the army into the heart of Spain; and when the battle of Tudela, breaking that measure, obliged Moore to prepare for a retreat, was it inactivity, amidst such difficulties and anxieties, and without money, to establish sure intelligence, and, upon new prospects opening, to arrange a forward movement in the face of three hundred thousand men, at the same time changing the line of operations from Portugal to Gallicia? Are these things the work of a moment?" To this, every candid reader must answer, Assuredly not. If incompetent generalship and ill-conducted measures are, indeed, to be sought, it is not in Sir John Moore's expedition that the search can be made. Our readers, how. ever, will doubtless recollect, with but little exertion of memory, other recent passages in our history, in which they may truly and indisputably be found, Let us remember our fruitless errands to the Helder and Walcheren, as well as our ignominious repulse at Buenos Ayres. Let us remember the folly of the ministers who planned, and the blunders of the commanders who superintended, these unhappy and ruinous projects; and after the contemplation of such imbecility, return to censure the conduct or doubt the genius of Sir John Moore.

Briefly, however, to conclude. Colonel Napier has shown the same accurate judgment and the same impartiality and candour in the present reply as in his preceding labours. The misrepresentations of his antagonists have rendered its publication necessary; and, both from its style, and the strength of the arguments its contains, as well as from the existence of contrary assertions, which are calcu. lated to impugn the truths its establishes, it must be considered a necessary, and indeed indispensable, appendix to the excellent History it is intended to vindicate.

cossful a commencement; and augur well of his future course. He has many of the more essential qualities of a novelist, and may anticipate a pros perous career.

The Microscopic Cabinet. By Andrew Pritchard.

It is high time that those parts of natural science which depend upon the powers of the Microscope for their exposition, should be made the subject of far more general and industrious pursuit. It is an unfortunate truth, that the desire of knowledge is often in an inverse ratio with the means of acquir. ing it; and that Nature, as she becomes more willing to instruct us, is listened to with increased indifference. Nothing places this fact in a stronger light than a comparison between the earliest investigators of the productions of the earth and the marvels of the heavens, and those who are languidly engaged in the same pursuits at the present time. The laborious efforts of a Kepler or a Leuwenhoek are recorded censures of our comparatively fuller exertions. Yet, although the taste for studying the more minute departments of animated nature has certainly been, for a long time, any thing but com. mensurate with that which once existed; we have great reason to hope it has at length received an impulse, which will be neither inconsiderable in its effects, nor transitory in its duration; and it is no compliment to its author to affirm that the publication of a work like the present will go far towards forwarding such a result. We are presented in it with engravings of the most beautiful or remarkable larvæ and water-insects; and are, moreover, informed of their history, habits, and anatomical conformation, so far as these are ascertainable, We have also directions as to the use of the instruments employed in such researches; and a full de

Under an attractive title, Mr. Arnold has produced a very attractive work. It consists of a series of tales, partly written in dialogue, but possessing higher and better claims to be considered "dramatic." With the first and longest, "Goodwin and Goda," we are less satisfied than with those that follow. It has but little meaning; and though evidently meant to illustrate the manners and habits of our Danish ancestors, it has supplied us with but a scanty portion of information; and even this of a questionable nature- while the interest of the story is very meagre indeed. Such of our read ers, therefore, as may happen to begin the work at the beginning, will receive this as a caution, that they are not to lay it down in despair. They will find ample amusement in those by which it is suc. ceeded. They are conceived with considerable power; the style is easy and graceful; and the dramatic character that so completely pervades the whole cannot fail to produce that gratifying excitement which is the very soul of fictitious composition. The story of "The Godless," although it records a horrible and revolting incident-"The Conscript"-"The Impostor" and "Lionessa," are excellent tales, and more than one of them might be advantageously converted into a genuine drama for representation upon the stage. Although Mr. Arnold has long been a labourer in the literary vineyard, this is, we believe, his first published work. We heartily congratulate him upon so suc

To this gentleman the scientific world are indebted for the first employment of diamond lenses; and he has given a most interesting detail of the difficulties experienced in working the gem, from the polarisation of light, and flaws in the substance of the stone itself. Dr. Goring has added a very able Memoir relative to the analysis of test objects, and the deafening and penetrating powers of microscopes and engiscopes, as well as a chapter respecting the best method of appreciating the quality of these instruments, which we recommend to the perusal of all those who are anxious to obtain the most correct aids in following their investigations. We cannot speak too highly of the finished coloured engrav. ings introduced at the close of the work. These have been taken after the most patient observation, and are equally remarkable for the fidelity and beauty of their execution. We would particularly allude to a plate of the Daphnea Pulex, and another of the crimson-coloured Cyclops. A mere inspec tion of these would, we imagine, be sufficient to create a taste for the study of a department of philosophy which certainly is inferior to none in the interest it is calculated to create, or the elegance of form, and the harmony of adaptation, which it presents to the view. Upon the whole, we conceive Mr. Pritchard to have rendered by his labours an important benefit to the scientific part of the community; and we are confident they will be received with that degree of approbation which the zeal and industry both of himself and his ingenious coadjutor justly entitle them to claim.

Biographical Sketches of the Reform Ministers. By William Jones, M. A.

If public respect and esteem might ever be said to be fixed upon any body of men, the present members of His Majesty's government have unquestionably and deservedly obtained it. To this reward, and a noble recompense, even with all its accompanying responsibilities, it is,-their important services and unshaken perseverance in the great national cause furnish a claim, which, while the history of the country receives the attention of mankind, will continue to be acknowledged; and however, at any future period, bodies of individuals, influenced by separate interests, may read the often repeated lesson to those now in power, that no general acclamations are ever of lasting continuance, nor any popular idol long the subject of universal homage, there is no doubt that, before the great and impartial tribunal of an enlightened posterity, as well as in the judgment of those best capable of judging in the present generation, the members of Lord Grey's administration will appear as benefactors, not only of their own countrymen, but of the whole human race at large. It is natural, therefore, that we should desire to be as intimately acquainted as possible with the lives of men, in whom we have so much reason to be interested; the more especially as those lives have, in some instances, been almost wholly devoted to the task of securing to Great Britain her palladium of rights and privileges, and rendering to all nations the earnest of better and more equitable civil government for the time to come. The author of the "Life and Times of William the Fourth" has successfully exerted himself in a compilation of biographical sketches of the reform ministers; a work which, in every respect, deserves the title of popular; and, as such, claims a favourable and general reception. The first three numbers contain memoirs of Lords Brougham, Grey, Russell, Holland, and Goderich, accompanied with very respectable engravings. Each of these sketches

is a study in itself, and will be found replete with high interest to those who delight in contemplating great events, in connection with the personal qualities of those who effect them, as well as to all who are fond of speculating upon the peculiarities of individual and distinguished mental character.

Edinburgh Cabinet Library. India. Vol. 2.

British

We congratulate Mr. Hugh Murray on the manner in which he has finished his History of British India, the latter part of which contains topics of such varied interest, and affords so many grateful reminiscences of the wisdom and valour of our countrymen. The first volume terminated with the events consequent upon the overthrow of the French power in Hindostan; the second contains the con. quest of Bengal, the fierce struggle with the king dom of Mysore, bringing forward the old exploits of the British army throughout those arduous campaigns which terminated under the ramparts of Seringapatam, the Nepaul, Mahratta, and Pindaree wars; and, finally, the reduction of Bhurtpore, the last stronghold of native power in that vast penin. sula, of which England is now the undisputed mistress. The whole narrative of these important events is characterised by impartiality, distinctness, and an agreeable style of writing, which cannot fail of greatly enhancing the reputation of the work. No portion of our history is more worthy, at the

present period, of study, than that which relates to our policy with respect to Hindostan, and we do not know a better means of obtaining information upon all necessary points than the source supplied by the Cabinet Library: the volume before us, however, is not devoted to history only; there is a long and copious account of the Hindoo mythology, literature, and customs, and a dissertation upon the several castes and tribes into which the native population is divided: the whole system of British government in India is treated of in two wellarranged and comprehensive chapters, and the efforts made by various religious societies for the diffusion of Christianity in that part of the world, form, as they deserve, a subject of extensive consideration. Under this head we remark with plea sure the terms of approbation in which the exertions of the Baptist missionaries are spoken of. Owing, as Hindostan does, the earliest and most extensive propagation of the Gospel within her regions, to the zeal of a body of men unconnected with her except by the general ties of human fellowship, it is fitting that their labours should on all occasions receive the praise they merit, as well that the example may produce a beneficial effect on those who are at length beginning to be aware of the responsibility incurred by this country, as the arbitress of so many millions of subjects, sunk in the lowest ignorance and superstition, as that just honour may be paid to the memories of the foremost labourers in this extensive field of religious enterprise. The concluding chapter of the volumne presents an account of the commerce of India, and a table of exports and imports for 1829, which give a comparative view of the state of the Company's trade and that carried on by individual speculation. This will be found a highly useful as well as an interesting document. Thus far it is but just to say, that the publishers of "British India" have fulfilled their pledge made to the public at the commencement of the work. We feel no hesitation in affirm

ing, that the second volume is, in every respect, qualified to compete with that which preceded it;

and than this we cannot bestow a better recommendation.

Edinburgh Cabinet Library. Second Edition.

tion.

Africa.

Egypt, Second Edi

The first editions of these popular works are too well known to render necessary a lengthened review of the subjects to which they are devoted. It would be great injustice, however, to their spirited publishers, not to mention the very numerous additions now made, without any corresponding increase of price, to the matter of the original volumes. With respect to the first of the above works, M. Douville's sketch of his travels in Congo, presented to the French Geographical Society, has been consulted for additional information, and the very remarkable voyage of the Landers down the Niger, an event unquestionably the most important that has yet occurred in the annals of African discovery, is given at considerable length. The American establishment for negroes at Liberia is also, for the first time, added to the list of settlements upon the coast. In order to make room for so extensive an addition of information, the scientific chapters have been printed in a smaller type; an expedient by which, while its contents are increased, the volume is prevented from assuming too bulky and cumbrous an appearance. Of the geological and

zoological treatises, which these concluding chapters contain, we cannot avoid speaking in terms of very high praise; they are, in every respect, worthy of the pens of Professor Jameson and Mr. Wilson. With respect to "Ancient and Modern Egypt," Wilkinson's "Materia Hieroglyphica," and "Extracts from Hieroglyphical Subjects at Thebes," Rifaud's "Tableau de l'Egypte," Mure's "Dissertation on the Ancient Zodiac and Calendar of Egypt," and the article on the Egyptian Chronology, by Professor Renwick, in the third number of the Journal of the Royal Institution, are the principal authorities consulted for the elucidation of any point of dispute or uncertainty. The enumeration of these new supplies of evidence will show that those engaged in the valuable series of works under notice are anxious to use every means of rendering their labours worthy the approbation of an enlightened public. It is to sedulous attention to all sources of improvement that the publishers of the Cabinet Library owe its present high reputation and extensive demand, and as long as the same means continue in operation, there is no doubt of their being attended with similar results.

Memoirs of Felix Neff, Pastor of the High Alps, and of his Labours among the French Protestants of Dauphiné. Stephen Gilly, M. A. &c.

By

While we admit that every thing relating to those scattered remnants of the reformed religion, which are found in various mountainous districts of France are very interesting, we cannot but regret that the introduction of them to the notice of the public should be accompanied with bitter taunts and reflections on the church of Rome. Whatever might have been the grounds of complaint formerly of one sect against another, we presume it no longer exists. The government of France no longer persecutes its subjects under the revocation of the edict of Nantz; nor John Knox preaches a crusade against catholic rookeries. The sects in both countries are now protected by the securities of equal rights and indulgent laws; and all that remains for us is, to forget the prejudice and bigotry which the wisdom of our ancestors, both protestant and catholic, thought it right to cherish. We are indebted to Mr. Gilly for other notices of the Albigenses, but written in rather an uncharitable spirit: and we beg to remind him, that, whatever might have been the sufferings of these poor people formerly, they are now no longer "dragooned into the service of the mass." He has, in his preface, called up all the horrible details of infants stifled in the arms of their dead mothers in France: did he ever hear of the horrors perpetrated by the puritans in Ireland on catholic children even before they were born?.

Felix Neff was a native of Geneva, and began his career as a soldier, in the service of the state; but he was soon disgusted with his companions, left the army, and prepared for holy orders. Not liking the manner in which they were conferred in the Genevan church, he went to England for his diploma, returned to France, and was appointed pastor of the High Alps, in the valleys of Tressinière and Queyras, formed by branches of the river Durance. Here he continued, among storms and torrents, to instruct his people, till the horrors of a severe winter so affected his health, as to compel him to abandon the place. He took an affectionate leave of his Alpine flock, and retired to his own country; where

Mr. Saul strikes us as a writer whose productions may be best described by that title which our ingenious neighbours on the other side of the Channel have invented to designate a kind of literature which, although well enough constituted to flourish under the indulgent smiles of a friendly circle, is quite unfitted for exposure to the keen and searching atmosphere of indiscriminate criticism, and whose character cannot be more neatly conveyed than by the term "vers domestiques." The author of" Rhymes and Reminiscences" possesses taste and feeling, but he certainly is no poet. In these days of universal literature, how many are there who contend for the honour of the title, and how few who deserve it! Every month produces its score of volumes, neatly printed and hot-pressed, and exhibiting on their pages the decent and ordered array of seemly verse, yet of the twenty volumes in question, nineteen fall at once still-born from the printer's hands, and the single survivor remains but to be thrust from notice by the following month's supply, which, in its turn, is equally doomed to neglect and oblivion. Spenser should have seen our British press at work, when he wrote his poem of Mutability.

Jolande, and other Poems.

Jolande is one of those poems upon which a feeling of respect for its author induces the reader to pass a more favourable judgment than the strict exercise of impartial criticism may appear to justify, It is an unpretending, unpuffed, and gentlemanly production; but its literary merit will hardly allow us to expect that it will meet with either an extensive or long-continued circulation. The tale is simple, and scarcely distinguished by any circumstance of remarkable interest. A lady is betrothed by a stern parent to a rich and powerful suitor, and is rescued, when on the eve of marriage, by the unexpected return of a former lover from the Holy Land, who slays his rival outright, and obtains the affianced maiden as his reward. The versification is generally correct, and the language, if seldom rising to the pathetic or the beautiful, proceeds with an equable and gentle flow. If Jolande is the first production of its author, we may hereafter expect better things from his pen; but, viewed in the best light, it is to be considered rather as an exercise in the mechanical structure of verse, than as containing instances of the noble conception or inspired diction of genuine poetry.

The Literary Pancratium; or, a Series of Dissertations on Theological, Literary, Moral, and Controversial Subjects. By Robert Carr, and Thomas Swinburn Carr. 8vo.

All subjects are controversial, whether theological, literary, or moral. The Messrs. Carr, therefore, are not so accurate in the detail of their titlepage

as their pretending high-sounding Pancratium might lead us to expect. Literary Pancratium, too! why not Theological, Literary, Moral, and Controversial Pancratium? But, seriously, with some affectation, the book is better than the title. If our readers like the subjects, they will find them very well treated; and if there is not much originality in the discourses which elucidate them, there is a good deal of research. The philosophy is good, and the theology—but we care not about the ism. It is Christian theology, a little tinctured with the dogmas of a school, to the moderate professors of which we have no great objection. The topics discussed are:-knowledge; the immateriality of the soul; the immortality of the soul; natural religion; the origin of natural religion; those mental associations which precede and follow discoveries; language; the existence of the Deity; revelation. The "philosophy of prefaces" is vastly strange: among other things, it introduces us to the intellectual character of Dr. Johnson and Lord Byron.

A Letter to the Right Hon. Earl Grey on Colonial Slavery. By John Murray, -F.S.A. F.L. S. &c. &c.

A very seasonable and well-written pamphlet: it attacks the principle of slavery. The writer is an en. lightened philanthropist, very much in earnest; and he reasons on self-evident principles, with a force which the pro-slavery people will never be able to neutralise. We hope the day is not far distant when discussions on a subject so offensive to hu manity will be unnecessary, because there will not be a slave in all the British dominions.

flowers which compose the garland. Many of our own particular favourites, - pieces, too, which we would have conceived peculiarly adapted for republication in a work like this,-have been omitted altogether; those retained are given in the alphabetical order of their subjects, than which a less poetical mode of collocation could scarcely have been imagined. The biographical sketch is slight and meagre; still, as a reminiscence of departed genius, to those who admire and do not already possess the published works of Crabbe, this little volume cannot fail to prove acceptable.

Letters from Continental Countries. By George Downes, A. M. 2 vols. post 8vo.

These volumes consist of a series of letters from France, Savoy, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Holland, and the Netherlands, compiled from notes taken during a tour of a year and a half in 1825-6. They constitute a plain, straightforward narrative of what the author saw and heard during his travels, and might be used with advantage as a guide-book, by any person disposed to follow a simi iar route. Mr. Downes is, we believe, the author of the "Guide through Switzerland and Savoy," published by Galignani; and it must be confessed that these letters also are written in a marvellously matter-of-fact style, such as one might expect from an itinerant quaker, or other philosophical peripatetic. We felt the more disappointed in this regard, the author being a native of the Sister Isle, whose inhabitants are, in general, renowned for liveliness; and, sending forth his book, moreover, from a Dublin publisher, with a motto from Keating, in pure Irish, we were induced to look for a more

A most amusing little volume, though the hero, like many others, is of the least consequence in his own house. Caricatures, oddities, country cousins, and here and there a shrewd remark and piquant anecdote, fill up these diorama-like pages; where there is a new scene to every chapter. Barney Mahoney is a young Irishman, who comes to London, and certainly does see a deal of service. The quiet comfort of the merchant's family, the travelled gentleman in a public office, with his sisters, people of gentility, and glass coaches; the Yorkshire dé butants, are all excellent; and the opening scene has something more than Irish humour-it has also truth to recommend it. But, of all cases of sentiment, commend us to the following: - A lady asks her little girl " how she feels," on the occasion of her grandmother's death. "Is it hungry, mamma ?" replied the child. "Nonsense!"-"Oh, then it's thirsty, you mean?" Every one must admit these are really natural and unsophisticated feelings. The volume concludes with Barney Mahoney going abroad: we should think his adventures on the Continent would be very entertaining.

letters. Bating the absence of this, however, they are written in a very painstaking manner, and faithfully describe the various localities which form the subjects of them. The various inscriptions which the author met with in his course are given with unusual diligence and accuracy; and altogether the work affords ample evidence of having been compiled with no ordinary degree of care and la

bour.

Three Nights in a Lifetime; and Inishairlach: Domestic Tales.

There are epochs in every life which make such an indelible impression, that they can never be obliterated or forgotten;-into which the concentrated essence of existence is so compressed, that they stand forth ever after as resting-places for memory to dwell on, as landmarks in the retrospect of the past. A moment sometimes suffices to change the current of our mortal-ay! even of our eternal -destiny; and after long, dull years have passed away, and all things, and we ourselves above all other things, are changed, it is still impossible to revert, even in thought, to such brief instants of intense interest to the heart and feelings, without a throbbing sensation in the breast, and a thrill through

The intention of the first of these tales is to portray three of these thrilling eras in the lifetime of Sophia Walsingham, a young lady who loves and is beloved by one who proves unworthy of her affec tion; a discovery which is only made, however, on the very eve of their intended nuptials. He is rejected, and the lady, after a becoming degree and time of misery, marries a former admirer, a dull, humdrum sort of a husband, with whom she becomes

more miserable than ever, until at length she dies. So does her false, or rather foolish lover; heartbroken, and repentant, in a distant land.

Inishairlach, the second tale, is a highland story of the 45 rebellion, professing to be transcribed from the original MS. in the possession of M. le Comte de Mirbelle. Both these stories are skilfully and powerfully written; but there is an air of stern reality about the second, which rivets the attention, and carries on the reader, especially if he have any Scot. tish sympathies, or any touch of the old Jacobite feeling about him, with breathless interest, from page to page, till he arrives at the sad and solemn termination of the tale. We are sure it will find favour in the eyes of all who, in this age of unromantic worldliness, still love to turn a backward gaze upon the days of warmer and more heroic feeling, of chivalrous self-devotedness, and of exalted, though, it may be, mistaken loyalty, when money, or mercenary calculation of auy sort, was not the chief aim of life, nor self the sole deity of man's idolatrous worship.

passing through a wood, he perceived a ferruginous scum on a stream of water; and supposing it must be endued with some chalybeate medical virtues, he sent some of it to London, where it was examined by chemical tests, and its ingredients ascertained. His Lordship then began a course of drinking it, and, with the auxiliaries of temperance, air, and exercise, in a beautiful country, he soon became a stouter man than ever, and lived on to the age of eighty-five. He thought it his duty to recommend their use every where, both by speaking and writing; recommending them to the use of invalids, beyond those of the foreign and then fashionable Spa, which, he says, is "a chargeable and inconvenient journey to sick bodies, besides the money that comes out of the kingdom, and the inconve nience to religion." The waters soon grew into reputation, and a building was erected in the vicinity of the springs, called the Pipe-office, where people smoked tobacco, which was considered then a good auxiliary to the water. Its gradual increase from that time is detailed, and enlivened by Mr. Britton by a variety of anecdotes of persons and

Of all the places to which company resort in summer, for health or recreation, we know none to be compared with Tunbridge Wells. It stands in the most picturesque part of the county of Kent, on the side of a breezy hill, and surrounded with young woods, embosomed in vales, or climbing up steeps, where "alleys green, dingles, and bushy dells," of the most wild and romantic character, invite you to wander, and fill your pockets with nuts, nemine contradicente. The air you breathe is the most pure and wholesome, impregnated with the aromatic odours which every light gale carries on its wings from the wild thyme and other odoriferous shrubs with which the uplands are covered. The soil is dry and absorbent, so that you are never detained at home by the "crude consistence" which loads your shoes after rain in other places. In fact, we are quite enamoured of Tunbridge, and as glad to find an ingenious and competent man has undertaken to write an account of it.

The discovery of the springs of Tunbridge had not the same origin as that of Bath or Cheltenham: -no sagacious pig, or epicurean pigeon, pointed out their virtues to the human race. In the year 1606 a simple mortal, by simple means, discovered them: Dudley, third Lord North, having led a life of fashionable dissipation, retired to this part of the country, to recruit his shattered constitution. In August.-VOL. XXXVI. NO. CXL.

Among other authors who laid the scene of their incidents in this place was Richardson, the novelist, who left a curious illustration to his remarks in a picture found among his papers, a fac-simile of which is among the plates which embellish the work. It exhibits a number of well-known characters who frequented it in 1748, and in the costume of the day among them are Dr. Johnson, Colley Cibber, Garrick, Beau Nash, Earl Chatham, and, among the rest, Loggan, the diminutive artist, who drew the picture and portraits on the spot, and did not spare his own deformity.

The book contains an account of the waters, and the cures they effected, the geology of the soil in which they arise, the accommodations of the place, and all the information usually contained in a "Guide to a Watering Place;" but beside that, it is an agreeable and sketchy work, far superior to the dry and dull descriptions which are to be found in mere directories, and is evidently the production of a man superior to the class of Guide-makers.

It is illustrated with fourteen plans and views of places in the town or vicinity.

The Sacred Harp. The Mother's Present.

Two pretty little volumes, containing prosé and poetical selections from the more successful British writers, the principal object being to improve, interest, and amuse the young. We notice them chiefly because they have issued from the Dublin press, to which they are highly creditable. We may observe, however, that the contents of both have been made with much judgment and taste.

The Phenomena of Nature familiarly explained. Translated from the German of Wilhelm Von Türk.

The Journal of Education, in noticing the original work of which this is a translation, recommended that it should be prepared for the English reader the hint was very properly taken ;- the volume is written in an easy and pleasant style,— familiarly explaining the phenomena of nature; and may prove a profitable acquisition to all who are employed in educating the young.

2 Y