for the first few minutes to think of nothing but the oddity of her own conduct, and the absurd manner in which it would be commented upon were it to be known; and as she thus thought, feelings of an uneasy kind took strong possession of her mind. But these emotions soon yielded to others far more strange, far more new-and, ah!-how far more touching!

"Her attention was first abstracted from herself by perceiving a general movement amongst the persons who crowded the aisle, to make way for another to pass; and presently she perceived Mr. Fenton (who, not having read prayers, had not yet made his appearance), approaching to ascend the pulpit.

"There was nothing of absurd, and even opprobrious, that she had not at times heard attached to this man's name. The epithets of fanatic and hypocrite usually followed it; and certainly he was about the last person to whom, from previous information, she would have been guided for spiritual comfort or direction..

"Yet was there something in his appearance which indescribably struck and interested her.

"Apparently he was about forty years of age, perhaps not quite so much; for the countenance was one on which intense emotion had left far deeper traces than those with which it had been marked by time. Mysterious thoughts, sublime reflections, agonizing struggles, the perpetual conflict of flesh and spirit, were marked in living characters upon every line and feature; and the first conclusion to which the rapid spirit of Catherine hastened, as she looked upon him, was this, 'whatever he may be, he is no hypocrite.' Absorbed in the greatness of his vocation, he scarcely seemed to see the crowd through which he passed a crowd made up of the most motley group of individuals which she had ever yet beheld. Here stood old men (for they were mostly aged persons, who, feeling the world every day and hour crumbling away from under them, were flying to the only rock on which to seek a foundation for their faltering feet) here they stood, looking up to their minister as to one who was dear to them; who was intelligible to them; who gave them comfort. There stood younger persons, not driven upon this refuge by the sorrows of old age, or the apprehended nearness of an awful eternity, but equally impelled to seek it, as the dejected countenances of many manifestly proclaimed, by some of those innumerable afflictions, which in every season and circumstance of human life call loudly upon every heart to think upon these things.

all

"Nor was there wanting amongst this curious assembly the union of ages; for looking round to see if she could discover Miss Morton's scholars, she soon perceived her little Edmund, standing by the side of a pale, pensive woman, who she recognized at once to be one of whom he had spoken in no common terms of pleasure, referring also to her instruction almost every thing he had acquired.

"When she had asked him, who heard him say his lessons?' it was, • Miss Ann.' Who taught him his hymns and prayers?' Miss Ann." Whom did he love better than his teachers?' It was decidedly

'Miss Ann.' Was she young?' Catherine had asked; but he hardly appeared to comprehend such a question till she had put it in the form of a comparison: Was she as young as Catherine herself?' 'He did not know about her age; she was not so pretty as mamma, and he believed she must be a great deal older; he dared to say she was very old, but not so very very old as Miss Morton.' By the side of this personage then stood little Edmund; his hymn book in his hand, and joining his small efforts of praise with those of the rest of the audience in the hymn, which, previous to the sermon, they were then singing."

The Monumental Remains of Noble and Eminent Persons, comprising the Sepulchral Antiquities of Great Britain; engraved from Drawings by EDWARD BLORE, Esq. F.S.A. with Historical and Biographical Illustrations. 4to. London. Harding, Triphook, and Lepard.

THE

proprietors and publishers of this work are making rapid strides in this department of Art. The Portraits of Illustrious Men have been recently presented to us from the same firm; and their Monumental Effigies are, in the work before us, represented with equal success. There is something in the very nature of such a performance, even were it executed with less ability, that carries with it a strong interest. Sacred are the ashes of the mighty dead. The mausoleums, which record their pedigrees and their virtues, are seen with an equally sacred eye. No man can behold the figures which adorn these tombs without feelings of a gentle and generous kind. Even those among our kings, warriors, and statesmen, whose characters have been most dubious, excite a certain curiosity, by no means proportioned to their virtues; and it may be questioned whether, in France and in England, the portraits of Louis the Eleventh, and Henry the Eighth, do not exceed in number those of any other individuals whatsoever.

But, in reference to the character of the work before us, such representations are valuable on many accounts. They are accompanied by beautiful specimens of architecture. The pediment on which they lie, and the canopy by which they are covered, are frequently wrought in the most curious and costly manner. Few of the living spare the last expence to be incurred for the dead. Rich or fond relatives affix no bounds to their indulgence of cost and of sorrow. Hence, as in the

monuments in the work before us, we observe the curiously fretted niche, elaborated canopy, and minute tracery. The figure is usually represented at perfect rest; with the hands raised in prayer. The foldings of the drapery are simple and broad. The first monument, of the Black Prince, has the most decided character: the last, of Gervase Alard, Admiral of the Cinque Ports, has the most brilliant effect. This last is indeed a very extraordinary production, from the burin of John Le Keux. The three remaining engravings are executed by Mr. Blore; and with a force of light and shade which quite wins our hearts: for, in our opinion, subjects of this kind should not be too highly wrought. The broken points, and crumbling surface, of a monument of the thirteenth or fourteenth century, should not be represented with too much smoothness and elaboration: and beautiful and perhaps matchless as is Mr. Le Keux's performance, we would recommend, in future, less finish and delicacy. The sarcophagus or tomb seems as if it were wrought in silver or ivory.

In passing judgment upon a publication of this nature, we are necessarily reminded of the labours of Gough, Le Noir, and Stothard; works, of decided merit. The Sepulchral Monuments of Mr. Gough, in four gigantic folio volumes, are now beyond the reach of the ordinary purchaser. They contain a fund of amusement and instruction. Brass plates, mural and isolated monuments, are represented in a coarse but gene rally faithful manner; and as many of the originals have now disappeared, from theft or the casualties of time, we can look for these "Monumental Remains" only in the elaborate pages of Gough. Since the time of that writer, the study of antiquities especially in the department of architecture-has been greatly improved as well as extended; and later critics, of unquestionable character and reputation, have found occa sional inaccuracies and deficiences in his publication. Such a result was natural, and will be as easily forgiven as accounted for. As the labour of one purse, and one man, the Sepulchral Monuments of Gough are an honour to his age and country; and as far as we are able to prognosticate, can never be superseded. But the price of them (threescore guineas,) requires that the quid should be fully equal to the quo.

The work of Le Noir, confined to the French tombs, reliefs, &c. which were collected in the Rue des Petits Augustins, and which are now dispersed to the several spots where the bodies of the defunct lie, is indeed a work of a most splendid and captivating description, in six quarto volumes. But it may be not so much objectionable, on the score of expense, as of its being

executed throughout in outline; which gives the same character (as to surface) to every object, human or architectural, introduced. This, we think, is a fundamental and irremediable error in that popular and pleasing work. With no ordinary feelings of regret, do we pronounce the name of Stothard: an artist of great, and yet of growing merit; and whose "Monumental Effigies" have elicited the admiration of every qualified judge. They were wholly confined to the figure, or the acces sories were but slightly indicated; and one of the principal objects was, the delineation of costume. The graphic execution, also by the hand of Mr. Stothard, is, in a slight, stippled manner, but sufficiently decided to give a faithful and satisfactory copy of the original. The hand of death arrested this intelligent artist in his labours, which were on the eve of completion: and in this record of Monuments of past ages, he has raised one to HIMSELF of no transitory materials.

We come, therefore, to a final notice of the work under our immediate inspection, and of which the reader has already, we are persuaded, anticipated our summary and concluding sentence. On a much more diminished scale than the work of Gough, and more diversified and elaborated than either the performance of that antiquary, or of Mr. Stothard,-and published withal at a price which renders it the property of any one who will put by a shilling out of his weekly savings,there can be no question of the encouragement which it is to receive at the hands of the public. But the same public should be informed that, in the purchase of such a work, they are not about to buy a book of mere pictures. Here is a sufficient and an able supply of text: collected from the most authentic materials, and put together in a manner at once simple, perspicuous, and interesting. In a word, we are thoroughly satisfied with the entire publication: and recommend it, in a most perfect spirit of sincerity, to all educated readers.

Typographia; or, The Printer's Instructor. By J. JOHNSON, Printer.

2 Vols. 8vo. 1824.

THIS very curious publication appears in three forms. There is a royal paper of it, to please the Noblemen and Gentlemen of the Roxburghe Club, to whom it is dedicated: a demy paper, for those who aspire to the distinction of being curious Collec

tors; and a duodecimo paper, for brother-printers to con over as they please. But there is a distinction in getting up the work for the smallest size paper has no metal border round each page, an ornament that uniformly accompanies the two larger sizes. The first volume professes to be historical; but more particularly devoted to the History of Printing in England-and is, indeed, little more than a compilation or abridgement of the first and second volumes of the Rev. Mr. Dibdin's Typographical Antiquities of Great Britain. What is said of the history of early printing on the continent, might as well have been omitted; for if Mr. Johnson had consulted the fourth day of the Bibliographical Decameron he would have found that history cut and dried to his hands. But it would be unfair to criticise our Author as an antiquary or a virtuoso. Mr. Johnson is a mere printer; yet a skilful, enterprising, and successful one. His second volume is, in fact, a Printer's Grammar; perhaps the most ingenious and useful that has been published. The executive part of it, on the score of typography, is almost marvellous; and the neat and striking manner in which the (chiefly spurious) portraits and devices of printers are executed, in the first volume, gives the performance a very taking aspect. But we would beg leave to ask this ingenious artist why he gives us the portrait of Burchiello (as irrefragably proved by Mr. D.) as that of William Caxton?

The principal ornament, and the chief boast of these volumes, is, the three decorative or historical wood-cuts which follow the title pages. Two of them are in the first volume, and the third is in the second volume. We hardly know to which to give the preference; but the armorial bearings of the Roxburghe Club (the second of these three elaborate productions, in the first volume) strikes us as the most surprisingespecially if the clearness and difficulty of the back-ground be considered. The first is the fanciful introduction of Caxton, by his patron Earl Rivers, to Edward the Fourth and his Queen; from an illumination in the Archiepiscopal library of Lambeth. We say "fanciful," because the figure in question is an ecclesiastic, and any thing, and any body, but William Caxton the printer. The execution of all these subjects is perfectly surprising, if not unrivalled: and the book is, in all respects, a typographical curiosity; especially those copies which we happen to have seen on the largest size paper.

The author is plain and unpretending: not because he is a printer, (for we happen to know several most shrewd, intelligent, and accomplished men in his profession), but because it is evident, from almost every other page, that his occupation has