and Magistrates'in 1649, Iconoclastes, in reply to the Icon Bas silike;-in 1651, he published his first celebrated answer to Sal masius;-in 1654, he gave his Defensio Secundus-on the death of Cromwell, he published a Letter concerning the Rupture of the Commonwealth, to prevent the restoration of the king; and it was not till 1667-many years after the publication of all his republican works, and seven years after the Restoration thats Paradise Lost appeared. The exact period, therefore, at which the admirers of genius discovered that Milton was a republican, and in conse quence discontinued buying Paradise Lost, would be a matter of curiosity, which we regret the author does not state:19 bas b There is another writer, of the name of Dryden, of whom our New Englander has, we believe, no very high opinion; but he has been lucky enough to discover a poem of this author's, of which, as being in praise of Cromwell, and a proof of the republicanism of the poet, he gladly quotes a few lines. að vesent 'I have seen,'-(says this laborious antiquary,) a copy of verses of Dryden in an old collection of poems, printed in 1700, to the memory of Oliver Cromwell, in which are the following stanzas ! "His grandeur he deriv'd from Heaven alone, &c. &c." 67. P. This 'copy of verses' of the great Dryden, accidentally déterré in an old volume printed in 1700, filled us with delight, which, however, has been a little abated by finding that it was originally printed in 1659, and that it is to be found in every edition of Dryden's works that has since appeared!! Mr. Paulding's just appreciation of the merits of Goldsmith we have already intimated, by recording his admiration of the excel lent Elegy on a Mad Dog,' the piece, it seems, by which that elegant and pathetic writer is best known in New England. Of living authors his opinions are equally correct and candid; but it might be considered invidious to make a selection, and we have not room for all. There is one passage however which, for the justness of its criticism and the brillianey of its wit, we cannot refrain from quoting. Thomas Crabbe is a country clergyman, and has given a series of poems founded on the results, I presume, of his experience; descriptive of rural manners and rural vices as they present themselves in this country; he seems in truth a Sour and crabbed genius, as his is name ports; and I never look at his works without thinking when you and I used to stand on the bridge at ****** to see the crabs come floating up; these rogues were never in a good humour-they snapt at every thing, even a brother crab: Thomas Crabbe seems a crab among poets." vol. ii. p. 131. Wherever the English language is read, the accurate delinea tions of life, the delicate strokes of character, the grave humour, the weighty sense, and, above all, the tender and pathetic touches of nature and good feeling which pervade the works of George Crabbe, are admired by every understanding, and felt by every heart; but of Thomas Crabbe, the cynic and satirist, the Crab among poets,' we have never before heard: the New Englander has therefore at once brought an unknown bard to light, and displayed his own accuracy as to facts, his own taste in poetry, and his own felicity in punning. It is scarcely possible to pass these and similar instances of deep and extensive research, profusely scattered through Mr. Paulding's pages, without felicitating America on the possession of so complete a view, not only of the literary, but of the natural, moral, and political state of this country. We recollect a pro-, posal for forming a sort of elementary history from the Newgate Calendar, and other authentic records of the same kind, by way of supplying the American youth with just and liberal notions of the English people. Whether the plan was carried into effect, we know not-nor is the inquiry, at present, worth pursuing; since the book must, at all events, ere this, have been superseded in every school by the more elaborate and faithful Sketch of Old England by a New Englander.' It will, doubtless, be a very agreeable piece of intelligence to the majority of our literary men, that they are not only all pen-, sioned by the government, but are actually, in some cases, indemnified by ministry for the losses in their literary speculations. -- There are hundreds (of authors), who are in the enjoyment of places, pensions, and patronage of some sort or other. The government having the heaviest purse and the most extensive patronage is of course the best paymaster, and, consequently, retains by far the greater proportion of authors either as apologists of itself or calumniators of others.-vol. ii. p. 80. 4 The chief duty of these calumniators is libelling America; and this mean pursuit our government carries on with a perseverance and profligacy which really alarm us. The English travellers in America, those I mean who really visit us, are of various kinds. I have taken pains to inquire into their characters and pursuits, and will be a little particular in my details. The first are British officers of one grade or other, either civil or military, who have travelled from New-York to Canada, or from Canada to NewYork; or who have resided some time in the States, or British provinces, and seek to recommend themselves to promotion by publishing a book of travels, calculated for the palate of honest John Bull, or his rulers. Lieut. ****, whose travels I sent you some time ago, is quite in disgrace at head-quarters, because he had the unpatriotic can MM 2. dour BIO To Roll2 dour to do us justice. It is not therefore very likely that any other officer will follow his example.vol. ii. p. 159, 1608 300 So great an abuse of the royal prerogative in the matter of military promotions should be exposed, and we therefore hope the New Englander will not fail, in a future edition, to furnish us with names and dates, to enable some patriotic member to bring the to brin subject before parliament. But this is not all: 97 320 1900 2dbor 2.1. The government always stands security for any loss, the bookseller may sustain by the publication of this mass of dulness; and, if the worst come to the worst, the author is placed out to luxuriate in some o place or other. vol. ii. p. 160. ). Worse remains behind good So timid is now grown this expiring phantom of despotism, (the British government,) that it is beginning to be afraid even of American lite rature, and every effort is made to exclude all republican books, but such as are in a greater or less degree anti-republican. The bookseller here, who republished Mr. Breckenridge's account of the mission to South America, becoming lately insolvent, was actually refused a certificate of discharge, on the score of his "imprudence," in thus investing a part of his capital in an American book!vol. ii, p. 178. We who happen never to have heard of this portentous work of Mr. Breckenridge, might hesitate to give implicit credit to this statement; but our author, in addition to his own established veracity, can adduce evidence to the same effect froni' a most respectable London bookseller.' udt 300 He turned my attention, with a good-natured kind of smile, to some half-bound books lying on the counter, which I found to be a new batch of travels in the United States. 66 They are," said he, as you may suppose, full of the old leaven, for no bookseller here DARE publish, at his own risk, a favourable picture of your country, without a preface apologizing for the offence, and expressing his doubts of its truth."-vol. ii. p. 165.1 Even this is not the worst 'For, in the lowest deep, a lower deep calumniating America with more effect. It is 70 Not satisfied with their host of libellers, government, it seems, have taken a body of nominal emigrants into pay, for the purpose of known, the author says; but we beg to observe here, that the natural perspicacity of Mr. Paulding renders him, in general, too indulgent to the understanding of others; and that we, in particular, did not know (well or ill) of this plan, the profound policy of which fails to reconcile us to its flagrant duplicity! But let him tell his own story." (5.9) 96 200000 i bre ne bin 9zloqead ylsor 2 The practice' (he is speaking of emigration, and deploring its decrease) has been chiefly discouraged by the return of several emi30 130* grants, 3 radio yog tadi gladil prav aroloredt for ex grants, who, it is well known, were shipped to America and brought back again at the expense of the English government, for the sake of proving that there was no longer a possibility of gaining employment there.'-vol. ii. P. 174. We always feel the greatest reluctance to speak of ourselves; but there are occasions on which we cannot otherwise do justice to the works under our consideration; and this is one of them. Our readers, we anticipate, will be fully of this opinion when (with, we hope, a not unpardonable vanity) we acquaint them that the whole circle of English literature, and all the authors of all sizes, sexes and ages, from Chaucer down to Lady Morgan, do not attract so much of Mr. Paulding's notice and occupy so many of his pages as the Quarterly Review alone. We will not so far offend against modesty as to quote any of the numerous eulogies which he pronounces upon us. We pass over the compliments of being the bully of orthodoxy,' (vol. ii. p. 118.) the great watch dog at the door of the palace, (ibid.) and a thousand other similar descriptions; the honest author is far from being a flatterer, and some of his expressions might lead a superficial observer to doubt the sincerity of his respect and regard for us; but against any such doubts we have only to repeat that in these little volumes, which embrace a description of London, a tour through England and Wales, together with general observations on the whole frame of English society, politics, arts, arms, history, literature, and every thing else, the too partial writer has found or made opportunities of dedicating an immense proportion of his attention to us, not only collectively, but, so far does his condescension extend, in our individual capacities. There is one passage, however, in which he shows a knowledge of men and manners, and a gentleman-like feeling, so truly American, that we cannot refrain from quoting it, and expressing our humble gratitude. The author states that the public taste is wonderfully influenced by this Review, and that mere notice from us never fails to confer popularity on any publication; and he then proceeds to intimate that he has discovered the principles upon which our recommendations are founded. There are some of the booksellers here, who ensure a very' considerable sale for a work, by simply publishing it with their names. Among these the most distinguished is Mr. John Murray, a worthy and reMurray, a worthy and respectable man, whose character, I believe, is without reproach. He has general orders from a great number, not only of the booksellers, but of: the nobility and g Igentry, for one or more copies of every new work that issues from his press. Thus the first edition of a new book is, I am told, generally bespoke, and a second becomes necessary. Mr. Murray is, besides, as you know, publisher of the Quarterly Review; and though I do not mean to say there is any collusion, yet it were a disgrace to the human heart to suppose, that the intimate association, the community MM 3 nity of feelings and interests, thus produced between him and the editors of that work, did not bring about a mutual good will. Fractious and intolerant as are these literary bullies, they assuredly cannot resist Mr. Murray's excellent dinners, and far-famed port.'—vol. ii. p, 86. We are very far from being such a disgrace to the human heart' as not to be sensible of intimate associations, and community of feelings and interests, and all the other exalted and honourable sentiments which our author cannot separate from the idea of 'excellent dinners' and 'far-famed port? We must, however, venture to own that the fame of Mr. Murray's port has not yet reached us; and we rather guess that the frugal habits of the New Englander may a little overrate the value of that beverage now-a-days: it may have been, for aught we know, the halfguinea wine of pestiferous quality,' which soured his temper on his arrival; but he may be assured the time is gone by when bribery took the colour and substance of port. As we have been forced by the good-humoured and good-mannered partiality of Mr. Paulding to become egotists, let us be permitted to make one final appeal on our own behalf. We call upon him, then, to declare whether we ever dined or drank port with him at the New York Coffee-house, in Sweeting's-alley, or in his lodgings kept by the heiress of the Plantagenets?he must, as we know, reply in the negative, and yet we hope he will admit that we have paid him, without any such bribe, a reasonable degree of impartial attention; and, as Mr. Paulding so obligingly states, that notice from us is a kind of passport to fame, we trust he will be satisfied with the notoriety we have conferred upon him. His own modesty may hesitate about the justice of our praises, but no other person, who reads his book, will think that we have said of him half so much as he deserves. ART. XII. Letters to and from Henrietta, Countess of Suffolk, and her Second Husband, the Hon. George Berkeley, from 1712 to 1767. With Historical, Biographical, and Explanatory Notes. 2 vols. 8vo. 1824. THE French have been long allowed to 'Shine unrivall'd in the gay Memoir.' But we question whether they are more rich than we are in that other sort of auto-biography which an individual gradually and insensibly composes in the course of his epistolary correspondence, and which possesses an advantage over professed Memoirs, as exhibiting the sentiments and feelings of the writer, contrasted with, and of course corrected by, those of his correspondents. The Augustan age of Queen Anne and the reigns which succeeded, |