HISTORY OF BOHEMIA.

Geschichte von Böhmen. Grösstentheils nach Urkunden und Handschriften. (History of Bohemia; chiefly from Documents and Manuscripts.) By Franz Palacky. Vol. II. Part 1. Bohemia, as an hereditary Kingdom under the Przemyslides; from the year 1197 to 1306. Prague, 1839. 8vo.

We took occasion in a former number of our Review, (No. I.) to advert incidentally to the first volume of this work, in our notice of M. Palacky's Tour to Italy in search of materials for the volume that now lies before us, which has been most impatiently expected by all those of the author's compatriots who take any interest in the history of their country. Though the publication of that first volume subjected him to malicious attacks from narrow-minded pedants and prejudiced adherents to antiquated opinions; which attacks, however, he energetically repelled; yet the work in general obtained such approbation as is usually bestowed only on a classic and highly-finished performance. The circumstance that new, authentic, contemporaneous sources, either unknown or inaccessible to his predecessors, were opened to M. Palacky, must tend to excite a warm interest in the reader. He was thereby enabled not only to clear up many doubtful points, especially in epochs when we are left by native historians, to correct erroneous notions which have become current, to enrich history with new materials, but to show many things in a different light, and to furnish wholly new ground for judging of many circumstances and cha

racters.

This remark applies more particularly to the second volume, which treats of Przemysl Otakar II. In this king, we find not the proud unbending despot whom he has been hitherto reputed by all historians, and who having, with insatiable ambition, reduced under his sway all the provinces situated between Bohemia and the Adriatic, spurned out of pride the imperial crown of Germany, haughtily defied Rudolph of Habsburg, king of the Romans; and, after being humbled by him, faithlessly broke the peace, and met with the fate which he deserved on the field of battle. The author, on the contrary, shows us in this sovereign a just but mild prince, the father of his people, who did as much for the prosperity of the country, and more than all his predecessors put together. We see in him a martial hero, who, however, excepting his two crusades against the pagan Prussians, drew his sword only in self-defence; we admire the moderation with which he submitted to Rudolph's extravagant demands, and are astonished at the philosopher, when we hear him, in words worthy of a Grecian sage, administering comfort to his consort in his adversity. We see him, with profound sympathy, hurried along by his inevitable destiny; we drop an involuntary tear over his premature fate, betrayed by perfidious vassals and basely murdered. Were we not fearful of derogating from M. Palacky's dignity as an historian, we should say that he had produced a master-piece in his vindication of Otakar. But no: any impartial historian, having the same sources at his command as the author, could not have drawn any other picture of this grossly misrepresented sovereign. It is in this that Palacky's great merit consists, in weighing

without prejudice and without partiality the testimonies of contemporaneous writers, one against the other, in sifting them with critical acumen, and, aided by data derived principally from the papal Regesta, which clear up much that is obscure in the life of the great king, in composing with them such a picture of that time, abounding in vicissitudes, as would reflect honour on a Livy.

Another brilliant portion of the work is the description of the domestic political condition of Bohemia, anterior to the 14th century, and of its ancient constitution, which the author proves, chiefly by comparison with other Slavonian states, and especially with the code of the Servian emperor Stephen Duschan, to have been purely Slavonian. While Palacky endeavours, throughout his whole work, to give, along with the confusion of its foreign policy, a faithful representation of the internal state of the country, we first see the kingdom divided into Zupas, under its Zupanes and Cudanes, who exercise an exclusive judicial authority in their respective districts; we see already a distinct aristocracy, but not yet separated into a particular caste, frequently reinforced by individuals of the lower classes who have attained to the possession of land; a peasantry mostly free, but on a very easy footing with the landed proprietors; and, on the other hand, a middling class just rising into existence. By and bye, we see the immunities and privileges granted first to the convents, and afterwards to the towns, the original constitution of the country modified, German law brought into the land by German emigrants, the nobles separating themselves more strictly from the commoners, and a privileged class of burghers gradually forming in the towns, rendered more and more prosperous by industry, till at length the ancient Slavonian constitution falls entirely to decay, the Cuda of Prague becomes the supreme tribunal of the country, and Zupas and Cudas, Zupanes and Cudanes, gradually disappear from the records.

We cannot conclude without repeating that, by his History of Bohemia, M. Palacky has entitled himself to the gratitude of the lovers of historical inquiry of all nations, but more especially of his own, and that in this work he has raised a splendid monument to his country.

PUBLIC INSTRUCTION AT NAPLES.

Progetto di Riforma del Regolamento della publica Istruzione. (Plan for the Reform of the System of Public Instruction.) Naples, 1838.

The author of this work is Monsignore Mazzetti, archbishop of Seleucia, president of the Royal University for Public Instruction, who has distinguished himself by several previous works on education.

The want of instruction is certainly more urgently and more universally felt in Europe than even the want of political reform, and popular education is become the watchword of the present age. What has in the latest times directed attention in many countries to the system of public instruction, has been the over-filling of the universities, from which the worst results were apprehended. One beneficial consequence of this alarm has been the increase and the improvement of the schools

for the people, so that now instruction is provided for the middle and the lower classes. This benefit is not to be denied; but the dangers which were to be attributed to the over-stocking of the universities, and which annoy the author of the work before us, are partly imaginary, partly exaggerated. It is true that there are at present in the Italian, as in the German, and in many other states, more students of medicine, law, &c., than the state can provide for, but necessity opens for itself new careers, and the fruits of these efforts constitute the history of the progress of the human mind; on the other hand, the thronging to such vocations as are already over-filled will soon cease, as nobody is desirous to purchase goods when the market is so overstocked with them that they may be had at reduced prices. Prohibitory measures, therefore, for limiting the number of students at the universities are useless and pernicious; and when the author of this book, calculated more especially for Naples, proposes that no student in the primary schools (scuole di primi rudimenti) shall be admitted into the second class of institutions for education, into the preparatory schools between the former and the university, (scuole di perfezionamento,) unless he possesses property sufficient to support him during the period of his studies, this is an unworthy cramping of the human mind, which ought to have full scope allowed it to choose freely, and to acquire knowledge where and how it can. Such a measure as that proposed for the kingdom of Naples, is nothing less than a scornful rejec tion of the lessons of experience, which tells us that the mental faculties of men are wholly independent of their pecuniary circumstances; and that many have, out of love to the sciences, cheerfully endured hunger, vigils, want, and privations of every kind.

CULTIVATION OF THE CAMELLIA.

Monographie du genre Camellia, ou Essai sur sa Culture, sa Description, et sa Classification. (Monography of the genus Camellia, or Essay on its Culture, its Description, and its Classification.) By the Abbé Berlèse. Paris, 1838. 8vo. Kultur und Beschreibung der schönsten bis jezt bekannten Kamellien. Cultivation and Description of the finest Camellias hitherto known.) From the French of the Abbé Berlèse, by G. P. von Gemünden, actual councillor to the king of Bavaria. Weissensee. 1838. 8vo. Ueber Camellien, oder Versuch über die Cultur und Gattungen derselben (On Camellias, or Essay on their Cultivation and Varieties.) Translated from the French of Abbé Berlèse, and accompanied with Observations by an Amateur. Berlin, 1838. 8vo.

Beschreibung und Cultur der Camellia. (Description and Cultivation of the Camellia.) From the French, by the Abbé Berlèse. Quedlinburg, 1838. 8vo.

Though during a series of years there have appeared in Germany many essays, both separately and in periodical works, on that universal favourite of horticulturists the Camellia, still there yet lacked a more comprehensive work, the want of which was much felt by gardeners

and amateurs. If it can scarcely be expected that, numerous as are the varieties of this plant that already exist in our gardens, and that are annually produced, and great as is the confusion prevailing in the denominations, any one book shall contain all these varieties, clear up all this confusion, aud satisfy all the demands which this or the other person might make; the work of the Abbé Berlèse must nevertheless be the more welcome and the more valuable, inasmuch as it goes a great way to answer those ends.

The Abbé, second secretary of the Royal Society of Horticulture at Paris, possesses one of the richest collections of the rarest and most beautiful varieties of the Camellia, which he, provided with all requisite knowledge, has been closely and assiduously observing for upwards of twenty years. His work, communicating the results of his observation and experience, was speedily known in Germany, mentioned with commendation in several periodical works, and hence three translations of it have appeared at once.

The original is divided into two parts. The first treats of the cultivation and propagation of the Camellia, and the second gives the description of 282, varieties in an order founded on the colour and form of the flowers. According to this standard, they are classed in two principal families and eleven groupes. Useful tables are given to facilitate the determination, and a table of colours, in which are to be found twenty-three tints of the red colour which occur in Camellias. The descriptions are easily intelligible, and the meaning of the expressions adopted in them is previously explained. The origin and derivation of the variety are also in general given.

The first of the German versions, at the head of this article, is a mere translation only in so far as regards the second division of the original, containing the descriptions. The first division the translator has not unfrequently enriched with the results of his own experience; he has rendered it altogether more suitable for Germany; and he has, at the same time, had an eye to the amateur who wishes to learn many things relative to the treatment and rearing of his flowers, with which the experienced practical gardener is acquainted, but which he is not displeased to find noted here. He treats in a clear and perspicuous manner of the mould suitable for the culture of Camellias, of transplanting, of watering, and the proper kind of water, of situation, of pernicious insects, of the means by which earlier blossom may be obtained and the falling-off of buds prevented, of the treatment in the house and in the open air, of the propagation by seed, cutting, eyes, and layering, of improving by inoculation and grafting, and of the diseases of the Camellias. The denominations of the varieties are all accurately given, which is no slight recommendation to the work; but, as is generally the case, the table of tints does not quite answer the purpose, let the colours be selected and laid on with ever so much care.

The second of the translations specified above is more complete and more useful than the original, for the translator has availed himself of all that was already known in Germany concerning the culture and propagation of the plant of which it treats. He has accordingly added numerous remarks containing the most valuable observations and experiences of German gardeners. Much, indeed, has already been done in Germany for the culture of the Camellia, as is proved not only by these

additions, but also by the annexed list of 570 varieties more than are mentioned in the work of the Abbé Berlèse, which contains only 282. These additions, evincing great industry and research, must render this version particularly useful to such gardeners as cultivate the Camellia on a large scale. Instead of the table of tints furnished by the original, there is here given a tabular view of them, in which they are distinguished by a statement of the colours that must be mixed to produce them.

The third is a literal translation, adhering closely to the original, without alteration or addition.

ELECTORS OF BRANDENBURG.

Erinnerungen an die Kurfürsten von Brandenburg und Könige von Preussen aus dem House Hohenzollern, hinsichtlich ihres Verhaltens in Angelegenheiten der Religion und der Kirche. (Memoirs of the Electors of Brandenburg and Kings of Prussia of the House of Hohenzollern, with reference to their conduct in matters of Religion and the Church.) Hamburg, 1838, royal 8vo.

No introduction or preface specifies the tendency of this volume, in regard to the circumstances of the present times, as we should have expected. The author seems to have aimed at showing that the princes of the house of Hohenzollern, anterior to the Reformation, were men of sound, clear understandings, protectors of genuine Christianity, and whose sentiments and lives were truly Christian-a character which cannot be denied without partiality to most of the princes of this house. The Elector, Frederick I., who so zealously strove to bring about a reconciliation between the Emperor and the Bohemians, already appears in this light. Even Joachim I., the bitter enemy of Luther, commands that the Latin or German Bibles, circulated before Luther's, shall still be accessible to all. Subsequently to the Reformation, the princes of this house are represented, in a manner perfectly accordant with truth, as men outwardly and inwardly devoted to Protestantism. The same thing is asserted of Frederick II. himself; and it is partly proved that, at any rate, among all the Christian churches, he considered the Protestant as the best. Hence every thing is stated which was done by these princes, either in or out of the German empire, for the defence of Protestantism. King Frederick-William I. recommends the system of reprisals, in order to force the Catholics to toleration. The author has further made a point of showing how the house of Hohenzollern, after it united itself with the Reformed church, has not caused the Lutheran to feel this change; how it has at all times, and in all places, respected liberty of faith and conscience; but that, at the same time, it has long been using its best endeavours to effect a union. Lastly, the work is intended to show also that even the Catholics in the Prussian states never had any real ground of complaint, so long as they behaved like quiet citizens, and did not step out of their spherein which case, it is true, they have been checked in such things as an essentially Protestant state cannot approve; for instance, the making of