dropping with water on all sides ought to be represented by ser pents; which reptiles, we have already seen, are employed to denote this element.'

The town of Baku has for emblems a Crab and a Lion; the former denoting its situation among rocks on the sea-coast, and the latter the sterile nature of the surrounding country. A Volcano is designated by the Lyre, on account of its form, and the noises which at intervals issue from it. The great Bear is an emblem of a forest; and the little Bear, of a country which possesses little vegetation. The Twins and the two Dogs denote the country of slaves; the happy Slaves being shewn by the little Dog and the unhappy by the great Dog. A variety of other fanciful ideas pervades this part of the performance, which we are persuaded our readers will readily excuse us from transcribing.

ART. XX. Conjuration du Général Malet, &c.; i.e. Account of the Conspiracy of General Malet, with the official Details relating to it, by the Abbé LAFON. 8vo. pp. 91. Paris. 1814.

THE THE short change of affairs in France, on the restoration of Louis XVIII., drew forth a variety of publications on topics forbidden during the iron reign of Bonaparte, and among others has given us this notice of General Malet, one of the last victims of ill-planned conspiracies. This officer, it seems, had been long conspicuous for his opposition to the absorption of all power in the hands of one individual; and in 1808 he had formed a conspiracy which would have made a farther progress but for the treachery, as it is said, (p. 19.) of General Guillaume. From that time, Malet was confined in prison, and watched with considerable strictness: but nothing could prevent him from carrying on a correspondence with those whom he deemed likely to co-operate in his views.

October 23. 1813, was the time fixed by General Malet and his coadjutors for attempting a counter-revolution in Paris. The plan was to go in the night among the military quartered in three of the barracks, and to read a paper, forged in the name of the Senate, which announced the death of Bonaparte, the re-instatement of the Pope, the establishment of a provisional government, and the transfer of the military command into the hands of Malet. It took effect not only at one of the barracks, but, in part, at the state-prison called La Force; and, in the morning, the conspirators in their farther progress succeeded in arresting Savary, the minister of police, after having put to death General Hulin, who made an obstinate resistance : but the whole appears to have been a fanciful and ill contrived

project, without any rational prospect of accomplishment; though, as it would not suit the object of M. LAFON to make an acknow legement so derogatory to himself and his brother-conspirators, the odium of the failure is laid on fortune and a certain General Labory, who is accused of having spoiled all by delay. The chief merit of Malet appears to have consisted in the sang-froid with which he met his fate. His trial and execution were almost immediate: but, when questioned by his judges regarding the names and number of his accomplices, his answer was, "All Frenchmen are my accomplices, and you yourselves would have been the same had I succeeded." In going to the scaffold, he maintained the same magnanimous serenity, and said to some students whom he met in the Rue de Grenelle, "Young men, remember the 23d of October."

Art. 21.

FOREIGN CATALOGUE.

NOVELS.

Le Retour des Vendanges, &c. ; i. e. The Return of the Vintage, or Tales for Children of various Ages. By Mad. DE REMEVILLE. 4 Vols. Small 12m0. Paris. 1813. Imported by De Boffe. Price 148.

Here are many dialogues which exhibit French colloquial idioms, and stories which are not only short and lively, but in which pains have been taken to give them a moral tendency. If, however, we were to raise an objection against this little work, it would be that it displays too many tricks and petty artifices; good children being here represented as receiving agreeable surprizes, while those who are faulty are punished or admonished by stratagem; and thus the young readers may be rendered suspicious of similar contrivances, when they ought to deem their instructors as superior to deceit as they are themselves taught to become.

Art. 22.

Contes Nouveaux, &c. ; i. e. New Tales, or new Novels. By ADRIEN DE Sarrazin. 4 Vols. 12mo. Paris. 1813. Im-, ported by De Boffe. Price ios. M. DE SARRAZIN, though an agreeable writer, is no rigid moralist. By his tale called The Point of Honour,' he may be said to hang flowers on the sword of a duellist, and in that which is intitled Schemes of Happiness,' although the abstract deduction may be that virtue alone gives content, yet the erring youth is so easily re-instated in the possession of felicity that his fate affords no warning. The Sorrows of Self-Love' are liable to the same objection: but this tale, and that which is called Age and Gaiety,' are pleasant and ingenious. In Spleen,' and 'The Patroness,' an English reader discovers those incongruities which it is so difficult for any author to avoid,

6

when

when writing of people and countries imperfectly known to him: but, on the whole, these little volumes evince a fertile and lively imagination.

Art. 23. Erreur et Mystère, &c.; i. e. Error and Mystery. By Mad. L. V. Author of "Les Soirees Bretonnes," &c. 4 Vols. 12mo. Paris. 1813. De Boffe, London. 188.

This tale loses its interest through the weakness of character which is betrayed by the principal persons: since Nastasia is shewn to be the dupe of fictitious horrors which the reader has already been taught to detect; and Alfred behaves with obsequious submission to the man who has caused his father's ruin and his mother's death.—The narrative, also, of M. de St. Rieul's early misconduct, contains expressions and avowals of which no father would make his son the confidant.

Art. 24. Tableaux de Société, &c.; i. e. Views of Society. By PIGAULT LE BRUN. 4 Vols. 12mo. Paris. 1813. London, De Boffe. Price 11. sewed.

M. LE BRUN offers this work as a picture of French society, and its English readers may rejoice that it bears little resemblance to the manners of their country. We can scarcely suppose a mother to be guilty of preparing such Confessions, as are found in these pages, for the perusal of her daughter. Yet we must own that our satisfaction at this comparison has not repaid us for the displeasure excited by the narrative, which is likely to injure, in proportion as it may interest, a youthful reader.

Art. 25. Le Naufrage, &c.; i. e. The Shipwreck, or the Twe Richards. By CHARLOTTE BOURNON MALARME, of the Arcadian Academy at Rome. 5 Vols. 12mo. Paris. 1812. London, De Boffe. Price 11. 2s. 6d.

An English romance is here attempted by a fair foreigner, and it is rather amusing to observe the way in which an imperfect acquaintance with our language has enabled her to atchieve it. She talks of

Hightwaymens, and gives to almost all the characters significant surnames; such as Mistress Merciful, Mistress Scold, Doctor Wellbeaded, &c. We can allow for the most polished persons in the tale being made to employ the appellation of dear Miss: but we would stipulate with the author for correctness in her own tongue, and contend that no precedent can be adduced from good French writers for the following expressions: Vol. ii. p. 68. Elle ne laissa pas de cesse à son bienfaiteur, qu'il ne lui eut raconté,' &c.—Vol. iii. p. 203. • Force lui fut donc de se soumettre.'-Vol. iv. p. 214. • Douces paroles! je te renferme soigneusement.'

The story is intricate, and not interesting till near the conclusion. Three generations are made to pass in review before the wearied. reader; who rejoices when they are successively "gathered to their fathers," and wishes that the author's next novel may not extend to five volumes:

INDE X

To the REMARKABLE PASSAGES in this Volume.

N. B. To find any particular Book, or Pamphlet, see the
Table of Contents, prefixed to the Volume.