I83L] 



Domestic and Foreign. 



679 



grotto echoed no more with songs her 

 attendant nymphs durst not address 

 her," &c. 



Now for the kind of imitation which 

 M. Jacotot patronizes: 



" Caroline was inconsolable for the 

 death of her mother. In the height of 

 her sorrow, she thought it an unhappi- 

 ness to survive her. Her apartment 

 echoed no more with the sound of her 

 voice, nor with that of her harp her 

 attendants durst not address her for fear 

 of increasing her sadness," &c. 



Is there any English mother who 

 would force this kind of parodying 

 upon her children, and think it an ac- 

 quisition ? Yes, thousands, and proud 

 of it too. 



Standard Novels, Vol. III. Cooper's 

 Spy. Mr. Cooper's " Spy" is founded 

 upon an authenticated fact. During the 

 revolutionary war, both parties employed 

 spies, for which their common language 

 gave great facilities. After the close of 

 the war, a member of congress demanded 

 remuneration, without disclosing the 

 name, for an individual, whom he repre- 

 sented as having encountered extraordi- 

 nary perils on the hazardous service of 

 a spy. The remuneration was granted 

 on the faith of the proposer ; but refused 

 by the individual himself who had been 

 actuated throughout by the most ele- 

 vated motives, though in a disreputable 

 commission on the ground that the na- 

 tion, exhausted by its long exertions, had 

 too much need of its money for other 

 purposes. Mr. Cooper knew nothing of 

 the party, but built, his fiction on the 

 facts detailed before the congress. The 

 tale has been carefully revised much of 

 it re-written, and forms one of a series 

 of tales better adapted to communicate a 

 thorough knowledge of America than all 

 the histories and travels, that have ever 

 been published of the country. 



Family Library, Vol. XXI. Palgrave's 

 History of England, during the Saxon 

 period. Mr. Palgrave's history of the 

 Saxons is better calculated than any- 

 thing we iiave read, to throw an interest 

 over our early annals. His perfect ac- 

 quaintance with the details of the period, 

 as far as they can be gathered" from the 

 relics which time has left, gave him a 

 great advantage over all competitors in 

 this department his great familiarity 

 with the subject enables him to describe 

 and discuss with confidence, ease, and 

 effect. In his recent controversy with 

 Mr. Nicolas, he had not very favourably 

 impressed us but he obviously gave 

 way to temper; and a man's intellect, 

 and acquirements, and above all his 

 powers of communicating, are not to be 

 judged of by his temper, or his con- 

 duct. 



Cabinet Cyclopaedia, Vol. XVIII. Sir 

 James Mackintosh's History, Vol. II. 

 This second volume conducts Sir James's 

 history to the death of Mary. With the 

 reign of Henry commences a visible im- 

 provement he writes con amore, as he 

 comes upon periods which have engaged 

 more of his attention. The develop- 

 ment of principles, the influence of which 

 has extended to our own times, rouses 

 all his powers. The new volume is a far 

 more favourable specimen of what may 

 be anticipated than the first. It is every- 

 way an amendment the very style is 

 easier, though still occasionally obscure 

 and stiff, especially when he attempts to 

 generalize and condense into maxims. 

 The chief value of his performance will 

 be found to consist in the close scrutiny 

 with which he examines the evidence for 

 facts, and the care with which he esti- 

 mates characters exhibiting every where 

 the well-considered results of a sound 

 judgment, guided by a liberal spirit, and 

 exempt from prejudice. 



Epitome of English Literature, Vol. II. 

 The volume contains Paley 's Evidence, 

 compressed into something less than one 

 half of the original with a portion of 

 Locke's Essay, which is condensed at 

 about the same rate. Certainly Locke 

 is more susceptible of useful abridgment 

 than Paley. A good deal of his book is 

 occupied in discussing debateable mat- 

 ter, much of which has lost its interest; 

 and nobody will deny but the manner, 

 by its lengthiness wearies ; still, for our- 

 selves, we prefer the original because 

 we like at all times the writer better than 

 the interpreter ; but we believe, never- 

 theless, Locke will have a better chance 

 of being read, if not understood, in the 

 present epitomised shape. People will 

 not be so likely, henceforth, to have 

 Locke in their mouths, and on their 

 pens, without knowing anything about 

 him, as before, and so far this will be 

 a good. 



The Sunday Library, Vol. III. Dr. 

 Dibdin, for his third volume, has called 

 from the dead some specimens of pulpit 

 eloquence, as the phrase is, from Horsley, 

 White, and Parr, and of the living, from 

 the Bishops of Durham and Bristol (Van 

 Mildred and Gray,) and Dr. D'Oyly of 

 Lambeth. Parr's volumes would have 

 furnished better sermons than either of 

 the two selected by Dr. Dibdin espe- 

 cially among those which were written 

 in his maturer days. The editor has 

 added, in a note, some extracts from 

 Gaudin, which prove him, Gaudin (not 

 Dibdin), at least equal to the composition 

 of the Icon Basilike to the authorship of 

 which he has undoubtedly the best title. 

 The Sunday Library will close with the 

 sixth volume. 



