in the house of the regent already described, where they are to remain until a more suitable sepulchre shall be constructed. The reflections made by the narrator on this occasion, are so just and philosophical, that we willingly make room for them. 'The house was now entirely hung with black, and a raised platform, over which a low arch was thrown, at one end, was prepared as the resting-place of the remains of the two sovereigns, whom the old man had loved as his children through life, and whose early death has been most grievous to him. He received their bodies standing by a chair covered with black velvet, placed for him close to the platform prepared for them; and prepared as he was for the reception of their remains, he was extremely agitated, and could not restrain his tears. As soon as the coffins were deposited on the platform, the band accompanied some native singers in a funeral hymn, which the missionaries had written, and taught them to sing, to the air of Pleyel's German Hymn. We could not help reflecting on the strange combination of circumstances here before us every thing native-born and ancient in the Isles was passing away; the dead chiefs lay there, hidden in more splendid cerements than their ancestors had ever dreamed of; no bloody sacrifice stained their obsequies, nor was one obscene memorial made to insult the soul as it left its earthly tenement; but instead, there was hope held out of a resurrection to happiness, and the doctrines admitted that had put an end to sacrifice for ever, and pronounced the highest blessing on the highest purity! Where the naked savage only had been seen, the decent clothing of a cultivated people had succeeded, and its adoption, though now occasional, promises permanency at no distant period. Mingled with these willing disciples, were the warlike and the noble of the land the most remote on the globe, teaching, by their sympathy, the charities that soften, yet dignify human nature. The savage yells of brutal orgies were now silenced; and as the solemn sounds were heard for the first time, uniting the instruments of Europe and the composition of a learned musician, to the simple voice of the savage, and words, not indeed harsh in themselves, framed into verse by the industry and piety of the teachers from a remote nation, came upon the ear, it was impossible not to feel a sensation approaching to awe, as the marvellous and rapid change a few years have produced, was called up to the mind.'-pp. 128 -130. On the 6th of June, a national council was held, at which the title of the young king was confirmed and recognised, and several salutary regulations were made for the future administration of the islands. The council was attended by the queen-mother, and several female chiefs, who appear to have a voice in the Sandwich legislature. With this council the public business of Lord Byron at Oahu having terminated, he returned to Hawaii, where he spent some five or six weeks, refitting his ship, and visiting various parts of the island. On the 18th of July, the Blonde weighed anchor, and sailed on her return to England. The useful results of thre mission are thus summed up; and we are persuaded that they are not at all exaggerated. 'We trust that our visit will have been beneficial to the country. It has given them the assurance they have long wished, of protection against foreign encroachment: and that feeling of independence, which such assurance is calculated to maintain, will encourage them in all the schemes for improvement, which their uncultivated, but not unawakened minds, have already begun to desire. We left the regular successor to the dominion in full possession of his hereditary rights, under the care of the friends and guardians of his family. A public acknowledgment of the freedom and hereditary rights of the chiefs and people had been made; regulations for administering justice had been adopted; Christianity em-. braced; letters introduced; and the habits and manners of the savage are gradually giving place to the refinements of civilised life.'-p. 203. On the return of the Blonde across the Pacific, she touched at an island in 20°. 8'. south latitude, and 157°. 20'. of west longitude, to which Lord Byron has given the name of Parry's Island, under the impression that he might use the privilege of a discoverer. His right, in that respect, has been disputed, as the island appears not only to have been laid down, in at least one map, but to have been visited by English missionaries. Let this be as it may, the description which we have of the island and of its inhabitants, is quite romantic. The first man whom the ship's party saw, wore a straw hat, shaped like those in use amongst ourselves; a waist-cloth, and a scarf of tapa like the South American poncho. His language bore an affinity to the Hawaiian, and he called the island Mauti. They were next visited by two very fine looking men, dressed in cotton shirts, cloth jackets, and a sort of petticoat, of very fine mat, instead of trowsers,' who came in a double canoe, of very curious construction, and, to the great surprise of our chaplain, produced a written certificate from a branch of the London Missionary Society, settled at Otaheite, qualifying them to act as native teachers on the island. They appeared much astonished at every thing they saw on board the frigate. They had evidently never beheld so large a vessel before. They were particularly delighted with the galleyfire, and the music of the band. They ate some bread, after smelling to it; but of wine they tasted with indescribable disgust. A party landed, under their guidance, from the ship, and the whole male population assembled to greet them. The only two women who appeared, were the wives of these teachers, and they were decently clothed from head to foot. The scene that followed must have struck our voyagers like a vision. • Each individual of this numerous assembly pressed forward to shake hands, and seemed unhappy till this sign of friendship had passed; and this ceremony being over, they conducted us towards their habitations, which were about two miles inland. Our path lay through a thick shady wood, on the skirts of which, in a small open space on the left, two handsome canoes were building. They were each eighty feet long; the lower part, as usual, of a single tree, hollowed out with great skill. The road was rough over the fragments of coral, but it wound agreeably through the grove, which improved in beauty as we advanced, and at length, to our surprise and pleasure, terminated in a beautiful green lawn, where there were two of the prettiest white-washed cottages imaginable, the dwellings of the missionaries, who are, as it appears, the chief personages of the Island. 'The inside of their habitations corresponded with their exterior neatness. The floors were boarded: there were a sofa and some chairs of native workmanship: windows, with Venetian shutters, rendered the apartments cool and agreeable. The rooms were divided from each other by screens of tapa; in one there was a bed of white tapa, and the floor was covered with coloured varnished tapa resembling oil-cloth. We were exceedingly struck with the appearance of elegance and cleanliness of all around us, as well as with the modest and decorous behaviour of the people, especially the women; all of which formed a strong contrast with the habits of the common people of the Sandwich Islands; but this is a small community, easily inspected by its teachers, and having, as yet, had no intercourse from without to disturb the effects of their admonitions and example. "After partaking of the refreshment offered us by our hostess, which consisted of baked pig, bread-fruit, and yams, we accompanied the missionaries to their church. It stands on a rising ground, about four hundred yards from the cottages. A fence, composed of the trunks of cocoa-nut trees, surrounds the area in which it stands. Its form is oval, and the roof is supported by four pillars, which bear up the ridge. It is capable of containing two hundred persons. Two doors and twelve windows give it light and air: the pulpit and reading-desk are neatly carved and painted, with a variety of pretty designs; and the benches for the people are arranged neatly round. Close to the church is the burying-place, which is a mound of earth covered with green-sward: and the whole has an air of modest simplicity, which delighted no less than it surprised us. 'On our return to the beach, one of the missionaries attended us. As we retraced our steps through the wood, the warbling of the birds, whose plumage was as rich as it was new to us-the various-tinted butterflies that fluttered across our path-the delicious climate the magnificent foresttrees-and, above all, the perfect union and harmony existing among the natives-presented a succession of agreeable pictures, which could not fail to delight us.'-pp. 209-212. On the 27th of February, 1826, the Blonde crossed the line, and in the afternoon of the 7th of March, it encountered that unhappy wreck of the Frances Mary, whose story is too fresh in the public mind to need repetition. It bore six human beings, reduced to the last stage of wretchedness, who had for some weeks been driven to the horrid necessity of feeding on their dead companions. The humanity and attention shewn by Lord Byron to these sufferers, are deserving of our highest praise, though we believe that there is no British commander, who would not have acted in the same manner under similar circumstances. We have to lament, with Mrs. Graham, that the practised collector of botanical specimens, who went in the Blonde to the Sandwich Islands, should not have furnished any account of the plants which he collected for the horticultural society,' particularly as it is said that the collection made during the Blonde's voyage is one of the most curious in Europe.' We trust that when the Lord High Admiral gives permission to such gentlemen to visit remote countries at the public expense, his Royal Highness will make it a condition, that they shall give to the public all the advantages that can be derived from their industry and experience. The notices concerning natural history contained in this work, are also very scanty. There are three portraits of a native girl, a young princess, and the reigning Sandwich king, well engraved by E. Finden, from Mr. Dampier's pencil. That of the king has an expressive and sensible look. Mr. Dampier has also supplied several sketches of the scenery of the Sandwich islands, which though indifferently lithographed, convey clear and intelligible ideas of the places which they are intended to represent. ART. VII. Servian Popular Poetry, translated by John Bowring. 12mo. pp. 235. London: Baldwin, Cradock, & Joy. 1827. MR. BOWRING seems to have already constituted himself anthologist-general of the north of Europe. He has expended great industry in collecting all the flowers which he deemed worth transplanting from Russia, Poland, and Holland; we have now before us a fresh bouquet from Servia, and he informs us that he will speedily present us with another from Finland. If the greater part of his specimens be not very particularly distinguished, either for beauty or fragrance, the fault cannot be imputed to Mr. Bowring, who has neither planted nor reared them. It is simply his "hobby to get together a great variety of such things, and it must be allowed that a taste turned that way, is at least as harmless as a rage for collecting shells, autographs, and old farthings, and beyond all doubt much more innocent than a love for speculating in Greek bonds. Under the name of Servian poetry, it is not to be supposed that we are confined to the literature of the province strictly so called. Wherever the Slavonic idiom prevails, as in Bulgaria, Croatia, Servia, Bosnia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, in short, throughout the whole territory that spreads between the Save and the Danube, with Belgrade for its central point, there may the Servian muse be said to preside. That territory was peopled about the middle of the seventh century, by a succession of Slavonian tribes, whose language, originally closely allied to that of Russia, has been gradually mellowed by the vicinity of Greece and Italy. Adelung considers it one of "the clearest and purest of all the Illyrian tongues," and Shaffarik (a German writer, well acquainted with this subject), thus figuratively compares it with the old Slavonian and Polish dialects:"Servian song resembles the tone of the violin; old Slavonian, that of the organ; Polish, that of the guitar. The old Slavonian, in its psalms, sounds like the loud rush of the mountain stream; the Polish, like the bubbling and sparkling of a fountain; and the Servian like the quiet murmuring of a streamlet in the valley." The latter is at present the language of about five millions, of whom about two millions are Mahometans. The greater part of the remainder adhere to the Greek church. The earliest poetry of the Servians', says Mr. Bowring, in his learned and valuable Introduction, has a heathenish character; that which follows is leagued with Christian legends. But holy deeds are always made the condition of salvation. The whole nation, to use the idea of Göthe, is imaged in poetical superstition. Events are brought about by the agency of angels, but the footsteps of Satan can be nowhere traced;-the dead are often summoned from their tombs;-awful warnings, prophecies, and birds of evil omen, bear terror to the minds of the most courageous. 'Over all is spread the influence of a remarkable and, no doubt, antique mythology. An omnipresent spirit-airy and fanciful-making its dwelling in solitudes---and ruling over mountains and forests-a being called the Vila, is heard to issue its irresistible mandates, and pour forth its prophetic inspiration:-sometimes in a form of female beauty-sometimes a wilder Diana-now a goddess gathering and dispersing the clouds, and now an owl among ruins and ivy. The Vila, always capricious, and frequently malevolent, is a most important actor in all the popular poetry of Servia. The Trica polonica is sacred to her. She is equally renowned for the beauty of her person and the swiftness of her step: Fair as the mountain Vila," is the highest compliment to a Servian lady-" Swift as the Vila," is the most eloquent eulogium on a Servian steed. Of the amatory poems of the Servians, Göthe justly remarks, that, when viewed altogether, they cannot but be deemed of singular beauty; they exhibit the expression of passionate, overflowing, and contented affection; they are full of shrewdness and spirit; delight and surprise are admirably portrayed; and there is, in all, a marvellous sagacity in subduing difficulties and in obtaining an end; a natural, but at the same time vigorous energetic tone; sympathies and sensibilities, without wordy exaggeration, but which, notwithstanding, are decorated with poetical imagery and imaginative beauty; a correct picture of Servian life and manners,--every thing, in short, which gives to passion the force of truth, and to external scenery the character of reality. "The poetry of Servia was wholly traditional, until within a very few years. It had never found a pen to record it, but has been preserved by the people, and principally by those of the lower classes, who had been accustomed to listen and to sing these interesting compositions to the sound of a simple three-stringed instrument, called a Gusle; and it is mentioned by Göthe, that when some Servians who had visited Vienna were requested to write down the songs they had sung, they expressed the greatest surprise that such simple poetry and music as theirs should possess any interest for intelligent and cultivated minds. They apprehended, they said, that the artless compositions of their country would be the subject of scorn or ridicule, to those whose poetry was so polished and so sublime. And this feeling must have been ministered to by the employment, even in Servia, of a language no longer spoken, for the productions of literature, though it is certain that the natural affections, the every-day thoughts and associations, could not find fit expression in the old church dialect: "The talk Man holds with week-day man in the hourly walk Of the mind's business, is the undoubted stalk The collection of popular songs, Narodne srpske pjesme, from which |