vails upon her husband, very much against his better judgment, to squander an immense sum of money in a county election for a seat in Parliament. The motive which overcame his reluctance, was an affront put upon his wife and daughters at a ball, by the family of a haughty patrician, who had hitherto been in the habit of disposing, at his own good will and pleasure, of the representation of the shire. To add, if possible, to the effect of this weighty reason, the Duke took it into his head to patronize the Molasses dynasty, and even to procure for the head of it, the title of Sir Mungo. Lady Molasses-" the better part" of her husband in every sense of the word-was determined he should write himself M. P. as well as Baronet. A tremendous contest ensues, in which our hero is succcessful. The election protested-new difficulties and troubles ensue. The member elect is overwhelmed with applications for his interest, and with the concerns of every body in the shire, His revenue, great as it was, fell alarmingly short of his expenditure, and his whole financial system threatened to be soon irretrievably deranged. Harrassed and perplexed beyond all sufferance by matters with which he had nothing to do, domestic "woes" of a more formidable character than he had ever yet known, await him. His son elopes with his governess-a soi-disant emigrée of figure and fashion, but in fact a soubrette player of the lowest class and the loosest morals, with a husband already on her hands; while two foreigners of distinction-with visages buried in whiskers and mustachios, afterwards discovered to be the assumed disguises of two villainous actors-hatch a plot to run away with his daughters, without their consent, which only intelligence most providentially communicated to him, enabled him, with the assistance of the police, to frustrate. And, finally, upon his arrival in London to take his seat in the House of Commons, he finds that his Majesty has been graciously pleased, for important reasons of state, to dissolve the Parliament! New writs of course issue. Sir Mungo takes the field again-and our hero, taught by his sore experience, determines to escape from temptations too strong for flesh and blood to resist, by running away to the continent, where we have had the happiness to hear his strange eventful history. It will be perceived at the first glance, that "The Squire's Tale" is the very antitheton and antidote of a "fashionable novel." In this respect too it resembles the Vicar of Wakefield. Our readers will recollect the precious farce enacted at the Flamboroughs' by those distinguished personages, Lady Blarney and Miss Carolina Wilhelmina Amelia Skeggs-which, burlesque as it is, is not more extravagant than the dull imper tinences and flippant balderdash of Almack's & Co. Indeed, we suspect these latter owe all their success to the very reason which the author just mentioned gives, for favouring us with that delectable specimen of "high life," viz. "that every reader, however beggarly himself, is fond of high-lived conversation, with anecdotes of lords, ladies, and knights of the garter." We have not space to say anything more of these interesting tales. We will just add, that the second-entitled "Hebe, or the Wallachian's Tale"-is the most elaborate, (as it is by far the longest of any)-with a strong dash of orientalism in it. It presents some very pleasing pictures of Turkish life and manners, with a great variety of striking incidents, in a uniformly elegant and agreeable style. Of the minor tales, that entitled "The Married Actress," is, in our opinion, decidedly the best. It is perfectly well told, presents a just view of human charaeter, and conveys an instructive moral lesson. NOTE OF THE EDITOR. In consequence of an unlooked for difficulty in obtaining all the type necessary for printing with perfect accuracy, the continuation of the very learned and elaborate article on "The Celtic Druids," we are constrained to defer the publication of it until our next number. INDEX TO THE THIRD VOLUME OF THE SOUTHERN REVIEW. A. Achard, M. his process for manufactur- Alphabet, on the letters of, in various an- Alternate Rhyming, 184, note. Anecdotes of the Bar, Bench and Wool. Application de l'Algebre a la Géométrie, Arabic origin of rhyme, denied, 185, note. Astronomy, evidences of being under- Athens of the Gauls, 187. Barker, E. H. his Parriana, reviewed, Beatus Rhenanus, his Vita Erasmi, refer- Besout, led to cultivate the sciences by Brot, J. B. his Essai de Géométrie analy. tique, &c. referred to, 289-the trea- Birmingham, the riots of, referred to, 399. du Fabricant de Sucre et du Raffineur, Book of Feuds, the, referred to, on the Aze, M. his reflections on dinner and Borda, his Tables for the centesimal di- dinner parties, translated, 427. B. Bacon, Lord, Horne Tooke's defence of, Bailly, M. the astronomer, of opinion, Balkan Mountains, description of the, 233. vision of the circle, referred to, 293. Brown, Dr. Thomas, his Lectures on the 65 science, 135-his view of the pheno- Bufalmaco, anecdote of, 169. Buller, Charles, his Life of Erasmus, re- Cæsar, Sir Julius, his fantastic tomb, 175. Cause and Effect, Inquiry into the rela- Celta, an ancient nation so called, 224- Celtic Druids, the, referred to, 207, 224. Chancery, Court of, considerations sug Chancery, Report made by the commis- Charlemange, collected the rhyme poems Church Hymns, influence of, 188, 191. Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Commodianus Afer, his æra, 176-the Congress, Reports of the House of Rep Congreve, his abuse of the imperfect Considerations, &c. respecting the Court Constantinople, account of the plague in, Constitution of the United States, violated 421. D. Damascus, his hymns, 181. De Donis, on the statute of, 25-27---re- solves a difficult problem at Breda, 304. Dictionaire des Rimes, referred to, 156. Disowned, the, referred to, 467---an analy- Druids, the Celtic, of the British Isles, Celta, 224-the Celta were the earli- E. Eastern mode of singing, 182, note. |