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to his cattle. The negroes in the Spanish quarter of St. Domingo are, for the most part, free: the Spanish law favours their emancipation by redemption; and the incorrigible indolence of the settlers prevents a demand for slaves for any other than domestic purposes.-This country is subject, like the rest of the West Indies, to sudden inundations in the rainy season. The rivers rise in a few hours to the height of their banks, and, overflowing these barriers, spread their waters across the neighbouring plains. The method of passing them is curious: two sticks are fastened crosswise to a cow-hide, the sides of which are raised so as to form a kind of canoe on this frail skiff the traveller's baggage is placed in the first instance, and next-the traveller himself; who preserves his balance by taking hold of a stick with each hand, and keeping himself in a sitting posture. Three men swim beside the canoe for the purpose of guiding it, and the traveller's horses follow their master, by swimming across behind the canoe.-In course, the spacious harbour at the town of Santo Domingo could not fail to attract the attention of so vigilant an observer as M. SOULASTRE. He terms it magnificent; and he has no doubt that, if it had been in the possession of the French, the bar which obstructs the entrance of vessels of above twelve feet draught could long since have been removed. This harbour extends two leagues inland; it is wider than that of Brest; and it has four fathoms of water to the extent of half a league. Were the bar removed, the author declares that the harbour would not be inferior to that of the Havannah.

M. SOULASTRE does not enter into any particular detail of the proceedings of General Hédouville in St. Domingo: but, after having briefly mentioned the inutility of resistance to Toussaint, and the leave consequently given to the individuals belonging to the expedition to quit the island, he informs us that he took his passage in a schooner for Cuba. Before he reached Batabano in Cuba, the vessel was captured by three New Providence privateers; and, after some detention, the crew were put ashore on a spot which appeared to be a part of the main land of Cuba, but which they had the mortification to find was an island. Here they suffered greatly from thirst and hunger, being obliged to pass the night on trees, from which they heard the hideous noise of the American crocodiles; and they were so stung by musquitoes that their features became undiscernible, and they were able to know each other only by their clothes and the sound of their voices. At last, they accom

plished their escape to the main land on a raft.

We have mentioned nearly all of this writer's observations on St. Domingo which can interest the general reader; and the

rest

rest of his remarks are local. His personal adventures do not seem deserving of farther notice; and we cannot recommend to the public attention a book of which the substance proves so different from its title.

ART. XVII. Histoire Chevaleresque des Maures de Grenade, &c. ; i. e. A Chivalric History of the Moors of Grenada, translated from the Spanish of Gines Perez de Hita; preceded by some Reflections on the Mussulmans of Spain: with Notes historical and literary, by A. M. SANE'. 2 vols. 8vo. pp. 638. Paris. 1809. Imported by Dulau and Co. Price 16s.

THE original work of Perez de Hita, of which the present is

an abridged translation, has been known in Spain during two centuries. It consists of a collection of tales on subjects belonging to the history of the Moors in that country, on a plan similar to that which we have seen adopted at a late date in France by the popular M. Florian; the characters introduced being real personages, and the events described having also some foundation in authentic records, but the concomitant circumstances, such as the harangues of the principal actors, the behaviour of the spectators, and other parts of ornamental superstructure, being altogether the offspring of imagination.

It has already been observed by Mr. Hayley that the history of the Moors in Spain would furnish favourable subjects for heroic poetry; and we may add that an analysis of their national character would be matter of curious research to the philosopher. That character would be found to combine a variety of apparent contradictions, which can be solved only by attending to the long duration of the residence of these Moors in Spain, and to the changes produced in a people by diversity of temper in their sovereigns. In one age, we see the Moors so greatly improved beyond their gothic contemporaries as to cultivate the elegant arts, and to construct those edifices which are still the proudest monuments of Spain; and in another we discover them to be so infatuated as to remain immersed in their nocturnal revels, while a conquering enemy is at the walls of their capital. We are induced, at one time, to regard them as considerably advanced in civilization, when we find them granting freedom and respectability to the weaker sex: but they soon betray the rude passions of barbarians in their factions and civil wars, and in their reluctance to suspend domestic contest for a single season, even when it was obvious that their only chance of safety lay in cordial and intimate union.

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While the habits of the Moors, in civil life, differed from those of the Christians in a manner that bespoke distinct anestry and religion, their warlike exercises and amusements were the same. The practice of tournaments, being of gothic origin, was probably adopted by the Moors from their Christian neighbours but it coincided so happily with the Moorish characteristic of excellence in horsemanship, as speedily to become identified with their national institutions. Spain accordingly abounded in champions. The number of its independent sovereignties, and the emulation of two hostile nations, multiplied single combats in all quarters; and the romantic exploits of these warriors became the favourite themes of encomium with their poets.

This state of society is favourable to the developement of those characters in which poetry delights: but, notwithstanding the magnificent declamation of the present French translator, we cannot admit that his volumes either possess interest in themselves, or do justice to their subject. It is amusing to see how much M. SANE labours, in his introduction, to attach consequence to his book. The warfare between the Moors and the Spaniards lasted during eight centuries; a circumstance which most people would be disposed to call a dreadful calamity, but which, according to M. SANÉ, is a lutte genereuse, a generous struggle between two parties contending for the sweetest passessions of mankind.’ We agree with him in considering the expulsion of the Moors as a great national misfortune to Spain: but we cannot think, as he sometimes appears to do, that their invasion of the peninsula is to be regarded as an advantage. His words are (p. 38.) Spain owes them eternal gratitude. The paradise of Grenada (as the Moors still term it) was a hive in which the bees never intermitted their labours. This was what the Arabs did for their new country, and the remembrance of their actions is inextinguishable.'-These observations would be commendable, were they the liberal effort of a philosophic mind to render justice to an injured people: but we are not at liberty to ascribe such disinterested motives to M. SANE'S panegyrics. He had translated a book about the Moors of Spain, and he must therefore shew in his preface that the Moors of Spain were the most interesting of nations.

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As a specimen of the work, the abstract of a challenge and single combat will be perfectly sufficient.

Boadillin having succeeded his father Muley Hazen on the throne of Grenada, his accession was signalized by magnificent rejoicings; in the midst of which, the Grand Master of Calatrava, Don Rodriguez Telles Giron, appeared at the head of his troops, and ravaged the beautiful plain of Grenada. Not

satisfied

satisfied with an acquisition of booty, he was desirous of breaking a lance in contact with the knights of that city, and dispatched his squire with a letter to the Moorish King to that effect. This letter was read aloud to the court; the challenge was received with joy; and so eager were the surrounding warriors to engage the Christian chief, that it was necessary to decide the question by lot. Muça was the fortunate man. The combatants then took the field, each superbly equipped; and the Queen and the court-ladies contemplated the scene from gilded balconies. The fight began; the knights rushed against each other, and broke their lances. On a second shock, the horse of the Moorish warrior fell; they then fought on foot; the Christian knight was slightly wounded in the arm; and soon afterward the Moor was severely wounded in the thigh. His life was now at the mercy of the Christian, who generously proposed to terminate the combat, and offered the Moor his friendship; which was accepted with great admiration of his magnanimity, and both chiefs retired from the field.

Such is the substance of a story which, by the aid of long speeches and minute particulars, is spun out through twenty pages. The other narratives embrace a great variety of subjects, but are similar in style and arrangement to the one which we have quoted. We have here no rich imagery, no pathetic description; and the diffuse character of the language makes the work barren even of those incidents which convey an idea of the national manners. The notes, or, as they are termed in the title-page, notes historical and literary,' are passages avowedly copied from Chénier and other writers. In short, we consider M.SANS's translation as a trading speculation, suggested by the momentary interest of Spanish affairs; and we do not judge so meanly of the taste of the French public as to augur it

success.

ART. XVIII. Tableau Historique des Nations, &c. i. e. An Historical View of all Nations; or a Concatenation of the principal contemporaneous Events on the Surface of the Earth; with a general Sketch of the Progress of Arts, Sciences, and Literature, from the Beginning of the World to the present Time. By M. E. JONDOT. 4 vols. 8vo. Paris. 1808. Imported by De Boffe. Price 21. 89.

TH

HE nature of this production would have been more clearly comprehended by the reader, had it been intitled " An Abridgment of Universal History from the Creation of the World to the present Time, in a series of chapters, each containing the contemporaneous Events in all Countries during the period expressed in its Title." These chapters are called Synchronisms,

and

and amount in all to the number of eighty-six. The plan of them will be best understood by selecting a particular example. If, for instance, we turn to the beginning of the third volume, we enter on the forty-fifth synchronism, which relates the events of the world from 741 to 775 of the Christian æra. After having given, in the first place, the history of the Greek Empire during this interval, M. JONDOT proceeds to describe the revolutions among the Arabs, the end of the dynasty of Omar, and the removal of the seat of empire from Damascus to Bagdad. He then directs his attention to Europe, where, in Spain, the progress of the elegant arts under the Saracens; in Italy, the overthrow of the kingdom of the Lombards by Charlemagne; in France, the glory of that sovereign; in Germany, intestine commotions; and in England, the progress of the heptarchy towards incorporation into one kingdom; are successively described. A notice is added of those who filled the papal chair, and of the ecclesiastical councils holden during this interval; and the chapter is brought to a close by a few general remarks on the condition of society, and on the most remarkable characters of the age.

Those abridgments of universal history which have been formerly published,-such, for example, as that of Lenglet Dufresnoy,-were generally chronological, and, without ascending to the elevated tone of history, professed only to give brief notices of remarkable events. Bossuet's eloquent treatise on Universal History, and the ingenious disquisitions of Voltaire, belong to a very different class, and rank among the foremost of literary compositions: but M. JONDOT seems to have thought that the plan of these works was incomplete, and that the field was still open for a chronological history of the world from the earliest times to the memorable æra of Bonaparte. He has given his work a mixed character, and has sought to blend the elevation of historical narrative with the precision of chronological distinctions but his method is liable to several objections; the principal of which is the frequent distraction of the reader's attention to a variety of subjects. In the short chapters into which the writer has divided his book, the reader no sooner becomes interested in one nation, than he is hurried off to another in a very different stage of civilization, and from that other to a third; so that, for the sake of preserving the chain of contemporaneous occurrences unbroken, we are deprived of that fund of instruction which arises from the progressive influence of events in the formation of national character. objection might have been lessened by lengthening the chapters, or rather by dividing the narrative into as many books as we have remarkable epochs in history: but the desire of novelty seems

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