rooted conviction of the superiority of America in every thing relating to the dignity and happiness, properly understood, of mankind-break forth in the very commencement of the book, and even the scenery of Italy, luxurious as it is, abounding in all the softer beauties, and deriving additional attractions from its association with so many of our earliest and most delightful impressions, only serves to carry his mind back to the richer and more sublime landscape of AmePica—where, if we meet with fewer indications of the great and illustrious in art and genius, we are in no inconsiderable measure recompensed by the unstinted prodigality with which nature has arrayed her surface; and contemplating the majesty and variety of her works in this her latest and favourite creation, it seems impossible to suppose but that regions so vast in their extent, and magnificent in their form and aspect, and tenanted by a population, active, sagacious, brave, and more intelligent, because better educated, than any people on the face of the earth, will in the progress of time, rival and perhaps surpass even the classic shores of Greece and Italy in every thing that confers upon a country the charm of moral interest and dignity; the light of genius and philosophy will diffuse itself over these immense and fertile tracts, time will shed over a thousand delightful spots the spells of traditionary and historical renown, and a structure of society be built up that will exhibit the human character in all its grace and glory.

With respect to the political discussions of the author, as far as they consider the present condition of Italy, they are, as we have already said, the result of much observation and reflection, and with his opinion as to the melancholy consequences of the Austrian government, the uniform testimony of every intelligent traveller compels us to agree :-but upon one topic we must say we do not think he has spoken with his usual candour and consideration-we allude to the influence of the French Revolution, and the sway of Napoleon, on the fortunes of Italy. He conceives them to have operated to her disadvantage, and the necessary inference from all that he advances upon the subject, is, that her present languish ing state is almost wholly ascribable to the measures pursued by the imperial government. Now, though we by no means wish to be regarded as the apologists of Napoleon, and though we shall be ever among the foremost in condemn

ing those acts of wanton violence and oppression which stained his career, we cannot avoid thinking, that to France and Italy, but more particularly the latter, his dominion was productive of benefits of the most substantial description, and that had not ambition, which Pope, however describes, as

"The glorious fault of angels and of gods.” beset him with her tempting baits, occupied every avenue of his soul, and at length precipitated him to destruction, his reign would have proved eminently prosperous to Italy, and that under his rule, she would have gone far towards the redemption of her former dignity and importance. A few observations on that mighty change in the system of Europe, whose consequences are, perhaps, even now but partially unfolded, will not, we conceive, be considered out of place in treating of a country so deeply concerned in its operations.

The French Revolution, originating in the despair of a people trampled in the dust by the government it rose to destroy, could be maintained only by the energy of extraordinary abilities, acting upon immense physical means, and had not the destinies of France been guided by minds of the first magnitude, had not the change itself in her domestic polity, called forth from the bosom of the people men equal to the most imminent crises, and filled her councils with civil wisdom, while it stationed at the head of her armies the finest military talents of Europe,-in fine, had not the entire administration of the public weal been entrusted to the ablest hands, France must have yielded to the force of her contederated enemies, and nearly thirty years before she was fated to drink so deeply of the cup of calamity, beheld her fields blasted by the fires of invasion, and her cities dismantled and plundered by the friends of her present rulers. Nor was this sudden and wide display of talent confined to the field and the cabinet. The glowing and genial impulse extended itself to all classes and professions, and spread with the velocity of the electric fluid through the whole community, whom it animated with a lofty and exulting spirit of self-defence. The barriers which formerly obstructed the paths to eminence and distinction, being utterly destroyed, and the invitation of the state to its members to come forward in her cause, being universal in its application, not only were her armies incessantly and cheerfully recruited, but every citizen practising a liberal and useful art, felt it his interest, as it was his most im

perious duty, to labour in his vocation, with a view to the public benefit. And thus the national affairs being conducted in their superior departments by the most distinguished political abilities, who wiljingly and with alacrity availed themselves of the aid tendered by men of science and genius, the safety of France was ensured by a system which employed and stimulated the whole intellect of the country, and threw over its proceedings a splendour that fascinated even the eyes of its enemies. The sanguinary scenes of domestic horror, produced by a few fierce and unprincipled individuals, we shall always deplore, but it is impossible to withhold our admiration from the magnanimous spirit that presided in the councils of republican France, or to deny that her mural crown was indebted for no small portion of its lustre to the genius she fostered with a sage generosity. The same system was pursued by the leader whom the exigencies of bis adopted country invested with the purple. The generals -the prefects--the civil and military Functionaries-of Napoleon were uniformly selected from among the most eminent în merit-the beams of his patronage warmed every department of learning, science, and the arts-and while his throne was environed and supported by the veteran commanders of the republican wars, it was clothed with the reflected light of the talent he encouraged. During five and twenty years was this nagnificent spectacle exhibited before our eyes, and it would, indeed, have been strange if a period so rich in all that invites and detains contemplation, had passed away without leaving impressions more durable than those of a theatrical pageant. In truth, since the expulsion of the Bourbons, a spirit had arisen in Europe to which she had ever been a stranger, and which soon extended beyond the limits of the country in which it had its birth;-it passed the waves and valley of the Rhine-it enlivened the marshes of Belgium-it animated the plains of Germany-it crossed the Alps and Appenine, and wakened the dormant energies of Italian souls:-a spirit hostile to all the old political fabrics, and which grew daily more and more inimical to the inveterate defects of the ancient governments-a spirit essentially republican, and at open war with the oppression and prejudices that had so long exercised an undisturbed sway over the mind of Europe. The example of a numerous and powerful people rising with one accord and overturning from its foundations

a government radically corrupt and despotic, stimulated the neighbouring nations to investigate the abuses and mismanagement of their own-and the spirit of inquiry once roused, proceeded with a rapidity that promised the most favourable results. Its first effects were manifested in the almost unresisted progress of the French army wherever they appeared-and so universal at one period, had the dissatisfaction of the people throughout the continent toward their rulers become so small an interest did they take in a cause in which only the government and its ministers seemed to be concerned-that had the invaders acted with caution and prudence, and shown by their conduct and deportment, that the diffusion of freedom was the real and sole object of their glorious ambition, we do think that a general revolution would have taken place in Europe, and that all those sublime and delightful prospects which the first few moments of the rovolution in France appeared to hold out to the philanthropist, might have been realised on an ampler and more magnificent scale, and that long before the present period, there would not have been a single region of the old world to which the blessings of liberty would have been unknown. It was a misfortune that can never be too deeply lamented, that a cause so pure and holy should have fallen into hands morally incompetent to its preservation and triumph-and that so splendid an opportunity for establishing the liberties of man upon a broad and lasting basis, should have been lost through the volatility of the principal agents, and their forgetfulness of the prin ciples upon which, indeed, they professed to act, but which their subsequent conduct but too plainly proved them to regard as mere political pretences. The tyranny and spoliation of the French generals-the wanton insolence with which they treated the people-the affronts offered to national feeling the overweening arrogance and egotism which was perpetually endeavouring to give a French form to every social as well as political institution of the countries which yielded to their arms-soon disgusted the warmest friends of France, and though ker power was still maintained in the conquered provinces, it was upheld rather by fear than by those warm and animated feelings which hailed the first entrance of her armies. The continuance, and perhaps aggravation of this system, under Napoleon, at length entirely weared the popular mind from his cause, and

the disaffection of his allies waited only a favourable occasion to manifest itself in all its virulence. The result of his Russian expedition presented the desired opportunity, the standard of insurrection was reared in every part of Europe, excepting Italy and Poland, and a new coalition against France was formed, differing in all its features from those which in the first period of her revolution she had overthrown with glory to herself, and, would we could say advantage to the rest of the continent. Then she had to contend only with kings, and their slavish, spiritless hirelings, and she rushed to the conflict with an ardour which ensured her triumph. Then she was freeor at least believed herself so-and fought for the preservation of her independence; --she was threatened with the forcible and sanguinary re-establishment of the despotism that for ages had crippled her strength;--the rights, the undoubted rights, and honour of her sons-the chastity of her daughters-were at stake;her hearths and her altars were menaced with destruction-her soil was stained by the presence of her unprincipled enemies--and her citizens were stimulated by all the most powerful feelings of our nature to the defencethe rescue of their country. Now, circumstances wore a very different and discouraging aspect. Free she had never been-her revolution, though in many respects productive of infinite ad vantages to the mass of her people, failed in the establishment of her liberty-to the despotism of the old government had succeeded the tyranny of faction-and the sceptre of the Bourbons was wielded by the Directory and the Emperor. She woke from her dream of freedom-found that it was a vision-and was content to exchange her hopes of pure and perfect liberty-her actual and tumultuary servitude for the tranquility of a monarchical government. Under the auspices of Napoleon she enjoyed the repose she sighed for, and the energy of his character, the splendour of his achievements, the protection and encouragement which he extended to merit in whatever shape it appeared, the majesty and lustre, in short, which he shed over the name of France, would have fixed him in the hearts of a people fond to excess of external glitter, had he known where to stop in his domestic as well as foreign enterprizes. But the despot grew so fast upon him, he could not endure that the slightest vestige of freedom should remain to his people-he became accustomed to the basest adulation,

his will was law, the legislative bodies were reduced to the condition of automata, the press was chained, and almost every measure of his reign seemed to indicate that he considered himself the absolute sovereign of France. By this haughty deportment, and avarice of power, he gradually declined in the affections of the people, while the enormous sacrifices both of blood and treasure which his schemes of conquest demanded, completed their discontent. The allies came forward with the fairest professions, disavowed any intention of interfering in the internal affairs of France, and the people, weary of war, and disgusted with the arbitrary measures of Napoleon, stood listlessly by, and suffered him to fall, in the persuasion that it was the only event by which a chance would be afforded them of recovering their domestic independence, or of reinstating the country in friendly relations with the powers that were now advancing on their metropolis, at the head of the united forces of Europe. In this crisis, however, Napoleon was not wanting to himself-never was his consummate genius for war more decisively and brilliantly displayed than in the campaign before Paris: for three months he not merely kept his enemies at bay, and with a force scarcely equal to a fourth of that opposed to him, but repeatedly compelled them to fall back; nor should it be forgotten that when the allies received intelligence of the march by which, trusting in the fidelity of Marmont, he left Paris uncovered, they were on the point of commencing their retreat from the French territory. The lion was caught in the toils, but not through the sagacity or courage of his hunters.

It is not our intention to dwell on the consequences of the fall of Napoleon, as affecting France, or Europe generally. Perhaps an inquiry into its results might not be found so favourable to the allies as their admirers would wish. Perhaps such an examination might show that a highly-talented and magnanimous despot has been displaced to make room for a clus. ter of meaner and base-souled tyrants, men who have cheated their subjects with promises conceived in the spirit of treachery-and whose poor and paltry dread of their late mighty antagonist is constantly evincing itself in the persecution of every one who was attached to his fortunes, or who incautiously betrays in print or speech his sensibility to the great qualities of Napoleon. These questions, as well as the influence of his government, and the revolution generally, on the des

tinies of Europe at large, we shall leave to the decision of our readers-but we cannot refuse ourselves the occasion afforded by the author before us, of saying a few words on the system of Napoleon as it regarded the fate of Italy-a land

"That was the mightiest in her old command, And is the loveliest."

In no country have the effects of moral disorganization been more strikingly exhibited than Italy ;-on no region has the total neglect-the annihilation-of the domestic virtues brought a deeper degradation. When we wander even in imagination over plains once the abodes of the "lords of humankind," meeting at every step with the evidences of her former grandeur, and then turn to contemplate the abasement of her present inhabitants, the ardour of classical enthusiasm might almost be excused, if in the warmth and poignancy of its recollections, it breathed a curse on the base descendants of a mighty people. The profound universal licentiousness--the contempt of the marriage vow-the open avowal of criminal affections-the detestable custom of cicisbeism-together with the rank superstition, pusillanimity, indolence, and complete want of public spirit, which characterise her population, have for ages rendered Italy despicable in the eyes of other nations. The lustre with which she shone in the middle ages-when the animating influence of freedom and commerce spread life and vigour through her republics gradually expired with the curtailment of her liberties;-the gloom of despotism, foreign and domestic, gathered over her brow-she sickened beneath the withering breath of slavery-the arts fled from shores where the voice of freedom ceased to be heard, and commerce deserted a land where industry no longer presided. Courage forsook her soul, and strength abandoned her arm, A general langour pervaded her frame, and she sought in the intoxicating cup of luxury the stimulus that had flowed from nobler sources. Deeply she drank-and with every fresh draught imbibed a portion of the poison which at length spread itself through every vein and artery of her system; voluptuousness engendered debility, her powers and energies expired in the miasmata of sensuality, and the moral marasma which infected her soul was daily melting away the few faint traces of those brilliant and illustrious qualities which still lingered amid the waste of her former glory.

Thus was Italy situated-languishing amid the sweets of nature, and the ruins of her pristine greatness-when the French Revolution burst forth upon the world like a tornado, and swept away in the rapidity and fierceness of its progress, the landmarks of so many ancient dominions and institutions. Italy was among the first of the European nations visited by that tremendous but not unsalutary hurricane. Great as were the evils she sustained,-and it is by no means our wish to underrate them-they were, nevertheless, transitory and trivia! compared with the deep and unintermitting exhaustion that for centuries had preyed upon the sources of her prosperity. The wars of which her fields became the theatre produced, unquestionably, considerable temporary disaster, but they wakened and stirred her people from the slothful and luxurious apathy in which they were involved. The great military and political drama that was acting among and around them, kindled the dormant powers of thought and reflection in minds long chained from action by the united spells of voluptuousness and superstition. France held out to their hopes the prospect of returning happiness and renown-her proclamations appealed to the shades of the Scipios and the Gracchi-the praises of Camillus and Cato were sounded in the ears of their descendants-the nerve, the long palsied nerve of patriotism was electrified-and the hopes, the affections of the Italians hung upon the triumphs of their invaders. The victories of the republican armies over their Austrian oppressors were hailed as the harbingers of independence, and the license of the French soldiery was regarded with the indulgence. exercised toward allies, rather than the asperity raised by the excesses of foreig and hostile troops. The establishment of the Ligurian and Cisalpine republics flattered them with the vision of independence, and the expulsion of their old masters-which of itself was a benefit of unspeakable value to Italy-excited in the bosoms of her sons the liveliest feelings of gratitude toward their conquerors.

Then came Napoleon-the kingdom of Italy was erected-and the Italians beheld all their anticipations of separate and perfect independence vanish in the overpowering blaze of royal dominion. But the rank which that event gave thein among the nations of Europe more than compensated the partial disappointment of their wishes. Previous to the institution of the kingdom of Italy, that interesting country had been separated into