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By the Virgin! 'tis a stream of blood that goeth to and fro; Though the lashings of the guns, that sound by the counted minute,-slow.

That fadeth fast at sunset, fast he goeth to his home, Through waves that wreathe him as he falls, a shroud of snowy foam.

A prayer for that lowly one! a prayer and a sigh
Are borne upon the meteor track,-away, she rushes by,
That wizard wreck! that lonely ship! with her stately
banner spread

Like to a pale and plumed hearse, unladen of its dead!

LITERARY CHIT-CHAT AND VARIETIES.

MR DAWSON TURNER is about to publish the Literary Correspondence of John Pinkerton, F.R.S.

Mr John Timbs, editor of "Laconics," has in the press, "Knowledge for the People; or, the Plain Why and Because." The Turf, a satirical novel, is announced.

George Cruikshank is about to give us some more of his fun, in the shape of illustrations to a book, called "The Gentleman in Black."

Dr A. J. Paris is preparing a Life of the late Sir Humphrey Davy. The only tolerable memoir of that celebrated chemist we have yet seen is in Silliman's Journal.

ANNUALS.-Ackermann's "Forget-me-Not" for 1831 is a very pretty volume. Croly has a poem called " Esther "-Hogg has a supernatural legend-and L. E. L. is also a contributor. "Daddy David, the Negro," and "The Painter of Pisa," are good in their way. "The Haunted Hogshead, a Yankee Legend," is by some blockhead, who chatters after Mathews as a parrot would do-that is, with less meaning. Martin contributes" Queen Esther." As usual with this artist, the human figures are quite subordinate; through a long vista of columns appears the city, with the gallows in the distance. Edwin Landseer has a funny little trifle, "The Cat's Paw." W. Westall presents us with "The Boa Ghaut, Deccan, East Indies"-rather adventurous, as a large proportion of this year's impression has been shipped for India-somewhat like painting a gentleman one has never seen, and sending it to him and his family to ask how they like it. Corbould and Prout have also lent their aid to the embellishments.-Ackermann's "Juvenile Forgetme-Not." T. Hood has got the length of punning for the nursery. Hogg is writing about poachers for the same discriminating public. Mrs Howitt, Miss Jewsbury, W. Howitt, are among the contributors;

There was battle on her board; her flag is streaming fair and, (awful reflection!) no less than three Miss Stricklands-Jane, and far,

The lordly flag of victory, and the image of a star!

It is a cold and weary thing to wander night and day Over the same and sullen wave, away, away, away; To hear the trackless murmur of the solitary wind, With the pale and foamy waters following behind.

Along, along-that lonely ship is shadowing the sea, Like to a worn and wounded bird that saileth heavily: By the saints! below the broken mast, he lieth muffled there,

A silent and a deathly man!-a lifeless mariner!

Susanna, and Agnes-What a family of bulfinches! The most appropriate engravings are,-" The Juvenile Architect," by Hart"The Breakfast," by Sir W. Beecher-" The Infant Samuel," by Holmes" Who will serve the King?" by Farrier-and "The Juvenile Masquerade," by C. Landseer.

MR YANIEWICZ'S MORNING CONCERTS.-We understand that this veteran musician, at the desire of several musical amateurs, intends to recommence, this season, these delightful entertainments. All who have had the pleasure of hearing his classical performances. are aware to what a degree they combine instruction with delight. They are at once a valuable lesson to the musical scholar and a high treat to the amateur. There is not, we speak confidently on the subject, a town in the empire, which contains, for the number of its inhabitants, such a large proportion of highly-cultivated musical talent as Edinburgh,—a circumstance which renders the apathy evinced of late years by the public, with regard to concerts, quite in

There's nothing in that gaze-there was, but all the explicable. We trust that our citizens are about to awake from this light is fled;

The brow is pale and bloomless, where the holy hues were shed

Of health-below the raven locks all lustreless it lies, Like an altar where hath burnt away the sainted sacrifice.

A prayer o'er the lowly dead! they lift him to his home, Amid the wild sea-waters, through the solitary foam; No shroud, no blazon'd coffin, but the hammock where he lay,

And dreamt his dreams of her he loved, in an island far away!

They lift him to his grave, a group of melancholy men! He will not join them in their shouts of victory again; They will miss him side by side, amid their battle and their glee;

They will miss him like a star, that steer'd their vessel through the sea.

They lift him to his grave, and say their sorrowful adieu, As he drops amid the waters: like a pale and silver hue

lethargy.

THE MAITLAND CLUB.-The Maitland Club bids fair to keep the Bannatyne on the alert, by its active rivalry. The very curious old Scottish poetical romance of Clariodus, from the Newhailes MS., is to be the Christmas present of Edward Piper, Esquire; and Messrs J. W. M'Kenzie and Kinloch are nearly ready, the one with a valuable Scottish Chronicle of the Sixteenth Century, hitherto unpublished, and the other with a very spirited poem, by the celebrated Dr

Archibald Pitcairn, (from the Keith MS.,) called Babel. Mr Smith has already contributed a beautiful reprint (from the rare original) of Beaugue's Tears in Scotland. But what gives us most pleasure, is to learn that that public-spirited gentleman, James Ewing, Esquire, of Dunoon Castle, is resolved to put down all competition, by presenting to the Club the CHARTULARY of PAISLEY (from the Faculty MS.)-a princely gift, and a most important service to the history of his country. The titled members of the Bannatyne, with the exception of Lord Melville, and his Grace of Buccleuch, receive, without giving any thing in return. The head of the Scotts has not, it is true, actually contributed, but he has given directions for printing the Chartulary of Melrose.

CHIT-CHAT FROM LONDON.-A report has somehow got abroad that Jerdan intends to give us his own portrait in an early number of the Gallery of Illustrious and Eminent Persons of the Nineteenth

Century. A few, however, of his most attached friends, still express a hope that he will not carry his principle of universal admissibility to that work quite so far.

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THE TON OF TO-DAY;

OR, THE POWERS THAT BE, IN DRESS, PAINTING,
MUSIC, AND POETRY.

A DESULTORY ARTICLE.

:

PRICE 6d.

dresses as in the pit of the Italian Opera, when a lady
in one of the stalls, with a head like a large bush in blos-
som, happened to be directly in a line with our vision
to the outrage of our excited feelings, and the waste of
our half-guinea. If Pasta comes next season, this really
ought to be put a stop to. One moment to be fixed in
breathless awe with her powerfully expressive counte-
nance, wrought up with the demon or the divinity of
human passion; and the next, to have it obscured by a
bunch of greens, or something far more nonsensical, if
not so vulgar-is a thing beyond endurance.
finement in social life consists in having a courteous sym-
pathy with the feelings of others; and to outrage them
for a freak of vanity, is moral vulgarity. Many a wo-
man, who sells cauliflowers, would act with far more
consideration and decency. Perhaps the lady may reply,

Real re

EITHER all fashions are absurd, or else there is no real absurdity in fashion. It is the mistiming of things that makes the ridiculous. He who is called mad for wearing an eccentric dress, is only so in not waiting till every body else is equally mad. An umbrella bonnet should not, therefore, despise one the size of a pinched farthing "they're all of them queens in their turn." Time was, when the beauty of the female figure was estimated by the smallness of the shoulders and the largeness of the hoop; but now, under the hideous regime of the gigot sleeves, a fair lady's shoulders are wider than those of any of Barclay and Perkins's draymen. The lord and "Pray, sir, cannot you hear through my head-dress?" master standing by her side, bears about the same pro- True, we go to the opera chiefly for the music; but, portion to her that a figure of one does to a cipher. She even without allusion to our second Siddons, the eye is is all nothing! Yet, the ambition of the sex is gratified curious to inform itself of the visible figure and features by the appearance of magnitude, even though they must of the object which is so powerfully exciting the feelings. know that the men are aware of its being mere wind It is the same in listening to an instrumental solo: unand buckram. A male, of the finest dimensions, passes less we can see the person performing, we are by no means the Park entrances with ease, while the huge little crea- satisfied or comfortable. This is to be attributed to the ture on his arm either has to go edgewise, or crumple insufficiency of the sense of hearing (with some few fine through, to the detriment of many yards of silk, in con-exceptions) to convey a definite impression to the undersequence of a monstrous fashion, so graceless and ugly in itself, that it could only have been invented in order that the first who followed it might take advantage of the convenience to smuggle lace. The "bishop sleeves" are much better; yet even these are unspeakably troublesome, being continually trailed across the ragouts at dinner, or dipped in the slop-basin at tea. It is well if they do not take fire in snuffing the second candle.

standing: the heart beats, and it is the brain wishing to know why it is, and how it is, that creates anxiety to see the performer. We wish to bring all our senses to bear upon the interpretation.

will understand too well, without further probing. Yet, let us adduce an instance or two.

Much as we admire a flowing costume for both sexes, like that of the Persians or Turks, in preference to the hateful angular-cut or puffed-up monstrosities of Paris and England, we are, nevertheless, free to confess, that Alas! and has the poetry of the female figure fled for the only thing that puts us seriously out of temper with ever? Shall we think of the graceful undulating forms of "fashion," is the shameful influence it is suffered to have beauty, the sylphid symmetry of limbs, the buoyancy of over works of intellect and art. And herein lies the elastic loveliness, and nature's real elegance, pure, glow-source of many a grievous wound, which men of genius ing, and spontaneous in every motion, only as dreams that are passed? Are these bright visions of our youth no more to be realized? Must a married man never expect to see his wife grace his board in her own proper person, which, as far as he can judge, cannot fail to be considerably different from the egregious outline she now presents? Must a bachelor never more hope to see a sweet woman in her natural shape? "There were angels in those days," when, in the fragrance of the noontide groves, the heart might beat a joyous measure, "To sport with Amaryllis in the shade, Or with the tangles of Neæra's hair." But now Amaryllis is cased in pasteboard, and Newra's hair is played the fool with. All coiffures are abominable. The giraffe head-dress made the fairest female a 'figure o' fun!" and if the "coiffure à la chinoise" is ever really adopted-for we actually hear it is contemplated-then farewell the tangles of luxuriant tresses, and hail bare face!

46

"Out upon thee, fie upon thee, bare face!" We have never been so truly out of temper with head

The grandeur of the old masters in painting-their truth, and character, and power-is now only appreciated and admired by a select few; and the artists of the present day, being compelled to adopt an opposite style, have come to an opinion that the modern school is the superior. This is the natural consequence, when their pecuniary interests come to be acted upon by human vanity and habitual associations. Flat, high-coloured, smooth, surface-like painting, with no more depth or substantiality than can be avoided-in fact, only a few removes from

The ladies and

Chinese-is the reigning fashion! Whatever approaches
the genuine standard, is proscribed.
gentlemen of the present day are all determined to be
painted like sweet peas. There is, however, an engraving
now about town, far above all trifling; and we hope to
would" bear it out even to the edge of doom,” to obtain
be believed, when we declare upon our honours that we
the heart and hand of such a woman. The print is en-
titled "Une Tragedienne,” and is not at all like the person
said to be the original. It is the finest thing that has

been published these many years. It has not sold well, as may be imagined, nor is it likely; and we are selfish enough in our admiration, to wish it never may.

ters! The song sold very well. So much for taste; bat
we would rather a thousand times listen to
"Hokey
pokey wonky pong, &c., King of the Cannibal Islands,"
in which there is at least some character and grotesque
oddity, without any anomalous pretence or puerile war-
bling. How far his present Majesty feels flattered by
the melodious effusion of " King William the tar for me,"
it is impossible to say; but we would not have grudged
walking a mile to see the face George the Fourth would
have made at a similar appellation. We do not, however,
object to a pleasant song, a droll song, or a young lady's
song; we only mean to declaim against the preference
given them, to the exclusion or cold neglect of fine com-
positions, by which we are far from meaning mere scien-
tific music.

We have heard more than one Royal Academician affirm, that a real fine painting by a modern artist, in the style of the old masters, would scarcely be looked at, much less sell. We are not quite sure of this. A painter has the advantage of coming before the public with far less difficulty, trouble, and expense, than those who devote themselves to the sister arts. Suppose, for instance, a young man, of "no name," composes a piece of music, which possesses every merit that genius and science can accomplish ;-who will publish it? What manager will give it a trial? If he relinquishes the idea of fame, and merely wishes to make it the respectable medium of his interest, and to take it as his diploma of capability to give lessons, it will cost nearly one hundred pounds to get a full orchestra for the trial; and he has not as many shillings! Again, suppose an obscure man writes a powerful -epic poem or tragedy, what can he do with it? Why, if he have not interest, money, or luck-things which no man of genius ever yet had—he can do nothing with it. Whereas, an artist has only to contend with the circum-rapidity and precision of his execution is truly surprising. stance of his painting being hung in "an infamous bad 'place," which may not always occur; and even there it may be spied out some fine day. The painters, however, seem all of opinion, not only that historical painting is ruinous, but that fine painting of any kind is secondary to the "humour" of the story. Oh, the grievous necessity for doing foolish things!

Without deteriorating from the great talent of Sir Thomas Lawrence, and allowing him every merit connected with grace, delicacy, high finish, correct drawing, harmony of colour, and the art of making the most of his sitter's beauty, it is still to be lamented that he made so few attempts at higher things. It may be said, in answer to our objections to the aerial fashion he has set -his portraits being all like flowers in the sun-that, had he done otherwise, he must have given up his originality. This, of course, implies, that his chief originality lay in the above qualifications; and this we shall not deny. What we principally regret is, that he did not choose nobler subjects for his pencil. We never hear of his seeking for fine heads; and there is no appearance of many having sought him. If a man had a name, Sir Thomas was happy to paint him; but if he read a great work by an obscure individual, he was one of the last persons to feel an impulse to go and have a look at him. However, Sir Thomas was a beautiful painter, and would deserve no mean fame, even if we had no other proofs of his talent than his portraits of Walter Scott, and Kemble in the character of Hamlet.

Pass we now to music. Shades of the dead kings of melody! how are your manes and memories outraged! how are your immortal lessons neglected! The prevailing taste in music is for nursery trash in the vocal, and tricksy execution in the instrumental. The great composers of former days had none of these gymnastic exercises-these feats of slight of hand-in their pieces; they preferred a Doric simplicity—grand, original, and pure; and in their vocal composition they identified music with the most sublime ideas. They felt the divinity within, and chose words according to their own comprehension and sense of power. This is what makes the names of Handel and Haydn sacred to fame. With them, it was

"Music married to immortal verse."

What have we now?-music seduced by trumpery; and the town peopled with a truly ephemeral and no less spurious offspring, in the shape of butterflies, ripe cherries, gentle moons, and oysters! By the by, the last-mentioned disgusting song is a garbled and polluted version of "Aurora che sorgerai ;" and Miss Graddon, bearing that in mind, used to introduce a long Italian cadence in concluding, and descended to her lowest note upon o-o-oy-oys

Michael Boai has had a great run with his "chin-chopping" this season. Now, ridiculous as it may seem to those who have not heard him, the thing is really so clever, that we cannot feel justified in saying a word against the man. It is an extraordinary novelty, both ingenious and effective; and with the accompaniment of the violin and guitar, is very agreeable and amusing. The

The full, rich, martial chords produced by Eulenstein,
some time since, on the German Eolian, was also very
ingenious and delightful. It had precisely the effect at
times of a chord formed by ten or twelve trumpets, heard
over distant fields at night. We prefer it by far to the new-
invented instrument, 'the Florandino;' the tone of which
is between the Eolian and the flageolet, and is played like
a miniature piano. We heard Signor du Flor upon this
instrument at a private concert ; and with his right hand
playing a sustained air on the florandino, and making a
thorough-bass accompaniment with his left on the piano-
forte, he produced a very agreeable effect. Of a very differ-
ent caste, however, to all these curiosities, is Signor Huerta's
performance on the guitar. The rapidity and correct-
ness of a boundless execution upon a limited instrument,
and the startling and varied effects of his orchestral imi-
tations, wonderful as they are, must yet be classed as
his secondary merits. It is in the divine tone he produces,
joined to an expression and pathos so intelligible to the
heart and its passions-to imagination—and to the me-
mory of our deepest affections, that Huerta excels all
other instrumental performers. It is our poetical ideas
of the lute realized, and must be heard in private, to be
believed. Unfortunately, the want of sufficient power
in his instrument to fill a large place, prevents his getting
into publicity, notwithstanding all his energy and genius;
and perhaps his eccentricity and independence of conduct
are not a little in the way of his interest. Some few
years ago, Sor, President of the Academy of Music in
Paris, made the handsome offer to Huerta of paying his
expenses there and back, and giving him the use of his
own house while he remained, if he would come and
play to him. Huerta is gone there recently, and, no
doubt, ere this they have been mutually delighted.
know a person who slaved in secret two years at the
guitar, for seven and eight hours a-day, upon Huerta's
method, expressly that he might play to the woman he
loved. Meantime he lost her; his friends laughed at him,
but verily he had his own reward.

We

It is said that Paganini is a fine guitarist; indeed, we were informed by a German gentleman, that he was in company with the former abroad, who played in a room so divinely, first on the violin and then on the guitar, that it was impossible to say which was to be preferred. There is some rumour in the musical world of Paganini coming over during the ensuing season, and there is no question about his making a tremendous “hit” if he does; not only from his extraordinary talent, but from the romantic interest attached to his story. If any thing would make a man play the violin, it would be to imprison him for seven years with the instrument; and if any thing would give his fingers the grip of a vice, it

that time.

would be to let him have only the bass string during half And this seems to have been the case with Paganini. Our readers must not imagine that he was imprisoned for the above purpose, though. We doubt, however, the authenticity of his intended visit, because we know from a private source, that he has a presentiment the climate of England would be the death of him, and he instances Weber, and several other foreign composers and musicians, who have died after a few months' residence.

We have only a few words to say about poetry. The dynasty of maudlin rhyme and prettiness, and the substitution of personal character for dramatic imagination, has reached its utmost height, and is now upon the wane. Several bold attempts have recently been made in blank verse, which is the true standard style of solid English poetry. It is now a long while since the age of Elizabeth, “and there were giants in those days!" So long an interval having elapsed, surely the genius of the world can now afford to bring forth a few powerful dramatic writers again; and even the critics must hail them with pleasure, being heartily sick of decrying nonsense. Polish has levelled nature, and refinement has arrived at the last state of effeminacy and consumption. Let us hope that the stirring period which approaches will not fail to do what such periods have always done hitherto, and that the ephemeral productions of time-serving taste will be swept off like chaff and tinsel from the stage of intellectual life; when "the powers that be" will be found to wither away before the powers that last, even as those of ages gone have outlasted the frail and perishable empires of the world. Z. Q. X.

London.

LITERARY CRITICISM.

neumon (herpestes) contains seven or eight species, all of which, with the exception of two, are peculiar to Asia. The exceptions are,-1st, Herpestes galera, which occurs in Madagascar ; and 2d, Herpestes pharaonis, which is peculiar to Egypt. Neither is the civet confined to Africa. The greater proportion of the musk-bags used in commerce, are taken from individuals of this species found in Asiatic localities.

"There are few dogs, bears, and wolves; but the jackal (canis aureus) is common."-P. 207. There is some ingenuity shown here, in compressing three mistakes and a half into little more than a single line. 1st. There are a great many dogs in Africa. It is the only country in the world where they occasion damage to the flocks and herds, by the unsubdued and voracious habits of their congregated troops. 2dly. Bears are not only few in Africa, but no such thing as a bear was ever seen or heard of there; for this reason, among several others— they have no existence on that continent. 3dly. The Senegal wolf, mentioned by some vague writers and inaccurate observers, has been known for half a century to be a hyena. 4thly. It is true that the canis aureus is common in Africa, but it is not true, that in a chapter devoted to African Zoology, that particular species of a genus ought to be selected, which is equally common to Asia. The African jackal is the canis anthus, not the canis aureus. This is the demi-mistake above alluded to. "Elks of immense size inhabit the Cape, and antelopes, with long spiral horns."-Still p. 207. Elks are quite peculiar to northern countries; and none ever set its hoof on Africa, from the days of Adam and Eve to the present times. If any superannuated traveller has misnamed one of the larger antelopes, of which there are several of great size in Africa, it was the duty of our compiler rather to correct the old gentleman's mistake, than to misinform his juvenile readers.

"Hyenas, striped and spotted, the manis, and the anteater, are also natives of Africa."-Still p. 207. An obThe History of Africa. By the Author of "Conversa-servation, similar to that applied to the jackal, may be Of the three species of manis, two are tions on Chronology." (Juvenile Library, No. III.) also here stated. London. Colburn and Bentley. 1830. peculiar to Asia, and one to Africa. It is the manis tetradactyla of Desmarest.

OUR copy of this innocent little work has this moment been returned to us by a young friend, for whom we have a very particular regard, and to whom we had intrusted the first perusal of its contents, chiefly because our own mother-of-pearl paper-cutter had slipped through a chink in the chimney-piece, and disappeared, with a long-continued series of hops, steps, and jumps, into the bunghole, as far as we could judge, of an empty pipe of Madeira, which has existed for some time, in a state of complete vacuity, in a subterranean cellar. This misfortune, too, has taken place, in spite of a most vivid recollection of something in Ovid's Metamorphoses, or elsewhere, about the instinctive discovery of chinks by all persons in our present hopeless, yet not unpleasing, condition.

But the urchin above alluded to (not the celestial Cupid, but a little earthly boy, wingless, yet beautiful— our well-beloved cousin) appears to have ferreted out the chapter upon beasts and birds, and left the others as he found them, entirely uncut up. For want of our mother-of-pearl, we must do so too; and satisfy ourselves for the present with a perusal of a few brief passages of the "Natural History of Africa," being the nine terminal pages of Chapter XIII.

We have accordingly read these nine pages, and, as we like to be particular, we shall just jot down what occurs to us, for the benefit of the juvenile readers, for whom the work in question is professedly intended. Not being egotistical, we shall give our author's opinions as well as

our own.

"The ichneumon, and the civet cat, (viverra civetta,) that secretes, in a bag under its tail, the perfume from which it takes its name, are known to Africa alone.”— P. 207. This is vague, and incorrect. The genus ich

"The giraffe is another of the animals peculiar to this continent; and its long neck, small head, and disproportioned legs, give it a most extraordinary appearance. It is the tallest of land quadrupeds, often standing eighteen feet high, and is found only in the southern and central districts. It lives principally upon the branches and leaves of trees, having great difficulty, on account of the length of its fore-legs, in making its mouth reach the ground."-Still p. 207. The statement in the concluding lines of the sentence just quoted, is so familiarly commonplace, that we could scarcely expect our compiler to refrain from it. But, though not new, neither is it true. Although the fore-legs of the giraffe are very long, its neck is proportionally longer still. Its favourite food consists of the leaves of the mimosa, in height a tolerable tree; and as the giraffe happens to measure nearly three times the ordinary altitude of a member of the Six-Feet Club, (or about equal to three ordinary members of that Club,) it pokes its head among the topmost branches, and eats its fill deliberately, and, no doubt, not only with ease and comfort to itself, but, as we sincerely hope, without the slightest inconvenience to any other body, whether tall or short. But whoever keeps a tame giraffe may believe us, when we assure him or her, which we now do solemnly, that there is no necessity whatever for building its trough or manger any thing like six yards from the ground, (three times six is eighteen,) as its mouth finds its way to the surface of the earth in about two seconds and a half from the time that any respectable portion of its favourite food is thrown thereon.

We shall now refresh ourselves by turning to the succeeding page:-" There is a species of rhinoceros, known only to Africa, having two horns, and a smooth skin not

disposed in folds. Campbell gives a picture of the head of one killed near the Cape, with a long sharp-pointed horn, and a much smaller one behind; which (excepting in the latter particular) certainly agrees in a very remarkable manner with the idea generally entertained of the unicorn."-P. 208. Mr John Campbell, missionary, an excellent and useful man, and probably by no means devoid of intelligence in his own vocation, has had the fortune (no uncommon one) to write several small portions of egregious nonsense, one of which portions certainly consisted of the attempt above alluded to, to prove that the rhinoceros, bicornis of the moderns, is, or was, the unicorn of the ancients. There is a pleasing simplicity in excepting "the latter particular," that is to say, in proving that two and one are equal, if you only deduct one-half from the former number. Is the author of " Conversations on Chronology" an Irishman?

"These coasts are sometimes infested with a remarkable species of morse, and several varieties of seals (phoca), which have doubtless given rise to the stories of mermaids told by African travellers."-P. 208. None of the African coasts are ever in the slightest degree infested with any species of morse. There is in fact only one species of that animal in the known world, and it is a polar species, inhabiting the crystalline cliffs of Spitzbergen, vulgarly called icebergs. It is quite out of its line to think of crossing the equator. The animal really indicated is the lamantin, (manatus Senegalensis,) a species in no way allied to the morse.

"The horses of Africa are very beautiful, particularly the Barbary breed, which is celebrated in every part of the known world for its elegance and swiftness; whilst the zebra, quagga, African ass, and zecora, or wild mule, are equally admired for their several excellences."-P. | 208. We agree to the first clause of the preceding sentence; the second clause contains four announcements, or rather one announcement of four alleged facts, two of which are not facts at all. There is no such thing as an African ass, notwithstanding whatever evidence the au thor of "Conversations on Chronology" may offer to the contrary; neither does the zecora, or wild mule, exist elsewhere than in Asia. Etymologically speaking, there is no such thing as a wild mule anywhere, although a certain species of the genus equus has been frequently, but erroneously, so called. Of this the chronologer ought to have informed his juvenile readers, in case they should themselves, in after times, through his instrumentality, become mulish on this point of natural history.

Let us now turn to the ornithological portion of this work, which, consisting of not quite one page and a quarter, is judiciously entitled a "cursory sketch." Though we hate swearing, the name is in this case well applied; yet we fear our author is equally unsuccessful with the plumed creation. The following is his first ornithological sentence :- "The dodo, the guinea-fowl (numidica meleagris), the flamingo, and the common ostrich (struthocamelus), are natives."-P. 210. This is an unfortunate commencement. We have here four assertions, in about one-half the number of lines. Of these, one is misstated, and the subjects of other two are misnamed, as follows:-1st, The dodo is not an African bird. deed we can scarcely venture to assure our juvenile readers that it is a bird at all, as it is looked upon by many as a fabulous creation. If ever it did exist-a fact not yet proved-it was native to the Isle of Bourbon, and other islands to the east of Madagascar ;-2dly, The systematic name of the guinea-fowl is not numidica meleagris, but simply numida meleagris ;-3dly, When the ostrich is named both generically and specifically, as our author evidently intends to attempt to do, we call him not struthocamelus, but struthio camelus.

In

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untrue in other instances. In the southern and central regions of Africa, and in all those localities in which the heat of the sun is unusually powerful, the eggs of the ostrich are alleged to be left to the sole care of that most genial and vivifying orb or luminary; but in northern Africa, and in all such localities as are subjected during either night or day to a considerable alternation of heat and cold, the parent bird, as in other cases, hastens the process of hatching by the heat of her own body.

"Peacocks are found in Africa."-P. 210. It is true that peacocks are now found in Africa, but it ought to have been stated, that nevertheless they are not African birds, but merely imported from Asia.

"The cuckoo has a different note from that of Europe."-P. 210. African cuckoos are of all possible kinds, from a small golden green species, three or four inches long, to a tremendous brown fellow, almost as big as a raven. These, indeed, have a perfectly different ery from the European species, and they are well entitled to it; but the cuckoo, that is to say, the cuculus canorus, or common gowk, is also an African species, and utters in that country a note, or a couple of notes, precisely the same as those to which we are here accustomed.

"Le Vaillant mentions several kinds of small eagles, and some curious hawks; but as his authority cannot always be depended on, some further proof is necessary before a circumstance so much at variance with our previous information can be considered as substantiated.”—P. 210. Now, although we are by no means naturally, or, at least, impertinently inquisitive, this passage greatly excites our curiosity. Can any reason be assigned for supposing that Africa, the fourth part of the globe, should, among all the wonders of its natural productions, be destitute either of "small eagles" or "curious hawks," when every other continent and country of the earth possesses both sorts in abundance? "We pause for a reply ;" but being rather in a hurry at present, we may as well add, that any one, at all versed in ornithological lore, would name a few dozens of these accipitrine birds native to Africa, in as many seconds. We shall also take leave to add, in regard to Vaillant himself, that although, in the delightful enthusiasm of his earlier days, he blended the facts of natural history with his personal narrative in so charming a manner as to make the arid lucubrations of some sys tematic writers appear, in comparison with his lively volumes, as the dry stones by the side of a flowing and translucent stream; yet his own systematic work on the birds of Africa, the labour of after years, is not only the most magnificent and costly, but also the most clear and accurate, of all the works on African ornithology. The "small eagles" and "curious hawks," the existence of which is now doubted, may, notwithstanding, be seen by our juvenile readers in every museum in Europe, for a sum varying from nothing sterling to 2s. 6d. of the same money.

We shall now descend to the cellar in search of the paper-cutter, and if successful in that investigation, we shall probably favour our readers with our opinion of the historical and descriptive parts of this volume at a future opportunity.

By Wil

The Arrow and the Rose; with Other Poems. liam Kennedy. 8vo. Pp. 143. London. Smith, Elder, and Co. 1830.

THERE cannot be a doubt that the big-wigs of the literary world are at present reposing under the luxuriance of their well-powdered curls, and are doing little or nothing worthy of their former reputation. There can be as little doubt that in ten or fifteen years, the greater proportion of these same big-wigs will either be gathered to their fathers, or will be in that ab agendo state, which invariably accompanies the period of second childhood. The question, therefore, comes to be-who are to sueceed the reigning dynasty of big-wigs?" who shall fill

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