are at present held. Nor can it be doubted, that, in every point of view, by their power, their abilities, their manners, and their activity, the French are peculiarly well adapted to work the changes in question. Indeed, were it not for the dangerous consequences of such an event to our own country, we should be justified in wishing well to the progress of the Turks in their new alliance. Certainly, between the Russians and the French, in so far as regards Turkey, there can be no room for hesitating. But who can view, without dismay, the addition of all the coasts and forests of Greece, to the already enormous maritime resources of France in the Mediterranean? Our desire for the improvement of the Turks, must be vehement indeed, if it can lead us to deprecate their having Russian instructors.

But, unhappily, the influence of France in the affairs of the Porte, is no longer a matter of speculation. The ascendant which Russia might have gained in them, had she reserved her self for better opportunities, is now sacrificed to her premature efforts in the cause of the German powers. The subjugation of Austria, and the destruction of Prussia, have brought Franceand Russia together. Instead of fighting for Germany, or even for Turkey, they are now contending for Petersburg': and this fourth continental war will probably terminate in a peace as dis-. astrous for Russia, both in the Baltic and the Levant, as the last was for Austria, in Germany and in Italy. These are the dreadful effects of the fourth coalition: and yet this infatuated nation still talks with enthusiasm, of opposing the common enemy by al liances, and subsidies, and expeditions ;---receives the news of ne-gociation and of the defeat of its allies with equal dismay ;-and labours incessantly, not to join in any projects of peace-but to increase the number of its enemies ;-too happy, if it can only make out a quarrel with its kindred in America, and its brethren in Ireland!

ART. II. A Tour through Holland along the Right and Left Banks of the Rhine, to the South of Germany, in the Summer and Autumn of 1806. By Sir John Carr, of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple; Author of the Stranger in Ireland; a Northern Summer, &c. &c. 4to.-pp. 484. Twenty Engravings and a Map. London. Phillips. 1807.

OUR UR readers are acquainted with this author's way of writing books. He goes abroad about the end of summer; visits some country in a hasty and superficial manner; returns with his notes; and, by the help of Shakespeare for quotations, Joç Miller

for

for anecdotes, and some of the travelling guides for trifling information; he makes a quarto volume, which is in the shops at the proper period of the ensuing book-season. From his last excursion, he brought indeed something more than his memorandums; for the Duke of Bedford (to whom the book now before us is dedicated) made a knight of him; and he is now Sir John Carr.' But his honours, we are sorry to say, have been accompanied by no improvement in his qualifications as an author. On the contrary, this new work is a great deal emptier, than any of his former productions, and abounds in still more frequent speci mens of the defective taste which we have already pointed out in them. It is, at the same time, as little liable to censure for more serious defects, as his other works. He seems to be an amiable, inoffensive, extremely good-natured man, who has no more right to publish quartos than to govern empires. As, however, he probably differs from us upon this subject, we may expect to see, a great number of new volumes, manufactured by him in the same way; and we shall do our endeavour to improve their quality, by fairly pointing out some of the faults so conspicuous in the present sample. A person of very moderate talents, and information scarcely proportioned to these, who is, resolved every year to visit some foreign country, and publish what he may col lect from his personal observation, cannot indeed be expected to furnish profound or elaborate works; but it will be his own, fault, if he does not contribute a valuable portion of information, in times when every thing beyond seas is full of change, and, every change is interesting. Let even such a traveller only re solve to be plain, to put a great number of questions wherever he has an opportunity, and give us the answers accurately; let him tell us unaffectedly what he saw and heard; and he will render a considerable service to letters, while he is amusing himself with his journeys, and profiting by his publications.

The public,' says our author, shall be my confessor;' and he makes a clear breast by telling us, that, having no hopes of peace, he, last summer, during the negociations, resolved to visit Holland; and for this purpose, became an American, and, by an act of temporary adoption, fixed upon Baltimore as the place of his nativity. There is something rather prepossessing, in the frankness with which he makes another confession,-that he repents not having thrown his different Tours into the form of letters, whereby he might have rendered critics more indulgent. But, in truth, the volume before us would have made a sorry collection of epistles, even if the perusal had been confined to those who received them through the post-office.

The Dutch captain imposed upon him, and took thirty-six passengers

sengers on board. They had a tedious voyage; during which the captain prayed, a great deal with his family, in a small hole of a kitchen, and chastised his son for being idle at his book. "I restored our captain to good humour, says Sir J. Carr, "by relat ing to him an anecdote of a Dutch sailor ;-which proves to be the hacknied story of a sailor challenging another to stand with his head on the truck, and the other falling upon the deck in making the attempt, crying, Can you do that?' (p. 9.) The captain had some dogs on board, and he was not a little amused at my telling him that,' &c.;, which introduces a story of a Newfoundland, dog behaving well during an action at sea. (p. 9.) Such is this lively traveller's way of stringing together anecdotes, as he calls them. We speak within compass, when we say, that a, third of the book is made up of stories forced in from all quar ters, without any pretensions to interest, or wit, or lively narra tive, and, for the most part, having as little connexion with the journey of our author, as with any other journey, or indeed any thing else. But they figure in the table of contents, and at the tops of pages, as anecdote of this or that person; which, we suppose, is found to answer, when people are turning over the leaves of a book in a shop, and making up their minds whether they shall purchase or not. After several more anecdotes, and ar quotation from our Hudibrastic Butler,' and a saying of some whimsicality of the Duke of Alva, our traveller lands at Rotterdam.

Here, instead of the information which would have been most interesting and very easily procured, respecting the present state of trade, and the effects of the revolution and the war, ** wer have not even a tolerable description of the exterior: appearance of the town. But anecdote upon anecdote crowds every page. In his rage for collecting stories, our author falls into frequent scrapes, believing every thing he hears, so it be but a story. How could he be so thoughtless as to credit the tale in p. 31, of king Louis having already, that is, within two months of hist accession, effected retrenchments, in the expenditure of the naval department, to the amount of two millions Sterling a year? Perhaps he will quote this as a proof that it is not easy for him to follow our advice, and collect substantial information. But we find him just as ready to be duped in his own department of anecdote. He knew a man in England (p. 21.) so fond of expensive building, and who resided very far from the capital, that

he

He tells us, indeed, that the exchanges, both here and at Amfterdam, were quite crowded when he faw them; but this proves little or nothing.

he had many parcels filled with bricks and stones sent down to his workmen by the mail coach!!!' The griffin gun at Ehrenbreitstein used to carry a shot of a hundred and eighty pounds weight sixteen miles, (p. 422.). There are several thousands of hogsheads of wine in the cellars at Johannisberg, (p. 439.) The building of the Stadthouse at Amsterdam cost two millions Sterling, (p. 250.) Alkmaar receives from North Holland three hundred thousand pounds of cheese every week, (p. 313.) If a man is resolved to tell us every story which he believes, he' should not so easily credit all he hears. Such blunders as these partly arise from want of attention; but they are imputable, in a considerable degree, to Sir John Carr's more than common want of information upon very ordinary subjects. We do not at all require that every man who writes a book of travels in Holland should know the Dutch language; though, certainly, to translate lust (pleasure) by hope, and to say that the language of Holland is generally divided into High and Low Dutch, (p. 83.), looks liker ignorance of his own tongue, than of Dutch, (p. 16.) But we may be excused for suggesting that French is of substantial use to a traveller; and with that language our author has not greatly improved his acquaintance since we gave him a hint upon the subject in noticing his Northern Tour. One who is so fond of quoting scraps of Latin, should not suppose that

Discite justitiam moniti,

Et non temnere Divos,

are two lines from Virgil,' because he may have seen them written in that way under a Dutch bronze, (p. 251.) It is better not to talk of the economy of plants at all, than to say that the leaves of the trees over the Dutch canals inhale the mephitic air, and breathe it out again with refreshing purity;' (p. 18.) The Dutch spitting-pots used by smokers, he thinks proper to call like the kava bowl of the South-Sea Islanders' (p. 72.), which is used (as every body should know who takes the trouble to speak of it), not for spitting in, but for making the fermented liquor by that means. In order to prove that the literary glory of the country has not spread upon the demise of Erasmus, Grotius and Boerhaave,' he tells us that some names which he enumerates are not known out of Holland; and that we have heard but faintly of Huygens, Graveszande, and Vandoveron in physic; of Voet in jurisprudence; and Burman and Gronovius in the belles lettres;' (p. 179.) It happens that Huygens and Gronovius flourished before and during the time. of Boerhaave; and we presume both of those names, as well as that of Voet, have been more than faintly heard of' by every man of ordinary information. Indeed, before the conclusion of

his work, even Sir J. Carr seems to have become acquainted with Gronovius; for he describes him (p. 330.) as one of those illus trious sages, who bestowed immortal celebrity' upon Utrecht; adding, lest he should ever be in the right, that Grævius was his pupil, and one of the most profound writers in the middle of the sixteenth century!

From Rotterdam our author proceeded by the canal to the Hague through Delft. We cannot stop to notice the stale anecdotes of Grotius, Barnevelt, and others, which he introduces by the way, and never fails to call either interesting or noble. We shall, as a very fair specimen of the few pieces of description which his rage for gossipping allows him to give, extract what he says of the journey by water between Delft and the Hague.

In Holland, every traveller naturally becomes amphibious: the conftant contemplation of fo much water quickly engenders all the inclinations of a web-footed animal, and he foon feels out of his proper element when out of a canal. Right merrily did I follow my commif. fary and his wheelbarrow with my baggage through the whole town, until I reached the Hague gate, when my favourite conveyance, the treckschuyt, was ready to ftart. The boat-bell rung, all the party got on board, and away we glided, paffing on each fide of us the most lovely clofe fcenery. Inftead of feeing, as had been reprefented to me in England, a dull monotonous scene of green canals, ftunted willows and from a folitary houfe or two, foggy merchants ftupidly gazing int fixed attention upon frog water, the canal was enlivened with boats of pleasure and traffic continually paffing and repaffing; the noble level road on the right, broad enough to admit four or five carriages abreast, thickly planted with rows of fine elms; the number of curricles and carriages, and horfes, driving clofe to the margin of the water; the fine woods, beautiful gardens, country houses, not two of which were fimilar; the eccentricity of the little fummer temples hanging over the edges of the canal; the occafional views of rich pafture land, feen as I faw them under a rich, warm fky, formed a tout-enfemble as delightful as it was novel, and very intelligibly expreffed our approach to the refidence of fovereignty. The fingle ride from Delft to the Hague would alone have repaid the trouble and occafional anxiety I experienced in getting into, and afterwards out of the country.

• All the principal country-houfes have a wooden letter-box standing upon the margin of the canal, into which one of the boatmen, upon the treckfchuyt being steered clofe to the adjoining bank, without ftopping, drops the letters and parcels directed to the family refiding there. no part of the continent is focial intercourse and communication fo frequent, cheap, and certain.

In

For keeping the dams and roads in repair, turnpikes are established at proper distances, and the care of their repair is confided to directors, who are always gentlemen of high refpectability, and receive a fixed

falary