1821.] 



Critical Notices of Books of the Month. 



SET, contains besides an account of the 

 proceedings in Parga and the Ionian Isles, 

 with the cession of that country to the 

 Turkish government, a refutation of the 

 statements in the Quarterly Review, and 

 of Lieutenaut-General Sir Thomas Mait- 

 land on the subject, with a report of 

 the trial between that officer and the 

 author. The cession of Parga to the Otto- 

 man government has been universally con- 

 demned, but the manner in which the Par- 

 guiuotes were deceived in their reliance 

 upon British protection, and transferred to 

 a remorseless government, adds greatly to 

 the guilt and obloquy of this transaction. 

 Col. De Bosset, states that he was sent to 

 communicate to the Parguiuotes the cession 

 of their country to the Porte, and to give 

 the citizens a solemn assurance that all 

 those who should be unwilling to subject 

 themselves to the Turks, would be at li- 

 berty to emigrate ; and that in case of so 

 doing they should find an asylum and pro- 

 tection in the Ionian Islands, to which they 

 should be transported free of expeuce ; and 

 that they should not leave their country 

 without receiving a full pecuniary indem- 

 nification for the property they abandoned. 

 This declaration was made under the fullest 

 conviction tliat such promises would never 

 be violated, and the Parguiuotes were ac- 

 cordingly persuaded to place full reliance 

 on the justice and generosity of the British 

 government. The arrival, however, at 

 Parga of a British and Ottoman commis- 

 sioner with a large retinue, and the equi- 

 vocal mode of their proceedings, soon con- 

 vinced the Parguiuotes that these promises 

 were to be disregarded, and the natural 

 consequence was, that they lost all confi- 

 dence in the British authorities. It is most 

 necessary that the true state of these trans- 

 actions should be fully known to the British 

 public. The narrative is perspicuous, and 

 the facts, so little to the credit of the Bri- 

 tish name, are stated with the " fullest per- 

 suasion of their authenticity." 



It is not for want of good advice that our 

 legislators err ; but the most solemn warn- 

 ings and lessons of experience appear to be 

 lost upon them. The nation, however, is sen- 

 sible of its situation, and we hope the land 

 owners will now listen a little to the voice 

 of truth. A pamphlet well worthy of their 

 attention is seasonably addressed to them 

 and the public, under the title of A Warn- 

 ing voice to the Legislators and Land 

 Owners of the United Kingdom. The 

 causes of the prevailing distresses of the 

 country are well exposed by the author, 

 ■who justly attributes much of the embar- 

 rassments of agriculture to the landlords 

 holding out for war rents while produce is 

 at peace prices, (a proceeding to which 

 ■we presume they are greatly compelled 

 by the undiminished weight of taxation) 

 to commercial restrictions, prohibitious, 



Z69 



and monopolies. For our financial diffi- 

 culties the author of the warning pro- 

 poses a remedy, in the justice and effi- 

 cacy of which all will not agree — namely, 

 a tax on property without touching- income. 

 With many this is a favourite idea, though 

 such a measure would evidently be partial 

 and unjust. A man, for instance, dies, 

 leaving to a son and daughter 50001. each. 

 The former embarks in trade, makes fifteen 

 or twenty per cent of his money, and is 

 exempted from the property tax. The fe- 

 male invests lier proportion in the funds, 

 gets something less than five per cent, and 

 is assessed to two, three, or five per 

 cent, property tax as may be imposed. 

 Surely this cannot be right. It is a viola- 

 tion of the first principles of justice and of 

 taxation to make the less income pay hea- 

 vily, while the greater escapes altogether. 



The principal poem in a small collection, 

 called The Lilian Bride, and other poems, 

 by Barton Wilford, is evidently an 

 attempt to imitate Lord Byron's style and 

 subjects. It is not a very successful en-, 

 deavour. The piece possesses some good 

 passages, in which there are both poetry 

 and spirit, but on the whole, the Liliau 

 Bride will rank far below the " Eastern 

 Brides," of whom the impassioned muse 

 of Byron has given us some account. The 

 minor pieces are pleasing, and evince con- 

 siderable fancy, but the following openings 

 stanza of " Twilight," is surely gramma- 

 tically incorrect. 



Let lovers sigh for night. 

 In tlieii young fancy sweetest. 



When p.tle Lima's gentle light 

 The eye greelest. 

 Among the novels which lay claim to atJ 

 tention, we have this mouth to notice se-. 

 veral of considerable merit. Svch is the 

 fVorld, in 3 vols, is the production of a 

 highly gifted mind, well acquainted with 

 the varieties of cliaracter that figure in the 

 world, and accustomed to indulge in obser- 

 vations on the manners and peculiarities of 

 fashionable life. The plot is deeply inte- 

 resting, and the developement skilfully 

 effected. The moral tendency of the story 

 is such as a virtuous mind loves to pursue 

 and to delineate. Isabella Templeton is a 

 being of a most interesting order-, but, 

 though such may be too often the way of 

 the world, there is a fault committed against 

 justice in not wedding her in the end to 

 the man of her heart. 



The Favourite of Nature, 3 vols. This 

 is likewise a well written novel, in which 

 female character and an intimate knowledge 

 of the human heart are ably pourtrayed. 

 The vices of the rich and gay are also well 

 sketched, and the fate of their youthful 

 victim, Eliza Rivers, is such as must deeply 

 affect the sensitive mind. It is a tale 

 which no mother need be afraid to place iu 

 the hands of lier daiighter. It is intended 

 to shew the necessity of controuling the 

 passions 



