LITERARY INTELLIGENCE. RUSSIAN HISTORY. The Russian Empire promises to become more correctly known to the other nations in Europe, by the publication of two histories at the same time, both of them written by men eminently qualified for the task. The first is by the learned and accomplished Professor Ewers, in Dorpat. Of this history only one volume is published, beginning with the earliest ages, and coming down to the reign of Peter the Great. The work is written with the freedom that becomes history. The second history is the long expected great work of the celebrated Karamsin. It is well known that the author has been supported, encouraged, and rewarded by Imperial munificence; it is also known that all sources were accessible to him, and that with a great knowledge of his native language, he combines fine taste and indefatigable application. Of this work, eight volumes are published. The eighth volume brings the history down to the year 1560. Foreigners will probably be of opinion that the historian has dwelt too long upon some parts, but his own countrymen will certainly not reproach him with this fault. We must add, that the author suffers the narrative to proceed without interruption, and places the very numerous historical Wednesday, 27—Thermometer from 44 to 66. documents in an appendix to each volume. Barometer from 30, 50 to 30, 43. -We understand that a German translation Wind NE. and N. -Cloudy till nine, when is now preparing. it became clear, and remained so the rest of the day. METEOROLOGICAL JOURNAL. MAY. Thursday, 21-Thermometer from 43 to 58. Mercury is now scarcely discernible, and the planet Venus is becoming a beautiful object in the NW. soon after sunset. Barometer from 30, 37 to 30, 39. clear and remained so the rest of the day. Chaffer Wind NE. 3.-Cloudy till ten, when it became Edmonton, Middlesex. or May bug (scarabæus mololontha) flying about this evening. Friday, 22--Thermometer from 35 to 60. Barometer from 30, 42 to 30, 44. Wind NE. and E. 4.-The early part of the morning cloudy, the rest of the day quite clear. Saturday, 23-Thermometer from 39 to 58. Barometer from 30, 50 to 30, 48. Wind NE. and E. 4.-Cloudy till ten, when it became quite clear. Sunday, 24-Thermometer from 37 to 64. Monday, 25-Thermometer from 41 to 63. Barometer from 30, 52 to 30, 47. Wind EbN. -Cloudy till about noon, when it became clear, and remained so the rest of the day. Tuesday, 26-Thermometer from 44 to 66. Wind E. and NE. .-Clear. Latitude 51. 37. 32. N. Longitude 3.51. W. JOHN ADAMS. TO CORRESPONDENTS. An Old Soldier afforded us great pleasure, but our wish to be very moderate on Religious subjects inclines us to confine his strong and humorous poem against Methodism to private perusal. We shall hand it over to the party designated, and trust that our able Correspondent will oblige us with his future favours. We are sorry we cannot insert the Letter from Yoxford. Personal as well as party bickerings are excluded from our pages. As he re-asserts his claim to having mude the discoveries in the British Mosses (see No. 58, of the Literary Gazette) equally with the friend of Mr. Hooker, we shall only say Let both divide the crown. BENSLEY and SONS, Bolt Court, Fleet Street. AND Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Politics, etc. No. 72. REVIEW OF NEW BOOKS. SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 1818. Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816; undertaken by order of the French Government: comprising an Account of the Shipwreck of the Medusa, &c. 8vo. pp. 360. THE fatal wreck of the Medusa, and a series of horrors almost unparalleled in the history of human sufferings which ensued thereafter, are generally known through the medium of the newspapers, which at the time were filled with the circumstances of that dreadful story, and of the Quarterly Review, which gave so excellent an analysis of the first edition of the work in our title. We should therefore have abstained from our present subject, had not this new edition brought to light some curious facts relative to the interior of Western Africa, and the French establishment at Senegal, and furnished topics of scarcely inferior interest to those which have already attracted such universal regard. By the treaties of 1814-15, the French settlements from Cape Blanco to the Gambia were restored to that country, and the Medusa and three other vessels sailed to take possession of the cession in June 1816. On the 24 of July the Medusa stranded with 400 souls on board. The recital of the ignorance and misconduct which led to this catastrophe, are in the French style, but sufficiently natural to convey an afflicting picture of the consternation which ensued. On the 5th, the Frigate having broken in two, about 150 persons embarked on board a raft which had been prepared; 35 were put on board the barge; 42 in another boat; 28 in the captain's barge; SS in the long-boat; 15 in the smallest boat; and 25 in an eight-oared boat, which was to be left for the service of the port at Senegal. Seventeen poor wretches were left to their fate in the wreck, of whom only three survived when a vessel came to their rescue. The boats soon forsook the raft, which became the theatre of the desperation and wickedness and misery so well known to the public Only fifteen souls remained at the end of thirteen days, the rest being either swept off by the sea, destroyed in contests VOL. II. PRICE 1s. for sustenance, or thrown overboard by Their manner of cleaning them is re- The poor traveller was stripped of over the barren desert. But the ad ventures of two of the sixty-three before The horses and camels were in a separate place, and the whole flock was on the after the wreck. Of the customs and appearance of this tribe They observed that the children imperiously command their fathers and mothers; but especially the latter, who never oppose their inclinations.-The Moors are, in every respect, much superior to the negroes: braver than they are, they reduce them to slavery, and employ them in the hardest labour. They are in general tall and well made, and their faces are very handsome, and full of expression. There seemed, however, to be two distinct races of Moors; one of a nobler aspect, and the other smaller, with different features. They hunt lions, tigers, leopards, and all other ferocious animals, which abound in this part of Africa. Their commerce is in furs or skins, and ostrich feathers: they manufacture the leather called basil, in French basane, which they prepare very well: they make this leather into pocket books. They also dress goat-skins with the dried pods of the gumniferous acacia, so as to afford when joined together, not only a complete defence against the rain, but a beautiful species of dress. Goldsmith's work is performed by tra velling workmen with a hammer, little | anvil, and bellows resembling the bag of a bagpipe. These also are the armourers. But their chief commerce, which is very extensive, is in salt, which they carry to Tombuctoo, and to Sego, large and very populous cities, situated in the interior of Africa. Sego (adds our author) is built on both sides of the river Niger, and Tombuctoo not far from its banks, the former about 500, and the latter about 600 leagues east of the island of Goree. The Marabous (priests) who are almost all traders, frequently extend their journeys into Upper Egypt. We should have been glad if this in formation had been somewhat more precise, and the sources whence it was derived, particularly stated. King Zaide was of a lofty stature, had an open countenance, and three large teeth in the upper jaw, on the left side, which projected at least two lines over the under lip, which the Moors consider as a great beauty. He was armed with a large sabre, a poniard, and a pair of pistols; his soldiers had zagayes, or lances, and little sabres in the Turkish fashion. The king has always at his side his faithful negro, who wears a necklace of red pearls (beads, we suppose) and is called Billai. Zaide received the two whites kindly He ordered Mr. Kummer to relate to him the events of the last French revolution; he was already acquainted with those of the first. His majesty pretended to administer the laws with the utmost justice and impartiality; as a proof of which he related an anecdote of two of his princes This pamphlet has excited so much of whom are Mahometans. It is placed on the illustrious Viewing the question, as we think his Lordship must have done, we con sider his argument as well founded. The passage of the letter shewn to him was either an assurance of safety, or nothing; and as it is impossible that fighting a duel (legal in Africa) in this moment!--- The leaves, when dried, Marinet could be considered from the are converted into the powder lalo, with which his personal friend was thrown which the natives season almost all their down and stabbed to death in his pre- food. They employ the roots medicinally sence, without his interfering. The inwardly, and its gummy bark for disorders whites were soon conducted safely to in the breast,-they make cataplasms of the St. Louis, and we have rather too much parenchyma of the trunk for cutaneous of the personal complaints of the authors, diseases, they use the pulp of its fruit as who accuse the French officers, the an astringent beverage, they regale themselves with its almonds,-they smoke the English governor, and their own go- calyx of its flowers instead of tobacco, vernment at home, with the greatest and often by dividing into two parts the gloacrimony, paying only a grateful tri-bulous capsules, and leaving the long woody bute to poor Major Peddie, and Mr. Campbell, who succoured these unfor'tunate men previous to setting out on their own fatal expedition. Towards the close of the volume there is a brief but good account of the settlement at Senegal, with a portion of which we conclude our remarks on this unequal, ill-translated, sometimes tiresome, always thoroughly Frenchified, but yet, from its matter, very interesting work. stalk fixed to one of the halves, which be- or ladle. Thus does one astonishing tree serve for residence, food, drink, medicine, household utensil, and luxuries of several kinds. But we have copied enough to shew, that besides the appalling narrative of the wreck of the Medusa, and of the conduct of the human serpents which issued from her, readers will find much to gratify them in the perusal of the other portions, especially in the Notes, of this publica The population of St. Louis, situated on an island formed by the river Senegal, amounts to about 10,000 souls, the majority |tion. beginning in any other light than as an accomplice, no posterior discovery of this fact could justify a forfeiture of the implied indemnity. It might be rash and precipitate to trust to so vague an expression, but still it was trusted to, or the assassin would have remained where he was, out of danger, at Brussels, and not have thrown himself into the lions' den at Paris. But here our sanction ends. What, as a sound piece of reasoning, raises our opinion of the logician, displays the noble author in a most unfavourable light as a man. We have often lamented the effects of faction in perverting the best minds and obscuring the brighest intellects. We care not to which side the balance turns, but equally deplore those party passions whether ultra-royal or ultra-liberal, which, as all strong party passions do, destroy the perception of truth, and annihilate the purer feelings of humanity. Had not Lord Kinnaird laboured under this miserable delusion, what would he have done? Let any man ask his own bosom, what he would do if an outlawed convict approached him to make him the confidant of a projected murder? Would he treat with him, make terms with him, endeavour to procure pardon for him, protect him, and travel with him? Or, would he seize the ruffian by the throat, and hold him, gasping, till he could deliver him over, on his own confession, to justice, or to a mitigated sentence of the pains of law as the reward for am knighthood; and many inquiries into On the first of these various topics, Before the dissolution of monasteries in licensing persons to teach in the Cathedrals From this public license these persons were called Licentiates; and soon after the degree of Master or Doctor was framed, in conferring which a wand or Bacillus was delivered, whence the name Baccalaureus, Bachelor, afterwards made a distinct title. As this is a publication of a most discursive sort, we leap from the origin of degrees to the origin of writing : The most ancient manner of writing was a kind of engraving, whereby the letters were formed in tablets of lead, wood, wax, or like materials. This was done by styles In the older parliaments, the Abbots were was first used in Egypt-afterwards parchthose of St. Albans, Glastonbury, St. Austin's ment, made of the fine skins of beasts, was Canterbury, Westminster (the richest of invented at Pergamum; and lastly, paper all,) Winchester, St. Edmund's Bury, Ely, manufactured from linen cloth. Books were Abingdon, Reading, Thorney in Cam- anciently writ only on one side, and done bridgshire, Waltham, St. Peter's Glouces-up in rolls; but this being found very cumter, Winchelcomb also in Gloucestershire, berous and inconvenient, they were next Tewksbury, Ramsey Huntingdonshire, written on square leaves and on both sides. Bardney Lincolnshire, Crowland, St. Ben- S. Cassian was a christian schoolmaster, and nets in Hulm Norfolk, (the last Abbacy in taught children to read and write at Imola, England, being transferred to the Bishop- 27 miles from Ravenna. During one of the rick of Norwich by Henry VIII.) Peterbo- persecutions, probably of Decius or Valerough, Battle in Sussex, Malmesbury, rian, he refused to sacrifice to the gods, and Whitby, Selby, St. Mary's York, Shrews- suffered martyrdom from his own scholars, and Hide in Winchester. These were the their iron styles. bury, Evesham, Cirencester, Tavistock, who were forced to stab him to death with mitred Abbeys: the Priors were those of Coventry, and of the Knights of St.John of Jerusalem. ple and unreserved disclosures? We tical peerage is pretty much in statu quo. made of iron, brass, or bone. The Papyrus will not aggravate the error of the con- road to respect, tranquillity and happi ness--the plain and open road of noble candour, firm integrity, and immove able truth! All the Cathedral Priories in England, ex- It is worthy of remark, at a period when a subscription is on foot, and a parliamentary sanction given to the building of new Churches, that there are now only 10,192 churches, 1,551 chapels, forming 10,421 benefices to a population of 9,940,339; whereas before the reformation there were 45,009 churches, and 55,000 chapels! Has religion fallen off more than ten per cent? An Inquiry into some of the most curious Passing for the present over the seand interesting subjects of History, An-cond chapter, which treats of the Catiquity, and Science, &c. &c. By Tho-lendar; and the third, which offers a mas Moir, Member of the College of brief history of Oxford and Cambridge Justice, Edinburgh. 12mo. pp. 274. Universities; we select the materiel of the This book has one great merit it is the fourth, on the Institution of Academical least of a book-making concern that degrees. we have seen for a long time, and contains a great deal of curious matter within a small compass, and at a small price. The principal subject on which it treats is the state of Religious Houses in England before the Reformation; there are also, a disquisition on the new style, the solar and lunar systems; an account of the origin of the most renowned orders of Julian year, The General Study of Paris was founded We have our Bell and Lancasterian Systems as an improvement on the mode of tuition, but that mode itself is very different from what was practised from the earliest times to the thirteenth or fourteenth century. The master then delivered his explanation like a harangue; and the pupils retained as much as they could, taking down notes to help their memory. Teaching was carried on by lectures; and at the era we are speaking of, the studies requisite to qualify a person for lecturing occupied fourteen or fifteen years, so that the youngest teacher was generally about 35 years old.-Among the miscellaneous matters through which we are thus unconnectedly conducting our readers, we find this notice of a subject which has recently attracted the public: Purgations by single combat of the accuBurgundians, introduced in England by sers and accused were instituted by the William the Conqueror, and continued later than Henry III. though always condemned by Rome. Gerdil Tr. des Combats singulim. Elsewhere we read FEUDAL SYSTEM.-Feudatory laws were unknown to the world till framed by the Lombards in Italy, the first authors of feudatory laws and principalities. Pepin and Charlemagne began to introduce something of them in Germany and France, where they were afterwards exceedingly multiplied in the reigns of weak princes, and by various accidents, |