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were met at the entrance by a strange figure, dressed in a flannel nightgown, and who, we were told, was to be our fellow prisoner. "Mr. Professor," said our guard, “we have here brought company for you." At hearing the title of professor, 1 examined our new comrade more closely. I beheld a man of about sixty years of age, rather stout and tall, with a countenance not particularly interesting, and a bald head. Under his dirty flannel wrapper appeared a black waistcoat, and he shuffled along in a pair of slippers. In such a dress, and such a situation, who would have expected to see an intimate acquaintance of Bonaparte? I learnt that he was the Abbé Henri, Curate and Professor of Jena, a Frenchman by birth, though long established in Germany, known as the author of several works, and as having lately published a history of the French language.

"After the battle of Jena, his office of curate gave him frequent opportunities of being with Bonaparte, which he did not fail to improve; and by a little dexterous flattery he acquired from him the endowment of a considerable establishment: " Sire," said he to him, "former chiefs have frequently founded large churches for trifling successes; do you now found a small temple for a great victory." The idea pleased; and the church of Notre Dame de la Victoire was reared in consequence. This might be flattering to the professor, but it was no doubt a very galling remembrance to the Prussians; and, having heard the account, I was not at all surprised, in these troubled times, to meet the honest gentleman at the bottom of the ditch of Silberberg.

"After the first novelty of fresh society had gone by, I began to reflect that the placing me thus in company with two men of a nation so determinedly hostile to England, was a very unfavourable symptom, and that, after commencing with such an act of cruel injustice, it was probable that the duration and nature of my confinement would be proportionable to it. I knew nothing of what was going on, and was very doubtful whether my letters from Gorlitz had been forwarded to England. We were like men cut off from the world. Sometimes, in the silence of the night, we thought we heard the firing of cannon at a great distance, but as it generally ceased with the dawn of day, we knew not what to think of it."

But we are anticipating matters. We should, in the regular course of things, have informed our readers, that on the 17th of April, 1813, Mr. Semple embarked at Harwich for Heligoland, in which island he was detained by easterly winds for eight days, and, consequently, had a little more time for observation than he generally allowed himself on his journey.

"A glance at the composition of this island is sufficient to lead us to expect its rapid decay, a truth which every circuit of it tends to impress still more strongly on our minds. Off the southeast end, at a small distance, lies a low ridge called Sandy Island, which with some ledges of rocks forms the only shelter for vessels lying here. There

are old men still living, who remember when, at low water, it was possible to wade over to the island, which is now no louger so; and the tradition is carefully preserved among the inhabitants, that Heligoland once contained seven parish churches. On every side sharp rocks extend to a considerable distance, the remaining bases of once mighty cliffs. Stop but for a few minutes, and you hear the noise of small portions crumbling down near you, and proving that in some part or other the decomposition is incessantly and perceptibly going on. Here and there you behold large masses, which, although precipitated recently, are already beginning to be smoothed by the waves, and assimilated to the general nature of the beach. Others, at a great height, are marked out by chasms for their fall, and you wonder to see them so long suspended. Nor are these observations to be made altogether without danger. In one of my circuits a mass of many tons fell not far behind me, and overspread with ruins all the beach between the foot of the cliffs and the sea." P. 7-9.

We do not, however, by any means intend to follow the route of Mr. Semple: suffice it to extract a few passages for the entertainment of our readers. The passion of the Germans for music, which we lately had occasion to remark upon, we find several times confirmed in the course of this narrative.

"As Heligoland diminished to our view, our boatmen, animated by the prospect of a speedy passage, began to sing charming little German airs, in parts, with a propriety and softness that surprised me. This taste for music, in a race of men where it was so little to be expected, appeared to me already a national characteristic; and I could not but reflect, that in all the shipping of Great Britain it would not, perhaps, be possible to find a captain and his mate, capable of thus joining even in a national song. P. 21, 22.

"We arrived at Ritzcbuttel, where the cheerful sound of music convinced us that all were not asleep. In the common room of an in, and amidst the smoke of tobacco, four men of poor appearance formed a concert with the harp, violin, flute, and voice." P. 23.

"Whilst we stopped, (at Zullichau,) a choir of boys collected before our door, and forming a circle with a director in the middle, armed with a roll of paper, they sung several beautiful German airs in parts. These choirs are regular establishments in many parts of Germany, particularly in Berlin. The boys are frequently taken from those who are in the colleges, and are well instructed in music at the expense of the individuals who delight in forming these kind of musical societies. On particular days they assemble and sing before the doors of their benefactors; and the public and the passing stranger have the benefit of these institutions." P. 200.

Mr. S. frequently fell in with bodies of Cossacks, and other Russian troops; but we know not that he has communicated any thing very novel with respect to them.

"The true Cossack appeared to me distinguished by little eyes, obliquely placed, and a countenance conveying the idea of being contracted by extreme cold, and the constant dazzling of snow. Among the rest were mixed a few Calmucks. Their high cheek bones, small oblique eyes, and general features, strongly recalled to mind my early friends, the Hottentots; but on a gigantic scale, they being in general the tallest and stoutest men of the party. Some wore a dress of sheep skin, others over that the jackets of French soldiers, especially such as were distinguished by any finery. Among their arms and accoutrements were Turkish, Russian, and French pistols, many French sabres, and some saddles. Before dining, most of them took off their caps, crossed themselves, and repeated a short prayer. They ate without voracity, but asked eagerly for spirits, under the common German name of snaps. After eating, some played at cards, some read letters, at which I was surprised, some conversed in groups, others, stretched along the ground, placed their heads in their comrades' laps, who performed, with their fingers, the operation of combs. P. 35, 36.

and

"Among the groups on bivouac, I observed many who had stripped themselves entirely naked, and were rubbing and stretching their bodies before the fires, with a kind of savage delight." P. 98.

Mr. S. obtained accounts of the campaign of Moscow from a Hollander, who had served in it.

"His regiment of hulans had been constantly with the advanced guard under Murat, and out of twelve hundred and fifty men, of whichit originally consisted, nearly a thousand had already fallen, or were in the hospital before quitting Moscow. For six days before entering that city he had eaten horse flesh, which was his sole food for sixty-two days on the retreat; and had already paid a ducat for a half beer-glass of common spirits. From the day of crossing the Niemen, during the whole of the march, not a dozen peasants were seen on either side of the route. Every thing was burnt up, destroyed or removed. At the battle of Smolensko, the infantry alone were at first engaged, the cavalry on both sides lining the opposite banks of the river, in separate squadrons, for a long distance, to prevent a surprise on either flank. But in the battle of Mojaisk, or Borodino, the cavalry had a large part. There he had two horses killed under him. Nothing can be said sufficient to give an idea of the horrors of that battle. The French troops, contrary to their usual custom, fought

in a mournful silence. Cavalry and infantry, Cossacks and artillery, all were mixed together in the promiscuous carnage. The battle began at four in the morning, and the last cannon shot was fired about nine at night. P. 167-169.

It is impossible, by any description, to exaggerate the horrors of the retreat. It was three hundred thousand men put to suffer all that human nature could endure, without entire destruction. His horses all died, and he was obliged to walk in the severity of the cold with his feet nearly bare. He saw forty louis given for a place in a common cart, for a distance of thirty miles; and a general, after making a bargain of that kind, being beuumbed by the cold, was pushed out by common soldiers who had previously occupied the seats, and left to perish on the road. P. 170, 171.

The post wagons of Germany seem to afford a traveller very little prospect of comfort.

"The hour appointed was eleven o'clock, but we did not depart fill two. I then, with some astonishment, mounted a long, narrow, covered cart, or wagon, across which three or four seats were slung, and the after-part of which was stuffed with packages. Six other passengers, of whom two were Jews, took their places at the same time. Those in the hinder seat were in the dark, and those in front had no room to extend themselves, or with difficulty to change their position. This, however, I was told, being covered, was a carriage of the first class. P. 43.

In five hours they had travelled sixteen miles. No wonder that poor Mr. S. should declare, in a pet, that it is "hardly possible for the ancient Germans to have used ruder vehicles than those hourly seen in the heart of civilized Germany," 71; especially as his companions were none of the most pleasant; they repeated, and praised "with enthusiasm," Bonaparte's proclamafion to his army at the commencement of the campaign, and expressed great surprise that our traveller should regard a most bril kant sunrise with any kind of delight.

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ORIGINAL REVIEW.

Memoirs of the Life and Writings of John Calvin, with a selection of letters written by him and other distinguished Reformers; also notes and biographical sketches of some of his cotemporaries. Compiled by the Rev. Elijah Waterman. 8vo. Hartford, 1813.

THE life of Calvin is one of the noblest subjects which can be selected by the philosophical historian. The lofty, intrepid, and zealous character of the venerable Reformer is full of interest. The period in which he lived was the era of the most important revolutions in religion, in politics, in manners, and in literature; in all of which the agency of his powerful and active mind was conspicuous. He was intimately connected with many of the greatest men which those times, fertile in great men, had produced, with Luther, with Melancthon and Cranmer, and especially with Beza, second only to Calvin himself as a theologian, and the first scholar of a learned age. The writings of Calvin, above those of any modern author, have had a wonderful effect in forming and influencing, not only the speculative opinions, but also the more active principles of conduct of a very great portion of the most enlightened part of the civilized world. "Two things of principal moment there are," says the ablest opposer of his system of church government, the judicious Hooker, "which have deservedly procured him honour throughout the world; the one his exceeding pains in composing the institutions of the christian religion; the other his no less industrious travels for the exposition of holy scripture according to the same institutions. Of what account the master of the sentences was in the church of Rome, the same and more among the preachers of the reformed churches Calvin hath purchased, so that the perfectest divines were judged they which were skilfullest in Calvin's writings; his books were

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