"parson" and "harlot." These offences against good taste and feeling, and that at p. 69, upon the House of Lords, deserve no further notice; to mention them is quite sufficient, and to have transcribed them would have been to shew how totally unacquainted Mr. Walsh is with the complicated relations of society, and the reviewer entirely declines such a task.

. Mr. Walsh has swelled his book with some strange attempts at melody, with the first lines of some of Pindar's odes, barbarously written in Roman letters, and barbarously translated into English rhymes, underneath the stave; and any one acquainted with the first principles of music will see, on inspecting the hymn to Calliope, into what mistakes Mr. W. has fallen. It is strange that any person who could count the first few numbers of the common numerical scale should have committed such errors.

It is hard to say for what class of persons this work is intended; from the long preface, one would suppose it was for schoolboys and young persons; but for such persons, its extreme impropriety renders it peculiarly unfit. If it is intended for scholars, the long preface might be well dispensed with; and the accents with which the author has thought fit to mark every proper name, would be much better employed in indicating with what syllabic emphasis his own couplets are to be read, in order to produce any rhythm whatever.

A few months back, attention was called, in this Magazine, to the able manner in which Mr. Mitchell is editing the comedies of Aristophanes, and the translation of the four plays by that eminent scholar has long been before the public. It is really lamentable that, with such an example as that of Mr. Mitchell, whose work displays in every page the character of the gentleman, the scholar, and the Christian, Mr. Walsh should have produced a work which cannot be recommended to any persons who value propriety.

No more space can be given to this work. Its author speaks of publishing two more volumes. Let him pause and consider whether he is not called upon by very solemn obligations to withdraw the first.

A Practical System of Rhetoric; or, the Principles and Rules of Style, inferred from Examples of Writing. With an Historical Dissertation on English Style. By Samuel P. Newman, Professor of Rhetoric, and Lecturer on Political Economy, in Bowdoin College, United States. London: Priestley. pp. 292.

THIS is a work intended, it is presumed, rather as a manual for the upper boys in schools than as addressed to men. There are some good and useful observations in it, which may serve to warn those who are beginning to compose against errors and faults into which they might otherwise fall; and perhaps this is as much as can be said for most school books on rhetoric. This volume appears to the reviewer to be neither much above nor much below the common average of books of this class; though he cannot say that the Historical Dissertation on English Style impresses him with any very high opinion of Professor Newman's judgment or taste.

VOL. XI.-May, 1837.

4 C

P. Terentii Afri Comœdiæ Sex ex Editione Th. F. G. Reinhardt. With Explanatory Notes, by D. B. Hickie, LL.D., Head Master of Archbishop Sandys' Grammar School, Hawkshead. London : Priestley, 1837.

THIS is a very neat and useful edition of Terence; the notes well selected, and giving good explanations of phraseology. But in a book for the use of boys, from the master of a school, it is only right to say that one expects a certain course as to the morality of the heathen writers. He may say fairly-"I defend the reading these books on such and such grounds, and I take care to guard my pupils against the evil of them by my private remarks, either general, or particular in particular lessons." In this case, his edition should be a dry collection of critical notes, in which this question is not touched, and in which the boys may perceive that it is not touched, and that the absence of indignant comment on profligacy is not owing to indifference. On the other hand, if a writer for the young chooses to go beyond this, and to notice the subject of morals at all, he should take care to do so most fully, and with full justice to the subject. Now, in the notes on one of the most objectionable passages in Terence — that in the Adelphi "non est flagitium," &c., which at once sets before us the low, lax, profligate notions of morals commonly, if not universally, current in Rome, the observation is that Micio "seems to carry his indulgence too far, but that it is in opposition to his brother's surliness," &c.

An Exposition of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England, by Gilbert, Bishop of Sarum, with an Appendix, containing the Augsburg Confession, Creed of Pope Pius IV., &c. Revised and corrected, with Copious Notes and Additional References. By the Rev. James R. Page, A.M., of Queen's College, Cambridge, Minister of Carlisle Chapel, Lambeth. London: Scott and Co., pp. 583.

BISHOP BURNET's Exposition of the Articles is too well known to need description here. Its merits and its defects need no discussion, but it may be predicted that this edition of it will henceforth be one of the most popular. It is enriched with excellent notes from Bishop Jewell, Hooker, &c., and with very useful compendiums of information on ecclesiastical points, furnished by the editor himself.

Relvedder, Baron Kolff, &c. By Thomas Eagles, Author of "Mountain Melodies," &c. London: Whittaker and Co. 8vo. 1837. pp. 246.

It is difficult sometimes to ascertain why certain books are published, and the above is certainly calculated to give a reviewer a little trouble in guessing at the solution of this question. Mr. Eagles would do well to study the principles of grammar and a rhyming dictionary a little more closely before he next appears in the list of candidates for poetical fame. The following extract from the comic and melodra

matic poem of Baron Kolff may explain and justify the reviewer's remark:

:

"Such notes before

Had ne'er been heard upon the shore
On which the waters of the Rhine

Flow sweetly on, in circles fine,

And flash with gold, like glist'ning amber,
As through the gloomy woods they wander.
Her aunts had been in early youth
Coquettes and flirts, and were, in sooth,
In their opinion, fit to be

Guardians and censors strict of she."

The work may, perhaps, be published to gratify some of Mr. Eagle's friends, and as there does not appear to be anything objectionable in it, they may, perhaps, derive an innocent amusement from it. It is perhaps only just to say, that Relvedder does appear better in respect to the faults alluded to.

An Historical Vindication of the Leading Principles contained in the Earl of Radnor's Bill, entitled, an Act for Appointing Commissioners to inquire respecting the Statutes and Administration of the different Colleges and Halls at Oxford and Cambridge. London: Rivingtons. 8vo. pp. 24.

THIS pamphlet has one merit-it is brief; and to this is added another quality equally essential to the success of a pamphlet-it is pithy, and to the purpose. The advertisement, which forms a sort of preface, is worth extracting.

"The following 'Vindication' does not profess to do more than to touch upon some of the leading principles of Lord Radnor's Bill; the development and justification of its details being left to those who may happen to admire them. Nor has it been deemed necessary to argue the question, (1.) How far the legislature can, upon any acknowledged principles of justice, usurp the place of the Statutable Visitors of Colleges in whatever relates to the government and management of the affairs of such societies? Or (2) How the uncalled-for interference of the legislature in matters avowedly cognizable by the existing laws of the land can be recon. ciled with any rational notions of liberty? To have discussed these questions would have been a waste of time, since it has been settled by the wisdom of the age, that colleges, like police-offices, ought to be under the control of the Home Secretary of State; and that the perfection of liberty consists in having no law whatever, other than the will of the government for the time being."

The tract itself is occupied in comparing Lord Radnor's Bill, almost clause by clause, with the Bill of the Parliament of 1643, for the same goodly purpose of reforming the universities; and it seems that the modern peer has, in almost every instance, exceeded the arbitrary enactment, of which he has, perhaps unconsciously-as great reformers are sometimes not deeply read in history-been so worthy an

imitator.

This tract is well worth the attention of all who are interested in the university question; it will not detain them half an hour to read it, and they will find it full of valuable hints. The question of the Bill itself has been touched upon elsewhere in this Magazine at so much length that it is useless to dwell upon it here.

Modern India; with Illustrations of the Resources and Capabilities of Hindustan. By Henry H. Spry, M.D., &c., Bengal Medical Staff. In 2 vols. London: Whittaker and Co.

THIS is evidently written by a shrewd and observant person. It touches on such a variety of topics, that it will have attractions for very different classes of men. Dr. Spry performed several journeys, (one of them from Berhampore to Cawnpore, a distance of more than 600 miles,) by the mode of travelling called Dâk, in a palankeen; and of these journeys he gives many details, which, however familiar to Anglo-Indians, are very interesting to stay-at-home travellers. There is something in the book for the naturalist, something for the speculator on human nature, and something for the politician and statistical writer. The Marquis of Hastings appears to have met Dr. Spry's view of what a governor of India ought to be most fully, and he gives some details of his measures, which appear to have been most judicious; but, of course, those only who are or have been really residents in India can be judges of the propriety of particular measures relative to that country. The reviewer must also plead an equal inability to judge of the correctness of the statements relative to the half-batta measure, which caused so much odium to the government of Lord W. Bentinck. This latter governor seems, in one instance, to have shewn very great judgment and decision-viz., in the suppression of that dreadful scourge the race of Thugs, and the system they pursued of wholesale murder. The whole account is extremely interesting. Dr. Spry was stationed for some time at Saugor, a place about 300 miles S.W. of Cawnpore, and as this was the chief prison for the Thugs, and the residence of Captain Sleeman, (the superintendent-general for the suppression of Thuggee,) he had an opportunity of witnessing in person some of the scenes connected with the apprehension of these miscreants. It appears that, in this part of central India, a secret society has subsisted, consisting of individuals scattered over a very large surface of territory, connected by secret signs, and by a participation in the most dreadful crimes. They meet together for unholy rites, and for murder and depredations; and they are known to have carried on their trade of murder and plunder for at least twenty-five years. But, on Lord Bentinck's determination to suppress the crime of Thuggee, (as their practices are called,) one or two were induced to turn king's evidence, and formed the means of bringing numerous others to execution. On one occasion, as many as twenty-nine were executed at once. The account of the apprehension of one gang is given, as well as a phrenological account of seven skulls among the culprits, which Dr. Spry sent to Mr. Combe, of Edinburgh.. The extract from this account is, it may be presumed, of some interest to phrenologists; although the reviewer thinks it might as well have been left in the pages of the "Phrenological Journal,"

This place is spelt in the map (in vol. i.) Saugur, and Cawnpore is spelt in the same map Cawnpoor, while the other mode is adopted in the text. It would be more convenient to keep to the same spelling in the same book.

which he supposes is only read, or chiefly read, by those who are converts to that system. Many of the medical details in the volume, relative to the diseases of the country, are such as to interest even non-medical readers; and there are several suggestions, which Dr. Spry's experience has suggested to him, for the better management of our troops and our barracks in respect to matters of health. Of these, the English public can be no judge, and on their merits the reviewer must leave the proper authorities (while perhaps memorials embodying them would be a preferable mode of proceeding) to decide upon them; remarking, however, that the practices Dr. Spry blames are spoken of in temperate language.

The following account of a race of cannibals, existing at Chittagong, may perhaps be new to most of the readers of this Magazine, and will afford a fair specimen of these volumes :

"The Kookces, as these brutal wretches are called, have, according to the account, afforded me by Major Gairdner, protuberant bellies; they are low in stature, with set features, and muscular limbs. They speak a dialect peculiar to themselves, and build their villages on the boughs of the forest trees. They do not appear to have any settled abiding place, but wander in herds from one wilderness to another. When a site favourable to their purpose has been found, the whole community immediately set to work to collect bamboos and branches of trees, which are afterwards fashioned into platforms, and placed across the lofty boughs of the different trees. On this foundation the rude grass superstructure is raised which forms the hut. When these sheds are completed, and every family provided with a habitation, the women and children are taken into their aerial abodes. The men then lop off all the branches within reach of the ground, and having constructed for themselves a rough ladder of bamboos, they ascend the trees by means of this rude staircase, drawing it up after them to prevent the intrusion of strangers, and a necessary precaution against the encroachments of their four-footed companions of the forest. In this manner they repose, floating in the branches, and cradled by the wind, partaking more of the savage ferocity of brutes than the milder charities of man.

"To persons who have travelled much in India, the mere circumstance of a whole tribe of natives choosing to take up their permanent habitations in the trees would not excite much surprise, since the watchmen who are employed in the charge of mango groves, or other valuable fruit cultivations, often form a sort of nest on the branches of some neighbouring trees, a small hut, or rather shed, just sufficient to shield the body from the inclemency of the weather, being raised upon a platform resting on the boughs. The Kookees, therefore, in this particular, only differ from more civilized natives, forced by necessity upon expedients of the kind, by living constantly in trees; in other respects, there is fortunately no similarity, even to the most degraded beings of the human race. They openly boast of their feats of cannibalism, shewing, with the strongest expressions of satisfaction, the bones and residue of their fellow-creatures who have fallen a prey to their horrible appetites. So intent are they in their search after human flesh, that the superintendent was always obliged to send out the men employed in hunting the elephants armed with muskets, and in not fewer than parties of ten. One poor man they unfortunately caught while off his guard, and devoured him almost before his life blood had congealed in his veins. Attempts have been made to subdue and civilize these people, and one of their head men was won over, and employed by Major Gairdner at the elephant depôt, but he could not be induced to relinquish his old habits. In a short time he was detected in the commission of a murder, and was executed by the civil authorities of Chittagong. When the tidings of this man's fate reached the ears of his former associates, they became greatly incensed, and for a long time afterwards exerted themselves, happily in vain, to obtain possession of the person of the superintendent, who had frequently occasion to cross their path in the execution of his duty. These people, strange as it may appear, are living within 150 miles of Calcutta, the metropolis of British India and the seat of government, and yet their existence even is scarcely known by the people who are not in authority-comparatively little in