At the village of Maloni, near Rouen, was a very large cotton manufactory, where Mr. Deane, an Englishman, has erected a handsome factory of brick and slate, in appearance like those near Manchester. We were informed that it cost 300,000 francs in building. Another factory belonged to a Mr. Halme, and a third to a Mr. Adlam. They have also steam engines, and large dyehouses and bleaching yards. All these improvements have taken place since the Revolution; and so has the high cultivation of the lands. The husbandman, instead of being compelled, as under the old regime, to carry the chief part of the produce of his labours to the great lord or master of the chateau, being now owner of his little farm, can work for himself and family, which consideration sweetens all his toils. The sale of the national lands has produced a new race of men, active, intelligent, and industrious; who, by this new impulse, have converted what was lying waste and unproductive into fine verdure, gardens, and establishments for trade and manufacture.'

Arrived at Paris, the author went to see the ruins of the Bastile, but found that scarcely a wreck of it was left:

In the place of it, a noble design was formed by the late Emperor, which is partly executed. As the Bastile had once been the misery and terror of the Parisians, so he now resolved to make its scite a source of comfort and pleasure. A circular platform of stone is erected on four arches over a canal, formerly running through the fosse of the Bastile. On the top of this is to be placed a bronze figure of an elephant, fifty feet high. I saw a plaster model of it, of the intended size, in a shed just by. I measured the hind legs, and found them twenty feet round; they are to be hollow, and the water is to pass from the canal through them into the body of the elephant, and from thence be spouted out of the trunk in two streams, as a fountain, into a large circular bason beneath the elephant, which is to be lined with fine white marble brought from Flanders, and which was then on the spot working; leaden pipes are to convey this water into every citizen's house; a great accommodation to a town where water is so scantily supplied. This large reservoir measures 303 feet round. One of the front legs of the elephant is to contain a circular staircase, leading to the top of the tower on its back; we went down another circular staircase, which leads to a grotto beneath, and from thence to the banks of the canal, under arches like those at the back of Sidney-Gardens at Bath.'

The account of the Museum of the Louvre, at p. 34., and again at p. 49., is unsatisfactorily concise; while that of Versailles, at pp. 64. and 82., serves, as Mr. W. says, to exhibit only a picture of fallen greatness: the palace never having been restored since it was dilapidated at the Revolution, though Napoleon had made some efforts to re-establish it, with the view of residing there.

On visiting the heights of Montmartre, the scene of the last battle, Mr. W. says: Judge of our surprize when we came there, to behold nothing but fields of corn and grass in high verdure. We looked amongst the trees for the marks of bullets or cannon-balls, not a vestige could we see; no dead bodies, nor any thing that demonstrated a battle. We observed a lime-kiln, near the spot, and

seeing a man at work, we went to him for information. He had been in the battle, shewed us where the French took their posts on the heights, and where the Allies advanced through the valley. Where we then stood, he said, was the hottest scene. The only discovery we made was of a large plantation of black currant trees with unripe fruit on them, of which I suspect the French make very free in the composition of their light wines.

We ventured to ask our Ciceroni a question or two more. • What is become of the dead bodies?' "Why, Sir, the very next morning after the battle, the farmers and many workmen began digging holes, into which they threw thirty or forty bodies at a time, and then covered them up, and began ploughing and sowing immediately." How many lives do you suppose were lost on this occasion?' "" "From 18 to 25,000.' How many Generals were killed?' "Generals! there were no Generals with the army, they were all in Paris at the time: it was all left to the captains and inferior officers!" The Marshals and Generals were all the while negociating an arrangement for the surrender of Paris.'

More than once, Mr. Wansey expresses his conviction of the stability of the present order of things, under the mild government of an amiable king, supported by the vigorous management of Talleyrand, Fouche, and Montesquieu. Fouche, however, if we mistake not, has been displaced since the author thus wrote; and, if we can trust to recent information, there has lately been unfortunately less reason to rely on the prospect for the future.

Of Amiens, Mr. W. speaks as so many other tourists have spoken; observing that provisions are very cheap, and that a family may keep a carriage, and live in a very handsome style, for 300l,

a-year.'

To the concluding letter, the writer has added a postscript longer than the letter itself, and containing various general observations and statements more interesting than the greater part of the work. We are sorry that we have not room for the substance of them.. - As an introduction, moreover, he has prefixed a neat and striking summary of the principal facts connected with the French Revolution, exhibiting its most extraordinary features, and its often contradictory results. Why, however, does he adopt the remark, that "if these events do not convince the people of France of a God, nothing will?" Is a series of the most astonishing convulsions of states, and the butchery of millions of human beings, ending in a restoration of things to nearly their former state, and consequently effecting no great object, to be adduced as an efficacious argument in proof of the particular superintendence of an all-wise and benevolent Being?

Art. 16. Mon Journal d' Huit Jours, or the History of a Week's Absence from Maidstone, and of a Visit to France, in September 1814. By the Rev. W. R. Wake, A.M. Curate of the said Parish. 8vo. 28. Published at Maidstone.

An almost puerile relation of trifling incidents, though referable to amiable feelings, introduces this familiar narrative of a brief excursion; in which Mr. Wake travelled no farther in France than from Calais to Boulogne. He relates, however, a number of little inci

dents

dents in a lively style, and his pamphlet will afford half an hour's amusement. In so limited a stay and sphere, much general remark cannot be expected: but Mr. W. concurs with other informants as to the opinion still entertained of Bonaparte:

I perceived on inquiry amongst every order of people to whom I had access, that Bonaparte is not contemplated in general throughout France with that abhorrence and detestation with which we are often taught to consider him in England. They do not disguise their sufferings and privations; but still cherish those sentiments that always actuate the bosom of a Frenchman; who in every situation, whether monarchical or republican, prefers to all things the glory of la grande nation. His failure and his fall are always mentioned with a degree of regret.'

We are glad to find this gentleman agreeing also with others in stating the improved condition of the stage and post-horses in France. Though their equipment as to harness is still deplorable, they are represented as in good condition, well treated, and fully equal to their work; and, though the crack of the whip is perpetually sounding, the lash seldom actually reaches their sides. We join with him, too, in wishing that another instance of French humanity, in the practice of killing oxen by pithing, could be rendered an object of imitation in this country.

Several of Mr. Wake's little adventures are of a humorous kind, and might perhaps be introduced into a drama, if Sam. Foote were alive to write a new "Englishman at Paris,"

RELIGIOUS.

Art. 17. The Velvet Cushion. By J. W. Cunningham, A. M. Vicar of Harrow. Third Edition. 12mo. 5s. Boards.

and Davies. 1814.

Cadell

Such is the frivolous taste of the age, that nothing serious will attract unless it be inveloped in the drapery of fiction, and insinuated, as it were by stealth, under the semblance of a Novel. Mr. Cunningham has contrived to exhibit a very talkative, communicative Pulpit-cushion, which narrates its various fortunes and changes from the era of our popish Mary, when it first figured away in splendour in a Catholic chapel, down to the present times, when it graces the pulpit of one of our small parish-churches near the lakes in Westmorland. This Cushion is introduced to our notice with much humour; and the MS. of its history, which is said to have been found in its lining by the present aged vicar of the parish, is, on its discovery, perused with appropriate remarks by the old clergyman and his wife. As the Cushion has witnessed all the changes in religion which this country has experienced since the reign of Mary, it has a long story to tell, which is told in a very lively and entertain-ing manner.

The splendours of the Catholic worship, the religion of Charles I., of Oliver and his Independents, of Charles II. and his profligate court, of the Dissenters and the Methodists, and particularly of the Reformers of our present Established Church, furnish subjects for animadversion in these pages. Mr. C. has employed the Velvet

Cushion

Cushion to deliver his own religious sentiments respecting the overgorgeous trappings of Popery on the one hand, and the frigid nakedness of dissent on the other; and he represents the Church of England, established at the Reformation, as a happy medium between the two extremes. We unite with him in highly applauding the Reformers: but, as they never arrogated to themselves the privilege of inspiration, we should not arrogate it for them; and, though they did much, they certainly did not accomplish every thing. It would be easy to produce another Velvet Cushion in reply to this; and we should not be surprised to see Cushion versus Cushion; since Mr. Cunningham's theological velvet will not feel soft to all fingers. Indeed, the tale proves nothing it confutes no heresy: it establishes no doctrine. The Episcopal bench will not feel any gratitude to the author for solemnly placing a fiction on the altar of the Established Church; and, as he has been so severe on the Catholics, they will probably take their revenge by calling his Velvet Cushion the Protestant Legend. Still it is, on the whole, calculated to produce a good effect on our established clergy, by stimulating them to be true Christian pastors to their flocks; and we are glad to find that it is a fashionable book.

Art. 18. ATenet of the Millennium; or of the First Resurrection to the Reign of Christ upon Earth for a Thousand Years. By E. L. Crown 8vo. 35. sewed. Rees. 1813.

We would rather be excused from giving our opinion in cases of this sort but, when writers vainly attempt to explain matters which are far beyond their capacity, we must honestly tell them that they labour to no purpose. The author of this rambling treatise com mences by raising expectations of making some great discovery: but, the farther he proceeds, the less he proves; and he leaves the reader, at the end, just as wise as he found him.

Art. 19. Rural Discourses, by William Clayton, of Saffron Walden. 2 Vols. 12mo. 8s. sewed. Black, Parry, and Co. 1814. For rural discourses Mr. Clayton has selected a number of very appropriate subjects, viz. The Ground cursed with Thorns and Briers, Ploughing, Sowing, Fallowing, Manuring, Harrowing, Weeding, Reaping, Harvesting, Gleaning, Thrashing, Winnowing, Grinding, &c. &c; and he declares it to be his most cherished wish to be usefully employed in the sequestered spot where God has appointed him to labour. We have no doubt of the purity and piety of his motives; and, though he modestly professes to follow others haud passibus aquis, (erroneously written in the preface, haud equis passibus,) we think that his ingenuity in discovering similitudes, and cer tainly his orthodoxy, will not be surpassed by any who have preceded him in this humble walk of instruction. Mr. C. means to use plain and familiar illustration, and to make the objects and employments of rural life to suggest religious wisdom. A short passage or two must suffice as specimens:

While you are occupied in cleansing and cultivating your land, remember, further, that worse weeds and more bitter barrenness disgrace your hearts. Thorns and thistles are here put for all weeds

in

in our fields, the darnel, the tare, the wild oat, the carlick, the hemlock, and the couch-grass, all address you; they tell you thus fruitful in evil are your minds; nor, until cultivated by Divine grace, will they yield more pleasant fruits or a better crop. Believest thou this? Has a conviction of this fact ever occasioned the tear of regret? Have you yet implored a new heart, and pleaded that cheering promise, that he will turn the wilderness into a fruitful field ?—

Deeply must the ploughshare be driven; in different directions must the furrows be made, and again cross and intersect each other: the harrow is used to collect the remains of weeds, to break the clods of earth, and loosen the soil; and, in fine, no effort is omitted to expose the ground fully to the various influences of the seasons and the weather.

No attempt to cleanse the heart, however difficult or disagreeable, is intentionally neglected by the sincere believerno effort is relied upon; all is in concurrence with and subservient to the expected influences of heaven.'

In the application of rural incidents to spiritual purposes, these discourses have merit, and will probably afford not less amusement than profit to the sort of readers for whom they are intended. To make the objects of nature morally eloquent has been the aim of many sages:

"And this our life exempt from public haunt,

Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing.'

Shakspeare. To the sermon on Grinding, the subsequent informing note is subjoined:

It is not a little singular, that the resources of our own country, as affording the best stone for grinding, were not known till within these few years. Mill-stones were formerly imported from France, and are called burrs. This necessary article, the French burr, being difficult to procure during the war, a person, a miller by trade, passing by the great rock of Abbey Craig, near Stirling, examined the texture of several masses of the stone, and found one species which appeared to him fit for the grinding of wheat; he brought home a sample, which he shewed to some competent judge. It was agreed that trial should be made of a pair. On being worked, they gave such satisfaction to the customers of the mills, as induced the Alloa Mill Company to discontinue the use of the French burr. Its supe rior excellence is so apparent, that upwards of sixty pairs are already at work in this kingdom, and the demand for them is daily increasing. This happy discovery evinces that good is educed from evil; that each country may be considered as yielding articles essentially necessary; and finally, the mild and humane regulation of the Scriptures is accounted for: "No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge; for he taketh a man's life to pledge."-Deut. xxiv. 6.— No necessary of life might be taken in pawn.3

Art. 20. The Proofs of Christianity. 12mo. 28. Mawman. Whatever merit belongs to the design of this small work, very little praise can be extended to the execution of it.

Even the answer