We are always disposed to think favourably of works designed to facilitate the studies of young persons; and, among the various publications of this kind, no one is more intitled to praise than the pamphlet now before us: in which the author conveys correctly and shortly the information intended to be given. He has chosen, he says, to explain himself through the medium of poetry on account of its peculiar facility in making an impression on the mind; and, as an instance of the power of verse in establishing facts on the memory, he quotes the well known lines:

"Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November," &c.

This plan, we think, may be attended with advantage. When children are made to learn by heart, (as it is called,) almost every body employs verse; and, if the rudiments of science can be so introduced into the mind, it saves the pupil much subsequent labour. Mr. Kelly has versified his subject very tolerably; much better than it has been done in most other attempts of the same kind. He seems to have a good ear for poetical cadence, and his rhymes are not often faulty. As a specimen, we extract his account of the notation of music :

• OF NOTATION.

The next thing to learn, is the proper relation
Of Notes to each other, in point of duration;
And first comes the SEMIBREVE, longest of all,

The next, which are half its length, MINIMS we call,
Then CROTCHETS succeed; of these, four if we count,
To One Semibreve we shall find them amount.

See next in succession the QUAVERS advance,
Gay spirited Notes, and much us'd in a dance,
Their time Half a Crotchet; we therefore perceive,
That Eight are requir'd for One Semibreve.
And then comes the Note SEMIQUAVER, we find,
With the Demi, or HALF SEMIQUAVER behind.
Of the first of these two, are requir'd sixteen,
Of the last, thirty-two, as will shortly be seen,
To make up the Semibreve's proper duration,
Or its equal, in notes of a less valuation.
Three Notes in succession, when mark'd by a 3,
Perform'd in the time of two such Notes must be;

A 6, in like manner plac'd over six more

Shows they must be play'd in the same time as four.'

6

The

The explanation of musical graces and signs is more full than usual; and the subject of intervals and major and minor modes is succinctly explained. The versification, however, still admits of much improvement, to which the author's attention should be directed. In page 16. we meet with on the contrary if fourths should prevail:' in page 14. • other scales are all form'd by transposing of these:' in page 13. they are found situated betwixt,' &c. It should be remembered that, if the information conveyed by verse is to be impressed most lastingly on the memory, its errors may be perpetuated in a similar manner. The author, in his preface, announces his intention to prepare a continuation as a treatise on the more intricate branches of the science, comprizing the principles of thorough bass and composition. We have no doubt that he is very competent to do this in a most useful manner, and we hope that he will accomplish it. Notwithstanding some modern publications, (of the merits of which we shall take an early opportunity to speak,) a work on musical composition, adapted for those amateurs who wish to pursue the science to a certain extent only, is much wanted: but, as we cannot think that the reasons for using verse would be applicable to such a treatise, (which in fact could not be addressed to children,) we trust that Mr. Kelly will lay aside that part of his design, if indeed it forms a part of it, and give us a short and familiar treatise on the science in prose.

POLITICS.

Art. 22. Cursory Remarks on the meditated Attack on Norway; comprizing Strictures on Madame de Stäel Holstein's "Appeal to the Nations of Europe;" with some Historical and Statistical Fragments relating to Norway. 8vo. pp. 146. 4s. Blacklock. Poor Norway may very justly complain of being scurvily treated; and, though her cause has been ably advocated by speakers in parliament and writers from the press, such is the decided preponderance of power against her, that little prospect appears of her being delivered from the consequences of those engagements into which England has entered respecting her. Without having committed a political crime which merited such visitation, she has been made a mere scape-goat; being appointed to suffer in subserviency to arrangements among potentates whose dominions lay at a remote distance from her, and in whose quarrels she took no part. The Norwegian nation, the hardy Swiss of the North, are to be transferred, like the serfs on a Russian estate, without their consent, to a new master; and, to induce the Crown Prince of Sweden to fight in concert with the Allies, the King of Denmark is to be robbed of a good half of his territories. Well may the Norwegians protest against such a measure, and the feelings of every virtuous man in every country of Europe must revolt at it. What evil genius could have induced the British Government thus to outrage that very principle, for the defence of which they took up arms against the subversive aggressions of France? In the case of Norway, an unoffending nation has been left to choose between the basest submission and all the horrors of war, accompanied by the still more terrible ravages of famine.' This political injury is

aggra.

aggravated by the insidious attempts which have been made, on the part of Sweden, to seduce the Norwegians from their allegiance to the King of Denmark. We can easily suppose that the Crown Prince had cast a longing eye on Norway; and that, when he threw a glance over the map of Europe, he conceived the idea of rounding the Scandinavian empire, which he is destined to inherit, by the desirable addition of Norway: but, if it be right to seize, or to accept from the hands of those who are not intitled to give, every thing which the ambition of a ruler or leader may desire, we must cease to inveigh against Bonaparte: -even his wicked attempt on Spain will find a sort of justification in our own measures.

The writer before us reprobates, in the strongest terms, all the late attempts on the independence of Norway; and he contends that, though kings and courtiers may choose to betray a country, the nation is not bound to abide by their decisions.' He condemns the measure in question as inhuman, cowardly, and insulting; 'as impolitic in regard to the favourable effects' which it may generally produce; and as holding forth no rational prospect of substantial and lasting benefit to Sweden herself. Some general observations of Madame de Staël, which bear on the case of the proposed junction of Norway to Sweden, are also controverted. In fine, as the author discovers a knowlege of the Norwegian character, his pamphlet is intitled to notice: but, after the decisive events which have recently taken place, it is not to be supposed that the Allies will depart from their policy; or that England, having won the Crown Prince by certain promises, will relax, if she has the power of fulfilling them.

An appendix contains an account of the agriculture of Norway, and of the establishment of an University; and it exhibits traits of Norwegian character, which are intended to shew that a foreign yoke must be galling to a race of men who are so eminently valorous, and who on former occasions have made the Swedes pay dearly for their invasion.

Is. 6d.

Art. 23. Reflexions sur l'Etat actuel de la Norvège. i. e. Reflections on the actual State of Norway. 8vo. Murray. According to this writer, the recent conduct towards Norway, so strongly condemned in the pamphlet just noticed, has in it nothing extraordinary, and the cession of the kingdom of Norway to Sweden was the natural result of the political system. We are told that Norway, though herself untouched, has been in fact conquered by the events of the war in the Cimbric peninsula. The resistance of Prince Christian, Governor-general of Norway, to the cession of that kingdom, is pronounced to be indefensible; and it is farther maintained that the King of Denmark has a right to require his ceded Norwegian subjects, as the last act of obedience to him, to submit to a change of masters, especially when it is for the sake of saving the remainder of his estates to his Danish Majesty. The poor Norwegians are referred to the promises of Sweden for consolation, and are assured that the personal character of their new sovereign ought to inspire them with confidence.

This, as the ladies say, is pretty talking: but we cannot think that any of these reflections will convince mankind in general that Norway has been fairly used, or induce the people of that country cheerfully to submit to their hard fate. If, however, they will not submit willingly, they are in conclusion told that they will be compelled by force of arms to obey. This hint is NOT very pretty.

Art. 24. Letter from Sir Philip Francis, Knight of the most Honourable Order of the Bath, to Earl Grey. 8vo. 1s. 6d. Ridgway. 1814.

The much-agitated transfer of Norway to Sweden seems to be the subject of this letter: but Sir Philip is so rambling and narrative, that it is not easy to say what topic floats on his pericranium. Our ministry are reminded of the original principle of the war, which they seem to have forgotten; and their conduct to Denmark, in offering one half of her dominions to another power as a bribe to espouse the cause of the allies, is reprobated as a dereliction of that principle. The original war itself was professedly undertaken with what sincerity it would now be superfluous to inquire for the avowed predominant purpose of resisting the propagation of French principles, destructive of all order and society, to support the cause of morality and religion, and, above all things, to assert the hereditary right of succession in every country, where a royal government had been established, and in any family which might happen to have been long in possession of the crown.'

We certainly appear, by the part which we are acting in severing Norway from the crown of Denmark, to violate the very doctrine for the support of which we drew our sword against France; but the letter-writer is not satisfied with merely urging this objection to our treatment of Denmark; he contends that, had even Denmark consented to the cession of Norway to Sweden, such cession could not be valid without the acquiescence of the people of Norway. He proposes a parallel case, which will come home at once to our feelings, and the reasoning of which cannot be resisted :

On the point of right, I shall only ask one question. Can you or any man state a case, in which the king of these united kingdoms could have a right, in any extremity or under any duress, to alienate the kingdom of Ireland and transfer it to France? or, if he did so, would it convey a valid title to the receiver, and make it treason in the Irish to defend their independence, by taking up arms against his dominion?'

With the character of Bernadotte, this Knight of the Bath makes very free; and, by the evidence which he adduces, he endeavours to leave this impression on our minds, that we have paid much more for the said Crown Prince than he is worth.

Art. 25. Of Buonaparte and the Bourbons, and of the Necessity of rallying round our legitimate Princes for the Happiness of France and that of Europe. By F. A. Chateaubriand. Second Edition, revised and corrected. 8vo. 43. Colburn. 1814.

Raving declamation may rouse the prejudices and passions of a people, but it cannot enlighten. A writer like M. Chateaubriand may, in his zeal for the cause which he espouses, abandon himself to

an

an intemperance which will be acceptable to some partizans, but it will disgust the sober and reflecting part of mankind. He begins with telling us that the Almighty himself marches openly at the head of the armies, and sits in the council of kings;'-that the tombs of our ancestors are the only solid basis of all governments;' — that the heart of a descendant of St. Louis is an inexhaustible treasure of mercy;'-that Buonaparte did not know that the heir of Christ (meaning the Pope) was still retaining that sceptre of reeds and that crown of thorns which will soon or late triumph over the power of the wicked;'-that "Buonaparte wished to convert our sons into a sort of Mamelukes, without God, without family, and without country, and has done more mischief to the human race in the short space of ten years, than all the tyrants of Rome put together from Nero down to the last persecutor of the Christians. In short, Bonaparte's government is represented as so monstrously tyrannical, and so utterly insupportable, that it outrages all belief to suppose that it could have lasted ten years. Far are we from vindicating the proceedings of the degraded and exiled despot: but "give the Devil his due, and do not paint him blacker than he is." In describing the conscription, M. de Chateaubriand asserts, moveable columns traversed our country like an enemy's country, to tear from the people their last children. Were these savages complained of, the answer was, that these moveable columns were composed of handsome gensd'armes who would console the disconsolate mothers, and restore to them what they had lost.' This is rather incredible: but, to tax our faith still more, he adds, Women big with child have been put to the torture, that they might reveal the place where their first-born was concealed.' The following is given as a general statement:

In the eleven years of his reign he caused more than 5 millions of Frenchmen to perish, which exceeds the number of those whom our civil wars swept away during three centuries, under the reign of John, Charles V., Charles VI., Charles VII., Henry II., Francis II., Charles IX., Henry III., and Henry IV. In the twelve months which have just elapsed, Buonaparte raised (without reckoning the National Guard) 1,330,000 men, which is more than 100,000 per month; and yet some one had the audacity to tell him he had only expended the superfluous population!'

No words appear to be strong enough for M. Chateaubriand to express his detestation of Bonaparte, who is represented to be without talents as well as without virtue. The least General surpasses him in abilities; and as to his heart, born to destroy, he carries wickedness in his bosom as naturally as a mother carries her fruit, with joy and a sort of pride.' — When, however, the author comes to the Bourbons, he looks out for opposite epithets, making them to appear all that is great, good, and divine. With that word King, every thing desirable is connected: but we know not what is meant by an Emperor.'

France spontaneously teems with lillies; irrigated with the blood of so many expiatory victims sacrificed at the foot of the scaffold of Louis and Antoinette, they will grow more beautiful than

ever !'

Muck