casionally, and never move the compassion of their friends, nor fancy themselves particularly entitled to complain. The lady felt "intense agony" at every repetition of this deprecatory falsehood; and the scene produced a total revolution in her feelings, and almost dissevered her affections from her unworthy husband. He turns out a buck-parson, who follows the hounds, and drinks hard; and she sets herself, with the zeal of a selftormenter, to study and to magnify his errors and faults, and be as miserable as possible. She is fully aware of the folly of her matrimonial experiment; and, at the close of life, with a spirit subdued and chastened, draws the melancholy moral:-"I still lift up my voice from a weary wounded spirit (and oh, that I could speak more powerfully!) to warn the trifling, the thoughtless, and the rash, from that most lamentable of all calamities-most irreparable of all misfortunes,-an ill-assorted marriage."

PIOZZIANA; OR, RECOLLECTIONS OF THE LATE MRS. PIOZZI. By a Friend. Moxon, London, Pp. 234.

THIS is as pure a literary emanation from the dowager division of Bath Society as one shall meet with in a summer's day. Recollections of Mrs. Piozzi, an octogenarian, are detailed by an admiring and affectionate friend, with whom she had, for many years, exchanged visits, calls, lively talk, and little polite notes prettily turned, and retiring from the presence backwards with a flourish, or, in the minuet de la cour step. We dare say the book will be read with great interest in certain circles, and by many out of these, as a sequence to other volumes. It contains not much that is either new or rare. The following is among the most piquant bits. It is a womanly revenge taken of that sour sutor, Mr. Gifford, worthy of Catherine II. of Russia, who, with a hundred crimes, had few faults, and was never spiteful.

6

"She (Mrs. Piozzi) one evening, asked me abruptly, if I did not remember the scurrilous lines in which she had been depicted, by Gifford in his Bæviad and Mæviad.' And, not waiting for my answer, for I was, indeed, too much embarrassed to give one quickly, she recited the verses in question, and added, How do you think "Thrales' gay widow" revenged herself? I contrived to get myself invited to meet him at supper at a friend's house, (I think she said in Pall Mall,) soon after the publication of his poem; sat opposite to him; saw that he was " perplexed in the extreme;" and, smiling, proposed a glass of wine as a libation to our future good fellowship. Gifford was sufficiently a man of the world to understand me; and nothing could be more courteous and entertaining than he was while we remained together.'"

Mrs. Piozzi gave her friend the following account of Burke, whom, we suspect, she would scarce, of herself, have found out, in the form here presented, to be a great man, unless Dr. Johnson had helped her to the discovery, and society vouched for it :

"At the time" said she, "I refer to, and when pointed out to strangers in the streets, as a renowned orator, statesman, and writer, he usually wore a blue coat, scarlet waistcoat, brown breeches, and grey worsted stockings; and a wig of fair, curly hair, made to look natural. He also commonly used spectacles; so that it is not easy to describe his face. But I noticed that he had many wrinkles, and those more of thought than age. He had a double chin, as it is termed; large nostrils, a rather long, irregular nose, and a wide, and as it were, a loose mouth, such as many public speakers have. His speeches were always worth listening to; though his attitude was often unbecoming; as he would keep one hand in his waistcoat pocket, and the other frequently in his bosom, and swing his body from side to side, while his feet were fixed to one spot. Being an Irishman, he not only spoke with an Irish accent, which might be excused, but with an Irish pronunciation, for which there is no excuse; because English people of good education must needs know how to pronounce their

own language; and when an Irishman of discernment and talents speaks differently, it must be because he chooses to do so, which is ridiculous.”

But the most characteristic passage in the volume refers to the lady herself. That she could, for fifty years, have retained the opinion of Johnson's servility, expressed in the instance cited, discovers fully as much the self-love of his " dear lady," as her power of appreciating the character of her domesticated old friend.

"Johnson was, on the whole, a rigid moralist; but he could be ductile, I may say, servile; and I will give you an instance. We had a large dinner-party at our house; Johnson sat on one side of me, and Burke on the other; and in the company there was a young female (Mrs. Piozzi named her) to whom I, in my peevishness, thought Mr. Thrale superfluously attentive, to the neglect of me and others; especially of myself, then near my confinement, and dismally low-spirited; notwithstanding which, Mr. T. very unceremoniously begged of me to change place with Sophy, who was threatened with a sore throat, and might be injured by sitting near the door. I had scarcely swallowed a spoonful of soup when this occurred, and was so overset by the coarseness of the proposal, that I burst into tears, said something petulant-that perhaps, ere long, the lady might be at the head of Mr. T.'s table, without displacing the mistress of the house, &c.; and so left the apartment. I retired to the drawingroom, ard for an hour or two contended with my vexation as I best could ; when Johnson and Burke came up. On seeing them I resolved to give a jobation to both, but fixed on Johnson for my charge, and asked him if he had noticed what passed; what I had suffered; and whether, allowing for the state of my nerves, I was much to blame? He answered, Why, possibly not; your feelings were outraged.' I said, 'Yes, greatly so; and I cannot help remarking with what blandness and composure you witnessed the outrage. Had this transaction been told of others, your anger would have known no bounds; but, towards a man who gives good dinners, &c., you were meekness itself!' Johnson coloured, and Burke, I thought, looked foolish; but I had not a word of answer from either."

Mrs. Piozzi's memorialist once ventured to hint to her that Johnson's extreme aversion to her marriage with the Italian, might have been from some design of appropriating her to himself. She was silent-and is thus understood to have assented to the assumption. It would require more proof to make us believe that the Dr. ever once thought of taking the place of his friend Thrale. Either from the spirit of contradiction, or some better reason, Mrs. Piozzi affirmed, till her last hour, that her wilful marriage was in every respect felicitous; and always spoke in the highest terms of her second husband,

EDINBURGH CABINET LIBRARY, Vol. XI.-Life of Sir Walter Raleigh: by P. Tytler, Esq. Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh. Plates. Pp. 468. A soldier, a poet, a courtier, a statesman, a bold and enterprizing adventurer; splendid in his tastes, and heroic in his mind; brave in the field, and sage in council; adorned with the captivating graces of romance, and endowed with a spirit of philosophy far beyond his age; the knight of Elizabeth; the rival of the ambitious and headstrong Essex, and of the wary Cecil; with a character far from perfect, yet made up of so many powerful elements,-where could the biographer hit upon a theme more rich and inviting than the life of Sir Walter Raleigh, or one in which a brilliant and momentous period of English History could be so vividly reflected. If Mr. Tytler has been happy in his choice of subject, he has been equally felicitous in seizing the leading points in the life of Raleigh; and also those of the contemporary events, which first form, and then reflect, the character of every great public man. But he has done more. Stepping above the line of a merely accurate compiler, he has applied to original sources of information, and has thus elucidated

obscure points of the latter days of Raleigh; and considerably added to our stores of historical knowledge, by clearing up the secret movements of the state intrigue, which cost this great man years of persecution, from which he was only relieved by an undeserved death. Truly the mo- . tives of state prosecutions are an edifying chapter of history to mankind. The literary and more vital parts of this meritorious volume fall less within the general objects of this magazine than the opportunity it affords us of shewing what sort of animal an Attorney-General was in the reign of James I. This done, the reader may infer the extent of melioration in the breed which "the pressure of the time" has produced from the days of Sir Edward Coke, to those of Scott, (Lord Eldon) Law, Gibbs, and Scarlett. Though there is still room for amendment, the improvement is considerable. An unmitigated Coke is an impossible co-existence with the present English press. We are not sure that he could even flourish in Scotland. We premise that the charge of treason for which Raleigh was tried was false, and vamped up by the intrigues of Cecil.

"Now I come to your charge, my masters of the jury. The greatness of treason is to be considered in two things,-determinatione finis, et electione mediorum. This treason excelleth in both; for that it was to destroy the king and his progeny. These treasons are said to be crimen læsæ majestatis; this goeth farther, and may be termed crimen extirpandæ regiæ majestatis et totius progeniei suæ. I shall not need, my Lords, to speak any thing concerning the king, nor of the bounty and sweetness of his nature; whose thoughts are innocent, whose words are full of wisdom and learning, and whose works are full of honour. Although it be a true saying, Nunquam nimis quod nunquam satis. But to whom do you bear malice? To the children?

"Raleigh. To whom speak you this? You tell me news I never heard of. "Attorney. Oh, Sir, do I? I will prove you the notoriousest traitor that ever came to the bar. After you have taken away the king you would alter religion; as you, Sir Walter Raleigh, have followed them of the Bye by imitation: for I will charge you with the words.

"Raleigh. Your words cannot condemn me; my innocency is my defence. Prove one of those things wherewith you have charged me, and I will confess the whole indictment, and that I am the horriblest traitor that ever lived,—that I am worthy to be crucified with a thousand torments.

"Attorney.-Nay, I will prove all. Thou art a monster! Thou hast an English face but a Spanish heart. Now you must have money: Aremberg was no sooner in England-I charge thee, Raleigh-but thou incitest Cobham to go unto him, and to deal with him for money to bestow on discontented persons to raise rebellion in the kingdom.

"Raleigh. Let me answer for myself.

"Attorney. Thou shalt not.

"Raleigh. It concerneth my life.

"Attorney.-Oh! do I touch you?"

'I do not

If my Lord

"After this Coke enumerated the charges contained in the indictment. hear yet,' said Raleigh, that you have spoken one word against me. Cobham be a traitor, what is that to me?' Coke's answer was so remarkable that it passed into a proverb, and furnished Shakspeare with one of his amusing satirical touches in the character of Sir Toby Belch.

“Attorney.—All that he did was by thy instigation, thou viper! for I thou thee thou traitor!

"Raleigh. It becometh not a man of quality and virtue to call me so; but I take comfort in it, it is all you can do.

"Attorney.-Have I angered you?

"Raleigh. I am in no case to be angry.”

"A singular interruption now took place. The attorney having failed again in the proof, launched forth into abuse, and was exhorted by Cecil to be less impatient; upon which,' says the record, Mr. Attorney sat down in a chafe, and would

speak no more until the commissioners urged and entreated him to proceed.' He then, after much persuasion, arose and broke out into still more violent invective,— but we shall present the dialogue which ensued in the words of the trial :— "Attorney Thou art the most vile and execrable traitor that ever lived. "Raleigh. You speak indiscreetly, barbarously, and uncivilly. "Attorney. I want words sufficient to express thy viperous treasons.

"Raleigh. I think you want words, indeed, for you have spoken one thing halfa-dozen times.

"Attorney.Thou art an odious fellow; thy name is hateful to all the realm of England for thy pride.

"Raleigh. It will go near to prove a measuring cast between you and me, Mr. Attorney.

"Attorney.-Well, now will I make it appear to the world that there never lived a viler viper upon the face of the earth than thou."

This letter, the production of the feeble-minded, vacillating, deceased Cobham, a man who had neither the energy to prove a rebel, nor the virtue and prudence to remain a quiet subject, was of course one hollow pretext in this abominable political intrigue. When the Attorney-General had concluded reading Lord Cobham's letter, the contents of which, before death, he had retracted and regretted, Raleigh produced a letter written by the same man on the approach of death, pathetically withdrawing all the charges his weakness had been practised upon to make. It was read by Cecil. "So God have mercy on my soul, as I know treason by you!" is the concluding sentence; but the jury did not the less bring in the wished for verdict-Guilty. Attorney-Generals are certainly greatly improved, but English juries have made yet more rapid advances.

THE NATURALIST'S LIBRARY, VOL. I. Lizars, & Stirling & Kenney, Edinburgh. Pp. 147.

Ar what degree of beauty and cheapness will our popular embellished works arrive at last? We thought they had reached the ultimate point in some of the late publications; but no, here is another, the elegance, and scientific accuracy of which, in conjunction with its cheapness, is to us astonishing. It is devoted exclusively to HUMMING BIRDS. Upwards of thirty of those exquisite feathered beauties flutter, "like atoms of the rainbow," through the volume which describes their habits and characters. The plates are as delicately and faithfully coloured as in the more expensive works of natural history. The size of the birds is that of life. The book requires only to be seen to be admired and coveted. As the literary contents must have borne a disproportioned size to the plates, unless other matter had been sought, we have a memoir of Linnæus, with a portrait of this great conqueror in the kingdom of nature. cannot be deemed extraneous matter.

This

WAVERLEY ANECDOTES. Cochrane and M Crone, London. Pp. 841. AN omnegatherum book, consisting of Scottish tales, legends, anecdotes, biographies, antiquities, battles, ghosts, &c., &c., to which the above title is given, because the writings of Sir Walter Scott, and many things connected with them, do really occupy a considerable space in the book. We meet with nothing new; but the selection is light, diversified, and amusing, and wears a pleasing cast of gentle antiquity. A few petty larcenies might be detected in these volumes; but we like to see the realms of literature as free as a sunny, open, American orchard, plenty giving impunity; and where plucking here an apple, and there a peach

to refresh the way-farer, merely betokens wealth and unguarded abundance. Better a stray hand gather the balmy spoils, than leave them to rot in the solitude.

FAUST BY GOETHE, Translated into English Prose.-Moxon, London, Pp. 291.

Draughtsmen and painters, learning their art, like to see the human figure stripped of its integuments, without flesh, colour, or life; the frame-work of a man. They conceive this necessary to perfect their knowledge of many parts of the mystery; but what ordinary person likes to study painting in skeletons and anatomical figures? A literal prose translation of a great poem holds much the same relation to the original, that the ugly skeleton does to the human form, glowing with the hues of life and beauty; breathing with passion and affection. It gives an idea of the original, but one that is either altogether grotesque, or grisly and revolting; it may, however, be useful as a study upon the principle we have indicated, and so may this translation, which is prefaced by an unmerciful dissection of the Faust of Lord Francis Gower. The book, in its way, will be a curiosity among scholars. If things were as of old, we might expect to hear of a prosecution for blasphemy, from the unveiled literalness of the translation. THE MODERN CYMON. Translated from the JEAN of C. PAUL DE KOCH. Marston & Co. London: 2 vols., pp. 474.

DE KOCH is not quite among the French, or rather the good people of Paris, what John Galt is in Glasgow, Ayrshire, and the Scottish towns and villages; but this illustration, besides being concise, is the best we can hit upon. Koch is not the painter of Our village, but of Our street, and of the Branghtons of Paris. The street is a trading one, in the small way, inhabited by perfumers, tailors, milliners, confectioners, the grisette, the midwife, the country nurse, the dancing-master;-and the book, taken altogether, conveys a truer and more lively idea of the manners of the middle ranks of Parisian society, than any we have seen for a long while. We have French vivacity with German fidelity of portraiture. The translator has caught the spirit of his original with kindred feeling. We recommend this amusing work to every one who would know what the French people really are in their every day costume, and by their own fire-sides.

A MORAL AND POLITICAL SKETCH OF THE UNITED STATES, by Achille Murat.-Effingham Wilson, London. Pp. 402.

The ci-devant Prince Royal of the two Sicilies, and Citizen of the United States, who found a shelter in America, and after the news of the THREE DAYS, and the death of his cousin the young Napolean, posted back to Europe to look after a very desperate chance for a Crown, expects that his Letters upon America will draw upon him "much criticism." He is mistaken. Few heed his opinions; none save an anonymous writer, who has appended to the volume a clever Note on Negro Slavery, think them worth controverting. There is, however, no book without some value. The · letters contain a good deal of miscellaneous information about American society and institutions. Out of the mouth of this suckling we have confirmation of one noble trait of the American character.

"The great difference between the American and English manners, and which com