superior happiness of a religion as benevolent as it is holy, all shapes and forms of tyranny, corruption, wicked hatred between high and low, with a thousand other evils which afflict humanity, will ultimately vanish like foul and heavy mists before the splendour of the morning sun."-p. v. to ix. Silvio Pellico was born, it appears from Maroncelli, at Saluzzo in Piedmont, about the year 1789. His family was respectable, though not opulent, and the members of it were bound together by the domestic affections, and by an ardour for intellectual attainments, which emanated from powers of a high order, and, in Silvio, “rose into the fire of brilliant genius," while unhappily they "called forth the suspicions and persecutions of political enemies." His mother, whom in temperament of mind he seems to have closely resembled, was a woman of "superior mind and accomplishments," and of a "religious disposition."

"It has often been remarked," observes Mr. Roscoe, "that the characters of extraordinary men have been more or less moulded by early maternal care and judgment; and it has almost uniformly been asserted by genius itself, in various walks of literature and of science, that to this source was to be chiefly attributed the degree of excellence to which it attained. In all the vicissitudes of fortune, the mother of Silvio retained the same courage and the same well-regulated affection for her children; and, in virtuous opposition to the prevailing custom, she was at once their nurse, and their earliest instructress."-p. xiii.

We regret that our limits will not permit us to follow Mr. Roscoe through his views of education, as connected with that of the

• In opening the Rev. Mr. Cattermole's introductory essay to Dr. Hall (Bishop of Norwich's) Treatises, which lies upon our desk, we have accidentally lighted on a passage corroborative of this fact.

"The excellent prelate, Joseph Hall, was among those numerous examples on record, of persons memorable for religious and moral worth, who have had reason to ascribe the formation of their

subject of his very elegant piece of hig phy; and, indeed, had we a wider are we might, perhaps, have ventured to bat what appears to be his leading opin The intellectual powers, we think, a proper and the only objects of tuition, that it is dangerous to attempt to eng upon the moral boughs, a bud of any inva whatever, of a different growth. Improw the intellectual faculties as much as pa sible,-store them with facts to suc degree that truth can never present itse before them without their recognising in every form, and under every disguise Then, if you will, propose your mo dogmas; but even then beware bow, w the authority of a tutor or a father, ym insist upon the adoption of any.

Of a bodily constitution which subjected him to much illness, Silvio was reared with difficulty, and contrary to the repeated po phecies of the medical faculty; who, first, pronounced it to be impossible be should survive to see his seventh year; and, appearing to have decided at last tha he held life renewable only on a seven years' lease, they asserted that either he fourteenth or his twenty-first year word find him in his grave. This does no speak favourably for the state of medicine in Piedmont at the close of the last cestury:

"But though the third of these assertions shared the same fate, Silvio, as regarded his physical powers, had by no means an easy task to refute them. To the infinite tenderness and care of a mother, he owed his pr longed existence. When the faculty had passed their septennial act, they left him is articulo mortis, as they believed; but while in extreme exhaustion, his admirable paret, with a devotion rivalling any upon record, restored him by the milk from her own breast, and may be said, indeed, again a have given him life.”—p. xix.

C

生

A mind deeply imbued with the philo. phy of christianity, if we may be peritted to use an expression in itself so chacteristic of the subject of this memoir, uld not be wanting to its own support, hen, in "a solitude, appalling as the ungeons of Spielberg," it was thrown holly upon its own resources :-

"A fact which farther shows the triumph the principle sought here to be illustrated, id of such vital importance in the educaon of future generations, was the captive's wn division of his time and studies. These e distinguished by terming them, a life of udy, and a life of action; corresponding with De intellectual, and moral or practical use f the human faculties. First, his life of udy was conducted by certain mechanical ales, distributing what is possible to be nown into several classes, and these again ito particular courses, the process of which erved to revive what he had before known, nd, in some instances, to add to his stock of nowledge.

When confined in the same ungeon with his friend Maroncelli, he purued the same plan; and they thus acquired epositories, more or less abundant, through which each took their separate courses of knowledge, except in cases where the menory of one proved treacherous, and the ther could aid him, or undertook to give nstructions in a branch unknown to the other. One day, for instance, was devoted, According to this arrangement, to repetitions of history; another to those of philosophy; third, to those of geography, chronology, mathemati cs, the fine arts; and, in proportion as each acquired a proficiency, he spoke one day in French, another in German, a third in Latin, and a fourth in the English language.

"This, which was considered only as contemplative or passive study, was invariably completed by the active; which means, that the one who felt equal to the task collected and condensed his thoughts upon a given subject, directed his mind to the production of some work, a process which at times, by dint of strong mental tension, as in the case of Newton extracting the square-root in his own head, arrived at complete execution. No one, by this plan, need be destitute of a subject for active study, in whatever degree of solitude or captivity he may happen to be-namely, the study of himself, with the object of making himself better; a study wholly independent of varying creeds and sects, and one to which each of the prisoners devoted himself by a philosophic vow, pronounced either on the day of their sentence or on the following. It is sufficiently curious and novel, being pronounced under such circumstances, to give it in the words of Maroncelli. It is to the following tenor :'Calamity, not justice, hath stricken us; let us show that it hath stricken men, and not

children. Every condition has its duties and the first duty of the unhappy, be he captive or be he free, is to suffer with magnanimity; his second, to draw wisdom from misfortune; and the third, to pardon. Already was written in our hearts

'Il giusto, il ver, la libertà sospiro!

For justice, truth, and liberty I sigh. 'Shall calamity have the effect of erasing words like these? Rather let us subdue, and not be subdued by it. If any captive survive to see the light, let him be witness for the others here condemned to perpetual darkness, and let our vow be fulfilled without reference to the inhumanity of those who oppress us. This shall only be allowed to act as an incentive to a higher degree of virtue; we prepare ourselves to attain it, and to learn to rejoice in the necessity imposed upon us of improving our hearts and minds.'

"It is for civilized Europe to decide whether characters capable of displaying resignation, fortitude, and magnanimity, such as breathe in these resolutions were supported by truth and justice, and in how far they could have merited the infliction of the most fearful of human ills. That cause must be indeed good and holy, and deeply imbued with the purest spirit of christianity, which could not only enable them to survive a series of suffering so prolonged, but to pardon their enemies, and meet the fury of their persecution with the language of conciliation and peace. By what spirit, on the other hand, their oppressors were actuated-how much in accordance with the precepts and injunctions of their Divine Master, a master by whom the motives and actions of princes must one day be weighed-we shall not, however we deplore it, stop to inquire."p. xxvii. to xxx.

But, in speaking of the religious strength which enabled him to sustain the rigors of this dreadful captivity, we have passed over the circumstances which led to it. He was born twin with a sister, of a lovely person, and congenial in disposition with himself. She espoused a distant relative at Lyons, and her beloved brother accomWhile panied her to her new abode. devoted there to the studies congenial to his youth, he was suddenly roused to a degree of impassioned patriotism by a poem of Foscolo's, called "I Sepolcri," the Tombs. He immediately quitted France for his native country. Italy was then a kingdom attached to the French empire, and his father was at Milan, acting as chief of division under the minister of war. In the society of Monti and Foscolo, the poetic genius of Pellico was rapidly matured. He wrote his Francesca da Rimini, and his Eufemio; became acquainted with Mad. de Stael, and Schlegel

and was introduced to Lord Byron, and to our present lord chancellor Brougham :

"Pellico had, shortly before, translated the Manfred of Byron. The latter requested to see the manuscript of his drama of Francesca, which had not then publicly appeared. Two days after his Lordship received it, he himself returned it into Pellico's hands, observing, You won't be angry, if I have translated it?" He had, in fact, transferred it into English verse; and he then added, "You ought to have translated the Manfred into verse." Pellico disputed this opinion, believing that in a language like the Italian in particular it could not be done without adding to, or taking away so much as very greatly to impair the effect of the original. In 1819, Lodovico Breme put forth an edition of the Francesca, with which he united the above-mentioned translation of Lord Byron's Manfred.”—p. xliv.

In order to elevate the sentiments of his countrymen, when, after the fall of Napoleon, they were depressed under the deadening weight of Austria, he, in concert with some literary friends, established a periodical work, entitled "the Conciliator," a work of high-toned sentiment in its moral, religious, and social views, and extensively comprehensive in what relates to science and art. The associated friends met at Count Porro's, where Pellico acted as secretary, and anticipated with patriotic ardour the benefits which his country must derive from the diffusion of knowledge, and the calm dictates of a religion of love. But the jealousy of the Austrian government was speedily alarmed. Despotism is mistrustful of the sweetest sounds; nay, of the calmest and most placid thoughts. Under its dominion the human intellect must remain in a dumb and inanimate stupor, or must be employed solely in organising armies, and in devising means to increase the revenue and the power of the crown. But, in the following elegant passage, Mr. Roscoe has expressed, with perspicuity and eloquence, what every man, who looks for the social improvement of mankind, must feel on this occasion:

"If the power of knowledge might with safety have been entrusted into the hands of any people, it was the people of modern Italy; and when based on the system of conciliation, of moral dignity, and discipline of the faculties, as opposed to violence and anarchy, we are doubly at a loss to perceive any just or rational grounds for its suppression, and for the bitter persecution which laid the heads of its noblest promoters in the dust. Had the system of education attempted to be introduced been far in advance of the moral spirit and capacity of the people; had it consisted in placing at their command an

engine of mighty power they knew net ha to direct-in the diffusion of knowled which may make a discontented and rappe increasing population wise, but not wise m salvation-render them keenly sensitie their condition, without imparting wi courage and christian consolation to suppm them under it-the jealousy of any goesment might justly be excited. Had Pe and his illustrious friends not connected the conciliatory doctrines with popular educatio founded on a solid religious basis, and by t previous establishment of moral and elem tary schools-had they sought to difface te light of nature without the light of revea tion-science without religion-reason and truth without the moral vigour and judgme to wield them, thus creating a fertile soure of evil in the fermentation of the intellect elements without the restraining force of r gious and moral discipline-impelling the people to employ their knowledge in mak misdirected combinations, in a restless mi morbid activity to equal those above then whom they believe they equal in point intellect ;-letting loose, in short, a fearful power when unregulated by moral cultivatin and religious discipline, the conductors the conciliatory system need not have t astonished at the failure of their plans"p. xlix. to l.

t

2

A short time only elapsed before the devoted conciliators were seized upon, and condemned to dungeons and the scaffold for the crimes of inculcating the troks of science, the higher truths of religion, and the love of one another. Pelic N on entering Milan, was accosted by a person, who "whispered in his earthe police are after you." They know where I am to be found,' was the answe

I am going to wait for them.' He went, and they were in readiness for him! H papers, his poems, tragedies, romances, correspondence, were all seized. He was conducted to the police prisons of Sant Marghereta, and, subsequently, "hamed from dungeon to dungeon, under every variety of physical and moral suffering, until he found himself in the subterrane caverns (sentenced to fifteen years' clos confinement,) of the castle of Spielberg."

In turning to the work which is prefaced by this memoir, we are struck by the cle ness of the deductions with which "the duties of men" are shewn to be, in the perfection, derivable from the sublime, the sacred, and the benevolent doctrines of christianity. The translator has done j tice to the clear and calm style, so suitable to the subject, in which the divine stream of a holy morality is traced from its souFO! through all the connexions of the individ with his race-of man with mankind.

1

difficult to select a passage for an extract m a work, where all the parts possess a pending excellence upon each other, and are led to the following, chiefly because contains the record of one of the 'better atiments of the unhappy and brilliant

yron.

“In human nature we esteem those who, stifying in themselves to its moral grandeur, int out to us that which we ought to emute. We may be unable to equal them in me; but this is not necessary. In genuine orth we can always aspire to the highest andard. I mean in the cultivation of noble ntiment, so soon as we can think and rean, when born under common advantages, r ourselves.

"If ever, therefore, we feel tempted to espise humanity from what we behold with ir own eyes, or from what we read in hisry of its baseness and its excesses, let us irn our attention to those numerous and enerable names which threw lustre round e periods in which they lived. The irrible but generous Byron used to tell me, hat this was the only method he could dopt, to save him from falling into absolute nisanthropy: "The first great man,' he oherved, "who thus occurs to my mind is ways Moses; Moses, who restored to greatess a people immersed in utter degradation; who rescued it from the opprobrium of ido

atry and slavery; who dictated to that peole a law full of wisdom, a wonderful bond

between the religion of the patriarchs and he religion of civilised periods,-I mean the gospel. The great qualities, with the instiutions, of Moses, were the means by which Providence produced among that people the distinguished men, brave warriors, excellent citizens, prophets zealous for the right, who foretold the fall of the haughty and hypocritical, and the future civilisation of all nations.

"When I think of some of these great men, and in particular my favourite Moses,' added Byron, I always repeat with enthusiasm that splendid line of Dante

'Che di vederli, in me stesso m'esalto!' 'Whom to behold is to exalt myself,' and I then am enabled to resume my good opinion of this race of Adam, and of the spirits which it enshrines.'

"These words of the greatest of England's poets, remained impressed indelibly upon my mind, and I confess that I have derived no inconsiderable aid by adopting his own noble thoughts whenever assailed by the temptation of falling into misanthropical views.

"In truth, the grand minds which have appeared, and continue to appear, amply refute the assertions of those who entertain mean opinions of the nature of man. Let us only cast a glance upon the splendid list furnished us by antiquity! Look at the Roman annals! How many, during the barbaris m

of the middle ages, and in the succeeding periods of civilization, throw lustre upon their race! There the martyrs to truth; here the benefactors of the afflicted; in other parts, the fathers of the church, presenting in themselves a miracle of gigantic philosophy, united to the most ardent charity; and everywhere valiant patriots, the advocates of justice, restorers of light and truth, learned poets, men of profound science, and skilled artists. Yet neither the remoteness of ages, nor the glorious destinies of these individuals, should strike our imagination as something belonging to a different nature from ourselves. No: they were in their origin no more demigods than ourselves. They were the offspring of woman; they were troubled, and they wept, like ourselves; they were bound like us to struggle against their evil inclinations at times they felt humiliated, again to triumph over themselves."-p. 23

to 26.

REVIEW.

Tales about Europe, Asia, Africa and America. By Peter Parley, Author of the Tales about Natural History, &c. With numerous Engravings. Tegg and Son, London. 1834.

DISTINGUISHED as is the present period for useful and interesting accessions to the juvenile library, the claims of Peter Parley to a welcome reception by the anxious and inquiring youth of every family cannot for a moment be doubted. Although an American by birth, he will be greeted here, in England, with as many smiling faces as in his own country, and be listened to with as much attention.

Unfortunately, in his budget of very amusing geographical and historical tales, those about England happen, in our opinion, to be the most erroneous and the worst selected of all the rest. The idea of the work is altogether excellent, and the public have much reason to thank Messrs. Tegg for this importation from America, which has been got up in a very attractive manner, and at great expense; but we cannot help thinking, that by the aid of a little job-authorship (particularly if some of our female writers, so eminent in the literature of childhood, would have undertaken the task) the worthy Yankee might have been better adapted to British society. change that has been made in his appearance is rather an unfortunate one; on purpose to preserve the order of the four quarters of the globe as they stand in our old continent, Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, the order assumed by the author and other American writers, is reversed, and so we have the preface and the introduction at

The

the end instead of the beginning of the volume. But the young perusers of these pages will not be very critical upon an error of this nature, which will certainly offer no impediment to the amusement and instruction which run to. gether in a sprightly and sparkling stream amidst the illustrative wood-cuts of every page. Of the good feelings of our worthy American towards the country of his ancestors, we have a sterling proof, in a passage which we will quote, not only to secure to him a reciprocity of good will among us, but because we fully participate in the pacific hope which constitutes the leading sentiment.

"We may now hope that war will never happen again between England and America. The people of the two countries speak the same language, believe in the same religion, and live in the same manner. Why should they quarrel? Why should they not live in peace, doing each other good, rather than going to war, and doing each other all the harm they can? If my little reader should ever go to England, I am sure he will see a great deal to admire in the people and the country. Every part of the land is finely cultivated, and it is covered with towns, cities, and villages. The people are intelligent, and many are very learned and wise. Some of them live in a magnificent style; and in no part of the world are there such beautiful gardens and country seats. England is not only a very beautiful country, but it is the richest and most powerful nation on the globe. Many of the cloths we wear, and many articles which we use for comfort and pleasure, are manufactured in England, and in no part of the world are the arts carried to such perfection. We. see, therefore, that we should entertain a great regard for England, and we may all be proud that our forefathers came from that country."-pp. 119, 120.

REVIEW.-A Dictionary of Geography, Ancient and Modern, comprising a Succinct Description of all the Countries of the Globe, their Physical and Political Geography, the Several Races of their Inhabitants, and their Ancient as well as Modern Denominations, together with a Brief Notice of all the Capitals and Principal Towns, also of Seas, Rivers, and Mountains; and a Glossary of Geographical Terms. By Josiah Conder, Author of " The Modern Traveller," " Italy," &c. Tegg and Son, London, 1834.

MR. CONDER, whose services in geographical literature are well known and acknowledged, puts in a claim to originality in this performance, and it must be admitted that no gazetteer or geographic dictionary ever before comprised so complete a body

of useful and interesting matter. B the general geography, descriptive of the various countries and nations of the er which, though compendious, is full of pe ticulars including the latest circumstan or discoveries, we are presented w all that can be useful to the general reade, in ancient, classical, and biblical geography, together with the terms of geographi science. The style in which the sevent articles are written, is clear and compos hensive, and it is astonishing to eben how much of the wealthy stores of t which most recent and best authenticated agers and travellers, the compiler has c trived to compress in every page, al with the various produce of extensive science and classical knowledge. We lect, as a specimen, the following a on the names of rivers derived from t colour of their waters :

"Black River.-There are several rivers of fin name; one in Ireland, one in Jamaica, and sex in North America. There are black riven, a fact, as well as white rivers, in different language. all over the world. Thus, in ancient geophy we have the Hebrew Sichor, the Greek Melas, uni the Latin Niger, all meaning black, and in mode geography, the Turkish Kara-su, the Spanish and Portuguese Rio Petro, Rio Negro (or Nero In Zama, words of the same import. We have wh rivers under the same variations of dialect; & § Bahr el Abiad, Ak-su, Rio Branco, Rio Bra Among blue rivers, we have the Bahr al Amryk. the Nile itself, (from Nil, indigo,) the Yang be kyang of China: and among yellow rivers, the Chinese Whang-ho. We have also Red River Ea Brassos, &c. These names of rivers are not altegether arbitrary. Humboldt remarks, that the black waters and white waters of Guyana differ very specifically in quality as well as in appearate The waters of the Esmeralda, the eastern heads the Orinoco, are all black waters; that is, their

waters, when seen in a large body, have either a brown colour like coffee, or a greenish black s when the least breath of wind agitates their s

face, they appear of a fine grass green, like the

lakes of Switzerland. These waters are extrem pure, sweet, inodorous, and transparent, and, vid is very remarkable, are shunned for the most p by both the crocodiles and the musquitoes, althoug enormous water-snakes and porpoises abound in them. The Lower Orinoco, as well as the Guaviare, its western head, and its tributaries, as white waters, which are always turbid, heavy, and impure, and infested by musquitoes. The black waters, it is said, do not embrown the rocks, bus have white borders; while the white rivers bare black borders. The former, from their very play furnish less aliment to aquatic insects and f Some of the dark brown or coffee-coloured wa become of an amber colour wherever they shallow. These amber or golden waters, H boldt supposes to be coloured by a carburet al hydrogen; while that which colours the birt rivers, may be, he thinks, a mixture of carbon and

T