work," The announcement in the title-page that there are a dozen of Cuts, does by no means convey anything like the whole truth, The number and variety of characteristic and illustrative scratches, black dots, and whimsicalities are absolutely endless and all replete with meaning. None of these things, however, can conveniently be transferred to our pages; and therefore in keeping with our proper calling, we must resort to the letterpress and in that letter-press what can be more suitable than the verses belonging to the 20th of June, 1838, the day on which Serjeant Talfourd withdrew his Copyright Bill? The tune is," How to Screw on Author." "O Longman, Longman, Orme, Browne, Green, and Co. O enemies of authors here below, From those who're great to those who are but so ART. XV.-Observations on the Foundation of Morals. By EUGE NIUS. London: Longman. 1838. THESE Observations profess to have been suggested by Professor Whewell's Sermons on the same subject; affording a display of no small share of nice metaphysical reasoning. In perusing the performance, however, Pope's lines about philosophers being "at war about a name," having oft the same meaning, occurred to us. We shall not at present invade the field, but content ourselves with copying the Preface on account of its brief statement of commanding truths. "It is requested," says Eugenius, "that those who take the trouble to read the following Essay will bear in mind-1st. That special revelation is but little alluded to, because the question discussed relates only to that knowledge of duties which is supposed to be attainable without the intervention of miracles; and, secondly, that reason being the gift of God, all knowledge obtained through this medium is as clearly attributable to him as it would be if obtained by intuition or by direct revelation. "Some persons are wont to talk of the arrogance of man in imagining that God has been bountiful enough to enable him, by means of the special gift which distinguishes him from other animals, to discover the duties which he is required to perform. Why it should be imputed as a sin to any man to suppose that our Creator bestowed his greatest gift for the furtherance of his greatest purpose, I know not. "We must indeed be conscious that the glimmering light of reason can show us but little of all we desire to know: but we shall surely better evince our gratitude by diligently employing the smallest spark of it which we may possess, in the discovery of moral truth, than by abusing it as a useless boon in the prosecution of the most important of all knowledge." ART. XIV.-Practical Observations on the Causes and Treatment of Curvatures of the Spine. By SAMUEL HARE, Surgeon. London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. 1838. THIS appears to us to be a valuable treatise on certain frightful distortions, which, especially in the case of the tender sex, have been greatly on the increase of late years. The author's experience is of an extraordinary kind in relation to the range of disease treated of; for he tells us that his practice has not only extended to the long period of nearly forty years, but that some years ago, he was himself afflicted with a morbid sensibility of the spine, which must have directed his attention with redoubled force to similar or kindred ailments. In his Observations on Treatment, will be found Hygyenic directions for the physical culture of youth, as a means of prevention. He has also given an etching and description of an apparatus for the correction of the deformity, which he has found to be of the most decided advantage in the various cases that have come under his care. A number of engravings illustrate the particular deformities instanced; the work altogether having a matured professional character, while the details are rendered plain and deeply interesting to the general reader. ART. XVII-The Writer and Student's Grammar of the English Language. London: Whittaker. 1838. A BETTER Grammar than "Cobbett's;" for while it is an improvement upon his plan, it avoids those political and personal examples which that singular and prejudiced man cherished, and the opinions he was ever apt to obtrude. ART. XVIII.-Westwood's Entomologist's Text-Book. London: Orr and Co. 1838. MR. WESTWOOD is Secretary to the Entomological Society of London, and the contributor to the "British Cyclopædia of Natural History," of most of the papers which have appeared in that popular work, coming under his particular department. The combined uninterrupted form into which these interesting articles are here thrown, must recommend the work as an excellent Text-Book to the students of one of the most engaging and beautiful branches of Natural History. ART. XIX.-The Roman Lovers: a Tale. London: Bull. 1838. A STORY professing to belong to the times of Vespasian must labour under two disadvantages. First, the general want of sympathy in modern times. with ancient manners; and, secondly,which, indeed, accounts in a great measure for the former fact, the almost total want of knowledge which every writer in our day must experience when the living and characteristic manners of the ancient Romans are to be pictured. The consequence is, that instead of actual and warm life there is seldom anything better than a dry and stiff translation of terms and ideas from the classic writers conveying merely general impressions, or the mere thoughts of a modern in the caricature dress of an ancient. The present story, however, contains a great deal of good writing and thought, albeit, labouring under the artificial drawbacks mentioned. It is superior to many works of the class. ART. XX.-An Introduction to the Translation of English Poetry into Latin Elegiacs and Hexameters. By the Rev. F. B. GRETton, B. D. London: Whittaker. THE learned author of this Introduction is Master of Stamford Grammar School. We know not which to admire most in the execution of the work,— the experience or the taste displayed. To students in the higher branches of erudition and literary refinement it will be of eminent service. ART. XXI.-The Churches of London. No. XXIV. 1839. London: Tilt. WE regularly receive this handsome and valuable work as its successive parts are issued; this succession be it remembered, being regular and in perfect keeping as well as fulfilment of the original promise of the proprietors and publishers. The present number is devoted to St. Swithin's, Cannon-street,-St. Magnus', London-bridge,-and St. Mildred's, Bread-st. The descriptive matter exhibits the usual knowledge and taste as regards historical and architectural particulars. ART. XXII.-A Letter to the Lord Chancellor on the Present State of the Law of Lunacy. London: Crofts. 1839. A BARRISTER of the Inner Temple is the declared author of this pamphlet, which appears to us to contain, in a short space, sensible suggestions for the amendment of a branch of English law, than which none is more important or interesting that falls under the jurisdiction of the highest equity judge in the land. ART. XXIII.-The Works of Ben Jonson. With a Memoir of his Life and Writings. By BARRY CORNWALL. London: Moxon. MR. MOXON must have the prospect of a large scale to allure or to allow him to publish this sterling and large volume at a price so moderate as he has put upon it. At any rate he has done the cause of true English literature a service by the speculation; for, however common it may be to hear people speak of "O rare Ben," as a constellation, if not of the first, at least of a secondary magnitude when named along with Shakspeare, we believe he has in the present day very few readers. By students more choice than the multitude of ordinary people, his Plays, Entertainments, Masques, Poems, Translations, &c., ought now to be-and no doubt will be largely sought after, unless some of the finest treasures of our language of a dramatic form, and some of the most perfect pictures of a past age be neglected, when put into an attractive and convenient shape, and made so accessible. The glossary and the index, not to speak of the prefatory Memoir, are a real recommendation, rendering the reprint useful and valuable, and a suitable companion to the Shakspeare which the same spirited publisher has lately brought out. The Memoir is creditable to Barry Cornwall, chiefly as containing a rapid, impartial, agreeable, and satisfactory sketch of Jonson's history, so far as it has been ascertained and interpreted by the best authorities, Gifford's Life being adopted in the main as regards the poet's moral character, while the estimate of his contemporaries and the view taken of the Drama, is judicious as well as more novel. We do not think it necessary to trace with the author of the present Memoir the leading particulars in Jonson's chequered history, or to note the dates or the merits of his numerous and miscellaneous works. The following are portions of a general estimate, from which it will be seen that the author of it is no partisan and no indiscriminate panegyrist, which is saying something more than can be advanced concerning Gifford's criticisms and life of the dramatist. Having spoken of Shakspeare, the sketch proceeds : "It is small disparagement to Jonson to say, that he stands second only to so wonderful a man. And we think that, on the whole, he must be held (in the drama) to occupy the second place. The palm should always be given to originality, and, amongst the contemporaries of Shakspeare, Jonson was the most original. "This is no slight praise; considering that amongst them were Marlowe, Beaumont and Fletcher, Webster, Marston, Decker, Middleton, Massinger, Tourneur, Ford, and others. It is true that it would be easy to quote passages from almost any of these poets, superior in single excellence to anything that can be found in the pages of Jonson. But in estimating their value, we must recollect that (with the exception only of Marlowe, who preceded him, and perhaps Massinger) they derived their style, in a great measure, from Shakspeare ; "As to their fountain, stars Repairing, in their golden urns draw light. "Johnson stood alone. His course lay beside that of Shakspeare's; not in his track. He took his way, on a far lower level, it is true, yet on a way that he had himself discovered. He borrowed help, indeed, not unfrequently from his friends the ancients, and illuminated his subjects with VOL. I. (1839.) No. I. their thoughts; but, so far as regards the style or constitution of his plays, Jonson was decidedly original. He owed as little to his contemporaries, or to the English poets who preceded him, as Shakspeare himself.” Barry Cornwall, however, will not yield to the habit of comparing Jonson with Shakspeare, as has sometimes been done with the view of elevating the former above his due level, or disparaging the latter in any respect so as to neutralize the distance between them. It has frequently been the case, for instance, to praise the judgment of Jonson at the expense of the other. This method is happily ridiculed and exposed in the Memoir, in the following paragraphs, which will suffice to convey a favourable idea of the writer's sensible and elegant sketch : "When we speak of judgment,' we must mean judgment in reference to the entire drama, not to a mere arrangement of scenes or events (which are little more than its mechanism) but to the construction and development of characters, the conduct and style of the dialogue, and the general truth and completeness of the play. Now, taking all these things into consideration, there cannot, we conceive, be a doubt as to the immense superiority of Shakspeare. In the management of his scenes, Jonson is frequently injudicious, inasmuch as he is very prolix and inactive, making little or no progress in the story; whilst the speeches, as in Catiline,' and other dramas, are tedious beyond those of any contemporary writer. He is injudicious, where he introduces into his dramas a multitude of characters who throw no light upon the story, and lend no interest to it, occupying space that had better have been bestowed upon the principal agents of the plot. He is injudicious, because he has selected subjects of temporary fashion and interest as the ground-works for the display of his humour; instead of resorting to those qualities of the mind,which, however they may vary with circumstances, are nevertheless permanent in themselves, and matters of interest to all men. Again, the very principle and essence of a play consists in its attracting the sympathy of the audience, for one or more of the persons of the drama; and yet there is scarcely a male, and not one female character in the entire range of Jonson's plays, concerning whose fate we trouble ourselves even for an instant. It is these drawbacks that, notwithstanding much good and some beautiful writing, notwithstanding an abundance of sententions sayings, and a great deal of wit and humour,-have banished the dramas of Ben Jonson from the English stage. ་ "And yet, the works of our author richly deserve the attention of every one desirous of becoming acquainted with English literature. For he is a sound and sensible thinker, at all times. His style is, for the most part, pire and natural; sometimes, indeed, degenerating into vulgarity, (we mean, beyond what the subject requires,) but rarely exhibiting any of those signs of bombast and pretension which distinguish a weak writer. If Jonson did not feel the highest inspiration of the god,' he was at least free from the false afflatus. He had no affectation, no hypocrisy. He never lent himself to mean or dishonest purposes. His objects were to brand vice and ridicule folly; and he did this with a vigorous hand. Generally speaking, he is sententious, witty, humorous, learned, observant, and acute; rich in illustration; frequently airy and fanciful; rarely pathetic; and never sublime. In enforcing a proposition, however, hefaccumulates sentence after sentence, thought after thought, till the original |