616 
try, at least, we may venture to say it 
never had a prototype; among the Saxon 
nobility perhaps it might. ‘Ihe charac- 
ter of Adolphus,too, a moralizing peda- 
gogue, is somewhat extravagant ; he is 
so strictly virtuous that, on discovering 
he is a bastard, he deserts his mother, 
and declines to close her dying eyes. 
Perhaps Madame C * * * intended that 
we should extract a moral, too, from the 
conduct of this viriuous youth; perhaps 
she meant to shew us that the mother 
who brings an illegitimate child into the 
world, must expect that he should pluck 
by the roots all filial affection from his 
bosom, and fling it in his parent’s face ! 
An exquisite lesson ! 
Ant. XI. Delphine: a Novel. 
the French. 
THIS novel has attained a celebrity 
much beyond its merit. It is the pro- 
duction of a lady connected with some 
conspicuous men in France, and its per- 
sonages have by some been supposed to 
be the representations of real characters. 
‘This, therefore, must have been the cause 
of that avidity with which it has been ge- 
nerally received here and ow the conti- 
nent; an avidity which has given rise to 
two English translations, one in six vo- 
lumes, and onein thyee. But let not the 
reader, who dreads wading through six 
volumes, therefore have recourse to the 
three, for he will find that these contain 
as much as the six---it is a mere mecha- 
nical compression---alas, our weary jaws 
declare that none of the yawn-exciting 
redundancies have been lopped off. Our 
objections to the novel are two, its dull. 
ness and its immoral tendency., We do 
not mean to say that it is uniformly fa- 
tiguing throughout, but are glad te ac- 
knowledge that there are passages which 
excite a strong interest, that the story it- 
self is not ill imagined, that there is no- 
velty, toan English reader at least, in 
one or two of the characters, and that if 
it had formed one volume instead of six 
it would have been read witly interest, 
and have produced a considerable effect. 
‘he story is simply as follows: Del. 
phine, at the moment of its commence- 
ment, is supposed to have been married 
when very young to Mons. d’Albemar, 
a respectable old man, who leaves her 
at the age of twenty a widow with a con- 
siderable fortune. Madame de Vernon, 
a cousin of the deceased Mons. d’Albe- 
sar, has an only daughter, Matilda de 
—  —_-P 
ROMANCES AND NOVELS, 
Adolphus’s letter (vol. iv.) to Madame 
Woldemar, in reply to one where she had 
desired him to use treachery towards his 
friend, contains many fine sentiments, 
powerfully expressed. Several of the 
conversations between Amelia and Sem- 
ler are good, and his preparation of 
Amelia for the disclosure of his real 
name, his attempt to efface the odious 
remembrance of one which had already 
caused’ her so much persecution, is ma- 
naged with great art. Indeed if there 
had not been a di$play of considerable 
talent we should have apprehended less 
mischief, and less pains than we have 
now taken would have been sufficient to 
expose and counteract it. 
By Madame De Stavu-Houstei. Translated from 
Three vols. 8vo. 
Vernon, whom she wishes to marry to 
Leonce de Mondoville, but despairs of 
getting his mother’s consent unless Ma- 
tilda can bring with her a considerable 
marriage portion. Delphine, conceiving 
herself to be in some degree bound to 
make up for the neglect of her husband 
to his relations, and having at the same 
time a passionate regard for Madame de 
Vernon, though she, scarcely feels any 
kinduess for Matilda on account of the 
want of sympathy in their characters, 
presents her with the Andelys ¢-ate, 
and in consequence the marriage treaty ° 
goes on between the two mothers. ‘Ihe 
novel commences with the intelhgence 
of the approaching arrival of Leonce 
from Spain to marry Matilda, and the 
very first letter, which is from Delphine 
to Matilda, begins thus : “I shall be exe 
tremely happy, my dear cousin, if I can 
promote your marriage with M. de Men- 
doville.”’ Yet after having done all in 
her power to effectuate this match, she 
herself, the disinterested, amiable, philo- 
sophical Delphine, actually falls in love 
herself with Leonce, not at first sight but 
before she has ever seenhim at all. She 
hears a high character of him from his 
tutor, Mr, Barton, a grave personage 
(who very foolishly hints to her that she 
would suit his pupil better than her cou- 
sin) and immediately falls desperately in 
love with him. Intelligence arrives of 
his having been assassinated in his pas- 
sage over the Pyrenees, and of his lying 
at the point of death at Bayonne: ia 
consequence of this Delphine exclaims, - 
«© Yes! if he dies, I will devote to hira 
the worship of my heart ;, { wall fancy that [- 
