MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 571 



and eventually, when he comes to pay off the demand upon his estate, he passes 

 5,OOOZ. in forged notes, to Mr. Priminheere, at the same time that that gentle- 

 man hands him over the deed of mortgage, which, it subsequently appears, is 

 also forged : so that there is a double forgery committed by two gentlemen of 

 landed property in Bedfordshire a reciprocal exchange of villainy at the same 

 moment. 



Mr. Priminheere, however, by his superior skill and rascality, contrives to 

 remain undiscovered till his death, but in the mean time prosecutes Mortimer, 

 who is found guilty, left for execution, and escapes by the timely discovery of a 

 flaw in the indictment! 



Now, leaving altogether out of the question the probability of this story, we 

 do not see in what manner it exemplifies the striking defect of punishment for 

 death. Here are two men, either or both of whom ought to be made signal 

 examples of, whatever the punishmont might be ; and it is our opinion, that, so 

 far from having imagined cases (as he ought to have done) wherein the injustice 

 and the hardship of the punishment should be strikingly exemplified, he has 

 contrived to furnish us with two instances in which, if any, the punishment of 

 death should have been strictly enforced. 



" The Lunatic" is a much better tale in every respect. A young gentleman, 

 the son of a Tory baronet, very much perplexes his worthy parent, by the unre- 

 served propounding and promulgation of Radical principles, insomuch that his 

 father conceives it to be a case of monomania, and decides upon placing him 

 under gentle restraint. Calling to his aid two worthies, an apothecary and a 

 physician, whose respective names are Squaggs and Welkin, he succeeds, or 

 rather they, without his knowledge or consent, contrive to immure the young 

 man in one of those lunatic asylums so called, we presume, from the peculiar 

 pains there taken to make their inmates mad as soon after their arrival as pos- 

 sible, and to keep them so as long as the " friends " of the patients, or their own 

 particular interests, require it. 



This is, indeed, an excellent tale well told with variety of incidents and 

 character, and with much humour. Not to speak in disparagement of the first 

 tale, we must confess that we have been highly pleased with the second ; and we 

 think that our readers' time will be amply repaid by a perusal of both. 



'^AMILY LIBRARY, No. XXXV. LIFE or PETER THE GREAT. LONDON. 



1CTO 



Joo/. 

 ^M. 1 . ~ ."'.'.M jirjcjiiiop .D3feoqn.o t J gf fi 



THE author of this work has done little more than put in another form the 

 multiplicity of materials, with which various authors have furnished him, for a 

 life of Peter the Great. We are bound in j ustice to say, that he has performed 

 his task in the best possible manner. 



The Life of the Czar Peter presents an interesting study to the reader, in 

 more points than one. That a man, himself ignorant, should have been the 

 first to encourage and to foster the arts and sciences in his own country ; that 

 he should have made himself a great general, and an expert seaman, and have 

 been the first to teach his people the arts of war ; to have created a powerful 

 fleet, and to have attempted and succeeded in changing entirely the manners and 

 habits of his country ; and all this, more by the instinct of a plain energy of 

 character, than out of the workings of a great or comprehensive genius ; a cha- 

 racter like this must be interesting to all to the student, to the historian, and 

 to the philosopher. If to such a man the term " Great" be not applicable, 

 (and some have doubted whether he has deserved that title,) to whom can it 

 fairly or with more honour attach ? 

 -ipitr .i'-uroddgi'.v 



THE WORTHIES OF YORKSHIRE AND LANCASHIRE. BY HARTLEY COLERIDGE. 

 PART I. LONDON : 1832. 



Mr. Coleridge, in an exceedingly well-written introductory essay, has deemed 

 it necessary to vindicate the usefulness and importance of biography, upon the 



