34-t Literary and Critical Pro'imium, 



school, bnt resernbllnp in every lineameiif, 



and in every feature, that playful but niis- 

 cliievoiis demon, who, like a living soul, 

 unceasiiierly gives life and motion to the 

 pafre? of Voltaire. 



Among tlie many political works that 

 claim our notice, we naturally E've the 

 first place to the translation of the Frag- 

 ments of Archijtaa, CItarondas, Znleucus, ami 

 other uticient I'ylhagoreans, prcsemd by 

 Stubans. These fragments are series of 

 maxims, lalher than systems of goveru- 

 nient. The duties of kini>8, and the con- 

 duct which renders them tyrants, are re- 

 pealedly enforced; but we see no traces to 

 induce us to believe that the ancients, of 

 any age, ever possessed the reprcspulative 

 constitutions of modern times. Throush- 

 out the whole, as well as in tlie Ethical 

 Fragments nf I iierodes, which are appended 

 to the woik, there runs a stream of mo- 

 rality, more pure than is usually conceded 

 to the Greeks ; and which may be ad- 

 vantageously compared with any code that 

 lias been promnliiated in later days. The 

 introduction and notes show the learning 

 and peculiar opinions of the translator, 

 whose fitness for the task will be acknow- 

 ledged by every Gracist, when he sees 

 the name of Thomas Taylor. 



The Outlines of a System of Political 

 licmiomy, by T. JopLiN, exhibits another 

 sensible man groping his way, amid the 

 misty mazes of this metaphysical science. 

 TJie preface and appendices to the wo^k 

 are appropriated chieHy to the promulga- 

 tion of a new system of banking; and on 

 this subject the bodily as well as the 

 mental faculties of the author appear to 

 liave been more particularly exerted. In 

 those parts of his work in which he has 

 been able to disengage himself for a mo- 

 ment from the trammels of his banking 

 speculations, we are at a loss to know in 

 what points he differs, either from Mr. 

 Kicardo or Mr. Malihus ;for, though these 

 gentlemen assure ns that they are not 

 aiireed, Mr. Joplin has not declared for 

 either party. If his principles be of that 

 liberal cast which disregards minute dis- 

 tinctions, for what purpose has he written? 

 If the science has received no addition 

 irom his labour, it is certainly not illus- 

 trated by his expositions. When we are 

 gravely told, that "to thos;wlio supply 

 the articles which are consumed by means 

 of the expenditure of the collective in- 

 come of the nation, it is quite immaterial 

 whether it is consumed by the pensioners 

 and national mortgagers, or by the ulti- 

 mate payers of the taxes, in administering 

 to their own gratifications ;" and that " the 

 labouring classes, who are often the most 

 clamorous against taxes, have, in fact, 

 the least to do with them;" the language 

 sounds in our ears as paradoxical, because, 

 to believe it true, we must conceive our- 

 selves as living in a laud of .slaves. 

 3 



[May I, 



The Cry of France, said to be published 

 by all the b'ooksellcrs, is written with 

 great energy and talent ; and will l)e read 

 in more countries than one. It is written 

 by a Frenchman, in the form of an addiess 

 to his king, and contains many statements 

 and documents which, if true, would brand 

 that monarch as the meanest of mankind. 

 Should it again happen (which the holy 

 alliance forcfeml!) tliat the thrones of the 

 Bourbons shall be overturned, this work 

 will bo considered as the manifesto of the 

 French nation against the present dy- 

 nasty : but we need say nothing more of 

 this pamphlet, persuaded as we are that 

 it must have a rapid and extensive 

 circulation. 



During the whole of the progress of the 

 French revolution, from its origin in 

 1789 to its termination, (if it be yet termi- 

 nated,) every successive event, and every 

 actor who figured on the stage, were re- 

 corded and characterized in this country, 

 almost as rapidly and as minutely as iu 

 F.ance. The Spanish and Portuguese 

 revolutions are equally interesting to the 

 English nation; but we have no such mi- 

 nute chronicle of passiniir events ; and with 

 regard to the patriots of the day, with the 

 exception of two or three, we are even 

 unacquainted with their names. Iu this 

 dearth of intelligence we were glad to see 

 Count Pecchio's Anecdotes of the Spanisli 

 and Portugueie Rerolulions, which, though 

 rather scanty in what its title promises, 

 will be read with interest. The couirf, 

 who is a Piedmontese exile, gives an ac- 

 count of what he has seen, or hear<l, rela- 

 tive to the public affairs of Spain and Por- 

 tugal, from May 1B'21 to July 1822, inase- 

 ries of well-written letters from Madrid, 

 Lisbon, and other towns of the Peninsula. 

 The work is edited by Mr. Bla(1UIERe, 

 known as the author of the Historical 

 Review of the Spanish Revolution, and 

 other works, and is furnished with a pre- 

 face and many useful and correctional 

 notes, by that gentleman. A neatly en- 

 graved portrait of Riego is prefixed to 

 the volume. 



Liberty has ever been dear to the muses, 

 and, while the patriots of the Peninsula set 

 a bright example to the enslaved inhabi- 

 tants of other countries, it is pleasing to 

 find that even iu the darkest ages of super- 

 stition, the sacred flame of genius was 

 never totally extinguished in the south of 

 Europe. A History of Spatiish and Por- 

 tuguese IMerature, in two volumes, trans- 

 lated from the German of Bouterwek, by 

 Thomasina Ross, brings before us a suc- 

 cession of authors, in poetry and polite 

 literature, from the close of the thirteenth 

 century to the present time, who may 

 respectively challense a comparison with 

 the writers of tlie same age in any other 

 nation. The criticisms and niiinerous 

 extracts must be entremelv valuable to 



the 



