It is observable that the statute of Anne did not give, in express terms, an action of damages to the proprietor: but such an action was holden to be maintainable on this principle, that, where the law bestows a right, it confers, at the same time, a remedy for the infringement of that right; and it was determined that no entry at Stationers' Hall was necessary to support the action. In the statute of Anne, the penalty was id. a sheet, and the limitation of action was to three months. By this last act of the present reign, two additional copies of books entered at Stationers' Hall shall be delivered there, for the use of Trinity College, and the King's Inns, Dublin.

The cases collected in this work are very few in number, and we think that the production bears evident marks of haste and inattention.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Art. 48.
Welsh Legends: A Collection of Popular Oral Tales.
8vo. Ios. 6d. (12mo. 6s.) Boards. Badcock. 1802.
If it be the object of a reader to escape the ennui which is inci-
dent to this dreary season, he will not have recourse in vain to this
little volume: but if he looks for information respecting the trans-
actions, opinions, habits, and manners of the antient people to
whom these tales are said to relate, he will rise disappointed from the
perusal of these pages. If the tales have really any other source
than the author's own invention, if in fact they are founded on any
traditions preserved in the wilds of Wales, they are so dressed out
as to have lost every feature of their antique character.-With the
structure, the interest, or the tendency of the narratives, we have no
great fault to find; and if they did not claim relation to certain times
and places, they would be little amenable to criticism, and not
chargeable with those violations of propriety which at present deform

them.

The second tale (which is in verse) flows in easy and smooth numbers, and contains a correct statement of the vulgar notions respecting the subject which it describes.

S.R.

Jo. Art. 49. Interesting Anecdotes of the heroic Conduct of Women during the French Revolution. Translated from the French of M. Du Broca. I2mo. pp. 219. 5. Beards. Symonds. 1802.

We can scarcely persuade ourselves that the scenes here described passed in our time, much less that they are recent yet ten years have not elapsed since they were the events of the day regularly announced to us by the diurnal prints.

The Revolution in France certainly abounded in melancholy occurrences of the same kind with those here stated; and an authentic work, we are confident, would have been fully as interesting as that which is here presented to us, and far more satisfactory. We are sorry to be obliged to charge a production which so completely fixes the attention, and masters the feelings, with being very deficient on the score of accuracy: but, as specimens of its vulnerability on this point, it will be sufficient to mention that the author, in his account of Madame Elizabeth, truly states her to have been the sister of

Louis XVI. and yet in the same paragraph adds that she was the youngest daughter of Louis XV. He also tells us that M. de la Rochefoucauld, who had no children, and who was massacred at Gisors in Normandy, (not far from his country seat,) was saved by the pious offices of a daughter, and survived the Revolution.

The most considerable part of this volume is taken from other accounts already before the public, and which possess much authenticity; this portion of it, therefore, may be in a great degree worthy of credit: but, as to any parts that are original in it, very little reliance can be placed on them;-and what readers will draw the line? Jo. Art. 50. The Friend of Women. Translated from the French of Bourdier de Villemert. By Alexander Morrice. 8vo. pp. 164. 6s. Boards. Symonds. 1802.

Though Mr. Morrice is but an indifferent translator, he might certainly have employed himself better than on this vapid performance of M. Bourdier de Villemert. It is a cento of ill assorted maxims, taken from the moralists, satirists, and preachers of his country, and jumbled together without either selection or arrangement.-The moral tendency of the work is perfectly unexceptionable: but the precepts and examples are so ordinary and obvious, that we were frequently reminded of the famous "Tritical Essay," as we proceeded.

The translation certainly is not to be commended.-Mr. Morrice, we fear, understands French but imperfectly, and he is far from being master of English. Among other passages, for the meaning of which it would be necessary to consult the original, we insert this short

one:

A professed beauty is always curbed from a foolish thing, which makes her pass for equal with a wit upon record.'

Art. 51. Observations on the Reply of the Right Reverend Dr. Caul field, Roman Catholic Bishop, and of the Roman Catholic Clergy of Wexford, to the Misrepresentations of Sir Richard Musgrave, Bart., and on other Writers who have animadverted on the Memoirs of the Irish Rebellions. By Sir Richard Musgrave, Bart. 8vo. 28. Stockdale.

It is no mortification to us not to be recorded among the patrons and panegyrists of the work which its author here defends. On the contrary, we are proud of the distinction, which we certainly took Rome pains to deserve; for we valued more highly the discharge of the duty which we owed to the interests of truth, to the tranquillity of the empire, and to humanity at large. The public had anticipated us in our judgment, and has since ratified it.

Did we, however, in these pages, meet with statements or reasonings which went to detect error, or to establish truth, we should either lay specimens of them before our readers, or make our report on them but Sir Richard labours points which no one disputes. It is not denied that there were traitorous and disaffected priests, nor that the catholic multitude was bigoted and ferocious; nor will it be questioned that Popes and Councils of old have published blasphemies and treasons-the matters to be settled between the

author

author and his antagonists are,-what was the proportion of these priests; was their brutal state most the fault of the deluded people, or of the late Irish Government; are intolerance and oppression the likeliest methods of reclaiming them; and are the catholics of these days chargeable with the sins and crimes of those of past times? Had the author made good the affirmative of these questions, he would have established the principles of his work.

Art. 52.

Memoirs of John Bacon, Esq. R.A.; with Reflection, drawn from a Review of his Moral and Religious Character. By Richard Cecil, A.M. Minister of St. John's, Ledford Row. 8vo. PP. 120. 2s. 6d. Boards. Rivingtons.

These memoirs appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine for September 1799, and have now received aditional facts and anecdotes, furnished by the family. Mr. Cecil has also illustrated his account by inserting whatever he could recollect of Mr. Bacon's habits in society, his turn of thinking, and his manner of expression. This addition,' Mr. C. properly observes, will not only more distinctly mark his character, but afford a gratification to his friends.'

The subject of this little biographical sketch was not only an eminent artist, but an amiable and respectable character in private life. If his religion savoured of Methodism, he did not deny to others the same liberty which he assumed, of thinking for himself on this important point; and he exemplified the sincerity of his belief by shewing himself humble and benevolent. His filial affection was a remarkable and truly distinguishing feature. -He was originally employed under Mr. Crispe of Bow Church yard, to whom he had been bound apprentice, in painting on porcelain; and he never had an opportunity of improving his natural genius by a study of the antique.

Mr. J-, an old acquaintance of Mr. B., heard Mr. West the present President of the Royal Academy say, when he saw the model of Mars (Mr. B.'s first statue), "If this is his first essay, what will this man attain to when he arrives at maturity?" The same friend also remembers that when Mr. B. was modelling the bust of his Majesty, the King asked him, " If he had ever been out of the kingdom?" Upon being aswered in the negative, his Majesty said, "I am glad of it-you will be a greater honour to it."

This tract is recommended by some interesting anecdotes, and serious reflections; and it is ornamented by a spirited likeness of this, celebrated sculptor, engraved by Collyer from a picture by Russell. Art. 53. Eight Historical Tales, curious and in tructive. I. The unfortunate Damascenes. II. Jetzer. III. Arden of Feversham. IV. The Gowrie Conspiracy. V. Masaniello. VI. The Campden Wonder. VII. The Mysterious Letters. VIII. Ivan the Third. 12mo. pp. 290. 48. 6d. Boards. 48. 6d. Boards. Johnson.

The author of this little volume is of opinion that, if fairy tales and fabled romances can fascinate the youthful mind, there are facts recorded in authentic history, which are capable of communicating the same interest, and which may be read and remembered with higher advantage.'-Under this impression, the tales here enumerated are presented to the public, and to each of them are prefixed the

authorities

Jo.

S.R.

R

authorities whence the information was derived. We think that they
deserve to be called curious, but hesitate at the additional epithet of
instructive, as applied to them all; we however readily allow that
the observations, with which they are interspersed, are judicious and
well founded.

The first tale relates the siege and capitulation of Damascus in the
seventh century, and describes in glowing colours the bravery of
the Saracens and the pitiable situation of the Damascenes, who were
destroyed with relentless cruelty by their victorious invaders.-Jetzer,
who was a Dominican lay brother at the beginning of the sixteenth
century, remarkable for his credulity, and for the many deceits im-
posed on him by his order, gave us less pleasure in the perusal than
any of the other histories; for we turn with disgust from the enu
meration of the blasphemous frauds committed by these fraternities, all
of which originated in selfish and ambitious views; at the same time that
we entertain a doubt whether the recital be calculated to convey an
useful lesson to the youthful mind. The third story details the parti.
culars of an horrid murder committed at Feversham in Kent in the
reign of Edward the Sixth, on a gentleman of the name of Ardier,
who was assassinated by his own wife. The materials are collected from
Hollinshed's Chronicle, and Jacob's History of Feversham.-Of the
Gowrie conspiracy, no new explanation is attempted; the narrative
and the conjectures on the cause of that mysterious transaction are
both taken from Robertson.-The whole account of Masaniello, a
Neapolitan mariner, who effected a revolution at Naples in the year
1656, is interesting in the highest degree; and the moral deduced from
it, pointing out the dangers of popular applause, is natural and ex-
cellent.-The Campden wonder is a narrative published in 1696,
which relates the execution of three persons of the name of Perry for
the supposed murder of a Mr. Harrison, who, several years after
these people had suffered for the crime imputed to them, returned
from abroad. The mysterious letters are those which were addressed
to the late Duke of Marlborough with the signature of Felton, and
for which Mr. Barnard was tried and acquitted. The last story in
the collection contains a short view of the sufferings of Ivan the
Third, the infant emperor of Russia, who was assassinated in the
reign of the late empress Catherine; under circumstances that justi-
fied a suspicion of her having been acquainted with, and having en-
couraged the transaction.

CORRESPONDENCE.

The particular pressure of business, in this month of double
duty, increased by contingent circumstances, obliges us to defer the
consideration of various letters from Correspondents.

The APPENDIX to Vol. xxxix. of the MONTHLY REVIEW,
New Series, containing the FOREIGN LITERATUE, General Title,
Table of Contents, and Index for the Volume, is published at the
same time with this Number.

Envors, pp. 12, 156, 83, 104, 105.

S.R.

THE

MONTHLY REVIEW,

For FEBRUARY, 1803.

ART. I. Memoirs of Horatio, Lord Walpole; selected from his Correspondence and Papers, and connected with the History of the Times from 1678 to 1757. By William Coxe, M.A. F.R.S. F.A.S. Rector of Bemerton. 4to. pp. 500. 31. 3s. (51. 5s. large Paper.) Boards. Cadell and Davies.

"HIS work

may

1802.

TH be considered as a continuation of Mr. Coxe's Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole, since it relates principally to the same period, and serves, from private documents, to dispel much of the darkness which hangs over the transactions of that busy and eventful time. Horatio Walpole was brother to the Minister, and was employed by him and his brother-in-law Lord Townshend in several negotiations of considerable difficulty; in which the exercise of great address and forbearance was necessary to conduct them to a happy conclusion. At the Hague, we view him conciliating the favour and securing the esteem of the pensionary Heinsius, and afterward of his successor the able but irritable Slingelandt. At Paris, we see him equally in the confidence of the Regent Orleans, of the Duke of Bourbon, and of Cardinal Fleury; who, notwithstanding his characteristic caution and timidity, treated him with unreserved openness and undisguised affection. In all these situations, Mr. Walpole discovered those talents which justified his appointment, and shewed that he was indebted for it as much to his merit, as to his near relationship with persons who were in power; while the length and sincerity of his 'services fully justified his subsequent elevation to the peerage, by the title of Baron Walpole of Wolterton, Norfolk.

In his preface, Mr. Coxe states that, having obtained access to the papers and correspondence of Lord Walpole at Wolterton, he found them so interesting and important, that he purposed to print a selection, preceded by a brief biographical narrative; and, from the following short view of the different offices which this minister filled, it is evident that such a work was calculated to gratify public curiosity, and to increase the stock VOL, XL. I

of