46<3 



Monthly Review of Literature, 



[[APRIL 



or February, perfectly formed. The cubs, 

 when first born, are very small the size of 

 puppies not, however, unshaped lumps, 

 which the mother licks into form, but 

 really bears in miniature. 



The notion of the bear's sucking its paws 

 for food is now generally exploded, but Mr. 

 Lloyd furnishes some hints which may very 

 well account for the blunder. He does suck 

 his paws. Mr. Lloyd thinks he gets a new 

 skin on the balls of his feet every year, and 

 suggests, with some probability, the suck- 

 ing may facilitate the operation. 



Through the summer, the bear is lean ,* 

 but, as the berries get ripe, he grows fat. 

 Towards the end of October, he ceases to 

 feed, and eats nothing through the winter. 

 His bowels and stomach become quite 

 empty, and contracted into a very small 

 compass, whilst the extremity of them is 

 closed by an indurated substance, called 

 Tappen, composed, it seems, of the last 

 substances, such as pine-leaves, and what 

 he collects from the ant-hills, of which he 

 has eaten. Undisturbed, he sleeps through 

 the winter, and retains his fat no percepti- 

 ble difference is found, let him be shot at 

 what part of the winter he may. The fat 

 about the intestines, which is never consi- 

 derable, is used medicinally, and also for 

 the hair, in Sweden. Such are its virtues, 

 that some one, Mr. Ross, perhaps, to ex- 

 press his full sense of them, has said, " If 

 you rub a deal box with it over night, it 

 will be converted into a hair trunk by the 

 morning." 



The rustic Swedes speak of the bear as 

 having thewit of one man, and the strength of 

 ten ; and the author tells endless anecdotes 

 illustrative of both qualities. He brought 

 up some young ones " they were most 

 amusing fellows, though they soon became 

 too formidable for play-things. They could 

 climb with great facility. Indeed, every 

 now and then," says Mr. Lloyd, " if my 

 window happened to be opened, they would 

 ascend the side of the house, and thus get 

 access to my room. Bears are not unfre- 

 quently domesticated in Wermeland. I 

 heard of one that was so tame, that his 

 master, a peasant, used, occasionally, to 

 make him stand at the back of his sledge, 

 when on a journey ; but the fellow kept so 

 good a balance, that it was next to impos- 

 sible to upset him. When the vehicle 

 went on one side, Bruin threw his weight 

 the other way. One day, however, the 

 peasant amused himself by driving over the 

 very worst ground he could find, with the 

 intention of throwing the bear off his equi- 

 librium ; by which, at last, the animal got 

 so irritated, that he fetched his master, who 

 was in advance of him, a tremendous thump 

 on the shoulder with his paw. This fright- 

 ened the man so much, that he had him 

 killed immediately." 



Cloudesly, by the Author of " Caleb 

 Williams," 3 vols. 12mo With Mr. God- 



win*s metaphysical spirit, a tale of some 

 master passion is the very thing best calcu- 

 lated to shew his strength. No man can 

 more nicely discern the complexities and 

 shades of feeling, or describe them more 

 intensely. His forcible diction and vivid 

 conception combine to impress the reader 

 deeply. The mere construction of the tale 

 is, we allow, a secondary matter, and the 

 author, it is obvious, does not regard it as 

 a principal one ; but, nevertheless, a little 

 more regard to this point would have more 

 concentrated the interest, and could have 

 done no harm. 



The recorder of the tale, at an early age, 

 from family circumstances, was sent to sea 

 in the merchant's service ; but, falling ill, 

 was left, at some port in Russia, in the care 

 of some good-natured person, and, by him, 

 eventually placed in an inferior post in 

 Peter's new university. After a while, he 

 was removed into the office of Beren, the 

 Empress Anne's favourite, and was, for 

 a time, much distinguished by him ; but, 

 at last, offending that potent personage, he 

 fled from his implacable revenge, and re- 

 turned to his native village, to a friend with 

 whom he had kept up a correspondence 

 during his services in Russia. His letters 

 had been shewn to a nobleman's steward 

 they embraced, probably, the whole history 

 and statistics of Russia and by him to his 

 lord, a melancholy moody peer of the 

 neighbourhood. By this lord, Meadows 

 was speedily sent for. He had a special 

 occasion for a youth of his activity and in- 

 telligence ; and, finding him apt, made him 

 forthwith his confident, and employed him. 

 Here begins the tale, for it is the conduct 

 of this lord, and his confederate in guilt, 

 Cloudesly, which forms the staple of the 

 story. This Lord Altin, with an elder 

 brother, had served under Prince Eugene. 

 While in this service, the elder married a 

 Greek lady, whom he had rescued from 

 violation, and fell in a duel, a short time 

 before the birth of her first child. The 

 younger brother, the Lord Altin of the 

 story, had a strong thirst for the peerage, 

 and the opportunity seemed suddenly placed 

 within his grasp. If the shock killed the 

 lady, or if she produced a girl, the title and 

 estates were all his own. If a boy came 

 into the world, could not he be disposed 

 of? Cloudesly, his brother's servant, and 

 he, quickly understood each other, and 

 when the mother actually gave birth to a 

 boy and died, Cloudesly took the child with 

 five hundred pounds a year, and his em- 

 ployer the title and property. The destruc- 

 tion of the child was not thought of his 

 removal seemed secured and Cloudesly 

 fixed himself in Italy, and brought up the 

 child as his own. The child proved, as 

 the child of a nobleman should, of a noble 

 spirit ; and his guardian, to soothe his own 

 conscience, educated him as a gentleman, 

 with a strong feeling, all along, that he would 

 finally recover his rights, and a determina- 



