the sight of a foreign flag entering one of their ports is now hailed as a wonder. Can we, therefore, feel surprized at the bitter animosity that exists among this unhappy race towards their foreign rulers, or their endeavours to free themselves and assume a political position among the nations of Europe? Here we have a numerous people, all of the same race, and speaking the same language, as completely severed from each other, for any commercial purpose, as if they were the inhabitants of different hemispheres. Austria, having possession of the coast, opens or closes her ports to the subjects of Turkey according as it suits her interest, and obliges them to sell their wares to her merchants at such prices as she dictates. It is not our intention to enter into a lengthened discussion of so uncertain a problem, as the emancipation of that portion of the Slavonian race now subject to the rule of Austria and Turkey. Still it must be obvious that probabilities are in their favour: both these empires are held together by a slender thread; the component parts of both are too heterogeneous to admit of a lasting union; both show evident symptoms, by their convulsive movements, of an approaching downfal, and both are threatened with a national bankruptcy, the inevitable fate of every government that has no other means of ruling its subjects than by the sword and the instrumentality of a host of paid agents and priests. That the symptoms of an intellectual revolution among this long-neglected race are everywhere visible, whether we wander in Austria, Hungary or Turkey, cannot be denied. Their leading men have become impressed with one great idea, namely: that by means of popular instruction, and their own influence and example, they may be able to imbue the lower classes with a sense of their degradation as slaves crouching beneath the rule of a foreign despot. Again, to form a union between the scattered members of this branch of the Slavonian race-the Illyro-Servian nationality-a literary association has been established with a view to adopt the Servian, the richest and most poetical of all the Slavonian dialects, as the general medium of communication. A feeling of fraternity and mutual sympathy has only been universally encouraged, and by appealing to the tradition of their former greatness, it is hoped to excite a patriotic enthusiasm that will ultimately lead them to assert their existence as an independent nation. END OF VOL. I. LONDON: Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street. PUBLISHED BY COLBURN AND CO., 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. NEW EDITION OF THE LIVES OF THE QUEENS. Now in course of publication, in Eight Monthly Octavo Volumes (comprising from 600 to 700 pages), price 12s. each, elegantly bound, LIVES OF THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. BY AGNES STRICKLAND. A New, Revised, and Cheaper Edition, EMBELLISHED WITH PORTRAITS OF EVERY QUEEN. BEAUTIFULLY ENGRAVED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES. IN announcing the new, revised, and greatly augmented Edition of this important and interesting work, which has been considered unique in biographical literature, the publishers beg to direct attention to the following extract from the preface:-"A revised edition of the 'Lives of the Queens of England,' embodying the important collections which have been brought to light since the appearance of earlier impressions, is now offered to the world, embellished with Portraits of every Queen, from authentic and properly verified sources. The series, commencing with the consort of William the Conqueror, occupies that most interesting and important period of our national chronology, from the death of the last monarch of the Anglo-Saxon line, Edward the Confessor, to the demise of the last sovereign of the royal house of Stuart, Queen Anne, and comprises therein thirty queens who have worn the crownmatrimonial, and four the regal diadem of this realm. We have related B the parentage of every queen, described her education, traced the influence of family connexions and national habits on her conduct, both public and private, and given a concise outline of the domestic, as well as the general history of her times, and its effects on her character, and we have done so with singleness of heart, unbiassed by selfish interests or narrow views. Such as they were in life we have endeavoured to portray them, both in good and ill, without regard to any other considerations than the development of the facts. Their sayings, their doings, their manners, their costume, will be found faithfully chronicled in this work, which also includes the most interesting of their letters. The hope that the Lives of the Queens of England' might be regarded as a national work, honourable to the female character, and generally useful to society, has encouraged us to the completion of the task." OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. "These volumes have the fascination of romance united to the integrity of history. The work is written by a lady of considerable learning, indefatigable industry, and careful judgment. All these qualifications for a biographer and an historian she has brought to bear upon the subject of her volumes, and from them has resulted a narrative interesting to all, and more particularly interesting to that portion of the community to whom the more refined researches of literature afford pleasure and instruction. The whole work should be read, and no doubt will be read, by all who are anxious for information. It is a lucid arrangement of facts, derived from authentic sources, exhibiting a combination of industry, learning, judgment, and impartiality, not often met with in biographers of crowned heads."-Times. "A remarkable and truly great historical work. In this series of biographies, in which the severe truth of history takes almost the wildness of romance, it is the singular merit of Miss Strickland that her research has enabled her to throw new light on many doubtful passages, to bring forth fresh facts, and to render every portion of our annals which she has described an interesting and valuable study. She has given a most valuable contribution to the history of England, and we have no hesitation in affirming that no one can be said to possess an accurate knowledge of the history of the country who has not studied her 'Lives of the Queens of England.""-Morning Herald. "A most valuable and entertaining work. There is certainly no lady of our day who has devoted her pen to so beneficial a purpose as Miss Strickland. Nor is there any other whose works possess a deeper or more enduring interest. Miss Strickland is to our mind the first literary lady of the age."-Morning Chronicle. "We must pronounce Miss Strickland beyond all comparison the most entertaining historian in the English language. She is certainly a woman of powerful and active mind, as well as of scrupulous justice and honesty of purpose."-Morning Post. "Miss Strickland has made a very judicious use of many authentic MS. authorities not previously collected, and the result is a most interesting addition to our biographical library."-Quarterly Review. "A valuable contribution to historical knowledge. It contains a mass of every kind of historical matter of interest, which industry and research could collect. We have derived much entertainment and instruction from the work."-Athenæum. MEMOIRS OF HORACE WALPOLE AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES, INCLUDING NUMEROUS ORIGINAL LETTERS, CHIEFLY FROM STRAWBERRY HILL. EDITED BY ELIOT WARBURTON, ESQ. AUTHOR OF "THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS," ETC. Perhaps no name of modern times is productive of so many pleasant associations as that of "Horace Walpole," and certainly no name was ever more intimately connected with so many different subjects of importance in connexion with Literature, Art, Fashion, and Politics. The position of various members of his family connecting Horace Walpole with the Cabinet, the Court, and the Legislature-his own intercourse with those cha racters who became remarkable for brilliant social and intellectual qualities-and his reputation as a Wit, a Scholar, and a Virtuoso, cannot fail, it is hoped, to render his Memoirs equally amusing and instructive. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. "The biography before us is in all respects eminently satisfactory."-Morning Chronicle, "These Memoirs offer a good subject, well treated, and indeed a necessary addition to the library of every English gentleman. The Memoirs of Horace Walpole and his Contemporaries' nearly completes the chain of mixed personal, political, and literary history, commencing with Evelyn' and 'Pepys,' carried forward by Swift's Journal and Correspondence,' and ending almost in our own day with the histories of Mr. Macaulay and Lord Mahon. Besides its historical value, which is very considerable, it cannot be estimated too highly as a book of mere amusement."-Standard. 6 "Two more interesting or entertaining volumes than these 'Memoirs of Horace Walpole' may be searched for for a long time before they will be found. The writer has woven into his narrative a rich fund of contemporary anecdote and illustration. Most of the nobles, wits, and literati of the period are judiciously introduced."-Morning Post. "Horace Walpole was the most remarkable man of his time; and posterity will do him the justice, now that his career is fully elaborated, to place him in the niche which belongs to him, as one whose influence in the affairs of his country has been far beyond the average of other men."-Messenger. "This life of Horace Walpole is a very valuable and interesting addition to the historical library. We should be glad to see every part of our later history illustrated with equal clearness and impartiality."—Weekly Chronicle. "Few works of the present day contain more matter fitted for entertainment and instruction."-Morning Herald. B 2 |
