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found lecture; and great pains are taken by the family of Lord Montagu, who had a seat in the neighbourhood, to reconcile him to the world and to himself. At last he consents to meet Clifford at the house of this nobleman, and poor Henrietta rejoices in this appearance of success. the prospect is soon overcast. Clifford, one day, at the particular desire of the company, and even of Mandeville himself, narrates the sequel of the Wiltshire transactions, in which the escape of Sir Joseph Wagstaff, chiefly by means of Clifford himself, is told with great dramatic beauty; and forthwith Mandeville, in spite of the reluctance with which Clifford entered upon the story, and the modesty with which he seeks to conceal his own merit, feels all his wonted hatred revive towards this accomplished youth. Pride, envy, and all uncharitableness again resume possession of his soul, and he runs away as usual, with a resolution to meet Clifford no more. Some time after, a French Marquis visits at Lord Montagu's, whither Mandeville is invited, and in the course of conversation, brings forward the story of the secretaryship, and of a young man of one of the first families of Great Britain, who wished for the office, that he might serve Cromwell as a spy. The matter is instantly explained to the satisfaction of the Marquis, who engages to lose no time in representing the transaction in its true light to the exiled sovereign. But this last infliction renders the wound which had so long festered in his heart utterly incurable; the poisoned arrow is thrust into its very core, where it remains ever after fixed immoveably. The rest of the work is chiefly occupied with pictures of extravagant imbecility and malignity. We shall only glance at a few of the most striking,-first transcribing the final resolution of Mandeville in regard to Clifford, after the unhappy story of the Frenchman.

"Hatred, bitter and implacable hatred, became now more than ever the inmate of my bosom. I lived but for one purpose, the extinction of Clifford. This was the

first object of my existence, the preliminary, the sine qua non, of all my other pur suits. I devoted myself to this end, as Hannibal, by the instigation of his father, at nine years of age, swore upon the altar of his country, deadly and eternal enmity

to the Romans. If, from this time forward, any creature that lived addressed to me one syllable in favour of Clifford, that creature, be his claims upon me in other respects whatever they might, entered into the fief of my abhorrence, and became included in the savage sentence of his extermination. On other subjects I might have a heart of flesh, I might be accessible to tender and humane feelings; but on this I was the iron man, with ribs of steel, described by Spenser: no compunction, no relenting, no intreaty, no supplication could approach me: I was deaf as the uproar of conflicting elements, and unmelting as the eternal snows that crown the sum

mit of Caucasus."

In this state of mind Mandeville receives a letter from his uncle's steward, apprising him of the illness of that remarkable person, and, for the first time it would appear, of the almost unlimited power which a rascally attorney of the name of Holloway had obtained over him. Holloway's object was too little disguised to deceive any body but Audley Mandeville, and his operations are altogether very clumsy and inartificial. He makes an attack on the castle by sea, at such a distance from it that the noise could only reach the auditory nerves of so sensitive a creature as its owner,-who speedily surrenders at discretion, both his person and his property, and the guardianship of his nephew and niece, with a legacy of ten thousand pounds, to a person of whom he knew nothing, and did not take the trouble to inquire about. When Mandeville arrives at his uncle's, he finds the attorney in the full exercise of a power which he is by no means disposed to relinquish. So the old gentleman dies, and the nephew quietly takes his place as the puppet and slave of Holloway, and continues to enjoy that comfortable situation to the end of the work; and yet he suspects from the first what he is afterwards convinced of, that Holloway is one of the worst characters imaginable. It is needless to advert to the manœuvres employed by that person to rivet the chains in which he held Mandeville, and to raise a family on the ruins of his sister, as well as of himself.

to be paralleled by the bitterness of Their grossness is only heart, and imbecility of mind, of their unhappy victim. The story of the loves of Clifford and Henrietta is more natural, and infinitely more attrac

tive. Their second interview takes place on the grounds of Lord Montagu, to whom Clifford had just been introduced, and near the cottage of Mrs Willis and Henrietta. It is quite delightful, after listening so long to the gloomy and incoherent ravings of a fiend, to arrive at a scene of pure affection, of ambition unalloyed with pride or selfishness, and to see the generous confidence of a young heart reposing on the worthy object of its love. "Clifford set out, with Henrietta's power of delineation, and the inspiration of love, for his guides. He did not miss the true path. He turned to the right at the corner of the park, and to the left at the end of the wood, just as he ought to have done. But the God was not this day a niggard of his bounty. By some wonderful chance, before Clifford was well within sight of the cottage, he perceived Henrietta in the foot-path, advancing in the opposite direction. Her eyes were on the ground, and she seemed deep in meditation. Clifford withdrew a few steps under cover of the wood, that she might not observe him from a distance. As she proceeded, a little dog that attended her steps, barked at him. Clifford advanced, and saluted my sister. Her first emotions were simply those of surprise, trepidation and joy; and, as she was in the habit of giving utterance to her sensations, she expressed both her surprise and her joy in no equivocal terms.

"Presently, however, she recollected herself, and wore a look of displeasure. She asked him gravely, to what she owed the seeing him, and what purpose he had in view? This was easily explained. He told of the introduction that had been offered him to Lord Montagu, and that after dinner he had strolled out in the domain. He ingenuously owned, however, that a desire to see Henrietta once more, had joined with other motives, to induce him to accept the proposal. He told her of his altered views of life, and of his determination never to rest, till he had obtain

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ed for himself honours and distinction. He spoke frankly of the forlorn and unprovided way in which he entered the career of life, and with sanguine assurance, that he would tread all obstacles under his feet. He added, Henrietta, you are my friend; I am sure you are. You have listened with complacency to the little detail of my boyish sentiments. The approbation of innocence and beauty in your sex, is necessary to sustain ours in arduous undertakings. You are the only one of the guardian inspirers of manly virtue, to whom I have ever ventured to pour out my thoughts. I could not therefore set out upon this voyage, without obtaining from you the indulgence of a few moments to unfold my

views. Give them your sanction! When I go forth, do you invoke the blessing of heaven upon my purposes? I ask no more."

"Henrietta's conceptions of honour and right conduct were more lively and animated, than those of any other person I

ever knew. It has been seen how she talk

'Go on,'

ed to me of the sentiments I ought to entertain, and the conduct it became me to pursue; nor was the clearness of her soul less conspicuous in this interview with Clifford. Her eyes sparkled, while he spoke of the ambition that pervaded him, and the projects he had formed. she said. Just such resolutions as you now express, I expected from you. The times have need of young men, so gallant and high of soul as you are. England shall again be restored; and other Raleighs and other Falklands shall refresh her annals. Clifford, I will not forget you. My thoughts shall follow you; my enquiries shall collect your memorials. And in the end, or the intervals of your achievements, remember to come to me again. means of our meeting will easily be found; I know not how, but my prophetic soul tells me, we shall see each other hereafter. Clifford, I have considered you with an observing eye, and I approve you.' And, saying this, she drew a ring from her finger, and placed it on his, with the motto, Je n'oublierai pas.'

The

"Much more passed in this accidental conversation. Clifford thanked her in a more expressive way than mere words would convey, for her approbation. He smiled a thoughtful and heart-beaming smile, while he said, in the language of elder times, that he would be her knight. He looked with transported thoughts on the ring he had received from her hand, and kissed it."

The distress of Henrietta, when a false report reached her of Clifford's being drowned, is exquisitely described; and her arduous struggles, and the self-devotion of both the lovers when they become acquainted with the invincible prejudices of Mandeville against Clifford, display a power of conception, and a felicity in pourtraying deep and painful emotion, in which Godwin is almost unrivalled. Lord Montagu, however, and their other friends, find no great difficulty in prevailing with them to abandon this romantic design. In the meanwhile, as Mandeville's case seemed now to be quite hopeless, of which, indeed, he had given too many proofs in so far as concerned Clifford, and particularly in an interview with the

young Montagus,- -a legal proceed ing is commenced in Chancery to deprive Holloway of his office of guardian, on the ground of his unworthiness and profligacy. The attorney, aware of the weak side of Mandeville, gets up a story partly true, and partly false, about Henrietta and Clifford, and discloses to him their fixed purpose to marry with all convenient speed; and by this means binds him more firmly than ever to his interest, and raises his fury to the highest pitch of diabolical frenzy. Mallison, the nephew of Holloway, who had been a school-fellow of Mandeville's at Winchester, and the main cause of his disgrace there, and afterwards at Oxford, had, at the instiga tion of his uncle, conceived some hopes of the hand of Henrietta; and now this accomplished person takes it into his head to wait upon Clifford and urge him in a very formal manner to relinquish his claims. Mandeville, too, pays a visit to his sister, in order to prevail with her to break with Clifford, and works himself into a fearful fit of insanity. The marriage of Clifford and Henrietta is, however, a thing resolved on, and the chancery business proceeds with the characteristic celerity of that High Court. These matters bring all the parties concerned to London. The marriage is celebrated at Barking, a day sooner than Holloway and Mandeville expected, and the happy couple and their friends, who had dined in the neighbourhood, are on their return to Barking in the evening, when they are waylaid by our hero and six hired troopers, with the intention of carrying off Henrietta in spite of all opposition. A skirmish

ensues.

"I ordered my men to fire. I was far past the consideration of how many lives might be the victims of my fury. There was a regular discharge of musketry on our side, and one or two men of the enemy fell. We then drew our broadswords. Clifford was the foremost of the defensive party; and, though the night was dark, by sure instinct I singled him We struck; we grappled; we fell from our horses, and came to the ground together. We rose, as if by a mutual consent, that had no need of words; and drew back again a few paces from each other,

out.

VOL. II.

that we might once more clash with the greater fury. Clifford called out to me, not to force him to embrew his sword in the blood of the brother of his wife! That word drove me instantaneously to a towering madness. I cursed him in words of such bitterness and malignity as nothing but a passion like mine could furnish.—I remember no more."

Mandeville is beat down and terri

bly wounded in the face by Clifford, and his party defeated, and so ends the book, to our no small disappointment and mortification.

As these volumes contain the bio

graphy of only the first twenty years of this extraordinary character, who, we are glad to find, lived to a good old age, and must have written his memoirs in a tolerably sound state of mind, we are willing to hope that the human part of his mixed nature may have predominated during the rest of his life.

In Mr Godwin's works of fancy, human nature and the institutions of so

ciety do not appear in the most favourable light,-whether or not in their true light, it is not our business to inquire. One thing, however, is evident, in regard to works of fancy as well as dialecticks; the more unlovely the characters in the former, and the feebler the arguments in the latter, the greater must be the talents necessary to ensure success. That Mr

Godwin possesses these talents in an eminent degree, is universally acknowledged. Yet we should be glad to see him employ them differently. In his earliest work, we beheld him commence his dissections on adult sub

jects, and trace almost all their distempers and sufferings to the arrangements of society; in the present, we have accompanied him from infancy to manhood, and looked on while he he has laid bare the evil passions in their source, their growth, their maturity, and their baleful effects. We may hope that he has now exhausted these cheerless topics, and that henceforth he will draw from the stores of his rich and powerful imagination scenes which we can contemplate with delight; and thus be made to feel gratitude as well as admiration towards the hand that paints them.

I

SURVEY OF FRENCH LITERATURE.

[THE following article is the first of a series which will appear monthly, and in a more extended form, so as to embrace a survey of French literature, along with whatever may be thought most interesting to the British reader regarding the principal theatres of Paris. We can promise the regular continuation of these novel and interesting notices with some confidence, having made an arrangement to that effect with a French gentleman of distinguished literary talents, through whom, and our other correspondents in Paris, we hope to be able to make our readers acquainted (in a way equally expeditious and authentic) with all that is most generally interesting in French literature and science.]

December 1817.

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

1. Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles, &c.

Dictionary of Natural Science, wherein the different beings or parts of nature are examined, as well in themselves as with a view to the use they may be of in medicine, agriculture, commerce or the arts, by a Society of Professors of the Royal Botanical Garden at Paris. Vol. 9th, with Cuts. (CHL-COEU.)-To be continued.

2. Conseils, &c.

Advice on the First Studies, by Leócade Delpieue. (Pamphlet.) 3. Annales des Faits, &c.

(This is the prospectus of a work, intended to be published by subscription. The title will be

Annals of Military Facts and Sciences, by a Society of military and literary men. To be published monthly in numbers of six sheets each, 30 francs a year.)

4. Histoire des Generaux, &c. The History of the generals, the officers of all ranks, commissioned and non-commissioned, and the privates, who have distinguished themselves in the different campaigns of the French armies. (Pamphlet.)

5. Dictionnaire des Gens du Monde, &c. A Dictionary adapted for the use of well bred persons, or Moral Lectures for Court and City, by a young hermit. 1 vol. 12mo.

Though the author of this small publi cation has not thought fit to put his name to the title page, the work is universally ascribed to M. de Segur. This gentleman enjoys the reputation of being one of the wittiest men in the kingdom. We are sorry, however, to say, that this dictionary will not, in our opinion, add much to the author's fame, and that one of the most sensible actions of his life, perhaps, has been his sending it incognito into the world. M. de S.'s plan consists in taking a certain number of words of the French language, arranging them alphabetically, and explaining them, not according to their true meaning, but with satirical applications to the manners and customs of the age. A single example will be sufficient to give an idea of the author's style and observations :

CASH-KEEPER." A man who knows to make himself agreeable to every one, without politeness or wit."

To conclude, we cannot help mentionrespected in this work. ing, that religion and morals are seldom

6. Des Progres, &c.

On the Progress of the Representative Government in France; Session of the Chambers, 1817: By M. de Pradt, late archbishop of Mechlin. (Pamphlet.)

well known in the literary and political world to require from us any particular introduction to our readers. We shall therefore barely mention, that this is a pamphlet of about sixty pages, full of nonsensical bombast, and vacant of ideas, style and sense. The only good hint we find in it, is a just reproach, falling equally on ministers and on the members of the Chamber of Deputies, who in the debates are continually mentioning the king, and tak ing of H. M.'s wishes and intentions; whereas in the English parliament, the king's have gone farther, and shown that this name is never prononnced. M. de P. might fault is deliberately committed by the ministry, who by that means gently shove from their shoulders all constitutional responsibility. We also observe in this pamphlet an interesting observation, viz. that the Sessions of the French Chambers always open by a religious ceremony, whereas in England, though the nation have undoubtedly more piety, no such ce

The late archbishop of Mechlin, is toe

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9. Essai, &c.

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17. Sur le Projet, &c.

Some Observations on the Project of a Law for the Responsibility of Ministers, by the Cardinal de la Luzerne. (Pamphlet.)

18. Considerations sur l'Amerique Espagnole, &c.

Considerations on Spanish America, or an appeal to truth, on the causes,

An Essay on the Law of the Press. the true spirit, and the aim of the (Pamphlet.)

10. Les Journaux, &c. Ought Newspapers to be submitted to Political Inspection? (Pamphlet.) 11. Annales de la Session, &c. Annals of the Session of 1817-1818, by M. Benjamin Constant. (Pamphlet.) 12. Observations, &c.

Observations on Public Education, the necessity of a Reform, and the means of procuring the same, by M. Crignon Guinebaud. (Pamphlet.)

13. Histoire, &c.

The History of the National Convention of France; to which is prefixed a short retrospect of the Constituent and Legislative Assemblies, and Historical Notes added on the most eminent personages of that period of the French Revolution, by R. T. Durdent. 2 Vol. in 12mo.

14. Manuel des Braves, &c.

A Guide to the Brave, or the Victories of the French Armies in Ger

many, Spain, Russia, France, HolLand, Belgium, Italy, Egypt, &c. inscribed to the members of the Legion of Honour, by Messrs. Leon Thiessé, Eugene B ***, and several other military men. Vol. 1, 2, & 3; to be completed in 6, by subscription.

15. Voyage de, &c.

Messrs Alexander de Humboldt, and A. Bonpland's Travels, 6th Part. Botany, 3d Division, 18 sheets in folio, with 25 Cuts. price 100 fr. Do. with Coloured Plates,

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180

Our correspondent has been misinformed on this point: Both our Houses of Parliament, we believe, are opened by prayer.

Revolution; by an American, a friend to justice, and an eye-witness of almost all the facts he relates, and of many others too incredible to be related. (Pamphlet.)

19. Observations, &c.

Observations on the Project of a Law for the liberty of the Press; by M. C ***, Counsellor of the Royal Court of Paris. (Pamphlet.)

20. Du Nouveau Projet, &c.

Some Observations on the New Project of a Law for the Press; by M. Comte. (Pamphlet.)

21. Récit exact des Derniers Mo mens, &c.

A True Account of the latter period of the Queen's Captivity, viz from September 11th 1793 to October 16th following, by Madame Bault, widow to the last door-keeper of the prison.

&c.

22. Vie de Charles Melchior Artur,

The Life of Charles Melchior Ar

thur, Marquis of Bonchamps, Vendean General; by P. M. Chauveau, M. D.; to which is added, the Funeral Oration spoken over the Tomb of the Marquis.

23. Discours prononcés, &c.

Speeches pronounced in the Public Sitting of the French Academy at the reception of Messrs Roger and Laya, November 30, 1817, and Answer of the Duke de Léris, Director of the Academy.

24. Voyage de MM. A. de Humboldt, &c.

Messrs A. de Humboldt, and A. Bonpland's Travels; Zoological and Anatomical Observations; being the 3d

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