230 NOTES OF THE MONTH. 



ARISTOCRATIC GKNIUS. The following paragraph must be par- 

 ticularly gratifying' to our dignified and^exclusive aristocracy: 



" On Thursday last the Marquess of Worcester drove the Quicksilver coach 

 out of Brighton, a great crowd of people were collected to witness the noble 

 Marquiss's skill." 



What a blessing it is to this country that 'our hereditary legislators 

 possess talents so varied and extraordinary as the noble Marquess. He 

 is not ashamed to qualify himself for a seat in the House of Peers 

 by a preparatory seat on^the^box of the Quicksilver. However some 

 may smile at such a course, how could a stage-coach-bill be properly 

 discussed, unless there were practical men in the house ? If noble 

 lords limited their attainments to such questions as are connected 

 solely with church or state what chance would the country have of 

 seeing a road-bill pass through its several stages with eclat? Who 

 could horse it ? It is delightful to observe a descendant of the 

 noble house of Beaufort not disdaining such humble legislation and 

 seeking instruction, at"the* hands of Hell-fire Dick, Blazing Bill and 

 Walham Wag ! 



MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. 



DELAWARE, OR THE RUINED FAMILY. "* 3 vols. EDINBURGH : CADELL. 

 LONDON : WHITTAKER, TREACHER, AND Co. 



WE have read this tale with a considerable degree of interest : the plot 

 is well conceived and skilfully executed, and the characters and incidents are 

 successively developed in a manner which proves the author is not only a 

 master of his pen, but also, and it is a higher essential, of that vast and 

 many-hued original human nature from which he has so ably copied. He 

 is evidently a man of the world of keen and rapid observation ; and there is 

 a vein of rich satire which pervades the work, operating more upon acts and 

 feeling than upon individuals themselves, and enhancing the author's merit 

 as an observant and powerful writer, without involving him in the charge of 

 bitterness as a man. The first volume is really admirable, and though we 

 have lived (and who has not ?) to that period of life when we involuntarily 

 shrink from the infliction of three volumes, still we returned to the work 

 after having been compelled to close it for awhile, with a zest and inclina- 

 tion which proved to us, without dwelling on the " why and wherefore" of 

 the case, that it possessed a more than ordinary share of interest. The se- 

 cond volume flags perhaps a little it is spun out ; but the web is of good 

 material. Of the incidents, few, if any, are forced ; the people, as well as 

 facts, are natural. The ladies and gentlemen speak as ladies and gentlemen 

 should speak, and the attorney of the tale is as dishonest as an attorney 

 should be all is natural and right. The character of Mr. Beauchamp (who 

 under the assumed name of Burrel secures the affections of his cousin, and 

 saves her family from ruin) is finely drawn : here we have a man by birth, 

 fortune, education, manners, and (it is a rara avis now a-days) mind and 

 principle a gentleman. We honestly recommend all such as fancy them- 

 selves " perfect gentlemen," and yet ever and anon feel the shadow of a doubt 

 resting on their minds as to their perfection, to read the work under review. 

 Nor can we better display our anxiety to aid the author than in making this 

 request, for we entertain a strong conviction that, if complied with, it would 

 be greedily perused by nine out of ten apprentices in London, to say nothing 



