attention to literary pursuits, and the study of the finest models. Let our youth become more conversant with the best Latin, Greek, English and French classics, and they will cease to take pleasure in meretricious ornaments, and will contract a relish for genuine beauty.

In some respects, these panegyrics generally deserve our candid and unqualified approbation. With but a few inconsiderable exceptions, we find in them not even a tincture of the bitterness and rancour of party spirit, and perhaps as little feeling of resentment and hostility, as could be reasonably expected, against that nation, with which we had to sustain so severe a struggle, and our contest with which, gave rise to all those events in the lives of our illustrious presidents, that form the materials of their panegyrics. In almost all cases, we discover none but manly sentiments, conciliatory language, and enlarged and liberal views of things. We cannot but most cordially congratulate our fellow-citizens, upon this auspicious and beneficial change in public sentiment. May it long continue! The Republic has now passed through the stormy period of the revolutionary war, and the no less hazardous season, which was devoted to laying the foundation of our government, and settling the great principles of the constitution; and has at length arrived at a state of enviable peace and prosperity. Let it henceforth be the effort of every true patriot, casting aside all narrow prejudices, and contemning all party distinctions, to keep his eye steadily fixed upon the permanent interests of his country, and towards the promotion of these, to direct his zealous wishes and unwearied endeavours. In regard to all other nations, we should undoubtedly adhere to the maxim, which has been so often repeated;-in war let us hold them as enemies, in peace as friends. And even in reference to that powerful nation, from whom we wrested our independence, surely, at this late period, all illiberal prejudices, and useless animosities, should be extinguished.

ART. IV.-Historical Researches on the Wars and Sports of the Mongols and Romans; in which Elephants and wild Beasts were employed or slain: and the remarkable local Agreement of History with the Remains of such Animals found in Europe and Siberia. With a Map and ten Plates. By JOHN RANKING. Resident upwards of twenty years in Hindostan and Russia. London, 1826. 4to. pp. 516.

A DISPOSITION to generalize from slight premises is ever injurious to the human mind, and retards the advancement of knowledge in proportion to the plausibility of the data assumed, and the amount of labour to be saved by the conclusions. To follow the course indicated by Lord Bacon, of first carefully examining all facts, directly and collaterally affecting the inquiry, and then with equal caution to deduce conclusions therefrom, il accords with the excursive vigour of genius, or the ardour of enthusiasm, which delight in displays of brilliance and power, that excite and lead captive the imagination, though reason may be dissatisfied, and judgment unconvinced. Men are exceedingly ready to adopt opinions, yet few recollect that those only have a right to form them, who have fully investigated the subjects to which they refer: he, therefore, who is desirous of obtaining numerous immediate supporters, has an easy task to accomplish, if he will but seize on some striking special instances as the basis of a comprehensive doctrine, which at once dispenses with minute research, and all the fatigue of observing and comparing multitudes of facts.

In adopting this method, the author of the work before us has been eminently successful. We feel indebted to him for much amusing and instructive matter, industriously accumulated, and detailed with conciseness and perspicuity. That he has failed in deciding us to adopt the conclusions his researches are intended to establish, arises not from want of ingenuity or zeal on his part, but from the nature of the subject, which involves far more than he appears to have been aware of, and demands of the investigator a vast fund of knowledge, essentially different from what would be an ample qualification for the collection and comparison of historical documents.

Naturalists have long since been compelled, by the peculiar character and mass of the evidence, to believe that great numbers of the bones exhumed in various regions belonged to species of animals which have been for ages extinct. Mr. Ranking has revived the often urged opinion, that these bones pertained

to animals of species still existing: the object of his researches. is, to prove that they may have belonged to animals which were killed during the destructive wars, or grand hunting matches of the Mongolian sovereigns, or else, that they were slaughtered in amphitheatres for the public amusement by the Roman emperors and generals. To support his views, he sets forth the extent and resources of the Mongol dominion; the grandeur, wealth, and power of its sovereigns; the vast size of their armies, and the multitudes of elephants employed by them in their terrible battles. He then gives an account of the Roman wars, and sports with elephants and wild beasts, which is followed by a history of Roman Britain, ending A. D. 427. Independent of all theory, these historical researches are highly interesting; making us acquainted with singular peculiarities of government and society, and exhibiting in their eventful vicissitudes the impotence of mere physical force to sustain and perpetuate dominion. To render the merits of the work, in this respect more calculable, we shall endeavour to sketch from it some of the most interesting particulars, previous to entering upon an examination of the partial and restricted views the author has taken of fossil organic remains.

Among the once powerful empires which have sunk into comparative oblivion, for want of that immortalization which the pen of the historian or poet alone can bestow, the Mongolian may be considered as one of the most remarkable. Notwithstanding the sources of information relative to it, are few and often of somewhat doubtful authority, and due allowances are always to be made for the hyperbolism of oriental writers, the credulity of European travellers, and the prejudices of the ingenious author who has collected and compared their statements, enough will remain to convince us of the immense power and wealth of the successive despots who once spread terror over northern Asia.

The bloody victories of Genghis Khan first rendered the Mongols terrible to other nations, and gave their name some importance in history. Their native country was the north and south sides of the chain of mountains near Nertshingk in Siberia, known as the Altai, or Golden Mountains. This country, rich in pastures, horses, and cattle, afforded a comparatively easy subsistence to men accustomed to an erratic mode of life, whose chief dependence was the produce of their herds.

In their dealings with each other, the Mongols are represented as mild, affectionate, and just, but towards their enemies they displayed the most savage cruelty and barbarous injustice,

as the following instance, given by our author from Petit de la Croix, will sufficiently show:

"In 1221, Genghis besieged the city of Bamian in Zabulistan, belonging to Gelaleddin, king of Carisme. Towers of wood were built to command the city; wild fire was used. Every day as many cows and horses were killed as would provide Genghis with fresh hides to cover over his towers, to preserve them from being burnt by the fire cast from the walls. In the midst of the havoc, news arrived of Gelaleddin having defeated a Mongol army near Gazna. Genghis swore in his rage that the city of Bamian, and the sultan himself should give him satisfaction. One of his grandsons, during this fury, exposed himself to please the emperor, and was killed by an arrow shot over the walls of the city; he fell dead at the emperor's feet; he was prince Octai's son. The emperor, who tenderly loved him, was mollified; he groaned and mixed his tears with those of the mother, who, in a state of distraction, wept over and bathed the body of her dead son with her tears. The grand khan, recovering somewhat from his sorrow, endeavoured to comfort his lady, and left to her discretion the punishment of the inhabitants when the city should fall. He lavished gold and silver on his soldiers, and at last the walls were ruined and the city taken. The mother of the young prince, entering with the Mongol soldiers, could not be satisfied with the murders, but spared neither age nor sex. Not a single person was left alive. Even this dire revenge did not assuage her, but with the undistinguishing ferociousness of a brute, by the order of this affectionate mother, the beasts and every living creature were killed! The mosques and houses demolished, and the city reduced to a heap of ruins, which thenceforth bore the name of Naubalig-the Unfortunate Dwelling."

Such treatment of the vanquished was nearly as common as the victories of the khan or emperor. Warring on neighbouring nations solely for the purpose of subjecting them to his power, and restrained by nothing but his own will, the caprices or passions of the sovereign were sufficient motives for the subjugation of such as were obnoxious to his pride. Himself considered as the supreme disposer of the lives and property of his people, the most abject submission to his orders pervaded every part of his immense army, each individual of which considered it a glory to peril his life or lose it for the honour or pleasure of his lord. Plundering every country through which their desolating march was extended, it is not surprising that vast wealth should be accumulated, where so many populous cities were sacked, and the people slaughtered and enslaved, to swell the hosts of the triumphant conqueror, on whose banner, va victis! might well have been inscribed.

The history of Timougin, who afterwards took the name of Genghis Khan, is little better than a record of bloody and exterminating battles. The army was divided into tomans of ten thousand, regiments of one thousand, companies of one hundred, and smaller parties of ten; the emperor or khan headed the army in person, while the princes, his sons, commanded the different divisions. Acting thus under the immediate inspection of a father, renowned for personal valour no less than generalship, it is not surprising that the sons should display their utmost skill and bravery, or that a similar spirit of emulation should pervade the whole of the inferior officers and troops. In one of Genghis Khan's battles with Mehemed, king of Carisme and Persia, his army is stated to have contained seven hundred thousand troops, while the forces of Mehemed were four hundred thousand in number. This vast force joined battle at a place called Carecon, near the Sihon, and after an engagement which lasted throughout the day, each party withdrew, leaving one hundred and sixty thousand men wounded and slain. The unfortunate king of Persia, after numerous reverses, and the loss of the cities of Bochara, Samarcand, Merou, Herat, and Nishabour, perished miserably while fleeing before Genghis, in a tent on the desert island of Abiscon. Previous to his decease he exclaimed, "how uncertain a dwelling is this world! Is it possible, that of my immense territories, no more remains but two cubits' length to receive my body !" The power of Genghis was now become irresistible. After many sieges and slaughters, the western part of Carisme was added to the Mongol empire. In the city of Nishabour, neither house nor mosque was left standing, while the most horrible slaughter was made of the inhabitants, of whom, it is stated, the incredible number of one million seven hundred thousand Carismeans were butchered in the city and surrounding country! In order to keep his soldiers in action during winter, while the prosecution of war was suspended, this "mighty hunter" of men, Genghis Khan, ordered an imperial hunt. The emperor's eldest son, Touschi Khan, master huntsman of the empire, being absent, his lieutenant was ordered to prepare the chase. The troops were led on by their officers according to the laws of hunting, and ranged round the space encompassed by the emperor's order, in the manner of a thick hedge, sometimes doubling the ranks about the circle which the huntsman had appointed. The officers reminded the troops that their lives would be forfeited by letting the beasts escape from the ring, which was a great number of leagues in circumference, enclosing numerous groves and woods with all their animals.