344 
which are, ‘‘ The Fish-women, on Janding 
at Calais,” to whom he dedicates a sonnet, 
Mr: Wordsworth’s: style: ‘is !known ‘to ‘be 
very peculiar and affected, but may ‘be 
applied to some subjects with great effect. 
He describes any trait of feeling or pathos 
with. peculiar force and; beauty. His 
“ Three Cottagers” we think adelightful 
piece, but we are; principally struck with 
the first part\ of ‘‘The Italian Itinerant 
and the Swiss goatherd.” It is an apos- 
trophe addressed to one of those poor 
Italians; who are.so frequently to be met 
with in our streets, taking leave, previous 
to his departure for this country, of his 
mother, sister, aud— 
“The maiden coy 
Thatwouldhave lov’d the bright-hair’d boy.” 
The poet exercises his prophetic powers, 
and foretells for the young wanderer— 
, ———“ A golden lot, 
Due recompense, and safe return 
To Como’s steeps—his happy bourne! 
Where he, aloft in garden glade, 
Shall tend, with his own dark-ey’d maid, 
The towering maize, and prop the twig 
That ill supports the luscious fig.” 
Of the Ecclesiastical Sketches our confined 
space will only allow us to say that they 
consist entirely of sonnets on various sub- 
jects, such as—Persecution—Saxon Clergy 
—Papal Abuses—Richard I.—Old Abbies 
—New Churches—The Liturgy, &c. &c. 
They, generally speaking, possess much 
less interest than the other work above 
referred to. 
It is with great pleasure that we call the 
attention of our readers to an important 
work, which has lately made its appear- 
ance, under the comprehensive title of— 
Europe, or a General Survey of the present 
Situation’ of the Principal Powers, with 
conjectures on their future Prospects ; by a 
Citizen of the United States. In all proba- 
bility the writer of this volume has assumed 
in his title-page the privileges of an 
American’ citizen as a nom de guerre, and 
indeed his style is by no means that of a 
transatlantic’ author. The view which he 
takes of the present state of Europe, (and 
a more’ interesting period has perhaps 
never existed in its annals,) is highly libe- 
ral, and we’ think in the main soundly phi- 
losophic.’ He coutends that the momen- 
tous changes which have been wrought 
within the last half century, in the political 
condition of almost all the kingdoms of 
Europe, have proceeded from none of 
those ‘temporary and local causes, to 
which the wishes of despots would’ gladly 
attribute them ; but have been induced by 
the operation of the great principles of 
enlightened freedom'and improved know- 
ledge which are still in progress, and from 
which our author anticipates still’ mightier 
effects. The chapter on Great Britain 
contains much valuable remark, with uo- 
9 
“< 
Literary and Critical Proémium. 
[May 1, 
thing, of. that, harsh spirit which has. been 
displayed by some of the American writers, 
when treating of ow institutions m eompa- 
rison; with their own. . Manby parts. of. this 
volume are written with, considerable 
eloquence. ittecxtomoncett! Renmaphoy! 
. Such of our readers as may-have,in eon- 
templation an excursion of pleasure-in, the 
approaching season, cannot do better than 
refer to A Picturesque Promenade-round 
Dorking, in Surrey, which: represents/the 
attractions of that beautiful portiow of the 
country in very alluring, and, we believe, 
very genuine colours. Exclusive of the 
charms of its scenery, this neighbourhood 
is rich in antiquities, and in, associations 
connected with its present, and: former in- 
habitants. The famous. critic;,John Den- 
nis, bore testimony ‘to . the. surpassing 
beauty of this district, and preferred: the 
view from Leith-bill, about six miles south 
of Dorking, to the prospect of the Val- 
darno from the Apennines, and .of Rome 
and the Mediterranean from the mountains 
of Viterbo. How few suspect that. a 
landscape entitled to such praise. as) this 
lies within half a day’s journey of the me- 
tropolis! Whoever may be tempted to 
make a personal survey of it, willefind a 
very intelligent and useful» guide in-this 
pleasing little volume, which. displays 
much industry and research, and»is-writ- 
ten in a style superior to that.of most 
works of this description. od onl? 
Mr. BERNARD Barton, who is known 
to the public as the author of many agree- 
able poems, has lately published another 
volume, entitled, Napoleon, and other 
Poems. This production will not, we 
think, add any thing to that reputation 
which Mr. Barton has so justly acquired; 
and we question whether it would not have 
been more prudent in him to have rested sa- 
tisfied with the laurels which he had already 
won than make an ineffectual attempt to 
snatch more. ‘‘ Napoleon” is’a sort’ of 
politico-religious poem, without much in: 
terest, written for the purpose of incul- 
cating those peaceable principles of which 
Napoleon was the friend, and which the 
Society, of which Mr. B. is a member, 
professes. The minor poems do ‘not, in 
our opinion, equal those which were con- 
tained in Mr. Barton’s last collection: 
There seem to be in the present volume 
more instances of prosaic expression, and 
a greater carelessness of style; than in his 
former volume. lay 
We can safely recommend to the notice 
of our juvenile readers a pleasant. little 
work, lately published, under the title of 
Confidential Memoirs, or Adventures of a 
Parrot, a Greyhound, a Cat, and a Monkey, 
by Mary Exuiott. This is not the 
authoress’s first appearance before the 
public ; and, judging both from her former 
productions and the present, we certainly 
think she is entitled to hold a empectable 
place 
