us by the inspiration of God's holy Spirit, without whose sanctify ing influence our faith, our prayers, our hopes, are vain.'

Now the epithet feudal, as every one is aware, applies strictly to such family or party confederacies as league in warfare one against another: to talk, therefore, of feudal affection under the Father of All,' independent of the phraseological impropriety of such a speech, is not quite compatible with the principles of the Christian Faith as reflected through the medium of the established Church. We merely recommend to notice the remaining portion of the extract; and now, instead of dwelling upon merely verbal incongruities, with which these pages abound, let us take a score lines together, and look at the gross violations of syntax, deficient acquaintance with the meaning of terms used, and the frivolity of observation which they throughout evince.

• From the western tower arose a small but elegant spire, which, tapering from its base, till it ended in what appeared a sharp point, seemed from its direction to lift the thoughts above, and

"Point the way to heaven."

This tower, in which also the bells were suspended, was placed at the western end, and was at once light and durable. It was surmounted at the four angles by as many square parapets, which diverged at the top into irregular cones: the buttresses projecting from the north and south corners of it widened in their descent; and in a few irregular places were stuck some rude sculpturings of grotesque heads and figures of anomalous animals, whilst one of them on the northern side was protruded like a spout in the form of a fabulous dragon. Corresponding with these were placed, beneath the cavings of the roof, several rude stones of the likeness of the heads of fawns and satyrs, and martyrs and confessors.'

The spire broadest at its base!-the bells suspended in the tower!the western tower placed at the western end! -surmounted at the four angles by square parapets! - by square parapets which DIVERGED at the top into IRREGULAR CONES!new-discovered figure, certainly, from which may be deduced, peradventure, a new species of geometry. The buttresses wider at bottom than at top!: -an anomalous animal that protruded like a spout! like a spout in the form of a fabulous dragon! -to correspond with which, were placed beneath the eavings, sundry rude stones of the likeness of the heads of fawns and satyrs, and martyrs and confessors. This description, taken as a sample of our polite literature, manufactured, as the author tells us, in conformity with the taste of the present day,' admirable as it is, and satisfy, as in itself it might do, every one who is desirous to become acquainted with the capacity of the writer, still, we can hardly refrain from adding a few gravely moralizing lines on the rude initials carved in the church-porch.

How many an autograph was there, indented in rude misshapen letters, which might afford to the curious in kaligraphy a practical study, and convince the vain race of manual scribblers

that,

that, even with all their boast of fame, the time will come when "they must lie down in the grave," unnoted and unknown.' The book contains fourteen chapters severally posied as follows, -'A Domestic Sketch,- A Village Church, An Old and: Young Squire, Friendship and Affection, Faith and Practice, -Feelings, The Stranger, The Seventeenth Article,-) Trials, Reprobation, Pastoral Visitings, A Recapitulation, -Retribution, The Lord's Day.'- Some scraps of poetry are occasionally brought in, which, for the most part, rank somewhere below the mean. On certain doctrinal points On certain doctrinal points a rather dogmatic tone has been assumed; and even the clergy themselves come in for a little lecturing, particularly in the chapter on Reprobation.'

-

The sending abroad as fugitives whom nobody owns, such productions of the press as The Village Pastor' and many of its companions, is a fashion we deprecate; inasmuch as it serves to bring forward, and that under a disguise which is imposing, a literary issue basely begotten, seeking countenance from a dubious aspect and implied connection with popular characters. - We shall never, till obliged, persuade ourselves to believe that the work we have just read originated from any professional limb of the church; and, for the present, we set it down as a juvenile essay; probably, although the masculine pronoun be used in the preface, it is a theme which has engaged the pen of some rural young lady of a rather enthusiastic cast, from which impression we have treated it somewhat more leniently than we might have otherwise done.

Art. 22. The Hermit in Italy, or Observations on the Manners and Customs of Italy; being a Continuation of the Sketches of French Manners, by M. de Jouy. 3 Vols. 12mo. 18s. Boards. Whittaker. 1825.

The French work, whence these three volumes are translated, was noticed at length in our civth volume, p. 519. By the similarity of title, of decoration, of form, and of manner, and the intimation in the title-page, that this is a continuation of M. Jouy's Sketches of French Manners, we were led erroneously to attribute both books to the same author; though we hinted, at the close of our article, a strong suspicion that the writer must have been in the employment of the imperial government of Bonaparte. We have since learnt that M. Jouy is not the writer to whom these pages may be ascribed: but they are very amusing; and if they approach somewhat nearer to faded recollections than to fresh observations; or if they fill up the chasms of memory with more of fiction than M. Jouy introduces, yet they notice much that has hitherto not been observed, and deserve the attention of the reading public.

The translator has permitted himself to make some suppressions and some corrections in the work: but we should have preferred an entire text, and the substitution of critical notes for arbitrary insertions. He probably did not attend personally to the correction of his proof-sheets, as many proper names are mis-spelt, and the Italian mottoes to the chapters are frequently so much disfigured by the printer as to be almost unintelligible.

Wood

Wood-cuts, which illustrate the objects described, are appended" as vignettes to the several chapters of the original: but these, for obvious reasons, could not be employed to decorate the transla tion; which, no doubt, will be continued, since an additionalvolume has been lately published in France, a version of which is desirable to complete this series of topographical descriptions. Art. 23. The Hermit Abroad. By the Author of the Hermit in London, and Hermit in the Country. Vols. III. and IV. 12mo. Boards. Colburn.

The two preceding portions of this lively work were noticed in our ciid volume, p. 278; and we think that the Hermit gains by wandering from his cell, for he becomes more at his ease in the world, less bitter in his sarcasm, and fuller of the gentle affections. A rage for quibble, however, has grown on him, and he is constantly setting pun-traps; turning one phrase for the return in the next. Moreover, he is not wholly free from repetitions of the same trains of idea, however varied may be the expression of them. As there is an order of time, the neglect of which offends in án historian, so there is an order of space, the neglect of which offends in a tourist. He should travel in a balloon, who "modo me Thebis modo me ponit Athenis," or the imagination is offended with the abrupt dislocation of idea. The present Hermit sometimes inflicts this unwelcome misplacement of the thoughts: as in the third volume, where the chapter intitled The Galley-Slave Fays the scene at Genoa, when the previous and subsequent chapters domesticate the reader in France. These little blemishes would be easily remedied by shifting the order of the chapters..

The author of this work, apparently a native of Scotland, is obviously the imitator of M. Jouy;, from whom not only the title but the form of the work is borrowed; and to whom he is indebted for many specific hints. Few imitators, however, approach nearer to the merit of their originals than the present; and if he manifests rather less of political liberality, or of moral tolerance, than the writings of the French philosopher display, he perhaps evinces more of genuine feeling and genuine piety. Those who are about to travel in France will do well to consult his observations; as a warning against those peculiarities of manner which expose Englishmen to the displeasure of foreigners, as well as to the vindictive scourge of ridicule, or the mortifying stare of scorn.

CORRESPONDENCE..

G. D. C. will please to accept our thanks for his suggestion on the subject of Irish affairs, in which we beg leave to say he was anticipated; and will, it is presumed, derive the satisfaction he wishes from the dispassionate and unbiassed course of discussion on the topics connected with this great question which our subsequent numbers will contain.

We beg to inform W. H. of Sunderland that the subject of his letter is under consideration.

THE

MONTHLY REVIEW,

For JUNE, 1825.

ART. 1. The History of Italy, from the Fall of the Western Empire to the Commencement of the Wars of the French Revolution. By George Perceval, Esq. 2 Vols. 8vo. Whittaker.

1825.

Το o Mr. Hallam is the merit to be assigned of having first brought the subject of Italian history, during the middle ages, before the English reader; and we should have difficulty in naming any historical essay, on a narrow scale, in which philosophical reflection and lucid compression of facts have been more happily blended than in his single chapter on Italy. It, however, embraces only about five centuries; and the plan of the work has, for the most part, restricted the author to allusion in place of narrative. We agree with Mr. Perceval, that some previous acquaintance with Italian history is necessary before the value of Mr. Hallam's reflections can be appreciated;' and we have accordingly turned with some interest to the present volumes to observe how far they are calculated to supply that information.

With regard to arrangement, Mr. P. has endeavored to break his chapters into distinct periods, wherever the course of events would furnish natural resting places in the narrative. When these have been wanting, he has divided his subject according to the mere chronology of centuries or half centuries. His first chapter opens with the Fall of the Western Empire, and closes with the Coronation of the Emperor Otho the Great. On this brief but laborious passage over five dark centuries, in scarcely more than sixty pages, we have little to remark. It attempts to narrate the successive settlement of the Goths, the Lombards, and the Franks in the dominion of Italy; the rise and growth of ecclesiastical and papal power; and the dawn of the long glories of Venice.' So much having been here attempted in such narrow limits, what was intended to be done has not been quite satisfactorily performed. The next chapter deserves more commendation. It describes the great struggle for ecclesiastical investitures between the empire and the papacy; the growth of independence in the Lombard cities; the settleVOL. CVII.

I

ment

ment of the Normans and their dynasty in southern Italy; and the Progress of the Maritime Republics of Venice, Pisa, and Genoa: the whole closing with the Peace of Constance (A.D. 1183), which established the liberties of Lombardy. The foundation of republican constitutions in the cities of that great province is obscure; and Mr. P. has not made it more clear: but, when he enters on the long and glorious contest for freedom which Milan and her allies fearlessly prosecuted against the imposing array of the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa, he displays great vigor and animation. We shall extract his description of the battle of Legnano, the Marathon of Lombardy.

Six years had passed before Frederic could again lead his forces into Italy; and two years more, in which he sacrificed another army to the murderous influence of climate, were consumed in indecisive hostilities with the Lombard league, before his unbending spirit would receive the lessons of misfortune and chastisement. At length was fought that memorable battle, which was to confirm the independence of Lombardy, and to put the finishing stroke to the humiliation of her oppressor.

It was in the spring of the year 1176 that Frederic, having received large reinforcements from Germany, and collected all the troops which he could previously bring into the field, advanced for the last time into the territory of Milan, at the head of a formidable army. The Milanese on their part had not neglected to avail themselves of the cessation of hostilities during the winter, to prepare for the struggle of the campaign. They had formed two bodies of chosen cavalry; the one a devoted band of nine hundred men, who had sworn to die for their country rather than to yield ground to the enemy; the other of three hundred youths of the first families of the republic, who were bound by a similar oath to the defence of the sacred Carroccio. The rest of the citizens were divided into six great masses of infantry under the banners of the several quarters in the city. When intelligence was learnt of the approach of Frederic, the republic had not yet received the expected succours from all their confederates. The militia of Placentia, with a handful of the chosen troops of Verona, Brescia, Vercelli, and Novaria, were the only allied force which had effected their junction. But the Milanese boldly led out the Carroccio from their gates, and advanced to encounter the imperial army on the plain of Legnano, within less than fifteen miles of their capital. As the two armies approached, a skirmish of cavalry soon brought on a general engagement; and the German chivalry, led by the Emperor in person, made a furious charge upon the Carroccio. As they came on at the gallop, the Milanese threw themselves on their knees, commended the purity of their sacred cause to God, St. Peter, and St. Ambrose, and then, rising and unfurling their banners, bravely advanced to meet the assailants. But so impetuous and tremendous was the onset of the German chivalry,