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the facts there observed may lend towards determining not merely the comparative, but the positive ages of different formations.

Much egregious nonsense has been spoken by rash and shallow sceptics on the one hand-by well-meaning but weak believers on the other, regarding the discrepancy between the Mosaic account of the creation, and geological conclusions respecting the age of the world. Every new discovery goes further to show their compatibility. Beechey's accurate and extensive examination of the coral islands is on this account most important. The history of the Otaheitean archipelago is likewise of importance, as showing how unnecessary it is to assume the original formation of independent races of men in different regions. Scarcely does an island appear above the deep, let its distance from the inhabited chain be what it will, than man appears to take possession of it.

and which certainly could not be the coast of America, at least 2000 miles against the trade-wind."

These infants of civilisation do not seem doomed to so long a nonage as those of the old world. We gave an account, in our first notice of Beechey's book, how the blood of Europeans had already mingled with that of Otaheite, and become domiciled in Pitcairn Island. In our next, we will show the effect of traffic with Europe and America, and of the salutary, although sometimes over-zealous instruction of the missionaries, upon the unmixed race. We must then, however reluctantly, close the book.

Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte. From the French of M. Fauvelet de Bourrienne. By John S. Memes, LL.D. A New Edition, in Four Volumes. (Constable's Miscellany.) Edinburgh: Constable and Co. London: Hurst, Chance and Co. 1831.

"It has hitherto been a matter of conjecture how these islands, so remote from both great continents, have received THIS new edition has been revised with the utmost their aborigines. The intimate connexion between the language, worship, manners, customs, and traditions of the care, and augmented by at least one-third of additional people who dwell upon them, and those of the Malays and matter. It is now a complete, and not an abridged verother inhabitants of the great islands to the westward, leaves sion of Bourrienne. It is enriched by a narrative of the no doubt of frequent emigrations from thence; and we na- author from the pen of the accomplished translator, a turally look to those countries as the source from which copious selection of important state papers, and sketches they have sprung. The difficulty, however, instantly pre-of the most important characters who figure in the Mesents itself, of proceeding so vast a distance in opposition to the prevailing wind and current, without vessels better equipped than those which are in possession of those people. This objection is so powerful in the minds of some authors, that they have had recourse to the circuitous route through Tartary, across Behring's Strait, and over the American continent, to bring them to a situation whence they might

be drifted, by the ordinary course of the winds, to the lands in question. But had this been the case, a more intimate resemblance would surely be found to exist between the American Indians and the natives of Polynesia.

"All have agreed as to the manner in which these migrations between the islands have been effected, and some few instances have actually been met with, but they have been in one direction only, and have rather favoured the opinion of migration from the eastward. The accident which threw in our way Tuwarri and his companions, who, it may be recollected, were driven six hundred miles in a direction contrary to the trade-wind, in spite of their utmost exertions, has fortunately enabled us to remove the objections which have been urged against the general opinion. The fact being so well attested, and the only one of the kind upon record, is, consequently, of the highest interest, both as regards its singularity, and as it establishes the possibility of the case. Though this is the only instance that has come to our knowledge, there is no reason why many other canoes may not have shared a similar fate; and some few of many thousands, perhaps, may have drifted to the remotest islands of the Archipelago, and thus peopled them.

"The navigation of canoes between islands, in sight of each other, is very general; and it was not unusual, in early times, for warriors, after a defeat, to embark, careless of consequences, in order to escape the persecution of their conquerors. To remain, was certain death and ignomiay; to fly, was to leave their fate to chance.

"The temporary obstruction of the trade-wind in these seas, by the westerly monsoons, has not been duly considered by those who represent the difficulties as insurmountable. At the period of the year corresponding with our spring these gales commence, and blow with great violence during the rainy season. As they arise very suddenly, any canoes at sea must have difficulty in escaping them, and would, in all probability, be driven so far, as never to be able to regain their native country, or to be drifted to islands upon which they might be contented to dwell, in preference to encountering farther risks.

"The traces of inhabitants upon almost all the islands of the Low Archipelago, many of which are at present uninhabited, show the frequency with which these migrations have occurred, and how extensive they have been. Some of these isolated spots where remains have been found, Pitcairn Island, for instance, are 400 miles from any land whence inhabitants were likely to be derived; and the circumstance of their having abandoned the island, is a fair presumption that the people who landed there knew of other lands which there was a probability of their reaching,

moirs of the Emperor. We have been rather at a loss as to what might be the most eligible specimen of the work; and have at last chosen Napoleon's notes upon Egypt— one of the finest specimens of his comprehensive and condensing genius we have seen. In how small a space does he lay that country, its inhabitants, resources, and capa

bilities before us!

BONAPARTE'S NOTES ON EGYPT.

"1. Egypt is properly only the valley of the Nile, from Assouan to the sea.

"2. That portion of the country only is habitable and cultivated over which the inundation reaches, and where it deposits a slime, which the Nile washes down from the mountains of Abyssinia. The analysis of this slime yields carbon.

"3. The Desert produces nothing except a few bushes, which assist in supporting the camels. No human being can subsist in the Desert.

"4. Nothing so much resembles the sea as the Desert; nor the shore, as the boundary of the valley of the Nile. The inhabitants of the towns near this boundary are exposed to frequent incursions of the Arabs.

“5. The Mamelukes hold the villages in fief. Being well armed, and well mounted, they repulsed the Arabs, of whom they were the terror; but were too few in number to guard this immense line.

6. On this account, the frontiers and roads are respectively protected by the Arabs of the province, who, armed and mounted, are bound to repel the attacks of the wandering Arabs. In requital of this service they enjoy villages, lands, and privileges.

7. Thus, while the government is stable, the domici liated Arabs, respecting it, remain quiet, and then Egypt has little to fear from foreign invasion.

"8. But when the government is weak, the Arabs revolt: in this case, they abandon their habitations to rove in the Desert, and joining the stranger Arabs, pillage the country where they make incursions into the neighbouring provinces.

"9. These foreign Arabs do not live in the Desert, which cannot support a single inhabitant: they have their settlements in Africa, Asia, or Arabia. They obtain information of any disorder in the government; they then quit their country, traverse twelve or fifteen days of Desert, establish themselves on different points of its frontier, and thence make desolating incursions into the interior of Egypt.

10. The Desert is sandy. Wells are rare, and of these the greater part are salt, bitter, and sulphureous. There are, however, but few routes on which wells do not occur within every thirty hours.

11. Camels are employed with bottles (of skin or leather) to carry the water which may be required. One camel is able to carry water for one hundred Frenchmen during a whole day.

"12. We have said, that Egypt is only the valley of the Nile; that the soil of this valley was primitively the same as the surrounding Desert; but the inundation of the Nile, and the slime which it lodges, have rendered the valley which it traverses one of the most fertile and populous districts in the world.

"13. The Nile increases in Messidor, and the inundation commences in Fructidor. Then the whole country is inundated; communications are difficult. The villages are situated on heights of from 16 to 18 feet. A small causeway sometimes serves to maintain a communication: more frequently there is nothing but a foot track.

14. The rising of the Nile becomes greater or less in proportion to the quantity of rain in Abyssinia: but the effects of the inundation depend still more on canals for irrigation.

15. At present the Nile has only two branches-those of Rosetta and Damietta. If these two mouths were closed as much as possible, the inundation would become greater, and the habitable country more considerable.

"16. If the canals were kept in good order, well contrived, and more numerous, the water might be kept the whole year on the lands, and so increase both the valley and the soil for cultivation. In this manner, the Oases of Scharkyyeh, and a portion of the Desert from Pelusium, were watered; the whole of Bohahyreh, Maryoutt, and the provinces of Alexandria, were cultivated and rendered habitable.

"17. By a skilful system, the fruit of a good government, Egypt might acquire an increase of eight or nine hundred leagues square.

18. It is probable that the Nile has issued by the Dry River, (Bahun Belâmeh,) which from Fayoum passes through the middle of the Natron Lakes, and joins the sea beyond the Arab's tower. It appears that Mæris joined this branch of the Nile, and thus formed the celebrated lake of whose origin even Herodotus was ignorant.

"19. The government has more influence here on public property than anywhere else; for, elsewhere, anarchy and tyranny have no influence on the progress of the seasons, and on rain. The land may be equally fertile in Egypt. A dyke not opened, a canal not repaired, may render a whole province desert: for seed-time, and all the productions of the earth, are regulated by the date and magnitude of the inundations.

"20. The government of Egypt having remained in the most careless hands for a period of half a century, the country has annually disappeared in many places. The Desert has gained upon the valley, and has even formed sand-hills on the very margin of the Nile. Seventy years more of the same government as that of Ibrahim and Mourad-Bey, and Egypt will have lost a third of its cultivated territory. It would be easy to prove that fifty years of such a government as that of France, England, Germany, or Italy, might probably triple the extent of cultivation, and number of inhabitants. Men would never be wanting for the soil thus gained or recovered, for they abound on every side both in Arabia and Africa.

"22. The waters of the Damietta branch show an evident tendency to flow into that of Rosetta. It ought to be a principle in our administration to aid this tendency, which is for the advantage of Alexandria, and all the direct communications with Europe.

23. If the dyke at Farâ-ou-Nyeh were cut, the province of Bohahyreh would gain two hundred villages, and that, with the canal which extends from Fayoum, would bring the inundation to the wall of Alexandria. This operation would do most injury to the provinces of Scharkyyeb, Damietta, and Maussourah; therefore it ought to be adjourned to a fit season for executing it. The design, however, should one day be carried into effect.

"26. During the inundation, the waters reach within forty miles of Suez. The remains of a canal are quite distinct; and there cannot be the least doubt, that boats may one day transport goods from Alexandria to Suez.

"27. We have said, that Egypt, properly speaking, was the valley of the Nile. A great part of the Deserts, which surround it, form, however, a part of Egypt, and in these Deserts there are oases, just as in the ocean there are islands. On the western side, the Deserts forming part of Egypt, extend ten or twelve days' march from the waters of the Nile. The principal points are the three oases, Syrahs, and the Natron Lakes. The first oasis is distant about three days' journey from Syouth. No water is to be found on this route. In this oasis are some palm-trees, several wells of bitter water, a portion of productive soil, and almost constantly malignant fevers.

:

"28. To proceed from Cairo to Tedigat, which is the first cultivated country, there are thirty days of Desert to be crossed during five of these, no water is to be found. "29. The Natron Lakes are situated about twelve hours' march within the Desert of Tarranneh. Excellent springs are found there; several Natron lakes; and four Coptish monasteries. These monasteries are fortresses; we have stationed therea Greek garrison, and several pieces of cannon. "30. On the east, the Deserts which belong to Egypt extend to within a day's journey of El Arych, and beyond Tor and Mount Sinai. Quattyyeh is a species of oasis; there are five or six hundred palm-trees, and water for six thousand men, and one thousand horses: it is distant about fifteen miles from Salahyyeh. A little water is to be found in two different places on the route. We have established a fort of palm-trees in this important oasis.

"31. From Quattyyeh to El Arych, are sixty miles. El Arych is an oasis. There was on this spot a very beautiful village, which was demolished, and five or six thousand palm-trees, which we cut down. The abundance of water. and the quantity of materials, induced us to construct a fortification, which is already in a respectable state of defence. From El Arych to Gazab, are forty-five miles; water is found several times. The route leads by the village of Kan-you-Ness, (in Syria.)

"32.

Tor and Mount Sinai are distant ten days' march from Cairo. The Arabs of Tor cultivate fruits, and make charcoal. They import grain from Cairo. Throughout the whole of this oasis there is water, very good, and in abundance.

"33. The population of all the Fellahs, or Arabs, who inhabit the oases, both of the eastern and western Desert, and not comprised in that of the fourteen provinces, does not amount to thirty thousand souls.

"34. The valley of the Nile is divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt contains the provinces of Dgirgeh, Manfelout, and Mynieh; Middle comprises those of Fayoum, Beni- Youcef, and Cairo; Lower comprehends Bohahyreh, Alexandria, Rosetta, Garbyyeh, Menoufiyyeh, Maussourah, Damietta, Kalyoubieh, and Scharkyyeh.

"35. The coast extends from Cape Durazzo to within a "21. The Nile, from Assouan to eighty miles north-day's journey of El Arych. The first post where we have ward of Cairo, flows in a single bed. From the latter point, an establishment is at Marabout, six miles east of Alexannamed the Cow's-belly, it forms the branches of Rosetta dria. The harbours of Alexandria are defended by a great and Damietta. number of batteries and forts, which, both by sea and land, place it in security against any attack. Fort Cretin is a model of fortification. Aboukir, situated thirteen miles from Alexandria, is a good roadstead. Lake Maad'yeh, into which formerly flowed that branch of the Nile, called the Canopii, extends to within three miles of Alexandria, six of Rosetta, and, on the south, reaches within three of Birket. The Rosetta mouth has a bar, which is very difficult to cross. From Rosetta to Bourlosh are fourteen miles. The Lake of Bourlosh contains about a hundred dgerms, and communicates with Mehel-el-Kebir by a canal. The embouchure of the lake forms a very good harbour, having from ten to twelve feet of water. The Damietta mouth is defended by Fort Lesbè. Lake Menzahleh, which extends to the ancient Pelusium, or, in other words, which is about seventy miles long, commences at little more than a mile from Damietta. This lake communicates with the sea in two places, namely, at Dybeh and Omm-Farege. There is a great quantity of craft upon the lake. The canal of Moses disembogues into this lake. Tineh, or the ancient Pelusium, is about twelve miles from Quattyyeh. We have already spoken of the route from Quattyyeh to El Arych. The coast is, throughout its whole extent, low and bad, with sand-hills extending three, and, in some places, from six to nine miles inland,

"24. The canal which conveys the waters of the Nile from Ramahanyeh to Alexandria, ought to be deepened, so as to be navigable at all seasons of the year. Vessels of one hundred tons, will then be enabled to pass for six months yearly, from Alexandria to Cairo, without encountering any impediment.

"25. A work, to be undertaken at some period, will be to construct dykes, to dam up the two branches of the Cow's-belly. By this means, the whole waters of the Nile may be thrown successively east and west, and thus the inundation may be doubled in extent.

"36. The population of Egypt is about two-and-a-half millions. The Arabs, domiciliated, and under the protection of government in the different provinces, form a total of twelve thousand horsemen, and forty thousand infantry. There are about twenty-four thousand Copts, fifteen thousand Christians of Damascus, and six thousand Jews. "37. The Porte had given up the government of Egypt to twenty-four Beys, of whom each had a military establishment, more or less numerous. This establishment, or house, consisted of slaves from Georgia and Circassia, whom they purchased for from 3000 to 4500 francs a-head, (L. 125 to L.188,) and brought up to a military life. There might have been against our army eight thousand Mamelukes on horseback, well mounted, well disciplined, well armed, and very brave, the property of the reigning Beys. Double that number may be reckoned for those who, descended from other Mamelukes, were established in the villages, or living in Cairo.

"38. The Pacha had no authority. He was changed every year, as also the Kadi-askier, whom the Porte sent from Constantinople. Throughout the rest of the empire were, besides, seven other auxiliary bodies. Of these, the chiefs were named the Seven Grand Odiag-lys. These bodies are so diminished by the war, that there now remain only about one thousand, old and infirm, without masters, and even attached to the French.

"39. The Sheriffs are the descendants of the tribe of the successors of Mahomet, or, to speak more correctly, the descendants of the first conquerors. They wear the green turban. The Ulemas are the men of law and the church, but who, in no respect, resemble our judges or priests. The chief of the Ulemas of Cairo is named Grand Sheik. He is held in the same veneration by the people as the cardinals were formerly in Europe. The Ulemas pronounce the prayers each in a mosque, which brings them some revenue, and great credit. The grand mosque of Cairo, called El Ashar, is large and beautiful, and has a great number of teachers and others attached to its service. Of these, there are twenty-four principals.

which ignorance has accomplished within the last three months, even had it admitted of no means of counteraction, and not, as is the case, contained within itself the means not only of counteraction, but of dispelling falsehood by the propagation of truth, and of leading even the meanest person in the kingdom to understand his own interest too well, and to respect himself and others too much, to commit the monstrous outrages which ignorance now commits. The stamp duties, and other restrictive laws, have confined the actually cheap publications to two descriptions of persons, namely, religious tract societies, and those who set the laws at defiance.

"The first description of persons have distributed millions of tracts, from which no good has resulted, and from which no good can result. Their tracts are nearly all of them dogmatical, containing much more in the style of command than persuasion; even the foolish stories they tell are in such bad taste, that the mean cant is seen through; and so little, indeed, do the distributors of tracts understand the people, that both the matter and the manner of their publications are better calculated to do mischief than service. All their distributions have not prevented the burnings; and it is questionable whether they may not in some degree have tended to produce them. Cant and command will produce no good effects on the poorer sort of people; they want facts, useful facts, plainly set forth with clear and short expositions; but these, whilst the law remains as it is, they cannot have.

"They who would willingly assist to teach the people, will not break the laws, nor in any way subject themselves to the consequences of breaking the laws; and thus it has become impossible for them to teach the people.

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"I have mentioned the twopenny-halfpenny tract which the commissioners of stamps extinguished. I will now advert to another, to show the evil consequences of the power they possess. A respectable person published a tract weekly, called The Harlequin.' It related solely to the theatres, and was sold for twopence. Nothing could be so harmless as this tract; but it gave the purchasers information' and intelligence,' matters forbidden by the act; and the commissioners of stamps put their interdict upon it, as the number I enclose to you will show. The commissioners in-have a power denied to the king, a dispensing power; they may permit or even authorize publications, or they may extinguish them. No one, except Parliament, can call them to account for any thing of this kind, and even Parliament has not the power to control them, without passing a new act for the purpose.

(Here Bonaparte's Notes cease to be numbered.) "There are many coffee-houses in Cairo, where the habitants pass the greater part of the day in smoking: the poor and travellers lodge in the mosques during the night and in the heat. There are a great number of public baths, to which the women resort to bathe, and relate the news of the town. The mosques have endowments, much the same as were those of our own churches.

"The villages of Egypt are fiefs belonging to the prince who bestows them. In consequence of this, a cess is exacted, which the peasant is obliged to pay to the landholder. The peasants constitute real proprietors, since they are respected; and, in the midst of all revolutions and overturnings, the right of the peasant is never violated. Hence, there are, in Egypt, two classes of men,-the proprietors of the soil, that is, the peasants, and the proprietors of the fiefs, the feudatories, or seigneurs.

"Two-thirds of the villages belong to Mamelukes, for the expenses of the administration. The miri, properly so called, is an imposition, sufficiently moderate, being a kind of cess destined for the Ottoman Porte."

A Letter to a Minister of State, respecting Taxes on Knowledge. (Not for Sale.)

WE have been highly delighted by a perusal of this sensible and well-timed pamphlet, which, although not printed for sale, has been, we believe, extensively circulated. Believing most firmly that man without knowledge is little better than a brute, and that half-learning only makes the animal within him more dangerous, we are friends to the most unlimited diffusion of knowledge. The author of these few pages demonstrates most satisfactorily that the abolition of the stamp-duty on newspapers would increase the revenue, and diminish crime. The following passage shows his way of arguing the latter question, in a favourable point of view:

"The most atrocious press which the public would endure, the most licentious publications (political) which the most cowardly really fear, and the most courtly pretend to fear, never could have produced a tithe of the mischief

"The second description of persons-they who violate the laws-are, with some few exceptions, unprincipled and ill-informed. Most of their publications inculcate the grossest errors, and can do nothing but mischief; and some are intended solely for this purpose. The misfortune is, that multitudes of persons see no other publications; they know that they are published in defiance of the law; they cherish them, because they think the law intends to withhold useful information from them. They confide in the evil notions they propagate; and, as they never see any thing which contradicts the assertions, or explains the erroneous statements contained in these papers, they necessarily receive them as sacred truths. This is a lamentable state of things; yet all the evils I have noticed would be at once mitigated, and at no very distant period be removed, if the stamp duty be taken off newspapers."

Before quitting this subject, we wish to draw the attention of the writer of this passage to a matter of vast consequence to literature-the manner in which the proof sheets of works, passing through the press, are forwarded by post. If the proofs are enclosed in an envelope, they are charged double, sometimes more. Publishers are in the habit, therefore, of writing the address upon the printed sheet. Again, if the whole of the matter to be contained in a sheet be not sent to the author at one time, a delay at press, in many cases highly injurious, necessarily occurs. Publishers are thus compelled to cover the whole sheet with printing, and, consequently, it is with the utmost difficulty that the address can be added. The want of an envelope also renders it unavoidable that the Post Office marking covers the printing, sometimes even the corrections, which are thus rendered unintelligible. We would suggest, as a remedy for this, that author's proofs should be allowed the same privilege with newspapers. The mere liberty to print them upon

newspaper stamps, and transmit them by post under a blank cover, would be a great accommodation to literary

men.

beset by enemies, they travelled during the whole night on foot. At break of day, exhausted by hunger and fatigue, they procured some food from a neighbouring cottage; and while some shared this homely fare, the others kept guard among the surrounding trees. While thus occupied, a stranger approached, and enquiring for the Lord of Padua,

Sketches from Venetian History. Volume First. (Being in the name of Donati, his chief friend at Florence, produ-
Volume XX. of the Family Library.) London.
John Murray.

THE announcement in the advertisement prefixed to this work, that its materials have been gleaned chiefly from the works of Sismondi and Daru, qualified as it is by the assertion, that the original authorities have uniformly been consulted, was a sufficient warning that we were not to expect a just or accurate political history of Venice. The book is, however, graceful and amusing. We can recommend it to such of our readers as require no more information than is compatible with amusement. The narrative of the romantic adventures of Francesco Novello, while flying from Visconti Galeazzo, is a fair specimen of its contents.

"Some Florentine merchants in Asti assisted him in negotiating with the authorities of their capital; and, all things being favourably arranged for his flight, he asked a guide and an escort from the governor, in whom he reposed entire confidence; at the same time giving out that it was his intention, in company with his lady, to satisfy a vow, by a pilgrimage to the shrine of St Antonio at Vienne. To that town, accordingly, he hastened with the utmost speed, and passed on through Avignon to Marseilles. Receiving intelligence that the captain of that city was preparing to arrest him, he embarked without delay, and saved himself but by a moment; for an attendant, who was mistaken for him, was seized and thrown into prison. But the season was unfavourable for a voyage; the Lady Taddea was far advanced in pregnancy; and the violence of the equinoctial gales exposed her to so great suffering, that she earnestly implored to pursue her journey by land. The affection of Francesco could not resist this appeal, although he well knew the additional peril to which consent exposed him. Disembarking, therefore, with only two attendants, he ordered the master of the vessel to proceed slowly along the coast; and, having hired an ass, on which the Lady Taddea was placed, himself being on foot, they advanced for two days through a difficult and intricate country, chiefly occupied by Ghibelins and dependents of Visconti. At Frerezzo, they again went on board, and, after encountering a heavy gale, passing Nice and Monaco, they arrived at Torbio. Here, when preparing to repose themselves in the town, they were informed that the Chatelain was a creature of the Comte de Virtu, and they were compelled to lodge for the night in a ruined church on the beach. When they arose in the morning, sleepless and harassed, the stormy appearance of the sea forbade re-embarkation, and they again commenced a long day's march to Ventimiglia. In that town, their party, although small, excited attention and curiosity; and it was reported to the Podesta, by the busy suspicions of the peasants, that a man with four companions, two of them women, had arrived at the Osteria beyond the gate; that one of the women, by her demeanour, was manifestly a personage of high station; and that, judging by those who surrounded her, there could be little doubt it was a case of forcible abduction. The magistrate, deceived by these representations, dispatched an officer with ten soldiers, to bring the travellers before him. Francesco, when they overtook him, fought his way to the shore, and succeeded in getting his lady and her attendants on shipboard; but he himself, being last, was overpowered and taken prisoner. The officer charged the captain of the vessel not to sail, as he valued his life; and demanded the name of his prisoner. When informed that it was the late Lord of Padua, he ordered his men to fall back and ground their arms; and, advancing with an air of respect, proffered obedience, and asked pardon; adding, that he was a Guelph, and had once served the House of Padua. On receiving this assurance, Francesco requested that he might be escorted to the castle, where the Podesta, having listened to his explanation, supplied him with provisions, and re-conducted him to his ship.

"A favourable wind bore the fugitives rapidly to the territory of the Marquis of Carreiro. Towards evening, they again landed with the same companions as before; and, anxious to hasten through a district in which they were

ced the countersigns with which Carrara had furnished his agent, the halves of broken dice, and of some coins bearing his own impress. These corresponded with the tallies; and Carrara, satisfied of the good faith of the messenger, accompanied him on board a vessel in waiting to convey them to Genoa. On their passage, once again they encountered a storm; and, being driven into Savona, they had landed, and were preparing for refreshment, when an express from the Doge warned them to hasten from the coast, which swarmed with Galeazzo's emissaries. Without food or repose, ving entered Genoa, in the disguise of German pilgrims, they hurried back to their ship; and, in the morning, hathey concealed themselves awhile in a mean inn, and then sailed from Capona to Moncione. Here, while refreshing themselves, they were alarmed by the arrival of a courier to prepare quarters for one of Galeazzo's officers, who, with afforded them shelter till this company had passed by; and a troop of forty men, was on his route to Pisa. A thicket Carrara then cheered the drooping spirits of his lady, by warned a friend at Pisa, deeply indebted to his house, of assuring her that certain succour was at hand; that he had pected for their conveyance. Pietro Gambacorta, he added, his approach; and that every moment horses might be exwhen himself in exile and distress, had found protection from Francesco Vecchio, and an asylum in Padua ; whence, after a long abode, through the influence of the same prince, he was enabled to return to his native city, laden with wealth and honours. Scarcely were these words uttered, when the hope which they had kindled in Taddea was fatally extinguished by the return of the messenger with exdared not permit Carrara's entrance into Pisa; the bloodcuses from Gambacorta; he dared not furnish horses; he hounds of Visconti had been slipped, the cry was up, and already they were tracking the fugitives.

"No token of impatience, not a breath of complaint escaped Carrara, God will restore us-we must struggle with misfortune! was his sole comment. He raised the lifeless Taddea, who had been overpowered by the unexpected disappointment, and entering Pisa with his Florentine guide, regardless of all personal hazard, procured a horse wretched stable in the worst inn, without the walls of Caand some food, and returned with them to his lady. A sima, gave them refuge for the night; and Donati, who had joined them, the Florentine, and the rest of the company, sentinelled the door, while the signor and Taddea threw themselves on some straw within. But, in the dead of the night, an unknown person knocked loudly at the inn, and demanded the Signor Francesco da Carrara. 'I am he,' replied Donati, with noble promptitude, as yet ignorant of the enquirer's object. It was a messenger from Gambacorta, bringing an explanatory letter, horses, and a few necessaries for the road, and commending the travellers to the strict attention of the host. In consequence of these injunctions, they were at length admitted within the house, and, for the first night since her departure from Asti, Taddea enjoyed On the following the almost forgotten luxury of a bed. day, they arrived at Florence."

The Tuileries. A Tale. By the Author of “ Hunga. rian Tales," &c. In three volumes. London. Colburn and Bentley. 1831.

THIS is a tale of the fortunes of persons, imaginary and real, during the period of the French Revolution, and belongs to that class of novels in which the story wavers between fact and fiction. Such narratives, though they derive considerable effect from the striking historical events with which they are interwoven, independent of any merit of their own, seldom confer much additional interest on the times of which they treat. but few who, like Scott, have been able fully to repay what they have borrowed from history, by shedding back, in return, the halo of his genius over its scenes, and rendering them doubly interesting. Nor, indeed, amid the exciting horrors of the French Revolution, can imagina

There are

tion well add any thing surpassing the reality. "The Tuileries" abounds, as might be expected, with incidents of painful interest. Mobs, massacres, flights, prisonscenes, and executions, are its staple commodities. Many of the conversational parts are characteristic enough, and sustained with spirit; and we are occasionally brought into contact with some of the far-famed personages of the Revolution, who generally speak like themselves.

The Good Servant, and other Tracts; or, Examples and Warnings for Persons in Humble Life. Edinburgh: Waugh and Innes. London: Whittaker and Co.

1831.

MUCH harm must necessarily result from many of those publications of the present day, which are professedly written for regenerating our hearts and reforming our morals. How much of nationality, silly conceit, impudent speculation, and shallow sentimentalism, have been engendered by the trash of religious novels, and miraclepropounding tracts, with which the counters of our bibliopoles are at present sorely burdened and oppressed! Of the ferment and the fester that have thus been produced, it would be easy for us to direct the notice of our readers to many proofs. We could almost wish to see a police established, by which our literary market-places might be purged from such unsavoury commodities.

But whilst we go thus far, deploring the mischief which visionaries and sentimentalists are occasioning to the public taste, and to the cause which they fancy they are doing so much to uphold and advance by their crude and flippant productions; we still cherish the opinion, that fiction is not necessarily an unsafe or unwarranted vehicle for introducing morality and religion into the heart of man. The little work, the title of which stands at the head of these remarks, will bear us out in the opinion we have just expressed. "The Good Servant, or Examples and Warnings for Humble Life," we know to be a work of female authorship. Its title, and the subjects of the different moral sketches of which it consists-Filial Affection, the Sabbath, Pilfering, Vanity, Dissipation, &c.—show its design and tendency. The author has it simply in view to inspire her reader with a hatred of the vice which she depicts, and a love of the opposite virtue. The execution of her task is skilful. A plain and brief statement of the moral question is first advanced, and there is then just so much of narrative as to embody the principles which the introduction to each story lays down. There is no wrought-up story, and but just enough of character to give personification to the abstract principles she has previously laid down, and no more developement of these than what coincides with the illustration of them, which otherwise it would have been necessary to give in a didactic form. It is on this ground, as presenting the public with a series of simple and most effective parables for the benefit of that classs of society which has hitherto been unprovided with such instruction, that we recommend our author and her work. We believe it to be the production of an inexperienced author, and are glad to recognise in it delicacy of thought, justness and generosity of sentiment, a fervour of style, and often a poetical energy and beauty of language, which belong not to minds of every-day mould.

A Few Observations on the Union of Professing Episcopalians in Scotland with the Scottish Episcopal Church, respectfully addressed to the Congregation of St Peter's Chapel in Montrose. By E. B. Ramsay, B.A., F.R.S.E., Minister of St John's Chapel, Edinburgh. Edinburgh. Waugh and Innes.

THIS is a well-written pamphlet, by our esteemed and eloquent townsman, pointing out, in clear and forcible terms, the inconsistency of a congregation of avowed

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A CHAPTER ON BACHELORS.

inconceivable the variety of causes which serve equally well to produce that strangest of all phenomena-an old bachelor. Let me recall the histories of some of my contemporaries.

MANY are the roads that lead to the same end. It is

K—was the son of a respectable shopkeeper in. When ward in his gait, and for a gentle imperturbable disposition. a boy he was alike remarkable for something odd and awkHe was the favourite of all the old folks, for he was always obliging, even to blundering. Kwas sent, not very early in life, to a rich relation in London, who promised to "make a man of him." By his protector he was kept several years in the South of France, to learn thoroughly the mysteries of the branch of mercantile business in which he was afterwards to be engaged. He has since resided constantly in London.

He has become native to the element. No one who sees him could fancy that he once spoke broad Scotch, or saw the waters of the Garonne sparkle in the sun. He speaks pure, though not offensive, cockney; is neat and precise in his dress and manners; knows no more of the country than if he had never been out of hearing of Bow-bell. During his annual sail round the coast of Kent, or his rare visits to his relations north of the Tweed, he is incessant and tile in his tone of conversation, no one could suspect him childish in his enquiries. There is something so infanof being-what he really is one of the most acute and correct merchants upon 'Change. He is courteous and body likes, but nobody loves him. I do not believe that gentle to all, but cares for nobody; and in return, every

he ever felt more for a woman than he does for the whole human race-a general complacency. He has no motive to marry; besides, it would put him out of his way. K-was born a bachelor.

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