SPAIN UNDER CHARLES THE SECOND.*

THE Success which some five years since attended this very interesting work, extracted from the numerous papers and despatches of the noble historian's immediate ancestor in the fifth degree, has been such as to call for this second and enlarged edition. We need hardly recall to the reader's recollection, that the events which these documents embrace extend over the ten years of a period most interesting in Spanish affairs generally, and having no slight influence upon those of the rest of Europe; we allude to the times which immediately preceded the extinction of the Austrian dynasty in that misused and ill-governed country, which seems at the present day as badly off as ever. These extracts from the Chevening papers are increased by various additions, bringing forward occasionally new facts, and generally elucidatory of those already recorded. It is a curious circumstance that, as long ago as 1690, the name of a Mr. Oliver Hill should be most prominently mixed up with the "Post-office Reform" of that day, and that he should have met with an opposition quite as determined as that which in our own time seems literally to have exchanged "a Rowland for an Oliver." This little work will of course find a place in every library at all connected with historical literature.

FIFTY DAYS ON BOARD A SLAVE-SHIP.+

THIS pamphlet for it is no more-will, if extensively read, and pondered in a spirit of common, not to say Christian, humanity, do more good in the way of practical results towards the suppression of the slave-trade, than fifty meetings at Exeter Hall; unless, indeed, one of those meetings should pass a resolution to purchase a right of publishing it at a price which will send it beneath every roof in the land, and thus make them ring with mingled shame and indignation. This, then, is the end of our twenty years of toil, and twenty millions of money-that the trade in human flesh and blood is pursued as extensively as ever, with this especial difference, that the details of its attendant horrors are more frightful than they were before it was suppressed," and that you cannot even carry into effect the provisions which have been made for stopping it, without multiplying fourfold the miseries of its victims! It appears that in the spring of last year the author, who was at that time, and still is, chaplain of the Cleopatra, volunteered to go on board a slaver that the Cleopatra had captured in the Mozambique Channel, containing four hundred and forty-seven negroes, who had been brought from the coast of Africa, to be sold as slaves. Immediately on the capture being effected, the vessel was despatched to the Cape of Good Hope, there

*Spain Under Charles the Second. By Lord Mahon.

Fifty Days on Board a Slave-ship in the Mozambique Channel in April, May, 1843. By the Rev. Pascoe Grenfell Hill, Chaplain of the Cleopatra.

to be condemned, and her unhappy cargo to be set at liberty. And the author having, as we have said, volunteered to make the voyage as interpreter between the Spanish and Portuguese part of the crew and the English who were put on board to work the prize,-gives an account of the scenes he witnessed during the fifty days occupied by the voyage to the Cape. And such a relation, the early history of the slave-trade itself can scarcely parallel. The details of the circumstances under which a hundred and seventy-five of these wretched captives died during the voyage-died, be it observed, under the hands of their saviours and liberators!-are too terrible to be quoted. Suffice it to say, that it is more than questionable whether they had not better have remained in the hands of their first possessors, and whether "Save us from our friends!" is not as pregnant a proverb on the coast of Africa as elsewhere. Certain it is (and the demonstration of this fact is what gives value to this narrative), that the measures taken for the suppression of the trade are utterly fallacious, and that not seldom they do but aggravate the evils they were intended to

cure.

TWO YEARS IN FRANCE AND SWITZERLAND.*

A LIVELY and spirited account of the thoughts and feelings of as lively and spirited a young lady, during a temporary sojourn on the continent, detailed in some forty epistles to her mamma in Lancashire. A little of the bas bleu, a little of the philosophe, and "a greater lover of freedom than is to be tolerated even by Whigs," she gives us her "thoughts, impressions, and sketches," which cannot fail to amuse, though some of her inferences from the facts and scenes which came under her observation, will necessarily raise an occasional smile, not quite of the same description as that which it is her intention to excite. During her stay in the French metropolis, she is successively the inmate of three boarding-schools and a boarding-house, and her "sketches" of those into whose society she is then thrown are not among the least entertaining portions of her book. The most interesting part of the work is, perhaps, the account she gives of the veteran Marshal Macdonald, one of the best as well as bravest of Napoleon's generals. From this gallant old officer (a descendant of the clan with which her second baptismal appellation induces us to suppose the fair lady to be connected) she seems to have received much attention, and to have met at his table Oudinot, and other of the Revolutionary heroes, scarcely less distinguished. The conversations which passed on these occasions are frequently detailed very agreeably, especially the account of Dumourier's two female aides-de-camp with the description of whom, she is a little puzzled to decide whether she is most "interested, amused, or made sad." From this part of the book we extract the following anecdote of Sir Walter Scott's visit to the Marshal, at the time when he was in Paris collecting materials for his "Life of Napoleon"-a work, by the way, which she informs us, most of the guests

Two Years in France and Switzerland. By Martha Macdonald Lamont.

assembled, when she was present, condemned altogether, while the veteran himself spoke in its defence.

He then related to me that when Sir Walter was in Paris, collecting materials for his book, he had visited him, he having had an introduction from some Scotch friend of his. He told him many anecdotes of Napoleon from his own personal knowledge, and desired him to make a note of them, but Sir Walter replied that he could trust to his memory. "None of those traits which I related to him did I find in his work," he added. Scott was very far from possessing fluency in French conversation, and seemed only to understand what was distinctly spoken and addressed to himself; this deprived him of the power of making use of much that would have given life to the character of his hero amidst the long historical details. Marshal Macdonald invited to meet him at dinner all the distinguished persons who had known Napoleon most intimately; every one was most eager and happy to tell Sir Walter something of their great master, but he, overwhelmed and confounded amidst their French vivacity, and driven to despair by the volubility of their foreign tongues, told the Marshal afterwards, that he had actually not understood a single word that was said about the Emperor, during the whole evening. And thus the good-natured attempts to get him the best information à vive voix, ended in a hearty laugh on the parts of both host and guest, both, with all their great talents, equally endowed with a happy disposition of enjoying the amusing and the ludicrous.

In the course of her trip she visits the field of Waterloo, where she is equally scandalized by the "Dutch Lion," and the monument to Lord Anglesea's leg. The former she describes as

More contemptible than Bottom's, which "roared like any sucking dove;" when I think of the thousands of brave men who fell at Waterloo, and that that monstrous thing was raised to commemorate one man's wound. As to the leg, where men lost their lives it is bad taste, to say the least of it, for a nobleman to place the loss of it by the side of the monuments dedicated to their memory.

But, as it is not uncommon with many of those who partake her admiration of "a greater degree of freedom than is tolerated even by Whigs," Waterloo does not seem to have inspired her with any great degree of enthusiasm, and she is perhaps, the only author who ever gave a description of it, without the slightest allusion to the person who won the battle. Notwithstanding this little omission, however, and a trifling mistake (very excusable in a Lady Critic) when she censures our Liturgy for applying the epithet "Religious" to the Sovereign in one of its prayers, it would be unjust to deny her the praise of exhibiting throughout, amiable (if perhaps a little too "liberal") sentiments, and a kind and womanly disposition. She will, we are sure, be glad to learn by a reference to the Latin dictionary, that the word which she considers to be so much misapplied is used then (like the word "prevent" in another collect) only in its primitive sense, and simply implies the sacredness and inviolability of the Royal Person, without any necessary connexion with piety of disposition.

We take our leave of this lady with great goodhumour; she has a lively and spirited style of writing, observation, and lady-like sentiments and feelings, as well as goodnature, which have conjoined to produce a very readable and agreeable little volume. May we trespass so far on the last-mentioned quality, in parting, as to trust she will excuse us if we venture to hint that poetry is decidedly not her forte. April.-VOL. LXX. NO. CCLXXX.

2 s

Blank verse is very difficult to manage even with a practised ear. Let her be assured that such lines as

Say have I

Left them ignorant that it must come?-No!

Yet their terrors and their tremblings now tell, &c.

(We do not venture to decide her question as to "Hannibal, Macdonald, and Suwarrow," which she herself suspects to be "a little blankish"), are not metrical, though the syllables may "run ten upon the fingers," and that however "the stern, staunch, and daring republicanism of the blind old man" might have sympathized with her "hatred of autocrats of all kinds," and her abomination of "flattery of the governing," we must doubt if John Milton's respect for her patriotism would have been, in any great degree, extended to her poetry.

AGATHONIA.*

IN these times, such a work as "Agathonia" is a rarity. It unites three decided elements of non-success-poetry, philosophy, and romance; and yet we should not be surprised to find the wonders predicted in its favour, fully accomplished. In every page, the influence of deep feeling and refined taste conciliates the objections of even the most matter-of-fact reader; and since the graceful and philosophical fictions of Bernardin de St. Pierre took possession of the public mind, we know of nothing written to be compared to "The Indian Cottage" and "Paul and Virginia," than "Agathonia."

The following passage may serve as a specimen of the language and tone.

(A venerable Christian hostage has been brought into the presence of the Emir of Rhodes, who inquires whether he has ascertained the motive of his capture.)

"The fool questions his neighbour of his faults-the wise man his conscience," replied Telephus, in the words of the eastern philosopher. "Mine tells me I have done no wrong. I have patience for the issue!"

"Yet surely thou must have accused me of cruelty in taking thee from thy house and home?" said the Emir.

"It is written of one whom the Koran of thy prophet honoureth as an enlightener of nations," resumed the Greek, "that on a time, the master of Lokman bestowed on him a bitter melon, whereof he ate, as though unconscious of its bitterness. Then mocked him the master, saying, 'Perceivest thou not that the melon is bitter?" Yea, lord,' was the answer of Lokman, ‘but in my time I have eaten many good fruits at thy hand, and am bound to accept, unquestioning, this one unpalatable.""

Then Othman, schooled by a lesson sanctified by the name of his prophet, commanded that the sojourn of the Christians in the citadel should be cared for as the sojourn of an envoy of kings.

But in a mild voice, Telephus rebuked him, saying, "Though silken carpets be spread under my feet, and cushions of camel's hair under my limbs, and though my food be served in vessels of the gold of Ophyr, like a Satrap's feast, what profiteth? There is health for the old man in his green valley

Agathonia; a Romance. 1 vol.

where the music of the running stream is as the voice of God, and the balmy summer atmosphere as the breath of nature. But within thy sunless walls I perish: My heart will sicken after the flowers and herbs, and dumb things cherished of my hand! Nor marvel that one about to embark on the dead ocean of eternity, should find joy in the purple shells that glitter on the shore. For as the infancy of the life immortal is the old age of man, whose simplicity together with the gifts vouchsafed by the mercies of Providence."

Bitter at every age is the hour of captivity!" replied the Emir, "but bitter as the waters of Marah to a warrior like Velid my son."

"It is not for myself alone I plead," resumed Telephus. "But in my sufferings, many suffer! The hearth is quenched at Larnaca; and there be none to heal the sick, or succour the sorrowful. No board so poor, but there be poorer to feed upon its crumbs. Restore, therefore, the old man to the duties of his declining years; and the thankfulness of his people be thy reward!"

Then, moved in his soul, the Emir inclined to compassion. But an evil chance willed it, that while averting his eyes from the supplicating glances of the captive, they fell upon a weapon hanging to the wall-a sabre of boyhood -a little one-which the strong arm of Velid had outgrown; and which hung there as a token of his son-his son whom he was to behold no more!

Then contracted, as by a spasm of vengeance, the heart of the Emir; and hoarse and broken was his voice, as turning with a gesture of authority towards the Ascalonian guard, he exclaimed, "Remove this man! He troubleth me!"

MODERN EGYPT AND THEBES.*

THOUGH On a somewhat cumbrous scale, this is the best of all Mr. Murray's Handbooks; but it must not claim to be ranked in a higher category than the one just named; nor need it desire to do so, either in respect of utility or entertainment. The work may be regarded as a new and greatly enlarged edition of the author's excellent description of "Egypt and Thebes" which was published nearly twenty years ago -an edition adapted to the great changes that have since then taken place in the country itself, and those still greater ones which have attended the "appliances and means" of reaching and traversing it. Steam and the overland route to India have together rendered Egypt a common place; but it still remains the most impressive and interesting one extant; and there is no portion of it, or of the means of traversing it, that is not minutely set forth and described in these volumes. Indeed they would form one of the most valuable and entertaining books of travel extant, if it were not that they are rather the results of travel, and want that consecutive interest which nothing but a progressing narrative can achieve. Still they form, with the vast body of useful collateral information included in them, perhaps the very best book of its class that the growing call for such works has hitherto produced. The volumes are illustrated by a large number of wood-cuts, an excellent map of Egypt, a copious vocabulary of the English and Arabic languages, and some curious and highly interesting hints on hieroglyphics; and whoever henceforth undertakes to explore Egypt without providing themselves with this work as a travelling companion, will have cause to regret his mistake.

Modern Egypt and Thebes. Being a Description of Egypt, including the required information for travellers in that country. By Sir Gardener Wilkinson, F.R.S.