angry at hearing Sunday vilified, or seeing it mis-used, because its use is not understood. Every thing is dull to the ignorant; and to rest, is a command of tyranny to him who never works; but to those who know what it is to persevere, even in a course of moderate industry, six days together, the seventh comes as a cordial, and is received as a friend, whom we would not meet but with a cheerful countenance. Different ranks of persons must give it different entertainment; if the lower classes will but go to church once in the day, and forbear swearing, drinking, fighting, and such enormities, they have my hearty concurrence in their finery, their tea-gardens, and all their toil for pleasure; nor would I abridge the gratification of Sunday hospitality amongst those with whom it is the only day of leisure, if it be indulged with a due regard to the purpose of the day, and the relief of our domestics. All this, you will say, carries the appearance of allowance and concession; and, unless I give you my most private opinion, my dear young friend, I shall, after all, mislead you. Every day ought to be to us partially a Sabbath: all who can command an interval of leisure, ought to make use of it, for the purpose of stopping the springs and wheels of their occupa tions, and communing with their own hearts; but if as is too much the case with most of us, the stream sets with too strong a current to be thus checked, the return of the stated period is invaluable. As an enjoined Sabbath merely, that is as a day of rest, it demands our respect, our acquiescence, and our self-command; but as the Lord's day, it has a more active character with us as parties to the New Covenant; and I conceive its fit employment to be the solemn dedication of ourselves, from the time of our rising from sleep, till our falling into it again, to the duties of religion, without admitting into it any of this world's ideas or businesses, but such as serve to connect the commandments of the Old Testament with those of the New. But abstraction from the world, is a power few possess, and fewer ought to use; for to be innocent, it must result from circumstances: as soon as it forces them, it becomes reprehensible. The ascetic virtues are depredations on society, if society has any claim on us; but there certainly are persons, who trained by misfortune, or the high character of their own mind, may presume to say on the Lord's day, ' Farewell! thou busy world,' and turn with all their heart to Him who made it. But let no one be unhappy, if this disposition, in its utmost extent, does not follow their honest endeavours. Let us do our best, and trust that we shall, as we proceed, be enabled to make that best better.

"And now, my dear young friend,' concluded Lady Mary, 'I have said to you what occurs to me on the subject of that day, which I would wish you to regard, not as the Jewish Sabbath, but as a lay of a more active character, and substituting the equity of Christianity for the Mosaic law. We have passed it, I hope, pleasantly to us both.-Nothing remains for me to do but to join in devotion with my servants; and, as this should be the last of their employments, that the impression may not be effaced, I must know first that you

are safe at home; my chair shall convey you, and one of the men shall attend you; and, as I suppose we shall both be occupied tomorrow, our next meeting probably may be in my carriage. Should you experience any disappointment or vexation, in your equipments, let me know, and I shall be happy to assist ** you

That this account of religion,-this pretty religious small-talk is very popular we have no doubt, and that by far the greater part of fashionable young females, as well as correct people in general, find it very consolatory, and very orthodox, is natural and probable. One thing only was wanting to give it perfection; it was without any violent abuse of the poor methodists. An opportunity, however, offers itself in the fourth volume, and in chapter 82, and, especially, in page 279, the old stories in defamation of this sect are repeated with a great air of authority and accurate information. We are told of a wretched teacher of this stamp, who "was in high confidence with persons of rank, education, and unimpeachable integrity, and who, though professing themselves of the church of England, thought it expedient to disperse over the country, as preachers of the gospel, as expounders of texts, and as advocates of moral virtue, a set of men too low, in every point of view, for any profession." We are then told of preachers of this persuasion who find their way into female schools to undermine the virtue of their young disciples under the pretence of improving them in piety. These are heavy charges against a body of men who certainly are not found in the daily commission of trespasses against the peace, the duties, and the good order of society; and every just person must agree with us, that nothing can warrant us in giving currency to such reports, but the most authentic proofs of their foundation in fact. It is, to the last degree, painful to see with what a resolute belief ali such cruel gossip is vouched and transmitted.

"Not weighed nor winnowed by the multitude,

But swallowed in one mass, unchewed and crude."

We give ourselves very little trouble about what is said of our own partialities or principles; Christ and his religion are the objects on which we endeavour to fix our affections; and finding these, as we think, in the doctrine, faith, and discipline of the church of England in a superior state of dignity and purity, we cheerfully give it all our attachment and obedience: but we will never display our attachment to it by listening to disparaging tales of other communions, much less by aiding in their propagation: neither will we seek to recommend ourselves by flattering

* The words here printed in italics are not so in the work itself. The passages on which we found our remarks are so printed here to save the necessity of ngticing them particularly.

the security of our own establishments, or relax from any stric tures on its negligence or danger, which may appear to be useful in keeping alive in its members a tender sensibility to its in

terests.

If these stories to the dishonour of methodists are not rashly taken up on mere trust, as we suspect they often are, still we maintain that it can do no good to the church to promote their publicity; for, say what we will, to bring any body of men, professing religion, into contempt, is to bring some scandal upon religion itself. There is only one way which we can with safety and propriety adopt of conducting the contest against sectaries and schismatics. We have so often said what, according to our humble conceptions, that conduct ought to be, that we will not repeat it here; but will content ourselves with expressing our fears that, if the sentiments of the good Lady Mary were to settle a standard of piety for the church of England, that church must soon sink under the weight of aggregate hostility, or depend upon the mutual jealousy of its opponents for an existence by sufferance. That methodists sometimes abuse their power and opportunities, like individual members and ministers of other communions, who can doubt? But, if we reason from these particular instances to the conduct and character of a whole body, it is obvious to every considerate man how greatly we expose our own cause. Let us suppose a methodist to have done what is said by the writer of this novel to have been the conduct of one of that body; have they no opportunity to retort the accusation by referring to the conduct of one of our own ministers within the recollection of most of our readers; and have they not as good a right to reason from particular cases to the general character of the ministers of the church? Such a contest carried on, in this way, by induction on each side, would evidently be as infinite as it would be inflammatory and invidious.

We should be sorry, however, to be thought blind to the merit of many passages in this work, which afford very favourable specimens of the writer's judgment and feeling. We cannot but greatly commend many of the sentiments she puts into the mouth of Mr. Mudd, as in page 11, vol. iv. where he declares his resolution to dedicate the best favoured of his children to the service of his Maker. The account of Gertrude's rambling progress in her studies, and the effects produced on her by the first perusal of the Bible, presents an innocent and pleasing picture, and discovers a skilful talent in sketching character in a state of native luxuriance, to which we are happy to bear testimony. The duty to parents is well and feelingly enforced by the sentiments and reasoning of Gertrude in many parts of the work; and par

ticularly in page 226, vol. iii. The description of the family of the Franklands, in vol. iii. page 202, is drawn with an amiable warmth of colouring which places the reader in the midst of them, and with a heart full of the most pleasing sympathies. There are, also, many satirical portraits, which are traced with force and humour, as in page 193, vol. iv. where the reader cannot fail of being amused by the absurdities of a parent in the foolish indulgence of her children. The little piece of sacred allegory in vol. ii. page 374, is ingenious, and very simply and pleasingly told.

Great praise is due to the ability displayed in the delineation of some of the characters. That of Gertrude is extremely interesting. We were much affected by her situation under the coarse discipline of the Countess of Luxmore, and the capricious despotism of Mr. Sterling, the countess's uncle. The gradual development of the properties and dispositions of her heart, and her casual accumulation of knowledge, under disadvantages, which, at first view, appeared to oppose insuperable barriers to her progress, give great attraction to her character. These difficulties, by stimulating exertion, and exciting intellectual curiosity, will often draw forth into fuller and more energetic action the genial capacities of a good soil. With respect to the moral utility of such an example we entertain great doubts. It is true, perhaps, that very many of the most significant characters are indebted principally for their force and vivacity to impressions produced by casual occurrences which escape observation, and can neither be anticipated, controlled, or modified by culture, or the arts of discipline: but a character so moulded suggests no practical rules for the conduct of education; and, to the extent in which it is likely to attract imitation, it is dangerous in its consequences. Upon the whole, however, the simplicity, honesty, directness, gentleness, and, we may add, piety of Gertrude, are very safe objects of admiration and imitation to her own sex of all ranks and ages. No character could be better imagined to give effect by contrast to these properties of the amiable Gertrude than the Countess of Luxmore, whose vulgarity, meanness, and selfishness, are exhibited through the whole work with great vivacity, consistency, and nature. The character of the young Lord Portargis is touched with truth and spirit. His vapidity, selfishness, and paltry feelings and addictions, and all the strenua inertia of his mind, are set forth in a manner that conveys a very distinct image to the reader, while he serves as most of the characters do, the subordinate purpose of illustrating the sheer goodness of heart which so commends Gertrude to our affections. Some of the features, however, in this portrait, be

tray an ignorance, pardonable, surely, in a female author, of the ways of young fools of fashion. The dinner scene in page 231, vol. iv. is preposterous. The conversation between the young nobleman and the rustic footman, and the method adopted by the former to supply the deficiencies of his mother's table, by going out to purchase niceties for a concluding course, is out of all probability, and has greatly too much violence even for a caricature of that prevailing addiction to the science of eating, so base and ridiculous in the young men of condition of the present day. The observations in the note to the same passage on the sottish indecency of finishing a gluttonous repast without thanks to the Almighty Giver, are worthy of a good heart, and sound understanding. We cannot help expressing our obligations to Miss Hawkins for heaping so much deserved contempt and ridicule on fashionable stupidity and meanness in this well immagined and ably drawn character of Lord Portargis, though we can scarcely excuse the attachment of 'Gertrude to so despicable a coxcomb. It raises the credit of her simplicity at the entire expence of her discernment.

The other characters are, in general, well sustained throughout the work, and, for the most part, there is both chastity and fidelity in the execution of this most difficult part in the business of the novel writer. Lord Luxmore and Mr. Sterling are both examples of this skill in Miss Hawkins, though, perhaps, the unfeeling and tyrannical behaviour of the latter towards the unprotected Gertrude is carried to excess. We have no room to prosecute any further the examination of this voluminous production. It is a great deal too long, and if Miss Hawkins is desirous of giving it a place among the few standards in this department of literature, she will do justice to that part which is really creditable to her powers, her taste, and her principles, by clearing away the dross and rubbish with which it is incumbered.

ART. XXIX-Asiatic Researches; or, Transactions of the Society instituted in Bengal, for enquiring into the History and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences, and Literature of Asia. Volume XI. Calcutta, 4to. 1810. London, 4to. and Svo.

1812.

HAVING

AVING SO recently offered our sentiments on the general merit and utility of the preceding volumes of this work, we shall pro