Characteristics of Men of Genius;. a series of Essays, &c. 2 vols. THESE volumes contain a selection of articles by American writers, reprinted by permission in England; and, as the editor observes, "to the majority of readers they will come invested with a complete novelty, as the sources whence they have been obtained are known to very few; they will therefore, it is believed, possess considerable interest to the English public as specimens of transatlantic literature." The guiding principle of the selection, we are told, has been that of portraying" the Characteristics of Men of Genius;" and the arrangement of the essays into four groups has been adopted, as imparting as much order as was possible to the work, and a greater appearance of completeness. The order of succession in which the characters appear in each group is chronological, as being the best practical arrangement, and the order of the groups is regulated by the period of their respective development. The editor's preface should be read, as not only an useful but a necessary introduction to the spirit and intention of the work. After some philosophical remarks on the character of Goethe and Byron, and their connection with the age in which they lived, and the mutual action and reaction of the one on the other-the person and his times-the writer ob

serves,

"Ours is an age of science, not of wisdom, of bold inquiry, daring curiosity, division, decomposition, dissolution, destruction, radicalism, doubt, and unbelief. Every thing must be demonstrated. Faith has lost her power, and her serene and confiding features are only beheld with philosophical indifference or contemptuous scorn. Even men of genius are not exempt from the influences of the epoch. Excepting Shakspeare and Goethe, they are exclusive and partial. They are magnificent fragments of the ideal man; nevertheless, while we yield them our reverence and meditate on their greatness, they cannot fail to inspire and stimulate us by their glorious examples; and, perhaps, the most important lessons which they teach us, they will only impart when we contemplate them as so many splendid and lofty columns now standing alone in solitary grandeur, but suggestive of the perfect temple in which each shall be com

These collected essays are by various writers, and consequently of different degrees of merit. As we read them we noted down at the end the impressions which they had respectively left in a few words, having no space either to make extracts from them or to enter into detailed accounts of the reasons on which our conclusions were made. They were certainly very favourable to the work as a whole, though they occasionally exhibit the faults in which the gentlemen on the other side of the water are apt to fall. As we did not read according to the disposition of the work-for in our literary, as in our other tours, we are seldom inclined to keep the high road -our notices will not be found to agree with the order in which the sketches occur; but, if worth the trouble, they will easily be found. So in honour to our own land we commence with the Laird of Abbotsford.

Sir Walter Scott. A light sketch, rather of his personal character than of his poetical talents, or his imaginative and dramatic powers, but pleasingly drawn. The facility with which Scott composed, the writer has justly dwelt on, for it was very remarkable, almost unequalled. One of his first ballads, we are told, was dashed off at the dinner-table. His "Lay" was written at the rate of a canto a week! Waverley, or rather the last two volumes of it, cost only the evenings of a summer month. Forty-eight volumes of novels, and twenty-one of history and biography, were produced between 1814 and 1831, or in seventeen years. This would give an average of four volumes a year, or one for every three months during the whole of that period, to which must be added twentyone volumes of prose and poetry previously published. The complete edition of his works, it is said, properly contains ninety volumes small octavo! The most extraordinary specimen of his intellectual vigour and resources, however, was his being able to pay off by literary labour two-thirds of his gigantic debt (near 100,0007.) at Constable's bankruptcy, in little more than five years; and this too at a period of life when his genius may have been

supposed almost to have exhausted her abundant stores.

William Wordsworth. The editor of these volumes highly praises this article and that of Byron, which are by the same hand. Though the view which the writer takes we think is just, yet we could have wished he had expressed himself more briefly, and with more simplicity of manner and style. The purport of what he has advanced might have been given with better effect in half the space.

The German Poets. This is a lively sketch, in brief, of the principal poets and writers of Germany in modern days, including Wieland, Lessing, Winckleman, Herder, Goëthe, &c.

Michael Angelo. This article is written with much spirit, with feeling, and beauty of expression.

Canova. The conversations on art by this eminent sculptor, which are recorded by Missirini, and given in the account of him (p. 161, &c.), are of great interest, and form one of the most pleasing portions of the collection.

Machiavelli. This would form a good introduction to the works of this great and original writer; in our estimation it is well and justly written.

Louis IX. A poetical sketch, full of picturesque incident, somewhat in the manner of Carlyle.

Peter the Great. This also is a lively, graphic piece of biography.

Shelley. Written with fairness, but not discriminating as to his poetical merits and defects. We think that Shelley's poetical fame has scarcely preserved its former level. He appears to have written very rapidly, and too many of his unfinished poems have been printed.

Milton. A short sketch of his life, not containing much on the subject of his poetry. It is a strange mistake of the writer (p. 201) to say that "Milton was sent abroad;" he went abroad at his own urgent request, after his mother's death.

Petrarch and Dante. These are creditable to the writer, particularly that of Dante. A biography of Petrarch, worthy of him, is yet a desideratum in our language; but it would require fine feeling, fine talent, and fine learning. He was, indeed, the bright morning star of a dark and cloudy age.

Pascal. Very good, very just; on

the subject of this man's mind and life we can meditate for ever, he was emphatically ov τυχων ἄνηρ.

Ignatius. This also is in Mr. Carlyle's manner and style, the_subject most excellent for the artist. It is one of those histories that no one would willingly leave unfinished; and the same we say of Gregory the Ninth.

are

Biographical essays such as these, though small in compass, yet seizing on the leading principles and characteristic features of the subject, and giving facts with correctness, among the most delightful of all the various provinces of study. They are like animated portraits, once seen, permanently dwelling on the mind; but they require the pencil of a master. We hope Mr. Chapman will continue his collection with the same judgment and attention to selection which he has already shown, both as to the subject and the reviewer, and his work will be of permanent interest, and an honourable testimony of his zeal and knowledge.

The History of the Jews of Spain and Portugal from the earliest Times, &c. By E. H. Lindo.

THE history of the Jews of Spain and Portugal, the two great countries of the southern Jews-Poland being that of the northern ones-has long been a desideratum, and it is now well and ably filled up. Basnage, Maynard, and Jost, we are told, in their general history of the Jews, and Milman in his abridgment, have given tolerably accurate accounts of the Spanish and Portuguese Hebrews; but the present author, during a visit to Spain, has had access to Spanish MSS. and obtained information with which those writers were unacquainted. The petitions to the various cortes, and the answers of the sovereigns, are all from MSS. which have not been printed, even in Spanish. In this work the Hebrew authors have been arranged in the respective ages in which they flourished, so that their learning can be better appreciated by a comparison with other writers of the same period; but it must be kept in mind that this work is confined to the Hebrews of the Peninsula, and therefore the names of numerous celebrated writers in France, Germany, and Italy are not

mentioned. The author commences with the early settlement of the Jews in Spain and Portugal, long before the Christian era. The edict of Augustus, B.C. 15, proves that while Spain was under the dominion of the Romans the Jews enjoyed security and tranquillity. From this period the author pursues his history to the Gothic invasion, and through the various councils of Toledo, then to the invasion of the Moors, their various fortunes under the Kings of Spain, the founding of the Inquisition, the edict of banishment by Ferdinand, so impolitic, as well as unjust, and their settlement in different countries of Europe and America. The account of the learned Jews and their writings will be found very interesting, and, we presume, more full and accurate than in any other modern work. The Jews too, in early days, when Europe was awakening from her slumber, were the only people acquainted with trade, for it is said that the Lombards only learnt it from them; they managed mercantile enterprises, advanced the royal finances; they were the intendants, major-domos, stewards, physicians, and apothecaries of the court and of the grandees. The direction of the royal revenues was under the management of Jews, who advanced them for the state, or farmed them according to value, and thus acquired great wealth and influence. They also were the means of bringing much of the remote literature of the East to the knowledge of Europe; and thus they dwelt in peace, in affluence, and in power, till bigotry, fanaticism, and ignorance commenced those persecutions which never ended, till they drove the most industrious and enlightened of the monarch's subjects for ever from his impoverished shores. Their final banishment, with all its folly, its injustice, and its cruelty, will be read with deep interest and indignation in our author's pages: pp. 275-292. We make one short extract, describing the synagogue of Toledo, of which there is a plate, p. 149 :

About this time (1357) Don Samuel obtained permission to build another synagogue at Toledo, which he erected at his private expense, and furnished it with many gold and silver ornaments. It was completed in 1397. It is unrivalled in

the world, and is considered one of the finest architectural monuments of that age in Spain. The Hebrew, Gothic, and Moorish art combine to render it matchless. The beams of the roof are of cedar from Lebanon. Immediately under it is a green band, having the eighty-fourth Psalm in large Hebrew characters in white cement running round it. Beneath which is a wide band of beautiful arabesque work, interspersed with flowers and fruit; the vine predominating, its broad foliage and tendrils being here and there lost, then again appearing, running through the whole, excites admiration at the fine taste and infinite labour of the artist. Below this again are Hebrew inscriptions in relief; pieces have fallen off from some of the letters, otherwise it is in tolerably good preservation. On each side of a recess at the east end, where the books of the law were kept, are six lines of Hebrew, surmounted by a beautiful arabesque," &c. p. 150.

Book of English Epithets, literal and figurative; with Elementary Remarks and Minute References to abundant Authorities. By James Jermyn. Imp. 8vo. pp. 124.

MR. JERMYN has devoted his life to a work of considerable national imof an English Gradus, of which this portance, namely, to the compilation brochure may be considered as the avant courier. We hold language to be not so much a science as a philosophy; for the principles of science are fixed, while those of language and philosophy change their phases with the changes of things. Language is the voice of nature, articulated in human speech, not simply the operation of the reasoning faculty logically considered, but living in feeling and passion; and developing itself in vocal expression,

often derived from the sounds of the

elements, the cries of animals, and the noises of the motion of things in this universe of being; and Mr. Jermyn's book (as well as the Gradus in preparation) is properly a dictionary of ideas, which its second title implies; a dietionary of conception, a compilation of all that has given our richly copious language immortality, and preserved human thought and human energy through successive ages.

A language lives in its epithets, and is only a language when it becomes, in addition to its being the vehicle of the

expression of our common wants and necessities the embodiment of the richer faculties of the soul, of reason sublimed of passion elevated; for passion is a necessary part of our nature, and necessarily gives a hue and tinge to our conceptions, and forces us to modify accordingly the forms of expression. These forms in all their purity, intensity, and beauty, it is the object of the author of the Gradus and Book of Epithets to classify and arrange in a shape adapted to the perusal or reference of the student, the scholar, or the educated gentleman.

Of the utility of such a work not one word need be said. The want of it has been long felt by every scholar.

A Plain Statement, &c. By the Rev. Hugh Bennett, 8vo. pp. 43.-This pamphlet professes to consider the grounds of the argument, "that marriage within the prohibited degrees is forbidden in Scripture," and determines in the affirmative. The writer has dissected the origin and motives of the recent moving of this question, in a way that has informed us, and which should be generally known. His reasonings on the question itself are not always equally cogent, but he justly argues, that those who build a permission on the Mosaic command to marry a deceased brother's wife act rather inconsistently; for they should abide by the command, instead of treating it as an optional licence (p. 29), a conclusion which it does not seem they have any wish to adopt. For our own part, we believe, that such a measure as this might long since have been foreseen, from the opening of greater facilities to clandestine marriages, which has been the unintentional result of the registration act. That measure, which was meant for the relief of Dissenters, has far overshot its mark, and the present one is the consequence. Most fully do we agree with Mr. Bennett, that it would have been much better if the question had never been agitated.

Mede's Apostacy of the Latter Times. 18mo. pp. 332.-It has been the fate of this masterly treatise to be both praised and neglected, to be quoted as of the highest authority, and yet only known to the generality of readers through the medium of quotations. The fault, however, lies with those who are content to obtain their knowledge from secondary sources. "Mede (says Mr. Orme) was one of the most learned and laborious men of a learned and laborious age. His works,

As regards the execution, so far as we have been enabled to judge, it is in every way commensurate with its acknowledged importance. The author seems to have brought to his task the most unwearied diligence, the nicest discrimination, and the most comprehensive learning and knowledge. We shall hail the appearance of the Gradus as filling a hiatus in our scholastic literature, and sincerely trust that the author's mode of publication by subscription will ensure him the patronage of those whose elevated position in literature makes it in some degree incumbent upon them to support such a great and gigantic undertaking.

which were first published in detached parts, and after his death collected into one folio volume [1672], contain much elaborate exposition, and a great variety of learned and ingenious criticism." (Bibliotheca Biblica, p. 310.) He is principally celebrated for his Apocalyptic Key, with which, as Bishop Hurd remarks, he surprised the learned world; and all subsequent writers on the Apocalypse have been either indebted to it, says Mr. Orme, or have found it necessary to combat his views. His "Apostacy of the Latter Times," which is now reprinted, has received the valuable praise of Dr. Henry More, and of Bishop Newton, the chief of English writers on the prophecies. The former, in his "Mystery of Iniquity," 1664, anticipates that some readers may be so well satisfied "by those worthily magnified elucubrations of Mr. Joseph Mede as to judge any farther attempts of the kind superfluous." (p. 185.) And when examining the prediction of St. Paul, in 1 Tim. iv. 1-3, more particularly he acknowledges "these things are so solidly and copiously made out in Mr. Mede's 'Apostacy of the Latter Times' that I need add nothing more but a recommendation of that treatise to the reader." (p. 390.) Bishop Newton, when considering the same prophecy (Diss. xxiii. vol. ii. p. 134), says "But this subject hath been so fully and learnedly discussed by the excellent Mr. Mede, that we must be greatly obliged to him in the course of this dissertation. The dress and clothing may be somewhat different, but the body and substance must be much the same: and they must be referred to his works, who are desirous of obtaining farther satisfaction." Perhaps, in thus abridging Mede, Bishop Newton unintentionally helped to throw the original treatise into

the shade, in conjunction with the indolence of that generation, to whom learning was little welcome, except by a smooth and level road. We have fallen, however, on better times in this respect; a literary áváσTaσis or resuscitation has taken place; even a rough and unfinished style, such as Mede acknowledges in one of his letters, is no bar to republication; and the only opposition to a reprint is from those who contest the author's views. The work is an exposition of the prophecy in 1 Tim. iv. 1-3, of which Mede proposes a new translation, substituting demons for devils (dapovíwv), and explaining the word to mean "the souls of men deified or canonised after death." (p. 102, chap. iv.) Mr. Birks, the editor, has prefixed an introduction, in which he vindicates Mede's translation, in this and other particulars. He considers that critically and grammatically, "we appear shut up to the construction offered by Mede." (p. v.) But we remember that Mede himself has suffered from analysis, and must not hold out a temptation to neglect his editor. Readers who will fairly examine a work for themselves do not require an abstract of it; and those who will not, do not deserve that the trouble of making one should be taken for them. The republication of this volume was much wanted; its selection for that purpose was judicious; and we confidently hope that it will henceforth possess its proper place in theological libraries.

Prize Essays, by Five Working Men. 18mo. pp. xviii. 211.-These essays, on "The temporal advantages of the Sabbath to the working classes, are edited by the Rev. E. Bickersteth; with a preface relating the circumstances under which they were written. The several authors are, 1. a porter, formerly a gardener. 2. A journeyman shoemaker, now engaged as a schoolmaster. 3. A compositor. 4. A framework knitter. 5. A tailor. The idea of these prizes originated with John Henderson, esq. of Park, Glasgow, who gave three of them. As many as one thousand and forty-five essays by working men were sent in, and upwards of eighty received rewards. The editor justly observes, "We have, in maintaining the sanctity of the Lord's Day, to deal with opponents who profess to be animated by a regard to the social happiness and enjoyment of the lower orders. These essays have, we trust, for ever set that question at rest, and shown that the working classes are aware that the greatest injury and robbery that could be inflicted upon them would be to break down the barriers which preserve to them the sanctity of the Lord's

Day." (p. ix.) He declines, however, being responsible for every statement in the essays, saying that "coming from the working classes, there is occasionally a freedom of remark respecting their position in society which must not be considered as our sentiments." (p. x.) We take a single specimen from the first essay, viz. the porter's, (not by preference, but at random,) in the writer's sixth argument, that "The Sabbath is absolutely necessary to health, and conduces to long life." (p. 9.) Such a volume is not only attractive in its title, and important in its object, but, as coming from the working classes, it affords a favourable argument for education, and reminds us that Esop and Epictetus, although slaves, were moralists of the highest class.

The Daily Life of the Christian Child (Masters) is a very pleasing little poem, which reminds us of the sterling old composition, "How the Good Wife taught her Daughter a good woman for to be." It is at once simple in its expression, and judicious in the selection of topics.-We are sorry we cannot say so much for the Little Christian's Sunday Alphabet, though equally neatly got up by the same publisher. If the author was (as she says) conscious of its defects in metre, accuracy, &c. she certainly ought to have endeavoured to amend them. These we need not criticise; but the subjects are not all well chosen for the comprehension of children; as, Zephyr; the Word-represented as the tables of the commandments; the Universe-a globe in the clouds; the Temple-a Roman arch and niche; and (worse than all) a human eye for the Eye of God.

Man and his Motives. By George Moore, M.D.-That this work has received a second edition is a proof of its favourable reception by the public; and yet our own opinion is, that it might be abridged with much advantage in some of its parts. Yet we would exclude from any curtailment some chapters, as ii. iii. and vii.; also the one called "The Love of Action and Power." Some portions of the author's general subject have been oftener discussed by other writers on moral philosophy, and on Christian ethics, than others; and in these parts we think greater brevity should be adopted; for every book, we hold, should be as short as the author can make it, without loss of matter. But while we say this, we must do full justice to the spirit in which it is written, the sound and philosophical observations with which it is enriched, and the origins. reflections, which give a freshness and