but in the meanwhile, his uncle Mr. Suckling had given him the hundred a-year, and then he says, "that nothing but reciprocity is equal to convey his feelings;" which shows how singularly intense they must have been. After this a considerable period passes, and we hear no more of the workings of the tender passion, except a stray sentence in a letter to his brother in 1787-" Marriage is not a thing to be hastily entered into:" but this adage was soon wiped out of his mind by a brush from Cupid's wing, for we find in a note that in March of the same year he was married to Mrs. Nisbett, and Prince William gave away the bride. When the Boreas was paid off, Nelson and his lady resided at the parsonage in Norfolk, and Mrs. Nelson used to go out bird's-nesting in the woods, as ladies in town ride in the park. Some few quiet years glided away in these charming and primitive pursuits; Nelson was then appointed to the Agamemnon, and went to the Mediterranean, and his wife there received from him the pleasing intelligence, "that Lady Hamilton has been wonderfully kind and good; she is a young woman of amiable manners, and who does honour to the station in which she is raised." Not wishing to impair the effect of this handsome and just eulogy, we must for the present finish our pleasing task, hoping soon to follow the biographer's future footsteps with our own.

We must conclude with the following portrait of Nelson, drawn by a Royal hand, such as he appeared to Prince William in the year 1783.

:

"I was then a Midshipman on board the Barfleur, lying in the Narrows off Staten Island, and had the watch on deck, when Captain Nelson, of the Albemarle, came in his barge alongside, who appeared to be the merest boy of a captain I ever beheld; and his dress was worthy of attention he had on a full laced uniform; his lank unpowdered hair was tied in a stiff Hessian tail, of an extraordinary length; the old fashioned flaps of his waistcoat added to the general quaintness of his figure, and produced an appearance which positively attracted my notice, for I had never seen anything like it before, nor could I imagine who he was, nor what he came about; my doubts were

however removed, when Lord Hood introduced me to him. There was something irresistibly pleasing in his address and conversation; and an enthusiasm when speaking on professional subjects, that showed he was no common being. Nelson after this went with us to the West Indies, and served under Lord Hood's flag, during his indefatigable cruize off Cape François. Throughout the whole of the American war, the height of Nelson's ambition was to command a line of battle ship; as for prizemoney, it never entered his thoughts, he had always in view the character of his maternal uncle. I found him sincerely attached to my father, and singularly humane; he had the honour of the King's service and the independence of the British navy particularly at heart; and his mind glowed

with this idea as much when he was simply Captain of the Albemarle, and had obtained none of the honours of his country, as when he was afterwards decorated with so much well-earned distinction." Vide Minutes of a Conversation with the Duke of Clarence at Bushy Park, &c.

Now let us compare this with another picture, drawn by a female hand. Mrs. Nisbett, afterwards Viscountess Nelson, received the following account of her future husband, in a letter from a lady; this was in 1785.

"We have at last seen the Captain of the Boreas, of whom so much has been said. He came up just before dinner, much heated, and was very silent, yet seemed, according to the old adage, to think the more. He declined drinking any wine; but after dinner, when the President as usual gave the following toasts-the King, the Queen, and Royal Family-and Lord Hood, this strange man regularly filled his glass, and observed, that those were always bumper toasts with him; which having drunk, he uniformly passed the bottle, and relapsed into his former taciturnity. It was impossible during this visit for any of us to make out his real character, there was such a reserve and sternness in his be

haviour, with occasional sallies, though very transient, of a superior mind. Being placed by him, I endeavoured to rouse his attention, by shewing him all the civilities in my power; but I drew out little more than yes or no. If you, Fanny, had been there, we think you would have made something of him, for you have been in the habit of attending to these odd sort of people," &c. p. 133, note.

The Life, Progress, and Rebellion of James Duke of Monmouth, &c. By George Roberts. 2 vols.

friendships, just to his word, and an utter enemy to all sorts of cruelty. As to his failings, we may say of him that he was a courtier of the reign of Charles II. when all the upper classes attained a height of

so much investigation, local and personal, into all the facts relating to the subject, that it will be consulted by all future historians, and referred to by all those whose curiosity is directed to the interesting period to which it refers. Mr. Roberts has pursued the duty of an historian, in being minute without tediousness, and lively without exaggeration. The history is that of an ill-educated, weak, and wayward child, who grew up amid the flattery of courtiers, the indulgence of royalty, the intrigue of parties, and the malice of enemies, ignorant of himself and of others; embarking without foresight or preparation in the most hazardous of all enterprises, which required for its success much more wisdom, experience, and firmness than he was possessed of, as was shown a few years later in the enterprise of the Prince of Orange. The author says of him (and we give this as a specimen of the manner in which the book is written),

"The eclat of the Duke's first appearance at court, the beauty of his person, and the natural endowments, and most engaging manners for exciting popular favour, which he possessed, have been described. The absence of a regular education has been mentioned; a want which the Duke felt, and which he sought to remove during a period which disgrace at court afforded. This golden opportunity his mode of life rarely allowed. How truly may we say of this leader of a great party,

His hours fill'd up with riots, banquets, sports;

And never noted in him any study,
Any retirement, any sequestration
From open haunts and popularity.

"How many would have been spoilt by the adulation of a court in which they appeared as idols! Few would have been proof against the flattery to which such a position exposed them. Apart from education, the Duke of Monmouth's abilities were, if not of the first rate, by no means contemptible. He had the art of inspiring those who followed him not only with confidence and esteem, but with affection, enthusiasm, and even fondness. He was brave, generous, affable, constant in his

treatment of his wife was altogether inexcusable, and the worst feature in the Duke's conduct.

"One of the most conspicuous features in the Duke's character seems to have been a remarkable, and, as some think, a culpable degree of flexibility. That such a disposition is preferable to its opposite extreme, will be admitted by all who think that modesty, even in excess, is more nearly allied to wisdom than conceit or self-sufficiency. He who has attentively considered the political, or, indeed, the general courses of life, may possibly go still further, and rank a willingness to be convinced, or, in some cases, even without conviction, to concede our own opinion to that of other men, among the principal ingredients in the composition of prudent wisdom. Monmouth had suffered this flexibility, so laudable in many cases, to degenerate into a habit, which made him often follow the advice, or yield to the entreaties, of persons whose characters by no means entitled them to such preference. The sagacity of Shaftesbury, the honour of Russell, the genius of Sidney, might, in the opinion of a modest man, be safe and honourable guides. The partiality of his friendship, and the conviction of his firm attachment, might be some excuse for his listening so much to Grey; but he never could, at any period of his life, have mistaken Ferguson for an honest man. There is reason to believe that the advice of the two last-mentioned persons had great weight in persuading him to the unjustifiable step of declaring himself King."

Such are the words and the opinion of Mr. Fox, which to our minds present a clear and satisfactory view of the subject, and which are, therefore, very properly inserted by the author in his work. By thus adding to his Own researches the reasonings and conclusions of other writers, Mr. Roberts has been able to take such a comprehensive view of Monmouth's character and actions as will enable the reader to follow him with pleasure, and to pursue the inquiry into more particular details than a general history would afford.

Rambles in Germany and Italy, in 1840, 1842, and 1843. By Mrs. Shelley.

2 vols.

THE talents of the author of these volumes are too well known and

esteemed to need any fresh panegyric.

Frankenstein is alone sufficient to render her name imperishable, and these volumes will form a pleasing memorial of her knowledge and taste. Mrs. Shelley travelled through the North of Germany, and Italy; and we think that as soon as she enters the land of song she becomes inspired at once by the loveliness of nature and the beauty of art; and her volumes increase proportionally in interest. Let us make a few extracts from the more remarkable scenes.

Vol. I. p. 51. The Falls of the Rhine.— "What words can express-for, indeed, for many ideas and emotions there are no words-the feelings excited by the tumult, the uproar, and matchless beauty of a cataract, with its eternal everchanging veil of misty spray? The knowledge of its ceaseless flow, there before we were born, there to be after countless generations have passed away": the sense of its power, that would dash us to atoms with out altering the tenor of its way; which gives a shiver to the frame, even while we gaze in security from its verge; the radiance of its colouring, the melody of its thunder,- can these words convey the impression which the mind receives, while the eye and ear seem all too limited in their power of perception? No! for as painting cannot picture forth motion, so words are incapable of expressing the commotion in the soul. It stirs, like passion, the very depth of our being; like love allied to ruin, yet happy in possession; it fills the soul with mingled agitation and calm," &c.

P. 207. "We now entered the depth of the Thuringerwald, and stopping at Eisenach for dinner, had a lounge,-the distance was not much more than a mile, but the day was wet-to take us to the castle of Wittemberg. Luther, on his return from the diet of Worms, was waylaid by his friend, the Elector of Saxony, and carried thither as a place of safety. He remained ten months, passing for a young nobleman, and being employed in translating the Bible, and composing other works. The castle of Wittemberg is situated on a steep wooded eminence, ascended by a winding road thickly shaded by trees. The chamber that Luther inhabited has one large window, overlooking a wide extent of hill and dale, stretching

far away over the Thuringian forest,—a noble prospect; and the very site, highraised and commanding, was well-suited to the lofty and unbending soul of the recluse. This chamber is preserved in the same state as when it harboured its

illustrious guest, and, except his bed, his furniture remains; his table, his stool, his chair, and his inkstand, are there; and if not the stain in the wall, marking his exploit of throwing his inkstand at the Arch-Tempter's head, there is, at least, the place where the ink was,-some tourist having carried off the memorable plaster," &c. II. p. 112. On the Italian Nobles."Play is the whirlpool that engulphs most of them. As with us during the middle of the last century,-as among a certain set of our present aristocracy,— play is their amusement, their contention, their ruin. Many of the noblest Italian families are passing away, never more to be heard of,-the heirs of their wealth having lost all at play. New men, mostly of Jewish extraction, who have gained by banking, stock-jobbing, and money lending what the others have lost by their extravagance, are rising on their downfall," &c.

P. 158. "One of the most interesting paintings in the world has been lately discovered in Florence, -the portrait of Dante by his friend Giotto. Vasari mentions, that Giotto was employed to paint the walls of the chapel of the palace of the Podesta at Florence, and that he introduced into his picture a portrait of his contemporary and dear friend Dante Alighieri, in addition to other renowned citizens of the time. This palace has been turned to the unworthy use of a public prison, and the desecrated chapel was whitewashed and divided into cells. These have now been demolished, and the whitewash is in process of being removed: almost at the first, the portrait of Dante was discovered. He makes one in a solemn procession, and holds a flower in his hand. Before it vanishes all the preconceived notions of the crabbed severity of his physiognomy, which have originated in portraits taken later in his life. We see here the lover of Beatrice-his lip is proud-for proud every contemporary asserts that he was, and he himself confesses it in the Purgatorio; but there is sensibility, gentleness, and love-the creation breathes the spirit of the Vita Nuova."

The author adds, that "the common prints taken from this picture are very unworthy of it; they seem to substitute sensuality for sensibility in the

lines of the countenance, and that Mr. Kirkup's drawing, made for Lord Vernon, is excellent."

P. 262. Sorrento." It seems to me as if I had never before visited Italy-as if now for the first time the charm was revealed to me. At every moment the senses, lapped in delight, whispered to me-this is Paradise. Here I find the secret of Italian poetry,-not of Dante; he belonged to Etruria, and Cisalpine Gaul. Tuscany and Lombardy are beautiful, they are an improved France, an abundant sunshiny England; but here only do we find another earth and sky. There the poets of Italy tasted the sweets of those enchanted gardens which they described in their poems, and we wonder at their bright imaginations, but they drew only from reality-the reality of Sorrento. Call to mind those stanzas of Tasso, those passages of Berni and Ariosto, which have most vividly transported you into gardens of delight, and in them you will find the best description of the charms of this spot. I had visited Naples before, but that was in winter; and, beautiful as I thought it, I did not then guess what this land was in all the glory of its summer dress. Here is the house in which Tasso was born-what wonder that the gardens of Armida convey to the mind the feeling that the poet had been carried away by enchantment to an elysium, whose balmy atmosphere hung over him, and he wrote under its influence-so indeed was it-here is the radiance, here the delights which he describes-here he passed his childhood: the fragrance of these bowers, the glory of this sky, haunted him in the dark cell of the convent of St. Anna," &c.

Many more such passages might be quoted, shewing the author's perception of the beautiful, both in art and nature, and her power and elegance in describing it.

The English Universities. From the German of V. A. Hecker, abridged and translated by F. W. Newman. 3 vols. THIS work, compiled by a German writer, is, we think, calculated to be more useful to readers of that country, than of ours; because the historical part will present little novelty to an English scholar, and the critical will be too slight and superficial to afford him instruction. We do not deny that great pains are shown in collecting information, and that the general view of society, and of religious belief and

profession, connected with the foundation and progress of our universities, may be useful and correct; we do not deny but that the volumes may afford sufficient matter to satisfy the curiosity of the foreign student; but we should have scarcely considered it to be a work that could be translated with advantage. As, however, it is presented to us in this form, we shall give a sort of tabular view of its contents, that may be satisfactory to those who are alive to the very interesting subject of the history and structure of those seats of learning, and twin eyes of England, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

The first volume begins with an account of the growth of Universities in the twelfth century, with their relation to the church and the philosophy of the time. This is followed by the history of Oxford as an University in the Saxon times, and an account of its difference from, or similarity to, the system at Paris,-of the northern and southern portions,-of the relation of the universities to the town corporations, with their jurisdiction and privileges. The sixth chapter includes remarks on the universities from the middle of the 14th century to the Reformation, with the elevation of the colleges. The eighth chapter is interesting, as it gives a review of the universities during the Reformation, to the end of Elizabeth's reign; including the reciprocal influence between the universities and the inns of court, and the schools and the church, and the other professions: there being a fierce struggle between the high church and puritanical principles, when Leicester was Chancellor. Many interesting subjects are opened in the various discussions in this volume, which are worthy of a fuller inquiry than the work would admit, considering the copiousness and variety of its matter, and the space occupied by the author's fondness for entering into collateral details at much length. In chapter ix. the history is continued from the death of Elizabeth to the Revolution, containing au account of the conduct of the universities during the Civil Wars, and of Archbp. Laud as an university reformer. The tenth chapter is employed in an inquiry into the con

stitution of the universities,-of the official personages,-of the rise of the colleges, of the academic offices,-and of the external regulations of the universities with the crown and the national church. The eleventh chapter renews the history to the times after the Revolution, and through the eighteenth century, including the consideration of many separate questions, more or less closely connected with the main subject-as the exclusion of dissenters; and the whole survey is concluded by miscellaneous observations of the author, and by a volume of notes and appendices.

That much diligence has been employed in compiling this work, and that much and various information has been collected, is not to be denied ; but, as we have already observed, we think that,-however useful it may be in Germany, in giving a general review of the framework of our universities to foreigners,-neither in the bistorical reasoning, nor in the antiquarian details, will it satisfy the demands of our own countrymen. The general views may be correct, the outlines not far from the truth; yet, after all, it will appear to us the cold resemblance of an inanimate statue, and not of that which bears the fresh hue of vitality, and the movement and animation of reality. There are some serious, and some mistakes of a lighter character, that might be collected in the volumes. Assuredly one of the former is, when the author says "that Unitarianism, though openly avowed by few, is secretly held by vast numbers nomi. nally members of the church :" but this the Translator has animadverted on. On the subject of Locke's expulsion, the author or translator should have transcribed from Lord Grenville's pamphlet: and it is a gross error to say that Gray, when holding the Professorship of Modern History, never intended to read lectures; whereas it was his constant inten

tion, and a source of perpetual regret that his increasing infirmities and ill health and depression of spirits prevented his being able to execute it. This fact is fully declared in Mason's life of him.

Life of Christ; from the Latin of St.

Bonaventure. Newly translate for the use of the Members of the Church of England.

WE much mistake if the members of the Church of England will avail themselves of the offer here made in their favour, while they can possess a Life of Christ written by the Evangelists. But this Life is suggestive or supplementary to them; ex. gr. the Evangelists wrote that the Virgin, when she went to Elizabeth, travelled in haste, ἐπορεύθη μέτα σπουδῆς. St. Bonaventure suggests the reason. "She was loth, in her great modesty and love of retirement, to be long abroad." The wise men from the East offered our Lord gold as well as spices. The Saint asks what became of all this gold? and suggests that the Virgin Mary used it in bountiful almsgiving. In Scripture, there is no intimation that Christ appeared to his mother on the day of the resurrection. Yet, says the Saint, though not recorded, it is almost a result of natural piety to suppose it, especially as the Holy Spirit says,

"

our Lord did many more things than are written." Let the reader, he says, turn in thought to the narratives of the Annunciation, of the Visitation, of the Marriage of Cana, of the Crucifixion, and again to the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and surely he will remember passages which are at least suggestive of very wonderful thoughts concerning the mother of God. The Scripture tells of the visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth; but the sacred biographer would have been much surprised had he found how his outline had been filled up out of the imagination of the modern saint, who tells us,

"They seated themselves (after some ceremonious apologies) side by side; then succeeded mutual inquiries concerning the mysteries of which each had been the subject, and this was a topic of happy narration; and so they passed a long and

joyous day.... When Elizabeth's full time was come, she was happily delivered of a son, which our Lady received into her arms, and swaddled with becoming care. The infant, as if conscious of the majesty of his nurse, fixed his eyes stedfastly on her, so taken with her beauty, that when she delivered him again to his mother, he still