domestic influence in her mind, in an uneasy preference for serious society. Still her secular welfare was prudently thought of by the father: he opened the springs of knowledge to his children, and to a ground-work of general information he superadded, as a practical means of independence, perhaps of distinction, instructions in his own particular art, engraving, the only patrimony which it would be in his power to bequeath them. But Miss Taylor evinced neither a taste nor a promising talent for the business of engraving; and when the limit of the stated interval of application came round, she recurred to her literary employment with the eagerness and pleasure of instinct. Although full many a time her thoughts and impressions had passed from her mind into the embodied forms of prose and verse, yet it was not until the year 1804 that a production of hers appeared in print. It is a pretty long composition in verse, entitled the "Beggar-Boy," and was contributed to the Minors' Pocket-Book for that year; but, notwithstanding the success which smiled on her first public appearance, the spirit of authorship was made, by the wary father, subservient to the acquisition, on her part, of that skill in the chosen art, which he thought would prove a more useful accomplishment than any which literature could place at her service; and it was for the most part after or before the regular hours of mechanical application, that the matter of the joint publications of Miss Taylor and her sister was composed. In the year 1803, the vague alarm of a French invasion concentrated itself upon the inhabitants of Colchester, who apprehended that their town would be made the object of the enemy's violence. Under the impression of this terror Mr. Taylor divided his family, sending the subject of this memoir with two of her brothers and an infant sister to Lavenham, as an asylum from danger. There they remained for upwards of three months, and the rumour appearing groundless, the juvenile refugees were restored to the family-circle. After this epoch, her literary employments engrossed more of Miss Taylor's attention, than, in the earlier part of her life, she was enabled to give to them. The earnestness of her spirit and the decided direction of her tastes are peculiarly marked in the following extract from her correspondence.

"Whether instigated by the sight of your retired literarium, or what, I cannot exactly tell; but certain it is, that one of my first engagements on my return home, was to fit up an unoccupied attic, hitherto devoted only to household lumber : this I removed by the most spirited exertions, and supplied its place with all the apparatus necessary for a poet; which, you know, is not of a very extensive nature: a few book-shelves, a table for my writing-desk, one chair for myself, and another for my muse, is a pretty accurate inventory of my furniture. But though my study cannot boast the elegance of yours, it possesses one advantage which, as a poet, you ought to allow surpasses them all -it commands a view of the country; the only room in the house, except one, which is thus favoured; and to me this is invaluable. You may now expect me to do wonders. But even if others should derive no advantages from

'this' new arrangement, to me, I am sure they will be numerous. For years I have been longing for such a luxury; and never before had wit enough to think of this convenient place. It will add so much to the comfort of my life, that I can do nothing but congratulate myself upon the happy thought; and I demand a large share of your poetical sympathy on the occasion. Although it is morning, and, I must tell you, but little past six, I have half filled this sheet, which capability I attribute, chiefly, to the sweet fields that are now smiling in vernal beauty before me.' - Vol. i. pp. 87, 88.

It was in this agreeable solitude that she composed those various pieces which form her contributions to the two volumes of " Original Poems," and to that of " Rhymes for the Nursery." But, contrary to the received supposition, which Mr. Taylor thinks it due to the memory of his sisters to falsify, neither these joint productions of the two ladies, nor any of the other compositions which they had sent into the world, with one or two exceptions, returned them a sum, 'which, if they had been dependent upon their exertions in this line, could have afforded them a comfortable subsistence." But the sweetness of the reward which Miss Taylor derived in reputation from her literary industry, was neutralised, if not turned to bitterness, by religious doubt, that dark probation of the soul which a strong imagination deepens with additional terrors. The seared spirit survives in her correspondence. But the fever of spiritual apprehension did not take away their warmth from her sensibilities: it seemed rather to have imparted its energy to her affections. She thus describes her feelings for the loss of the society of her two brothers, who, in the year 1809, were under the necessity of removing permanently to London.

"Oh this cruel separation! It would have killed me to have known, when we first parted, how complete it would be. I am glad we deceived ourselves with the hope of keeping up frequent intercourse by letters and visits; it saved us a severer pang than any we then endured. These painful reflections are revived by the disappointment of our fond hopes of a speedy re-union, which is now rendered not only distant, but very doubtful. You, engaged in business, and surrounded with friends, cannot feel as we do on this subject. We have nothing to do but to contemplate our cheerless prospects; or to think of the days that are past. I do not mean it reproachfully, when I say, that you will soon learn to do without us;-it is the natural consequence of your situation; and we ought to be reconciled to the common lot.' But how can I forget the happy years in which we were every thing to each other. I am sometimes half jealous of our friends; especially of who now has that confidence which we once enjoyed. But I will not proceed in this mournful strain; and do not think, my dear brothers, that I am charging you with neglect, or any decrease of affection; though I do sometimes anticipate, and that with bitter regret, the natural effect of a long continued separation.

"We have not yet tried separation long enough to know what its effects will eventually be. I dread lest, in time, we should become so accustomed to it, as to feel contented to live apart, and forget the pleasure of our former intercourse: and I cannot suffer myself to believe

what, after all, is most probable, that we never shall be united again. It is a forlorn idea; for what will two or three flying visits in the course of the year amount to. Life is short; and we are, perhaps, half way through it already. Well, I ought to be thankful that so large a portion of it we have passed in company; and that, the best part too: and as to the future, if I could be sure that years of separation would not, in the least, estrange our affections from each other, and that the glow which warms the youthful breast would never be chilled by our passage through a cold, heartless world, I would be content. But the idea of becoming such brothers and sisters as we see every where is incomparably more painful than that of a final banishment, in which we should love each other as we now do."'—Vol. i. pp. 105-108.

Emerged, however, from this despondent state, Miss Taylor found a store of consolation in the absorbing occupation of composition. In the year 1810 Mr. Taylor removed to Ongar, where he took charge of a dissenting congregation. The project of a boarding school was about this time entertained by his daughter, and even entered upon, but was finally given up. About the year 1814, Miss Taylor produced the tale entitled "Display," the greater part of which was composed during a retreat in Devon and Cornwall, which was prolonged by her natural fondness for romantic scenery. This work was followed by her "Essays in Rhyme." In 1816, Miss Taylor yielded to the entreaties of the conductor of the "Youth's Magazine," and allowed herself to be ranked amongst its stated contributors; but the "Essays in Rhyme" appear to have been the favoured offspring of her intellect. In perfecting this work she lavished all her care; she exhibited the strength of her partiality in the vigilance with which she protected it from the hostility of criticism; and we are told that the excitement, of which it was the source, produced such an exhausting effect upon the health and spirits of the author, that complete idleness and a change of scene became indispensably necessary to her. After an absence of three years, Miss Taylor returned to Ongar, to the enjoyment of the blessings of home; and the year 1817 is commemorated by our biographer with that sort of joy which has the supposed sanctions of conscience for its indulgence, when the long standing doubts of her personal religion being dispelled, Miss Taylor admitted joyfully the hope of salvation, and publicly professed herself a member of the Christian church at Ongar, under the pastoral care of her father.' account of this proceeding is given by herself.

6.66

The

My mother told you of my having joined the church. You may have supposed that I was frightened into it, by my complaint; but I feel thankful that this was not the case; for it was not till after I had consulted Mr. Clyne, that I felt any alarm about it; nor had I before, any idea of its being of a formidable kind. My mind, all the summer, had been much in the state it has been in for years past, that is, unable to apply the offer of the Gospel to myself; and all confusion and perplexity, when I attempted to do so. One evening, (about three weeks before going to London for advice,) while alone in my room, and thinking on the sub

ject, I saw, by an instantaneous light, that God would, for Christ's sake, forgive my sins:-the effect was so powerful that I was almost dissolved by it. I was unspeakably happy; I believed that had I died that moment I should have been safe. Though the strength of the emotion soon abated, the effect in a great degree remained. A fortnight afterwards, I told Isaac what had taken place, and he urged me to be proposed immediately to the church. It was in this state I went to London; and when I heard what was to me wholly unexpected, I could not but consider the change in my feeligs as a most kind and timely preparation for what, but a few weeks before, would have overwhelmed me with consternation and distress. As it was, I heard it with great composure;

and my spirits did not at all sink till after I returned home. Since then I have had many desponding hours, from the fear of death. The happiness I enjoyed for a short time has given place to a hope, which, though faint, secures me from distress." Vol. i. pp. 164-166.

The progress of an induration in the breast, a disorder which proved ultimately fatal to Miss Taylor, not merely by the amount of pain which it occasioned, but by bringing a train of anxieties on her too susceptible mind, tended very much to embitter the latter years of her existence, and all the consolations she enjoyed were derived from the resources of religion. Surrounded with spiritual comforts, and in the bosom of her family at Ongar, she tranquilly expired in April, 1824.

With a degree of cultivation that raised her beyond the ordinary rank, and with endowments from nature that elevated her to still higher distinction, Miss Taylor might have done infinitely more than she has effected for the interests of literature. But she was the prey of a desponding conscience:- her fancy, her elegant taste, her native humour, were sacrificed to her religious apprehensions. We shall conclude this notice with a specimen of her poetic talents, distinguished for that playfulness of ingenuity, the traces of which, as we encounter them in the pages of these volumes, only make us lament the rarity of their occurrence.

The Violet to the Rose.

• Enclosed in the shade of a forest profound,
Where silence and solitude reign,
In colours diversified, scattered around,
A little wild hamlet of flowers was found,
The peasants of Flora's domain.

< There blue-bells, and daisies, and primroses grew,

From tumult and vanity far:

Their pleasures were simple

their wishes were few,

They sipped every morning fresh draughts of the dew,

And slept with the evening star.

Amid the wild group, in this peaceful recess,
A Violet peeped from the earth;

But lately indeed she had altered her dress;
And some in the hamlet had reason to guess,
She was but a cowslip by birth.

While they with the breezes at play might be seen,
Refusing to join in the sport,

She sighed for the garden where Rosa was queen,
And despised her pale crest, and her trappings of green,
When she heard of the splendours at court.

* And often at night the disconsolate maid
Lamented, by others unseen;

Till a fairy from court who frequented the glade,
Overheard the complaint that poor Violet made,
And told it again to the queen.

Kind Rosa was melted:. "My fairy," said she,
Again you must hasten away,

For none of my subjects unhappy shall be;
So bear this encouraging message from me,
To make my poor Violet gay.

"Go tell her, assured of our royal support,
No longer in sorrow to bend ;

Entreat her to smile and to join in their sport,
For that blue is a favourite colour at court,
And Rosa, the queen, is her friend."
Away on a moonbeam, her message to tell,
The tiny ambassadress sped:

'Twas night when she reached little Violet's dell,
But each nodding rustic unfolded his bell,
To hear what Queen Rosa had said.

• The Violet trembled such honours to share,
And blushed for her folly and pride;
Yet pleased that a queen so enchantingly fair
Should deign for a poor simple peasant to care,
She thus to the fairy replied:-

"Return, gentle spirit for Rosa will own

The tear that from gratitude flows ;
And tell her that here, in her hamlet alone,
Violetta will study, unseen and unknown,
Those virtues that sweetly embellish the throne,
And love her fair sovereign- the Rose."'

Vol. ii. pp. 88-91.

ART. XII. Granby; a Novel. 3 Vols. 8vo. London.

1825.

Colburn.

REPORT, not perhaps inartificially got up, has attributed this work to a person of distinction in the circles of fashion. If there be no foundation for this "loud whisper," and we rather suspect that there is not, such a mode of attracting and deceiving public attention cannot be too strongly reprobated. The injury which it inflicts on the real author, who, though he cannot count ten generations in his family, may still be an individual of great respectability, as he certainly is a writer of considerable talent, is not the only evil consequence arising from this false reputation. If almost every new tale which is published, is said to be the production of