The author says that he has often heard it disputed whether the most daring deeds are done by men of good or bad repute; but he declares that he has not been enabled to give a preference for either. He also offers a striking observation on the subject of presentiments of death in going into battle, when he says, that he has found as many instances of falsification as verification. We can easily undersand how the verifications are more readily noticed than the contrary results. As to himself, he thus speaks :

"Of my own feelings on the point in consideration, I am free to say that, while I have been engaged in fifty actions, in which I have neither had the time, nor taken the trouble to ask myself any questions on the subject, but encountered them in whatever humour I happened to beyet, in many others (the eve of pitched battles), when the risk was imminent, and certain that one out of every three must go to the ground, I have asked myself the question, Do I feel like a dead man?' but I was invariably answered point blank, No!' And yet I must still look like a superstitious character, when I declare that the only time that I ever went into action, labouring under a regular depression of spirits, was on the evening on which the musket ball felt my head at Foz d'Aronce."—pp. 260, 261.

That men in battle are generally in some degree beside them. selves, seems to be proved by the following observations of our author; and the importance of having commanders whose experience has gained them composure and deliberation, becomes therefore the more indispensable.

"But to return to the storming of Ciudad. The moment which is the most dangerous to the honour, and the safety of a British army, is that in which they have won the place they have assaulted. While outside the walls and linked together by the magic hand of discipline, they are heroes-but once they have forced themselves inside they become demons or lunatics-for it is difficult to determine which spirit predominates.

To see the two storming divisions assembled in the great square that night, mixed up in a confused mass, shooting at each other, and firing in at different doors and windows, without the shadow of a reason, was enough to drive any one, who was in possession of his senses, mad. The prisoners were formed in a line on one side of the square-unarmed, it is true-but, on my life, had they made a simultaneous rush forward, they might have made a second Bergen op-Zoom of it-for so absolute was the sway of the demon of misrule, that half of our men, I verily believe, would have been panic-struck and thrown themselves into the arms of death, over the ramparts, to escape a danger that either did not exist or might have been easily avoided. After calling and shouting, until I was hoarse in endeavouring to restore order, and when my voice was no longer audible, seeing a soldier raising his piece to fire at a window, I came across his shoulders with a musket-barrel which I had in my hand, and demanded, What the devil, sir, are you firing at?' to which he answered, I don't know, sir! I am firing because every body else is.""Pp. 261, 262.

We might go on extracting every paragraph in this delightfully written and conceived volume, without fatiguing our readers. Enough has been taken from it, however, to shew that not only is it worthy of every one's perusal, but that as a carriage companion, or one constantly at hand in the drawing room, library, or workshop, it is what the mind may at the first random opening find entertainment in, and that refreshment from monotonous or burdensome employment, which is worthy of the mind to receive and cherish. The anecdotes have that merit which is not so easily described as instanced, and which exhibits itself under this ordealthat they become not stale through familiarity or former acquaintance. In this fact consists a safe criterion of originality, as well as accuracy in speaking to the conviction and clear conception of the reader giving not only his own feelings faithfully, but by a reciprocal and reckoning power, sharpening, refining, and elevating them above their wonted condition. So long as a writer has this magical power over his readers, he is sure to please and interest, for there are few delights more enviable, than that of being conscious of self-enlargement of mind, and virtuous emotion.

We shall conclude with an anecdote regarding the Duke of Wellington as a general. All the author's representations of his Grace, without any formal eulogy or forced occasions, go to convey the most exalted conceptions of his consummate generalship. Indeed, without the author's effort, beyond what clearly is his conviction of the truth, this volume will do more to keep alive that admiration for the Duke as a commander in the field, and as a man, than any partizan's panegyric we have met with will ever do.

"Our last day at Rueda furnished an instance so characteristic of the silence and secrecy with which the Duke of Wellington was in the habit of conducting his military movements, that I cannot help quoting it.

In my former volume I mentioned that when we were called to arms that evening, our officers had assembled for one of their usual dances. Our commanding officer, however, Colonel Cameron, had been invited to dine that day with his lordship, and in addition to the staff, the party consisted of several commanding officers of regiments and others. The conversation was lively and general, and no more allusion made to probable movements than if we were likely to be fixed there for years. After having had a fair allowance of wine, Lord Wellington looked at his watch, and addressing himself to one of his staff, said, Campbell, it is about time to be moving-order coffee.' Coffee was accordingly introduced, and the guests, as usual, immediately after made their bow and retired. Our commandant in passing out of the house was rather surprised to see his lordship's baggage packed, and the mules at the door, saddled and ready to receive it, but his astonishment was still greater when he reached his own quarter, to find that his regiment was already under arms along with the rest of the troops, assembled on their alarm posts, and with baggage loaded in the act of moving off, we knew not whither!

"We marched the whole of the night, and daylight next morning found us three or four leagues off, interposing ourselves between the

enemy and their projected line of advance.

It was the commencement

of the brilliant series of movements which preceded the battle of SalaPass we on, therefore, to that celebrated field."-pp. 332

manca. 335.

ART. III-Scandinavian Sketches, or a Tour in Norway. By LIEUT. BRETON, R. N. London. Bohn. 1835.

THERE have of late years appeared a variety of works descriptive of Scandinavia; and it does not seem to us that Lieutenant Breton has added much that is new regarding the country he here treats of. His volume, however, is sufficiently interesting to repay a perusal of it, and is particularly to be recommended for its candour and minuteness. We feel, after a single and somewhat hurried reading, that we know a great deal of Norway, and that with this single book as a guide, we could conduct a very complete and judicious tour in that region of arms of the sea, lakes, and rocky mountains, and within a reasonable space of time. We say therefore that he has succeeded in accomplishing what he wished, when he says he has endeavoured to avoid such an increase of matter as might prove inconvenient to the tourist, as well as to render the volume not altogether unattractive to those who want the inclination or opportunity of making a similar excursion for themselves.

Lieutenant Breton is a real Englishman, and therefore a right sort of man, in as far as travelling and voyaging goes. His profession has of course led him to visit many shores, and he has heretofore written a very respectable work on New South Wales. A wish to see and study nature in a very different clime, has led him to Norway; and yet he knows of no land like merry Old England, nor of any delight equal to that of the traveller when he views, on his return, Albion's white cliffs as the beacon of his birth-place, and the comforts of home. While he admires much that is foreign, he does not under the mask of liberality vilify his natal soil, nor during his travels has he become an indefinable compound of Briton and foreigner. Besides his candour and vivacity, whether as respects home or abroad, we can also call him a lively writer. Perhaps his sarcasm and attempts at wit are too often forced and feeble; but still, as regards style and scholarship, the book is a very respectable specimen, that would do credit to most sea or landsmen, at the same time that his plain-dealing modesty is exemplary, and obviously the ground of not a small share of our good opinion, as now expressed. The extracts which we are about to submit to our readers, we are confident will substantiate these general observations.

The volume sets out with an outline-description of Norway, and a history of its inhabitants and institutions, compiled with ability from the best authorities; all which we shall pass over to come to

*

more precise and individual matter. And we may at once begin with some hints, useful to those who mean to travel in Norway. The author says it is not a country for a knapsack tour, unless the traveller have no objection to walk fifteen or twenty miles without seeing a habitation of any kind, and to pass the night_amidst vermin and dirt, with nothing for his supper but milk. The servants which those unacquainted with the language require, or guides, as they have the impudence to call themselves, have been spoiled by the English, as every where else, who have squandered their money in Norway, in a way to induce the people to believe that every one that belongs to our country is rolling in riches. One of these guides will ask five, six, or eight shillings per day, together with his lodgings, and be lazy as well as saucy to the bargain. The language is not difficult, however, to learn, and the method recommended is to acquire some command of it, and then trust to meet with the clergy, who are highly praised. The traveller should also have his own horse, certain provisions of his own, apparel, and a blanket. The system of posting is said to be abominable, and although at each stage for starting and halting, there be a book in which travellers may insert their complaints respecting posting, &c., which is characterised by the author as an excellent way to get rid of one's surplus wrath, it is nevertheless of no great utility.

One is led to wonder, from the author's description of Norway, how or where even the scanty population, that seem to live contentedly, can find sustenance. The enormous extent of their alpine rocky mountains, the number and length of the arms of the sea which shoot far inland, the narrowness of their vales, and even the almost inaccesible spots where herbage may be found, give but a poor idea of plenty and comfort. The author's description of a saeter, will impart an idea of the fertility or rather sterility of much of the country.

"A spot where there is some grass having been selected, the trees are cleared off, and the land sown with rye or oats; after gathering in the grain the soil is left to itself, and without further labour is in due season covered with a luxuriant sward. A hut is then erected, which is tenanted in the summer by those who have the superintendence of the dairy, and charge of the cattle, invariably depastured at these places at that season of the year: this is termed a saeter, and is similar to a Swiss chalet. A succession of saeters often impart to the landscape an appearance of cultivation it does not possess; and when viewed from a distance, are apt to deceive the stranger, who imagines the farms, and consequently the population, more numerous than is the fact."—p. 71.

There are saeters at a considerable elevation above the sea, where natural pasture is formed without trees; but at these the climate is so cold that the people remain only a few weeks. It is worthy of remark that when firs, as the author tells us, have been burnt off and the land afterwards left to itself, birches spring up. And yet there is much fine scenery in Norway, though the savage rocks

prevail, and the desolation of snow-clad peaks. The author however, says that

"The grandeur and sublimity' of the northern forests, so greatly admired by other travellers, never struck me, nor do I believe it would any one else who had seen the luxuriant vegetation of intertropical climes. It requires no great stretch of the imagination to fancy an inter, minable forest of pines; but few persons can form a correct idea of a forest in Africa or South America, India or Australasia. He who has seen the adansonia, often exceeding forty-two feet in girth; the eucalyptus, whose circumference has been known to measure sixty-three feet; the banyan, with its enormous stem; or the towering pinus insularis of Norfolk Island, rising to the height of even 240 feet, with a trunk of commensurate dimensions, will smile with a feeling analogous to con. tempt, when he hears such unmerited praises bestowed upon a tree remarkable only for its formal outline when observed alone, and for its gloom when concealing an extensive tract."-pp. 78, 79.

When speaking of forests, he mentions one in which there were the bleached remains of two murderers, executed nine years ago. They were exposed upon stages, ten or twelve feet from the ground, each erected round a strong post, upon which the head had been formerly placed. We may here take notice of what is said of the Jack Ketch of the capital of Norway; and who knows how far the example given may be imitated.

"The executioner of Christiania has the strange right of going annually to each house in that city to ask for money; if he receives none, he is allowed by law to break a pane of glass; a glazier ought therefore to hold the situation if the right be often exercised, which I heard was not the case. The man who at present holds this unenviable employment is nearly eighty years of age, and experienced some difficulty in decapitating the last culprit who paid the penalty of his offences."p. 80.

Some of the churches of Norway are said to be the most strangely built edifices imaginable, and calculated to lead one to conclude the architects had exhausted the utmost ingenuity to render them preposterous and heterogeneous. Churches suggest church discipline; accordingly our lieutenant says of a particular ex

cursion

"On this route I observed a novel, not to say somewhat ludicrous, mode formerly employed to punish those culprits who were guilty of such an act of discretion, as to present an ungrateful parish with an addition to its population without having had the marriage ceremony duly performed beforehand. A few yards in front of the majority of Norsk churches there is a sort of porch erected, possibly to give an air of greater consequence to the former, for it is merely ornamental. To this was fastened a chain and ring, the latter of which was placed round the neck of the delinquent, who for his unsolicited liberality was compelled thus to remain in durance vile, during divine service, and for some hours be fore and after, the laughing-stock of some, but doubtless the envy of others of his neighbours; it seems the weaker sex escaped punishment, Perhaps this may furnish a useful hint to our poor law commissioners; at all events, it is worth their consideration."-pp. 87, 88.