Of polyanthenon the author expresses a doubt whether it be a sufficiently distinct species; and inquires if colchicum lusitanicum fritellaricum, & C. neapolitanum fritillaricum of Parkinso's Paradise, may not be specifically distinct from any of the above. The Botanist's Repository co tains, 1 A large figure, on a folio plate, of a new species, a variety of the tree pæony, which is here cailed pæonia papaveracea (papaverea, or papave rata, would have been more classical), from the globular form of the seed vessel, the six capsules coalescing into one six-celled fruit, leaving only their extremities free. 2. Diosma ovata. 3. Protea divaricata, a species very nearly allied to P. anemonifolia of Bot. Mag. and like that of a native of New South Wales. 4. Goodenia teneila, a new species of this very interesting genus, and a very pretty little plant, but not extraordinary well figured. 5. Lythrum fruticorum Lin This is the grislea tomentosa of Comandel plants, and Wilde now's specie, plants. Woodfordia floribunda of Salisbury. It is surprising that it should be claimed here as a discovery that this plant is the lythrum fruticorum of Linnæus, this name being expressly quoted as a synonym by all the above authors, but was deemed by them to differ too much in the structure of the flower to admit of being united with the genus Lythrum. The Paradisus Londinensis contains, 1. Claytonia Caroliniana of Michaux, here called C. spatalæ folia, as Mr. Salisbury, deaf to all remonstrances against the continual changing of names, never adopts such as do not accord with his own principles of nomenclature. The figure of C virginica, in the Botanical Magazine, is here accused of falsely representing the petals as lanceolate and sharp, instead of obovate and retuse; but this criticism, we suspect, is unjust. Perhaps two species may have been confounded under this name, or the petals may be subject to vary in their shape; for we possess a description taken from a living plant, and of older date than the figure in the Botanical Magazine, in which we find the petals are said to be ovate lanceolate. 2. Begonia nitida. 3. Burtonia grossulariæ folia, a new genus, nearly allied to Dilenia and Hibbertia, named in memory of David Burton, an industri, ous gardner, sent by Sir Joseph Banks to New South Wales, to collect seeds for the Royal Garden at Kew, on which mission he unfortunately died. Mr. Salisbury has here attempted to establish a new natural order, under the appellation of dillene æ, for this botanist being, by his own confession, fastidiously averse from the high-sounding Greek termination of oides, as invented a Gallico-Latin terminology to his natural orders; but with what success to an English ear, may be easily inferred from one of which he has given an account in the Annals of Botany, vol. II. page 69, the Nymphæ æ! That charming work, the English Botany, now proceeding with hasty strides to a conclusion, with respect to phenogamous plants, at least, though the unpublished cryptogamous ones are still numerous, contains, in the last number, besides seven lichens and one fucus, sisym brium terrestre of Curtis, who first distinguished it as a species from amphibium; sinapis arvensis; urtica dioica; and medicago saliva; the last has, indeed, little right to be enumerated in a list of plants indigenous to the British isles; but far from blaming its introduction, we believe it will be generally acceptable, if all the plants cultivated in our fields should be included; for who, in his search after native plants, would not wish to understand what he meets with, not scattered here and there, skulking, as it were, from his prying eye, but coyering acres of ground in proud array. NATURALIST's MONTHLY REPORT. Advancing spring profusely spreads abroad Sweet Hope, with conscious brow, before her flies, Anticipating wealth from summer skies. MAY 20. Some silkworm's eggs, which I had placed in a south window, began this day to be hatched; but nearly a week elapsed before all the caterpillars had quitted their shells. May 23. The flowers of the hawthorn begin to expand. The asb-trees are putting forth their first leaves; and the bolly is in flower. A puss moth (phalæna vinula of Linnæus) emerged from its chrysaled state this day. It was a female; and, as I had already several specimens, I put it out of the window. On the following morning this insect was found nearly in the same place where I had left her. She was accompanied by a male, and had deposited against the window frame a great number, of eggs. I collected several, and placed them on paper in the window of my sitting room, in order, if caterpillars proceeded from them, to watch their changes May 30th. The wind in the east, and the weather very stormy, attended by a consideraple fall of rain. The mackrel-fishers have been employed for several days, but hitherto without success; and and if, the present easterly winds continue to prevail, there will be no chance whatever of their catching any fish. May 30th. The eastern winds are still prevalent. Many of the gardens have been con iderably injured by them. The cockchafers, however, which, a few days ago, were to be seen in great abundance, have all been driven away. As I have not observed any of these insects lying dead, either in the roads or fields, it is not improbable that they may have passed into the interior of the country. An observing and intelligent friend, who resides near me, says, that after being driven away, they sometimes return: such, however, has not been the case this year. I am informed that the country people here generally look for two or three days of stormy weather from the east, in the month of May. For the last four years, their observa tions have been remarked to be correct. The walnut and chesnut-trees are in flower and leaf. June 5. Those beautiful plants the white and yellow water lilies (nymphæa alba and lutes) 4re in flower. June 7. I found a female of the leptura inquisitor of Linnæus, on one of the flowers of tim dog-rose, in the same place where, four years ago, I found the same insects. The death-watches (ptinus tessellatus) are no longer heard. June 9. This morning some of the eggs laid by the puss math above-mentioned were hatched. The caterpillars proceeding from them were of a blackish colour, and about two lines in length. They had each two tails, about the length of their body, and a process of conside rable length and thickness on each side of the head. Wheat is in ear, and the bedge rose (rosa arwentis) is in flower. June 11. The Austrian, or yellow rose, (roșa austriaca), meadow clary (salva pratensis), and milk thistle (cardus marianus), are in flower. June 16. For some days past salmon have been caught in tolerable quantity. Lobsters and prawns are this year very scarce on our coast. Hampshire. METEOROLOGICAL REPORT. Observations on the State of the Weather, from the 24th of May to the 24th of June, 1807, inclusive, Two Miles N.W. of St. Paul's. The quantity of rain fallen this month is too trifling to be particularly noticed; we shall give it with the next report. Once only we have had a heavy rain, and it has rained also on five other days. Every other day of the month may be denominated brilliant, excepting two, in which clouds intercepted the sun's rays for a good part of the morning. The wind has been chiefly in the N. and N. E. though occasionally it has veered a little to the opposite puints: one day it stood pretty steadily to the West, and once, we have noticed, stationary to the South. The changes in the temperature and density of the atmosphere have, by no means, been remarkable. The thermometer standing at 810, on the 25th of May, is very unusual, and a similar circumstance has not been known, in this climate, we believe, for very many years; but the average heat for the whole month, viz.-61° 564, is half a degree less than it was for the same period last year, although it is more than 7o higher than it was for June 1805; nevertheless in the same month, 1804, the average heat was 63°. ERRATA. Page 342, 1st col. line 38, for enjoyed," read "plundered."-In the same page, 2d col. line 28, dele" his eldest son." Page 507, in the Sonnet, for "Thou, eager e'en to guard the hardy bed,”—read “ Thos, eager e'er to guard the hardy bed."-In page 508, instead of "Her temple's trembling tezture seem'd to suit," read "Her temper's trembling texture seem'd to suit." N. B. The SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER will be published, as usual, on the Last Day of JULY, completing the Twenty-third Volume. 1 TO THE TWENTY-THIRD VOLUME OF THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE. VOL. 23, No. 159.] JULY 30, 1807. [PRICE IS. 6d. HALF-YEARLY RETROSPECT OF DOMESTIC LITERATURE. Non refert quam multos libros sed quam bonos bas of late years received but few accessions of primary importance; there are one or two works even in the present Retrospect, upon which we cannot but congratulate our readers. "The Memoirs of of John Lord de Joinville," translated by Mr. JOHNES; in two volumes in quarto; deserve especial notice. The Sire de Joinville, it need hardly be said, was an eminent French statesman, who lourish ed about 1260, and was descended from one of the noblest and most ancient families in Champagne. He was seneschal, or high steward of Champagne, and one of the principal lords of the court of Louis the Ninth, whom he accompanied in all his expeditions except that of Tunis; and was greatly beloved and esteemed for his valour, his wit, and the frankness of his manners. That monarch placed so much confidence in him, that all matters of justice in the palace were referred to his decision; and his majesty undertook nothing of importance without consulting him. The familiarity with which Louis honoured him, gave him an opportunity of tracing the links of every event in his reign: and the candour and simplicity of the recital which he has left us of these events, afford strong proofs of his exactness. He does not extend his account of facts farther than what he personally witnessed. The Memoirs, which Joinville finished in 1309, were not published till after the death of Philip the Fair: and although they include a space but of six years, they give us sufficient information respecting the military system of those days, and the principles of administration adopted by St. Louis. They present to us a faithful picture of the customs and manners of the ancient Freuch; charm us with that MONTHLY MAG., No. 159. affecting simplicity of style which is one of their greatest merits; and display the truth. The contents of the first volume, mind of St. Louis with the most exact are as follow: 1. The Genealogy of the House of Joinville. 2. Dissertation on the Life of St. Louis written by the Lord de Joinville, by M. le Baron de la Bastie. 3. Additions to the same. 4. The History of St. Louis, by John Lord de Joinville. 5. Notes on the above History, by Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange. The second volume is entirely filled with Du Cange's Dissertations on the History. The work is accompanied by a portrait of the Lord de Joinville, taken from his monument; a map of the Crusade of St. Louis in Egypt and in Palestine; a map of the Delta, explanatory of the expedition; a view of the town and castle of Joinville; an outline of St. Louis, from his monument; and a map of Syria and Palestine. The Lord de Joinville, died about 1318, at not much less than ninety years of age. The Memoirs, as they now stand, were the last production of the Hafod press; and were luckily expedited before the conflagration of Mr. Johnes's Library; the loss of which will be deplored by every lover of our ancient history. We understand Mr. Johnes is again collecting for another library; and trust that that spirit of research which prompted him to the publication of Froissart, will not end with the Memoirs of Joinville. There is another work, which, though written in French, we shall not hesitate to mention here; it is "The Campaigns of Marshal Schomberg in Portugal, from 1662 to 1668," by GENERAL DUMOURIEZ. In an advertisement prefixed, we are informed that the leading outline of the campaigns has been extracted from the Life of the Marshal, written in Ger man, by Hagner: but a perusal of the work convinced us it was not to be considered as a mere translation. It contains many additional facts collected on the spot; and will be found interesting even to the military reader. The Duke of Schomberg was descended of a noble German family. He served first in the army of the United Provinces;" but after-" 4 L wards wards retired into France. The chief obstacle to his promotion in that country, was his firm adherence to the protestant religion. In 1659, he offered his service to Charles the second, for his restoration to the throne of England: but was soon after sent by the court of France to Lisbon, to assist in the support of Portugal against the Spaniards. It may be sufficient to say, that, anterior to his arrival, the Portuguese were unacquainted with the art of regular encampments, and even when a ditch was to be thrown up, the earth was constantly placed on the wrong side. His rewards for the preservation of Portugal were, the empty title of Count de Mertola, and a pension of 314 florins from the privy purse, which sum was to be doubled at a peace. In 1663, on his return to France, he obtained the title of Duke, was intrusted with the direction of the army in Catalonia, and became a Marshal. In 1633, he was still serving at the head of the ar mies, when, in consequence of the edict of Nantz, he was obliged to emigrate from France. In 1686, he retired to Portugal, but being persecuted by the Inquisition, he accepted the command of the troops of the house of Brandenburg. Having traversed Holland, he had a conference with the Prince of Orange, (afterwards William III,). and concerted in conjunction with him the expedition which placed the latter on the throne. He afterwards accompanied the Prince of Orange to England; discomfited the measures of king James in Ireland; and at the age of 74 fought, in conjunction with his sovereign, the battle of the Boyne, dying, to use the words of Bishop Burnet, like Epaminondas, in the day of his triumph, and in the hour of victory. He had been previously created by king William, Baron Teys, Earl of Brentford, Marquis of Harwich, and Duke of Schomberg; with a vote from the Commons of England, of 100,000l. for his services. The "Detailed Account of the Battle of Austerlitz," by the Austrian Major-Ge neral STUTTERHEM, will be read with interest and advantage. It has been translated by Major PINE COFFIN; and though it is impossible we should enter here into any full details of the military operations it relates to, it may not be improper to state the principal causes to which the loss of the battle is ascribed. These are, the want of correctness in the information possessed by the allies, as to the enemy's army; the bad plan of attack, supposing the enemy to have been en trenched in a position which he did not occupy; the movements executed the day before the attack, and in sight of the enemy, in order to gain the right flank of the French; the great interval between the columns when they quitted the heights of Pratzen; and their want of communica tion with each other. These are represented as the causes of the first ruisfortunes which befel the Austro-Russian army; added to which, the second and third columns of the allies are represented to have thought too much of their pri mary disposition, and to have been inattentive to those manœuvres of the enemy, by which the basis was completely overthrown on which the plan of attack was founded. In this class also, we place the "Biographical History of England, from the Revolution to the End of George I's Reign," in continuation of GRANGER. Many of the materials were collected by Mr. Granger himself, the rest have been supplied by the editor, the Rev. MARK NOBLE. In point of execution we think the three volumes here presented, by no means equal to the former work. The stores of anecdote, indeed, are more copious; but the characters are not drawn with Mr. Granger's felcity. As a specimen we shall quote the account of Catharine Queen-dowager of England. After Charles II's. death, the queendowager, never of much political consequence, retired to Somerset House, where she lived very privately, and with an economy she had never seen pracused in England. The Revolution by no means pleased her majesty. She thought it a matter of religion, and she was every way attached to the Romish faith. William paid her all the attention due to her illustrious birth and rank. Mary was highly incensed that she had forbade a prayer to be used in her chapel, imploring success to William's arms in Ireland. She said to the king, in another letter, dated Whitehall, Sept. 18th, 1690. Í had a compliment last night from Q. Dowager, who came to town on Friday; she sent, I believe, with a better heart, because Limericke is not taken; for my part, I don't think of that or any thing else but you; God send you a good journey home, smi make me thankful, as I ought, for all his mercies.' In all probability she wished to have ended her days in England, where she was better known, and had assimilated herself to the customs of the country by long residence; but the disagreeable ness of her situation made it necssary to return to Portugal; perhaps she had some intimation, that her jointure would be faithfully and punctually paid to her there. Leaving England on March 3, 1692, she passed through France and Spain in her way to Lisbon: she was received by the French and Spanish courts with every honour that could be paid her. Her majesty survived this reign, dying at Lisbon, on December 30, 1705; greatly courted and caressed by Pedro II. her brother, whom she left heir to the vast fortune she had saved; which the clergy had with an eager eye viewed as their own. Catharine displeased Charles II. by what he called prudery; but relaxing to the other extreme, in courting the favour of his mistresses, she sunk into contempt. She was too much a Portugueze to be popular in England; and when she returned, too much English to be happy in Portugal. A woman without vices, a queen without virtues." or other, to Thomas Burdet, esq. of Bromcote, in Warwickshire. In the present edition, we are informed, the castrations which were principally made in the third volume of the original work will be restored to their places. The deficiencies of this nature in the generality of the copies are accurately explained by bishop Tanner in his Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica. They principally relate to the history of lord Cobham and the earl of Leicester, during the time of queen Elizabeth; and consist of facts and observations which were thought, after the printing of the work, unseasonable to be published. The Description of England prefixed to the Chronicles, is one of the most curious and authentic memorials of the manners and domestic history of the sixteenth century that can be produced. The whole is proposed to be completed in six quarto volumes, at the price of two guineas each. Here also may be noticed, the new ediIn the account of Lord Chancellor So- tion of LORD CLARENDON'S "History of mers, as well in those of many other cha- the Rebellion," published under the di racters, the materials seem not sufficient-rection of the university of Oxford, in ly compressed. The sketch of Sir Isaac three volumes large octavo. Newton's Life occupies near seven pages: and there are many others as disproportionately long. By the collectors of Portraits, these volumes will no doubt be deemed a curious accession. The publication of the first volume of "The Chronicles of Holinshed" bespeaks a feature in our Domestic Literature, on which we cannot but bestow commendation. It has long been a reproach to the literary character of this country, that its old historians have been fated to slumber in obscurity: confined either to manuscript or black letter. There now appears a chance that we shall one day see an uniform edition of our old chronicters, To begin with Holinshed however is extraordinary; as both he and his coadjutor Harrison were for the greater part compilers. Holinshed himself, says Dr. Farmer in his Essay on the Learning of Shakespeare, has been usually represented by his biographers as a clergyman: and bishop Tanner goes still farther, in representing him not only as having been educated at Cambridge, but as having taken the degree of M.A. in 1544. The graduate, however, was one Ottiwell Hollingshed, who was afterwards named by the founder one of the first fellows of Trinity college and from the will of the historian, printed by Herne, it appears that even at the end of life he was only a steward, or a servant in some capacity In "The Ancient and Modern History of Nice," by Dr. DAVIS, we have a full detail of the different revolutions which that fertile territory has experienced. The manners of the inhabitants also are not only faithfully but pleasingly delinea ted. Nor have we a less important work to mention, in the "Historia Anglicana circa tempus Conquestus Anglie a Gu lielmo Notho Normannorum Duce, Selecta Monumenta:" edited by BARON MASERES, from the more copious collection of the Norman writers, by Duchesne, published at Paris in 1619. The tracts here given, are principally such as relate either to the conquest of England by the Normans, or to the state of the country for a few years before and after that inportant change in its condition. The first of them is entitled, Emme, Anglorum reginæ, Richardi primi, ducis Normannorum, filiæ, Encomium. Incerto auctore, sed co-ataneo: comprising the history of twenty-seven years from A. D. 1013 to 1040. The second tract is intitled Gesta Guillelmi, Ducis Normannorum, et Regis Anglorum; a Gulielmo Pictavensi, scripta. The third, contains, the Excerpta, from the Ecclesiastical History of Ordericus Vitalis. The fourth historical tract is a short yearly chronicle of public events, from the year 633 to the year 1293, from a manuscript L2 foun |