MONTHLY RLVIKW OF LITERATURE. tfl 



one, which, while it contains much that is highly instructive in general liter- 

 ature, conveys its knowledge in that fascinating manner that even the most 

 lazy aud self-indulgent cannot deny it the entree to their love and favour. 



We were forcibly reminded, while reading it, of D'Jsraeli's Curiosities of 

 Literature, which has always been a great favourite of ours ; and surely it is 

 no slight praise to award it a place second only to that phoenix of anecdote 

 books. It is hoped that the ensuing volumes of the series will justify the ex- 

 pectation we form, that they will very long be held in the highest estima- 

 tion as books of innocent and refined literary recreation, calculated no less to 

 sooth the anxious cares of men of learning than to furnish more generally 

 many hours of cheerful entertainment to the domestic circles of the educated 

 classes of our countrymen. 



Out of the great number of laughable anecdotes that we have read in this 

 little volume, it would not be possible to mention even a tenth part. We re- 

 serve two or three for our readers, and just allude to a few others, in addition, 

 as being worthy of special notice. Among the latter we mention " Names of 

 Authors in the Middle Ages ;" " Examination of Recruits," a very amusing 

 expose of the cheats practised by white-feathered men of war ; " Mistakes of 

 Translators," containing some hard hits at living litterateurs ; and two very 

 amusing articles on the ceremonials and hours of attendance at the Houses of 

 Parliament. 



The following anecdotes have been selected as likely to furnish our readers 

 with a fair notion of the contents of the book in question. The first is a very 

 curious history of some impudent charlatans who assumed the name and dig- 

 nity of the exiled royal family of Naples at the period of the French domina- 

 tion in Italy : the second will be no less interesting, as giving a history of 

 the costume of the English stage during the last hundred and fifty years. 



" In 1799, a French army, under General Championnet, took possession of 

 nearly all the kingdom of Naples ; and a republic, on the model of the 

 French, was proclaimed at the capital. The Bourbon King, Ferdinand, fled 

 with his family and court into Sicily, but they left numerous partizans behind 

 them ; for the Neapolitan people hated both the French and the republic, and 

 were no more fit for the new form of government than they were for Sir 

 Thomas Moore's Utopia. Any sudden change of rule, or subversion of 

 old authorities, in a country so uncivilized as Naples then was, is sure to offer 

 a favourable field for the exercise of imposture and all kinds of villany ; and 

 though there were honourable and conscientious men on both sides, the re- 

 publicans as well as royalists certainly had among them an abundant supply 

 of astute and remorseless rogues, who only looked to their own advantages, 

 and delighted to fish in troubled waters, being alike insensible to justice and 

 patriotism. The heroes of this tale were not Neapolitans ; but there were 

 Neapolitans who committed far worse though less amusing villaines. 



" While the Bourbon court was waiting events in Sicily, four Corsican ad- 

 venturers, De Cesare, Boccheciampe, Corbara, and Colonna, stirred up the 

 important provinces of Apulia against the French- Neapolitan republic. The 

 rank of these ingenious fellows was not very elevated. De Cesare had been 

 a livery servant in his own island, Boccheciampe an artilleryman and deserter, 

 while the other two, Colonna and Corbara, had never been any thing so re- 

 spectable as a footman or a soldier. They had all been living for some time 

 in the city of Naples by the practice of obscene and dishonourable arts, but 

 fled thence into the provinces on the approach of the French army. Their in- 

 tention at first seems to have been merely to embark at some sea-port of Apu- 

 lia, and pass over to Sicily or Corfu ; but their views enlarged as they went 

 on and saw the turbulent state of the country, and a new friend and ally de- 

 termined them to take upon themselves the parts of royalty. At the small 

 town of Montejasi, they chanced to take up their lodgings for the night in the 

 house of a small farmer called Gerunda : and it happened that this farmer 

 was not only a Bourbonist, but an experienced arranger of plots and intrigues. 



M.M. No. 1. G 



