THIS is a learned and valuable work, upon a subject of much greater interest and importance than the general reader may at first sight suppose. Budhism is the most ancient faith of which any authentic records exist; for even what may be termed modern Budhism, which is a modification of the original doctrine, and a slight deviation from pure Paganism, is 2340 years old. It owes its existence to Gaudma, or Godama, (whence the Teutonic word God,) who, having been probably a great warrior-king and lawgiver in that remote period, taught his people to believe that he was endowed with superhuman powers, and on his death was deified, as has always been the case in rude ages. The previous traditions regarding a Budha, go back to a period long anterior to that at which the Mosaic chronology fixes the Deluge. The creed which Gaudma disseminated, and which is preserved in its purest state in the Island of Ceylon, extends over all the Indian isles, and the greater portion of the vast regions to the eastward of the Ganges, among which may be included Birmah, China, Tartary, and Thibet. Its doctrines thus influence the moral and intellectual character of not fewer than three hundred millions of the human race. These are considerations which convert, into matters of deep interest, the most minute details that can be gathered from the almost unexplored heaps of Eastern manuscripts, pictorial representations, and other antiquities which are known to exist, but which no scholar, previous to Mr Upham, has been able to turn to much practical use. Surely no enquiry can have more imperative claims upon public attention than that which retraces its way, upon the most authentic data, to the very earliest years of creation, and which seems to point to a time when the great family of man formed but one community, cherished the same belief, and observed the same rites. That some grand convulsion in the material world over threw this state of things, and scattered its fragments over the earth, seems to be beyond a doubt. Asiatic tradition, though it cannot precisely explain what that convulsion was, or how it operated, carries us back to the date of its occurrence, and almost seems, in some vague and mysterious manner, to penetrate beyond the barrier, and to present at least a glimpse of the primeval world. PRICE 6d. have become gods; but it rejects entirely the idea of a Supreme Being, who has created and preserves the universe. Its highest conception of power and happiness is to be in a state of Budha, or to obtain Nieban. This state of Budha, or Nieban, is entirely negative, and consists in not being subject to weight, old age, disease, or death. It is to be obtained only after a long progress of metempsychosis, and a succession of punishments and purifications in hells and purgatories, which, by the decrees of fate-Damata_necessarily follow moral or immoral conduct. Four persons have already passed into the highest state of existence, namely, that of Budha, of which persons Gaudma was the fourth; and his doctrines are to remain in full force for 5000 years, at the expiration of which period, (nearly onehalf having already passed,) a fifth and last person will appear; and when he transmigrates into the state of Budha, the present system of things shall have an end. Mixed up with this predominating belief, which, many centuries ago, found its way into Egypt, and was thence carried to Greece by Pythagoras, are a thousand wild fancies and incomprehensible legends, betraying the gorgeous luxuriance of Eastern imagination, and showing, after all, how very short a length man's spirit, cabined and confined by the trammels of f materiality, can proceed when it attempts to soar, unaided, beyond the paltry range of its own weak senses. But, notwithstanding the absurdities of the Budhist creed, historical and scientific conclusions of the most interesting nature may be deduced from its doctrines and traditions; and this, of itself, would make it worthy the most careful and laborious investigation. If, in retracing the stream of time, we are to look for the fountain from which all the generations of man have proceeded, and if that people is likely to be the most ancient who inhabit districts acknowledged as the original nursery of all the arts now spread over the world, it is clear that we must turn to the East, and that there Budhism, if it does not bring us to the fountain-head, will at least carry us a long way on the right course towards it. In the progress of this voyage of discovery, it will be particularly important and interesting to observe, in the first place, that in the Maha-Vansi, a work composed in Palee, (the sacred Budhist language,) and which is one of the oldest and most esteemed of the sacred writings, the early history of the human race, though laid at a much remoter date, is found to agree, in many remarkable points, with our own Sacred Scriptures. The Maha-Mansi records the lengthened period of life allotted to the earlier inhabitants of the earth, the non-existence of sin, the rationality of the animal tribes, the extraordinary ascension of a certain MahaMandatoo in a living state to heaven, the introduction of falsehood and murder, and the rebellion of men against the gods. These are very curious coincidences, and will, no doubt, tend to confirm the Christian in his faith. We are strongly inclined to think, that according to the correct acceptation of the term, Budhism is a system of Atheism. It, no doubt, inculcates a beThere are other coincidences equally deserving of nolief in various gods, or rather in human beings who ❘tice. Many of our readers are no doubt acquainted with systems divide the East. In Central Indi India, Brahmin-made manifest to the world! May all or any of these his Oriental researches, and is engaged in editing the three sacred and historical books of Ceylon, comprising all the authentic annals of Budhism, drawn from sources to which none but Budhists themselves could have ac the theory advanced by Humboldt, that the twelve signs are not the original Zodiac, but are derived from a more ancient system of the lunar mansions in use in Central Asia. Mr Upham's work establishes the truth of this theory. The solar zodiac, which the Budhists have also, is proved to have been the result of a more advanced state of knowledge, and to have been derived from the far more ancient and original lunar zodiac. We thus see that astrology, which owes its existence to the mixture of superstition and curiosity implanted in our nature, is, in truth, the parent of astronomy, which is science purged from superstition by more accurate information. But this discovery leads to still further results; -it shows an affinity existing in the rites and practices of countries the most remote from each other, and between which we should not otherwise have been able to trace any sort of connexion. We more particularly allude at present to the very striking and singular analogies which may now be perceived to subsist in the com. putation of time and zodiacal signs between the Tartar Budhists of Northern Asia and the Aztech and Toltech tribes of America. It has long been disputed whether it was possible to prove that the tribes of Asia and America had ever communicated with each other; but if we find several arbitrary zodiacal signs the same in both countries, the question must certainly be considered as decided. That the astronomical arrangements and divisions of modern Europe should very closely resemble those of Budhism is less wonderful, for it was comparatively easy for the science to find its way into Egypt, and thence it spread by Greece over all the West. It is of importance, however, to observe the very slight additions which have been effected in this department of knowledge to the discoveries that were made by the Budhists thousands of years ago. Budhism, as it now exists, is a reformed creed; and, as we have already remarked, is believed to be founded on the ruins of Paganism. Gaudma, the fourth Budha, did not approve of the doctrines which had been promulgated or acquiesced in by the Budhas who preceded him; and though he could not extirpate them, he altered some, did away with others, and took the remainder into copartnership. Original Paganism seems to have been little else than a system of demon-worship, and a belief in planetary influences. This, indeed, is gene rally the foundation of all barbarous religions; - men deify their hopes and fears, and attach superhuman powers to objects, with whose nature they are unacquainted. Climate, habits, and modes of life, modify the creed; which will thus be found to vary from that of other savage tribes in some of its details, but to preserve a close resemblance in all its leading features. Gaudma, however, in reforming Budhism, had not merely to contend with Pagans, but with a more determined and formidable sect the Brahmins. The question has been often agitated, whether Brahminism or Budhism is the most ancient system, and it is a question which, many centuries ago, occasioned the most devastating wars in India. The result has been that, at this day, the two The doctrine of metempsychosis is the very essence and groundwork of Budhism. It is not a mere fanciful theory, but a moral system, which teaches that souls must atone by penances in inferior forms for sins committed in any present stage of existence, and that it is only after they have occupied the bodies of men or animals, more or less degraded, that they can finally be fitted for Nirwana, or the state of Budha. There being no Supreme Being, no great directing Mind, in the Budhist creed, the system of metempsychosis was the only other plausible method by which a scheme of rewards and punishments could be introduced, without which no religion could ever be popular or useful. Budhism inculcates, that Gaudma transmigrated through the whole circle of the creation, through all the existences of land, sea, and air, and that he lived in every station of human life. This took him three thousand years to accomplish; but if his faithful followers obey his commands, they may very speedily transmigrate into the Dewa Loka, or Lower Heavens, where they will gradually rise in the scale of existences till they reach Nirwana, or final bliss. In the book of the Jutakas, or the five hundred and fifty incarnations of Budha, a complete history is given of his births among the different classes of beings, and the substance of his intercourse with them, for the purpose of illustrating three of the chief traits of his character-purity, compassion, and wisdom. The book was originally written in Palee, and afterwards translated into Singalese; a pictorial illustration accompanies each narrative; and the work altogether, judging by the specimens of it furnished by Mr Upham, must be one of the most remarkable which the East possesses. The Budhist's belief in a series of hells, or abodes for condemned demons and mortals, where the most horrible torments are inflicted, adds great additional weight to the doctrine of metempsychosis. These punishments, as we have already remarked, are not supposed to be awarded by any moral governor or creator; for the Budhas perform no other function than that of exhortation and preaching, but they are believed to have been made necessary by the immutable laws of fate from all eternity. The oath administered to a Budhist, in legal proceedings, is strikingly illustrative of this part of the religious opinions of the people. It is in these words: "If I have not seen, yet shall say that I have seen; if I shall say that I know that which I do not know, then may I be thus punished: Should innumerable descents of the Deity happen for the regeneration and salvation of mankind, may my erring and migrating soul be found beyond the pale of their mercy! Wherever I go, may I be encompassed with dangers, and not escape from them, whether arising from murderers, robbers, spirits of the earth, of wood, of water, or of air, or from all divinities who adore Budha, or from the Gods of the four elements, and all other spirits! May blood flow out of every pore of my body, that my crime may be ism maintains the superiority; whilst, in the Indian Isles and all the ultra-Gangetic continent, Budhism is supreme. The truth seems to be, that both creeds are modifications of pure Paganism; and it is of little consequence which sprang up first. The Brahmins calculate the antiquity of the world; the Budhists do not believe in creation: The Brahmins eat of no animal; the Budhists eat of all except nine, of which the ox is the principal: The supreme deity of the Brahmins is Vishnu, and the remote periods at which he visits the earth they term Avatars; the supreme deities of the Budhists are their five Budhas, of which only four have yet made their appearance. The great connecting link between the two systems is the belief they both inculcate in transmigration, of which we shall say a few words. evils overtake me within three days, or may I never stir from the spot on which I now stand, or may the latsani, or lash of the sky, (lightning,) cut me in two, so that I may be exposed to the derision of the people! Or, if I should be walking abroad, may I be torn in pieces by either of the four supernaturally endowed lions, or destroyed by venomous herbs, or poisonous snakes! If in the waters of the river or ocean, may supernatural crocodiles, or great fishes, devour me, or may the winds and waves overwhelm me; or may the dread of such evils keep me, during life, a prisoner at home, estranged from every pleasure; or may I be afflicted by the intolerable oppressions of my superiors; or may a plague cause my death; after which, may I be precipitated into hell, there to go through innumerable stages of torture, amongst which, may I be condemned to carry water over The Budhist doctrine teaches that there are eight large hells, which, however, are only probationary states, where mortals are purified by fire, and which seem to have suggested the idea of their Tartarus, Hades, and Orcus, to the Greeks and Romans. The hells are supposed to be under the earth, and rendered invisible to our eyes by the shell or crust of the terraqueous globe. But Nirwana, the place of bliss, as well as the Dewa Loka, or Lower Heavens, are situated in the starry sphere. Did space and time permit, we would willingly accompany Mr Upham into some farther details upon this interesting subject, which he has so ably and laboriously illustrated. We might give some account of the singular notions entertained by the Budhists of the earth, and the atmospheric regions; we might describe the inhabitants of the Dewa Loka, or Six Heavens, supplying, as they do, with their multitude of Dives, Peris, fairies, enchanters, giants, and oracular birds, all the materials of Arabian fable; we might look into many parts of their religious ritual, such as the feasts of the Nats, the Festival of the Gods, the poisoned toast, and the inebriating tree, in which we might discover the more recondite parts of the Eleusinian mysteries; we might trace, in the superstitions connected with the hells, the Bali, and the Demons, much of the machinery of Dante, and not a little of the creed of our own Teutonic ancestors, who, coming from the Euxine, imported Budhism along with them. But we must bring our remarks to a close, after expressing our full sense of the many difficulties Mr Upham must have encountered and overcome, before he was able to produce so splendid a work, on a subject so far out of the beaten track. We are well aware of the labour and perseverance requisite to dive into the hidden stores of Indian literature; and in all the Palee manuscripts relating to Budhism, we know that the writers purposely wrap up their meaning, and are more willing to mystify and mislead, than to give any distinct information. We cannot, therefore, but observe, with surprise, the very lucid manner in which Mr Upham has arranged his materials, and the distinct way in which he brings a thousand scattered facts to bear upon the point in question. The coloured lithographic prints which the volume contains are themselves of very great value. The originals have been presented to the London Asiatic Society, and are considered the oldest and only examples extant of the ancient mode of teaching by pictures. Few publishers can do greater justice to a work than Ackermann, when he is so disposed; and, from the splendid style in which the present has been got up, we do not wonder to learn that it has cost not less than L.1400. We believe the impression has been limited to 250 copies, and it will therefore be much less widely circulated, than the interesting nature of its contents deserves. It must, how ever, of course find its way into all the great libraries; and we are glad to perceive, by a Prospectus now before us, that Mr Upham is diligently proceeding with Traits of Travel; or Tales of Men and Cities. By the author of "High-Ways and By-Ways." 3 vols. London. Henry Colburn. 1829. MR GRATTAN's abilities as a novelist are not greatly above the ordinary currency of the day. He writes in a light pleasant style, and his stories are agreeable enough to read on a rainy afternoon, when one does not exactly know what to do with oneself. But they will never set the Thames on fire, nor even, we suspect, make the author's fortune. The work now before us is not an improvement on his "High-Ways and By-Ways;" it has too much of a made-up air, as if the writer had been more anxious to fill a book than to increase his reputation. It bears, in many parts, evident marks of haste and carelessness; and these are hardly redeemed by the fire and brilliancy of the remainder. Besides, we do not think that Mr Grattan has adopted the most popular style and plan for fictitious narrative. He assumes the character of a walking gentleman, and seems more desirous to recount his own personal adventures than to supply his readers with an interesting series of tales. This is injudicious; and, at all events, the idea was exhausted in his "High-Ways and By-ways." The novel-reading public must either have fish or flesh. They don't want half-and-half works, where the author is entirely lost sight of in one page, and starts up again, prosy and egotistical, in the next. They do not like to be thus cheated out of a good love-story, full of tears, and duels, and hard-hearted papas and mammas. Mr Grattan may be one of the most charming little men in existence; but there is nothing particularly romantic in his walking through lanes in Normandy, or taking cross cuts in Belgium, going into hedge alehouses, and meeting with queer postilions and blowsy dairy-maids. A book in three volumes should be made of sterner stuff than this; for really there is a good deal of flummery, and not a great deal of substance, in the "Traits of Travel." The work consists of a number of Tales and Sketches, to which it is impossible for us to allude individually, and we therefore have preferred giving a general opinion on the whole. Let it not be supposed, however, that we mean to deny to Mr Grattan the praise unquestionably due to him. He is not a very profound or power. ful writer; but he has many good qualities, which ought not to go unrewarded. He has a neat flowing style, considerable facility of description, a fair portion of Irish enthusiasm, a gentle vein of sentimentalism, a tolerably acute perception of character, and some humour, which, though it never inundates, flows on in a quiet, pleasant stream. In short, Mr Grattan has few faults; and all that he wants to make him a more eminent man is a more decided and original genius. We had marked several passages for quotation, but must limit ourselves to one, the spirit of which our readers will be able to enjoy, though detached from the Tale in which it oc curs. We shall entide it A SCENE BELOW THE TABLE. "Very soon after the soup had been removed, and the housekeeper's operations had commenced in solid earnest, and while I was in the act of addressing a sentence of civility to the interesting girl beside me, I felt something gently touch the point of one of my feet with a very light pressure. I did not pay any attention to it at first, and on a repetition of the touch, I concluded that a cat was passing to and fro under the table. Af ter a very short interval, however, it came again; and there was something so intelligible in the feel of the thing, and in the language it spoke, that I thought mere animal agency could not alone have caused it. The fact of the case came across my mind with a quickness and clearness that showed, as I thought, a considerable aptitude on my part. I was convinced, in a moment, that the sallow-visaged doctor was sending his long legs on an embassy from the other side of the table, and that his grisly foot believed itself in the act of making a very tender impression on the instep of my beautiful neighbour. My determination was instantly formed to encourage the doctor's error, to personate, with the point of my foot, the moiety of one of those no doubt delicate ones for which it was mistaken, and to amuse myself by observing those secret workings of the doctor's sole, which I thought, if properly managed by me, would be likely to display themselves in his coun tenance. dis "In pursuance of this freak, the consequences of which I little foresaw, as my readers will believe when they learn them, I quietly slipped my foot out of its shoe, the better to counterfeit feminine delicacy; and advancing it softly towards that of the doctor, which had retreated after his last attempt, I gently touched the tip of his great toe with mine. While I did so, I turned again towards the lady on whom I was committing this personal forgery, and, though saying a few words to her, I marked, by a single glance, the effect of my first step in this underfoot affair. The doctor's look had been louring and disappointed; but no sooner did he feel the timid touch which I essayed, than a frightful expression of delight showed itself on his face. An odious streakiness overspread his cheeks, the livid veins of his temples swelled almost to bursting, his lip quivered with a convulsive tremor, and his glowering eyes seemed to float in bile. The look of sickening softness, which he rolled across the table, was enough to infect the delicate things it passed over, like the poison-blast that desolates the garden of Araby. "I was utterly disgusted with the fellow; but I did not the less amuse myself with him. For full half an hour, I played him as an angler plays a salmon, forward and backward, from one side to the other; sometimes luring him on, then letting him retreat; now suffering his foot gently to press mine, then giving his a squeeze on the most sensitive and corny part; and, on these occasions, I could mark on his lips the anguish which he was, martyrlike, enduring so bravely. At last I got quite tired of my sport, and began to hate the wretch, as his glances at the passive object of his gallantries seemed to give her credit for a sympathy with his overtures, of which she was wholly innocent. He at last looked so atrociously amorous, that I could keep my temper no longer; but, slipping my foot again into my shoe, I waited for his next approach, and drawing back my leg an instant to take forcible aim, I darted it forward with amazing accuracy, and just caught his advancing shinbone on the edge of my square-toed shoe. The pain he suffered must have been intolerable, for he smacked his knee against the table with a force that caused it to dart up like a spring-board, and made a matelotte of eels, which was beside him, bound, as though they had just been popped into the frying-pan. Several bottles and glasses were upset and broken, and the whole of the sensitive assemblage looked affrighted. The victim of my vengeance writhed with pain; and I, with all the hypocrisy I could put on, looked penitence personified, and apologised, expressing my fears that I had kicked him instead of a dog or cat which I supposed to have been at my foot. 'I beg a thousand pardons,' said I, in conclusion. ""Au contraire, Monsieur, c'est moi, exclaimed he, bowing down to the table-cloth with perfect politeness, and I was quite satisfied. But if I was, or even gratified with his discomfiture and suffering, the feeling was soon changed to one of a very different kind. No sooner were the staring eyes of the party taken off his face, which I, however, continued slyly to observe, than I perceived him to dart one look at my lovely neighbour, of such a mixed and horrible kind, that I felt myself bodily to shrink from it. He either meant to reproach her for her insensibility to his suffering, or for a complicity in the injury done him. Heaven knows what! But so deadly a look of anger, hatred, and revenge, I certainly never witnessed. During the remainder of the repast, he sat sullen and silent." - P. 96-101. To such of our readers as wish for a longer sample of these volumes, we recommend the sketch called, " A Bone to pick, a tale of Irish Revenge," and the story of "Laura Permegia," which is very sweetly and prettily told. "The Maison de Santé" contains some graphic writing; but it is a painful and disagreeable subject. The whole of the third volume we consider heavy. The Practice of Cookery, adapted to the Business of Everyday Life. By Mrs Dalgairns. Edinburgh. Cadell and Co. 1829. THIS is by far the most complete, and truly practical work, which has yet appeared upon this subject. It contains 1434 Receipts, and the Index alone occupies twenty-five pages. Mrs Dalgairns is not one of those imaginative and flowery preceptors, who think it necessary to call in the aid of fiction and fine writing, to give an interest to the engrossing and important matters of which she treats. She proceeds to business at once; and from her title-page, to her "Printed by Ballantyne and Co." at the foot of page 528, she never for a moment turns either to the right or to the left; but, devoted to the metier she professes, prides herself on be. ing totus in illo. Her book will be found an infallible Cook's Companion, and a treasure of great price to the mistress of a family. It is stuffed choke-full of the most important gastronomical information; and, like a well-fed turkey, or juvenescent pig, it has swelled out under the fostering care of Mrs Dalgairns, till it has actually become fat and dumpy; reminding us of an alderman we once knew, five feet high by four broad,a very incarnation of all the good things of this life. There are 25 Chapters, in the course of which we are treated, among many others, to 95 receipts for soups, 115 for fish, 70 for beef, 60 for veal, 31 for pork, 41 for poultry, 14 for curries, 104 for gravies, sauces, &c., 66 for vegetables, 263 for puddings, pies, and tarts, 134 for creams, custards, &c., 100 for cakes, &c., 82 for preserves, 61 for domestic wines, 15 for the dairy, and 83 miscellaneous. Then we have remarks besides on the poultry-yard, brewing, the kitchen garden, bees, pigs, &c. The highly-judicious principles upon which the book has been composed are thus stated in the Preface: " The chief requisites in a work of this kind are, first, the intrinsic excellence of the precepts it con. tains; next, their economical adaptation to the habits and tastes of the majority of its readers; and, lastly, such a distinct arrangement of the various parts, that no difficulty can arise in searching for what is wanted, nor any ambiguity in the meaning of the directions when found." We are farther assured, that every receipt has been actually tried, either by the author, or by persons whose accuracy in the various manipulations could be safely relied upon. With so many arguments in its favour, we cannot doubt that the " Practice of Cookery" will soon find its way into a wide and useful circulation. For our own part, we have in an impressive manner presented our cook with a copy, solemnly declaring, that if an ill-dressed dish ever again appear upon our table, the punishment shall be instant dismissal. A Memoir of Barbara Ewing. By her Husband, Greville Ewing. Glasgow. George Gallie. 1829. IT is with considerable reluctance that we notice this volume; and, had we not promised to speak of every work of any consequence that issues from the Scottish press, we should certainly have passed it over in silence. We believe it to have been written with proper inten tions; but we can say little either for the good taste or delicacy of feeling which led to its publication. The late Mrs Ewing, in every sense of the word, belonged to private life, and, we doubt not, possessed virtues which endeared her to her friends, and her domestic circle. Why this veil should be drawn aside after her death, and an account of her birth, parentage, and education, habits, and dispositions, be written by her husband, and sold for three-and-sixpence, we confess ourselves at a loss to discover. We do not like this trumpeting of the dead; and far less do we like it, coming from the Reverend Greville Ewing. It seems to us, that a widowed husband should feel that there was something too sacred in his grief to have it made a common topic of conversation at every tea-table and gossiping visit. We may be wrong, (for Mr Ewing has more experience in these matters than we have,) but if a "Memoir" of his third wife was to be written, we do not think that he was the person who should have done it. We pass over the literary and religious merits of the volume, though we think there is much to object to in the insinuations and attacks it contains against the Es Rev. Sydney Smith in defence of it. We can enjoy the ingenuity of Mr Combe, and a few more of the phrenologists, and, nevertheless, we can smile to see Phrenology knocked on the head by Sir William Hamilton, Mr Jeffrey, or any other worthy antagonist. So we can take up the Westminster Review just as if it were the Quarterly, and the Quarterly just as if it were the Westminster; and we can be as much pleased with Mr Bowring as we are with Mr Lockhart, provided they both support their own theories and opinions with an equal share of intellectual acumen. The first article in the present Number of the Westminster is an elaborate review of Sir Walter Scott's "Tales of a Grandfather." The writer enters into a minute investigation of Sir Walter's sentiments regard. ing the House of Stuart, and endeavours to convict him of many inaccuracies and fallacies. This is a point which bas been long mooted, and will never be settled to the satisfaction of all parties. There is one objection, however, made to the "Tales," which we ventured to state some months ago, and which, we are not displeased to see, is completely coincided in by the present Reviewer. "An historical work," he observes, "composed for the instruction of youth, should, above all things, be careful to point out what is commendable, and what reprehensible, in the actions recorded. The work, in this respect, falls far short of the character of a good instrument of education. Censure and commendation are often not dealt out at all, or are not adequately explicit; and sympathy is wanting with the in tablished Church of Scotland; and we forbear to en-terests, the characters, and the principles, with which it quire whether it is of much importance for the public to know that Mrs Ewing "was blest with a pious nurse, who, being a widow, continued with her during the whole of her childhood," or that, when she lived in the vicinity of Auldkirk, "she procured visits from itinerant and congregational preachers," or that it was "a mutual comfort to her and her husband that, during their married life, they were seldom separated, though she never grudged his absence when it was occasioned by calls of evangelical duty," or that "she zealously en gaged in a sale of ladies' work in Glasgow, in aid of the funds of the Glasgow City Mission, and superintended one of the tables at that sale;"_ we pass over these things, and content ourselves with expressing a hope, that, if this book turns out a good speculation, Mr Ewing will also give to the world the "Memoirs" of two other ladies, who must have been equally dear to him, and both of whom, no less than the lady to whom he dedicates the present volume, he is "soon to meet in a deathless world." The Westminster Review, No. XX. April 1829. London. Printed for the Proprietors. Edinburgh. William Tait. The Monthly Magazine, No. XL. April 1829. London. Whittaker. THIS is a good Number of the Westminster Review, as Reviews go, in these degenerate days. Be it recollected, that, though steering clear ourselves of all political bias, we, nevertheless, assume the privilege of admiring talent wherever we meet with it" from Indus to the Pole" no matter under what garb it may appear. We think Shiel and O'Connell two of the cleverest men which the clever country of Ireland has produced; but we are not on that account prepared to deny that Lord Eldon is a great statesman, or that the author of "The Breaking-in on the Constitution," in Blackwood's Magazine, is an able writer. We are perhaps disposed to believe the Hamiltonian system a system of humbug; but, at the same time, we should never desire to see a better article in the Edinburgh Review, than that of the is for the good of mankind that every man should sympathize." This, we suspect, is the great and leading blemish of all Sir Walter's controversial writings, or rather of those writings which should have been controversial, but which are not so. The second article is a long one in defence of the Hamiltonian system. That this system, which professes to do so much, has made so little progress, is one of the chief arguments against it, and one which speaks more powerfully than the most laboured disquisition ever written. The third article is an amusing piece of gossip and light reading, concerning the Court of Napoleon, condensed from three or four French works on the subject. The fourth is a political puff of a novel called "The Anglo-Irish of the Nineteenth Century," and the author is christened by no less a title than the "Hibernian Sir Walter Scott." _ The fifth is a short essay on Banking, taking the Letters of Malachi Malagrowther for its text. We plead guilty to not having read it. The sixth is an overhawling of an article in No. XCVI. of the Edinburgh Review, which, it is maintained, under a show of defence, was an invidious attack on Mr Bentham-the magnus Apollo of the Westminster Review. We shall leave the gentlemen to fight out their own quarrel. The seventh article is a laborious and important one on the abuses existing in many of the public offices in which the Public Records of the country are preserved, and an account of the manner in which those abuses operate to retard historical research, and to impede the course of justice. The eighth article is a flippant and very inconclusive one, (although the author writes as if he were an oracle of the first magnitude,) on the important subject of Dry Rot. -The ninth is a tolerably unintelligible account of a very unintelligible book, "The Misfortunes of Elphin." -The tenth is a clever exposure of the absurdities of the Disabilities and Privations affecting the Jews in England. The remaining articles, all of which are interesting, are upon the Law of Literary Property and Patents, - the Newspaper Press of London, Poor Humphrey's Calendar, - the Expeditions to the North Pole, the system of Political Police in France, and the Case of the Forty-Shilling Freeholders. There is thus a great variety of subjects discussed; and, on the |