considerable progress among them. The organization of there was, through the advance of arts in the northern their government was much more complete than among and more elevated regions, and through the natural fethe wandering tribes. Social intercourse and luxury cundity in that part which enjoyed a tropical climate, a had in some degree refined their manners. In short, dense population. Some resistance was offered by differthey stood in the same relation to the nomadic tribes of ent bodies of the inhabitants at his first landing, which the north, that Babylon and Nineveh may be conceived | afforded the Spaniards opportunities of earning victories, to have stood to the wanderers of the deserts in their vi- more valuable as impressing the enemy with the power cinity. Intellectual culture was, however, yet in its in- and discipline of the strangers, than on account of any fancy; and their religion-which differed not in its spirit, immediate important result. Two of the disaffected cabut solely in the stronger affiliation of its priesthood, and ciques sought the alliance of the Spaniards; and the proin the more gorgeous and imposing character of its out-tection which Cortes afforded them against the envoys ward solemnities, from that of the forest warriors—hampered, by its gross and cruel superstitions, the education of their moral sense. Their theology stood amid their infant refinements like an iceberg wafted from the frozen regions, and spreading an unwonted chill through the summer of some sunny isle on which it has stranded. sent by Montezuma to receive the wonted tribute, as well as the strict impartiality he evinced in settling some disputes between them and the neighbouring tribes, spread at once the reputation of his power and his justice. Having thus conciliated the inhabitants of the coast, and having at the same time quelled a mutiny among his soldiers, and induced them to dismantle their ships, thus cutting off from the timorous all prospect of retreat, he prepared to advance at once upon the capital, which was 180 miles distant. He left behind him a slender garrison, in a fort he had erected shortly after his landing, and took with him a small reinforcement of friendly Indians, more in the character of hostages than auxiliaries. Ascending the high tableland of interior Mexico, the army had to undergo a sudden Not long previous to the landing of the Spaniards, the King of Mexico had succeeded in reducing the other tribes residing on the lake to the state of feudatories. This formed the nucleus of an empire which soon spread its conquering arms as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. To what extent its domination had extended in other directions, is uncertain. The more distant tribes, which were thus brought under the sway of the king, were less accustomed to the restraints of regular government, and were with difficulty kept from reverting to their rude in-change from the fervour of the torrid zone, to the ice and dependence. They were held in check by governors from Mexico, backed by a considerable force; and, for greater assurance, a system of posts was established, by means of which, constant and speedy information was received in the capital of all that happened in the outskirts of the empire. snow of a northern winter, to which succeeded a mild and genial climate. The Hascalans, a confederacy of warlike and independent republics, placed in a disquieting proximity to the Mexican capital, opposed the progress of Cortes, instead of receiving him, as had been anticipated, in a friendly manner. They were forced, howMontezuma, whom the Spaniards found in possession of ever, to succumb by a series of hard-won victories, in the throne, was naturally brave and sagacious, but a which almost every Spanish soldier was wounded. Cortes spoiled child of fortune. Accustomed to despotic power, began his march from the coast on the 16th of August he could neither anticipate opposition to his wishes, nor and entered Hascala on the 23d of September. meet it calmly and sagaciously when it came. The quiet His next march was upon Cholula, a populous and decision with which Cortes persisted to advance towards wealthy town, subject to Montezuma. He was accomthe capital, joined to the strange appearance and inexpli-panied by a large auxiliary force of Hascalans. At the cable powers of the Spaniards, seemed to bear out the request of the Cholulans, the forces of Hascala encamped dark forebodings of prophecy, and gave to Montezuma's before the town, while Cortes and his followers were resuperstitious fears a form and magnitude that totally un- ceived within its walls. The pretext for this arrangesettled his mind. From the moment the landing of the ment was anxiety on the part of the rulers, lest the old strangers was announced to him, till that on which he enmities between the two Indian tribes should be fatally received his death-wound, he did not make one reflected rekindled by their being brought into contact. It soon and judicious effort to employ the immense force that appeared, however, that more inimical purposes were hidwas at his disposal. Had Guatimazin possessed the su- den beneath this plausible exterior. Cortes received inpreme power from the first, and displayed the same ener- formation of a plot to overwhelm his followers, by a sudgy and talent which he brought to bear upon the termi- den rising of the townsmen, to whose support a body of nation of the struggle, the result might have been very men were advancing from Mexico. The rising was predifferent. vented by the earlier motions of Cortes, who, as his proceedings had been hitherto characterised by lenity, resolved now to strike terror into the Indians, by showing that he could also at times be severe. When the Cholulan rulers appeared in his presence, he let them know that he was informed of their projects, reproached them with their treachery, and directed a simultaneous attack upon the town to be commenced by the Hascalans from without, and his countrymen from within. The Cholulans defended themselves with the fury of despair. Every private building, and even the temples, were resorted to as so many fortresses. At last, calling to mind an old superstition, that the razing of their principal temple would cause the springs upon which the town was built to overflow, they flew to dismantle its walls, hoping thereby to Cortes landed on the mainland in March, 1519. He involve themselves and their invaders in one common dewas at the head of a body of five hundred and eight sol- struction. The expected miracle failed to follow, and the diers, and one hundred and nine mariners and mechanics. superstitious awe for the Spaniards, which this circumAmong the soldiers were sixteen horsemen, thirty musket-stance inspired, struck down more enemies than their eers, and thirty-two crossbow-men; the rest being armed with swords and spears. The artillery consisted of ten brass field-pieces and four falconets. This was the whole force with which he undertook the subjection of an empire already well disciplined and organized, and in which This was the condition of the empire invaded by Cortes, with a view to subject it to the Spanish sway-not upon any previous knowledge and estimate of its strength and weakness, or with any adequate preparation; but at the head of a handful of men, whom he led forward to hazards and exploits, of the peculiar nature of which he had not the most distant anticipation. Even after he had plunged himself among the Mexicans, he was long unprovided with any adequate means of communication with them. His conversations with the natives were carried on through the medium of a female slave, and a Spaniard, who, having been shipwrecked on one of the islands, had picked up a smattering of the language there spoken. arms. The victory being now complete, the wretched remains of the Cholulans were spared. On the 29th of September Cortes advanced upon Mexico, and, meeting with no opposition, he entered it on the 18th of October. He was received by Montezuma in person, ter. terprising man. The fear was natural, and we blame it with more hesitation than Don Trucba; though we agree with him, that the measures which it instigated were frequently tarnished by a narrow and low-minded policy. We do not include in this class, however, the establishment of an Audiencia for managing the civil affairs of the vice-royalty, against which our author so bitterly inveighs; for we consider this to have been the institution which, more than any other, has kept alive a glimmering of the old Spanish spirit in Mexico. upon a friendly and familiar footing that astonished the Mexicans. His situation was now critical in the extreme. His small body of troops were in a manner swallowed up in an extensive and populous city, from which the egress was difficult, and might easily be rendered impossible. He had no chain of posts (the paucity of his forces not admitting of such a drain) by which his retreat to the coast might be secured. The Mexicans, though friendly and submissive at first, were beginning to be familiarized with their invaders. After some months, Montezuma threw out broad hints that their stay had been sufficiently The remnant of Cortes's life, with the exception of his prolonged. About the same time, the Spanish general discovery of California, and his gallant but useless expereceived intelligence, that, by orders from the court, hos- dition to the Honduras, was wasted in empty and fruittilities had been commenced between the Mexican go- less court intrigues. Of his youth we know little, exvernors upon the coast, and the garrison he had left be- cept some stray anecdotes, which indicate a voluptuous hind. His desperate situation called for as desperate and daring temperament a vehement, but rather fickle, measures. He seized the emperor, and conducted him to disposition. The conquest of Mexico is his history. He the Spanish quarters, as a hostage for the peaceable con- plunged into that gigantic undertaking, impelled by the duct of his subjects. The captive monarch disavowed the adventurous spirit of his age, without any previous invesconduct of his general, and the latter being ordered to re-tigation of the nature of his task, or the adequacy of his pair to court, was publicly executed by the Spaniards, as powers. Once engaged in it, he went on without falhaving infringed the peace against the wishes of his mastering. He had nothing to rely upon but his own innate powers. By them he conciliated the affections of the soldiery, to whom he was more a companion than a leader; he defeated the intrigues of his hostile countrymen; he conciliated and rendered subservient the Indian tribes who were disaffected to Montezuma; and he overcame, by superior skill and bravery, all who opposed him in war. He had a limited acquaintance with the nature of the country, and could with difficulty hold intercourse with its natives; yet these obstacles he overcame. He was naturally lenient; yet he could nerve himself to actions which struck terror into the hearts of his adversaries, by showing he could become, on occasion, as savage as themselves. As to the right of conquest which he exercised, it was, whatever we may think of it, the only right then recognised on that vast continent; and he was a milder and more civilized conqueror than any who had preceded him. Whether his mode of introducing Christianity were the best, experience entitles us to doubt; but this is an experience which mankind have acquired since his day; and, at all events, even though he did not succeed in inculcating its principles, he overthrew the bloody superstition which previously existed, and this was of itself a benefit to humanity. One only spot rests on his memory-the treatment of the unfortunate Guatimazin; and that was forced upon him by his exasperated soldiery. It was a weakness to yield, particularly in one who, in general, stood so firm; but it is easy for those who review such transactions at a distance, to say what would have been a leader's most dignified demeanour. On the whole, it cannot be denied that Cortes was a great man; and, taking into consideration the circumstances in which he was placed, we hesitate not to add, a good man, and a benefactor to his kind. The immediate danger was thus averted; but at this critical moment Cortes was called to defend himself against his countrymen as well as the Indians. The governor of Cuba, who had placed in his hands the means of conquering Mexico, became jealous of the independent command to which Cortes openly aspired, and dispatched Narvaez, with a strong body of troops, to reduce him to obedience. Cortes, as soon as he heard of their landing, assembled his forces, and, leaving a slender garrison under Alvarado in Mexico, he marched against Narvaez. By a judicious mixture of intrigue and open force, he obtained an almost bloodless victory over this commander, and added his soldiers to those already under his own command. Scarcely was this victory achieved, when he was obliged to hasten back to Mexico, where his garrison was hard pressed. The state in which he found matters in that capital was such as to render a retreat necessary; and this movement was executed on the 1st of July, 1520, with considerable loss. A painful and dangerous march, cheered, however, by a brilliant victory over an immense Mexican army, brought them in eight days to Hascala, where he halted, in order to mature his schemes for the final subjugation of Mexico. He again advanced against that city on the 28th of December. He had now under his command eighty-six horsemen and eight hundred infantry. His artillery consisted of three large iron cannons, and fifteen small fieldpieces. He was well supplied with powder and other ammunition, as well for his fire-arms as for his crossbows. The wood work of twelve brigantines had been constructed at Hascala, their sails and cordage brought from the coast, in order to the vessels being put together and launched on the Lake of Mexico. He commenced his operations by investing and taking the various cities of inferior force situated upon the lake and in the surrounding country which might have co-operated with the capital. Having finished these preliminary proceedings, he invested Mexico, with the aid of his brigantines, both by land and water. The city was taken, after a protracted siege of seventy-five days, in the course of which the most stubborn bravery was exhibited on both sides, the utmost efforts of their different arts of war exerted, and the greater part of the city levelled with the ground. Cortes having thus finally subverted the Mexican power, showed that he was able to organize a new empire, as well as to overturn an old one. He rebuilt and beautified the capital; he took in and annexed to his government, one by one, the surrounding provinces; and he established courts of justice and an efficient police. He experienced many checks, however, from the Spanish court, which saw with anxiety so valuable and so distant an acquisition in the hands of one ambitious and en Don Trueba has composed his biography in a just and manly spirit. His facts have been carefully investigated; and though we may sometimes dissent from his inferences, they are never such as can lessen our respect for his talents. His style is spirited, and, for a foreigner, wouderfully correct. Faith's Telescope; or, Views of Time and Eternity; with other Poems. Edinburgh. Oliver & Boyd. 1830. 8vo. Pp. 184. GENERALLY speaking, we are no admirers of religious poems. They swarm at the present day to an enormous and most illicit extent. They must be put down; and we shall take an early opportunity of giving a few of them so decided and overwhelming a castigation, that not a consumptive young man or woman in the three kingdoms will again dare to perpetrate their feeble and familiar blasphemies in the outraged ear of correct feeling and sound judgment. We have a rhymer or two in our eye for whom we are at this moment singeing the ends of our tawse, the nippiness whereof they shall yet know upon the most sensitive parts of their evangelical bodies. At present, however, we waive this discussion, for the volume before us is from the pen of a lady, and has been published principally with the view of promoting a charitable object of interest. Our fair friend, who seems to be of a decidedly religious caste, presents us with a poem in blank verse, and in two parts, concerning Time and Eternity; and to this longer effort is added another poem, entitled " Redemption," and a considerable number of miscellaneous pieces. The volume, taken as a whole, is decidedly above par, and indicates a reflective and well-cultivated mind, as well as a considerable fervency of poetical feeling. From the first poem, we shall take, as a favourable specimen of the style of the authoress, the following extract, which, although upon a subject that has occupied the pens of a thousand puny whipsters, is nevertheless vigorous, and rather striking : AN ADDRESS TO LORD BYRON. "Poet of Passion!-Poet, whose ocean mind, Smile as thou wilt, and scorn the ungifted lay, Pitying looks up to thee!-hast thou not still to learn That precept, blended with its sweet reward, Acquaint thyself with God, and be at peace?' Thou hast drunk deep of Helicon-thy foot P. 41-4. We can afford room for no other quotation, but are happy to be able to say in conclusion, that "Faith's Telescope" is calculated to reflect credit on any lady who thus, for the first time, comes before the public. Lectures on English Poetry, and other Literary Remains of the late Henry Neele, Author of the Romance of History, Sc. London. Smith, Elder, & Co. 1830. 8vo. THE present volume has certain indisputable claims on our critical leniency. Being a posthumous work, it naturally contains many imperfections, both in design and execution, which the careful revision of the author him... self could have alone diminished or removed. In every production submitted to the public ordeal under such disadvantages, we have principally to ascertain whether it really contains indications of the germ of genius, though imperfectly matured. The posthumous publication of works distinguished by such merit is not more an act of friendship than of justice; and the individual, undertaking the task, has alike the gratification of endeavouring to confer an honourable distinction on those to whom it is worthily due, and of adding another item to the varied treasures of literature and science. We therefore willingly acknowledge an obligation to the editor of the vo lume now before us. He has collected all the unpublished MSS. and miscellaneous periodical contributions of one whose genius was as conspicuous as his fate was melancholy. In the introduction to the volume, we are presented with an able and feelingly-written sketch of the author's life and writings. From it we learn that Henry Neele was born in London, on the 29th January, 1798,-that, upon leaving school, he was articled to an attorney, and subsequently commenced business as a solicitor,-that, in January, 1817, he made his first appearance as an author, by publishing a volume of Lyrical Poems, composed after the model of the ill-fated Collins,-and that he continued to pursue his literary labours until the 7th February, 1828, when he committed suicide. The principal part of the present volume is occupied with Lectures on English Poetry, from the reign of Ed. ward I. to the time of Cowper, delivered in the Russel Institution, in 1827. In the Introductory Lecture, a graphic description is given of the various revolutions in the history of English Poetry. The author devotes the second and remaining Lectures to the consideration, first, of Epic and Narrative Poetry; secondly, of Dramatic Poetry; thirdly, of Descriptive and Didactic Poetry, including Pastoral and Satire; and, fourthly, of Lyrical and Miscellaneous Poetry. In taking a detailed review of the merits of different writers, his remarks seem to be altogether untinged by prejudice. He has, on no occasion, allowed enthusiasm for the beauties of an author to render him indifferent to positive defects. He regulates his decision of each particular performance by its own intrinsic excellence, without reference to the general celebrity of the writer. Every page of his Lectures teems with clear and discriminative analysis—with high poetical feeling with laborious research, and bold, impassioned diction. In his investigation, indeed, of the abstract principles of the Ars, Poetica, we meet with none of those ingenious speculations which so peculiarly characterise the writings of Kames. But in the digest of its practical rules, and in prescribing the standard of taste by which these are to be influenced, we are presented with abundant evidence of the author's intimate acquaintance with his subject. It is true, that the standard of taste in poetry, like the standard of taste on other subjects, is faint and ill-defined. A composition which one man admires for its unadorned simplicity, may, to another, appear altogether devoid of merit-while a poem, in which a third critic discovers traces of vigorous thought, may, to a fourth, seem to overstep the narrow Rubicon which separates the sublime from the absurd. But still there are certain inherent and determinate qualities which distinguish all genuine poetry; and it is in dissecting and explaining these qualities, that our author's critical acumen more peculiarly appears. In the course of this scrntiny, he invariably preserves a marked distinction between what may be deemed the metaphysical school of poetry, of which Donne was the founder, and that more truly intellectual school, the adherents of which have uniformly derived their brightest imaginings from the works of nature, and from all that there invites the eye, gratifies the sense, and gladdens and elevates the soul. To compare poetry fashioned after the latter model, with that which, however pleasing in conception, and beautiful in developement, has nothing of the truth of human nature in its composition, is to compare a lay figure with a statue. The one may adequately represent the mere drapery of the poet's fancy, and the phantastical forms and folds in accordance with which he is pleased to arrange it; while the other seems imbued with the spirit of life, and bears the faithful impress of nature on every feature, and on every limb. galee at Home." All this portion of the work is written with a great deal of graphic power and strong feeling. The effect, however, produced by the whole, could not be preserved in any detached extract. We therefore prefer selecting a quotation from a previous part of the volume, on a subject of very general interest: THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF GOING TO INDIA. "Life in India' is, however, fairly to be estimated as found in the different avocations that it presents-the civil and military services of the Honourable Company, and the mere adventurer. So far as rank and consequence are concerned, the first of these holds out the great prizes of the Honourable Company, and is the great object of ambition. These prizes are necessarily limited to a few lucky sons of fortune; and they are therefore the higher esteemed. With a writership in his pocket, the child of the first man in EngWith the tales and poems which constitute the remain- land, even at this day, fancies his fortune made; looks to a short and merry 'Life in India,'-a long and wealthy one ing portion of the volume, we have had equal reason to in England. Ŏut he comes, always what I should call a be pleased. In some of the former, indeed, the plots are genteel-looking boy; somewhat slightly built in general, neither very probable, nor very interesting. But even in for encountering any of the rude blasts of the world, and these, there are several detached scenes sketched with con- having a goodly smattering of his mother's drawing-room siderable power. The dialogue, in general, is animated, hanging about him. His manners-I speak of the general and the different personages are vividly and characteristirace of young writers-always please me; there is somecally grouped. We also discover a few specimens of a thing very English about him, by which I do not mean very rough, but a happy mixture of that independence of lively, though somewhat quaint humour, tending to remind and amenity of manners, which constitute the true Englieve the morbid sensibility which almost universally per-lish character. When these embryo rulers are collected tovades our author's productions. Grace and tenderness gether, before merging from the Buildings, there is, no doubt, are the most prominent attractions of his poetry, which to be seen also not a few of an Englishman's peculiar faults is also distinguished for purity of style and melody of and weaknesses; but these are such rare aves over the Serrhythm. He has generally been successful alike in the vices'in general, that there is nothing I enjoy more than an selection and management of his imagery-while his de- evening in the Buildings. scriptions of scenery, though seldom introduced, are always distinct and striking. Indeed, the more we reflect on the varied talents which this posthumous volume exhibits, the more do we regret the sudden overthrow of those hopes which were so justly entertained of Neele's future eminence. The genius unfolded, even at the early age of nineteen, in the publication of his Lyrical Poetry, may well rank him with Chatterton and Kirke White. To the latter, indeed, (whose talents, in our opinion, have been much overrated, in consequence of the merit of his writings being constantly associated with the amiability of his disposition,) we think Neele decidedly superior in every respect; and though he could not cope with the "marvellous boy" in the splendour of his endowments, yet there was a remarkable resemblance in the gloomy temperament of their minds, and in their sad and premature demise. Each fell the victim of his own overwrought imagination : "Like a tree, That with the rich weight of its golden fruitage "Once out of them, once banished to a country station, where Englishmen are scattered some hundred miles distant from each other; or where, if they congregate, it is on the artificial graduated scale of judge, magistrate, collector, registrar, assistant ditto, doctor,-and all that is English is found to be on the wane. By the time the writer comes back to the Presidency a judge, or something as great, or greater, he has been converted into the most anomalous of all human beings. There is still something English about him, it is true; he is generally proud enough; but it is an Asiatic, not a European, bearing of consequence. He seems to expect that all that are in his way should hurry out of it, that the path may be left for him alone. He has been so long accustomed to measure his own humanity by the standard of a conquered and degraded race around him, that he fancies he has risen proportionably above every other class of mankind with whom he may afterwards chance to come in contact, as above his Omlahs and his Chobedars; and his own countrymen are but Hindoos in his estimation, however much they may transcend him in every thing like intelligence, honour, and common sense. "If those at home, who are so ambitious of sending out a son in the service of the Honourable Company, would look at the few who live to return to their native country, and remark the change that has come over them, I cannot help thinking, that they would feel less anxious about procuring a writership or a cadetship for Master Edward and Master Tom. I was long ago a sojourner in Old England, The Bengalee; or, Sketches of Society and Manners in and had an opportunity of comparing some old folks who had the East. London. Smith, Elder, & Co. 1829. Svo. Pp. 466. army. We con THIS work will be read with interest and advantage by all those who have either been in India, or who take an interest in its affairs. It is from the pen of Captain H. B. Henderson, who is on the staff of the Bengal The contents, which are of a miscellaneous kind, are not all of equal merit; but there is a sufficient preponderance of talent and information in the volume to entitle it to an extensive circulation. sider the prose as a good deal superior to the poetry, although "The Cadet," which extends to two long cantos, contains many spirited and excellent stanzas. In the prose department, we are, on the whole, most pleased with those chapters which describe an Indian's return home after spending thirty of the best years of his life so far from his native country. They are entitled, "Leaving India"-" An Indiaman"-"Death on Shipboard" "St Helena"-" Approaching Home"-" The Ben started from school together, the one to rough it through Life "Let me, however, take a view of military Life in India. A fair-haired young lad has escaped from school and its confinement, at the early age of sixteen, and, after the annoyances of a four months' voyage, has reported himself at the Town-Major's office in Fort William. He puts on his scarlet uniform, and looks round, on passing every sentry, for homage and salutation to his new military cha racter. The first few weeks are but a series of disappointed hopes, and comfortless, pleasureless attempts at Indian enjoyment. He makes himself sick in essaying to smoke a Lad hookah; and then barely survives a pucka fever, in having tried his new double-barrelled gun, which he bought on credit at an exorbitant sum, and with which he toiled for hours under a burning sun, in the vain hope of hitting a few snippets or sandlarks. He has a relation perhaps in the Buildings, and madly attempts to rival him in extravagance; and though the soldier's means do not go beyond a second-hand buggy for his driving, and an undersized stud galloway for the saddle, yet his humble endeavours have plunged him into debts, which hang upon his Indian career for years, and make him miserable for ever. He joins his corps, he has become a man now,-wanders about in the morning without his cravat or jacket, smokes cheroots by whole bundles,-drinks brandy-paunee, curses his own folly for more faults than one, and lingers through the early and best years of his manhood in tasteless dislike of the little regimental duty that falls to his share, and in gloomy despondency amidst the blighted prospects of his youth. From his brothers and young relations in Europe he seldom hears, and their letters would be but wormwood to him. They have toils there, it is true; one is at college, another at a desk in a merchant's office, a few are fagging for professions, or existing on subaltern's fare in country quarters: but are they not at home?-ay, and in that word, HOME, lies all the earthly happiness which an exiled soldier sighs for, and hourly pines in vain. "But he has outlived his brethren in the subaltern ranks around him; has followed hosts upon hosts to the scattered tombs of our up-country cantonments; he is a field-officer now, and with the attainment of higher rank before him. What boots the rank or increasing pay? He is a martyr to a broken constitution, and his yellow and wasted cheek, the sunken and gleamless eye, give token not only of withered health, but accumulating care! He is alone in the world; his native country has long ceased to hold out charms for him; he is unknown there, and the circle of his friends have either ceased to exist or care for the expatriated soldier in the East! Is this a gloomy picture? The Bengalee could point out many who might sit for it, and who, ere they give their bones to moulder beneath the sun of Hindoostan, would feelingly bear testimony to the truth of its description;—yet this is Life in India!"-P. 215-22. This is a melancholy picture, but we fear it is too true a one. To the diversified lucubrations of the Bengalee himself, we refer such of our readers as wish farther information upon this and a variety of other matters connected with India. breach of the commandment which forbids us 66 to take the name of the Lord in vain!" He finds great fault with making children commit to memory the Assembly's Catechism, and triumphantly answers the plea that it is a good compendium of divinity, which children may advantageously carry with them into the world, by the indignant exclamation" Condense the infinite and living truth of God, indeed, and shut up the spirit of the Eternal in a nut-shell!" He also finds great fault with parents who make their little boys and girls say their prayers, on the ground that, if it be not a spontaneous act of the child itself, such prayers are an insult to the Deity. Why does he not extend his censure to the parent who corrects his son for open profligacy, since, unless the young man's change of life be his own voluntary act, his abstaining from theft, swearing, and debauchery, is, according to our German moralist, an insult upon his Maker ? Let not our readers suppose, however, that Dr Biber is either a weak reasoner, or a blind enthusiast. His knowledge of the subject of which he treats is far from superficial. Many of his remarks on the prevailing systems of education in France, in Germany, and in our own country, are extremely pertinent; and his strictures upon the refinements of Lancaster, Bell, and the patrons of the He is indeed-no Infant Schools, are often judicious. unusual case with theorists--much more successful in detecting and exposing faults in the existing systems, than happy in his attempt to recommend a new one. Dr Biber confesses that he is not very sanguine in his expectations with regard to his scheme of Christian education, until some great change shall have taken place in the sentiments and order of society; and in this, we think, he is quite right: but we are less willing to agree with him when he expresses his conviction, that we are at present on the eve of such a change. It is our most sincere and serious opinion, in spite of the distempered dreams of political economists, millennarians, radical reformers, and all the host of quacks who follow, accompany, or precede the "march of intellect," that England is very like what it was two hundred years ago,of course, somewhat more enlightened, more civilized, more religious, and consequently more flourishing and happy, but following out the same sort of systems it has always pursued, under which society, we believe, will continue for a few ages longer to advance in the paths of scientific discovery and moral improvement. With regard to education, we are not ashamed to own, unpopular as our sentiments may be, that we are attached to the old system; we mean the general principles which have been acknowledged, and the general mode in which, with trifling differences, education has been conducted in all civilized countries, since the dawn of science down to our own times. The fashion of the present day, however, is, we fear, against us; it seems Christian Education, in a Course of Lectures delivered in to be the general opinion now, that the ferula of the peda London, in Spring 1829. By E. Biber, Ph. Dr. don. Effingham Wilson. Svo. Pp. 287. Lon-gogue should be laid aside,that the pastry-cook and toyman should be put in requisition, to make the young urchin love literature for its own sake, and, under the no-punishment system of old maiden aunts, and of such mothers as are too foolish to distinguish between loving their children and spoiling them by over-indulgence, the wisdom of Solomon and the experience of three thousand years are equally despised. THIS treatise on education is written with considerable elegance; and were the merits of a system to be decided solely on the ground of abstract propriety, without reference to its practicability, that which Dr Biber recommends would be altogether unexceptionable. His grand position is, that education ought to be conducted exclusively on Christian principles, that divine truth should constitute, not the object, but the subject and ground-work, of education, and, in short, if we understand him right, he appears to think that it ought to be the care of parents and teachers, not so much to instruct children in their duty, and to prepare them for effectually discharging it, as to watch over the influence of religion in their hearts. He laments the time which, in most schools, is occupied with spelling and arithmetic,-he objects to rewards, as encouraging children to act from improper motives, he objects to the Bible being used as a text-book for children, and insists, somewhat unreasonably, in our humble opinion, that spelling the name of the Almighty is an evident We are far from saying, and we are far from thinking, that a system is necessarily good because it is old; but neither is it bad only because it is old; and it is necessary to keep in mind this latter truth, more especially at present, when novelty is so eagerly sought after, and so readily admitted as an evidence of liberality and an enlarged understanding. The old system of education, as it is pursued at our country schools, is no doubt imperfect and liable to some objections--what human institution is not?--but it is founded on experience and good sense. It Dr Biber once visited a charity school in England, and, upon putting the question-"What things are necessary for subsistence" was answered by the little girls," Beer, cheese, cakes, and patties !" |