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gone, agricultural wealth, the care manifested in sowing proper grain, of opening water canals, and forming water basins in mountainous districts, the draining of moist soils, &c. are still regarded as acts of piety, and as the most useful of all occupations.

The care of cattle and the importance of their extensive increase were, next to agriculture, among the precepts most strongly recommended by the Persian worship. No country can boast of such fine horned cattle as that of the Aspians. The oxen were exclusively reserved for agricultural labour: the horse was only used by the warrior and the nobleman. They possessed great quantities of sheep, and the richness of their fleeces was singularly remarkable. The goat was in great estimation among them. The breed was the same which is now known by the name of the goat of Angora. They reared a great variety of poultry, especially cocks and hens. To have a cock in every house was an indispensable religious duty.

Europe has borrowed largely from Persian agriculture. We are indebted to it for many of our grains: the unbearded barley of Cappadocia, rice, the grape which is cultivated at present in the Ionian islands under the name of currants, &c. Many trees, as the citron, the bactrian pistachio, the jujube, &c.

A remarkable law among the Persians forbids the augmentation of im posts under pretext of the improvements, which had been effected by abundant cultivation: another restrict ed statesmen themselves from using any commodities, that belonged not to the agriculture and industry of the country.

We have little to say of the third part of the work. The Phenicians, who erected the walls of Tyre and Sidon, were not an aboriginal people, but a family of merchants whose sole object was to enrich themselves, and to form colonies wherever commercial relations held forth promises of interested speculations. Their laws were of the most horrid character. Their worship required that their altars should be stained with human blood: their priests and magistrates were inexorable. The poor were oppressed by a despotic aristocracy, and were destined to the most cruel slavery. The people having no agriculture led a pastoral life. Commerce heaped up gold; and when it became surfeited with it, it slumbered in the arms of despotism without transmitting other recollec

tions than those of hatred and revolting luxury. An important discovery is generally attributed to the Phenicians, namely, the fabrication of glass; but Reynier proves that there is no foundation for this opinion, since they took the process by which it is formed from the Ethiopians, among whom it was known from the remotest times; and also, because even the Egyptians had brought it to perfection before the arrival of the Phenician colonics on the coasts of the Mediterranean.

On the whole, there is great credit due to the learned writer of the work before us for having compiled a political and moral history on the most ancient of nations, which may be strictly considered unique in its kind. It merits the encouragement of all lovers of science, and the gratitude of every man who is called to share in the administration of his country. The experience of the past should serve as lessons for the future.

Euvres Choisies de Mirabeau :Select Works of Mirabeau, 8 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1821.

The character and political influence of Mirabeau, as well as his oratorical talents, has been the subject of much commentary and discussion. All bis writings were not of a nature proper to form part of the present collection; some, because they were offensive to morality and manners,-some, because they relate to fugitive circumstances, which have ceased to be interesting; and others, because they were too voluminous, as his "History of the Russian Monarchy," forming 7 vols. 8vo. with an Atlas.

"L' Essai sur le Despotisme" is the first work avowed by Mirabeau. He was but twenty-five years of age when he composed it, in the prisons of the Chateau d'If. The style of this work is formed after the models left by the celebrated French rhetoricians of the last century, as Volney, Diderot, Raynal, and Thomas. It is a union of oratory, erudition, and philosophy.The taste of the present day, however, required a severer logic, a more correct taste, and more profound erudition. Besides, Mirabeau frequently wanders from his subject, and indulges in too much passion, faults which he himself subsequently acknowledged, in lamenting that he had mutilated so fine a. subject.

His "Considerations on the Order

of Cincinnatus" contain facts and reasonings relative to hereditary and personal nobility, which are laid down in the clearest manner. The truths which he maintains, and which were almost universally admitted at the commencement of the French Revolution, and triumphed over personal interests, are at present greatly obscured over a considerable portion of Europe. America avoided the rock which Mirabeau pointed out to her. The military spirit, a spirit which is essentially aristocratic, exalted by the late French government, gave additional force to a prejudice, which the habits of a Representative government must progressively weaken.

His Essay on "the Liberty of the Press," is little more than a translation of Milton's "Areopagitica, or Speech for the Liberty of the Press;" and his "Rules observed by the House of Commons, in debating and voting," are a literal translation from the English, with some notes.

His work on the "Lettres de Cachet," and "State Prisons," is not, like his work on despotism, a mere brilliant declamation. The subject is treated in the most perfect manner. His reasonings are entirely deduced from principles of eternal justice, and supported by the historical monuments and special archives of French legislation. Destined to be served with eighteen Lettres de Cachets, he wrote this work in the Dungeon of Vincennes, where he was sent by the fourth of these arbitrary orders. It is said, that being deprived of paper, he wrote on the margin of books, which they permitted him to procure; and that, in parting from Vincennes, he carried this singular manuscript along with him, concealed in his clothes.

His "Secret History of the Cabinet of Berlin" was never intended to be made public. It was published, however, shortly after it was written, which caused a great scandal. A bookseller requested the manuscript several times of Mirabeau, but though almost reduced to distress he refused the most tempting offers which the bookseller could make him. In his absence, however, the escrutoire, in which he deposited his correspondence, was forced open. The bookseller posted off to Alençon, to the printer Malassis, and the "Secret History" was sent to press. It was pretended, that the proofs were corrected by Mirabeau himself; but M. Louis Dubois, who saw these proofs, affirms that the corrections do not appear to be in the hand-writing of Mirabeau, with which he was perfectly

acquainted. The affirmation, however, appears to us rather unsatisfactory; for if M. Dubois was perfectly acquainted with Mirabeau's hand, he must perfectly know, whether it be his hand or not; and, therefore, the word appear implies a doubt, which we cannot reconcile with such perfect knowledge. The "Secret History" was torn and burned by the common executioner. The "Secret History of the Cabinet of Berlin," is even at this day a work of great curiosity, and, of all Mirabeau's productions, promises most profit and delight.

This collection contains several other pamphlets: his treatise on "Stockjobbing," on "the Civil and Political State of the Jews," on "Cagliostro and Lavater," and "Advice to the Hessians, and other German people, who are sold by their princes to the English government," "" to the Batavians on the Stadholdership," with various pieces on the Revolution of Holland in 1787, &c. All these are productions that maintain their original reputation, and deserve being generally known. It is scarcely necessary to notice his "Letters to Sophia," which form a collection of three volumes, because their reputation and character are generally known; nor, indeed, would it be easy to point out all the merits which have procured them such unexampled success. will only add, that the late M. Cadet Gassicourt has prefixed a private life of Mirabeau to the "Letters to Sophia." The anecdotes, and remarkable particularities which it contains, render it an extremely interesting production.

We

Lettres Sur la Vallachie, &c.Letters on Walachia, or Observations on this Province and its Inhabitants, written from 1815 to 1821, with an Account of the Events which have lately taken place in that country, By F. Recordon. 1 vol. 12mo. Paris, 1821.

The scene of the present war between the Turks and Greeks has long remain ed unnoticed and unknown; and if the latter should now emerge from obscu rity, we can attribute it only to the ravages of war. Had the Greek continued passively to endure the bondage of Turkish despotism, had he still repelled the inspiring and tumultuous glow of patriotic emotion, and lingered in the silent obscurity of inglorious ease; had he refused to listen to the

call of honour and the voice of freedom, and had completely banished from his memory the recollections of happier days, and the thunders of him who

Wielded at will the fierce democracy,
Shook the arsenal, and fulmin'd over Greece
To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne,

this unhappy country, once the seat of genius and of valour, would still con tinue a blank in the civilized world, unnoticed by historians, unvisited by travellers, and unheard of by strangers. Whatever be the issue of the present contest, it will at least put the world in mind that such a nation exists; and if the Greeks prove unsuccessful, they can repel the charges so often brought against them of being deaf to the call of liberty and of national glory. They will convince surrounding nations, that they dared to die in defence of both.

Walachia and Moldavia claim more particular notice than the other provinces, as being the chief seat of war, the terrors of which are increased by the dark spirit of Turkish fanaticism. The present work contains very inte resting accounts of Walachia, and of the manners and customs of its inhabitants, the writer having resided in the country for several years.

L'Amour de la Patrie.-The Love of Country, a Poem, crowned by the Academy of Amiens, at the Meeting of August, 1821. By P. C. de Baugy, 8vo. Paris, 1821.

This is one of the most beautiful Poems which has lately issued from the French press. The sentiments are poetic, and the versification elegant. After having sung in a strain of impassioned enthusiasm that love of country, which was the soul of great and important events among the Ancients, the author comes down to the civil wars, in which France, forgetting her internal broils, opposed innumerable legions to the nations that sought to deprive her of her liberty. Nothing can be more affecting, than the picture which the poet gives of the Exile, fly ing his natal country, to mourn her destiny and his own in foreign climes. The scene, in which he represents him beholding, in a dream, his paternal roof, and imagining himself receiving once more the caresses and attentions of his family, is highly poetic; and the Academy of Amiens may boast of crowning

a poem, which would be worthy the suffrages of the first literary society in France.

Promenade des Tuileries.-AWalk in the Tuilleries, 8vo.

This is an historical and critical account of the monuments belonging to the garden of the Tuilleries. The various descriptions given of these monuments, in former works, have been mingled with many erroneous and unauthenticated relations, all of which are noticed and exploded by the compiler of the present account. It contains, also, a description of the Louvre, and other monuments. It is embellished with plates, and a fac simile of the hand-writing of Henry IV. and His Royal Highness the Duke of Berry. It is, in every respect, the best account of the garden of the Tuilleries extant, and it should be in the possession of every Englishman who visits the French Capital.

Epitre aux Grecs, &c.-A Letter to the Greeks, with Notes on the Situation and Resources of Modern Greece. By X. Boniface de Saintine. 8vo. Paris, 1821.

ed the sublime, at least breathes a true This little epistle, if it have not reachpoetic spirit; and, what is still more valuable, an unadulterated mind. The notes which accompany it are fraught with sentiments of the most enlightened patriotism.

Voyage Aux Colonies Orientales, &c.-A Voyage to the Oriental Colonies; or, Letters written from the Isles of France and Bourbon during the Years 1817-18-19, and 20. By Augustus Billiard, 1 vol. 8vo. pp. 485.

This work, properly speaking, is but a voyage to the Isle of Bourbon, filled with curious details, relative to agriculture, commerce, manners, the his tory of the colony, its judicial and administrative institutions, and its political relations. It contains, moreover, a num ber of useful views, relative to the advantages which France might derive from Madagascar, or the Isle of France, in case of retrocession..

ENGLISH PUBLICATIONS.

Napoleon in Exile; or, A Voice from St. Helena. By Barry O'Meara, Esq. 2 vols. 8vo. pp. 1053. 11. 8s. London, 1822.

THE work before us possesses, in a very eminent degree, two qualifications, seldom found in the same production, that of being both entertaining, and replete with important information. Mr. O'Meara has enjoyed a good fortune, which seldom falls to the lot of any man, an opportunity of producing a highly interesting and use fal work, without the necessity of intellectual pre-eminence, or any other requisite than the moral qualification of accuracy. We do not mean by this remark to detract from Mr. O'Meara's literary character, for he has shewn judgment and good sense, in not being induced by vanity to interpolate any original composition in a work, which can be valuable only in proportion to its being a simple narration of facts, and a faithful portraiture of him whom he professes to describe under such extraordinary circumstances. As to the accuracy of the work, it appears to us, that we have no reason to doubt upon the subject. Memoirs and pseudobiography must, of necessity, receive some tinge from the passions and interests of him who composes the work, and "Napoleon in Exile," perhaps, suffers some little from this common lot of our nature; but the book is so exclusively narrative, and confined to facts without comment or observations, that it appears to us, that it is less exposed to the imputation of colouring, than any work of the sort we have ever read. The author, in the form of a journal, tells us only what he sees and hears; and his statements relate to public documents, or concern so many persons of all ranks and nations, that it is impossible he can misrepresent any point without the certainty of detection; and this, we apprehend, is the best warranty of truth which we could possibly have in any case. The air of candour, which pervades the fascinating Confessions of Rousseau, is unequalled in literature, and stamps truth on the work with irresistible foreeThe internal evidence of veracity in the book before us, if not equally conclusive, is, at least, as conclusive as the nature of the work admits of; and is, unquestionably, equal to the internal Eur. Mag. Vol. 82.

evidence of truth displayed by any of the memoirs which have gained the credence of society.

A great French author has told us,that no man is a hero in the eyes of his Valet de Chambre; but it would appear, from this expose of Napoleon's private hours, that a man can be something much better than a hero in the eyes of his valet -in throwing off the hero, he can become an affectionate and amiable individual. It has always surprised us, to hear of the power which Buonaparte had of attaching those around him to his person. Whether this is one of the mighty effects of genius, or whether it is the result of genius, of good nature, and amiable manners combined, we know not; but it is certain, that even those who entered his presence with the most rooted prejudices, glided from hatred into admiration, and, finally, into love. It is almost impossible to conceive, that a man who can lead armies to perish by violence, or by the seasons, and, as soon as they are swept from the face of the earth, renew them for a similar purpose, can have a single compunctious visiting of humanity in his bosom. But so inconsistent an animal is man, that we find the hero, who, without emotion, orders thousands of human beings to slaughter, merely to gratify his ambition, can yet, out of the field of battle, be one of the most merciful and amiable disposition. Considering circumstances, Buonaparte appears to us to have committed less of private wrong and individual cruelty than any usurper. It would seem, that his disposition did not qualify him for gaining a throne by creating anarchy or revolution. Cromwell may be said to have waded through slaughter to a throne, whilst Buonaparte gained a crown by stopping slaughter, and re-establishing social order. After his defeat at Waterloo, a man, reckless of human life, would have made every desperate effort to retain his crown, and have made the scaffold subservient to his purpose; but no act of individual sacrifice stained this trying era of his life. Frederic the Great carried the ferocity of his disposition from the field to the closet; he was always a tiger; whilst Buonaparte individually appears to have been merciful and kind in the extreme. Judging of him by abstract principles of virtue, we must pronounce him, in common with all usurpers and heroes, an object most detestable; but

U

estimating him by the standard of work; and it is in all respects extrememany coloured life, and by a comparison ly interesting and important.

with the Alexanders, the Cæsars, and the Frederics, he must at once excite both admiration and esteem. It

is, however, necessary for human happi

ness to hold all such characters up to execration, to rob military ambition of its lustre, and to pay our homage to the more peaceful virtues. Buonaparte's ambition was, therefore, not only destructive of the general peace of mankind, but peculiarly injurious to this country; and whatever may be our admiration of his genius, or our love of his virtues, as it was impossible to restrain his ambition as a potentate, it was the duty of every Englishman to promote his dethronement; and being dethroned, to prevent the possibility of his again disturbing the peace of Europe. This is the view we ought to take of this extraordinary character, and to withhold our admiration of his genius, to feel any thing like personal hostility to his memory, or to hesitate to acknowledge his prodigious merit and shining virtues, is totally beneath the dignity of our national character. Heinous as the crimes of rebellion and usurpation may be, we cannot bring Napoleon under censure for either. The Revolution had begun long before he had either rank or influence; his assuming supremacy was the means of stopping its dreadful consequences, and had he been disposed to perform his duty, of restoring the legitimate prince, the state of the public mind rendered it impossible. His treason appears to have been not against his Sovereign, but against the cause of liberty, and the natural rights of mankind. Had he, after the battle of Austerlitz, confined France within the extensive but natural limits of the Pyrennees, the Alps, and the Rhine; and devoted his mighty genius to the arts of peace, and to establishing a free Representative Government, he would have been infinitely the greatest and the best character that ever existed.-At present, the historian can bestow only the praise of unlimited greatness.

The work being in the form of a Journal, the matter it contains is without classification, but it may be divided into two parts; the first, relating to the events on board of the men of war, and at St. HeJena, with the treatment inflicted upon the prisoner; and the second, comprising those remarkable conversations, in which Napoleon uttered his opinions upon persons and events. The future historian will unquestionably draw much of his materials from Mr. O'Meara's

Halidon Hill, a Dramatic Sketch.

By Sir Walter Scott, Bart. 8vo. pp. 109. 6s. London, 1822.

The subject of the present dramatic sketch is taken from Scottish history, and related in Pinkerton's History of Scotland, vol. 1. p. 71. The Scottish troops are encamped on the northern side of the eminence of Halidon. The English troops appear advancing in the valley beneath. Swinton, the chief character in the piece, advises the Scottish regent and his leaders to descend from the hill and meet the English in close combat on the plain, to avoid being exposed to their arrows, knowing that while they fought at a distance they might assure themselves of victory without receiving a wound. The regent rejects this counsel, though at the same time he can adopt no decided measures from the disunion that exists among his own chiefs, each of whom seeks to lead the van, and none of whom will submit to the dishonour of conducting the rear. Swinton, who only commanded "sixty spears," determines to sell his life dearly to the enemy, and descends the hill, accompanied by Gordon, whom he dubs a knight, notwithstanding the deadly feuds that existed between their families. The entire band is cut off, the regent having refused to send them any assistance, and himself and his stubborn chiefs fall afterwards an easy prey to the distant bows of the English archers.

It must be observed that this engagement took place at Homildon, but the author transfers the scene to Halidon Hill, where an engagement had afterwards taken place between the same parties, under circumstances nearly similar. "Who would again venture," says he, "to introduce upon the (same) scene the celebrated Hotspur, who commanded the English at the former battle."

We must say, it was wise in our experienced author, not to make his Dramatis Persona appear on the same scene with those of Shakspeare. The distance between them is immeasurable, and indeed a comparison between them would be absurd. They are, it is true, the same species of being; but they resemble each other in those qualities which depend not on species, as the cat resembles the lion. Like them

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