106 



Monlhly Review (>f Literature. 



£JuLY 



who encounters perils upon perils to prove 

 his devotion,' and win his lady's love. But 

 filial duty, and the claims of patriotism, 

 bind her to her father's destiny, whose wan- 

 derings she shares, and wliose death she 

 witnesses — the sight of which also, added to 

 previous exhaustion, kills the unhappy maid 

 herself. 



The main object of the accomplished 

 writer is, of course, to exhibit in detail the 

 miserable management of Ireland in the 

 reign of Elizabeth, and this is successfully 

 done. There can be little doubt the Irish 

 were driven into rebellion for the sake of 

 forfeitures. The queen herself, when re- 

 ports of the rebellion were brought to the 

 council, exclaimed — " // it goes on, it ivill 

 he better for you, for there luill be estates 

 for you all.'''' The most spirited parts of the 

 work are the scenes where Elizabeth figures 

 — coarse and imperious to the life ! The 

 reader will of course take our opinion rela- 

 tive to this performance — one of no little 

 pretension he may gatlier from its mag- 

 nificent preface — for what it is worth ; but 

 it is only fair to let him know, that " the 

 work has been honoured by the approval of 

 one of the first critics of the age — the Right 

 Honourable the Lord Rector of the Uni- 

 versity of Glasgow" — that is, IMr. Thomas 

 Campbell, who, it may be safely presumed, 

 by the importunity of the author's friends 

 and his own, has been forced into a com- 

 • plimentary opinion of what he probably 

 scarcely glanced at. 



The County Album, with Topographical 

 Hieroglyphics, for the Amusement and In- 

 struction of Fireside Tourists; 1829. — 

 To look at objects, and to read of them, are 

 two very different acts, and in mature minds 

 produce very different impressions. The 

 visible and tangible thing nuist always have 

 the advantage over the representative sign. 

 ■NVhat, then, must be the case with the 

 young and unpractised ? Shew the child a 

 plough — let him see it work, and he will 

 understand both the working and the ob- 

 ject ; but shew him the name only, or let 

 him read about it only, and his mind will 

 not so easily grasp it — it slips from liim like 

 water through the fingers. To force the 

 child to lend his attention, and supply 

 words suggested by the figures they repre- 

 sent, pictures — visible likenesses — have often 

 been been employed with excellent effect. 

 Blr. Harris has improved upon this contri- 

 vance : and, in his County Album, has so 

 framed his pictures as to n ake them em- 

 blems indicative of the products, staple com- 

 modities, manufactures, and objects of in- 

 terest, in the several counties of England 

 and Wales. The figures do not suggest 

 the absent words directly, but by circum- 

 stances — thus for butter, the emblem con- 

 sists of dairy utensQs. This must stop the 



hasty reader to consider its meaning, and 

 may awaken in the indolent one a desire to 

 know it ; and these are the advantages spe- 

 cifically aimed at. 



Independently of the hieroglypliics, which 

 consist of 400, and are beautifully cut, the 

 descriptions of the several counties, and the 

 peculiarities, whether of nature or art, are 

 correct and judicious, and may furnish in- 

 formation to both teacher and pupil. 



Winter Evenings at College, c|c., by a 

 Clergyman. 2 small vols. ; 1829. — These 

 are two neat little volumes relative to the 

 manners, customs, &c., of the old Greeks, 

 conveying the substance, in a popidar form, 

 of what is commonly termed Greek Anti- 

 quities. The book is the work of a clergy- 

 man, and is published by Mr. Harris, of 

 St. Paul's Church-yard — a gentleman, by 

 the way, who, by his own exertions and 

 superior acquirements, has done more pro- 

 bably towards elevating tlie style, and im- 

 proving the character of juvenile books, than 

 any one person, author or trader, in the re- 

 cords of publishing. The " Winter Even- 

 ings at College," however, is a book adapted 

 for the service of an elder class of readers 

 than his publications usually are — destined, 

 in short, for such as are passing through 

 the later stages of what goes by the name of 

 education. The communications are made 

 through the medium of a sort of dialogue, 

 or, more correctly perhaps, lecture, with oc- 

 casional interruptions, by a private college 

 tutor, to his pupils. The topics are made 

 to occupy sixteen evenings, and are dis- 

 cussed with accuracy and clearness, and suf- 

 ficient minuteness. To the familiar de- 

 scription of the " manners, customs, sports, 

 and religious observances of the Ancient 

 Greeks," is added a brief account of the 

 state of modern Greece, and some reflec- 

 tions on the revolutions of empires. 



The tutor and his pupils are equally 

 exemplary — the latter thirsting for know- 

 ledge — the former distributing copious po- 

 tations, and wholly absorbed in the duties 

 of his grave and responsible office. The 

 portrait is, of coiu'se, perfectly ideal ; the 

 writer no doubt knows very well what pri- 

 vate tutors at the University are, and pro- 

 bably means to give a delicate and frieneUy 

 hint. Among the real and living tutors in 

 this class, the service, if not the duty, is 

 on& lioiu- — a short hoiu-, a day, and the 

 business and object, cramming for the public 

 lecture ; and we never knew, within our 

 personal experience, or the range of our 

 inquiry, the slightest attempt made by any 

 one of them to go out of the common beat 

 of communication. The connexion is 

 merely a matter of bargain and sale — quid 

 pro quo ; the office is without responsibi- 

 lity, and generates neither concern in the 

 teacher, nor gratitude in the taught. 



