Making these concessions in favour of imagination, we have to remark, that judgment is necessary to restrain and direct its operations; otherwise its airy visions may be mistaken for realities: matter of no moment may engross almost exclusive attention; the trodden path may be left simply because it is trodden: in the rage for originality, exploded errors are raised from their graves, where they had slept for centuries; the general and current opinions are reversed; paradoxies started and maintained; the importance of particular opinions exaggerated, to the disparagement of the rest; common opinion encrusted with an air of mystery, or dressed in antiquated and obsolete language; doctrines seldom treated held up for more utility than those which at present are generally discussed ;the piety, knowledge, and talents of men of former times extolled, and those of the present age derided and despised; men accused of holding sentiments they never entertained: by such proceedings, men of real ability, of decided piety, of great zeal and exemplary diligence in the Christian ministry, often fritter away their influence on the public mind; it being utterly impossible to respect decisions formed not by patient inquiry, not by a candid and impartial examination of the bible; but first imagined, then announced, then affirmed, then enforced on the acceptance of all, under pain of being held ignorant, or weak, or lukewarm, or irreligious, or secret enemies of God and his truth.

The types, like unaccomplished prophecy, afford great scope for the excursions of a wild imagination; it is therefore fortunate that the discussion of them has fallen to the lot of a mind so well trained, and so equally balanced in its various powers, as that of the author of the above work.

Even when the reader may be disposed to differ from the author, he will feel constrained to admire the ardour of his piety, and the rectitude of his intention; he will not be disgusted or repelled by any claim to superior discernment, by a reckless denunciation of other writers, by virulent attacks on Christianity not paid and patronized by the state, or by arrogance, selfconceit, and oracular dogmatism.

The author is an honour to the Scotch presbytery of London; and, if not the most brilliant, is one of the most useful of its members.

REVIEW. The Newtonian System of Philosophy, explained by familiar Objects in an entertaining Manner, for the Use of Young Persons. By Tom Telescope, M. A. A New and Improved Edition. By James Mitchell. 18mo. pp. 162. Tegg. London. 1827. THIS little work is closely printed, adorned with many illustrative cuts, and neatly put out of hand; its appearance in every respect corresponding with the important subjects of which it treats.

The introduction is somewhat humorous, but not uninstructive. It contrasts the ignorance, avarice, and contemptible character of a young gamester, with the enlightened aspirations of a juvenile companion called Tom Telescope, who prefers a philosophical apparatus to a game at cards, and prevails on an assemblage of youths to throw aside the painted pasteboard, and attend to his repetition of what he can recollect of nine philosophical lectures, which he had just heard delivered at his school. Consent being obtained, Tom begins with matter and motion; and proceeds with the structure of the solar system; atmospheric phenomena; magnetism; mountains, rivers, and oceans; minerals, vegetables, and animals; and concludes with a lecture on man.

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include, in a condensed form, the essence, if not the outline, of those truths and facts which it is the business of science and philosophy to inculcate.

To young persons of both sexes, who prefer knowledge to ignorance, truth to fiction, the realities of the universe to the friskings of a dancing master, and a telescope or air-pump to the ace of spades, this little volume will be a valuable acquisition. Inthe rational and instructive amusement which it cannot fail to afford, multitudes grown to maturity,

"Whose souls proud science never taught to stray," may find the birth of intellect, and gradually merge from mere animals into reasonable beings. Unless it be to those who are deeply read in the philosophy of nature, we know not a single class in the community who may not derive considerable benefit from perusing the lectures of Tom Telescope.

REVIEW. The Christian Poet, or Selections in Verse on Sacred Subjects. By James Montgomery. With an Introductory Essay. 12mo, pp. 440. Whittaker. London. 1827.

THE transcripts which compose this volume, are in general taken from authors whose writings are but little known in the poetical world; and several pieces are more indebted for the pages which they occupy, to their approximation to Calvary, than to their eleva. tion on Parnassus.

In our perusal of this work, we must, however, be guided by its title, which evidently influenced the compiler in making his selections; and, without adverting on all occasions to poetical merit, view it as a collection from about one hundred and fifty authors, of pieces that have a favourable bearing on Christianity. We have, however, no more right to infer from hence, that all those poets whose works have not been quoted, were hostile to revelation, than that all whose names appear, were friendly to the sacred subjects which they have embellished by their versification.

In making his selections, Mr. Montgomery has gone back to the cradle of the English muse, when in her puling infancy she was rocked by Chaucer, and taught to lisp in inharmonious numbers. To the great mass of readers we do not think these will be the most pleasing specimens, or that they will derive any recommendation from the antiquated garments in which they appear. There are, however, many others, in which the fervour of piety and the beauties of poetic diction are combined, some of which will serve to rescue the names of

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their authors from oblivion. To such as are not so highly favoured, the subject will furnish a passport to respect, and the name of Mr. Montgomery, known as the compiler, will ensure to this volume an extensive circulation.

REVIEW.-Oriental Observations and Occasional Criticisms, &c. By John Callaway, late Missionary in Ceylon. 12mo. pp. 92. Holdsworth. London. 1827. THE author of this little volume professes to illustrate several hundred passages of Scripture; through the medium of various customs and manners still practised in Ceylon, and in numerous parts of continental India. Many of these are derived from his own personal observations, and others are too well attested to leave room for any perused them with much interest, and candoubt as to their authenticity. We have didly admit that he has fairly made good his pretensions. In construction, contents, and arrangement, this work bears some resemblance to "Harmer's Observations," though on a much more diminutive scale; and, within a narrow compass, it contains much useful information.

By these elucidations, many passages that appear obsolete and foreign to European manners, acquire a degree of propriety, and a force of expression, which would be otherwise unknown. It was our intention to give a few instances as specimens, but the want of room compels us to desist.

Independently of the illustrations which these Oriental incidents and historical sketches supply, they furnish, though in a detached manner, many local features, of prevailing customs and prejudices still retained in India, that have been handed down from remote antiquity. Viewed only in this light, they will well repay the reader for his time in perusing this volume; while in their adaptation to illustrate peculiar passages in the sacred writings, they furnish a still more ample remuneration.

REVIEW.-Fitful Fancies. By William Kennedy. 12mo. pp. 198. Whittaker. London. 1827.

FITFUL FANCIES is a book that seems to have been subject to fitful criticism, and the paroxysm has been either favourable or unfavourable to the author's genius, just as it has happened to arise from the sanguine or morbid temperament of the reviewer. The articles are sixty-three in number, and their character is nearly as diversified as the subjects of which they treat. Some are cold, dull, and prosing; while others are

lively, vigorous, and full of animation. In several, there is such an exuberance of fine poetic frenzy, as would be sufficient to supply others with spirit, that are wholly destitute of ardour. This, however, is no more than might naturally be expected from an author whose fancy is troubled with fits; and allowing criticism to be afflicted with the same disorder, we may expect to find applause and condemnation balancing each other, according to the character of the article selected for animadversion.

There is no one composition that can be taken from this volume, which may be deemed a fair specimen of the whole. Some pieces might be selected that would place its general character too high, and others might be given that would depress it too low; and in either case, though both would be within the range of truth, the representation would be unfair. It is, however, but just to state, that the author has not acted like the managers of London stagecoaches, who always put the best horses to draw the vehicle out of town. His early pages are occupied with some of the worst pieces in his volume. They improve as we advance, but we meet with many ups and downs before we arrive at our journey's end. The following we consider to be as fair a specimen as we can well select without advancing to either extreme.

A SATANIC BATTLE-CHANT. "Satan.-POWERS! that sway the dominions of ill, Whose bounds, thanks to man, are increasing still, From your thrones in the thunder-cloud look beneath,

On the ample work of your kinsman Death;
A host of Earth's children have met in hate,
They'll banquet on blood, ere they separate.

Chorus of Fiends.

The better for thee!

And the better for thine !
The wolf quits his lair,
And the vulture speeds there,

On their tyrant to dine.

Their fangs shall be red,
In the flesh of the dead!

Ho! good luck to the sign!

Satan.-Powers! whose doom is ever to bear The wish to impart your own keen despair; Your pangs, while yon yonder scene behold, May loosen a moment their scorpion-fold. See and rejoice at the blackening sky! Hear and bid hail to the murder-cry! Chorus of Fiends.

Hail! Hail! to the cry

Ne'er was masic so sweet,

As the battle-yell,
And the bannings fell,

When great heroes meet;

For a name, or for ore,

To make fat, with their gore,

The turf at their feet.

Chorus of Fiends.
May the wretched race,
To the last, never see,
"Tis a lie that leads
To whate'er deeds,
Engender misery ;
And ne'er may they know
How little of wo,

Did love rule them, would be!
p. 117-19.

REVIEW.-The Plymouth and Devonport Guide, with Sketches of the surrounding Scenery. By Henry E. Carrington. 12mo. pp. 300. Longman. London.

1828.

WHEN a volume, under the title and character of "A Guide," is presented to the public, an idea is generally conveyed, that it is of local application. The truth of this inference will be most readily admitted; but it does not thence follow, that the interest it is calculated to excite must be as circumscribed as the incidents it records, the history it details, or the beauties of nature which it describes. This will in no small degree depend upon foreign and adventitious circumstances, and there are few places on which these circumstances have looked with a more favourable aspect than the towns and scenery through which Mr. Carrington here offers to conduct us.

Plymouth and Devonport have long been known in the maritime history of this country; the former as a celebrated emporium of commerce, and the latter as a principal place of rendezvous for the royal uavy: the former has also been distinguished by the strength and commanding position of its garrison, and the latter by the situation and importance of its arsenal. Of late years

these towns have been considerably improved by the number and elegance of their buildings, the augmentation of trade, the establishment of several valuable institutions, and the increase of their inhabitants. From the extension of Stonehouse, which lies between them, these towns have been so united, that, to an entire stranger, scarcely any evidence would appear of their distinct existence. The aggregate of their population is estimated at about 70,000 souls, independently of those who are occasionally drawn hither by pleasure, merchandise, or

war.

The surrounding country exhibits nearly every beauty that nature, either in her rudest form, as on Dartmoor, or as embellished by art on the banks of the Tamar, can

With slaves, the bitumen soil of hell,

Pray that Earth's reptiles may never know,

How madly they work each other's wo, Damning themselves for a specious name, Religion-Liberty-Fortune-Fame!

110.-VOL. X.

will transmit to distant generations an imperishable monument of what human power and enterprise are able to accomplish, re

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pelling the violence of the hostile elements in the ocean, as the fortifications which protect these towns, furnish them with security on the land from the attempts of an invading foe. It is through these varieties of nature, of art, of human ingenuity, of commerce, and of war, that the work before us offers to become our guide.

The materials of which this volume is composed, are arranged under the names of the three towns, Devonport, Stonehouse, and Plymouth; and in their agrgegate amount they comprise one hundred and twenty-six articles, which are particularly described. Many of these belong exclu sively to the town under the name of which they stand; but several others, that lie beyond the boundaries of their municipal precincts, may be considered as common property, to which neither place has an exclusive claim.

Independently of the above towns and their immediate appendages, the whole of which is minutely detailed, the author ventures on the ocean, and then makes excursions into the surrounding country. To accomplish this, he fixes one leg of his compasses in the above towns as his centre, and with the other sweeps around from the Eddystone, to Ramehead, to Trematon Castle, to Tavistock, to Ivy Bridge, to Saltram, and the Mew Stone, encircling towns, villages, hamlets, seats, antiquities, and peculiarities, such as art and nature have either conjointly or distinctly supplied.

Over the district comprehended within the above general outline, the author has travelled in every direction, and from each spot has collected a valuable mass of collateral materials, with which he has enriched his volume. The history of the Eddystone Lighthouse, of the Breakwater, of Trematon Castle, of Mount Edgcumbe, Pentillie, Cotehele, Lydford, and St. Germans, is particularly interesting, and his description of Dartmoor is well adapted to the gloomy magnificence and solitary grandeur of this district of desolation.

Within the towns themselves, the descriptions that are given of public buildings, religious, benevolent, naval, military, and commercial, are full and satisfactory. The modes of local conveyance, and the facili ties for travelling, both by land and water, are also presented to the reader's attention, accompanied with such branches of useful information as must render the work valuable to every stranger, whom business or amusement may draw to these scenes of mercantile activity and national strength.

This volume is ornamented with several lithographic views of the towns and ad

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BRIEF SURVEY OF BOOKS.

1. Cheltenham Lyrics, and other Poems, by Hal Hardynge, Gent., (Simpkin and Marshall, London,) is a pamphlet which cannot lay much claim either to notice or admiration, from the number of its pages, or the decorations of its exterior; but to the lovers of poetry it will be rendered interesting by the purity of its sentiments, and the harmony of its numbers. The Lyrics have undoubtedly a local allusion; but they will nevertheless be rendered pleasing by their tenderness to all whom the fragrance of Parnassus can regale.

།༡༣ ་་་

2. An Elegy on the Death of Joseph Butterworth, Esq., late M.P. for Dover, and other Poems, by H. R. Griffiths, (Hatchard, London,) have already been partially laid before the public. The former appeared in the Imperial Magazine for May last. Since that time it has undergone some trifling corrections, and is now connected with eight smaller poems in the pamphlet before us, and illustrated with several interesting notes. These compositions are rendered respectable by their poetical merit; but, independently of this, the elegy derives its principal importance from the fidelity with which it delineates the character of the deceased, to whose memory an ele gant monument has been lately erected in the Methodist chapel, City Road, London.

3. An Oration delivered before the Medico-Botanical Society of London, on Friday, Oct. 12, 1827, by John Frost, F.A.S. F.L.S. F.H.S., (Richter, Lon

is always susceptible of improvement. The student, on perusing this little book while prosecuting his inquiries, will derive some valuable assistance from the original matter which the author has introduced.

human maladies.

4. A Memoir of Miss Frances Augusta Bell, &c. of Kentish Town, near London, by the Rev. Johnson Grant, M.A., (Hatchard, London,) delineates in a pleasing manner the early piety, talents, and death of an amiable young lady, whose virtues and example are every way worthy of imitation. Labouring under bodily afflictions and constitutional weakness, through a considerable portion of her life, which terminated in her sixteenth year, her memoir cannot be expected to furnish much variety. She is chiefly remarkable for the piety of her character, her early development of intellect, her observations on sermons which she had heard, and the themes and letters which the biographer has incorporated in his narrative.

5. Adaptations of Scripture to Family Devotion, (Whittaker, London,) cannot be viewed with indifference by any attentive mind. Under twelve distinct topics, many passages of scriptures are arranged, and with each of these a form of prayer is connected. The whole is confined within a narrow compass, but the variety is as great as the limits will allow, and, what is of more consequence, the subject matter is founded on the immoveable basis of revelation.

6. Thoughts on propagating Christianity more effectually among the Heathen, (Longman and Co., London,) is a neat closely printed little volume, replete with incentives to the grand object which it has in view. It principally inculcates the necessity of purity in the motives of those, who, by their liberality, encourage missionary exertions, for without this, the blessing of Heaven can hardly be expected to erown their labours with success.

8. Original Anniversary Hymns, adapt

by Mrs. Gilbert (late Taylor,) (Holdsworth, London,) bring a strong recommendation by the name of the fair authoress; but a stronger one by their originality of thought, simplicity of expression, and harmony of numbers.

9. The Bible Story Book, second series, by the Rev. B. H. Draper, (Westley and Davis, London,) is a very neat little volume. Its tales, founded exclusively on Scripture incidents, are both amusing and instructive. They are illustrated with many wellexecuted wood cuts, which will render them the more acceptable to children, and the more useful for their instruction.

10. The diverting History of John Gilpin, with six Illustrations, by George Cruikshank, and the Illustrations without the Tale, (Tilt, London,) cannot fail to prove entertaining to those who are pleased with humorous exhibitions. Cowper, the author, is too well known to require any remark, and the diverting tale of John Gilpin has been almost universally read and admired. The wood cuts designed by Cruikshank are comic in a high degree, and display the versatility of his genius, as well as the abilities of the engravers, to much advantage.

11. The Harmonicon, a Monthly Journal of Music, a new series, No. 1, Jan. 1828, (Leigh, London,) will be found highly entertaining by all the lovers of music, and particularly by such as are interested in what is going forward in the empire of harmony. It contains biographical sketches, anecdotes, and incidents, of several celebrated musicians, and furnishes historical accounts of the state of music in foreign parts. The new tunes that are introduced will procure for themselves a favourable reception, and confer no small share of scientific honour on their authors.

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