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REVIEW. ff Still pleased to praise, yet not afraid to blame. M —PoPiu
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Review. Ff Still Pleased To Praise, Yet Not Afraid To Blame. M —Popiu
REVIEW . ff Still pleased to praise , yet not afraid to blame . —PoPiu
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Art . I . —Letters of Mary Lepel , J ^ ady Hervey 9 with a Memoir and Illustrative Notes . 8 vo . pp . 344 . Murray . 1821 . JTTX ) whatever cause it be owing , JL whether to public spirit , to a sense of family-honour or to a love of
gain , the descendants of persons distinguished in the last century , are industriously bringing to light manuscripts which explain the characters and events of that interesting period . The historian of England , from the Revolution downwards , will , therefore ,
possess ample materials for his undertaking ; but it may be justly doubted , whether his knowledge of the secrets of the Court and of great families , will contribute to the dignity of his sketches . In history , as well as other provinces of art and literature , a certain degree of obscurity is necessary to sublimity .
Mary Lepel was the daughter of a military officer , and maid of honour to Queea Caroline , then Princess of Wales . She was early celebrated for her wit and beauty , which recommended her to John Lord Hervey , son of the Earl of Bristol , whose wife
she became in 1720 . Lord Hervey was the foremost beau of his age , a courtier , small poet and parliamentary orator . He is unfortunately made immortal by some witty , but
malignant , verses of Pope ' s , which he is said to have wantonly provoked ; fcut appears in a better , though fainter fight to posterity , as the friend of Dr . Oonyers Middleton . Lady Hervey was a woman of e . fninent accomplishments . Her Letters
are not always , however , in the best taste . She ajfects Latin quotations , and takes upon her too much of a political character . For an Englishwoman she has an undue liking for the literature and manners of France .
She w ^ iits too , that sense of religipn , without which , the female character is always glaringly and offensively imperfect ; for though she is politically of the E » tabKShea Church , she shews
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herself at heart a free-thinker . But with all these drawbacks , we feel interested in her epistolary productions and are persuaded , that if the present volume do not prove a popular book its merits will , at least , save it from
oblivion . The Letters were written at a late period of Lady Hervey ' s life , and chiefly after her husband ' s death , which may account for their exhibiting little of that vivacity and grace which fascinated the most eminent
contemporaries of her youth : they are , nevertheless , far from dull , and sometimes spirited ; the fair writer ' s criticisms on books , and her judgments on mankind , are generally characterized by sound sense $ and some facts are related by her which will assist the biographer , if not the
historian . The person to whom the Letters are addressed , was the Rev . Edmund Morris , who had been tutor to her sons , and who , at the time the correspondence begins , was settled down , as a country clergyman , in Hampshire . He was of the low church party , and looked up to Bishop Hoadly as a
patron . The Editor of this work is unknown . His " Memoir" is very scanty ; his " Notes 0 are for the most part judicious and useful . Were they less tinctured with Toryism they would , in our
judgment , lose nothing of their value . It does not appear , whether the Letters arc published by the family of Mr . Morris , or that of Lady Hervey , whose grandson is the present Earl of Bristol .
The Correspondence begins at a stormy period of our history , the y& 1742 . At that time , Jess practical liberty was , we apprehend , enjoyed , than at the present moment . What to
letter-writer now thinks of saying a correspondent , "Do not , the future , use the formality of signing your letters : you may possibly have occasion to write such news as way be bhtter un&i&ned ?* ? ( P . 15 . ) <• A remark of the Editor ' s ( p . W
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1822, page 102, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2509/page/38/
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