334 



Mo7ithltf Review of Literature, 



[Sept. 



same extraordinary number of inches, and 

 of pretty much the same moral qualities, as 

 her illustrious ancestress — a Scotch queen 

 of Scotch gipsies. An account appeared in 

 the early numbers of Blackwood of both 

 these personages. The part which concerns 

 madame grand-mere came from Sir \ralter 

 himself; the other from somebody else, who 

 took upon him to assign the grand-daugluer 

 as Sir ^Valter's original. He appears to 

 have been mistaken, whoever he was : the 

 old one is the true one. — So much forJIeg; 

 and we have no room at all for Dominie 

 Sampson's double. 



Sketches of Irish Character ; by Mrs. 

 S. C. Hall ; 2 vols ; 1829 — Another and 

 another succeeds. — I\Iiss Edgworth's place 

 is adequately supplied, and her indolence no 

 longer to be regretted. These sketches 

 from life show up the individuals of an Irish 

 village, after the manner of Bliss 3Iitford's 

 Berkshire one. Bannow, Mrs. Hall's birth- 

 place, is situated on the eastern coast of 

 Ireland, and is justly, she says, the pride of 

 the county of 'NVexford. It is indeed, tlie 

 fair writer confesses, a favourable specimen ; 

 no den of filthy cabins and miserable occu- 

 pants. It is far from any town — the soil is 

 rich — the sea almost surrounds it, and, what 

 is the main source, probably, of its felicity, 

 its landlords reside upon their estates. JMore- 

 over, she adds, the people know little, and 

 care less about politics ; and the Protestant 

 clergyman and tlie Cathohc priest (at least 

 so it was in her time, and she is young) con- 

 ceive each has sufficient employment in 

 attending to the moral and physical wants 

 of his flock. The neiglibourliood also affords 

 many attractions to the antiquarian and the 

 lover of wild and beautifid scenery. Several 

 ancient castles, particularly tlie seven castles 

 of Clonmines, are in its immediate vicinity ; 

 the Irish Herculaneum, the old town of 

 Bannow, lies buried in the sands that skirt 

 the coast, and within a few miles is " Bag 

 and Bun," where Strongbow landed, on first 

 visiting the country, and where, according 

 to the legend — " Irelande was loste and 

 won." The characters are so strictly indi- 

 vidual, and the dialogue so exclusively sus- 

 tained in the native idiom, of whicli J\Irs. 

 Hall has a perfect commrnd — more tho- 

 roughly complete, ajiparently, tlian any of 

 her scribbling cotemporaries — that no fair 

 conception of the book can be given but by 

 extracts, and we have no space for long 

 ones, which alone would be adequate. ^Fe 

 have no hesitation in recommending them 

 to our readers as spirited sketches — taken 

 with fidelity, and executed with vigour and 

 effect. 



History of the Jetcs. Fifth volume of 



Murray's Family Library; 1829 JMr. 



Mihnan could not have laid his hand upon 

 a subject that demanded more discretion in 

 the management of it — nor woidd it be 

 easy, we are persuaded, to find a person to 

 tread the critical — the treacherous path—. 



which that discretion requires, more se- 

 curely and correctly. Though sometimes 

 intrepidly stepping over perilous ground, he 

 will not often alarm by venture and auda- 

 city, nor will he justly incur, at ail times, 

 the sneer of evading perplexing questions. 



He has taken his tone wisely, and defined 

 his course strictly — keeping close to the his- 

 torical, and trcncliing as little as was prac- 

 ticable, consistent witli imperative discus- 

 sions, upon theological topics, — though too 

 intent, perhaps, on explaining, with an 

 affectation of phUosopliy — and detecting the 

 natiural instruments employed in miraculous 

 action. But the book is one that thousands 

 will read, who turn with disgust from the 

 bible — not so nmch from alienation for mat- 

 ters connected with religion, as from childish 

 associations inseparably attached, originat- 

 ing in our unlucky and Ul-judged habit of 

 making the Jewish writings a school book. 

 Considered only as a source of historical 

 materials, containing the oldest records in the 

 world, and the most circumstantial, the bible 

 is full of curious matter, and more illustra- 

 tive, we venture to affinn, of mind and 

 manners in the early stages of civihzation, 

 than any writings extant. Those who do 

 read the Bible, for the most part, do so 

 witli a spirit so shackled and subdued, that 

 half tlie advantage derivable from it is 

 utterly lost ; and to speak paradoxically, 

 perhaps, but yet correctly, more harm tlian 

 good is done to the understanding, and 

 even, or rather consequently, to morals, by 

 the habit of forcing every thing, as numbers 

 endeavour to do, to a purer and more elevated 

 standard than the condition of society which 

 it describes, can bear. Tliey read the Bible 

 under two misconceptions —first, that every 

 phrase and fact is matter of inspiration, 

 and direct instruction ; and next, that every 

 thing, in some way or other, is consistent 

 with Christian principles, or by some theolo- 

 gical legerdemain, reducible to them. I\Ir. M. 

 has taken pains worthy of the occasion, to 

 correct such and similar perversions. After 

 describing the condition of society in the 

 period of Patriarchal history, he observes — 



Evo:i tlie characters of the diCFcrent personages 

 arc sinsularly in unison with the state of society 

 descrilieJ. There is the hunter, the migratory 

 herdsman, and the incijiicnt husbandman. Tlie 

 quiet and easy Isaac adapts himself to tlie more 

 fixed and sedentary occupation of tillage. Esau 

 the hunter is reckless, daring, and improvident. 

 Jacob tlie herdsman, cautious, observant, subtle, 

 and timid. Esau excels in one great virtue of 

 uncivilized life, bravery ; Jacob in another, which 

 is not less highly appreciated, craft. Even in 

 Abraham we do not find that nice and lofty sense ' 

 of veracity which distinguishes a state of society 

 where the point of honour has acquired great in- 

 fluence. It is singular that this accurate drlinea- 

 tion of primitive manners, and the discrimiiiation 

 of individual character in each successive patri- 

 arch, with all the imperfections and vices, as well 

 of the social state as of the particular disposition, 

 although 30 coQclusive an evidence to tlie honesty 



