A New Abridgment of Ainsworth's Dictionary, English and Latin, for the use of Grammar Schools. By John Dymock, LL. D. Glasgow. Richard Griffin and Co. 1830. 12mo. Pp. 356 and 351. 2 vols. in one. THE name of Dr Dymock, as editor of this work, is a sufficient guarantee for its merits. His object has been to prepare for the use of schools a new book, containing the cream and essence of Ainsworth's Dictionary, compressed into a much smaller form, and sold for little more than one half the usual price. At the same time, nothing is suppressed which could be of material service to the young scholar, while, in several instances, an evident improvement has been made on Ainsworth. That the inflections of verbs, for example, may be better understood, they are all fully conjugated; and the genitives, not only of nouns, but of all irregular adjectives, are given. The English and Latin comes first, and then the Latin and English. The whole is printed in a beautiful and distinct small type, and the form of the volume is unusually portable and convenient. We know of no Latin Dictionary of the same useful dimensions, or more deserving of coming into immediate and general use. Memoirs of the Tower of London; comprising Historical and Descriptive Accounts of that National Fortress and Palace. By John Britton and E. M. Brayley, Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries. Embellished with a series of Engravings on Wood, by Branston and Wright. London. Hurst, Chance, and Co. 1830. Svo. Pp. 374. THIS is an elegant and instructive volume. There is no edifice in the kingdom whose antiquities are more deserving of attention than those of the Tower of London, and in the able hands of Messrs Britton and Brayley they are invested with a powerful historical interest. The woodcuts by Branston and Wright are of a very superior kind, and the work altogether is a valuable addition to our literature. The Literary Blue Book; or, Calendar of Literature, THIS little volume, which is very handsomely got up, contains a number of lists connected with Literature, Science, and the Arts. Among these are lists of living authors, artists, musical composers and teachers, teachers of languages, public galleries of art, chronological list of eminent persons, periodical publications, principal performers at the theatres, lists of the universities, public schools, literary and scientific institutions, &c. So far as they go, these lists are interesting and accurate, but they are limited, for the most part, to London. | A Compendious German Grammar; with a Dictionary of Prefixes and Affixes, Alphabetically Arranged: according to the Recent Investigations of J. Grimm, and other Distinguished Grammarians. By A. Bernays, Editor of the German Poetical Anthology. London. Treuttel and Co., &c. &c.; and all other Booksellers. 1830. Pp. 60. HAS Mr Bernays ever read the works of Grimm ?for, if so, it does not appear. His Grammar is good enough, but old fashioned. MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE. SKETCHES FROM THE PORTFOLIO OF A SOCIETY AT ALGIERS-THE STORY OF THE SISTER JEWESSES. THE Society at Algiers was, at the time I am writing of, a very pleasant one. We had the British, the Swedish, the Danish, the Spanish, and the French Consuls, all of whom had their families and followers with them, so that we could very well muster a party of sixty or seventy persons; and I envy not him who would pant for a more extended range. We lived together almost as one family, the younger branches of which called one another familiarly by their surnames; and all were united in harmony and good fellowship. But human nature is the same everywhere; and although none of the evil passions existed (or, at least, did not discover themselves) in our little community, there was certainly some little rivalship among the Consuls, and some little jealousy between their families; but this never extended far, or lasted long. There was a Jewish family at Algiers in my day of the name of Bensumon, who, though they did not mingle in our society, were yet well known, and in whose house I have frequently been. This family consisted of a very venerable old man, who had acted at one time as British Vice-Consul with probity and honour, his wife, a son, and two daughters-Luna and Haneena. The father and the son had both been in England, spoke the language well, and dressed in the European fashion; the females spoke nothing but Arabic and Hebrew. Soon after my arrival, I was introduced to this family. I made my first visit in company with my cousin, Mrs E. Delville. When we entered, we found the poor old man confined to a sick bed, from which he never afterwards rose. He made us very welcome, however, and ordered refreshments. They were brought in by his daughters, and two beings of such dazzling beauty I have never beheld. They were twins, and bore a strong resemblance to each other, their names signifying respectively the sun and the moon. Luna, however, had most of the sun in her disposition and temperament, and should have changed names with her sister. If I looked with breathless admiration upon them, they seemed to look upon me also-a stranger and a Christian-with no little interest. Their father, however, observing this, spoke a few words to them, which set both them and himself a-laughing, and they presently The Duty of considering the Example of departed Good busied themselves in serving the refreshments. These Men: a Sermon, occasioned by the Death of the late consisted of the choicest fruits, conserves, and sweetmeats, Right Rev. Daniel Sandford, D.D., Bishop in the with the richest liqueurs, all on gold and silver plate, Scottish Episcopal Church. Preached in St John's which the old man had contrived still to retain, although Episcopal Chapel, Edinburgh, January 24, 1830. By he had frequently shared the common fate of his brethren, the Rev. Edward B. Ramsay, B. A., &c. Edinburgh. in being plundered by the government. During the reWaugh and Innes. 1830. past, at which Luna was more active in her attendance than her sister, I had ample opportunity of admiring the contour of her exquisitely rich and voluptuous person, which her occupation and her dress fully disclosed. THIS is a tribute offered to the memory of a late highly esteemed pastor, and truly excellent man. It is a me morial of affection which was due to him, and which is It was not for some time that I could comprehend worthy of the classical pen and refined taste of the Rev. Luna's countenance, which was different in expression Mr Ramsay. from any other I had before, or have ever since seen: it was beautiful, exquisitely beautiful—combining great sweetness with a soft and luxurious expression, which conveyed a certain impression, of which Luna herself seemed not to be ignorant. She wore no trowsers, as the Turkish women do, her first visible garment being a caftan or mantle, closely fitted to the shape, and reaching a little below the middle of the leg, which was naked. On her little foot she wore a species of sandal, fastened over the ankle with a ruby clasp, which contrasted beautifully with the snowy whiteness of the leg and foot. The mantle was fastened round the waist by an embroidered girdle, closed with a diamond clasp; the boddice being left open in front, and coming low down on the back, leaving it and the shoulders entirely naked, and so formed on the bust, as to leave exposed the beautiful colour and symmetry of her neck, and the exquisite form of her throbbing bosom, which was only very partially shaded by the muslin screen of her under vestment. Över this caftan she wore a kind of jacket, of richly-wrought crimson cloth, without sleeves, but fastened over the shoulders by diamonds, or other precious stones. This was also made tight to the person, and worn in every respect like the boddice of the caftan, only that it came down over the loins, and formed the warmest part of her clothing. The arm was naked from the shoulder downwards, finely formed and rounded, and terminated by the prettiest little hand in the world. A little below the shoulder she wore a diamond armlet, and on the wrist a golden bracelet, which set off this part of her person to the greatest advantage. Her head-gear consisted of a tiara of golden filigree, which served to confine her otherwise unrestrained and luxuriant silky hair, of dark but glossy auburn, which was shaded over a most beautifully shaped forehead, and which, when I first saw her, fell in graceful tresses to its full length, without braid or artificial ornament of any kind, over the shoulders, of which it was the only covering. The form of her countenance was oval, the contour of the cheek and chin beautifully rounded, and the head most gracefully set on the shoulders. Her complexion, though dark, was of that rich and voluptuous tint, which harmonized so well with the general expression of the features. The nose was purely Grecian, the mouth small, the lips vermilion, the teeth as white and as lustrous as pearl; the eyes-but who can give any idea of those dark-blue, soft, and love-inspiring eyes, or of the tale they told from under the most beautiful lashes in the world? The general expression of the countenance was, as I have said, gentle sweetness, and amorous softness, as if her whole soul was wrapped in the warm and fond desires. In short, a painter could not have found a finer model from which to have painted the Goddess of Love. by, and from whom they derived the greatest share of their beauty) was the devil herself for temper, and led them a sad life. This, Haneena appeared to feel acutely, but nothing could break the laughter-loving spirit of Luna. Both sisters were as elegant in their manners as they were lovely in their persons; every thing they did was done with the utmost ease and self-possession,-all was unstudied and natural. How much was it to be regretted that their minds alone were uncultivated! They were wholly uneducated; they knew, indeed, their religious creed, they knew, also, that their moral duties were to love and obey their parents to marry and bring forth, and suckle children-to attend to the domestic household concerns; but more than this they knew not,—and, although the poor old man was exceedingly proud, and fond of his daughters, to what good end would it have been to have taught them more-to have shown them what miserable and abject beings they were? They were the subjects of Algiers, and doomed to oppression; they were restricted from leaving the soil, and fated either to lead a single life, which their laws condemn, or to be married to ignorance. What purpose, then, would it have answered, situated as they were, had the old man in his fondness given them a superior education? As it was, they had their occupations and enjoyments; and as they were employed either in preparing the corn, or in grinding it with their hand-mills, they whiled away the time by singing the wild Moorish melodies, or in relating to each other tales closely resembling those in the Arabian Nights Entertainments. Besides, Luna and Haneena had their little contrivances for visiting and being visited. I have sometimes been at those parties, where I have seen many lovely faces, but none to compare to those of the Twin Sisters. In those parties the Moorish dance was a principal amusement. In this dance every Moorish female is more or less an adept—it is their only refined accomplishment; and, indeed, where well and gracefully executed, there is much to admire în it. It is a kind of minuet performed by two females, the one acting as the beau to the other, and tells a story of the whole course of courtship, accompanied by music, which, though extremely simple and monotonous, is yet made to rise and fall in an admirable manner, according to the passions expressed by the attitudes of the dancers. There is great skill and great delicacy required in the management of this dance, in order to avoid its falling into grossness and indecency,-for many of its attitudes and gestures are of a nature and meaning which, in the execution, should only be hinted at, and not left to pall upon the imagination. Haneena was, in every respect, in the same costume with her sister-equally lovely-and, by some tastes, she In the hands of the Twin Sisters, I have never seen might even have been deemed the lovelier of the two. any thing on the stage half so exquisite as the performThey bore, as I have already said, a strong resemblance ance of this dance. The expression they put into the to each other; and, as they stood together, it would have whole progress of the story, to the last embrace of raptubeen impossible to have conceived any thing more beauti-rous enjoyment, was given to the very life; and it is ful. There was this difference, however, between them: voluptuousness strongly glowed on Luna's countenance, and spoke in every gesture; Haneena wore a more chastened demeanour, and although the same expression was certainly in hers as in Luna's countenance, yet it was softened by a shade of deeper feeling. It was evident that the sisters had expected our visit, for this was their gala dress, and it would not have been safe to have appeared in such splendour every day. That which they wore in ordinary was a much plainer caftan, with a chemise, having wide hanging sleeves down to the elbow; and their only ornaments were immense ear-rings, so weighty, that they pulled down the ear, and actually tore it. I sometimes made signs to ask if they pained them; to which they answered by laughing, and intimated that they did not. They had the misfortune, soon after our visit, to lose their good old father. Their brother was then in England, and their mother (who was a very fine woman, by the worthy of remark, that though the whole purpose of this performance is to express and excite desire, yet they went through it in the same matter-of-course way in which a fashionable belle would go through the waltz, and I doubt whether they would not look upon our waltz in the same light as we do on their dance. I have often passed an idle hour in the company of these lovely sisters, charmed with their mutual kindness and affection; and I never left them without deep regret, that so much beauty, and so many natural virtues, should be doomed to such a fate "Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, Their brother, who was a very amiable lad, and exceedingly attached to them, as they were to him, felt in the same way; and I have sometimes seen the tear in his eye, and heard a long-drawn sigh, as he regarded them at their domestic drudgery, or heard their cheerful and con particularly well painted. But we abbor with our whole heart the immense array of middling portraits of Nobodies which crowd the walls of every exhibition. We are doubtful whether it be most wonderful that so many retion of their fac-similes staring them in the face, or that the artist can be hero enough to look again at those lineaments whose dulness must from daily habitude have sat down like a nightmare upon his soul; and fool enough to think that pictures, whose subjects would countervail the powers of Michael Angelo himself, as an orphan's curse can drag down a seraph, will ever raise his reputation. tented voices, all unconscious of what thoughts were passing in his mind. He would often speak of them with the utmost tenderness and affection. "I am not," he would say, "so anxious about Luna, as about Haneena; -Luna is of a temper to make herself contented any-spectable, sensible, dull, ugly people, can bear the inflicwhere—perhaps she has the warmer feelings of the two, but she does not feel the deepest; any husband, provided he be but young enough, and good-looking enough, (for young Madam knows her own value, her mother has taken care to cram her well with that,) will do for Luna: Haneena, on the contrary, requires to love and to be beloved. She never would be happy otherwise; and, alas! there are but few in this country who are deserving of her. Ah, Delville, if those two girls were in your happy country, what might they not become? what might they not expect?" Of all this family not one now remains, except perchance it be Luna-all the rest, some years after we had left Algiers, were swept off by the plague. The fate which befell Luna was such as perhaps might have been expected, and, short of actual violence, not much to be regretted. She was carried off to the Palace by the Dey, and afterwards, I understand, had the honour of a place in his Harem. FINE ARTS. THE FOURTH EXHIBITION OF THE SCOTTISH ACADEMY. THERE are perhaps as many positively bad pictures in this Exhibition as usual; but there is, to counterbalance this, a greater quantity of good, solid painting, and of really high promise. There are decidedly two classes of painters among us. The one seems to think painting capable of nothing further than giving neatly-finished and prettily-arranged representations of external nature. The other entertains higher notions of art, and sees that the poetry which is diffused through all nature is as susceptible of being expressed by colours as by words, and that the grand and the beautiful which stir the soul, may be poured out upon the canvass as well as upon wire-wove paper. This latter class do not content themselves with picking up a stray sunburst, or a reflected light, or a picturesque tree or rock, but they endeavour to accumulate all their stores of beauty, and to form of them a more elevated nature;-they do not content themselves with merely imitating form and colour, they seek also to arrange them in such a manner that their beauty shall be heightened and their power increased. Whenever we see this acknowledgment of the true aim of art, we are sanguine that the mind gifted with the power to conceive it will not, with requisite industry, fail to attain it. The previous labour will be long and uncheered with sympathy, for there are few who can distinguish, in the fermenting chaos of an intellect struggling to realize its overpowering conceptions of beauty, the disjecta membra which are gradually approximating and coalescing into harmony; but when the proud task has been accomplished, and when the dreams of boyhood have attained, after long days and nights of toil, a richer realization, the applause of those whose applause is worth having, and the consciousness of a worthy undertaking worthily achieved, will more than repay the toil that has been endured. The number of artists who have girded themselves for treading this arduous path is evidently increasing among us, and we watch their progress with deep interest. Before proceeding to touch upon the individual merits of the different artists, there is a large mass of pictures which we wish to dispatch in a bunch,—we mean the portraits. We acknowledge that there are few things more interesting than a good portrait of any distinguished individual; and we have also some toleration for the portrait of a beautiful woman, or even-though in a less degree of any person, however uninteresting, if We do not mean to say that all the portraits in the Exhibition are stamped with mediocrity. Watson Gordon has four which would make the fortune of any other artist, though we are not quite sure that they are exactly what we were entitled to look for at his hands. The merits of this artist are so well known, that we need not here dwell upon them; and as to our objections to the pictures he this year exhibits, they are not meant to imply a falling off, so much as a standing still. He must not stop yet in the career of improvement; and, after all, we are not quite sure that he has ever painted any thing so excellent as his "Full-length Portrait of a Lady in a Fancy Dress," (No. 182.)-Colvin Smith has some good strong likenesses. His Jeffrey is the life-and Mr Smith may be proud that he has been able to stamp upon canvass that flickering expression. Sir Walter Scott is like in all the features, but we scarcely think the expression successfully given. Lord Alloway is a good, and Colonel Glass a masterly, portrait. It is, however, almost exclusively in his happy power of seizing a likeness, that this artist's talent lies. His style of painting is coarse to a degree; and, except in the portrait of Colonel Glass, we do not think that he has shown much feeling in the selection of attitudes, or in the general arrangement of his pictures.-Duncan has an excellent portrait of Alexander Ballantyne, Esquire, whether we consider it as a striking and characteristic likeness, or as a really fine piece of painting. This young and highlypromising artist has two other portraits in the Exhibition, but though well painted, their subjects are scarcely happy enough to rescue them from our ban and anathema. It does not strike us that there are any other portraits that challenge notice. The "Portrait of a Lady," (221,) by that clever lazy-boots, Lauder, is warmly and powerfully coloured; and a picture, with a similar designation, by Smellie Watson, (46,) is remarkably well arranged. Having now got so many of the pictures thus easily and unceremoniously shoved off our hands, we proceed to go over the remainder, not picture by picture, but artist by artist. And, lest any umbrage should be taken on the score of precedency, we evoke these perturbed spirits one by one, as a Grand Sheriff selects a jury-by laying the Catalogue closed before us, then inserting the pen at random, and taking him first upon whom it lights. DAVID SCOTT.-There is both power and feeling, in no ordinary degree, in the works of this artist. They are, however, as yet in a tolerably disjointed state-something like the bear-cub of fabling naturalists, which requires to be licked into shape after birth. The large picture of "Lot and his Daughters" is well arranged for picturesque effect, and some parts of it are well painted; but the reason why it pleases us most is, that it shows ambition and intrepid reliance on his own powers on the part of the artist. Its faults are of that class which strike every one, and we beg, therefore, to dispense with the task of pointing them out. There is much sentiment in his "Adam and Eve at their Morning Devotions." On the whole, we augur good things of Mr David Scott, if he continue to labour, and have an opportunity afforded him of forming his taste upon the best works of that high style he has chosen. JOHN EWBANK must have got sentimental of late, for he is strong in the moonlight line. This artist belongs most unequivocally to the first class we enumerated. He selves some notion of the character and progress of Italian art. We confine ourselves entirely to those masters of whom there are specimens in the rooms; and we shall best effect our purpose by going over them in a chro never penetrates beyond "the outer show of sky and earth." THE NASMYTH FAMILY.-There is such a decided family likeness runs through all the works of these ladies and gentlemen, that it would be impossible, without the aid of the catalogue, to say which is which. They have one common fault,-they want a body of colour. Their paintings are flat, and look like a coloured print. In most of their productions, too, there is a want of aerial perspective. The objects in the background diminish duly in size as they recede, but their outlines are as distinct, their colours as unsubdued, as in those of the foreground. The best work of this joint-stock-company is Patrick Nasmyth's "View of a Windmill, at Limes in Suffolk." J. F. WILLIAMS." Ha! Old Truepenny! art thou there?" "Largo Bay" (240) and "Fisherrow Harbour" (228) are creditable pictures; the former, in particular, has a fine airy look. "The confluence of the Leven with the Clyde," is hardly equal to the "View on the Clyde," painted last year for the Institution; and the view of the Calton Hill seems scarcely finished, though there is some good bold work in the middle distance. So much for this week. FOURTH EXHIBITION OF ANCIENT PAINTINGS IN THE GAL- (Second Notice.-Italian Masters.) THERE were many circumstances that co-operated to raise the art of painting to the very considerable elevation it had attained so early as the commencement of Rafaelle's career. It had been cultivated for two centuries (reckoning from Cimabue) with increasing love and capacity. Its chief patrons were the wealthy regular clergy. Under their auspices painting had been practised in the quiet and retirement of the cloister, where, aloof from the cares and turmoils of the world, the artist could abandon himself entirely to that enthusiastic devotion to the study and production of the beautiful, which in the susceptible mind kindles, even under the most adverse circumstances, to a passion. He felt, likewise, that his art was devoted to the service of religion, and this gave it a character of sacredness in his eyes. His mechanical resources, too, improved as the country continued to advance in science; the chemical pursuits of the monks furnished him with finer colours; and the progress of geometrical and physical discovery did him good service. But forbearing to dwell longer on these general speculations, we are not without hopes that such as have it in their power to visit the Ancient Exhibition may, by viewing the few specimens it contains, in connexion with our remarks, form to them ANDREA MANTIGNA.-We begin with this artist, because, although not the oldest in the Exhibition in point of time, he is the oldest in point of style. He was born of low parents, in the Mantuan territory, in 1451; and died in Mantua in 1517. He is said to have studied much in his youth from ancient statues; so much indeed as to have, on one occasion, been taunted by a rival, that his pictures re presented marble, not flesh. This sneer impelled him to devote more attention to the attainment of a soft and natural colouring. No. 43, the only painting by this artist in the Exhibition, is by no means one of his best works, but it gives a tolerable notion of his characteristics. His colours are brilliant, pure, and well arranged. There is no attempt made to give the effect of cloth in the drapery, except in as far as regards the form and colour. There is some appearance in the figures of their having been stu died from life; but their attitudes and the expression of countenance are harsh and exaggerated; and there is little knowledge displayed in the manner of grouping them. In the whole picture there is nothing ideal, no attempt even at a selection of beautiful nature in preference to the vulgar forms of every-day existence. And this is exactly what was to be expected from the artist and his time. Of all his works, he is said to have regarded with most pride one in which he expressed successfully the straining of a man endeavouring to pull off, by standing upon it with one leg, a stocking, which had stuck fast to the other. His sympathetic contemporaries willingly lavished their admiration upon the same masterpiece. The picture in which this figure occurs, is a St John baptising, and the hero of the stocking is stripping, in order to participate in the initiatory rite. GIOVANNI and Gentile BellinI were the sons of Jacobo Bellini, a Venetian painter; and educated by him in the principles and practice of his art as far as they were then known. Gentile died, aged 80, in 1501; and Giovanni some few years after him in his 90th year. The two brothers were much esteemed in Venice for their portraits and other paintings, and not less for the strength and constancy of their fraternal affection. Though somewhat older than Mantigna, (who married their sister,) their style of painting, to judge by No. 100, the only specimen of their works in the Exhibition, and indeed the only one we have seen, was much more advanced. The subject of this picture is a woman with a cup of poison. The expression is that of a thorough Venefica. They have the start of their brother-in-law in the faithful representation of nature, but seem to have little more of the high feeling of art than he had. The chief interest attaching to these artists arises from their having been the teachers of Giorgione. FRANCESCO FRANCIA-a native of Bologna; born 1450 -died 1518. He was by occupation a goldsmith, and highly distinguished in the ornamental department of his art. In the fortieth year of his age he was stimulated, by the reverence he saw paid on all hands to Mantigna, to attempt something in painting. In this he succeeded so well as to obtain immediate reputation and employment. No. 83 (a Holy Family) is by this artist. The arrangement of the picture is simple, and, after the ancient manner, is all upon a straight line. The colouring, however, is chaste and fine, the countenances natural and beautiful, with an expression of deep, quiet feeling. There was something melancholy in the death of Francia, who, by the account of Vasari, and indeed by the sentiment evident in all his works, was one of the most gentle and amiable of men. The rising fame of Rafaelle had reached him in Bologna, and he conceived so strong an anxiety to see the works of this young prodigy, that nothing but the infirmities of age prevented him from repairing to Rome for that sole purpose. By means of some common friends, the two artists entered into a correspondence. In 1518, Rafaelle having finished a painting destined for a church in Bologna, committed it to the friendly care of Francia. But the beauty of the work was so exceeding, that the old man stood before it as one stupified; and, tormented incessantly by the new views of the capability of his art thus opened up to him, and the consciousness that he could never hope to realize them, he shortly afterwards pined to death. We must now turn our eyes southward to Florence, where the art had already made greater progress than in the north of Italy. LEONARDO DA VINCI was born in the Florentine territory in 1445, and died in France in 1520. He was of noble family, and enjoyed an excellent education. He was endowed with one of those universal minds which find pleasure, and are successful, in all pursuits. He was engineer, architect, sculptor, anatomist, musician, and painter. Withal, there was a frankness and buoyancy in his disposition that conciliated the love of every one. His kindness extended itself even to the brute creation; for he not unfrequently purchased the birds brought by the peasantry in cages to the market, solely that he might enjoy the pleasure of setting them at liberty. He was the first artist who set himself in earnest to the study of anatomy with a view to the improvement of art. He left behind him a work containing many invaluable hints for the painter. In the practice of his art, he surpassed all his contemporaries in his management of the chiaroscuro; and was equalled by Buonarotti alone in his knowledge of form and intense power. Leonardo, however, like all who excel their predecessors in knowledge of mechanical details, was apt to overrate their importance; and, more brilliant in conception than persevering in execution, he left many of his finest works unfinished. Not unfrequently, too, we find him giving in to a childish taste for tricks of art, which had begun to display itself in his day. There are three works in the Exhibition attributed to this artist-No. 74, a Portrait of Conte Visconti; No. 81, Virgin and Child; and No. 102, a Saint. Of these, the portrait of Visconti bears the most undeniable marks of the master's hand. The colouring of the face is highly and anxiously finished; the hair is inartificially disposed, but painted with an elaborate care which makes every separate hair appear, yet without causing any impression that undue attention has been paid to so subordinate a matter,-while a gentle melancholy reigns in the clear brown eyes. Monday, 15th February. Professor RUSSELL in the Chair. Present,-The Earl of Strathmore; Lord Glamis; Sir William Hamilton; Professors Duncan and Wallace; Drs Maclagan, Knox, Borthwick, J. Gregory; Mr Wood, President of the College of Surgeons; Thomas Allan, James Skene, Gordon, John Reddie, Patrick Neill, Esqrs. Dr Knox read No. I. of a series of papers, entitled, " Observations illustrating the Laws which regulate Hermaphroditical Appearances in the Mammalia.' A letter was afterwards read by the Secretary from the Chevalier Aldini, requesting the co-operation of the Society in promoting the extension of the knowledge of his late invention for the greater security of firemen. The Chevalier's exhibitions have engrossed of late too much both of the London and Parisian journals to render it necessary for us to enter upon the details of his prospectus. ORIGINAL POETRY. ALEENE. HER cheek is red-her eye is bright, And, 'mid the festal throng, How oft, 'mid radiant scenes like this, And now-no marvel 'mid the throng Mark well her varying face;— The memories of the past? Ah! Pride may nerve the heart awhile, But Love is lord at last. Her chee' is red, her eye is bright,- As oft the rainbow, ere the storm Spans with its arch of glorious hues So, oft, a radiance o'er the face Of fading bloom is shed,The soul's last mournful sunset smile, Before its light has fled! SONNET. GERTRUDE From the Sicilian Pastoral Poet, Giovanni Meli. GREEN airy mountains, sloped by shelving plains, Mute stagnant marshes, rivers murmuring on, Rocks where the Fauns lie hid in ambuscades, Smooth sliding currents, crown'd with vocal reeds, A Sweet flowers, fantastic trees, sequester'd shades, Damp caves, wherein the oozing nitre breeds, Night-warbling birds, that tune your labour'd song, Echo, that hears, and then doth all disclose, Vines interlacing the elm leaves among, Intricate wild-wood of dark trees and boughs,O, blest retreats! far from the vulgar throng, Receive the friend of peace and calm repose! MY MOTHER. REPOSE within my soul-my mother's smile! A |