rifle, and his axe. Suppose him arrived in the spring: after putting up a little log cabin, he proceeds to clear, with intense labour, a plot of ground for Indian corn, which is to be their next year's support; but, for the present, being without means of obtaining a supply of flour, he depends on his gun for subsistence. In pursuit of the game, he is compelled, after his day's work, to wade through the evening dews, up to the waist, in long grass, or bushes, and returning, finds nothing to lie on but a bear's skin on the cold ground, exposed to every blast through the sides, and every shower through the open roof of his wretched dwelling, which he does not even attempt to close, till the approach of winter, and often not then. Under these distresses of extreme toil and exposure, debarred from every comfort, many valuable lives have sunk, which have been charged to the climate." Mr Birkbeck himself did not escape a little of this seasoning. "Our rear party, consisting of one of 'the ladies, a servant boy, and myself, were benighted, in consequence of accidental detention, at the foot of one of these rugged hills; and, without being well provided, were compelled to make our first experiment of camping out.' "Our party having separated, the important articles of tinder and matches were in the baggage of the division which had proceeded, and as the night was rainy and excessively dark, we were for some time under some anxiety lest we should have been deprived of the comfort and security of a fire. Fortunately, my powder-flask was in my saddle-bags, and we succeeded in supplying the place of tinder, by moistening a piece of paper, and rubbing it with gunpowder. We placed our touchpaper on an old cambric handkerchief, as the most ready combustible article in our stores. On this we scattered gunpowder pretty copiously, and our flint and steel soon enabled us to raise a flame, and collecting dry wood, we made a noble fire. There was a mattress for the lady, a bear skin for myself, and the load of the packhorse as a pallet for the boy. Thus, by means of great coats, and blankets, and our umbrellas spread over our heads, we made our quarters comfortable, and placing ourselves to the leeward of the fire, with our feet towards it, we lay more at ease than in the generality of taverns. Our horses fared rather worse, but we took care to tie them where they could browse a little, and occasionally shifted their quarters. We had a few biscuits, a small bottle of spirits, and a phial of oil: with the latter we contrived, by twisting some twine very hard, and dipping it in the oil, to make torches; and after several fruitless attempts we succeeded in finding water; we also collected plenty of dry wood. • Camping out' when the tents are pitched by daylight, and the party is ready furnished with the articles which we were obliged to supply by expedients, is quite pleasant in fine weather My companion was exceedingly ill, which was, in fact, the cause of our being benighted; and never was the night's charge of a sick friend undertaken with more dismal forebodings, especially during our ineffectual efforts to obtain fire; the first blaze of which was unspeakably delightful. After this the rain ceased, and the invalid passed the night in safety; so that the morning found us more comforta ble than we could have anticipated." Our traveller had now nearly reached the extreme limits of civilized life. Still he pressed onward with admirable confidence and intrepidity. His views ther than to a settlement for himseem all along to have extended farself and his fellow travellers; though they are not disclosed till near the end of the book. The habits and condition of the hunter in these remote regions afford a view of that link which connects the savage and untu tored Indian with civilized man. Yet, the intermediate state of the backwoodsman seems to approach nearer to the former, than to the lowest grade of European society. Mr Birkbeck at last terminates his peregrination, and purchases an estate, which promises to reward him for all his toils. "That our friends in England, who may read these notes, may have an idea of our real position, let them consider our two families, viz. that of my friend Mr George Flower, late of Marden in England, and my own, about to be fixed upon eligible sites on our two adjoining estates, of fifteen hundred acres each, which we have carved for ourselves from a beautiful prairie and the adjoining woods. "Here we are preparing to raise buildings: carpenters and builders have offered themselves; estimates are made and materials are at hand. We are also providing for gardens and orchards, that we may literally sit under our own vines and our own fig trees.' We might now mow many hundred acres of valuable grass, if we had a stock of cattle to require it. "The fee-simple of each of these estates amounts to three thousand dollars, together L. 1350 Sterling; they are liable to a land tax of thirty dollars a-year to the general government, and about the same to the county, together something more than one penny per acre. "We shall have a certain and good market for produce from the growing population; or by export down the Ohio. "Cattle and hogs thrive well, and even fatten, especially the latter, to a great size on the food they find; and there is no bound to the number that may be raised, but in the ability of the breeder. They require little care, except to protect them from bears and wolves-keeping them tame, by giving them salt frequently. "On these estates we hope to live much as we have been accustomed to live in England; but this is not the country for fine gentlemen or fine ladies of any class or description, especially for those who love state, and require abundance of attendants." The health of our travellers had never been affected by the climate; nor had they felt the heat of the warmest months so great as to occasion them any serious inconvenience. On this point, a very natural anxiety prevailed when they approached the almost unknown region, where they have now taken up their residence. Mr Birkbeck and Mr Flower intend to purchase from the government one or more entire townships in the Illinois territory, where the country is partly prairie and partly woodland. A township comprises thirty-six square miles, or 23,040 acres. These lands they propose to offer (on terms proportionally favourable) to Englishmen, whose views may so far accord with their own as to render proximity of settlement desirable. Though it has been our wish to make our readers acquainted with what is most interesting in this little book, yet there are many curious and useful notices to which our limits do not permit us to advert, and which cannot be abridged. Indolence, generated by the high wages of labour, in contrast with a spirit of enterprise, --and filthy houses, and disgusting taverns, with alleged urbanity and civilization; the amalgamation of the settlers from every nation, the French and Germans excepted, with the native Americans; the pride of independence and political power among the lower classes, these and other features which differ so much from any thing we see in the old world, might furnish matter for much interesting speculation. But Mr Birkbeck is too much a practical man to wander from his own steady pursuits into this path less territory, more difficult and devious than the wilderness he had traversed. He is not sparing, however, in predicting and anticipating the future destinies of the new region in which he has now fixed his abode. Such is the rate at which population increases in these western states, he says, that the produce of the new lands is hardly sufficient to supply its wants. Already the communication with New Orleans, at the mouth of the Mississippi, is carried on by steam-boats, which ascend that river and the Ohio at the rate of sixty miles a day; whereas, formerly, the voyage to New Orleans was made on rafts, which were disposed of there along with the produce they carried, and the traders had to return by land, many of them upwards of a thousand miles. If the Mississippi should hereafter become the principal channel of intercourse between Europe and the United States, as Mr Birkbeck predicts, this country, enjoying many natural advantages, must at some future, and perhaps no distant period, exhibit scenes of industry and wealth, which will form an extraordinary contrast with its present condition. THERE are few respects in which Scotland can be considered as more fortunate than in her ecclesiastical establishment. The moderate incomes, equally removed from luxury and indigence, which are enjoyed by her clergy, and the beneficial relation which subsists between them and their flocks, has been long a subject of observation. But, perhaps, due attention has not been paid to the benefits derived from the free constitution of her church courts, and particularly of the General Assembly. We do not allude merely to ecclesiastical benefits. This great court forms now the only theatre of public business and public speaking which exists in Scotland, and as laymen are largely admitted, it affords an ample scope for the oratorical talents of this metropolis. It has thus a tendency to preserve in the nation that manly and energetic character which the proceedings of a free deliberative Assembly are calculated to cherish. In order, however, that the clergy may duly conduct the business of these courts, and may meet on equal terms with the lay members, who are often deeply versant in legal acquirements, an accurate knowledge of the constitution and laws of the church becomes necessary. Yet this knowledge could be acquired only by a few, while it remained locked up in voluminous records and collections, the searching into which was neither within the reach, nor suited to the habits, of elergymen in general. A work was wanted, in which all the requisite information could be arranged and condensed into a moderate compass. Dr Hill, from the distinguished lead which he has long taken in the affairs of the church, was probably of all men best fitted for supplying this deficiency. Accordingly, some time ago in a larger work, entitled, "Theological Institutes," he included a " View of the Constitution of the Church of Scotland." The great benefit experienced from this treatise, led to the expression of a wish that it should be separately published. It appears now, therefore, by itself, with some considerable additions; and it exhibits a concise and popular account of the constitution, form of procedure, and laws of the church; which may not only serve as a guide to those who sit in its courts, but may present to the general reader an interesting view of this remarkable system of ecclesiastical polity. The work having been for some time before the public, an analysis of its contents becomes unnecessary. We have only thought it proper to announce to our readers this separate and enlarged publication of it. SURVEY OF FRENCH LITERATURE. NEW PUBLICATIONS. January 1818. Les Françaises, &c.-The Frenchwomen: Tales by Madame Dufrénoy. 2 vols. in 12mo, with cuts. Though the cause be difficult to explain, it cannot but be acknowledged that romance is a branch of literature wherein the French writers have never excelled. If we except Gil Blas, and two or three other truly superior works, all the rest are far below the productions of second-rate English novel writers. Whence this defect proceeds, in a people possessing a lively imagination and refined sentiments, we will not undertake to discuss, as we might be drawn on to lengths far beyond the limits of a review. The tales now published by Madame Dufrénoy do not possess merit enough to alter our opinion of French novelists in general, and the less so as this lady cannot be ranked among the common class of writers, being already advantageously known in the literary world by several poetical works, chiefly Elegies, which had led us to hope, that, before she ventured on a new style of publication, she would have consulted her forces, and perhaps her friends. If she had done the latter, and found true friends, we suppose they would have addressed her nearly in the following words. "The two volumes you intend to pub lish contain seventeen tales, part of which are founded on history, and the rest on imaginary facts. Why have you entitled your work The Frenchwomen?' Your intention must have been to show how your country women would act in situations peculiar to themselves, and nevertheless your heroines act much in the same way as ladies of any other nations in Europe would do in similar situations. Your historical tales are full of digressions that have not the least connection with the facts you mean to relate. By those digressions the interest of your narrative is suspended, and they do not even excite curiosity, as most of them every child has learned by heart at school. Your actors have neither the language, the manners, nor the costume of the times. You have nowhere characterized the foreign nations you introduce. In the tales wherein you have given scope to your imagination, your plans are faulty and confused, and most of your heroes and heroines act in a most inconsistent manner. As for the rest, your style is correct and easy, your language tolerably good, and interspersed with several witty traits. I am, however, sorry and surprised to find in your work some moral principles which your sex ought not to profess, and some political ones which savour a little too much of the Revolution." This we suppose a friend of Madame Dufrénoy might have said to her before she published her tales, and by listening to his advice she might have avoided hearing disagreeable truths from the public, and exposing her well established reputation by an undertaking which seems to have been ill adapted to the natural turn of her genius. Du Système Politique, &c.-On the PoAtical System pursued by the Administration. By the Vicomte de Châteaubriand, Peer of France; a pamphlet in 8vo. It is generally supposed that M. de Châteaubriand's first intention was to publish upon this subject a volume of some importance, and that he had actually delivered it to the press, when motives, of which the public are not able to judge, made him alter his first plan, and remain Bewithin the limits of a few sheets. sides the many reasons we have to believe the truth of this report, the perusal of the pamphlet itself does not add a little weight to the supposition. The subject is rather sketched than thoroughly examined, and the ideas offer some incoherences, which we are not accustomed to find in the noble peer's works. The style is, however, as in all his other publications, vivid, energetic, and picturesque in the highest degree. The impossibility of giving an exact analysis of the work, has induced us to extract whole paragraphs, which we shall try to unite with one another, so as to give our readers an adequate idea of the ensemble. "It has been asserted," thus begins M. de Châteaubriand," that the royalists, by repeated obstacles, not only impede the natural course of Government, but endanger even its existence. It is, however, not the royalists who deserve to be thus accused, it is those men, who, by a false system of policy, delay the union of the French. This system having found many obstinate supporters, it will be necessary to prove that it is a masterpiece of inconsistency. "How have ministers treated men and their opinions? In what spirit have they digested the laws? What political character has the chamber of deputies shown during their administration, and have they in their communications with the chamber rightly understood the spirit of the charter? These are the points we have to examine. "The ordinance of 5th September 1816 was a consequence of the chamber of 1815 having displeased the ministers who had placed themselves in the minority. In the ensuing elections they exerted their utmost power to keep off the royalists, and declared themselves so openly against them, that they were afterwards under the necessity of pursuing them unrelentingly. By those measures, the situation of the royal VOL. II. ists became worse than it had been under "Whence proceeds the courage with which the royalists are attacked on every side? From their never offering any de fence. Their enemies strike without fear, because they are sure that no blows given in the king's name will ever be returned. "The common pretext for the system is, that the interests of the Revolution are powerful, and should be protected. We grant the argument: but is the persecution of the royalists a necessary consequence of it? There is, you say, but a small number of royalists. The elections have given a proof of the contrary. Still supposing you were in the right, you ought to augment that number, and you have acted in an Many a man who, opposite direction. when the king first returned, would have considered himself happy to be forgotten, has since learned that he is a person of some importance. When he thought of asking pardon, he 'heard with astonishment that he was to protect the friends of At first, he scarcely could be. the throne. lieve his senses, but he soon discovered the truth. He thus grew difficult, was not satisfied, nor will he be so until he has overthrown the legitimate monarchy. "Government, you say, wished to keep the scales equal, and not place itself at the head of a party. It is truly a singular expression to call the royalists a party in a monarchy; but besides, the scales have not been kept equal, or, if they have, it was Ministers forgot only in one instance. equally the outrages committed and the services proffered during the hundred days. "However they triumphed awhile, because every thing went on peaceably, when, on a sudden, the scene changed. An election law had passed, undoubtedly with a good intention, but the consequences had not been foreseen. The minds of men were struck with fear, the system was laid aside, and the royalists were called upon to assist the ministers. Now, that the danger is blown over, they will most certainly deny their terror and the candid confession it caused. But is it thus that in an enlightened age, in a kingdom arrived at the highest pinnacle of civilization; among a nation instructed by experience and long thus that one dare act tomisfortunes, is wards rational men, and run in the short space of a year from one extremity to an other? "We have now examined the general spirit of the system held up to our admiLI ration; let us also consider what laws have been proposed. "The chief article of the election law passed with a majority of twelve votes. In England, a fundamental bill, so weakly supported, would have been drawn in by ministers. Besides, the law itself needs no other censure than the terror it occasioned when put in execution. In the departments where elections took place, we find, by official documents, an average of twofifths of royalists, two-fifths independents, and one-fifth ministerials among the electors, so that if the royalists and the independents had not been afraid of one another, the ministerials would not have had one member on their side." Here M. de Châteaubriand says a few words on the project of a law for recruiting the army. He enters into some particulars as to the exception law regarding the newspapers. He takes up the defence of the royalists, whom the opposite parties reproach with voting at present against a law they moved themselves two years ago. Among M. de Châteaubriand's arguments we noted the following: " When the Parliament of Great Britain suspend the Habeas Corpus Act, do they promise to continue for ever the suspension? We refuse to day what we granted yesterday, because, being no more useful to the coun try, it would only serve the passions of an authority ready to abuse the power we trusted them with. "In regard to exterior politics, the members of both chambers are left in most complete darkness, and are obliged to seek in foreign papers the most important transactions of their own country. "We have still to consider the administration in respect to the constitution. The natural opposition at present ought to be a democratical one, kept in awe by a strong royalist majority; but a minority of sixty peers and eighty deputies, all remarkable for their attachment to royalty, form too strange an opposition not to give evidence of a radical fault in the system of Government. "Thanks be to Heaven, all quarrels draw to an end. Every person feels the necessity of putting principles in the place of passions. Sincerity and talents are all we want, and those qualities are not the exclusive gift of one class of men. The royalists repel none but cowards and criminals. True friends of a constitutional monarchy may be found among the ancient partizans of the republic, (provided they have committed no crimes,) among those men whose errors even spring from a noble source. But let us fly those supporters of tyranny, ready to serve or to betray any master, who, always on the look-out, know how to make use of every circumstance. They are slaves whom the charter has freed, but whom no charter can inspire with the sentiments of free born citizens. "Some men, actuated more by their zeal than by their judgment, call Europe to witness the wisdom of the system we oppose. But are they certain that Europe favours a system that has already once made her a victim? Europe has nothing to fear from such principles as may serve to consolidate in France a legitimate monarchy; but, on the contrary, there is manifest danger in the doctrine which may tend to make us fall again under the power of the Revolution." Surfaces of Curves in General, and parti Des Surfaces des Courbes, &c.-On the cularly of the Conic Sections. By T. D. Circle, and affianced to the Quadrature of the Hyperbola, as shall be proved by authen tic acts; the Copies of which are annexed to the present Work, after having been duly sworn to; in 8vo. C. L. P. Husband to the Quadrature of the This is, according to all probability, the work of a madman. We only quote it on account of its strange title. Josué, &c.—Joshuah, or the Conquest of the Promised Land, a Poem in 12 books in 8vo. Petite Chronique, &c.—Little Parisian Historical, Literary, and Political Chronicle, intended as a Sequel to the Memoirs of Bachaumont. By Messrs *** in 12mo. To be continued. Before the Revolution, the press was in France under a public and acknowledged restraint, but the thoughts were free, and the nation, actuated by a lively turn of mind, sought and found in satirical songs and witty sallies, a compensation for the impossibility of openly delivering those truths which a licensed press could prevent from being published, but not from being felt. Towards the middle of the last century, a society was established in Paris, whereof each member entered into an engagement to procure every day a song, a bon-mot, or an anecdote of public or private scandal. The witty harvest was registered, and every year one, M. Bachaumont, who acted as secretary to the society, selected the most interesting anecdotes, and published a volume, which was secretly printed in Holland, and sold, according to the expression of the time, sous le manteau, (under the cloak.) The whole collection consists of 36 volumes in 12mo, and extends from 1762 to 1789. Several curious anecdotes are intermixed with others that have no sort of interest for posterity. Many are even so very frivolous that we doubt whether contemporaries themselves were highly interested in them. Besides which, Mr Secretary's style baffles all criticism. However, this work had |