som, and throwing her arms round his neck, entreated him to leave Hamburgh, and not risk his life by a duel with this wretched parasite, who hoped for eclat and preferment as the reward of his insolence. Your character for courage, my dear Count,' said the artful pleader (who marked the intended suicide, but glanced only at a duel), is too well estab. lished to suffer by your refusing to meet every desperado who may dare to challenge you.' The Count, deceived in thinking Sophia Livernet was deceived, suffered her to return the pistols to the case, whence he had thus taken them. Kissing off the tear that glistened in her bright eyes, the volatile old Nobleman forgot, in the caresses of that fascinating girl, the dreadful purpose he had in view when she entered.,... The accomplishments of Miss Livernet were not confined to her graceful dancing: she had a sweet voice, and was enthusiastically devoted to music. A pedal harp stood in the room, and some music books lay strewed on a table. She took her seat at the harp, and played some plaintive German airs, accompanied by her dulcet voice, that rapidly drove away the melancholy which had filled the Count's bosom, who was a votary of Apollo, as well as of Venus. Fascinated by the skill and pathos of the fair girl, the enraptured Nobleman clasped her in his arms, and said, with vehemence, Sophia! thou art dearer to me than all my possessions beside! Say, my beloved, how can I recompense thee? Speak boldly, for were it to make thee Countess Rantzau, I would not refuse.' Smiling at his gallantry, and perhaps exulting in the power of beauty and music, she said, Promise me, then, upon your word and honour, never more, be your trials what they may, to think of suicide.' The Count was amazed. In a moment he recollected the circumstance of his pistols being unloaded, when he thought to haye found them charged; and he felt that to her vigilance, he was indebted for his life. For some moments he was unable to speak. At last, he said, in a solemn tone, 'I promise thee, noblest of women, never to raise my hand against my life; and if you will accept that hand, thou shalt be my Countess."

"Sophia thanked him for the first part of his promise; and with ineffable sweetness told him, she would rather possess his love as his mistress, than run the risk of being despised as his wife. Reflect, my Lord, said she, upon the ridicule and disgrace you must encounter were you to marry me, and have a tailor for your father-in-law; I should

be cursed as a wicked, cunning jade; and ten to one, if you died first, but your heirs would find means to annul the marriage, and strip me of my fine title! No, my dear Count, I dare not venture to become your wife. Only yesterday morning, dressed as a country girl, with a basket of flowers, I followed amongst three or four blooming lasses into your august presence. Because I had changed the colour of my hair, rouged my cheeks, and learnt my plaat Dicitsch [Low German] pretty well, my sagacious Lord did not know me; yet you gave me the preference; kissed me till I trembled for my rouge; and told me to be at the back door at eight o'clock; and here, your excellency, are the necklace and the ear-rings that you then gave me.' The Count could scarcely believe his eyes, What the devil does all this mean?' said he, 'Were you indeed the flower girl, whose bewitching eyes and well-formed bosom caught my attention?' 'Yes, indeed, my Lord! I am that very girl, over whose virtue you thought to triumph by tempting her avarice-As your mistress, my Lord Count, I can bear these youthful sallies; but as a Countess, I should perhaps trouble you with complaints or remonstrances. I might say, if at twenty years of age, I were content with a lover of threescore, I could not tell why my husband required a dozen flower girls to attend his toilette every morning, and should soon offend you; and shall therefore never accept the honour of being your Countess.' He laughed heartily at her lively wit. No longer thinking of Matilda, the portraits, or of suicide, he that day gave himself up to the fascinating girl, who stepped a minuet more gracefully than any woman in Denmark; and to please the Count, exerted her talents to the utmost. She put on the costume in which the day before she had beguiled him of his trinkets! She sung, she danced, she played; she encouraged him to smoke. He drank a whole bottle of Chateu Margeau. At last he sung some favourite duets with his attractive mistress; and swore that he was still the happiest man alive; and never more would suffer the blue devils to get the upper hand of him." Pp. 207-211.

genious girl, infidelity would be more rare, conjugal happiness would not fluctuate, and their power be supreme, held only by silken chains, yet as strong as adamant!

8. Letters of a Prussian Traveller, interspersed with numerous Personal Anecdotes, descriptive of a Tour through Sweden, Prussia, Austria, Hungary, Istria, the Ionian Islands, Egypt, Syria, Cyprus, Rhodes, the Morea, Greece, Calabria, Italy, the Tyrol, the Banks of the Rhine, Hanover, Holstein, Denmark, Westphalia, and Holland. By John Bramsen, Esq. 2 vols. 8vo. Colburn.

IT appears from the preface to this interesting Work, that the tour in question was accomplished within the short period of two and twenty months, and we fully agree with Mr. Bramsen, who observes in his preface, "when the Reader considers the immense extent of the route, and the importance of many of the places visited, he will not expect that an equally minute description of all should be given." The Work, however, possesses many genuine claims to public patronage, and presents a variety of ingenious remarks and novelties which had escaped the attention of several celebrated travellers who had previously visited the same

scenes.

THE PRINCESS OF WALES. "You must doubtless have heard of a certain illustrious visitant, who this season has chosen Naples for her winter residence, and who, it is understood in the higher circles, is not less pleased with the society of this enchanting capital, than with the attention shewn to her by his Neapolitan Majesty Joachim Murat, who spares no pains to make her abode in his kingdom agreeable. The Queen is said not to be on equally friendly terms with her illustrious guest, the cause of which some attribute to her Majesty's want of hospitality, others to those fanciful whims in which the great are too prone to indulge themselves.

"The palace of the illustrious personage is splendid, and delightfully situated at the Chiaja, and a guard of honour is stationed, by order of the King, at the entrance of her mansion. Her residence in this capital certainly contributes not a little to enliven its society, as she gives dinner parties every day, and a ball once a-week. Mr. Stanhope, Mr. Maxwell, and myself, had the honour of being presented to her by the Honourable Mr.

Craven, who acts as first chamberlain. We were ushered into a spacious and elegant apartment, where we found a large circle, mostly composed of Neapolitan nobility of both sexes, together with some English of distinction.

"I had the honour of dining with this illustrious traveller, and found the society mostly composed of English. Besides those belonging to the establishment, were the Earl and Lady Landaff, the Marquis of Sligo, the Honourable Montague Mathew, Madam Falconnet, Mr. and Mrs. Proctor, Mr. Coffin, Mr. French, and Mr. Sauvayre.

"The ball on the 7th January was particularly splendid, and was attended by the whole court, as well as all the first society in the place. Many English ladies of rank excited general admiration, as well by the beauty of their persons as by the elegance of their manners, in both which particulars they formed a pleasing contrast to the Neapolitan ladies.

"At ten o'clock his Majesty arrived : the Queen was expected, but it was reported that she was prevented from being present by indisposition. Murat was attended by a long retinue of courtiers, all decked out in embroidered coats, to whom he formed a striking contrast, being simply dressed in a plain green coat with white mother-o'-pearl buttons, and a white waistcoat; his shoes were tied with ribband, and he wore no decorations his mustachios were large and black, and his hair hung loose over his shoulders without any powder. Such was the dress of this great sovereign, which it must be confessed was quite in character.

"After he had kissed the hand of the illustrious hostess, he walked about the saloon, and conversed with many of the ladies, particularly with the Duchess de Gallo, whose husband is his prime minister. Lady Landaff and Lady Oxford also drew a large share of his attention. Murat is considered by the ladies as graceful in his manners and studious to please all, and appears to be quite a Chevalier Francois, till he opens his mouth, when the charm is at once dissolved. Vulgar ths seem familiar to him, nor did he restrain himself in the. use of them even when conversing with women of the first rank: so disgusting was this to many present, and even to his suite, that I heard several of them make their remarks upon it.

"A Neapolitan nobleman near me was bold enough to make several ill-natured observations: among the rest he expressed his surprise that a certain illustrious personage should dress à la

Fran

Francoise, and not after the fashion of her own country; he also wondered at her affability in waltzing with strangers. Being desirous of breaking off this conversation, which was neither pleasant nor becoming, I retired to the other side of the saloon, but he soon followed me, and continued his observations. Pray Sir,' said he, is it customary in England for the pages to waltz in company with the illustrious Personages they attend? I am surprized that the young protégé does not dance with a lady of his own age; instead of which he chooses one of the best dancers in the ball-room, without any regard to the disparity of her years."

9. Narrative of an Expedition to explore the River Zaire, usually called the Congo, in South Africa, in 1816, under the direction of Capt. J. H. Tuckey, R. N. To which is (are) added, the Journal of Professor Smith; some general Observations on the Country and its Inhabitants; and an Appendix, containing the Natural History of that Part of the Kingdom of Congo through which the Zaire flows. Published by Permission of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. 4to, pp. 498, and XIV. Plates. Murray.

OF this ill-fated expedition to the Congo, the melancholy catastrophe of which has added so largely to the catalogue of martyrs to the spirit of African discovery,

"It may not, perhaps, be too much to say, that there never was, in this or in any other country, an expedition of discovery sent out with better prospects or more flattering hopes of success, than the one in question; whether it be considered as to the talents and zeal of the persons selected to carry the objects of the voyage into execution, or the preparations that were made for rendering the means of executing it efficient, and for the health and comfort of those who had embarked in it. Yet, by a fatality that is almost inexplicable, never were the results of an expedition more melan choly and disastrous.

"Captain Tuckey, Lieut. Hawkey, Mr. Eyre, and ten of the Congo's crew, Professor Smith, Mr. Cranch, Mr. Tudor, and Mr. Galwey, in all eighteen persons, died in the short space of less than three months which they remained in the river, or within a few days after leaving the river. Fourteen of the above-mentioned were of the party of thirty, who set out on the land journey beyond the cataracts, the other four were attached on board the Congo; two died in the

passage out, and the serjeant of marines at the hospital at Babia, making the total number of deaths amount to 21.

"This great mortality is the more extraordinary, as it appears from Capt. Tuckey's journal that nothing could be finer than the climate, the thermometer never descending lower than 600 of Fahrenheit during the night, and seldom exceeding 760 in the day time; the atmosphere remarkably dry; scarcely a shower falling during the whole of the journey; and the sun sometimes for three or four days not shewing himself sufficiently clear to enable them to get an observation."

The following biographical sketch Professor Smith, Mr. Cranch, Mr. (as well as those of Lieut. Hawkey, Galwey, &c. which we cannot insert) is well worth the Reader's notice:

"James Hingston Tuckey, the youngest son of Thomas Tuckey, esq. of Greenhill, near Mallow, was born in 1776, went to sea in 1791, served on board the Suffolk as Master's-mate at the capture of Trincomallee, when he received a slight wound in his left arm; and assisted at the surrender of Amboyna, famous,' as he observes in a letter to his friends, for Dutch cruelty and English forbearance.' Here, when in the act of firing a gun, it burst, and broke his board,' he writes, I was obliged to offiright arm. Having no surgeon on ciate for myself, and set it in a truly sailor-like fashion, so that in a week after, it was again obliged to be broken, by the advice of the surgeon.' For his exertions in quelling a mutiny which broke out in the Suffolk, bearing the flag of Rear-admiral Rainier, that Officer appointed him acting Lieutenant. While at Madras in a prize, he volunteered into the Sybille, on intelligence being received of the French frigate La Forte, cruizing in the Bay of Bengal: and in the gallant action which ensued, Lieut. Tuckey commanded on the forecastle. In 1799 he was sent with dispatches to Admiral Blankett, then commanding in the Red Sea. Here the excessive heat seems to have laid the foundation of a complaint which never left him. may surprize you (he writes from Bombay) to hear me complain of heat, after six years broiling between the tropicks; but the hottest day I ever felt, either in the East or West Indies, was winter to the coolest one we had in the Red Sea. The whole coast of Araby the Blest, from Babelmandel to Suez, for 40 miles inland, is an arid sand, producing not a single blade of grass, nor affording one drop of fresh water; that which we

It

drank

drank for nine months, on being analyzed, was found to contain a very considerable portion of sea-salt. In the Red Sea, the thermometer at midnight was never lower than 94°, at sun-rise 104°, and at noon 112. In India the medium is 82o, the highest 94°.' On a second visit to this inland sea, he experienced so violent an attack of the liver, and was so much debilitated, that a return to Europe was the only chance of saving his life. His native climate had the desired effect, and in 1802 he was appointed first Lieutenant of the Calcutta, when sent to form an establishment in New South Wales. Here he made several surveys, and particularly one of Port Philip, and on reaching England in 1804, published an account of the voyage. The following year the Calcutta, in bringing home a valuable convoy from St. Helena, was met by the Rochefort squadron, consisting of five sail of the line and two frigates. For the preservation of this convoy Captain Woodriff determined to engage the whole squadron, and maintained a sort of running fight in a direction opposite to the course of the convoy, till he saw it out of danger, and the Calcutta became perfectly unmanageable, and was compelled to surrender. Captain Woodriff, after an imprisonment of 18 months, was exchanged for a French officer of equal rank: but Lieut. Tuckey was kept in confinement till the termination of the war. The Court-martial having most honourably acquitted Capt. Woodriff, his Officers, and ship's company,' the Captain delivered a paper to the Court to the following effect: 'I cannot, Mr. President, and members of this honourable Court, omit to express to you how much I regret that the cap tivity of Lieut. Tuckey, late First Lieut. of his Majesty's ship Calcutta, should be a bar to the promotion he so highly merits; his courage, cool intrepidity, and superior abilities as a seaman and an Officer, entitle him to my warmest gratitude, and render him most worthy of the attention of the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.'

"In 1806, Mr.Tuckey married a fellowprisoner, Miss Margaret Stuart, daughter of the Commander of a ship in the East India Company's service at Bengal. She also had been taken by the Rochefort squadron, on her passage to join her father in India. In vain Mr. Tuckey and his friends exerted themselves in procuring his release, by exchange or otherwise and it was not till after repeated refusals that he even obtained permission, in 1810, for his wife to visit England to look after his conqerns. Her

object accomplished, she procured passports to return to France by way of Morlaix here she was detained, and after six weeks sent back to England. On the advance of the Allied Armies into France in 1814, Mr. Tuckey was ordered to Blois, and, with his too little boys, obliged to travel in the most severe weather, he says, that he ever experienced. His youngest son fell a victim to fatigue and sickness. I had indeed,' says the father, a hard trial with my little boy, for after attending him day and night for three weeks, (he had no mother, no servant, no friend but me to watch over him,) I received his last breath, and then had not only to direct his interment, but also to follow him to the grave, and recommend his innocent soul to his God this was indeed a severe trial, but it was a duty, and I did not shrink from it.' But one still more severe awaited him shortly after his arrival in England; he had the misfortune to lose a fine child, a girl of seven years of age, in consequence of her clothes taking fire, after lingering several days in excruciating agony.

"On account of Mr. Tuckey's meritorious services in the Calcutta, and his sufferings and long imprisonment in France, Lord Melville promoted him, in the year 1814, to the rank of commander; and in the following year, on hearing of the intention of sending an expedition to explore the Zaire, he applied, among several others, to be appointed to that service. His abilities were unquestionable; he was an excellent surveyor, spoke several languages, and during his confinement he had stored his mind with such various knowledge, and had turned his attention so particularly to the subject of nautical discovery and river navigation, that he appeared to be in every respect eligible for the service, and accordingly was entrusted with the command, of which his narrative is the best proof he was not undeserving. His zeal to accomplish the objects of the expedition appears to have been without bounds, and his unwearied exertions evidently brought on his old disorder. He returned to the ships from his river excursion in a state of extreme exhaustion; he had no fever, however, nor pain during the whole of bis illness, from the 17th of September, when he reached the Congo, till the 4th of October, when he expired."

10. Narrative of the Expedition which sailed from England in 1817, to join the South American Patriots; comprising every particular connected with its Formation, History, and Fate;

with Observations, &c. on the real Character of the Contest. By James Hackett, &c. Murray.

WHAT Mr. Fearon has done so effectually for North America, Mr. Hackett has in a great measure performed for South America. He has drawn the veil aside with which interested motives and iniquity had so darkly enveloped the struggle in that country; and, by letting in a ray of light, shewn us the real state of the war, which, we trust, will not be lost upon such of our fellow-citizens as burn with ardour to take a part in this sanguinary and ruthless contest. The matter which relates to those unfortunate Britons who were seduced into an expedition for Venezuela, is peculiar to Mr. Hackett, and now first appears in a tangible shape, though several newspapers, such as "The New Times," " Courier," "Morning Post," and "Times," have occasionally inserted letters, announcing facts similar to those stated by the author.

It is well known to the publick, that there are several recruiting officers, military or civil, belonging to the patriot cause, employed in London in raising supplies of men, and procuring munitions of war for the Insurgents in South America. Among these was, and perhaps is, one Mendez, calling himself the agent for Venezuela, by whose misrepresentations and pro mises our unhappy com-patriots were induced to embark in this service. Mr. Hackett, who does not seem previously to have been a soldier, was engaged to go as First Lieutenant in a brigade of artillery commanded by a Col. Gilmore: he was to equip himself, but to be remunerated with 200 dollars on landing in Spanish America; and was to receive the same pay and allowance as in the British service. Two advantages appear to be gained by the Independents by such arrangements: in the first place they procure a reinforcement of men ; and in the second, either by the natural death or murder of these men, they at least obtain a supply of clothes, of which they are dreadfully in want. All this Don Mendez well knew, though he gave his guarantee for the performance of the stipulated conditions, exciting hopes which were never to be realised, and vouching for

the observance of conditions, the fulfilment of which he was aware was impracticable. By such means not fewer than five distinct corps of British volunteers were at this period persuaded to sail for South America to join the insurgent General Bolivar.

The first of these, to which Mr. Hackett belonged, was the brigade of artillery, commanded by Col. Gilmore, consisting of five light sixpounders and one howitzer, 10 officers, and 80 non-commissioned officers and men. Their equipments were complete, their stores most ample and abundant, and their uniform superb and rich. The latter extravagance was indeed common to all the corps; and it is not at all improbable that the vanity of the victims was often excited in this direction, in order that their personal spoils might be of greater value to the vile associates with whom they were inveigled to unite.

The second corps was called Venezuelan Hussars; it was under the command of a Col. Hippesley, and consisted of 30 officers, and 160 rank and file.

The third was also hussars, to be called Red: its command devolved on a Col. Wilson, and it consisted of 20 officers and 200 men.

The fourth was a rifle corps, its Colonel's name Campbell, and its force 37 officers, and about 200 men.

The fifth and last was a corps of lancers under Col. Skeene, and consisted of about 220 individuals; all of whom perished in the wreck of the Indian transport off Ushant, within a few days of their fatal embarkation.

The round numbers amount to about 860 British subjects, who, together with artisans of various descriptions, armourers with a cargo of musketry, a printer with materials for printing, &c. left England in December 1817, on this futile and perilous enterprise. The ships were appointed to rendezvous at St. Thomas's and St. Bartholomew's, where the persous engaged might ascertain accurately the state of affairs on the Continent before they proceeded thither to disembark.

The Author is a little full of self at setting out; but as his feelings at leaving his friends cannot interest the feelings of our Readers, we shall pass