came more gay and communicative; and, at this time it was, that the grateful woman, whom he honoured with his friendship and his confidence, and who has since ventured to compile these memoirs; attentive to these recitals, snatched from oblivion such particulars as discretion permitted him to impart to her, and has incorporated them in the monument she has raised to her hero." General Zieten lived, as we have already said, twenty-six years with his second wife: by her he had two children. The family was a family of love; caressing and caressed, each seems to have anticipated the wishes of the other: as he advanced in years he became more gentle, communicative, sociable, and indulgent. Frederick, at the age of se11venty, would often pay his general, at fourscore, an unexpected visit. The princes of the blood, and all the Prussian generals were proud to imitate the example. In December 1785, the king had returned to Berlin, in bad health. Zieten, who had not seen the king for some months, at the age of eighty-six went to the palace to pay his respects. The moment Frederick saw him, "What, my good old Zieten! are you there?" said his majesty. "How sorry am I, that you have had the trouble of walking up the staircase. I should have called upon you myself. How have you been of late?" Sire," answered Zieten, "my health is not amiss, my appetite is good; but my strength! ay strength!" This account," replied the ing, "makes me happy by halves only; ut you must be tired-I shall have a chair or you." A chair was quickly brought. Zieten, however, declared that he was not tall fatigued: the king maintained that he vas. "Sit down, good father :" continued s majesty, "I will have it so; for I cannot low you to be inconvenienced under my wn roof." The old general obeyed, and rederick the Great remained standing bere him, in the midst of a brilliant circle at had thronged around them. After askhim many questions respecting his hear, his memory, and the general state of his ith, he at length took leave of him in e words; "Adieu, my dear Zieten (it - his last adieu!) take care not to catch d: nurse yourself well, and live as long You can, that I may often have the pleae of seeing you.” After having said this, king, instead of speaking to the other erals and walking through the saloons as al, retired abruptly, and shut himself up b.s closet." Zieten preserved his faculties to the last: his sight and hearing had been for some time impaired, but his general state of health was good; he "Sunk to the grave with unperceiv'd decay, While resignation gently stop'd the way." He died on the 26th of January, 1786, in his eighty-sixth year: "How sleep the brave, who sink to rest The finances of Zieten had been considerably decayed by his liberalities: in short he died poor! Frederick, who survived him but a few months, made a present to his widow and children of ten thousand dollars. The successor of Frederick raised a noble statue to the general's memory: it is considered as a fine piece of sculpture, and is the production of M. Schadow of Berlin. A plate and description of it are given in these volumes. "Zieten was low of stature, meagre, but well-built; his face was oval, his hair darkbrown, his forehead flat, his eyes large and blue. His mouth was somewhat wide, his lips thick, and the under one marked with a deep scar. His features were strong, his countenance masculine and somewhat harsh, though not deficient in harmony. His looks were steady, his eyes full of expression and fire, and his face highly characteristic of seriousness and dignity. "His attitude was erect, his gait free and easy. He was brisk in his motions, could use his sword in either hand, a circumstance that proved advantageous to him on several occasions. He danced with singular grace, rode boldly and with great ease; and to the very end of his life, he preferred the lightest and most mettlesome steed to any other. Whether on horseback or on foot, all his movements were alert: on all other occasions they were sedate and slow; and he who saw hin: in his chamber engaged in his domestic affairs, could hardly suppose him to be endowed with that degree of activity, resolution, and boldness which always characterised him in public. "Averse to loquacity, he could say much *Mr. Beresford has with great taste selected these appropriate lines as a motto to the in few words. His answers were just and precise; his replies not deficient in point and smartness. His voice was rough and manly: he gave the word of command with peculiar distinctness. His whole person announced serenity, experience, and firinness of character; commanded attention, obedience, and respect." These volumes contain a great many letters of Frederick the Great: they a written by a lady of high rank, and wi enjoyed the personal friendship of Z ten, from whose lips she received a ing portion of the materials for his biog phy. The style of the translation easy and fluent: the work is printed u Berlin, and abounds with typographic errors. Mr. Owen professes to have given the present work, a mere outline Welsh biography; and says, in his pr face, " at some future period, and other hands, such a meagre skeleton, perhaps, may grow into a form more consistent with its appellation. But, it the first instance, it was of importance to bring together all the names dese ing of remembrance, though the small extent of the plan might admit of thing more than barely recording the greater portion of them, so as to leave room for such memorials as related to the most important characters connected with history." ART. V. The Cambrian Biography, or Historical Notice of celebrated Men among the An cient Britons. By WILLIAM OWEN, F. A. S. Small 8vo. pp. 345. CONSIDERING ourselves as literary purveyors, whose duty it is to se. lect, with caution, from the promiscuous banquet offered to the public, a sample of every article which we think productive of nutriment, or likely to gratify, without vitiating the taste; we are apt to be upon our guard against those quintessences, and elixirs, and epitomes, which are frequently exposed to sale, as containing a marvellous compression and condensation of knowledge, and professing to supersede the necessity for that more material and voluminous nourish ment which is commonly prepared by legitimate cookery. With this impression on our minds, we first took up this little volume of Cambrian Biography. The principality of Wales, it is true, presents to the eye of the geographer a small and insignificant spot, when compared with the extent of Great Britain: yet if we consider that it is the native country of genealogies, and that in its history, the arrival of the Saxons, whom we consider as our remote ancestors, is almost a modern event; it must appear strange that a duodecimo volume of less than 350 pages should be presented to the public as containing an adequate account of Cambrian biography. Strange however as it does seem, we must in justice confess, that in our references to this little work we have never been disappointed; that we have found as many "historical notices" respecting every name with which we were acquainted, as Welsh history, or even Welsh tradition, could be reason ably expected to furnish; that many of the articles contain hints which, when properly followed up, appear likely to throw much new light on the obscurest parts of literature; and that in general the Cambrian Biography bears fresh tes timony of the learning, the candour, and the modesty of the industrious author of the Welsh Dictionary. We are aware that nothing can be more unjust, though nothing is mort common, than to criticise an author for not doing what he never professed to do. We therefore can only lament that M. Owen's avocations are likely to preclude him from completing the edifice, after having employed so much labour and research in the collection of materials But, as every book of reference is si some value, inasmuch as it tends abridge the labour of the student, and as Welsh literature appears likely to a tract, in this inquisitive age, much more attention than has been hithert bestowed upon it, we think it our duty to recommend a few obvious improve ments which may be introduced into a future edition of this book, with little trouble to the author, and with great convenience to the reader. 1st, As this dictionary is principally intended for the advantage of those who are strangers to the Welsh language, we think that the name by which any cha racter is familiarly known to the Eng lish, should always be entered in its place, with a reference to the articles under which it is afterwards more fully described. Thus Caractacus, Cass bellaunus, &c. ought to stand in their natural order, because the ignorant reader is very likely to overlook them under the titles of Caradog and Caswallen. In many instances this caution is still more necessary. What Englishman, for instance, would look for Geoffrey of Monmouth under the very unusual appellation of Guffydd ab Arthur? 2d, It were much to be wished that Mr. Owen would always quote his authorities, particularly in dubious cases. For instance; the following is his account of the famous Walter de Mapes, of facetious memory. "Walter de Mapes, an eminent writer who flourished in the middle of the twelfth century, and who was chaplain to Henry I. He was the son of Blondel de Mapes, who came with Robert Fitzhamon to Glamorgan, and obtained the lands of Gweirydd ab Seisyllt Lord of Llancarvan; but he had the generosity to marry Flur, the only child of Gweinydd, that was living; and by whom he had two sons, Hubert and Walter. lubert dying without heirs, Walter inheited, after his brother, and built the village Trevwalter, with a mansion for himself. le restored most of the lands which he beime possessed of to the original proprietors; ad he built the church of Llancarvan, as it ow stands. He translated the British Chrocle into Latin; and he made a Welsh veron of Geoffrey's florid paraphrase. He also rote a treatise on agriculture in Welsh, hich is extant in several inanuscripts." Now Geoffrey himself professes to ve translated into Latin the British aronicle from the original (whether elsh or Armorican) which was put to his hands by Walter, archdeacon Oxford: if so, why should Walter Mapes, who became archdeacon ut half a century later, attempt to pplant, by a new translation, the polar work of Geoffrey, unless he meant to prove the "the florid" paraphrase was untaithful? And if he disapproved of that paraphrase, why did he translate it into Welsh, and thus contribute to give it more extended currency? The following article will perhaps be thought to stand no less in need of vouchers. "Plennydd, one of the three who first reduced bardism into a regular institution, enjoying rights and privileges, under the sanction of the nation. This was an event that took place far beyond the scope of all historical records, except the triadic traditions, which used to be repeated in all solemn meetings of the bards, druids, and orates; it happened probably above a thousand years before the Christian æra.” The probability of this date is certainly not obvious; and those who doubt, without ridiculing its correctness, deserve to have their doubts removed either by arguments or by ancient authorities. con We do not mean, by selecting these, which we consider as among the most exceptionable articles, to depreciate the general merit of this small but valuable nion of it which we have already exwork, or to retract the favourable opipressed. We recommend it as taining a clear, correct, and, in general, a temperate account of the most striking events in Welsh history, and as contributing many curious particulars respecting the mythology and traditions of a nation which is interesting in many points of view, and whose opinions had perhaps an influence on the manners of the middle ages, which has been too much overlooked by common historians. ART. VI. Public Characters of 1803-1801. QUALIS ab incepto! Englishmen m to have lost that healthy appetite which their forefathers were famed; must now have something stimulant ader to make it palatable for plain they have no relish. It is very well wn in the trade that a book sells best en it satirizes with unusual severity, hen it Autters with extraordinary : 8vo. pp. 567. fulsomeness. The fragrant censer is applied to the nose of every individual biographized in this work. What we said in our notice of the former volume we repeat here: The book is compiled to satisfy vulgar curiosity, and the execu tion is in general as creditable as the design.' 1. VII. A Defence of the Character and Conduct of the late Mary Wollstonecraft God, founded on Principles of Nature and Reason, as applied to the peculiar Circumstances her Case; in a Series of Letters to a Lady. 12mo. pp. 160. forming a just estimate of so singu- stonecraft Godwin, it will be requisite character as that of Mary Woll- to recur to something more, says the au thor of these letters, than a few single occurrences of her eventful life. Certainly but why limit the proposition to "so singular a character" as that of Mrs. Godwin? The application of it is universal, for no character can be justly estitimated by a few single occurrences. Not only her sentiments and views, he continues, ought to be maturely weighed in the balance of unprejudiced reason, but the circumstances which gave them birth should be also fairly investigated, and allowed to have their natural influence upon the subsequent events of her life. In delineating her character, therefore, the author has attempted to trace the circumstances that formed it, with the hope, as he expresses himself, of thus finding the best apology that can be made for certain individual points of her conduct, over which every reflecting and sympathizing heart would desire to throw an oblivious shade for ever. Surely there is more than a little inconsistency in bringing forward to public investigation "certain individual points" of the conduct of Mrs. Godwin, over which the author himself acknowledges it would be more charitable to throw the shade of oblivion! It is one among a hundred other suspicious circumstances belonging to these pages. In another part of his volume, the author tells us that he does not pretend to vindicate the whole of her conduct, but that his object is merely to explain it upon her own principles, and to shew upon what foundation those principles were raised. Now the conduct of Mrs. Godwin was too obviously explicable on her own principles to stand in need of illustration; and the foundation upon which those principles were raised is scarcely less open to observation. Her contempt of the opinion of the world arose from a too flattering estimate of those abilities which she was compelled to exercise by the unkindness of her family; in early life she called them into action for a maintenance; they were luxuriant but wild; they bore fruit, but she mistook the nature of it. She mistook genius for judgment of the former she had abundance, of the latter little; but nevertheless had the rashness to oppose that little to the accumulated stock, which age, experience, and wisdom united, had produced. the whole of Mrs. Godwin's conduct, be may almost as well leave the task of vin dication unattempted; there were but few parts of Mrs. Godwin's conduct is differently good or indifferently bad: all her deviations from the established star dard of morality were wide and glaring, and these only are those parts of her conduct which require vindication. Be the fact is, that he leaves no part of it unapologized. Uncharitable as the insinuation may seem, a suspicion has come across our mind on the perusal of these pages, that more is meant by them than meets the eye: the panegyric which pervades them of the moral character of this" ami3ble," this "incomparable" woman, as she is continually called, is extravagant; it is certainly unbecoming and unwise in the part of an advocate thus to extol a client, whose character he acknowledges stands in need of apology: it is suspici ous. We find some inconsistencies in the defence too, which, notwithstanding the adducement of extenuating circumstances, is not such a defence, we suspect, as Mrs. Godwin would herself have made, or have suffered another to have made for her. The first object of Mrs. Godwin's a fections was Mr. Fuseli; or, as it is coarsely expressed here," the first sex attachment that is plainly avowed," w towards that celebrated gentleman, wh she was in the habit of meeting at the h pitable table of Mr. Johnson. Mr. To seli was married; and Mrs. Godwin sooner discovered the impression wh his fascinating conversation and man ners had made on her too susceptib heart, than to avoid the consequenc which might ensue from an unequal co flict with her passions, she nobly resolve to leave the country: she remember the poet's praise of him "Who quits a scene where strong praise, and dear Mrs. Godwin left London; she to France, where she resided between and three years. At Paris she bec acquainted with a man, the letters e of whose name it gives us pain to tra Mr. Imlay, who at that time was enj ing considerable reputation on accom But if the author does not vindicate To avoid confusion of names we shall confine ourselves to that which she carried the grave. of his publication on the state of Kentucky. Mrs. Godwin's strong prejudices against the indissolubility of marriages, as being a condition of union inconsistent with the nature of man, were in all probability strengthened at this particular time: for it will be recollected, first, that her connexion with Mr. Imlay took place in France; and, secondly, that it took place at a period when the subject of marriage was discussed in the national councils of that country, the discussion producing throughout the republic a very material, and certainly a very lamentable change in the opinion of people on this serious and important subject. Her prejudices then, already strong, it will be acknowledged were probably strengthened by the almost universal coincidence of the public opinion with her own as to the dissolubility of he marriage union. To these prejudices 25 superadded a reason why she should it marry Mr. Imlay : she was in some uniary difficulties, and the generosity her nature shrunk from the idea of inving the object of her attachment in rown embarrassments. The author of the little volume before dwells on this last circumstance; now must very well know, that it affords the shadow of an excuse for Mrs. dwin's connection with Mr. Imlay, hough it was a very sufficient and hoarable reason why she ought not to arry him; and he disclaims the foras an extenuating circumstance, mely, the consideration of the country ere, and the period when, the intity took place, on the false ground, 4" as a foreigner, Mrs. Godwin could no way be influenced by the wild theoof an insane people to contemn legal ctions, if she had deemed such essenly requisite, to confirm the morality her connexion." Foreigners are as ject to the laws of the country, in ich they chuse to reside, as natives; the statement, it is very obvious, nothing to do with the case: for alugh marriages in France are now more ly dissoluble than they were for by, no laws were ever passed in that try to prevent marriages from being emnized. The extenuating circumce is the encreased confidence in her viously conceived opinions on the subof marriage, which Mrs. Godwin ved from the prevalence of similar nions, among those with whom she ANN. REV. VOL. II. was in the daily habit of conversing, and this, which is properly the only extenuating circumstance, the defender of Mrs. Godwin has thought proper to disclaim, while he dwelt upon another which he knew had no connexion with the ques tion! How does this gallant defender then apologize for the unsanctioned intercourse which took place between Mr. Imlay and Mrs. Godwin? As Mr. Imlay eventually proved to be the most unfeeling and cold-hearted of all cold-hearted and unfeeling men, our author sagaciously supposes that, in order to have won the affections of Mrs. Godwin, he concealed the deformity of his mind, "that he either assumed a character that was not natural to him, in order to impose upon her generous unsuspecting heart, or that she viewed him through a very fallacious medium." It is not very likely, indeed, that any woman should fall in love with a monster undisguised. Now for the apology; "when Mary Wollstonecraft gave to this second person an interest in her heart, she seems to have adopted the most efficacious mode of removing all traces of her former attachment, and of obviating its recurrence. I am induced to believe that she admitted the acquaintance of the latter person, in order to fix her affections, in consequence of her relation to him, rather than imagine that her affections were transferred from Mr. F. to him, prior to the commencement of their intimacy." We are by no means certain that we comprehend the meaning of this exculpatory statement, the words which we have printed in italics are to us utterly unintelligible; in order to avoid misconstruction, we shall state our conception or misconception of its general meaning. In the first place, Mrs. Godwin is represented as having formed a connec tion with Mr. Imlay as the most efficacious mode of removing all traces of her former attachment to Mr. F. If this is true, what a compliment she paid Mr. Imlay! Himself is not the object of her affections, but she tries to love him for the purpose of obliterating a dearer attachment; but whether true or not, what an idea does the apologist convey of the delicacy of Mrs. Godwin's sentiments, and the refinement of her feelings! We by no means intend to vindicate the conduct of this lady, with respect to her Kk |