SIR PHILIP GASTENEYS* Is an unconscious exposure of the state
of morality in England. This young baronet has written his notion of the model of a man, and in highly laudatory terms has described as great a scoundrel as ever lived,—a fellow who seduces all the women who trust him, who abuses the confidence of all his friends, and lavishes his money on the most profligate pursuits, all the time that his author is talking of the strict- ness of his principles, of the nicety of his honour, and the delicacy of his discretion.
We have heard the book described as without talent : this is not true—the young baronet has to thank his bad education that he has produced so worthless an affair, but he is by no means destitute of ability. Take for example the description of the old seat and grounds of the ancestors of his hero. At the same time, in so small a space we never met with so gross a compound of ill-disguised sensuality and unconscious ignorance.
* Sir Philip Gasteneys. By Sir Roger Gresicy, Bart. London, 1829. Colbum
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