attention in its neighbourhood, Gen C. made an excursion to Torres Vedras, Vimiera, Sabral, and Franca Villa, and returned thence down the Tagus to Lisbon. On the 23d of June, he sailed from Lisbon on board the Diadem, commanded by Captain Phillimore, and arrived at Portsmouth on the 18th of July.

Having given this brief sketch of our author's route, it may be necessary to observe, that his work is written in the form of a journal, and appears to have been principally composed at the time and on the spot where the occurrences took place, and the reflections presented themselves. This method possesses the advantage of enabling the reader to attend the traveller more closely in his progress from place to place, and to become, perhaps, more familiar with the scenes and localities he describes. The work is, in general, written in an easy and perspicuous style, but not without a mixture of negligent expres sions, and a few repetitions and vulgarisms. It is accompanied by an appendix, embracing remarks on a variety of subjects, more or less connected with the principal object of the work itself. The author has also subjoined a map of Sicily, and of the streights of Messina, with a plan of Franca Villa, and of the battle between the Spaniards and Austrians, in 1719.

has also added a series of well executed Vignettes and views, which confer much additional value on the work, and afford a lively and striking idea of the beautiful and romantic scenery, which almost every where meets the traveller's sight in these volcanic Islands.

The Vignettes are a view of the sea-coasts of Sindari, of Gibraltar, of the point of Ceuta, and of the Temple of the Giants at Gergenti.

The views in the first volume embrace Fort Gonzago, Bird's eye view of Messina, Scylla, Scaletta, Great Crater of Mount Etna, Etna from the Biscaris Garden, Catania and Etna from the sea, topography of Etna and Lingua Grossa, country at Taorminum and Mola, Taorminum with a distant view of Etna, Fort and Pass at St. Alessio, profile view of Scaletta and Volcano, castle of Lipari, Volcano from the baths of Lipari, winter view of Etna by moonlight, Rometta, and convent of St. Martin. Those in the second volume are Monte Pellegrino, temple of Segesta, Gergenti, Cape St. Vincent, Cintra, distant view of Etna, Murat's camp and Flotilla, Stromboli, and Castiglione from Franca Villa.

We shall now make a few extracts on detached subjects. The following shows the want of cordiality which subsisted between the court of Palermo and the English; and exhibits in the most

striking light the apathy of the Sicilian government in defending the country, when the enemy was encamped within sight of its shores, and even had actually made a descent upon its coast.

"The situation of the commander of the forces was certainly one of difficulty; for he did not meet with that assistance and cordiality from the court of Palermo, which he had a right to expect. Not even one regiment of infantry did the king contribute to the defence of this his last stake: a regiment of cavalry (the Val de Noto) and a division of Sicilian gun-boats (but rationed by England) was all the aid we could obtain. The repairs of the fortifications at Syracuse, Augusta, Melazzo, and Trapani, were defrayed by England Every remonstrance from our minister Lord Amherst, or from Sir John Stuart, was useless." Vol. i. p. 101.

The properties of the prickly pear tree, and the use made of it by the inhabitants of Mount Etna, to pulverise the hardest masses of lava, and change them into a fruitful soil, is very curious; and powerfully evinces the resources which nature possesses for altering the very constitution of her productions.

"The prickly pear has a peculiar quality; it absolutely changes the lava, in a manner, breaks it up, and, in process of time, pulverises it, though ever so hard; and then it forms the most luxuriant soil. They bring a little earth to any crevice of the lava, and plant a prickly pear tree; it spreads and splits the rocks in about seven years; a thick plantation is formed, and a very little earth being added, in about ten years more it is nearly pulverised for some inches in depth, so as to give a good soil" vol. i. p. 163.

The following is a specimen of kingly amusement in those countries, in defence of which so much British money and blood have been spent; and it can be exceeded in barbarous cruelty only by those tyrannical acts which the King of Spain has exercised towards many of his most meritorious subjects since his return from France.

"The amusements of hunting, shooting, or fishing, appear to have always formed the principal, and almost only, source of pleasure, for King Ferdinand: his relation, the late king of Spain, was equally attached to it. So far had they carried this mania, that I know from undoubted authority, there was formerly a regular weekly intercourse, by special messengers, carried on between the courts of Naples and Madrid, with an account of the slaughter of game, and the feats of these monarchs in the field. Perhaps they were better employed in this animal destruction, than in human slaughter."

"The mode of hunting is, however, quite different from ours; hundreds of peasants drive the game from the wonds into certain open parts; his Majesty stands within a railed fence, half a dozen men load for him, and he fires away, right and left, as fast as he can. In very bad weather, they have often collected a strange medley into a large riding-house, consisting of wolves, foxes, boars, dogs, cats, pigs, goats, deer, &c.; also owls, pigeons, haws, wild ducks, partridges, crows, &c. The animals in this promiscuous state begin a general fight, while the monarch, from a gallery, fires at them till they are all destroyed. Au ignoble and cowardly pastime!" voli, p. 41&,

Sicily, under a good government, might be rendered one of the finest, most productive and commercial countries in the world; but, according to our author, all is now wretchedness and misery. The roads are scarcely passable, even for mules, though no country has better materials, and great sums are levied every year for keeping them in repair; but these, instead of being applied to this purpose, are squandered upon favorites and spies. Agriculture and commerce are both neglected, and labor under the most oppressive restrictions.

"Nature is left to herself; no renovation of seed, or assistance to the ground, which, however, is naturally rich; law badly administered; the civil, criminal, and minor jurisdictions, bad as can be conceived. The clergy are as despotic as they dare be; but going down, yet still very powerful and profligate-any thing may be had or done in Sicily for money."

In a country of which it can be said, "to paint Sicily properly, it is enough to say, every thing is as it ought not to be," the moral portrait must wear a sombre hue; and such is its distinguishing characteristic. For Lieut. Gen. C. observes,

"That truth, morality, and even hospitality, are out of the Sicilian catalogue. Amongst the better orders, virtue is not respected, morals and even appearances are set at defiance. The higher classes are so far depraved, as not even to mind them." vol. ii. p. 89.

"With the middle and lower orders, though a man will be jealous of his wife, he will not hesitate to sell his sister or his daughter. The lower Sicilians are also an abstemious people; they do with little food, but eat any thing, even to the intestines of every animal killed." vol. i. p. 346.

"Their great faults arise from their government-ground by oppres sion, and ill-treated, they are dirty in the extreme, indelicate, and ready to sell themselves from their poverty. Most of the peasantry have arms-a man would not stir three miles without his musket. No individual ever mounts his mule to go a mile from his house without his arms. Whether, like the Turks, they go armed to the plough, I really never thought of inquiring. If forced to give an opinion, I should certainly say yes; but at all events, if they have not the musket with the plough, I am positive it is at no great distance, and most of them carry poniards and stilettos." vol. ii. p. 91.

The litigious disposition of the Sicilians is strongly exemplified in the following sentences.

"Notaries are in astonishing abundance. Such is the Sicilian distrust of each other, that they will not have the smallest transaction without a notary, except in the public market. If a man buys any thing considerable at a shop, or has any payment to make, a notary must be employed to witness the transaction, and the receipt for the payment." vol. ii. p. 95.

685

ART. IV. The Flowers of Wit, or a choice collection of Bon Mots, both ancient and modern; with Biographical and Critical Remarks. By the Rev. HENRY KETT, Author of the Elements of General Knowledge; Emily, a Moral Tale, &c. &c. &c. Two Vols. 12mo. pp. 438. Lackington and Co. 1814.

AUSTERE and rigid as we are sometimes compelled to be, we love a joke as well as the most facetious: and it is so rarely that we meet with any thing very exhilarating in the way of our professional labors, that we were disposed to give Mr. Kett a very cordial welcome. We accordingly screwed up our muscles to an unusual pitch; but our disappointment was sudden and severe. When we expected to be roaring with some country club of odd fellows, we actually found ourselves chopping logic with Aristotle, fighting with Agesilaus, and listening to the sayings of all the seven wise men of Greece in alphabetical rotation. We really were terrified. The most disastrous of our school days seemed to return in all their horrors. We looked again at the title page to see, if by some mistake, the bookseller had not sent us a new Greek Grammar. But on turning to the introduction, we discovered a solution of our difficulties, and found that the production before us was no laughing matter. Our readers cannot imagine our chagrinfor they are not reviewers.

The reverend author (now we have read his book we can speak of him with all due gravity) has, we find, included in his idea of wit good things of every description, from puns to dying exhortations. We do not wish to say much about his definition of wit-"wit is much the same talent as genius." From the examples, however, which he produces, it is plain that many of them are a very different kind of article from that which mankind in general would agree to regard as witty. Extraor dinary wit is always genius, but extraordinary genius is not always wit. The excellence of Mr.. Grattan's character of Lord Chatham, of the replies of Thales, and of the sayings of Anacharsis, does not surely arise from their wit. We might as well call Venice Preserved a witty tragedy, or Mr. Kett's" Elements of general Knowledge" a ludicrous performance. Such a misapplication of terms never could come within his intention. He has, we suspect, been misled by the scholastic nature of his pursuits, and, as sometimes happens, carries the dialect of the college into the club room. On this ground we forgive him; and we own that when a serious divine comes up to one smiling,

or trying to smile, one ought not to be severe. We proceed to the more agreeable statements of his merits.

And in the first place, we must state, that this seems the most pure of all collections of this description. It might be read aloud without offending the chastest ears. There is not in it a vestige of that double entendre which is perhaps more pernicious from the flimsy veil with which it is covered. All the gratification to be derived from this book is unmixed. And to have made men happier without making them worse, is to have become a benefactor of the species.

Another peculiar advantage of Mr. Kett's work is of no small importance. His jests are not likely to be too often repeated. Few things of the kind are more annoying than to hear half the contents of a new collection of witticisms retailed by some gentleman who bears the reputation of a wag, under pretence that the circumstances occurred among his own acquaintance. This will not do here. The words of Aristides, Augustus, and the sages of Greece, will not suit the mouth of every modern talker. The magnanimous resolutions and exploits of ancient heroes will be mere jargon at a civic feast. In truth, most of the jokes with which Mr. Kett treats us, are too venerable to be lightly repeated.

VOLTAIRE.

"The following was the most apt and brilliant allusion be ever made. It would perhaps be difficult in all the annals of wit to find an instance that surpasses it. Voltaire said many flattering things of a celebrated writer, probably Boileau. He set, however, a much higher value upon his Art of Poetry,' than upon his Poems," "He resembles Moses," said Voltaire," who pointed out the promised land to others, but never reached it himself."

"He was the grand corrupter of the French; and with all his pretended freedom of expression, he flattered every king and every vice of his age. He knew not how to strike at superstition without wounding morality; unlike Hercules, who transfixed the Centaur without hurting the beauti ful Deianira. With his eternul sardonic smile, he has bequeathed us a shameful pyrrhonism and a cruel levity, which make us glide alike over virtues and vices." (Nouveau Tableau de Paris, par Mercier.)

SIR ROBERT WALPOLE.

"One day in the house of commons, a speaker in opposition to minis try and famous for his long harangues, had been upon his legs nearly two hours, inveighing against sir Robert's measures. He was silenced for several days, by sir Robert telling the following story. "A short time ago," said the premier, "I was travelling in the west of England with two ladies and a gentleman. Our carriage was in very good repair, the roads were very smooth, and the coachman was an expert driver. One of the ladies, however, appeared to be greatly terrified, crying out every minute, we should be overturned, or, the carriage would cer tainly break down. This language she held for several miles, whilst