All that we want is a collection of GLASGOW PUBLICATIONS. minative, and cheap selection of the classical literature | parative indifference. of France. We know that we have long felt the want French literature, copious enough, and selected with suffiof something of this kind. We are glad also, in our ca- cient judgment, to furnish uswith a just notion of the spipacity of critics, that it has been set on foot, for it will rit, tendency, and extent of the nation's intellectual serve as an apology for submitting to our readers, at in- wealth. The good sense and taste indicated in the pretervals, a series of essays on the principal French authors.liminary notices attached to the volumes now on our table Our office in the critical department of the Journal is to augur well. The book is elegantly printed-a pure text serve as a sort of catalogue raisonné to the multifarious pub- has been selected, and rigidly adhered to-and, best of all, lications which are now issuing from the press. We are, as few notes and comments are to be appended as possible. like Ariadne's clew, of use to guide the distracted student" Though last, not least" important, the publication is amid their labyrinthine variety. We serve also, if it be incredibly cheap. allowable to change the metaphor, as an excitement to stimulate him to keep pace with the swift-footed intellect of the age. But in occasionally calling upon him to take a retrospect of what has been done in times past, we do not assume an alien duty. In the active business of life, men are but too apt to attribute an undue importance to the workings of themselves and associates. They forget that their momentary existence and limited sphere of action, are but as drops in the wide oceans of space and eternity. And thus it is in literature also. He who is acquainted only with the literature of his own times, is apt to contract habits of overweening conceit. It is good for us at times to look back upon the works of the master spirits who have gone before us. In a particular manner are we inclined to attribute importance to retrospects of French literature the most peculiar and not the least valuable which time has bequeathed to us We do not, however, propose entering upon this task to-day. As soon as Messrs Treuttel and Würtz have furnished us with the whole works of Molière we shall commence our remarks upon him, and shall afterwards take up his countrymen as the successive numbers of this interesting miscellany furnish occasion. It will be with us a labour of love, and it is one not uncalled for at a time when it is the fashion to speak slightingly of the classics of France-a fashion which betrays at once gross ignorance and presumption. We confine ourselves for this time, however, to an analysis of the plan of the work which has suggested this undertaking on our part. It is proposed to give the entire works of Molière, Racine, and Boileau-of the two former as the most characteristic of the French drama of the latter as legislator of French criticism. Of the remaining authors it is intended to give merely a selection of their best works. The publishers seem to have been led to adopt this resolution, chiefly by the consideration that the works of some of these authors were too voluminous to admit of an entire reprint in a publication like theirs, or that some of their works were, from their subjects, foreign to a collection of general literature. They insinuate, also, that they have been moved in part by a feeling that some of them were in the habit of repeating their good things, at least of writing in a less varied spirit. The collection commences with the French Theatre. Molière, as the reader already knows, leads off the dance: to him succeed Corneille, Racine, and Voltaire. Boileau follows close upon the dramatists. Then come, we believe, the Henriade of Voltaire, the sublime lyrics of J. B. Rousseau, the playful, graceful tales of Lafontaine. The Thoughts of Pascal, the Maxims of Rochefoucauld, and Characteristics of La Bruyère, form one rich and varied volume. Telemachus comes next; then Bossuet's Discourse on Universal History; then the Petit-Carême of Massillon. A large selection of the works of Montesquieu is next to appear. This is followed by the best philosophical works of Voltaire, and these by his romances and moral tales. The Romances of Le Sage conclude the list as it at present lies before us. It will appear from this detailed arrangement, that when an author has excelled in more than one species of composition, his different productions are to be arranged in the Library under the classes to which they respect ively belong. The principle of arrangement and selection upon which the Editors proceed, is to us a matter of com The Life of Thomas Muir, Esq., Advocate; with a full and Marshall. 1831. Vision of Hell. A Poem. A Graves. 1831. We love our good city of Glasgow. Standing (in imagination) beneath Knox's Monument, and piercing the dense cloud of smoke which wraps in a mystic obscurity the thronged dwellings stretching along the Clyde, on either side of the "Brown Mollendinar,"-up the river till they are lost in the land of colliers, or downward, over the undulating surface of Blytheswood Hill, towards the Kelvin-we embrace its whole population in our capacious heart. Casting a lingering glance at the majestic Cathedral, we pass down the High Street, take a peep at the massive front of the College, and its shamefully curtailed garden, take a turn along the Trongate, and down the "Saltmarket." To the stranger, who visits Glasgow for the first time, we recommend this route, if he be one who loves to trace the remnants of gone days. It brings him in contact with a narrow strip of old Glasgow, venerable from the dark hue of the walls, and the remains of solid heavy masonry, living on like some gallant veteran amid a new generation. On one side of it we have princely streets and squares on the other, the meagre modern squalor of St John's parish; but this land of our love this little Goshen in the great Egypt of modern Glasgow-looks as if Bailie Nicol Jarvie's eye had rested upon it with a love which conferred immortality. Glasgow has deserved well of the literature of our country. Within the walls of her university, Reid, Smith, Millar, Black, Young, Jardine, Thomson, and Hooker, have infused their own bold spirit of research into successive generations. Under their tuition have been evolved the talents of many, the noblest names of living literature. It was in Glasgow that the brothers Foulis placed British typography on a par with that of the Elzevirs. We do not stop to enumerate the many associations for promoting art and literature which have risen and sunk in that city, leaving, in many instances, no name behind them, but all helping to disseminate the seeds of thought. We confine ourselves at present to the Andersonian University-an institution which has done much good, and will do more-the Maitland Club, the promising younger brother of the Bannatyne !—and the spirited association of gentlemen for encouraging art. There is a sound and healthy spirit awake in Glasgow. Let the citizens look to it that they cherish it. There is a tendency in genius and refinement of every kind to concentrate towards the capital-and it is the duty of us provincials to beware that we do not remain sluggish and inert after the abstraction. No nation can prosper where the metropolis engrosses all the intellectual energy. There must be a soul in every department of the body politic. We have been led to indulge in these remarks by having our attention casually attracted to the number of Glasgow publications which are this week upon our table. It has occurred to us, that by bringing them collectively under the reader's notice, we may give a more just notion of the literary activity of that city, than by scattering them among the other books which are at present waiting for judgment. It is not necessary for establishing the character of their birthplace, that any one of these works should be of first-rate eminence in its department. In an age like ours, when every thing is published, it is sufficient that we see the spirit busy. The fate of by far the major number of publications is necessarily to pass away and be forgotten. They have done important service, if, during their brief existence, they have set one mind a-thinking. It is only the giants of literature who can stem that sweeping torrent which bears down so much, both of good and bad, to oblivion. Having brought our long preamble to a close, we proceed to examine the works enumerated at the commencement of this paper. THE LIFE OF THOMAS MUIR.-This is a book which we cannot read without blushing. The date of Muir's trial is the year 1793-not forty years back; and yet the proceedings would have disgraced the times of Cardinal Beaton. Thomas Muir, a man of the strictest probity and deep religious feelings,—a man of good family and highly educated—was tried for sedition before the Court of Justiciary. He and his witnesses were browbeat by the judges in a manner as inhuman as it was illegal. Gentlemen were allowed to sit upon the jury, who were members of an association for the prosecution of all persons guilty of such practices as he was accused of. The counsel for the crown, contrary to the law of Scotland, led evidence to establish criminal acts not included in the indictment, and evidence which is not held admissible in our courts. It appeared on the trial, that attempts had been made to suborn witnesses. And yet the only fact proved against Mr Muir was, that he had advocated at public meetings a constitutional reform, less sweeping than that now submitted to Parliament by the ministers of the crown, in terms as moderate as are used by many who oppose that measure. This is not recognised as a crime by any law of this country; yet for this was Muir sentenced to fourteen years' transportation to Botany Bay. He was conveyed to the scene of punishment, manacled, and in company with felons of the lowest class. He was enabled, by the assistance of some American gentlemen, to make his escape; but was shipwrecked near Nootka | Sound. He remained a few weeks among the Indians, then travelled alone to the Spanish colonies, was there thrown into prison, and finally sent to Europe. The vessel which carried him was attacked by a British frigate; he was wounded incurably, and died not long afterwards at Paris. We offer no comments upon these simple facts. They furnish a fearful picture of what atrocities party spirit and political bigotry can impel men to perpetrate. At a moment of excitement like the present, we should have hesitated to revive the recollection of them, but for their dreadful warning. Muir was an innocent and murdered man, and for the wealth of worlds would we not incur the responsibility of his persecutors. "In the hour of death and the day of judgment, God will remember them." Mr Mackenzie's work evinces generous feeling and careful research-but the style is juvenile, and too ambitious. A VISION OF HELL.-There is bad taste in the title. It is meant to be striking, and is only puerile. The poem consists of two parts:-Tartarus in nine, and Elysium in seven cantos. It is composed in blank verse, which is never very musical, and is sometimes very lame. Tartarus is extremely insipid. Elysium is better; but all that can be said for it is, that it contains reminiscences of classical literature, elegantly, but rather tamely, expressed. The author is a scholar and a man of taste, but we rather fear he is no poet. NECROPOLIS GLASGUENSIS.-This is an elegant and pleasing work. We heartily approve of the sentiments expressed by the author, and the end which he seeks to promote. It appears to us, however, that he indulges occasionally in some notions which are, to say the least, a little fantastic, and occasionally in an unnecessary parade of his extensive reading. His object is to get the piece of enclosed ground within which Knox's mo- . nument is erected, the declivity of the Mollendinar glen, in short, opposite to the Cathedral, converted into a public cemetery, and laid out with some attention to ornament. We heartily concur in his remarks upon the general beastly state of our Scotch burial-grounds. The Maclarties are in the process of being driven from the abodes of the living, but they still reign lords paramount of the mansions of the dead. We concur also in the opinions he expresses regarding the beneficial tendency of habituating a people to feel a pride and pleasure in ornamenting the graves of their lost ones; with this restriction, that it be not carried to the finical and maudlin excess of his and Lady Morgan's favourite cemetery of Père la Chasse. That is tainted with the very coquetry of sentiment. It is a fit rendezvous for dames of Ephesus. How much more touching the unstudied elegance of a Swiss grave-yard! We know one place of sepulture, even in Scotland, which seems specially consecrated to the spirit of beauty. It is that of the little parish of Senwick, in Galloway, now merged with two others into one larger cure. The church is no longer used, and has been allowed to go to ruin. burying-ground is bounded by two gentle ascents—that to the north is wooded-which commencing their rise from its walls, effectually shut it out from the view even of the nearest dwelling-houses. The third side runs along the summit of a precipice which sinks down abruptly to the waters of a secluded bay, formed by the embouchure of the Dee. The graves, the ruins of the church, the debris which lie in strange confusion, or shoot up in tall obelisks at the foot of the precipice, are mantled with ivy. The quiet nook is almost overgrown with wild briers and the stunted hawthorn, which seems to shoot up spontaneously over the whole south of Scotland. The vegetation is plentiful, but, owing to the shallowness of the soil, not unduly luxuriant. The last time we visited the spot, was on one of those still grey autumnal days so frequent in our climate. The foliage was rich with all the varied dyes of the season. From the scarlet haw, and the still richer scarlet leaf of the crane-bill, (geranium pusillum,) to the funereal green of the ivy, there was a continuous chain of connecting tints, beautifully and variously mingled. All was silence save for the occasional cawing of a stray rook. Man and his doings were only to be seen far away over the motionless water, which glimmered dimly through the thick atmosphere. There were traces of humanity around, but they were consecrated to death; and moreover, Dying insensibly away From human thoughts and purposes, The And blend with the surrounding trees. True ornament must be based on nature and necessity. It is no fabled bird of paradise floating for ever on the But while such is the general sentiment in regard to this body in its present state, there is reason to fear, that prejudices still exist in the minds of not a few as to some of its founders. They are spoken of as good men, but as turbulent and fanatical; their zeal is considered as by far too vehement for its object; and their aim, notwithstanding their high professions of entire devotedness to the glory of God, is asserted to have been the attainment of popular influence, or the gratification of party feeling. Nothing can be better adapted to remove these prejudices, as far as they regard Ebenezer Erskine, whose character has been principally affected by them, than the volume before us, which is a well-written performance, and remarkable for its calm, judicious, and charitable spirit. We here see him acting under the strongest convictions of duty, atmosphere,—at each new flight it must spring again from | department of the community, have attracted the eulogies some resting-place. Let the author of the book, which of all whose commendation is desirable. has suggested these remarks, qualify his enthusiasm with this recollection, and persevere in his good task. There are only three means of attaining his end. The first is, Agitation; the second, Agitation; the third, Agitation. SWAN'S SELECT VIEWS OF THE LAKES OF SCOTLAND. We have for some time had our eye upon Mr Swan, as one of the most accurate and elegant, if not indeed the most accurate and elegant engraver of botanical drawings in Scotland. We have also traced with sincere pleasure his gradual rise in a higher department of his art-landscape engraving. We can trace his progressive improvement even in the work before us, the third part of which is immeasurably superior to its predecessors. The other two were more than respectable, but this is elegant. Messrs Fleming and Swan have now presented us with views of the interminable Loch Lomond, in all its vary-happiest in the tranquil scenes of the pastoral functions, ing aspects. They have penetrated into Perthshire, and led us through the wild magnificence of Loch Katrine; round the lonely shores of Loch Auchray, which, in its surpassing gentleness, lies girdled round by stern, stony mountains, like some feudal beauty, guarded by the rude forms and faces, but faithful hearts of her father's retainers; up to Loch Venachoir, fair to the eye, but beneath whose specious surface dwells the dread Water-Horse. Mr Swan's style of engraving is still, if any thing, rather too timid and anxious-his lights and shadows are apt to want breadth, and do not fade into each other with sufficient softness. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, (for which we suspect the painter is in part to blame,) Mr Swan already stands high as an engraver, and may stand still higher if he do himself justice. SKETCH OF THE LITERARY AND COMMERCIAL SOCIETY of Glasgow. We notice this brochure by our indefatigable and talented friend Atkinson, merely as an excuse for adverting to the existence of a society which has held the noiseless tenor of its way in Glasgow since 1806, and yet has witnessed the developement of more talent than many which make a noise in the world. It has been graced with the co-operation of a Campbell and a Mylne. It was to it that Dr Chalmers first expressed his views of the Cause and Cure of Pauperism. Mr Owen, too although this be more a matter of curiosity than importance-first expounded his system within its walls. Many others might be mentioned. We have now gone over our last importations from Glasgow, and when we add that they are merely a fair average specimen of its literary labours, we are sure that the reader will agree with us that there is a good spirit at work in that great community, which cannot fail to bring forth good fruit. Life and Diary of the Rev. Ebenezer Erskine, Father of the Secession Church. By the Rev. Donald Fraser. 12mo. Pp. 543. Edinburgh. William Oliphant. 1831. THE liberal feeling of the present day is one of its many gratifying characters; the fury of contending parties in the church of God has passed away; a wise and good man is now respected as he deserves, whatever is the denomination he bears; and he who should apply to any individual, or assembly, the terms of abuse once common in disputes, would be laughed at as the dupe of antiquated prejudice, or abhorred as the slave of a rancorous bigotry. These remarks are especially applicable to the change in public feeling towards the Secession. The number, general intelligence, and pious habits of its adherents, and the prominent place which they have taken in all measures of holy utility, have raised them to a due place in public estimation: while the education and talents, the diligence and fidelity of their pastors, and their influence in maintaining peace and order in a large and walking humbly with God in the sequestered spot where a great part of his life was spent. A Diary, written by himself in a peculiar kind of short hand, has been deciphered with great labour, and has contributed to enrich the work. In it we see, not the zealot, but the man of God; not envy working, nor revenge plotting; but contrition weeping in secret places, faith embracing the promises, and love and joy delighting themselves in God. Many affecting incidents in his family and neighbourhood are here alluded to, and the workings of his mind respecting them are depicted with every symptom of sincerity. To the adherents to the Secession this work will be peculiarly interesting; but the good of other parties will read it with pleasure, as a book which shows the influence of Christian principle to support and invigorate the mind, and the power of devotion working in sorrow and reproach, in suffering and death. It contains, besides the incidents connected with the rise of the Secession, many interesting particulars on the state of the Church of Scotland in the beginning of the last century; the rebellion in 1715 and 1745; and striking anecdotes respecting individuals. Of the latter, we present our readers with one as a specimen, in which Mr Erskine is a chief actor, and we are sorry our limits will not permit us to give more. "At one time, after travelling, towards the end of the week, from Portmoak to the banks of the Forth, on his way to Edinburgh, he, with several others, was prevented by a storm from crossing that frith. Thus obliged to remain in Fife during the Sabbath, he was employed to preach, it is believed, in Kinghorn. Conformably to his divine countenance and aid in the work of the day; but usual practice, he prayed earnestly in the morning for the suddenly missing his note-book, he knew not what to do. His thoughts, however, were directed to that command, Thou shalt not kill;' and having studied the subject with as much care as the time would permit, he delivered a short returned to his lodging, he gave strict injunctions to the sermon on it in the forenoon after the lecture. Having servant that no one should be allowed to see him during the interval of worship. A stranger, however, who was also one of the persons detained by the state of the weather, expressed an earnest desire to see the minister; and having with difficulty obtained admittance, appeared much agitated, and asked him, with great eagerness, whether he knew him, or had ever seen or heard of him. On receiving assuracter, and history, the gentleman proceeded to state that rance that he was totally unacquainted with his face, chahis sermon on the sixth command had reached his conscience; that he was a murderer; that, being the second son of a Highland laird, he had some time before, from base and selfish motives, cruelly suffocated his elder brother, who slept in the same bed with him; and that now he had no peace of mind, and wished to surrender himself to justice, to suffer the punishment due to his horrid and unnatural crime.. Mr Erskine asked him if any other person kuew any thing of his guilt. His answer was, that, so far as he was aware, not a single individual had the least suspicion of it; en which the good man exhorted him to be deeply affected with a sense of his atrocious sin, to make an imme diate application to the blood of sprinkling, and to bring forth fruits meet for repentance; but, at the same time, since, in Providence, his crime had hitherto remained a secret, not to disclose it, or give himself up to public justice. The unhappy gentleman embraced this well-intended counsel in all its parts, became truly pious, and maintained a friendly correspondence with this servant of the Most High God' in future life. It is added, that after he withdrew, the minister had the happiness to recover the manuscript formerly missing; and, in consequence, preached in the afternoon on the topic he had originally in view." It may be thought by some that the advice was too lenient, and that such a monster should not have been suffered to live to enjoy the fruits of his villainy; but if he was a sincere penitent, his crime would be ever before him in the deepest anguish; and if this was only a temporary awakening of terror and remorse, Providence would, in some other way, make his sin to find him out. The extracts from the Diary will be pleasing to pious readers. It shows the delight which Mr Erskine felt in prayer, and how he was tried with that bitterness of heart under which true Christians often groan. We must own, however, that there are some passages in it which strike us as too familiar for the public eye; and as likely to strengthen the objections of many against the publication of such writings. Mr Erskine's writing it in short hand, and his discontinuing it during the most important and busy period of his life, seem to intimate that he had lost those impressions of the utility of the practice which he once had. It is plain, from its whole strain, that the idea of its being published never once entered his mind. It is said, that to the pure all things are pure; but what is published is laid open to the inspection of all; and it is easy to judge what unhappy effects, on some classes, the indiscreet disclosure of the secret confessions, and fears, and struggles of good men may have. It will make many attach the idea of sullenness to men they were accustomed to venerate; and of gloom and terror to a religious course, whose ways they have been told are ways of pleasantness. We wish the editor had woven the most interesting passages of this Diary into the narrative, as illustrations of particular scenes or virtues. Thus the feeling of dullness and sameness, which is apt to be excited by frequently recurring extracts, would have been avoided; and thus Mr Erskine would have been presented to us in a way more vivid, and what he did to men would have been shown in connexion with his purposes before God. Upon the whole, we consider this book as a respectable piece of biography. The style is clear and correct, the reflections are judicious and appropriate, and the good sense and candour of the writer are everywhere apparent. consist are before us. Wilson, like Audubon, is identified with his writings. At present we can only remark, that the birds described in this work have been classified by the learned editor, according to the most approved system of arrangement. The bulk of the notes has been reserved for the concluding volume. It is enough to say that they are to be furnished by him who first created the study of natural history in Edinburgh. But we have been farther given to understand, that it is Professor Jameson's intention to add an appendix of the arctic birds of America, the materials for which have been chiefly furnished by the enterprising discoverer, and distinguished naturalist, Dr Richardson. As a matter of course, the professor will avail himself of the valuable contributions of the Prince of Musignano to the Italian journals, as far as they bear upon his subject. We present our readers with a few extracts, which are submitted to them simply as specimens of Wilson's style. The first leaves a favourable impression of his powers of describing natural scenery. "Though generally dissuaded from venturing by myself on so long a voyage down the Ohio in an open skiff, I considered this mode, with all its inconveniences, as the most favourable to my researches, and the most suitable to my funds; and I determined accordingly. Two days before my departure, the Alleghany river was one wide torrent of broken ice, and I calculated on experiencing considerable difficulties on this score. My stock of provisions consisted of some biscuit and cheese, and a bottle of cordial, presented me by a gentleman of Pittsburg; my gun, trunk, and great coat, occupied one end of the boat; I had a small tin, occasionally to bale her, and to take my beverage from the Ohio with; and, bidding adieu to the smoky confines of Pitt, I launched into the stream, and soon winded away among the hills that everywhere enclose this noble river. The weather was warm and serene, and the river, like a mirror, except where floating masses of ice spotted its surface, and which required some care to steer clear of; but these, to my surprise, in less than a day's sailing, totally disappeared. Far from being concerned at my new situa tion, I felt my heart expand with joy at the novelties which surrounded me; I listened with pleasure to the whistling of the red bird on the banks as I passed, and contemplated the forest scenery, as it receded, with increasing delight. The smoke of the numerous sugar camps, rising lazily among the mountains, gave great effect to the varying landscape; and the grotesque log cabins, that here and there opened from the woods, were diminished into mere doghills, whose irregular summits are seldom more than three you suppose to yourself two parallel ranges of forest-covered or four miles apart, winding through an immense extent of country, and enclosing a river half a mile wide, which alternately washes the steep declivity on one side, and leaves a rich forest-clad bottom on the other, of a mile or so in breadth, you will have a pretty correct idea of the appearance of the Ohio. The banks of these rich flats are from houses by the sublimity of the impending mountains. If twenty to sixty and eighty feet high; and even these last were within a few feet of being overflowed in December, 1808." American Ornithology; or, the Natural History of the Birds of the United States. By Alexander Wilson and Charles Lucian Bonaparte. Edited by Robert Jameson, Professor of Natural History in the Univer- There is great beauty in his description of a species of sity of Edinburgh. In four Volumes. Vol. I. (Con-owl-particularly where he speaks of its manner of flight. stable's Miscellany, Vol. LXVIII.) Edinburgh. 1831. WE last week introduced to the British public the Ornithological Biography of the enthusiastic Audubon, And, thanks to the oldest and best beloved of our miscellanies, we have now an opportunity of drawing attention to his master the first who devoted his life to the illustration of American ornithology. Much has been added to our knowledge in that department since Wilson's death, but no one individual has yet furnished the tithe of the amount of his contributions. And for accuracy of observation, and lively sense of the poetry of nature, we question if even Audubon equals him. The great merit of the Prince of Musignano consists in his enlightened love and liberal patronage of science. "The bird which I am about to describe was taken in this situation, and presented to me by a friend. I kept it in the room beside me for some time, during which its usual position was such as I have given it. Its eyelids were either half shut, or slowly and alternately opening and shutting, as if suffering from the glare of day; but no sooner was the sun set, than its whole appearance became lively and animated; its full and globular eyes shone like those of a cat; and it often lowered its head, in the manner of a cock when preparing to fight, moving it from side to side, and also vertically, as if reconnoitring you with great sharpness. In flying through the room, it shifted from place to place with the silence of a spirit, (if I may be allowed the expression,) the plumage of its wings being so extremely fine and soft as to occasion little or no friction with the air,wise provision of nature, bestowed on the whole genus, to We postpone all detailed criticism of Hetherington's ele-enable them, without giving alarm, to seize their prey in gant and interesting biography of Wilson, and also of his the night. For an hour or two in the evening, and about writings, until the four volumes of which this work is to break of day, it flew about with great activity. When angry, it snapped its bill repeatedly with violence, and so loud as to be heard in the adjoining room, swelling out its eyes to their full dimensions, and lowering its head as before described. It swallowed its food hastily, in large mouthfals; and never was observed to drink.” The following passage is lively and amusing: "Crows have been employed to catch crows by the following stratagem: A live crow is pinned by the wings down to the ground on his back, by means of two sharp, förked sticks. Thus situated, his cries are loud and incessant, particularly if any other crows are within view. These, sweeping down about him, are instantly grappled by the prostrate prisoner, by the same instinctive impulse that urges a drowning person to grasp at every thing within his reach. Having disengaged the game from his clutches, the trap is again ready for another experiment; and by pinning down each captive, successively, as soon as taken, in a short time you will probably have a large flock screaming above you, in concert with the outrageous prisoners below. Many farmers, however, are content with hanging up the skins, or dead carcasses, of crows in their corn fields, in terrorem; others depend altogether on the gun, keeping one of their people supplied with ammunition, and constantly on the look-out. In hard winters, the crows suffer severely; so that they have been observed to fall down in the fields, and on the roads, exhausted with cold and hunger. In one of these winters, and during a long-continued deep snow, more than six hundred crows were shot on the carcass of a dead horse, which was placed at a proper distance from the stable, from a hole of which the discharges were made. The premiums awarded for these, with the price paid for the quills, produced nearly as much as the original value of the horse, besides, as the man himself assured me, saving feathers sufficient for filling a bed. thus rendered independent of illustrations, by the opportunities afforded of consulting stuffed specimens. Memoir relative to Itinerating Libraries. By the Rev. There are two features in the scheme that distin "The crow is easily raised and domesticated; and it is only when thus rendered unsuspicious of, and placed on terms of familiarity with, man, that the true traits of his genius and native disposition fully develope themselves. In this state he soon learns to distinguish all the members of the family; flies towards the gate, screaming, at the ap-guish it from one merely employed in the raising of chaproach of a stranger; learns to open the door hy alighting on the latch; attends regularly at the stated hours of dinner and breakfast, which he appears punctually to recollect; is extremely noisy and loquacious; imitates the sound of various words pretty distinctly; is a great thief and hoarder of curiosities, hiding in holes, corners, and crevices, every loose article he can carry off, particularly small pieces of metal, corn, bread, and food of all kinds; is fond of the society of his master, and will know him even after a long absence, of which the following is a remarkable instance, and may be relied on as a fact: A very worthy gentleman,« now [1811] living in the Gennesee country, but who, at the time alluded to, resided on the Delaware, a few miles below Easton, had raised a crow, with whose tricks and society he used frequently to amuse himself. This crow lived long in the family; but at length disappeared, having, as was then supposed, been shot by some vagrant gunner, or destroyed by accident. About eleven months after this, as the gentleman, one morning, in company with several others, was standing on the river shore, a number of crows happening to pass by, one of them left the flock, and flying directly towards the company, alighted on the gentleman's shoulder, and began to gabble away with great volubility, as one long absent friend naturally enough does on meeting with another. On recovering from his surprise, the gentleman instantly recognised his old acquaintance, and endeavoured, by several civil but sly manoeuvres, to lay hold of him; but the crow, not altogether relishing quite so much familiarity, having now had a taste of the sweets of liberty, cautiously eluded all his attempts; and suddenly glancing his eye on his distant companions, mounted in the air after them, soon overtook and mingled with them, and was never afterwards seen to return." The whole of Wilson's and Bonaparte's text, together with the notes and additions of the editor, are comprised in four volumes of the Miscellany. This is a bargain. The illustrations of the work are publishing (an entirely independent speculation) in a neat form, and at a cheap rate, by Captain Brown. But we trust that some arrangements are soon to be made, by which our College Museum shall be opened to the public at large, at least to all who matriculate; and residenters in Edinburgh be ritable funds, and the conversion of money into books, and a plan of library issues. First, the libraries are to itinerate; each remains at one station for a period of two years; and then gives place to another from a neighbouring district. Some contrivance of the kind is obviously requisite against the satiety incident to a small collection of fifty volumes; but it will require an unremitting superintendence. Next, the libraries have a principle of self-production, which is thus described in the Memoir: It is proposed to issue the books the first year that a division is to take place, at the rate of a penny a-volume; but as a subscription, however small, might essentially impede the success of the scheme, and as it is of immense consequence to bring the books within the reach of the whole population, particularly the young, they will be issued gratuitously the second year. By such a system, combined with the plan of lending out the books when new to subscribers of 5s., each division may on an average be expected to produce 25s. a-year, which, as the number of libraries increases, will prove the fruitful parent of new libraries." Some illustrations of this principle are added in the Memoir: a capital of L.5000 a-year, with a return of 25s. yearly on each library, would in 50 years supply 990,152 libraries, in place of 25,000 without the return. And in reference to counties, L.50 a-year would in 25 years give 702 libraries, or one division of books to every 400 individuals, in a population of 280,000. The Memoir is written not to extol the author's brother, but to recommend the adoption of the plan in other counties. But the first requisite is to excite the zeal of an individual; and such a one, we fear, is not to be found in all counties as in East Lothian. The itinerating libraries are yet a solitary experiment in one county;-like that of the parallelograms in Lanark ;— though unlike the latter, they are unassailable by any reasonable objection. |