The Thoughts on Man, by Mr. GODWIN, and the Anatomy
of Society, by Mr. ST. Joint, are two collections of Essays, partly moral, partly metaphysical, partly a3sthetical; the -former by a- very old man and the latter by a very young one. The title of the Anatomy Of Society gave us reason to expect something else than a miscellaneous series of essays, on subjects so various that it would be very difficult to find any general term that would com- prise them all, and for which it is scarcely possible to fax upon any phrase less apt than the " Anatomy of Society." Mr. Gonwiars. name authorized us to expect much from his work ; and we were very curious to see society, in its present state, anatomized by an acute observer. But both the young and the old man have greatly disappointed us. Mr. GODWIN informs the world, that these are Thoughts which have occurred to him during a period of thirty years, and which, to the best of his belief, are new: we can only say, that if they had been published thirty years ago, they had ap- peared in season—the world has not been standing still if Mr. GODWIN has. We recognize the vagueness and wordiness of the author of the Political Justice, which, when that work appeared— at a moment when the thinking part of the world were just dis- covering the delusion of past prejudices, and were gaping for some more plausible theory—were taken for wisdom and profundity. Mr. GODWIN takes the pains to assure his readers, that he has contributed to no periodical miscellany since the time that his name became known. We are told this by way of assuring us of
• the virginity of these Thoughts, which now for the first time dis- close their beauties to the world. We feel quite assured, that essays like those in the volume would not have found admission into any periodical of eminence. For although the thoughts may be new to the author, and original in his mind—where they are sound, they may be considered at the present day nearly as truisms ; where they are unsound, they are whims which will always be confined to the author and a few disciples. The particulars of the author, promised in the titlepage, are as perfect generalisms as the rest of the book—being shared by all mankind. We must add, that the Essays are composed in a style of exceeding beauty and propriety, and in a spirit of the truest amiability and benevolence.
The word twaddle is a derogatory term,—which, however, suits both these books better than the descriptive titles chosen by the authors : the difference is, that the old man's work is the twaddle of a philosopher who has outlived his age, and the other is the twaddle of an essay-grinder—the sort of stuff that Mr. PRATT and Dr. DRAKE used to spin some time back, with indeed a modern air. In Mr. Gonwin we recognize the political and moral theorist still battling, with elegance and propriety, the mooted points of his youth, which the world has long since settled: in Mr. Sr. JOHN, a young litterateur, who has learned the art of distilling the com- monest ideas through his own "serpentine." He drops prose as a filtering-jar does water. We allow him the advantage of limpidity— nothing can be more translucent than his flow of words : they are undisturbed with the ideas which might have the effect perhaps of rendering his stream turbid. In him, too, we have to admire an amiable and inoffensive character: the spirit of his writings is ex- ceedingly bland and kind, and we really wish we could praise his book.
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