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BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS.

BIRTHS.

June 25. At Preston, the lady of Major Shum, 6th dragoon guards, a son.

At Gate house, in the parish of Bellingham, the wife of Mr R. Gillespy, farmer, two sons and one daughter. The three infants and their mother are all doing well.

26. At Barbreck, Argyleshire, Mrs Captain Campbell, a son.

29. Mrs Smith, 13, Hope-street, a son.
30. At Garpel, Mrs Adam, a daughter.

At Knowsouth, the lady of William Oliver, Esq. of Dinlabyre, a son.

Mrs Darling, of the Post-office, Kelso, a daughter.

July 2. At Hilabank, the lady of Peter Wedderburn, Esq. a son.

3. At Stranraer, the lady of Colonel M'Nair, 90th regiment, a son

At Shandwick-place, Edinburgh, Mrs Miller of Glenlee, a son.

5. At Ashby de la Zouch, in Leicestershire, the lady of the Rev. William M'Douall, a son.

-Mrs James Campbell, Northumberland-street, Edinburgh, a daughter.

7. The wife of James Simpson, farm servant to Mr Moffat, Provan-mill, about two miles from Glasgow, was safely delivered of three children, two girls and a boy, who, with the mother, are doing well.

-Sarah Dullerson, wife of James O'Brien of Derrygault, within a mile of Strabane, Ireland, was delivered of four female children, one of whom was still born. The mother is in a fair way of recovery, and the three children are likely to do well.

At her father's, James Haig, Esq. Lochrin, Mrs M. E. Fell, a son,

10. At Edinburgh, the lady of Robert Montgomery, Esq. a son.

12 At Shandwick-place, Edinburgh, the lady of Major James Lee, a daughter.

-At 51, George-street, the lady of Captain Bul. ler, 88th regiment, a daughter.

14. In Great King-street, Mrs Captain Kerr, R. N. a daughter.

15. At Belleside, Mrs Ferrier, a son, which only survived a few hours.

16. In Miller's Yard, Tollhouse-hill, Nottingham, Mrs Bell was delivered of three fine children, two girls and a boy. The mother and children are all likely to do well. Her husband was a private in the 35d regiment of foot, but died about two months ago.

18. Mrs Cathcart, Gayfield-square, Edinburgh, a daughter.

20. At her house, Upper Seymour-street, London, Viscountess Torrington, a son.

23. At Castle-hill, Edinburgh, Mrs Snell, a daughter.

21. At Durie, Mrs Christie, a son.

26. At Teviotbank, the Hon. Mrs Elliott, a son. In George Street, Edinburgh, Lady Anne Wardlaw, a daughter.

27. At Cargen, the lady of William Stothert of Cargen, Esq. a daughter,

30. At Stockbridge, Mrs John Laidlaw, a son.

The lady of Maj.-Gen. Balfour, a daughter. Last week, the wife of a shepherd, employed by Mr Hawkins of Newport, Monmouthshire, was delivered of two boys and two girls at a birth, who are in a thriving way. The parents are poor, and keep them in coal-baskets instead of cradles.

MARRIAGES.

March 29. At Buenos Ayres, Thomas Fair, Esq. merchant, to Miss Harriott Kendall,

June 1. At the house of the British Ambassador, Paris, John M Pherson, Esq. eldest son of Charles M Pherson, Esq. late inspector-general of barracks for North Britain, to Marian Cotelle, daughter of John Addison, Esq. chief resident of Bauleah, Bengal.

3. Berkeley Buckingham Smith Stafford of Maine, in the county of Louth, Esq. to Anne Tytler, daughter of Lieutenant-colonel Patrick Tytler. 6. Jaines Spence, Esq. sroughton Place, Édiriburgh, to Margaret, daughter of the late Thomas Hughson, Esq. of Airds.

8. At Wooden, Captain Thomas Hood of the 75th regiment, eldest son of Thomas Hood of Hardacres, to Rebecca, eldest daughter of Robert Walker of Wooden.

22. At Speldhurst, near Tunbridge, Kent, Lord Cochrane, to Miss Catherine Corlett Barnes, late of Bryanstone-street, London, a young lady of small fortune but good family.

At Bath, Roderick Macneill, Esq. younger of Barra, to Isabella Caroline, eldest daughter of C. Brownlow, Esq. of Lurgan, county of Armagh.

30. Robert Christie, Esq. accountant, Edinburgh, to Isabella, daughter of Mr George Hewet, Grizzle field, Berwickshire.

July 1. At Biggar, Mr Thomas Calder of West Barns Distillery, East Lothian, to Jean, third daughter of James Hamilton, Esq. of Baden's Gill,

At Dundee, John Maxwell, Esq. late of Ja maica, to Elizabeth, daughter of the late Rev. Mr James Stormonth of Kinclune, minister of Airly. At Ayr, the Rev. George Bell of Longformacus, to Mrs Elizabeth Watson.

2. At St George's church. Hanover-square, London, Peter Langford Brook, Esq. of Mere-hall, Cheshire, to Elizabeth Sophia Rowley, eldest daughter of Admiral Sir Charles Rowley.

6. At Ford church, Thomas Hutchison, Esq. of North Shields, to Miss P. Carr, eldest daughter of John Carr, Esq. Ford.

7. Mr. William Ford, merchant, Leith, to Miss Barbara Johnston, second daughter of Mr William Johnston, merchant there.

9. At Edinburgh, Mr Robert Russell, merchant, Falkirk, to Janet, fourth daughter of the late Mr Robert Melville, merchant, Falkirk.

14. At Dundee, the Rev. John Shaw of Bracadale, in the Isle of Skye, to Mary, eldest daughter of the Rev. Malcolm Colquhoun of Dundee.

At Mullicartin, near Lisburn, Joseph Camp bell, aged 77, to Catherine Jameson, aged 74. This is the third time that the bridegroom, and second that the bride, have presented an offering at the shrine of Hymen.

15. At Jedburgh, Mr Thomas Oliver, farmer in Lanton-mill, to Miss Thomson, daughter of the late Mr Thomson, Lanton.

-At Wells, Richard Burford, Esq. formerly of the royal North British dragoons, to Harriet, one of the daughters of the late Robert, and sister of the present J. P. Tredway, Esq. M. P. for Wells.

Lord James Stuart, brother to the Marquis of Bute, to Miss Tighe, only daughter of the late W. Tighe, Esq. of Woodstock.

16. At Kelso, Mr Robert Marshall, merchant in Berwick-upon-Tweed, to Isabella, eldest daughter of Mr James Swan, farmer in Banbeath, Fife.

17. At Edinburgh, Mr John Torrance, Hanover strect, to Jane, daughter of Andrew Veitch, Esq. Dalry Mills.

21. At Edinburgh, Robert Filson, Esq. Madras medical establishment, to Maria Euphemia, only daughter of the late Lieutenant-colonel Flint, 25th regiinent.

At Culter, John Gibson, jun. Esq. W. S. to Catharine, third daughter of John Dickson of Kilbucho, Esq. advocate.

25. At Hammersmith, Edmund Ronalds, Esq. to Eliza, only daughter of Dr Anderson of Hammersmith.

27. At Edinburgh, Elias Cathcart, Esq. younger of Alloway, to Miss Janet Dunlop, only daughter of the late Robert Dunlop, Esq. of Clober.

28. At Leith, the Rev. James Beckwith, to Miss Cumming, daughter of Mr Cumming, late royat

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Register-Marriages and Deaths.

29. At Ayston, Lord Viscount Cranley, eldest son of the Earl of Onslow, to Mary, eldest daughter of George Fludyer, Esq. M. P.

-At London, Captain Crawford, only son of Sir J. Crawford, to Lady Barbara Coventry, daughter of the Earl of Coventry.

31. At Edinburgh, David, eldest son of Mr W. Thomson, victual-merchant, Edinburgh, to Ann, daughter of Mr Robert Dott, residing there.

Nov. 20. At Calcutta, David Threipland, Esq.
one of his Majesty's justices of the peace for that
city, and son of the late Sir Stuart Threipland of
Fingask, Bart.

April 26. At Rio Janeiro, aged 62, Commodore
John Douglas, in the service of his Majesty the
King of Portugal, and master and commander R.N.
June 1. At Campie-house, David Milne, Esq.
father of Rear-admiral Sir David Milne, K. C. B.

4. At Cobham Park, Surry, after a very long ill-
ness, in the 67th year of his age, Harvey Christian
Combe, Esq. for many years one of the representa.
tives in parliament for the city of London."

16. At Dalkeith, Mrs Margaret M'Lellan, wife of Mr John Downs Scrutton, flax-dresser.

19. At Kirkmaiden, the Rev. Thomas Young, minister of that parish.

21. After a long and painful illness, Mrs Macnamara, relict of the late John Macnamara, Esq. of St Christopher's, and mother to the present Lady Cranstoun.

22. At Garscube, near Glasgow, Catharine Don-
alda Maclaine, youngest daughter of Mr Robert
Hart, manufacturer in Glasgow.

23. George Parys, Esq. army agent, of Craven-
street, London, after a severe illness of three months.
At Forfar, Mr John Mann, writer there.
24. At Montrose, Mr James Dempster, jun. ship-
master, aged 36.

- At Siston, in England, aged 100, Richard
Kew, a pauper. He lived to be grandfather to a
grandfather, being five generations.

-On board his Majesty's ship Forth, upon the Halifax station, by the bursting of a blood vessel, Lieutenant Alexander Home, R. N. a deserving young officer, third son of the Earl of Marchinont. His confirmation as lieutenant was intimated from the Admiralty only fourteen days before Admiral Sir David Mills communicated to his friends the account of his untimely death. Lieutenant Home was six feet two inches tall, and the strongest man in the ship.

25. At Morebattle Mains, near Kelso, in the 37th year of her age, after a painful illness of only 24 hours, Mrs Margaret Scott, wife of Mr John Hills. At her house, Royal Exchange, Edinburgh, Miss Katharine Waddell.

John, fourth-son of Lieutenant-general Hunter of Burnside.

-At Oreston, near Plymouth, in his 80th year, Lieutenant John Burrows of the royal navy, in which he served 64 years, 56 of which were as a lieu. tenant. Excepting three in Greenwich hospital, he was the oldest in the lieutenant's list, and preferred continuing so, though twice offered the rank of a master and commander.

-At his seat Springfield, near Charleville, county of Cork, the Right Hon. Baron Muskerry, governor and custos rotulorum of the county of Limerick, and colonel of the county of Limerick militia,

Mr William Hutchison, fish-curer, Burnt-
island, in the prime of life, universally regretted.
He was unfortunately lost on returning from New-
haven to Burntisland, in the passage boat which
His remains
foundered in the Frith of Forth.

were found on the 1st, and interred at Burntisland
on the 4th July.

26. At Cumbernauld, the Rev. George Hill, in
the 68th year of his age, and 37th of his ministry.
Mr Hill was ordained at Cumbernauld in the year
1782, and during the lapse of 36 years, there was
not a single Sabbath on which he was incapable of
officiating in public, and only three Sabbaths dur-
ing his last illness, that he was unable for duty.

At Paris, the infant daughter and only child of Lord William Russell, son to the Duke of Bedford, aged three months.

At Merchiston, Mrs Ryrie, wife of Mr S. Ryrie of the commissariat.

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25. At Roxburgh Manse, Mrs Bell, wife of the Rev. Andrew Bell, aged 63 years.

-At his Lordship's seat, Port Elliot, Cornwall, the Countess of St Germains.

27. In King's College, Old Aberdeen, in the 75th year of his age, Mr John Gray, many years schoolmaster of Old Machar, and long an useful and respectable magistrate of the city of Old Aberdeen.

28. At Aberdeen, Janet Youngson, at the very advanced age of 101 years. She was a native of the parish of Logie, and was able to go about until a day or two before her death, being on the streets on Friday se'ennight. Her mother, Margaret Milne, a native of the neighbouring parish of Foveran, lived also to the age of 101.

29. At Birgham, Mrs Christian Bell, relict of the Rev. Adam Murray, minister of Eccles, aged 90.

-At Overton, Lanarkshire, John Ingles Crawford, the infant son of Captain James Coutts Crawford of Overton.

In George's-square, Eliza Catherine, the infant daughter of Captain Elliott Baugh, R. N.

At Chicksands Priory, Bedfordshire, in the 77th year of his age, Sir George Osborn, Bart. a general in the army, and colonel of the 40th regi

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July 1. At Greenock, after a short illness, on his way to join the Halifax staff, Deputy-assistant-commissary-general Bisset.

5. At her son's house of Sand-lodge, Shetland, Mrs Bruce of Sumburgh, mother of Mrs Admiral Fraser.

4. At Spittal, East Lothian, Mr James Bairns father, farmer.

-At his house, Hampton-court Green, Francis Thomas Fitzmaurice, Earl of Kerry. Upon the loss of his wife, April 1799, his lordship retired to privacy and seclusion. Duly attentive to the ties of blood and the calls of friendship, he has be queathed a considerable sum to public charities. Mrs Hinde, his near relative, is nominated sole executrix.

At Henderland, William, only son of Mr John Anderson, in the 15th year of his age.

5. At the house of Mr Ross of Sound, in Zetland, in the 47th year of his age, George Linklater, Esq. -At Elgin, the Rev. Thomas Duncan, who had been for about 48 years pastor of the first associate congregation there.

6. At Lowick, Mrs Jameson, wife of Mr Jameson, town clerk of Berwick, aged 39.

-At Mossburnford, near Jedburgh, Miss Margaret Purves, daughter of the late Mr Wm Purves. At Glasgow, Mr William Milne, merchant there. At her house, in Prince's-street, Edinburgh, Mrs Elizabeth Bruce, eldest daughter of the late David Bruce of Kinnaird, Esq.

- Mrs Lucy Walker, widow of William Walker, writer in Edinburgh.

7. At Sunning hill, Berks, Lady Lindsay, widow of General Sir David Lindsay, Bart.

- At Preston-grange, the Countess of Hyndford. Thomas Brown, Esq. of Johnstonburn, East Lothian, aged 82 years.

8. At Linlithgow, suddenly, Alexander Learmonth, Esq. of Crossflats.

-At her house in Falkirk, Mrs Marion Meek, relict of Dr John Corbet, physician there.

-At Ferrybridge, Yorkshire, Lieutenant-general William Simson of Pitcorthy.

-At his father's house, College-street, John, only son of Mr John M'Diarmid, writer in Edinburgh.

9. At Edinburgh, James Kennedy, student of medicine, eldest son of James Kennedy, merchant. -At Fountainbridge, Margaret Henderson Miller, eldest daughter of the late Mr David Miller. 10. At Springhill, Thomas Nesbit, Esq. of Mersington,

At his house, Clapham Common, John Sprot, Esq. 11. At Edinburgh, Mrs Elizabeth Blyth, widow of Mr Brodie.

At Stewartfield, Caroline Cornelia, eldest daughter of James Elliot, Esq. younger of Woollie. 12. Richard Johnson, Esq. aged 75, treasurer for the county, and one of the aldermen of the borough of Lancaster. He was the father of the corporation, having served the office of mayor three times, viz. in 1795, 1805, and 1813.

-At London, in consequence of a blood-vessel bursting, Mr John Leddingham, son of the late Mr George Leddingham, merchant, Leith.

12. At Leith, Jane Kirkwood, aged 66, wife of William Dods, smith there.

-At Edinburgh, Mrs Mary Mansfield, wife of William Mackenzie, Esq. writer to the signet.

-At Glasgow, Hamilton Macfarlane, merchant. 13. At Boroughmuirhead, near Edinburgh, Miss Christian Campbell, only daughter of the late John Campbell, Esq. Perth.

Mary Jane, aged 11, youngest daughter of John Thomson, Esq. Forth-street, Edinburgh.

Sarah Firth of Bradley, Yorkshire, aged 75, who, within the last 16 years, had been persecuted as a witch by an illiterate set of people.

14. At Edinburgh, Mr James Welsh, late baker there.

-At Edinburgh, Miss Jane Campbell, daughter of the late John Campbell, Esq. cashier of the royal bank of Scotland.

-At Leith, Alexander Shirreff, Esq. merchant there, aged 68.

-At Maryfield, near Edinburgh, aged 19, Agnes, only daughter of Mr William Elder, Leith.

16. At 134, George-street, Edinburgh, Mrs Eli*zabeth Constable, wife of Mr Robert Cadell, bookseller.

17. Of a fit of apoplexy, at the house of the Rev. Christopher Bird, High Hoyland, where he was receiving his education, Richard Henry Liulphus Lumley, third son of the Hon. and Rev. John Lumley Savile of Rufford, Notts. He was born September 16, 1800. His remains were deposited in the vault of the Savile family, at Thornhill.

18. At her house, 3, Roxburgh-place, Mrs Ann Allan, relict of Mr William Dick, attorney at law in Gibraltar.

At the Manse of Buncle, the Rev. John Campbell, minister of that parish.

19. Christina Dorothea Hamilton, infant daughter of Thomas Ewing, teacher, 41, North Hanoverstreet.

-At Ayr, aged 13, Mary Riddel, daughter of the late Dr David Linton, physician in the island of Grenada.

20. At Edinburgh, aged 16, John Henderson, only child of Mr Henderson of Johnson's-court, Fleet-street, London.

21. At Edinburgh, aged 19, Agnes, second daughter of Dr William Farquharson, physician.

21. At his house, in the Canongate, Mr John Henderson, tailor, aged 76.

23. At Bellwood, Henrietta Anna Jane, only daughter of John Young, jun. Esq.

24. At Argyle house, London, the Right Hon. Lady Caroline Catherine Gordon, second daughter of the Earl of Aberdeen.

William Hutton, engraver in Edinburgh.

At Edinburgh, Patrick, the infant son of John Campbell, Esq. of Achalader.

-At Goodrich-house, near Ross, Herefordshire, Miss Ann Colquhoun Bruce, eldest daughter of Sir William Bruce of Stenhouse, Bart.

25. At Edinburgh, Marion, daughter of Mr John Nicol, Buecleuch-street.

26. At Edinburgh, William Jeffrey, Esq.

28. At Edinburgh, Alexander Hamilton Morehead, youngest son of the Rev. Robert Morehead.

29. At Ormsary, Miss Katherine Campbell, daughter of the deceased William Campbell, of Ormsary.

50. At No 2, Mound-place, Eliza Orr, relict of William Raeburn, perfumer, Edinburgh.

-At Drumsheugh, Jemina Barbara, youngest daughter of Sir Jolin Hay of Smithfield and Haystown, Bart.

Lately-Mr Henry Richardson of Northallerton, Yorkshire, well known to the sporting gentlemen as an extensive breeder of game dogs.

In Barcelona, Captain-General Castanos, the commander-in-chief at the celebrated battle of Baylen.

At Eye, Thomas Wayth, Esq, solicitor. He was attending the election ball given in honour of the newly-elected members for the burgh of Eye, and partaking of the amusement of dancing, when he in a moment fell motionless, and instantly expired.

At Portobello, near Sheffield, Mr Joseph Youle, a self-taught mathematician of some eminence in that neighbourhood, and an able instructor His death was caused by keeping the windows of his school-room open during the whole of the Wednes day preceding, to avoid as much as possible the inconvenience of the intense heat of that day, by which he caught an inflammatory fever, which oc casioned his death.

At Ferney Gren, on the banks of Windemere, Westmorland, the seat of the late Mr Pringle, Robert Allan, Esq banker, Edinburgh, aged

At Greenhill, in the parish of Ruthwell, Andrew Rome, in the 76th year of his age. This old man, with his brother, who still survives, and is about 10 years older, is among the last of a dar ng and enterprising race of smugglers, who carried on an ex. tensive contraband trade in Annandale, before the exclusive privileges of the isle of Man were bought up and regulated by government. He was a native of the border parish of Dornock, but for the last 40 or 50 years resided in the parish of Ruthwell, where he rented a farm under the Earl of Mansfield. he character of this old smuggler was strongly marked with the peculiar features of his illicit occupation, and would have formed a fine subject for the gra phic pen of the author of Guy Mannering.

Count Kalkreuth, the governor of that city. This distinguished officer lived to his 85d year, having spent no less than 67 years in the Prussian service, and been actively employed during the whole military career of his great friend and instructor, Frederick II.

At Calcutta, Sir John Hadley D'Oyly, Bart.

At Bombay, David White, Esq. second member of the medical board of the Bombay presidency.

Richard Miles Wynne, Esq. of Eyart-house, many years governor of Cape Coast Castle, Africa

At Leamington Spa, Sir Thomas Bernard, Bart. D. C. L. long and deservedly celebrated for his phi lanthropic labours and writings for promoting the public charities and other useful institutions of the kingdom.

At Pisa, where she went for the recovery of her health, the Hon. Charlotte Plunkett. She was sister to Lord Cloncurry, and married, in 1803, Edward, eldest son of Lord Dunsany, by whom she has left two sons and one daughter.

At Dundee, in the 100th year of his age, John Fraser, a native of Strathspey, and one of the few remaining adherents of Prince Charles Stuart, hav ing fought under that unfortunate Prince during the whole of the rebellion in 1745 and 1746. He was buried at the church-yard of Logie; and the company who attended his remains to the grave followed the ancient Highland custom of drinking some bottles of whisky before leaving the buryingground.

On his passage home from Jamaica, the celebrat ed author, M. G. Lewis, Esq. well known by the name of Monk Lewis.

At Lynn Regis, Mr Gavin Mitchell, son of the deceased Dr Mitchell, minister of Kinellar.

At Newport, in this county, after a lingering illness, the Hon. Andrew Foley, M. P. for Droitwich, in Worcestershire, brother of the late Lord Foley, and father of Colonel Foley, one of the county members in the last parliament.

At Trinidad, in the end of March last, Thomas Bogue, eldest son of Jacob Bogue, lieutenant of police, Edinburgh.

At Trieste, a Greek, at the great age of 125. He lived in three centuries.

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BLACKWOOD'S

EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.

No XVIII.

SEPTEMBER 1818.

VOL. III.

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THE long dreaded but at last very sudden death of Madame de Stael, has recently taken one of its brightest ornaments from the literature of Europe, and the idol and centre of attachment from a circle of personal friends and admirers, wide beyond all example since the days of Ferney. Her birth, her family connexions, her residence, and the objects of her literary labours, had rendered this extraordinary woman almost equally the denizen of France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and Sweden.

Even we,

the most jealous of all nations, had relaxed our rules in her favour. Many of her greatest works were first published in England, and she was universally regarded among us with a feeling of partiality, which, laying every other reason out of the question, might not insufficiently be accounted for by the uniform and intelligent zeal, with which she was accustomed to hold up to the admiration and imitation of foreigners the severe beauty of our institutions, the consequent firmness, dignity, and generosity of the English character, as well as the varied strength and splendour of that literature which has been one of the noblest effects, and which is still one of the most powerful supports of that character and those institutions.

Considerations sur les Principaux Evenemens de la Revolution Françoise. Ouvrage Posthume de Mad. La Baronne De Staël, Publié par M. Le Duc de Broglie et M. Le Baron A. De Staël. 3 vol. 8vo. Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, London. 1818. VOL. III.

The lamentations of her devoted friends and worshippers arose loudly from every region of Europe; nor in truth can those who have studied the remarkable works of her genius be supposed to find much difficulty in lending, at the least, a very large share of sympathy to their affliction. We know of no author whose personal character may be guessed from his writings more safely than that of Madame de Stael from her Life of her Father, her book De l'Allemagne, and her Corinne. "Femina pectore, vir ingenio," she displays everywhere in her works, and in her own person she embodied, a most rare and graceful amalgamation of many of the best qualities of both the sexes,-the warmth, the tenderness, the submissive veneration of woman,-adorning, not weakening, a depth, energy, and refinement of intellect, such as have been possessed by few men of Uniting within herself so any age, certainly surpassed by none of ours. many sources of attraction; bearing firmly but meekly the highest honours of genius; adorning and delighting every society with her wit, grace, and elegance; the most pious of daughters; the most tender of mothers; the most faithful of friends; the most generous of patrons; is it strange that she should have excited in all that approached her a mingled feeling, made up in different proportions, no doubt, but still the same in its elements-a mingled feeling of love, wonder, and reverence ?-Her trusive; and they who were best able faults, for faults she had, were unobto comprehend her, never suspected She was that they touched her heart. 4 L

worshipped and loved by all; but by few, very few, was she understood. The expression of one of her heroines was suggested, we doubt not, by her knowledge of herself; " il est des choses qui ne s'expliquent pas; et je suis peut-etre une de ces choses la." A Treatise on the Life and Writings of Madame de Stael has already been promised to the world by her illustrious friend William Augustus Schlegel, whose kindred genius and attainments, and long domestic intimacy with the family of Copet, may certainly well entitle us to expect from him a most interesting as well as masterly specimen of biography and criticism. During the expectation of a work such as this is likely to prove, there would be presumption, as well as idleness, in any elaborate investigation which we might institute, either into the personal or the literary history of its subject. In the mean time, however, we cannot deny ourselves the pleasure of devoting a few pages to the consideration of her posthumous work on the French Revolution-a performance less finished indeed in its style, but containing, we imagine, more true wisdom than any of its predecessors-composed during the intervals of disease, in great part under the near expectation of death,-and forming, indeed, a legacy worthy of being bequeathed by Madame de Stael, and of being received with the admiration of England, and the gratitude of France.

This book, by whomsoever it might have been written, must always have been a most valuable present to the world; for it embodies, we think, more good observation and practical sense, in regard to the events of the revolutionary period, than we have elsewhere met with. But it is doubly interesting, and doubly instructive withal, when considered as the last work of this remarkable person, the whole of whose feelings and thoughts had been developed or tinged by the incidents of that strange time-whose life and genius bear vividly the stamp of that unequalled convulsion, which has run first like a fever, and then like a palsy, through the whole moral and intellectual circulation of her country. Into whichsoever of the works of Madame de Stael we may look, we shall be at no loss to detect the traces of this great presiding influence. The

first of all her writings, her Essay on the character of Rousseau, shews how early she had seized the full scope and tendency of those fervent declamations which first incited, not the light and the sarcastic, but the meditative and enthusiastic spirits of the world to a crusade of Change.* Her celebrated Defense de Marie Antoinette, which appeared a few years afterwards, is filled with the expressions of a wise and thoughtful generosity, and-where could higher praise be found?-is worthy of being read and admired, even by those who are familiar with the still more energetic masterpiece of Burke. The same may be said of her " Reflexions sur la pair adressees a M. Pitt et aux Francais," which were published in the year 1795. Neither is the bent of her spirit, the main and centre point of all her thoughts, less distinguishable even in those of her works which are not professedly or formally political. In Delphine, the agitation of generous souls deprived of the star and compass of principle and religion, and abandoned to the mingling winds and waves of scepticism and passion, is depicted with a power which can never be undervalued but by the obtuse, and a purpose which has never been

* In this work, which is not much read in our country, but which, when regarded

as the first effort of a female author of twenty, must always be worthy of much attention, we find the character of Jean Jacques pourtrayed at least as well as it has ever since been by more mature critics." Rousseau," says she, devoit avoir une figure qu'on ner emarquoit point, quand on le voyoit passer, mais qu'on ne pouvoit jamais oublier quand on l'avoit regardé parler; de petits yeux qui n'avoient pas un caractère à eux, mais recevoient successivement celui des divers mouvemens de son âme. Il portoit presque toujours, la tête baissée; mais ce n'étoit point la flatterie ni la crainte qui l'avoit courbée; la méditation et la mélan colie l'avoient fait pencher comme une fleur que son propre poids ou les orages ont inclinée. Ses traits étoient communs; mais quand il parloit, ils étinceloient tous. Son esprit étoit lent, et son âme ardente: à force de penser, il se passionnoit; il n'avoit pas de mouvemens subits du moins en apparence, mais tous ses sentimens s'accroissoient par la réflexion. Je crois que l'imagination étoit la première de ses facultés, et qu'elle absorboit même toutes les autres. Il révoit plutôt qu'il n'existoit, et les événemens de sa vie se passoient dans sa tête, plutôt qu'au-dehors de lui, &c."

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