Essays, Descriptive and Moral, on Scenes Besides its other attributes, this fall has the THE author of this pleasing and some- server; The rapids in the American river, before you reach the edge of the precipice, combined with the distant roar of the falls, form a more sublime spectacle than the full view of Schaffhausen, while the prospect from the Table Rock is like a glance into eternity. We are obliged to call up the force of our minds to keep us from recoiling with dread. But at the Cascata del Marmore, as this Italian waterfall is styled, the eye rests upon the scene with a pleasing astonishment, in which there is more of delight than terror. It is situated at a few miles distance from Terni. The country is beautifully romantic; the road lies for the most part through fields of olive trees. At Papinia, you are obliged to leave the carriage; and after descending and crossing the Nera, and traversing a garden, and beautiful line of orange trees, you approach the fall. When I saw it, the melting of the snow, and the late rains had swollen the river to nearly double its ordinary size. This outlet for the Lake Velerius has been most happily chosen; for there are few situations where an artificial cataract could be more than beautiful, but this is exquisite. An ancient castle crowns the summit of the lofty mountain near you; and numberless rills run down near the main sheet of water. But one of the most beautiful objects is occasioned by the quantity of foam produced by the fall, which ascends in clouds, and being coljected by a projecting ridge, runs down in nnumerable little cascades; and as you cannot at first divine the cause, the rock seems bursting with the waters it holds in its bosom. "On the contrary, the Fall of Velino has been approached in a course from the Vale of Clitumnus towards the banks of the Tiber; the ruin of Augustus's Bridge, at Narni is to be the picture of to-morrow; Agrippa's Pantheon is soon to be seen. We have not the feeling of sadness that we are at the end of an enjoyment, when we have beheld this wonder a sentiment which forces itself upon the traveller, who stands between Erie and Ontario. Such causes give a richness and mellowness to the scene, which cannot operate upon the transatlantic cataract. Other Times; or the Monks of Leadenhall. HAVING in our last given a brief outline 'Some one was heard to ascend the stairs, and Egbert entered. Addressing himself to Bray, he said, Have you communicated the heavy tidings with which I sent you forward?” 'The jester answered in the affirmative. "Then you may away," cried Egbert: Bray lingered for some moments; but, again ordered to retire, he obeyed. "Yet, with all this, if we could select but "Lady," said Egbert, "it is sad to be one of the two wonders to be seen, it would the bearer of evil news, or the voucher for not be easy to decide between their res- its truth; but mine is the mournful task of pective claims. Men of the sterner mould confirming the intelligence which the fellow would choose the object of unmingled sub- I sent to prepare you for my coming has imlimity, and those of milder sentiment that parted. Your husband, being excepted by which is the perfection of grandeur and name from the general pardon which has beauty. It is not unlike a comparison be-been granted, must be given up to the soltween Homer and Virgil. diers of the king, and mercy is not in their thoughts." 'The impression which is produced by the sight of a great waterfall is unique; unlike any of our other feelings, it makes the inost giddy thoughtful, and offers many points of comparison with humble life. The land marks are permanent as the fields we live in; the waters fleeting as our breath; the plunge that they make into unknown depths like our descent into the grave; the rainbow which sits upon the abyss like our hope of immortality. There is the dread of danger, and the curiosity of hope, and the impression of the irresistible impetus by which we are borne forward, to make us feel that we too are gliding onward, though sometimes as unconscious of the bubble, to the gulf of eternity into which the troubled waters of life discharge themselves. An immortal and immutable condition await us, though we sport with what seem to be the contingencies of existence. How often are we reckless of the star that might guide, and the chart that should direct us, in our voyage, while we are floating onward and onward, with accelerated velocity, to the last leap of life. It is the highest crime a man can commit against reason and revelation, if he venture to make that leap in the dark.' "This do I know right well; but when I saw you before, I was encouraged to hope that his fate was not yet sealed. You spoke of enabling him to escape." "But difficulties not then foreseen, stand in the way. To make the attempt might cost me my liberty-perhaps my life.” "Alas!" 6.66 Nay, the escape of Lord Erpingham's nephew might cause the pardon to be revoked, and hundreds would die through his being permitted to live." "That-that," faltered Elinor, “must be a vain fear. The king cannot be the monster you suppose." "It is too probable, that his boundless ire would grasp with eagerness the mighty means of vengeance in his power." 'Elinor wrung her hands with bitterness of heart, and looking to the small couch on which her infant reposed, she exclaimed, while a new flood of sorrow burst from her eyes, "My child! thou art fatherless." "But fair one, say," Egbert resumed, "if, reckless of danger, one daring heart were found devoted enough to encounter the peril of incurring the hatred of his companions, and the wrath of his king, what return would he merit ?" mised, but now, to him who saved your "I owe no gratitude to him who would "Not even knowledge of thine own baseness can make thee, even thee, believe Who-who has done this?—where is the calumny. He would not live with shame." the man ?" "He stands before you." "I know not what I hear. Gracious Heaven, if this be a dream, never let me wake more!" "Through my means," said Egbert, "your husband pursues his flight in safety." "And flies he now towards York ?" "Ha!-Towards York !-O yes, he goes where he originally intended to proceed: I-I," said Egbert, with emphasis, "pitying your woe, took care to let him have a fair opportunity for flight." "How shall I acknowledge this kindness?-how, how can I repay it!" "The way is brief and simple: while he flies from you, thoughtful only for himself, let me be requited by your remaining with me." "The absence of his ears gives proof of that," Egbert sarcastically replied. "No, monster! I repeat it, he would not live with shame; but shame can only arise from consciousness of guilt. My husband never would grovel through a life of ignominy; though, in the hope of just vengeance, a hope I trust in God not vainly cherished, he could survive calamity. But his wretched destroyer is already known, and detected crime has made his name the subject of just execration." "Beware,-in time beware, I say. You shall repent this fury." "Never!" "This instant shall you bitterly repent it," he replied, in a tongue of raging me nace. "Would'st thou fright me by sword or dagger?-Bring forth thy weapon: defy thee." 6.66 'If, from some tremendous shock of nature, the earth had opened beneath her feet, and presented an abyss into which she must descend still living, Elinor would have felt "Your courage soon will cool: my rising but slight emotion, compared with the hor-wrath shall teach humility." rible alarm, which now, chasing joy and thankfulness, deprived her of the power of answering, and almost bereft her of sense and life in the same moment, when, taking her by the hand, her pretended friend presented himself on his knees. "You seem amazed," he said; nor can I feel astonished at it: you could little expect that I would save Clifford from an ignominious death, and you from the disgrace which his execution could not fail to bring on you, knowing, as you must, the ha tred which he bore to me.' Elinor heard his words, but comprehended not their meaning. He went on : "Still your wonder subsides not. You have promised gratitude; now let your promise be fulfilled. From another, Clifford had vainly sought that grace he owes to Egbert." 'Elinor faintly repeated the name, in the consternation and surprise which she sustained from this new shock. Rendered motionless by the excess of her wonder, till now she had not perceived that he retained her hand; but, in the moment that the name of Egbert burst on her ear, she indignantly released herself from his grasp, and the power of utterance, which had been withdrawn from her by the first disclosure of the niscreant's object, was restored. "Thou recreant fiend!" she exclaimed: "thy baseness made me at first start. I judged that I saw before me the great enemy of mankind; but thy detested name explains and unriddles all; and now I trace thy lineaments, I am somewhat restored, to find that I speak but with a mortal wretch." "Is this the gratitude so liberally pro Thy wrath and thee I laugh to scorn. I stand not on the privilege of my sex; for that I know, though all sufficient with the good and brave, can avail nothing with thee; but, woman as I am, I fear not. By Heaven, I feel my indignation give such strength, that I could play the Amazon,beat thee to the earth, and tear thy guilty heart from its polluted home." 6.66 Enough;-I have proved thy gratitude: now let me whisper to thy prudence, that the danger is not past. Thy folly has revealed the place to which Clifford would repair. Remember this, and prepare to deck thy countenance, with all its softest, most atoning smiles, to give me pleasure." "None but the simile of measureless "Have you reflected, that this perverse- "You know the alternative which I have "Is there no other?" lonely trembling wife, and seek to crush virtue beneath the horrid weight of terror and despair. But you will not succeed: no, Clifford will never reproach me with his death, because I am faithful to any duty. I but make the election which he would dictate, could he hear the infamous proposition." ""Indeed!—methinks you would do well to afford him an opportunity of speaking for himself: at least you might pause till his voice can be heard." "It needs not, monster!-for I know his heart, and all the thoughts and feelings which inhabit it, and have no cause to hesitate, were he here even, while his tongue could fashion them into words." "Then let the consequences of your decision fall on him. When too late, he will repent that he was not permitted to choose for himself." "And who would dare to tender him the choice?-Thou would'st not like the task for, even in the dungeon's gloom, thy timid wickedness would shrink from naming it to him, rightly judging, that in the moment which saw thy errand performed, the very chain which bound his gallaut limbs would strike the insulter dead." "Since you are thus resolved," Egbert furiously replied, "I will reason no more. But while I hasten to give Clifford his death, you, handed over to the lawless hands of the incensed rabble from whom he has fled, shall find, too late, that there is a degradation surpassing that at which your senseless pride revolts." 'Obedient, as Elinor could not but conclude, to some unseen signal, the door was at ruptly forced, and those who had presented themselves at an earlier hour again appeared. She believed the moment arrived for the execution of the persecutor's terrible threat. Egbert stood by the couch, on which the child, awakened by the noise, still reclined: his ferocious glance seemed to se lect it as the first object of vengeance; a halbert was pointed in that direction. The frantic mother threw herself before the weapon's point, to shield the infant, and clasping it to her bosom, she sunk fainting on the floor.' Some of the early scenes of this novel are rather tame, but, as the story advances, it increases in interest, and the conclusion is highly dramatic and effective. It contains food for all palates: here are scenes highly pathetic and “To God, then, I commend my Clif-affecting for those who love to sympaford's spirit." thize over others' woes, and scenes of admirable humour for the gay and volatile. The author is, however, somewhat too fond of punning, and has weakened the effect of more than one chapter, by too liberal an exercise of his talents in this line; the style, too, is sometimes careless; these appear to us the only faults of this excellent novel, which possesses merits that would redeem them, were they much greater, and preserve to the author the high rank "And doom his body to the scaffold?" "If he may only be saved by my degradation-yes. Since such the hard decree, he must submit." "He will not thank you for this mark of love. To die is pain; but tenfold anguish will oppress the heart of the unhappy Clifford in his last moments, to know that his doom was pronounced by the wife of his bosom." "Inhuman!--You muster all that is most appalling in terrible array against a he has attained among the novelists of Which taught your father's heart to stray, and Thy charms are all divine, far, far beyond the day. Poems, Dramatic and Miscellaneous. proved Her ruin whom they graced. Jul. Nay-wherefore pause? There is a hideous chasm in thy tale; My heart would leap across it, but 'tis black, Mat. But why, thou love-sick boy, stand thus trans- The fearful crime-hadst thou profaned the bonds (Concluded from p. 194.) HAVING already introduced Mr. Neele's work to our readers, and made a few extracts from one of his dramatic sketches, we shall not enter into any formal criti-peechless and bloodless? Rather, offer thanks cism of the other two dramas, the Secret To Heaven for pointing out in time the ruin Bridal' and 'Antiochus,' but briefly reWhich threaten'd thee. Ou! hadst thou consummated mark, that though on subjects of difficulty and delicacy the story in both cases is well managed, and that they abound not merely in passages, but in whole scenes of exquisite poetic beauty. These we cannot quote, but we shall transfer a few gems (not from the antique, but from the poems of one of the most elegant of our living poets) into our literary casket. We cannot, however, resist one extract from the Secret Bridal,' in which Matilda declares to her son that Elvira, the creature he adores, is the illegitimate daughter of his own father: 'Julio. "The feeble voice With which the soul attempts to speak its Is, like the skylark's note, heard faintest when Of thoughtless ribalds, seem to me like snow Of holy matrimony-(Nay, wherefore shudder? ing My son! Oh Heaven! I fear I've gone too far. The description of Gaspard's wife, in The simile, in the following passage, "The rose, that withers gently on its stalk, Of those (bowe'er beloved), whom violence The following brief passages are what The gaudy glare of day; and ye, fair stars, Conducting heaven's own light to our dim And from your bountiful and shining urns (The dewy morn, which, like a new-born babe, pomp, Shake from their bright manes light ineffable;— ON SLEEP. REAL LOVE. "Oh! this illicit passion, 'Tis ardent for a season, yet 'twill waste, While seeming fondness glued them to his ADVICE. "Oh! holy father! 'Tis pleasant thus to listen to your counsel; To take the secret with me to the grave. But you are pressing towards a yawning gulf,,They are selected from the last dramaWhence I have tried by gentler means to lure tic scene, and from some miscellaneous pieces, to which the author has given With your severest reprimands you blend the name of Fragments:' Merciful Heaven! And eyes whose timid lustre seemed to shun To keep his altar sacred. These were charms drink the health of the author in a profession. There are many more arti- procure any thing for breakfast at Vaubumper when he reads it : &c. cles of equal interest both to the inge-rains, but pie-crust and Bordeaux wine, The great accession of subscribers to this society, since the last annual distribution of prizes, is not among the least of its attractions, and is evidence, that while its patronage is increasing, its exertions are increasing also. This Report has given twenty-four very curiously engraved plates, illustrative of various subjects, and we congratulate our countrymen in having so meritorious a society for the further advancement of the arts and sciences in general *. Of the various Reports which claim our perusal, this is one of the most interesting. We hail its annual appearance with pleasure, inasmuch as it conveys something new, and promises rewards for something valuable. Among its voluminous contents, the class of Agriculture and rural Economy contains four communications; firstly, on the improvement of turnip husbandry; secondly, on the cultivation of the white poppy, from which excellent opium is extracted; thirdly, for reclaiming waste moor land, by converting it into permanent pasture; and, fourthly, for a description of a cheap, simple, and effec-John Gilpin will, with a slight altera-rated with a simple yet touching elo Narrative of a Journey to Brussels and Integrity, a Tale. By Mrs. HoFLAND. quence, which possesses (if we may declare that he is not the author. The contra tive instrument for boring hay-stacks, in tion, apply to this book; and we may order to ventilate them when in danger ask, why so late it comes, or why it of firing. The class of Polite Arts con- comes at all? We are really at a loss tains a communication on the applica- to account for the motive which could tion of the art of mezzotinto engraving, induce his Most Christian Majesty to to plates of soft steel instead of copper, suffer thirty years to elapse, more than *The Morning Chronicle, which is known as heretofore practised. The class of twenty of which were spent in inglori- to manifest such hostility to the Bourbons as Chemistry and Mineralogy includes two ous ease, before he gave his narrative which they are concerned suspicious, gives the to render any of its statements on subjects in papers-one, on the mill-stones used in to the world, or, having done so, why following extract of a letter from Paris relating Tuscany, for the inferior method of he should now usher it to the public. to this work :-The friends of the king, ashamdressing the stones, and as making Is it as a sort of rivalship to Napo-ed of the ridicule which has fallen upon the known two materials employed in that leon's own Memoirs,' or is it intend- pamphlet of which I sent you an extract, now country, in preparing the finest wheat ed as a parallel to the King of Spain's ry, however, is maintained by those who are in flour, which materials, although abun-journey to Seville? The fact, we sus- the secret, and who are directly interested in dant in this island, have hitherto served pect, is, that its object is to excite the publication. Amongst these persons is no useful purpose whatever, except as some sympathy for the Bourbons, at Madame K, the chère amie of an august materials for roads. The other, on the a period when their conduct gives them from the work. As I see this charming passepersonage, who is to have the profits arising discovery of a cheap and effectual glaze, so little claim to it. If this be the tems of a monarch advertised in England, it is for the common coarse red earthenware. case, we are sure it must fail of its unnecessary to say any thing about its style -An hydraulic apparatus, for regulating purpose, since it is as dull and unin- and character. You will have an opportunity of the supply of water to mills, and a me- teresting a narrative as ever sovereign judging for yourself. It is a pity that the English translator does not accompany it with an exthod of supplying water to the boilers of or subject gave to the public. It is tract or two from the Censeur Européen, supsteam-engines, are comprehended in true, that it relates to the escape of pressed by the Bourbons. It would be a very mechanics.-A wrought iron carriage a prince, now a monarch, from the fury curious appendage. The relation of the jourfor ship-guns, and a copper for repairing of a revolution which he had some ney to Coblentz is little without an account of ships afloat; Lieut. Littlewort's ship's share in provoking; but the journey Paris and plundered at the gaming tables-of compass and Mr. Wigzell's instrument for was not attended with any great diffi- the troop of filles de joie drawn from the Pamarking a ship's place on a chart, are culty, nor did a single instance occur lais Royal for a seraglio of............, calculated to increase the resources of between Paris and Coblentz worth re- the charges are too serious to be named here. the navigator and to enable the masters lating, unless, indeed, the breaking of a If opportunity should offer, I will send you the of merchantmen to attend more than in wheel at Soissons, and the inability to work, which is valuable; a thousand copies of general they have hitherto done, to the higher and more scientific parts of their For a list of the premiums, see Literary the court there-of the rich nobles invited from but the King's book would not purchase one of the Censeur, and yet they say that one is as authentic as the other.' reader. In her delineations of simple and unsophisticated nature, we doubt whether Mrs. Hofland is surpassed by any writer of the present age. 'A world of wonders, where creation seems ance. sagacity, resolute firmness, a mind fer him with a desire of still being useful to his country, and we feel hurt that we cannot add his name to the glorious list of warriors who have over-run and conquered nearly the whole of Europe. It is said that Dumouriez, during his exile, employed his leisure hours in drawing up plans of battle against his country so serious a charge should Nobody will attempt to dispute the be authenticated by proofs, and till these military talents of General Dumouriez. are obtained no sensible man will creHistory will not forget that he saved dit the assertion. It was possible for France in the defiles of Argonne, and the general to detest the reign of terrescued her from one of the most cri- ror, without ceasing to love France, tical positions in which she was ever and as he is known to have considered placed. The victory which he after-enigration to be as odious as the convention itself, in favor of what party could he have prepared these plans? If the fact could be proved against him it would deserve our severest animadversion, but we have great reason to doubt it, when we refect upon the principles professed by him since the establishment of the constitutional form of government in France; we can safely affirm that his most ardent wishes were for its success, and let us not doubt that the liberty of his country was always dear to him. The Peasants of Chamouni; containing The Carbonari; or, The Spanish War assigned to its real Cause. 8vo. pp. 45. London, 1823. THE subject to which this pamphlet relates, absorbs a large share of the public attention, and now that France has commenced the war on Spain, it may be well to know the real cause. The author of this pamphlet, who seems to have been behind the curtain in the Cabinet of the Tuilleries, boldly asserts what the French government have not dared to do, that the war is defensive, and not offensive, and that it is to preserve France from the moral contagions which is supposed to rage in Spain, where the Carbonari and French refugees have been organized. The author gives an Appendix of curious documents relating to the Carbonari, to whom he attributes most revolutionary designs; nothing less than that of overturning the French government, and preventing the escape of the royal family, every member of which,' he says, is, by them, formally doomed to assas sination.' Foreign Literature. GENERAL DUMOURIEZ. (FROM THE CONSTITUTIONNEL, TRANSLATED FOR THE LITERARY CHRONICLE.) GENERAL DUMOURIEZ has just ended his career in exile. Whatever judgment posterity may pronounce on the public and private character of this celebrated personage, it can never be denied that he possessed all those high faculties which mark the great man. Universal General Dumouriez passed the re- Towards the close of his career he became convinced of many erroneous opinions in his writings, both on men and things; and when he was informed that his memoirs were going to be reprinted, he availed himself ofthe opportu nity to repair several acts of injustice, which had escaped him in the warmth of the moment. The notes and corrections which he addressed on the subject to the editors of A Collection of Memoirs relative to the French Revolution,' do honour to his memory, and justify our regrets for his loss. We have now be fore us one of these notes, which is to appear in a volume not yet published; its object is to correct some aspersions on the character of Lafayette, with whom Dumouriez had very serious differences, and he was heard to declare that he would settle their quarrel as soon as the war was over. In this note the general says:-'I wish it were in my power to efface, both from my book and my memory, facts which have caused me so much uneasiness; I was, perhaps, wrong to feel them so warmly at the time, but I am now calm, and I can view these matters in a different light; besides, I have since witnessed the misfortunes of Lafayette, and his magnanimous conduct during the reign of Napoleon, and in the dungeons of Olmutz: neither am I insensible to his present manner of conducting himself, and it is with pleasure |