ing on for some time, attended with much personal rancour; and the French tyrant, so suspicious in politicks, kept, at first, the balance pretty even between the two parties, as might be expected from his total indifference to religion. But, on his return from Poland, he affected to fear, that those disputes would occasion dangerous animosities. In fact, he was conscious that many applications, not very favourable to his blood thirsty ambition, might be made, and really had been made, from the publications of the religious party. All Christians were, in consequence, turned out of their employments, whether profitable or honourable, in the various literary departments, to make room for unbelievers, whose compliance was perfectly unreserved and complai sant. re We shall say nothing on the merit or demerit of historical novels in general. We leave this grand question to the learned frivolity of our neighbours; convinced, that provided a production of this kind be harmless in its moral tendency, it matters but little, whether fictitious adventures are attributed to imaginary heroes, or to historical personages; keeping, however, in mind, the precept of Horace, notandi sunt tibi mores. Yet, when the real manners, sentiments, and actions of the persons introduced are correctly represented, and the opinions of their age and country are also set before us truly, we are of opinion that this attention to costume and character enhances the consideration at all times due to the labours of genius. As to the events of real history, to seek them in works of imagination is illusory, and generally dangerous. We shall conclude this article by a curious observation of Madame de Genlis. After remarking that the cruel punishment of Belisarius is by no means an authenticated fact, she thinks, that the only authority which sanctions the popular notion of his blindness, is a beautiful picture by Vandyck, now in the possession of the duke of Devonshire, at Chiswick. In this picture, the Grecian hero is represented sitting, while the boy who serves him as a guide tends the casque of the warriour to receive the alms of a soldier heart-struck by the misery of his general, But, from this digression, which we hope may be forgiven, we turn to Madame de Genlis's Belisarius. In praising her intentions we have conscientiously allowed her all the merit she is fairly entitled to. As a literary production, this work is hardly worth notice. Now and then, some brilliant passages remind us of the author's known talents; but the whole bears evident marks of haste and negligence. It is a wanton abuse of her facility in the knack of writing. The characters are faintly drawn; the situations are indicated rather than expressed, and the natural consequence is, a total deficiency of interest, although a very good novel might certainly be made on the plan suggested by Madame Quidlibet audendi semper fuit æqua po. de Genlis. testas. Pictoribus atque poetis FROM THE MONTHLY REVIEW. Naufragia, or Historical Memoirs of Shipwrecks, and of the Providential Deliverance of Vessels. By James Stanier Clarke, F. R. S. Chaplain of the Prince's Household, and Librarian to His R. H. 12mo. 2 vols. 13s. Boards. NOT only does this publication furnish a series of relations which will interest the sons of Neptune, incite them to bear the hardships of his reign, and furnish them with hints for expedients in misfortune, but it will amuse the general reader, by the nature and variety of its contents. In the section relative to Alexander Selkirk, and the adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Mr. Clarke seems to incline to an opinion which has been started, that Daniel Defoe was not, in fact, the author of that popular book; and he quotes, from the Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. lviii. Pt. 1. p. 208, a letter to Mr. Urban on the subject, which we are also inclined to transcribe. "DUBLIN, Feb. 25, 1788. "Mr. Urban, "In the course of a late conversation with a nobleman of the first consequence and information in this kingdom, he assured me that Mr. Benjamin Holloway, of Middleton Stony, assured him some time ago, that he knew for fact, that the celebrated romance of Robinson Crusoe was really written by the earl of Oxford, The inquiry is not, perhaps, of much consequence, unless it were also contended that lord Oxford did not take the real adventures of Selkirk as the basis of his narrative; yet we should be glad to have the question decided, as a piece of literary history, FROM THE LITERARY PANORAMA. A TOUR IN FRANCE. 1802. 8vo. pp. 91. Price 2s. 6d. London. 1808. THIS is, apparently, the production of a lady, who quitted England, with English ideas in her mind, and a strong sense of the "domestick comforts" of her native land. She observes, that the French language has no term which fully conveys the meaning of this English expression; and she might have observed, that the language is not to blame in this; for why should it comprise an expression for the use of a people, to denote an enjoyment of which they are totally ignorant? The sex of the author precluded her from information on the enormities of that profligacy which pervades Paris, and its environs. She saw, indeed, the baths of madame Buonaparté, now the empress Josephine, and the paragon of virtue! but the sliding pictures that amuse the bather, were not shown to her. This must be taken as an honourable tribute to the national delicacy of an English lady! We might say the same of occurrences at the Palais Royal, and the cabinets at the Petit Trianon. This cause, too, may account for the absence of politicks from the pamphlet, beyond such as occurred to the observation of the writer. We are disposed, therefore, to place the greater confidence in her remarks; and we wish that it were in her power to furnish information, equally correct, on the time present. We do not recollect to have seen the pomposity of the chief of the French government, and of Madame, in their habitations and establishments, more amply described than by our traveller: and we avail ourselves of her details, to convey some ideas on the subject. An irresistible bias, also, to exercise our panoramick second sight, impels us to add, as another inducement, the presentiment of a period, possibly at no great distance, when description will be all that remains of this magnificence. The Panorama may then be appealed to in proof that such things really did exist. We confess it is our opi nion, that the vice of the Palais Royal will outlive the grandeur of the Thuilleries. A decent idea of that den of iniquities, may be gained from the following passage. "Amongst the present wonders of Paris must be reckoned the palais royal, formerly the residence of the duke of Orleans, but now converted into a most extraordinary scene of vice and dissipation. It is a world of itself, and as wicked a world as any in existence. Many of the inhabitants never stir beyond the gates; for within them they have every thing they can want; eating, drinking, and lodging, in the highest style; elegant shops for every sort of article; every kind of amusement and dissipation, and every species of folly and extravagance. The buildings of the first court are converted into the Palais of the Tribunate, one of the legislative bodies [1802] from thence is a passage, through an arch, into the inner court, which is a handsome garden in the French style in the form of a parallelogram, surrounded by buildings of a regular and beautiful appearance. The two long sides consist of seventy six windows, and the ends of thirty six. Considering this as a single palace, its length and extent is immense, equal to some of our largest squares. None of the other royal palaces in France are near so extensive. The duke of Orleans only inhabited the first square. The second, which surrounds the garden, was built by him for his adherents and followers during the revolu tion, and it was at that period a dreadful scene of profligacy and wickedness. It is now converted to a variety of purposes. The garden is constantly full of loungers of every description. The under ground buildings, which were formerly cellars, are now fitted up very neatly into ball rooms, theatres, musick rooms, and for other publick spectacles, and only open at night. "The ground floor is a range of piazzas, all round the square, full of elegant shops; and these piazzas, as well as the gardens, are constantly full of company. The first floor above this consists of lodging houses, restaurateurs, coffee houses, and circulating libraries; and the second story, of gaming houses, billiard rooms, &c. The means of vice, extravagance, and dissipation, contained within these walls, cannot be described; but they are sufficient to corrupt a whole nation, and it is supposed to be the most complete nest of profligacy in all Europe. All ranks and degrees may here find their amusements for every hour in the day. The cellars, which are fitted up, are cheap places of amusement for the common people, where the bourgeoise, and even the dame, in her wooden shoes, Speaking of the new imperial apartments in the Thuilleries, our author says: "I shall only notice five rooms. The first is the common drawing room, where madame and her company retire to drink coffee after dinner. It is hung with purple silk, and at every seam a gold bead is passed from the top to the bottom, the cornice very highly gilt and finished, and the ceiling very finely painted. The looking glasses, which are fine plates and immensely large, are on a plan singular and elegant. Instead of being framed, they seem inserted in the wall, and the silk hanging drawn back in a drapery, with gold cords and tassels, as if to show them partially, that it gives the idea of the whole room being looking glass, and only shown in different places. The chairs and sofa were purple sattin embroidered, and frames superbly gilt, and highly finished. There was a fine lustre in the middle of the room, and a profusion of beautiful ornaments on the chimney piece, tables, and different places, consisting of small statues of exquisite workmanship, urns of alabaster, and the finest Seve china, beautiful time pieces, gilt figures with sconces, tripods, &c, "The elegance of this room is only a gentle preparation for the splendour of the next, which is Madame Buonaparte's state drawing room. Its brilliancy is very striking on first entering, and an improvement is made on extravagance in the hangings, which I thought too heavy for elegance. The walls are hung with yellow silk, and instead of being plain and straight, it is plaited all round in thick plaits, and fastened in different places with gold cord, and great quantities of fine gold fringe and tassels, and other ornaments are introduced; but it is too fine to be elegant. The glasses are in the same manner as in the other room, but if possible, more magnificent. There are a dozen chairs, and a sopha of the most beautiful gobelins tapestry, lately finished at the manufactory in Paris. The backs and seats are tapestry natural flowers (superiour to any embroidery) on a yellow ground, and the frames of the chairs are gilt. There are a dozen smaller chairs set in front of them, for use, of yellow satin and gold, and in the middle of the room was the finest lustre I ever beheld. It cost an enormous sum for glass. Its immense size, and the profusion of gilt ornaments about it, must render it very beautiful when it is lighted up, and res flected in the looking glasses. On each side the room, are two inlaid Sienna marble tables in gilt frames, very beautiful. They were formerly, as well as several other ornaments, part of the fine furniture of Versailles; and this room, like the other, is finished with a profusion of beautiful figures, urns, tripods, time pieces, and other ornaments in white marble, alabaster, bronze, fine china, and gilding. "We were next introduced into the bed chamber of citizen Buonaparte and his lady, and it seemed more like what we read of eastern magnificence than any thing in this part of the world. There was such a profusion and variety of finery, that it is not easy, correctly to describe this room. The bed hangings were rich blue silk, trimmed in every direction with extremely superb gold fringe, the counterpane was the same silk, with the fringe all round, and rich gold tassels at the corners of the bolsters. On the bedstead nothing was to be seen but gilding and carving, devices of figures, cornucopias of flowers, and every elegant ornament. The canopy was a dome carved and gilt, and round it a drapery of blue silk; with as much gold fringe and finery about it as the court dress of a birth day dutchess. The walls were hung with blue silk, with a rich gold moulding, and covered with fine pictures, three superb pier glasses, and a chrystal lustre in the middle of the room which cost 10,000. This was part of the finery at Versailles, and though so very expensive, being all wrought chrystal, is not so brilliant as that in the drawing room. The wash-hand basins, ewers and other utensils in the room were of the finest Seve china, the most beautiful of the kind, and in ornamental forms. There were also two little footstools of Madame's, of blue velvet in gilt frames, and trimmed with gold fringe. The next room was madame Buonaparte's dressing room where she breakfasts, and receives her morning company. This room is very elegant, but being more a family room, is less magnificent than the others; but it had a number of beautiful and expensive ornaments, and amongst others, a work box brought from England by Lauriston, as a present to madame. It is inlaid, and richly ornamented with cut steel, and all the implements within it, of the finest cut and polished steel. "Beyond this room was Buonaparte's library, dressing room, and private cabinet. In the latter were the busts of Charles Fox and lord Nelson, neither of them well executed. "Another room worthy of notice was the citizen's salle à manger, where he usually dines, en famille, and with private friends. It is a very elegant room, lately fitted up with hexagon ends, very highly finished with painting, gilding, and very superb lustres and mirrors. This simple citizen lives in a princely style, with respect to his establishment; his liveries are very magnificent, dark green so covered with gold lace, that very little of the cloth is to be seen, and the liveries of his black servants are an improvement upon this finery, being green velvet very richly embroidered with gold. And with hypocritical, affected abhorrence of every thing princely or superb, Madame has her ladies in waiting, and her maids of honour.” An anecdote of the present sovereign of these apartments, occurs in p. 79, which is very characteristick of the man: We were told that on the evening the news of the emperour Paul's death arrived, who was his dear friend and ally, Madame Bonaparte had an assembly which the consul honoured with his presence. He was unfortunately sitting with his feet under a table of a very fine set of Seve china, when the despatches were put into his hands, announcing this event, which proved such a check at that time to his schemes of ambition and plunder, that the agitation of the moment overcame all idea of dignity and decorum; he threw up his feet, overturned the table, threw a dish of coffee out of his hand into the fire, dashed down a pair of wax candles that stood in his way, and flew out of the room in a state bordering on insanity." FROM THE MONTHLY REVIEW. The Cottagers of Glenburnie; a Tale for the Farmer's Ingle-Nook. By Elizabeth Hamilton. 8vo. 7s. 6d. Boards. THE second title of this tale almost serves to announce the great mixture of Scotch dialect which it contains; enough is however intelli gible to gratify every reader of taste, and every lover of humour; and perhaps few writers, without "overstepping the modesty of nature," can produce scenes and situations equally comick, or, without departing from the airiness of narration, administer counsel equally weighty. We the less regret that our limits do not permit us to make extracts from this work, because we rather wish to induce than to supersede the perusal of it; and we are convinced that no extracts can afford so much pleasure as the whole tale will inevitably yield. FROM THE BRITISH CRITICK. Beauties selected from the Writings of James Beattie, L. L. D. arranged in a perspicuous and pleasing Manner, under the following Heads: Poetical, Moral, Philosophical, Theological, Critical, and Epistolary. To which are prefixed, a Life of the Author, and an Account of his Writings; together with Notes on the first Book of the Minstrel. By Thomas Gray, L. L. B. 12mo. 5s. 6d. 1809. THIS must be an acceptable little volume to the admirers of Dr. Beattie; and who does not admire him, and his poetry in particular, the whole of which is here collected? A few notes to the Minstrel, communicated in the completest confidence of friendship, by the poet Gray, are also inserted; but these are neither numerous nor very important. We have several sketches of the life of Beattie, besides the elaborate narrative of sir William Forbes. The best of these, we think, is that prefixed to a very pleasing edition of the Minstrel, by Mr. Alexander Chalmers. This, however, by Mr. Mudford, is very respectable. The extracts from the prose works are judiciously selected and not improperly arranged. We beg, however, to protest against the assumed commendation in the title page, which tells us, that they are "arranged in a perspicuous and pleasing manner." Whose remark is this? Does the editor say so of himself? If so, it is a culpable vanity; and if added by the publishers, it is an impertinent puff. It is for the purchaser and reader to determine what degree of praise is to be given to the arrangement or merit of a work to which the patronage of the publick is solicited. FROM THE BRITISH CRITICK. Memoirs of Maria, Countess D'Alva; being neither Novel nor Romance, but appertain ing to both. Interspersed with historick Facts and comick Incidents. In the course of which are introduced, Fragments and Circumstances not altogether inapplicable to the Events of this distracted Age, and to the Measures of the Fore-sighted Defenders of our Holy Faith. In two Vols. By Priscilla Parlante. 2 vols. 8vo. 17. 1s. 1808. THIS is most certainly a whim- to be called out of our way to read sical title; but we are not prepared near a thousand pages of such matto say it is inaccurate. It may be ter; and we hope that Priscilla Paraffirmed, however, without danger lante will in future be a little more of contradiction, that in these vo- merciful, and circumscribe her vi lumes there is stuff enough, accor- vid imagination. It is, indeed, inscriding to the nature and condition of bed to the "Man in the Moon;" and modern novels, to have made twenty we will not promise, that if another for the Minerva or any similar press. production of this kind, of this exWho Priscilla Parlante may be, we tent, and from this writer, come bepretend not to know; but the writer fore us, we shall not refer the reahas a marvellous and exuberant ders of it to that same worthy and fancy, and tells her tales of wonder exalted personage. well. Yet it is rather hard upon us |