ART. XVI. Bertha's Visit to her Uncle in England. 3 vols. 8vo. London: J. Murray, 1829. MISS EDGEWORTH was never more profound or just, than when she said' that no one could teach another. An instructor may bring a child to the fountains of information, but he cannot make his pupil sip if he be disinclined to do so. Those who agree in this truth,—and who can resist it ?— must ever rejoice, when they see brought into operation the means by which youth may be attracted to the study of knowledge. It is with sincere pleasure then, that we have perused these volumes, which, with all the clearness and accuracy of Mrs. Marcet's justly celebrated conversations, have a familiarity and elementary simplicity about them, that at once qualify them for, we had almost said, the exclusive perusal of more advanced children. No head of a family we presume, will think of dispensing with this work, at least no one that is anxious to invigorate the minds of his children, by communicating to them an early taste for the most valuable and profitable pursuits of the human understanding. ART. XVII. Remarks on the Civil Disabilities of British Jews. Ry F. H. Goldsmid. 8vo. pp. 72. London: Colburn and Bentley. 1830. WE regret that this pamphlet arrived too late to allow us to give to the question of Jewish political emancipation, that lengthened consideration which it so amply deserves. It is however satisfactory, to find the struggle for religious freedom, now happily limited to almost an inconsiderable sphere, (we speak merely as to numbers) assumed by an able, a well informed, and temperate advocate. Mr. Goldsmid is perfectly right in teaching his community the duty of a legal and rational agitation of their question. He is too sagacious to be led into the belief, that the gift of civil equality with the rest of their fellow subjects will spontaneously fal! upon them from the legislature. The Roman Catholics, in the day of their forbearance and tranquillity, were taunted with being indifferent to the blessings of freedom: but they got rid of the imputation with a vengeance. We would however, fain hope, that the justice, policy, necessity, expediency, and even decency, of removing that political stigma which adheres alone to the Jews in this country, must be too apparent to doubt that they will effectually and triumphantly prevail. We are satisfied, however, that the emancipation of the Jews will not be in the least retarded by such occasional hints as the pamphlet before us is capable of furnishing to the government and the public. Let only such men as Mr. Goldsmid put their shoulder to the wheel, and we will venture to say, that the termination of the session which we are about to commence, will see him and his brethren enjoying those rights of citizenship from which there is not the slightest pretence for debarring them. We cannot avoid inserting a curious table, computed by Mr. Goldsmid, shewing the number of Jews in London. Having ascertained the number of that community which was buried during three years in London; he thence deduces the amount of the Jewish population, founding his calculation on the parliamentary estimate of annual mortality, which gave one death per annum out of every 52% of the population. As I 52% 343% 17,986 Total number of Jews resident ART. XVIII.-Scaum's Beverlac: or the Antiquities and History of the Town of Beverley, in the County of York. By G. Poulson, Esq. 2 vols. Royal 8vo. with numerous embellishments. Beverley G. Scaum. 1829. THIS is a splendid monument of personal industry and provincial enterprize. We scarcely know which to admire most, the spirited publisher, or the indefatigable editor. Although this elegant work is local in its immediate interest, yet we have no hesitation in affirming, that it will meet with, as it ought to receive, a very extended encouragement. The illustration of antiquities, no matter in what part of the kingdom they are found, is a national concern, and merits, in our opinion, national support. If a work like this, most ably, comprehensively, and accurately executed as to its literary contents, and likewise embellished with whatever art can bestow to give it estimation-if, we repeat, such an elaborate performance as this fails to give profit, as assuredly it will confer fame on its proprietors, then, how are we to expect that any advancement can be made towards the illustration of the most curious and interesting antiquities of our country? ART. XIX.-1. Castalian Hours.--Poems. By Sophie Dixon. 18mo. London: Longman and Co. 1829. 2. Moments of Loneliness; or Prose and Poetic Efforts on Various Subjects and Occasions. By S. E. Hatfield. 12mo. London: Simpkin & Marshall. 1829. 3. The Maid of Scio; a Tale of Modern Greece. In Six Cantos. By Eleanor Snowden. 12mo. Dover: G. Chapman. 1829. We have been greatly delighted with these pretty little garlands of female tenderness and generosity, disciplined fancy, and refined taste. Pleased, however, though we feel at the perusal of such volumes, and several of nearly equal merit have recently accumulated upon us, yet we are ever reluctant to confess our approbation in cases where we fear the degree of it may not be accurately understood. The ladies whose compositions we have particularly enumerated, will forgive us when we express our conviction, that it is not from any hope of arriving at supreme excellence in poetry, so much as it is to merit just eulogy by displaying the capacity of delicate minds, acted on by judicious cultivation, that they send forth their metrical compositions to the world. If we thought otherwise, our course would be silence; for next to the injustice of condemning what is really good, is the cruelty of conferring unmerited applause. Whilst then, we withhold the hope that the high places in Parnassus are attainable above a few times in a century, we may surely, without any danger to the object of our praise, be permitted to express our sense of the pleasure which we derive from such occasional votaries of the Muses as we are now engaged with. Miss Dixon's poems exhibit a vigour of expression rarely met with in the compositions of persons of her sex. Her lines ie smooth and flowing, and the subjects which she generally chooses indicate a loftiness of spirit that disdains communion with vulgar feelings-and that has no sympathy with the herd. It must not be understood however, that she is indifferent to the nobler sensations which affect humanity. Her capacity to endure their severity has been well tried. The Moments of Loneliness,' well deserves a perusal, as containing a vast variety of appeals to the heart and understanding; pathetically; and sometimes irresistibly enforced. The thoughts are often strikingly beautiful, and the verses, are generally unexceptionable. But Miss Hatfield's great art seems to us to consist in the happy selections of those subjects in which she is most likely to succeed. We consider Miss Snowden's poem, as an admirably sustained effort. The metre she has chosen, is perhaps the most treacherous form in which an elegant mind could be led to embody its bright conceptions; yet she appears to have surmounted the "fatal facilities" which it presented, and to have preserved all through, the style which was fitting her heroic subject. The Maid of Scio, is a poem that would confer credit on many a name which is extensively known. ART. XX.-The Vocabulary of East Anglia: An Attempt to Record the Vulgar Tongue of the Twin Sister Counties, Norfolk and Suffolk, as it existed in the last Twenty Years of the 18th Century, and still exists. By the Rev. Robert Forby. 2 vols. 8vo. London: Nichol and Son. 1830. HERE is a treasure over which the antiquarian philologist will luxuriate, gratefully admiring the estimable predilections of the man who, in these degenerate times of vain and unsubstantial employments, has adhered to the pursuits that are worthy of uncorrupted and vigorous intellects. The Reverend author of these volumes, by a long and steady application of his inquiries, was able to collect a very considerable number of words, which he found were in use amongst the lower orders of the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk, and which, in a great measure, being peculiar to those Shires, he endeavoured to identify with the old Anglo-Saxon nomenclature. These numerous words are here alphabetically arranged in the form of a Dictionary, and though we believe many of them (much more than the Reverend gentleman seemed to suppose) are pretty universal in the three kingdoms, yet, from the quaint and often humorous way in which they are expounded and illustrated, we should regret that this curious Lexicon was, even to the extent of one single word, abridged. To linguists in general, particularly to that branch of them who take pleasure in tracing the wayward fate of our English tongue, these volumes will afford a quantity of very choice information. The Rev. Mr. Forby, who, unfortunately, died before he was able to complete the plan of which this work is the substance, seems to have been a very amiable and useful clergyman. The kind and affectionate care bestowed by Mr. Dawson Turner on this posthumous publication, is no less a proof of the worth of the deceased, than it is a testimony of the good nature of his surviving friend. Above all, Mr. Forby cherished an independence of spirit, which constitutes one of the best claims that a man can have to be kindly remembered after his death. During the time that he held a living in Norfolk, he was compelled to take pupils; but though he was willing to put up with the folly of the boys, he was not quite so disposed to overlook the cccentricities of the parents, and on one occasion he writes: "The father of one of my pupils lately took upon himself to address to me a sort of language which I was not disposed to brook; for I am proud, you know; a mighty good sort of a man, but of no great amplitude or elevation of mind, he thought fit to descant much on my pecuniary obligations to him. I found myself obliged to tell him that I did not desire any man to send his son to me who did not think the obligation perfectly mutual; and this unexpected and incomprehensible remark producing language more affronting still, I added, that I should feel uneasy in having the care of a pupil whose father did not feel entire confidence and satisfaction; and, as that did not seem to be the case with him, I wished him to remove his son.'-pp. xxiii., xxiv. During the elections, Mr. Forby was a formidable enemy to the candidate whom he opposes. The following squib was composed by him at a contest for Norfolk, in which the celebrated Windham was a party. The chief delinquency which was charged against that eccentric man, was the versatility of his political attachments, which are thus humorously commemorated by the Reverend wit: 666 THE POLITICAL WEATHERCOCK, OR, THE WHITE COCK ADE. When opticians a sunbeam dissect, Pure and white as it comes from the sun, What plain folks would never suspect, They can shew seven tints mixed in one: There's red, yellow, green, orange, and blue, And then change, if they please, like the weather. Philosophical Windham derides, And by white, which includes all the seven, We proceed to give a few specimens of this curious work : CAMP, S. an ancient athletic game at ball, now almost superseded by cricket, a less hardy and dangerous sport. Yet camping, though not so general, is still a favourite exercise in some districts of both our counties. The late Right Honourable William Wyndham, scarcely more celebrated as a statesman and a philosopher, than as a patron of the "Sports and Pastimes of the English People," on a principle truly patriotic, though it might sometimes incur ridicule, gave great encouragement to this sport during his residences in the country, and had many matches in the neighbourhood of his venerable seat at Felbrigg. He was wont to say, that it combined all athletic excellence; that to excel in it, a man must be a good boxer, runner, and wrestler; in short, a sort of pancratiast. Certainly, no kind of manly exercise can display to so much advantage the powers, proportions, and attitudes of a fine muscular frame. The late Lord Rochford was also a great patron of this sport in the neighbourhood of his seat at Easton in Suffolk. Perhaps some varieties in the mode of playing it always existed; and certainly it is now degenerated, and some meaner exercises unworthily usurp its name. Of the sport itself, however, two varieties are at present expressly recognised-rough-play, and civilplay. In the latter, there is no boxing. But the following is a general description of it as it was of old, and in some places still continues. Two goals are pitched at the distance of 120 yards from each other. In a line with each are ranged the combatants; for such they truly are. The number on each side is equal; not always the same, but very commonly twelve. They ought to be uniformly dressed in light flannel jackets, dis |