At the age of seventeen, however, we find him in possession of a handsome person, little learning, and but few accomplishments," with an ardent mind, and a head full of vivacity." On leaving college, he decides in favour of the profession of arms, and is taught to ride and to fence. He begins with one youthful indiscretion, which leads to many more, after which he joins his regiment, gives an account of his amours, and his follies, and gets into a thousand scrapes. A passion for play produces losses, and these induce him to borrow. He then fights a duel, flies to Savoy, and engages in new intrigues; but is at times afflicted at the idea of his own conduct, and attributes his remorse to the principles of a good education, and the early lessons of morality instilled into his mind. At length, after a variety of adventures, Dormenil returns to France, enjoys an unexpected interview with the lady to whom he had first paid his addresses, and solicits the hand of the fair Julia in marriage. "My happiness," says he, " surpasses the limits prescribed to human felicity, and if the uncertainty of its duration, now and then obscures it with a cloud, this is dissipated by a single smile from my wife, whose virtues constitute the happiness and consolation of my father. I entertain no other fear, than what arises from the possibility of being snatched from so much bliss, and even then, religion withdrawing the veil that separates this world from the next, points out an eternal abode without fears for the future, or recollection of the past." "Histoires Nouvelles et Contes Moreaux, &c." New Stories and Moral Tales, containing Bettina; Clara, or a Convenient Marriage; Lucy, or the Error of a Moment producing the Virtues of a whole Life; Gustavus, or the Anniversary of a Birth-day; Poor Sarah, &c.; by M. L. de Sevelinges, 12mo. 1810. These little tales appeared in succession "in the Mercure de France, during the year 1809, and were read with great satisfaction; in consequence of which, they now make their appearance in the form of a little volume. Some of these are formed on the English model, and in "Lucy," we are introduced to a "Lady Anne Rosehill," "Colonel Westbury," and a Miss Dolmers," the heroine, who is the daughter of a clergyman, &c. In strict conformity to our daily practice, the parties met for the first time at tea, and we believe no novellist on the Continent would omit such a characteristic feature of our country. The usual assiduities of a young man, rich, handsome, and debauched, are recurred to, against a young creature, ignorant of the world, and of course credulous and incautious. The colonel soon forgets all his vows and deserts the woman he has seduced. On his deathbed, however, he beholds her with emotions of a very different kind, marries the mother, recognizes her daughter, and dies happily! In another moral tale, we are made acquainted with a nobleman, who thinks he is a misanthrope, and yet proves the most amiable, humane, and honourable of mankind; he declares against marriage, and hates widows, and yet he concludes by being united with a widow! Several of the stories are written in such a manner, as to produce considerable effect. "Espagne, par M. A. de Laborde, &c.” An Account of Spain, by M. Alexander de Laborde. M. de Laborde, the celebrated banker in Paris, had conceived the idea of composing a "Voyage Pittoresque de l'Es pagne," with a variety of fine plates, and executed after the manner of the Count de Choiseul's work of the same kind. That revolution, however, which has elevated Joseph Bonaparte to the throne of Spain, prevented the completion of his labours, and he has now contented himself with a publication inferior to the former in every point of view. A large portion of the first volume, is chiefly occupied with short directions for the use of a traveller; together with an account of the climate, and geography of the respective provinces. An itinerary fills more than two other volumes, and this is followed by a disser tation on the population, manufactures, government, &c. It is the opinion of this author, that Spain was never in a more prosperous state than at the period anterior to the present unhappy contest. In confirmation of this, he asserts that it was not only more populous, but better cultivated than ever; facts which have been contradicted by a variety of native historians, and are indeed, in direct op position to popular and received opinions. He also thinks, that the discovery of America, instead of being prejudicial, as hitherto supposed, to the mother mother country, has, on the contrary, proved highly advantageous. He con tends that Spain was never depopulated by emigration to her colonies, and that, instead of being impoverished by them, she has derived very extraordinary advantages within the last hundred years. He describes the inhabitants as uniting great vivacity of character, with astonishing slowness in point of action. They awaken, we are told, from their constitutional apathy, the moment that their pride is irritated, their anger provoked, or their generosity stimulated. We are astonished at the mild manner in which the author treats of the Inquisition; and his justification of the punishment of the poor Moors and Jews, by committing them to the flames, is calculated to excite indignation in every generous bosom. "Recueil de Lettres et Dissertations sur l'Agriculture, &c." A Collection of Letters, and Dissertations, relative to Agriculture, the advantages derived from the folding of sheep, the best means of increasing the production of corn, and fruits ot every kind. Here also are to be found, remedies for the most dangerous disorders, together with a variety of other interesting matters; to which are added a few specimens of poetry; by D. L. J. R. De Scevole, a learned proprietor, and cultivator at Argenton, in the department of Indre. 2 vols. 12mo.* -Pater ipse colendi Haud facilem esse viam voluit, primusque per artem of wine, which is to be swallowed by the patient, while the refuse of the plant is applied as a cataplasm to the wound. A whole letter is occupied with the description of a ley, for seed-corn, and a recommendation to be caretal of diminishing the quantity usually sown one half. Another is occupied with an eulogy on the potatoe, which appears still to be a rarity in some parts of France. The author boasts of being able to dress it in a hundred different modes, and even prefers this root to butcher's meat, fowls, and game! The potatoes are sometimes roasted whole in the ashes; sometimes peeled and served with a rich gravy; at other times stewed, introduced into ragouts, baulettes, beignets, and what is still more extraordinary, into salads! His tarts, which are more healthy, light, and pleasant, than those made of almonds, are always formed out of this vegetable, and in timė of scarcity, by the help of rye or barleymeal, it is converted into bread. Perhaps the proposition to obtain oil from the acorn, may contain a good hint; it is recommended for the use of painters, the preparation of varnish, &c. We are next presented with a letter on the method of feeding bees during the winter; and a composition of water and wine, mixed in equal parts with honey, is recommended. The following passage, although, like the greater part of the work, it has nothing to do with agriculture, yet contains much good sense. By way of introduc tion to a very simple receipt, for preMovit agros, curis acuens, mortalia corda. venting the bad effects of verdigrease, Virg. Georg. lib. ii. litharge, and white lead, the author obThe title-page of this work is given at serves: "That our ancestors were genefull length, and we shall notice several rally stronger, more vigorous, and more of the subjects, by way of exhibiting the healthy, than ourselves, and exhibited humble efforts of a French practical fewer pale faces and consumptive lungs, agriculturist. In one chapter we have than we do." "The reason is," adds he, a dissertation on the means of raising "because they did not inhabit little, silk-worms in the open air, and on the narrow, close chambers, finely painted, mulberry tree. We are told, however, and varnished; they did not sleep in after the experiment had been fairly dark alcoves, with double curtains tried, that the silk-breeding insects were to their beds, and double glasses to all devoured by birds, lizards, and large their windows. The whole of a family "flies," the last of which is a tribe of in- assembled in one large apartment, where sects incapable of similar depredations, they warmed themselves, not by means at least in England. We are next pre- of the suffocating heat of a stove, but at sented with a remedy for the cure of a chimney, large in proportion to the the effects produced by the bite of room in which they assembled. The vipers; he prescribes the expressed air, which is the principle of life, cireu juice of the craisette (cruciata hir-lated freely around our fathers and mosuta), mingled with an equal quantity *Imported by Mr. De Boffe, Nassaustreet, Soho-square, thers seated in this manner. If they went out, they either rode or walked; they were never enclosed like so many 1 eastern deities, in little gilded boxes, closely shut, and rolling along on wheels. In fine, being destined by nature to breathe a pure and healthy air, they did so, and were men." The mode pointed out for preventing newly-painted rooms from being deleterious, is to keep a fire constantly lighted in them, and for a closet that is not provided with a chimney, it is recommended to burn a fire in an adjoining apartment. This is a very simple, and if efficacious, a very important communication; but the suc ceeding letter, which denounces the practice of blueing linen, as troublesome, may be thought too trifling. The next agricultural epistle consists of an eulogium on the purity of the air of Paris, notwithstanding the immense number of inhabitants, the numerous burial-places, and the infected state of the atmosphere. This is generally attributed to the waters of the Seine, into which every species of filth is emptied; but this river on the other hand traversing the whole of the immense capital, according to some, compensates for every thing, and purifies the atmospheric air, so as to render a crowded city salubrious. M. de Scevole, however, supposes, that the agitation occasioned by carriages, and the ringing of bells, opepassengers, rates as so many secondary causes. We now come to a dissertation on the existence of the soul, occasioned by the four following lines, composed by Frederiek the Great: Dès que nous finissons, notre ame est eclipsée, "Elle est en tout semblable à la flamme rum nem; Cuneta parit renovat, dividit, unit, alit." "Moyens de conserver la sante des Habitans des Campagnes,&c." On the Means of preserving the Health of the Inhabitants of the Country, both in their Cottages and Fields, by Madame GaconDufour, author of many works on rural economy, and Member of several Agricultural Societies. This lady, who exhibits much good sense, and appears to have had no com mon share of experience, begins by stating the causes that render the habita MONTHLY MAG, No. 201. tions of the French peasantry unhealthy. We find that they are obliged from ne cessity to reside under the same roof as their cattle, with only a thin separation between, and after they (themselves and their cows) have repaired to the fields, their huts are generally shut up, while their windows are constantly fastened. In addition to this, they lie on uncured feather-beds, and use straw mattrasses (paillase), which are emptied but once in four years. It is difficult, we are, told, to remove the prejudices of the cottager by argument; and it becomes necessary to recur to indirect means. The author once demonstrated to a person of this description, the folly of sleeping in an alcove or niche, with the curtains closely drawn, by merely placing a bird above his head, and exhibiting the little animal nearly expiring in the morning. Madame G. next treats of air in general; the necessity of repose after labour; and the propriety of eating proper aliments. She distinguishes potatoes among "the solid and substantial foods;" is a great advocate for rye bread, and: recommends four meals a day! We are next presented with a chapter on the advantages and disadvantages of labour; the danger of suppressing perspiration by a sudden chill, &c. Most diseases, we are told, may be cured by a due propor tion of exercise; and in some of the southern provinces of France, the magistrates offer prizes annually to promote running, jumping, &c. Mothers are warned against the use of bandages for their children; the danger of sleeping in the fields is pointed out; the use of lead and copper vessels is prohibited, as are also pewter mugs for cider and wine. Great pains are taken to demonstrate that new houses are unhealthy: the Romans, we are told, prohibited any from being inhabited until after the expiration of three years. In order to render the thatch of cottages more durable, it is recommended to cover them with a moss called la fontinale in combustible (fontinalis anti-pyretice), aplant that grows in great plenty in pools of water, &, Another, the tortula barbularuralis, Hdw. 5, and the briyum rurale, Dillers, is produced on trees. These, we are told, will not only enable them to last half a century, but prevent them at the same time from being destroyed by fire. The receipt is taken from Sonnini, who observes, that the Laplanders always guard their wooden 4 R chimnias chimnies with the fontinale incombustibule. "Frederick der Zweite, &c. Frederick II. Roi de Prusse." Frederic II. King of Prussia, or Notices respecting his Private Life, by Schoening. 63 pages, 8vo. Berlin, 1808. These observations are the production of the late M. Schoening, formerly first valet de chambre to the celebrated king, mentioned in the title-page. They are intended to rectify several erroneous assertions respecting his majesty, which have appeared in different biographical works. The author begins by giving a description of the person of Frederic; he then mentions the manner in which he spent his time, which was strictly regulated for every day in the year. The whole is terminated by a few characteristic anecdotes, many of which are deserving of record. Frederic II. we are told was not a great eater, a fact in direct opposition to the assertions of all who knew him. It is allowed, however, that he was un ortunate in the choice of his meats, which frequently subjected him to cholics and indigestion. He did not love Burgundy, and was still less fond of old hock, to which he attributed the gout that he inherited from his father. The anecdotes relative to his familiarity with his coachman, are absolutely controverted. This fellow was insolent to all the world, and the king dismissed him from his service ten or a dozen years before his death. It was only at the reiterated request of the count de Schwerin, his master of the horse, that his majesty at length_consented to allow him a very moderate pension. It has been asserted, that the king was accustomed to turn his coats. This is denied, but it is at the same time allowed, that it was usual with him to have them mended. He was fond of snuff boxes, and it has been said, that he expended to the amount of four or five millions of crowns on them. This is deemed a gross exaggeration, but enough is here conceded to prove, that he squandered immense suns on this species of toys. The most common of these is here valued at 2000 crowns, and the most valuable at 10,000: after his death, 130 were found in his possession, and if each of these were to be estimated even at 10,000 crowns, the whole would only anount to 1,300,000. This, however, serves to prove nearly all that has bermasserted on this subject. The author has added some reinarks on the king's mode of thinking on religion, a repetition of which we have some reason to believe, would not be extremely edifying. He also quotes many instances of his contempt of German literature, and his predilection for nobility. Charles James Fox, &c. "Sir Charles James Fox, Secretary of State, &c. ou Memoires, sur sa vie politique, literaire et privée, traduits d'apres la quatrieme edition de l'original Anglais, 1 vol. 8vo. Leipsic, 1 rad. 1808." The above titlepage, in which the late Right Hon. Charles James Fox is knighted, has been copied literally. "Description de la Ville de Dresden, &c." A Description of the City of Dresden, with an account of its most beautiful edifices. The text is in the German and French languages, and the plates of this elegant work, which are 18 in number, have been designed by M. M. Hanmer and Thormeyer, and engraved by Veith, Schuman, &c. The first is a general view of the city; The 2d plate contains the Japonese palace; The 3d, the Japonese garden; The 4th, A view of the Abbey of Neustadt, and of the bridge across the Elbe; The 5th, 6th, and 7th, are different views of the same bridge; The 8th is a plate of the Catholic church, taken from the palace of Bruhl. The 9th, a view of Zwinger, taken from the Abbey of Ostra; The 10th, a view of the picture gallery; The 11th, a view of the church of Our Lady; The 12th, view of the Church of the Cross; The 13th, a view of the gate of Pirna. And from the 14th to 18th, we have views of the Palace of Piliniz; of the Fort of Kænigstein; of the valley of Plauen; of Tharand; and of Morizbourg. از 1 M. Luce de Lancival has on this, as on former occasions, both studied and copied the ancients. He has borrowed their sentiments and their manners, and it may accordingly be said of him: "Mais je dois jusqu'au bout remplir ma noble tache ; "Mais Hector ne peut vivre avec le nom de lâche; "Et quand c'est au plus brave à subir. le trépas, "C'est avoir prôfitè que de savoir s'y "Le trépas est un bien qu'Hector ne céde plaire." In the character of Hector we behold a paraphrase of the Iliad; and the same submission to his father, the same respect for the gods, as inculcated by Homer, is every where inculcated and enforced. He is depicted as generous, and disinterested; ever ready to confound himself with the croud, and never separating from them, unless when he is about to immolate himself to the happiness of all. Here follows a specimen of the noble sentiments which are put into the mouth of a hero, whose constant cry is, "Ilion avant tout!" "Quand il a consenti qu'on ouvrît la barrière, "Un guerrier ne peut plus regarder en arrière; "Sans balancer, il vole au cri de la valeur, "Et même avant les dieux il consulte l'hon neur. "Je n'affecterai point une vertu barbare : "De tout ce que j'aimai, si la mort me sé pare, "Je sens tout mon malleur; fils, pére, époux heureux, "Mon cœur tient à la vie, hélas! par trop de nœuds. pas.' The moral of the whole tragedy is, "command your passions and obey the gods." M. Luce represents Priam as a ravisher, and Helena as the victim, rather than the accomplice, of his crime. It is thus she expresses herself on this occasion : "Je hais Paris; par lui je suis infortunée ; damnée ;' " A Pergame, à la Gréce objet trop odieux, "A peine devant toi j'ose lever les yeux. "Je le hais des malheurs qu'il cause à ma patrie; "Je le hais des soupçons dont ma gloire est Aétrie ; "Et si je me rapelle un plus doux souvenir, "Je le hais de m'avoir forcèe à le haïr." Paris himself, is represented as generous, noble, and brave, qualities which neither correspond with his received the other hand, the plot is unperplexed character, nor indeed with history. On dents, and the author makes it his boast, with extraordinary and wonderful inci to endeavour to restore to the stage all the original simplicity of Racine, GENERAL |