of their own power to reform the matured character of each individual, will be enabled almost to recreate the character

of succeeding generations. It is obvious through a knowledge of the constitution of human nature, or of the moral frame of man, that to form the highest character in man or woman, no inferior example [there we feel the blow] must be seen in any one of the adult population! therefore, the formation of an inferior character will be prevented. The superior external circumstances, which alone will be permitted to act upon and to influence each individual, will of necessity form all to be superior, according to the organization which they receive from nature. By this simple, easy, and straightforward mode of proceeding [oh, Lord! to call such butchering work easy and straightforward!] measures the most effectual [again!] will be adopted, to prevent one human being from acquiring a single inferior quality either of body or mind; and it is believed that the concentrated wisdom of society will be competent to effect this all-important object. As in this state all must perceive it to be for their interest and happiness that the most superior character which circumstances under the control of man will permit, should be formed for every one without a single exception-it would be most unwise to suffer one human being, in any part of the world, to be so placed as to acquire any inferior qualities; because it will be obvious, that if any inferior qualities should be permitted to be fixed in any one, all will be injured by the contaminating effects that such an example will have, not only upon adults, but more especially upon the children of the rising generation.'"'

So ends the first part of this treatise : the second is to contain the conditions of human happiness, to which we look forward with considerable anxiety, not only as wishing well to the community, but for our own sakes desirous to ascertain how soon the 66 ordo rerum" is to take place.

novus

Dated Tuesday, Nov. 8. Midnight, over Coblentz. Wind N. EE. Barom, 21 Far. Green's Balloon.

N. B. Cold so intense, that the ink froze in our bottle. Mr. Owen's book was unfortunately blown out of the car.

Reminiscences, by the Rev. R. Polwhele. 3 vols. 12mo.

WE must do Mr. Polwhele the justice to say that he has introduced his GENT. MAG. VOL. VII.

volumes by an excellent and spirited Sonnet, which were we not to give, prive ourselves of a poetical gem. we should do him injustice, and de

SONNET.

ADDRESSED TO THE POET LAUREATE. Whilst others wander down their dusky dells, Pleas'd with the melodies of tinkling rills,

Or scoop dim grots or saunter round green hills, Or climb the hedges sprent with sweet harebells, Or mark, where hamlets crown the misty vale, The plodding peasant and the milkmaid's pail!

I greet Thee midst thy mountains and thy fells, Thy sea-like lakes, thy rocks by thunders riven, [Heaven! Thy cataracts flashing to the effulgent Such is thy scene of grandeur!-We, frail men, Trill to the lowly grove the inglorious lay, In concert with the redbreast and the wren: 'Tis thine, with the majestic eagle's sway Soaring on rapid wing, to drink the golden day!

If Mr. Polwhele can always write in this vein, we shall be happy to receive a volume up by the mail.

Such

a sonnet Mr. Wordsworth would endure,' and Mr. Bowles would 'commend.'

The Reminiscences contain some light agreeable chit-chat about people every one likes to know. Hannah More's Poem of the Slave Trade appeared 1788. My wife," said Bishop Horne, “having consulted Mr. Onslow, who was a native of one of our West India islands, came home quite comforted with a hope that matters might not be so bad; and in the afternoon put into her tea the usual quantity of sugar!" H. More wrote to Wilberforce against too much learning in the poorer classes. They were instructed, she said, in the whole circle of sciences. Ex. gr. 'Who was Absolom?' she asked a short little girl ;

6

I think,' was the reply, 'he was an Exeter man!' Another girl said, 'I larns gogr, and the harts and the senses.'

P. 31. Under the head of Wolcot, Mr. Polwhele informs us that Wolcot, in his scuffle with Gifford, had mistaken the Juvenal W. Gifford, for the Antijacobin John Gifford, who had much abused him in the Antijacobin Review. Was this so?

P. 35. "Tom Warton's talent for ridicule was constantly exercised in the Common room at Trinity against Flamank, Wisdom, Parker, &c. Wisdom (a Greek Lecturer who could barely read the Greek letters), Warton nicknamed Folly personified.' Dr. Parker was one of the Doctores sine doctrinâ, &c. To his sa

K

tire he sacrificed the headship of Trinity.

Yes! It cost him the Presidentship,' cried Bishop Buller, but all the same a hundred years hence!' 'Perhaps not,'

said Dr. Downman. I was then sitting at table at the palace, Exeter, between Buller and Downman. Had the interlocutors changed speeches it would have been more (thought I) in character."

P. 40. "In a late work (1783) Dr. Priestley, with great insolence (vol. I) observed of Bagot,' change one letter of his name (the a for an i) and you have his true character.' Dr. Bagot (Bishop of Bristol) sent his Letter on the Sacrament to Dr. Bell, in MS. Bell begged him to publish it. It is said that Bagot betrays a partiality for men of rank. But Lowth, the Bishop of London's son, and Judge Willes's two sons, were rusticated last term in consequence of their irregularity."

P. 42. "Lord Loughborough-Wedderburne- the pert prim prater of the Northern race;' but at Powderham, his dignity of deportment would not have reminded us of Churchill'spertness or primness'."

five guineas, if I had ever so pressing an occasion for so trifling a sum. I beg to be remembered kindly to your afflicted mother, and am, dear Sir, yours ever, and most sincerely. J. WHITE."

P. 99. "I am glad to find from you, that Cadell was afraid to publish a volume of Dissertations on authors, passages, and places mentioned in his History, which Mr. Gibbon had written for publication. This shows the strong impression, which the attacks upon his History have made upon the mind of the public. Cadell is a true Swiss in publications, and fights only for pay; he would therefore not have feared to publish, if he had thought he should find a sale; and Mr. Gibbon's reputation, which had given a circulation to six ponderous quartos, must be great surely in Mr. Cadell's estimation, not to give one to a single volume."-Letter from S. Whitaker.

This is not agreeable to the mention of the same circumstance in Gibbon's Memoirs, p. 110.

"It was magnificent in Grenville and Wellesley to give out, that for the two

"My dear Friend, May 18, 1787. "However unpleasant it may be (and I think nothing in the world can be more unpleasant than to be obliged upon some delicate occasion, to write about pecu. niary matters), yet it is a hard necessity which we must sometimes submit to. This situation I feel most sensibly at present; and my distress is, that I have promised more than I find myself able to perform.

"I have now waited upwards of a fortnight, with the most anxious suspense, for letters from two friends, Mr. Smith of Prior Park, and Mr. Aldridge, banker, at Bristol. I pressed them to send me immediately (as they used always to supply me with small drafts whenever I wished them) the sums of twenty pounds each, and my intention was to have sent these drafts to you into the West; but to my utter astonishment, I have not received a line in answer from either of these gentlemen. As they never disappointed me before, and as they both had proffered me services of this kind whenever an emergency should arise, I expressed myself with very great confidence when I had last the pleasure of writing to you; and I am sorry to be under the necessity of now making an apology for it. I will, however, immediately write to other friends, and hope I shall meet with better success.

"Though I have an income of 3001. per annum, I could not at this time raise

the undergraduates' prizes. Grenville's "Vis Electrica" [1779] was a fine poem, in the style of Lucretius, and was admi rably well delivered in the Theatre. In 1780, (the Marquis) Wellesley's" in Mortem I. Cook," &c. &c. was preferred in general to the other, but I think it far inferior in merit."

P. 112. "I had forgotten the saffron cakes of Toup, in Theocritum. It was the Cornish "BUNN" rich with currants and SAFFRON. See Warton's [and Toup's] Theocritus; and remember, Toup was a Cornish boy by birth, and a Greek from education. In Toup, there is certainly as much learned trifling, as in any of his brother commentators. In this instance of the saffron cake, particularly, Idyll. III. ν. 5. τον λιβυκον κνάκωνα or Caeci, tum flore tum semine, usi sunt veteres ad rem culinariam, KкожUρоvs-Athenæus, lib. 14, p. 649, Quem locum intellexerunt interpretes, κνηκοπυρους ηδονas sunt bellaria, Cneci, colorem referentia [Cornish] saffron cakes." See Toup's Curæ poster. in Theocritum, p. 10.

P. 130. "About Malone, as a critic, I totally differ from you. He was very industrious and laborious, and ferreted out a good deal by these qualities; but had not, in my opinion, a spark of genius, nor even taste, where poetry was concerned. It is capable of proof that he did not rightly understand even the measure of English verse. Steevens was full of genius, but not always to be depended upon.

Sometimes he even made a sport of misleading his readers; but his powers were infinitely above any that Malone possessed. Northcote is a man of true genius, though occasionally defective as a writer. As to

Mason, he was certainly a poet; but a malignant man, and particularly malignant against the good King George III., all which malignity was occasioned by some real or imagined slight shown by the King towards his imaginary merit. With all his powers, Mason was a despicable man morally; and that is the worst that need be said of a man."*-R. NARES to R. P. P. 151. "Mention is made, by the Rev. James Plumptre, that he was writing a new Life of Gay the Poet. Did it ever appear? His biographers assert, that his ancestors held the manor of Goldsworthy. But Johnson says he does not find Goldsworthy in the Villare, nor do I find it in Capper's Topog. Dictionary." But it may be found in Lysons's Devonshire,† in the parish of Parkham, near Bideford. "The manor of Goldsworthy, which had been for many descents the property and residence of the family of Gay, was conveyed by them to the Coffins, before Risdon wrote his Survey [temp. James I]."

Vol. ii. p. 13. "I have been particularly pleased with your truly characteristic account of Randolph; who, though a good, a learned, and a well-natured man in essentials, had the rudest and most repulsive manners that I ever witnessed in any one. These qualities detracted much from his popularity as a Bishop, though he was a valuable one.-R. NARES to R. P.

P. 183. "In my notices of Toup, several little traits in his character, that have since come to my knowledge, might have been introduced with effect. That he was fond of field-sports I could not have conceived possible. But I have heard, I think from good authority, that he joined some of his neighbours in the diversion of hunting, con amore.

"In the pulpit he was (as we say) no great things. In his discourses there was no indication of a man of talent or learning. They were, in short, heavy, spiritless; except now and then they were lightened up or enlivened by a satiric stroke, or a personal allusion. In his

"Jackson, (who died Bishop of Oxford) had not less an antipathy against Mason. At one of his supper parties, Mason happened to be mentioned, when Jackson spoke of him scornfully. I could scarcely suppress my indignation. Greville's report of Mason (in accordance with Kempthorne's) I am sure comes nearer to the truth "-R. P.

† Magna Britannia, vol. vi. p. 384.

day, funeral sermons were much in vogue, at half a guinea. If enriched by a stripe of Latin or Greek, the purpureus pannus was sure to bring a guinea. I have myself been so paid; and so wasToup. But for a certain sermon, preached at the funeral of a maiden lady, he got not, I will venture to say, even a mark, except of displeasure. The text was from Matt. xxv. So the door was shut.'"

And thus we conclude our extracts from these entertaining and clever volumes. There is one passage in them, which more particularly does credit to Mr. Polwhele's taste and judgment, though it only announces a fact which is now universally acknowledged, viz. "1 entertain a high respect for the Gentleman's Magazine; because it supports the old character of what a periodical ought to be. There is no malignity in it, but an evident wish to do justice to works of merit." This approbation will indeed reward us for our diurnal labours and our nightly watchings in the service of the public. But what will the other magazines say?

Oh! Blackwood, Fraser, Monthly, Old and New,
What will become of you, if this is true?
Oh! Metropolitan-go out of town,-
Oh! beautiful Court Journal, do not frown!
British, this Critic's arrow is a fixture.
So hide your cover made of-Parson's Mixture.
Cease, petty rivals, all your jealous bickering,
And vail your caps-to Nichols and to Pickering.
And should your dutiful respect not vary,
You'll find a place in our- -Obituary.

Watson's Statistics of Phrenology.

AN interesting little work to the Phrenologist. It is divided into five departments: 1. The History of Phrenology. 2. Philosophy of Phrenology. 3. Local Diffusion of Phrenology. 4. Literature of Phrenology. 5. General Summaries.

The history begins about 1796, when Gall first taught his discoveries, to the latest work of Mr. Combe, the great phrenologist of the present day, and who has had harder conflicts in defence of his favourite science, than any of his brethren.

In the philosophy of Zoology, we will mention, for the uninitiated, that the leading principles of Phrenology are these three :-1. All manifestations of the mind depend directly on the brain; and this whether the brain be regarded as the organ or instrument of the mind. 2. The faculties of the mind are manifested by different parts

of the brain, and that each particular faculty depends upon its own particular part of the brain. 3. When health and other circumstances are alike, the faculties are powerful or feeble in manifestation, according to the sizes of their organs-size being a measure of functional power. These three fundamental principles of the science, the Phrenologists say are proved by an overwhelming host of facts, as well as supported by analogies; while no facts have been found adverse to them, when fully understood.

It is probable, says the author, that exercise or activity of the organs increases their size; but whether so much as to alter the external configuration of the scull, after puberty, seems very doubtful.

It appears quite certain, that particular forms and qualities of brain are hereditary; but the laws of hereditary descent are yet unascertained. There is a presumption that the organs predominantly active in the parents, will be most developed in the children. The whole of this second division of the work is of great interest.

The existence of certain organs in the brain, is one thing; the mode of ascertaining their existence another. Now the bony and fleshy covering of the skull intervenes between the cerebral organs and the hand of the Phrenologist. That this is an obstacle to the progress of a science demanding great nicety of manipulation and delicacy of touch, must be granted; and we mention it for the purpose of observing, that we presume it was owing to the thickness of our scull that Mr. De Ville, acknowledged by the author to be a clever manipulator, made such a mistake as to pronounce that we had the organ of music very well developed; whereas, the smallness of that organ is the only possible appearance of defect existing in the otherwise complete formation of our mental faculties. The person who accompanied us to the Cave of Phrenology, was one distinguished for his capricious, violent, and angry disposition: him, Mr. De Ville pronounced to possess the organ of justice highly developed. Two greater mistakes could not be made; but whether for the want of knowledge in the Professor, or from the obstacles before mentioned being

in our case of unusual thickness, we cannot venture to pronounce.

We recommend Mr. W.'s book to all desirous of acquiring some knowledge of the history and progress of a system which ought to excite the curiosity if it does not satisfy the judgment of the physiologist and the moralist. To the same gentleman the public is indebted for some very interesting and accurate little volumes on British Botany.

Cowper's Works, by Southey. Vol. VII.

THIS elegant and accurate edition proceeds with undiminished attractions. The letters are followed by some judicious notes by the editor, on which we have only to remark :—

P. 57. We believe in our review of the late Mr. Grimshawe's edition, that we explained the allusion in the Miltonic lines, which Cowper did not understand, from a similar passage in A. Gill's Poemata.

P. 321. The mezzotinto print of Twining, we have often seen for sale in the stationers' shops at Colchester. P. 322. Mr. Southey says, "that Mr. Park's knowledge of English poetry has never been surpassed! We can assure Mr. Southey, that he must very much limit his assertion to certain periods of English poetry, before it is correct; and that Mr. Park's Heliconia, and others of his works, abound with the grossest blunders, and show either the greatest ignorance, or the most extraordinary carelessness. Although we had long entertained this opinion, we would not advance it in opposition to the declaration of the Laureate, till we mentioned the subject to two friends, from whose intimate knowledge of Old English Poetry there could be no appeal; and they both fully confirmed our statement. If Mr. Park possessed a thorough knowledge of English poetry, he did himself great injustice in his works.

The Principles of Gothic Architecture elucidated by Question and Answer. By M. H. Bloxam, Esq. Rugby. 12mo. pp. 96.

A GENERAL idea of the value and beauty of the architecture termed Gothic, is now so pervading a sentiment, that it has become a far less

desirable object to make new converts to the style, than to place the prevailing taste under the discipline of scientific principles and the guidance of the best examples. The present little volume may be regarded as a grammar, or rather as a primer of the art. To some its catechetical form may not be pleasing; but it has the advantage of having bound the author to a very clear and lucid arrangement, and there are as many sugarplums throughout the book, in the shape of pretty woodcuts, as any grown-up child can desire. The talents of Mr. Bloxam are perhaps better known by his very pleasing summary of Monumental Architecture; though the present was his earlier work, having previously appeared in a limited edition, the copies of which have been long "out of print."

After a very clear and intelligent introduction, on the origin, progress, and decline of Gothic Architecture in England, Mr. Bloxam proceeds to discuss, in several chapters, the different kinds of arches; the seven styles of 1. Saxon; 2. Norman; 3. Semi-Norman; 4. Early-English; 5. Decorated; 6. Perpendicular; and 7. Debased;the Principal parts of a Church; its Subordinate parts; and, lastly, its internal Arrangement and Decorations under the old Religion.

And here we cannot help lamenting and even remonstrating on the continued use of the hateful term Gothic. If the various periods of the style are denominated after the respective periods of English history, why should a foreign name be retained to designate the whole? Besides, Mr. Bloxam treats only of Churches, not of Castles nor Houses; and his treatise would certainly have been designated with greater precision as a Catechism of English Church Architecture. We regard Gothic as a term most convenient to be turned exclusively to the abortive imitations of the last and present centuries.

In spite, however, of the opprobium of its name, the antient architecture of England has again raised her head: and honoured be the tasteful handmaids of her attire! Among these the works of Mr. Bloxam may be justly enrolled. The present we recommend

expecially to country clergymen. It treats of the value and beauty of particular parts of churches; and in the preservation of beautiful parts which have accidentally escaped destruction and even injury, much is within their power. They have also occasionally the quiet opportunity of supplying parts which have been lost; such as the mullions of windows; a cross at a gable end; a pinnacle, &c. and to do so with correctness and good taste, and to deserve the gratitude of a subsequent and probably more discriminating age, an arranged system like the present will be found of essential

use.

We notice one historical error in p. 48, namely, that the spire of old St. Paul's was destroyed in the Great Fire: it had been burnt by lightning more than a century before, in the 1561; and we may also correct anyear other, though very trivial, misapprehension respecting the " Sancte bell,' in p. 81. As this name was derived from the passage " Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus," we have little doubt that the final e is a misreading of the contraction us of some old manuscript. It is true we find it termed the Saunce bell, which is evidently an abbreviation of Sanctus; as is the Saint's bell, which occurs in Hudibras, and which is still the popular name in places where the bell still exists.

Guidone, a Dramatic Poem, &c. By

W. Smith, Esq. 1836.

THE Author says, "Guidone, though written in the dramatic form, might be described as belonging to the class of reflective or philosophic poems. It seems needless to add, that it was not composed for representation on the stage, or that the interest of the plot, or story, has been treated as a subordinate matter."

The Author, we think, should have gone one step further, and informed us as to what induced him to write a drama not dramatic. He acknowledges, and justly, its defects, yet he does not attempt to reconstruct it on a better principle. As a drama it fails, we think, wholly in three points :-There is no one leading person from whom the incidents spring, or who interests