propensity to domineer over others; and this violent, overbearing difpofition in creafing with his years, is but too much encouraged by the mifguided indulgence of a mother, left a widow when her af piring fon had fcarcely attained his tenth

year.

Adopting a maxim which daily gains ground with our young people of fahion" that learning is entirely ufe. lefs to men whofe fortunes are already made" this young Sicilian, a native of Palermo, renounces all application to letters; and that he may have the best opportunity at once to gratify his lust of power and his love of diffipation, he refolves to follow the profeffion of arms, and having obtained a commiffion, is not a little proud of his military drefs; but as the pacific fituation of the Neapolitan army does not afford him opportunities to di.play his daring spirit, and his talents for command, after paffing through a few scenes of disgraceful intrigue at home-fuch as feducing the niece of his mother's most intimate friend, and abandoning another young lady, whofe fortune falls fhort of his expectations we find him engaged in the Spanish fervice, and making a confiderable figure at Madrid. The regiment to which he belongs being ordered to the West Indies, he embarks for Cuba; where being fafely arrived, we have the first opportunity to difcover the fineffe of our author, if we conjecture right, in placing him in that fituation; for it af. fords him an opportunity, without giving offence, of making fuch a remontrance to the young officer from the commander in chief on his cruelty to his men, and his caprice in his conduct, as feems evidently calculated for the parade at St. James's. He exacted from the private men fuch a degree of precifion in the manual exercife, and in the minutiæ of their drets, as was almoft out of the power of the most dexterous and beft-difpofed to obferve, and punished them with the greatest feverity for flight errors and inadvertencies. The harangue delivered by the General, in the prefence of all the officers of the battalion to which Zeluco belonged, is admirably drawn up, and is a proper leffon for young Briti officers to ftudy, how ever high their rank in the army, or in life; and we cannot but regret that its length excludes it from a place in our Review. It is a leflon even for princes. Zeluco having little expectation of fudden promotion, which was the prin.

cipal object he had in view, foon quite ted the army, and once more betook himself to intrigue, for which his talents feemed better adapted. By upplanting a Spanish gentleman, to whom he had been recommended by letters from Madrid, he gets poffeffion of the perfon and valuable eftates of a rich widow," who had long protefted in pofitive terms, according to the established custom of wide ws, againk ever entering into a second matrimonial engagement." The ftory of this courtship is told with infinite bu mour, and, in our humble opinion, is a more inftructive school for widows than Mr. Cumberland's new comedy on the fame fubject. Become the fole master of a great number of flaves, after the death of his wife, who fell a vidim to his morofe and fulky temper, joined to the bitterness of felt-reproach, Zeluco had a large field open for the exercise of his tyrannical difpofition in the management of thefe unhappy wretches: and here we have the foundation laid for an ample difcuffion of that important subject of legislative investigation, and of daily convertation at home-the Slave Trade.

"Zeluco had originally no direct intention of injuring his flaves; his view was fimply to improve his eftates to the utmoft; but in the execution of this plan, as their exertions did not keep pace with his impatience, he found it neceffary to quicken them by an unremitting ufe of the whip. This produced difcontent, murmurs, fulkiness, fometimes upbraidings, on their parts; rage, threats, and every kind of abufe on his: he faw hatred in all their looks; he became more and more fevere, and treated them as he imagined they wished to treat him, and as he was confcios he deserved to be treated by them; at length he arrived at that shocking point of depravity, to have a gratification in punishing, independent of any idea of utility or advan tage to himself.

"This, unfortunately for a large proportion of mankind, is often the progrefs of unlimited power, and the effect it too frequently produces on the human character. If the reigns of many European proprietors of estates in the WeftIndies were faithfully recorded, it is much to be feared, that the capricious cruelties which difgrace thofe of Caligula and Nero would not feem fo incredible as they now do. And perhaps no memoirs could be more affecting to a candid and humane mind, than those of many negroes from the time of their

being

being brought from the coaft of Guinea till their death in the West Indies."

In fupport of the truth of this remark, the affecting ftory of one of Zeluco's faves, which may be called that of the dying Hanno, is aptly introduced. He is a tended in his latt moments by an honeft, blunt Irish foldier, and a prict of the order of St. Francis. We are re lieved from the painful fenfations which the pathetic part of the tale muft excite, by a converfation between the foldier and the priest in the Shandeyan tafte; and though we most highly approve of the fentiments it impreffes upon the mind, yet we are certain it will be confidered by the ferius and pious part of his readers as fomewhat too ludicrous upon fuch a folemn occafion, in articulo mortis, when it may not be judged fo becoming to impel them to immoderate laughter, which we believe few men will be able to refrain from on reading it.

Zeluco feels occafional compunctions for the death of this negro; but he is much more affected by the behaviour of all his flaves, during his own dangerous illness, occafioned by a wound he has received from a Portugueze merchant in disguise, in revenge for an attempt to feduce his wife. The unhappy wretches make frequent enquiries concerning his fituation, rejoice when they find he is likely to die, and burst into a loud and uncontrolable howl of forrow when his recovery is first announced to them. This gives occafion for his physician to remonftrate with him on the different effects produced by a cruel or a humane treatment of Daves; and many fenfible arguments are adduced to prove that, putting religion and humanity out of the question, the mafter who treats his flaves with well-directed kindness reaps more benefit from their labour, than he who behaves in a contrary manner; and our author, dexterously avoiding a decifive opinion, upon that violent measure now in agitation-the total abolition of the Slave Trade-has clearly pointed out, that reformation alone is wanting to make the flaves eafy under their fervi. tude, and as much attached to the proprietors of Weft-India eftates, as the most faithful fervants in any civilized country of Europe; for men in general ferve with more alacrity and perfeve rance from love than fear. But as there are many mnafters and managers who are, like Zeluco, too cruel and too blind to their true intereft to adopt the physi.

cian's principle voluntarily, he recom mends a legal abridgement of their prefent arbitrary power, and regulations to enforce the execution of justice and mercy. This is a well-timed admonition; and furely every gentler method ought to be tried, for a few years at least, before we venture on fuch a dangerous re volution in commerce, as the total abolition of the flave trade muft neceffarily produce.

A deep-laid fcheme of perfidy an revenge against the Portugueze and his wife, whom he fufp &ts of having betrayed him to her husband, is carried into execution by Zeuco, when he is on the point of leaving the inland to re turn to Europe. The principal object is to make the Portugu ze jealous; in other words, to render him a felf tormentor, and probably the murderer of his wife; or at least her open accuser at the bar of justice. Here the benevolent phylician and the zealous capuchin are again introduced; and in a ch pter intituled Comfortable Hints to Married Men,-replete with humour, good sense, and pure religion-a patient refignation under a misfortune, but too common, is strongly recommended in preference to public expofure of the cafe, or unchriftian revenge. If the fift advice were followed at home, it would prevent future com laints from the prefent venerable chief justice of the king's bench, who lately lamented that fo many caufes of this nature had come before him, in the fhort time he had prefided in that court The capuchin's arguments being rather novel and curious, we hail give them a place, in the hope that they may do fome good, though they may not be generally relished,

"I perceive, Sir, that you do not bear this difpenfation as you ought; I must therefore defire that you will keep in your remembrance, that it has been undoubtedly permitted for fome wife purpote; it will therefore be as impious as unavailing for you to murmur; for what has happened admits of no remedy, Now that the thing is done, it cannot be undone, at leit I never yet heard of any method by which a man may be uncuckolded this, my valuable friend, is the peculiar cruelty of your cafe; another perfon commits the crime, and you who are innocent fuffy the fhame. And what is still more vexatious, although one wicked w man can place her husband in this opprobio

Kk 2

He was decidedly of opinion, that none but monsters of wickedness, who ought to be burnt in this world by way of preparing them for the next, could harbour any doubt on fuch important points: he had indeed occafionally heard it hinted, that fome of thofe doctrines were incomprehenfible, and others contradic tory; but this did not convey to his judgment any reafon for doubting of their truth. He never omitted, therefore, any of the ceremonies prefcribed by the church: he confeffed his fins regularly, performed penance faithfully, would not eat a morfel of meat on a Friday on any confideration, and with the moft punctual perfeverance repeated daily his Pater Nofter, Ave Maria, and Credo. A perfon who thought that the whole of Chriftianity confifted in thefe and other ceremonies, could not but be furprised and fhocked to hear his claim to the name of a Christian difputed, As to that thirst for revenge on every real or imaginary injury, which he had indulged from his childhood, and fome other culpable propenfities to which he was addicted, he confidered all thefe as venial foibles, which were more than expiated by his obedience to mother church in more effential points; and when his indulging in those culpable practices, to which he was by temper and conftitution prone, came in queftion, he fhrugged his fhoulders, and faid, "Well, I thank God, they are neither herely nor fchifm.'

"The phyfician, however, endeavour ed to give him a different notion of thefe matters, founding moft of his arguments on paffages of a fermon to be found in the gospel of St. Matthew; for this happened to be a phyfician who fometimes read the Bible: there are, it would ap⚫ pear, fome of that kind in America. The Portugueze, at first, thought the paffages in queftion of a very fmgular nature; and as they were plain and intelligible, and nothing myfterious in them, he could hardly believe that they were quite orthodox: befides, he was a good deal furprised that certain articles which he thought of great importance, were not touched upon; yet on being informed who the perfon was who had preached this fermon, he could not deny that it had a fair chance of being found Christianity. The phyficjan having brought him fo far, found little difficulty in perfuading him, that it was his duty, as well as intereft, to leave Ze

luco to his o

wicked heart, which car. ried its punishment within itself; hint ing alfo the probability of his falling, fooner or later, within the grasp of the laws of fociety, which his pathons continually tempted him to violate.

"It was probably owing to the remonftrances of this extraordinary phyfician that Zeluco left the island in fafety; and the Portugueze merchant was indebted to him for being freed from the two mont tormenting dæmons that can poffefs the human heart, jealousy and the spirit of revenge.

Under the idea that there are but too many profeffional Chriftians even in Proteftant countries, we have fele fed this character, as conveying useful admonitions to all thofe who, being punctual in obferving the rites and ceremonies of any church whatever, fancy themfelves Chriftians, while they refufe forgivenefs and withhold parental affe&tion from the frail offspring of their own loins for venial tranfgreflions ; fhut upthe infolvent debtor in a dreary prifon, from a thirst for revenge; or fuffer their paffions to burft forth into fits of intemperate rage against thofe who differ from them either in religion or politics.

Our hero, after a profperous voyage to Cadiz, foon returns to his native city Palermo, and commences a fresh carcer of magnificence and gaiety: the report of his having acquired great riches procured him a numerous acquaintance, and of courfe proves the means of engaging him in a variety of new adventures; furnishing the author with opportunities to delineate a great number of entertaining characters, and to interfperfe many ftriking moral reflections on the conduct of mankind. With one of thefe, which we confider as a beautiful specimen of the reft, we fhall close the prefent account of this work, promiting our readers ample gratification in a future review, from the more lively and jocofe fketches in the fecond volume.

"We are never more apt to be mif taken than in our estimates of the hap‐ pincfs of grandeur. The grove overlooking the precipice has a fine effect at a diftance; we admire the fublimity of its fituation, and the brightness of its verdure when gilded by the rays of the fun; we grudge no labour in scramb bling up to the feat of pleature, which, when attained, we often find cold and comfortlefs, overgrown with mofs, prer ced by the winds of every quarter, and

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