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Monthly lieview oj Literature-, 



[Fku. 



of accomplishing f How can an act of volition be 

 the seat of volition ? How can the effect be th? 

 cause ? How can the thing govenied be the power 

 to govern ? " 



This Socratic mode of reasoning is ad- 

 mirable and conclusive, and is evidently a 

 favourite with Mr. Thomas. We disagree 

 with him about Gibbon ; he misquoted, and 

 devested his misquotatiuns to a had purpose : 

 — he was not a noble lorer of truth. The 

 following is open to objection : 



" When we have the choice of two modes of con- 

 duct, each being proper and consistent, we should 

 adopt that mode by which we shall offend none, in 

 preference to that by which we shall offend some 

 and please some." 



Suppose we counteract the bad, who 

 cares for their offence being declared ? It 

 ^vould be felt whether declared or not. 

 The following is a bold opinion, and though 

 some may smile, there are more things in 

 this world than enter into our philosophy. 

 What philosopher hesitates in believing in 

 the future existence of animals ? Butler 

 did not, Wesley did not, we may therefore 

 tolerate this : — 



" I doubt much whether botanical existences are 

 so low as generally imagined. I doubt much whether 

 they have not a higher degree of sensation than what 

 is commonly attributed to them. They are charac- 

 terised by several of the most decisive marks of 

 animal existence. They are susceptible of nourish- 

 ment, refreshment, and sleep, and of heat and 

 cold. They have sexual distinctions. The com- 

 panionship of their sexes produces progeny ; they 

 have a vascular system. Thc-y physically per- 

 spire : some of them to a greater degree than even 

 the human body. And the comus masoubes throws 

 off within twenty-four hours a quantity of perspira- 

 tion equal in weight, as it is saiii, to that of the 

 entire shrub. Tlie helianthus annuus throws out 

 sixteen times the quantity of perspiration which the 

 frame of man emits. The sensitive plant retreats 

 from the touch, from the delicacy of its nerves. 

 What is this hut timiditr/f" 



Perhaps some chemical cause produces 

 this. The subjects handled in this volume 

 are of every department in science and 

 literature, from Spinoza to Bartholemew 

 fair, from Raphael and Murillo, of which 

 latter, by-the-bye, he does not know as much 

 as might be expected. He may doubt, 

 when wc tell him that we do not know 

 twenty genuine pictures of that great 

 master in England, and that three of 

 Marshal Soult's are very questionable as 

 to their authenticity, though without doubt 

 very fine pictures, and those by a master 

 who was allied to this great artist by name 

 and style. IMr. Norton, in Soho Square, 

 has one authentic picture of great beauty 

 in his possession, which, with the excep- 

 tion of a small octagon gem in the gallery 

 of Mr. Reinagle arc the only two we know 

 in the market. 



Mr. Thomas has given a very interesting 

 account of Elizabeth Haywood, a giil 

 with powers of calculating not surpass- 

 ed by George Bidder or the American 

 boy. He has interspersed his pages with 

 allegory, and ornamented them with short 



essays worthy of the Tatler or Spectator. 

 In short, this is an amusing, instructive, 

 and curious voliune, but some of the 

 opinions must be read with great caution 

 particularly by the young. 



A Srief Sketch of the Histonj of the pre- 

 sent Situation of the Valdenses in Piemont, 

 commonly called Vaudois. Sy Hugh Dyke 

 AcLAND, Esq. — No subject of deeper in- 

 terest has been agitated in the present day 

 than the state of this remnant of the Pri- 

 mitive Apostolic Church. The conduct of 

 Mr. Acland, the Rev. Mr. Gilly, and their 

 companions, in penetrating into tlie re- 

 cesses of the central Alps, and reviving the 

 recollection of these pious, simple, and 

 persecuted people, exceeds all praise. The 

 pamphlet before us is a brief and clearly 

 written sketch of their history and present 

 condition, and may be considered as an 

 admirable supplement to Blr. Gilly's more 

 detailed and attractive ;'olurae. That work, 

 Mr. Acland's Pamphlet, and the well- 

 drawn up abstract of them in the Quar- 

 terly Review of last December, have made 

 the subject so generally known, that we 

 consider it superfluous to enter into detail. 

 Should any of our readers not have yet 

 read either this pamphlet or Mr. Gilly's 

 work, we must envy them, for more in- 

 teresting and spirit-stirring books were 

 never written. Every emotion, from com- 

 passion to burning indignation — from asto- 

 nishment to fixed attention — from enthu- 

 siastic wishes to calm reflection, succeed 

 each other ; and he who begins to read 

 will not leave the pages unless necessity 

 compels him. 



Tliese people are, without a doubt, the 

 remnant — the lacerated fragment of the 

 primitive church of Christ, who have been 

 hunted, amid their snow-clad mountains, 

 from age to age, with hell-hound ferocity 

 and fantastic tortures, and are not yet de- 

 stroyed ! — who have, amid persecutions 

 and desolations, worse than Hyder Ali and 

 his savage son ever wreaked on the inhabi- 

 fcmts of the Carnatic, held the faith of 

 Christ, and lived in such purity, as to raise 

 them above the level of humanity, and 

 pomt them out as bright examples of apos- 

 tolic simplicity to surrounding nations. 



The ways of Providence are past our 

 limited penetration ; but the reflecting may 

 think, that by this poor and miserable hand, 

 so wondiously ])reser\'ed, some great end 

 is to be produced — perhaps to scatter the 

 benighting cloud which veils their perse- 

 cutors, and to spread a mental and heavenly 

 light among those who have dashed their 

 little ones on the stones, and shed their 

 blood like water about their flaming hearths, 

 and on their desolated fields, thus proving 

 the genuineness of their faith and the purity 

 of their doctrine. We dare not trust our- 

 selves to enter farther on tJie subject, or we 

 should soon exceed our prescribed limits, 

 and willingly fill every remaining page. 

 Reader, if you are ignorant of the historv 



