360 
phesied of him, as of a worthy Antagonist 
of the Northern Great Unknown ; there 
should have been a work, in the press, by an 
author intending, professedly, to stand forth 
as a rival of that Caledonian Colossus. 
We agree with the author now before us, 
that there is, perhaps, no country in the 
world, whose internal history can afford 
more interesting subjects for the pen of 
the writer, than Ireland. The national 
character—the wildness of the scenery~ 
oppression and a persecuted religion, all 
assist the imaginative faculty, and we are 
sorry that in this author, whose prefatory 
confidence is so great, the performance 
should appear so imadequate. In imitatin 
his prototype, he (as is usually the cane 
has fallen into all his faults, without the 
power of soaring to his excellencies. This 
work is, in consequence, devoid of interest, 
character, or incident ; full of dull colloquy, 
and heavy with tedious diction. The 
author, certainly, has chosen,-as he forms 
us, in his preface, an era unsuited to all 
the grand requisites of an interesting novel ; 
but ‘yet, there are materials sufficient, 
for much more than has been effected ; 
and perhaps, after all, it is by the vice 
and weakness of imitating, that he has 
marred his efforts: for, really, at the 
latter end, where he seems, some how 
or other, to have forgotten the erroneous 
purpose with which he had the bad taste 
to commence, he rises into something like 
interest. Perhaps, if he would trust to 
himself and write according to his constitu- 
tion, instead of affecting the temperament 
of another man, he might produce some- 
thing worthy of attention. But in the mas- 
querade into which he has put his dispro- 
portioned mind, in the present instance, he 
is neither entertaining nor instructive. At 
any rate, whatever he might be as an inde- 
pendent substance, as a shadow he is nothing. 
Legends of Galloway. 1 vol. 8vo. JAME- 
soN DENNisTon.—All is not gold that glit- 
ters;—nor does this work possess the in- 
terest and expression, the title would lead 
the reader to expect; it contains three 
stories, of which the Miller of Eldrig is the 
only one worth looking into ; the book it- 
self is so badly written, that it requires the 
force of curiosity to dive further than the 
first few pages. 
Mariamne; an Historical Novel of Pa- 
lestine. 12mo.—This work contains many 
parts of great interest and effect ; and the 
characters are many of them finely drawn, 
particularly those of Mariamne, Herod, 
and the Arab Babarrah. The style is, 
however, bad; the sentences being so ill 
constructed and unconnected, as frequently 
to leave the sense undefined, and difficult 
to comprehend. The introduction — of 
songs from Sacred Writ gives additional in- 
terest to the story; and the seene of ac- 
tion, and historical facts introduced, render 
it, altogether, a pleasing work, calculated 
to impress the Jewish history, on which it 
is founded, on the memory of the youthful 
reader. 
Monthly Review of Literature. 
(May 1, 
A Peep at the Pilgrims in 1636. In3 
vols. 12mo.—Considering this novel as the 
work of an American, it cannot but be 
viewed with some degree of interest. The 
incidents, indeed, are not of a very uncom- 
mon, or of a very animated nature: but 
the sketches of the country of New Eng- 
land are pleasing ; and the pictures of the 
manners and customs of the people (in 
which they are described as a puritanical 
sect), we doubt not, are faithfully deli- 
neated. We sincerely hope that this may 
prove only the forerunner to other similar 
works, which may give us pictures of 
American character and manners, drawn 
by the observant of their own country ; for 
we are aware that our John Bull travellers 
are apt to look upon strange countries with 
very strange eyes. 
The Journal of an Exile. 2 vols. iors: — 
This work might more properly be called 
the fragments of a journal, containing a 
variety of sketches and thoughts entirely 
unconnected. ‘The style is easy and flow- 
ing, and throughout are interspersed short 
poetical effusions, which possess consider- 
able merit. There are also some interest- 
ing descriptions of the scenery, manners 
and customs of the peasantry round Mar- 
seilles; together with a melancholy ac- 
count of the plague, at that place. These 
volumes will, upon the whole, we doubt not, 
afford much pleasure to our readers, and per- 
haps the mystery which envelopes the sup- 
posed writer tends to keep alive the interest, 
The Picture and the Betrothing. 1 vol. 
12mo.—This volume is avowedly translated 
from the German—but “‘ it needs no ghost 
to tell us that:’’ for the action, the senti- 
ments, the moral, or, rather, the immo- 
rality, all shew its origin. And is the 
growing appetite for books become so enor- 
mous, that native production cannot satisfy 
its voracity? or has our intellectual soil 
become so barren, that we must eyen- be 
content to import the damaged and mil- 
dewed harvest—nay, the chaff and refuse of 
German noyel writers ? 
We do not believe it—but suspect 
rather that the indolence of book-makers, 
and the miscalculations of the trade, 
who follow—the taste of the grosser part 
of the reading public, when it would be 
more to their ultimate advantage to lead 
by an appeal to the more _ intellectual, 
occasion the inundation of translated trash, 
and the impolitic neglect and depression of 
original genius. 
Papyro- Plastics ; or, The Art of Modelling 
in Paper: translated from the German, by 
Boileau. — This little work, intended for 
the amusement and instruetion of, young 
gentlemen, under the superintendance of 
their tutors, might become an essential 
assistant in the progress of their early stu- 
dies,—particularly where it is necessary to 
fix the attention of the pupil, by interesting 
the eye. The models are familiar, and the 
directions for making them, simple and 
easy: and it may, at least, be regarded as a 
pleasing and useful mathematical toy. 
