from the child, as the child from the nurfe; and for this relinquishment of the dearest ties in nature, this abdication of her own humble but peaceful roof, and renunciation of domestic enjoyment; this certainty of fuffering much, and probability of becoming a prey to disorders which may never be eradicated; he is to reft fatisfied with a pitiful compenfation in money, whilft the diffipated mother purfues her pleafures, and joins in the fentiments of the poet against the pride, the obstinacy, and the extravagance of a hireling nurfe.' In the concluding lines of the tranflation, a well turned compliment is paid to the duchess of Devonshire. P. 65. O happier times, to truth and virtue dear, A. R. ART. VII. British Public Characters of 1798. Phillips. 8vo. 528 pages. Price 8s. 6d. WE must say, and we fay it with concern, that this volume contains little more information refpecting most of the characters it celebrates, than what may be found in the newspapers and magazines of the day: anecdotes told without circumflantiality, and exhibiting little title to credit. The way too, in which the writers often comment upon the characters under review, has fomething fo ftrikingly peculiar in it, and to use a vulgar term, has fo much the air of CANT, that we cannot always perfuade ourselves that they wrote from the heart. Thefe PUBLIC CHARACTERS appear rather to be made FOR the public, than to be drawn by a correct hand, with the animating pencil of truth and fenfibility. The timidity of the author never fuffers us for a moment to forget the interest of the book feller. We must, however, except from these remarks, the lives of Mr. D'Ifraeli and Mr. Thomas Taylor; concerning whom the biographers appear to poffefs authentic information, and to write with feeling and fpirit. Indeed the life of Mr. Taylor is extremely affecting, and he must have a weak, or a bad mind, who can read it without emotion. Mr. Taylor appears to be a very uncommon man, who, amidft difficulties which would have broken the spirit of nine-tenths of mankind, has attained eminence in literature, and excellence in life. This narrative appears to us of more value than all the rest of the volume, and we recommend it affectionately to the attention of our readers. The hiftory of Mr. G. Wakefield is alfo given at fome length, and doubtless, from an authentic fource; Mr. W. having published a very interefting account, full of various and entertaining anecdotes, of his own eventful, inftructive, and merito rious life for however fome of Mr. W.'s acquaintance may. differ from him in opinion concerning religion and politics, amongst them there is but one opinion as to his literature, his magnanimity, and his benevolence. Anxious to give our readers a fpecimen of the best ingredient which this collection contains, we fele&t the following: P. 108. Mr. Taylor, however, finding the fituation of an ufher in itself extremely difagreeable, and when attended with fuch a feparation from his partner in calamity, intolerable, determined, if poffible, to obtain a lefs irkfome employment; and at length, by the exertions of his few friends, he obtained a clerk's place in a refpectable banking-houfe in the city. In this fituation, however, he at firit fuffered greatly; for as his income was but fifty pounds a year, and this paid quarterly; and as he had not any money to fpare for himfelf, and could not from his embarrafliments quit his lodging at Camberwell, he was unable to procure nutriment in the courfe of the day, adequate to the great labours he endured. Hence, he was fo exhausted by the time he reached home in the evening, that he frequently fell fenfelefs on the floor. • We are informed that Mr. T. foon after he was fettled in this new employment, took a houfe at Walworth, by the affiftance of a friend, who had been his school-fellow; finding a refidence at fome small distance from town, neceffary for his own health, and that of Mrs. T. and much more favourable to the cultivation of his mind, of which he never feems to have loft fight, even amidst the laffitude of bodily weakness, the pain incident to uncommon fatigue, and the immediate preffure of want. About this time Mr. T.'s ftudies, it feems, were chiefly confined to chemistry. Of all the authors in this branch of natural philofophy, he was most attached to Becher, whofe Phyfica Subterranca he read with great avidity, and became a complete convert to the doctrines of that illuftrious chemist. He did not, however, neglect mathematics; but, in confequence of having thought much on the quadrature of the circle, and believing he had difcovered a method by which the rectification of it might be geometrically, though not arithmetically, obtained, he found means to publifh a quarto pamphlet on that fubject, which he entitled, “A new Method of reafoning in Geometry." The fubftance of this pamphlet, as it did not attract the attention of the public, he has fince given to the world in a note, in the first volume of his translation of Proclus on Euclid. Hitherto Mr. T.'s ftudies may be confidered as merely preparatory to those speculations, which were to diftinguish him in the lite rary rary world; at leaft, they are confidered in this light by the followers of Plato. It appears too, that, without knowing it, he was led to the myftick difcipline of that fublime philofopher, in the exact order prefcribed by his difciples; for he began with ftudying the works of Ariftotle. He was induced, it seems, to engage in this course of ftudy, by a paffage in Sir Kenelm Digby's treatife" on Bodies and Man's Soul," in which he fays, "that the name of Ariftotle ought never to be mentioned by fcholars but with reverence, on account of his incomparable worth." This eulogium from a man who was very far from being a peripatetic, determined Mr. T. to enter on the ftudy of Ariftotle, as foon as he could procure any of his works, and had fufficiently recovered his knowledge of Greek. By a fortunate circumftance, he foon met with a copy of that philofopher's phyfics, and before he had read a page,. was fo enamoured with his pregnant brevity, accuracy, and depth, that he refolved to make the ftudy of Ariftotle's philofophy the great bufinefs of his life. Such, indeed, was his avidity to accomplish this defign, that he was foon able to read that great mafter in the original; and has often been heard to fay, that he learned Greek rather through the Greek philofophy, than the Greek philofophy through Greek. However, as he was engaged every day in the banking-house till at least seven in the evening, and fometimes till nine or ten, he was obliged to devote part of the night to study. Hence we are informed, that for feveral years, while he was at the banker's, he feldom went to bed before two or three o'clock in the morning; and having, by contemplative habits, learned to divest himself during the time which he fet apart for ftudy of all concern about the common affairs of life, his attention was not diverted from Ariftotle, either by the inconveniences arifing from his flender income, or folicitude about the businefs of the day.' We understand that a new edition of this work is coming out with confiderable alterations; we fhall be happy to call them improvements. ART. VII. Biographical Memoirs of the French Revolution, By John Adolphus, F. S. A. 2 vol. Price 16s. Cadell and Davies. HE, who duly weighs the difficulties which attend the collection of facts the leaft remarkable, in the lives even of men who have occupied no public fphere of action, and who have excited no prejudices against them by oppofition to received opinions, or eftablished fyftems, is alone able to appreciate the credibility of fuch works as that which now claims our attention. Let us fuppofe that Mr. Adolphus, when he wrote the volumes before us, was free from every bias which indifpofes the mind to cool examination of evidence; let us fuppofe him equally inclined to hear the friends and the enemies, to record the virtues and the vices of every character which he undertook to deli, neate ftill our author heard but the diftant report of the good and cvil imputed to his heroes; he was far removed from the theatre theatre of their actions, deftitute of all perfonal knowledge of their difpofitions and endowments, and unacquainted with the imperious circumftances in which they were placed. We ought likewife to remember, that, as there is little analogous in the history of our fpecies to the events of the French revolution, fo little could be derived from previous experience or obfervation, to affist the biographer in the work which he has undertaken. If, however, we find, at the very beginning of thefe Memoirs, the author declaring himself to be, not a witness, but an advocate; not an indifferent hiftorian, but a zealous partisan; if we find that he turns over the volumes which have been written on the characters which intereft his feelings, to fearch for matter of apology for one party, and of accufation for another party, he will be at once deprived of all title to that attention, which even well-difpofed ignorance might claim. We invite our readers to attend to the following paffage, which occurs in the very first page, and to judge for themselves, whether it be not the language of one, who, having chofen his party, is folicitous only for its defence. Vol. 1. P. 1.—' The fyftem of obloquy fo invariably pursued against this unhappy and truly amiable fovereign, has been attended with so much effect, that he is generally confidered as confined in his intellects, limited in his education, frivolous in his pursuits, infenfible to dishonour, the flave of fenfuality, without genius, courage, or veracity. From the publications of the beft informed and moft impartial hiftorians, from the reluctant confeffions of his adverfaries, and from the evidence of authentic facts, I fhall endeavour to controvert this opinion, and to reprefent Louis the friend and model of virtue, the victim of intrigue and perfecution. Several well-informed historians have borne teftimony to the virtues of this unfortunate monarch, and have displayed his motives in their proper light; but I have not relied entirely on their narratives; I have furveyed the contrary fide, and, in order to establish truth, have explored the fource of calumny, and investigated, as accurately as poffible, the origin of every flander.' The characters which pafs under the review of our author, are those of the King, Queen, the Princefs Elizabeth, and the Dauphin of France; Bailly, Benoit, Etienne-Charles de Lomenie de Brienne, Briffot, Chabot, Clootz, Condorcet, Danton, Defmoulins, Dumouriez, d'Eglantine, Favras, Fayette, Gobet, Hebert, Henriot, Lepellétier, Manuel, Marat, Mirabeau, Necker, Orleans, Thomas Paine, Petion and Robespierre. It is furely a circumftance worthy of remark, that of this mighty group, our author finds none who is not worthy of execration, except the King and his friends, who are defcribed as poffeffing virtues almost above humanity. We do not difpute the virtues of fome of the royal family, but that man has little claim to regard, who conceives that moral excellence, and uprightness of heart, heart, can belong to thofe alone whofe views of government and fociety are correfpondent to his own. What! was there no folitary individual of merit who promoted the caufe of the French revolution? Was the ancient defpotifm fo amiable and mild, as to be hated and oppofed only by malignant fiends? No. The most generous and pure humanity dictated oppofition to that fyftem, to thoufands of the most exalted minds in France; and the excellence of their motives fhould not be queftioned, because bad men triumphed for a moment over those who aimed to be the faviours of their country, and of the human race. Even Manuel, who, to fave the king's life, facrificed his own, has no merit in the eyes of our author; and he is here charged with infulting the king in prifon, which the narrative of Clery, although it be referred to as Mr. A.'s authority, does not appear to us to warrant. Indeed, after giving us a long dull tale of accufation against all the revolutionifts, Mr. A. feems to have recourse to the very dregs of rancorous indignation for the fupply of his pen in giving the hiftory of our countryman Thomas Paine. He follows the narrative in the true fpirit of Francis Oldys, who, he informs us, (as report had long founded) is no other than Mr. Chalmers, the author of the life of Ruddiman, and friend of Mr. Pitt. As he fays he gives this information upon the best authority, and as he appears to think this an HONOUR to Mr. Chalmers, we are not difpofed to question the fact. But can any man expect credit for impartiality of statement, who tells Mr. Chalmers' tale over again, and calls it the life of Paine? Thofe who have known Mr. Paine call him a kind and benevolent man, and his vote on the trial of Louis appears in confirmation of that opinion. He, like Manuel, rifked his life to fave that of the King of France, and, like him, receives in return the infults of that King's biographer. The account of Mr. Paine's conduct on the King's trial, thall ferve our readers as a fample of the talents and candour of our author. Vol. 11, P. 314.— With the fumes of wine ftill in his head, and the din of mufic performed at the feaft by the band belonging to the German legion still in his ears, Paine proceeded to write his opinion refpecting the trial of the unfortunate king. In this opinion, which was read for him in the convention, he confidered Louis xvI. as a confederate in an univerfal confpiracy, which threatened not only the liberty of France, but that of every other nation: he confidered him as a culprit, whofe trial might lead all people to a knowledge and a deteftation of the monarchical fyftem, and of the plots and intrigues of their own courts: he therefore voted for the trial. After fuch a fentence as this, and after voting the king guilty on the first appel nominal, with how little reafon do the admirers of Paine affect to extol his merciful difpofition, and exonerate him from the ignominy attached to the murderers of that unhappy monarch, on account of his fubfequent exertions. On the question of punishment, he voted against |