and many others, in which the subjects are treated not only in reference to their technicali ties, but with regard to their history, and to their general qualities as objects of interest to the mind of civilized man.

"Such a work as this," says the preface, has never before appeared in the English language; and, although there are treatises in the French, Italian, and other modern languages, yet they are inapplicable, in many requisites, to the English student, professor, or patron of the British school of art." Many of these foreign works, it would appear, have been consulted, and amalgamated in the present, which contains also the substance of the most recent English works bearing on the subject; and in order to forward the design (truly a national one), the Royal Academy and British Museum have liberally permitted the writers to have access to their libraries.

It is to Mr. Elmes, the architect, that the public are indebted for the design, and, in part, for the execution of the "Dictionary of the Fine Arts ;" the latter half of the work was written and edited by Mr. James Ollier; and we are happy to join the general testimony, as to the able manner in which both these gentlemen have accomplished their laborious undertaking.

Sketches of Portuguese Life, Manners, Costume, and Character. Illustrated by twenty coloured Plates. By A. P. D. G. 8vo.

He

The anonymous author of these Sketches of Portuguese Life, be he who he may, is certainly a person of shrewd observation. From the palace to the hovel, from the saloons of a royal court to the interior of the peasant's cottage, his eye has been glancing; and in each shifting aspect of society, his research has enabled him to note much that is peculiar and worthy of record, whether simply as national and character. istic, or as indulging him in his vein for the hu morous, the ridiculous, and the sarcastic. has given us graphic and topographical sketches of the canaille of Lisbon, the gallego (or Gallician) water-carrier, the shore boatmen and the Ilhavo fisherman of the Tagus; the merchant, the huckster, the barber, even the beggar of the capital is sketched in the group, as well as the whole race of the Portuguese negroes, whether of the mother-country, or of the ci-devant colonies of Brazil. We follow him into the Portuguese provinces, and still he is at home-the male and female peasantry, their habits of life, their qualities and feelings, their rural economy and ar chitecture, and the scenery and luxuriant products of their country. His style of composition, though not elegant, is lively; and to enhance the liveliness of his descriptions, he has the talent of illustrating them by his drawings. These he has here farther known how to etch for his volume; and, according to the tone of his mind, these etchings are free, spirited, careless in manner, but characteristic; and, moreover, not a little satirical.

The defect of the volume is, that it is composed entirely without plan or order. It is neither a journal, nor a narrative, nor any thing like the It is a collection usual productions of travellers. of chapters upon different subjects, each illus trated by some one or more of the author's

amusing plates, sketched most truly, may it be said, from life. But with such want of arrangement is the book composed, that we have, first, a street scene in Lisbon, introducing a variety of costumes and characters; next, a ramble through the capital for several chapters, describing its architectural and other lions; then an account of religious processions and ceremonies; and after this, various chapters on Portuguese equipages, the court, manners, female dress, divers customs and amusements, funerals, the army, architecture, negroes of Lisbon and the Brazils, the pea santry of Portugal, the villages and productions of the country; and, finally, an account of the execution of the political conspirators in 1817,

Without copious extracts it would be impos. sible to give an idea of this curious work, which depicts the condition of Portugal even at this day, and demonstrates the blessed fruits of an arbitrary government and an infallible church, For the full and complete picture of the whole results of this double despotism, in abjectly plunging a nation into sloth and superstition, and demoralizing both the priesthood and their flocks, we must be content to refer our readers to the perusal of the volume itself.

Alla Giornata, a Tale of the Fourteenth Century.

We have seldom had more cause, than in men. tioning this work, to regret the scanty limits which the plan of our journal must assign to the notice of meritorious publications. Other works, too long neglected, have a right to be mentioned; and thus we are left with room in the present Number to name little more than the title of this beautiful and interesting romance. We trust that the press of matter in this department of our journal will soon permit us to give a more de. tailed description of it. Its authoress we know to be the person of whom Madame de Stael said: "I have more wit than --; but if I were offered her beauty and mind together, I would exchange existence with her. There is not a poet of her country who has ever been ac quainted with this accomplished personage, who, if he were called on to celebrate the most inspir. ing and graceful beings of his age, would not think her among the first entitled to celebration." Several literary productions have already made the authoress of "Alla Giornata" popularly known in a country which, in our own time, rang with the praises of her grace and beauty, and its records own a debt not inferior to what it owes to Hampden and Sidney, to the martyr spirits of her ancestors. The scene of this novel is Tuscany; its heroine is a high-minded wo. man, who is the enemy and intended victim of priestly persecution but of the story we must defer our account. Between the spirit of the story, however, and its fair authoress's descent from the most glorious patriots of our history, we cannot help remarking a pleasing analogy.

Keeper's Travels in Search of his Mas12mo. 6s. 6d.

ter.

We do not recollect any book in the whole compass of works for the instruction of youth, at all comparable in the value and the variety of its intelligence, to the present. The tale which serves to hold together the different topics discussed, is a very singular one, being the adven

tures of a dog in search of his master, whom he had unfortunately lost. This is told in a vein of uncommon humour and pathos, and shows at at once the knowledge of the author in the character and habits of our canine fellow-creatures, and the large charity with which he regards their wants, their sufferings, and their humble depend. ence upon man for good treatment. If it were only for this one thing, namely, the rooting out of that principle of our nature which, sad to say, even in early youth makes us delight in cruelty, this book would be, we had almost said, above price.

But it appears to us that there is hardly any subject necessary to be known by a boy of liberal education, which is not inculcated with great felicity in "Keeper's Travels," in which are incidentally developed a considerable knowledge of human character, morals, natural history and philosophy, geography, manners and customs, history, &c., &c.; and we fully agree with the expressed opinion of many of our contemporaries, that what is here said on these subjects would be edifying, not only to young persons, but to the majority of those of riper years. The style of the composition (which is understood to be the work of Mr. Kendall) is pure and masterly. Our copy, we perceive, is the fourteenth edition; and we are certain that the usefulness of our wish will be at once appreciated by all those who know the work, when we hope it may arrive, in due time, at the fiftieth.

Memoirs and Recollections of Count Segur, Ambassador from France to the Courts of Russia and Prussia, &c. &c. Written by himself. Vol. II. 8vo.

At the conclusion of the first volume of these amusing memoirs (see N. M. M. vol. xv. p. 169) we left Count Segur in France, on his return from the United States. The present volume commences with an account of the state of affairs at Paris, and of the political spirit which began to prevail at this period. Intermingled with this narrative we find many anecdotes of the persons who at that day played the most conspicuous parts at the court and capital of France, as the Queen, the Count de Vergennes, M. Necker, the Duc de Biron, the Abbé Delette, &c. About this period the Count received from Washington the order of Cincinnatus, with regard to which he tells the following amusing anecdote.

"A Colonel greatly distinguished by his birth, an excellent officer, but whose education had been neglected, and who made himself remarked for some very ludicrous grammatical errors in speaking, said to me when I was named a commander of Saint Lazare, and Chevalier of Saint Louis, Why, my friend, you are rich in saints. You have got three of them-Saint Louis, Saint Lazare, and Saint Cinnatus. But as to the lastnamed I cannot imagine where the deuce our American friends could have dug him up.' yet he had himself been in America, and received the order like the other officers."

And

After remaining some time at Paris, Count Segur was appointed Minister-Plenipotentiary to the Russian Court, but previously to proceeding on his embassy he visited this country, where he was admitted into the society of the Prince of Wales. The Count's observations on our ap

pearance and manners are sufficiently amusing he was particularly struck with "the sorrowful gravity which reigned on every face," and with "the multitude of walkers, who seemed to frequent balls and assemblies more with a view of making each other miserable than for amuse. ment."

On his journey to Russia our author had the good fortune to be admitted to the presence of Frederic the Great, who was very kind to him, and of whom he has related a few good anecdotes. The following is a characteristic one :

"One day, at Potsdam, he heard from his cabl net a considerable tumult in the street; he called an officer, and told him to go and ascertain the cause. The officer went, and came back to tell his Majesty that a very scurrilous placard against his Majesty was fixed on the wall, but that it was placed so high that a great crowd pressed forward, and were pushing each other to read it: "But the guards," he added, "will soon come and disperse them."-" Do nothing of the kind," replied the king; "fix the placard lower down that they may read it at their ease." The order was executed, and in a few minutes no more was said about the placard; but they did not cease to speak of the monarch's wit."

At Warsaw, Count Segur passed some time, and was introduced to Stanislaus, of whose history he gives a short account. The remainder of the volume is chiefly devoted to a narrative of his residence at the Court of St. Petersburgh, where the high situation he filled afforded him many opportunities of becoming well acquainted with the character and intrigues of the Russian court. Upon the whole, the account which he gives is much more favourable than might have been expected. Of the character and history of Catha rine, whose good-will he appears to have gained, he has given many details, as well as of her favourites Potimkin and Yermaloff. Of the personal appearance of this celebrated sovereign, M. de Segur has given the following account.

"The majesty of her forehead, and of the bearing of her head, as well as the haughtiness of her look and dignity of her deportment, seem. ed to encrease her height, which was naturally moderate. She had an aquiline nose and a graceful mouth, blue eyes and dark eyebrows, a very gentle look, and, when she wished it, an engaging smile. In order to disguise the corpulency of age, which effaces every charm, she wore a loose robe with long sleeves, a dress very much like that of the early Muscovites. The whiteness and beauty of her skin were the attractions which she preserved the longest.

"Too much occupied with other objects, she at least possessed the virtue of sobriety; and some satirical travellers have committed a gross error in affirming that she drank a great deal of wine; they were ignorant that the reddish colour of the beverage which usually filled her glass, was nothing more than currant-water. This princess never supped; the rose at six in the morning and lighted her own fire. She transacted business first with the head of the police, and next with her minister."

The Story of Isabel, 3 vols. 11. 4s.

When a novel of the present kind comes before us, we are at a loss how to notice it, especially as we are by no means predisposed in favour of

FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS.

Mémoires du Venetien I. Cassanova de Seingalt, extraits de ses Manuscrits Originaux, et publiés en Allemand par G. de Schutz, et traduits pour la prèmiere fois en Français. (Memoirs of I. Cassanova, the Venetian, extracted from his Original Manuscripts, published in German by G. de Schutz, and now first rendered into French. Vols. I. II. and III.)

The life of Cassanova offers as checquered and agitated a scene as that of Gil Blas; but unfortu. nately it has not fallen to a second Le Sage to recount it. Cassanova did not commence writ. ing these memoirs until he had attained his se. ventieth year. He died in Bohemia in 1799. Although his narrations are sometimes devoid of energy and colouring, owing to the weakened memory and enfeebled imagination of old age, yet these memoirs form an useful supplement to the various accounts we already have of the eighteenth century. They are valuable, as show. ing the real state of the societies in which Cassanova moved. These societies, however, are sometimes seen but dimly, like Napoleon at St. Helena as described by Las Cases, and through a cloud formed by the want of talent in the writer. Cassanova, born at Venice in 1725, was the son of Jean Jacques Cagetan, a dancer, afterwards a comedian, and the son-in-law of a shoe. maker. Cassanova's first education was of the most bizarre and precarious nature; however, he acquired some information, and soon gave proofs of a very lively imagination, which was the rul ing quality of his mind. At the age of eighteen, in 1743, we find him at Constantinople, where he became acquainted with the famous Count de Bonneval, of whom he relates some interesting particulars. In 1755 he is shut up in the state prisons of Venice, from whence he contrives, by almost incredible efforts, aided by the most wily stratagems, to make his escape. In 1756 he arrived in Paris, where he became intimately ac quainted with the Abbé (since Cardinal) de Bernis, Voltaire, Fontenelle, Rousseau, the Duke de Choiseul, the Abbé de Boulogne, Favart, and, in fine, with all the remarkable statesmen or men of letters of that day. In 1767 he quitted Paris and went to Madrid, where he formed the acquaintance of Mengs, the Count Aranda, and Clavides, with regard to whom he makes some curious revelations. On returning from Spain to Italy by the south of France, he met, at Aix, the Famous Cagliostro. He was cnpelled to this ceaseless locomotion by the persecution of the government of Venice; but being declared inno. cent by this republic in 1774, he sojourned in his native city until 1782, when he quitted it for ever, and went to live with the Count de Waldstein, at Dux in Bohemia, where be terminated all his wanderings. In these memoirs will be found food for every taste. After an adventure of gallantry, we have a grave political discussion, followed by observations upon manners, or literary anecdotes and critical notices. Amongst the more important contents of the work are some

curious and hitherto unpublished documents, relative to persons who have already become the property of the historian.

De la Monomanie Homicide; Examen Medicale de quelques Proces Criminels dans lesquels l'Alienation Mentale, a été allégué comme Moyen de Defense, &c. par le Docteur Georget de l'Académie de Médicine. (On Homicidal Monomania: comprising a Medical Analysis of certain Criminal Causes wherein Mental Alienation has been pleaded in Defence, &c: By Dr. Georget, of the Academy of Medicine. 1 vol. 8vo.)

This book may be considered as the first step in the medical science of suicide, although it pro, fesses to treat only of that species of insanity, which urges the person labouring under it to destroy his fellow-creatures, Within the last year

or two the tribunals of France have been occu. pied with several cases resulting from this fatal propensity. Papavoine, a man not devoid of instruction or talent, kills two children, who, as far as has been ascertained, were altogether unknown to him. Another monster murders a young girl of twelve years of age, and afterwards drinks her blood and eats her flesh. A young woman cuts off the head of a child belonging to one of her neighbours, and is found tranquilly seated opposite the mutilated body of her victim. In an. other instance, a young girl meets a child in the street, prevails upon it to accompany her into the fields, where she strangles it. And lastly, a married woman kills her own infant, eighteen months old. The perpetrators of these horrid acts had, as far as the judicial proceedings could ascertain, no ostensible motive. The causes which could instigate the murderers are incomprehensible to the rest of mankind. Doctor Georget insists that Papavoine and the others already mentioned, were insane: they were la bouring under what he called homicidal monomania. Doctor Georget gives in his work an immense number of facts, besides those already mentioned, relative to this species of madness. One of the most remarkable is that of a man whom M. Pinel had under his care in the hospital of Bicêtre. This man, in the paroxysms of his disease, felt himself irresistibly impelled to destroy those persons whom he loved best, and yet he remained perfectly conscious of the identity of these persons, and of the affection he bore them. Dr. Gall has also furnished the author with many singular cases of a similar propensity, which he attributes to a deranged and excessive activity of the organ of murder. Should the idea of homicidal monomania, put forward by Doctor Georget, be kept in mind and applied to facts of a similar nature, whenever unfortunately they may occur, we may in a few years possess a mass of observations that may enable us to form an useful science of that which is at present but a probable and ingenious surmise.