J830.] 



Domestic and Foreign. 



been aroused to an unequivocal condemnation of 

 negro slavery, which is a thraldom of the body 

 more than of the soul ; but it may well be ques- 

 tioned, whether negro slavery is in itself worse, 

 And it must at all events be admitted, that it is 

 J'ar more consistent, than that slavery which I 

 have been describing, which, under the forms of 

 freedom, demoralizesthe soul, robs it of all liberty 

 and of all dignity, and, by the bait of licentious 

 self-indulgence.entices man to descend, of his own 

 accord, below the level of a brute, &c. 



Tales of a Briefless Barrister, 3 vols. 



12mo. ; 1830 Barrister or no barrister, 



.with briefs or without, these tales the rea- 

 der need apprehend none of the botherings 

 of the courts though not very remarkable 

 for novelty of incident, or cleverness of con- 

 struction, or the painting of striking scenes 

 to the neglect of every thing else, are very 

 agreeably told, leisurely and quietly, with 

 ffaiete de cosur and soberness of humour, 

 touching grave topics lightly, and light ones 

 trippingly, and securing attention without 

 wearying it. The principal tale, entitled 

 " Second Thoughts are " best," concerns 

 chiefly a young gentleman of good family 

 and fortune, who, at a very early age, aban- 

 dons his father's roof and civilized society, 

 to consort first with gipsies, and, in succes- 

 sion, with players, radicals, and methodists, 

 for the purpose of correcting, by any means, 

 the world and 'its worthless ways. After 

 a career of four or five years, during which 

 misery had brought him acquainted with 

 strange companions, and with, of course, 

 very moderate success in the carrying of his 

 object, circumstances, especially the death 

 of an elder brother, bring him back to his 

 father's home, where he quickly begins to 

 feel some of the consequences of his devia- 

 tions from the forms of society recoil upon 

 him. Unluckily, his father's conduct had 

 not been of the correctest through some 

 .very singular circumstances, the mother of 

 his children was not his wife ; the discovery 

 of which, apparently, though not distinctly, 

 adds to the son's embarrassments in treading 

 back the path to sobriety and intercourse 

 with his caste. Though returning, with 

 very little persuasion, to his father's house, 

 he had changed none of his opinions at 

 least he refused to confess a change ; but a 

 succession of little events and rr/ortifications, 

 by degrees, and not very slowly, operate a 

 complete one, which he finally and fully 

 acknowledges. He encounters an elderly 

 gentleman at a coffee-house, who, by good 

 humour and calm argument, baffles and 

 bothers him, and by whom, eventually, with 

 the aid especially of a lovely niece, he is 

 finally corrected and redrilled into the level 

 course of common forms. It is idle to 

 particularize farther ; the merit of the tales 

 lies in the cheerful philosophy and moderat- 

 ing tone of the author a vein of quaint and 

 quizzing remark running through the whole, 

 the more acceptable as there exists, at the 

 same time, a disposition to discussing. It 

 is more to the purpose to furnish a specimen, 



though it be one, rarely occurring, of un- 

 mixed gravity. The dialoguists are the 

 hero, and the chief agent of his reforma- 

 tion. The young gentleman begins Socra- 

 tically : 



" But are you not of opinion that there is 

 something wrong in the state of society ?" 



The stranger good-humouredly answered him 

 accordingly, " There is." 



" And is it not desirable that that which is 

 wrong should be corrected and made right ?'' 

 "It is desirable." 



If there be something wrong, and if It be 

 desirable that it should be made right, by what 

 means can it be so made right but by direcihig 

 the attention of the world to the means of cor- 

 recting evil ?" 



" Clearly that must be the first stf p to' im- 

 provement.'' 



" And is not that which is right more advan- 

 ageous than that which is wrong?" 

 " There can be no doubt of it..'' 

 " When, therefore, men know what is wrong, 

 and how it may be corrected ; and when they 

 know that the right is more advantageous than 

 the wrong, will they not naturally pursue that 

 which is right ?" 

 " No." 



" No?" echoed the young gentleman. " Are 

 not all men guided in their conduct by that 

 which they perceive to be their interest ?" 



" Not one in a thousand," said the stranger. 

 " Human beings do not act upon calculation ; 

 they act from impulse, from passion, from ca- 

 price, from any thing, in short, than calculation. 

 All the moral and religious exhortations which 

 are addressed to mankind, all the passionate and 

 earnest appeals that are made to their feelings 

 in favour of virtue, are on the supposition that 

 they do not act upon calculation. If virtue, 

 and religion, and propriety of demeanour, and 

 benevolence in conduct, were the result of cal- 

 culation, they might be taught as easily as the 

 multiplication-table, and their influence over the 

 mind would be as permanent and universal as 

 the knowledge of figures. When a man has 

 learned the multiplication-table, he knows as 

 long as he lives, and he uniformly acts upon 

 the knowledge, that three times three are nine ; 

 lie never has a moment's doubt of the fact. In 

 matters of calculation there is also a complete 

 and unwavering uniformity of opinion ; oh other 

 topics you can scarcely find two people to think 

 alike." 



The best scene in the book is a literary 

 converzatione, to which the hero is con- 

 ducted by some of the understrappers of the 

 press the foppery and inanity of such meet- 

 ings are well shewn up. 



Family Library, Vol. IX. Milman's Con- 

 clusion of his History of the Jews ; 1 829. 



With Mr. Milman's views, his execution 



of the early history of the Jews was a diffi- 

 cult, because a delicate, and even a treacher- 

 ous task, while that of the modern part was 

 comparatively easy and safe ; for, though 

 the materials were more scattered, he had 

 only a plain tale to tell. He has, however, 

 done the whole thing, in our opinion, for 

 the most part, well, and is already, we hope, 



