224 



Monthly Review of Literature, 



[FEB. 



nothing that can arrest the attention of 

 any intelligent person, as to manner or 

 matter. Among the seven or eight 

 selected from living preachers, two are 

 the production of the Bishop of Lon- 

 don, and more lifeless pieces of inanity 

 we scarcely ever looked upon there is 

 no vigour of conception in them no 

 spirit in the handling no novelty of 

 illustration no, nor one single flash of 

 eloquence merely humdrum. A ser- 

 mon of Benson reflecting upon Lord 

 Byron, gives occasion for a note by the 

 editor on the subject of Kennedy's con- 

 versations with the noble poet. Dr. 

 Dibdin thinks Kennedy did not treat 

 his patient skilfully. He should have 

 administered steel doses of Paley and 

 Herbert Marsh, instead of drenching 

 him with thin potations of methodism. 

 The Editor has, apparently, no doubt 

 that, had Dr. Dibdm prescribed, the re- 

 sult would have been a cure. 



The Gentleman in Black, Illustrated by 

 Cruickshank. A smart little jeu d 1 esprit 

 descriptive of some of the wily man- 

 oeuvres of the Gentleman in Black. A 

 portion of it appeared some time ago in 

 a publication called the Literary Mag- 

 net, which, though a work of some 

 value, shared the fate of scores of even 

 good periodicals. The tale is now com- 

 pleted, and illustrated by some of the 

 touches of Cruickshank's pencil never 

 so happy as when exposing the devil. A 

 young French spendthrift, pestered by 

 tailors' bills, exclaims, "What the devil 

 shall I do?" "Did you call, Monsieur?" 

 inquires the Gentleman in Black, sud- 

 denly presenting himself at this invoca- 

 tion. The youngster, after getting over 

 his surprise a little, enters into a formal 

 compact for unlimited supplies of money, 

 on condition of sinning (quite to his 

 taste) annually a definite quantity, be- 

 ginning with one moment, but proceeding 

 in a geometrical ratio. In pretty much 

 the same circumstances a young Eng- 

 lishman makes the same bargain. Both, 

 of course, go on for some time in the full 

 swing of indulgence, checked only by the 

 sable Gentleman, when either appears 

 on the point of doing, which rarely 

 occurs, any thing likely to conflict with 

 his general views. For some years, of 

 course, the advantages of the contract 

 are all on one side the quid pro quo is 

 of the lightest kind, but gradually it 

 grows too weighty to be longer borne. 

 In some thirty years the stipulation 

 demands the work of four thousand 

 days at the rate of sixteen hours a day 

 in a single year. Even the sum of his 

 early excesses, though liberally placed 

 to his credit, scarcely relieves him, and 

 in his despair he lays the bond before an 

 old cunning fox of a lawyer to see if he 

 can detect a flaw. The bond is correctly 



drawn, but the lawyer proves the bank- 

 notes which had been supplied to be 

 forgeries, which cuts away a large slice 

 of the devil's demands ; and as to the 

 rest of the debt, the lawyer finally 

 frightens him into accepting a composi- 

 tion, by threatening to throw the case 

 into Chancery, where, of course, it is 

 not likely to be decided in his time. 

 (This, it will be remembered, occurred 

 before the accelerating days of Chancellor 

 Brougham.) The bond is accordingly 

 cancelled, and the victorious litigant 

 turns over a new leaf. 



In the meanwhile the Frenchman has 

 recourse, in his embarrassments, to his 

 confessor and the church, but obstructed 

 by a thousand forms and appeals, he 

 luckily consults his English friend, who 

 of course recommends Ms own lawyer, 

 and the lawyer, elated by his recent 

 triumph, readily undertakes the matter. 

 The case is already before the church, 

 and must be prosecuted in its courts. 

 The lawyer makes an alliance with a 

 Jesuit, and the devil, through bravely 

 resisting these fearful odds, finally gives 

 way, seduced by the glorious prospects 

 opened to him by the schemes of the 

 Jesuits, already in agitation, and sure to 

 be productive to him of the most satis- 

 factory results. 



Cabinet Library, Vol. I Dr. Lardner 

 again. Dr. Lardner is taking the whole 

 corps de litterature into his grasp and his 

 pay. Whoever cannot be made avail- 

 able for the service of the Cyclopaedia, 

 may in one shape or other be crimped 

 into the miscellanies of the library 

 nothing will be too great or too little ; 

 too hot or too heavy. Captain Sherer 

 takes the field in this new war, and the 

 gallant Captain details the active life, 

 ten times told, of the Duke of Welling- 

 ton, with a spirit and intelligence that 

 augurs well for the new campaign of his 

 literary chief. Considering the Duke's 

 incessant activity in India for seven 

 vears, in the field and in council, a 

 larger space might have been assigned 

 to that portion of his life, especially as 

 it is precisely the least known to the 

 public. Captain S. is of course highly 

 eulogistic ; but he lays too much stress 

 upon the Seringapatam address on Sir 

 Arthur's departure from India, as if 

 such addresses were voluntary things, 

 or indicative of any thing but fear, flat- 

 tery, or interest. The volume before 

 us, the first of three, carries on the 

 Duke's story to the battle of Talavera. 

 Though the'Captain sees nothing wrong 

 in the field, let who will be commander, 

 hecan detect nothing right in the cabinet 

 at home, and talks in good set terms of 

 regiments idling at home which might 

 have contributed to victoi'ies abroad. 

 Strong beginnings, he assures us, very 



