Art. 41. The Sunday School Miscellany, Vol. I. Williams and Smith. 12mo. Boards. Our next generation, both of the rich and of the poor, ought to be very good and very pious; for numerous efforts are made to im bue their tender minds with religious principles. This compilation, designed for the use of Sunday Schools, is well intended, but it promises to be too prolix. Twelve numbers constitute the present volume, including the history of a Sunday School, Dialogues, Anecdotes. and Juvenile Hymns. In the second volume, an abridgment of Pilgrim's Progress is promised. Let the compiler recollect that, in Sunday School education, knowlege must be snatched, not taken;" and therefore that brevity should be consulted. Mo-y. Art. 42. Alfred and Galta; or, the History of two Brothers. By J. Campbell. Small 8vo. pp. 175. 2S. Williams and Smith. The principal object of this tale seems to be to instil into the minds of young persons those rigid religious principles which are usually termed methodistic; and a secondary motive, to give the reader an unfavourable opinion of the doctrine and practice of the church of Rome. Of the mode of composition, we cannot in any way approve; whatever methode may be taken to speak favourably of one religious mode of thinking, and unfavourably of another, the present is very improper; temperate discussion, and not partial colouring, is the only legitimate method. Abating, however, its religious cast in both sentiment and language, the tale is well told; and from the apt manner in which some of the elements of general knowlege are introduced, it may be useful to young people. Art. 43. Tales for Children, in a Familiar Style; by Maria Joseph Crabb. 8vo. pp. 188. 2s. 6d. half bound. Darton and Harvey. Simple and entertaining tales are here conveyed in a familiar and appropriate style; and their tendency is to promote the moral improvement of the reader. The general merit of the publication, therefore, renders it worthy of a place in the Nursery Book-case. MISCELLANEOUS. Art. 44. The Rights of Stock Brokers defended against the Attacks of the City of London, or Arguments to shew that Persons, buying or selling Stock only by Commisssion, do not come within the meaning of the Word Broker, mentioned in the 6 Anne, c. 16. To which is added a Statement of the Proceedings on this Subject in the Court of Requests. By Francis Bailey, of the StockExchange. 8vo. pp. 46. Richardsons. 1806. We have here an elaborate account of the legislative provisions which respect brokers, accompanied with able comments. In the judgment of this writer, the several statutes warrant the following conclusions. 1°. That prior to the year 1697, the office and employment of a broker was defined by Act of Parliament, and well understood to be a person negotiating between merchants and tradesmen respect ing their goods, wares, and merchandize and bills of exchange 2. That on the passing of the act of 1697, a new species of trade was engrafted on the former office and employment of a broker, and which consisted W.Res. DO consisted in buying and selling Exchequer bills and tallies, Bank of En gland bills and notes, and the stock of any company incorporated by Act of Parliament or Letters Patent. 3. That on the expiration of the above act in 1707, this new employment of the broker ceased and determined; and his trade was, in consequence thereof, reduced to its ancient limits. 4. That in passing the 6th Anne c. 16, the legislature intended to include under the word broker, such as are now commonly called Exchange brokers. 5. That stock brokers could not be intended by the act, since there was no funded debt at the time whereby they could gain a livelihood. 6. That neither the 10th Anne, c. 19. s. 121, nor 7 Geo. II. c. 8. s. 9. have altered the law upon this subject, since it is plainly implied therein that other persons, besides brokers, may legally buy and sell stock, and that their evidence may be admitted in a Court of Justice. 7. That the 3 Geo. II. c. 31 still preserves the ancient idea of a broker, and defines him as in the act of James I. in 1604, to be a person nego tiating between merchants and tradesmen respecting their goods and bills of exchange. 8. And lastly, that the attempt of the city to impose this tax, or to levy the fine on any other persons than those exercising the ancient trade of a broker, is oppressive and unjust, and consequently ought to be opposed.' Against these conclusions, the decision in the case of Janssen and Green militates, which is reported in IV Burrow, p. 2103. The Judges of the Court of King's Bench there held, that the parliamentary sense of the term broker is to be collected from Sir John Bernard's act, 7 Geo. II. c. 8. s. 9.: but it is contended by Mr. Bailey in opposition to what has been ruled in this case, that the 7 Geo. II. recognizes other persons than brokers selling stock by commission; and also that the funds, in which brokers now negotiate contracts, did not exist at the time at which the act passed. The answer of lawyers to this advocate of the brokers probably would be, that the case of the parties is within the mischief which the sta. tute was intended to remedy. Art. 45 The Miseries of Human Life; or the Groans of Samuel Sensitive and Timothy Testy, with a few supplementary Sighs from Mrs. Testy. In Twelve Dialogues. 4th Edit. boards. Miller. 12mo. 85. Art. 46. More Misseries!! addressed to the morbid, the melancholy, and the irritable. By Sir Fietful Murmur, Kot. 12mo. 58. boards. Matthews and Leigh, Among the curious inventions of the present æra, we are now to reckon the manufacture of amusement out of our miseries; and this fashion seems to take, since there is already a competition in the market. Collections of miseries to be laughed at are here arranged in, a great mass : large enough, indeed, to create real distress; and, truly, in looking over these precious articles, we have had the mis. fortune to find but few that were exactly adapted to their purpose. In consequence, the general effect was rather sombrous than enlivening; and to vent our disappointment, we added the following to this magazine of miseries:" "Reading a book with the expectation of being convulsed with laughter, Jo. laughter, and having the risible muscles preserved perfect sinecures." In the first of these publications, a ready and humorous appli cation of classical reading often occurs in the quotations: though/ here the wit too often centres in a pun. Art. 47. Effusions of Love, from Chatelar to Mary Queen of Scot land. Translated from a Gallic Manuscript in the Scotch College at Paris. Interspersed with Songs, Sonnets, and Notes explanatory, by the Translator. 12mo. PP. 157. 5. Boards. Chapple If apostrophes and inversions, and points of admiration and interrogation, and broken sentences, and a profusion of asterisks, eonstituted the essential ingredients in the language of passion, these fragments would possess no common merit:-but something more is necessary, at least to touch the hearts of grey haired critics, who sicken at the sight of every flimsy and high flown effusion. The poetical scraps are in a style more simple and subdued; and stanzas like the following are highly welcomed amid the contorsions and agonies of prose: The Picture of my Queen. Ah, wou'dst thou see the azure sky, The damask tinge her cheeks disclose. The same picture in prose, in a subsequent passage, we conceive to be not less reprehensible in a moral point of view than the publi cation of those prints which are, from time to time,. proscribed by the agents of a salutary police. As we glory in the liberty of the press, so we feel indignant at every attempt to prostitute such an invaluable blessing. If the editor should favour us with the still unpublished transcripts relative to David Rizzio, to which he alludes, we would seriously exhort him to insert nothing that can excite the warm imaginations of the young, or alarm the delicacies of chastity. and virtue. CORRE Mo-y. Muir. Rule CORRESPONDENCE. In our last Number, p. 429. we took notice of a pamphlet on the use of Mercury, by Dr. Philip Wilson, of Worcester, and found ourselves obliged to speak of it in terms that were not very favorable. We have since received a Letter from Dr W. in which he generally admits the propriety of our animadversions, but wishes to state to the public some circumstances in explanation. We therefore make the following extract from his letter: Excuse my addressing you in consequence of the severe, though I must confess in a great degree just censure passed by you on my observations on the use and abuse of Mercury. The truth is, they were not written either for the eye of the Physician or the Critic, but intended as an address to the unlettered part of the public of this neighbourhood, with a view to do away their prejudices with respect to this medicine, which often opposed an insuperable obstacle to its employment. With respect to what is said of its internal use, I was anxious, as far as truth would permit, to yield to their prejudices, that I might not by attempting too much, wholly fail of obtaining my object. It appeared to me that should a person acquainted with medicine read these observations, the following sentence would sufficiently qualify this part of them. "There are some cases where powerful means are required to rouse the bowels to action, or a strong stimulus applied to their enhaling vessels is beneficial." How many cases this sentence includes, you are aware. I feel much hurt, and indeed ashamed, that these observations should be considered as a serious treatise on the use and abuse of mercury. I thought the circumstances of their being addressed to the public, and the style in which they are written, would have secured me against this; although it now appears to me that I should have taken some farther precautions.' On this exculpation, we shall only say Valeat quantum valere potest. L. C. K. is received: but we have not yet had time to look into the tract in question; nor do we perceive that we can with propriety interfere in a question of a local nature, on which we have no means of forming a just and decisive opinion. We shall very soon be able to gratify the wishes of X. Y. Z. In the last No. p. 87, the price of Art. IX. should be 11. 118. 68. P. 397, l. 16, for it,' read d. P. 431, l. 16, from bottom, formined,' read ruined. The APPENDIX to Vol. LI. N. S. of the MONTHLY REVIEW is published with this Number, and contains a variety of articles in FOREIGN LITERATURE, with the General Title, Table of Contents, and Index, for that Volume. Ensors, Mr. 4, 18, 43, 46, 63, 64, 73, 90, 112. THE MONTHLY REVIEW, For FEBRUARY, 1807. ART. I. The History of the Manners, Landed Property, Government, 108. 6d. has been often objected to History, that it is chiefly occupied with the schemes of the disturbers and the atchievements of the destroyers of mankind; and that it does not condescend particularly to notice the state and circumstances under which the great mass of the people have existed, at the different periods of which it professes to treat. This remark, however, will not apply to the work before us, which forms a most interesting supplement to Mr. Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons, and will afford much pleasing information to those who are desirous of investigating the customs, manners, and attainments of our remote ancestors; while it also traces to their origin those principles of law and government which have operated, with the progress of knowlege and civilization, to the formation of the British Constitution and character. The reader must be aware that the farther the historian extends his glance to the early days of our progenitors, the less clear will be his view; and that we ought to expect from him. rather sketches and rough outlines than a finished picture. It is praiseworthy in Mr. Turner, that he does not attempt to satisfy extravagant curiosity; that he does not present phantoms for realities; and that he no where exaggerates facts, nor deduces conclusions which they do not warrant. The result of his laborious inquiries is given with care, and with accuracy; and in detailing subjects which have furnished matter for warm controversy, he has discarded theory, and has suffered documents to speak for themselves: For our account of the former volumes, see M. R. Vol. xxxiii. N. S. p. 293. and Vol. xl. N. S. p. 272. ་ • The |