Fil's yonder gourd, as slowly it distills, Grows sour at once if Lorrinite pass by. The deadliest worm, from which all creatures fly, Fled from the deadlier venom of her eye; The babe unborn, within its mother's womb, Started and trembled when the witch came nigh; And in the silent chambers of the tomb, Death shudders her unholy tread to hear; And from the dry, and mouldering bones did fear Force a cold sweat, when Lorrinite was near." Nor can we pass such a stanza as Dark is the abyss of time, given; Whatever weal or woe betide, Turn never from the way of truth aside. And leave the event, in holy hope, to hea ven. The moment is at hand, no more delay, Ascend the etherial bark, and go your way; And ye of heavenly nature follow me." Another extract from the thirteenth canto, and we shall have done our duty. It is the description of the Banian tree. "'Twas a fair scene wherein they stood, That venerable tree, Seeking to strike its root. ground. Some on the lower boughs which crost their way, Fixing their bearded fibres, round and round, With many a ring and wild contortion wound; Some to the passing wind at times, with sway Of gentle motion swung, Others of younger growth unmov'd, were hung Like stone-drops from the cavern's fret ted height. Beneath was smooth and fair to sight, Nor weeds nor briars, deform'd the na tural floor, And through the leafy cope which bower'd it o'er Came gleams of checquered light. Although the stanzas are irregular, we have no hesitation in saying that "The Curse of Kehama" is more uniduction of the kind we have seen of formly beautiful than almost any prolate years. The present century hath been the age of chivalry in literature, so far as the fair sex are concerned. Catharine Macauley as an historian, and Hannah More as a moralist have reflected a lustre on their country, which is enhanced by the consideration that they belong to a sex which, in Great Britain at least, hath not been heretofore distinguished for other than domestic virtues. The benefits of a liberal or rather a classical education, however, are now regularly extended to the softer sex, and they have amply repaid the pains which their instructors have bestowed. In the department of poetry in particular, our fair countrywomen have repeatedly of late put in their claims to immortality, and have proved that although they cannot always bend the bow of Ulysses, the lyre of Apollo ever beats responsive to their cadences. The names of Robinson, Smith and Wolstoncraft, are scarcely cold in our recollection, when a groupe of female candidates for literary fame is seen crowding towards the temple, which is decorated with their monuments. Among these the most conspicuous is Miss MITFORD, whose little volume is now before us. The early age at which this young lady launches her bark in the sea of poetical warfare would soften the brow of the most rigid among the critics, but on turning to her performances we find much which commands approbation, and but little, for which to deprecate severity. There is a measured sweetness in her versification, which, while it seems to shew the affectation of boldness or ed in many instances in giving utter originality, hath nevertheless succeed. ance to ideas, which to us at least, are stamped with all the fire of genius and imagination. Her verses to May, 1808, will ever endear her reputation, to the admirers of true' poetry, and to those for whom nature arrayed in truth and simplicity hath still some charms. That there are no, faults in Miss Mitford's volume, would be to say too much; that they are curable, however, we have no doubt will be satisfactorily proved by the publication of the future productions of her chaste and elegant muse. Mr. PRATT also has favoured the public with one of the most interesting poems in the language, under the title of the Lower World. It advocates with disinterested affection, the cause of persecuted and tormented animals, and forcibly appeals to all who have power to correct those abuses by their influence or example. We recommend it to the heads of public schools for the purposes of public recitation, and augur the best effects from a diffusion of its sentiment in that way. Nor must we here forget the Northern Garlands, first published by the late Mr. JOSEPH RITSON. They have been re-edited together, by Mr. HASLE WOOD. ROMANCES, NOVELS, &C. The celebrated Poem, by Mr. Walter Scott reviewed in our last retrospect, has given rise to a Lady of the Lake in prose: a romance, in two volumes. Ferdinand and Ordella, a Russian Story, with authentic Anecdotes of the Russian Court, after the Demise of Peter the Great, is another production of the romantic kind, well suited to the tastes of those who delight in the terrific. Black-Rock House, or Dear-bought Repentance, exhibits considerable knowledge of human nature. The Acceptance; by the author of Caroline Ormsby, has the disadvantage of being written in the epistolary style. There is, otherwise, much in it to be commended. Here also may be noticed, The Officer's Daughter, or a Visit to Ireland in 1796. By the Daughter of a Captain in the Navy, deceased. The Reformist!!! a Serio-Comic Political Novel, in two volumes; though good-humouredly written, and unobjectionable on many accounts, is not entitled to unqualified approbation. It is, in fact, a broad satire on Methodism: and we do not think a novel the proper vehicle either for examining or refuting the religious tenets of any set or sect of persons. The Scottish Chiefs, a Romance, by Miss JANE PORTER, extends to five volumes. The principal hero is William Wallace. Whether the generality of novel readers are gainers or losers by a mixture of real history and ro. mance, need not be discussed here. Miss Porter has mixed them; though certainly with great judgment. Introduction to an Examination of some part of the internal Evidence respecting the Antiquity and Authenticity of certain Publications,said to have been found in Manuscripts at Bristol, written by a learned Priest and others in the 15th Century; but generally considered as the supposititious Productions of an ingenious Youth of the present age, by Jons SHErwen, M. D. It will, however, be found to contain much valuable criticism; and some just strictures even on the pamphlets of Messrs. Warton and Tyrwhitt. The Conquest of the Miao-tse, an Imperial Poem by Kien-lung, entitled a Choral Song of Harmony for the first part of the Spring, by STEPHEN WESTON, F.R.S. S.A. is as literal a version from the Chinese as can be made intelligible to an European reader. The poem itself consists of thirty stanzas. "The occasion is the defeat and entire subjugation of the Miao-tse, an independent people in the province of Hounan, and the very heart of China; whose government, laws, and language were peculiar to themselves and exclusively their own. What this poem records is the third campaign against these people. In the first, the einperor was foiled; in the second, the general who commanded, alarmed at the fate of his predecessor, who was put to death for want of success, undertook to bribe the enemy into submission, to which he consented with a certain mental reservation, that he would break his engagement on the first favourable occasion. This he accordingly did, and forced the emperor into a third campaign, and second five years war." The two first stanzas will probably afford a sufficient specimen of the composition. The Emperor speaks. "It was the twenty-fourth of the eighth moon, between the second and third watch, in the middle of the night, in the camp of Mou-lam, that they came to tell me of the arrival of a messenger from the army with a red flag. How could I believe that this night I should see the certain sign of victory, and have so early an occasion of proclaiming the glory and reward of my army?" more than ten to perform, seven thousand stadia from the camp to the impeal palace. The plan was good, and the execution rapid, well deserving of distinguished honours; and the bow will be soon unstrung, and the war at an end." HALF-YEARLY RETROSPECT OF FRENCH LITERATURE. "PRECIS Historique sur Enguerande de, &c. &c." An Historical Account of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, and his Chronicles, by T. Du Mersar, which obtained the prize from the Society of Emulation at Cambray. It is an honourable enterprise to attempt history, but such, an effort de. mands many eminent, and even indispensable qualities. It is not sufficient to arrange facts compiled with out inquiry, with some degree of taste: it becomes necessary to add to a scrupulous exactness in respect to dates and events, precision of style, clearness of recital and impartiality in judgment. Above all things, the historian must render himself neutral in respect to the events which he recounts, lest he should forget truth, and thus deceive posterity to whom he addresses his writings. Enguerrand de Monstrelet* is the person we are indebted for the valuable work entitled," Chroniques de l'Histoire de France depuis 1400 jus qu'en 1453." At the time he composed his memoirs be resided in Cambray, of which he was governor, and this city maintained a strict neutrality, in respect to the French, English and Burgundians. Its inhabitants were consequently strangers to the cruel factions which then tore the bosom of France, while Enguerrand becoming an impartial witness of this spectacle of war and disasters, enjoyed all the repose which an historian could wish for, and possessed no small degree of facility at the same time to receive accounts from all parties. No details respecting his private life now exist; all we know is, that he was Provost of Cambray, and Baille of Wallincourt; that he married Jeanne de Valboun or Valhoun, by whom he had several children, and that he, died in 1453, sixteen days before the conclusion of the peace; this is proved by the Necrology, or funeral register of the Cordeliers of Cambray. The following is a short extract: "Le vingtieme jour de juillet l'an 1453, ho *A French writer (La Monnaie) has remarked, that we ought to pronounce the name MONTRELET, to avoid the equinoke of MONSTRE-LAID. MONTHLY MAG. No. 208. norable homo et noble Engherans, &c. Stepassa et elisit sa sepulture aux Corde lois de Cambray, et fut là porté en un portatoire, enveloppé d'une natte, vêtu en babit de Cordelois, le visage au nud, et trois cherous, (grand cierge) de trois quarts chacun autour, del bierre, &c." It would appear from a manuscript relation left by his friend Jean C. Robert, that he was a bastard, a circumstance which at that epoch had nothing dishonourable appertaining to it, his contemporary Dunois and many of the heroes of the age, being exactly in the same predicament. As to his de scent, he may have sprung from Enguerrand IV. Sire de Coucy, while the surname of Monstrelet night have arisen from his being born at the town of that name, in Lower Picardy. "Popliniere accuses him of partiality, and he was assuredly attached to the house of Burgundy; but he was far less partial than Froissard, whose prejudice in favour of the English and against the French was extreme; for Boyle observes, "that a writer less prejudiced than him who was greatly so, cannot be considered as very faithful." He is accused also of being very diffuse, as he gives the history of only 53 years in 2 vols folio. But on the other hand, his work abounds with public documents, state papers, proclamations, challenges, &c. so that he has erected the solid foundations of a great edifice, and left the task of ornamenting and embellishing it to others. There are several editions of the Chroniques de Monstrelet, and the Imperial Library also possesses a fine manuscript written on vellum, which forms 2 vols, adorned with 74 vignettes illus trative of the events, admirably executed, and with all the capital letters finely coloured. The following is the title of the first edition: "Le premiere volume de Enguerran de Monstrelet en suyvant Froissart, &c." Here follows a brief analysis of the whole. The cruel situation of France at the time he wrote is well known. Charles VI. commenced his reign in 1388; his minority prepared the misfortunes that en sued, while his madness brought them to a crisis. The contests on the part of his four uncles for the regency, de. 4 S generated generated into personal hatred, and the assassinations of the principal members of their powerful families, served as the prelude to a terrible civil war. The house of Orleans beheld with chagrin the extinction of its power, while that of the Duke of Furundy seemed to be more consolidated than before. The demise of Philiple-Hard, produced no alteration; his son Jeansans-Peur, immediately sticceeded and placed himself at the head of the regency. A pretended reconciliation concealed for a while that flame of enmity which afterwards burst forth, while the English taking advantage of these intestine divisions carried their armis into France. Who does not bear in mind the too fatal overthrow of the field of Agincourt! France at that period beheld herself overwhelmed with enemies. The English penetrated to Mantes, while the Duke of Burgun. dy determined to treat with Henry V. their king. To prevent this, the Dauphin himself proposed to conclude a peace with him, and in the mean time Jean-sans-Peur is poniarded on the bridge de Monteraux. The queen now formed an alliance with Philip-le-Bon his successor; she also entered into a truce with England. Henry V. soon after espoused Catharine, fifth daughof Charles VI. and assumed the title of regent and heir to the kingdom. In the midst of these events, Charles VI. dies, leaving France a prey to all these horrors; at which epoch the first vo lume closes. : The second exhibits Charles VII. wandering about and almost destitute of an asylum in his own kingdom; notwithstanding this, he finds means to be consecrated at Poitiers, and also to reconquer Mantes and Compeigne: but he receives a check at Cravant. Dunois soon after kills a great number of the English at Montargis; the city of Orleans is besieged, and saved by a prodigy that is to say, by the valour of Joan of Arc, whota Monstrelet terms une capitainesse Amazonne, nomme Jeanne la Pucelle. This astonishing female changes the face of affairs, and by means of her assistance Charles VII. is at length consecrated at Rheims,and retakes all his towns. "The unfortunate end of the heroine just alluded to is well known, and it remains equally an opprobrium to the English who murdered, and the king who did not avenge her judicial assassination." The 3d voluine commences at the truce made with the English in 1444, 7 and continues the recital of the victories of Charles VII, who, according to The observation of the president Hainault, was merely a witness of the wondes of his own reign. Monstrelet while alluding to his amours with Aguês Sorel, seems desirous to insi nite, that his passion for her was strictly legitimate: it is certain, how. ever, that he had three children by that lady. The divisions of the King and Dauphin occupy part of this volume. and the account of the thirteen last years is not written by the pen of Monstrelet. It is likely, however, that bis continuator has profited by some of the materials which the former had prepared relative to the war of the people of Ghent with the Duke of Burgundy; but he scarcely deserves the title of an historian, having sometimes copied from the Grandes Chroniques, and sometimes from Jean Chartier, with more or less fidelity. As to the vignettes those of the first volume are 22 in number. 1. The portrait of the author writing his Chronicles, and by the side of it, the frenzy which seized on Charles VI. in his way to Mons en Bretagne, in 1392. 2. The death of Jean de Montford, Duke of Britany, &c. The vignetles of the 2d volume are 52, consisting: 1. Of the intelligence of the death of Charles VI. 2. Jacques de Harcourt, and R. Laboutville; 3. The destruction of Braque in Hainault; 3. The recapture of Moques in Champagne; 5. The siege of Orleans; 4. The rencounter of the King and the Duke of Bedford, &c. &c. "The dates are precise, the style is bold and simple, and the work announ ces a writer without pretensions, a circumstance that renders the whole more estimable. This publication will ensure him a distinguished rauk among historians; his name will do honour to the records of Cambray, and the recollection of it thus consecrated anew, does equal credit to the zeal and the justice of the Society of Emulation of that city." 2." Histoire du Commerce Bysantin, &c." The History of the Byzantine Commerce, until the Time of the Cru sades, translated from the German of Charles Dietrich Hullmann, by G. J. Oberlin. This is a curious work, which has occupied occupied the labours of the author for many years, and whence we propose to extract certain parts, that cannot fail to be considered curious by the inhabitants of a commercial nation. It is divided into separate periods, and we shall follow the same mode of investigation. PERIOD 1. WESTERN COMMERCE, from the EARLIEST TIMES to the 12th century:-the AVARS, the BULGARIANS, the HUNGA RIANS. called Stourak and Cosmos, conceived the idea of depriving them of the commerce of Pannonia, by taking a circuit round by Thessalonica, and they succeeded by means of a eunuch appertaining to Zantzas, the father of the Emperor Leo, who procured for them the offices of collectors of the customs along the road to Pannonia, and their vexatious and interested conduct soon produced a war that proved fatal to the Greeks.* In 1019 the Bulgarians lost their liberty, and with it their spirit of enterprize, on which the Hungarians carried on the intermediate commerce between Constantinople and Germany until the middle of the 12th century. During this period, they established factories inthe capital of the Greek empire, and had a superb church built for them there; the coins of Byzantium were current in their own country, and they profited greatly by this intercourse. Semlin or Zengme, was one of the principal entrepots, or staple, towns, in consequence of which it flourished. greatly. All these nations who were descended from the Huns, and not the Fins, became successively masters of the trade between Constantinople and the countries situate to the north west of it. The Avars, the first who engaged in the western commerce, occupied the provinces situate on the Danube, between the Ger.nan and Byzantian empires; their intercourse was carried on between Constantinople on one side, and Lorch in Lower Austria on the other; the latter not far from the Danube and the town of Ens, then the see of an archbishop. It thus became the staple where the merchandise of the Greeks and Germans were interchanged. The Avars and Vendes, their neigh. From the 12th Century, towards the bours, who had also some share in this traffic, carried both Greek and oriental commodities thither which bad come from Constantinople to be sent to the Low Countries and the North. "Commerce at once enlightens and adds to the prosperity of a people; but it not unfrequently dazzles nations, and inspires a taste for luxury that proves fatal to them; the history of the Avars furuishes an example of this, for they became so civilized, as to be considered the most accomplished of all the barbarous nations; but this soon degenerated into effeminacy, and they were accordingly subdued by the Bulgarians. When Krem or Krum, the chief of the victorious foe, demanded of his prisoners what was the cause of the decadence of so great a nation? they replied that it proceeded from that degeneracy which always arose out of the spirit of commerce "* The Bulgarians however seem to have followed their example, for they carried on the very same trade, and seemed to have acquired such riches that they excited the jealousy of the Greek merchants. Two of these residing at Constantinople, 445. Suidas, Bulgari, ed. Keister. t. 1. p. PERIOD II. end of the 13th. We are here told that no whole-. sale trade, (commerce en gros), existed between Italy and Germany until to wards the end of the Crusades. Con-, stantinople exported a variety of inerchandise, which passed through Bucharia, Syria, Egypt, and thence to India, and at the same time imported many commoditics from Hungary, Germany,and the Low Countries. The Italian merchants, particularly the Lombards, also carried the merchan dise of the Levant to the fairs of France, Germany, and the Low Couutries. During the 7th century the celebrated fair of St. Denis was visited. by the Lombard merchants; but these were mere retailers, consisting of jew ellers and sellers of spices, who at the same time either exercised the trade of, or accompanied the money-changers, and somewhat resembled the tra velling Milanese, &c. of the present days. Venice indeed carried on an advantageous intercourse with the rest of Italy, but it was not until the end of the 13th century, that Auxbourg and Leo Grammaticus ed. Paris, p. 477, 478. seq. Nurembur |