Imágenes de página
PDF
ePub

narrative of those incidents which are evidently chosen and brought forward to diminish and extenuate the prejudices which have long since been subsisting against him; but they are related at great length, and thrown with ability in the form of a Novel, in which real and suppositious personages are introduced, dressed with the appropriate draperies of a common drama, and contributing each in their way to its denouement.

[ocr errors]

mean

The scene is on the Lake of Geneva. Lady G. and her friend Alicia are living in a pretty cottage “situated on the lovely shores of the loveliest lake in Europe." Lord Byron, we Lord Harold, resides in the neighbourhood. Exhausted with all the misfortunes which had made him take the resolution of exiling himself; he is found so very ill, that his life is despaired of. An old woman comes to the bouse of Lady G. to acquaint her and her friend with the alarming circumstance of a young gentleman foreigner, who was likely to die, "without any one to see he was well done by, or give him Christian burial.” The ladies had heard of the handsome gentleman, and of his eccentricities; and feeling for him, as well as the old woman, they went immediately to the

ina;

"for delays are criminal io a case like this, and may be attended with fatal consequences to him we desire to serve. They found his Lordship in a "violent delirium," with "deep stupors alternately succeeding each other;" and with the advice of Monsieur La Roche, the apothecary, brought him up to their cottage in the Cabriolet, where, with the assistance of a proper nurse, and with the most kind attentions, he was finally restored, if not to a perfect health, at least to that state of recovery which enabled him to increase his intimacy. Whilst these two good natured ladies were trying to cure the melancholy of Delamere (for that was the name which Lord Harold went by), his Lordship began to suspect their good intentions; and fearing lest they should also fall in love with him, came to the determination of separating himself from them; as an, indemnification for their trouble and kindnesses, be condescends, however, to relate his adventures to the sensible Alicia, with permission to communicate them to Lady G. The recital of GENT. MAG. August, 1819.

those adventures is nothing more or less than the present Novel under our consideration; and the 83 pages of the first Volume form the prologue, an account of which we have just given. Nothing in it appears to us very remarkable, except that the charming Alicia knew

ject of our admiration, is one of those "That the young and interesting obhighly-gifted and unfortunate beings, on whom Nature bestows the most admired, most perverted, and most fatal of her endowments, when she confers upon them the gift of genius. If you are disposed, my dear sister, to quarrel with me for this expression, I cannot, I think, do better than detail a conversation which passed yesterday with Delamere on the subject in question, and which will evidence, more than the highest strain of eloquence I exquisite genius to confer happiness on could proffer, the insufficiency of the most its possessors. brightness-it may surprize by its oriIt may dazzle by its ginality-it may delight others, and mislead ourselves, but one virtuous action, one pious sentiment, one habitual principle of goodness in a well-regulated mind, will weigh more in the comparative scale of felicity than the most splendid coruscations of genius where they are wanting.

"The cabriolet is returned, and I must resume this subject in my next."

As it is usual in all romances, the origin of the house of Harold, his noble ancestors, his father and mother, the castle, &c. introduce you with the hero of the Novel. He was educated at Harrow, after which he went to Oxford. His father being dead, his mother regularly corresponded with him; and happened in one of her letters to him, to inform him, that a Miss Gabrielle Montgo mery had lately been placed under her protection, and was now an inmate of the Castle; the encomiums with which Lady Harold spoke of that amiable lady, transports the young student, who takes advantage of the terms, and hurries to his native Wales, anticipating the pleasure which his mother had led him to expect, in the acquaintance with Miss Montgo mery. His arrival at the Castle, his running into the garden, where his mother had retired, is described with a warmth, which one would look for in vain in any author, except in Rous seau's Heloise,

"As he approached the pavilion, the soft tones of a female voice, apparently engaged

engaged in reading, caught his ear; and gliding cautiously beneath the umbrageous foliage, he presented himself before the entrance unobserved. It was thrown open to admit the reviving freshness of the perfumed breeze, and the bright moonlight afforded him an uninterrupted view of the objects within. In the centre of the paviliou, under what might justly be termed a flowery canopy, sat his beloved and venerated mother; and beside her stood a form so fair, so ethereal in its appearance, that it rather seemed the bright creation of poetic fancy, than aught of mortal mould. The blushing wreaths that entwined the columns, drooped over her graceful figure, and as the breeze swept at intervals the slender sprays, their fragrant blossoms were intermingled with the ringlets of her luxu riant hair. A white and fleecy drapery faintly marked the outlines of her perfect form, aud a transparent veil floated back upon her shoulders, and slightly shaded her seraphic countenance. Her bands were folded on her bosom, as if in devotion, and the blue and trembling light, which the moon-beams shed upon her figure, gave it a shadowy appearance, that finely harmonized with the surrounding scene."

The consequence of their living together under the same roof, is easily anticipated; Lord Harold becomes extremely in love with the charming Gabrielle, and she with him. Thus, both "lapt in Elisium," time flew rapidly away, until Harold returned to Oxford. Unfortunately, he had there contracted a friendship for a young Berrington, to whom he communicates his happiness; for we all know that happiness does not exist, unless it have a canal to flow through. In the mean time, Lady Harold removes from Wales to London, and inhabits her house in Portman-square; soon after, she is followed by her son, who "in public as well as in private, was ever by the side of Miss Montgomery." In a few weeks after they had been settled in Portman-square, Berrington, who had become aù officer in the Guards, comes to pay them a visit in his regimentals. Harold and his mother bid him welcome to their house, and he is introduced to the angelic Gabrielle, who receives him with her usual modest ease." From that time, Berringtou had a daily access to Portman-square, and found many opportunities to play false with Miss Montgomery, 'as he had done with his friend Harold. The

consequence is, that he succeeds in: raising suspicions in the mind of Gabrielle against Harold, and in that of Harold against Gabrielle; and being ordered to join his regiment in Sicily, he contrives, by treacherous advices, to induce Lord Harold to accompany him, and thereby prevents the two lovers being reconciled in his absence, by the discovery of his treachery.

Accordingly they both set off, at a day's notice. On their arrival, Harold, by the means of Berrington, becomes acquainted with a Countess of Marchmont, a lady who had but an indifferent character; they exchange civilities, and here ends volume the first.

(To be concluded in our next.).

26. A Narrative of the Loss of the Honourable East India Company's Ship the Cabalva, which was wrecked, on Morning of July 7, 1818, upon the Cargados Garragos Reef in the Indian Ocean. By C. W. Francken, Sixth Officer. 8vo. Black and Co. pp. 65.

OF all calamities to which the life of man is subject, none perhaps can exceed in horror that of shipwreck on a barreu rock in remote and little frequented latitudes. Yet, even in · the most appalling and almost hopeless exigencies, it is cheering to observe frequent instances in which, by patient fortitude, wise consideration, and industrious and persevering efforts, the evils of such a situation are rendered tolerable, and at length, under the blessing of Divine Providence, the means of deliverance achieved. The Narrative before us in some measure exemplifies these remarks. It is well written, and abounds in singular and interesting incidents. The relation of the more serious matters is now and then relieved by a few very ludicrous circumstances; and the whole very forcibly illustrates the odd compound of character exhibited in a British seaman.

The Court of Directors of the East India Company have presented to Mr. Francken the sum of fifty guineas, and a Sextant with the Company's arms, and a suitable inscription, “as a mark of their approbation of his meritorious conduct in proceeding from the Cargados Reef to the Mauritius in an open boat, to the speedy arrival of which at that place the early relief and preservation of the crew may mainly be attributed."

LITERARY

LITERARY INTELLIGENCE.

Nearly ready for Publication: The Wisdom of being Religious, and the Folly of scoffing at Religion. By Abp. TILLOTSON. Of these treatises, the former is allowed to be one of the most elegant, perspicuous, and convincing defences of Religion in our own or any other language.

Remarks on a Publication by Mr. Belsham, Minister of Essex Chapel, entitled "The Bampton Lecturer reproved; being a Reply to the calumnious Charges of the Rev. C. A. Moysey, D. D." Iu a Letter to a Friend. By the Rev. H. W. CARTER, M.D. F.R.S.E.

Strictures on Atheism, chiefly suggested by the works styled Theological of the late Thomas Paine. By Mr. MULOCK.

Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester.

A new edition of Homer's Iliad, from the Text of Heyne; with English Notes. By Mr. VALPY.

Stephens's Greek Thesaurus, Nos. VII. and VIII. i. e. Part VI. of Lexicon, and Part II. of Glossary.

The Delphin and Variorum Classics, Parts V. and VI.

A new and corrected edition of Mr. CARY'S Translation of Dante.

A Manual of Directions for forming a School according to the National or Madras System. By the Rev. G. I. BEVEN, A. M. Vicar of Criekhowel.

Aldborough described; being a full Delineation of that fashionable and muchfrequented Watering Place; and interspersed with poetic and picturesque Remarks on its Coasts, its Scenery, and its Views.

The Seventh Number of the Journal of New Voyages and Travels, containing the Count de Forbin's Travels in Egypt, in 1818; illustrated by many curious Engravings.

Memoir of the Rev. R. B. Nickolls, LL.B. Dean of Middleham, &c.

A Volume of Poems, Songs, and Sonnets. By JOHN CLARE, a Northamptonshire peasant.

Parga, a Poem; with illustrative notes. Elements of Gymnastics, or Bodily Exercises and Sports. Also the Elementary Drawing-Book. By PESTALOZZI.

The first Volume of a cabinet Edition of the Poets of Scotland, containing Ramsay's Gentle Shepherd, and other Poems.

Preparing for Publication : Gleanings in Africa, collected during a long Residence, and many trading Voyages to that Country; particularly those parts which are situated between Cape Verd and the River Congo, a distance of two thousand miles, during the years 1799 to 1811

inclusive; containing Sketches of the Geographical Situations, the Manners and Customs, &c. &c. By G. A. ROBERTSON, Esq. To which will be added an Appendix, containing the most recent Information relative to the Cape of Good Hope.

An Historical and Characteristic Tour of the Rhine from Mayence to Coblentz and Cologne; in six Monthly Parts, containing a complete History and picturesque Description of a portion of Country so full of curious and interesting circumstances, as well as so resplendent for its Landscape, grandeur, and beauty. The Work will be embellished with Twenty-four highly finished and coloured Engravings, from Drawings expressly made by an eminent Artist resident near the banks of the Rhine, and habitually familiar with every part of it. A correct Map of the River and the Territory, according to its last arrangements, through which it flows, will be given with the last Fart.

Italy, in 1818 and 1819; comprising Remarks, critical and descriptive, on its Manners, National Character, Political Condition, Literature, and Fine Arts. By JOHN SCOTT.

Travels in France, in 1818. By Lieut. FRANCIS HALL, 14th Light Dragoons, H. P. author of Travels in the United States.

Letters from Buenos Ayres and Chili; with an original History of the latter Country. Illustrated with Engravings.

A Political and Commercial Account of Venezuela, Trinidad, and some of the adjacent Islands. From the French of Mr. LAVAYSSE; with Notes and Illustrations.

A Picture of Yarmouth, with numerous Engravings. By Mr. JOHN PRESTON, Comptroller of the Customs at Great Yarmouth.

Letters from Persia, giving a Description of the Manners and Customs of that interesting Country.

An Account of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, with a view to the luformation of Einigrants.

A Memoir of Charles Louis Sand, to which is prefixed, a Defence of the German Universities.

Specimens of the Living British Poets, with Biographical Notices, and Critical Remarks. By the Rev. G. CROLY, A. M.

Theory of Elocution. By Mr. SMART, the Reader of Shakspeare.

A Greek and English Lexicon. By JOHN JONES, LL. D. Author of a Greek Grammar, &c.

An Essay on Nervous Deafness, and Cases said to be so. By Mr. WRIGHT.

The Family Mansion, a Tale. By Mrs TAYLOR, of Ongar.

We have much pleasure in giving_our Readers the following extract from a Letter lately received by T. S. Champneys, Esq. of Orchardleigh House, Somerset, from one of his agents in Jamaica:

"I am certain, Sir, it will give you pleasure, to hear that Mr. WARNER's excellent Sermons (on the Epistles and Gospels, &c.; and old Church of England principles, &c.) have reached Kingston, and are now in the Press, for a Jamaica edition; the greater part of which is already bespoken; for they are sought after with avidity; and will, I have no doubt, be very shortly in general reading throughout the island."

It is no small compliment to our good old Church, and its Orthodox Ministers that the Rev. Author of the above-mentioned Discourses, has, within these last few months, received diplomas from the Imperial Cæsarean Society of Natural History at Moscow, and the Dutch Society of Sciences at Harlem, constituting him an Honorary Member of these respectable establishments.

STEWART PAPERS.-Erroneous accounts having been published by several of the newspapers, respecting this valuable acquisition, we think it may be interesting to the public to be accurately informed. It is now about two years since these important documents were discovered at Rome, by Mr. Watson, a Scots gentleman, then resident in that city, in a situation which must soon have produced their destruction, from the joint operation of vermin and the elements. M. Cosarini, the Auditor of the Pope, was the executor of Cardinal York, the last male descendant of James II. The executor did not long survive the Cardinal; and his successor, M. Tassoni, became his representative as executor of the Cardinal York. To M. Tassoni, then, application was made for leave to examine the papers. It was granted, together with permission to copy at pleasure. This last indulgence was

ARTS AND

ROYAL INSTITUTE OF FRANCE. Public Sitting of the four Acadamies. In the public Sitting of the four Academies of the Royal Institute of France, Mr. Charles Dupin delivered a discourse, the subject of which was the influence of the Sciences upon the humanity of nations. In showing how far the Sciences had not only softened the manners of mankind, but also the otherwise inexorable laws of war, Mr. Dupin quoted instances with respect to England and France,which claim the admiration of all the friends of civilization.

soon discovered, from the number and importance of the documents, to present labour almost without end, and led to the acquisition of the originals by purchase, from M. Tassoni. Though the sum which he received for them was inconsiderable, yet so little value did M. Tassoni set upon them, that he actually considered himself much overpaid. As they were perused, however, their immense worth became known; and Mr. Watson, unfortunately, considered himself under no necessity of concealing the value of private property, which he had legally bought from a competent vender. But under an absolute or despotic Government right is no protection. The archives of the Stewarts were seized by an order of the Papal Government, in the apartments of the proprietor; and Cardinal Consalvi justified this despotic act by a brief avowal, that the Stewart papers were too great a prize for any subject to possess. With his eminence, Cardinal Consalvi, the proprietor in vain remonstrated against this injustice, and at length notified his determination to appeal to his own Government, the British Consul having pusillanimously declined to interfere. The Roman Government, upon further reflection, saw the measures which it had adopted could neither be justified nor tolerated; and in this dilemma, it sought refuge from a curious expedient-it offered to the Prince Regent, as a present, that property which had been taken by force from one of his subjects. In Great Britain, the "rights of Kings" are better understood. The British Government never denied the right of Mr. Watson to property which he had fairly bought-though it wisely entered into a negotiation with him for the purpose of rendering objects of such peculiar na. tional interest, the property of the nation. A respectable commission has lately been appointed under the Royal warrant of the Prince Regent, to inquire into their nature and their value, and will report upon them accordingly.

[blocks in formation]

perior talent of all, without the invidious distinction of native and foreigner.

"Nor has war restrained the limits of

this peaceful concourse. The Society where Newton once presided, has founded a prize for the greatest discovery relative to the laws of light and heat. The theory of Malus, respecting the polarization of light, merited the prize. The judges were English, the author a Frenchman: the war was at its height, and the two countries were exasperated by victory and defeat, by the songs of a Tyrtæus and the harangues of orators, by fallacious pamphlets, and the hirelings of a policy without

shame or remorse.

"But Justice held the balance with one hand, and the prism of Newton with the other; admitting of no delusion, she gives her reward in silence, uninfluenced by passion.

[ocr errors]

"England presents her with no work equal to that of the learned Malus, and Justice places the crown on the brow of an enemy scarred with wounds, the honourable marks of battle waged between the two nations under the walls of Cairo and Alexandria.

"Science is not only just-impassable only when equity requires it; she in every other case succours mankind with her benévolent aid.

"During thirty years of war and bloodshed-Civilization, the daughter of Science, has maintained her rights, and often applied them to the noblest purposes.

"Thus the Institute of France and the Royal Society of London have rivaled each other in generous philanthropy. At their intercession, captives have been liberated, whose learning might be useful to mankind *; and, to their praise be it spoken, the Governments on both sides the sea have always yielded with zeal to the solicitations of those scientific Institutions, who in gratitude have paid the ransom of the liberated by their presents.

"The Academy of Sciences, by award. ing to the celebrated Davy, about the same period, the prize for his Galvanic researches, showed itself equally impartial, and superior to the prejudices of popular hatred."

LITHOGRAPHY.

A complete Course of Lithography, by Alois Senefelder, inventor of the Art of Lithography and Chemical Printing, has been translated from the original German. The work is divided into two parts: the one very interesting, the other highly important. The first relates to the history of the inventor and the invention: the second comprehends minute instructions with respect to the different processes ne

* An iustance is recorded in our present Obi'uary; see account of Mr. Forbes.

cessary in the various branches of Lithography.

[ocr errors]

Alois Senefelder is the son of one of the performers of the Theatre Royal at Munich. In early life he devoted himself to the study of jurisprudence at the University of Ingolstadt; but the death of his father compelled him to quit the University; and, having long had a strong inclination for the stage, he embraced that profession; two years' experience of the misery attending upon which cured his enthusiasm, and he resolved to try his fortune as a dramatic author. In that occupation, although his first piece was favourably received by the public, he also proved ultimately unsuccessful. During the publication of some of his works, however, he availed himself of an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the particulars of the process of printing. A new direction having thus been given to his talents, M. Senefelder, by several ingenious methods, endeavoured to form substitutes for types. Among those methods was that of writing the letters in an inverted shape, with a steel pen, on a copper-plate previously covered with etching ground, and biting them in with aquafortis. This required much practice, and, to correct the mistakes of his novitiate, M. Senefelder, ignorant of the usual varnish for what is technically termed "stopping out," composed one for himself of wax, soap,and lampblack. Finding copper-plates expensive for these rude essays, he had recourse to Kellheim stone, the surface of which was easily susceptible of being ground and polished. We give the singularly curious account of the actual invention of the Art of Lithography, which immediately followed, M. Senefelder's own words.

"I had just succeeded in my little laboratory in polishing a stone plate, which I intended to cover with etching ground, in order to continue my exercises in writing backwards, when my mother entered the room, and desired me to write her a bill for the washer woman, who was waiting for the linen. I happened not to have the smallest slip of paper at hand; nor was there even a drop of ink in the inkstand. As the matter would not admit of delay, and we had nobody in the house to send for a supply of the deficient materials, I resolved to write the list with my ink prepared with wax, soap, and lampblack, on the stone which I had just polished, and from which I could copy it at leisure.

"Some time after this, I was just going to wipe this writing from the stone, when the idea all at once struck me to try what would be the effect of such a writing with my prepared ink if I were to bite in the stone with aquafortis; and whether, perhaps, it might not be possible to apply

[ocr errors][merged small]
« AnteriorContinuar »