less concern with the private than public conduct of a political characFor the immoralities of his doic life, Mr. Wilkes is responsible to gher tribunal than any which can cognizance of them here: he had his virtues, and before that tribunal will not plead in vain.

s public conduct is to be judged of hose whom it immediately affects: as a "friend to liberty," and man

fully resisted the march of arbitrary power. He was persecuted for this resistance by a corrupt administration, which he vanquished and disgraced: and he is entitled to the gratitude of every Englishman who values the liberty of the press, the freedom of election, and the security which he derives from the invalidity-the total abolition of general warrants.

is always less grievous than subjection price, it may be inferred, that those who under the roof of Germanicus atid Agriphad no reason to complain of any pecuardship.

That contempt for indolence which the at Romans had been at so much pains rish as a republican virtue, contínued 1 some degree to operate, and to difspirit of activity through every part of omestic economy. The times indeed now approaching, when idleness, une auspices of folly and vanity, was to ught into fashion, and considered as f the distinguished privileges of the but as we are informed that Augustus wore a robe which was not fabricated hands of his wife, his daughter, or daughter, we may infer that the Rodies of his time were in general stranidleness and ennui. And if

ide the spindle, and direct the loom,' ll considered as part of the essential of a virtuous matron; we have every to conclude, that in the apartment iated to the various branches of domanufacture Agrippina was no stran

ery thing was made at home. And luxury had ere now introduced the and the silks of Persia, pride or shame, omy, prevented the Romans from the productions of a foreign loom in in which they had been imported. bs of silk were unravelled, and up anew with an equal mixture or woollen yaru: an opportunity given for the display of taste in the of new patterns. Agrippina, while anged the glossy threads, could admire their inimitable beauty; but conception of the manner of their 1. Believing silk to be a vegetable on of some unknown region, she use her fancy by forming conjeccerning the appearance of the parent ut natural history was a science in little progress had then been made, bject belonging to that important human knowledge excited much

ile presiding over the labours of her nymphs, Agrippina often listened avourite author, whose works were Er by a young female slave instruct purpose. Nor did this retard the ther embroiderers, or give any into the busy shuttle; it being one estimable advantages of industry, es a stimulus to the power of attenncreased its capacity in such a de= what was at first difficult soon be mechanical. The robes that ufactured by Agrippina's damsels, hey might be ornamented by emwhich was now much in fashion,

were of a close and solid fabric. It was not till the succeeding age that they were worn of so thin a texture, as to attract the notice of the satirist, and to give just offence to delicacy. Taste had not as yet been thus far corrupted by licentiousness, and consequently modesty was not in the days of Agrippina openly violated in the dress of those who had any wish to be considered as virtuous.

A predilection for the principles that had guided the conduct of the venerable matrons of former times, had been early implanted by Antonia in the mind of her daughter-in-law. Hence, doubtless, arose that loftiness of spirit, which disdained to seek for glory in those puerile objects to which so many of her sex directed their ambition. The praise of excelling in beauty, wit, elegance, or learning, was to her not sufficiently gratifying, unless sentiments of respect and esteci were mingled with those of admira

tion.

As the sphere of her duties enlarged, her anxiety to fulfil them increased in an equal proportion: and as of all the duties to which she was now called, the care and instruction of her children appeared the most important, it may be believed that she applied with assiduity to the delightful task. In an affair of such moment, Agrippina was too wise to be guided by the caprice of fashion. Considering that plan of education which had produced the greatest and the wisest men as most worthy to be adopted, she endeavoured to follow the method that had been pursued in former times. In those times, the first words lisped by the infant tongue had been to the Ronan ladies a signal for commencing the labour of instruction. Sensible of the advantages of a distinct articulation, they wisely endeavoured, while the organs of speech were flexible, to form them to the pronunciation of every difficult sound. By this attention alone it is that children can acquire such a command of those organs, as is not only essential to eloquence, but highly useful in bestowing a facility in the acquire ment of every foreign language. From the time that a child could speak, uo inaccuracy of expression was permitted to pass unnoticed; and that they might be enabled thus to lay a foundation for that pre-eminence in the art of oratory, which was a primary object of ambition, ladies of rank assiduously cultivated the study of their native language. They learned to speak with peculiar purity and elegance, and valued themselves upon this accomplishment, as one that could be rendered useful to their offspring.

"No sooner did it become fashionable to consign the tender period of infancy to the care of slaves and mercenaries, than oratory declined: nor was it oratory alone that suffered by this pernicious change, since to the same cause may fairly be attributed the decline of taste.

"To render the mind susceptible of the emotions of sublimity or beauty is not a task

work with less inclination to be pleased than we should otherwise have experienced. In all cases where an opinion is to be delivered, and a judgment passed, not a little depends on the previous disposition of the mind. When we take up play of Shakespeare, or a volume of Fielding, we know that we are about to enter into the regions of fancy, and wil ingly resign ourselves to a pleasing deusion. But if we meet with fiction, then we have expanded our understand g for the reception of truth, we feel uch like the man who was treated with oonshine on the outside of the house, hen his appetite was keen, and he had en induced to hope for a solid supper ithin. A supper, indeed, is not the orse for a little garnish, though it ves merely to please the eye; and will nerally be thought improved by the adion of some stimulating sauces to its bstantial dishes. Nor ought valuable ormation of any kind to be rejected, cause it is not presented to us in its iple purity, but appears in a dress ich may attract the notice, and fix the ention of a desultory reader. If we mpare the title-page with the work, it mis candid to conclude that Mr. Lanwished to unite entertainment with ruction; and that he claims a right dopt the boast of the Roman fabulist, lex libelli dos est. A large proportion is pages is certainly devoted to geophical descriptions, delineations of al customs and manners, and biophical anecdotes of well-known litecharacters. The love scenes may, efore, be chiefly intended to allure e who read solely for amusement, to give a zest to the more useful of the work: but they are so barof incident, so often interrupted and paringly introduced, that we apprethe eager miss in her teens will throw away the book; and we ld not wonder if the most staid en and the soberest matron should times exercise the invaluable priviof skipping. The fable indeed is ructed strictly by rule; for after xample of the greater number of poems, it rushes at once in medias nd at the first outset awakens our sity by an elopement.

olphe Delmont, a younger brother, d family and competent fortune, Blanche Bertant, daughter of a hy merchant at Lyons, are the and heroine of the piece. We first N. REV. VOL. III.

meet with them on the road from Lyons to Geneva, escaped from the tyranny of Blanche's father, who, after having once consented to their union, has now endea voured to force her into a marriage with a man of obscure and dubious character, the brother of an equally mysterious Madame Philippine Vansieden, whom, as soon appears, he himself wishes to marry. Wearied by continual persecu tion, and strict confinement, Blanche, by the assistance of a faithful domestic, finds means to join her lover, flies with him into Switzerland, unaccompanied by any female friend or attendant, and resides with him in the same house unmarried, waiting for the change which time and affectionate entreaty may finally produce in a parent's heart. Such a step would be thought in England a flagrant breach of decorum, and would leave an indelible stain on a lady's character. But they manage things differently in France. It has the full approbation of Madame de St. Omer, Blanche's aunt, a woman of a cultivated understanding, and well acquainted with the world. Adolphe is a man of honour: Blanche has a mind of unspotted purity; and, though the delicacy of her moral feelings is deeply wounded by the idea of having disobeyed her father, she relies implicitly on a solemn promise given by her lover, and continues to domesticate with him, without apprehending censure from others, or danger to herself. Having nothing else to do, they ramble through different parts of Switzerland; and the result of their observations is communicated in letters, sometimes from Adolphe to his brother at Lyons, and sometimes from Blanche to her aunt, who relate in return the behaviour of Bertant on the discovery of his daughter's flight, and, in particular, his speedy marriage with Philippina.

But the reader is hitherto left ignorant of the events which preceded the elopement, and rendered it necessary. In a similar case, Homer produced an Alcinous, and Virgil a Dido, who were unacquainted with the previous adventures of their respective heroes, and to whom these adventures might, therefore, be pertinently related. And whom does the genius of Mr. Lantier provide for that purpose? Why truly the brother of Adolphe, who had resided at Lyons during the whole time of the courtship; had been an eye-witness of many of the transactions, and who could not be a

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