sion has its miseries; the relations of life have their miseries, and perhaps there is no gratification more generally interesting than that which attends the recollection or the relation of adventures wherein good and evil of the lighter kinds, were so equally and intimately blended, that for a mo ment the mind was embarrassed to disentangle them.

That such calamities may bear being joked at, we willingly adinit; and we heartily commend the author before us, for restraining his wit within the bounds of good manners. Had he treated serious subjects with levity, or unmanly sarcasm, we should have manifested our indignation; had he transgressed the laws of decorum, or of politeness, of virtue, or of religion, we should have thought no castigation too severe for him; but as the exciting of innocent mirth appears to have been his intention, we think him intitled to our thanks, and wish him on the part of the public still further "demonstrations joy." We may add, Ridendo castigat

mares.

The twelve dialogues comprise the Miseries of the Country; of Games, Sports, &c. of London, of Public Places, of Travellers, of Social Life, of Reading and Writing, of the Table, Domestic Miseries, and Miseries Miscellaneous. Such are the "miseries that flesh is heir to." Now for a few specimens taken at haphazard.

The delights of hay-time! as follows:After having cut down every foot of grass upon your grounds, on the most solemn assurances of the Barometer that there is nothing to fear-after having dragged the whole neighbourhood for every man, woman, and child, that love or money could procure, and thrust a rake, or a pitch-fork, into the hand of every servant in your family, from the housekeeper to the scullion-after having long overlooked and animated their busy labours, and seen the exuberant produce turned and re-turned under a smiling sun, until every blade is as dry as a bone, and as sweet as a rose after having exultingly counted one rising haycock after another, and drawn to the spot every seizable horse and cart, all now standing in readiness to carry home the table treasure, as fast as it can be piled-at such a golden moment as this, Mr. Testy, to sce volume upon volume of black, heavy clouds suddenly rising, and advancing, in frowning columns, from the South West; as if the sun had taken half the Zodiac-from Leo to Aquarius-at a leap:-they halt-they muster directly over head;—at the signal of a

yege

thunder-clap, they pour down their contents with a steady perpendicular discharge, and the assault is continued without a moment's pause, till every meadow is completely got under, and the whole scene of action is a swamp. When the enemy has performed his commission by a total defeat of your hopes, when he has completely swept the field, and scattered your whole party in a panic flight, he suddenly breaks up his forces, and quits the ground; leaving you to comfort and amuse yourself, under your loss, by looking at his colours, in the shape of a most beautiful rainbow, which he displays in his rear. p. 30.

While deeply, delightfully, and, as you hope, safely, engaged at home in the morning, after peremptory orders of denial to all comers whomsoever, being suddenly surprised, through the treachery, or folly, of your ser vant, by an inroad from a party of the starched, stupid, cold, idle natives of a neighbouring country-town, who lay a formal siege, (by sap,) to your leisure, which they carry on for at least two hours, in almost total silence:Nothing there is to come, and nothing

66

past;

But an eternal Now does ever last!"

During the last hour, they alternately tantalize and torment you, by seeming, (but only seeming,) to go,-which they are induced to do at last only by the approach of a fresh detachment of the enemy, whom they descry at your castle-gate, and to whose custody they commit you, while they pursue their own Scouring excursions upon the other peaceful inhabitants of the district. p. 40.

The plagues of that complicated evolution called right hand and left," from the awkwardness of some, and the inattention of others;

Ned Tes.

Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis." p. 50.

As you are hastening down the Strand, on a matter of life and death, encountering, at an archway, the head of the first of twelve or fourteen horses, who, you know, must successively strain up with an over-loaded coalwaggon, before you can hope to stir an inchunless you prefer bedevilling your white stockings, and clean shoes, by scampering and crawling, among, and under, coaches, scavengers' carts, &c. &c. in the middle of the street. p. 66.

After the play, on a raw wet night, with

a party of ladies,-fretting and freezing in the outer lobbies, and at the street-doors, of the theatre, among chair-men, barrow-women, yelling link-boys, and other human refuse, in endless attempts to find out your servant, or carriage, which, when found at last, cannot be drawn up nearer than a furlong from the door. p. 86.

After loudly boasting of your superior skill in stirring the fire and being requested by the lady of the house to undertake it,-suddenly extinguishing every spark, in playing off what you had announced as a chef-d'œuvre of the poker.

The lady, Mrs. Testy, has also her catalogue of miseries, such as

A termagant cook, who suffers neither yourself nor your servants to have a moment's peace—yet as she is an excellent cook, and your husband a great epicure, (excuse me, Mr. Testy,) you are obliged to smother your feelings, and seem both blind and deaf to all her tantrums. p. 275.

Working, half-asleep, at a beautiful piece of fine netting, in the evening-and on retorning to it in the morning, discovering that you have totally ruined it.

After having consumed three years on a piece of tambour-work, which has been the wonder of the female world, leaving it, on the very day you have finished it, in the hackneycoach, in which you were exultingly carrying it to the friend whom you intended to surprize with it as a present: afterwards, repeatedly advertising—all in vain.

After dinner, when the ladies retire with you from a party of very pleasant men, having to entertain, as you can, half a score of empty, or formal females; then, after a decent time has elapsed, and your patience and topics are equally exhausted, ringing for the tea, &c. which you sit making in despair, for above two hours; having, three or four times, sent word to the gentlemen that it is ready, and overheard your husband, at the last message, answer "Very well-another bottle of wine." By the time that the tea and coffee are quite cold, they arrive, continuing, as they enter, and for an hour afterwards, their political disputes, occasionally suspended, on the part of the master of the house, by a reasonable complaint, to his lady, at the coldness of the coffee;-soon after, the carriages are announced, and the visitors disperse.

At a ball-when you have set your heart on dancing with a particular favourite,at the moment when you delightedly see him advancing towards you, being briskly accosted by a conceited simpleton at your elbow, whom you cannot endure, but wlio obtains, (because you know not in what manner to refuse,)

the honour of your hand" for the evening.

Théorie du nouveau Système des Poids et Mesures, &c-Theory of the New System of Weights and Measures, as applied to minting, the manufacture of plate, alloying, refining, &c. with tables for workmen concerned in their different branches, by M. le Page d'Arbigny, late first clerk and director of the Mint at Paris. Desvaux, 5 francs.

In this work, the author gives an abridged account of the new system, particularly as far as may be useful to goldsmiths and silversmiths, and those departments of commerce which relate to the precious metals; this occupies eleven sections, comprising, 1, the basis of the new system; 2, weights; 3, comparative value of the precious metals; 4 on numerical value; 5, intrinsic value; 6, tarif of the different values of specie, tokens, plate, &c. French or foreign; 7, on refining; S, on the mark or stamp; 9, on the Argue (a term nearly corresponding to our public assay); 10, rules and examples; and, 11, a general idea of the mode of conducting the assay. The writer then details various laws and decrees relative to this subject; these of course interest the French public only, Agreat number of tables succeed, intended to establish a comparison between the old and new systems. The work is terminated by a table of foreign coins of every nation, and their correspondence with the French standard, and also their reduction into livres, &c. by, decimal arithmetic. This last article will particularly interest those foreigners, who have commercial concerns, or may have occasion to travel in France.

In our last number we noticed the numerous difficulties which harrassed the commercial operations of the French, occasioned by the introduction of their new system of weights and measures. The present article bears additional testimony to the truth of those remarks; and we doubt not but that M. d'Arbigny feelingly regretted the necessity of his publication, independently of any melancholy ressou venirs which might be awakened in his mind, by a recollection of the political causes of that necessity.

This subject also seems to be a part of the struggle between France, and other nations, whether she shall impose on them her regulations, or they shall continue free to retain their own.

and tone of colour pervades the greater part of the compositions; at the same time we are of opinion that the bold and free handling of fore grounds by our English artists, is very far superior to the laboured neatness of these plates: the skies are very defective, and not comparable in beauty to some which have been produced among us.

The designs are by Carle Vernet, We believe this M. Vernet is son of Alexander Vernet, a landscape painter of merit, although not equal to his brother the famous Joseph Vernet. The plates are etched by Duplessis Bertaux.

The subjects are confused by their nature, and like all representations of battles that we have ever seen, convey but a very imperfect idea of real action.

We cannot but feel surprize at the choice of several of the designs; such for instance as the massacre of the inhabitants of Pavia by the French soldiers-the entry of the French into Venice, marked by the plunder of the famous horses of Lysippus

the forced march of the French troops into Leghorn, when they had the mortification of seeing 40 sail of laden English vessels escape them by quitting the port as they entered the city-the fête of Virgil at Mantua, and the proclamation of the Roman republic, which have little to do with military exploits.

As to the History, it is drawn up in such a style as to please Bonaparte himself; consequently, all his successes are magnified, and his reverses diminished: the author indeed is very near acknowledging that he was defeated at Acre by Sir Sidney Smith; and although he gives no account of the battle of the Nile, yet the dread of the squadron which afterwards achieved that victory, appears to have haunted the mind of the French commander in chief.

A short account of his Egyptian expedition is added, but not a word of its termination.

The ceremony of his consecration and coronation is related at sufficient length, and the bulletins of the last campaign in Germany are given verbatim.

On the whole this is a magnificent and curious work; it manifests great labour, care and attention, and may give a general, though we cannot say a faithful, idea of the subjects it comprises.

Translation of the Bible in the Gothic Language, by Ulfilas, or the most ancient Germanic document, from the text of Ihre, with a literal, interlined Latin translation, accompanied by a Grammar and Glossary. By F. C. Fulda; the Glossary corrected and augmented by H. Reinwald; the text of Ihre, carefully compared with an exact copy of the Codex Aureus, preserved in Upsal; the Translation and the Grammar, revised and improved, with Elucidations and' Critical Notes ; also an Historical and Critical Introduction, by J. C. Zahn. 4to. Leipsic. Barth. 9 rxd.

Letters in general, and those who indulge in researches on the history of languages, and on ancient literature, are indebted to the publishers of this Bible. The date of this translation is not precisely known; it is however pretty generally attributed to Ulfilas, Bishop of the Gothic. christians in Dacia, Thracia and Masia. He filled the Episcopal see from the year 360 till about 380. Besides this transla tion of the Bible, many ancient writers. attribute to him the invention of Gothic letters; he may indeed have improved that alphabet, but its origin seems to have been much more remote. Many learned men have questioned, whether the lan guage of this translation be truly the ancient Gothic, or rather the old German ? it is, however, almost generally agreed now, that it is Gothic; and that Ulfilas in his translation has made use of the Greek text of the New Testament.

However that might be, there exist two manuscripts of this translation, whose authenticity, after long disputes, seems to be at present tolerably well ascertained. One is the Codex Aureus preserved in the library of Upsal, and so named, because the letters seem to have been first drawn in ink, and then covered over with a leaf of gold or silver, portions of which are still sufficiently discoverable. This manuscript is actually in the most defec gelist are wanting entirely, and the end tive state; many chapters of each Evanof each chapter is also wanting in all. Several copies of it have been made, and supplements attempted.

The other manuscript is the Codex Corolinus discovered in 1756, in the l brary of Wolfenbüttel, and published in 1762. It is in a better state of preserva

tion; and appears to have been written in Italy, towards the end of the fifth century. Others pretend that it was written in Spain, where the Goths maintained their ground till the year 712.

These details are derived from the introduction placed at the head of the work under consideration; which also contains much curious information on the language and history of the Goths, extracted from the history of the German Janguage and literature by Mr. Adelung.

After the description and history of the two manuscripts of Ulfilas, follow, 1. a critical review of the several editions which have appeared from 1665 to1763; 2. an analytical account of grammars in the Maso Gothic and Anglo-Saxon languages, published since 1705; 3dly, an analytical account of Gothic glossaries, published since 1764; 4th, a list of the writings published, of which Ulfilas is the subject; on the Goths, their languages, &c. since 1597; 5th, a notice of publications on the Gothic history; 6th, a critical review of fragments written in the Gothic language.

The typographic part is carefully and handsomely executed. To the Gothic text is annexed a literal interlined Latin translation, in small types. The Latin version of Ihre is placed at the margin of cach verse, printed in italics: the notes are at the bottom of the page. The whole work is divided into two parts, the first of which contains the text and the translation; the second contains observations on the language or grammar of Ulfilas. The historical introduction to which we have acknowledged our obligations, in the beginning of this article, precedes those two parts.

Münz und Medaillen Sammlung:

A

Description of the Cabinet of Coins and Medals of M. Joseph Appel: published by himself. Vol. 1. 8vo. plates. Trattner, Vienna, 5 florins.

The first volume of this work is divided into four sections and an appendix. The first section contains the coins and medals of the Popes and other ecclesiastical persons; the second of the Emperors, Kings and Archdukes of Austria and the Electors; the third, of Dukes, &c. arranged alphabetically; the fourth of Republics, cities, and countries, also ar

ranged in alphabetical order. The following are some of the more curious medals of which plates are given in this volume.

Medals of Popes Julius III. Leo X. Urban VII (this is very rare, as he occupied the Papal throne three days only) Gregory XIII. XIV. XV. Pius V. Clement VIII. IX. Conrad William and Conrad, Bishops of Wurzburg in 1523 and 1683. -Turkish piastres of various reigns.A half-crown of Maximilian II.-Medal of Frederic V. Duke of Mantua from 1530 to 1540. Alberic Cibo Malaspina, Prince of Massa iu 1593.-Bessus III, Prince of Masserano-Louis Count of Nassau Sarbruck-a Transylvanian medal of Stephen Bockhay, with the inscription Dulce est pro patria mori, in 1594,—and medals struck in honour of George Wissinger, Conrad Schwarz and William Pitt. Several of these medals merit more particular notice on account of the occasions on which they were struck; as that of Gregory XIII. on account of the massacre of St. Bartholomew's day in France: and that of Gregory XII. on a great famine. The appendix contains various coins and medals.

Dissertation sur le Monument de la Reine Comasarye, printed with the approbation of the Censors, at the imperial press of Petersburgh, 80 pages, 8vo. with an engraving, and ten sheets of ancient inscriptions,

This monument has been discovered by M. Kohler, Collegiate Counsellor, during a journey he undertook in Taurica Cher souesus and Asiatic-Sarmatia. He has found many other monuments in the Chersonesus, and intends giving the public a description of them; but this one has appeared to him, deserving of peculiar attention, as being connected with the political, commercial, and religious history of the ancient inhabitants of those countries. This monument of Queen Comasarye, daughter of Gorgippus has been found on the banks of the Lake Temruck, at the extremity of a neck of land called Eludri-Etlan.

A correct drawing of it will be published, when it arrives at St. Petersburgh, to which city they are now carrying it with other antiquities. It is composed of two statues on a free-stone pedestal, with a