and while no branch even of domestic economy and housewifery, however minute, is excluded from the moral delineations which they exhibit, they are uniformly and successfully directed to far higher objects. Nor have we any hesitation in saying, that, by their judicious application of scriptural truth, by the just and striking views which they present to us both of this world and the next, by their unfailing reference to the law of God as the only standard of excellence, and to the grace of Christ and the influence of his Spirit as the only hope of man, they are eminently adapted to elevate the moral aim, to touch the conscience, to renew and purify the heart.

To Miss Hamilton we are in debted for a very valuable, but more elaborate work, in the same depart ment of literature. Her "Cottagers of Glenburnie," have furnished a proof, not only of the extent of her powers, and the accuracy of her observation, but of the paramount place which religion occupies in her estimate of human character, and of the means by which it may be improved. The lower Scotch are a reading and a reasoning people, and we are therefore persuaded that this book must have a powerful effect in remedying those defects which it has so happily and graphically exposed. The more we were delighted, however, with Miss Hamilton's production in general, and particularly with the strain of just religious sentiment and unaffected piety which pervades it, the more were we surprised at the vague and unmeaning attack, which, towards the close of it, she has thought proper to make on Methodism. It re minded us of the days of our youth, when it was the fashion for ladies to disfigure the face with patches. It is now the fashion to publish ti rades against Methodism; and Miss Hamilton, in this instance, like our mothers of old, has been tempted to depart from her usual good sense

that she may be in the fashion: she has put this patch upon her work, as we presume, in deference to the prevailing taste. Without this disclaimer, we admit that her work is calculated to involve her almost as deeply in the imputation of Methodism, as Mrs. H. More, or Mr. Wilberforce, or Mr. or Mrs. Any-one: and we should have been disposed to account her equally guilty, but for this symptom of false shame. The time, we trust, is not far distant, when she will not shrink from any name which a fastidious age may choose to affix to the assertion of Christian principles, and the inculcation of Christian practice.

Mrs. Leadbeater has followed in the track of those ladies, as the instructress of the poor Irish; and although greatly inferior to both of them in point of genius and inven- . tion, she has still, as we have already shewn, her peculiar praise. She has judiciously availed herself of the materials furnished by her models. Mrs. H. More's Cottage Cook has supplied her with many a savoury dish; and Miss Hamilton's sickroom scenery has been very beneficially transported across the Irish Chaunel. We could have wished that she had contrived to infuse a larger portion of the religious spirit which breathes in the works of her precursors in the same path of benevolent exertion; and we trust, that, if she should again resume her pen, this hint will not be lost upon her. We are very far from undervaluing, as this review will testify, the objects to which Mrs. Leadbeater's labours are chiefly directed. We very ardently desire that the Irish may be a sober, industrious, frugal, peaceful people, and that they may emerge from their present semi-savage mode of being, and advance in civilization, intelligence, and temporal prosperity and comfort.

But we desire much more ardently that they may be enlightened with the beams of divine truth; that they may grow in the know

ledge of Him, whom to know is life eternal. We should desire this even with a view to their temporal happiness; for godliness hath the promise both of this life and of that which is to come; and it is as true now, as it was in the days of David, that "happy is the people that is in such a case; yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord."

Before we conclude, we would take the opportunity of reminding our readers of the claims which Ireland has on British benevolence. The very neglect, of which we have been guilty towards that country, ought to strengthen the motives to present exertion. And let those who feel nothing for Ireland, feel for themselves. Our own security as a nation, is far more intimately blended with the moral and religious improvement of the Irish, and with their advancement in civil light, than many may suppose. And if we do not attach them to our cause by benefits, by the strong bond of principle and affection, they will prove, it is to be feared, a sword in the hand of our enemy, which may pierce us to the heart.

Our readers, we trust, will forgive us, if, under the impressions we entertain of this subject, we venture to make a more pointed appeal to their consciences upon it, than we have been accustomed to do on similar occasions. We would urge them to put this question to themselves: What have I done for Ireland? What have I done to ameliorate her condition, and to raise her sons from the ignorance, degradation, and wretchedness in which I must allow them to be sunk? Have I considered in what way my influence, or any pecuniary contribution which I can spare, may be most beneficially applied towards the promotion of this object?" Let every one who reads these pages, estimate the sum of his past benefits; and if it should prove, as in most cases, we fear, it will, to be an exceedingly small, if not a negative quantity, let him

make the best reparation he can for his former neglect, by proportionably increasing his future exertions.

There may be some of our readers as deeply impressed as ourselves with the strong claims of the Irish upon the benevolence of Great Britain, who may yet delay to give their assistance, through ignorance of the channels into which their bounty may most beneficially be poured. There are many who can do little, and who naturally would desire to do that little with the greatest effect, or, as it were, to apply their force at the point of least resistance. Now to such persons we do not suggest several very prominent charitable institutions in Ireland; both because they are already well known, and because a "mite" cast into their “treasu ry," would not tell so much as elsewhere. There is, however, one institution (whose pretensions and wants we may perhaps at some future time place more formally before our readers), which would gladly receive, and we think most profitably employ, the very smallest contributions. This institution is called the "Society for educating Schoolmasters," and owes its existence to the benevolence and well-directed labours of an Irish clergyman. Placed by the band of Providence in the centre of Irish desolation and misery, he cast about him for the best means of lessening the evils by which he was surrounded; and, convinced that no means which left the ignorance of the peasantry untouched, could provide any effectual remedy, he planned this institution. The great bar to instruc tion had hitherto been the want of teachers. Of these it is his design to create and maintain a sort of depôt, on which the parochial clergy or other benevolent individuals may draw for the supply of their different villages. In 1806, the institution was formed, and since then, according to his means, he has sent, into such parishes as have applied, teachers, who have received the highest

approbation from their employers.* All defence, or even commendation, of such an institution must be useless. It will be enough to state to the public, that the labours of this benevolent individual have been crippled by the limited nature of his funds; that although he has received the sanction and contributions both of some public bodies and distinguished individuals in his own country, and of some public-spirited characters here, the sum collected has not been enough to meet the disbursements of the institution ;-that he has far more demands for teachers than, upon the present scale of his school, he can possibly supply; -that, finally, such is the general poverty of the Irish, except of that portion of her children who consume the produce of the Irish soil upon English territory, that he can hope to execute his plan only through the bounty of Great Britain. These facts, we trust, will touch the feelings of our countrymen more effectually than any declamation upon the subject.

If there is one class upon whose benevolence we hope to work, there is another who are to be addressed only through their fears. To them we will say, that the calm enjoyed, with regard to Ireland, in this country, is only the repose of men who shut their eyes upon very formidable dangers. We are unwilling, in the present instance, to touch on the question of catholic emancipation. Whether, however, the petitions of the Catholics are to be granted or refused, the moral and intellectual improvement of the people ought to be the grand object. Improve their morals, enlighten their minds, and they will be more patient of refusal, and more temperate in the event of success. A conviction that we benefit them where we can, will make them feel, that if we do not comply with their wishes in this instance, we withhold only that boon Subscriptions for this Society are received at the house of Messrs. Down, Thornton,ard Ca. Basthe lomew Lane, London.

which we could not securely grant. Or, should the general prevalence of attachment to our own church, the strength of the protestants, the weakness or moderation of the catholics, the demolition of the power of Rome, the virtue or illumination of the age, be such as to allow of our conceding to the petitioning body those privileges which they ask; then, it may be hoped, they will not sting the bosom in which they have been cherished, and that they will learn to respect a church whose principles have taught her to scatter the seeds of happiness and knowledge amidst the rocks and fastnesses of the sister country. The Irish, we think, are a grateful people. There is a sort of wild benevolence, which characterizes even many of those (not the best specimens of the population) who have migrated to this country. Upon such men kindness will not be wasted. In their hearts, if watered by the dews of Heaven, gratitude and affection will find rapid growth. Warm and generous feelings will take root downwards, and bear fruit upwards; will pour into the public' storehouse a large harvest of loyalty, of love, and obedience.

Haverhill, a Descriptive Poem; and

other Poems. By JOHN WEBE. London: Nunp. 1810. Price 5s. Pp. 119.

THE vast masses of metrical matter annually washed down, during the rainy season, from various mountainous ridges in the region of Dulness, are now said scarcely to cover the cost of collecting. If this be the case, the time cannot be far distant, when Poems "on several occasions;" ditto, "on various subjects;" ditto, "chiefly written in retirement;" the same," published by the solicitation of friends;" the same, &c. &c. &c. will be read by their writers, and by them exclusively. There seems to be, however, a certain spirit of audacity and defiance, common to makers of verses

and pickers of pockets; by the influence of which, verses are made under the very grinders of criticism, and pockets are picked in the shade of the gallows; and such is the infatuation generated by vice, that neither bodies hung in chains on Hounslow Heath, nor Laura-Marias swinging to and fro in the Baviad, have, in the one case, secured our property, nor, in the other, defended our taste. The exertions of Mr. Gifford, the author of the Pursuits of Literature, and the compilers of the Anti Jacobin Poetry, did, indeed, great things, for the time; but we have witnessed a reproductive power in metrical persons, similar to that possessed by the lacerta aquatica of the Erpetologists. This reptile, according to M. Bonnet, will shuffle off its skin several times in a single month; and the experiments of Spallanzani ascertain its ability to provide its trunk with new sets of arms, legs, and tails, in a very few weeks after mutilation. A like process may be observed in the subjects of critical dissection. For instance, in the spring of 1810, sundry verses are published (appropriately) in foolscap octavo, embellished with vignettes, engraved by the pupils of Bewick; after designs by Thurston. The book is amputated, or reviewed, and dies. But in the winter of the very same year, the evolution of a new volume is plainly perceptible: and, by the aid of a powerful magnifier, may be discovered the actual figures of ode, elegy, canzonet, and epigram. The developement of these members is extremely curious; and the growth of a newt's second, third, or even fifteenth cauda, is, as we think, a less beautiful process than the reproduction of a metrical tale.

To the consideration of this lizard-like property in versemen, must be added the undeniable fact, that in certain mechanic employments there is a direct tendency towards literary effort. Whoever, for example, watches the measured action of shoemakers, must at once

discern what philosophers intend by asserting the analogy between physical and moral operation; nor can he doubt, that the tutelar genius of Cordwainers' Ward is no other than the muse of Poets' Corner, invested with masculine attributes. For ourselves (who habitually philosophize both in Cheapside, and in the rocky solitudes of Snowdon), we smiled at the surprize expressed by Dr. Drake, Mr. Capel Lofft, and the other grand jurors for the county of Suffolk, who found a true bill against Robert Bloomfield for composing the Farmer's Boy, and other poems;" convinced, as we were and are, that in the maker of boots ever lies enshrined the maker of verses. An awl, brilliant and pointed, is indisputably typical of epigram and satire. Wax, hardened by immersion in water, and softened by exposure to fire, is alternately emblematic of the obduracy and tenderness, alternately treated of in amatory song. Above all, the exquisite lines described by the circling fists and elbows--but the analogy need not be pursued. Addison tells us of a barber, who, in the act of shaving his few customers, used, if permitted, to tell anecdotes of a certain battle; in detailing which, the strokes of his razor bore bloody relation to the more terrible parts of the story; and it was well if the hearer rose from his seat without his throat severed from ear to ear. And Dr. Johnson knew a man, who, while singing a song, chalked out a giant on the wall by correspondent action of his hands. We merely introduce these great names with a view to silence all objectors to the above analogy. It will indeed be said, that a certain well-known character of the present day was first a tailor*; then a

Memoir of his Life. "He yielded to the * His own confession, in The Prefatory proposal of being apprenticed to an eminent master tailor at the west end of the town. -"We conceive this avowal," the Edin

burgh Reviewers remark," to be the utmost limit of human candour."-No. III. Art. 24.