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"Nov. 20, 1805. The first volume alone of this important work contains "Dear Sir,-I enclose to you my sister's answer relative fourteen Parts, each comprising a distinct set of Correto your proposal. I hope it may prove serviceable to Mr spondence and Reminiscences. We must at present con-'s family, if it be agreeable to them to be assisted include with a short extract from the fourth part--the this way.

"The public will be gratified when your work upon health and longevity comes out, as it will comprehend every thing which is known upon this important subject. I remain, dear sir, your most obedient humble servant, "M. BAILLIE.

"Hampstead, October 19, 1805. "My Dear Brother,-I have considered the proposal contained in Sir John Sinclair's letter, and the ingenious sketch for a tragedy that accompanies it, with the attention they deserve; and very much regret it is not in my power to make the good use of them which he does me the honour to suppose I might, and which I should have so much pleasure in attempting. You may well know I am so circumstanced, that I cannot possibly offer any play for representation to either Drury-Lane or Covent-Garden, nor suffer one of my writing to be offered to either of those theatres through any medium whatever. To give up all idea, however, of being useful to a worthy family, on whom bad fortune has borne so hard, is very painful to me; and, therefore, though I cannot undertake what Sir John has pointed out, there is another way in which I might attempt to serve them; and if it should meet with his approbation, and be at the same time perfectly agreeable to Mr and his family, I shall set myself to work in it most cheerfully; that is, to write a tragedy upon some interesting, but more private and domestic story than that of Darius, which appears to me only fitted for the splendour of a large theatre, and to put it into Sir John's hands, to be offered to the Edinburgh theatre, or any theatre in the United Kingdom he may think proper, those of London excepted. If the piece should prove successful, though it might not bring in a large sum from representation, yet it might be published afterwards, in any way that should be thought most advantageous for Mr and his family, (whose property I should completely consider it as having become,) and produce something considerable.

"I beg you will communicate this proposal to Sir John Sinclair, along with my acknowledgments for the obliging expressions on my account contained in his letter, and for the pleasure I have received in reading his outline of a tragedy, which, if properly filled up, would no doubt make a striking spectacle in a grand theatre such as Drury Lane. "When he has considered it, I hope he will have the goodness to let you know his opinion, without loss of time; and if it is favourable, no exertion in my power shall be wanting to complete the work.

"The play having been composed, was represented on the Edinburgh stage. I was not present, but received from a correspondent there, the following account of the reception it met with:

"Miss Baillie's play went off with loud applause. The house was very full, and it is to be repeated every night this week. Henry Mackenzie furnished an excellent epilogue. Some of the critics here, think the inferior characters have too much to do, as they were very badly sustained here; but that objection would be obviated on a London theatre." "Upon sending this account of the reception her play had met with at Edinburgh, to Miss Baillie, I had the pleasure of receiving the following communication from her:

"Miss J. Baillie presents her compliments and thanks to Sir John Sinclair, for the honour of his obliging note, and the extract of a letter which accompanied it. Nothing can be more highly gratifying to her, than the very favourable reception her Highland play has met with from her countrymen at Edinburgh, and the kind interest her friends everywhere have taken in its success; and it is an addition to her satisfaction to think, that it may still, in one way or other, be made of some small use to the family, for whose benefit it was originally written, if such assistance should still be wanted.*

"Hampstead, Feb. 7, 1810.'”

In the Scotch Magazine for February 1810, there is a critical analysis of Miss Baillie's play, to which she had given the name of "The Family Legend." Its appearance, it is said, ought to be considered as forming an era in the literary history of Edinburgh; for, since Douglas, no tragedy had made its first appearance on the Edinburgh stage, or at least had attracted general attention. The beauties of the Family Legend indeed are such, as to establish its claim to be ranked as a popular and pleasing addition to our stock of acting plays.

Naval Correspondence,-promising to give our readers some extracts from the remainder of the volume next week. This they will thank us for the more, as we have been politely favoured with the earliest copy of the work in sheets, which is not yet entirely out of the printer's hands:

SINGULAR NAVAL ANECDOTE,

Communicated by the late Earl Manvers.

"In the year 1807, I happened to pay a visit at Thoresby Park, in Nottinghamshire, the seat of my friend Lord Manvers, who had been bred to the sea, and who recollected, when young, the following singular anecdote of Captain, afterwards Admiral Swanton:

"Captain Swanton happened to command a 70 gun ship, The Vanguard, (we had then no 74's in our service); and was cruizing with Admiral Hawke, off the coast of France, in the hope of intercepting a French fleet from Louisburgh, when his ship was so damaged in a gale, that he was ordered home to refit; and in his way to Portsmouth, he most unfortunately came within sight of the very fleet that Hawke English ship of war so much disabled, and apparently quite was in expectation of intercepting. The French, seeing an its immediate surrender, the Admiral, by a signal, detached alone, thought it would be an easy conquest; but to insure an 80 gun ship, and a 74, to take possession. The officers of the Vanguard, knowing the state of their own vessel, and seeing such a superior force coming against them, gave themselves up for lost, and said to the Captain, 'It is impossible to stand against such fearful odds; we must make up our minds to see Brest. No, gentlemen,' said Captain Swanton, a ship of this force must not be surrendered by a British crew, whilst there is any hope of safety. Go to your quarters, prepare for action, and let us fight it out to the last!'

"No situation could apparently be more completely desperate. The French 80 gun ship came vapouring down, gave the Englishman a broadside, but was surprised to find, that instead of striking, it returned the fire with great spirit and effect. The 74, when it approached, met with the same reception. This astonished not only those two ships, but the French Admiral, and his whole fleet. They began to conjecture, that the disabled ship was merely a decoy, and that Hawke must be near, otherwise no officer in his senses, would have made any resistance against so great a superiority; and apprehending, if the action continued, that their ships might receive so much injury as to be an easy prey, if Hawke actually should appear, the French Admiral was induced to recall the two ships, and Captain Swanton, by his spirited and judicious conduct, was thus enabled, after beating off so great a force, to rescue himself from his desperate situation, and to bring his ship triumphantly into Portsmouth.

"On the road from Thoresby, I was led to reflect on the circumstances above detailed, and it accidentally occurred to me, how much better it would be, instead of teaching children the Fables of Æsop, or of Pilpay, or giving them allegorical instructions of any sort, to communicate to them anecdotes of real life, and stories of their own species. It is absurd in the extreme to tell our children, that lions and other animals formerly conversed together, and that men, the lords of the creation, could possibly benefit by their remarks. Nor are the fictitious stories of Allworthy and Tommy Goodchild much better. The question the children naturally ask is, 'But is the story true? And when they find that it never actually happened, it loses all its effect. Let a collection therefore be made, of real anecdotes of the human species, adapted to the capacity of children, and the impression made upon their minds will be infinitely greater, much more lasting, and still more useful, than can be expected from any fictitious stories, either of birds, or of quadrupeds, or even of men.

In conclusion, we must not forget to allude to the highly curious and interesting collection of about two hundred autographs which accompany and illustrate these volumes.

We do not recollect to have seen anywhere a more complete or diversified set of fac-similes of the handwriting of eminent individuals. It gives us pleasure to observe, that in speaking of this collection, Sir John alludes

to our own paper upon autographs in the Twenty-eighth Number of the Journal, the sentiments contained in which appear to have met with his approval.

The Orientalist; or, Letters of a Rabbi; with Notes.
By James Noble, Oriental Master in the Scottish
Naval and Military Academy. Edinburgh. Oliver
and Boyd. 1831. 8vo, pp. 368.

"In the list of the moral duties of a Brahmin occur the following:- Let him never oppose priests, cows, or persons truly devout; nor deny a future state; nor throw a stick when angry at another man.' A twice-born man is forbidden to assault a Brahmin, on pain of being whirled about for a century in hell; even smiting him in anger with a blade of grass must be expiated by twenty-one transmigrations into impure quadrupeds; and shedding a Brahmin's blood is punished in a horrible manner. As many particles of dust as the blood shall roll up from the ground, for so many years shall the shedder of that blood be mangled by other animals in his next birth.""

As still more characteristic of the general spirit of Mr Noble's work, we select, from many more which may be found in it, a few

PERSIAN AND HINDOSTANEE STORIES.

THE DEAF MAN AND THE PATIENT.-"A certain mer

THIS is an amusing and instructive work, written somewhat upon the plan of Goldsmith's " Citizen of the World." Under the assumed character of Ishmael Nobilius Oleander, a learned Rabbi, resident in the city of Alexandria, the author communicates, in the familiar and agreeable shape of letters, addressed to " Wilfred Wa-chant had an acquaintance, a person who was hard of hearverley, Doctor of Laws, the great story-telling Rabbi of ing. By the act of predestination, the merchant became the Western World," much curious and entertaining in- sick. The deaf man went to enquire after him, and, while formation concerning the customs, manners, literature, going along in the way, he made up this discourse :- After and peculiarities of different Eastern nations. Though having saluted his honour, I will first ask this question,Mr Noble is evidently quite at home on these subjects, ter;' and I will say, Ameen! may it be lasting!' Then Tell me, sir, how is your health?' He will say,- Bethe does not affect the pedant, but studies rather the most I will ask,- What food do you take?' He will say,popular and simple modes of conveying instruction. In Rice pudding;' and I will say,- Good appetite to you!" addition to many incidental remarks and subjects discuss-My next enquiry shall be,- Who is your physician? He ed as they occur, we find in the work an account of a journey to Babylon, observations on the Arabic language, notices of an overland journey to India, a history of a Rajpoot sepoy, or native soldier of India, a full description of the ceremony of the Suttee, a disquisition on the doctrine of metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, remarks on the characteristics of English, Persian, Hebrew, and Chinese poetry, an account of the funds whence Oriental story-telling is drawn, and finally, an immense number of Eastern stories not hitherto translated into English. Some pieces of poetry are also interspersed, to give the reader an idea of Eastern imagery. Mr Noble, it will thus be evident, enjoys the great advantage of having turned up fresh ground, and that, too, in a manner which reflects much credit on his own talents and discrimination,

That we may interest our readers still more in the work, we subjoin a few specimens of its contents. The following amusing passage describes

THE DUTIES OF A BRAHMIN.'

"A Brahmin must wear a pair of bright golden rings in his ears; he must not gaze on the sun; nor step over a string to which a calf is tied; nor run whilst it rains; nor look on his own image in the water: by a mound of earth, by a cow, by an idol, by a Brahmin, by a pot of clarified butter or of honey, by a place where four ways meet, and by a large tree well known in the district, let him pass with his right hand towards them. He must not sleep alone in an empty house; nor interrupt a cow whilst she is drinking; nor make any vain corporeal exertion; nor take pleasure in asking idle questions; nor strike his arm, or gnash his teeth, or make a braying noise; nor wash his feet in a pan of mixed yellow metal; nor eat from a broken dish; nor sit on a broken seat; nor tear his nails with his teeth; nor break mould or clay; nor cut grass with his nails; nor ride on the back of a bull or cow; nor pass otherwise than by the gate into a walled town, or an enclosed house; nor approach the roots of trees by night; nor play with dice; nor eat whilst he reclines on a bed; nor sleep quite naked; nor go anywhere with a remnant of food in his mouth; nor sleep with his feet wet; nor advance into a place undistinguishable by his eye, or not easily passable; nor pass a river swimming with his arms; nor stand upon hair, ashes, bones, potsherds, seeds of cotton, or husks of grain; nor stroke (or scratch) his head with both hands; nor, after his head has been rubbed with oil, touch with oil any of his limbs; nor receive a gift from a keeper of a slaughter-house or oil-press, nor from a king not born in the military class who is declared to be on a level with the keeper of ten thousand slaughter-houses: he who receives a present from an avaricious king, and a transgressor of the sacred ordinances, goes in succession to twenty-one hells,'-which it is needless at present to enumerate, but which, I recollect, include the hell of iron spikes, the sword-leaved forest, and the pit of red-hot charcoal.'

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will say,The great Dr Such-a-one;' and I will say,-
May God grant a complete cure by his means!'
length, having entirely made up this plan, he arrived at
the house, and, having made the usual salam, he sat down
near the patient, and began to ask,- Tell me, friend, how
is your health?' The patient answered, Why do you
ask?—I am dying with a fever.' Immediately on hearing
this, he exclaimed, Amen, may God cause it to be so!'
The helpless sick man was in a complete ferment with his
disease, and this speech caused him to be even more so. He
next asked,— My friend, what victuals do you eat?' The
patient replied, Dirt. May your appetite be good!"
answered he. On hearing this, he became even doubly en-
raged. Again he rejoined, Pray, tell me, friend, who is
your physician?' In a most excessive rage, the patient re-
plied, The angel of death!' I give you much joy!'
answered he; I hope God will grant a speedy cure by his
hand!'"

THE YOUTH AND THE OLD CHEAT." A certain youth delivered a hundred deenars to an old man, and went on a journey. When he came back, he demanded his deenays. The old man made denial, and said, You did not give them to me.' The youth made known his case before the Kazee. The Kazee sent for the old man, and asked him,-' Did this youth deliver the money to you?' He replied, No!' The Kazee said to the youth, Have you any witness?" He answered, No!' The Kazee said to the old man,

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You must take an oath.' The youth fell a-weeping, and said to him, He has no regard at all for an oath; he has many a time taken an oath to a lie.' The Kazee said to the youth, At the time when you delivered the money to him, where were you seated?' He answered, Under a tree. The Kazee said, Why did you tell me you had no witness? That tree is your witness. Go to that tree, and say to it, The Kazee sends for thee.' The old man gave a smile, and the youth said, O, Kazee! I am afraid the tree will not come for your order.' The Kazee said, Take my seal, and say to it, This is the seal of the Kazee. It will assuredly come.' The youth took the Kazee's seal, and After a space of time, the Kazee asked the old man, Will that youth have arrived near the tree yet?' He answered, No! When the youth had gone near the tree, having shown the Kazee's seal, he said to it, The Kazee sends for thee;' but he heard nothing from the tree. He came back sorrowful, and said, 'I showed your seal to The Kazee said, The the tree, but it gave me no answer.' tree came, and, after having given its evidence, it went away again.' The old man said, 'O, Kazee! what speech is this?-there was no tree came here.' The Kazee replied,

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You say the truth, it did not come; but at the time when I asked you, "Has the youth arrived at the tree?"-you gave for answer, "He has not arrived." If you had not got the money from him under that tree, why did you not say, "What tree is it?-I do not know it." From this it becomes evident that the youth says what is true.' The old man got conviction, and gave the money to the youth.'

THE BANKER ROBBED NEAR THE EMPEROR'S PALACE."A certain banker was robbed under the very eye of the

emperor, beneath the palace-walls. He went to wait on the emperor, and made representation to him. • Protector of the world! robbers have plundered me under the very walls of your highness's palace.' The emperor said to him,- Why did you not remain more watchful?' The banker said, 'It was not known to your slave that travellers were liable to be robbed under your highness's very windows.' The emperor replied,- What! have you never heard this common proverb?" It is dark under the lamp.'

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THE SICK MAN AND HIS ATTENDANT." A certain Mooselman was sick, and said to his attendant,-' Go to such a physician, and get some medicine for me.' He replied,Perhaps the doctor gentleman may not be in the house at this time.' The master said,- He will be in the house-go.' Then answered he,- If I should happen to meet with him, yet he will perhaps not give me the medicine. Then he said,-Take a note with you from me, and he will certainly give it.' The servant answered again, "Even although he should give the medicine, yet it will not perhaps do any good.' The master replied,-You base Scoundrel! will he give it you as long as you continue to sit here? Will you keep thus making contrivances, or will you go?' He said,-‘Ó, sir! granting that it should even produce the desired effect, yet what is the result? In the end you must certainly die one day. You may just as well

die now as die then.'"

THE MERCHANT'S SON AND THE TYRANT." One day, an Emperor, who was a tyrant, went to the outside of the city by himself. He saw a man sitting under a tree, and asked him,- What sort of a person is the Emperor of this country? Is he a tyrant, or a just man?' The man answered, He is a great tyrant.' The Emperor said,Do you know me?' The man said, 'No.' The Emperor answered, I am the Sultan of this country.' The man was frightened, and asked in reply, Do you know me?' The Emperor said, 'No.' The man replied, 'I am the son of a certain merchant; every month, during the space of three days, I become mad! To-day is one of those three days.' The Emperor laughed, and said nothing to him."

THE HUNGRY MAN AND THE ARAB." A person was walking along hungry, and saw an Arab who was eating victuals by the side of a pond. He went up to him, and said, I am just come from the neighbourhood of your dwelling.' The Arab asked him, Are my wife, my child, and my camel, all in good health?' The man said, 'Yes.' The Arab became quite contented, and paid no regard to that person farther. The man then began to say, 'O Arab! this dog which is now sitting before you, if your own dog were still alive, it would be just such auother. The Arab raised up his head, and said to him, My dog! how did it die?' The man replied, It ate too much of the flesh of your camel.' He enquired, How did my camel die?' The

man answered, Your wife died,-and then there was no one to give it grain or water.' The Arab asked, 'How did my wife die? The man replied, ' In lamentation for your son, she wept excessively, and beat her head and breast with stones.' He asked, How did my son die?' The man said,The house fell upon him.' On hearing this account of the ruin of his house, the Arab threw dust upon his head, and, leaving his victuals as they were, went off in the direction of his dwelling. The man, by this device, got the victuals."

THE EMPEROR AND the Jester." An Emperor one day went out a-hunting along with the Prince. When the weather became hot, the Emperor and the Prince put their cloaks upon the back of a jester. The Emperor fell a-laughing, and said to him,- O, jester! you have there the load of an ass.' The jester replied,- Nay, I have, in fact, the load of two asses."

Our concluding extract affords a very favourable specimen of Mr Noble's abilities as a poetical translator. It is a fable from the "Goolistan" of Sadee:

THE CLAY AND THE ROSE.

A Fable from the Persian of Sadee.
"A piece of sweet-scented clay,*
In the bath one day,

Came to me from the hand of a friend;
When its odour delicious around me it threw,

And its pleasant appearance enraptured my view;

A kind of unctuous clay, which the Persians perfume with essence

of roses, and use in the baths instead of soap.

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Was join'd as you see,

And soon all the qualities he can disclose Were drawn and united thus into my frame: If not, I had still been only the clay,

Which, as useless and vile, would be soon thrown away." There may be an impression on the minds of some people, that there are not a sufficient number of persons in this country interested in Oriental literature to secure an extensive circulation for this work. But we can scarcely coincide in this opinion, for the Orientalism introduced in the "Letters of a Rabbi," does not lead to deep study or severe thinking, but is communicated in so light and playful a manner, that like a boy with a gingerbread alphabet, we have eat the whole before we are aware that we have been performing any task whatever. This being the case, surely the general scholar and cultivator of the belles lettres will be glad to avail himself of so useful and agreeable a volume.

Letters and Journals of Lord Byron, with Notices of his Life. By Thomas Moore. Vol. II. London. John Murray. 1831. 4to.

(Second Notice.)

We find that we have so many new works to overtake to-day that we think it expedient again to postpone our more detailed observations on this volume. In the meantime, however, we have made a selection, with some care, of a number of detached passages from the Letters and Journals, which, as tit-bits of considerable interest, our readers will be glad to see. Without farther preface, here they are:

BYRON FAINTING." This evening on the lake in my boat slipped in tacking, and struck me so violently on one of my with Mr Hobhouse, the pole which sustains the mainsail legs-the worst, luckily-as to make me do a foolish thing, viz. to faint-a downright swoon; the thing must have jarred some nerve or other, for the bone is not injured, and hardly painful (it is six hours since), and cost Mr Hobhouse some apprehension and much sprinkling of water to recover me. The sensation was a very odd one: I never had but two such before,-once from a cut on the head from ing into a great wreath of snow ;-a sort of grey giddiness a stone several years ago, and once (long since also) in fallfirst, then nothingness, and a total loss of memory on beginning to recover. did not find it again." The last part is not disagreeable, if one

DOMESTIC SORROW." In the weather for this tour (of thirteen days,) I have been very fortunate-fortunate in a and exempt from even the little petty accidents and delays companion (Mr Hobhouse)-fortunate in our prospects, which often render journeys in a less wild country disappointing. I was disposed to be pleased-I am a lover of nature, and an admirer of beauty. I can bear fatigue and welcome privation, and have seen some of the noblest views in the world. But in all this, the recollection of bitterness, and more especially of recent and more home desolation, which must accompany me through life, have preyed upon me here; and neither the music of the shepherd, the crashing of the avalanche, nor the torrent, the mountain, the glacier, the forest, nor the cloud, have for one moment lightened the weight upon my heart, nor enabled me to lose my own wretched identity, in the majesty, and the power, and the glory, around, above, and beneath me."

CANOVA'S HELEN." The Helen of Canova-a bust which is in the house of Madame the Countess d'Albrizzi, whom I know-is without exception, to my mind, the most perfectly beautiful of human conceptions, and far beyond my ideas of human execution.

"In this beloved marble, view,

Above the works and thoughts of man,

What Nature could but would not do,

And beauty and Cauova can!

"Beyond imagination's power, Beyond the bard's defeated art, With immortality her dower,

Behold the Helen of the heart !”

BYRON'S INTENTIONS." If I live ten years longer, you will see, however, that it is not over with me-I don't mean in literature, for that is nothing; and it may seem odd enough to say, I do not think it my vocation. But you will see that I shall do something or other-the times and fortune permitting-that, like the cosmogony or creation of the world, will puzzle the philosophers of all ages.' But I doubt whether my constitution will hold out-I have at intervals exercised it most devilishly."

ANECDOTES." I'll tell you a story: the other day, a man here, an Englishman-mistaking the statues of Charlemagne and Constantine, (which are equestrian,) for those of Peter and Paul, asked another, which was Paul of these same horsemen?-to which the reply was, I thought, sir, that St Paul had never got on horseback since his accident.'-I'll tell you another:-Henry Fox, writing to some one from Naples the other day, after an illness, adds, " and I am so changed that my oldest creditors would hardly know

me."

BYRON'S OPINION OF THE POETRY OF HIS DAY.-" With regard to poetry in general, I am convinced, the more I think of it, that he and all of us,-Scott, Southey, Wordsworth, Moore, Campbell, I,—are all in the wrong, one as much as another; that we are upon a wrong poetical system or systems, not worth a damn in itself, and from which none but Rogers and Crabbe are free; and that the present and next generations will finally be of this opinion. I am the more confirmed in this, by having lately gone over some of our classics, particularly Pope, whom I tried in this way, -I took Moore's poems and my own and some others, and went over them side by side with Pope's, and I was really astonished (I ought not to have been so) and mortified at the ineffable distance in point of sense, learning, effect, and even imagination, passion, and invention, between the little Queen Anne's man and us of the lower empire. Depend upon it, it is all Horace then, and Claudian now, among us; and if I had to begin again, I would mould myself accordingly. Crabbe's the man, but he has got a coarse and impracticable subject; and is retired upon halfpay, and has done enough, unless he were to do as he did formerly."

BYRON'S OPINION OF LEIGH HUNT.-" Hunt's letter is probably the exact piece of vulgar coxcombry you might expect from his situation. He is a good man, with some poetical elements in his chaos, but spoilt by the Christ-Church hospital and a Sunday newspaper-to say nothing of the Surry jail, which converted him into a martyr. But he is a good When I saw Rimini' in MS., I told him that I deemed it good poetry at bottom, disfigured only by a strange style. His answer was, that his style was a system, or upon system, or some such cant; and, when a man talks of tem, his case is hopeless. So I said no more to him, and very little to any one else.

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"He believes his trash of vulgar phrases tortured into compound barbarisms to be old English; and we may say of it as Aimwell says of Captain Gibbett's regiment, when the captain calls it an old corps'-'the oldest in Europe, if I may judge by your uniform.' He sent out his Foliage' by Percy Shelley, and of all the ineffable Centaurs that were ever begotten by self-love upon a nightmare, I think this monstrous Sagittary the most prodigious. He (Leigh Hunt) is an honest charlatan, who has persuaded himself into his own impostures, and talks Punch in pure simplicity of heart, taking himself (as poor Fitzgerald said of himself in the Morning Post) for Vates in both senses, or nonsenses, of the word. Did you look at the translations of his own, which he prefers to Pope and Cowper, and says so? Did you read his skimble-skamble about being at the head of his own profession, in the eyes of those who followed it? I thought that poetry was an art or an attribute, and not a profession; but be it one; is that at the head of your profession in your eyes? I'll be curst if he is of mine, or ever shall be. He is the only one of us (but of us he is not) whose coronation I would oppose. Let them take Scott, Campbell, Crabbe, or you, or me, or any of the living, and throne him; but not this new Jacob Behmen, this whose pride might have kept him true, even had his principles turned as perverted

as his soi-disant poetry. But Leigh Hunt is a good man,
and a good father-see his Odes to all the Masters Hunt
a good husband-see his sonnet to Mrs Hunt; a good
friend-see his epistles to different people; and a great
coxcomb, and a very vulgar person in every thing about
him. But that's not his fault, but of circumstances."
THE FUN AND GRAVITY OF DON JUAN." But, never-
theless, I will answer your friend P-, who objects to the
quick succession of fun and gravity, as if, in that case, the
gravity did not-in intention, at least-heighten the fun.
His metaphor is, that we are never scorched and drenched
Ask him
at the same time.' Blessings on his experience!
these questions about 'scorching and drenching.' Did he
never play at cricket, or walk a mile in hot weather? Did
he never spill a dish of tea over himself in handing the cup
to his charmer, to the great shame of his nankeen breeches?
Did he never swim in the sea at noon-day, with the sun in
his eyes and on his head, which all the foam of ocean could
not cool? Did he never draw his foot out of too hot
water, ding his eyes and his valet's?
Did he never tumble into a river or lake fishing, and sit in
his wet clothes in the boat, or on the bank, afterwards
'scorched and drenched' like a true sportsman? 'Oh, for
breath to utter !'--but make him my compliments; he is a
clever fellow for all that a very clever fellow."
EPIGRAM." If for silver or for gold,

You could melt ten thousand pimples
Into half-a-dozen dimples,
Then your face we might behold,
Looking, doubtless, much more snugly,
Yet even then 'twould be d-d ugly.'

MOORE'S LAST NIGHT AT VENICE." To return, how-
ever, to the details of our last evening together at Venice.
After a dinner with Mr Scott at the Pellegrino, we all
went, rather late, to the opera, where the principal part in
the Baccanali di Roma was represented by a female singer,
whose chief claim to reputation, according to Lord Byron,
lay in her having stilettoed one of her favourite lovers. la
the intervals between the singing, he pointed out to me
different persons among the audience, to whom celebrity of
various sorts, but, for the most part, disreputable, attached';
and of one lady who sat near us, he related an anecdote,
which, whether new or old, may, as creditable to Venetian
facetiousness, be worth, perhaps, repeating. This lady had,
it seems, been pronounced by Napoleon the finest woman
in Venice; but the Venetians, not quite agreeing with this
opinion of the great man, contented themselves with call-
ing her La Bella per Decreto-adding, (as the Decrees
always begin with the word Considerando,')' Ma senza il
considerando.' From the opera, in pursuance of our agree-
ment to make a night of it,' we betook ourselves to a sort of
cabaret, in the Place of St Mark; and there, within a few
yards of the palace of the Doges, sat drinking hot brandy-
punch, and laughing over old times, till the clock of St Mark
struck the second hour of the morning. Lord Byron then
took me in his gondola, and, the moon being in its fullest
splendour, he made the gondoliers row us to such points of
view as might enable me to see Venice, at that hour, to ad-
vantage. Nothing could be more solemnly beautiful, than
the whole scene around; and I had, for the first time, the
All those meaner details,
Venice of my dreams before me.
which so offend the eye by day, were now softened down
by the moonlight into a sort of visionary indistinctness;
and the effect of that silent city of palaces, sleeping, as it
were, upon the waters, in the bright stillness of the night,
was such as could not but affect deeply even the least sus-
ceptible imagination. My companion saw that I was moved
by it, and, though familiar with the scene himself, seemed
to give way, for the moment, to the same strain of feeling
and as he exchanged a few remarks, suggested by that wreck
of human glory before us, his voice, habitually so cheerful,
sunk into a tone of mournful sweetness, such as I had rarely
before heard from him, and shall not easily forget. This
mood, however, was but of the moment; some quick turn
of ridicule soon carried him off into a totally different vein,
and at about three o'clock in the morning, at the door of
his own palazzo, we parted, laughing, as we had met,-an
agreement having been made, that I should take an early
dinner with him next day, on my road to Ferrara."
EPIGRAM." In picking up your bones, Tom Paine,
Will. Cobbett has done well;
You visit him on earth again,
He'll visit you in Hell."

Though we do not intend to enter upon the subject

at present, we may as well warn our readers, that we look upon the second volume of this work as decidedly inferior in interest to the first; our reasons for so thinking, it will not be difficult to point out next Saturday.

Pitcairn's Criminal Trials. Part VIII. August 28, 1616, to Nov. 1624. Edinburgh. William Tait. 1831. THIS Number brings to an end the Record of Criminal Trials during the reign of James VI. The contents are pretty much alike in character with those which have preceded it. The black list of slaughters and oppressions, deadly feuds, and superstitious cruelties, is any thing but diminished. If there is aught new in this history of crime, it is the revolting confirmation of the heartless cruelty of James, afforded by the trial and execution of the poor maniac Thomas Ross, for a libel against the Scottish nation. Of all tyrants, we confess we have least patience with this monarch. There is something so paltry and grotesque intermingled with all his acts of oppression. When we read of a Herod or a Richard III., the fierce sway of their passions, their conscious pride of superior intellect, afford a spectacle poetically, if not morally, beautiful; which, against our better judgment, softens the asperity of our indignation at their criminality. But in the character of James we find no such redeeming feature. His anger is in its origin and nature essentially ludicrous. It is awakened by trivial and burlesque occasions; it is in itself cold, feeble, and impotent. The tyrannical actions to which it impels him, do not terrify, for they leave no impression of energy and power upon the mind-they are simply revolting as indicative of callousness to human suffering on the part of the monarch, and cold-blooded, reckless sycophancy and self-seeking on the part of his tools.

We have met, however, in the Number now before us, with one gratifying instance of the progress of reason—of the growth of a manly and dignified policy among the magnates of Scotland. The indictment against John Brown, a Burntisland shipmaster and his crew, tried for piratical murder, is, with the exception of some few rude phrases, an eloquent and impressive document. It is like the voice of a solitary human feeling crying aloud in a moral wilderness. We present our readers with a modernised copy of it; retaining, however, its naïveté of expression, wherever we could do so with any prospect of being intelligible.

"John Brown, &c.-You are indicted and accused: Forasmuch as the traffic and commerce between merchant and merchant, in exporting commodities from one country to another, has, in all well-governed kingdoms and commonwealths, been esteemed the ground and fundamental cause, not only of great wealth and riches to the inhabitants, but also a great help and furtherance to entertain friendship and correspondence between princes; on which account, many laws, upon ripe reflection and deliberation, have been published and set forth by them and their states for advancement of their trade, the equipping of vessels, and the better preservation of them; and the art of navigation, and the persons expert in it, have become famous throughout the world, as well for skill and dexterity in sailing, as for fidelity in the safe conduct of merchants and passengers with their merchandise and goods committed to their trust: And, moreover, the sailors of this kingdom being, for their skill and fidelity, nothing inferior to any other country or nation, have commonly been so respected by strangers, that they, with their ships, have been preferred for that service to those of any other people whatever: Notwithstanding, it is true and of verity, that you, and each of you, shaking off all fear of the Almighty God, regard to the ancient good fame of this country and kingdom of Scotland, whereof ye are namet most unworthily to be inhabitants and native born people; as also to the great obloquy, shame, and reproach, and open discredit of the whole sailors of this realm, resorting to foreign parts, prejudice of all lawful trade and commerce with the merchants there, and employment of our sea-faring men with their ships and barks, in all time coming,

being about a year ago in St John's, a seaport, within the kingdom of Spain, together with the ship called of which you were respectively owners and master, freighted by one G. F. a Spaniard, to pass to Calais with a loading of chestnuts, walnuts, and Spanish iron; and having taken in the said lading, together with three young Spaniards, who were to act as supercargoes; you, before your coming aboard, plotted, contrived, and devised the cruel and barbarous murder of the said three strangers, and the appropriation to yourselves of the whole goods and merchandise within your ship; and drew up a bond to that effect, to which all of you put your hands; and thereafter coming aboard, you hoisted sail, and passed to the sea: And being in the middle of the sea, far from any land, you, instigated by shameful and damnable covetousness, with set purpose and forethought felony, foolishly deeming that the all-seeing eye of God did not look down, nor would bring to light your most horrible and detestable murder and piracy, cruelly and unnaturally, against the laws of nations, having the said three strangers in your power, violently, and without pity or commiseration, threw them overboard, one after another, into the middle of the raging seas; and thereby, under trust, credit, and assurance, bereft them of their natural lives: Which being done, you, in plain mockery and scorn of the Almighty, as if his divine majesty had approved of your horrible deed, made a prayer, and sung a psalm: And thereafter diverted your course from Calais," &c. &c.

If, however, there is a sameness in the matter of which this fasciculus treats, such is not the case with the manner. The pleadings, and indeed the whole form of process, is much more fully developed and recorded than in the trials formerly reported by Mr Pitcairn. The work, in other words, has reached a period when it may be studied with advantage by the mere lawyer, who, anxious to obtain more than a meagre and practical knowledge of his profession, seeks to trace its rise and progress. To this subject we propose reverting, as soon as Mr Pitcairn's concluding Number has appeared.

One word at present as to the encouragement which Mr Pitcairn's spirited and meritorious undertaking has met with. He has, we may premise, been employed for several years by the Commissioners on the Public Records of the kingdom, to form a regular chronological digest of the entire register of the great seal, commencing with A. D. 1424, when James I. returned from his captivity in England. This work he is to carry down, at all events, to the period of the Union, possibly to the present reign; and it is to be printed for public use, as a Parliamentary work. Yet, amid the drudgery of this laborious and fatiguing avocation, has he found time to commence, and almost to finish, a truly national work, which will extend, when completed, (and one number more will do so,) to three large quarto volumes. It is at present exactly a year and a half since we reviewed the first number. We call it a national work, for we have had occasion to remark before, and we now repeat it, that Mr Pitcairn's "Criminal Trials in Scotland, during the reign of James VI." throw more light upon the moral and intellectual condition of our country at that period, than any book that has yet been published. To the disgrace of a nation and age which make great pretensions to science and literature, we must add, that there is no

doubt he will lose money as well as labour by his pub

lication.

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