he wants facts. The other feature of Mr Galt's criticism, to which we wish to direct our readers' attention, is his inveterate determination to see farther into a millstone than his neighbours. In this propensity he bears a ludicrous resemblance to his own Bailie Waft, and others of his intellectual progeny. Indeed, since it has been decided in full critical divan that Byron drew all his characters from himself, we see no reason why Mr Galt should not henceforth be esteemed the prototype of all the small, prying, meddling, penny-wise and poundfoolish heroes who swarm in his pages. We refer to his wonderful discoveries regarding Manfred; but the following discourse (characterised by one of his friendly critics as equally" eloquent and just”) is too good to be passed over with a bare reference. “It is singular, and I am not aware that it has been before noticed, that, with all his tender and impassioned apostrophes to beauty and love, Byron has in no instance, not even in the finest passages of Don Juan, associated either the one or the other with sensual images. The extravagance of Shakspeare's Juliet, when she speaks of Romeo being cut, after death, into stars, that all the world may be in love with night, is flame and ecstasy compared to the icy metaphysical glitter of Byron's amorous allusions. The verses beginning with, 'She walks in beauty, like the light Of eastern climes and starry skies,' nine horses, a monkey, a bull-dog, and a mastiff, two cats, three peafowl, a harem of hens, books, saddles, and firearms, with a chaos of furniture;" (what a Miltonic idea!) nor was the exodus less fantastical; for in addition to all his own clanjamphry, he had Mr Hunt's miscellaneous assemblage of chattels and chattery, and little ones." Nor is the self-complacency of that worthy less conspicuous in what follows:-" In showing me her picture, he bestowed upon her the endearing diminutive of vixen, with a hard-hearted adjective that I judiciously omit.” Our readers may think that we have bestowed more time, space, and labour on this book than it deserves; but we felt ourselves called upon to put down this instance of the most overweening conceit on the part of an author, and of most dishonest puffery on the part of a publisher, that has disgraced the history of English literature.* Narrative of a Journey overland from England, by the Continent of Europe, Asia, and the Red Sea, to India; including a Residence there, and a Voyage Home, in the years 1825, 26, 27, and 28. By Mrs Colonel Elwood. London. Colburn and Bentley. 1830. In two vo lumes, 8vo. Pp. 398 and 400. AFTER all, women have a knack of communicating an interest to the occurrences of every-day life, by the delicate is a perfect example of what I have conceived of his body- grace and truth of their narrative, which men never can less admiration of beauty and objectless enthusiasm of love. attain. When in a foreign land, the letter of a male relaThe sentiment itself is unquestionably in the highest mood tion is rather acceptable than otherwise; but one from the of intellectual sense of beauty; the simile is, however, any ladies is happiness. All the little household details are thing but such an image as the beauty of woman would given in such a light, graphic, and unobtrusive manner, suggest. It is only the remembranceof some impression or that we feel ourselves again at home-or better, we feel ourimagination of the loveliness of twilight, applied to an object selves in a home that has all the charm of the real one, and that awakened the same abstract general idea of beauty. The fancy which could conceive, in its passion, the charms from which a gentle spirit has breathed away all the little of a female to be like the glow of the evening, or the gene- sullennesses and uneasinesses that will at times settle down ral effect of the midnight stars, must have been enamoured upon the kindest hearts. If this peculiar power of the of some beautiful abstraction, rather than aught of flesh female mind display itself in the compilation of domestic and blood. Poets and lovers have compared the complex history, it evinces itself no less happily in the narration of ions of their mistresses to the hues of the morning or the distant travel. It brings the most alien manners home to evening, and their eyes to the dewdrops and the stars; but it has no place in the feelings of man to think of female the heart like domestic things. Mrs Elwood's book is a charms in the sense of admiration which the beauties of the charming specimen of this peculiar style of composition. morning or the evening awaken. It is to make the simile We have followed her with unabated interest through all the principal. There is upon the subject of love, no doubt, her wanderings; but chiefly do we admire her account of much beautiful composition throughout his works; but not those spots where she made her abode longest. A beautione line in all the thousands which shows a sexual feeling of ful feature in the female character, is its power of striking female attraction; all is vague and passionless, save in the root in every soil. It is woman who first creates and delicious rhythm of the verse." gives a charm to home; and wherever her lot is cast, this power accompanies her. It is for this reason, that, much though we admire Mrs Elwood's overland journey, we prefer dilating at present upon that part of her work which relates to her residence in India. This of the Poet of Parisina, Haidée, Gulnare, &c. &c. &c.! The style of the work, the reader must have seen even from our few quotations, is any thing but English. But it would be doing the author injustice to pass over in silence all the impassioned and eloquent bursts which adorn his pages. The following are a few specimens of Mr Galt's fine writing, selected at random :-" Of all the professors of metaphysical discernment, poets require the finest tact; and contemplation, is with them a sign of inward abstract contemplation more than of any process of mind by which resemblance is traced and associations awakened. There is no account of any great poet whose genius was of that dreamy cartilaginous kind, which hath its being in haze." "Are there any symptoms of the gelatinous character of the effusions of the Lakers in the compositions of Homer ?" "But the alloy of such small vanities, his caprice and feline temper, were as vapour compared with the mass of rich and rare ore which constituted the orb and nucleus of his brilliancy." "In the course of the evening he began to thaw, and before the party broke up, his austerity began to leaf and hide its thorus under the influence of a relenting temperament." "He was as a mystery in a winding-sheet, crowned with a halo"-which is the most satisfactory description we have seen of Lord Byron. In the following, all Laurie Tod stands confest. "In moving from Ravenna to Pisa, his caravan consisted of seven servants, five carriages, In Part of that time she resided at Bombay, and part in the district of Cutch, whither her husband was sent to take the command of a regiment stationed in the province, which was in a somewhat disorderly state. the course of her narrative of her voyage to and from Cutch, and of her residence in Bhooj, she gives us a lively and graphic sketch of the provinces of Guzerat and Cutch---two districts, of which, we suspect, little is generally known in this country; a circumstance which may serve as an apology for here presenting our readers with a summary of the information concerning them afforded by her book. The province of Cutch, so called from Catc'ha, a morass, consists of a long strip of land, one hundred and sixty miles in length, and sixty-five in breadth, extending along the ocean, from the mouth of the Indus to the Gulf of Cutch. The sea-coast is an intermixture of jungle and sandy plains. A range of mountains of moderate height runs through the centre of the province, from east to west, dividing it into two equal parts; and paral * It is but justice to an independent and talented jourral to say, that we have seen, since writing the above, a manly and sensible review of Galt's work, and some important contributions to the history of its publication, in the Athenæum. 1 sand men may easily find shelter under them.' Milton is sup- lel to this there is another range to the north. An exevery day be seen in England in noblemen's parks, and it tensive plain lies between them, on the edge of which was situated in a low saudy island, which, report says, was = stands Bhooj, the capital of the district. An immense once of much greater dimensions than at present; as also, morass called the Ruan, or the Bhunni, extends along world, is now only a third of its original size. that the tree itself, though still probably the largest in the At this the northern frontier. During the monsoon, the whole time, from the shallowness of the water, the Kubber Beer of this marsh becomes inundated with brackish water, was barely insulated, but was separated from the mainland driven by the south-west winds up a branch of the Indus. by a shelving bank of sand, and a streamlet of a few feet At the subsiding of the rains, the waters run off partly into wide. During the monsoons, however, it is completely that river, and partly into the bay of Cutch. The marshy inundated. It is supposed to have been known to the anground thus uncovered, affords rich pasturage. The hills cients, for Arrian observes, that the Gymnosophists, in of Cutch are of the wildest and most fantastic shapes, and summer, when the heat becomes excessive, pass their time ➡the whole country bears marks of volcanic violence. The ing to the accounts of Nearchus, cover a circumference of in cool and moist places, under large trees, which, accordgreater part of the country is a barren rock; but occasion-five acres, and extend their branches so far, that ten thou=ally a little stunted brushwood is met with, and tradition speaks of large forests which once covered the hills. Cutch is subdivided into a great many small provinces. The inhabitants are wild and ferocious; said to be composed of the "refuse of Hind and Sind," half Mohamme =dan, and half Hindoo. The reigning family are of the Jharejah tribe, which boasts itself of Arabian descent. The government is a pure aristocracy, the power being vested in the chiefs of the different territories, the collective landholders of which are called Bhyauds, or Brotherhoods, and the individuals, Grassias. The Grassias pay much respect to the Teelat, or head of their family. He depends upon them for subsistence, frequently judges between them, and protects them from oppression. The Rao of Catch has despotic power only over his own ryots (peasants); but the Bhyauds owe him military service. Cutch was subdued by the English in 1819, and the police is now entirely in their hands, although the Rao is still allowed to exercise a nominal authority. The language of Cutch is said to be a dialect of the Sanscrit, 17 much mixed with Sindy and Guzerattee. It was long regarded as a mere patois; but more correct notions of its character, it is to be hoped, will soon be obtained, as the Rev. Mr Gray, late of the High School in this city, is employed in forming a grammar of the Cutchee, and translating the Scriptures into it. The agriculture, manufactures, and commerce of Cutch, are at a very low ebb; and, except from its importance as a frontier, it can scarcely repay the Company the expense of reducing it. The province, formerly the kingdom, of Guzerat, is more extensive and varied in its character than its neighbour. It extends from the point of Gometee in the island of Bate, at the extremity of the peninsula of Guzerat, on the west, to near Naundade, a town on the Nerbudda, on the east; and from the Head of Diu, on the south, to a considerable way beyond Ahmedabad, Besides being washed by the waters of the Gulf of Cutch and the ocean, it is deeply indented by the Gulf of Cambay. Of the peninsula, it is remarked that there is not "a more fertile or less explored domain, for the antiquary, or for the exercise of the pencil, both in architecture and natural scenery." Across the neck of the peninsula extends a morass similar to the Runn of Catch, uniting, during the rainy season, the Gulfs of Cutch and Cambay. The continental part of Guzerat is rather fertile than picturesque. Guzerat is partly subject to the British, and partly to the Guiocar, a native prince. The landholders are divided into Bhyauds as in Cutch. The most powerful tribes are the Bheels, the Coolies, the Cattywars, and the Rajpoots-all of predatory habits. Continental Guzerat is rich in vegetable productions; and it contains valuable cornelian mines. No less than five rivers of considerable magnitude fall into the sea within the boundaries of the province, which also contains several cities of great wealth and extensive commerce. It has several Brahminical colleges, and one place of peculiar sanctity in the eyes of Hindoo devotees -the Kubber Beer. Mrs Elwood's account of the latter has an appearance of truth to nature, that induces us to insert it here: on the north. From thence, the Kubber Beer, or Kubeer Bur, had exactly the appearance of a clump of trees, such as may be excused. "Beneath a rude but resided the priest, who attended on the idol Kubber Beer, whose temple consists of a very rude small room, in a humble shed, where were also some sacred cows stabled. The idol is of rude workmanship, with a very yellow face, sitting cross-legged, in the Indian style, and much resembling the images of Bhudd. Some of his relics were preserved; and a silver tobacco-box, and an old wooden chair, were shown to us, as his quondam property. The whole scene was as wild and as savage as possible, and we might sooner have imagined ourselves on an island in the Pacific Ocean, than on one in the heart of the British dominions." We have said above, that one of the principal charms of female composition is the graceful manner in which they relate occurrences not in themselves particularly striking. By means of this talent, Mrs Elwood has been enabled to present us with some inimitable portraits, not dashed off at once, but formed insensibly by a number of minute touches. Thus she never professes to give a formal account of her native waiting-maid, yet, when we collect all the incidental notices of that person, we find that they convey an extremely pleasing picture of a Hindoo female: "The ayab, or lady's maid, attends personally and exclusively upon her mistress. Mine was a Madras woman of the name of Zacchina, duly ornamented with nose and ear-rings, a necklace of gold sequins round her throat, and bangles on her arms and ankles, whose silvery sound always gave notice of her approach. She wore the graceful Hindoo sarree, which ever and anou would fall from her head, and her right hand was constantly and mechanically employed in arranging her drapery, which always reminded ine of that of a Grecian statue. She was very handy, and so quiet in her movements, that it was quite delightful; for she never came into my presence, any more indeed than any of the other servants, without previously taking off her slippers. This is the Eastern mark of respect, which is invariably paid to a superior."-"The natives in general seem to lead an easy, do-nothing sort of existence; indeed, I fancy the description my ayah gave me of a party she went to, would suffice for that of several of their entertainments. On my asking her what she had done at this festival, she answered, I sit down, ma'am-other women come, eat rice, talk.' When not in actual attendance on me, she spent the greater part of the day sitting in a very graceful attitude, with her head on her hand, and her invariable answer, if I asked her what she was doing, was, Ma'am, I sit down.""" On my asking the ayah one evening, what made the dogs bark so vehemently, with a look of terror she exclaimed, The deevils, ma'am! dogs see deevils, know deevils-always bark!"-"On one occasion, the cook having killed a snake, from which all the other servants fled, my ayah expressed her surprise and indignation very warmly at its audacity, in presuming to come 'where madam walked. "-"Hearing a violent shriek, and going into the inner room to enquire the cause, I found the ayah in violent agitation, declaring she had seen a snake gliding into our sleeping apartment. As it was not a very agreeable companion, we caused a search to be made, but it was so long before it could be found, that the servant said she must be mistaken. She was very indignant at having her veracity doubted, and complained bitterly of the boyHe say, ma'am, I lie woman!"" All our servants paid a visit to this holy shrine, but not till they had performed several ablutions; for my ayah, who came to ask permission to go, told me, I wash hair, ma'am. I go see Kubber Beer. Indeed she was a true devotee, and was determined to make use of every opportunity that presented itself of getting rid of her sins, for she visited every holy shrine most indefatigably." In the same lady-like and unpretending manner, she brings before us all the motley inhabitants of Hindostan who fall under her observation: the European soldier or civilian, the Indian devotee, the Bheel marauder, and the Parsee. One anecdote of an individual of the last mentioned sect is too good to be omitted: "Some very fine ships have been constructed in the Bombay docks entirely by Parsees, and mostly by the Jumsheedjee family. The ancestor of this family came origi nally from Guzerat. A story is told of him, that in one of the first ships of the line which he built, and which was considered a masterpiece of workmanship, he inserted a silver plate, in the pride of his heart, with an inscription, stating that this ship was built by a black fellow, using a stronger epithet than I can mention, but which is frequently applied to the dark-complexioned natives, by the pale-faced European Burra Sahibs." Mrs Elwood is much addicted to description. This is rather a dangerous line for any person to attempt. The feeling of the beautiful, whether awakened by the contemplation of scenery, or any thing else, is elementary; its essence is unity; its duration brief. To move the minds of others, its expression must be momentary as itself like lightning swallowed by the darkness, before we can say "it is." Formal expansions of this feeling, over long pages, destroy it. It is from this cause that, while many of Mrs Elwood's allusions to the scenery through which she passes have a picturesque charm about thein, her set descriptions are seldom happy. She shows to most advantage where the object is of itself sufficiently grand to engross her whole mind, and prevent her running riot in search of heightening associations. The two annexed extracts give a pretty just notion of the powers she displays when thus possessed, and with them we close this desultory notice of her work :" DESCRIPTION OF AN EARTHQUAKE. "On the 16th June, 1819, Poorbunder was very much injured by an earthquake, which was felt at the same instant at Calcutta, and also nearly destroyed the town of Bhooj, the capital of Cutch; but with this exception, earthquakes, though frequent in Hindostan, have never been destructive. "The sun had vanished below the horizon about twenty minutes,-the evening was calm and sultry,—not a breath of air was stirring,-a general lassitude seemed to pervade all animated nature, when C, who was taking his evening walk with his subaltern officer on the ramparts of the fort, which were at that part about seventeen feet high, and commanded an extensive view of the ocean, suddenly heard a sound like a cannonade at sea, though it was at a season when no ships could be off the coast, and whilst anxiously listening, a violent stroke, as if of electricity coming up through the ramparts, struck the soles of their feet. Looking up, far as the eye could reach they beheld the parapets awfully waving backwards and forwards. Exclaiming, 'An earthquake!' and expecting to see the works, which were too high to jump from, separate beneath their feet, they ran to, and descended from, the nearest ramp, which was about fifty yards off, and as they passed onwards, the masonry had a gritting noise. "Having attained a certain distance from the walls as quickly as possible, for fear they should fall upon them, their attention was attracted by a cloud of dust, reaching to the sky, produced by the fall of several stone towers, and breaches in the curtains of the fort were formed, up which a company of soldiers could have marched abreast with facility. "The whole city was in confusion,-isolated houses were seen to rock like trees in a high wind,-individuals were thrown down from the upper stories,-but, singular to relate, the Rana, who was riding in his garree, or car of state, near the fort, never felt the shock which so much injured the capital. "On the following morning, C, who was riding near a lake, observed a smoke arise from its waters, and a flame, about three feet high, covering a sandy ridge of hills, accompanied with a strong smell of sulphur. Upon subsequently returning to investigate the cause of this appearance, he found the shrubs on the hills blackened, and deprived of their verdure, as if from the influence of fire. "The shocks were repeated daily for a week, and the whole country seemed to the feelings undulated, like the sea after a violent storm. This was accompanied by nausea, sickness, lassitude, weakness in the knees, and a disposition to lie down in a recumbent position. Slighter shocks were subsequently repeated at intervals of a fortnight, then of a month, but did not wholly cease for a period of two years." sion. DESCRIPTION OF A STORM AT sea. "Soon after midnight, a tremendous north-western gale began to blow, and continued some days without intermisThe seas ran mountains high, and we now seemed heaved up to the clouds, and were then precipitated by gulfy whirlpools into the bed of the ocean. It was awful, during the pitchy darkness of the night, to hear the ship straining as if in pain, and the Spirit of the storm howling round, as if anxious to gain admittance, wherever he might discover a started board; whilst the shrill cries of the pilot were scarcely audible amid the uproar of the elements, and the boisterous fury of the wind. We frequently shipped tremendous seas, and continued for some time sailing only with our storm stay-sail. Our bowsprit was at one time engulfed in a head-sea, which snapped the jib-boom asunder, carried away some of the bulwarks of the weather-bow with a prodigious crash, and the main-mast was much strained. "Those who have been in storms at sea, will not wonder at the superstitious fears that haunt the sailor, who, during the live-long night, whilst the face of nature is concealed in thousand demons howling and yelling around his devoted almost supernatural darkness, hears, or fancies he hears, ten vessel, eager for its destruction, and 6 Whilst the brave mariner, in every wave That breaks and bursts, forebodes his watery grave,' it were impossible not to feel some degree of horror and dread at the probability of the impending danger. The bare idea that, were the pilot for one instant to fail in his duty, The shocks had four distinct motions; a rotatory, or circular, a vibratory, or projectile, and an undulatory movement. By the first, stones were completely turned round in the walls, in the most extraordinary manner. or a single leak to occur, during so dreadful a storm, the vessel must founder, fills the bravest heart with awe, and the most unthinking mind with nervous apprehension. "Such was the height of the waves, that at one instant, from the stern windows, nothing was visible but a mountainous billow, apparently about to overwhelm the vessel with destruction, when anon, there was nought but the sky to be seen, according as the ship ascended, or descended, the lofty ridges of water; and a vessel that passed near us was at times quite obscured from sight, by the intervening mass of water. It flew up with such tremendous velocity, that with a very little stretch of fancy, it might have been deemed the Flying Dutchman,' which frequents these stormy seas, and is, according to the on-dit of the sailors, then oftenest to be seen, when an elemental war is carrying on off the stormy Cape." In the north of Italy, the west and south of Germany, in France and the Netherlands, we find, wherever we turn our steps, cathedrals built on a gigantic scale, and all of them impressed with a sufficiently uniform character to entitle us to consider them as ranking under one style of architecture. Upon this, in common with all the styles practised in Europe during the middle ages, the name of " Gothic Architecture" has been conferred, than which a more unfitting or unmeaning epithet could scarcely be imagined. The term is unmeaning in as far as regards the characteristic peculiarities of this style of architecture; and, historically speaking, it is false. The Goths have been justly celebrated for their destructive, but they have left us no traces of their constructive, talents. The Goths were but one of the tribes which composed the numerous race inhabiting, when first discovered by the Romans, the immense tract extending from the Danube to the Baltic, and from the Rhine to the Elbe, and claiming a common descent from their deity Tuiston, or Teuton. We find the Goths at first on the shores of the Baltic, somewhat more civilized, we are told by Tacitus, than the surrounding septs, but not advanced beyond that stage of refinement in which the American Indians were afterwards found. (Gothones-paulo jam adductius quam ceteræ Germanorum gentes; nondum tamen supra libertatem.) We next find them, some centuries later, on the banks of the Danube, increased to a mighty nation, partly by their own fecundity, partly by the in#corporation of vanquished tribes, loaded with the plunder of the East, now threatening the Roman Empire, now themselves rendered tributary by the Huns. The nation of the Goths split about this time into two independent communities, the one of which established a kingdom in the north of Italy, the other penetrated into Spain, and subjected the greater part of that country to its sway. The ephemeral kingdom of the Ostrogoths was soon swallowed up by the Lombard invasion. That of the Visigoths survived till overturned by the Saracens. They have left behind them fragmentary traces of their laws and language, but not one solitary structure from which we can infer their architectural taste or talent. We do not think that we lay too much stress upon these facts. Into the antiquities of architecture, as into those of law and literature, a sort of shallow, halflearned pretenders have introduced an immense deal of confusion by their abuse of the word Gothic. They have, in their ignorance, substituted an appellative derived from the name of a single family, for one derived from the nation of which it was only a branch; and upon this misnomer they have built up empty and absurd speculations, which will long continue to embarrass the rational investigation of antiquity. It is true, that the public law, the literature, the ornamental architecture, of modern Europe, have all been bequeathed to us by the tribe belonged, and which, from its theology, has been different off-shoots of the great race to which the Gothic But it is equally true, that our termed the Teutonic. oldest specimens of architecture-that art, to which the book whose title stands at the head of this article more particularly directs our attention-are of a date which may be regarded as modern, when compared with the final submersion of the Gothic name. a permanent and organized government. Another stri It is impossible to determine in which nation of Europe this style of architecture first originated. The oldest specimens which we have of it are to be found in different countries, and seem nearly contemporaneous. One thing is certain, that they are only to be found in countries where some tribe of the Teutonic race (Normans, Lombards, Franks, or Angles) succeeded in establishing king fact connected with its history is, that its most magnificent specimens have been reared by architects and workmen, united together by ties of mutual dependence, and claiming no country save that where they were working at the time. These splendid monuments of architectural genius are not monuments of their age, but (as much as the writings of a few recluse and lettered monks) of the individual genius of those who devised and executed them; or, at most, of the prince who had the taste to encourage their erection. Where the few, who thus raised themselves above their age, learned their art, is a question that has given rise to many absurd hypotheses. Travellers have discovered pointed arches in one place, rich tracery in another; and from such narrow grounds as these have they sought to infer the native country of what, for want of a better term, we must still continue to call Gothic architecture. It ought always to be had in memory, that the elementary forms which can be used in architecture are few-the cube, the circle, or the oblong, with their compounds; surmounted by a roof, terraced, or composed of inclined planes, or a dome; the walls constructed of solid masonry, or of pillars or arches, with interstices. In so narrow a field, even nations which never have had intercourse with each other, must necessarily use the same form; nay, as the ornaments clustered around the indispensable parts of the building are imitations of such natural objects as please the eye, even these resemblances must occasionally be found in two national styles of building entirely original and independent. The character, therefore, possessed in common by two styles of architecture, which shall entitle us to infer that the one has been suggested by the other, must be of a much more pervading and fundamental nature than any upon which theorists on this subject have hitherto based their conjectures. There are two styles of architecture, which, after careful reflection, we are inclined to regard as decidedly original, and native to the soil in which we first find them; although upon this subject, as upon all where we want the corroboration of contemporary history, we speak with diffidence. One is the pillared style, which we find in Greece, Egypt, and among the ruins of Persepolis. It is of little consequence in which of these countries it first originated. There is a simplicity about it, which demonstrates it to be a primitive style of architecture. Its forms have evidently been suggested by the dwellings of a race advanced beyond nomadic habits, and inhabiting houses (or huts) not calculated to be removed from one place to another. Lastly, it is adapted, in its earliest and most simple form, to genial climates alone, and such as are not liable to variable weather. The other style, the prominent feature of which is the cupola, seems, with equal certainty, referable to a race accustomed to inhabit tents, and whose ideas of architectural form were materially influenced by the habit of viewing such dwellings. In its simplicity of design, we recognise in this style, as in the former, a primitive character, and, like the former, it ́ seems best adapted, by its lightness and airiness, to a sunny arrangements of this style of architecture may be vaclimate. We omit the more complex system of architecture which obtained under the Roman empire, throughout the provinces subject to its sway, as not bearing upon our present subject; and pass on to the consideration of two styles, which were introduced nearly about the same time, the one in the south, the other in the north, of Europe. We mean the Saracenic and Gothic styles. They have one very important feature in common; they are both of them derivative styles; learned by nations, who had no architecture of their own, from a people more advanced; modified by peculiar tastes, and adapted to peculiar circumstances; but retaining, in some measure, a cosmopolite character, compounded of several primitive styles, and deficient in simplicity. They differ in this material point, that the Saracenic monuments, of which such splendid remains are still to be seen in Spain, are exclusively suited to a warm, the Gothic, scattered through France, Lombardy, Germany, the Netherlands, and England, are adapted to a cold climate. And with this remark, we dismiss the subject of Saracenic architecture for the present, having now settled those preliminaries which were indispensable to a just theory of the origin and peculiar character of what has absurdly been termed Gothic architecture. ried as much as the elementary forms employed in the art admit of, and yet its essential character remain unchanged. The buildings constructed upon its princlples alone are suited to the climate of the north of Europe, and the wants of its inhabitants. We do not deny the beauty of the Grecian structures that ornament our city; but we say that the best of them-the High School—— proves the truth of our assertion. Windows are indispensible in our climate. In order to retain the Grecian character, the architect has been obliged to introduce them into this building, in such a manner that they shall scarcely be seen. But it is a strange style of architecture which requires that one of the essential parts of a building shall be kept out of view. In a Gothic building, (at the hazard of appearing pedantic, we again protest against the name,) the windows form the most prominent and beautiful features of the structure. We beg, however, in stating this opinion, that we may not be understood to praise every childish combination of arched window and fretted roof, to which the appellation Gothic has been given. of English engravers in general. It harmonizes, too, with the florid and massive character of the architecture. Were we to select an especial favourite, where every thing pleases us, we should fix upon the view of the Cathedral at Rheims, in the part just about to be published." The greatest triumph over difficulties is the view of the Cathedral at Milan. To conclude, it is not our intention at present to enter into any criticism of the particular buildings pourtrayed in Mr Coney's work. We may, however, return to the subject as soon as another number appears. It is, howGothic architecture, then, is not an original style. It ever, but doing him justice to say, that his work is, both did not arise, like the Grecian, among an unmixed na- in point of selection and execution, the best of the kind tion, suggested by the form of its simple habitations. It yet published in England. The engravings are executed was adopted in a highly composite and refined state from in the continental style, and printed on French paper. another people. In the mosque of St Sophia, built This gives them a breadth and richness of effect, far beduring the latter ages of the Roman Empire, we can al-yond what is attainable by the smooth, mannered style ready trace the rudiments of those peculiarities which mark Gothic architecture. It was from, this and other edifices its contemporaries, that the architects of the middle ages derived their knowledge of architectural forms and proportions. The character of the buildings which they constructed out of these elements, was determined by the uses to which they were destined, and the nature of the climate in which they were erected. The earliest ornamental edifices in all nations are those in which the prince administers justice, or the nation assembles to deliberate on its policy, and, in an especial manner, the temples of religion. In warmer climates, the use of a roof was more frequently to exclude heat than to shelter from the intemperance of cold. Many national solemnities were celebrated in the open air. Hence the great object of Oriental architecture is to secure a degree of refreshing coolness; while the Grecian temple was rather an object of contemplation from without, than destined to shelter assembled multitudes. In the north of Europe, the length and intensity of the winter rendered shelter from the external air an object of importance; and to combine the enjoyment of this comfort with the possibility of assembling in multitudes, and to unite beauty and magnificence with their attainment, was the problem to be solved by the architect. The forms in which different fragments of stone could be reared upon each other, so as to form one great and ornamental whole, he learned from the remains of Roman art; the manner in which to apply this knowledge to the necessities of his countrymen, was the suggestion of his own genius. The desideratum was a building allowing free ingress to the light, while it excluded the storm, large enough to contain immense multitudes, grand enough to harmonize with the majestic solemnities in which they were engaged. The lofty proportions of Gothic architecture, its huge masses of solid wall, broken and relieved by innumerable arches, pilasters, and pinnacles, have supplied it. In this rich union of utility and grandeur, not in any individual detail, not in the form of arch, or the festooning of a tracery, are we to seek for the principle which gives its value and character to our northern architecture. We wish to direct the attention of our architects to this important truth. The forms and A Treatise on Pulmonary Consumption, its Prevention and Remedy. By John Murray, F.S. A. F.L.S. F. H.S. F. G.S., &c. &c. London. Whittaker. 1830. THE medical profession, and more especially the public at large, will be delighted to learn that a Mr John Murray, who is a member of seventeen distinguished societies and institutions, all of which, with two et ceteras subjoined, are emblazoned on the title-page of this "little volume," has stepped forward to announce to the world the cheering fact of his having discovered a specific for the cure of Pulmonary Consumption! Inspired with a feeling of modesty, such as perhaps never before animated a disciple of Esculapius, he coolly dedicates his Treatise to the Duke of Wellington, and takes care to inform his Grace, that "the priority of having first suggested and employed aerial chlorine in pulmonary phthisis" is to be ascribed to the author. He reiterates his claim to this equivocal distinction in the Preface, and sinks into the following agreeable reverie. "We (that is, Mr John Murray) do confess that we feel cheered and happy in the reflection, that, even when we have mingled with the clods of the valley, and our name and memory have perished, numbers yet unborn may owe their lives and rescue from suffering to the remedies we have promulgated, which, so far from benefiting their author, have cost him much thought and anxiety, and many pecuniary sacrifices!" All this is very pathetic and amiable; but although we do not wish to break the spell of such a dream, we cannot help hinting, that the greater the flourish of trumpets which heralds a procession, the more insignificant is often the pageant that follows; and that, when an author thus announces his own claims to be considered the discoverer of some splendid truth, it occasionally turns out that, |