in my temper, nor will I eat a single meal the worse. But if I succeed, Up with the bonnie blue bonnet, to increase it. But, as the celebrated John Wilkes is said to have explained to his late Majesty, that he himself, amid his full tide of popularity, was never a Wilkite, so I can, with honest truth, exculpate myself from having been at any time a partisan of my own poetry, even when it was in posed that I was either so ungrateful, or so superabundantthe highest fashion with the million. It must not be supvoice had elevated me so much higher than my own opinion told me I deserved. I felt, on the contrary, the more grateful to the public, as receiving that from partiality to me, which I could not have claimed from merit; and I endea voured to deserve the partiality, by continuing such exertions as I was capable of for their amusement. The dirk, and the feather, and a'!' "Afterwards I showed my affectionate and anxious critic the first canto of the Poem, which reconciled her to my im-ly candid, as to despise or scorn the value of those whose prudence. Nevertheless, although I answered thus confidently, with the obstinacy often said to be proper to those who bear my surname, I acknowledge that my confidence was considerably shaken by the warning of her excellent taste and unbiassed friendship. Nor was I much comforted by her retractation of the unfavourable judgment, when I recollected how likely a natural partiality was to effect that change of opinion. In such cases, affection rises like a light on the canvass, improves any favourable tints which it formerly exhibited, and throws its defects into the shade. "I remember that about the same time a friend started in to heeze up my hope,' like the minstrel in the old song. He was bred a farmer, but a man of powerful understanding, natural good taste, and warm poetical feeling, perfectly competent to supply the wants of an imperfect or irregular education. He was a passionate admirer of field sports, which we often pursued together. "As this friend happened to dine with me at Ashiesteel one day, I took the opportunity of reading to him the first canto of The Lady of the Lake,' in order to ascertain the effect the poem was likely to produce upon a person who was but too favourable a representative of readers at large. It is, of course, to be supposed, that I determined rather to guide my opinion by what my friend might appear to feel, than by what he might think fit to say. His reception of my recitation, or prelection, was rather singular. He placed his hand across his brow, and listened with great attention through the whole account of the stag-hunt, till the dogs threw themselves into the lake to follow their master, who embarks with Ellen Douglas. He then started up with a sudden exclamation, struck his hand on the table, and declared, in a voice of censure calculated for the occasion, that the dogs must have been totally ruined by being permitted to take the water after such a severe chase. I own I was much encouraged by the species of reverie which had possessed so zealous a follower of the sports of the ancient Nimrod, who had been completely surprised out of all doubts of the reality of the tale. Another of his remarks gave me less pleasure. He detected the identity of the King with the wandering knight, Fitz-James, when he winds his bugle to summon his attendants. He was probably thinking of the lively, but somewhat licentious, old ballad, in which the denouement of a royal intrigue takes place as follows: 'He took a bugle frae his side, He blew both loud and shrill, Came skipping ower the hill; Then he took out a little knife, Let all his duddies fa', And he was the brawest gentleman And we'll go no more a-roving,' &c. "This discovery, as Mr Pepys says of the rent in his camlet cloak, was but a trifle, yet it troubled me; and I was at a good deal of pains to efface any marks by which I thought my secret could be traced before the conclusion, when I relied on it with the same hope of producing effect, with which the Irish post-boy is said to reserve a trot for the avenue.' "I took uncommon pains to verify the accuracy of the local circumstances of this story. I recollect, in particular, that to ascertain whether I was telling a probable tale, I went into Perthshire, to see whether King James could actually have ridden from the banks of Loch Venuachar to Stirling Castle within the time supposed in the poem, and had the pleasure to satisfy myself that it was quite practicable. "After a considerable delay, ‘The Lady of the Lake' appeared in June 1810; and its success was certainly so extraordinary as to induce me for the moment to conclude that I had at last fixed a nail in the proverbially inconstant wheel of Fortune, whose stability in behalf of an individual who had so boldly courted her favours for three successive times had not as yet been shaken. I had attained, perhaps, that degree of public reputation at which prudence, or certainly timidity, would have made a halt, and discontinued efforts by which I was far more likely to diminish my fame. than "It may be that I did not, in this continued course of scribbling, consult either the interest of the public, or my own. But the former had effectual means of defending themselves, and could, by their coldness, sufficiently check any approach to intrusion; and for myself, I had now for several years dedicated my hours so much to literary labour, that I should have felt difficulty in employing myself otherwise; and so, like Dogberry, I generously bestowed all my tediousness on the public, comforting myself with the reflection, that if posterity should think me undeserving of the favour with which I was regarded by my contemporaries, they could not say but what I had the crown,' and had enjoyed for a time that popularity which is so much coveted. 66 'I conceived, however, that I held the distinguished situation I had obtained, however unworthily, rather like the champion of pugilism, on the condition of being always ready to show proofs of my skill, than in the manner of the champion of chivalry, who performs his duties only on rare and solemn occasions. I was in any case conscious that I could not long hold a situation which the caprice, rather than the judgment, of the public had bestowed upon me, and preferred being deprived of my precedence by some more worthy rival, to sinking into contempt for my indolence, and losing my reputation by what Scottish lawyers call the negative prescription. Accordingly, those who choose to look at the Introduction to Rokeby in the present edition, will be able to trace the steps by which I declined as a poet to figure as a novelist; as the ballad says, Queen Eleanor sunk at Charing Cross to rise again at Queenhithe. "It only remains for me to say, that, during my short pre-eminence of popularity, I faithfully observed the rules of moderation which I had resolved to follow before I began my course as a man of letters. If a man is determined to make a noise in the world, he is as sure to encounter abuse and ridicule, as he who gallops furiously through a village must reckon on being followed by the curs in full cry. Experienced persons know, that in stretching to flog the latter, the rider is very apt to catch a bad fall; nor is an attempt to chastise a malignant critic attended with less danger to the author. On this principle I let parody, burlesque, and squibs, find their own level; and while the latter hissed most fiercely, I was cautious never to catch them up, as schoolboys do, to throw them back against the naughty boy who fired them off, wisely remembering, that they are, in such cases, apt to explode in the handling. Let me add, that my reign (since Byron has so called it) was marked by some instances of good-nature as well as patience. I never refused a literary person of merit such services in smoothing his way to the public as were in my power; and I had the advantage, rather an uncommon one with our irritable race, to enjoy ge neral favour, without incurring permanent ill-will, so far as is known to me, among any of my contemporaries. Abbotsford, April 1830.” 66 66 Rokeby" appeared in 1813, three years after "The Lady of the Lake;" and in the Introduction the author explains, very satisfactorily, why its success was much inferior. "The Lord of the Isles" may be considered the last of Sir Walter's poetical Romances; for though the Bridal of Triermain" and "Harold the Dauntless" succeeded it, they were published anonymously, and the author's attention now began to be directed principally to "Waverley," and the illustrious train of prose compositions that followed in its wake. We may mention in conclusion, that this valuable edition of Sir Walter's Poetical Works is to be dedicated to the Duke of Buccleuch. The Three Histories :-The History of an Enthusiast; ness; were there not materials here for torture, and dreams, Julia rose from her couch, decked her person with jewels and tears! But it was her soirée; and, after three hours, and festal attire, again locked up her heart, again commanded her thoughts to their own vasty deep,' again became We have read this book with much pleasure. Miss like him whose soul inhabited a statue, and, amidst music and flowers, friends and festivity (so called,) went gliding Jewsbury is a woman of a very superior mind, and there from group to group, the presiding and brilliant genius of is in her compositions an excellent mixture of soundness the whole,-smiling and exciting smiles, gay and the cause of judgment, warmth of feeling, and liveliness of fancy. of gaiety, never for a moment off her guard or mind-beWhat we like least about this volume is its title-page. trayed. But a few more hours, and she was once again Had the authoress given to her tales the names simply of alone in her chamber, enjoying that ease of the wretched— their respective heroes or heroines, she would not have liberty to unmask. Haggard and disrobed-a Pythoness raised expectations in the reader which are scarcely ful-after the moment of inspiration-cold, collapsed, and still_ filled. Julia Osborne, though a genius, is not more of an modulated voice dying into sighs and broken murmurs the play of feature exchanged for rigidity-the full, varying, "Enthusiast," nay scarcely so much, as most geniuses are; even the heart, that seemed to swell and burn sensibly, be"Nonchalant" is a French word, the meaning of which came heavy in its beating, and the breath, that came and is sufficiently vague; and "Realist" is not an English went like flame, subdued to suffocation-anguish exchanged word, nor has it any definite meaning at all. It would for hopelessness, desperate effort for despair;-thus sat have been better, therefore, to have avoided attaching Julia; not musing, not remembering, for her physical epithets to persons, by which, when we come to read strength was too entirely exhausted; but perfectly passive their histories, they are not, in fact, distinguished. This, and motionless, her whole being steeped in the waking sleep however, is a minor error, and is amply compensated by the intrinsic merits of the work. We are particularly pleased with the first tale, which contains many beautiful passages, and may be read with satisfaction even after the "Corinne" of Madame de Stael, and the "Pour et Contre" of Maturin, both of which highly-wrought compositions it recalls to our recollection. In the person of Julia Osborne, it traces the career of a lovely and gift- "She had by this time outgrown her more childish eccentricities, took care of her clothes, bade adieu to treeclimbing, riding without a saddle, or filling her bonnet with blackberries, had even learnt to be civil to the little Prices,—was become externally, to use Martin's phrase, more like other young ladies;' but the spirit that actuated her as a child was now in stronger and more concentrated, if also in more silent operation. Her mind was athirst for knowledge, and every thing that was offered in lieu, so far from satisfying, disgusted. What the restless, questioning, dreaming power within her was, that made her draw inferences from every thing she beheld, that bade sounds and spectacles, however trivial, haunt her like a passion,'-that made nature a vague glory that she loved without comprehending, -that excited high but unutterable longings after lovely, but unimaginable, things; -what the power within her was, which, when she read of heroes and high deeds, clothed them with absolute vitality, so that the dead became the living, the past a presence, and the simple knowledge that such things had really existed, a glory and a joy,-Julia knew not; but making every circumstance as it arose, every person that crossed her path, assist the developement of that power, she became, as by instinct, old in heart while young in years. Her mind grasped at every thing, her imagination was in a constant state of attrition; and vague, fanciful, and crude, as her conceptions unavoidably were,-chaotic as was the state of her intellectual being, there only wanted the magician Time, or that more powerful magician, a master passion, to awake from the chaos a world of order and beauty. Her mind was enveloped in twilight, but it was twilight before the dawn of a summer's day.' The following is a passage of a different and more melancholy kind, taken from near the conclusion of the tale, when conquest and success, and all that the young and ardent spirit longs for, had lost their charms: of sorrow!" The two other "Histories" also evince talents of no ard Winton are traced, with a fine perception of what is mean kind, especially that in which the fortunes of Richtruly estimable in character and conduct. had more female writers with the heart and soul of Miss We wish we Jewsbury; and, lacking them, we wish Miss Jewsbury herself would come more frequently before the public. Bos' Greek Ellipses, abridged and translated into English from Professor Schaefer's edition; with Notes. By the Rev. John Seager, B. A., &c. London. Printed by Valpy. Sold by Longman and Co. Octavo. Pp. 249. WE Confess that, rapacious and never-to-be-satiated dehuge two-volumed quartos on Greek Ellipses and Idioms; vourers of Greek as we are, we have no great liking for or thin, wire-drawn, ethereal, never-ending dissertations on that precious vocable of questionable meaning—that pretty, petty bone of critical contention—the particle A, which, though consisting but of two letters, has reared upon itself such mountains of debate and discussion. We are indeed happy in our own comfortable congratulation of ourselves, that we are of that guileless primitive sort of people who think there is not any mystery in Ellipses, nor indeed in language at all; that the Greeks, Latins, and Hebrews were all plain, frankly-speaking, honest, unsophistical people like our very selves; that neither in their tenses, nor in their prepositions, nor in their constructions, nor in their relative pronouns, is there any deep and recondite inscrutability, unknown even to the people that uttered them, and requiring all the metaphysical acumen of our modern grammatical mystagogues for their interpretation. In short, we would rather laud the simplicity of interpretation of such ancient grammarians as Aulus Gellius, &c.; and would most diffidently presume to say with Mr Schaefer, enlarging however the compass of his words, that Bos and his other metaphysical or fanciful followers, by imagining we know not what Ellipses-by conjuring up we know not what and how many obscurities and difficulties, only to be conjured down by their own big books and subtile argumentations-have rather obstructed than cleared the way to the right understanding of language. The young student, seeing his first initiatory step in a path which ought to be pleasure and plainness itself, preceded and pestered by a host of over-laboured and panting pioneers that can with difficulty grub out a weary way for themselves seeing before "Julia retired to her chamber, and there, in the deep gloom of personal consciousness, wept long and bitterly for the past. The fiery dream of enthusiastic yet faithful passion,-him and around him such enormous mounds of literary the fancy-drawn portraiture of all she might have been,the quick and subtile, if wordless analysis, of all she was,the degrading sense of thraldom to artificial tastes and habits, the mournful impression of energies absorbed in trifles,-vague feelings of duty, with utter dislike of its claims, coupled with a cold abandonment to desolate loneli rubbish heaped up instead of being levelled down-such immense sky-kissing scaffolding for the purpose of removing straws and prickly bushes, and other scarce visible stumbling-blocks-the poor student, we say, is terrified at the very outset with the appearance of difficulties too formidable for his patience to encounter. The "mystery" | well arranged book. It contains much useful informaseems to him to be impenetrable; the ancient languages, so dissimilar, as he deems, to the language he himself speaks, appear invested with an obscurity impervious to all minds saving those that carry within themselves the requisite metaphysical lantern; he conceives that, when Homer and Xenophon, two of the plainest-speeched men in the world, wrote and spoke, “there must have been giants in those days," and that only some big-boned, gigantic modern soul, one of twenty thousand, can overtake them all this the poor student conceives, or is very apt to conceive—and begins to lose heart, and falters and despairs. We are sorry indeed that this is so much the case; and we suspect that it is not a little owing to bulky books upon Idioms, Ellipses, and Particles. tion, compressed into a comparatively small space, and we can safely recommend it as an excellent introduction to the more extended study of Indian geography and history. "The real importance of India," says the Preface, "the exalted opinion which those who have not looked into the particulars entertain of its wealth-the mistakes as to what that wealth consists in the great extent of country under the dominion of the British-the number of our countrymen that are holding or expecting situations there—the vast responsibility under which the Company have brought themselves, in the governing of so many persons, of whose characters they are ignorant, and the consequent ignorance in which the Governors must be of the necessities and wants of the governmentthe anomalous fact, that Britons are not allowed permanently to settle in a country, of which the government is British-the enquiries that are already instituted, with regard to the renewal of the Company's charter, and the increasing interest which every thing connected with India will acquire, as the time of the actual debate on the renewal approaches,—all so far justify the publication of a book, which will present the chief outlines of India in a small compass." The first volume is devoted chiefly to historical and statistical account of the country. We select, at random, one or two extracts, which may amuse our readers, and give them an additional interest in the work : THE SURF AT MADRAS. We are glad even to express our suspicion that Mr Seager, though he has chosen Bos's voluminous book for the exercise of his excellent understanding, is but of the same opinion with ourselves, and simpers in his sleeve at the "great mystery." He indeed declares, in one of his sensible notes, that, " by sufficient reading, vigilant observation, and careful induction, the signification of phrases may certainly be discovered, independently of any means.” Assuredly; the same good sense, or skill in language, that unriddled the enigmas of the Grecian Sphynx to Lam-geographical and topographical details; the second to an bert Bos or Peter Schoettgen, will undoubtedly perform a similar good office to any student of ordinary sagacity, provided he read on; and, till he read on, it is superfluous or absurd to perplex his mind with the cramp phrases which can only be understood in connexion with their context, and which it is neither pleasant nor necessary to read at all, unless in connexion with their context. It is somewhat like inculcating upon a man, who is bent upon a long journey through a diversified country, to exercise himself for many days previously in hopping over huge ditches, clambering up sides of hills and precipices, overleaping great rocks and shaggy bushes, in order, by such experimental exercitations, to confirm his knees and knit up his sinews for the great expedition he is about to encounter. It is much better to clap a plain good staff at once into the man's hand, tuck up his garments for him, furnish his pockets with the necessary viaticum, and bid him, Go, speed. Set him once a-going, and Res expedit se; all sense of impediments or trifling difficulties is quenched or overborne by his increasing zeal in the march, and the pleasure which he gradually gathers as he prosecutes his journey. But enough, or rather, too much, of this. Mr Seager having undertaken a translation of the aureolus libellus of Lambert Bos, has shown his good taste and good sense in abridging it considerably, by the exclusion of all repetitions, and all erroneous or irrelevant matter. He has reduced the examples under each word into nearly an alphabetical arrangement, facilitating thereby the student's enquiries, by sparing him, in the longer articles, the trouble of a laborious search. He has also subjoined a number of excellent notes, which we should gladly have seen increased. In short, the numerous improvements made, together with the language in which it is written, must, to the English reader, render the abridgement of Mr Seager a more desirable and serviceable book of reference than the cumbrous and too perplexed original. As an additional recommendation of no little account, it is correctly and beautifully printed at the Valpy press; so that, with all these advantages, we have no hesitation in recommending this book to the teachers of Greek in Scotland, as the best Dictionary of Elliptical Expressions to which, in their desponding difficulties, they can re sort. "Upon the coast of Coromandel, farther to the south, the surf breaks with great violence, and there is no place where a ship can find shelter. At Madras, the British capital of this part of India, ships cannot touch the shore, and very frequently they can hold no communication with it. During the months of October, November, and December, they cannot even remain in the roads with safety; nor can they, generally speaking, land in boats of European build at any season, the surf being so violent, that any craft that does not yield to it is broken to pieces. The communication is usually made by country boats, and, where the surf is very violent, by catamarans ; and no ships attempt to land passengers, unless the signal from the beach-house warns them that it is safe. In favourable weather, the ships' boats anchor just outside the surf, where the communication is continued to the land by the country boats. These are constructed of three planks, sewed together, with straw in the seams, so that they bend easily. Even with these light and buoyant vessels, a great deal of experience and determination are required, or they would be broken by the foaming surges which follow each other with great velocity and violence. The commander of the boat stands up to beat time, which he does both by stamping and by roaring, to encou rage the rowers. When the boat is in the trough of the surge, they pull backwards against the approaching ridge, in order to mount upon it before it breaks, and while they are upon its crest, it carries them to the shore with great velocity. When it breaks, they pull violently forward, in order to keep the way that they have made during the reflux, and the moment that the next approaching surge turns the water, they pull backwards again. Thus they keep advancing upon the crest of every successive wave, and pulling back a little in each interval, till they get so near the shore, that the final surge flings them and their bark upon the dry land, along with the spray. It is by a passage of this kind, that Europeans, of whatever sex, make a landing at Madras."-Vol. i. pp. 66, 7. The following passage presents a glowing picture of THE BIRDS OF INDIA. "The birds of India are equally remarkable for their number and for the beauty of their plumage. The radiant hues of the peacock still gild the thickets in all parts of the country, and they did so in the time of the Macedonian conqueror, who was so much charmed with their beauty, that, under severe penalties, he forbade their destruction by his army. Among the groves and thickets on the Malabar coast, they are still very numerous, and are captured during the night by a torch and a painted canvass, containing an imitation of one of themselves. The parrot tribe are found THIS is a prettily printed, prettily embellished, and in all their varieties of form and colour, and the ear is lite The Picture of India; Geographical, Historical, and 1830. rally deafened by their noise. The birds of India are beset "The professional wrestlers of India are among the most by many enemies, both in their own persons and in the con- wonderful, as well as unexceptionable, of all the public extents of their nests; and this leads to some of the most cu-hibitions; and the grace, as well as the agility and strength, rious arts of nidification that are any where to be found which they display, could not easily be exceeded by Euro among the feathered tribes. One of their greatest enemies is peans. This is one of the instances in which one gets a the tree snake, which can climb its way to any height, and glimpse of what they might be, were it possible to break the suspend itself by a very slender support. To guard against that mental fetters in which they are held; but the more that enemy, a little feathered inhabitant of the neighbourhood of that unfortunate part of their condition is studied, the less Bombay-a thing not much bigger than a cock-chaffer-fixes hope there seems in it. its tiny nest to the pointed leaves of the palmyra-palm, which "The jugglers have been often exhibited in this country; the snake cannot reach, and there rears its brood in safety. and, both in sleight of hand, and dexterity of manipulation, But of all the winged architects of India, or perhaps of any they are much superior to the same class in the west. The other country, the Indian gross.beak (loxia philippina) is great litheness of the Hindoo, the delicacy of his hands, and one of the most ingenious. The bird is rather bigger than the exquisite sensibility of his feeling of touch, give him a very the one last mentioned. In bulk, it exceeds the common decided superiority in every thing that depends upon them. sparrow of our gardens, and, therefore, its nest would The serpent jugglers, too, are a very singular class, for they weigh down the tip of a leaf till it came in contact with certainly do handle the most poisonous snakes with impu others, and, therefore, bring the treasure which it con- nity, although not deprived of their fangs. Tumbling, and tained within reach of the enemy. To prevent this, it has every other display of personal agility, might be expected recourse to a very ingenious contrivance. It builds in a among such a people; but, to a stranger, none of their exhi variety of trees; but it prefers the Indian fig; and, making bitions appear more daring than the mode in which they choice of a very slender twig, it plaits a rope of grass and swing; and yet, hazardous as it seems to be, it is perfectly vegetable fibres, at least a foot and a half long, and to the safe, and not injurious to health. The swing consists of two end of that it fastens its snug and very ingeniously-con- pieces of strong bamboo, one fastened securely in the ground, structed nest. Externally that nest is formed of the same and steadied either by stents or gy-ropes, the other lies across materials as the cord by which it is suspended, and plaited the top, and is placed upon the first as a pivot. A rope is In the manner of a basket. Internally it differs from mest fastened to each end of the cross-piece; the shorter having nests, in containing a suite of three apartments, which are a strong hook at the end, and the larger reaching down to partially separated from each other, and yet have one com- the ground. The person to be swung has a strong bandage mon entrance and a communication with each other. The passed round his body, below which, on the back, the hook first apartment is for the male, who keeps watch there while is passed, with the point outwards. By this arrangement the female is performing her incubation, and, as his beak is the hook is in no danger of slipping, neither does it hurt the powerful in propertion to his size, he offers a bold defence swinger. When the swinger is attached by this rope and against ordinary-sized foes, while the rope by which the hook to the one end of the cross-piece, the people below take nest is suspended is a sufficient protection against the snake. hold of the rope at the other end, and run rapidly round, The second apartment is for the female; and the third and till the centrifugal force of the swinger stretches the rope, most secure, for the young. This nest is, in itself, abun- and projects him right out in the air, in which he seems dantly ingenious; but those who are fond of heightening floating. While the machine continues in motion, drums nature with their own fancies, render it a good deal more so. and other instruments of noise are beat by the applauding The male has generally a light in his apartment; and thus crowd, while the attitude of the floating figure and the trapit is easy for fancy to endow him with the lantern as well pings with which it is ornamented, have a most imposing as the vigilance of the watchman. In one corner of his effect. The same centrifugal force which stretches the rope, apartment there is generally a little bit of moist clay, upon not only keeps the body of the swinger in a horizontal pewhich there are fastened one or more glow worms, which sition, but prevents him from receiving any injury, if the partially illuminate the little apartment. They use these apparatus be strong enough to retain him. His head being insects in preference to any others, simply because their nearest the centre of motion, the tendency of the blood is all light betrays them, and they can be caught in the twilight, the other way, and thus, though the motion be very rapid, and they are a supply of food for the young gross-beaks in he does not feel the least inconvenience. the nursery behind. There are, in all departments of natural history, more violent and improbable strainings of the fact than the supposition that they are placed there for the purpose of giving light, though certainly there is something very wonderful in a bird lighting up its apartment, as it would be an instance without a parallel in animal history."-Vol. i. p. 170-2. We conclude with an entertaining account of INDIAN AMUSEMENTS. "The numerous religious rites which the Hindoos must perform, and the length of time that they must take before they can support themselves, and satisfy the demands of their rulers, do not leave them a great deal of time for their amusements. They are fond of amusements, however, and they have many classes of persons who are trained to exhibit. The number of these is, indeed, so great, that we can only mention the names of a few of the leading ones. Probably the most general of these is the poet. His business is to recite tales and histories, which he does, sometimes with, and sometimes without, a theatrical sort of air. The language of some of those pieces is very flowery; but the story is often very absurd, and at times not over modest. "Lightly formed and servile as the Hindoos are, their religion forbids them the amusement of dancing. That is performed by the dwadassi, or dancing girls, who are present upon all festive occasions. They are a religious order, devoted specially to the gods and the officiating Brahmins. They are generally handsome girls, dressed in the greatest elegance that even the costume of the female Hindoo admits of, and they are very richly adorned with jewels. movements, too, are imposing, but they are in gesture much Their in the same way that the poets are in words. Indeed, it is the genius of the Hindoo religion-for every thing is connected with that to darken with obscenity that which would be beautiful or graceful, in the same manner as it darkens with absurdity that which would be sublime. "With all their pretended love of animal life, the Hindoos have no objection to a little cruelty to animals; for, while they have hospitals for the comfortable maintenance of bugs and spiders in one part of the country, they do not hesitate to bet their jewels, and even their clothes, upon the issue of a contest between cocks, quails, and other birds, which they have trained for the purpose. They are also fond of games, particularly the game of chess, which has been known among them from the remotest antiquity."Vol. II. p. 330-4. "The Picture of India," whether to those who are in the country, or to those who, though at a distance, wish for information concerning it, must prove a very acceptable publication. The Pilgrim's Progress; with a Life of John Bunyan. splendid than the singularly wild and beautiful allegory the Celestial City, both from designs by Martin. The latter illustrate a variety of passages in the work. But the chief attraction of the volume is the Life of Bunyan by Southey, which is, of course, written with great simplicity and elegance, and contains copious extracts from his own diaries. full report of a paper read before the Antiquarian Society upon this subject. The documents produced by Mr Pitcairn put the fact beyond a doubt, that it was to the machinations of Archibald (seventh) Earl of Argyll, who, as King's Lieutenant in the "Bounds of the ClanGregor," obtained, in 1603, complete control over them, that the utter ruin of this unfortunate Clan is to be attributed. No paper in the present work is more affecting than the " Declaration of the Laird of MacGregor," uttered previous to his execution, in which, with all the has been done in a great measure by the notes which Mr Pitcairn has appended to the Declaration; but there are some points which admit of further illustration, and which, having paid some attention to the subject, we shall here briefly state. The events of Bunyan's life were few. He was born within a mile of Bedford, in the year 1628; his parents were braziers, and he was brought up to the same trade. He seems, by his own account, to have been rather dissipated in his youth, but he married early, and soon after-simplicity of truth, he sets forth Argyll's cruelty and wards acquired decidedly religious habits. Being of a cunning. As, however, the character of the Earl is nevery enthusiastic temperament and vivid imagination, he cessarily exposed to great obloquy on account of the transwas continually haunted by what appeared to him visions actions alluded to, it becomes an object of some importand heavenly revelations. Having taken means to dis-ance to show distinctly on what grounds they rest. This seminate his own peculiar notions, he was arrested as a dangerous person, and thrown into prison, where he remained for twelve years. It was here he wrote most of his works, which are very voluminous. He survived his confinement sixteen years, during which time he paid regularly an annual visit to London, employing himself in preaching, and superintending the publication of his different compositions. He died in the year 1688, aged sixty. He left behind him a widow, who had been his second wife, and three children. The year in which the first edition of the "Pilgrim's Progress" was published is not known. The second edition is preserved in the British Museum, and bears date 1678. Mr Southey has collated all the published versions of this work, that he might make his own as perfect and accurate as possible, so that in no former edition has so much justice been done to the "Spenser of the people," as D'Israeli calls him, whether we regard the typography, the embellishments, or the literary contents. Criminal Trials, and other Proceedings before the High I. It is stated in the declaration, that Argyll caused M'Lean and Clancameron to commit hership and slaughter in MacGregor's roume of Rannoch, &c.; and in corroboration of this assertion, we find, that on 8th June, 1598, the Laird of MacGregor and his tenants in Rannoch obtained a decree before the High Court of Justiciary, against Lauchlan Maclean of Dowart, as landlord, master, and chieftain of clan to Hector Maclean, his son, Lauchlan Macvic Allan, in Ardgour, and others, tenants and servants to Dowart, for the sum of L.5227, being the alleged value of the hership. It is a singular feature in the history of the times, that people of such predatory habits as the MacGregors should have in this instance preferred applying to a court of law for redress, instead of trusting to their swords to right them, as was the universal practice among the tribes of the Gael. This application had, in all probability, arisen from the desire of the Chief to testify his obedience to the laws; but, whatever the reason of it, it was a very uncommon step; for the procurator or counsel for the MacGregors, appearing publicly in court, took instruments" that the Laird of MacGregor and his kin were the first that came and soUGHT JUSTICE since King James the First's time;" that is, for upwards of 160 years. From this, we may form some idea of the general state of the Highlands under the successors of James I.; while, at the same time, we can better appreciate the services rendered to his country by that active and vigorous prince. II. The next part of the declaration which seems to require corroboration, is that in which the Earl is charged with having caused MacGregor to violate the engagements which he had come under with the Privy Council.— "Then I made my moyan both of service and obedience, &c.; and when Argyll was made foreseen thereof, he enticed me to stay and start from these conditions," &c. &c. It appears tha, in August 1599, MacGregor had come under certain obligations to the Council for the THIS is another highly interesting fasciculus of Mr Pitcairn's excellent work. It is likely to prove more generally attractive than its predecessors, because its contents are of a more varied description, and because, after the accession of James VI. to the English throne, the judicial proceedings in Scotland were conducted with greater minuteness, and recorded with stricter accuracy, than formerly. In the Part now before us, we find, amidst a mass of other matter, several of the most remarkable trials for witchcraft to be met with in Scottish annals; a full report of the extraordinary case of Francis Mowbray, who was suspected of high treason, was killed by falling over the rocks in an attempt to escape from the castle of Edinburgh, and whose lifeless remains were afterwards brought into court, that sentence might be pronounced upon them, which sentence (afterwards carried into execution) was, that he should be hanged and quartered; two or three trials and condemnations for "wilfully hearing the celebration of mass;" the very extraordinary case of the murder of the Laird of Warris-good rule and obedience of his clan; and among other ton by his wife, Jean Livingstoun, for which she was things, Sir John Murray of Tullibardin, and James Combeheaded, and her accomplice, Robert Weir, broken on mendator of Incheaffray, became sureties for him, under the wheel; trials of the Armstrongs, Elliots, and other a very high penalty, that he should appear before the borderers, illustrative of the state of society in the southern Council whenever he should receive a summons to that districts of the country; the trial and condemnation of effect. He was summoned repeatedly, but failed to apWilliam Rose, for the barbarous murder of his wife; the pear, and at length the bail-bond of his sureties was fortrial and pleadings in the interesting case of Margaret feited, and MacGregor accused of having dishonourably Hertsyde, who was accused of "abstracting pearls and forfeited his word, which he had solemnly pledged to his jewels belonging to the queen," and, apparently, unjustly friends. These gentlemen, in the meantime, having becondemned; full and accurate copies of all the criminal stirred themselves in the matter, succeeded in procuring records relating to Sir James Elphinston's correspondence the personal appearance, before the Council, of the rewith the Pope. known to Scotch annalists as "Lord fractory Chief; and then presented an application, prayBalmerinoch's Treason;" and, though last, not least, re-ing to be relieved from the payment of the penalty inporis of several trials which throw additional light on curred, which was, after a time, acceded to. the proscription and cruel and systematic persecution of application, they state that the non-appearance of the the Clan-Gregor. We gave, a few weeks ago, a pretty | laird of MacGregor, at the appointed time, was not owing In this |