vate life he was gentle, modest, placable, kind, of simple manners, and so averse from parade and dogmatism, as to be not only unostentatious, but even somewhat inactive in conversation. His superiority was never felt but in the instruction which he imparted, or in the attention which his generous preference usually directed to the more obseu e members of the company. The simplicity of his manners was far from excluding that perfect urbanity and amenity which flowed still more from the midness of his nature, than from familiar intercourse with the most polished society of Europe. His conversation, when it was not repressed by modesty or indolence, was delightful. The pleasantry, perhaps, of no man of wit had so unlaboured an appearance. It seemed rather to escape from his mind than to be produced by it. He had lived on the most intimate terms with all his contemporaries distinguished by wit, politeness, or philosophy, or learning, or the talents of public life. In the course of thirty years he had known almost every man in Europe whose intercourse could strengthen, or carich, or polish the mind. His own literature was various and elegant. In classical erudition, which, by the custom of England, s more peculiarly called learning, he was inferior to few professed scholars. Like all men of genius, he delighted to take refuge in poetry, from the vulgarity and irritation of business. His own verses were easy and pleasing, and might have claimed no low place among those which the French call ́ers de Societé. The poetical character of his mind was displayed in his extraordinary partiality for the poetry of the two most poetical nations, or at least languages, of the West, those of the Greeks and the Italians. He disliked political conversation, and never willingly took any part in it. To speak of him justly, as an orator, would require a long essay. Every where natural, he carried into public something of that simple and negligent exterior which belonged to him in private. When he began to speak, a common observer might have thought him awkward; and even a consummate judge could only have been struck with the exquisite justness of his ideas, and the transparent simplicity of his manners. Eut no sooner had he spoken for some time, than he was changed into another being. He forgot himself and every thing around

him. He thought only of his subject. His genius warmed and kindled as he went on. He darted fire into his audience. Torrents of impetuous and irresistible eloquence swept along their feelings and conviction. He certainly possessed, above all moderns, that union of reason, simplicity, and vehemence, which formed the prince of orators. He was the most Demosthenean speaker since Demosthenes. "I knew him," says Mr. Burke, in a pamphlet written after their unhappy difference, “when he was nineteen; since which time he has risen, by slow degrees, to be the most brilliant and accomplished debater that the world ever saw." The quiet dignity of a mind roused only by great objects, the absence of petty bustle, the contempt of shew, the abhorrence of intrigue, the plainness and downrightness, and the thorough good nature which distinguished Mr. Fox, seem to render him no very unfit representative of that old English national character, which, if it ever changed, we should be sanguine indeed to expect to see succeeded by a better. The simplicity of his character inspired confidence, the ardour of his eloquence roused enthusiasm, and the gentleness of his manners invited friendship." I admired," says Mr. Gibbon, "the powers of a superior man, as they are blended, in his attractive character, with all the softness and simplicity of a child: no human being was ever more free from ay taint of malignity, vanity, or falsehood."-From these quali ties of his public and private character, it probably arose, that no English statesman ever preserved, during so long a period of adverse fortune, so many affectionate friends, and so many zea lous adherents. The union of ardour in public sentiment, with mildness in social manners, was, in Mr. Fox, an hereditary quality. The same fascinating power over the attachment of all who came within his sphere, is said to have belonged to his father; and those who know the survivors of another ge neration, will feel that this delightful quality is not yet extinct in the race.

Perhaps nothing can more strongly prove the deep impression made by this part of Mr. Fox's character, than the words of Mr. Burke, who, in January, 1797, six years after all intercourse between them had ceased, speaking to a person honoured with some degree of Mr. Fox's friendship, said, " To be sure he is a man made to be loved!" and these emphatical words were uttered

With a fervour of manner which left no doubt of their heart-felt sincerity.

These few hasty and honest sentences are sketched in a temper too sober and serious for intentional exaggeration, and with too pious an affection for the memory of Mr. Fox to profane it by intermixture with the factious brawls and wrangles of the day. His political conduct belongs to history. The measures which he supported or opposed may divide the opinion of posterity, as they have divided those of the present age. But he will most certainly command the unanimous reverence of future generations, by his pure sentiments towards the commonwealth, by his zeal for the civil and religious rights of all men, by his liberal principles, favourable to mild government, to the unfettered exercise of the human faculties, and the progressive civilization of nankind; by his ardent love for a country of which the well-being and greatness were indeed inseparable from his own glory, and by his profound reverence for that free constitution, which he was universally admitted to understand better than any other man of his age, both in an exactly legal, and in a comprehensively philosophical sense.

Major TROTter.

HIS gallaut officer, who fell so

fighting in his country's

cause, in the late attack on Buenos Ayres, was a brother of Mr. Trotter Ruthven, representative in the late parliament for the borough of Downpatrick, and of Mr. Trotter, late confidential secretary of Mr. Fox, and a nephew of the late Bishop of Down. Major Trotter began his military career in the 88th regiment, in which he was present at the taking of Dunkirk. With that regiment he went to India, and accompanied the Indian expedition to Egypt, where his merit attracted the notice of his superiors, and he was, in consequence, appointed to a situation on the staff. After the commencement of the present war, General Beresford, the friend and patron of Captain Trotter, being placed on the staff in Ireland, appointed him his aide-de-camp.

From

that situation he was promoted to a majority in the 834. With the 23d Major Trotter went on the expedition to the Cape of Good Hope; and, as acting assistant adjutant-general, distinguished himself in such a manner in the attack and defeat of the Dutch army, as to merit the public thanks of Sir David

Baird, who commanded the British force on that expedition.

When the conquest of Buenos Ayres was achieved by the gallantry of the British troops under the conduct of General Beresford, that gallant and able oficer, from the high opinion he entertained of Major Trotter's courage and ability, wrote to him to come over with the reinforcement from the Cape, and appointed him assistant adjutant-general to the British forces in South America. But, before the arrival of the reinforcement from the Cape, General Beresford and the little army under his comma: d had been unfortunately compelled to surrender to the Spaniards; and the force under Sir Samuel Achmuty had been accompanied out by an assistant adjutant-general appointed in this country. That general, however, offered Major Trotter an appointment in the quarter-master-general's department, which he declined, requesting only to be placed in some active situation, in which his exertions would tend most to the benefit of the service. He was, in consequence, appointed to command the grenadiers in the attack on Maldonado, and on that occasion he again conducted himself in such a manner as to obtain particular notice in the public thanks.

In a skirmish in advancing to the at tack of Monte Video, Major Trotter had a horse shot under bim, and received a wound in the hand, but was not thereby prevented from leading the light brigade, in conjunction with his gallant friend, Colonel Brownrigg, on the desperate service of storming the breach of that fortress. On that occasion Major Trotter was the first man who mounted the breach, and, followed by a few of the bravest men, had the honour of opening the gates to the rest of the army.

in a subsequent skirinish with a party of Spaniards, in the vicinity of Monte Video, Major Trotter received a severe wound through the body. The close of his life, as described in the despatches relative to the late attack on buenos Ayres, was consistent with the eagerness with which he always led his followers to the post of danger. But in proportion as every danger that he encoun tered and escaped exalted his fame, and establised the character of his military talents, his life became more deve to his friends, and more valuable to his country. Hence, though his bravery, like that of Nelson, rendered his death more to be expected, it rendered it also more to be lamented.

The Oriental Voyager; or, Descriptive Sketches and cursory Remarks, on a Voyage to India and China, in his Majesty's Ship CAROLINE, performed in the Years 1803-4-5-6. Interspersed with Extracts from the best modern Voyages and Travels. The whole intended to exhibit a topographical and picturesque Sketch of all the principal Places which are annually or occasionally visited by the East India and China Fleets. The Routes to and from India illustrated by the Tracks of his Majesty's Ships CAROLINE and MɛDUSA, correctly set off on a CHART extending from the BRITISH 1SL, s to CANTON. By J. Johnson, Esq. Surgeon in the Royal Navy. I vol. 8vo. Asperne, 1807.

T has given us pleasure, as it indi

progress

the operation of elegant literature, to observe how large a portion of information has, in this age, been deduced from gentlemen of the naval and mitary professions. It would, in this respect, be invidious to compare former times with our own, because those must suffer by the comparison; therefore, while we congratulate the present period upon the many valuable works which it has derived from officers in the sea and land services, we mean not to glance at any omissions of this nature that might be observable in those long since past: yet still we must consider it as a fortunate circumstance, that men whose habits of life impel them to visit foreign countries, sometimes to traverse regions little explored, to encounter atmospheric and aqueous dangers, and to contemplate the lights and shades of the human character, through all its gradations, from its lowest debasement of savage ignorance and ferocity to its highest elevation in polished society, should have inEurop. Mag. Vol. LII. Sept. 1807.

clination and abilities to record their discoveries, as their volumes form a code of instruction for the young adventurer, who now enters upon his profession fraught with that theoretical preparation which the labours and talents of his precursors had contributed to inculcate.

Impressed, as we conceive, with this idea, Mr. Johnson has executed the work that we are now contemplating; a work to which he came with those peculiar advantages that are in these pages developed.

The first of these is a classical taste, which has induced him to observe and to apply those passages of the poets, both ancient and modern, which in an ingenious mind fly at once to the point, and assimilate with the ideas that parti

of fancy and emanations of sensibility, however unusual in books of voyages and travels in general, we think not only extremely entertaining, as they occasionally enliven narration, but, in a work like this, which is in a considerable degree didactic, extremely useful, because they assimilate with the images already in the juvenile mind, and consequently leave a stronger impression upon the memory.

The second advantage which we take the author to possess, arises from his chirurgical and medical knowledge, which have enabled him physically to inquire, and philosophically to expatiate upon the diseases incident to the maritime class of mankind in tropical climates, and, from the combined effects of atmospheric heat and culpable irregularity, to dedace many maxims of practical morality: and, thirdly, a peculiar advantage arises from his nautical skill, which has empowered him to describe with accuracy the tracks of the

C c

ships in which he sailed, to lay down a chart of their courses, and to select such parts of those writers whose authority stands the highest, who have described the different countries visited by Oriental voyagers, but which did not all come within the scope of his own observations, which are interwoven with his own remarks upon such places and such objects as peculiarly struck him, while, connected with these, be has given a whimsical, but, we have no doubt, an accurate, picture of a class of men, whose manners, though rough, are as amusing to, as their virtues are esteemed by, the ritish nation: we mean, the sailors of the UNITED KINGDOM.

This being our idea of the talents of the author, and of the use of the work, and conceiving that we have sufficiently introduced the subject, we shail now, that the reader may see that we have not over-rated either, in a few short extracts let him speak for himself; and as in the preface he explains his intention, to which we have only in very general terms alluded, we shall, in the first instance, quote what he says upon this topic, though we conceive his disqualifying bow unnecessary.

"To the general reader he cannot hope that these sketches and extracts will prove very interesting, and still less so to the critic and man of learning, unless it be for the purpose of pointing out their faults, which, after

all that has been said to the contrary, he be lieves is but an ungrateful task. As he never designed them, however, for the abovementioned classes, so he trusts they will not be .nclined to take odence at his inability to gratify a " riosity which he never excited. His sole object, in short, is, to furnish the young voyager with an agreeable and useful companion on his first visits to the Oriental world.

"With respect to the original sketches and remarks, be flatters himself that they will be found tolerably correct, as they were copied from nature, not from books; and though, in such a beaten track as that of the voyage to India and China, many of the descriptions i ust necessarily have been anticipated by his predecessors, yet let it be remembered, that these descriptions are scattered through various expensive works, that many of them were written a great number of years ago, and that all of them are accompaued by a vast variety of extraneous matter, which would be very uninteresting to the cursory visitor.

"In the mere nautical part he has been very concise, never having been able bum

self to derive much entertainment from read ing accounts of those monotonous transaction in a ship at sea, which are so faithfully re. corded in many of our log-book publications With the view, however, that these sketches might prove conducive to the welfare as well as entertainment of the younger classes of naval society, for whom they are chiefly de signed, the author has taken several opportu nities of introducing faithful pictures, drawn from life, and, alas! from death also; pictures which, perhaps, too faintly exhibit those ruinous consequences that result from intemperance and other species of immorality in tropical chmates particularly, persuaded that example is the most effectual method of impressing the minds of young men with a just abhorrence of such destruc tive practices. He has likewise introduced various observations and remarks on the local diseases of the country, and on the means of preserving health in hos clientes; circumstances which, he flatters huuself, will procure this little work a favourable reception with every one embarking for our eastern possessions, and likewise among his brother officers in the navy, who, it is well known, are often ordered out to India without any previous knowledge of the country, and at å time when they cannot possibly furnish themselves with books containing the necessary information."

From a work respecting which we conceive the original matter to be in every part peculiar y interesting, we find it rather difficult to select; yet as we wish to exhibit a few specimens of our author's talents for descriptive writing, we have extracted the follow ing; not that we think them the best, but because they the most easily accommodate themselves to the purpose of this brief notice.

PULO PENANG, OR PRINCE OF WALES'S
ISLAND.

"Prince of Wales's Island, called by the natives Pulo or Poolo Penang, from a Malay word signifying areka nut and betel, kes on the fith parallel of north latitude, and 100°20′ 15′′ (George Town) of east longi tude, at the entrance of the straits of Malacca. It is nearly in the shape of an oblong square, about sixteen miles in length, and from six to eight in breath, distant between two and three miles to the Malay shore. It was given to Captam Light by the king of Queda, and first settled in 1786. The greater part of the island is occupied by 3 jofty irregular ridge of mountain grouning in the direction of the island north and south), the northern extrennty of which is by far ue highest; and here they have a signal-bouse and several bungalows erected. The whole

of this ridge is covered with a forest of trees of immense size; and between its castern base