This idea, says the author, has been unintentionally taken from Moore; and if he had added that a great part of the volume had been suggested by Lord Byron, he would not have been far from the truth. The plagiarism is manifest throughout; and the excuse about invention and memory in the commencement will scarcely avail. The very dashes of the noble lord, his unmeaning substitutes for punctuation, are copied in every page:

A grim convulsive laugh then shook his frame
His heart was still alone remains his name

His soul hath fled.

It is enough to say

the where I may not tell-14 £9 there is an hell.'

As something of promise occurs in several passages of this little publication, and as we have heard that the author is merely a youth, we would admonish him to think and feel for himself with more independence and originality, should he ever appear again as a candidate for literary fame: but let him not rashly do this; let him at all events wait for some years to come, and store his mind with much more knowlege than he can hitherto have obtained, before he crosses the dangerous Rubicon of the Press on a second occasion.

NOVELS.

Art. 27. The Victim of Intolerance; or the Hermit of Killarney. A Catholic Tale. By Robert Torrens, Major in the Royal Marines. 12mo. 4 Vols. 20s. Boards. Gale and Co. 1814. A novel only tolerably well conceived and tolerably well written, to which a striking moral is appended, and which is calculated to incul cate an important practical principle, is intitled to a favourable. reception by us, who are warmly solicitous to have the useful blended with the pleasant, and to see fiction subservient to truth, virtue, and social blessings. Major Torrens, then, comes into our court under favourable auspices; and, his Catholic Tale,' seasonably addressed to the people of Ireland for the very laudable purpose of producing liberality of sentiment on the one hand, and moderation and tranquillity on the other,' appeals so forcibly to our hearts, that we have not one frown on our brow that could possibly turn against him. Had ewe, indeed, entered without prepossession on the reading of this novel, the result would have been the same; since it displays sound judgment as well as imagination, and the impressions which it leaves on the mind are connected with the happiness of states. The Victim of Intolerance' is in fact a novel of no ordinary character. With very impassioned scenes, it combines the most interesting discussions, which are ably conducted, and which prove the writer to be a man of reading and deep reflection. With a glow of eloquence, the cause of the Catholics is advocated; and in the history of O'Connor, the hero of the to of the tale, the miserable consequences of exclusion are most pathetically displayed. The narrative is perhaps too much spun-out, some incidents might have been omitted, and some of the argumentative parts abridged: but the whole is creditable to Major Torrens as a writer, and cannot fail of being extremely accep

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table

table to the Catholic population of Ireland, whose situation and feelings are painted to the life.

Art. 28. The Observant Pedestrian mounted; or a Donkey Tour to Brighton, a Comic Sentimental Novel. By the Author of "The Mystic Cottager," "Observant Pedestrian," &c: 3 Vols. 12mo. 16s. 6d. Boards. Simpkin and Marshall. 1815.

If any reader of this work be sufficiently good-humoured to forgive a large proportion of nonsense, he will be amused by the performance, in which the comic parts are the best, and some of the chapters. and dialogues are really laughable. The author is certainly an 'observant' traveller, and has described so minutely the inns and dinners which he found on the road to Brighton, that we have no doubt of his having taken the journey, and little question of his having tasted the repasts. He also imitates successfully the language and expressions of the Sussex peasantry: but more story and connection are necessary to insure attention during the perusal of three volumes; and the humour is not only of a low and puerile cast, but some old jokes and stories are introduced: for instance, that of the two drivers and the newspaper, Vol. iii. p. 26. The writer also employs many incorrect expressions; such as, Vol. i. p. 314., techey temper Vol. iii. p. 85., She trottered across the Steine; and p. 273., necessity would compel me to act economical:' Vol. ii., p. 224. The maîtresse d'hôtel whose perspicuity this action had not escaped;' and in Vol. ii. p. 16., the pedestrian reproves a maid-servant for saying she sawed, by desiring her not to speak so improper. Art. 29. Warwick Castle. An Historical Novel. By Miss Prickett. 12mo. 3 Vols.l. Is. Boards. Baldwin and Co. 1815.

Here may be found a new recipe for an historical novel, since the characters in this tale are all fictitious: but they visit Warwick Castle, and therefore the second volume is entirely filled with historical notices concerning the persons whose portraits are to be seen in that fine antient residence. We must observe, en passant, that the account given of Ignatius Loyola is unduly favourable (vide pp. 125, 126, &c.) but we imagine that the new species of composition thus introduced by Miss Prickett will not find many imitators, because the present novel is so dull that it will be

"To all an example, to no one a pattern."

RELIGIOUS.

Art. 30. 0 'n Biblia Hebraica; secundum ultimam Editionem Jos. Athia, a Johanne Leusden, denuo recognitam, recensita, atque ad Masoram, et Correctiones Bombergi, Plantini, aliorumque Editiones, exquisite ornata, variisque Notis illustrata ab Everardo Van der Hooght, V.D.M. Editio nova, recognita et emendata, à Josepho Samuele C. F. Frey. Partes IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. 8vo. Gale and Co.

Our readers will see, by turning to a former Number of our Journal, (Vol. xix. N. S. p. 214.) that we have already detailed

the

the substance of Mr. Frey's prospectus of this work. We had then received only three numbers: but five more have since come to hand; and we have hitherto waited for the remainder, in hopes of being able to announce the completion of the undertaking. Without farther delay, however, we shall now mention the five numbers before us, which contain the portion of the O. T. that is included between Joshua, chap. vii. and Hosea, chap. ii.; so that three or four numbers more will finish the whole.

Though this Hebrew Bible is meant to be an exact fac-simile of that of Van der Hooght, yet, on comparing them together, we find that this is not precisely the case. The type, though beautiful, is not (we think) quite so square and bold as that of Van der Hooght. In the preface to the Amsterdam edition, of which this is said to be a copy, an apology is made for giving a larger page than that of Athias, which it professes to follow: but Mr. Frey has made his page longer than that of Van der Hooght, at the same time that he has contracted its width, without informing us of this alteration. He has given, indeed, in the sixth number, an engraved title-page which exactly corresponds with that of its proto-type, only subjoining at the bottom, A Josepho Samuele C. F. Frey: but he has not copied, as he ought to have done, the second title, containing the wood-vignette, and the names of the editors of Van der Hooght's Bible, viz. Boom, Waesberge, Goethals, Borstius, Wolters, Halma, Van de Water, and Broedelet, with the year in which it was printed (CI 1 ccv). On turning, also, to the prefatory matter, we find that what occupies only 48 pages in the original edition is spread over 72 pages by Mr. Frey; and that he has omitted the catch-word at the bottom of the last page which shews that the preface is concluded, and that the next page commences with the Hebrew sacred text. These are trifles: but, in professed fac-similes, which are ushered to the notice of the publie with professions of the greatest attentions to exactness and accuracy, even trifles should not be disregarded. Every' page of the new edition ought, as in a glass, to reflect the old. Indeed, for the most part, we find this to be the case. If at the end of the book of Exodus, &c. we have not the precise wooden vignette which is given in the Amsterdam edition, we recognize a de. cent substitute; the title-page (engraved in wood) of the anterior Prophets which follow the Pentateuch is tolerably copied from Van der Hooght, with the motto from Ps. cxviii. 20. in Hebrew without points: but, instead of prɔ (Amstelodami) we have (Londini); and the same remark we may apply to the title-pages of the posterior Prophets.

pa

Our time is too much occupied, and our eyes are too old, to enable us to make a perfect collation of the edition of Mr. Frey with that of its professed exemplar: but we wish that some Hebrew scholar, who has more leisure than we can command, (and an ample stock of tience into the bargain,) would ascertain how far this London edition is intitled to the full praise of accuracy to which it aspires. We hope that it contains no material errors: but we must observe that we have discovered, in the partial survey which we have taken, that the wowel-points and accents are not in all cases so distinctly exhibited as

in Van der Hooght's edition. As an instance, we shall specify the word in the fifth line from the bottom of p. 20. In Van der Hooght, the accent over the is placed very distinctly from the dot Cholem but in Mr. Frey's edition they are run together, resembling an inverted Kybbutz. Perhaps this and similar failures of distinctness in those very delicate gentry, the vowel-points and accents, may be attributed to the proofs being corrected after a reader of the copy and not submitted to the eye, which would detect the smallest aberration from the original.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Art. 31. An Extract from a Journal, kept on board H. M. S. Bellerophon, Captain F. L. Maitland, from July 15. to August 7. 1815, being the Period during which Napoleon Buonaparte was on board that Ship. By Lieutenant John Bowerbank, R. N. late of the Bellerophon. With an Appendix of official and other Documents. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Rivingtons, &c.

The daily newspapers supplied the public with an ample report of the proceedings relative to Napoleon during his stay on board of the Bellerophon, and of his general conduct and demeanour. We have, in consequence, been rather disappointed in our expectation of finding many new particulars in the Journal before us: but it is satisfactory to receive an account from a respectable and avowed source, and to observe the general correspondence of this detail with the circumstances stated in the papers. Still, however, we could select from

this little work various anecdotes which would interest our readers, and probably be new to some of them but we will not plunder the Lieutenant's locker, rather recommending its contents at large to the notice of our readers.

Art. 32. An Account of the Battle of Waterloo, 18th June 1815,. &c. &c. By a British Officer on the Staff. With an Appendix, containing the British, French, Prussian, and Spanish official Details of that memorable Engagement. 8vo. 6s. Ridgway. This account is published as the copy of a letter written by an officer well qualified to describe the celebrated battle of Waterloo with accuracy and fidelity, and which was considered as too interesting to be thrown aside, since it would assist in gratifying present curiosity, in supplying materials for the future historian, and in the relief of the sufferers by the battle.' On these accounts we are glad to receive it, and to announce it to the public. A coloured engraved sketch of the scene of action and the position of the armies is prefixed. Art. 33. Loisirs de Napoléon Buonaparte; depuis son Enfance tjusqu'à l'Epoque de son Mariage avec L'Archiduchesse Marie Louise. Ecrits par lui-même, pendant son Sejour dans l'Isle d'Elbe. 12mo. 2 Vols. Paris. 1815. Reprinted in London for Colburn. Price Ios.

Two questions occur relative to this publication. Is it authentic? If it be, what is it worth?-As to the first, we have no doubt that it is a forgery; as to the second, we are equally clear that it is worthless, even if it were true. Considered as a fiction, the perusal of it can yield

nothing

nothing but contamination; and if it were véritable, to that contamin ation could be added no other knowlege than that Bonaparte was alike insatiable in his love of conquest over women and over states, and equally without scruple in the mode of gratifying it. The preface of the anonymous editor declares that he received the MS. from the Duke of, to whom it was given by Napoleon himself. What satisfactory authority! Paris unfortunately abounds with meretricious writers and readers, and by and for these classes we apprehend the present volumes to have been composed. The re-print of them in London is without some of the most prurient details of the original, but still requires to be placed in the list of prohibited works. Art. 34 Memorial on behalf of the Native Irish, with a View to their Improvement in Moral and Religious Knowlege, through the Medium of their own Language. 8vo. pp. 80. 2s. 6d. Gale and Co. 1815.

3

To this humane, interesting, and well argued Memorial, the attention of our rulers ought to be directed; and for the pains which the author (the introduction is subscribed Christopher Anderson, Edinburgh,) has taken to collect the fullest information on this subject, and to reply to a all objections, Government and the public owe him thanks. It has been amply proved by experience, that the language of a people cannot easily be exterminated; and that the only effectual way of diffusing moral and religious knowlege is to employ the native tongue as the vehicle. On this principle, it is here contended that those who are termed the native Irish (including a population of nearly two millions) can never be instructed to any serious purpose, but through the medium of their vernacular tongue; and, in reply to the objection that "many of these people understand the English language," it is sensibly remarked:

As to the assertion that these people at present understand the English language, it must be received with very considerable limitations. The truth is, that the great majority do not, and even with regard to those who do, to what extent are they acquainted with the English language? Every language, let it be observed, has its different departments-commercial, political, and religious. Does it therefore follow that because a native Irishman can buy and sell, or because an Irish waiter, at an inn in the country, can reply to a traveller in English, that he can reason in this language, or follow the argument and address of moral and religious discourse? By no means. The Irish is still the language of his heart, and even of the best part of his understanding. In it, he still continues to express his joy or grief; for this is the language which is associated with his earliest recollections. In it, his mother hushed him to rest in the days of infancy; and in youth, if he had an ear for music, it was charmed with the numbers of " Brin go brah!"

The statement here given of the means which have been employed, at various periods, for instructing the native Irish by means of the press, and particularly by the translation of the Scriptures into Irish, their printing, and circulation, is curious and amusing; and we eannot help lamenting, with the author, that the first men who

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engaged