attention the period of English history which has passed under review, we shall find that each period of revival or declension in literature, that has been briefly noticed, may be distinctly traced to one or other of the above-mentioned causes." [p. 132.] Again, "Civil liberty is no less requisite than peace, to the advancement of genuine literature. The car of the tyrant crushes beneath its ponderous wheels the tender plants of science, and leaves behind nought but a dreary waste. Where justice is not administeredwhen the civil and social rights of mankind are not secured by equal laws-it is impossible that civilization should advance, or learning flourish. While Greece retained her freedom, she excelled in every kind of literature; but when she became enslaved, she degenerated into a second barbarism. Rome too could boast of her orators, and philosophers, and poets, so long as liberty hovered over her republican or imperial governments-but when she became the prey of tyrants, and civil liberty gave place to despotism, the light of science was for ever extinguished. The darkest periods of the Anglo-Saxon government, were during the tyrannic sway of such despots as Penda, or the sons of Canute; and its brightest, under the administration of that monarch who said in his last testament, 'that it was just the English should ever remain as free as their own thoughts.' Since the æras of intellectual darkness which have been described in the preceding pages, it may be said, without fear of contradiction, that Britain has contributed more than any other modern nation to the advancement of philosophy and sound learning; and she has done so, because she is free. [pp. 133, 134.] These extracts have not been selected as exceptions to our author's general style, or as parts where his genius and manner are particularly evinced, but as fair specimens of the whole; for were we to quote all the passages we think worthy of citation, almost every paragraph might be laid under contribution. We were a little surprised, however, on coming to the death of William the Conqueror, not to find its immediate cause pointed out, though both Hume and Goldsmith specify it. We have sometimes thought also, that the reflections were carried too far, not for ourselves, but for others. This, however, we can readily excuse, as we know how difficult it is to control, or rather to stem, the torrent of so noble an enthusiasm in the cause of truth, and direct it to the welfare of man. Though we think the following passage is one that is not unlikely to be. overlooked by the general reader, it is by no means unworthy of his attention; and who can censure that by which it is. soon after followed? In his reflections upon the reign of Richard II. Mr. Morell says, "Nothing can be more contrary to the genius of Christianity than a turbulent, seditious, and ungovernable temper, which spurns at the restraints of lawful authority, and refuses to bear its portion of those public burdens, which the exigencies of the state may render necessary. In this, as well as every other branch of moral duty, we are instructed both by the precept and example of Jesus Christ. For he inculcated on his disciples, 'render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's;' and afterwards illustrated and enforced that precept by working a miracle, that he might be able to pay the required tribute. Though 'for our sakes he became poor,' that poverty was not pleaded as an excuse; and though the government to which he condescended to submit himself was the most arbitrary and oppressive on earth, yet he yielded prompt and cheerful obedience to all its constituted authorities." [p. 308.] The following, however, is the passage we most cordially approve : "We have just seen several remarkable vicissitudes of fortune, [as they are usually called, though the Christian should rather say, changes in the dispensation of divine providence;]-a monarch hurled from his throne in the prime and vigour of his days-statesmen advancing and retiring in quick succession, like the gaudy pageants of a splendid show. Thus, too, is the fashion of this world passing away, the whole machinery is gliding along, though we are scarcely conscious of its rapid motion. While some fall from their towering eminence, like Lucifer, the son of the morning, or suddenly dart across the horizon, like a brilliant meteor, and are seen no more, others withdraw by a more gradual descent to the grave, the house appointed for all living. But the same issue awaits all. 'All to the dread tribunal haste, When viewed in contrast with the solemnities of that momentous day, how insignificant do all the pomps of life and all the struggles of ambition appear! They scarcely exceed in interest the sportive circles of the insect tribes, that fill the air in a summer's eveningas or the confusion of the faded leaves of a forest, when driven and scattered by the winds of heaven." [p. 309.] The essays on the state of religion and literature, at the end of each period, are both interesting and instructive. They are in general extremely well written, and convey much information in a small compass. We shall close our extracts with a short passage from this part of the work, relative to the age of Wickliffe. "With what satisfaction should we hail the first appearance of these morning stars of the Reformation, which were faintly seen twinkling through the murky clouds and darkness, that still overspread the moral horizon. We can scarcely conceive of the heroism it required to lift up a standard against the Roman Pontiff at a time in which he was contemplated as a god upon earth, and when thrones and dominions were subject to his sway; to oppose, like the venerable Groteste, alone and unassisted, with his single arm, the man of sin, in all the plenitude of his power, and amidst all the triumphs of his ambition! How grateful is it to turn from the priestly domination of a Gregory, an Innocent, or an Urban, to trace the less splendid, but yet the resistless career of a Wickliffe, who, though occupying a humble station in the church of Christ, laid a good foundation for the time to come, which all the enemies of the truth have been unable to shake!" [p. 320, 321.] The second volume is equally interesting with the first, but our limits preclude us from doing more than merely asserting its general claims to notice. As Mr. M. has written the histories of GREECE and ROME upon a similar plan, but upon a smaller scale, we would cordially recommend them all to every instructor of youth; and even those of riper years may, by a perusal of these volumes, find many of their early recollections revived, and associated with trains of thought which their more matured judgments cannot but approve. 1. An Appeal to the Religion, Justice, and Humanity of the Inhabitants of the British Empire, in behalf of the Negro Slaves in the West Indies. By William Wilberforce, Esq. M.P. 8vo. pp. 81. Lond. 1823. Hatchard. 2. Negro Slavery; or a View of some of the more prominent Features of that state of Society, as it exists in the United States of America, and in the Colonies of the West Indies, and especially in Jamaica. 8vo. pp. 122. Lond. 1823. Hatchard. 3. Letters addressed to William Wilberforce, M.P. recommending the Management of the Cultivation of Sugar in our Dominions in the East Indies, as the natural and certain means of effecting the total and general Abolition of the Slave Trade. By James Cropper. 8vo. p. 61. Liverpool. 1822. Longman. 4. Report of a Committee of the Liverpool East India Association, appointed to take into Consideration the Restrictions on the East India Trade. Presented to the Association at a General Meeting, 9th May, 1822, and ordered to be printed. 8vo. pp. 98. Liverpool. 1822. Printed for the Association. THAT species of self-love which shews itself in national pride, is pretty generally diffused over the surface of the habitable globe, yet is it no where exhibited with more uniformity, or greater strength, than in England and America. No countries on the face of the earth have more to be proud of, and none certainly are prouder. The very step, and front, and bearing of their inhabitants, have a somewhat of conscious superiority about them, which the courtesy and inbred politeness of the highest can hardly restrain, and the bluntness of the lower orders takes a delight in exhibiting in their intercourse with strangers. Our sailors and soldiers, nay, our mechanics and schoolboys, believe nothing more devoutly, than that one Englishman is a match for a dozen Frenchmen, and would look down with ineffable contempt upon the man who should maintain, that there existed any thing more nutritious, or fitter for the food of man, than the roast beef of Old England. At such opinions, the well-educated, we admit, would smile, but it would be a mingled smile of ridicule of the falseness of the premises, and admiration of the nationality which had drawn the conclusion; whilst they themselves, most probably, cherished as ill-founded opinions upon the superiority of English manners, women, taste, over those of every other people under heaven. There are points, however, upon which Englishmen may well be proud-there are blessings for which they cannot be sufficiently grateful to the hand that has bestowed them, and whilst so grateful, they may, in a proper spirit, exult that they possess them. They may tell the world, that with them every man's house is his castle;—that for the poor and the rich there is but one law equally dispensed, and dispensed too by the intervention of juries taken from the midst of the people ;-that the humanity of that law has provided a maintenance for every one, demandable as matter of right;-and that as matter of right, every one may worship God according to the dictates of his conscience, no man daring to say to him, nay. He may point with confidence to those palladiums of his liberties, Magna Charta and the Habeas Corpus Act: by the one of which is secured to him the judgment of his peers, and exemption from imposts but by consent of the representatives of the people; whilst by the other, ample security is afforded against the violation of his personal freedom, by preventing his being imprisoned by lettres de cachet, or any other mode than by due course of law, and for causes stated and proved in the face of his country;-and doing so, may defy every nation of Europe to produce the like. He must not, however, carry his challenge across the Atlantic, or the American, almost forgetting, in the pride and selfcomplacency of newly gained independence, the source whence all the fundamental principles of the liberties he enjoys were derived, will haughtily retort on the parent-the nurse of his freedom-All this we too enjoy, and more. Ours, he would say-for we have often heard him say so in effect in the circles of private life, in a country which, from the prospect of gain, or some other reason, that he knows perhaps better than he may chuse to explain, he has chosen as his domicile, though not his home-ours is not a nominal representation, composed the one half of the tools of a small but potent aristocracy of nobility or wealth, but every citizen actually votes in the legislature of his country, by the member of his choice. We have no rottenboroughs, no useless sinecures; and the head of our government receives a salary scarcely equivalent to what you pay to many officers of state, of an inferior rank, and often of a doubtful utility. With us there is no burdensome ecclesiastical establishment, consuming one half the wealth of the state, and a large portion of that of the nation-no tithe-system for the support of a lazy or negligent clergy, but each man contributes, according to his pleasure, to the support of that mode of worship, and that particular minister, he chuses to adopt and select; nor for thus exercising the freedom of conscience, which is his birthright, is he placed under the ban of proscription, which is but a modified persecution-but whatever may be his creed, is as eligible to the highest office in the government, as the most orthodox amongst us; for established religion we have none. To some of these claims to superiority we might be disposed to demur, or at least very considerably to reduce their estimated value and importance, but other and more interesting objects are pressing upon our attention, and have a stronger claim upon the utmost limits of our space and time. Giving therefore to the Englishman and the American the full benefit of their claims to the superiority in the scale of nations, we say to the latter,-There is a hand writing on the wall against you, and its characters are those which made Belshazzar tremble on the throne, on which he |