to be of supreme authority from his publishing Cicero in such a way, as a mere school-boy would now be ashamed of. (To be continued.) Plans, Elevations and Views, of the Church of Batalha in Portugal. By James Murphy. folio. THE Royal Monastery of Batalha possesses more than ordinary claims upon the attention of the English antiquary. The founder was connected by a matrimonial alliance with John of Gaunt-" time-honoured Lancaster," and the edifice is reputed to be the work of an English architect. Within its walls remains the tomb of a grand-daughter of our Edward III. and the monumental effigies of two of the earliest companions of the noble Order of the Garter. These considerations operated with the author to produce the work as originally published, and they are sufficient to warrant its re-publication at the present time, when, after an interval of above forty years, it comes before the public with almost the merit of novelty. As a specimen of Gothic architecture, this Church is rather striking from its singularity than valuable as a model for imitation; and in this respect it assimilates with its contemporary at Milan. The exact share which the English workmen had in the edifice is not to be easily ascertained judging by comparison with structures of the same period at home, we should judge that they had little to do with the design. The style of the detail is so opposite to every thing English, and at the same time partakes so closely of the florid Saracenic architecture both of Spain and Portugal, that it is impossible to conclude that any but a national architect could have produced the design. The history of the structure does not warrant the conclusion of Milner, that the Irishman Hackett was the chief architect; nor is it at all possible to say what share in the structure "Mestre Whitaker," whose tomb exists in the church, can lay claim to. The Church is built in the form of a Greek cross, and more decidedly so than any English building, even taking Westminster Abbey into the number. Eastward of the transept are five paral lel lines of buildings, the centre being appropriated to the choir of the monastery, and the lateral aisles to chapels; these are ranged along the entire breadth of the transept, which is by no means marked by the decided character of the English cruciform arrangement, but rather partakes of the form of the Basilica. The elevations shew in no part the aspiring character of the English Gothic, but are formed as completely on horizontal principles as the modern Gothic of the present day; the walls are not broken by buttresses, and the pinnacles, which in England form so appropriate a finish to the buttresses, are set upon the summit of the walls as if intended to break the open parapets in the same manner as pedestals are applied to an Italian balustrade. The roofs, even of the aisles, were entirely concealed; and although flying buttresses are introduced, they spring only from the parapet of the aisles, having the appearance of a very insecure foundation; the gable, which is so important a feature in our English structure, is no where seen in Batalha, the west elevation being finished with a horizontal parapet; and the roof is entirely flat. If anything more was wanting to show that the Church possessed no character in common with the architecture of England, we would adduce the slender spire which, instead of rising from the intersection of the cross, is very awkwardly joined to one end of the transept. The open cagelike spire which is seen in this church has its parallel at Burgos, and elsewhere in the Peninsula, but is nowhere to be met with in England. It must not however be forgotten that one structure exists in this country which possesses a solitary feature in common with Batalha; we refer to St. Mary, Redcliffe. On the north side of this church there is a remarkable porch of a polygonal form attached to one of an earlier date; this very closely resembles, not only in its plan, but in its situation, the monumental chapel of the founder of Batalha. The external doorway possesses no parallel example in this country, but closely resembles the entrance to the unfinished chapel of King Emanuel at Batalha; and the inner doorway, instead of an arch, has a lintelled opening like the windows of the refectory in the foreign Church. 280 REVIEW.-Essays on a few Subjects of General Interest. [March, To refer these specimens to one hand would not be allowable, since the detail of Redcliffe porch bespeaks a period anterior to the erection of the church of Batalha, and the chapel may be referred to a date as late as the sixteenth century. The existence of similar features in buildings so far distant, tends to prove that a community of design must have existed amongst the architects of the ancient structures of Europe, which, marked as they universally were by a national and distinctive character, are still connected with each other by some link which, however slight, is sufficient to shew the common parentage. The slender endowment of the Monastery was not sufficient to enable the Fathers to repair the heavy damage that several of the buildings sustained in the great earthquake which devastated Portugal in 1755. Subsequently, the devoted country has suffered from the evils of war, both foreign and intestine; and Batalha may now exist alone in the representations of the "dull draftsman Murphy," as the author of this work is somewhat harshly styled by Mr. Beckford.* In the present state of Portugal, and the ruin which is fast spreading over her ecclesiastical structures, these views cannot fail to be received with great interest. It may be true that they are not marked by the artist-like character and picturesque beauty which characterize the works of Roberts or Prout; but when the great advance which has been made in architectural drawings since the time of Murphy is taken into consideration, it will appear manifestly unfair to judge of them either by comparison with the elaborate productions of the same kind which appear in the publications of Britton or Pugin, or by contrasting mere elevations and sections with finished pictures, The re-production of Murphy's work will be received with satisfaction by every student of the history of Gothic archi tecture. * Murphy was a person who raised himself, by his own abilities, from the very lowest grade of the building art, to the rank of an architect and a gentleman. Some memoirs and interesting letters of his are printed in the sixth volume of Nichols's Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century." Essays on a few Subjects of General Interest. 1836. A VERY miscellaneous volume of grave and gay,-flying from the race course to the University, and from the mysteries of coaching to the position of the aristocracy. The chapter on University education is the best and most important. The defects seem to be-in an imperfect system of discipline-in a too confined line of study -in too prodigal an expenditure. Of these, the first is the most difficult to deal with and perhaps may be best corrected, not by a closer and severer discipline, but by an improved state of society in general, a more refined feeling of propriety, and a higher sense of the degradation and baseness of dissipation, extravagance, and vice. As regards the second, we consider that very slight alterations in the present system would effect all that could be reasonably required. Those who wish to see the study of the modern languages united with that of the ancient, and the whole range of science included in the academical course, must recollect, in the first place, how short is the period of study at the university; how advantageous it is to master those sciences] and languages which are most difficult to attain, as well as first in the order of attainment, while under the constraint and obligations of academic discipline; and further, that it is necessary that there should be a due order and time in the acquisition of scientific knowledge, so that one may follow aptly and consistently on another. Surely, the system both of classical and mathematical study, is excellent at either University : we do not see, either how more could be taught in the same time, or by a straighter and better designed way. If they lay a solid foundation for after acquirements, by the elementary knowledge they have secured, and sound principles of reasoning, and the inculcation of a correct and severe taste, we do not see what more can be required to be done. The author of a book lately published, called "Conversations at Cambridge," says, "that every year young men are falling victims to their scholastic ambition; and that, in good truth, the sword of the mind is wearing out the scabbard of the body." This surely is evidence that there is nothing very wrong, as to the knowledge and acquirement demanded by the system of education-as erring on the side of indulgence, or as affording a countenance to sloth and ignorance. On the third head, much complaint may justly exist. The expense of a University education is far too great: it bears no proportion to the general purposes to which it is to lead. A young man spends at college at the least, according to our author, 300l. He takes holy orders, and gets 801. He goes into law and physic, and gets nothing. A young single man at college, whose time is supposed to be occupied in study, and consequently not open to the prosecution of pleasure and amusements, spends more than the public and the church have allotted to the support of his father and mother and all his family, supposing his father to be in the church: the average of livings producing 280l. each. How then is any clergyman to educate a son for the church? or, in other words, bring him up in his own sphere of life? It is clear, that this cannot be done from a professional income, and it is to that to which we are bound to look, and to no other: we would lay it down as a rule, "that there ought to exist a harmony and proportion between the expenses of a University education and the amount of a professional clerical income,"-seeing that full three-fourths of the young men educated at college, are designed for the church. At any rate, if the University education is to continue as expensive as it now is, we consider that it is the bounden duty of the Bishops, to admit into orders men duly qualified and well educated, and fitted for their station, though they possess no academical degree; and we feel sure that, if they do not, it will before long be required of them. Put it once more in its full light, and surely the incongruity and absurdity of the system must be evident. A beneficed clergyman with his family is expected to live, and fulfil the duties, and minister to the charities, and supply the wants of those within his official calling, for a less sum than his son, if he have one, is spending in his education at the University!-If this is not gross absurdity and injustice, we do not know the meaning of the term. GENT. MAG. VOL. VII. It is not necessary: an equally good education, (at least as far as a classical one) may be obtained abroad for one quarter of the sum. The expenses of schools have diminished; in like manner should those of colleges: and both should be regulated by the means which the middle ranks of society possess. There is a great deal of anomaly in these matters. We have seen that less than 300l. a-year is thought by the legislature enough for a clergyman; while government, if it creates the smallest place, such as assistant commissioner, or any other, never appoints less than a salary of 1000l. or 1500l. a year as a compensation for the duties: a clergyman with his pittance of 300l. a year is educated at the same expense, and his mind is enriched with the same acquirements and tastes, as the lawyer with his three or five thousand. In fact, he is, according to the present system, a well-educated beggar,- -or as Sir William Jones said of himself" he has the fortune of a peasant, and the education ofa prince." The average income of the clergy, is placed at less than many of the junior clerks in the public offices receive; and this in what is called, the richest, most moral, and most Christian country in Europe!! It bears no proportion to all other incomes in the same grade of society; and is totally unequal to the station to which it is given, and the demands it has to meet. The Poetical Works of the Rev. Thomas Dale, M.A. MR. DALE has been honourably distinguished by his translation of Sophocles, a translation characterized by its accuracy, elegance, and strength: in our opinion, as far exceeding Potter in true and manly strain of poetry, as in a faithful adherence to the great original. Subsequently we have seen many poems by the same author, in miscellaneous publications, which we have read with pleasure; for, though the poetic flights of Mr. Dale's muse are not into the empyrean, yet there is never wanting much to delight and gratify. A moral pathos is the basis of the whole-correct feeling, and elegant and just reflection, conveyed in language select aud appropriate. These qualities will be seen in the 20 two leading poems-the Widow of Nain, and the Daughter of Jairusboth of which possess much excellence, but both, we think, would be improved by being a little abridged. Our great est favourite is Irad and Adah, a tale of the Flood-though we do not approve the change of metre that takes place in it; for which Mr. Dale has no authority among our old poets, and the necessity of which in the present poem we do not see, especially as Mr. Dale so perfectly understands the harmony of the Spenserian stanza; as for instance ; Where is the city that hath sway'd a world? It sunk beneath the waters, and shall be Henceforth a thing forgotten! Bold and free, Like infant Rome, or sunk in foulest shame Like Rome's degenerate grandeur, Destiny Hath wrapp'd in utter darkness. E'en the name Its unknown founder gave, hath perish'dsuch is fame! And that sweet grove of beauty and of bliss bloom Might well the Dryads' heav'nly choir beseem; Where now are they! One yet awaits her doom, The rest in yon wild waves have found their .common tomb. There are several very pleasing poems attached to the longer ones, of which we shall select the Martyr's Child Once more I clasp thee to my breast, Ere join'd the ransom'd hosts above; And earthward tho' my thoughts must rove, From saints and seraphs bending there. Who shall a parting sigh reprove O'er one as pure and scarce less fair? My bud of beauty! thou must bloom Mid the chill rains and wintry blast; Where skies are wrapt in starless gloom, And summer-suns have breath'd their last. Yet tho' dark clouds the heavens o'ercast, And say--Thou hast a father there?' And who shall watch with ceaseless care Lest thy young steps unheeding stray, Where pleasure plants the secret snare, And hope's seductive smiles betray? Oh! could I bear thee hence, while yet While Nature's debt of death alone Or earth hath mark'd thee for her own Is all mortality must pay- But now I leave thee not alone More welcome far were solitudeFor He who ne'er forsakes his own E'en in the desert vast and rude, Might bid the ravens bring thee food; Ör strains gush forth amid the wild; Or guide the wanderings of the good To seek and save his handmaid's child. I leave thee to thy mother's foes, I leave thee to the foes of heaven; Yet do I leave thee but to those? Lord! be the guilty thought forgiven, Or if she strive as I have striven With stormy winds on life's rough sea; May she by warning waves be driven To find a haven, Lord, with Thee! There is a striking poem-"Judas returning the thirty pieces of silver," which we cannot omit, though sorely elbowed by other claimants for admis sion:: Still echoed through the dark divan, The shouts that hail'd the doom of blood; When lo a pale and haggard man Before the stern tribunal stood: Such fierce unnatural brightness shone, They deem'd some outcast maniac nigh, Some victim of the evil one. E'en the high-priest, in mute amaze, That chain'd his eye and chill'd his blood. It pass'd as in a moment o'er. Then dash'd to earth the price of blood; And twice essay'd his tale to tell, And twice the o'er-mastering fiend withstood. Faltering, at length, his accents came, Words more than anguish, worse than shame "Oh! I have sinn'd, and I have sold Hate flash'd from his indignant eye; sworn, Accursed live-unpardon'd die. Of agony and wild despair; Remorse that not a Cain could bear. The Reign of Humbug, a Satire. THE satire is well-directed and somewhat pungent: the versification generally good, with the exception of such lines as Thus a grave matron purchases Buchan. Thus a grave matron will her Buchan buy, To get th' instalment-Oh! what magic power Contrasts, or a Parallel between the THIS work, which is the production of a gentleman well known by various publications connected with the study of the arts and architecture of the middle ages, is likely, from the originality of its character and the spirit with which it is written, to attract a considerable degree of attention. To any one engaged in the study of the beauties and merits of the noble edifices erected during the prevalence of the Gothic style of architecture, a comparison with the flimsy structures of the present day must be a constantly recurring idea; and without doubt such a com There are one or two other lines of the same kind, but on the whole there is not much to blame on that head. A late Lord Chancellor appears to be the monarch of the day; and the system on which his throne is founded, is pursued through its different channels, open, or obscure. We will give a specimen from the speculators and share-parison has given rise to the publica holders: When lo another train came hurrying in, other. share, We seize th' instalment-that is all our care; tion before us, which is ably illustrated by a series of views, in which two buildings of similar destination are placed in opposition to each other: one of them forming an example of ancient, the other of modern art. The boldness and freedom with which the accompanying criticisms are written, and the spirited manner in which the author has drawn his contrasts, are only equalled by the amusing light in which the opposing structures are placed in juxtaposition. A feeling of profound veneration for the talents, the liberality, and munificence of the designers and patrons of the noble piles erected in past ages, and a higher degree of esteem for the pure sentiments of religion and piety which dictated the erection of such of those structures as were |