fatigue the mind with fugitive images that leave behind only a confused recollection. But is it not the poet's task, to create for himself an action sim ple, clear, varied, and progressive? Has history ever before offered one like this? Is it not for the arts, a basis on which may be reared the most brilliant productions of imagination? Then let imagination seize upon such rich materials. Let it combine all those successive invasions into one simple fact; and exercising a necessary control over all parts of the subject, let it choose or reject, dispose and invent at discretion; changing all for the sake of embellishing all, to please being its supreme law, probability its truth, and taste its judge. I am convinced,' adds our author, (p. 12,) that to a work so noble genius will apply itself at some future period. It will remind all the Northern tribes of their common origin; it will present to them a picture of the opening greatness of their ancestors; it will interest us by a faithful delineation of their manners, their opinions, and perhaps by the intervention of those who founded each empire; it will diffuse over this vast conception the glow and charm of poetry; in short, peopling the first ages of Northern history with ingenious fictions, as Homer peopled the antiquity of Greece, it will endeavour to equal its model. May such a genius soon appear! one truly capable of such a work! meanwhile, I venture on the undertaking; for such is the weakness of man's mind, it advances to the desired object without consulting its own powers; it attempts, as soon as it conceives, a lofty enterprise; it knows not itself, and only becomes inactive when many fruitless efforts have exhausted it, dissipated its allusions and demonstrated its impotency.' On the interesting subject sketched in this preface, M. Marcellis has composed four very spirited cantos, respecting which we must suspend our critical observations until the ingenious author shall have completed his great undertaking, which commences with an invocation of the Northern muses, those daughters of Odin who sing to their harps in gloomy forests and secret caverns. 'Muses du Nord, O! vous dont les voix ravissantes Qui de l'Europe esclave ont reconquis les droits,' &c. It will here be sufficient to remark, that the action is placed in that epoch, (the very beginning of the fifth century,) when Rome still flourished as a city, but the vast empire was silently obedient to two feeble tyrants. Arcadius acknowledged by the East; the warlike West, respecting the caprices of the cowardly Honorius. Rome no longer fighting but by sacrifices, and replying to the insults of Persians, Arabians, or Germans, only by prayers which resounded throughout the whole empire, while ambassadors were sent to deprecate invasion, and to offer treasures as the price of peace. 'Rome est encore debout; mais cet empire immense A deux faibles tyrans obéit en silence; Et courbé sous le joug du lâche Honorius, Surtout, Surtout, si le Germain deborde ses frontières, Et ses ambassadeurs pour borner leurs progrès ; Des trésors à la main vont marchander la paix.' On so vast a field as this, which is here offered to our imagination, a great variety of personages must naturally appear; and we find accordingly, besides the Greek and Roman names, that history has rendered familiar a multiplicity of others less known to the generality of readers; such as Clodomir, Alboirs, Euric, Horsa, Hengist, Uldimer, Cariobald, Dumnorix, Olaf, Divicon, Lethra, Torfin, Childa, &c. Besides Jupiter, Hercules, Venus, Apollo, Minerva, and other gods and goddesses of Greece and Rome, we behold the Northern divinities, Odin, Loke, Thor, Freya, Balder, &c.; for, as our author remarks, (p. 143,) the Scandinavian mythology, of which Odin is a principal personage, has been that of the Germans, at least in ages posterior to Tacitus. This is proved by the language of all Northern nations, especially in their denominations of the days of the week. The last note of this work ascribes the courtesy, with which throughout Europe females are now treated in the Northern nations, among whom love was more exclusive than in the South, and almost deified its object. Heaven which is so frequently an image of the earth, here shows us Odin penetrated with respect for his wife, whilst the Jupiter of Homer threatens the queen of Olympis with the weight of his arm. We hope that it will soon be in our power to announce the completion of M. Marcellis's interesting poem. La Vie Idéale, ou Dévelopemens Poëtiques de l'Ame, par Camille Turles. Louvain. 1829. 8vo. pp. 145. In this work M. Turles undertakes to delineate and analyse that profound reverie which man, during his youth brings, it may be said, into the midst of all the circumstances or objects that interest or affect him: such as love, friendship, nature, the arts, religion, philosophy, &c. He wishes to trace that struggle, that inward conflict of the human soul, when in a state of variance with itself-its disgust on perceiving the nothingness of all that is merely external or sensible; its delight in contemplating whatever ennobles and exalts it: the ardour and constancy, with which it aspires after an ideal life, as a port secure against the storms, pains, and uncertainties of positive life. Our ingenious author supposes a young man of twenty years, endeavouring to reproduce in their poetical point of view, and in an order nearly conformable with their developement, that crowd of noble emotions and the great thoughts, which at such an age are so powerful within us. His plan is extremely simple, and the only action results from the internal movement of a soul absorbed in self-contemplation. He might have easily given to his subject a more brilliant, or a more dramatic form. Several interesting passages, however, will be found under some of the following heads :-Recollections of Childhood-The Desire of Loving-Wishes-The Journal, or Paintings of Love-Grief-Friendship-The Reverie-Love of the Mysterious-The Charms of Nature-Travelling-The Sight of a great CapitalPainting and the Human Countenance-Music-Poetry and EloquenceLiterary Fame-The Ideal, and Enthusiasm-Genius-Science-Philosophy -Metaphysics-Impiety-Religion. As a fair specimen of this work we may refer to the section entitled • L'Amour du Mystérieux,' (p. 53,) beginning as follows: When I first read the Doctor Faust of Goëthe, I was struck beyond all expression with the tint of mystery pervading this extraordinary and astonishing drama, wherein is depicted, under most energetic colours, the life of a poor professor of philosophy in the middle ages, tormented by an impotent desire of knowledge, and seeking in the intoxication of pleasure, and in the dreams of ambition, a relief from the anxiety that preys upon him. I seemed to comprehend so perfectly his scientific despair; and, in the trouble of his mind, that soft voice speaking to him in low whispers, concerning nature and beauty which he had neglected to cultivate, for the sake of old, musty, worm-eaten books, skeletons, vials, and all the other dismal implements that constituted the apparatus of a philosopher in the twelfth century!' This section concludes with the account of a very surprising dream, related by T. P. Richter, from whose works, we have reason to believe, another strange dream has been translated by Madame de Staël in her Allemagne. However well pleased in general with this work, we must express our perfect coincidence of opinion with the editor, when he reproves M.Turles (p. 135), for having injudiciously placed in the mouth of any personage, whether real or fictitious, such gloomy language, as we find in the chapter on Impiety. It is not always sufficient that the writer's own motives be pure, and that his own conscience bear witness to his good intentions. We are justified in apprehending that such pictures and expressions may awaken in certain minds a kind of exaltation, which the subsequent chapter, of a very different character, (La Religion,) may not be capable of reducing. Poësies. Par F. Delacroix. 1 vol. Paris, 1829. Dentu. THE chief merit of this work is, that it imitates the honourable Roman in brevity:' the author is a moderate minded bard,' and deserves our acknowledgment, for having compressed the mighty workings of his mind within the measure of one small volume. The Poësies consist of sundry pieces; the first of which is called the Cabin Boy.' It is divided into three parts, namely-le départ, le naufrage, and la chapelle, which indicate the progress of the following story. A young lad, full of the love of locomotion, which is truly a very pleasant passion, 'Leavening the blood, as cayenne doth a curry ;' thus resolves on his departure : 'I go, and that I may not cry, I will not bid mamma good-bye.' Accordingly he goeth all aboard' of the Saint Gildas. The poet in launching his hero is untranslateably beautiful: 'Il vole-il part-semblable à la jeune hirondelle, Herein lies the mystery. In the mean time the mother of this adventurous youth becomes alarmed by his not returning at the usual hour-and, like the immortal Mrs. Foy, Upon him vile reflections cast, A little, idle, sauntering thing! With other names, an endless string.' At length she sets forth in quest of him, and arrives on the shore just as the vessel sails. The sea, faithless to the hopes of the incipient mariner, causes a considerable change in his ideas of navigation. The vessel sinks, and the cabin boy is left buffeting the billows from the mast, where, like an experienced landsman, he exclaims; 'Ah, who will help me? Must, then, I Having been brought up in the fear and love of the Virgin Mary, he addresses her in a pathetic orison, in which he makes the following conditional promise to the Madonna: Je veux, à ton saint nom fidèle, Notwithstanding this stipulation, he is left all night in his perilous state, but on the morrow a sail in sight appears,' coming to his assistance. Before, however, the boat can reach him, he sinks. Au bruit des flots se mêle un cri mourant "Ma mère!" Et l'enfant sur le mât soudain n'apparait plus.' Thus ends the Naufrage. La Chapelle,' the last part of this eventful story, affords a very fortunate conclusion. The mother of the Naufragé has made a pilgrimage to the Virgin's shrine, where she is praying for her lost son, When,' says the poet, She hears a cry, Of "Here am Í '"' and, turning round, beholds her son, who has been miraculously saved. Of this performance a French critic says, Ce joli poème prouve combien un heureux artifice peut prêter de mouvement et d'intérêt aux sujets les plus simples.' Among the other pieces in this volume, the most remarkable are Herminie, imitated from an episode in Jerusalem Delivered; Camille; la Mort de Gaston de Foix; le Gant; A un jeune Poete; and les Regrets ; the last of which is distinguished by a vein of tender melancholy, and many turns of expression which prove the author's sound appreciation of the Méditations Poëtiques, of Lamartine. Indeed all the poems in the collection evince his reliance, perhaps a prudent one, on the powers of others rather than his own. His versification, when, unborrowed, is tame, and requires in the reader 'An undergoing stomach to bear up Elementos de Economica politica con aplicacion particular a España. Por el Marques de Vallesantoro. Segunda Edicion, Madrid, 1829. MANY valuable works on political economy have been published in Spain, but none so calculated as that before us to promote the diffusion of sound principles of scientific economy. A proof of this is the promptitude with which a second edition has appeared, a distinction rarely enjoyed in Spain by works of the greatest merit. The work of Sr. Vallesantoro is divided into two parts. The first is explanatory of the principles and effects of political economy in general, without distinctive application, though instances of abuses and improvements are freely cited from the history of the science in England, France, Spain, and other countries. The second considers the actual condition of Spain, and proposes the reforms which the author believes to be useful, necessary, and practicable in that country. The general system of Sr. Vallesantoro is good, the truths are naturally and clearly deduced; his definitions are exact, and his principles laid down with the clearness and brevity of aphorisms. His pure and concise style will attract many readers whom the nature of the subject might be calculated to repel. He has wisely avoided lengthened digressions, and he maintains the rights of the landed landed proprietor, which, like those of the capitalist, have been questioned by some superficial writers. The second part of the work contains many valuable suggestions as to the reforms which the author thinks ought to be commenced and continued. We regret that we have not space to quote the author's opinions, but thus much we may say, that no existing institution in his country is misrepresented, though all are examined and reduced to their real worth and just pretensions in the general system. This work ought to be perused with attention, not only by natives of Spain, but also by those who have hitherto taken from partial and superficial observers their opinion concerning this interesting portion of Europe. Hornaquera i buerro. Memoria de D. G. Gonzalez Azaola, commissionado por S. M. en las Reales fabricas de la Cavada, Paris, 1829. THE author of this memorial has published it in Paris previously to his commencing his travels through France, Flanders, and England, by order of his sovereign. The object of his journeying is to ascertain the best method for organizing companies which foreigners are invited to join under the protection of the Spanish Government, and with the most ample guarantees, in order to establish associations for working the coal, iron, and other mines in the Peninsula. The Memorial of Sr. Azaola is well timed, and calculated to instruct and prepare the public mind in Spain for the fruits which may result from the successful performance of the duty entrusted to him by his Government. With this view he represents, as the principal cause of the decline of Spanish influence, that Spain abandoned industry for commerce, and the spirit of conquest-leaving her teeming soil untilled, and her manufactories neglected. He compares the present lamentable state of things with what might be, were the great capabilities of Spain developed with the same care which distinguishes the proceedings of England and France; and after having considered the means employed by Government for the encouragement of the various branches of industry, and the projects for canals and roads at present proposed, and partly carried into effect in Spain; he devotes his attention exclusively to the two subjects of pit-coal and iron, as the only movers of public prosperity. This little work abounds in most useful remarks which may be advantageously applied to the furtherance of enterprizes unhappily too much neglected in Spain. Historia de la Monja Alferez D. Catalina de Eranso; escrita por ella misma e ilustrada con notas i piezas justificatores, por D. Joaquin M. Ferno 8vo. Paris, 1829. If the wildest fictions of romantic imagination may yield delight to the reader, though he be conscious of the utter impossibility of the exploits and circumstances narrated, then we need not wonder that the volume here announced has created so lively an interest-containing, as it does, an authentic detail of facts which prove that, Truth is strange-stranger than fiction. A young Biscayan girl, in the 16th century, left a convent of nuns in which she had been placed, put on male attire, and led, for some time, a wandering life, till she entered the royal navy. After proceeding to America she deserted, and afterwards joined the military against the Indians of Chili. In this service she, during several years, distinguished herself by her bravery and bold demeanour, and obtained distinguished honours. At length, dangerously wounded, she declared her sex, recovered, and returned to Spain, where she received a pension from the King, and from the Pope permission to wear male apparel to the end of her natural life. The Editor of this most singular |