Aristus to the cruel, but most adorable Panthea," and XLIV., "Bellisa to Philemon, on perceiving a decay of his affection ?" If the ladies are unacquainted with this literature, let them be advised and remain in their ignorance.

Smollett pursued a better course with regard to the "famous Mr. Campbell," in making him the object of laughter and the source of instruction to the town under the name of Cadwallader. But then Smollett was a long age posterior to De Foe.

Similar to the "Life of Duncan Campbell," was De Foe's sketch of "Dickory Cronke, the Dumb Philosopher," &c., &c. Alas! alas! and it was only for a morsel of bread.

All

We have stated our thanks are due to De Foe for giving the English novel, graphic descriptions, and quick, pointed conversations. In one of the qualities of a novelist he was unaccountably deficient-not even coming up to his precursor, Mrs. Behn. To the construction or the most vague conception of a plot he seems to have been quite inadequate. This may be accounted for, partly by the fact that, from abstaining on religious grounds from the theatres, his mind had not been duly educated in this most difficult department of his art; and partly by the rapidity with which his “histories" were evolved. Whatever may be the cause of the fault, that it exists few will be so rash as to question. De Foe's novels, long as they are, are but a string of separate anecdotes related of one person, but having no other connection with each other. In no one of them are there forces at work that necessitate the conclusion of the story at a certain point. One meets with no mystery, no dénouement in them. They go on and on (usually at a brisk pace, with abundance of dramatic positions), till it apparently strikes the author he has written a good bookful, and then he winds up with a page and a half of " so he lived happily all the rest of his days," intermixed with some awkward moralizing by way of apology for the laxity of the bulk of

the work. For example, "Roxana" might as well have been twice or half as long as it is.

One feature more of De Foe as a novelist. May he not be regarded as the first English writer of prose-fiction who pointed out the field of history to imaginative literature? His "Journal of the Plague Year;" his "Memoirs of a Cavalier;" and "The Memoirs of an English Officer who served in the Dutch War in 1672, to the peace of Utrecht in 1713, &c. &c. By Captain George Carlton,” were the pioneers of that army of which the Waverley Novels form the main body. The great Earl of Chatham used, before he discovered it to be fiction, to speak of the "Memoirs of a Cavalier" as the best account of the civil wars extant. And of "Captain Carleton" there is the following anecdote in Boswell's Johnson. "The best account of Lord Peterborough that I have happened to meet with is in 'Captain Carleton's Memoirs.' Carleton was descended from an officer who distinguished himself at the siege of Derry. He was an officer, and what was rare at that time, had some knowledge of engineering. Johnson said he had never heard of the book. Lord Elliot had a copy at Port Elliot; but, after a good deal of enquiry, procured a copy in London, and sent it to Johnson, who told Sir Joshua Reynolds that he was going to bed when it came, but was so much pleased with it that he sat up till he read it through, and found in it such an air of truth that he could not doubt its authenticity, adding, with a smile, in allusion to Lord Elliot's having recently been raised to the peerage, 'I did not think a young lord could have mentioned to me a book in the English history that was not known to me."

CHAPTER V.

DE LA RIVIERE MANLEY.

ONE of the many hundreds of noble-hearted Englishmen who did and suffered much for Charles I., and received nothing in return, save a careless "thank you," from Charles II., was Sir Roger Manley. He was governor of Guernsey, or one of the small islands thereabouts; and besides being all that a pun on his name proclaimed him, he was a soldier and a writer of no ordinary merit. He published a Latin work, "Commentaria de Rebellione Anglicanâ ab anno 1640 ad annum 1685," and "A History of the late Wars of Denmark."

This good knight had for one of his children a daughter, named De la Riviere. In what year this lady was born the present historian cannot state positively. Perhaps she intended there should be somewhat of mystery on the point; ladies have been known to object to having their ages made common talk. But as Swift mentioned her in his journal to Stella as "about forty," in the January of 1712, we can, in this case, make a sufficiently accurate guess.

Sir Roger died when his two daughters were still young, and dying he left them to the guardianship of their first cousin, whom he had reared like a son, and benefited with unwearied care. This nephew accepted the trust, and acquitted himself of it by feigning that his wife was dead, and begging De la Riviere to take her place. The girl accepted the offer was married-and was then cast off by the villain who had ruined her.

As her misfortunes had made her an especially fit object

for commiseration and tenderness, the world treated her with disdain and neglect. At this juncture the Duchess of Cleveland (Charles the Second's mistress) chanced to meet the poor woman, conceived a liking for her, and took her into her warm friendship for full six months, and then broke with her. General Tidcourb now took pity (let us hope his sympathy was pure of aught unworthy) on De la Riviere, and invited her to his country seat. She declined to avail herself of his goodness; and retiring to a seclusion of her own choosing, devoted herself to study and writing. The fruit of her application was a tragedy, called “The Royal Mischief," which was acted at the Theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, in 1696, seven years after the death of Aphara Behn. In 1696 appeared also another of her dramas, "The Lover Lost; or the Jealous Husband." And in 1717, her "Lucius"-to which Steele wrote the prologue, and Prior the epilogue-was represented. But it was by her novels that she achieved her reputation; “Bath Intrigues," in four letters; "A Stage Coach Journey to Exeter," in eight letters to a friend; "The Secret History of Queen Zarah, from her Birth to the conclusion of her Reign;" "The Adventures of Rivella ;" "Secret Memoirs and Manners of several persons of quality of both sexes,' from New Atalantis, an island in the Mediterranean, written originally in Italian, and translated from the third edition of the French; "Memoirs of Europe, towards the close of the Eighteenth Century," written by Olgismodus, secretary and favourite to Charlemagne, and done into English by the translator of the "New Atalantis ;" and "Court Intrigues," in a collection of original letters from the island of New Atalantis, by the author of those memoirs.

Such are the names of the best known of her productions. The "New Atalantis" made a great noise in the world. It is an immoral performance, and could have proceeded

from no woman not of vicious tastes. The work was a compilation of all the most displeasing scandals of the British Court; only the authoress was prudent enough to screen herself from punishment, by giving fictitious names to the real actors and places, of which her story treated. No one was spared. Her personal enemies, and her political foes (the Whigs), were lashed with severity: but none met with mercy, the turning whom to ridicule could make the book more amusing. The great men in power were furious. The printer and publisher were seized under a warrant, from the Secretary of State, Lord Sunderland. On this, De la Riviere heroically gave herself up, appearing before the Court of King's Bench as the author. Lord Sunderland wanted to know who had supplied her with the information for her publication. She supposed "inspiration had guided her, because knowing her inno cence, she could account for it in no other way." His lordship returned, that "inspiration used to be on a good account; but that her writings were stark naught." To this the lady retorted, that "his lordship's observation might be true; but as there were evil angels, as well as good, that what she had wrote might still be by inspiration." His lordship, being thus foiled, ordered her to be locked up; and she was confined in a messenger's house without pen, ink, or paper. But her counsel, suing out her "habeas corpus" at the King's Bench bar, she was admitted to bail. Eventually, proceedings were dropped; but not till she had several times opposed the court, before the bench of judges.

Having escaped thus easily, in the case of the "New Atalantis," she continued to write on the same plan. In "The Adventures of Rivella," which is her autobiography she gave her version of all the incidents and contentions of her life, only throwing over the discreditable revelations the flimsy covering of false names. "The Secret History