1822.] On the Moral Speculations of Johnson and Helvetius. matured the strong genius but inordinate vanity and egotism of Montaigne, afterwards, in a more advanced and celebrated period of letters, and of arts, produced the philosophy of Helvetius, which, whatever of truth and originality may hang on its postulates, is, in its general lineaments, as destitute of dignity, stability, and elevation, as that of his predecessor. In England we find the same temperament of thought, the same gravity of deportment which, united as it was with erudition and research, shone forth in a Browne and a Taylor, expanding, at about the same periods, into the wide reaching conceptions, and the pure and philanthropic sentiments and views of a Johnson. Upon a summary review of the aggregate desert of M. Helvetius and Dr. Johnson, as speculators in the science of morals and of man, and of the tendency of their respective writings,-of the systems taught by the former,-and the moral code for the regulation of life, the correction of manners in associated communities, the elevation of character, curbing the licentiousness of passion, and the practice of humanity and every virtuous affection,-all which the lucubrations of the latter plainly inculcate and uphold,-a question will naturally suggest itself Which of them, upon a candid, impartial, and discriminative estimate of their writings, by unbiassed and intelligent posterity, by the wise, the good, and the great, and considered on the abstract basis of morals, was the greatest benefactor of the human race? Assuredly the Philosopher who laboured in his speculations, connected with ethics, to inculcate that all our perceptions and sentiments originate in the sordid and sensual influences of matter, that the views of men, of whatever description, so as they did not incommode society, or in any way disarrange the course or the order of his own happiness, were perfectly matters of indifference,-that motives of justice, of honour, of piety, of religion, had a place in the human breast no further than as they were so many perceptions of private interest and private good,-will, notwithstanding the subtilty of genius, and the extent of argument and research with which he has enforced his opinions, sink before the generous Advocate of virtuous emotions, who strove to elicit from that 399 humanity which he delineated some sparks of its better nature.-A conviction that there existed in the heart of man a principle that, under proper regimen, could expand to virtue, to a noble and generous standard of thinking, to impressions of devotional piety utterly unconnected with those sordid and feculent sources from which the other deduced all the actions and intents of man,-invigorated with sentiments and language of no common grasp, must, in the estimation of every just and accurate thinker, place such an author in the scale of human worth, incomparably on an eminence. These revolving thoughts occupied with considerable intenseness the faculties of my mind. Sunk in reverie, I saw delineated in Fancy's mirror a moral world raised in its views and actions far above that with which we are daily conversant, formed in its model upon the precepts of a system of ethics to which the speculations of the Rambler may be supposed to point. I then contemplated mankind as influenced entirely by the persuasion that every moral principle within us was the base offspring of mercenary views, and that the automaton Man was the creature of laws and of contingency; and whilst, on the one hand, I could discern the world improving in elevated and liberal views as it advanced in knowledge, I saw, on the other, ignoble pursuits and pleasures, upon the specious plea of moral and metaphysical necessity, universally prevailing. Roused at length from my lethargy, I once more looked out upon those objects which in ample but rude luxuriance variegated the prospect beneath me. The sky, cloudless after the late storm, already reflected the dusky shades of evening; the Western horizon yet glowed with the ruddy streaks of a departed Sun, whose refracted beams still illumined the tops of the distant hills; the sequestered knolls which diversified the bosom of the valley were half enveloped in the gloom of approaching night; and the tinklings of the sheep-bell merged at length into that silence which reigned unbroken over the expanse. As I wandered over the scene, I reverted to the parallels which had just now suggested themselves between the world of Physics and the world of Ethics. The fierce ebullitions of man's ambition 400 Literary Retrospections.-Hint to Correspondents. ambition and unbounded lust of conquest have, by an ingenious excursion of fancy, been thought to resemble storms and earthquakes, and the greater convulsions of Nature. As in the latter of these instances, so in the former the desolating effects that break in upon the tranquillity which before pervaded the order of things, after a lapse of time, pass gradually away, and the grand system of animate and inanimate being recovers the shocks by which it was torn and disorganized; whereas a series of speculations elaborately founded on metaphysical argument, and sent into the world to weaken the restraints and level the boundaries of vice and virtue, aims to pervert the moral thinking of all mankind, casts a lasting stain on humanity, and, in its results, seems fraught with indefinite and incalculable mischiefs. The Moon now rose in august but pensive majesty, and stealing with soft effulgence o'er the fading objects of creation, again unfolded, under a new aspect, a universe of objects which, obscured in the dusky shades of evening, had already begun to live only in imagination. Her light gleamed with tremulous motion upon the calm but undulating waters of the lake, so recently agitated by storms; the mirror of whose surface now reflected the various images of surrounding objects. The mysterious solemnity of the approaching hour hushed the soul to silence and seriousness, and inspired a feeling of expansive philanthropy for all who had contributed, by their example or their precepts, to exalt the energies of the soul to purer thinking. I retired from the window, and finally left an apartment in which circumstances had opened a train of thought interesting to my mind, and intrinsically high and important. Melksham. Mr. URBAN, IT E. P. May 2. T has always been a matter of surprise to me, that, after so many of our best writers have insisted on the importance of paying due attention towards attaining one of the most elegant and singularly valuable of acquirements, viz. Letter-writing,―that, with a very great proportion of those to whom the education of youth is entrusted, it should not be an object of [May, greater consideration than it is. The very frequent instances of the effects of this negligence cannot but be apparent to all persons of observation, and to the thinking and considerate must certainly prove a cause of regret, whether the defect be discovered in the man of business or of pleasure, as it is a decided requisite for a gentleman; and considered in this light, I imagined your Magazine would be the most suitable place for one or two observations I had to make on the subject. I am far from attempting a regular essay on the art of Epistolary Correspondence; my present object is, by describing a practice to which I have resorted, and from which I derive great benefit, to enable those of your readers that may be inclined to the experiment, to remove one or two impediments to the regularity of a correspondence, to carry it on more effectively and more agreeably to all concerned in it. The little leisure and opportunity I have ever had for writing Letters has lately (from circumstances with which it is not necessary that you should be acquainted) been woefully decreased; and regular correspondence with two or three friends abroad, which I had hitherto preserved with a little exertion, now began to droop, and would have been eventually discontinued, but for the following expedient, which, after much perplexing deliberation, I fortunately hit upon, and which I now offer for the benefit of any similarly circumstanced. On a large sheet of paper assigned for the purpose, with a column on the left hand for dates, I transcribe, at convenient opportunity, whatever may offer itself worthy of transmission, taking care to note the day on the margin. Five minutes employed in this way every other day, or at periods suited to the inclination or necessity of the correspondent, will in a little time produce a very prolific Letter, thus assuming the form of a journal of events, &c. selected as interesting to the party for whom it is intended. The following are among some of the most important advantages which accrue from the use of the method. 1. Never finding yourself at loss for matter, from writing only when you have something worthy of transmittal. 2. Not getting tired or careless of your 1822.] Willymoteswick Castle, Northumberland. your work towards its conclusion, which must happen to the most attentive correspondent writing a long letter at one time. 3. Avoiding the danger of omitting any thing which it would be desirable to preserve; an accident which frequently happens when many subjects are taken into consideration together. 4. The chief obstacle to the regularity of a correspondence is the disinclination felt in beginning a Letter which you know will occupy you some hours at least in the completion. This will be surmounted by the use of the above plan. If objection be made to the form which will be given to a Letter written in this way, the objector should consider, that when the materials are thus collected, they may easily be connected and arranged in any way more congenial with his taste. And that in the event of his adopting the practice with this modification, much labour would be saved by merely noting down as they occur the heads of such topics as he may desire to embrace; this will necessarily require a continued application at some time when they are transcribed,- -a thing which my original method goes to supersede. Before I conclude, it may be well to state that I consider no character is a more valuable member of society than an attentive and intelligible Correspondent, a title which it has always been my ambition to deserve, but to which your readers will I fear very reluctantly admit my claim. S.X. WILLYMOTESWICK CASTLE, CO. NORTHUMBERLAND*. For the sake of avoiding quotations as 401 of the antient Castle of Willymotes- now Willowmont." The willow-tree, "Willy, Willy Waeshale! This place is pleasantly seated on a woody knoll, at the meeting of the South Tyne and Blackcleugh-burn. The farm offices and foundations of walls show that in former times it had been an extensive fortress. Of its early history little is known. "Hudard de Willimothwic" is witness to a grant of land in "Witelaw" to the canons of Hexham, by Adam de Tindale in the time of Henry II. also "Vdard de Willimoteswick," the same person, occurs in a deed respecting Nunwick, in the same reign. It does not occur in the list of castles and towers in Northumberland made out about the year 1460; though the family of Ridley were then in possession of the estate, and their name is not unfrequent in private muniments, re that time. Odard de Ridley is a witness to a deed respecting Slaging Ford in Knaresdale, in 1280; Nicholas de Ridley to an entail of the manor of Weliamston and other property, in 1353; and Hugh de Redley occurs in the "Hiis testibus" of deeds about the manors of Haltwhistle and Colanwode, in 1372, and about lands in Redesdale, 2 Ric. II. 1378. The Survey of the Borders made Dec. 2, 1542, says: "At Wyllymountswyke ys a good toure and a stone house ioyninge thereunto of the inherytaunce |