t, in the
same way that our taste in some respects will be a matter of surprise
with our descendants, and as theirs will be with those by whom they may
be succeeded on the stage of life. Every age, since books have been
written and books have been read, has furnished, and we may therefore
assert, every age will furnish, reason upon reason for making the remark
of the philosophic author of the "Caracteres," that not to hazard
sometimes a great deal of nonsense, is to manifest ignorance of the
public taste--"_c'est ignorer le gout du peuple, que de ne pas hasarder
quelquefois de grandes fadaises_." We do not wish to deny that Lady
Morgan has been gifted with a modicum of talent; even in the work before
us, there is occasional evidence of natural ability, which, had it been
properly cultivated and modestly employed, might have earned for her
honourable fame. But what advantage--we speak, of course, with reference
to reputation; as to pecuniary profit we have no doubt that she has
found her account in her '_fadaises_,' or else they would not have been
multiplied to such an extent--what advantage, we ask, has she derived
from her faculty of scribbling, except that she has made herself pretty
widely known, and ridiculed wherever she is known? Presumptuous
ignorance, and overweening conceit, have, in her case, completely
_nullified_, nay worse, have converted into a curse, in some respects,
what was intended every way for a blessing. If Lady Morgan would forego
her mongrel idiom, and use the English language; if she would confine
herself to subjects with which she has some acquaintance; if she would
substitute a simple in the stead of her inflated style; and above all,
if she could forget herself, she might write tolerably well; but there
are too many _ifs_ to render it probable, or even possible, that the
defects to which they relate will ever be overcome. This being the case,
we take leave of you, Miladi, not with the _au revoir_ of which you are
so fond, but with the parting salutation of Louis the Fourteenth to
James the Second, when sending him with an army to recover his forfeited
crown, "Adieu, and may we never meet again."

ART. II.--_Physiologie des Passions, ou nouvelle Doctrine des Sentimens
Moraux_; par J. L. ALIBERT. Chapitre XI. de l'Ennui. _Physiology of the
Passions; or a New Theory of Moral Sentiments._ Chap. XI. of Ennui.

This book is neither exact nor eloquent. The thoughts are not precise;
the exp