"Discourse," his clear and able exposition, and the polish of his style and language, although not free from a degree of affectation. (No. XLII. p. 323.)

The Memoir of Signor Ferroni's is also well and ably written, at once pithy and comprehensive.(p. 335.)

The author of the "Eulogy on Signor Cocchi," just lost to us, has evinced great richness and command of language, with an easy flow of composition.-(No. XLIII. p. 29.)

Among Mancini's most bold and difficult translations, we must include that of "Homer, in Ottave Rime," in many points of view extremely valuable. Signor Carelli's translation of "Anacreon and Saffo," is remarkable, also, for its poetical elegance and feeling, no less than for its typographical beauty.—Ibid.)

The Marchese Lucchesini's Fistory "Della Confederazione Renana," is a work of judgment and research.

MEMOIRS of the Life of Mary Queen of Scots, in two volumes, octavo, have just made their appearance from the pen of MISS BENGER, who is already known to the public as the author of the Memoirs of Anne Boleyn, Mrs. Hamilton, &c. The interesting period of history comprised in these volumes, has, it is true, found many historians, but there are none who have treated it in the same lively and entertaining style as this lady, who has interwoven into her narrative a great deal of personal anecdote and animated description. She may, perhaps, be pardoned for taking rather a partial view of the transactions in which her heroine was involved: a much more agreeable error for a biographer to fall into, than the contiary extreme. The work appears to have been hastily brought out; thus we have references to notes which are not to be found, and other similar errors. The portrait of Mary, prefixed to the first volume, is an exceedingly interesting one.

Too many of the writers of the present day depend so much upon the resources of their own minds, as, in a great mea sure, to neglect the labour and application necessary to qualify them for their appearance before the public. Mr. J. D'ISRAELI is quite an exception to this remark. His works owe all their amusing character to his laborious researches, and not to his own unassisted natural talent. Whilst most of his contemporaries are racking their invention for novelty to entertain, he is employed in making exertions to revive evanescent literary subjects, and in presenting them once more to the attention of the public; and, though it is true that there is no great intermixture of his own ideas, yet the subjects being now new to inquiry, will afford us perhaps as much pleasure as if entirely original. We have been much interested by his second series of Curiosities of Literature, consisting of Researches in Literary, Bio

graphical, and Political, History; Critical and Philosophical Inquiries and Secret History. Among the Essays most deserving of notice, is the History of the Caraccis. His Philosophy of Proverbs, and his Essay on Autographis, possess superior merit, and will afford much amusement. But perhaps the best treatise contained in these three volumes, is his Secret History of Sir Walter Rawleigh, a subject on which the author, from his intimate knowledge of it, is well entitled to speak. Our readers will receive from these researches of Mr. D'Israeli, a degree of amusement, as well as of instruction, which will amply repay the perusal.

We observe a seasonable addition to the public stock of Christmas mirth and amusement, in a very agreeable publication, entitled, German Popular Stories, translated from the Kinder und haus Marchen; collected by M. M. GRIMM, from oral tradition. The motto to the work well expresses the object of the compilers, and the disposition and situa tion in which it is expected that their readers shall discuss their labours, and to which, we believe, few objections would be made. "Now you must imagine me to sit by a good fire, amongst a companye of good fellowes, over a well-spiced wassel bowle of Christmas ale, telling of these merrie tales, which hereafter follow." To the luxuries of so enviable a position, these stories would certainly add a high zest. Difficult as it is to draw any thing original from the ancient stories of legendary fiction, yet several of the pieces in this volume are quite new to us, and in others which are current amongst us, the variations are such as to give them a claim to novelty. They are almost all distinguished by that wild and somewhat grotesque imagination, which the Germans scem to possess beyond any other nation; and which, when well managed and delicately refined, forms the great charm of such exquisite works as the Romances of

La

La Motte Fouque. In the tales before us, this peculiar exuberance of fancy, in a ruder but yet genuine form, is blended with much quaint humour, and a piquant simplicity of style, which renders them irresistibly entertaining.

The author of "Tracts on the English Verb," has fired a gun at the absurd foundations of the Newtonian philosophy, and he is a very expert marksman. But he may be the latter in the highest perfection, without being grateful to his tutor. He has read certain papers in this miscellany, and perhaps the Twelve Essays, for he more than once adopts their exact phraseology, yet he claims originality and professes to be self-taught. We do not think science will be improved by what is his own; and we therefore admit that he has discovered the principles that "all motion is curvilineal," that "bodies un der an exhausted receiver have no weight," and that "the tides arise from the tradewinds." He should read the Twelve Essays over again, and instruct himself before he sets up for a teacher. He ought also to practise the plain principles of gratitude and literary honesty, worth all other philosophy, and without which he will do his school no credit.

Isn't it Odd? by MARMADUKE MERRYWHISTLE, is a question put to us so frequently in the course of three volumes, that we feel compelled to give it an answer; and yet we feel some difficulty in making up our minds on the subject. The direct answer is obvious-It is very odd and whimsical; and, if we proceed to look at the dark side of the subject, we shall be compelled to add, that its wit is often quaint and affected, its humour coarse and low, and its incidents improbable. But against these drawbacks, we are ready to make a large allowance for the genuine, though somewhat irregular, spirit which animates all its pages, and a warmth of feeling which communicates itself to the reader, and leads him, through a series of facetic, which, in spite of his sterner judgment, will often force him to a smile, to the end of Mr. Marmaduke Merry whistle's eventful history. Setting aside such objections as might certainly be made to these volumes in point of good taste, and, we might say, of good sense, we can promise such of our readers as are not over-nice in feeding their intellectual appetite, a good deal of amusement in following the bustling vivacity of Mr. Merrywhistle through all his practical jokes and surprising adventures. In fact, we have been more pleased with his extravagances, than we can well reconcile to our own consciences; and we feel almost angry at the provoking mixture of merits and defects, which makes it diffieult to praise, and painful to coudemu.

A judicious and well selected compen dium of the History of England, for the use of young persons, cannot fail to meet with a due appreciation of its merits from parents and preceptors; and we are enabled to recommend a work of this nature, with great confidence, to their notice, written on an ingenious and useful plan.

Mr. SOUTHEY, uniting in himself the characters of poet laureate and court politician, has just published and dedi cated to his royal patron, the first volume of his History of the Peninsular War: a task for which he is, in some respects, eminently endowed; and in other and more important points, as notoriously disqualified. Amongst the advantages which he possesses, may be numbered his intimate acquaintance with the language, customs, and history, of Spain; his long literary experience and habits of studions research, and the particular facilities he has enjoyed, on the present occasion, of drawing his information on matters of fact, from sources of high authority. On the other hand, his exasperated partyprejudices acting on a judgment naturally weak, and flattered by a vanity not unfrequently the concomitant of such talents as have fallen to the lot of Mr. Sonthey; the retirement in which he has lived, which has qualified him rather for specu lative subjects than for such as bear upon the real business of life; and, not least, the capacity in which he has composed this work, rather as the historiographer of a court than as an independent philoso pher; render him, of all men, perhaps the most incompetent to the true and impar tial performance of the task which he has taken in hand. A similar work has been also commenced in Spain, by order of the government; and from the first part, al ready published, Mr. Sonthey has derived much information. He would have waited for its conclusion previons to the publishing of his own labours, "but its progress," says he, "has been interrupted by the revolution in Spain, and the aspects of that country are so dark, that there can be no hopes of seeing it resumed." We feel sentiments of unmixed pity for those perceptions, which can only desery darkness in the first light which has cheered the spirits of the brave and suffering patriots of Spain; which has al ready scared the troop of tyrants from the prey they were ready to devour, and which, we trust, is destined not alone to illuminate that roble land, but to afford the flame at which many a torch of freedom shall be lighted. It is well for Mr. Southey that his plan does not include the history of the Spanish revolution, as well as that of the Peninsular war. In the latter, his rancorons hatred of the French will compel him, at all events, to do am

pie

ple justice to the Spanish cause. In the former, we know not how he could have reconciled his duties as an historian, with the allegiance which he owes to despotism, as the admirer of the holy alliance and the menial servant of a monarch's household. The volume now published gives the history of the war from its commencement in 1807, to the battle of Corunna and the death of Sir John Moore, in 1809. A collection of very entertaining anecdotes has been compiled, in two small and elegant volumes, by Mr. W. H. IRELAND, under the title of, Napoleon Anecdotes, illustrating the mental energies of the late emperor of France, and the characters and actions of his contemporary statesmen and warriors. They are principally selected from the portfolio of a gentleman who resided in France for several years previous to the return of Louis XVIII. and were noted down immediately as related, or as the occurrences took place. The editor has also availed himself of various authentic and popular works, to enrich his compilation, and has made a judicious use of the valuable pages of Mr. O'Meara. It will necessarily happen in a collection of this natore, that we meet with a number of anecdotes which are by no means new to us, but the quantity of original matter bears a very fair proportion to the whole. The selection has been made without any exclusive partiality, and affords plentiful materials for making a just estimate of the character and policy of Napoleon, whose talents, virtues, and fortunes, were of sach an order as to place him, not only immeasurably beyond the sphere of contemporary potentates, but perhaps to entitle him to rank in history, as the greatest and most successful monarch on ber records. With all his amazing capacities, and the sincere desire which, we believe, he had to confer happiness on the countries under his dominion; his conduct and his fate form an eternal monument of the folly of entrusting to any one man, however able or good, the destinies of a great body of mankind. As a monarch, Napoleon undoubtedly stands in the very first rank; as a benefactor of the human race, he, with all his sceptered brothers, must sink into utter insignificance before the patriotic virtue and wise moderation of such a man as Washington, whose actious will continue as long to be the example of the new world, as those of Napoleon the warning of the old.

Geography has received a valuable acquisition in the appearance of a complete American Atlas. It has been published by Carey at Philadelphia, and is repub. lished in London by Miller. As a specimen of engraving and typography, it is highly creditable to the state of those arts in America; and, in truth, we have nothing in

Europe superior to this work in manual execution. It contains finished maps of the twenty-four states of which the great Northern Union consists, together with two territories which are soon likely to be incorporated. Including the Floridas, which have been ceded by Spain, the territory of the United States extends in mean length about 2500, and in mean breadth 830 miles, the area being 2,076,400 square miles, or 1,328,896,000 acres. The confe deracy originally consisted of 13 states, but the number is now increased to 24, forming the most extended and compact empire which has hitherto existed. Appended to each map is a domestic History of each State, with particulars of its Constitution, Produce, Population, &c. and this literary department is executed with care and ability. We heartily wish the old continent were exhibited in the same form as a companion to this work, and we should then possess all the requisites of geographical information in one or two volumes. The American Atlas is not, however, to be regarded as a mere compilation, for it contains many tracts, exhibited from original surveys, in which our previous maps were imperfect, or very incorrect; while, taken as a whole in its graphic delineations, and in its letterpress, it is calculated to interest the philosopher as well as the geographer, and the philanthropist as well as the politician.

A series of Essays have just made their appearance, under the title of Outlines of Character, by a Member of the Philomathic Institution, the perusal of which has afforded us much pleasure. They bear the marks of an ingenious and reflecting mind, although many of the subjects are such as not to admit of much original remark and illustration. Such are the characters of the poet, the orator, the gentleman, and the man of genius; on which the author might well stand excused if he did not advance any thing new. But to the discussion of these topics, however trite, the essayist brings a clearness of judgment, and a correctness of taste, which give interest and value to his labours. Perhaps the most novel and entertaining portion of his work is that in which he pourtrays the literary character, and makes an estimate of the present state and consequences of our literature; in which, for the most part, we perfectly coincide. We think, however, that he has dwelt too exclusively on the inconveniences and evils attendant upon the general diffusion of knowledge, and the multiplication of literary labours; and that, if he had taken as much pains to sum up the benefits we derive from those sources, the balance would be found greatly in their favour. Neither are we under any apprehensions that the literary appetite of the age will be pampered into satiety. This is a craving,

in the indulgence of which, "increase of appetite still grows on what it feeds on." The chapter on the periodical critic contains many very just and amusing observations on the prevailing taste for criticism, expressed with much moderation, and at the same time with a candour and fearlessness which ought to entitle the author, in his turn, to a liberal and unprejudiced judgment.

Time's Telescope for 1823, will be found inferior to none of its interesting predecessors. We have so often had occasion to notice the periodical appearance of this useful work, that our readers need no information as to its object and plan. To the present volumes is prefixed an introduction, on the habits, economy, and uses, of British Insects, and an Ode to Time, written expressly for the work by Bernard Barton, from whose highly pleasing poems we likewise observe several extracts are given by the compiler. In the variety and amusing quality of its contents, we know few works which can bear a comparison with Time's Telescope; while, at the same time, it contains much useful matter. We notice, with particular commendation, the poetical taste of the editor, who has selected from the fugitive verses of the day many very beautiful and interesting specimens. We seldom recollect having read any lines displaying a more fanciful imagination than those by Mr. Shelley at page 204. The scientific department is got up with the same fidelity and cleverness which distinguished the former numbers of "Time's Telescope."

It is, we understand, to the prolific pen of the author of Adam Blair, that we are indebted for the amusement we have received in the perusal of Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life, professing to be a Selection from the Papers of the late Arthur Austin. It consists of a few simple tales, in which the Scotch character is depicted, both in happiness and in affliction, or, as our author expresses it, in light and in shadow. Three of the best of these have already appeared before the public in a well-known northern magazine. Most of the others are very creditable to the author's talents, though some of them are too devoid of incident to create much interest. There is, too, throughout the whole book, in his description of natural appearances, a laborious straining after his original. These descriptions are also too long, and have too little connexion with the subject. Such short stories as these admit of no superfluous parts. Every thing should bear immediately upon the point. Those tales appear to us to be the best, in which the author has departed farthest from the incidents of common life, as in the Covenanter's Marriage Day; but several of the others are yet highly interesting. We were particularly struck with the Rainbow

and Helen Eyre. The great fault which pervades this author's works is an exagger. ation of sentiment, particularly in his delineation of religious feelings, which borders too much upon enthusiasm, and some times even upon affectation.

A Concise System of Mensuration, adapted to the use of Schools, by Mr. Alexander Ingram, of Leith, is entitled to favourable mention. It embraces the theory and practice in such a manner, that they may be taught either separately or conjointly; and the several rules are ex pressed in language remarkably clear and intelligible, and illustrated by very appropriate examples, so that the volume presents, in a very small compass, a complete system of the science. If a well-founded objection can be made to Mr. Ingram's compilation, it is, that too much extrane ous matter is introduced in a treatise on a study so decidedly practical as mensuration. The knowledge of fluxions and fluents cannot be considered a necessary introduction to such a study; but, we should not be doing the author justice, did we omit to state, that the algebraical part of his work is executed with remarka ble neatness and accuracy.

The anonymous writer of Letters froma Lady to her Niece, is more justly entitled to the praise of the judicious critic, and the thanks of her own sex, than many others who have been eager to avow their claim to their productions. The style is easy and elegant; the maxims inculcated are those of sound prudence and sincere virtue; and, to any females entering into life, the perusal of this little volume will be attended with manifold advantages, in strengthening the intellectual powers, and indicating the most eligible path to the attainment of tranquillity of mind and true happiness.

We have been seldom more amused than by the perusal of Travels in Egypt, Syria, and the Holy Land, by WILLIAM RAE WILSON, ESQ. a gentleman who ap pears to have travelled abroad in search of knowledge, which he would, in all proba bility, have been better able to obtain by staying at home. With a heated imagination, and but a small portion of judgment to counterbalance it, Mr. Wilson does not visit the sacred scenes of Palestine with calm veneration, but breaks out into extatic raptures, which would better be come the chronicle of a crusader than the pages of an enlightened traveller in the nineteenth century. Had Mr. W. assumed the "cockle-bat and staff," instead of the turban and pipe, he would have made as thorough and true-spirited a pilgrim as ever travelled with pease in his shoes. The simplicity of his narrative is really charming; he confesses, without hesitation, the tremors into winch he used to fall at the sight of an Arab's swarthy

countenance,