1823.] Philosophy of Contemporary Criticism, No XXXIII. 
be laid over the entire hody, to give 
an air of freshness and animation to 
the skin; after which, the corpse may 
be placed under a glass for public 
inspection, or inclosed in a cefin. 
The above process wiil ensure its 
conservation for thousands of years, 
should it be requisite, thas to per- 
petuate the images of illustrious 
warriors, great statesmen, or philo- 
sophers. 
—_—_o 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
THE PHILOSOPHY OF CONTEM- 
PORARY CRITI{CISM, 
NO. XXXII. 
Edinburgh Review, No. 76. 
HE first article of this Number of 
the Edinburgii Review relates to 
the New Censorship of the Press, 
assumed by Lord Eldon. Itis along 
piece cf special pleading, which would 
have been excellent if delivered ia 
support of an injunction befere his 
lordship ; but itis here perfectly useless: 
for we believe there is scarcely ano- 
iher man in the kingdom for whom 
the argumest isnota work ofsupcerero- 
gation. The new system is equally 
inimical to every party, and to every 
creed. ‘The censorship of the press 
now resides, forall practical purposes, 
in the breast of the Lord Chancellor ; 
and it is oniy when no one will buy it, 
that a book can escape his power. 
The opinion of the Lord Chancellor is 
not that of an infevior tribunal: from 
his fiat there is no appeal; it is the law 
of the land. All this might be well, 
were the present incumbent immortal ; 
for we might then entrust our religion 
to his orthodoxy, and our philosophy 
to his wisdom: hut the sovereign pos- 
sibly may, and death certainly will, 
remove him from his seat of power; 
and who can foretell whether his sue- 
cessor shall be a wise man, or a fool? 
Phe Chancellor of to-day objects to 
the Unitarian doctrine of the mate- 
riality of the soul, apparently promul- 
gated in the Lectures of Mr. Law- 
rence; he of to-morrow may feel 
equally shocked at the luxuriant de- 
Seription of the Mahometan heaven, 
which is promised to the faithfal, in 
the Orations of Mr. Trving.—it has 
been generaliy supposed, that the arti- 
ele before us was written by Mr. 
Brougham ; but we do not belicve it, 
because we cannot conceive it to be 
likely that the following paragraph 
could have escaped his pen ;—** Injus- 
229 
tice unfortanatcly is still injustice, 
thongh clothed in sentimental lan- 
guage; and only bows him out of the 
room, instead of kicking him down 
stairs. We have always felt it as a 
clap-trap for a gailery of pirates, who 
of course encore it, though with a 
vehemence short of what is showered 
down on the less complimentary judg- 
ments of Lord Eldon. Bat (for our- 
selves,) we see’ no zeason for congra- 
tuiating the friends of public honour, 
or public: morals, in the fact, that 
Hone or Benbow is enriched with the 
spoils of Moore or Byron. Fame is 
very good as garnish, but something 
more immediate is required. ‘The 
literary thief knows he cannot be in- 
dicted: himself a pauper, he laughs at 
the damages of an action.”—It is well 
known that Benbow was convicted of 
having pirated a work of Mr. Mcore’s; 
but we would ask this anonymous 
stabber of reputations, if ever a similar 
conviction has been found against Mr. 
Hone? Nevertheless, Mr. Hene is 
here branded as a ‘‘ literary thief ;” 
and the reviewer must be aware that, 
whether his assertion be true or false, 
he is a fiéel/cr; and, if it be not trac, 
he is a calumniator. 
The second article is an account of 
SirWilliam Gell’s Journey inthe Morea. 
Vhe shameless trick of the publisher in 
advertising as the present state of. the 
Greeks what was written uinetecn years 
ago, is properly exposed ; and we wish 
it were the only bookselling trick of 
whieh the public have reason to com- 
plain. Excepting a few vulgarisms, 
such as “ diddled by the English gen- 
tlemen,” “a dawdling guide,” &c. the 
article is spiritedly written. It has 
nothing, however, of the sober cha- 
racter of a serious review. It is a 
skirmishing attack of partisan warfare, 
—more careful to discover the weak - 
points of the camp than to reconnoitre 
the strength of the enemy. What is 
the real character of the Greeks, and 
whether or not they be worthy of free- 
dom, are nietaphysical questions which 
cannot be answered, A nation is a 
being of whom we know little, and to 
whom, aS ‘a whole, we can seldom 
ascribe a definite character. It is 
con:posed of individuals, and in every 
nation of Europe there are to be found 
virtue and talents that would do ho- 
nour to any age or country. But, 
looking at the whole mass, we fali eon- 
tinually into error. It is from the 
Ca mass 
