modes of thinking, their manners, as vividly placed before us as if we resided among them; while the dialogue is very cleverly sustained, and displays all that mixture of credulity, absurdity, and never-failing jocularity, for which the Irish are universally celebrated. In point of plot and incident, the tale itself is one of no common

interest.

The moral, too, to be drawn from it is excellent, and one which cannot be too forcibly impressed on the minds of those who allow their passions to triumph over their reason. The case of the lovely Eily O'Connor has been that of many a hapless maiden; and the scene between Eily and her uncle, the good old parish priest, in vol. ii. chap. xxv. is admirably managed. The humour, on the other hand, of Lowrie Looty, Myles Murphy, the dealer in ponies, whose relationship extended over all Ireland, and several of the other characters introduced, must ensure for the author the reputation of possessing a very perfect knowledge of the class of people he undertakes to describe. We gladly, therefore, refer the reader to the "Collegians," and assure him that he will find this second series of the "Tales of the Munster Festivals" well worthy his attention.

An Essay on Moral Freedom: To which is attached a Review of the principles of Dr Whitby and President Edwards, on Free Will; and on Dr Brown's Theory of Causation and Agency. By the Reverend Thomas Tully Cribbace, A. M. Edinburgh. Waugh & Innes. 1829. 8vo, pp. 311.

THE question whether man is a free agent, or is bound down in all his actions by fixed and irreversible laws, we have ever regarded as one of those mysterious subjects about which much will be said, and very little ever distinctly understood. But, nevertheless, hopeless and intricate as the controversy is, we by no means consider it either uninteresting or unimportant. Many of the most brilliant discoveries in science have been made in the prosecution of enquiries whose solutions lay beyond the reach of human ingenuity. There is undoubtedly a line of demarcation between what may and what

may not be discovered, but it is a boundary faint and ill defined; and, in their attempts to pass this "ultima Thule," philosophers have recovered many a goodly tract, which seemed altogether inaccessible to the less daring spirits of a former age.

gent and thinking being, what does it prove? Just the very reverse of what the author intends. If man, from his very nature and constitution, must decide in a particular way,-if his judgment must prefer virtue to vice, good to evil,-if his will must follow these determina. tions, and if his actions must be in conformity to his volitions, then it would seem to be proved, in direct contradiction to Mr Cribbace, that in the strictest and most absolute sense of the word, he acts under the influence of necessity. The first link in the chain of causes being necessary, the last must be necessary also; and our author's argument of course falls to the ground. Mr Cribbace rejects the notion of the self-determining power of the will; and substitutes in its place what he is pleased to call, "the man's self-determining power over his will." Does Mr Cribbace not perceive that a "determination of the man" is an act of the will? He substitutes two volitions instead of one; but whether this additional volition be free or necessary is still as doubtful as before.

the

There are a few inconsistencies, too, in the work, which ought not to pass without notice. For example, Mr Cribbace speaks (p. 91) of a volition being indepen. dent of the will. This is a solecism and an absurdity. He admits in one place that "the will possesses power of directing the current of thought;" while, in the same page, he asserts that, "with respect to the intellectual powers, it is altogether a passive effect, and they alone are truly active." This is a contradiction in terms in regard to a proposition upon which he founds his whole argument.

But while we make these remarks, and while we cannot allow that the author has made good his point, we by no means deem his work unworthy of an attentive perusal. It is written in a pleasing and philosophical style; many of the illustrations are apt and happy; and though he may have failed, it should be remembered that a failure is excusable on a subject which has been agitated by philosophers for two thousand years without any hope of coming to a definite or satisfactory conclu sion.

A Reply to Sir Walter Scott's History of Napoleon. By Louis Bonaparte, Brother of the Emperor. A Translation from the French. London. Hurst, Chance, & Co. Edinburgh. Constable & Co. 1829. THERE can be no doubt that, when Sir Walter Scott The author of the work before us advocates moral undertook to write a Life of Napoleon, he did not con freedom. He commences with a view of the doctrine template the production of a profound and philosophical of causation; and, after clearing the subject from the work, but merely of a popular history. His leading sceptical doubts and difficulties of Mr Hume, he pro- object was, to present the public with the prominent ceeds to propound his own argument. His leading aim features of the transactions of France, from the rise to is to show, in the first place, that every act depends upon the conclusion of the Revolution; and, in particular, to the will, and that the will is, in its turn, dependent supply a full account of the extraordinary career of upon the judgment; whence he attempts to establish Bonaparte, which should satisfy the ordinary reader, by what he terms "intellectual liberty," and to prove that its general truth and accuracy, but still leave the field the will is free, because the judgment, on which it de- open for the curious and minute investigator. Viewing pends, is free. The only exception he admits to this Sir Walter's production in this light, we are not entitled rule is, where the will is influenced by appetite or pas- to expect either the deep research of a Gibbon-the insion, when he concedes that it becomes subject to ne-tellectual vigour of a Hume-or the felicitous propriety cessity. He concludes with a view of the origin of evil, and some strictures upon the works of President Edwards and of Dr Whitby.

Our author, however, is by no means successful in establishing his great position the freedom of the will. "Man acts as he wills "very true; but this is not the question. The will, according to Mr Cribbace, is passive." Two forces act upon it-the judgment and the passions. How then can its motions in any respect be spontaneous? But, says Mr Cribbace, the judgment is free; which, in his opinion, is only in other words to assert, "that man is an intelligent and thinking being." But, granting that man is an intelli

of a Robertson. The Author of Waverley needed not to rest his immortality upon his nine volumes concern. ing Napoleon; and lie could afford, therefore, to write hastily, and to trust, in a considerable degree, to indus try for accomplishing a task to which others would have been anxious to bring the whole resources of their mind.

That a work written upon these principles, and with these views, should be without blemishes, was not for a moment to be expected; and we confess our wonder on perusing it, was that it did not contain many more than we were able to discover. The brochure now before us, by the late Emperor's brother, tends to con

vince us still farther that the errors Sir Walter Scott has
committed are neither very numerous nor very momen-
tous. The Ex-King of Holland entertains, quite pro-
perly, a very fraternal regard for his brother's memory,
and talks in very magniloquent terms of the " exagger-
ation,"
the injustice," the "falsehood," the
"calumny," nay, the "excessive calumny," "spread
throughout the work of Sir Walter Scott;" but when
he comes to establish these charges, which he attempts
to do by taking hold of every passage in the successive
volumes which he considers at all objectionable, and
pointing out wherein it is to be reprobated, he falls far
short of the expectations he had raised. The sum and
substance of his "Reply," bating a good deal of loose
declamation and undignified acrimony, only is, that Sir
Walter has made a few trifling errors in dates, in the
names of places, and in some geographical details.
Others may, perhaps, think that there are more impor-
tant faults in the work, but Louis Bonaparte, though
he has the will, wants the talent to make them appa-
rent. This "Reply," however, is curious, considering
the quarter from which it comes, and the nature of some
of its statements; although, in point of argument, it is
exceedingly weak, and will certainly rebound from Sir
Walter's coat of mail-an imbelle telum, sine ictu.

Londiniana; or, Reminiscences of the British Metropolis; including Characteristic Sketches, Topographical, Descriptive, and Literary. By Edward Wedlake Brayley. 4 vols. London. Hurst, Chance, & Co. 1829.

But as

convey a vague knowledge of Christianity, by means of
speculative and metaphysical theories. This might be
enough were religion only an abstract science.
its highest aim is to communicate real practical wisdom,
correct views of duty, as well as of doctrine, are indis-
pensable. The force of eloquence, or the brilliancy of
imagination, may, no doubt, sometimes awaken virtu-
ous emotions in the mind. But such emotions will
prove unavailing, unless they produce active exertion.
They are, in general, mere temporary sensations, pro-
ceeding rather from instinctive sensibility, than from
deliberate conviction, and may be speedily effaced by
the renewed supremacy of debasing passion. In all
cases, therefore, an appeal must primarily be made to
the judgment, and, through it, to the feelings. In man's
natural condition his understanding is darkened; and
this obscurity must be removed:
The finer suscep-
tibilities of the conscience are deadened; and these
must be resuscitated: The treacherous disguises which
vice assumes are attractive; and these must be un-
masked: The prevalence of self-deceit has distorted
all just sense of right and wrong; and its power must
be subdued. The affections of the soul are estranged
from the pursuit of virtue; and these must be reclaim-
ed. It is only by thus making Christianity bear on
the several situations and tempers of those to whom it
is addressed, that any substantial instruction can be
received, and that any permanent benefit can ensue.

The author of the Sermons now before us is decidedly an experimental clergyman. He has the art of making his discourses intelligible to the most ignorant, and at the same time interesting to the most polished, of his auditory. He seldom fascinates by florid declamation, -or by sudden flashes of fancy, or by powerful pathos. But whenever he employs such aid, his style of rhetoric, though perhaps not disclosing to the mind's eye the sublimest regions of thought, is uniformly bold and vigorous. He does not ostentatiously display the profundity of his theological learning, by endeavouring to elucidate those mystical points, which the skill of man cannot unravel, and which, even if fully explained, would necessarily prove unproductive of any salutary advantage. His abilities are principally directed to the philosophical analysis of the cardinal doctrines of Christianity. In the developement of these, he manifests such lucid arrangement-such acute reasoning-such ingenious illustration-such fervid feeling-and such appropriate application of his subject to the different cir. cumstances of his hearers, as justly entitle him to be esteemed one of the ablest Divines in the Scottish Church.

OF recent years various works have appeared, intended to illustrate the ancient manners, and to describe the ancient residences, of the inhabitants of London. Some of these have been presented to the public in the shape of fictitious narratives; while others have consisted of little else than a true relation of chronological and topographical facts. Modern Athenians though we be, we have always felt much interested in books which throw light upon the old and quaint peculiarities of the great British metropolis, and have seldom suffered the most humble production of this kind to escape our notice. The work now before us is eminently calculated both to enhance the pleasure of a visit to the metropolis, and to teach even its resident inhabitants many things of which they were probably ignorant. It contains, among other details, a great quantity of amusing information regarding the residences of former illustrious men, whether they belonged to the literary or political world; it describes the scenes of broils, plots, and conspiracies which now occupy a page in the history of the country; and it is particular in its accounts of antique ceremonies, games, and processions, now either shrunk away from their former grandeur, or, in many instances, altogether unknown. The work is, moreover, embellished with a of that lucidus ordo in them which characterises all the number of minute etchings and engravings, still further productions of their author. They might even be efillustrative of the costumes and manners of bygone fective if delivered ex cathedra, where simplicity is so times. The representation of the procession of Parlia- desirable. Many of the discourses, however, which ment to St Paul's Cathedral, in 1715, strikes us as par- daily issue from the press only to be consigned to obliticularly interesting. At the same time, it is proper to vion, evince equally good qualities in no inconsiderable add, that there is not much original merit in this pub- degree. The same truths, indeed, must necessarily conlication, the editor having done little else but arrange stitute the substance of all sermons, because the princihis materials from the fruitful works of Stow, Pennant, ples of theology are unchangeable. But to invest these and other writers, who have gone over the same ground truths with the charm of novelty, by original illustration, derived from the numerous branches of human knowledge with which religion is associated, and from the varied habits of mankind, ought especially to dislic opinion. We do not think that the general character tinguish every discourse submitted to the ordeal of pubof Dr Thomson's present publication reaches this requisite standard, though no one can peruse it without perceiving indications of a genius fitted for nobler achieve

before him.

Sermons on Various Subjects. By Andrew Thomson.
D. D. Edinburgh. William Whyte & Co. 1829.
Svo. Pp. 544.

To improve the heart and regulate the conduct, by a plain exposition of religious truths, ought to be the great object of pulpit oratory. It is not sufficient to

While we deem it proper thus to express our estimation of Dr Thomson's talents, we at the same time doubt whether the work now before us will impart much additional lustre to his name. We do not mean to deny that the Sermons contain many excellencies. There is much

ments.

The Sermons are on the following subjects: "Repentance and Forgiveness;" "The Sacrifices of Righteousness;""Joy for Temporal Mercies;""Joy for Spiritual Mercies;""Humility Explained, and its necessity Enforced;"" Religious Zeal;"The Gospel of Salvation ;""Forsaking Public Worship;"" Slavery not sanctioned, but condemned, by Christianity" "Christ without Sin;"" Obligations to observe the Christian Passover;""Faith and Preparation as to the second coming of Christ," "Ardent desire for the second coming of Christ;""Patient waiting for the second co

ming of Christ."-Our limits will permit us only briefly to allude to one or two of those sermons which more particularly deserve attention.

nerable sanction of Christ," he has at least availed himself of several striking facts, which seem naturally to fayour his conclusions. The whole sermon displays much impassioned feeling; and the following eloquent passage cannot fail to be read with pleasure.

"Shame! that any should have been found to speak lightly of liberty, whose worth is so testified-whose benefits are so numerous and so rich. Moralists have praised it-poets have sung it-the Gospel has taught and breathed it-patriots and martyrs have died for it. above all praise. It is the air we breathe the food we As a temporal blessing, it is beyond all comparison and eat the raiment that clothes us-the sun that enlight We commend both the design and execution of the Without it, what are honours and riches, and all simiens, and vivifies, and gladdens, all on whom it shines. four Sermons on Religious Zeal. Our author ably en- lar endowments? They are the trappings of a hearseforces the importance of preserving the purity of the gospel. they are the garnishings of a sepulchre; and with it the He boldly depicts the various difficulties attendant on such crust of bread, and the cup of water, and the lowly hovel, an undertaking, and the necessity for activity and perse- and the barren rock, are luxuries which it teaches and verance on the part of Christians. He condemns all in- enables us to rejoice in. He who knows what liberty is, tolerant zeal, though he does not hesitate to avow, that and can be glad and happy when placed under a ty "Popery is in its nature and tendency hostile to true rant's rule, and at the disposal of a tyrant's caprice, is religion to genuine liberty-to mental improvement like the man who can laugh and be in merry mood at to human happiness," and consequently, "that we can the grave, where he has just deposited all that should scarcely be too eager in our endeavours to expose its have been loveliest in his eye, and all that should have abominations to break down its influence to emanci- been dearest to his heart. Shame on those who have so pate our brethren from its cruel and debasing bondage.' far taxed their ingenuity, and so far consulted their selfOur reverend author proposes, as the most eligible mode ishness, and so far forgotten their Christian name, as of accomplishing this end, that we should grant politi- to apologise for the existence of slavery, by extolling cal power to the stanch supporters of those abomina the incomparable superiority of spiritual freedom, and tions against which his anathema has been levelled; dragging in the aid and the countenance of Scripture and he does not fail to resort to the somewhat hackneyed mis-stated or misunderstood! For what is slavery, and argument, in regard to the amiable cordiality which concession will establish between Protestants and Roman-it paralyses the hand of industry-it is the nourishwhat does it do? It darkens and degrades the intellect ists. He also deprecates a practice common in this in- er of agonizing fears and of sullen revenge-it crushes tellectual age, of allowing our own countrymen to re- the spirit of the bold-it belies the doctrines, it contramain unenlightened by religion, while the inhabitants dicts the precepts, it resists the power, it sets at defiance of foreign lands are ministered to with the utmost soli- the sanctions, of religion-it is the tempter, and the citude. We most warmly coincide in condemning such murderer, and the tomb, of virtue and either blasts the inconsistent conduct. To dispel the mists of ignorance felicity of those over whom it domineers, or forces them and of prejudice, which cloud the minds of many around to seek for relief from their sorrows in the gratifications, us, is at once the natural and laudable allotment of our and the mirth, and the madness of the passing hour."— zeel; and we therefore feel well affected to the gene- Pp. 389–90. ral diffusion of Christianity; but we hesitate not to declare, that while a single individual, either in this country or in the sister kingdoms, is allowed to continue destitute of the means of instruction, the present system is both ridiculous and sinful.

While we applaud the more prominent sentiments which distinguish the Sermons on Żeal, we are also much pleased with the manner in which these sentiments have been expressed. If the composition is never peculiarly elegant, it is always adapted to convey the obvious and important meaning which the author has in view. There are no far-fetched deductions-no perversion of the obvious sense of Scripture, for the purpose of supplying feasible proof in support of his assertions. He enters the field conscious of his polemical power, and in a fair and open controversy wrests from his enemies their most offensive weapons, and overturns all the barriers which their sophistry and ingenuity had reared. He has recourse, on no occasion, to mere verbal antithesis or conceit; and he never endeavours, by a laboured effort, to astonish his reader. Evidently courting approbation for the perspicuity and utility of his sermons, he refrains from the parade of mere abstract reasoning, as well as from the mystification which a certain learned divine deems the only proper mode of guiding mankind in the path of duty.

Were we disposed to be captious, we might object to some of our author's arguments in regard to the unconditional emancipation of slaves; but this is a wide subject, upon which we shall not enter. If he has not been altogether fortunate in depriving slavery of "the vindication that has been pleaded for it under the great and ve

From the concluding Sermon we might make several very interesting extracts. We have, however, only room to observe, that we highly approve of the judicious observations respecting the Millennial advent and reign of Christ. The errors which have been promulgated on this subject are most completely exposed in a Note appended to the volume; and though the refutation were less triumphant, and though the Scriptures afforded more plausible data for contrary sentiments, we hold it altogether absurd to pursue an investigation, involving difficulties which can never be satisfactorily solved.

History of the Troubles and Memorable Transac tions in Scotland, in the Reign of Charles I. By John Spalding, Commissary Clerk, Aberdeen. A new Edition, Aberdeen; G. King, 1829. 8vo. Pp.

500.

IT gives us much pleasure to announce, that a new edition of the above scarce and very valuable work is now before the public; and the publisher deserves great praise for the manner in which he has issued it from the press. The last edition is that of 1792, and was published at Aberdeen, in two 12mo volumes. We know of few works which give such a faithful, laborious, and impartial narrative of the troubles of the disastrous reign of Charles I., so far as these relate to Scotland, which, as our readers must be aware, sustained no incon siderable part in the opposition to that unfortunate monarch. The narrative of Spalding embraces the history

of those events which happened in Scotland, between the years 1625 and 1645, a period of twenty years, and what eventful years! We have frequently consulted the edition of 1792, and we can safely say, that we never found any of Spalding's facts contradicted by any other authentic work. We can assure our readers, that few republications of scarce works, have greater claims on their attention than Spalding's History; and we trust that its success will be such as to induce the spirited publisher to benefit the country by farther republications of valuable and scarce works on Scottish Affairs.

Jacobite Minstrelsy; with Notes illustrative of the
Text, and containing Historical Details in rela-
tion to the House of Stuart, from 1640 to 1784.
Glasgow. Richard Griffin and Co. 1829.

THIS is a very nice little pocket volume. It contains all the best Jacobite songs, copiously illustrated by judicious and amusing notes. The editor, it is true, claims no merit for this, nor is he entitled to any; for his collection is formed almost exclusively upon Hogg's "Jacobite Relics," only omitting the Whig songs, and a good number of the less interesting notes. We suppose, however, that the arrangement is sufficiently varied, to prevent any direct infringement of literary property. We observe, also, that a Table of the Genealogy of the Stuart Family, from James VI. downwards, is prefixed, which is copied almost verbatim from a simiLar table prefixed to the "History of the Rebellion in 1745," by Robert Chambers; and this, we think, ought to have been acknowledged.

MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE.

GOETHE AND HIS POETRY.

By William Tennant, Author of " Anster Fair," &c.

his many winning and unassuming, though smaller, graces. He has a claim also upon us from his universality; his works, both in poetry and prose, are more numerous than, we suppose, those of any other Continental author; he has written almost on every variety of subject, however distant or dissimilar; yet his ultimate reputation as an author appears to have for its most durable foundation, his Sorrows of Werter, one of his earliest and most popular prose productions, and his Herman and Dorothea, his best and longest poem. The poetry of his metrical dramas cannot, with justice, be much commended; compared with that of Schiller, his mightier rival in the theatre, it shrinks into unresisting domestic or burgher epic, which, we believe, is peculiar inferiority. His Herman and Dorothea is a species of English literature. It is written in nine books or cantos, to the Germans. We have no example of it in our each inscribed to one of the nine Muses. To this pleasing poem nothing can be objected, excepting its verse, and dissonant, and the most unmanageable to German which is hexameter, of all others the most unwieldy prosody. We know not how such lines sound in the ears of a native, and what measuring-staff the prosodian of Jena applies for their scanning, but nothing appears to the ears of a foreigner more Gothic and barbarous, than thus forcibly engrafting on the rough, clashing conrichly-vowell'd language of Greece and Rome. It is as sonants of Saxony, the delicate Dactylic metres of the it were setting up the rough, unseemly block-statue of Oden on the pedestal of Jupiter Tonans. The German language, like the English, can only be best cast into which so well suit the character of both. Yet, in this rhythmical poetry by these graceful Iambic moulds, inharmonious metre, Goethe has written a long poem; and Klopstock one still longer. Schiller and Bürger, whose poetry is more melodious, and who seem to have been gifted with better ears, have apparently undervalued and rejected it as unadapted to their language.

Of Goethe's smaller pieces, the best are those (and they are but few) which he has inscribed Ballads and Romances. Of these the longest is the Bride of Corinth, which has been alluded to with some commendation by Madame De Staël. Of the peculiar qualities of the genuine Ballad, however, it has none; it is rather a laboured and perplexed tale, ill laid as to place and time, having neither probability in its incidents, nor felicity in its verbal execution. The God and the Bayadere is better; but the prettiest of them all are Der Sanger, Das Veilchen, and Der Fischer, of which a translation is hereto subjoined. There is also some pleasant humour in Der Zauberlehring and Hochzeitleid. In his Book of Lieder there are also some pleasing verses, as Willkommen und Abschied, Die Gluckliche Gatten, Maylied, &c. + We have b.sides a large book of Elegien, which contain, here and there, some good thoughts, but which are chiefly interesting as being written in Rome during the author's visit to that place. The reader cannot but be pleased to hear the classical Goethe singing, in his own harsh but powerful language, his ambitious Elegiacs, amid those ruins which were created by his Gothic predecessors.

Or that rare assemblage of genius, which forty years ago at once founded and ennobled the school of vernacular poetry in Germany, and drew the eyes of admiring foreigners towards the polished court of the Duke of Weimar, Goethe is the only and venerable survivor. Wieland, who in time rather preceded the rest, lived long enough to enjoy his well-earned reputation; Schiller and Bürger died in the prime of life; Goethe, now in his 80th year, a period of life seldom allotted to any son of the Muses, has outlived all his tuneful copartners, and for more than fifty years has been sunning himself in the enjoyment of popular favour. If his reputation, during his lifetime, has been more extended, it has been, at the same time, more exposed to cavils and captious disputation,-more questioned as to its legitimacy and probable durability, than any of his associates. His poetry is unquestionably of a slenderer and more dissoluble texture, than that of Wieland or Schiller; he has neither the felicitous invention, the humorous and fantastic brilliancy, the voluptuous splendour of the former; neither has he, in his dramas, chingen, wh ch, though it contains nothing in itself remarkacle, nor anywhere else, the vehement passion, exuberant eloquence, sublimity, and intensity of poetical ogy, that characterise Schiller's best productions. Goethe has, however, a style of his own, though not, indeed, very marked or prominent, except in his Herman and Dorothea, and a few of his Ballads and Romances. Simplicity, purity of speech and of sentiment, and a certain gentleness and affection of manner, are the attractions of his verses; he never commands our admiration like Schiller, nor dazzles us by his fantastical richness like Wieland; but he calmly conciliates our estimation by

One of Goethe's earliest prose-plays is his Goetz von Berli

is nevertheless interesting to us all, from one adventitious circumstance that a translation of it into English, in 1799, presented, for the first time, ou its title-page, as an author, Walter cott -a name rendered since so illustrious by so many original and unrivalled productions.

t Byron, proud and prolific as he was, condescended to steal, without acknowledgement, from Goe:he. And th sugh it be not true, as Goethe has audaciously affirmed, that Byr n's best passages are taken from himself, yet his Lordship's pilferings are at times too glaring to be disputed; as, for instance, his address to Greece, beginning, "Know'st thou the land where," &c., from the pretty little song, Mignon's Sehnsucht,

Kennst du das Land, wo die Citronen bluhen,
Im dunkeln Land die Gold-Orangen gluhen? &c.