other detail necessary for a complete knowledge of their moral and physical condition. The research shown in these investigations, calls for acknowledgment equally with the perspicuity of the text; and after a perusal of these valuable volumes, we cannot but congratulate the Asiatic scholar on the acquisition to his library this important undertaking promises to be.

THE HON. MRS. DAMER'S TRAVELS.*

THE reputation that the accomplished Lady Mary Wortley Montague achieved by the publication of her letters, describing what fell under her observation during her residence in the dominions of the Grand Signor, has doubtless had no inconsiderable influence towards producing the various diaries that our adventurous lady travellers have since placed before the public; but however natural this may be, and, as we have found it in most cases, equally pleasant, we were not prepared to meet amongst the most agreeable of these followers of Lady Montague one of her own descendants. The Hon. Mrs. Damer, however, does not seem satisfied with being in the train of her celebrated grandmother, she has evidently sought to rival her ladyship in the very features in which she has so long been considered the most delightful of tourists; and we must do her the justice to add, the rivalry is perfectly successful. Possibly this result may have been obtained by the faci lities afforded her for procuring access to the most desirable places a facility very rarely granted even in these liberal times, and in those of Lady Montague, in many instances not to be purchased at any cost. Although there was a very powerful charm in the style of her ladyship's letters, the chief attraction of her work lay in the novel pictures of Turkish domestic life she there presented to the public. Who can forget her description of the harem and the baths she visited, where the pen of the lively writer seems to linger with a sense of Asiatic luxury that half intoxicates the European reader. These enjoyments of the Turkish women were so guarded by the jealousy of their lords, that they were closed against all eyes save those of their own sex; and singular as might be in the last century, though now common enough, the residence of an accomplished Englishwoman in their capital, it was, and is still, exceedingly rare to find one so adventurous as to trust herself to their private society. This accounts for the paucity of our information on the domestic manners of the Turks, from which stigma even the famous letters of Lady Wortley Montague do not relieve our literature; but thanks to her talented and fearless kinswoman, it can no longer remain there. The Hon. Mrs. Damer it seems was enabled to penetrate into the most private homes of the Turkish nobles, where she was kindly and honourably welcomed, both by the fair inmates and by their lordly masters. She shared in their festivals, observed their ceremonies, partook of their banquets, and enjoyed their luxuries; and possessing literary talent of no ordinary kind, she has given to the world such pictures of life in the harem it is in vain to look for else

• Diary of a Tour in Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and the Holy Land. By the Hon. Mrs. S. L. Dawson Damer.

vols.

where. She, however, confined not her attention to what was going on in such places, however attractive it was; she looked about her like a genuine traveller wherever she went, and has furnished us with as good an account of the Osmanlis out of doors. Mrs. Damer was accompanied by her family and a very respectful suite-among whom a physician and an artist were of great advantage to her-the former being in request everywhere to confer professional assistance, and the latter finding ample employment in the exhaustless scope for his art that continually presented itself,-admirable examples of which enrich these volumes. This respectable attendance doubtless assisted in creating the favourable impression the fair tourist seems to have made, and was in some measure the cause of the unusual facilities for seeing what was most worthy of observation that were afforded her wherever she went. Her route promised the highest interest at every step. Lingering among the classic ruins of Greece, the accomplished traveller describes the present state of that ill-governed kingdom, without forgetting anything due to its connexion with the past. After visiting Athens, Corinth, and many other interesting localities, she proceeded to Constantinople, where the reader is indulged with the many seductive representations before alluded to, of the gay doings at Stamboul, among which the young sultan and his chief pachas are prominent objects. After touching at Smyrna, Cos, and Rhodes, the tourist lingers at Beyrout, thence travels to Jaffa, and on to Jerusalem; she then traverses the Holy Land, and, as her Diary gives indisputable evidence, in a spirit becoming its sacred soil. It is only justice to state that her observations on a country which must ever be regarded by both Jews and Christians as of the deepest interest and veneration, cannot but be considered as affording much valuable materials in illustration of biblical learning-in this respect we even think her work superior to those of Lord Lindsey and the Baron Geramb Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Valley of Jehosaphat, the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsamene, and a hundred other places equally attractive in their associations, were carefully observed. Lingering till the last moment about spots hallowed by the different miraculous events which there occurred, Mrs. Damer ultimately continued her progress to Gaza. From thence crossed the desert to Suez, and in due time advanced to Cairo. The stay the travellers made in Egypt, enabled them to obtain much important information respecting Mehemet Ali and his resources, which the writer has pressed into her service. After crossing the Nile to Giza, and visiting the pyramids, they hurried on to Alexandria, where they were enabled greatly to increase the intelligence they had procured respecting the pacha, by personal acquaintance with his highness, and a close attention to his sayings and doings whilst they remained in his neighbourhood, the result of which, we anticipate, will attract considerable observation in this country. From Alexandria, Mrs. Damer and her party sailed for Malta, which she reached after a very hazardous voyage, and thence returned to her own country. Her Diary is written in a perfectly unaffected style, but as may be conceived from what has just been stated, is replete with most delightful reading. Among the illustrations are well-executed portraits of the young sultan and of Mehemet Ali-the house of Lady Mary Wortley Montague near Belgrade, the Temple of Jerusalem, St. Sophia at Constantinople, the rock on which

St. Paul preached to the Athenians, and many other equally interesting subjects. With so many recommendations there can be no question that Mrs. Damer's Diary will be very generally read. We hope it may obtain for her the reputation of her celebrated kinswoman, a reward she has justly entitled herself to by the patience with which she endured the dangers, privations and troubles she met with by sea and land in the course of her long and hazardous travels.

YOUR LIFE.*

WHAT a charming book! Pretty type, good paper, admirably got up, and 482 pages for seven shillings. This was our first exclamation on receiving the editor's copy of this delightful volume; but when we opened its pages we were yet more gratified. We fell in love with the dedication to begin with: it is as follows:

"To the curates, the working-clergy of our beloved and Protestant isle, exemplary in the discharge of their pious and incessant labours, I dedicate this volume, They form the glory and the strength of our parochial system of religion, and by their humility, learning, piety, and zeal, have powerfully contributed towards the preservation of a pure faith, and a national altar. May the following pages cheer them in their arduous and ill-requited duties, and teach them yet more and more to look only for the reward of their labours from Him who is the curate's friend, and the curate's God."

The introduction is a long, able, and argumentative dissertation in favour of church principles, church doctrines, and church discipline. The necessity for church extension is clearly demonstrated by unanswerable statistics, and the institutions of the church are defended with zeal without bigotry, and with energy without intolerance.

"Your Life" is the biography of an octogenarian vicar, who all his life remained a curate, till in his eightieth year a venerable ex-chancellor rewarded him with a small and comfortable vicarage. The volume is full of amusing anecdotes, interesting scenes, striking descriptions, and events calculated to excite the attention, and amuse as well as instruct the minds of all who peruse it. The scene of the shakers and jumpers, the "laying the devil in Wales," the methodist governess, some passages in the life of Mr. Forster, and the chapter about the church, are indeed admirable. We perceive with pleasure that a third volume from the pen of the same author, to be entitled "His Life," is announced for later in the year.

THE GYPSIES OF SPAIN.†

SINCE their first appearance in Europe, the gypsies have excited as much attention as the Jews, with whom they have often been compared as a singular race, living apart from the people of the country where

*Your Life. By the author of "My Life. By an ex-Dissenter." 1 vol.

+ The Zincali; or, an Account of the Gypsies of Spain: with an original Collection of their Songs and Poetry, and a copious Dictionary of their Language. By George Borrow, late agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society in Spain. 2 vols.

they are found, using their own language, and following their own customs, laws, and ceremonies; but the gypsies as little resemble the Jews as they do any other people, save in their being diffused over the civilised globe, and keeping themselves as much as possible distinct from the inhabitants of the land of their adoption. They profess divination, their ordinary means of subsistence arises from roguery practised upon all persons who are not of their race, in which they are as ingenious as they are unprincipled. They travel in bands or tribes, never dwelling in houses or tilling land, their principal ostensible employments, wherever they may be found, being blacksmiths, tinkers, horse-dealers, and pedlars in toys among the men, and fortune-tellers among the women. These latter are frequently, when young, remarkable for beauty and for extraordinary talent in their performance of certain descriptions of vocal music, in some places also for an inimitable grace in the execution of their own wild dances. There is a remarkable evidence now living of the attractions of these women in the person of a Russian countess, who formerly was an ornament to one of the Zingali choirs in St. Petersburgh, whence she was transplanted by her noble admirer to the elevated sphere she at present so greatly adorns. These alliances are, however, very rare, and those of a discreditable character still more so; the gypsy beauties, notwithstanding the encouragement they may afford their Busne lovers, have never any other object in view than plunder; want of chastity being almost completely unknown amongst them. The men are also generally remarkable for their personal appearance, being of athletic figures, and sometimes of handsome countenances, and often matchless for strength and agility. These qualities have obtained them favour among females not of their tribe, to a much greater extent than other men have gained from their women. If it were not for their unconquerable dishonesty and proneness to mischief, the gypsies might have been held in tolerable estimation; as it is, there have been many persons who have taken a particular interest in them, and some few who have been enthusiastic admirers of their way of life. Amongst these stands the author of the very entertaining volumes now before us, who appears to have studied them in almost every part of Europe, and having obtained a thorough knowledge of their peculiar language, and adopted in some part their characteristics, passed amongst them for several years as a genuine Zincalo. The facilities this belief in his being one of themselves afforded Mr. Borrow for obtaining a complete insight into these numerous striking peculiarities, may readily be imagined; and the singularly comprehensive nature of the information he has produced, can only be sufficiently understood by a perusal of his work. The gypsies of Spain have obtained by far the greatest portion of his attention, and he could not have met with a more remarkable branch of the Zincali family. It is a long time since we have perused a book containing so much popular materials. It is replete with the strangest stories-matter-of-fact more romantic than the wildest fiction ever conceived--that smacks of wild freedom, roguery, and humour, like those matchless pictures of amusing vagabondage to be found only in Spanish literature. The author describes their customs, ceremonies, and conduct, the various methods by which they prey on the credulity of those who are not of their blood, and the extraordinary means they put in practice for the preservation of their race from

any admixture with others. Not the least valuable part of Mr. Borrow's labours is the vocabulary and collection of gypsy songs contained in his volumes-the first contribution towards the study of the Zincali language we have obtained. He has not, however, ventured to pronounce on its origin, but the number of Sanscrit roots it possesses clearly point to the east as its source. The gypsies of Spain have lately, however, undergone great changes, very few among them following closely the gipsy law, and many associating with the inhabitants of the towns and villages, on a social footing to which their ferocious ancestors could never have been brought. Some such changes we have observed have recently appeared in England. Wherever the new police have advanced, these wanderers have either been forced from their encampments in the lanes and commons, to live in dwelling houses, or been obliged to seek some distant part of the country beyond police jurisdiction. As this admirable force becomes generally diffused over the kingdom, our dusky acquaintances must either be driven out of England, or by living with the inhabitants under police surveillance, become in course of time so amalgamated with them, as to lose their principal gypsy characteristics. A prospect of this kind must only serve to render this work more interesting, as we possess in it a picture, a rival of which is likely every day to become more difficult of production. Mr. Borrow, too, clearly proves that, with one exception only a Spanish work-the representations of gipsy character so frequently attempted in fiction, are entitled to no credit, for they bear no resemblance whatever to gypsy nature. We have a sneaking kindness for our old friend, Meg Merrilies, and a warmer feeling for our seductive acquaintance, Esmeralda, which makes this information far from agreeable.

WOMAN: HER CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE.

NUMBERLESS have been the poets to whom woman was their most inspiring theme. In ode, song, and sonnet, the lay of the courtly troubadour, the ballad of the rude borderer, and in every variety of lyrical verse, we find hymns to her praise; but the late and long since deceased Mr. Barrett was the first who made her exclusively the subject of the most ambitious of poetical compositions the epic: for although there are very few of such works in which her attributes are not had recourse to as the poet's best materials, the poem he produced was undoubtedly the earliest attempt at relying on them entirely. That he succeeded in the experiment, the reputation his work speedily obtained proves most satisfactorily. Indeed, had we remembered how many admirable characteristics there are to be described, and what fair scope for poetical declamation exists in a proper consideration of her legitimate influence in society, we should have expected Mr. Barrett's "Woman" to have been almost as generally admired, as any of those brilliant examples of the sex who have con'erred most honour on the name. The present edition, therefore, of this popular work, we have no doubt will be very extensively circulated; for, in addition to its natural demands on the public favour

Woman: her Character and Influence. A Poem. By E. S. Barrett, Esq.