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LONDON REVIEW:

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NOTICES OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS.

QUID SIT PULCHRUM, QUID TURPE, QUID UTILE, QUID NON? ATA

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The work before us affords ample proof that its author is possessed of powers of research and of acute observation, with vigilance and an indefatigable activity. Mr. Blaquiere's ì volume is written in the form of Letters. He entered Spain soon after the Constitution was proclaimed at Madrid, and his last Letter is dated Oct. 1820. In this intermediate period, he contrived to acquaint himself with the areana of public affairs, with the designs and motives of the numerous partisans, the principles of the dif ferent political sects, the condition and feelings of the poor, and with the manners, sentiments, and degrees of information possessed by the middling and upper classes of Spanish society. This varied and extensive information Mr. Blaquiere has given us in a manner, often rambling and generally dif; fuse; but the number and importance of his facts, with the justice of his sentiments and the utility of his observations, render his work at once instructive and highly entertaining. Where Mr. Blaquiere leaves facts and indulgences in speculation, or in the expression of sentiments and opinions, we are disposed to place an almost bim, for his s po

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rational and free; his views are in unison with the spirit of the age, and with improved condition of the human intellect; and whilst he justly discards ancient prejudices, and the narrow policy of the old courts and dynasties, he avoids all those extravagant theories of freedom and improvement, which might rather endanger than advance the great and only ob

jects of the social compact-the security of prosperity, and the liberties of mankind. The work commences by giving an interesting detail of Ferdinand's writing from France in favour of the fidelity to it, and his abandonment of it; Constitution; his alternately swearing with his persecution of those whose heroism had secured to him his throne, and whose efforts were to correct those abuses, by which this weak and corrupt Monarch had ruined his country, and nearly brought it under the yoke of a foreign despot. The spirit of the times has prevented Ferdinand's comGothic ages, but a greater mass of permitting any of the barbarities of the fidy, meanness, ignorance, and vice, than is here evinced, has seldom disSpaniards deserve a better Prince; they graced the annals of Europe. The

are, as Sir John Moore describes them, a fine people; they afford the only example of a people suddenly emerging from the lowest state of ignorance, superstition, and tyranny, without the intoxication and excitement which leads to extravagant cruelty and bloodshed, and of which the English, of 1645, and the French, of recent times, have given so terrific an example. We trust, that neither a perseverance in error and oppression on the part of Ferdinand, nor aggressions from foreigners, will 'stimulate these people to the outrages and barbarity, which are the features of revolutions, conducted in a spirit tifying the usurpation of the Spanish anger and resentment. Without justhrone by Buonaparte, our author pays an equitable tribute to the more efficient and enlightened government introduced by King Joseph. Mr. Blaquiere, with spirit and intelligence, sketches the abuses and errors of the old regime of the Bourbons of Spain; the persecutions heaped upon the Patriots, the Guerilla Chiefs, the Freemasons, and others; the betraying, trial, and final sacrifice of Porlier, and what may be called the legalized murder of the brave and patriotic Lacy; he details the fine

and happily successful enterprize of Riego; he gives the reader an accurate and heart-thrilling account of the prin

ciples and dreadful cruelties of that greatest of all enormities, the Inquisitions and discusses the baneful effects of celibacy, auricular confession, absolution, and the various follies, impositions, and errors of the religion of the country. Mr. Blaquiere says, that he is happy to bear testimony, that the great body of the Spanish clergy "contains as much of learning, virtue, and knowledge, as any in Europe." As the Spanish clergy are proverbially deficient, we must conclude from this, that our author has a greater contempt for the clergy of Europe, as a body, than most men would venture to declare, even in this unequivocal and semisatirical manner of expression. An account of the Prado, the Bull-fights, the Amusements, the School of Painting, the Literature and Arts of the country, is given with spirit and accuracy. The limits and nature of our work prevent our doing more, than passing a favourable judgment, and giving this general outline or sketch of the design and execution of Mr. Blaquiere's volume; but there is no class of readers who can peruse the work without an acquisition of valuable knowledge, or without awakening in him a train of the most useful and pleasurable reflections.

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The School Shakspeare; or, Plays and Scenes from Shakspeare, illustrated for the Use of Schools, with Glossarial Notes. By the Rev. J. R. Pitman, M.A. 8vo. pp. 596.

It is astonishing, that in the vigilance and activity of the literary world, a work of such indispensable utility as the present should not have been published before. The excellence of Shakspeare as an English classic, has long convinced all descriptions of instructors, that it was absolutely necessary to acquaint the English student with the purer passages of the great dramatist; but these standing so frequently in contact with parts of the grossest obscenity, the mode of avoiding the contagion has been to doom the student to a scanty perusal of isolated speeches in the Elegant Extracts, or in Enfield's Speaker. But Shakspeare, of all poets, ought to be read with judgment and discrimination, and as his principal excellence is his consistent and natural delineation of character, it is obvious

that no just conception of the merits of

tached as could be formed from de

passages and unconnected dialogues. Thus the English student has hitherto been confined merely to a knowledge of a few beautiful metaphors and brilliant figures, and has finished his education in total ignorance of the mightier powers of his great national poet. To obviate this evil, there was published, about nine years ago, a selection of Shakspeare's plays, with the omission of the objectionable passages But this work not succeeding, Mr. Bowdler published his Family Shakspeare, but on a scale so voluminous, as if it were designed solely for the shelves of the wealthy matron. Mr. Pitman has now supplied, and we think ably supplied, the great desideratum of our literature. He has, iu the compass of an octavo volume, given us thirty-five of the plays attributed to Shakspeare, omitting the Titus Andronicus and the Pericles, the authorship of which is disputed, without the merits of the pieces being sufficient to render the dispute of interest. Mr. Pitman has preserved the beauties of each play, and has judiciously given sufficient to enable the reader to comprehend the plot and conduct of each drama, and the several characters of the piece. There are useful elucidatory notes to the plays, and the volume concludes with a selection of the best of Shakspeare's sonnets. We have no be one of primary utility, and if it be hesitation in pronouncing the work to an object with society and with individuals, that the highest models of poetic excellence should be amenable to youth without the alloy of wantonness and impurity, the work before us will be of incalculable advantages in the earlier age of one sex, and of equal advantage to the other sex throughout every age. We trust that Mr. Pitman's success will induce either himself, or persons equally skilful, to edit the works of Shakspeare's contemporaries, and of some of the writers of Charles the Second's reign, upon a similar plan.

Theatrical Portraits, with other Poems. By Harry Stoe Van Dyk. 12mo. pp. 151. London, 1822.

The pretensions of Mr. Van Dyk, as he expresses them in his preface, are so modest, that we think it impossible he should be disappointed.These "Theatrical Portraits," considered merely as portraits, are never absolutely untrue to nature, but we

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think they are not always striking likenesses," Perhaps this arises, in some measure, from a fear of offending, by limiting praise to the precise point of desert, and from several of the originals of his portraits being eminent in the same way; but we must do our author the justice to assert, that this species of gallantry in authorship is generally confined to the fair sex, and we know not any one who would have been less faulty in this particular.➡ Perhaps, then, it will scarcely be considered as censure, to say, that his portrait of Miss Carew would have done as well, possibly better, for Miss Stephens, and that, by a change of names, the portraits of Miss M. Tree, Miss Carew, and Miss Stephens, might each have been equally well adapted to either of the other. We think that our author should have been less unqualified in his praise, and have marked his distinctions more nicely.-His sketch of Matthews is, however, in the happiest manner, and we warmly unite in the author's wish, that he may ever be "At Home."Young's portrait is cri tically just:

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He could scarcely fail in the portraits of Kean, Harley, Farren, &c., their merits being so decided and so different. Indeed, the whole of his theatrical portraits are generally just; and if he sometimes err on the favourable side, if he be sometimes too lavish of his praise, we think it is scarcely to be regretted, and we almost envy him the happiness he must experience, in always looking on the bright side of human nature. But now as to his merits as a poet. We do not see any very numerous marks of originality throughout his poems, but it would require a higher and a brighter genius than we have any hopes of seeing, to tread in the steps of Byron and Moore, and yet possess claims of originality. He is, however, a very agreeable writer, and frequently pours forth strains of delicious poetry. The lines on Miss M. Tree are excellent; he

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His portrait of Miss Brunton' possesses the double merit of being very true and very poetic. The songs are pretty, and very like Moore's, of whom he does not scruple occasionally to borrow.-Lord Byron, too, he lays under contributions; the words he certainly varies, but some of his best similies, &c. are almost verbatim what we have before met with. His idea of music breathing in a face is so well known, and has been so criticised in Lord Byron, that perhaps our author thought it unnecessary to place it between inverted commas. Such plagiarisms are not of unfrequent recurrence, but we are tired of what may appear as censure, and ashamed, after the entertainment we received from the perusal of the work, to dwell so long upon its faults, that it was almost impossible to avoid, when we consider how well every department of poetry is filled, from the energetic and lofty style of Lord Byron, to the simply sweet of Coleridge and anybody. Notwithstanding the difficulties our author had to combat, and they are striking and numerous, his little volume of poems is a very pleasing addition to a library; and we doubt not, that the generality of his readers, who may chance to see our remarks, will only wonder we were not more warm in his praise.

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Chinzica; or, the Battle of the Bridge; a Poem in Ten Cantos. By Henry Stobert. 1 vol. 8vo. pp. 271.

This poem is founded on that part of the history of the Pisan Republic, from which is said to have originated the celebrated triennial festival, called la Battaglia del Ponte, a festival which continued to the close of the last century, in commemoration of an occurrence said to have happened in the year 1005, when Pisa was brought to the verge of ruin by foreign invasion and domestic treachery. Chinzica, the heroine of the poem, is a female of the house of Sismondi, of German origin. and high rank in the Pisan republic, during a part of the middle ages. She is described at the opening of the poem as a female of great accomplishments, virtue, and piety, but pensive and melancholy. She has to mourn, not only the supposed death of her brother Rhodora, who had, two months before, commanded the Pisan army, but also the perilous situation in which her lover, Albino, was placed, being imprisoned for the supposed murder of her brother.

The republic of Pisa possessed at this time, as by the bye all nations do, whether republican, monarchical, or otherwise, a false patriot, named Catalca,, who with all his pretended patriotism, his protestations, prostrations, and oaths to the unthinking multitude, failed in obtaining the command of the Pisan army, which was deserv edly bestowed on Rhodora, and was again disappointed in another high appointment to which he aspired, and which was as deservedly bestowed on Albino. These repulses converted his patriotism, which was never genuine, into treason and treachery against the freedom of his native state; and he resolved on wresting by force what he could not procure by dissimulation and hypocrisy. To carry his purpose into execution, he found it would be neces sary to remove Rhodora and Albino, the first for being the idol of the, people and the defender of their liberties, and the last for being the lover of Chinzica, to whom he aspired himself. He therefore contrived means of inducing Albino to promise to meet him in dis guise at a certain place, and without his armour. Albino proceeded to the place appointed, but no Catalca was there. He was arrested, however, before his departure, for the murder of Rhodora, who was found in his tent with a deadly wound in his breast. The

suspicion fell naturally upon Albino, as a person was seen quitting the tent a little before in his armour. Thus! Catalca removed the two only opponents who stood in the way of his am bitious purposes, and at the same time secretly leagued with the Sard king, who had then invaded the Pisan terri tory. The evening before Albino's trial was to take place, he led his Arabs, with such Pisans as he could gain over to him, against the walls of his native city.

Chinzica, who had been at this time in her tower lamenting the death of her brother and the anticipated fate of her lover, received a casket from the hands of a monk, in which she found the following lines, traced by the hand of her brother Rhodora :

"Ask you who struck the assassin blow? 'Twas not my friend, it was my foe."

It also warned her of the instant dan ger which threatened Pisa, directed her to watch and alarm the town the moment the foe appeared, and to strike the chains off Albino, and off all the prisoners, or otherwise that Pisa's freedom was at an end...

The attack, which took place at midnight, no sooner commenced than Chinzica flew to all parts of the town, alarming the citizens, who rushed to arms, Albino was set at liberty, but was obliged to disguise himself during the engagement, lest he should fall by the hands of the Pisans, so strongly did they suspect him of the death of Rhodora. He performed prodiges of va lour, and so animated the Pisans by his example, that they obtained a complete triumph. They became now dou bly clamorous to have him tried imme diately, for Catalca, to screen his own treachery, caused the war song of the assailants to be, "Strike for Albino." Albino was therefore not only suspected of Rhodora's death, but of this attempt on the liberties of Pisa. He returned to prison the moment the engagement was over, and was tried the next day, but acquitted of both charges by Rhodora's sudden appearance, who not only acquitted him, but charged Catalca with attempting his life, which was miraculously preserved by his aged pa rent. Catalca finding his villany exposed, threw off the mask of hypocrisy, and, supported by his Pisan partizans, was proceeding to sacrifice with his own hand Albino, whose chains had not yet been struck off, when he found his arm arrested by Chinzica, who clung to it to preserve her lover's life.

Catalca immediately aimed his dagger at her bosom, but the intrepid Storgo, the servant of Rhodora, rushed between them, and planted in Catalca's bosom the very knife with which he had himself attempted the life of Rhodora. Catalca fell, and peace was once more restored to the republic of Pisa.

The main action of the poem is connected with another which took place about two months before, in the island of Sicily. It is related by Storgo in an interview which he had with Chinzica the morning after the "Battle of the Bridge." The scene of the main action is laid in the city of Pisa and its neigh bourhood, and that of the episode along the east coast of Sicily and on Mount Etna.

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Mr. Stobert informs us that he has attempted in this poem, "a medium between the formal stateliness of the ancient epic, and the grotesque wildness of the modern romantic tale." If

ings will not be dragged into amusement, and require to be artfully enticed; nor will they suffer the understanding to be every now and then coming forward, with all the severe gravity of an Areopagite, to disturb their holiday amusements. They are not unlike children at play, who prefer their own manner of amusing themselves to that pointed out to them by their parents; and who, rather than be annoyed by the presence of those whom they are conscious do not partake of their amusements, forsake it altogether. It is so with our feelings, or, in other words, with that instinctive faculty which attends us on all occasions; which sees, comprehends, approves and re 'jects, without a consciousness of being exercised for that purpose. If this faculty cannot be pleased without con stantly referring to the understanding, it will, rather than do so, throw away the plot, characters, incidents and work altogether, and leave the poet to plame himself in the depth and intricacy of his own conceits. There can be no possible interest, where there is not a full and perfect comprehension of the design, spirit, and winding of a poem as we pass along. We should be kept in the dark only with regard to futurity; but so far as we proceed, we should have no difficulty in perceiving what the author is telling us; for surely there can be no moral purpose, no ob ject, either immediate or ultimate, in addressing us through the medium of print and paper, unless we understand what is told to us. To understand the "Battle of the Bridge," however, we must read the work twice over; so that if this mode of writing was to be pursued, we should take twenty years to acquire the knowledge which we might otherwise acquire in ten. We are far from supposing, that, in works of imagination and fiction, every thing that regards futurity ought to be anticipated. On the contrary, the more expectation is excited, and the less means are afforded us of guessing at the final result, the more curiosity is awakened, and, consequently, the more our pleasure is increased; but it is one thing to keep us in the dark, with regard to the fate of a character, and another to keep us in the dark, with regard to the character himself; for we cannot possibly take any interest in his fate, unless we know who and what he is, and whether or not he be entitled to our sympathies. Homer never leaves us in the least perplexity, with regard to the character of the persons whom

he has succeeded in this attempt, we must confess it is greatly to the amoyance of his readers, who without the spirit of prophecy cannot possibly tell, in a thousand instances, to what the passage they are reading is applicable. We certainly flatter ourselves that we possess common understanding, but we must acknowledge at the same time, that we have not understanding enough to comprehend one-fourth of what we read in the "Battle of the Bridge," at the moment we are reading it. We see and hear, and hear tell of characters of whom we know nothing, and with whom the author does not think proper to make us acquainted. We are therefore obliged to guess as well as we can, or exercise our judgment in vain until we come to the denouement, or last canto. This is a false method of creating interest; for how can we be interested in the fate of characters of whom we know nothing. We are not even permitted to guess to what party these disguised and picturesque heroes belong; whether to those who are struggling for independence, or those who wish to destroy the freedom and independence of a brave people. The poet who thinks to make us sympathize with characters, of whose designs and motives we are left totally ignorant, cannot boast of much acquaintance with the science of human nature. Such characters we treat as strangers, whom we know may be wonderfully honest men, but whom we think proper to treat with suspicion till we are first made acquainted with their character. This is not the sort of pleasure which poetry is intended to impart. The feel- he introduces to us. So far from study

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