The feeling of peculiar respect for women, was certainly only heightened, not created, by the institutions of Chivalry. The equality of the sexes, unknown among the Greeks and Romans, was recognised amidst the dreary wilds and forests of the Cimbri and the Teutones. There the women, instead of being the slaves of men, were their friends and their advisers. They were intrusted with embassies and governments; they held their place in the council and the field; they mingled in battle with their husbands, their brothers, and their parents, † and preserved a noble independence of character, unknown to the female society of Athens or Rome. The strict rules of chastity, so early inculcated upon the youth of both sexes by the laws of the Gothic tribes; the diffidence and respect, the patient assiduity and anxiety, with which the lover prosecutes his suit, where his mistress possesses the power of choice and rejection-these might be reduced to system and rule by the institutions of Chivalry, but they existed long before in the character of the Northern tribes. They were, undoubtedly, in harmony with the character of an institution so enthusiastic and romantic as that of Chivalry, and accordingly, in that system, a very marked and prominent place was assigned to them. The defence and protection of the fair sex in general, formed, of course, part of the obligations of the knight in his vow of Chivalry. But this was not enough. The knight was obliged, in order to complete his qualifications, to select some individual fair one, to whom his more especial reverence and affection was to be devoted. Don Quixote, a great authority in these matters, was quite aware that the choice of a mistress was as necessary a preliminary to his expedition, as his steed and his arms. She was to be the polar star, to which his thoughts were to be directed amidst all the chequered scenes of his knightly career. Even her caprices were to be held sacred. word was law; and whatever enterprise of difficulty she might impose upon the hapless knight, who was honoured with her favour, he was bound to perform. The dialogue between the Dame des belles Consines and Jean de Saintrê, quoted by Sir Walter Scott and Mr Mills, and which has every appearance of being a transcript from real life, proves that every knight was compelled to be in love on system; while it illustrates pretty fully, what we shall afterwards have occasion to advert to, the very accommodating principles of gallantry which regulated the conduct of the fair sex towards their lovers. Her The love which was thus inculcated by rule, was, of course, not intended to be confined to the breast of the knight. It was not of that modest and retiring character which shuns the observation of strangers, and, to use the fine expression of an old Fablier, "resembles the sap which gives life and vigour to the tree, yet is seen by none." It was intended to be proclaimed on the housetops, and to be paraded in the glare and sunshine of tilts and tournaments. And hence, there is strong reason to suspect that it was in many cases a conventional and factitious feeling, exercising little real influence over the heart, and existing chiefly in the imagination. Certainly, if we may draw any inference with regard to the character of chivalrous affection from the love poetry of the Troubadours, we shall form as high an opinion of its reality; for in the Canzos and Tensons of Provence, that country where Chivalry had its peculiar seat, where love, according to its approved rules, was taught in courts and parliaments, and its precepts embodied in legal judgments,¶ nothing, in general, is more shadowy, unreal, and unnatural, than the poetry of love. But whatever might be the reality of the feeling, its external manifestations were sufficiently pompous and imposing. It was the especial duty of the knight to maintain against all the world the honour and surpassing † Germ. Taciti. Strabo, Lib. iv. Pomponius Mela, Lib. iii. c. 6. Germ. Taciti. L'Histoire et plaisante Cronique du Petit Jean de Saintré. V. i. c. 3, 6. Lai du Conseil. Le Grand. Fab. v. 3. Arresta amorum. beauty of his lady, and to break a lance on such an occasion was a challenge not to be declined. Nor was it sufficient that he should be ready to act on the defensive; the champion of the middle ages was called upon to become the challenger, and to proclaim in the lists his readi| ness to maintain his mistress's quarrel against the world in arms. Nothing could exceed the pomp, the splendour, and solemnity, of these occasions. The knight was generally adorned with some device conferred by the hand of his mistress; a scarf, a ribbon, or glove, conspicuously displayed on some part of his helmet or his armour: all the magnificence of the age was lavished in the decoration of his person, the adornment of the lists, and the preparations for the reception of the noble company before whom his valour was to be displayed. The lady, in her turn, delivered the prizes of the tournament, and rewarded the bravery and devotion of her knight, by such approved public favours as were sanctioned by the custom of the age. These were such as might in modern times be considered sufficiently trifling. But the passion which is founded on imagination only, requires little to support it; a ribbon or a scarf, a smile or a ceremonious salute, are sufficient nourishment to such creatures of the fancy. Absurd and fantastic, however, as this compulsory gallantry appears, there is little reason to doubt that it exercised a considerable, and, on the whole, a favourable, influence upon the conduct of the knight. In reference to society, it matters little whether a man perform great and good actions from a sincere feeling of affection towards a particular object, or from mingled considerations of pride, ambition, jealousy, and inclination, which he is pleased to embody under the general term of love. And, on the whole, it seems undoubted that the gentleness and courtesy, the high sense of honour and generosity of feeling, which resulted from this feature of the knightly character, produced a favourable effect on society, whatever might be the reality of that devotion to which, nominally, they owed their origin. But while these ideas on the subject of love, fantastic as they appear, must be admitted to have had their influence in softening and refining the warlike character of the times, the notions which prevailed in the best days of chivalry, and which were most unquestionably sanctioned by its practice, if not by its principles, with regard to the intercourse of lovers, were in the highest degree lax and accommodating. Though devotion to one mistress, and exclusive and unhesitating obedience to her wishes, were exacted from the knight by the customs of chivalry,— and although the lover, apparently contented with the slightest mark of favour, seemed to exist only for a pure and spiritualized affection, there is sufficient reason to believe, both from the chronicles of the times, and the romances, (which, as general pictures of manners, are good evidence in such cases,) that nature revenged herself for the force which was put upon her by these public exhibitions of stoicism, and that in the real life of chivalryapart from the show and glitter of the tournament—amidst the stillness and ennui of baronial castles, less refined ideas on the subject of love regulated the conduct of these fair Platonists. Were these instances of licentiousness confined to a few individuals, it would be unjust to charge the institution itself with having either caused or encouraged such irregularities; but when we find that this laxity of principle was common even among those who were considered as the splendid ornaments of chivalry— that the romance writers, whose works reflect the feeling of the age, dilate with as much pleasure on the gallantries of Lancelot, of Tristan, of Arthur, and of Galour, as on the constancy of Amadis and Huon-we are at least entitled to conclude, that, in this particular at least, it had failed to effect any material improvement on the morals of the time. Still more striking proofs of the union of pretended sentiment with real sensuality, occur in the work already alluded to, "The Chronicle of Jean de Saintrê," a work of which Tressan remarks, "That i t gives a great deal of insight into the real life of Chi- | valry;" and which is mentioned in similar terms by Warton. If further proofs of the inefficiency of chivalric theories to refine the manners or correct the irregularities of the age in matters of this nature were wanting, they are to be found in the character of the works of fiction which, we know, were then read and applauded by those fair ones, who, in the lists or at the banquet, were such models of delicacy and refined sentiment. Many of the romances of the Round Table, besides the uniformly objectionable moral which they inculcate, are such as no female would now peruse, far less listen to; and the later romances of chivalry, Tirante the White in particular, are scandalous beyond belief. The Canterbury Tales of Chaucer, much of the love poetry of the Troubadours, and almost all the fabliaux of the Trouvers, which we know were recited by these itinerants at the banqueting table of nobles, and in the society of honourable and accomplished ladies,† are no less objectionable. Such, also, are those tales which formed the favourite amusement of the brilliant courts of Italy, the Decameron of Boccaccio, and the Novels of Bandello; the latter of which are specially inscribed to the most distinguished ladies of the time. Thus in Bandello, the 46th novel of part 3d is said, in the introduction, to have been related by the Spanish ambassador Navagero, to the Duchess of Urbino and the Princess of Mantua; and yet it is the most obscene story in the whole circle of Italian novels. Facts, such as these, dissipate at once the theories of manly virtue and female purity, which we would wish to connect with the times of chivalry, and compel us to say with Gresset, "Ce n'est donc qu'une belle fable, In these general views, we find we agree substantially with Mr Stebbing, whose estimate of the comparative importance and influence of Chivalry, we consider as a very fair and candid one. To his History of the Crusades, we shall probably return on a future occasion. Sketches from Nature. By John M'Diarmid. Edinburgh. Oliver and Boyd. 1830. 8vo. Pp. 388. MR M'DIARMID informs us in his preface, that the object of his work is to "garner and reduce to a connected form, fragments of Scottish scenery and character, and along with these, anecdotes illustrative of the habits of animals, that appeared to be hurrying fast into oblivion." This, though a comparatively unambitious, is a pleasing task; and, as far as he has gone, Mr M'Diarmid has performed it skilfully and satisfactorily. He possesses a lively fancy, an unfailing good-nature, and a picturesque style, by which he is enabled to lay hold at once of the most prominent points in the subjects he discusses, and to attach a degree of interest even to insignificant matters. In the first part of the volume, which contains various sketches illustrative of different departments of natural history, we find a number of amusing and instructive anecdotes. These relate principally to the eagle, the gull, game, different kinds of fish, the fox, the elephant, the otter, the cat, bees, the monkey, the heron, and the crow or rook. Mr M'Diarmid's contributions to the science of natural history are written still more popularly, and not less graphically, than those of the celebrated Gilbert White himself. He who wishes to make himself acquainted with the habits of different animals, without any trouble, as boys learn the alphabet by eating gingerbread, cannot have Hist. of Eng. Poetry, vol. i, p. 334. Fab. Sacristain di ciuni. a better teacher than our worthy author. In the second part of his work, Mr M'Diarmid presents us with a number of miscellaneous papers, the greater part of which, however, have a reference to the scenery and localities of the south of Scotland, particularly Dumfries-shire and Galloway. Among these are excellent wet-day articles on Gretna-Green, Sculpture, Curling, Ballooning, the General Assembly, together with a number of biographical sketches of persons well known in their own district, and whose names have, to a certain extent, obtained a wider influence. Mr M'Diarmid's besetting sin is, a tendency to attach too great an importance to trifles, and consequently a fondness for what, to the world at large, can appear little better than mere gossiping. In an idle dreamy mood, such a tendency is rather agreeable than otherwise; but when the mind is active, and its energies aroused, the food appears weak and vapid as the caudle that stands beside the sick-bed of an old woman. From the volume before us we could very easily select a good number of instances of the fault to which we allude; but one will suffice. Talking of some ducks kept in a pond at the villa of Terraughty, in the neighbourhood of Dumfries, Mr M'Diarmid delivers himself in the following sonorous and well-arranged sentences:-" Curs and mongrels of every degree, whose courage was never doubted before, have recoiled under a flap of the drake's wing; and when the maidens, during washing days, innocently enough wish to turn the pond and its banks to the best account, the stock-gannets not only dispute their right, but take every opportunity of pecking at, and biting, their naked feet. Even the ladies of Terraughty are regarded as intruders in their own grounds, and more than once the venerable Mrs Maxwell and her relative, Miss Hislop, have been beset in their walks, and openly insulted, by the feathered tyrants of their silvan domain." The historical gravity of this passage strikes us as highly amusing; but that which immediately follows is yet more impressive :-"Still, where a bold front is shown, it is easy to keep the enemy at bay; and when the birds attempt to molest Mr Bogie, he offers them his foot or hand in sport, and merely laughs at their impotent malice.” This is altogether a fine picture ;-we have first the "venerable Mrs Maxwell and her relative, Miss Hislop," actually insulted and discomfited by the ducks; and then we have the heroic Mr Bogie calmly allowing them to peck at his foot, and laughing in scorn at their "impotent malice." Probably Mr M'Diarmid will now understand what we mean when we complain of his making too much out of nothing. But we must not dismiss our readers with any disagreeable impression of this work, which, as we have already said, is full of entertainment. As a specimen of the lively style in which it is, for the most part, written, we shall make the following extract : THE TWELFTH OF AUGUST. "The Twelfth of August! Are there four words in the English language that call up such a host of agreeable associations? The fair one's whisper must be particularly sweet when she first articulates the consenting Yes; yet I have known youths, and men of mature years too, who appeared to be in much higher spirits while putting every thing in order for the moors, than when about to depart on their marriage jaunts. And I do not wonder at all at the circumstance. To see the sun rising from the ocean at half past four in the morning,-ourselves stationed on a high hill top,-the congregated vapours curling and dispersing far below,-measureless tracts of heather around, glistening with dew, and tipped with pearls of new-born light, more radiant than its own purple bells,-to surprise the shrill skylark at his matins, and the hare as she steals upon her early fare; why, these are enjoyments that would be poorly exchanged for slothful slumbers on the softest couch that ever derived its elasticity from down filched from the eider-duck's breast. Add to this the high gratification of having your cheek fanned by the first breeze that is chased into action by the morning's breath; the independence im plied by the possession of manly and vigorous powers; the admirable docility and tactics of animals which bring their instincts to bear upon their master's pleasures, and then, in place of enquiring who would, rather say, who would not be a sportsman? Topers, we are told, drive at every fresh debauch, an additional nail into their coffin; but as every proposition has its converse, he who repairs annually to the moors, must draw, at least, one nail out; and there is more over more reason for believing that there are many who would sink under the winter's toils, but for the seasonable and needful repair which their constitutions undergo du. ring the autumn. As the viol strings are slackened by the friction of the bow, so a strictly sedentary life impairs and unhinges the most elastic frame; but air and exercise are the pegs or knobs that screw us into tune-that restore the wonted harmony of the system, and give to all the springs that minister to health a higher tone and a freer play. And if these reasons fail to satisfy you, only think of the sportsman's evening comforts, for then you see him in all his glory. He who never trod the moors, knows nothing comparatively of the luxury of dining-not of picking like a bilious citizen, but of eating like a hale and healthy man. An individual, we shall say, who but a week before hung languidly over the breast of a chicken, now acquits himself so super-excellently as a trencher man, that you would not give a pin's fee for the reversion of his interest in a heaped platter of beef steak. While recounting with a friend the events of the day, he may perhaps take a cup extra, but his slumbers are refreshing notwithstanding. The very depth and breadth of his inspiration may convince you that he has acquired an accession of strength, and that you would find it rather difficult to awaken him, even were you to employ the town drummer to strike a march under his ear. But there are persons who tell us that the sports of the field are cruel and barbarous, and even indite homilies against them. Was ever objection so idly made, or so easily answered? Barbarous and cruel! Is it cruel to poison rats and drown kittens,-to prevent the land from being overrun with vermin? Is it cruel to prevent such an increase of pheasants and partridges as would leave but little food for the use of man-the nobler animal undoubtedly of the three? Has the farmer, who tills and sows the ground, no better right to the crops it bears than the fowls of heaven, which neither do one nor the other-which respect not even ecclesiastical rights? The wood-pigeons of America are welcome to breed in millions in the back-settlements, so long as the land is uncultivated and uncleared; but when the empire of civilization extends so far, they must give way to a nobler class of citizens. But it would be idle to enlarge on such a topic. Lord Byron understood matters better, and was, doubtless, imbued with the feelings of a sportsman, when he wrote the following animated lines: "Though sluggards deem it but a foolish chase, And marvel men can leave the easy chair, And health that bloated ease can never hope to share.'" We regret that our space prevents us quoting farther; but we have no doubt that the volume will soon obtain an extensive and profitable circulation. A Compendium of Modern Geography. By the Rev. Alexander Stewart. Second Edition. Edinburgh. Oliver and Boyd. 1830. 12mo. Pp. 288. LITTLE argument would suffice to prove that schoolbooks are really deserving of a far greater share of notice than many other volumes of more ambitious pretensions, though it somehow happens that they are very apt to be considered as in a great measure excluded from the pale of regular criticism. The first edition of the work which forms the title of this notice, we had heard highly spoken of; and the extending popularity which we know it has progressively acquired in the schools throughout Great Britain and Ireland, since the brief date of its first publication, was to us the surest test of its excellence. As to the second edition, we may be permitted to say, that our enquiries for some time past having led us into rather an intimate acquaintance with the manuals which are most commonly employed in modern tuition, on the subject to which this elementary work is devoted, we are thereby enabled to form an opinion of this Compendium with more than ordinary confidence. As the result of this scrutiny, we have no hesitation in affirming, after subjecting it to the ordeal of a careful comparison with a variety of others, that the work before us is decidedly the most successful effort which has been hitherto made to impart geographical instruction to the youthful mind. The name, experience, and acknowledged ability of the author,-the success of whose labours, in the composition of elementary works, is now so well appreciated by the public,— was in some sort a guarantee for this result. One of our School Geographies, and that also a Scottish one, we are aware, has met with success so distinguished as to be now very generally adopted as a class-book on the other side of the Atlantic; but we shall be surprised indeed, if, ere long, the present work does not attain the same proud distinction. The labour bestowed on this edition has evidently been very great. The plan and framework, it is true, are the same with the former; but the additional matter now incorporated throughout is, in a high degree, both ample and valuable. We have been particularly struck with the contrast this volume presents with the cumbrous and ill-assorted accumulation of materials given by one School Geography lately published in the South-defying and defeating every aim and purpose of effective tuition-and with the jejune and unsatisfactory catalogue of names, and really little more than names, given by others. Malte Brun's Universal Geography, as regards philosophical classification, labour and extent of research, and perspicuous vivacity and condensation of style, is perhaps the first work of the kind extant; and when we say that the work of Mr Stewart, making allowance for its necessarily contracted scale as a school-book, is a counterpart in miniature of that admirable work, we only state the truth; while, in consequence of the accuracy and freshness of its details, we are acquainted with no compilation which, as a manual of ready and familiar reference, will bear a moment's comparison with it. A very superficial examination, indeed, will serve to show with what vigilant care the most recent information has been collected; for in almost every page we find facts and discoveries noted and registered, which we have seen only as of yesterday in the works of our most distinguished travellers by land and by sea. The pronunciation of the names, too, as far as we are able to judge, is unchallengeable. At first sight, we were inclined to think that some of the accentuations in the Descriptive Tables of England, and particularly in those of Ireland, were at least doubtful; but a little enquiry proved we were too hasty. There is only one objection which occurs to us in the plan of the volume, and that is the references between the different countries and their corresponding cities and towns being made by means of figures, which, as it so happens, often point to a subseWe are aware that this arrangement is quent page. adopted in some similar works, but are quite at a loss to know the reason of it. Why not arrange them in opposite columns? -a juxtaposition which would certainly be far more agreeable to the eye, and consequently, as we imagine, much more accessible to the memory. We would strongly suggest that this should be remedied. The Introductory Remarks, we ought to add, are written with singular discrimination and judgment, the style, at the same time, being remarkable for vigour, conciseness, and vivid beauty of portraiture; while the Descriptive Tables, for luminous compression, and a felicitous exhibition of the leading features of the place described, are models of their kind. In a word, we hesitate not to say, with the fullest confidence and most perfect sincerity, that in all those respects which can confer value on a work of the kind, the volume under consideration is the best and cheapest Compendium of Geography ever published in Europe. With an History of the Public Proceedings on the Question of the vels of Mr Buckingham during that period—what was said by and of him—what dinners he ate-what balls he danced at, and what sicknesses he suffered. Life. A Dream. From the Spanish of Don Pedro Calderon de la Barca. Edinburgh. William Blackwood. 1830. 12mo. Pp. 106. THE public proceedings of the past year on the question of the East India monopoly are novel and curious. Mr Buckingham set out from his own house in January 1829, and returned in September of the same year. Du- hope of obtaining popularity, for the ancient Spanish THIS little volume cannot have been published in the ring the whole of this period, (with one single interrup-drama is so different in its construction from the drama tion,) he delivered at least one lecture every day (Sun-of modern Europe, that little interest can now be taken days alone excepted); sometimes two, and on one oc-in it save by the antiquary or the scholar. Nevertheless, casion three; and the average length of these lectures was from three to four hours. He, moreover, seized every Mr opportunity of firing off a volunteer discourse, afforded by Masonic processions, Missionary meetings, balls, private parties, theatres, and puppet shows. Now, though we think Mr Buckingham a shrewd and active person, we are also beginning to think that there is not a little quackery in the means he is at present taking to trumpet his own praises. The newspaper of one town, he tells us, discovered that he was at the head of all extempore orators, because he repeated with great fluency what he had already delivered verbatim in thirty other places; and the equally sagacious journal of another town found out that he ought to have a seat in Parliament, because Glasgow, Birmingham, and Manchester, were not represented. At Scarborough, the Doncaster race-week proved more attractive than Mr Buckingham's eloquence. Only thirty persons attended the lecturer, and at the suggestion of some of them, the conclusion of the Course (query, the race-course, or the course of lectures?) was postponed for ten days. Buckingham does not seem to have resumed his lectures at the end of that interval; and we have no means of determining whether the suggestors were instigated by a benevolent desire to share a pleasure with their absent friends, or a selfish wish to rid themselves of an annoyance. The erudite editor of the York Courant proved, most logically, that Mr Buckingham, having been bred a sailor, must inevitably know much more about the shipping interest than Mr Sadler, who had only been bred a merchant. But it would be in vain to attempt enumerating all the good things said by the provincial press à propos, and in praise of Mr Buckingham's itinerant eloquence, and recorded, with a most engaging modesty, by that gentleman, in his "History of the Public Proceedings on the Question of the East India Monopoly during the past Year;" to say nothing of the ingenious and happy imitations of their eulogistic strain which he inserts while narrating his feats in those districts which either possessed no newspaper, or none of sufficient taste duly to appreciate his merits. In that portion of the history which relates to his adventures in Edinburgh, Mr Buckingham quotes the Mercury twice, the Courant twice, the Observer thrice, the Literary Journal once, and then adds, that unsought eulogies from nine papers, of all these are shades in politics." Now, we are not quite certain whether to understand by this, that Mr Buckingham means to insinuate that our respected contemporaries change their shades of politics according to the days of the week, or whether he means to pay a just tribute to the Literary Journal, by reckoning it equivalent to six newspapers,—an interpretation which our innate modesty strongly tempts us to adopt. Of all Mr Buckingham's speeches recorded in this History, we have been most struck with his "Address to the ladies of Northumberland, on the burning of Hindoo widows, after a ball at Newcastle." There is, besides, one very important fact to be learned from this book, of which we believe our readers are not generally aware, namely, that Mr Buckingham is the East India Question. We prove it thus:-The book before us is entitled, "History of the Public Proceedings on the Question of the East India Monopoly during the past Year;" and it relates exclusively to the voyages and tra 66 the translator, Mr Cowan, has executed his task with spirit, and in the introduction which he has prefixed, he literature of Spain. Mr Cowan is a young man, but evinces an accurate and extensive acquaintance with the several specimens have already appeared in the Literary Journal of his talents as a poetical translator; and his present publication, among the few who can really judge of it, will serve to confirm the opinion which his friends entertain of his abilities in this respect. Every man has his favourite study, and we do not see why Mr Cowan should not do for the Spanish, what has already been done by several ingenious linguists for the German drama. The Phrenologists. A Farce, in Two Acts. By Thomas Wade, Author of "Woman's Love," a Drama, &c. First performed at the Theatre-Royal, Covent-Garden, on Tuesday, January 12, 1830. London. J. Onwhyn. 1830. none. PEOPLE have turned Phrenology into all shapes-metaphysics, poetry, and farce; but it seems to succeed in Phrenological metaphysics are downright nonsense ;-phrenological poetry is the dullest thing on the face of the earth; and phrenological farces are all plagiarisms, and consequently bad; for though phrenology be an excellent farce itself, unlike the wit of Falstaff, it is not the cause of excellent farces in others. Mr Thomas Wade is rather a clever young man, but his farce is rather a stupid affair. It is difficult to paint the lily, or gild refined gold; and in like manner, it is next to impossible to caricature phrenology, or make it appear more ludicrous on the stage than it is in real life. Keeley is not more mirth-provoking than Mr Combe, nor Cranium more absurd than Dr Spurzheim. Failing, therefore, to laugh at a farce about phrenology so much as we do at phrenology itself, we cannot help thinking the former scarcely more endurable than the latter. We are disposed to think highly of the work before us, and esteem it well worthy the attention of teachers. It is divided into three hundred and sixty-five reading lessons, that is, one for each day in the year, on a great variety of subjects; fifty-two of these are devoted to what the Editor calls "Sunday Readings," which are placed at the end of the volume, distinct from the others, and consist of selections from the best writers on sacred subjects, in poetry and prose. In this new edition, the whole text of the Class-Book has been revised with the greatest care; a few lessons, which did not appear in accordance with the general tenor of the book, have been exchanged, and others, more applicable, substituted; and those portions which include the arts and sciences have been brought down, so as to include the most recent discoveries. this must confer additional value on the work; and, after All the care which has been taken in its preparation, we can safely recommend it to the heads of schools and families, and to all who are anxious for the intellectual and moral welfare of the young. The Young Wanderer's Cave, and other Tales. London. Whittaker, Treacher, and Co. 1830. 12mo. Pp. 316. THIS small volume is a collection of four Tales, calculated to infuse proper sentiments into the minds of young people." The Young Wanderer's Cave" is the first and longest of the four, and, we daresay, the best. "Prince Bastian" is a simple story, connected with Africa and her swarthy sons. Fagging" is an exposure, in a small way, of the very pernicious and disgraceful custom which exists in too many schools on the other side of the Tweed. And "True Courage," the last and shortest of these Tales, inculcates a good moral. where the latter four lines, as connected with the pre- Thine en'mies roar, O God, So shine the bills and swords of those Indeed, the superiority of the latter four lines is so de- In several other passages, our version, though it cannot be impeached with incorrectness, yet adheres with such Calvinistic inflexibility to the naked Hebrew expression, as to make the application of such words seem, to our conceptions, ridiculous, rather than strong or solemn, as Of that description is they were surely designed to be. the verse in Psalm lxxviii. "God's wrath upon them came, and slew The fattest of them all;" A Concise System of Mathematics, in Theory and Practice, for the Use of Schools, Private Students, and Practical Men. The Second Edition, with many important additions and improvements. By Alexander Ingram, Author of "Elements of Euclid," &c. &c. Edinburgh. Oliver and Boyd. 1830. 8vo. Pp. 448. THE first edition of this work, published under the title of "A Concise System of Mensuration," met with very great success. A number of important additions have now been made, especially in the departments of Algebra, Land-surveying, Gauging, Mensuration of Artificers' Works, the Limits of Ratios, Fluxions, and Fluents, and Spherical Trigonometry. An accurate set of Logarithmic Tables has also been added, and the whole has undergone "a careful, vigorous, and minute revision." "As an additional recommendation," says the Preface, "the Publishers may venture to affirm, that while it is, in many respects, the most complete, it is unquestion- The same remark may be applied to Psalm xviii. 29– ably the cheapest, work of the kind ever published." MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE. REMARKS ON THE SCOTTISH VERSION OF THE PSALMS, By William Tennant, Author of " Anster Fair," &c. Thine enemies do roar ; Their ensigns they set up for signs Of triumph them before: A man was famous, and was held His axe thick trees upon ;" where, as the adjective in the original signifies both a fat "And by my God assisting me, I overleap a wall;" Although here somewhat perhaps out of place, we may be allowed to remark on the coincidence of the Hebrew and Arabic expression, "blessing his soul," making himself happy,-a phrase corresponding to the Latin beare se. Queen Elizabeth's version translates this expression according to its sense," he rejoiced himself," putting the other in the margin. Our present Bible exhibits the literal translation of the Hebrew, he blessed his soul. Sir William Jones, in a note to his Persic Grammar, under the pronoun KHUD, seems to consider the idiom NEFESH, used for self, as purely of Arabic origin and usage; whereas, from this, and perhaps other examples in the Hebrew Bible, it may be rather inferred that the Arabians have derived this, as well as many other idiomatic expressions of two or three thousand years standing, from Abraham, and the ancient inhabitants of Canaan. |
