540 
toleration, The conviction, he thinks, is 
growing—is, indeed, inevitable, that. all 
attempts to unzte, either withthe Catholic 
or with each other, is, utterly useless, and 
that the only,, practicable, aim—ineyitable 
also—is to promote mutual toleration. The 
broad conclusion. with. him. jis, . that. the 
clergy of all kinds are.of less and. Jess im- 
portance,—that, to be borne withat all, they 
must keep within the limits of their profes- 
sion,—must keep aloof from the meddlings 
of politices—no longer, be the working in- 
struments of the state, or rather of parties 
in the state,—but teachers of morals, con- 
solers,. advisers, exhorters. 
Such are the sentiments enforced in the 
publication before us—sentiments that will 
meet, we, suspect, with very little sympa- 
thy in this country. M. De Sismondi, if 
he does not exactly regard one religion as 
good as another, pretty plainly thinks one 
as authentic as another; but while we re- 
ject such fanciful yiews—not impious, for 
we believe him sincere—we may safely trust 
his opinions with respect to the French Je- 
suits; and concur with him, that Christianity 
is not, and never has. been benefited by its 
connexion with the state, and subserviency 
to the views of power. 
Autohioyraphy.,.. Published. in Parts, 
weekly ; 1826.—The proposed collection 
will recal many amusing and. instructive 
volumes, Which are now many. of them 
forgotten, and when remembered, are not 
readily accessible; The form is small; but 
the type. is distinct; and the. whole ap- 
pearance is neat and. respectable. | We 
cannot have smart books at low prices. 
There is such an essential distinction, 
say the Editors, between self-composed 
and other biography, that the principal 
literary object of our undertaking is at 
once apparent. It is, in fact, to collect 
into one consecutive publication, genuine 
materials for a diversified study of the hu- 
man character, by selecting the most cu- 
rious and interesting autobiographical me- 
moirs now ,extant,.. It is evident that, 
when. disposed to, be. sincere, no man can 
do so much justice to the springs and mo- 
tives of his own ¢haracter and actions as 
himself; and when even otherwise, by 
shewing what he wishes to appear, he ge- 
nerally discovers, what he. really is, (?) 
Statesmen, from Sully down to Bubb Dod- 
dington; men of genius and literature, as 
Gibbon, Hume, Rousseau, Goéthe, Mar- 
montel, Alfieri, Franklin, and many more ; 
the more curious and distinctively featured 
religious enthusiasts, not forgetting the ex- 
traordinary journals of John Wesley and 
George Whitfield; artists, from Benve- 
nuto. Cellini downwards; dramatists, 
players, and similar autobiographers of a 
lighter order, as Colley Cibber, Goldoni, 
Cumberland, C. Dibdin, &c. ; mystics and 
impostors, as Cardan, William Lilly, Psal- 
manazar, and others; tradesmen, -espe- 
cially booksellers, as Dunton and Lacking- 
Monthly Review of Literature, 
Nov. 
ton—all sare. strongly ‘exhibitive’ “of “cha- 
racter.. ‘Even the ‘coarser’ lites ’of' adven- 
turing life supply’ several self-written me- 
moirs of Considerable interest ; nor has the 
enterprizing felon himself always refused, to 
record his own exploits and progressive 
criminality, ina, manner that may\advance 
an, instructive. knowledge, of: human nature. 
Thus, if variety be a.charm, the:work, with 
unity of plan, embraces a ‘very ‘great’ “die 
versity of subject-matter’; sand; asa whole, 
forms a “series” of “self-drawn’ “portraits, 
which could not’ be” otherwisé “collected 
without considerable trouble and expense. 
Mission to. the East Coast of Sumaira, 
in 1823. By John Anderson,,Esq- 3.1826. 
—Mr. Marsden’s History. and Descrip- 
tion of Sumatra, we rememberas' a very 
popular yolume, and nothing, «we ‘believe, 
has been published relative’ to’ the “island 
since ‘that period, now ‘near’ forty years. 
The present mission—an ‘affected term, by 
the way—was undertaken not for preach- 
ing, but commercial purposes, and indi- 
rectly perhaps for geographical ones, under 
the auspices of the Governor of, Prince of 
Wales’ Island. _ It was of no considerable 
magnitude ; three months effected the bu- 
siness,— proceeding along ‘the ‘east’ coast, 
the part of Sumatra Jeast’ known, and ‘ot 
which seareely any notice is taken by Mr. 
Marsden, from Diamond’ Point ‘to Siack, 
from about 5° to 1°'N.’° ‘The coast is des- 
tute of harbours,—with | no possibility i in- 
deed of coming within six miles.of it, in.a 
vessel of any considerable draft. . In, ad- 
dition to the ,coast-survey; the expedition 
went up a river, some forty or» fifty»miles 
into the interior,—the Batta country 5 and 
Mr. Anderson has: ‘thus ‘been’ enabled ‘'to 
furnish some geographical ‘intelligence, to 
complete our’ knowlédge of’ the’ ‘general 
face of the country, particularly of the lake 
alluded to by Mr. Marsden. The country 
is populous; but, except along the coast, 
and not much better there, in a miserably 
low and degraded’ condition—a multitude 
of petty states, and perpetually at war with 
each other, though not, it should seem, to 
any very exterminating extent. We know 
not how many’ Sultans Mr. Anderson 
visited. He was well received by them 
generally, and the objects of the mission 
expedited. 
The most remarkable fact ascertained by 
Mr. Anderson, in his very dry volun e—n0 
mortal we think’ ean read it—is the ‘canni- 
balism of the interior of the* isla a “We 
must give ~his' own account, "tho ithe 
general tone’ of ‘remark’ through ae ; 
lume exhibits no’ ‘very’ pan Jndetbent 
and certainly avery narrow ‘range Of in- 
tellect, with no single’ trait of! in epéhdent 
thinking, with a’ reverential’ sort’ of defe- 
rence for Adam Smith’ and Mr. Malthus— 
all indicative of adegrée of’ cfediility, that 
will teach us, perhaps, to ‘look at the’ fol- 
lowing account with sometliiig like dis- 
trust. 
