of the Baricades' and the 'Etats de Blois,' by the same author, and with them forms a complete historical work.

The great merit and distinguished success of these three works must not be taken as evidence of the value of a system of composition, in which fiction is so often mixed up with truth; for the author himself declares, that it is only as regards an epoch of indecision and anarchy in taste, that these innovations can be hazarded.

M. Vitet, in his clear, instructive, and highly interesting preface, sufficiently proves that history may please and fascinate, without having recourse to the artifices of imagination. This remarkable preface is, in fact, a criticism, and in some sort, we think, a censure of the work, the nondescript character of which serves to show that the author has talents of a high order for dramatic as for historic writing, and therefore should have employed himself in the production of a drama, or a history properly so called. If he paint the passions, and attend to the delineation of character and the unity of action, his vivacious and elegant dialogue will enable him to become a dramatic author. If he adopt the narrative form, let him reserve his imagination for other labours-let him, in a word, write as he has written in his introduction, and he must be ranked among the most distinguished historians.

Few subjects could interest more than this of the death of Henry III. and the divisions of the period; and the subject certainly loses no portion of its effect in the hands of our author. The best of the historic scenes' is the eighth, preparatory to the assassination of Henri III., by Clement. This young monk, who, from a debauchee, had become a furious fanatic, is seen keeping alive his murderous purpose, by the constant perusal of one passage in Scripture-that which represents Judith carrying the head of Holofernes in triumph. If he can but be the glorious imitator of this heroine, he is confident of being crowned in Heaven, lamented as a martyr, and honoured as a saint on earth. The departure of this fanatic for the camp of Henry inspires a lively interest in the Duchess of Montpensier, sister to the Duke de Mayenne, and the implacable enemy of the king. Every scene of this work is most dramatically given; yet we again repeat, that the author would do well to give us a history, or a drama, or both, but by no means any further amalgamation of the two.

Die Serbische Revolution. Aus Serbischen Papieren und Mittheilungen von Leopold Ranke. Mit einer Karte von Serbien. Hamburgh, 1829.8vo. Ar a period when the affairs of the East claim so much of our attention, the appearance of this work must excite considerable interest. Though but a small volume, it is well written and full of matter, and particularly places in a strong light the loose connection-if connection it can be called--subsisting between the Turks and the nations under their dominion. As Mr. Ranke, of whom we shall have occasion to speak hereafter, composed this work at Vienna, where he had access to the treasures of the Imperial library, with the further advantage of personal intercourse with Mr. Wuk Stephanowich, secretary to the Prince Milosh, an actor in, and eye-witness to the scenes described, we may rely upon the accuracy and authenticity of the facts which are here put forth. Though falling within a recent period, (it began in 1804) the Servian Revolution is comparatively little known, a fact which may be easily explained, if we consider the greater events which in the same time have crowded on each other with fearful rapidity. We shall, therefore, try to give a general sketch of it, confining ourselves more particularly to its primitive causes.

It was in 1356, the same year in which the Turks first set foot into Europe,

Europe, and about a hundred years before they finally abolished the Roman Empire in the East by the conquest of Constantinople, that this conquest had well nigh been anticipated by the Slavonian tribes from the Danube. They had already approached the capital under the mightiest of their kings, Stephan Dushau, who led an army of 80,000 men; but his sudden death, whieh happened in the same year, prevented what certainly would have entirely changed the face of things in that part of Europe. But under his effeminate son the kingdom of Servia rapidly declined till thirty-three years after his death (1389), the famous battle of Rossowa was lost, and the Czardom, as the Servians expressed themselves, went over to the Turks.

The several provinces of Servia had, however, not all the same fate. In Bosnia the nobility yielded to Islam, and they in consequence enjoy all the privileges of the reigning nation. In the Herzegowina the Woiwods, though adhering to the Christian faith, succeeded in getting their privileges confirmed to them by Berates (immunities), and, thus protected, the people, avoiding the Turks as much as possible, peaceably live with their cattle in the mountains, and only pay their charadsh. In a similar manner, the pro vinces of Kraina and Kluish are governed by the hereditary chiefs of the natives; and, though their saying be not quite applicable, "that the ironshod horse of a Turk durst never touch the soil," yet they do not suffer any Spahi to dwell among them, and they only pay the customary tribute to a Bey residing at Bledawo. The country of Montenegro is almost independent. Caring little about the rest of the world, the people govern themselves according to traditional laws and customs, under the authority of their chieftain or their bishop, as personal merit gives the ascendancy to either. Numbers of Servians are also subject to the sceptre of Austria, either be cause they have fled to escape the cruelties of the Turks, or because the country has been conquered. Here they cultivate the bordering districts, which they are obliged, at the same time, to guard against their Turkish neighbours, commanded, however, by their own native officers, who are also their judges in the first instance. They also chuse their own archbishop,— have their own national assembly,-and are represented at the imperial diet of Hungary. All these, together with the Dalmatians and Morlackians, once the subjects of Venice, form one people, of about 4,000,000 of individuals, with the same language, manners, and character, differing only in religion and government. But the unhappiest lot of all has fallen to those who remain under the immediate dominions of the Turks, in the province of Servia proper, a population of about 800,000 souls.

In this province, the Pashalik of Belgrade, we neither find any of the native nobility, nor the privileges of the kneses (district magistrates) secured by berates; but, on the contrary, we see the descendants of the conquerors acting as the immediate lords of the vanquished inhabitants. Time has, indeed, exerted its softening influence even here. In the eighteenth century the male children were no longer taken from their parents to swell the ranks of the Janizaries; the peasants were not obliged to wander to Belgrade and to Constantinople in order to labour in the fields and gardens of the Bashaw and the Sultan, and the Spahis and Janizaries confined themselves to their residence in the cities and garrisons. Instead of those oppressions, the charadsh was paid to the Sultan, and the Bashaw received a sum of money, called the poresa, for which contribution the kneses were answerable who had to collect it from the villages. The Spahi, i. e. the Turkish proprietors of the soil, who hold their estates by military tenure, were entitled, first, to a tithe of all produce of fields, vineyards, or bee-hives; and, second, to a poll-tax, called glewnitza, of two piastres for each married pair. Now, as they only came down into the country to collect their tithes,

it frequently happened that the tenants agreed with their lord upon paying a round sum annually as an equivalent for all other claims, the consequence of which was a complete separation of both nations towards the end of the last century, the Turks keeping the garrisons and fortresses, and the natives occupying the country.

This reciprocal condition might have long continued undisturbed, particularly as the Servians, after the convention of Szistowa, in 1791, felt themselves pretty well at their ease under the benevolent government of the pashaw Hadgi Mustapha, whom they used to call Srpska Maika, the Servian mother; but the turbulence of the Janizaries led to events, which were certainly not intended, and as little expected by any of the parties.

After the end of the war, the insolence and daily usurpations of the Janizaries, who had taken free quarters on the possessions of the Spahi, had obliged the pashaw of Belgrade to expel them the country. They retired to other provinces, but when the famous Paswan Oglu rebelled against the Ottoman Porte, they joined his standard, and their leader having succeeded in getting his claims acknowledged by the government, and himself rewarded with a pashalik, his faithful adherents obtained a firman which secured their return to Servia. They now grew more violent than ever; and when Hadgi Mustapha endeavoured to restrain and punish them, they formed into a corps, besieged him in Belgrade, and having taken the fortress, slew him. They now considered the country as their own; their four leaders, who, in imitation of the Deys of Algiers, called themselves Dahias, divided it into as many districts, and each assuming the rank of a prince dependent only upon the sublime Porte, treated the proprietors of the soil, the Spahi, with little more respect than the natives, and indulged in every species of oppression. Both Spahi and Servians applied to the Porte for redress, but no effectual assistance could be rendered; and when the Sultan at length threatened the usurpers, that if they did not amend, he would send an army, not, however, of Turks, for a pity it was that the faithful should combat against the faithful, but of men of another language and of another religion, who should do unto them as had not yet been done unto any Turk;-this was only the signal for more mischief. "Whom may he mean?" asked the Janizaries; " by Heaven, he means the Raja; this must be prevented;"-and thus they proceeded to the villages, and when, according to the custom, the principal inhabitants went to meet them, they ordered all the young and the vigorous to be taken and immediately executed. This happened in February, 1804. Nothing now was left to the unhappy people but to repel force by force, and outrage by outrage; they fled to the woods, and having surprised some straggling corps and thus procured arms, their greatest want, they boldly met their oppressors in the field, under their chosen leader, the valiant George Petrowich, or, as the Turks used to call him, Kara George. As their cause was strictly connected with that of their lords, the Spahi, and even with that of the government, they experienced no obstacle from these quarters; but, on the contrary, when they at length besieged the Dahias in Belgrade, their last refuge, government sent a Turkish corps to their assistance. Thus Belgrade was taken, and the country delivered by the efforts of the natives themselves; but now arose, and very naturally, the great question, What should for the future be the condition of the Servians? They had not proposed to make themselves independent; they had only arisen to defend their lives, and the expulsion of the Janizaries was looked upon as being done in conformity with the intentions of the government; but they now found themselves assembled, a victorious army, and even in possession of the principal fortresses, while they kept the remainder invested. They did not, however,

refuse

refuse to return to their ancient tributary condition, but consented to ac knowledge the Turks as their lords, and only asked for some relief in the mode of paying their tribute, and above all, for the permission of wearing arms. To this last point the Divan could not be brought to accede, as it is the principle of the Turkish, and of every Mahomedan government, that infidels whom they have vanquished, hold their lives and their property by the sole tenure of paying tribute. Negociations proving ineffectual, and the Servians refusing to give up their arms, there remained no alternative but war, for the details of which, however, we must refer to the work itself. Suffice it to say, that it was carried on by the Servians with great prowess against most unequal numbers. The war between Russia and the Porte made a diversion in their favour, and when, in 1812, the peace of Bucharest was concluded, they were in possession of the whole province. In the articles of that peace the Sultan promised to leave to the Servians the administration of their own affairs; that they should pay a moderate tribute without any Turk interfering in the collection of it; should be placed on the same footing with some of the isles of the archipelago, and be granted a general amnesty. But he could not be persuaded to allow to his Christian subjects the wearing of arms, nor was he inclined to confirm to them the possession of the fortresses; and these important points remaining unsettled, they gave occasion to a new war, when almost immediately after the conclusion of the peace of Bucharest, the chief promoters of it fell into disgrace, and Churshid Bashaw, the enemy of the Servians, whom they had repeatedly foiled in the preceding conflicts, became Grand Vizier. The absence of their Russian friends would, however, scarcely have been felt by the Servians, if they had only known how to preserve unanimity among themselves; but dissensions having unhappily broken out, they fell an easy prey to the immense power which the Porte sent against them, and in the autumn of 1813, not a trace was to be found of their late independence.

The oppression became now intolerable; but the evil again produced its remedy. Milosh Obrenowich, the only one of their ancient leaders who had preferred to remain and share the fate of his country rather than withdraw from it by flight, again rose in arms in 1815, and such was his valour and his conduct, that he obtained from the Turkish General a convention in which the great question about the wearing of arms was settled in favour of the Servians. It is true, this convention was never expressly ratified by the Divan; but as the General who concluded it was, at the request of the Servians, appointed Bashaw of Belgrade, this was at least a tacit assent. The other conditions were equally favourable to the natives. The Turks were thenceforth to remain in the fortresses and cities; the Servians in the country; they alone were to have the collection of their tribute, and the administration of justice was to be divided. In every district there should to this end be a Turkish Musselim and a Servian Kneses; and a great Court of Chancery should besides be erected at Belgrade, consisting of twelve Kneses. The general opinion seemed to be, that the Knesses and the court were to find the judgments, and the Musselim and the Bashaw to retain the executive power. The power and authority of Milosh has since gradually increased, so that in 1827 he has been chosen by the people for their hereditary chief, under the supreme authority of the Porte. But he is still negociating about his confirmation in that dignity, and the ultimate fate of this province is certainly now involved in the issue of the Russian war.

Unsers

Unsere Vorzeit, von Theodor von Haupt, eingefuhrt durch Heinrich Zschokke. Band I.-IV. 18vo. Frankfurt.

THIS work, though, according to the prospectus, to be continued through a series of forty volumes, makes no pretensions to an original historical inquiry, but seems rather intended to communicate to the great mass of readers, the choice fruits of the laborious investigations of others. If, however, the author have not himself gone back to the fountain heads, he has evidently always applied to the best authorities; and as he has not disdained to give particular care to his style,-something of rather rare occurrence with the modern prosaists of the continent,-we cannot but recommend his work as highly entertaining and instructive. The preface tells us that it shall comprehend the whole history of Germany, from the first appearance of the various nations and tribes, commonly called Germanen, Germans, on the stage of the world, to the dissolution of the German empire in the year 1806. It will, accordingly, be divided into thirteen sections or historical periods, and the four volumes now before us lead us down to nearly the end of the third period, which is to conclude with the fall of the Roman empire in the west. Mr. V. Haupt begins his narrative somewhat ab ovo, as he goes back to the deluge and the patriarchs: "the descendants of Japhet," he says, 66 are reported to have peopled the North of Asia and Europe; they, therefore, must have been the prime origin of our fathers." He happily, however, declines inquiring when the German tribes first appeared as distinct nations, where they first settled, and how and when they spread over the different countries where we afterwards meet with them. What gleam of light he means that illustrates the primitive history of Germany in the seventh century before Christ, we are indeed somewhat at a loss to understand; but he rapidly passes over the ancient, and for the most part mythological traditions, to come at once to the Cimbrians and Teutonians, who threatened Rome in the year 113 A. C. The wars occasioned by their approach, together with the campaigns of Cæsar, Drusus, Tiberius and Germanicus, are contained in the first volume, which ends with the. death of Arminius. The second volume, continuing the history only to the extinction of the rebellion of Civilis (A. D. 70), is almost wholly devoted to a picture of the moral and physical state of Germany, from the times of Cæsar to those of Tacitus. The two last volumes, comprehending the subsequent period till the death of Attila, are not the worse for the author's diligent study of Gibbon's history of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Ueber das protestantische Princip. in der christlichen Kirche, &c. By Dr. Ernst Zimmerman, one of the Chaplains to the Grand Duke of Hesse Darmstadt. 1829.

THE jubilee of the establishment of the Protestant church in Germany being about to be celebrated the third time this year, the author, who some years ago established, and has hitherto conducted with distinguished ability, the weekly publication of a general ecclesiastical gazette, thought himself bound not to let this memorable opportunity pass by, without pointing out to his numerous readers the important tenour of this secular festival, solemnized in memory of the period when the members of the Evangelical church first vindicated the name of Protestants. Prevented as we are by want of space from analyzing this important tract, we must confine ourselves to a few extracts, which will give our readers a specimen of its interesting nature. Speaking of the beneficial consequences of the reformation of the Christian church, he observes, pp. 64, 99-" The fifteenth

century