than the most abandoned profligate. to maintain his brother at college, and obtain for him a living of five hundred pounds a year, and afterwards a deanery, from which he at length fucceeds to a bifhopric. In the mean time Henry marries : but, lofing the wife whom he tender In the first place, because there is no poffibility of guarding against the mifchiefs of the former, as there is of the latter; and fecondly, because young minds will be apt to imagine, that if frailty can be concealed un-ly loved, and receiving a hurt by a der falfe appearances, and the world is to be duped by the bare femblance of virtue, they may err with fafety, and defy the menaces of reproof in proportion as they are practifed in the mysteries of hypocrify. fall from a horfe, which difabled him from exercifing his profeffion, and loft him his friends,-he retires with his infant fon to an island on the coast of Africa, whence he afterwards fends his fon, recommending him to the care of his brother. And here we have a welldrawn contrast between the manners of the son of the dean, artificially educated, and the fentiments and expreffions of undif guifed nature in the fon of Henry. The latter is diftinguished for the generofity and integrity of his conduct; the former feduces the girl he pretends to love, forfakes her, marries for intereft, rifes in his profeffion, becomes a judge, and condemns and leaves for execution, without knowing her, the wretched female whom he had debauched, and first led aftray from the paths of innocence to thofe of vice, which at laft conducted her, through a feries of mifery, to a violent and ignominious death. Henry, at length, fought by his fon, is brought back to his native country, where they find the bishop dead, defpifed, and unlamented; and his fon, the judge, wretched in himself, and the object of equal deteftation and contempt to all around him. The virtuous and amiable characters of the history moralife on what they have experienced, and fpend the remainder of their days, deftitute, indeed, of wealth, and unacquainted with luxury, but truly happy from the moderation of their humble wishes. As a fpecimen of the liberality of fentiment, and acuteness of fatire, which render this ingenious tale fo widely different from the barren narratives which from time to time iffue from the press, not even excepting that pres which takes its name from, and no doubt is under the facred guardianship of, Mimerva herself, I fhall, with your permiffion, Mr. Editor, extract her account of the pamphlet written by the dean, while on the road to preferment, with the remarks made by young Henry, on that occafion. --- "Why here is provision enough for all the people," faid Henry :"why fhould they want? why do not they go and take fome of these things?" "Perhaps I have not," answered the dean, coolly. "Still Henry turned over each leaf of the book, but he could meet only with luxu rious details of the fruits of the About this period the dean earth, the beafts of the field, the birds had just published a pamphlet......of the air, and the fishes of the fea:" This pamphlet glowed with the dean's love for his country; and fuch a country as he defcribed, it was impoffible not to love. "Salubrious air, fertile fields, wood, water, corn, grafs, fheep, oxen, "They must not," said the fish, fowl, fruit, and vegeta-dean. "unless they were their own." oles," were difperfed with the moft prodigal hand-valiant men, pretty women; ftatefmen wife and juft; tradesmen abounding in merchandife and money; husbandmen poffeffing peace, eafe, plenty and all ranks liberty." This brilliant description, while the dean read the work to his family, fo charmed poor Henry, that he repeatedly cried out, "I am glad I came to this country." But it fo happened that a few days after, lady Clementina, in order to render the delicacy of her tafte admired, could eat of no one difh upon the table, but found fault with them all. The dean at length faid to her : "What!" uncle, does no part of the earth, nor any thing which the earth produces, belong to the poor ?" "Certainly not!" "Why did you not say so, then, in your pamphlet ?" Becaufe it is what every body knows." "Oh, then, what you have faid in your pamphlet is only whatnobody knows." "There appeared to the dean in the delivery of this fentence, a fatirical acrimony which his irritability as an author could but ill forgive. "An author, it is faid, has more acute feelings in refpect to his works, than any artift in the world befides. "Henry had fome cause, on the Indeed you are too nice-re-prefent occafion, to think this obflect upon the hundreds of poor fervation juft; for no fooner had creatures who have not a morfel or he fpoken the foregoing words, than a drop of any thing to fubfift upon, his uncle took him by the hand out except bread and water; and even of the room; and leading him to of the first a icanty allowance, but his ftudy, there he enumerated his for which they are obliged to toil various faults, and having told him fix days in the week, from fun to "it was for all those, too long fun." permitted with impunity, and pot merely for the prejent impertinence, that he meant to puniff. him," ordered him to close confinement Pray, uncle," cried Henry, "in what country do thefe poor people live ?" VOL. XXVII. finement in his chamber for a week." The opinion of our authorefs, relative to the value of that artificial education which is thought to be of fuch great importance in artificial life, may be collected from the following paffage. "Young William (the fon of the dean) paffed, his time, from morning till night, with, perfons who taught him to walk, to ride, to talk, to think like a man—a foolish man, instead of a wife child, as nature defigned him to be "This unfortunate youth was never permitted to have one conception of his own-all was taught him he was never once alked "what he thought ?"-but men were paid to tell him how to think." He was taught to revere fuch and fuch perfons, however unworthy of his reverence; to believe fuch and fuch things, however unworthy of his credit; and to act fo and fo, on fuch and fuch occafions, however unworthy of his feelings. his tutors' leffons to his father, and his father's to his tutors "But, whatever-he faid or did, was the admiration of all who came to the house of the dean, and who knew he was an only child. Indeed, confidering the labour that was taken to spoil him, he was rather a commendable youth; for, with the pedantic folly of his tutors, the blind affection of his father and mother, the obfequioufnefs of the fervants, and flattery of the vifitors, it was fome credit to him that he was not an ideot, or a brute-though when he imitated the manners of a man, he had fomething of the latter in his appearance; for he would grin and bow to a lady, catch her fan in hafte if it fell, and hand her to her coach, as thoroughly void of all the fentiment which gives grace to fuch tricks, as a monkey," In the course of the work the dean is reprefented as haughty, felffutlicient, and perpetually afpiring to greater preferment, by cringing to his fuperiors; a character which, undoubtedly, is fometimes to be found in the church. Yet certain critics, who, I know not exactly why, call themfelves Britife, and who are peculiarly addicted to reverence implicitly whatever is ex "Such were the leffons of the tutors, affigned him by his father Thofe mafters whom his mother gave him, did him lefs mifchief; for though they diftorted his limbs, and made his manners effeminate, they did not interfere with the in-alted in church or ftate,though ternal. "Mr. Norwynne (the family name of his father, and though but a fchool boy, he was called Mister) could talk on hiftory, on politics, and on religion, furprisingly to all who had never liftened to a parrot or a, magpie-for he merely repeated what he had heard, without one reflection upon the fenfe or probability of his report. He had been praifed for his memory, and, to continue that praife, he was fo anxious to retain every fentence he had heard, or he had read, that the poor creature had no time for one native idea, but only re-delivered they candidly admit the elegance and genuine merit of this little tale, --are greatly feandalifed at fuch free treatment of a dignitary of the church, and remark with great gravity: All that we can fay is that we know of no fuch ecclefiaftics as are here reprefented; we never heard of fuch diftinction ob. tained in the church through such a channel; and indeed throughout we are compelled to remark that the author feems to have received her information, with refpect to colleges and the clergy, from very ignorant, or, what is worfe, very malicious tongues," If this be true, all I can fay is, that thefe gentlemen feem to be very little verfed in ecclefiaftical hiftory, either ancient or modern. That they fhould never fo much as have heard of such things, is indeed extraordinary; and the clergy muft furely have become almost a different race of men from what they formerly were. I believe, however -and that without meaning to be fevere on the church, either in its ancient or prefent ftare-I believe, that very few in partial perfons will read the character of this dean and bishop, who will not readily confefs that they have heard, at least read, -not in works of invention, but in hiftories undeniably authentic-of much worse deans and bishops than thefe.. Mrs. Inchbald shows no more favour to the vices and follies of the temporal than to thofe of the fpiritual peers. An imaginary lord of the bed-chamber, and his lady, are treated as roughly as the non-existent bishop. I fhall fubjoin her character of lord and lady Bendham. "About the time that Henry and Willam quitted college, and had arrived at their twentieth year, the dean made a purchase of a small eftate in a village near to the country refidence of lord and lady Bendham; and in the total want of fociety, the dean's family were frequently honoured with invitations from the great house. "Lord Bendham, befides a good elate, poffeffed the office of a lord of the bed-chamber to his majesty. Hiftorians do not ascribe much importance to the fituation or to the talent of nobles in this department, nor fhall this little history. A lord of the bedchamber is a perfonage well known in courts, and in all capitals where courts refide; with this advantage to the inquirer, that in becoming acquainted with one of thofe noble characters, you become acquainted with all the remainder; not only with those of the fame kingdom,.but thofe of foreign na tions; for in whatever land, in whatever climate, a lord of the bed-chamber muft neceffarily be the felf-fame creature: one wholly made up of observance, of obedience, of dependence, and of imitation-a borrowed character a character formed by reflection. "The wife of this illuftrious peer, as well as himself, took her hue, like the chameleon, from furrounding objects hermanners were not governed by her mind, but were folely directed by external circumftances. At court, humble, refigned, patient, attentive-At balls, masquerades, gaming-tables, and routs, gay, fprightly, and flippant -At her, country feat, reserved, auftere, arrogant, and gloomy. "Though, in town, her timid. eye, in prefence of certain per fons, would fcarce uplift its trembling lid, fo much he felt her own infign.ficance; yet in the country, till lady Clementina arrived, there was not one being of confequence enough to fhare in her acquaintance; and the paid back to her inferiors there, all the humiliating flights, and all the mortifications, which, in London, the received from thofe to whom he was inferior. "Whether in town or country, it is but juftice to acknowledge, that in her own person fhe was strictly chafte; but in the country fhe extended that chastity even to the pe: fon of others; and the young woman who loft her virtue in the village of Anfield, had better have loft her life. Some few were now and then found hanging or drowned, while no other cause could be affigned for their defpair, than an imputation on their character, and dread of the harsh purity of lady Bendham. She would remind the parish prieftof the punishment ordained for female dishonour, and by her in Z 2 fluence "The wages of a labouring man with a wife, and half a dozen fmall children, lady bendham thought quite fufficient, ifthey would only learn a little œconomy. fluence had caused many an unhap- from debts; ftill, over their splendid, py girl to do public penance in their their profufe table, they could con own or the neighbouring churches. trive and plan excellent fchemes, "But this country rigour, in" how the poor might live most town, the could difpenfe withal; comfortably with a little better ma and like other ladies of virtue, the nagement." there vifited and received into her house the acknowledged mistresses of a man in elevated life: it was not therefore the crime, but the rank which the criminal held in fociety, that drew down lady Bendham's vengeance: fhe even carried her distinction of claffes in female error to fuch a very nice point, that the adulterous concubine of an elder brother was her moth intimate acquaintance, while the lefs guilty unmarried mistress of the younger, The would not fully her lips to exchange a word with. "You know, my lord, thofe people never want to drefs-fhoes and ftockings,a coat and waistcoat, gown and a cap, a petticoat and a hand. kerchief, is all they want-fire, to be fure, in winter-then all the rest is merely for provifion." "I'll get a pen and ink," (faid young Henry, on day when he had the honour of being at their table)" and fee what the reft amounts to." "How benevolent !" exclaimed the dean. Henry. How prudent!" exclaimed "What do you mean by prudent," afked lord Bendham. "Ex "Lord and lady Bendham's birth, education, talents, and propenfities being much on the fame fcale of "No, no accounts," cried my lord, eminence they would have been a "no fumming up: but if you were very happy pair had not one great to calculate, you must add to the misfortune intervened-The lady receipts of the poor, my gift at never bore her lord a child.-While Chriftmas Laft year, during the every cottage of the village was froft, no leis than a hundred crammed with half-ftarved children, pounds." whofe father, from week to week, from year to year, exerted his manly youth, and wafted his ftrength. in vain to protect them from hun. ger; whole mother mourned over her new-born infant as a little wretch, fent into the world, to de-plain your meaning." prive the reft of what already was too fcanty for them; in the cattle that owned every cottage, and all the furrounding land, and where one fingle day of feafting would have nourished for a month all the poor inhabitants of the parish, not one child was given to partake of the plenty: The curfe of barrennefs was on the family of the lord of the manor-the curfe of fruitfulness upon the famished poor. "This lord and lady, with an ample fortune both by inheritance and their fovereign's favour, had never yet the economy to be exempt "No, my lord," replied the dean, " do not ask for an explana. tion this youth is wholly unacquainted with our customs; and though a man in ftature, is but a child in intellects. Henry, have not I often cautioned you "Whatever his thoughts are upon this fubject," cried lord Bendham, "I defire to know them." "Why then, my lord," anfwered Henry, "I thought it was prudent in you to give a little; left the poor, driven to defpair, fhould take all.” "And if they had, they would have been hanged.' "Hanging, |