632 
to kilt or kelp; [kilten or kilpin is a phrafe 
which only fignified a vifit alter fupper.] 
This cuftom is yet (1791) continued, but 
the paffions of the young coup!e are not ’ 
at prefent under fuch fevere difcipline as 
formerly : it is difreputable, hawever, for 
a village girl to admit a fecond lover be- 
fore the difmiffal of her firf, but the may 
have feveral lovers in a thort time, with- 
out incurring blame! Should fhe prove 
with child, the feducer mvft marry her, 
but the lady feldom knows who is the 
father of it, and is at liberty to choofe on 
which among thein fhe pleafes to confer 
the honour: the old men encourage this 
practice, and the moft fober matron does 
not blufh at it. The women of Berne 
make faithful and affeSionate wives, and 
are not afhamed at the follies they have 
committed before marriage. 
<< An Hiftorical Tour in Monmouth- 
fhire, illuftrated with Views, by Sir R. C. 
Hoare, Baronet, a New Map of the 
County, and other Engravings: by W. 
Coxe, A.M. &c.” The public wiil 
open thefe volumes with the anticipation 
of confiderable entertainment and inftruc- 
tion: asa traveller and an hiftorian Mr. 
Coxe has evinced fuch various knowledge, 
and fuch perfevering fpirit of refearch, 
that no one will quefion his qualifica- 
tions for the prefent undertaking. The 
plan of this work originated in an acci- 
dental excurfion into Monmouthfhire, 
where the author, delighted with the beau- 
ties of the fcenery, and impreffed with 
the picturefque ruins of ancient cafiles, 
memorable in the annals of hiftory, con- 
ceived that a particular notice, combining 
the hiftory and defcription of the county 
could not fail to be generally interefting. 
He does not profefs to give a regular 
hiftory of Monmouththire, but a defcrip- 
tion of the principal piaces, intermixed 
with hiltorical relations and biographical 
memoirs: Mr. Coxe indulges his tafte for 
antiquarian Jore with more moderation 
than many county-tourifts, under the 
weight of whofe ponderous works we have 
fometimes groaned: he feleéts with juc'g- 
ment and with tafte, omitting no inf: r- 
mation wh'ch is curious and interettirg, 
‘and declining ‘o inert any which is pue- 
rile and infignificast. Scme preliminary 
feftions afford a bird’s eye vew of the 
ancint hiftery of Monmouthfhire, and 
give a defcription of its rivers, hundreds, 
population, languages, fituation in the 
Roman, Britifh, Sexcn, and Norman pe- 
riods, aud its rediétion o an Engiifh 
county : of its Roman ftations and :oacs— 
of the courfe of the Julia ftrata, from 
Retrofpee? of Domeftic Literature—Hiftary. 
Bath to the confines of Glamorganthire— 
and of its ancient encampments, caftles, 
and churches; together with fome judi- 
cious remarks on the various ftyle of ar- 
chiteCture. An Appendix is fubjoined 
to this work, containing remarks on the 
firuéture of the Welth language, &c. by 
Mr. Owen—an extract from the Myvy- 
rian Archeclogy of Wales—abitraét of 
the Charter of Newport—papers relative 
to the trade of Chepftow—curious fubjects 
of antiquity, &c. We fcarcely ever faw 
a work more richly embellifhed than the 
prefent: a fimple enumeration of the plates 
would occupy much room. Sutfice it to 
fay, that no curious object or picturefque 
{cere elcaped the faithful—the indefati- 
gable—and very elegant pencil of Sir R. 
Hoare, whole drawings have all been en- 
graven either by Mr. Byrne himfelf, or | 
under his immediate direction. . 
Sir RicHarD MusGRAveE has pub-~ 
lithed a fecond edition of his ** Memoirs 
of the different Rebellions in Tveland.”’ 
This work is rendered ftill heavier than 
the former, by a hiftory of the reforma- 
tion in Ireland, and confiderations on the 
means of extending its advantages therein. 
It has been remarked, that “ no per- 
formances more rapidly experience their 
merited fate than falffied or prejudiced 
hiftories.”” It is perfeétly true that falfi- 
fied or prejudiced hittories are never ho- 
noured by the appeal of pofterior writers, 
but {con iink into that utter contempt and 
oblivion to whick they are deftined: ftill, 
however, they oftentimes anfwer the pur- 
pofe of the author, whofe folicitude about 
the opinion of pofterity is not likely to 
difturb bim: he writes for a party, and 
that party fupports him: “he reigns a 
month—but that is May.” The ap- 
pearance of a fecond edition of this work 
corroborates the truth of the remark: the 
object of Sir Richard Mufgrave appears 
to have been to kindle the expiring embers 
of difccrd and deftru€tion: a glow of 
triumph fuffuies his cheek when he relates 
the laft agonies of thole deluded Catholics 
who paid the forfeit of their offences, nor 
does he conces] his forrow at thoie in- 
ftances where the gillows, to ufe his own 
elegant phraieology, has been deprived of 
its dué! The Papi!ts of Ireland muft be 
annihilated betore the empire can be fe- 
cure: that clemency which emanated, 
like an ethereal beam, from the benignant 
bo‘om of the Viceroy, is an object or cen- 
fure with this man of perfecu‘ion, and 
his pages, it muft be acknowledged, are 
too well calculated to impede the paflage 
of itsrays. If Sir Richard is fomewhat 
A rigorous 
