The servants now took away the plates which had been placed upon the sideboard, whilst Donna Juliana, in Quinchua, seemed to give particular directions about each of them. I was curious to learn their destination, and, being on a footing of the most friendly intimacy with Donna Juliana and her father-confessor, my inquiry was answered, "to be given to the poor." Every day in the year, at two o'clock, several poor persons attended at the house of La Buena Cristiana, and took their seats upon the staircase; some of them, aware, no doubt, of the lenient disposition of their benefactress, encroached even to the door of the dining-room, where a scene rather unusual to a European, certainly to an Englishman, and one of interesting curiosity too, was daily to be seen,—that of a tribe of beggars assembled en societé, in a respectable mansion, eating with silver spoons, out of silver plates and dishes, without any watch over the property, or even a suspicion of its likely to be missing. In mentioning this daily charitable distribution-happy contrast to "the crumbs from the rich man's table!" I must not forget to remark, that the reserved portions of sweetmeats were for the children who accompanied their parents; a trifling observation, perhaps, but it has its weight in describing the character of the venerable Lady Bountiful, of Potisi.

CHRISTMAS-DAY IN POTOSI.

FOR several weeks past, every artist and mechanic of tolerable ingenuity has been employed in making and repairing dolls, images, and figures of sundry kinds; also in setting up and painting altars in every respectable house; whilst all the females have been equally busy in preparing dresses for those dolls, making artificial flowers and embroideries, and embellishing the best apartment in their respective houses, for the display of what is here termed el Nicimiento, (the birth of Christ,) for which every family of respectability makes preparation with diligence, anxiety, interest, and fuss, scarcely to be exceeded by that which precedes a fancy-ball among our fashionables in England. The fanciful display of taste, the splendour of the dresses, and the variety of costume, are as conspicuous in the one case as the other. If we have all the metamorphoses of fairy tales and tales of genii, all the heroes and heroines of history and romance, personified in the enchanting precepts of a fancy-ball, for the purpose of mirth and pleasure, we have in the Nicimientos of Potosi, under the grave and solemn character of religion, and with the most decorous observances, a fantoccina dis

play of the most distinguished events in sacred writ. We have the adoration of the shepherds, strictly represented with all their rustic attributes; we have the Magi and the kings in gorgeous apparel, accompanied by their respective trains, mounted upon elephants, camels, horses, and asses, bearing baskets of fruit, and other presents, all journeying to Bethlehem, to pay their homage to the infant Saviour of the world, whose sacred image is not here to be seen in a lowly manger, but in a cradle of pure silver, sometimes of pure gold, and the drapery covered with the most costly jewels. On either side of the cradle, are images of the Virgin Mother and her husband Joseph, with crowns of gold upon their heads, and their robes profusely covered with diamonds and pearls, and precious stones. Over the cradle may be seen, engraved on a plate of gold, Glory to God on high!" and all round, suspended by means of delicate wires from the ceiling, are angels, cherubim and seraphim, floating in the air, supposed to be rejoicing "with song and choral symphony" at the tidings of peace and good-will to men. The apartment in which this highlyvenerated exhibition takes place, is strewed with artificial flowers, and arranged for the accommodation of visitors, who go in parties, full dressed, from house to house, to view them, with every feeling of devotional obligation.-Ibid.

66

POETKY.

THE SLAVE.

THE burning day was past. The drooping slaves,
With aching stiffness, homeward dragg'd their feet.
I saw the steam arising from their breasts,-
Sad furnaces! all hot with panting life,
Whose wretchedness was wrung from every pore.
Onward they moved, in stumbling weakness faint,
Their food to seek, and then their bedless sleep.
From spicy groves and forests of the cane,
Along the vales, and o'er the mountain rocks,
The evening fann'd its coolness fresh and free.
To breathe such luxury, and soothe my soul,
Which felt the heavy roughness of the chain
That rusted in the bondman's purchased flesh,-
I ventured forth, in lonely upward way.
Before me rose no velvet terrace green,
But hills on bills, in grim tremendous pile;
An awful monument where tempests write,
In channels deep, and lasting as the globe,
The protests stern of faithful Providence,
'Gainst licensed cruelty and charter'd crime: :
So plain their import, that the world must know;
For thickest darkness blazon'd with it rolls,
While thunders speak it, and the bolts of God
Plough it in circles round Jamaica's brow.

Ascending slow, with feet of climbing care,
Where chasms open'd like the mouths of hell,
And rugged columns seem'd the props of heaven,
I gain'd, at length, wild nature's path-rude steps
By storms and whirlwinds fashion'd into stairs,
Irregularly winding out of sight.

It was a region high, where solitude
Did reign enthroned, in solemn grandeur robed;

Her canopy, the sky; her crown, the stars;
Her veil, the clouds; her footstool, vales and seas;
And the soft light nocturnal, but the shade
Of her bright sacred majesty unseen.

O here, methought, might persecuted worth,
In sanctuary safe, seclude itself.
And true it was, an aged African

Had bither fled for refuge. Injured man!
His rev'rend face was woeful register

Of pains and wrongs-remember'd in the skies.
He gazed upon the utmost main, to find,
Beside the rising moon, dear lands and forms,
Still brightly pictured by his early love.

Ah, how he felt the distance which he saw !
As if the wide deep sea were in his breast,
And ev'ry surge swept back his home-bound thoughts
To shores of bondage and a servile doom.
He turn'd with flashing fierceness to the cliffs.
I saw his spirit's flame blaze out in looks
That would have scorch'd the tyrant to his core.
He gave a groan so mournful and so deep,
It thrill'd the rocks, vibrating through their caves.
And loud and louder murmurs murmur'd there
Responsively, whilst thus his feelings pour'd :—
"Who cares for negro? None. He sighs oppress'd;
The white man's pity is both blind and deaf.
When sickness comes, whose love-drops fall for him?
Perchance he weeps the smarting tears within;
Who tries to tempt them laughing thro' his eyes?
Ah none! His friends beyond the water sleep.
The mountains, woods, the mead sand rivers there,
Are fragrant with the dowers which o'er them smile.
O yes, 'tis so. And some perhaps have died
To live with me again; but 'tis too dark
Between us. How can they see me, know me?
Is not a change upon my very name?

My strength is gone: the tall, the green young tree
Is leadless, aged,-shaking o'er the pit.
A few more moons, and then this breaking cloud
Of flesh shall pass away and I shall rise
A shining figure, o'er a better land.
But will you find me, as the dove finds home?
And will you know me then, my chosen ones?
You must, you must; for absent long, and far
Removed, I find you, know you-in my dreams!
Delightful so to know!-you knew me when
The lightning of my spears blasted the boars,
All foaming on the ground. Alas for me!
Transform'd to men are they; and I am now,
Their bunted lion chain'd, and wounded sore.
This skin, so polish'd once, had not a scar:
The hungry tiger, in his flying rage,
Could never spoil the lustre of its jet.
Behold! the scourge was more than tiger here.*
You knew me when my morning voice awoke
The roving tribe that hail'd me as its chief,
And bade the cowards in the battle fly.
How changed to nothing! now thy voice must creep,
And (like these eyes which follow'd conquering
In other days,) presume not from the earth! [shafts
You saw me free ;-a bounding zebra proud
Which strove to leap the wilderness: but now
My limbs are branded as another's right!
The gripe of thieves has squeez'd my boiling blood;
Their bonds of steel have grated on my bones.
You knew my language ;-slav'ry speaks in groans
That kind of speech must rise up to the stars.
Do you not hear it? hearing, don't you come,
With plaintive winds, to sigh around my hut,
And soothe me, 'till my eyes close in, to look
Upon the thoughts which seem another world?
O then, I hear you talking brave, and great,
And joyful words! and I am young again!
And then, I shout with you a happy shout!
I wake-'tis morn ;-and I am yet a slave!"
He ended; dews fell on his hoary locks,
As if the list'ning skies wept sympathy.
The breeze had fled; and all the atmosphere
Was still and silent as a sepulchre.
The night came on with frowns and bodings red,
And the Eternal seem'd in thickest clouds,
His gleaming sword to brandish fearfully,
Maidstone, Jan. 1st, 1831.

Pointing to his back.

J. S.

141

TO T. S. C*• L, ESQ., CLAPHAM. THE grateful heart thanks Heav'n, and heav'n's high King,

For all the blessings that this world bestows,—
Health, raiment, food-spring's glorious buds,
Summer and autumn's fruits or winter's snows:-
And then it thanks those who, in life's rough path,
Shall help to cause the thorns to disappear,
And scatter, or bring near, its smiling flowers:-
And thus I thank thee,-I can offer else
Nought, save a prayer to him who giveth all,-
A prayer, in which I know that others join,
That he may o'er thee all his blessings shed:
May health, and wealth, and peace, be ever thine!
And may thy children be all heart could wish
When old age shall come on thee,-and eternal bliss
Thy highest, best reward.
L.

REVIEW.-An Only Son, a Narrative, by the Author of "My Early Days," 12mo. pp. 340. Westley and Davis. London. 1831.

THIS narrative, which appears to bear every mark of authenticity, delineates the life and adventures of a wayward young man, who, following his head-strong inclinations, brought upon himself the miseries which a more prudent conduct would have taught him to avoid.

His father, engaged in trade, having acquired a decent competence, spared no expense to give this proud, profligate, and unruly son, a liberal education. To accomplish this, every thing that moderation and prudence could suggest was provided, but the luckless wight wanted profusion and extravagance. His father, a rigid presbyterian, sternly set his face against the follies of the world; but the son, unwilling to bear any restraint, was always longing to whirl in its vortex of dissipation. To all the punctilios of his creed, and the ceremonies of his church, the father rigorously adhered, and used every exertion to induce his son

to walk in the same paths; but the latter, deeming the yoke heavy, the confinement irksome, and the duties enjoined oppressive, used every effort to escape the drudgery, and not unfrequently resorted to dishonour. able expedients to accomplish his purposes.

Advancing to years of maturity, the prodigal was sent to college, where he spent his money in profligacy, and contracted debts which his father was bound to discharge. Returning home, his reception was less cordial than he had expected, but after some time domestic affairs assumed a more favourable aspect, and he received from his parent another sum to pursue his studies and complete his education. But, unfortunately, having become intimate with a dissolute young gentleman in the neighbourhood, who had obtained a commission in the army, instead of going to college, he set out on adventure, under the patronage of his wealthy and wild companion, enlisted for a soldier, embarked for the continent, became an officer, and entered on those scenes which form the subsequent part of this volume.

From these numerous and varied incidents which are rendered interesting by the horror of their details, we select the following paragraphs, exhibiting in frightful colours the severity of military discipline and the brutality of war.

"The only person I had seen after our arrival in Portugal, whom I could distinguish as having met before, was a private soldier named Edward Lawrence, the son of a small farmer residing a mile or two from Thorncroft. Lawrence was a fine-looking young man, wild and thoughtless it is true, but free from any marked irregularities of conduct. He served in our light company, and I was indebted to him for various little attentions which, in the chances of campaigning, even an individual of his humble grade will occasionally have it in his power to bestow. Coming from my own county, it was natural that I should take an interest in him, as he did in me.

"Lawrence had sustained, as he conceived, unmerited provocation from a corporal named Stephens, who, being of an overbearing disposition, by his subsequent behaviour rather aggravated than allayed his resentment. It chanced that Lawrence, making merry with some of his associates, neglected the regular call of duty. Stephens, unfortunately the instrument of his arrest, chose in the discharge of his functions to indulge in an offensive remark. To this the reply was a blow. The unhappy offender was doomed to endure the punishment of contempt of discipline, inebriety, and insubordination. It is needless to enumerate the circumstances connected with his trial. indiction of three hundred lashes was the mitigated sentence of the court-martial.

The

"On a bleak morning of December, the whole of the division was under arms at the village of Barcas. A hollow square was formed, in the centre of which three halberts were planted triangularly in the ground, having their steel tops locked together. Beside them stood my ill-fated acquaintance, attended by the agents of military justice. He was muffled in his great coat; and while the adjutant read aloud the award of the court-martial, he neither declined his head, nor looked to the right or left, but apparently fortified his powers of endurance for that which was to

follow. The troops, as is usual on such occasions stood at " attention."

When the adjutant had completed his task, the surgeon, with his watch in his hand, advanced to the triangle. The priso..er was stripped to his skirt, which, being slipped upward, assisted in making fast his arms to the halberts. His lower limbs were likewise confined, and folds of cotton cloth were inserted at the waistband of his trowsers, that the blood might stream outwards.

"One of the drummers, a man of spare but sinewy proportions, bared his hairy right arm, passed the instrument of flagellation through his fingers, and, retreating some steps to collect his force by a rapid advance, awaited the word. I caught the dread command, and involuntarily closed my eyes. The first sharp stroke of the lash resounded simultaneously with the motion. A sympathetic shivering pervaded the rauks like a gust of wind agitating the forest foliage.

"Attention, soldiers !" cried the adjutant, at the highest pitch of his boatswain-like voice.

"Startled, I cast a glance in the direction of thǝ sufferer. Stroke after stroke descended on his muscular frame with frightful precision and rapidity. Each left a track as if cut by a surgeon's knife; yet not a moan betrayed the agonies of nature- not a breath, even when the thongs, soaked with the crimson stream, seemed to pass reluctantly from the raw and gory surface.

"I could sustain the sight of the barbarons spectacle no longer; my heart grew sick, my brain began to swim,-1 reeled, and fell forward on the sward.

"Attention!' vociferated the adjutant.

Such

a trifling incident was not allowed to interfere with the routine of discipline; I was suffered to remain unassisted until the rigour of martial law had been fully satisfied.

"Lawrence was borne to the hospital, nevehaving flinched throughout the course of his excrur ciating ordeal. On his recovery, he rejoined the corps. Both in body and mind he had undergone a revolution. He, whose capacious chest, erect neck, and well-set shoulders, gave him a manliness of deportment unimprovable by drill, was bent and gathered up as if he had grown old before his time. Unlike the majority of those who have endured corporal punishment, the sense of degradation urged him into no course of self-abandonment. He declined the customary allowance of wine; was silent, reserved, solitary; scrupulous in the performance of his duty, shunning familiarity with former intimates, and avoiding the formation of new friendships.

"About six months afterwards, on the eve of the battle of Albuera, Lawrence and his enemy Stephens were sent on a recruiting party among the hills. In a heavy fog they were separated from their companions. The next morning, when every one was expected to be at his post, they were still missing. The obstinate field was dearly won; in bearing off the wounded, the body of the corporal was discovered lying in a grassy hollow. His left arm had been shattered by a musket-ball, and he was disfigured by repeated stabs of a bayonet, the least of which was sufficient to have ensured the mortality of a giant. It was supposed he bad fallen a victim to the vengeance of the fugitive soldier. "For above a year conjecture busied itself in vain concerning the fate of the presumed assassin. It was the current belief he had deserted to the foe. At the battle of Salamanca, there appeared among our skirmishers, a man whose desperate bravery was productive of astonishment even in the hurry and confusion of an engagement. Apparently bullet proof, he approached close to the French columns, and, taking deliberate aim at the officers, shot several in succession, as an expert marksman would bring down the branchers in a rookery. He was crushed at last beneath a charge of cavalry, from which he made no effort to escape. Some of the spectators of his daring, had him conveyed to the rear. He was dead; and it was known from papers on his person, as well as by living testimony, that the mangled corpse was the sad remains of Edward Lawrence."-p. 197.

From the preceding scene, at which the heart sickens and humanity revolts, we now turn to another view of human depravity, as consummated by the demon of war in the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo. Having entered the breach and become masters of the place, the author thus proceeds :

"Setting restraint at defiance, the soldiers, impelledby the brutish frenzy created in minds destitute of moral courage, when recently escaped from the perils of strife, gave a loose to the direst passions which crime and ignorance have pampered, to emulate the fiends. Dispersed in parties of from four to thirty, they butchered the distracted stragglers of the flying garrison! plundered the houses of the unhappy citizens, ransacked their cellars, and, effacing by intoxication the last vestiges of humanity, sallied forth yelling and ravening like wild beasts, holding an infernal carnival of riot, burning, violation, and massacre.

"Passing through a narrow street with two Scottish serjeants, I heard the shriek of a female. Looking up, we saw at an open lattice, by the light of a lamp she bore, a girl about sixteen, her hair and dress disordered, the expression of her olive countenance marked by anguish and extreme terror. A savage in scarlet uniform dragged her backward, accompanying the act with the vilest execrations in English. We eutered the courtyard, where the hand of rapine had spared us the necessity of forcing a passage. My companions were humane, conscientious men, with the resoluteness that in military life almost invariably accompanies these qualities. Armed for whatever might ensue, they kept steadily by me, until we arrived at a sort of corridor, from the extremity of which issued the tones of the same feminine voice, imploring mercy, in the Spanish tongue. Spring. ing forward, my foot slipped in a pool of blood. Before I could recover, the door of the apartment whither we were hurrying, opened, and two soldiers of my own company discharged their muskets at us, slightly wounding one of the gallant Scots. Intemperance had blinded the ruffians, and frustrated their murderous intentions-We felled them to the ground, and penetrated into the chamberThere I had a hair-breadth escape from falling, by the fury of another of the desperadoes. Parry ing his bayonet, which he aimed at my breast, I could not prevent it taking a less dangerous course, and lacerating my left cheek, nearly from the lip to the eye. The gash, though frightful, threatened no consequences more serious than an ugly scar. Surgical knowledge enabled me to perceive this, as well as to apply the remedies within reach. It was a light matter, compared to the accumulated wretchedness visible around me.

"The room wherein we stood had been devoted to the festivities of a retired family of moderate fortune. It contained the remnants of those decent elegancies that properly appertain to the 'strangers' apartment' in a dwelling of the middle class. Mutilated pictures, and fragments of expensive mirrors, strewed the floor, which was un. carpeted, and formed of different kinds of wood, curiously tesselated. An ebony cabinet, doubtless a venerable heir-loom, had suffered as if from the stroke of a sledge. Its contents, consisting of household documents and touching domestic memorials, were scattered about at random. antique sideboard lay overturned; a torn mantilla drooped on a sofa, ripped, and stained with wine. The white drapery, on which fingers steeped in gore had left their traces, hung raggedly from the walls. Pinioning our prisoners, we barricadoed the doors against intrusion, and proceeded to offer all the assistance and consolation in our power to the inmates of the desecrated mansion.

An

"On investigation, the serjeants found the dead body of a domestic, whose fusil and dagger showed that he had fought for the roof that covered him. His beard had been burnt in derision with gun

143

powder. One of his ears was cut off, and thrust into his mouth. In a garret recess for the storage of fruit, two female servants were hidden, who could scarcely be persuaded they had nothing to fear. Having flown thither at the approach of the ferocious intruders, they had suffered neither injury nor insult. They came to the room, where I lingered over an object, unconscious, alas! of my commiseration, and, in accents half choaked by sobs, called upon Donna Clara ! I pointed to the alcove where the heart-broken lady had fung herself on the bleeding corpse of her grey-haired father. She, too, might have had a sheltering place, could her filial piety have permitted her to remain there when her high-spirited sire feebly strove to repel the violators of his hearth.

"Master of a few Spanish phrases, I used them in addressing some words of comfort to the ill-starred girl. They were to her as the songs of the summer bird, carolled in despair. Her sole return was a faintly recurring plaint, that seemed to say, 'Let my soul depart in peace!'

"I motioned to her attendants to separate her from the beloved source of her unutterable sorrow. They could not comply without the application of force, bordering upon violence. Bidding them desist, I signified a desire that they should procure some animating restorative. A flask of wine was brought. The serjeants withdrew. One of the women held the lamp; the other gently elevated her mistress's head. Kneeling by the couch in the alcove, I poured a little of the liquor into a glass, applied it to her lips, then took it away, until I had concealed my uniform beneath the torn mantilla "Affliction, thou hast long been my yoke-fellow ! Thou hast smitten to the core of my being with a frequent and a heavy hand; but I bless an all-wise, an all-merciful God, who tries that he may temper us, that I have not a second time been doomed to witness aught so crushing to the soul, so overwhelming in woe, as the situation of the young creature over whom I watched on the baleful midnight of our victory!

She had battled with a might exceeding her sex's strength, against nameless indignities, and she bore the marks of the conflict. Her maiden attire was rent into shapelessness; her brow was bruised and swollen; her abundant hair, almost preternaturally black, streamed wildly over her bosom, revealing in its interstices fresh waving streaks of crimson, which confirmed the tale of ultra-barbarian outrage; her cheek had borrowed the same fatal hue from the neck of her slaughtered parent, to whom, in her insensibility, she clung, with love strong as death.' Daughter of Spain, well was it for thy sire that he was gone from a polluted world; well was it for him to whom thou wouldst have flown in thy desolateness, that his place was filled by a stranger to his wounded dove; one who, though devoted as a brother, could better bear up under the bitter ministrations of that hour!

"Through the means adopted, she gave token of revival. Her hand had retained a small gold cross, and she raised it to her lips. The clouded lids were slowly expanded from her large dark eyes. A low agonizing moan followed, I hastened to present the wine. In the act, the mantilla fell from the arm that conveyed the glass.-Appallingly she shrieked,-became convulsed,-passed from fit to fit,-expired.- I called the serjeants. We are here! they answered. Spurn these monsters, bound as they are, into the court-yard; remain in the house until morning-I must hence.' It will be dangerous, sir, to venture into the streets to night-consider your wound.' It may be so I wish it may; help me to clear the passage-I do not feel a wound!'-I plunged into the darkness. The black ensigns of the Almighty's wrath were unfurled over the earth, of which all lovely and holy things had taken an eternal fare. well, and resigned it to the dominion of demons There was to be no future resurrection of the morning. Thus spoke my tempestuous emotions. But morning came at last; and its grey eye saw me, like a shipwrecked mariner, pacing mournfully near the gate of St. Jago."-p. 223.

Escaping with life, but with an enfeebled frame, and emaciated constitution, this graceless prodigal, having killed his friend in a duel, at last finds his way to England, where he learns that his father, having grown despondent at his misconduct, neglected his business, and sunk into poverty, had become a bankrupt, and died almost of a broken heart. Struck with these disasters, and smarting under his own calamities, he retired into Wales, to spend the remnant of his days in penitence, and to publish to the world, this well-written, but painful narrative of An Only Son.

REVIEW.-Bertha's Visit to her Uncle in England, in three Vols. 12mo. pp. 303, 306, 303. Murray, London. 1831. To the inquiries of the reader, Of what do these volumes treat? the reply would be thought vague, equivocal, and indefinite, were we to answer, Of almost every thing. Such, however, is their diversified character, that we are scarcely indebted to hyperbole for the appellation thus universally applied. From this declaration few perhaps will withhold their assent, when they are informed, that every page in the three volumes merits a distinct title, by exhibiting a succession of variety, drawn either from the empire of nature or the productions of art.

The plan of this amusing and very useful work, may be stated in a few words. Bertha, having spent her years of childhood at Rio Janeiro, is sent to pay a visit to her uncle in England. Of her voyage, observations, interviews, conversations, and inquiries, she keeps a regular journal, from which the contents of these volumes are presumed to be extracted, and transmitted to her friends in South America.

Very different from those trifling publications which employ fiction to please the imagination of folly, and to rock ignorance in its cradle to repose, Bertha's visit to her uncle seems to have been paid for some valuable purpose; and the information which she has procured, being of a sterling character, is deserving of general attention on each side of the Atlantic.

On the vegetable and animal tribes of creation, as they appear in various parts of the earth, either in a wild, a cultivated, or a domesticated state, many judicious observations are made. The outlines of science, natural and experimental philosophy, machinery, the arts in their various branches, including agriculture, architecture, and domestic economy, occupy prominent features in these volumes; nor will it be easy to mention a single topic in either these, or

their kindred departments, which Bertha has suffered to pass over in silence. On poetry, morals, and religion, the uncle of this young lady is always both able and ready to furnish much useful information.

It cannot, however, be supposed that these volumes enter very deeply into the subjects of which they treat. For this, they are far too numerous and too brief. They imbody the results of investigations pursued by others, and teach the reader to take advantage of tasks which the laborious and scientific among mankind have already performed.

Of the manners and customs which prevail among the various tribes of mankind, from the savage state, to that of civilization and refinement, we find some pleasing and interesting accounts. The productions of various climates, which administer to the wants of man and of the inferior animals, are so disposed as to arrest the attention, and furnish topics for the most beneficial reflections. In all the apparatus of nature, the operations of a superintending Providence are distinctly seen; and he that can pass them by unheeded, must possess either a dull understanding, or an unfeeling heart.

To enter deeply into any of these researches would be inconsistent with the nature and character of this work. It is designed for the amusement and instruction of the young; and in few books, now in circulation, have these points been so happily blended; and fewer still have been enlivened with so much interesting variety. It has no stories, but many historical extracts, full of life and vigour; no artificial anecdotes, but multitudes of facts that are equally entertaining; no tinsel ornaments, which dazzle with a meretricious glare, but phenomena drawn from nature and art, at the sight of which, fiction is compelled to hide her diminished head.

We have been so much delighted with these volumes, that we regret others of a similar character and tendency are not more numerous. They contain novelty supplied by nature, without the inventions of prostituted ingenuity. The field into which Bertha has entered is too ample to be speedily exhausted, and too rich in genuine materials to send her a begging to romance. Intellectual health and vigour run through all her pages. She breathes an uncontaminated atmosphere, and the simple fragrance of nature accompanies all her steps. The Hygeia of morals imparts an Orient colouring to the simplicity of truth, which will retain its freshness until art and wickedness can muster power sufficient to render utility and nature contemptible.