and by this accumula- something. He was rich, and devotedly atness; of resolute opinion, high mind, and ir- tion of superior executive ability, they may al- tached to the farther acquisition of wealth : ritable temper, but with a disposition always most be said to have accomplished what they are but he was totally free from those blemishes ready to do a kind or generous action. Mr. reported to have aimed at the advancement of which frequently disfigure the possession of Bridge was a man of equal talent, but mild a manufacture nearly into a department of art. money. His wealth was not contaminated by and affable in his deportment, possessing great Nor has this increased reputation of our manu- avarice; his desire of gain never invaded his equality of temper, and a very engaging suavity factories been confined to England. The va- honour; his anxiety to increase his possessions of manners. The personal respect by which rious splendid services of plate, and the articles gave admission to ro sordid or covetous motive: the late king, and, indeed, all the members of of jewellery and other costly work, which have he was always liberal; and as his wealth augthe royal family, condescended to distinguish at various times during the last half century mented, his liberality enlarged; and his disMr. Bridge, may be adduced as a convincing been presented to official dignitaries and other cernment of deserving objects of bounty, and of proof of his possessing those qualities. In this persons in foreign countries, and have been beneficial media of dispensing it, seemed to be partnership each member of the firm devoted ordered from this establishment by foreign po- strengthened. In proof of his generosity of himself to the department for which it was tentates, must necessarily, from their acknow- temper, it may be stated, that, irascible as he considered that he was best qualified: Mr. ledged superiority, have raised the fame of was, no one in his service, either commercial or Rundell superintending the manufactory and English manufacture; and in this point of domestic, ever left him spontaneously. Of his the shop, and Mr. Bridge applying himself, view the life of an individual whose peculiar freedom from sordid or avaricious motives, the by personal visits to distinguished customers, and personal exertions have been thus useful, bountiful, not to say magnanimous benevo to the increase of the patronage by which the acquires an interest which that of the mere lences which he gave to his relations in his lifecelebrity of the house was established and sup- manufacturer, however wealthy, never could time, are a most honourable testimony. It has ported; and conducting the correspondence possess. About the year 1797, on the retire- been represented, on very good authority, that with various foreign parts, which was necessa- ment of Mr. Duval from the employment, he distributed among his relations during his rily incident to such an undertaking. Now Messrs. Rundell and Bridge were appointed life-time, in sums varying between 5007. and commenced that devotedness to business, and diamond-jewellers to the royal family: an ap- 20,000l. (for his bounty on meet occasions dethat energy of exertion on the part of Mr. Run-pointment relating to the crown-jewels. This scended in such large amounts) no less a sum doll, which eventually brought his establishment brought them, of course, into direct inter than 145,000. In addition to these absolute gia le made regular annual allowances, many | man, ay and woman too, all that is noble and Mr. Rundell exhibited no symptom of aperhing decay until the autumn of 1826. health then began to decline; and alhis mental faculties were vigorous the last, his bodily strength gradually wasted, until he breathed his last on the 17th Feby, 1827, in the eighty-first year of his London, 1828. The Modern Traveller. J. Duncan. But this is a grave prelude to a volume of fun and drollery; and we must account for it FROM the multitude of publications which at by agreeing with Blackwood, in his Noctes of this season crowd upon us, we regret being the month just published, that Christmas is, compelled to limit ourselves to a brief notice of after all, a solemn and reflective, rather than this very valuable performance, of which, howa merry and thoughtless season. We are glad, ever, we have spoken in its progress as it deserved. however, at any time, to begin with classing Those who take matters by the outside will Mr. Maunder among our publishers. We be agreeably disappointed in the Modern Trahave seen much of him as a writer, which gave veller. An 18mo, in an unassuming cover, us a high idea of his quickness, versatility, and at the unassuming price of half-a-crown, and talents; and it is a pleasure to see a person contains the marrow of every thing known reof literary habits and tastes enter into the lative to the country of which the No. treats. career of caterer for the public amusement and And this, not merely in the shape of a digest, instruction. This, the first thing which has which, in its nature, must throw away much brought him before us in that capacity, is a interesting detail, but with the double advan.. mere trifle; but it is a pleasant, and likely to tages of all that is pleasant and anecdotical be a very popular one. It is good humouredly connected with the subject, and all that is imFans and Oddities for the Young: with dedicated to Mr. Hood; and contains some portant for comprehensive knowledge. Humorous Illustrations by H. Heath. 18mo. sixteen or eighteen little poems addressed to 152. London, 1828. S. Maunder. familiar subjects, fit for the entertainment of know not, not we, who are for "the children, and (which is great praise) not one art of intellect," "the development of syllable unfit for that purpose. The things "the perfectionability of our are playful and clever-all kinds of utensils, "the millennium!" We are for as well as animals, are endowed with speech sil, slick right away, as soon as possible, and action; and pins, pokers, mice, hedgehogs, ht halt, let, hindrance, or impediment wasps, monkeys, &c. &c. figure on the scene. a stuttering orator lately said in our hear- There are many palpable hits in the book; but and we shall only differ, perhaps, from our better course is to afford a sample of all, rs, who agree with us in the principle, by selecting one of the pieces, though expethe ways and the means. That fine diency suggests that we should take the very shortest-The Wasp, or Vanity's Ruin. Aumanity," песек emented horse which had just learnt to without food when he died, was not, in gropinion, more mistaken (though we dare say Sander was not the beast's, but his philooral master's) than the new school of sages, order to teach the young idea how to would begin with algebra and fluxions, and never descend lower in the scale of eduthan the solution of impossible quanTheir pupils must be Heinikens at he him, the first and last of celebrity name, who at fourteen months old had lete knowledge of the Scriptures, and a perfect classical scholar at four years of bat unluckily died at five! And it will we can prevent them from beginning make their tyros, like Lipsius, philosophise before they happen to be born; if indeed they hot adopt some of the Westminster Review and contend against the perversion foly of children being born at all. With immense and unspeakable diffidence, apred at this moment, perhaps, by seeing eeves langhing "like fun," at places of basement,-eating mince-pies with e and enjoyment that might raise the free ghost of Lacullus, — gloating over the best of story books with a delight bethe pursuits of literature, we venture ggest that mirth may combine with wisand play and jollity do more for the infant than mechanics and metaphysics. We at the advocates of silliness or misdireceven in trifles; but we are the enemies * saturnine regimen, which we are condis only calculated to blunt the better "The Wasp was a very fine gentleman: He wore his coat laced over with gold, One morning he rose betimes from his bed, Said he, I'll fly from east to west, My right o er the sweetest blossoms around, And if a vile Bee cross my path, What care I for a paltry tribe Of insects mean and vile? And as for Moth and Beetle, they On the Cricket, who dares of knowledge boast, I'll get me a golden sceptre bright- The reptiles, great and small. And when I'm gone, o'er my honour'd dust Therein I'll sleep, while the insects wail Their tears shall fall so far and wide Here lies the best, the noblest Wasp His virtues bloom'd like sweetest flowers, Just here, in wo's vast pomp, Wasp threw The usefulness of such rédactions is so palpable, and even so necessary in the present influx of Journals and Voyages, and the present increasing intercourse with foreign countries, that our surprise is, that it has been left even to the activity and intelligence of the publisher. The limits of any individual traveller's observation are so narrow, individual views of men and things must be so often erroneous, or peculiar, or alien to the purposes of general information, that the most correct and accomplished tourist leaves his reader in error on points innumerable. The mere diversity of taste produces a diversity in their products, useless or injurious to truth. The classic sees nothing in the scene of his journeyings but inscriptions, fragments of temples, and busts to be dug up from their sleep of two thousand years. Where these are the harvest of the land, he detects no other barrenness, and pronounces the desert delightful, and the rock flowing with milk and honey. The man touched with the spirit of trade scorns charms of this unexchangeable kind, scoffs at the port from which the navies of Athens poured out to meet the navies of Asia,-turns away from the Piræus, as not fit for the anchorage of any thing beyond a Thames wherry,-and sees nothing in Marathon but a marsh, of which the weeds could not be converned into a saleable commodity. The military traveller is enraptured with the mountain and the defile,-the ruggedness that makes the province defensible, and the loftiness that places the village out of the reach of every thing but a Congreve rocket. The diplomatist, sketching his journal on the way to the place of mission, discovers nothing on right or left but beggary, bleakness, banditti, and ruts covered with the wrecks of his predecessor's carriage. The artist, all eyes for the picturesque, and blind to every thing else, is in rapture with the difficulties of the way-rejoices at the impassable torrents-triumphs in the precipitous hill-and thinks a sight of banditti essential to his happiness and his pencil. The English country gentleman, stirred from home by the habit of following his neighbours, and asking only to get home again with the reputation of having been across the Channel, rolls along, disgusted alike with the lofty and the level, finds the foreign world distinguishable only for smoking, discomfort, and the want of an English dinner-and publishes lucubrations dipped all over in bile and patriotism. To learn the truth from any one of these discoverers would be hopeless. Temperament holds the pen, and every letter that falls from it must be distorted. obliterate the finer faculties, and the nobler sensibilities of childhood, at implanting one jot of useful or bene-| owledge in their room. Little manare always odious; but little philosophers ot to be endured at all. Nature has ced the way in the glorious exuberance of thful bosom: regulate the strong bursts | please, but do not try to kill the kindly | Mr. H. Heath appears to be of the Cruikwhich are hereafter to make the shank school, and a very promising and rising short life in two long vols., by Martini, artist. Many of his ideas are full of fancy and humour: he will do well. And tumbled into the mustard-pot, But allowing the purest and most impossible impartiality, not one man in a thousand has the means of acquiring the true information to |