In the performance of his delicate and difficult task, Mr. Isaac Taylor has acquitted himself with great success. Though evidently writing under the pressure of warm and excited feelings, he has avoided all that exaggeration which is so dangerous to the fame of the party whose talents and virtues are thus injudiciously magnified. His narrative is simple, earnest, and affectionate. Of the poetical remains and correspondence we have not space to say much. The former are for the most part in the same style and spirit as the poems published by Miss T. in her lifetime, and upon the whole are not so interesting as the correspondence, which is sensible, intelligent, and animated. Nicholas Harris Nicholas, Esq. Small Svo. 7s. 6d. There is more singularity than value in the "literary remains" of this unfortunate young lady; and we think the only effect they can possibly have, will be to diminish the sympathy so generally felt in her misery and premature end. Her "works," if a few puritanical letters, filled with common-places about the reformed religion, can be dignified by that title, present this young creature in the most disagreeable light in which female youth and beauty can be regarded, namely, of a bigot and a disputant. That her polemics are crude and dull, must be attributed to her tender age; and we firmly believe that in this unnatural repression of her The Annual Obituary and Biography juvenile emotions by the dogmas of religion, for the Year 1826. 8vo. The Annual Obituary for 1826 must, we should suppose, have something rather alarming in its title to persons of distinction, who will doubtless examine its pages to ascertain whether their own names are to be found there. In order to remove any such apprehensions, we beg to state that the Obituary which bears the above title is in fact an Obituary for 1825, and that the subjects of all the memoirs contained in it are actually deceased. The melancholy catalogue of last year contains several honoured and estimable names, amongst the most remarkable of which are those of Mrs. Barbauld, Dr. Parr, Dr. Rees, and Mr. Fuseli. A memoir of the Reverend Charles Wolfe has been added, although not in strict chronological order, but the interest of the subject is a sufficient excuse for this irregularity. The volume is, upon the whole, written with judgment, and presents much interesting and some new matter. In his preface, the editor has vindicated him. self from the charge of disingenuousness in not having acknowledged the particular sources from which, upon former occasions, his materials were derived. He rightly observes, that the Annual Obituary and Biography has never professed to be a purely original work, but to select its contents from other periodical publications, with the addition of such private and friendly contributions as the editor might be fortunate enough to procure. To obviate all such objections in future, the names of those works from which information has been derived, are mentioned at the end of each article. Several amusing anecdotes are given in the course of the volume, from which we select the following characteristic one of Fuseli. "On one occasion when dining at Mr. Johnson's, a gentleman called out to him from the other end of the room-Mr. Fuseli, I lately purchased a picture of yours.'-Mr. F. Did you ? what is the subject? - Gent. 'I really don't know.'-Mr. F. That's odd enough, you must be a strange fellow to buy a picture without know. ing the subject.'-Gent. (a little nettled) I don't know what the devil it is.'-Mr. F. Perhaps it is the Devil. I have often painted him.-Gent. Perhaps it is.'-Mr. F. Well, you have him now; take care he does not one day have you." The Literary Remains of Lady Jane Grey: with a Memoir of her life. By no less than in her political movements, she was made the unconscious tool of selfish and ambitious persons. Lady Jane Grey has become one of the most interesting persons in history, not on account of her writings, but from the load of misery (domestic and political) which her childish years had to bear, and which ended in her murder on the scaffold at the innocent age of seventeen. One's heart beats, and eyes swell with tears, at reading the account of this poor girl's execution, the overwhelming and ghastly tragedy of which she went through with the sweetest patience! God be praised for the softening knowledge, which since those brutal days he has been pleased to bestow on the heart of man, and which has prevented the repetition of such enormities, at once remorseless and absurd! Though we have spoken in the above way of the writings of this innocent victim, we must regard the book in which they occur as one of very great value. The Life" by Mr. Nicolas, which, luckily, occupies the greater part of the volume, is unquestionably the very best account of Lady Jane Grey extant. Every authority has been industriously examined and brought to bear upon his subject, involving, of course, many curious things connected with the history of the time. The style of Mr. Nicolas, too, is clear, dignified, and sedate, befitting the mournful subject of which he treats. His work is, therefore, a most important addition to English biography. Character of C. J. Fox; a posthumous Sketch. By Junius. It is not surprising that they who outrage the sanctity of private character, and unkennel the brothel for lucre, should have recourse to other acts equally flagrant from the same motive. The publisher who has lately cut such an edifying figure in our law courts, having been allowed, to the disgrace of our laws, to avail himself of his own wrong in resistance to a just demand-has here published a pretended fragment of Junius, from a history by that writer of Mr. Pitt's administration, containing a sketch of the character of Fox! As may easily be surmised, the style is that of Harriet Wilson's obscene memoirs, not of old nominis umbra. J. J. Stockdale is a greater blockhead than we thought him, not to have managed his forgery better. This deputyorange-lodge-master to a noble lord, commences his pamphlet with an egotistical dedication to "The - of " does he mean that his aforesaid patron's name should fill these blanks, or is he designed by the lesser Lord -- Blank, who breakfasts with the bibliopole, as hereinafter mentioned? Next comes an exordium eulogizing a "protestant martyr," the mutual friend of Lord Blank aforesaid, and of J. J. Stockdale, member of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, (Virtue, we suppose we meant,) This "protestant martyr" was the late Mr. Perceval, who it seems, if Stockdale may be credited-Credat Judæus Apella! -was a chum of theirs before his martyrdom. On the morning of the funeral of poor Perceval, the two worthies, Lord Blank and J. J. Stockdale, were breakfasting together at the bibliopolist's in Pall-Mall, "preparatory" to attending the minister's funeral, (i. e. if they did breakfast there at all) or in the words of the deputy.orange-lodge. master, or orange-master's-deputy, which the reader pleases,-before the funeral of "our universally respected friend." They discoursed during breakfast of the murdered minister, his melancholy fate, and the mournful rites which they were shortly to witness, exclaims the reader. Oh no, it was as to the identity of the writer of Junius -pious Orangemen! Even a Catholic would at such a moment have been acting differently, perhaps praying for the soul of the departed; we are not certain, whether Orangemen pray at all. His noble friend flatters the orange-deputy, -for what, does the reader think?- his ho. nesty 1 J. J. Stockdale then hacks Junius to pieces for his sins in style, law, grammar, similes, loyalty, &c. &c. Lord Blank, struck at the erudition he displays, lets out that Junius was an Irishman, and proves it by giving this "Sketch of Fox's character" from his pen. As this document bears marks of having been written by Harriet Wilson herself, who has now turned her powerful pen to politics, we say nothing farther about it, except to hint that as a title is every thing, the orange-deputy should have styled his pamphlet "Harriet Wilson the author of Junius 1 As the matter stands now, it will not repay the expense of printing, unless Judge Best should come again to the assistance of the publisher, and it would have been lamentable a document like this should perish. We recommend such of our readers as have more money than charity, more folly than wit, and more taste for double-distilled nonsense, than we are sure one in a million of the people of this country possesses, to aid the immaculate publisher by the purchase of it-he cannot at this ratio accuse us of unfair play towards him. He sent us the pamphlet with his compliments, and as gentlemen take off their hats to return a beggar's salaam, we were 52 pages, in which a double lesson is given in the French and the German language. The mode adopted is to present a short piece, generally in verse, which is translated and commented upon in the same manner as an intelligent master would explain it to his pupils. This is done in an casy and familiar style, so as to be rather attractive than repulsive to a learner. At the same time these grammatical elucidations are accompanied with sensible directions as to the best mode of self-instruction, which appear well calculated to effect their purpose. It would, perhaps, be useful to insert occasional exercises in composition, the corrected versions of which might be given in the paper of the succeeding week. This, we think, would add materially to the value of the work. Janus; or the Edinburgh Literary Almanack. Post 8vo. 12s. The names of "Miscellany" and "Magazine" are, we suppose, so entirely pre-occupied, as to induce Messrs. Oliver and Boyd to call their new periodical an "Almanack." Persons who take up the present work under this title, will be puzzled to find that it has nothing whatever to do with seasons, or monthe, or days, but that it is, in fact, a mere collection of literary essays in prose and verse, a sort of corpulent Magazine in boards, which is to be continued annually. The contents are very various, and include a great portion of talent (some of the first "hands" in Edinburgh being, as we are told, concerned in it;) but we doubt whether, after all, the scheme will prove a profitable one, inasmuch as the period of a year is too great an interval to elapse between the publication of the parts of any undecorated periodical, except those which chronicle matters of fact; such as Annual Registers, Obituaries, &c. We have said "undecorated," because we believe that the success of the "Literary Souvenir," the "Forget Me Not," and works of that description, is more owing to their pretty embellishments, which make them desirable as Christmas and New Year's presents to the young and the fair, than to their literary pretensions. We hope, nevertheless, that we are wrong in oar speculation, for we should rejoice to see the Janus succeed. It is full of good things, many of which, did our room permit, we should be eager to quote in our pages. Our voice is, however, gladly added to the number of those which have already proclaimed the sterling merit of this new Annual. A Legacy for Young Ladies, consisting bound to make him ours. We must not forget of miscellaneous pieces in prose and verse, to observe that the last leaf of the pamphlet contains an advertisement from the orange-deputy of an exhibition of an obscene painting! The Linguist, or Weekly Instructions in the French and German Languages, calculated to enable the Student to ac quire or improve the knowledge of these two most useful languages, without the assistance of a Master. The first half year, or vol. 1. 8vo. This is a really useful work, and merits encouragement. It is published weekly, in numbers, each number containing one sheet or sixteen by the late Mrs. Barbauld. 12mo. Amongst the many amiable qualities which distinguished the late Mrs. Barbauld, the zeal with which she devoted her high talents to the instruction and amusement of the young was most conspicuous. Her "Early Lessons" and "Prose Hymns" (which in purity and beauty, both of style and thought, are unequalled by any compo sitlon of the same class) set one of the first examples of the more serious and useful juvenile publications, which have now, for the most part, superseded the ancient legends of the nursery; though we are far from wishing that the latter should be driven into utter banishment. Subse. quently to the appearance of the two works above mentioned, Mrs. Barbanld contributed several pieces to the admirable collection of "Evenings at Home," and also edited the "Female Speaker," a selection in prose and verse for the use of young ladies. For the same class of fair students the present volume is designed, which consists of a number of miscellaneous pieces collected by Miss Aikin from the papers of her amiable and accomplished relative. It is not, it must be understood, a mere nursery volume, but is rather designed to form the taste, and beguile the vacant minutes of those young ladies who have grown superior to the publications of Mr. Newbery and Mr. Harris, and yet have not obtained access to the circulating library. To this object the present volume is admirabiy adapted; and all that is to be regretted in it, is its brevity. Many of the pieces contained in it are written in the author's best style-lively, graceful, unaffected, and instructive. The "Two Letters on Female Studies" display all the good sense and feminine delicacy which so greatly distinguished the writer of them, and well merit the serious attention of the young readers. evidential books of legal authority consist of about 100,000 pages. These books are of course exclusive of the different abridgments and treatises of law, and arguments, and comments on legal decisions. Of these, Viner's, Comyn's and Bacon's works contain, I imagine, a quantity of type equal to two hundred thousand common octavo pages." We ought to add, that in many of Mr. Thomas's observations there is much good sense and liberality. The Theory of Infantry Movements. By the Author of "The British Drill." 2 vols. 8vo. with a volume of plates. Without attempting to form an opinion upon the particular merits of so very technical a work as the present, we may yet be allowed to say a few words upon its general character. The object of the writer is to present a classification of the movements which form the system of infantry tactics, and to explain and elucidate the principles upon which those movements depend. In the performance of this task, he has displayed great research and very considerab'e professional My Thought-Book. By J. P. Thomas. knowledge, in comparing the different systems of 8νο. It is difficult to give an opinion upon a work like the present, which treats upon every variety of subject-literature-art-science-moralsreligion-politics, and a thousand other import. ant and unimportant matters. Occasionally we have a long and serious dissertation on some abstruse question of metaphysics, followed by criticisms on the performances at Vauxhall, or an account of the antics of a person who has inhaled the nitrous oxyd. In some of Mr. Thomas's speculations there is a considerable show of ingenuity, while others again furnish us with the merest common-places. Thus we are told that "many young women not only desire, but actually exult in the admiration of men much older than themselves," that "adulation makes men vain," that "Prudence is never a companion of impetuosity," that "There cannot be analysis where there is not combination;" that "The shops lately established by the dairy companies for the supply of good milk by retail to be drunk on the premises, will have the happy tendency to quench agreeably the thirst of the poor labourers without inebriating them"-" thoughts," which it was scarcely worth Mr. T.'s while to record in his "Thought Book." We imagine, from the frequent allusion to legal points, that Mr. Thomas is a member of the profession. If so, he has revealed a very important secret of his craft, for he informs us that "attornies are frequently very awkwardly puzzled in making out their bills." We had always imagined that the awkwardness was on the part of their clients when the day of payment arrived. Among other curious calculation. infantry tactics which have prevailed in various countries and at various periods. He has likewise illustrated these details by occasional refe. rences to historical facts, which serve to relieve the dryness of the technical instructions. Upon the whole, these volumes cannot fail to be found highly interesting to the military student. Letters on Entomology, intended for the amusement and instruction of Young Persons, and to facilitate their acquiring a knowledge of the natural history of Insects. 12mo. The reader must not expect to find in these Letters a system of Entomology, their object being merely to present facts, and not theories. They might, indeed, have been very appropriately called "Anecdotes of Insects." The peculiar habits of the various tribes are related in a sprightly and entertaining manner, so that although the volume is not, perhaps, in a scienti. fic point, calculated to impart any very accurate knowledge on the science of entomology, yet, from the amusing nature of its contents, it may probably lead the reader to a more exact study of the subject. The writer has not employed much research in collecting her materials, which she has derived chiefly from Reaumur, Shaw, and the Introduction to Entomology, but she has made a skilful and agreeable use of all the information which she has obtained. Her style too is unaffected and pleasant, so that on the whole she has succeeded in producing a useful and attractive little work. German Popular Stories, translated professional "thoughts," we find the following from the Kinder und Haus Märchen, collected by M. M. Grimm from oral tradition. Vol. II. foolscap 8vo. "Lawyers cannot be expected at the moment to answer at least one quarter of the questions which are put to them. The statutes of this country occupy about 45,000 close quarto pages, and the reports of Common law decisions conti. nually referred to are contained in no less than 55,000 other pages. So that the standard or The popularity which the first volume of these amusing stories obtained, has induced one of the translators to attempt a second, which will, we imagine, meet with equal success. It certainly possesses the same claims which distinguished its predecessor the same vein of fanciful humourthe same lively spirit, and the same easy verna. cular style. It is no small recommendation also, that the talents of Mr. George Cruickshank have again been enlisted in the service of the juvenile public. The etchings of that original and spirited artist, with which the pages of the present volume are ornamented, are quite equal to any of his former efforts, and are admirably adapted to illustrate the wild drollery of these German fic. tions. The stories themselves are many of them sufficiently original, while in others we recognize a resemblance to some of those portentous narratives which have long been current in nursery literature. Thus the story of the Young Giant and the Tailor reminds us at once of Tom Thumb and Hickathrift. Some of the Tales again are of a very Oriental character, as The Water of Life and the Four clever Brothers. In the story of Peter the Goatherd we trace the ori. ginal of Mr. Washington Irving's Rip van Winkle. The Elfin Grove is a true fairy-tale, and reminds us strongly of Mr. Hogg's beautiful story of Kilmeny in the Queen's Wake. English Stories. Third Series: illustrating the Progress of the Reforination under the Tudor Princes. By Maria Hack. 12mo. Mrs. Hack's publications for the use of young persons have acquired so favourable a reputation, that any observations upon their general charac ter are unnecessary; and with regard to the volume before us it is sufficient to say, that in merit it equals those which have preceded it. The period of time comprised in the present volume is a very important one, and is upon the whole treated by Mrs. Hack with judgment and discrimination. She has not had recourse to the original authorities, (which, indeed, in an elementary work could scarcely be considered necessary) the writings of Burnet, Gilpin, Macdiarmid, Wordsworth, and Southey being the principal sources from which she has drawn her narrative. On the impartiality of some of these authors, however, no great reliance is to be placed. The Poetical Works of Robert Herrick. 2 vols. post 8vo. 11. 1s. The lovers of our good old literature must feel obliged to Mr. Pickering for the number of tasteful reprints every now and then put forth by him. Here we have the "Hesperides," entire, of our English Anacreon, a selection from which was some few years ago published by Dr. Nott, of Bristol; but while this partial specimen of the author exalted his fame very highly in the mind of the reader, the latter became the more disposed, on that very account, to regard Dr. Nott's edition with feelings of disappointment, and to wonder why a poet evidently so unrivalled in his way, and so fitted to delight the many, should exist only in the arbitrary and capricious limits assigned to him by one man. Dr. Nott, if any one, had a right to be negative; but readers, especially of poetry, are fond of tasting for themselves, and sometimes have a very perverse knack of "taking up" with whatever has been openly slighted by others. The former editor's objection to any but an expurgate edition of Herrick was grounded upon the impurities of Feb, VOL. XVIII. NO. LXII. 53 thought and language in which the poet (de. scending from his general grace and simplicity) appears occasionally to have indulged. This, it must be allowed, is a good reason for the publication of Dr. Nott's selection, but it is not a sufficing one why the Hesperides should never be reprinted; or else why do we have any other than Family Shakspeares, Family Fieldings, or Family Popes? The "Noble Numbers" (Herrick's religious poems) were, if we recollect rightly, also excluded from Dr. Nott's selection; therefore on every account we are glad to see this perfect edition, which, among other claims to attention (such as its beautiful paper and typography, and a portrait of the poet), is prefaced by a Life of Herrick. He was born, it appears, in Fosterlane, London, in 1591; and having obtained the patronage of his uncle, Sir William Heyrick, (as the name was sometimes spelled,) was placed by him at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he applied himself assiduously to his studies, and after turning his thoughts to the law, which he subsequently abandoned, took orders, and was, through the interest of the Earl of Exeter, presented by Charles the First, in October 1629, to the vicarage of Dean Prior, in Devonshire. Here he lived for some time enjoying the beau ideal of a country clergyman's existence, as afterwards detailed by the Rev. Mr. Pomfret, namely, the being without the cares and incumbrances of a wife and family, but with the comforts of a compliant female housekeeper, which in Herrick's case were furnished by his maid Prue. "Accord. ing to his own account," says his biographer, "his voice was weak; and it is not remarkable, therefore, that his poetry should have been bet. ter than his preaching. This appears to have been the opinion of his parishioners, for one day he threw his sermon at the congregation, cursing them for their inattention." In 1648, Herrick, being ejected from his vicarage by Cromwell, came to London, where he published the whole of his poems, with a view to relieve his necessities, which then pressed hard upon him. We hope the publication made him casy: we are sure it ought to have done so, inasmuch as he stands at the head of the poets in our language for the celebration of whatever is genial and happy in love, friendship, home, and sociality. It has been justly observed of him, that "he is at all times, and in every sense, an English poet. When an author would delineate an English landscape, or an English Village-a Christmas gambol, or a rural funeral-old English habits, or English feelings, he may borrow his illustrations from Herrick." The love-poetry of our author, as we have already hinted, is of an enjoying cast: it is by no means without tender sentiment; but the gay and voluptuous preponderate. So the latter quality may be said to do in the amatory poems of Dr. Donne, whose worship of the sex, however, was accompanied by such deep thoughts, such overwhelming passion, and such sublime poetry, in the highest sense of the word, as to trample down and obscure the animal feeling, often as it was expressed. Of these grand elements, there is little or nothing in Herrick; but there are veins of delicious playfulness, exquisite modulation of verse, elegant simplicity, and unaffected H pathos. It is pleasant to see how he takes the sting from sorrow in his epitaphs, one of which we cannot refrain from laying before our readers. An Epitaph upon a Virgin. Here a solemne fast we keepe, It is quite impossible, in our narrow limits, to give, in the way of quotation, an adequate idea of so meritorious a poet as Herrick; but we shall nevertheless venture on one or two more extracts: Delight in Disorder. A sweete disorder in the dresse An erring lace, which here and there Doe more bewitch me, than when art There is something grand in the unconquer. able disdain of the following: To Fortune. Tumble me down, and I will sit Patient in my necessitie; Laugh at my scraps of clothes, and shun Yet, scare crow like, I'le walk as one We must conclude our quotations with some lines in which love and religion, solemnity and voluptuousness, go hand in hand. The painting, too, is exquisite : Julia's Churching, or Purification. thou see'st The candid stole thrown o'er the pious With reverend curtsies come, and to him bring All rites well ended, with faire auspice come, She who keeps chastly to her husband's side Brings him not one, but many a maidenhead. The "Noble Numbers, or Pious Pieces," like the rest of our author's works, are full of melodious cadences, lowers, and fragrance, and other appeals, even to the wanton senses. They must have startled the Roundheads, if any one of those gentry, in his search for religious writings, happened to light upon Herrick's book. We trust our poetical readers will possess themselves of the "Hesperides" forthwith; and in their enjoyment of its contents make up for our insufficient specimens, and still more inadequate praise. The Songs of Scotland, Ancient and Modern, with an Introduction and Notes, Historical and Critical, and Characters of the Lyric Poets, by Allan Cunningham. author of "Marmaduke Maxwell," "Traditional Tales," &c. &c. in 4 vols. The compiler of this work is already known to the public by his original works, which enjoy a genuine though modest popularity. We believe that no man acquainted with these works, or with the character of the author, will read with indifference any thing to which his name is affixed. This compilation has a home felt Scottish enthusiasm in its character, united with an industry and extent of information that could scarcely be expected from one of the sensitive and enthusiastic class of beings to which we recognize Allan to belong, when we read his Scottish lyrics. His History of Scottish Poetry, which goes back to the thirteenth century, is full and amusing, and his collection of Scottish songs is, to our belief, the best that is extant. A Translation in Verse of the Seven first Cantos of Klopstock's Messiah. It is somewhat extraordinary that so many German plays, tales, and novels, should have been presented to our public in an English garb, while the great serious poem of the country, which has, amongst his national contemporaries, procured for its author the appellation of the divine Klopstock, should only be known to us in fragments, or as a prose translation, stripped of the graces of poetry. The length of the poem, and peculiarities in the conduct of it, which might not he considered as congenial to the taste of an English reader, have probably occasioned this apparent neglect. In the volume above-mentioned, some judicious curtailments have rendered the work more suited to the reader for whom it is prepared; and at the same time, the translator has been careful not to mislead by concealing the liberties he deemed it necessary to take, but has faithfully given notice of them; so that a German scholar, by turning to the original, should be able, without trouble, to point out whatever has been abridged or omitted. The versification is harmonious, the language elegant and appropriate; and it is to be hoped that it will be sufficiently encouraged by the public, to induce the translator to complete the work in one other volume, which, with this condition, he has promised to do without loss of time. There will then be unlocked to the English reader, a treasure that has been so long and so zealously prized by the literati of another nation. The Plays of Clara Gazul, a Spanish Comedian, with Memoirs of her Life. Translated. 8vo. 9s. That a literary work of any merit should proceed from the pen of a modern Spaniard, would be a matter of equal surprise and gratification. In a country where genius is proscribed and the press in fetters, literature can scarcely be expected to flourish; and we accordingly deemed the present a nom de guerте. It is difficult, in the limits to which we are |