Just as the officers mounted their horses,
they were all taken suddenly ill, in conse-
quence of swallowing some deleterious
drug, which had been infused into their
coffee, by a Frenchman who kept the house
where they were quartered. The fellow
had a cup of the same mixture poured
down his throat, though sorely against his
will; but this was the only punishment
inflicted upon him, as the occupation of the
moment, and other serious concerns, pre-
vented a further investigation of the atro-
cious act.
p. 122.

would little edify our readers, but we
The history of seiges and assaults
think it
proper that our pages should
contain one evidence of the atrocious
barbarity of the Malays and Arabs at
Palimbang.

tragic fate of his friend, and of the horrors which Col. Gillespie commanded the that were still prevailing. No time was to principal attack, and evinced his chabe lost; and, therefore, collecting imme-racteristic promptitude, decision, judgdiately about a troop of the nineteenth dragoons, and ordering the galloper guns ment, and personal courage. On the occa to follow with all speed, he hastened for- sion of a previous attack on the posiward with the utmost eagerness. So anxtion of Weltervreeden, ious, indeed, was he to reach the place, that he was considerably in advance of his men all the way; and on his appearance, Serjeant Brodie, who had served with him in St. Domingo, instantly recognized him, and turning to his drooping comrades, he exclaimed, "If Colonel Gillespie be alive, he is now at the head of the nineteenth dragoons, and God Almighty has sent him from the West Indies to save our lives in the East." It was indeed, in all respects, such a display of divine goodness, as could hardly fail to kindle in the most thought less mind a ray of devotional gratitude, while hope was pointing out a prospect of deliverance. Urged on by the noblest of all motives, that of saving his fellow-creatures, the Colonel, regardless of his own safety, and in the face of a furious fire poured upon him from the walls, pushed towards the bastion, where a chain, formed Tremendous battlements, with immense of the soldiers' belts, being let down by gates, leading from one vast area to anothe serjeant, the latter had the indiscrib-ther, received the small party, and preable satisfaction of welcoming a leader from whom he ki ew every thing might be expected that energy and perseverance could accomplish. Immediately, on assuming the command, the lieutenant-colonel formed the resolution of charging the mutineers with the bayonet, which he car- While they were in this dreadful situa. ried into execution, and thus kept them in tion, a Malay, who had passed through check till the arrival of the galloper guns, the crowd, approached the colonel, and when orders were given to blow open the was walking close by his side, when a gate, which being promptly done, the dra-large double-edged knife was secretly put goons entered, and a short but severe con- into his hands by one of his countrymen. flict ensued. The sepoys were encouraged It was a dark, stormy night, and a ray of to make a desperate stand by their offi- lightning, at the very instant when the felcers; but, after losing about six hundred, low was pushing the knife up his loose who were cut in pieces on the spot, the sleeve for concealment, discovered the rest fled in all directions. The standard weapon to the keen eye of the colonel, of Tippoo had been hoisted on the palace who, turning round, had the man seized, soon after the dreadful business commenc. and thus happily frustrated the murderous ed, which left no doubt of its being pro-intent. The weapon was found, but the jected with the knowledge of the princes. Malay contrived, by mingling with the pp. 96-108. crowd, to effect his escape. The long experience of Col. Gillespie The palace exhibited a melancholy mixin the West Indies, was of great utility ture of cruelty and devastation, surpassing to him in the management of his men in that which had already met the eve. the East Indies: and this gave him a Murder had here been succeeded by rapine; and while the place was completely raugreat advantage in prosecuting the attack on Java, in which his conduct sacked, the floors were literally clotted with gore. On every side the most woewas conspicuous. The most impor-ful spectacles were to be seen, and they tant operation of the army under the command of Sir Samuel Auchmuty was the storming the lines of Cornelis, in

sented to them the frightful spectacle of human blood, still reeking and flowing on the pavement. The massy gates closed upon them, and the ensanguined courtyards through which they passed appeared like a passage to a slaughter-house.

were rendered still more awful by the glare of the surrounding conflagration, and vivid gleams of lightning which flashed

amidst rolling peals of thunder. The de-jor General gave orders that the troops vouring flames, which continued to spread should branch off on each side, and he took destruction, in spite of the rain that poured the lead, thus striving, by his great and down in torrents, had now reached the energetic example, to turn the fortune of outer buildings of the palace, and threat- the day. Affairs were at this moment in a ened the quarter where the English party most desperate state; and the resolution of had taken their station. The crackling of the commander to head his troops in perbamboos, resembling the discharge of son, though perhaps, not strictly conformmusketry-the tumbling in of burning able to ordinary rules, and common cases, roofs, with a tremendous crash--and the was indispensibly necessary in that critical near approach of the fire, added to the sur- posture of the assault. The General was rounding danger of a hostile multitude, al- fully aware of the difficulty which pressed together, gave a fearful aspect to the con- upon him and though he was as free from dition of our little band, which consisted reproach as from fear, he could not, cononly of seventeen grenadiers, the officers sistent with his sense of professional duty, already mentioned, and a few seamen suffer his troops to bear a greater share of Having carefully reconnoitered by torch-personal danger than himself. He was of light the interior of the palace-court, and opinion that the fort might be taken by ordered all the avenues, except one, to be assault, and his plan was well digested for barricadoed, Colonel Gillespie placed the that purpose; but when he saw that the grenadiers at the principal entrance, and valour and fortitude of the soldiers with the strictest guard was preserved. Soon whom the attack lay, had suffered an unafter midnight Major Trench, with about fortunate depression, in consequence of the sixty men of the eighty-ninth regiment arformidable difficulties that were opposed rived; and the remaining part of the ad- to them, he resolved to set them an exvance, under Lieutenant-Colonel M'Leod, ample of impulsive forwardness, in the joined the little garrison early in the morn-hope that their efforts would be crowned ing. Thus, an unprecedented act of daring enterprise, judiciously conceived, and rapidly executed, gained the possession of the fort and batteries, defended by two hundred and forty-two pieces of canuon, without the loss of a man.

with success on the coming up of the other divisions to their support. Obstacles and dangers which appal the courage of others only tended to quicken his spirit, and to stimulate him to exertious corresponding with his declaration on leaving the batte ries, "that he would take the fort, or lose his life in the attempt."

pp. 156–161. His loss, and that ofmany other valuable officers was occasioned by the deterThis devoted heroism had the effect of mined resistance of the Goorkahlees; reanimating the troops, who, being thus he fell before the fort of Kalunga Oc-led on, moved forward with alacrity to tober 25, 1814.

make another attempt: but while the Gecheering his men and calling them on, neral was waving his hat and sword, within a few paces of the wall, he was shot through the heart, and instantly expired,

Nothing could surpass the gallantry of the King's Royal Irish (dismounted Dragoons), who took the lead in the storm; but after penetrating to the wicket of the stockade, they were obliged Thus, in the exuberance of his zeal for to retire, for the want of immediate sup; the service, and in a total disregard of his port. The troops, however, still continued personal safety, fell this exalted and inestito maintain their position with cool intre-mable character, a little before twelve pidity, keeping up a heavy though useless o'clock, and when our troops had been fire of musketry: but at length shewing more than an hour within thirty yards of an inclination to retire, positive orders were the walls. sent to hold possession of the stockade uutil the party could be reinforced. But, unfortunately for those who had to endure a painful and unequal struggle in this quarter, the two columns under Major Kelly and Captain Fast, on the other side, did not hear the signal; and thus the relief which their presence would have af forded did not arrive when it was wanted. From a wicket, before which one of the six-pounders had been placed, a heavy fire was maintained; to avoid which, the Ma

this fatal catastrophe, the next senior offi
All hopes of success being destroyed by
cer, on being made acquainted with it, im-
mediately ordered a retreat, and the whole,
with the guns of the batteries, returned to
the camp.
pp. 229-233.

The work is written in an interesting style, and will fully repay the perusal of the attentive reader. It would have been more complete if more illustra tive plates had been annexed.

before us, with equal attention to proThe City of the Plague, and other bability, displays dead carts, churchPoems. By John Wilson. Author of yards, graves newly opened, and pits the Isle of Palms. London, Longman for the reception of the multitude. If & Co. 8vo. pp. 229. 10s. 6d. 1816. subjects of this kind succeed, our bills LUCIEN chose to sing the triumphs and we may expect to see Dropsy, Feof mortality will be ransacked for plots, of the Gout, and the pensive muse of Henry Kirke White selected Consump-train of bilious and nervous disorders, ver, Atrophy, and a long and nameless tion, as the power at whose shrine the crowding round the Muses; and urging most interesting victims are called too their claims to distinction amid the suboften to make untimely sacrifice of their jects immortalized by the lyre. youth and genius; thus chaunting with mournful prescience, a requiem over his own rare abilities. But all diseases to which the frame of man is liable, all calamities which may shake the reason that gives him pre-eminence in creation, all the evils of his wild ambition, which tart the fairest parts of that creation into a desert, all fade into insignificance compared with the destructive pesti lence, that poisons the very earth herself, depopulates her cities, and leaves the few survivors friendless and forlorn. The wild instinctive terrors of such a subject accord but ill with the loftier strain of poetry,, which ought never to dwell with physical evils. It is the emotions of mind, not sufferings of the body, which the fine arts ought to delight in delineating. The statue of the dying Gladiator would not have excited the admiration of succeeding ages, if the pain arising from his wounds had been the predominant feeling expressed in his attitude, rather than his resignation to what he deemed an honourable death. The dignity of Laocoon, the beauty of Niobe, find the way to our hearts, expressly because they retain the majesty and beauty of form, amidst all their agonising sufferings. will Ponssia's Plague at Athens, im-ed appearance, who carries in his arms part that pleasure to the observer, which his exhibitions of classic elegance and romantic scenery universally in spire.

Nor

Beaumont and Fletcher composed a play having mental derangement for its

theme: all the characters are

conversation between Frankfort and WilThe City of the Plague opens with a mot, two naval officers, who are walking on the banks of the Thames, in the vicinity of Westminster Abbey, at the hour of afternoon prayers. No sound is heard--the clock, with immoveable "of organs peal, or choral symphony" finger, seems in the face of day." Frankfort, fearing "to speak of midnight for the fate of his mother, affectingly contrasts his feelings at that moment, with what they were when he took leave of her, buoyant in hope. O unrejoicing Sabbath! not of yore, Did thy sweet evenings die along the Thames Thus silently! now every sail is furl'd, The oar has dropt from out the rower's hand, And on thou flow'st in lifeless majesty, River of a desert lately fill'd with joy! O'er all that mighty wilderness of stone The air is clear and cloudless as at sea Above the gliding ship. All fires are dead, And not one single wreath of smoke ascends Above the stillness of the towers and spires. How idly hangs that arch magnificent, Across the idle river! not a speck Is seen to move along it. There it hangs, Still as a rainbow, iu the pathless sky.

The entrance of an old man of wretch

an infant, the sole survivor of his race, the many images in Mr. Wilson's poems suspends this monody. This is one of which harrows up rather than affects the soul. Yet there is much fine poe try in the old man's plaints, and in his description of the overwhelming pro gress of the disorder which had reduced to silence the mighty sound

"Touch'd with a beam of madness." and, of course, the property man is laid under large contributions for shac- "As of a raging river, day and night kles and chains, straw and tattered gar-Triumphing through the city-'twas the voice ments. The spectacle part in the drama Of London sleepless in magnificence."

VOL. V. No. 26. Lit. Pan. N, S. Nov. 1.

K

The second scene introduces an Astrologer, who taking advantage of the despondency of the people, to turn their credulity to account, pours forth a number of lamentable predictions which hasten the death of the susceptible and weak, while he himself, struck with the plague sinks in the midst of them. The third scene brings before us a beautiful character, in Magdalene, the object of Frankfort's affection, who like an angel of mercy hovers round the sick bed, supports the afflicted, and fearless of danger to herself, seeks only to disarm death of its terrors to others. She has travelled from Cumberland, with her

cart fearlessly and exultingly, up to the vast pit, which only he had the courage to approach, requires a degree of firmness of nerve to delineate, which almost leads the fancy to imagine it sees the writer himself employed in the office.

In his cast of thought, in his phraseology, and manner, Mr. Wilson has evidently copied our early dramatists. As he has many of their beauties, we would pardon him some of their faults; but faults which arise from imitation, require only to be pointed out, to become more than doubly offensive, if voluntarily persisted in afterwards. With the poetry of this performance, we should imagine, not the most splenetic critic can find occasion to quarrel. The versification is, in general, correct and good; the figures are exquisitely beautiful; a virtuous train of sentiment pervades the whole, with a vigour of description, where opportunity for it oc

curs, which

proves

could do well in

parents, to see the Metropolis, they are
seized with the plague in its very com-
mencement, and she is left alone in the
solitude of the city: entering the ca-
thedral, to perform her devotions, she
is followed by a ruffian, who struck with
her piety, relents from his purpose and
most strangely confesses to her a tissue
of iniquitous practices, which he and
his comrades have been guilty of; but
which, in this, as well as in some other
parts of the poem, would have been
better cast into shade. History suffi-
ciently vouches for the melancholy fact
that public calamity has generally been
attended with private depravity. The
state of society in Europe after the
plague in 1346; the famous four thieves
of Marseilles, who ransomed their lives
with the secret of their vinegar; the
demoralization to use her own favourite
term, of France, during the bloodiest
periods of the revolution, the total loss.
of feeling, the shameless selfishness.
conspicuous in the inhabitants of all
countries, which have long been the
Then goes the broken hearted mariner
seat of war, sufficiently attest that there
Back to the sea, that welters drearily
is in human nature so strong an antipa-Around the charmless earth !
thy to misery, that the heart becomes
callous after experiencing a certain de-
gree of agony. Who else could act the
part of those furies who track the field
of battle to strip the wounded and the
dying, of their poor remains of shelter
from the pitiless chills of night. But
Mr. Wilson dwells upon horrors until
we call in question the sensibility which
can thus familiarise itself with them.
The image of an Ideot Negro, grinning
from ear to ear, and driving the dead-

that the author
some impassioned
things, if he shook off a little of that
almost exclusive attachment to still life,
whence arise so many beauties, and so ma-
my defects. The death of Frankfort's mo-
ther, and infant brother, is beautifully
described; and the affectionate sailor's
grief, on hearing of the misfortune he
had anticipated, is very affecting.
O, tis the curse of absence that our love,
Becomes too sad, too tender, too profound,
Towards all our far-off friends-home we
return,

And find them dead for whom we often wept,
Needlessly wept, when they were in their joy!

It would be easy to give instances of the striking beauty of our author's poetry, where the milder affections of the soul are concerned; resignation, love, contemplation, sympathy, have in him an eloquent interpreter, but we wish to confine ourselves chiefly to the points connected more immediately with the maiu subject. An old priest, after giving a heart-rending account to Wilmot of the breaking out of the disorder, and

and

Antiquarische Reise, &c. Antiquarian Travels in the Island of Fionia. By R. Nyerup. 8vo. Seidelin, Copenhagen.

THE intention of the learned Professor in undertaking this excursion, was to throw light on those antiquities which the island of Fionia or Fyen contains. in 1811 and 1812 Professor Vedel Simonson had preceded this author in his researches, but the objects discovered and collected by him had not yet arrived at the Museum of Antiquities at Copenhagen. Professor Nyerup first visited Odensee, the capital of the island, where