1821.] 
Critical Notices of Books of the Month . 
259 
great question at once set at rest.—We are 
then treated with the visionary’s notions of 
the planetary system, between the different 
members of which a brisk intercourse sub¬ 
sists, Venus being a sort of paradise, and 
Mercury the real hell. Many knotty points 
occur ; amongst others, whether the inha¬ 
bitants of Saturn have any need of a Re¬ 
deemer; and some, quite as difficult, are 
readily solved, it being- manifest from the 
testimony of this spirit, that the Unitarians 
are all in the wrong. We believe all this 
to be very well intended, and that the wri¬ 
ter is a very pious, and certainly a clever 
man, but we are quite sure that he has 
made a mistake in endeavouring to combine 
whimsical fancies like these with feelings 
of devotion. It is in vain to attempt a 
grave journey to the moon ; such flights 
have, time out of mind, been altogether 
merry and jocular. We must add that the 
author displays powers of composition, 
which might have been better employed 
than in the developement of these extrava¬ 
gances. 
There is no small share both of interest 
and instruction in the Life of David Hag- 
ffart, alias John Wilson , <$ c. written by 
himself while under sentence of death. 
Surely a narrative like this, so completely 
unveiling the inefficacy of our present sys¬ 
tem of criminal law, is sufficient to open 
the eyes of those obstinate legislators who 
imagine that the penalty of blood is the 
only efficacious preventive of crime. The 
scenes which some of our crowded gaols 
present, and which are forcibly described 
by this unfortunate young criminal, are 
highly disgraceful to a civilized country, 
and are, in fact, the cause of more capital 
crimes than the gallows, even with all its 
extraordinary activity, can suppress. The 
conviction of this truth had impressed it¬ 
self even on the uneducated mind of Hag- 
gart. The life is interesting from the air 
of truth and sincerity which it displays, 
though we doubt not that it has received 
considerable editorial embellish meats. After 
a course of accumulated offences, which 
seem almost too extraordinary to have been 
perpetrated by so young a criminal, and 
. ^-Itcr a variety of most imminent dangers 
and hair-breadth escapes, Ilaggari, at the 
age of 21, suffered the last penalty of the 
law, at Dumfries, for the murder of Mon in, 
the keeper of that gaol. 
It is with considerable gratification that 
we notice the appearance of Mr. Butler’s 
Additions to the Historical Memoirs re¬ 
specting the English , Irish , and, Scottish 
Catholics , from the Reformation to the 
present time , in two volumes. The public 
are already indebted to this gentleman for 
many laborious and valuable literary w orks, 
and the present will be found an important 
addition to our stores of church history 
and general biography. Although Mr. 
Butler’s style and arrangement may per¬ 
haps be tinctured with his professional 
character, yet his works will be always 
held in high estimation, for the learning, 
the research, and the judgment which they 
display. It is certainly very creditable to 
Mr. B.’s taste and industry that during 
the course of a long and active professional 
life, he should have found opportunities of 
devoting so much of his time to literary 
pursuits, without interfering in any degree 
with his more important avocations. The 
preface to the first of the present volumes, 
(the third of the “ Historical Memoirs”) 
contains an interesting account of the au¬ 
thor’s w ritings, and some curious anecdotes 
of eotemporary literature, among which 
will be found some valuable particulars 
respecting the author of Junius’s letters. 
To the catholic world these volumes cannot 
fail of proving highly acceptable. 
Among the published papers read before 
tbe Society of Antiquaries, and extracted 
from the XIX volume of the Archceologia, 
we notice a curious little work, entitled 
An A ttempt at a Glossary of some words 
used in Cheshire , communicated to the 
Society of Antiquaries, by Roger Wil- 
braham, esq. F.R S. and S.A. The pre¬ 
sent publication, in its separate form, is 
enriched with considerable additions, con¬ 
taining a great variety of those peculiar 
phrases, adages and proverbs, with the 
provincial dialect and words, used in 
Cheshire and Lancashire, some of which 
are very singular and expressive. Their 
derivations and resemblances are also 
pointed out, as they relate to the old 
French, the Latin, the Teutonic, or the 
Saxon languages. We are thus indebted to 
Mr. Wilbraham for much investigation and 
patient research, in compiling from so 
many various sources those authorities, 
derivations, and coincidences, which shew 
the antiquity, and explain the nature of 
our provincial language.—Words formerly 
of classical authority, we here find alto¬ 
gether obsolete or in disuse, and from 
others we perceive the progress and fluc¬ 
tuation of our language in the more du¬ 
rable nature of the provincial dialects of 
Lngland. Besides its amusing tendency, 
we must consider this little work as a cu¬ 
rious aud valuable addition to the philolo¬ 
gical labours of Dr. Ash, and those of Ray, 
though not illustrated with the reasoning 
and genius of a Horne Tooke. 
We think we may venture to speak in 
terms of approbation of a new descriptive 
poem, entitled A Tour of the Dove, with 
Occasional Pieces, by Mr. To h n Ed wards. 
The river Dove, with its surrounding 
scenery, which the poet so enthusiastically 
describes, is situated in the most romantic 
and bqautiful part of Derbyshire, whose 
local attractions and peculiarities arc 
drawm with a delicate and masterly hand 
which 
