The Sun.
London, England, 1822-04-29 00:00:00

LITERARY NOTICE.

JOURNAL of SENTIMENTAL TRAVELS In the
SOUTHERN PROVINCES of PRANCE, shortly before
• the Revolution ; embellished with Seventeen coloured En-,
griyings., from designs by T. Re w LANDSON, -Esq. royal 13vo.

We cannot held) considering that ever since the
appearance of the piquant publication of the lively
STERNE, the insertion 'of the words " Sentimental
Travels" in a title-page has indicated no small
degree Of confidence in the writer by whom they
are used, inasmuch as the mind of the reader is
involuntarily led to institute comparisons be-
tween the work before him and that
,celebrated
performance. How much these comparisons turn
to the disadvantage of the majority of the more
recent productions need scarcely be insisted on.
With the inveterate habit of referring to this
standard, we took up the volume on our table
without any other favourable prepossessions than
were excited on turning over the plates—for we
are not ashamed to confess that, like children,
we cannot resist the temptation of reconnoitring
the pretty pictures of a book before we commence
a regular attack on its contents—and in which
_embellishments we had no difficulty to recognize
the broad and racy humour of our old friend
ROWLANDSON. Having dispatched this prelimi-
nary, by which one of the critical wrinkles at
least was removed from our brow, we fairly pre-
pared to gut up the Author, but had not pro-
ceeded far before we found the rest disappear one
after another.

His performance is introduced bra quaint ad-
dress which purports to proceed from the pen of
an editor. It is so brief and appropriate that we
shall transcribe it :

" Courteous Reader—lf thou delightest to trace the human
heart through its secret workings and wordings, through all the
devious paths into which it is led by a-thousand vagaries, thou
wilt perchance find this tome suited to thy taste, though its title-
page be not graced by the name of any Honourable, Right
Honourable, or right celebrated Author. It cannot be more ina-
terial to thy relish of its contents to know who is the traveller
whose adventures and observations are here presented to thee,
his real country, his quality, and his other personalities, than it
is to clear up every
.shadow of doubt that still envelopeth the
writer of the interminable series of delightful Novels put forth
by the Eallantyne Press, before thou seatest thyself to enjoy the
entertainment which his inexhaustible genius hath provided for
thee. An acquaintance with 'these circumstances could not en-
hance the merits or palliate the defects which thy critical eye
may discover in this Journal ; neither would it heighten in the
smallest degree its traits of humour or its touches of pathos, if -
haply thou meetest with any in thy progress through its pages.
Such as it is, the Editor commends it to-thine indulgence ; and
if either the traveller's conduct in the very ticklish situations-in
which he is sometimes placed, or the manner in which he bath
recorded his experience for thy warning and edification seem to
need thy charity, condemn him not hastily, but consider if thine
own actions have ever been so unimpeachable, and if thy Works
have always approached so near to the standard of human per-
fection, as on no occasion to solicit from others the exercise of
that most essential of Christian virtues."

Tile unknown Author has, probably as a ruse
de guerre, assumed the German character; but we
cannot, for the life of us, with all our penetration,
detect any thing teutonic either in his language or
his sentiments : both are as purely British as we
could wish them to be. We must farther ac-
knowledge that, after a careful perusal of this
volume, by which our attention was rivetted with-
out intermission from beginning to end, we are
puzzled to decide whether it is a work of fiction,
or the narrative of a real tour. Indeed there is so
much verisimilitude in the delineations, the de-
tails are so circumstantial, the colouring is so vivid,
the incidents arise so naturally 'one out of an-
other, and the whole together is so correctly in
keeping, that we rather incline to the latter opi-
nion. The hand of a master is certainly appa-
rent throughout, and whether he touches the
grave or the gay, the tender or the burlesque
whether he rallies the foibles, lashes the vices, or
seeks to kindle the purer passions of the human
heart, his efforts are crowned with equal success.
As our contracted limits preclude the possibi-
lity of adducing documents from the Work itself.
in support of our opinion, we shall conclude with
recommending it in the strongest manner to the
notice of our Readers ; confident that such of
them as may be hereby induced to give it a pe-
rusal, will feel no small obligation to us for hav-
ing pressed this elegant and interesting volume
upon their attention.