A Summer's Day at Hampton Court, being a Guide to the Palace and Gardens; with an illustrative Catalogue of the Pictures. By Edward Jesse, Esq. Surveyor of her Majesty's Parks and Palaces. 12mo.

MR. JESSE has given us a volume abounding in entertaining incident, judicious criticism, and animated de.scription. He has omitted nothing that was important, he has not attempted to elevate anything that was trifling; and he has displayed a critical precision in estimating what was open to a variety of judgment. The groundwork of his book was worthy of his labour; it was the description of one of the most interesting Palaces that belong to the Crown; a palace founded by the munificence of Wolsey, and subsequently consecrated by the genius of Raphael.-Mr. Jesse has described its various æras of architecture, its noble halls and galleries, its successive alterations and improvements, its splendid gardens and parks, and all other objects of curiosity that are to be found in its neighbourhood.* But the most interesting portion of his work, to our mind, is his catalogue of the pictures, which is drawn up with fidelity and knowledge. Mr. Jesse evidently unites the science of the artist, to the taste of the connoisseur. The short sketch of the Cartoons is masterly, containing the most prominent beauties under a clear and brief outline. The work is inscribed to Lord Duncannon in a graceful and simple dedication. We have no doubt of the success of this work, which we hope will lead to others of a similar nature; such as the Seats of the nobility, with an account of the works

*The gardens at Hampton Court owe much of their present beauty and perfection to the fine taste, the profound knowledge, and the unwearied attention of Mr. Jesse, assisted by the science and skill of Mr. Johnson, the present worthy and excellent κηποτύραννος.

GENT. MAG. VOL. XII.

of art which they contain. The beautiful verses † on the Terrace at Richmond, found in this work, we believe to be by Mr. Jesse's son, a gentleman who has received the rich inheritance of his father's talents and virtues.

Fortunate puer, tu nunc eris alter ab illo.

The Student's Manual of Ancient History, containing the political History, geographical Position, and social State of the principal Nations of Antiquity, carefully digested from the ancient Writers, and illustrated by the Discoveries of modern Scholars and Travellers. By W. C. Taylor, LL.D. M.R.A.S. of Trinity College, Dublin. 8vo. pp. 511.

WE have already spoken of this work in our notice of the author's Manual of Modern History; and it might be sufficient, in a general way, to say, that both volumes exhibit the same excellencies and the same faults. But in an attentive perusal, having observed several passages which call for particular remarks, we shall lay them before the reader; and this we do the more readily from being convinced that nothing is more vague or unsatisfactory than generalities in

criticism.

ment that "the second and concluding part of the work is in the press," containing the history of the modern nations. Such a finis forces the purchase of the second part upon the reader, in order to escape the appearance of having an odd volume, though, perhaps, the ancient portion was all he wanted. With the same want of discrimination the Modern Manual (if we remember right) commences with a reference to the former volume, and thus proclaims its own incompleteIn the same way, at p. 277, is a reference to "the second volume," while the title-page indicates a work complete in itself.

ness.

We must refer to the review of the Modern Manual for some incidental

remarks on the ancient portion, which it will be unnecessary to repeat.

At p. 64 the divisions of Syria are enumerated, and among them "the country of the Philistines;" but, although so important in sacred history, and even in profane, (since Gaza resisted the arms of Alexander the Great,) no historical notice is given of that country there. At p. 65 we have Benoot for Beroot. At the same page we are told that Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre, and then that "Hiram, the contemporary of David and Solomon," made the island-city his metropolis, in such a way, that an inexperienced reader would suppose him to be the later personage of the two. At pp. 97, 98, we have the Persian name Kai Kaoos applied to two different individuals named Cyaxares.

The following remark on the death of Cyrus is creditable to the author; after mentioning the account of Xenophon, that he died in his bed, and that of Herodotus, that he perished in the Scythian war, he says,

"The latter account seems to be confirmed by the native Persian legends. Ferdousi and Mirkhond declare that he proceeded to some spot which he had selected for retirement, where he suddenly disappeared; and his train, among whom were some of the most renowned warriors in Persia, perished in a dreadful tempest. We need scarcely add, that the Oriental writers frequently use storms to typify any great or wide-spreading calamity,

rium, the proper mode of spelling, at p. 169. At p. 135, in speaking of Boeotia, there is a good remark :

"Thebes, renowned for its seven gates and its citadel Cadmeia, was the chief of the Boeotian cities; but the names of almost all frequently occur in history, for the fate of Greece was often decided in Boeotia. Its freedom was won at Platæa by the overthrow of the Persians, and lost at Charoneia by the triumph of the Macedonians. The supremacy of the Spartans was established by the battle of Tanagra, and their power for ever destroyed on the field of Leuctra."

The remark is new to us, and, probably, few readers are aware of so interesting a group of events in the Boeotian territory. At p. 136, Dr. Taylor shews his ability in combining ancient and modern history.

"The chief city (of Western Phocis) was Naupactus, the ship-building town, deriving its name from the circumstance of the Heraclidæ having there constructed the fleet in which they crossed over to the Peloponnesus. It is now called Lepanto, and is celebrated in modern times for the great naval victory obtained by the confederate Christians over the Turks, A.D. 1571."

Is Morea, we would ask, justly said to derive its name from its resemblance to a mulberry-leaf? (p. 137.) Dr. Butler, in his Geography (p. 147), derives it "from the mulberry trees which grow there, having been introduced for supplying silk-worms." It is but just to say, that many interesting remarks, too numerous quote, occur in this part of the volume.

to

The Phoenician mythology, Dr. T. observes, is full of the miseries and crimes that debased and ruined the family of Cadmus. We are not aware that it has ever been suggested, but it strikes us that there must have been an hereditary insanity in that unfortunate family.*

Mercy is so rare in Grecian history that an instance of it deserves to be cited. The Messenian exiles took Zanclé by storm, "but they had learned mercy from their own suffer

* In the case of Actæon, it shewed

such as an invasion of barbarians or the destruction of an army."

ings, and spared the lives of the citizens. (p. 167). At p. 210 Tissaphernes is called the Persian satrap, but at p. 213 the same phrase is used in. definitely when it applies to Pharnabazus. We must protest against Xenophon being called a hireling soldier, and his countrymen who served among the ten thousand, renegade Athenians. Neither was the war of Agesilaus in Egypt dishonourable; and why is the expedition of the ten thousand stigmatised with guilt? Would the author term Isocrates the orator a renegade, who advised a confederate war against Persia? At p. 215 occurs the following instance of incorrect writing.

there is no instance, either in ancient or modern times, of an Asiatic army having rallied when once thrown into confusion." The fate of Darius, we may here observe, reminds us of the vicissitudes of the Mogul emperors in the last century. He repeats the old story, so well refuted by Mitford, of Alexander's fever being occasioned by excessive drinking (p. 236), but qualifies the statement by making the vice a general indulgence of the Macedonians after the fatigues of war. vague to say (p. 241) that Polyperchon permitted Cassander to strengthen himself in southern Greece, where he seized the strong fortress of Munychia.” That fortress is a part of Athens, and to specify it as such would give the reader a clearer idea than saying southern, which should rather have been central Greece.* By a strange

It is

* If this remark_should appear hypercritical, we need only observe, that at p. 247 the author distinguishes Attica from southern Greece.

mistake (p. 242) he calls Thessalonica the daughter of Alexander, whereas she was his sister; but the genealogical table at the end of the volume serves to correct it.

We must close our notice of this work, for the present, with the eleventh chapter, reserving the rest for a future occasion. If our remarks appear minute, it is because we have read the book with the closest attention; and if we have been particular in pointing out its blemishes, the next edition will not suffer by our doing so. While, however, we dwell on the mistakes of others, candour requires that we should acknowledge our own. In our review of the Modern Manual,↑ Aigndel is misprinted for Aignadel, and in the anecdote of Lords Brougham and Melbourne, the names are misplaced; it was Lord Brougham who termed the Duchess of Kent the Queen-Mother, and Lord Melbourne who corrected him.

Repton's Landscape Gardening and Landsape Architecture. A new Edition, with Notes, by J. C. Loudon, Esq. 8vo. Nos. 2 to 6, to be completed in Twelve Numbers, illustrated by upwards of 200 Engravings.

MR. REPTON'S various works on Landscape Gardening were of great value, and of great rarity. Our own copy cost us the sum of twenty pounds nothing, therefore, could be more judicious than the choice which Mr. Loudon has made of this work for republication. He has also wisely done in reducing the size and the expense of the former volumes; such articles of luxury being not suited to the useful and economical system of the present day. The books themselves are of great value to the Landscape Gardener and Architect, as being the work of a practical and professional man; and secondly, as the places which Mr. Repton has altered and improved may be compared, in their mature and advanced state, with the principles on which his improvements are founded; and thus his prospective taste and knowledge brought to a decisive test. Of the art of what is called "Landscape Gardening,"

† See the No. for August, p. 168.

we think very highly, as all must do who have observed its almost magical effects in the improvements of rural scenery; and how it can form an elegant and even beautiful composition, from the very poor elements of an uninteresting country. Besides, in the present day, its services become more needful and important;—as by the increasing works of art, and the extension of agricultural improvements, the general face of the country must become more artificial, more denuded of wood; and, being more thickly inhabited, more exposed to the intrusion of objects little calculated to improve the harmony of a prospect. It must also be considered that the general scenery of England is flat, and tame; and we may well conceive an English gentleman, the walls of whose mansion are covered with the splendid productions of Claude and Poussin, and all the glories of the Italian shores, anxious to make his own less aspiring domain partake of some of the beauties which he has admired in a foreign and more favoured land. Those who have remarked the character of the country in which such mansions as Burleigh, and Holkham, and Clumber, and others are situated, and who have beheld the beautiful scenery of the parks and domains attached to them, which have been formed by taste from the commonest materials, will be not unwilling to own, that he who could effect so fine an improvement, in a manner apparently so easy, must possess resources in his art that deserve to be esteemed. We have also much in England that is favourable to the exercise of this art, though we want the boldness and grandeur of foreign scenes. We have a verdure of our own, unparalleled elsewheresylvan beauty that may almost defy competition-a sky of sweetly variegated light and shadow-lakes of fine character and harmonious composition -hills and mountains in due proportion with other objects-and a temperate climate, admitting the enjoyment of these national gifts at all seasons of the year: neither starved as Germany is with the terrific frosts of winter, nor dissolved like the Italians in the listlessness of their summer luxury. We earnestly recom

mend this work to our readers, enriched as it is with excellent notes by Mr. Loudon, (himself an eminent successor of Repton,) and published in a most commodious form.

At p. 77, we find an extract from Burke by Mr. Repton to the following effect:"A true artist should put a generous deceit on the spectators, and effect the noblest designs by easy methods. Designs that are vast only by their dimensions, are always the sign of a common and low imagination. No work of art can be great but as it deceives; to be otherwise is the prerogative of nature.”—Mr. Loudon considers this to be a false principle, and gives his reasons, asking if the Doric columns at the entrance of the Birmingham Railway and St. Paul's Cathedral, are not objects of great magnitude, as compared with other columns and other churches? but it appears to us that the very force of Burke's argument consists in the contrast he makes between Art and Nature; as for example :-The Thames is a large and noble river: a landscape gardener who is required to form a piece of water or artificial river in a park, would shew great poverty of imagination, and want of resources, if his chief endeavour was to produce the intended result, by introducing as large a body of water as the Thames; his true art consists in producing an equal effect-an effect of a large surface of water, with less waste of means. Where would be the genius displayed in forming a piece of water, the very copy of the Thames in extent? it would, as Burke says, be the sign of a low, common, barren mind:

"His pond an ocean, his parterre a down." but with smaller means, a man of taste could produce the appearance wanted, perhaps by a delicate curvature of the banks-by losing the termination in wood, or behind a hill-by apparently joining two separate lakes, or by other methods; all which act on the principle of deception (as Burke says). The same effect being produced by Art on a small scale, as Nature has wrought upon a larger. Again, a small park, judiciously planted, may produce the same belief of

The Ladies' Flower Garden of Ornamental Annuals. By Mrs. Loudon. 4to. Nos. IV. to IX.

THIS beautiful work proceeds with unabated spirit and elegance: the plates are elegantly designed, the flowers gracefully grouped, and the colours delicately and faithfully copied from Nature. Mrs. Loudon has made her work doubly interesting, by giving us the history of the flowers she describes, the origin of their names, and the peculiar qualities attending them. In the present numbers the pansies, œnotheras, and ipomæas are eminently beautiful and curious :-in fact, those persons who live in London and other large towns, who prefer smoke to sunshine, brick walls to hawthorn hedges, and the rattle of omnibuses to the warbling of birds;-may in this work, have a Book-garden, when they cannot possess a real one: and if Mrs. Loudon could fix by chemical means, the peculiar fragrance of each plant on its painted blossom, (which no doubt she will do at our suggestion,) she will be the most formidable rival that Nature ever had; or as one of our old Poets expresses it,

"Nature, as she beheld it, stood amazed, And long upon the wond'rous copy gazed, Till she mistook herself-and so her rival praised."

Letters from Ireland, 1837. By Char

lotte Elizabeth. 1838.

"WHEN Englishmen," says the author, "learn to view Ireland as she is, the first great step will be achieved towards making Ireland what she have, in this volume, the results of the ought to be." For this purpose, we author's observation during a short tour in that country; and we have pleasure in noticing the elegance of the descriptions, and the liveliness of the narrative; the soundness of the principles that are supported, and the wisdom of the reflections that are advanced. We shall give some extracts from what we consider to be the more important subjects. And first let us open at p. 32.

"I have looked around me with an earnest desire to obtain clear views, on that stiffly-contested point, the origin of Irish evils; their existence is not disputed, neither can any person actually on the spot, who has had previous opportunities of investigation, deny that they have alarmingly increased. I have no hesitation in declaring that, trunk and branch, they spring and thrive from one plain root-culpable neglect of the poor; and that one remedy alone can reach the seat of the disease-a competent provision for that neglected class. You will not suppose that in these words I include only bodily relief. I do indeed believe, and am perfectly certain, that without a permanent, legalized, sufficient provision, on the plan of a poor-law enactment, nothing whatever, will be done to improve the state of Ireland; but I am equally sure that the most ample supply of all their temporal need will be alike inefficacious, while their minds remain under the baneful influence of Popery. It is idle to argue the contrary from the fact of some continental nations presenting a picture of tranquil industry and comparative prosperity while still in bondage to the see of Rome they are not subjects of an essentially Protestant state, nor is it the interest of their priests to encourage disaffection to their respective governments. If it were so, the history of the world, from the first rise of the papal kingdom to this time, furnishes proof that they would speedily find a pretext for exciting the people. The cruel, shameful neglect that allows the Irish peasant to perish in utter destitution, is indeed a powerful weapon in the hands of his misleaders; but were that removed, so long as the