ting himself in Egypt, M. Denon returned to France with Buonaparte, and was appointed by him director general of the Museum, with the commission of designing the medals to commemorate his history, and with orders to erect the intended column to the glory of the French armies, and to superintend the embellishing of the principal monuments. Thus of necessity attached to Buonaparte, M. Denon followed the French armies for fifteen years. On one occasion he was present when a long military report or dispatch was read, and which evidently gave the Emperor dissatisfaction."Ask," said Napoleon to the reader, "ask Denon, whose portfolios are full of posterity, if in what you read there is a subject for a painting or a medal." At the coronation M. Denon designed the medal commemorating that splendid ceremony, and he had the arrangement of the grand military fête which was given on the occasion in the wood of Boulogne ; he had also to arrange the great military fête on the top of Mount St. Bernard, given to the honour of General Desaix. The most brilliant exploits of the French armies in the campaigns of Austria, Spain, and Poland were designed by M. Denon on the scene of their achievement and immediately after his personal view of the actions; he may be therefore called the graphic historian of the French armies. The influence of his character and the fascinations of his fine intellect on those, who were connected with him in his employment as principal of the French artists, were considerable. After the fall of Napoleon, M. Denon retired to private life, and is known to derive both amusement and occupation from revising, classing, and arranging that collection of designs and paintings which he had spent fifteen years in forming. From the national importance of these objects it is to be hoped that, M. Denon will allow them to be published. But M. Denon's chief occupation, at present, is the giving of graphic illustrations of his extensive and valuable cabinet. This work will form a history of the art of engraving in every age and in every nation. There will be numerous lithographic fac-similes, and the whole will be accompanied by explanatory, historical, and professional, notes. We can hardly imagine a more appropriate and worthy termination of a distinguished professional career, than the work in question; and we trust it may be finished under the hands of M. Denon. NOTICES OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS. Die Urwelt und das Alterthum, erläutert durch die Naturkunde. The Primitive World and Antiquity explained by Physics. By H F. Link. 1 vol. 8vo. The author's aim is to represent the primitive world as essentially different to the present world, according to the researches of Blumenbach and Cuvier, to refute the various hypotheses relative to the supposed revolutions of the globe, and to explain the pretensions which Upper Georgia, Armenia, and Media have to be considered as the place which the human species first inhabited. In the first part, entitled "The Primitive World," the author treats of the numerous remains of organic bodies in the earth, which had previously attracted the attention of Xenophanes, of Kolophon, and he cites the different opinions relative to this subject, from which he concludes that an entire organic creation, and with it a great many extraordinary forms, unknown to the present world, have perished by the inundations of the sea; that every thing is formed and perfected by degrees; which inspires the hope of a gradual amelioration of spiritual and corporeal nature. The second part treats of the propagation of organic bodies on the earth, animals as well as plants; and the third, upon the propagation of the human species. In the fourth part, the author considers language as a decisive mark of propagation; he admits an original language, and demonstrates the origin of the difference of languages. The fifth part treats of the countries in which domestic animals and cultivated plants were first found: the sixth treats of metals. In the seventh, the author examines the different cosmogonies of the ancients, namely, that of the Indians, the ancient Persians, the creation after Moses, the mythology of the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Egyptians, and Greeks. : Topogr Beschreibung von Peterwardein. Topographical Description of Peterwardin and its Environs, with Figures. By Fr. Schams, 8vo. Syrmia, which is part of Hungary, has been but little known till now, not even in Germany, and very few travellers have visited this country or given a statistical description of it. The fortress of Peterwardin is situ ated on the borders of the Danube, seventy-five miles from Vienna. The climate is moderate and the country fertile. The Emperor Probús, a native of Syrmia, must have planted the first vines in the third century. The wine reckoned the best in Hungary, and the author declares, it is real nectar, The village of Nausetz, situated on the other side of the Danube, and to which is a bridge of boats, is remarkable for the extent of its commerce and a great many remains of Roman antiquities. The basin of the canal of the Emperor Francis is thirteen miles long, and carries ships of considerable burden. The language of the people is CroatianSclavonic, and the religion catholic. The plates which ornament this work represent the fort of Peterwardin, and, in a neighbouring village, is to be seen the tree to which General Brenner, in the year 1766, was tied by the Turks and shot. engravings is, A Croatian of the County of Wieselbourg, and a Tréfileur Slawa que. The former wears a long blue robe with silver pointed buttons, with red facings, white canvas lining, blue breeches, and a white flannel tight coat. The second wears a plain shirt, and a gatza of coarse linen, breeches of coarse cloth, and a sort of leathern pouch upon his right shoulder, and a brown riding coat upon his back; round his neck he carries a roll of wire, with which he mends broken earthen-ware, which he performs with great dexterity, and without using glue. Neograd is represented, having her A Zelenean girl of the district of hair braided down her back, a little band of black velvet ornaments her forehead, and on each side are placed several ribbons of different colours; her sleeves are tucked up, and a blue corsette, ornamented with red ribbons, displays her pretty figure. She wears a white petticoat of fine striped linen, and a flowered cotton apron is tied round her with a ribbon. These girls generally carry a coloured handkerchief of silk or cambric in their hands. The costume of the girls of Szluin is distinguished for its elegance and the fineness of the linen. A beautiful veil, parted before, flows behind, down a petticoat trimmed with red bands. Their stockings are red, and their shoes yellow. The houses in this country are built of wood, the roofs are very high, and without chimnies; to let the smoke out they make a hole in the roof, which they cover with another smaller roof raised higher up. Morale Poetica Italiana, &c.-Selection of Moral Italian Poetry, taken from the Maxims and Sentences of the most celebrated Italian Poets. Pannoniens Bewshner, &c.-The By P. L. Constantini. 12mo. 4s. Costume of the Inhabitants of Pannonia, in 78 coloured plates, with an explanation of them. By F. Heimbucher de Bikessy, in 4to. These costumes of the people of Hungary are designed with taste and accuracy; the features and attitude of each person is well characterized, and all of them are carefully coloured. The text which accompanies the plates, and of which two hundred copies only have been printed, contains a description of the manners and customs of the Hungarians. The subject of one of these M. Constantini is well known for several Italian works, and amongst others, "Italian and French Dialogues for the Use of both Nations," which he published at Paris, where he has long taught the Italian language. Fixing his residence in London he has composed, for the instruction of his scholars, the present collection, which he has dedicated to the three Lady Stanleys. The frontispiece is ornamented with lithographical portraits of Dante, Tasso, Ariosto, Petrarch, and Metastasio. Monumenti Etruschi, o di Etrusco Nome, &c. Etruscan Monuments, or those which are thought to be Etruscan, &c. By the Chevalier Fr. Inghirami. 6 vols. in 4to. with 600 plates: in numbers, each 10 francs. These monuments relate to the sculpture, painting, philosophy, and religion of the ancient and celebrated country of Tuscany; each number contains twelve copper-plates and forty pages of text. This magnificent work will be extended to six volumes, which will contain a description and representation of the Etruscan urns, mystical mirrors, bronzes, edifices, earthen vases, and monuments of the Etruscan kind, or of doubtful origin. Most of the copperplates, some of which are only outlined others shaded and coloured, are drawn with the greatest care by the author himself. Those which are coloured perfectly imitate the different tints that time gives to bronze, marble, alabaster, and generally all stony materials. According to the distributive plan adopted by the author, each number contains a sheet of text, with explanatory plates. Methode pour l'Enseignement des Langues, &c. Method of Teaching the Languages. By M. J. J. Ordinaire, Rector of the Academy of Besançon. First Part, 1 vol. 12mo. Paris. It is from the progress of knowledge and of civilization, its necessary and inseparable attendant, that the human race is destined to obtain, one day, the greatest sum of felicity to which its nature can aspire. The perfection of such methods, as are intended to render literary studies and pursuits more easy and solid, merits, consequently, an interest commensurate with its great importance. There are three classes of men, who receive public instruction. The most numerous are obliged to labour hard, in order to procure the necessaries of life, and has, therefore, little time to devote to the cultivation or enlargement of the intellectual faculties.They obtain, therefore, in Lancasterian or other preparatory schools, such nofions and acquirements as are calculated to promote the objects of their industry, and the accomplishment of their duties. A second class is that of pupils, who attend grammar-schools, without any design of pursuing their studies beyond very moderate limits, their professions requiring neither extensive knowledge in the sciences, nor in literature. The third class is composed, first, of young men who, born without fortune or at least with a very moderate one, wish to found their liveli hood and their fame on the pre-eminence of their talents, by embracing professions, which require extensive knowledge, as medicine, education, jurisprudence, &c.; and, secondly, of life, believe very justly that they canthose, who, born in a high sphere of not acquire too much knowledge, to fulfil properly the situations to which they aspire, or to become the benefactors of mankind, by imparting riches and intellectual light to those to whom destiny has denied their enjoyment. This last class ought to pass through all the degrees of instruction, and gain from the Universities the completion of that knowledge, which they have already acquired at their elementary and superior schools. adopted, it is easy to determine what After this division, which is generally species of knowledge, each particular school ought to communicate. In the elementary schools, children ought to learn such principles of religion and of morality, as are placed within the reach of the infant mind,-reading, writing, the elements of arithmetic, geometry, linear drawing, and, perhaps, even music, the knowledge of which, when once it becomes general, softens and improves the manners of society. Perhaps it would not be improper to add to these acquirements the knowledge of gymnastic exercises, which is so well adapted to promote health, and preserve the original purity of morals. The information communicated at a grammar-school, which always supposes that the previous knowledge, which has been acquired at the preparatory schools, produced all the results in the youthful mind which it was intended to produce, should embrace the Latin, Greek, French and English languages, pure mathematics, drawing, the elements of physical science, che mistry, natural history, geography, history, and philosophy, which embraces the science of religion. To these might properly be added, music,and gymnastic exercises. The Universities must, ultimately, complete the course of education, not only in the sciences, the elements of which the pupil is already supposed to have acquired at the grammar-school, but also in a more elevated' course of study, which, resting upon the former, will enable him to advance with honour to the career for which he is in tended. It is necessary not only that the dif ferent schools should offer the different classes of learners the knowledge of which we have spoken, but also that there be a guarantee, that it should be given in that manner which is best calculated to communicate the ideas which the masters are directed to impart to their respective pupils. This guarantee, which is of great importance even to those who only pass through one or two classes, is still of far greater moment to those who pass through them all. It is not necessary that students at grammar-schools should be obliged to learn what they are already supposed to have acquired at the elementary schools; and it is, moreover, necessary that they arrive at the Universities with all the previous knowledge, which forms the basis of that superior iustruction, which is there imparted to them. All these conditions are essentially necessary to the formation of a complete course of education; but it is greatly to be doubted, whether they are all strictly fulfilled. Elementary or preparatory instruction, indeed, will soon be carried to such perfection, that the friends of infant education will not have much cause of uneasiness during the period of it. The method of mutual instruction called amongst us the Lancasterian system, is the most rapid and the most certain of all other methods, and offers every sort of possible guarantee to parents and guardians. But education, in schools of a higher degree, is far from presenting so satisfactory a prospect. It has, indeed, been improved within some years, but it is still far from being complete, and harmonizes but little with the demands of civilization, which have been considerably increased within the last thirty years, by the number and extent of the sciences, the study of which should always accompany the languages. The time usually employed in the study of the dead languages should be abridged, for it generally extends, both in France and in England, to three-fourths of the ten or twelve years which are passed at the grammar school. Thus an important service would be conferred upon a very considerable portion of society; for, to an exclusive study of Greek and Latin, the study of the sciences is now evidently sacrificed. However great this sacrifice may be, we might still endure it with some resignation, if it were compensated by a certainty, that, when the classic stu-. dent completes his course of Greek and Latin, he will be master of these lan-; guages, the study of which has cost him so much pain and application. Here we may safely appeal to all unbiassed men, and particularly to the heads of families, most of whom will acknowledge, that they were not masters, we will not say of those principles of Greek and Latin, which belong to universal grammar, but even of the terms of the languages, so as to translate any author whatever, without the help of a dictionary and grammar.— This is proved by experience; and the number of works published on this subject within the last fifty years, by mea of great merit, all of whom commence by declaring, that they have been determined to enter upon the subject, solely from the evil effects of the method hitherto pursued in teaching the languages, prove sufficiently how inadequate it is to fulfil its end. The method is, therefore, vicious. The author of the work, of which we now treat, President of the Academy of Besançon, employed a considerable portion of his time in reflecting on the cause, and in discovering the remedy by which this objection might be removed; and after an intense examination of the subject, he traces it solely to the vices of the existing method of instruction, and neither to the teachers, who are, generally, full of zeal, nor to the pupils, who are equally well inclined to acquire that information of which they are in pursuit. In fact, he shews, that the failure of the common method arises from attempting to transmit at once two species of knowledge, which are perfectly distinct in their own nature, and which, from being prematurely blended, without perceiving the distinction that exists between them, creates only that confusion of intellect, which is almost invariably followed by disgust, and a want of relish for classical attainments. Whoever has studied the process, by which ideas are generated in the mind, knows that they are all derived from two sources,→→→ namely, sensation and reflection. These two sources of human knowledge have been altogether neglected by philological writers, and no one ever has thought of applying the distinction between them to this important study before M. Ordinaire, who shews, what, indeed, requires no proof, that in languages as in all other sciences, there are only these two species of ideas, which are as distinct in their nature as in the time of their formation. Ideas of sensation, which our author calls ideas of fact, always precede ideas of reflection, which only compare the former with each other, and examine the links by which they are connected, in order to discover the relation between them. These latter ideas. M. Ordinaire calls ideas of deduction, a term, however, which we do not think sufficiently general to comprehend the extent of their nature. From this separation of ideas into two sorts, M. Ordinaire divides the study of languages into two distinct branches. The one is the communica tion of ideas of fact, which requires only attention, a faculty which in youth is at once so vigorous and so versatile; the other the communication of ideas of deduction, which is so remarkably slow in children, but which, when once exercised, becomes progressively more and more active. The latter ideas must be always founded on the former, so that the teacher, who communicates them antecedently, attempts to make his pupil acquainted with ideas which neither Locke nor Newton could understand if they were ignorant of those ideas of fact to which they refer. It is certain, however, that teachers make no distinction between these ideas, and seldom know the distinction themselves. They teach both indiscriminately, and therefore create only confusion in the mind of the pupil. All grammatical terms, for instance, are made up of these two sorts of ideas. The ablative, or sixth case of nouns, belongs to all terminations which designate it in the different declensions. This we know by mere observation, without any exercise of the reflecting faculty, and is therefore an idea of fact, or of sensation; but the same ablative expresses a certain relation between the word which it qualifies and some other word in the sentence, and this relation can only be perceived by reflection, as it presents no visible image to the senses. This relation is consequently what M. Ordinaire calls an idea of deduction. This example proves at once the existence of two sorts of ideas, and the advantage of separating them, so as to make the pupil acquainted with them in their proper order, that is, to instruct him first in the idea of fact, and afterwards in the idea of deduction, as he cannot by any process of instruction understand the latter till he is well ac quainted with the former. The ablest metaphysician, much less a child, cannot possibly perceive relations till he first knows the things between which they exist. From the total want of order in imparting these two sorts of ideas to youth, it entirely happens that we find them possessed of such a heap of rules and principles without understand, ing one of them; and that all their their notions are so vague and incom plete, and void of connection. We cannot therefore be surprised that so many learned writers, have considered the knowledge of Greek and Latin as totally useless. They could perceive in it but the study of words, whereas, if these languages had been properly taught, they would afford a powerful means of exercising the reflective fa culties, and of forming that correct judgment, which would be as useful to youth in their moral conduct as in their intellectual pursuits. Having explained the nature of the foundation on which M. Ordinaire rests. his new plan of education, and the vices of the present system of teaching the languages, we cannot accompany the sagacious author through the particulars of his own system, and the inge nious tables which he has invented to give efficacy to his own plan, and avoid the defects of the common method. It is sufficient to point out the existence of these defects to prove the possibility of improving the system, and to induce all those, who feel interested in the education of youth, to become acquaint> ed with the original. We could wish indeed to see the work translated into our own language, for the success which has attended the author's system of education in the academy of Besançon, over which he presides, has exceeded his own expectations... This appears from the testimony of M. M. Render and Ampere, the inspectors ge neral of education, who visited it in less than five months after the introduction of his system into the school. It is well worthy the attention of all public teachers and heads of families. It abridges wonderfully the long period of time which is usually devoted to classical acquirements, and its utility has the advantage of interfering with no political bias, and consequently of being introduced into every country, and sanctioned by every government, Coup d'œil sur l'education.-Re flections on Education. By M. A Gautier-Sausin, one of the Founders of the Society of Sciences, Agricul ture, and Belles Lettres of Montaubon. Second edition, considerably augmented. The important subject of education, though so frequently handled by wri ters, is yet capable of improvement, and Gautier deemed it such in ventur ing to offer his observations on it to the |