The Philosophy of Cotemporary Criticism, 



630 



the Saxon laws and Saxon institutions 

 for the administration of justice, were 

 preserved, with some alterations, by 

 the Conqueror ; and they are persuaded 

 that, though the Saxon legislature may 

 have been altered at the Conquest, ' the 

 spirit of its free institutions, after a 

 lapse of years, so far prevailed, as to 

 force their way into the formation of 

 what has been since called the House 

 of Commons!' But notwithstanding 

 these admissions, they have renounced 

 all enquiry into Siixon times" — and he 

 therefore infers, that they cannot have 

 properly estimated the influence of the 

 Saxon institutions in the formation of 

 the House of Commons. Now we 

 humbly conceive, that it was not at all 

 necessary to enter into any preliminary 

 investigation of the state of the Saxon 

 institutions immediately preceding the 

 Conquest ; for the innovations of the 

 Conqueror being made on existing 

 things, the nature of the thing altered 

 was necessarily known by the declared 

 nature of the innovation proposed. But 

 it is evidently the fault of the reviewer 

 that he has formed certain hypothetical 

 opinions with respect to the ancient ju- 

 ridical, as well as the legislative insti- 

 tutions of the kingdom, and that he 

 struggles with the report, because it 

 seems at variance with his pie-conceiv- 

 ed theories. The great excellence of 

 the report is, that it proceeds upon no 

 pre-conceived tiieory, but brings toge- 

 ther a variety of materials which will 

 help the future liistorian. To judge of 

 it, therefore, by one's own ideas on the 

 subject, is to do a manifest act of injus- 

 tice towards the patience and persever- 

 ance of the author. Independent, how- 

 ever, of this injustice, the strictures are 

 written without any taste, and are nei- 

 ther clear in the expression nor natural 

 in the diction. 



The second article has the inviting 

 title of " Cookery," and from the bill 

 of fare and the quality of the meats, 

 we expected a savoury treat, but we 

 are disappointed. Not to dwell on 

 such didluess, — the article itself is ex- 

 ceedingly mawkish ; it, however, con- 

 tains a few amusing extracts, which 

 may render it palatable to those rea- 

 ders, who will not beat the trouble to 

 dlscriniijiate lietween tlie extracts alid 

 the,isto,v^iilj( pn^lqavoiii-s af; humour on 

 tbi^ part pJTjthe, critic. 

 i The ^AiVc^af tide is on Dissenters' 

 Marriages. \t seems to show some- 

 thing like the former spirit of the 

 Edinburgh Review, but it is that spirit 



fJufyl, 



grown older. Nothing on legislature 

 can indeed be more absurd than tlie 

 marriage law of England, whether con- 

 sidered with respect to the religious 

 portion of the ceremony, or the legal 

 enactments. Public opinion is, how- 

 ever, setting in with a strong current 

 against both, and the law must soon be 

 revised. 



The fourth article bears the empha- 

 tic title of " Naples," and relates to a 

 sketch of the late revolution, by an eye 

 witness. The whole of that affair is 

 derogatoiy to human nature, whether 

 we look at the conduct of the people, 

 the king, or the allies. The details of 

 the process by which so foul a stain 

 was offered on the character of man as 

 a rational being can only be disgusting, 

 and the memorj' of them sliould be 

 hastened by all imaginable means into 

 oblivion. 



The ff/h article is a fulsome eulo- 

 gium on Auastasius, a work that has 

 acquired some, degree of celebrity iu 

 consequence of having been WTitten by 

 a man of fasliion, and like the poems 

 of Lord Byron, by containing a num- 

 ber of real incidents mixed up with a 

 quantity of morbid sentimentality. 



The sixth is a prosing disquisition 

 concerning the efforts of machinery 

 and accumulation. We, however, meet 

 with something like novelty — an Edin- 

 burgli Reviewer actually seems to doubt 

 if one of Mr. Malthus' appi-ehensions 

 may not^' be a little ridiculous. It is 

 diverting to observe, that the Journal 

 which first abetted his reveries, begins 

 to doubt their saneness, just when the 

 legislature has made an attempt to 

 carry some of his principles into effect. 



The article on " Spring Guns and 

 Man Traps" — the seventh— deserves to 

 l)e read, it is spirited and sensible ; we 

 think that in this we can discover 

 touches of an elder hand — one of the 

 original contributors. 



" Mrs. Graham's Three Months near 

 Rome," supplies the topic of the wi»/A 

 article. In the perusal of the book 

 itself, we had much pleasure. It is 

 written with taste and simplicity ,many 

 of the descriptions are pictui-esque, 

 and some of the incidents are not only 

 well told^ but possess the interest of 

 romance. The review of it, however, 

 is not distlnguii^hed by any other merit 

 than a tone of candour and good-nature. 



For some time the periodical press 

 of this countiy has been spiritedly 

 exerted in reducing the excessive pre- 

 tensions to superior accomplishments 



on 



