letters. They are well written, and the arguments appear to us in many respects very strong. The first of these letters has been published in the Correspondent. The others being also intended for insertion in the same work, we do not think it necessa ry to enter into any particulars respecting them, as our readers will be able to peruse them at length in English. Entretien sur le Caractère, &c.-A Conversation on the Character the National Representatives ought to have. By the Author of A Foreigner's Journey to France," and of The Farmer and the Nobleman," in 8vo. We shall only say a few words on this work, to which we can give no better appellation than that of a libel against religion, government, the constitution, and all the objects which civilized nations are wont to hold sacred. We need not add, that the author's pernicious principles are glossed over by the noble words of Liberty, Rights of the People, Morality, and Independence. When this libel first appeared, it was seized by the Attorney-General, but after a few months delay, the work, we suppose, was looked upon as beneath the notice of Government, and is now publicly sold by all the booksellers. None but demagogues will find pleasure in its perusal, and none but fools will be seduced by it. Odes d'Horace, &c.-The Odes of IIorace, translated into French verse. By M. Letexier, in 12mo. The Odes of Horace are generally considered as one of the works of antiquity, which it is most difficult to transfer into modern verse, and the French language is undoubtedly the least of all adapted to such a design. Several men of wit and learning have nevertheless made the trial, and their attempts, though not crowned with complete success, are far from being without merit. M. Le Comte Daru, member of the Institute, and M. Vander Bourg, late royal licencer, are the two competitors who have approached the nearest to success; the former by his poetical talents and the elegance of his style, the latter by the great accuracy of his version. M. Vander Bourg's work has been printed in Latin and French, and the text of the original is considered as an excellent edition of Horace's Odes. Notwithstanding the imperfection of their labours, a considerable degree of talent is requisite in any person who, after M. Daru and M. Vander Bourg, shall attempt a French translation of the poet of Tibur, and we must acknowledge, that M. Letexier's work has no great merit to recommend it. The poetry has here and there an agreeable softness, but is destitute VOL. II. of nerve and energy. One quotation will be sufficient to prove, that M. Letexier has not felt the true beauties of the original. In the second ode we meet with the following strophe: Audiet cives acuisse ferrum, Quo graves Persæ meliùs perirent; M. Letexier's translation runs thus: Oui, la postérité, par nos crimes si rare, Apprendra nos fureurs et nos combats sanglans. Nos mains ont contre nous tourné la fer barbare, Qui de vait frapper les Persans. The version is tolerably exact, but we seek in vain the three chief beauties of Horace, 1. The repetition of the word "audiet." 2. The antithesis of" vitio parentum," and "rara juventus;" and 3. That same expression of "rara juventus," placed at the end of the strophe in a line by itself. Instead of these beauties, we find the useless expletive" oui," and the word " juventus" translated by postérité." We are, per haps, over-partial to Horace, but in reading the words "rara juventus," we ima gine ourselves walking in the streets of Rome, and contemplating the cruel effects of civil contentions. We see the same spectacle in the fields of France from a similar cause, and the effects of a conscription; whereas the word " postérité" presents no image whatever to our fancy. Quelques Mots, &c.-A few Words on pamphlet of M. le Vicompte de Châteaubriand, entitled, &c. By L. A. T. Tarry de Mancy, Knight of the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour; in 8vo. Of all the different manners of argumenting formerly used in the schools, we do not recollect ever to have met with the one adopted by the author of this pamphlet. His whole refutation consists in quoting a certain number of passages of M. de Chateaubriand's work, and separating them by half a dozen regular forms of transition or exclamation, such as, M. le Vicompte says thus ;"- " to which M. le Vicompte adds this;"-" Yes, indeed, he dos say thus ;"-" Pray, Sir, how could you say thus?"-In that, or the like manner, M. Tarry de Maney has succeeded in putting together fourteen pages of letterpress, containing extracts of M. de Chateaubriand's pamphlet, and some dozen of phrases of exclamations, but without even the shadow of an argument. In a concluding note, the author makes use of some equivocal expressions; the only sense we could give to them is a defence of impiety and jacobinism, two objects not very worth of public favour. 3 A ORIGINAL POETRY. THE SOLDIERS' GRAVE. BY rise of sun, on yonder plain, In ardour high, the valiant stood; At eve, the cold moon o'er the slain Besilvered bright a scene of blood: Below that mound they now are sleeping, Wakeful once, and bold, and brave; Alas! the evening dews are weeping On the Soldiers' Grave. Of them to hear the patriot listens; Will laud the hearts that strove to save; And Memory wave her wand of charming O'er the Soldiers' Grave. The trump of Fame they heard-obeyed- And ne'er by them was welcomed more! But Gratitude will grieve for Glory, And give the tear which once they gave; And Wisdom tell her mournful story O'er the Soldiers' Grave. We live secure, and sleep at ease; Tranquillity our steps awaits They left their homes, and ploughed the seas, To keep the battle from our gates :The forest moans-a voice of wailing; Above their dust white cannachs wave; The bittern shrieks, at eve, when sailing O'er the Soldiers' Grave. Oft when the faggot glances bright, As Winter mantles white the plain, And, as I rested on its seat, Whose summer hues I well remember :"Tis stripp'd of pride, 'tis shorn of green, Beneath the rude sway of November! The melody of song is mute, Except the robin's lonely singing: The trees have shed their leaves and fruit, And weeds in every walk are springing. The morn is cold; the sky is pale; The winds no more are silence keeping; Like childhood at a mournful tale, O'er vanished bloom the clouds are weeping. I look upon the lonely sky It wanes, as when a daughter's duty, Stayed by a haughty father's eye, Opposes love, and withers beauty. All-all is changed, as the Simoom Had passed with withering magic over! No trace of beauty or of bloom Can sense perceive, or eye discover; But wild, and waste, and desolate, A wilderness is stretched around me; And, where mid Summer's smiles I sate, November's wintry breeze hath found me. The lilac boughs are tinged with red; The yellow leaves profusely lying; Will man be never-never wise! M. VERSES TO A FRIEND, On his leaving the Scenes of his Youth. WHAT lonely pilgrim wanders there, Along the hill's ascending brow, Where keenly sweeps the wintry air, And deeply wreathes the driven snow? What snow so deep-what air so keen, Shall freeze affection's glowing thought! Or shroud the oft-frequented scene, And haunts of childhood fondly sought? For 'tis the last-the farewel viewTo distant scenes his path must lead; The home his first affections knew, No more shall hear his filial tread. The primrose vale, the hawthorn shade, The summer mount of laughing green, The waters gleaming in the glade, With willows on the margin seen ; Each spot in youth's romantic spring Yet still in that delightful land LAVE OF ANE AUNCIENT MYNSTRELL. O LAYDE bricht, loke from thy boure For I am ane warlok off wondrous power, Ande thou must nocht say me nay. I can charme ane faire maide into ane aske, I can charme a woman into ane worme, Ande eke into ane snayle, Or cloathe hir brycht and beauteous forme Or sprede hir ankellis tycht ande trimme For och! suld itt lyst mee, in wrathfull mude, My wizzard harpe to sweip, Ande till seven long zieris wer gone ande past From thatt slumber thou niver culde wake, Vntil thi owne trew-love suld wynde ane PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. ROYAL SOCIETY. Feb. 26. The reading of a paper by the Rev. John Brinkley was commenced, "On the Parallax of the Fixed Stars." March 5.-The reading of Dr Brink ley's paper was concluded. On the same evening was also read, "Some Additions to the Croonian Lecture, on the Changes the Blood undergoes in the Act of Coagulation," by Sir Everard Home, Bart. V. P. R. S. March 12.-A paper by Dr Totness Fischer," On the Anatomy of Spiders," was read; also a paper, by B. Bevan, Esq. "On some Fossils in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire." WERNERIAN SOCIETY. Dec. 20, 1817.-The secretary read a communication from Mr Hood, surgeon, Kilmarnock, on some fossil tusks found in the parish of Kilmaurs, in Ayrshire; of which we have given an account in our 1st volume, p. 243, (Number for October.) At the meeting on January 10, 1818, Professor Jameson read a paper on the geognostical characters of simple minerals. He remarked that the distribution of plants and animals over the earth is determined by distance from the equator, height above the level of the sea, kind of exposure, and other circumstances; but that a different arrangement is observable in mountain rocks, for they are universally distributed, and the same species occurs equally at the equator, and towards the poles, at the level of the sea, as above the line of perpetual snow. Although the distribution of mountain rocks is thus proved to be independent of climatic influence, yet, it would appear, that the grand series of primitive, transition, and flatz rocks have their peculiarities as to height above the sea, to the spaces occupied by the different formations, and to the general direction, dip, and inclination of the strata. Professor Jameson entered very particularly into this interesting subject. At the same meeting Professor Jameson read some observations on the natural history of the diamond; for which see p. 335 of the present Number. He also alluded particularly to the natural history of the tabasheer, or vegetable opal, found in some oriental vegetables; and from the great tendency observed in some vegetables to secrete silica, he offered, as a conjectüre, that some silicified woods met with on the surface of the earth might be trunks, or branches of trees, which had been killed by the over secretion of siliceous matter. At the meeting on January-24, Mr James Wilson communicated some remarks on the eggs of the common frog, and on the tadpole in its early state. At the same meeting, Mr Alexander Adie, optician, exhibited and explained his new instrument called the sympiesometer, or measurer of compression. Feb. 7. The secretary read the first part of Dr Traill's account of an African orang-outang, which lately died at Liverpool, the property of Mr Bullock of the Piccadilly museum. In the introduction to his paper, he gave an account of the manners of the animal, as described by Captain Payne, who purchased it at Isle of Princes, from a native trader who had brought it from the Gaboon river. Captain Payne had it in his custody for more than two months. It shewed an inclination to imitate many human actions; but never atteinpted the imitation of sounds. It disliked the erect posture, and walked on the knuckles, not the palms, of the fore extre mities. It was dirty in its habits, and very timid. It associated familiarly with the crew, excepting one boy, to whom it shewed a decided and unceasing aversion. It was a faithful attendant of the seamen's mess, ate almost every kind of vegetable offered, was very fond of sweet articles of food; but did not relish any kind of butcher's meat. As the vessel approached the colder latitudes, it became somewhat languid, and carefully wrapped itself in a blanket on retiring to rest. From accounts given to Captain Payne by negro traders, on whose veracity he placed dependence, it appears, that in its native haunts it is a very formidable animal: they all agreed, too, in affirming, that negro girls had sometimes been carried off, and kept in a state of frightful captivity for years; stories which have hitherto been regarded as resting wholly on the authority of Purchas's "Pilgrimes," and other old works. Feb. 21. The second part of Dr Traill's paper on the African orang-outang was read, containing an account of the dissection of the animal. March 7.-At this meeting the secretary read a notice of a new quadruped, from the Stoney Mountains in North America, of which we have inserted a notice at p. 332. At the same meeting, Professor Jameson read an interesting paper on the formation of valleys. The object of this communication was to propose an opinion which connects the principal phenomena of valleys with the rocks of which they are composed. The proceedings of the Royal So ciety of Edinburgh have been unavoidably delayed, but will be brought up is our next. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. The subject of the following article, so peculiarly interesting at this time, has never been treated, we imagine, in a more judicious, and, at the same time, popular manner. We transcribe from the Annals of Philosophy for April.] Expedition to the Northern Ocean. ONE of the most remarkable natural phenomena that has occurred in modern times, is the disappearance, or breaking up of a large part of the enormous masses of ice, which have for some centuries been accumulating in the different parts of the northern ocean. This accumulation has taken place to the greatest degree, or, at least, its effects have been the most perceptible on the eastern coast of Old Greenland. This territory was originally colonized from Denmark, towards the end of the tenth century; for about four centuries it kept up a regular communication with the mother country, until the ice totally blocked up all access to the shore, so that, for the last 400 years, all communication with it has been cut off from the other parts of Europe, and there can be little doubt that the inhabitants must have perished. Since that period an immense barrier of ice has extended from near the southern point of Greenland, along the whole eastern coast, stretching across to Spitzbergen, beyond which vessels have seldom been able to penetrate. There appears, however, to be the most decisive evidence, that about two or three years ago, this barrier of ice was broken in various parts, and that, during the summers of 1816 and 1817, large tracts of the northern ocean, that were before completely impassable, became comparatively free from obstruction. We have at the same time equally decisive testimony to the fact, that a similar displacement of the ice has taken place in the part of the northern ocean above Davis's Straits, and that different whale ships have penetrated beyond their usual limits, and found the sea comparatively open. In confirmation of this change in the state of the polar ice, we are farther informed that immense masses of it have been met with drifting down the Atlantic; some of them as far as 40°. of latitude; and in some parts, where ice is seldom met with, as about Newfoundland, it occurred in such great quantity as to have considerably impeded the navigation. To what cause we are to ascribe this extraordinary revolution is a matter of mere conjecture; we are not aware of any oc currence to which it can be traced, unless we imagine that the gradually accumulating mass at length gave way from its own increasing bulk, or that the waters of the northern ocean being, as it were, dammed up to an unusual height, at length broke through the mound which confined them. It is certain that a strong current sets in a southerly direction on each side of Old Greenland; and to whatever cause the original dislodgment of the ice may be owing, this current is the agent by which the detached masses of ice have been removed. Many speculations have been formed respecting the effect of this accumulation of ice on the climate of Great Britain and the N. W. of Europe, and on the probable result of its removal. The arguments that have been adduced, to prove that the climate of Great Britain has been gradually deteriorating for the last century or two, appear to us inconclusive; nor, were the fact of the deterioration proved, do we consider the cause assigned as adequate to produce it. But the coldness of the last two seasons is well known, and we think it very possible, and even probable, that the immense fields of ice moving southward, and gradually dissolving as they passed along the Atlantic, may have sensibly affected the temperature both of Europe and America. A very interesting consequence that is likely to follow from this revolution in the state of the northern ocean, is an addition to our knowledge of the hydrography of the Arctic circle, more especially of the shape of the upper part of Greenland, of the northern termination of the continent of America, and still more the determination of the celebrated question concerning the existence of what has been called the N. W. passage. To ascertain these points, advantage has been taken of the present favourable state of the northern seas, and an expedition now on the point of sailing for the purpose of exploring these unknown regions. Four vessels, of about 300 tons burden, are prepared for the purpose, two of which are to sail N. of Great Britain, to pass between Old Greenland and Spitzbergen, if possible to get to the pole, and then to proceed in nearly a direct course to Behring's Straits; the other two vessels are to go to the W. of Old Greenland, to pass through Davis's Straits, and to proceed, if possible, in a N. W. direction beyond the supposed northern shore of America. The success of these plans obviously depends upon the suppositions that Old Greenland is an island or a cluster of islands |