"Let us conclude this discussion by a survey of the principal charges adduced against a writer, whose volumes have sold. First in the list of offences appears-a portrait without a neckcloth. Assuredly this is a melancholy affair, inasmuch as it no more resembles the author, than it does the face of Ali Pasha! And vanity, that fault which is only agreeable in ourselves, nothing but vanity, could have invented that upturned gaze!-Here was a source of infinite martyrdom. One gentleman, remarkable for Byronic deficiency of cravat, considered the portrait a rivalrous attempt; while every reviewer who boasted an ugly face, thought it a personal satire. It is but fair, however, to add, that any gentleman who has the misfortune to possess a copy of this portrait, by sending it to Mr Hobday, the artist, may have his money returned, or a neckcloth supplied." We have read many pathetic descriptions of freshmen, but nothing nearly equal to this: "How wild a truth the dazzled novice feels!" Of vulgarity, take these specimens: "Each look he faces seems on him to leer, To sound his rattle in the Scotch Review." In regard to his English, we would point out to the Nay, he has positively persuaded himself that some unfriendly bookseller paid for his being libelled in the Edinburgh Review. This beats poor Dennis, and his apprehensions from the King of France. If Mr Mont-author, that, “reposeful,” “museful," "coxcomic,” “curbgomery had the slightest acquaintance with the literary circles, he would have known, that the Journal of which he speaks (and we are not among its flatterers) never truckled to booksellers.. "A few months since, an order issued from proprietary headquarters, for a certain young writer to be immolated in the next number of the venerable Blue and Yellow. In obedience to this command, several articles were prepared, all of which finally yielded to the one that was inserted, as combining a due quantity of venom, with affectionate candour towards an ill-used public." It is not custo less," and a host of other words employed by him, are alien to the structure of our language. mary to employ the word "vision" as an active verb; to speak of "genius wearing a soul," even though that soul be curbless; nor do we exactly understand what is meant by "Time hath tinged the moral of his years ;” or by the equally grand expression-freeing his spirit "to round each vision with an awful hue.” Of the other faults which we have laid to the author's charge-a general vagueness and want of purpose pervading the poem, and a want of true Oxford feeling about He elsewhere states triumphantly, that the Edin-it-it is not so easy to give specimens. By Oxford spirit, burgh was mistaken in the case of Lord Byron. We do not think that it was. His Hours of Idleness were contemptible, and published with that silly parade of rank which clung to him to the last. But this as it may, it certainly does not follow, that because the Edinburgh has, on one or more occasions, abused a good poet, every one whom they condemn must be a genius. Mr Montgomery must not lay "this flattering unction to his soul." Nor must he persuade himself that while indulging an overweening conceit, and evil thoughts of others, he is acting a majestic or even a well-regulated moral part. He is, as we have told him above, “sick of self-love, and tastes with a distempered appetite." We have spoken thus freely of Mr Montgomery, because we think he has that within him which may achieve something, if he will but cast aside the lamb's-wool cloak of self-sufficiency in which he has wrapped himself. In saying this, however, with reference to his "Oxford," it is rather because we trace in it a pure and amiable disposition, conjoined with ardent aspirations after greatness, than because we think he has done any thing. There is a vagueness-a want of purpose pervades the whole poem -a fault perhaps unavoidable in a mere descriptive poem of any length. There is also a constant straining after effect, and in consequence of this, a frequent recurrence of sentences strongly resembling a madman's beating on a drum—“ full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." His "Oxford" does not resemble the train of thoughts and remembrances of a young man who has felt the full power of that ancient, and majestic place-it might be the composition of an amiable young Cockney, well acquainted with modern literature, but who had never passed Henley-upon-Thame. Lastly, his language is often vulgar, and, what is worse, decidedly not English. As specimens, of his straining to say something very grand, and saying nothing, take the following: "But morn awakes,—and, lo! the spells unwind, The following image shows most satisfactorily that Mr Montgomery has been born to accomplish the great task of setting the Thames on fire: we mean the distinctive tone of character which pervades the place the want of practical worldly science, the classic elevation and purity, the sanctity and grandeur, which breathe from her halls, and are embodied in her course of study. A poem reflecting these, is yet a desideratum in our literature, and would live while our language lives. But allusions to Steele, Addison, Johnson, Heber, and Southey, with brief apostrophes to Latimer and Ridley, convey of themselves no notion of Oxford; and sounding, though rather indistinct, descriptions of her external features, cannot complete the picture. Of vagueness, we believe our readers will find traces even in two extracts we are now about to submit to them, as proofs that Mr Montgomery, although a spoiled child, has good stuff within him. The following passage is a fine picture of ingenuous youth: "Let home and virtue, what thou wert and art, Whose wildest motion is the rippled play complete as that work is in many respects, it is nevertheless deficient in some essential points. The author, with a commendable feeling of charity consonant with his profession, has, by his own admission, in the account of the biography of Pomarree, glossed over the failings, and dwelt upon the better qualities, of the subject of his memoir; and, pursuing the same course throughout, he has impressed the reader with a more elevated idea of their moral condition, and with a higher opinion of the degree of civilisation to which they And we like the elevated tone of his self-encourage-have attained, than they deserved; or at least than the ment: "Yet bear thou on!-and when some breathing page Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Behring's Strait, to co-operate with the Polar Expeditions performed in His Majesty's Ship Blossom, under the command of Captain F. W. Beechey, R.N., in the Years 1825, 26, 27, 28. Published by Authority of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. 4to. Pp. 742. London. Colburn and Bentley. 1831. (Concluding notice.) In our first notice of this work, we restricted our attention to the history of the mutineers of the Bounty, and their descendants. In our second, we directed the reader's thoughts to the sublime phenomenon of the first hill tops of a new continent emerging from the deep, and showed him restless man bounding across the waste of waters to occupy the land before it was rightly dry. We promised in this, our third and last, to show, by extracts, the effects produced by the collision of men yet in the infancy of social existence, with those who are enjoying the benefits of high civilisation. Captain Beechey speaks in a modest, but manly, style of his opportunities of observation: 66 facts which came under our observation authorize. There seems to be no doubt that he has drawn the picture generally as it was presented to him, but he has unconsciously fallen into an error almost inseparable from a person of his profession, who, when mixing with society, finds it under that restraint, which respect for his sacred office and veneration for his character create. As in our intercourse with these people, they acted more from the impulse of their natural feelings, and expressed their opinions with greater freedom, we were more likely to obtain a correct knowledge of their real disposition and habits." His appreciation of the state of social life among these islanders, is candid : "Religious books are distributed among the huts of such of the natives as are converted, or who are, as they term themselves, missi-narees; but many of the inhabitants are still tootit-ouris, or bad characters, an old expression, signifying, literally, rusty iron, and now indiscriminately used for a dissenter from the Christian religion, and a low chaThese persons are now of no religion, as they have renounced their former one, and have not embraced that which has been recently introduced. racter. Ignorance of the language prevented my obtaining any correct information, as to the progress that had been made generally towards a knowledge of the Scriptures by those who were converted; but my impression was, and I find by the journals of the officers it was theirs also, that it was very limited, and but few understood the simplest parts of it. Many circumstances induced me to believe that they considered their religious books very much in the same light as they did their household gods; and, in particular, their conduct, on the occasion of a disturbance which arose from of the ship, when they deposited these books in the mission, some false reports at the time of the robbery on the stores and declared themselves to be indifferent about their lives and property, so long as the sacred volume, which could be replaced at any time for a bamboo of oil, was in safety. In general, those who were missi-narees had a proper respect for the book, but associating with it the suppression of their amusements, their dances, singing and music, they read it with much less good-will, than if a system had been introness, and have instilled happiness into society. duced which would have tempered religion with cheerful "The Otaheitans, passionately fond of recreation, require more relaxation than other people; and though it might not have been possible at once to clear the dances from the immoralities attending them, still it would have been good policy to sanction these diversions under certain restrictions, until laws which were more important began to sit easy on excessively indolent, they now seek enjoyment in idleness the shoulders of the people. Without amusements, and and sensuality, and too much pains cannot be bestowed to Still, it is hoped, the remarks which I shall offer will arouse them from their apathy, and to induce them to be sufficient to present a candid and faithful picture of the emerge from their general state of indifference to those occuexisting state of society in the island; a feature by no means pations which are most essential to their welfare. Looking unimportant in the history of the country, which is other-only to the past, they at present seem to consider that they wise complete. To extend this by dwelling upon the beau- can proceed in the same easy manner they have hitherto ties of the scenery, the engaging manners of the inhabitants, done; forgetting that their wants, formerly gratified by the their mythology, superstitions, legends, &c., would be only natural produce of the earth, have lately been supplied by to recapitulate what has been detailed in the interesting foreign commodities, which, by indulgence, have become voyages of Wallis, Cook, Vancouver, Wilson, Turnbull, essential to their comfort; and that, as their wants increase, and others, and very recently by Mr Ellis, in his valuable as in all probability they will, they will find themselves at work, entitled Polynesian Researches,' compiled after ten a loss to meet the expenses of the purchase; and that, being years' residence in the Pacific, and from the Journals of dependent upon the casual arrival of merchant vessels, they other missionary gentlemen in those parts. In this useful will be liable to be deprived of them suddenly by the occur work, he has traced the history of some of the islands rence of a war, or of some other contingency, at a period through all their various stages. He has explained the perhaps when, by disuse, they will not have the power of origin of many of their barbarous customs, has elucidated falling back upon those which have been discontinued. many hitherto obscure parts, and has shown the difficulties which opposed themselves to the introduction of Christianity; the hardships, dangers, and privations which were endured by himself and his brethren, who, actuated by religious motives, were induced to sacrifice their own health and comfort, and worldly advantages, in the attempt to ameliorate the condition of their fellow-creatures. But, "The country is not deficient in productions adapted to commerce. The sugar-cane grows so luxuriantly that, from two small enclosures, five tons of white sugar are annually manufactured, under the superintendence of an Englishman; cotton has been found to succeed very well; arrow root of good quality is plentiful; they have some sandal wood, and other ornamental woods, suited for furnis ture, and several dyes. Besides these, coffee and other grain might no doubt be grown, and they might salt down meat, which, with other articles I have not mentioned, would constitute a trade quite sufficient to procure for the inhabitants the luxuries which are in a gradual course of introduction, and to make it desirable for merchant vessels to touch at the island. It is not from the poverty of the island, therefore, from which they are likely to feel inconvenience, but from their neglect to avail themselves of its capabilities, and employ its productions to advantage. "It seems as if the people never had these things revealed to them, or had sunk into an apathy, and were discouraged at finding each year burdened with new restrictions upon their liberties and enjoyments, and nothing in return to sweeten the cup of life. I cannot avoid repeating my conviction, that, had the advisers of Pomarree limited the penal code at first, and extended it as it became familiar to the people,--had they restricted instead of suppressed the amusements of the people, and taught them such parts of the Christian religion as were intelligible to their simple understandings, and were most conducive to their moral improvement and domestic comfort, these zealous and really praiseworthy men would have made greater advances towards the attainment of their object. "If, in offering these remarks, it should be thought I have been severe upon the failings of the people, or upon the conduct of the missionary gentlemen, I have only to say, that I have felt myself called upon to declare the truth, which I trust has been done without any invidious feeling to either. Indeed, I experienced nothing during my stay that could create such a feeling, but very much to the contrary, as both my officers and myself received every possible kindness from them. And if I have pourtrayed their errors more minutely than their virtues, it has been done with a view to show, that although the condition of the people is much improved, they are not yet blessed with that state of innocence and domestic comfort of which we have read. It would have been far more agreeable to have dwelt on the fair side of their character only, but that has already been done, and, by following the same course, I should only have increased the general misconception." The following is illustrative of the degree to which the inhabitants of Otaheite have been freed from their superstitions : a certain time, and for this reason many of them would on no account pass this spot after dark." It is, however, pleasing to think of the advantages which some more happily constituted minds have derived from the labours of the zealous and fearless missionaries: "Some of them have materially benefited by the residence of the missionaries, and in particular two who resided at Matavai, about four miles to the eastward of our anchorage. They piqued themselves on their imitation of European customs, and had neat little cottages built after the European style, with white-washed fronts, which, peeping through some evergreen foliage, had a most agreeable effect; and being the only cottages of this description upon the island in the possession of the natives, were the pride of their owners. The apartments contained chests, chairs, a table, and a knife and fork for a guest, and nothing gave these chief's greater pleasure than the company of some of the officers of the ship. Each of them could read and write their own language, and the elder Pa-why had, I believe, been useful to the missionaries in translating some part of the Scriptures. He was the more learned of the two brothers; but Iletotte was the more esteemed, and was an exception to almost all his countrymen, in not asking for what was shown to him. His enquiries concerning the use of every thing which offered itself to his notice, on coming on board the ship, surprised and interested us, while his amiable disposition and engaging manners won him the esteem of almost all on board. An anecdote illustrative of his character will be read with interest. The missionaries had, for several years, endeavoured to produce a change of religion in the island, by explaining to the natives the fallacy of their belief, and assuring them that the threats of their deities were absurd. Iletotte at length determined to put their assertions to the test by a breach of one of the strictest laws of his religion, and resolved either to die under the experiment, or embrace the new faith. "A custom prevailed of offering pigs to the deity, which were brought to the morai, and placed upon whattas or fautas for the purpose. From that moment they were considered sacred; and if, afterwards, any human being, the priests excepted, dared to commit so great a sacrilege as to partake of the offering, it was supposed that the offended god would punish the crime with instant death. Iletotte thought a breach of this crime would be a fair criterion of the power of the deity, and accordingly stole some of the "The Otaheitans were always very superstitious people, consecrated meat, and retired with it to a solitary part of and, notwithstanding their change of religion, still entertain the wood to eat it, and perhaps to die. Having partaken most absurd notions on several points. Though they have of the food, he expected at each mouthful to experience the ceased to give credit to any recent prophecies, many firmly vengeance he had provoked, and he waited a considerable believe they have seen the fulfilment of some of the pre- time in the wood in awful suspense, until, finding himself dictions that were made before their conversion to Christi- rather refreshed than otherwise by his meal, he quitted the anity, of which the invasion of the island by the natives of retreat, and went quietly home. For several days he kept Bora Bora was one. This event was foretold by a little his secret, but finding no bad effects from his transgression, bird called Oomamoo, which had the gift of speech, and he disclosed it to every one, renounced his religion, and used to warn persons of any danger with which they were embraced Christianity. Such instances of resolution and threatened. On many occasions, when persons have taken good sense, though they have been practised before, are refuge in the mountains to avoid a mandate for a victim for extremely rare in Otaheite; and in this sketch of these two the moral, or to escape from some civil commotion, this brothers a highly favourable picture is presented of the little bird has been their guardian spirit, has warned them class to which they belong, though there are others, partiwhen danger was near, and directed them how to escape cularly Taate, the first and most powerful chief upon the pursuit. I used to laugh at Jim, our interpreter-a good-island, who are equally deserving of favourable notice." natured intelligent fellow-for his belief in these tales, but he was always very earnest in his relation of them, and never allowed himself to join in our ridicule. Though he confessed that this little monitor had been dumb since the introduction of Christianity, yet it would evidently have been as difficult to make him believe it never had spoken, as that the danger of which it warned him had never existed; and this feeling is, I believe, common to all his countrymen. Nothing is more difficult than the removal of early impressions, particularly when connected with superstitions. I was one evening returning with him round the shore of the bay from Papiete, a favourite route, and was conversing on the superstitions of his countrymen, when we came to a romantic retired spot, crowned with tall cocoa-nut trees, with a small glen behind it. Night was fast approaching, and the long branches of the palm, agitated by the wind. produced a mournful sound in unison with the subject of our conversation. As we passed, I observed Jim endeavouring to get on the outside, and latterly walking on the wash of the sea; and found that he never liked to pass this spot after dark for fear of the spirits of his unfortunate countrymen who were hanged there between the cocoa-nut trees. The popular belief before the introduction of our faith was, that the spirit of the deceased visited the body for Some of our readers may prefer individual portraits to these generalities: "On the day appointed for the visit of the royal party, the duty of the ship was suspended, and we were kept in expectation of their arrival until four o'clock in the afternoon, when I had the honour of receiving a note, couched in affectionate terms, from the queen-regent, to whom, as well as to her subjects, the loss of time appears to be immaterial, stating her inability to fulfil her engagement, but that she would come on board the following day. Scarcely twenty minutes had elapsed, however, from the receipt of this note, when we were surprised by the appearance of the party, consisting of the queen-regent, the queen-dowager and her youthful husband, and Ulamme and his wife. Their dresses were an incongruous mixture of European and native costumes; the two queens had wrappers of native cloth wound loosely round their bodies, and on their heads straw-poked bonnets, manufactured on the island, in imitation of some which had been carried thither by European females, and trimmed with black ribbons. Their feet were left bare, in opposition to the showy covering of their heads, as if purposely to mark the contrast between the two countries whose costumes they united; and neatly-executed blug lines formed an indelible net-work, over that portion of the frame which in England would have been covered with silk or cotton. Ulamme, who, without meaning any insinuations to the disadvantage of the queen, appeared to be on a very familiar footing with her majesty, (notwithstanding he was accompanied by his own wife,) was a very remarkably tall and comely man; he wore a straw hat and a white shirt, under which he had taken the necessary precaution of tying on his native maro, and was provided with an umbrella to screen his complexion from the sun. This is the common costume of all the chiefs, to whom an umbrella is now become almost as indispensable as a shirt; but by far the greater part of the rest of the population are contented with a mat and a maro." experience, that the real offender would have been detected,. and the property restored.” In conclusion, we recommend Captain Beechey's book as a valuable addition to our knowledge of the globe and its inhabitants. The Bridal Night; the First Poet; and Other Poems. By Dugald Moore, author of "The African," &c. Post 8vo. Pp. 256. Glasgow: Blackie, Fullarton, and Co. Edinburgh: Fullarton and Co. 1831. A LAD of promise has been spoiled. There was from the first something suspicious about Mr D. Moore's We submit the following description of a trial to our poetry. It was always mounted on stilts-there was a legal readers: "Before we sailed, a most serious theft was committed on the stores of the ship, which had been placed under a shed, and likewise on the wearing apparel of one of the officers who was ill, on shore. Immediately the aavas (policemen) heard of it, they were on the alert, and arrested two men, on whom suspicion fell, from their having slept in the place the night of the robbery, and absconded early in the morning. The news of the offence spread with its accustomed rapidity among uncivilized tribes, and various were the reports in circulation as to the manner in which I intended to visit the misdemeanour. The prisoners at first acknowledged their guilt, but afterwards denied it, and declared they had been induced to make the confession from the threats of the aavas who apprehended them. Nothing was found upon them, and no person could be brought forward as a direct witness of the fact, so that their guilt rested on circumstantial evidence alone. I was, however, anxious to bring the offenders to trial, as all the sails and the stores of the ship were on shore, and at the mercy of the inhabitants, and unless severe measures were pursued in this instance, successive depredations would, in all probability, have occurred. The chief's were, in consequence, summoned, and at an early date the prisoners were brought to trial, opposite the anchorage. As it was an extraordinary case, I was invited to the tribunal, and paid the compliment of being allowed to interrogate the prisoners; but nothing conclusive was elicited, though the circumstantial proof was so much against them, that five out of six of the chiefs pronounced them guilty. The penalty in the event of conviction in a case of this nature is, that the culprit shall pay fourfold the value of the property stolen; in this instance, however, as the articles could not be replaced, and the value was far beyond what the individuals could pay, I proposed, as the chiefs referred the matter to me, that by way of an example, and to deter others from similar acts, the prisoners should suffer corporal punishment. Their laws, however, did not admit of this mode of punishment, and the matter concluded by the chiefs making themselves responsible for the stores, and directing Pa-why to acquaint the people that they had done so, promising to make further enquiry into the matter, which was never done, and the prisoners escaped; but the investigation answered our purpose equally well, as the stores afterwards remained untouched. The various reports which preceded the trial, the assembling of the chiefs, and other circumstances, had brought together a great concourse of people. Pa-why, raising himself above the multitude, harangued them in a very energetic and apparently elegant manner, much to the satisfaction of the inhabitants, who all dispersed and went quietly to their homes. The consideration which the chiefs gave to the merits of this question, and the pains they took to elicit the truth, reflect much credit upon them. The case was a difficult one, and Iletotte, not being able to make up his mind to the guilt of the prisoners, very honestly dif fered from his colleagues; and his conduct, while it afforded a gratifying instance of the integrity of the man, showed a proper consideration for the prisoners, which in the darker ages would have been sacrificed to the interested motive of coinciding in opinion with the majority. If we compare the fate which would have befallen the prisoners, supposing them innocent, had they been arraigned under the early form of government with the transactions of this day, we cannot but congratulate the people on the introduction of the present penal code, and acknowledge that it is one of the greatest temporal blessings they have derived from the introduction of Christianity. At the same time it is just to observe, that had a similar depredation been committed under those circumstances, there is every reason to believe, from former want of easy natural playfulness about his versificationhis imagery did not spring from his narrative or meditaStill there was an elevation tion, but was fitted to it. and justness of feeling about his writings; and his images, although bearing marks of being far-fetched and carefully adapted, were always correctly, and frequently beautifully finished. There was something stately about his lyrics, although he repeated the same tune too often. The first poem in the present series is a close imitation of the Corsair of Byron. The rest are imitations of the earlier works of Mr D. Moore, and considerably inferior. They are characterised by an inflated diction— a want of flow in the thought and versification-and a constant attempt to say strong things. There is a want of genuine natural feeling pervades the whole. Mr Moore, like another poet we lately reviewed, is a mocking-bird-only not so agreeable a one as he upon whom we first bestowed the appellation. The description of one of his heroes is too appalling to be read. It is a very Gorgon upon whom none can look without being turned to stone. We pasted together the two pages where it occurs, before we ventured to hand the book to the female members of our family. "Close curly hair of deep and raven dye, His whiskers dark(!)-AND DARKER HIS MUSTACHE(!!) But this Roland meets with an Oliver in the gentleman of the fancy, respecting whom the bard enquires: "Of all the train, why is his swarthy brow And eagle eye alone in blackness now ?” And whom he afterwards describes "gathering up his dusky form," and "standing — as stands an eagle in the storm, With moveless pinions floating on the sky." If our readers, like the bystanders at a race, do not at once see, by the very build of the competitors, who will carry the day, the following piece of intelligence will convince them that we are right. The despot is of course the gentleman with "dark whiskers," and "darker mustache:" "While Zariff springs upon his savage foe, With giant arm he hew'd the despot low, Whose shelly eyeball, moveless as he reel'd, With hue of ice his latest wish reveal'd." Mr Moore is no less felicitous in his descriptions of inanimate nature. To use his own words, he "Has seen at eve the blue and ghostlike moon A grotto is with him, not as it would have been with Peter Bell, "a grotto and nothing more." It is "a cave, which seem'd The shatter'd tomb of some old earthquake, dug By the old miner Time, at Nature's dawn." No sooner did one of his heroes sit down on a stone, than "Throughout the wide fermenting womb of space Where time and nature multiply their race. Bat Mr D. Moore beats him hollow, when he tells us "Far through the womb of eve the music floats." Even this, however, is outdone by the poet himself in his address "to a petrified tree, dug up in a mine in Hungary." "Methinks thou wert of that tall race Whose leafy heads waved in the sky, When, rolling from the womb of space, Creation op'd her eye." The figure is now complete, even in its minutest details. We sincerely trust that no rude hand may mutilate its fair proportions. SEDET, ÆTERNUMQUE SEDEBIT. The Englishman's Magazine. No. I. April. London: stable. means to compensate talent, we despise the miserable restrictions of a coterie, and deride the ostentatious parade of a sounding catalogue of names. With assistants among the most illustrious ornaments of literature, the value of contributions is left to be determined by their absolute merit. From the unexhausted mine of rising genius we shall draw liberally and often; and altogether destitute of partialities or antipathies, and regardless of party or personal distinctions, as we are and must ever be, it is scarcely too much to expect that our labours will be received in good faith, as the result of an anxious desire to accomplish a laudable object upon honourable grounds." Let these principles be adhered to, and carried through with the talent evinced in the present number, and there can be no doubt of the result. We cannot go over the contents in detail, but we would particularly recommend to the attention of our readers the two vigorous opening articles, entitled, “ Our Principles," and "The Country and its Prospects,"—the highly graphic and picturesque "Journal of a SouthAfrican Emigrant,”—the interesting and instructive paper on the "Progress of the Indian Cholera,”—the powerful and original sketch, the first of a series of "Scenes in Poland,"-" The Incendiary, a Tale of the German Peasant Wars,"-" Recent Rambles in Spain," —and a useful business article on the "Reform Bill.". As was to be expected, the number also contains some interesting pieces of poetry. "The Three Homes," is by a poetess who writes in a strain not unworthy of our own Gertrude. In the mechanical details of typography, paper, and embellishment, the Magazine is of a very su success they deserve, and request them to believe that it with much pleasure we take the earliest opportunity of introducing their work to the favourable attention of the northern division of the island. An Outline of Sematology, or an Essay towards establishing a new Theory of Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric. 8vo. Pp. 252. London. 1831. WERE the objects of this ingenious performance merely to propound a new theory of grammar, a new hypothesis respecting the origin and progressive formation of language, we should scarcely have felt much inclination to notice it. The great uncertainty of the subject itself HERE is a new magazine, which takes high and inde-perior description. We wish all connected with it the pendent ground-ground which, as far as we can judge by the first Number now before us, it is likely to main-is tain. We have heard it said, that there is no room at present for a new Magazine; but this is nonsense. There is always room for fresh and vigorous talent, whether conveyed in a periodical shape or not. The Englishman's Magazine is established on manly and impartial principles, assumes a fearless and spirit-stirring tone; and whilst its conductors appear prepared to go hand in hand with all honest periodicals in farthering the good cause of civil and intellectual liberty, they are not men who will give up an inch of their own dignity to the previously-established influence of any work in existence. They write as Englishmen ought to write-boldly, frankly, and without trammel. They fear not to speak plain truths; they entertain a just contempt for all empty pretenders, and they welcome heartily and as a brother, the man of real genius, and of lofty and pure ambition. Scandal they have no relish for,-vulgarity they are above. They rest on the strength of their own minds, on the susceptibilities of their own hearts. With every respect for the talent at present existing in the monthly publications, we do not see why the Englishman should not at once take a high place among this class of works. If it steadily adheres to the principles upon which it sets out, it may, ere long, gain a more enviable reputation than most of them; for in the condition of the majority there is "something rotten." In politics the Englishman will be in every sense of the word liberal. The Editors will "struggle for freedom of conscience, for freedom of trade, for the privileges of the Commons of England, and for the amelioration of the condition of their fellow-creatures, wherever they are degraded by ignorance or maltreated by injustice." They declare their The book is divided into three chapters. The first of intention, at the same time, to take an enlarged and phi-these forms the foundation on which the other two rest. Its losophical view of all subjects of a party nature. "The expression of our sentiments," as they happily express themselves," will be controlled by a power superior to the fluctuations of Parliamentary benches, or the reckonings of mercenary speculation; we are neither chained to a statesman's chariot, nor nailed to a trader's counter." In literary matters, their declaration of faith is no less satisfactory :-" Possessing ample the license of assumption and conjecture indulged in by those who have treated of it, with the single exception of Grimm and his disciples-the totally erroneous and unwarrantable mode in which they have conducted their enquiries; beginning, not with an examination of language as it is, and thence ascending analytically, cautiously, and, by strict induction, backwards towards its source, but with a ready. made theory of language such as it is not, and thence descending by a purely imaginary process to its present state-these, and other causes, have tended to create in most minds attached to the pursuit of true science and philosophy a very decided distaste to use no stronger term-to the laborious triflings of philologists and grammarians. But the end, to which this author proposes to render his enquiry into the origin of grammar subservient, being no less than the delineation of a new system of logic and rhetoric, is such as to reconcile one in his case to an attentive consideration of the means by which it is to be effected. leading object is to prove that words, although at first the signs of particular individual objects, do immediately, on being combined so as to form a sentence, lose this their particular signification, and stand now, even individually, no longer as the signs of particular objects or perceptions, but as the signs of abstractions, called by the author notions or knowledge, obtained by reason from acts of comparison and judgment on the mind's passively received |
