memberments, and present boundary, as settled by act of Congress, at Vienna; and by spirited portraits of Prince Czartoryski, President of the National Government, and Thaddeus Kosciuszko. Another well-timed historic production offers itself in the second volume of "The Annual Retrospect of Public Affairs, for 1831"-forming, we believe, the fourth volume of Dr. Lardner's Cabinet Library.In this portion of the work we find more to praise, and less to censure, than in the former with equal spirit in manner, its tone is more temperate and liberal. The first and second chapters, and parts of the third and fifth, are devoted to the affairs of Holland and Belgium, of which a very clear and satisfactory view is given; chapters three, five, six, and seven, refer to the insurrectionary movements in Germany, the attempt of the revolutionary patriots in Spain, the state of Portugal, the revolutionary movements in Switzerland, the rising in Poland, &c.; and the fourth and fifth chapters embrace the meeting of the English parliament-state of parties abroad and at home-the King's speech-discussion on the civil list-change of ministry-disturbed state of the agricultural population, &c.-We have no room for extract or analysis; but we conscientiously and cordially recommend the volume to public notice. What a pleasant thing it would be, if affectation of all sorts could be banished from the world! For several seasons, we were amused in the Annuals-occasionally, also, in LA BELLE ASSEMBLEE-with a variety of clever productions from the pen of a gentleman assuming the high-sounding appellation of Derwent Conway. That writer has now thrown off the mask, and makes his bow to the public as plain Mr. Inglis; but, in dropping one affectation, he has adopted another equally silly-that of taking a great deal of pains to let the world know that he is the "affectionate cousin" of the Earl of Buchan. However, since the times of La Borde and Bourgoing, the most intelligent, as well as the most practically useful book that we have seen upon the same subject, is "Spain in 1830; by Henry D. Inglis, Author of Solitary Walks through Many Lands,' 'A Journey through Norway,' &c." Mr. Inglis, it appears, left England in the spring of 1830; and, taking a circuitous route through the southern parts of France, to Bayonne, · * Vide LA BELLE ASSEMBLEE, vol. xiii., page 192. he left that city, in May, for Vittoria, crossed the Bidassoa, and entered Spain, the chief divisions of which he afterwards traversed in the course of the year. Sojourning awhile in Madrid, he proceeded thence to Toledo; and, after returning to the capital, he journied through La Mancha, across the Sierra Morena, and by Cordova to Seville; visited Cadiz, Xeres, Gibraltar, Malaga, Granada, Murcia, Alicant, San Felipa, Valencia, Barcelona, &c. Abundantly furnished with letters of introduction, he everywhere experienced a satisfactory reception, and was indulged with facilities not common to every traveller. Thus he was enabled to acquire much valuable information respecting the state of society, manners, politics, trade, commerce, manufactures, literature, the arts, &c. The beauty of the Spanish women, those dark-eyed daughters of the sun, does not seem to have greatly warmed or excited the imagination of Mr. Inglis; and of their morals, his opinion is extremely unfavourable. Nor, with reference to their political integrity, or their devotion to the fair, is he much more indulgent to the men. Spain he considers to be divided into three parties:"the Absolutists, those denominated Carlists; the Government party, those called the moderate party; and the Liberals ;" of which the first is the most numerous and the most influential, comprising the great mass of the lower orders, and of the clergy, with a considerable proportion of the military, especially of the officers. The supporters of the existing government are the least numerous. Ignorance, indolence, a love of ease and pleasure, are everywhere prevalent. "Spain, I believe, has yet to pass through a fiery trial, before her days of freedom and happiness arrive: the change first to be expected, is one from despotism and weakness, to greater despotism and greater strength: and this will be a new reign of terror." We learn that "the estates of the Duke of Wellington lie in the lower part of the Vega, about two leagues from Granada; and all the land is capable of irrigation. His Grace's estates return about fifteen thousand dollars per annum; his rents are paid in grain-a fixed quantity, not a proportion of the crop; a plan beginning to be pretty universally followed by other landowners." The Duke has three hundred thriving tenants; they pay no taxes; but a composition of six per cent. is accepted from the Duke in lieu of all demands. Mr. Inglis is minute and clear in his information respecting sherry wine. Some of our readers may wish to know the difference between pale and brown sherry-the former of which, connoisseurs tell us, is getting out of fashion. The best pale and light golden sherries are made from the pure Xeres grape, with only the addition of two bottles of the best Catalonian brandy-scarcely inferior to Cognac-to a butt, which is no more than one two-hundred-and-fiftieth part. If a butt of brown sherry be wanted, a butt of light sherry is boiled down to one-fifth part of its bulk, till it acquire a deep brown colour; and one-half of this quantity is added to a butt of the pale sherry, of course removing from it as much as makes room for this additional tenth-part of a butt of boiled wine." The wine employed for boiling down, is "produced from the Xeres grape, planted upon a lighter soil, near the mouth of the Guadalquivir, and producing a somewhat lighter wine; but the brown sherry is not more expensive, because the grape from which the boiled wine is made, is more abundant than the other grape, and consequently cheaper." Had we space, we could devote many pages to extracts from Mr. Inglis's volumes; but, pressed as we are, we must dismiss them with a note of approval, and with mentioning, that, as a frontispiece, they exhibit a beautiful view of that far-famed scenethat exhaustless material of romance-AlHambra. We have been quite taken by surprise in "Sir Edward Seaward's Narrative of his Shipwreck and consequent Discovery of Certain Islands in the Caribean Sea; with a Detail of many Extraordinary and highly Interesting Events in his Life, from the Year 1733 to 1740, as written in his own Diary." This is a very extraordinary book. At the same time, however, that we are anxious to direct the reader's attention to it as early as possible, we are so pressed for room, that we can do little more than announce its appearance. But it must not be so dismissed; next month, a taste of its quality shall be given. In the interim, let us mention, that the MS. papers from which the narrative is taken were put into the hands of the editor -Miss Porter-" merely as a curious specimen of old-fashioned times, the perusal of which might amuse" her. "But," observes Miss Porter, in her Preface to the work, ventures and hair-breadth escapes of some dear and long-absent friend, just returned to his kinsfolks and neighbours, after a widely-wandering and chequered travel in distant lands."-Miss Porter's opinion on the subject will be fully sanctioned by every intelligent reader. After some difficulty, the holder of the papers was prevailed on to give them to the public. Sir Edward Seaward, it appears, was born in 1710 or 1711, and died in 1774, at his seat in Gloucestershire. His gentle and affectionate wife, who accompanied him in all his wanderingsparticipated in all his perils-shared all his joys and all his sorrows-and was to him, in the best and most exalted sense of the term, a helpmate, died in 1749. In a note, or memorandum, appended to the first book of the Diary, Sir Edward thus touchingly commemorates the mournful event : "I feel her loss so deeply, that nothing less than the power of God could support me under my bereavement. But I live in the certain hope of meeting her again, and for ever, in the mansions of the blessed. And I thank her Heavenly Father and mine, that he has put it into my mind to set in order the narrative of my life, to amuse me the while. For, in so doing, I seem to live my days over again with her who was every thing to me on earth. And in this I not only find consolation, but sometimes feel a bright sunshine, like one of her own smiles, warm the sepulchral chamber of my heart. Should my nephews and nieces read it, when I am again with her, they will the better know her worth, whose tender regard fostered their infancy, in those dear islands, where, with her, I found an earthly Paradise, and lived in a sacred happiness, without alloy. "10th Feb. 1756-7." Throughout the work we find the sweetest touches of nature-of nature in her kindest, gentlest mood-that imagination can conceive. The eighteenth volume of Dr. Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia forms the second volume of "The History of England, by the Right Honourable Sir James Mackintosh, LL.D., M.P.," bringing the work down from the reign of Henry VI., to the death of Queen Mary, in 1558. This volume, at least, sustains the character acquired by its precursor. But for the study of German literature, the English scholar, even with the aid of his classical learning, could never have been in possession of the valuable work, whose title, at length, we are about to transcribe :"The Mythology of Ancient Greece and Italy, As a specimen of manner, we take one brief passage at random : intended chiefly for the Use of Students at the || plates, in outline, are delicately and beautiUniversities and the Higher Classes in Schools; fully executed. by Thomas Keightley, author of The Fairy Mythology,' Outlines of History,' in the Cabi- || net Cyclopædia, &c. ; with twelve Plates, etched on Steel, by W. H. Brooke, F.S.A." We shall quote three or four paragraphs from Mr. Keightley's Preface, to the whole of which we request the attention of the reader : "My design in the following work, which was undertaken at the suggestion of the head of a respectable school, is to supply an acknowledged desideratum in our literature; to make known the advances which the knowledge of Classical Mythology has made in Germany, and to initiate students in what may be regarded as its philosophy. As I profess myself to be a disciple of the rational school of Voss and Lobeck, I also wish to oppose, if possible, an effectual bar to the introduction of the wild fancies of Creutzer and the mystics into this country.* "There is, I am aware, a general prejudice against the Grecian Mythology, on the score of delicacy. I think, however, that the love adventures of the gods and heroes of Greece may be told in such a manner as not to offend; and I feel confident, that the narrative in the following pages will be found unexceptionable in this respect. No one can more highly respect true delicacy, no one would more anxiously avoid all occasion of offence to it, than I; but false delicacy, that sure mark of a prurient imagination, I view with contempt, and never will do it homage: honi soit qui mal y pense. "The nature of my plan has obliged me to use the Greek names of the gods and heroes; which many, I trust, will deem to be an advantage. I have also taken the liberty of employing some new words; one of which, pragmatise, may require explanation: I mean by it, the reducing of mythic narratives to historic truth, by altering or rejecting fabulous or improbable details.*** "The subject of the plates in this volume, are all genuine antiques. They have been selected and engraved by Mr. Brooke, whose fanciful and spirited illustrations of my Fairy Mythology,' have been so generally admired. They are taken chiefly from the noble collection of gems, medals, bas-reliefs, and paintings of vases, contained in Millin's Galerie Mithologique (a work which every admirer of ancient art should possess), and from the splendid Musée des Antiques, lately published at Paris." Our warmest praise is due to this work: it is rational, philosophical, and systematic: in paper, print, and illustrative embellishment, it is unrivalled in its class. The "Eros is usually represented as a roguish boy, plump-cheeked and naked, with light hair floating on his shoulders: he is always winged, and armed with a bow and quiver. In works of art he appears in various situations, and in company with different deities. An opponent to Eros, named Anteros (avrl gws), was afterwards devised. Anteros was originally the deity who avenged slighted love; but poets taking advantage of the double meaning of the preposition avri, made him the god of reciprocal affection, and invented the following pretty legend. "Aphrodite complaining to Themis that her son Eros continued always a child, was told by her, that the cause was his being solitary; and that if he had a brother he would grow apace. Anteros was soon afterwards born, and Eros immediately found his wings enlarge, and his person and strength greatly increase. But this was only when Anteros was near; for if he was at a distance, Eros found himself shrink to his original dimensions: the meaning of this mythus is so apparent that it needs not explanation. "At the time when it was become the mode to exalt the characters of philosophers by ascribing to them all kinds of wonderful works, the sophist Eunapius told the following pretty legend in his life of Jamblichus, the author of as marvellous a life of Pythagoras. Jamblichus and his companions having gone to the warm baths of Gadara, in Lycia, and bathed in them, a conversation arose among them on the nature of the baths. The philosopher smiled, and said, Though it is not strictly right in me to do so, yet I will shew you something new.' He then desired them to inquire of the inhabitants, what were the traditional names of two of the smaller but handsomer of the warm springs. They replied, that one of them was called Eros, and the other Anteros, but that they knew not the cause of their being so styled. Jamblichus, who was just then standing at the brink of the fount, touched the water, and murmured a few words over it. Immediately there arose from the bottom a little boy of fair complexion, and moderate size; his hair of a rich golden hue hung down his back, which was bright and clean as that of a person who had just bathed. All present were in amazement; and the philosopher leading them to the other spring, did as he had done before, and instantly another love, similar to the first, except that his hair was of a bright dark hue, rose to light. The two embraced, and clung round the philosopher as if he had been their father; and after caressing them for some time, he restored them to their native element. His companions, who had been previously disposed to regard him as an impostor, convinced by this wonder, henceforth received his words as those of a divinity." The study of German literature is now so much upon the increase in this country, that it becomes an object of importance to obtain competent teachers, and works of instruction that may be relied on for accuracy and clearness. In this light, Professor Klauer Klattowsky has, we conceive, rendered an important service to the student, by the publication of "A Comprehensive Grammar of the German Language, condensed in Two Synoptical Tables." Nothing can be more simple, more lucid or distinct, or better calculated for prompt and general reference. Mr. Klattowsky has also published, in two volumes, a "German Manual for Self-Tui- || tion;" some idea of the principle of which || may be gathered from a passage in the writer's Introduction :-" To facilitate the acquisition of the German language, no plan appears to me better calculated than that of requiring a beginner, during his first lessons, to translate literally and analytically; this preference is not founded on hypothesis, but on a sixteen years' experience in teaching my native tongue, and having myself found it to answer better than any other method in learning different languages. To supply the absence of a tutor, it therefore became necessary to put into the hands of the student a book, which, besides the original text, should also contain a translation thereof, and that not merely literal, but likewise analytical, comprising every single word, and, furthermore, shewing the construction of each sentence." Mr. Klattowsky appears, in fact, to have adopted the good, and rejected the bad portions of what is generally termed the Hamiltonian system, but which, as he tells us, has been long known and approved in Germany, and may be traced back to a manuscript of the German monk, Kero, written in the beginning of the eighth century. which a judicious amplification, adapted for the more advanced student, is given in the second; with rules for pronunciation, accentuation, &c. Prefixed to the second volume are five plates of German caligraphy. Following, in succession, a "Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy," by Herschel, and "A Treatise on Hydrostatics and Pneumatics," by Dr. Lardner, the nineteenth volume of the Cabinet Cyclopædia presents us with an able" Treatise on Optics, by David Brewster, LL.D., F.R.S., L. and E." Within a very narrow compass, this volume contains a vast mass of useful information, clearly and skilfully arranged. "Thoughts on Man, his Nature, Productions, and Discourses; interspersed with some Particulars respecting the Author; by William Godwin," must excite attention in the more intellectual portion of society. The author of "Political Justice," and "Caleb Williams," (lately republished) cannot-will not ||—be forgotten. We name these works, not with reference to their moral or political tendencies, which, we fear, have been dreadfully pernicious-though unintentionally so on the part of the writer, whose heart is full of benevolence and kindly feelings - but merely as emanations of a great, a searching, a philosophical, a powerful mind. Mr. Godwin tells us that, in the present volume, he has attempted to give a defined and permanent form to a variety of thoughts which have occurred to his mind in the course of thirty-four years-the period which has elapsed since the publication of his "Inquirer." That an octavo volume of threeand-twenty essays, so concocted, and by such a writer, should not contain much to excite interest, much to elicit thought and meditation, would be impossible. The impression, however, forces itself upon us, that Mr. Godwin has lived too little in the world— that his attention has not been sufficiently directed to the discoveries and improvements of science-that, in fact, his mind has not "progressed" with the progress of society In the first volume of the Manual, we find and of knowledge. His reasoning is clear, an extensive selection of legendary tales, acute, and specious; but it is not always dramatic scenes, and poetry, from the most sound. This, in many instances, is the reapproved works of German writers; and, in sult, not of mental incapacity, but of want the second, is a literal English and French of information. Dr. Johnson would have analysis of the pieces referred to; progres- made himself master of a subject before he sively, as the student advances, withdrawing would have ventured to write upon it. Godthe interpretation. Thus attention and in-win has not always acted upon the same dustry are excited, and improvement is rendered certain. In the first volume, also, is a brief, yet comprehensive grammar; of No. 19.-Vol. XIV. principle; and he ought to be aware, that, howsoever admirably the mind of man may be constituted, knowledge comes not by in E tuition. Thus, in his Essay on Phrenology, he has shewn himself ignorant of the first principles of the science; consequently, the veriest tyro may put him down in an instant. "It is well known," observes Godwin, " that in Thurtell, who was executed for one of the most cold-blooded and remorseless murders ever heard of, the phrenologists found the organ of benevolence uncommonly large." This is not argument; for it is not the extraordinary development of a single organ that can determine the character of a man's generally-prevailing impulses and propensities. Admitting the truth of the position quoted, it would become necessary to inquire, before pronouncing an opinion unfavourable to the truth of the science of phrenology, whether the organ of benevolence, in Thurtell's brain, might not be counteracted, and overpowered by other organs of a hostile character? And, in fact, Thurtell's phrenological organisation was, in the aggregate, amongst the worst ever seen.-In the same breath that Mr. Godwin is a necessarian upon a narrow principle.-His reasonings upon the science of astronomy we conceive to be as fallacious and unsound as are those upon phrenology; but his essays-though of course unequal in literary as in philosophical merit -are beautifully written; the volume is, throughout, characterised by a vein of the most amiable benevolence; and making due allowance for certain heterodox opinions, which seem likely to cleave to the writer to the last, it contains some of the finest "material for thinking" of any work that has, for a long time, fallen under our cognisance. com Another most acceptable volume of the "Family Library" - the XXIId. mences a series of "Lives of Scotch WorPatrick Fraser Tytler, Esq., F.R.S. and thies," from the eminently-qualified pen of F.S.A. In how many volumes the series is to be completed we are uninformed; but, as the book before us embraces only the Lives of Alexander the Third, Michael Scott (the with the first section of the Life of Robert far-famed wizard) and Sir William Wallace, Bruce, two more at least may, we presume, be expected; and, should they prove as interesting as the present-we care not if they make up a round half-dozen. They will form a valuable addition to our biographical stores. It is true, the stern research of the historian has stripped off' much of the poetic romance with which these noble characters have long been traditionally invested; yet enough is left to entitle them to not only our admiration, but our wonder. Mr. Tytler has accomplished this portion of his task most satis Mr. Godwin tells us "the great triumph of man is in the power of education, to improve his intellect, to sharpen his perceptions, and to regulate his moral qualities," he pronounces the system of phrenology to be "the most rigorous and degrading that was ever devised," and affirms that "it reduces education to almost nothing, and exhibits us for the most part as the helpless victims of a blind and remorseless destiny." This is altogether erroneous, and could not have been written by any person possessing the slightest knowledge of even the first elements of phrenology, which grounds itself on "patient and laborious investigation," on the most sedulous, analytical, and comparative examina-factorily; and, with the embellishments of tion. Phrenology has nothing to do with "destiny." If the "triumph of man" be, indeed, "in the power of education," and if phrenology be founded in truth, the study of that science is, of all others, the most calculated to increase the power, and to meliorate the state of man, by enabling parents, tutors, preceptors, &c., to excite, foster, and heighten the noble and benevolent propensities of our nature in youth, and, by counteraction, to check, subdue, and destroy all that is mean, sordid, and vicious. How can Mr. Godwin affirm that phrenology is a "degrading" system, when one of the articles of his own creed is, that all human actions are the result of necessity-that we enjoy only a delusive sense of liberty"that "a knife is as capable as a man, of being employed in purposes of utility; and the one is no more free than the other, as to its employment ?" 66 the volume, the antiquarian as well as the general reader will, we venture to assert, be much gratified.---We quote a singular incident in the Life of Wallace, illustrating the influence of remorse and superstition working upon a generous mind, naturally powerful, but bred up in a belief of supernatural agencies and disembodied spirits. In a moment of exlace, with but few followers, and a bloodtreme danger and of fierce excitement, Walhound on their track, had, in a paroxysm of fury and suspicion, severed the head of oné of his partisans from his body : "Scarcely, however, had this unjustifiable vengeance been executed, when the chief experienced that revulsion of remorse and pity which was natural to a generous mind surprised by passion; and, although the near baying of the hound proclaimed the imminency of the danger, he would have remained upon the spot, had not his soldiers insisted that he should provide for |