1 SSS.X Literary and Cr 



our calculations with the utmo.st exact- 

 ness. Nor need we confine our prognosti- 

 cations to the time of their appearance 

 alone. Their character, also, may be de- 

 termined a priori; and each successive 

 work leaves ns little to say, in point of 

 criticism, but to repeat, with slight modi- 

 fications, our strictures on its predeces- 

 sors. The author, truly, seems determined 

 to exhaust the patient perseverance of the 

 critics, vf ho have hitherto panted after him 

 with exemplary industry. Of Pevml of 

 the Peak, we shall brief]y say, that it exhi- 

 bits the same merits and defects which 

 characterize all the works of this writer, 

 whoever he may be. Much genius, much 

 life, and extensive information, are to 

 be found in almost every page, alloyed 

 with great negligence of style, vast impro- 

 babilities of plot, and exaggerated and un- 

 natural characters. The time of the pre- 

 sent novel is laid in the reign of Charles 

 the Second, who is finely painted; and the 

 author has availed himself of the striking 

 contrast, afforded by the Puritan and 

 Cavalier factions, to bring out several cha- 

 racters in very bold and beautiful colours. 

 Great |)ainshave evidently been bestowed 

 on the Duke of Buckingham, who makes 

 a conspicuous figure, and is drawn with 

 much spirit and effect. With his usual 

 propensity to whatever is grotesque and 

 strange, the novelist takes delight in 

 placing frequently before our eyes, the 

 diminutive figure of the well-known Geof- 

 frey Hudson ; and, as a kind of counter- 

 part, he has invented a female, of about 

 the same stature, half imp and half human, 

 bred between a Manksman and an Ara- 

 bian or Hindoo woman, abounding in 

 apish tricks and subtle wiles, a rope- 

 dancer on a mountebank's booth, and an 

 aspirant to the honours of alliance with the 

 houses of Peveril or Buckingham; and 

 this little abortive anomaly of wotnan, he 

 makes the pivot upon which all his plot 

 turns. This part of the story is highly im- 

 probable ; ami is altogether, in our opinion, 

 very far from pleasing. But this is cer- 

 tainly its weakest point ; and, for the rest, 

 the reader may refer to these four volumes 

 with the assurance of receiving from them 

 the same kind and <iegree of satisfaction 

 which, we take it for granted, he has de- 

 rived from the perusal of its many 

 precursors. 



Notwithstanding the works which have 

 been, at various times, published, on the 

 history of the external wars and domestic 

 quarrels of the Romans, and the numerous 

 accounts of their laws, manners, and cus- 

 toms, it is a curious fact, that there lias not 

 been one, at least in this country, which 

 has treated exclusively, and in a popular 

 style, of the rise and pi ogress of literature 

 in that interesting nation. This most im- 

 portant branch of their history has now 

 b«en filtered upon, in a manner which <lc- 



itical Proanium. 



]67 



serves the highest commendation, by John 

 DuNLop, ESQ. the well-known author of 

 the History of Fiction. It is entitled, A 

 History of Roman Literature, from its Ear- 

 liest Period to the Augustan Age. We sin- 

 cerely hope, ere long, to see this work 

 concluded ; and we feel convinced, that if, 

 as the author intimates in his preface, the 

 completion of his plan depends upon the 

 reception which these two volumes meet 

 with, he will have no cause to disappoint 

 us. We cannot conclude this short notice 

 without assuring our readers, that they 

 highly deserve a place on the shelf of 

 every lover of literature. 



One of the most amusing publications 

 we have for some time met with, is Relics 

 of Literature, by Stephen Collet, a.m. 

 It consists of a great variety of literary 

 fragments, collected by the author, in a 

 very miscellaneous course of reading. The 

 most curious and interesting papers are 

 principally selected from manuscripts, and 

 other rare volumes, in the British Mu- 

 seum, and are particularly valuable for the 

 light they throw upon our general and 

 literary history. There are many poems 

 and other papers collected by the author 

 from American journals, or drawn up and 

 arranged by him during a late visit to that 

 country. These are peculiarly interesting, 

 as illustrative of the state of literature and 

 civilization in that quarter of the globe. 

 The original articles which this book con- 

 tains, confer also great credit upon the 

 author as an antiquary. Our readers will, 

 we are assured, seldom meet with a work, 

 which, while it affords them the greatest 

 amusement, wili be found to possess so 

 much valuable information as is here accu- 

 mulated. 



The first volume has appeared of a pro- 

 jected series of separate portable Diction- 

 aries on the several branches of Know- 

 ledge, which series, taken together, will 

 form a Methodical Cyclopedia. This 

 volume embraces History and Historical 

 Biography, sulijccts of general interest, 

 and of which a Dictionary was much 

 wanted. It is printed with elegance, in a 

 type which includes a prodigious quantity 

 of information, is well supplied with maps 

 and portraits ; and, in many articles which 

 we have consulted, is written with care 

 and correctness. The next volume will 

 comprise Chemistry, and its collaterals; 

 and, if the whole are as well executed as 

 the first volume, extensive and permanent 

 success must attend the work. 



ANTIQUITIES. 



Britton's History and Antiquities of the 

 Metropolitical Church of Canterbury, with 

 engravings. 4to. 31. 3s. 



Brayley's Views of Ancient Castles, &c. 

 No. 2. 8vo. 4s. — ito. fis. 



The Encyclopedia of Antiquities, No. 2. 

 4to. 5s. 



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