the Covenant, even to the fulfilling of the promise; and woe, woe unto him who, for carnal ends and self-seeking, shall withhold himself from the great work; for the curse shall abide with him, even the bitter curse of Meroz, because he came not to the help of the Lord against the mighty. Up, then, and be doing; the blood of martyrs, reeking upon scaffolds, is crying for vengeance; the bones of saints, which lie whitening in the highways, are pleading for retribution; the groans of innocent captives from desolate isles of the sea, and from the dungeons of the tyrants' high places, cry for deliverance; the prayers of persecuted Christians, sheltering themselves in dens and deserts from the sword of their persecutors, famished with hunger, starving with cold, lacking fire, food, shelter, and cloathing, because they serve God rather than man-all are with you, pleading, watching, knocking, storming the gates of heaven in your behalf. Heaven itself shall fight for you, as the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. Then whoso will deserve immortal fame in this world, and eternal happiness in that which is to come, let them enter into God's service, and take arles at the hand of his servant, -a blessing, namely, upon him and his household, and his children, to the ninth generation, even the blessing of the promise, for ever and ever! Amen." (Vol. iii. p. 104-110.) These passages we have selected, not because we think them the best of the tale, but because they are highly characteristic, and most easily detached. It is impossible to judge accurately of such a work, either by an extract or an abstract, as one of its principal merits consists in the bold outline of the state of the country and of the age, the fulness of its pictures, and the mode of grouping the objects with which they are charged. The reader will be amply rewarded for the time he spends in perusing the whole. He will be particularly interested in the detail of the strange habits and notions of the covenanters, the transactions that took place after the battle of Loudon Hill, the siege of the Castle of Tillietudlem, the battle of Bothwell Bridge, and the events that followed the defeat of the rebels, together with the characters of the formidable and brutal Claverhouse, of the ardent but reflecting Morton, and the other personages who figure in the war. If we were disposed to point out the faults of Old Mortality, we would say that it has perhaps infused too much absurdity and ferocity into the character of the covenanters, and that its pictures are too much on the confines of caricature. We think, also, that it displays rather too little sensibility to the crimes and cruelties of the royalists; and finally, we think that its termination is scarcely on a level with the rest of the work. ART. X.-A Diary of a Journey into North Wales, in the Year 1774; by Samuel Johnson, LL. D. Edited, with illustrative Notes, by R. Duppa, LL. B. Small 8vo. pp. 226. Jennings. London, 1816. Ir accident were to throw in our way an old pocket-book containing sundry useless hints and observations by a revered author, whose reputation could not be increased, and might possibly be diminished, by an ill-judged partiality of his friends, what would be the part of judicious kindness? Would it not be to suppress the manuscript, and to leave the world content and happy with the volumes already in their possession? But supposing, as in the case of Dr. Johnson, the public attention was actively excited, and the fair fame of the author far above the reach of posthumous detraction, might not a point be stretched for once, and the unfortunate pocket-book be presented to the gaze of rude curiosity with all its imperfections on its head? We will suppose this delicate question answered in the affirmative, and that in consequence every relic of Dr. Johnson, of whatever character or description, may be dragged into the light, and nailed to the pillory of public criticism and reprehension. We will not ask whether the pages before us were intrinsically worth publishing, nor will we pause to inquire what would have been the feelings of Dr. Johnson had he witnessed this attempt to obtrude him into public day in an undress the most slovenly and incomplete. We will consider the question decided. Somebody may be benefited by the publication, and Dr. Johnson isout of the reach of the consequences. The only remaining consideration is the best mode and vehicle of publication; and here, more than in any other part of the arrangement, we shall see the advantage of procuring an enlighted and ingenious editor to con duct the whole affair. The manuscript upon which Mr. Duppa has seen fit to employ his labours would not, if closely printed, have filled more, perhaps, than half a sheet of a common octavo work; so that, admitting it to be worth publication, few persons would have had the spirit to soar beyond the frail and ignoble vehicle of a monthly repository for its insertion. But the editor of a posthumous work of Dr. Johnson was not to be daunted by ordinary difficulties; nor could he be supposed willing to consign our illustrious moralist to the transitory pages of a periodical publication. A book-a well-printed, well-margined, bona fide book must absolutely be achieved; and though there was not matter for an ordinary sheet, and what there was might be deemed by some unfit for publication, yet to have surrendered to trivial the Covenant, even to the fulfilling of the promise; and woe, woe unto him who, for carnal ends and self-seeking, shall withhold himself from the great work; for the curse shall abide with him, even the bitter curse of Meroz, because he came not to the help of the Lord against the mighty. Up, then, and be doing; the blood of martyrs, reeking upon scaffolds, is crying for vengeance; the bones of saints, which lie whitening in the highways, are pleading for retribution; the groans of innocent captives from desolate isles of the sea, and from the dungeons of the tyrants' high places, cry for deliverance; the prayers of persecuted Christians, sheltering themselves in dens and deserts from the sword of their persecutors, famished with hunger, starving with cold, lacking fire, food, shelter, and cloathing, because they serve God rather than man-all are with you, pleading, watching, knocking, storming the gates of heaven in your behalf. Heaven itself shall fight for you, as the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. Then whoso will deserve immortal fame in this world, and eternal happiness in that which is to come, let them enter into God's service, and take arles at the hand of his servant, -a blessing, namely, upon him and his household, and his children, to the ninth generation, even the blessing of the promise, for ever and ever! Amen." (Vol. iii. p. 104-110.) These passages we have selected, not because we think them the best of the tale, but because they are highly characteristic, and most easily detached. It is impossible to judge accurately of such a work, either by an extract or an abstract, as one of its principal merits consists in the bold outline of the state of the country and of the age, the fulness of its pictures, and the mode of grouping the objects with which they are charged. The reader will be amply rewarded for the time he spends in perusing the whole. He will be particularly interested in the detail of the strange habits and notions of the covenanters, the transactions that took place after the battle of Loudon Hill, the siege of the Castle of Tillietudlem, the battle of Bothwell Bridge, and the events that followed the defeat of the rebels, together with the characters of the formidable and brutal Claverhouse, of the ardent but reflecting Morton, and the other personages who figure in the war. If we were disposed to point out the faults of Old Mortality, we would say that it has perhaps infused too much absurdity and ferocity into the character of the covenanters, and that its pictures are too much on the confines of caricature. We think, also, that it displays rather too little sensibility to the crimes and cruelties of the royalists; and finally, we think that its termination is scarcely on a level with the rest of the work. ART. X.-A Diary of a Journey into North Wales, in the Year 1774; by Samuel Johnson, LL. D. Edited, with illustrative Notes, by R. Duppa, LL. B. Small 8vo. pp. 226. Jennings. London, 1816. Ir accident were to throw in our way an old pocket-book containing sundry useless hints and observations by a revered author, whose reputation could not be increased, and might possibly be diminished, by an ill-judged partiality of his friends, what would be the part of judicious kindness? Would it not be to suppress the manuscript, and to leave the world content and happy with the volumes already in their possession? But supposing, as in the case of Dr. Johnson, the public attention was actively excited, and the fair fame of the author far above the reach of posthumous detraction, might not a point be stretched for once, and the unfortunate pocket-book be presented to the gaze of rude curiosity with all its imperfections on its head? We will suppose this delicate question answered in the affirmative, and that in consequence every relic of Dr. Johnson, of whatever character or description, may be dragged into the light, and nailed to the pillory of public criticism and reprehension. We will not ask whether the pages before us were intrinsically worth publishing, nor will we pause to inquire what would have been the feelings of Dr. Johnson had he witnessed this attempt to obtrude him into public day in an undress the most slovenly and incomplete. We will consider the question decided. Somebody may be benefited by the publication, and Dr. Johnson is out of the reach of the consequences. The only remaining consideration is the best mode and vehicle of publication; and here, more than in any other part of the arrangement, we shall see the advantage of procuring an enlighted and ingenious editor to conduct the whole affair. The manuscript upon which Mr. Duppa has seen fit to employ his labours would not, if closely printed, have filled more, perhaps, than half a sheet of a common octavo work; so that, admitting it to be worth publication, few persons would have had the spirit to soar beyond the frail and ignoble vehicle of a monthly repository for its insertion. But the editor of a posthumous work of Dr. Johnson was not to be daunted by ordinary difficulties; nor could he be supposed willing to consign our illustrious moralist to the transitory pages of a periodical publication. A book-a well-printed, well-margined, boná fide book -must absolutely be achieved; and though there was not matter for an ordinary sheet, and what there was might be deemed by some unfit for publication, yet to have surrendered to trivial C'obstacles of this kind was evidently beneath the spirit of an expe rienced editor. ne blog fo Let then the proposition be to manufacture a volume of 226 pages out of the aforesaid materials; and difficult as may appear the solution of this interesting problem, we hope with the assist1ance of Mr. Duppa to render it quite intelligible to the dullest of our readers. In the first place then, it will be expedient to dedicate the work to some friend in two pages, to devote three leaves to the preface, two to the table of contents, and two to a fac-simile of the author's hand-writing. After so hopeful a beginning, future progress will be comparatively easy, and we may therefore go on calmly to extend the given quantity of matter to the requisite dimensions. The way in which the concern must be managed is as follows; first provide for a margin, which is to surround the meagre page like the broad walls of a fortified city in which there are perhaps scarcely twenty half-starved inhabitants to be found. You may then proceed with a liberal assortment of spaces, and leads, and em and en quadrates, and other ingenious mechanical helps and devices to fill up the page, as besieged soldiers have been known Toto stuff ox-hides with straw to convey an idea to the enemy of abundance within. Some people, however, will not be satisfied with appearances: it may be necessary therefore to admit two or three lines of solid text into a page, occasionally more; but the number must never exceed ten or twelve at the utmost; especially if the subject matter be so intrinsically valuable as that which we are about to produce to our readers from the volume before us. As example is better than precept, and as it may be instructive to see how far the above-mentioned rales may be literally carried into effect, we shall copy verbatim the first eight pages of Dr. Johnson's tour. We do this the more willingly, as it will enable our readers to appreciate fully the laudable art of manufacturing a book without materials, and give them an opportunity of judging how far the original text was worthy of the trouble which Mr. Duppa has bestowed upon it.291_191f9l 11 Price of Page 1. "July 5, Tuesday. We left Streathamame road I 4 horses 2s. a mile." Page 2. "Barnet 1. 40. p. m. read Tully's Epistles. At night at Dunstable. To Litchfield, 83 miles. To the Swan." Page 3. To the Cathedral. Page 4. To Mrs. Porter's. To Mrs. A Aston's." Page 5. To Mr. Green's. Mr. Green's Museum was much admired, and Mr. Newton's china." Page 6.5 Ton Mr. Newton's To Mrs. Cobb'ah Page IdyffoƉr. Darwin's. I went again to Mrs. Aston's. She was very sorry, to part." Page 8. Breakfasted at Mr. Garrick's, Visited Miss Vyse." In this most interesting and edifying manner does the text proceed for 149 pages; a victorious proof of what may be effected f |