us in transitory glimpses the tumultuous scenes in Ghent under the nominal regency of his daughter.

Compared with some of the better tales in the Phantasus, "the Emperor of Greece" may appear deficient in force, but none can be insensible to the beauty of the verses which are liberally interspersed through the story. One ballad sung by Ferdinand, (p. 75,) "Will alles mich verlassen," is among the sweetest of the many little canzonets to which his prolific muse has given birth. Victor Hugo's "Orientals" have found a translator in Gustavus Schwab. He might have made a more judicious choice from the works of that clever but most unequal poet. "Scharfenstein," by Frederick von Heyden, which follows, is poor; and "Duvecke," which concludes the volume, a tragical tale from the History of Denmark, by Leopold Schefer, rather too broken, and too much in Veit Weber's elliptical manner for our taste. The plates to this volume are from French designs. The editor prefaces his volume with the announcement of a prize of ten louis d'or a sheet for the best Tale or Novel for next year's Urania (not to exceed five sheets); will not this magnificent prize tempt some of our readers to qualify themselves for the " concurrenz" by studying German on purpose? We recommend the project to all rejected contributors to our own annuals. "Flectere si nequeant superos, Acheronta movebunt."

The Musen Almanach is entirely poetical, and consists of short pieces, lyrics, elegies, and so forth. It boasts great names amongst its contributors, but little more. This year it seems to us any thing but interesting. A few trifles from Goethe's pen no doubt it contains, but they are the merest trifles, and valuable only from recollection and association. Tieck's portrait adorns the volume, a calm countenance, marked with strong traces of refinement and taste, "con occhi tardi e gravi,” and with that goodhumoured expression which we should naturally ascribe to him.

Taschenbuch der Liebe und Freundschaft gewidmet. We never particularly admired this pocket book, though it is rather a favourite in Germany, and we do not think it appears this year to advantage. Its comic plates by Ramberg, (who on this occasion really wishes to be comic,) are trifling and absurd. Its literary contents are "The Last Love," by Blumenhagen, a pathetic and well-told story; the "Swallows," by Frederika Lohmann, a clever tragical picture from the days of "Faustrecht;" and the "Birdnester," by Baron von Miltiz, a writer whom we never greatly liked, though he seems to be a persevering, if not a powerful, contributor; poems, by Döring, Schutz, (the editor,) Langbein, Chamisso, and others, complete the volume.

66

Penelope this year is good. Two drawings by Retzsch, one from Deinhardstein's play of Hans Sachs, the other from Auber's opera of Masaniello, are interesting, particularly the first. These are intended as the commencement of a Series of Theatrical Designs, to be continued through future volumes. A day in the Vintage," by (thank heaven we have merely to write, not pronounce, the name,) the Ritter von Tschabuschnigg, is a pretty sentimental love story; the description of a poor student's Romance of a day, which is suddenly dissolved by discovering that he might as well have fallen in love with some particular star, as the exalted fair one who, in an "unguarded moment," has been betrayed into an apparent reciprocity of feeling. The story, however, is well told, and we have good hopes of the Great Unmentionable. "The Cataline of Hanover," by Blumenhagen, is also good, and so is the " Battle of Hochkirchen," by Frederika Lohmann; "Elizabeth, Countess of Holstein Schauenberg, a romantic historical picture," is rather deficient in interest; but Waiblenger's "Sketches from Italy," which follow, are piquant and interesting. "The Quartett," by Lehring, which concludes the volume, is cleverly told, and the poetical contributions, which are from Tiedge, Castelli, Hell, &c. more varied than usual.

The Vergissmeinnicht is this year edited by Spindler, who is favourably known here by his novel of the Jew, and, as usual, contains no poetry, but an interesting selection of tales. There are "The three Sundays, from the papers of an Artist;""The Court at Castellaun;""Dressing Gown and Cloak;" "The Romance of an Evening;" and "Forget me not." All these are from the pen of the able and industrious editor himself, and really the reader feels no want of variety in the volume. The Court at Castellaun," and the "Forget me not," will, we think, be considered as the most generally interesting.

Wintersgrün. "Wintergreen," a very plain and unassuming annual published at Hamburg, contains nothing but a translation of Paul de Koch's novel "La Maison Blanche."

Cornelia is this year embellished with a set of engravings illustrative of German traditions, but none of any great merit. Nor are the literary contents at all striking, though the first story, which turns on the loves of Suffolk and Margaret, the sister of Henry VIII. is from the pen of Tromlitz. Tromlitz is, in general, a writer of great fertility of invention, and considerable skill in the conduct of a plot; he is, besides, a most industrious novelist, being generally a contributor to at least two or three of the annuals, but this year we seldom meet with him, and this, which is the only tale of his we have perused, has disappointed The opening promises a great deal, but it is not adequately

us.

VOL. VII. NO. XIII.

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followed up. We anticipate a great deal from certain characters, who, after all, have no prominent influence on the story.

But we really feel the necessity of drawing to a close; and though we have not exhausted more than a third of the pocket books of the year, we can only assure the much-respected editors and contributors to the remaining twenty, that if we could have noticed their labours it should have been done. Next year the wheel of fortune may be more favourable to them, and the neglected Aglaias and Fortunas of this season take precedence of their rivals; for this purpose we recommend them to send us early copies, addressed to the care of our publishers. We wish well to them all, for to their varied contents-their tales of love and chivalry, of terror, and mystery,-their humoresques and capricci, we have been indebted for many a pleasant winter evening, and the reviving of many a pleasant association connected with the country of their birth.

CRITICAL SKETCHES.

ART.XII.-Pensées sur l'Homme, ses rapports, et ses intérêts, par Frédéric Ancillon. 2 vols. 12mo. Berlin. 1829.

THIS is a beautiful book, full of profound thinking and good feeling, and calculated to be especially useful to the small wits of the nineteenth century. It is the production of a man whose fertile pen has already given to Europe a numerous collection of valuable essays on philosophical and political subjects, and who, in all his works, is remarkable for the noble purity of sentiment which pervades them, and for the force, clearness, and precision, with which his views are expressed. It would, perhaps, have been scarcely excusable for any writer, whose opinion had not already obtained great weight in the world, to put forth his ideas in detached fragments, as Ancillon has here done, but he had previously acquired a reputation which fairly entitled him to comply, as he says, with the solicitations of his wife, to collect and arrange the fragments in his portfolio, and publish them in their present form. They are well suited for a relief and diversion to the scholar, wearied with long arguments and disquisitions-to the man of business, who wants often to seek other materials for reflection than are afforded by the busy hum of the world-and to the victim of ennui, who would be glad of some aid to the process of thinking, which should enable him, without fatigue, to take that wholesome exercise. Experience has shown that fragments of this kind, when really good, are much relished by the public, as the Thoughts of Labruyère and Pascal have especially testified, as well as the Maxims of La Rochefoucault, the Table Talk of Selden, and more recently, Mr. Colton's Lacon.

It is scarcely fair towards the author to judge, from one or two isolated extracts, of the general tone of his opinions. On Religion, particularly, the whole of his Thoughts deserve much attention, but we select the following as applicable to the connection between Church and State, the expediency of which is a point of so much difference of opinion in this country.

"Religion and law, the church and the state, exercise upon each other a reciprocal action and re-action. They are inseparable. Their respective wants ally and unite them. The laws protect religion, and religion supplies the wants of the laws, vivifies them, makes them loved and respected. From thence it in no way results that religion should be in the state, or the state in religion, or that either of them ought to be subservient to the other. They are two powers, or means, which concur to the same end, each in its manner, and after its nature. That end is the reign of justice, and of true liberty. Religion tends thereto by inward means; the laws by outward means. The one takes human actions in their source, judges them by their principles, and desires to perfect them in purifying their motives. The laws take them in their effects.

They are two distinct forces, which have many points of contact, but which can and ought never to be confounded. If you place the government of the state in religion, you will have a theocracy, and those who manage it, will cultivate religion and morals systematically for their own profit. If you make religion subordinate to the government, and place it in the state, you will see religion descend from its elevation to become a mere engine of police, and that the government will denaturalize it, by removing it from its proper sphere, to make it enter that of the government."-p. 39.

The degradation of Religion, by converting it into a political engine, is undeniable. There is also much truth in the following contrast between Catholicism and Protestantism.

"In the Catholic Church there is the more fixity; in the Protestant Church there is the more agitation of men's minds. In the former the authority of the Pope and of Councils weakens the authority of the Gospel. In the latter the total absence of external authority may weaken that of the Gospel. In the one liberty may expire in anarchy, in the other in despotism. In the one there is no church firmly established, for want of unity; in the other, the church is so stereotyped, that there is no real life in it, nor principle of sentiment and action." -p. 44.

Under the head of Science this passage is remarkable.

"The contradictions of men arise from each of them having different sensations, and from all of them associating the same terms, whilst some judge by sentiment, others by understanding, and others again by reason. But these three ways of judging cannot lead to the same results. The sentiment judges of objects by relation to itself; the understanding judges by relation to notions which are often arbitrary; the reason alone seizes truths by a peculiar and intuitive evidence."-p. 85.

Ancillon's views of Social Order and Governments are those of a man wholly beyond the reach of those petty political squabbles, and those party-coloured opinions, with which the peace of society is in all countries disturbed. As a proof how well be appreciates the difference of feeling between an aristocracy and a people, we may refer, among other sentences, to this very brief one.

"The nobles look back on the past, and in looking back on it they often remain motionless. The other classes look to the future, and march on."p. 268.

The division, entitled "Jugemens Historiques," has convinced us how much historical matter may be read to no purpose, unless the reader possesses some of that philosophical discernment of which our author has so ample a share. His love for the ancients is thus beautifully expressed by Ancillon, himself an ancient, in respect of almost all the qualities he refers to.

"One loves the ancients as one loves freshness, calmness, simplicity, and nobleness. They transport us into a younger world, less agitated by the petty passions of society; they have less desire to produce effect than the moderns; they appear at a much greater height above things and events. Have they in fact, or do they only appear to have, these qualities? Have they them because their genius was in fact more original and their character more elevated? Do they seem to have them because the world in which they place us, so different from our own, makes us forget the latter? We may differ in opinion on the causes of the fact; the fact itself is incontestable."-p. 358.