ness of their faith is secured as well by the military and monastic regulations as by the seclusion of the members from all intercourse with the rest of the world; and though they receive proselytes with hesitation, and only after a six months' probation, their numbers are kept up. Two of the brotherhood, a father and son, both Frenchmen, visited the Duke, and examined him. The son assumed all the humility of a monk, did not open his eyes, but explained the principles of the sect out of the Bible, and maintained that they were the only Christians who really lived in conformity to the spirit of the Gospel. It is obvious, as remarked by our author, that Mr. Owen has borrowed the laws of his new social system from the Shakers; only that they are kept together by the bond of religion, and the hope of another and better world, in which his plans are altogether deficient. We can only afford room for one more extract from the Duke's book. It is one with which our readers will be gratified. 'I have in general remarked (says he), that in the greater part of the United States the good society either belong to the episcopal church, or at least give the preference to its mode of worship. It is here the ton to go to that church, whereas the methodist church is in general only attended by the lower classes. It is a luxury to have a pew in the episcopal church, and decidedly polite to offer to strangers a seat in it,' We have read both these works with pleasure, and our satisfaction has been heightened by observing that, in spite of democratical principles and degrading practices, the people of the United States have not wholly abandoned either the lessons or the examples of their ancestors. It is to these they are indebted for whatever of a humanized aspect they exhibit when compared to the emancipated colonies of other nations. However forgetful, or scornful, or even abusive, a son may become to a virtuous and intelligent father, that father can never forget the ties of nature; he may grieve for the follies his son displays-he may be slightly vexed by his scorn or abuse, but he will still feel a pride in everything good that may attend his progress. When he blames, it will be more in sorrow than in anger, and he will always have the gratifying reflection that his own principles have laid the foundation of his children's prosperity, and his own example and conduct secured to them a character and estimation in the world which cannot be easily forfeited. Notwithstanding all that Captain Hall may have said, we are satisfied that feelings such as these are commonly entertained in England towards America. We see nothing in that country to excite envy or jealousy; and little to excite our serious regret, except that the executive and judicial functions should be conferred by the voice of those least compe tent tent to make a proper selection of persons for such duties-and that in consequence of the want of a church establishment, both bigotry and infidelity are making alarming progress. Note. WE ventured to say, in the preceding article, that Captain Hall's book was calculated to do much good in America, provided the people of that country received the instruction it contains in the proper spirit; and our opinion that it would be so received in at least one extensive circle of American society, derives strong confirmation from a letter written by a gentleman of high standing in the United States, which is put into our hands as this sheet is passing through the press. Captain Hall's Travels,' says the writer, have, of course, been reprinted here, and are, by this time, in the hands of every man, woman, and child in the country. Their political cast is the cause that an impartial judgment can hardly be formed upon them, as party spirit has seized upon the book, and marked it for her own. That spirit must be allowed time to subside, before a cool judgment can be obtained. For my part, my mind is taken up with other subjects than politics, and I have long since adopted the opinion of the poet: "Aime l'Etat, tel que tu le vois être : S'il est de peu, ou bien Communauté, Aime le aussi, car Dieu l'y a fait naître." There is much sense in these lines, and I find that Captain Hall aime la Royauté sufficiently; for my part it is natural I should be attached to la Communauté; but, after all, these things are relative, and 1 do not see why they should interrupt good humour between men. You recollect, no doubt, the answer of the great Frederick of Prussia to certain ministers of Neufchatel, who wanted some of their brethren to be punished because they preached against the doctrine of eternal punishments" Mes sujets de Neufchâtel ont le droit d'être damnés aussi long temps qu'il leur plait." And so we have a right to be mob-ruled, or priest-ruled, or king-ruled, as we think it most agreeable. You also know the answer which a wife gives, in one of Molière's plays, to one who wanted to prevent her husband from beating her " Je veux être battue, moi!" But what is the bestto be beaten or not to be beaten? I say, ask the back. To be serious -the permanency of states, like the life of individuals, is, in my opinion, the first thing to be considered. The constitution of a state, like that of a man, after it is once formed, cannot, without danger-or, rather, cannot materially be changed-but by death. It must, therefore, after it has taken a certain root, at all events be allowed to remain. Some constitutions are more liable to disease than others; that is a great misfortune; misfortune; but all that is to be done is to cure the disease, or prevent it by an hygienic course. But the constitution is not to be tampered with. Nature will sometimes effect changes, but art cannot. The constitution of England is an example of this. Great changes have taken place in it; but always by the course of things-never by premeditated design. There are, no doubt, peccant humours in our constitution, as there are in others; nature will throw them off-(for the body is strong)-but in what manner it is impossible to foretell. Disturbances and revolutions are the diseases of states; we have no right to expect to be free from them, more than others-I hope they will not produce death. But, be that as it may, opinion is a great and most powerful agent in political events, and it should have the greatest possible freedom. Therefore, far from putting to death, as the Athenians did, a foreigner who freely expresses his sentiments respecting our affairs, we ought to thank him, if it were only for making us think on these important subjects. That he should prefer his own form of government to ours is to be expected. He has a strong interest in the permanency of his own state, and, unless he be a disappointed or a discontented man, he loves what ensures safety to his person and property. The strength of this feeling is astonishing; I have known a Turkish subject, a native of Jerusalem, but a Christian, and, of course, a rayah or slave, who thought the Turkish form of government the best in the world. "But," said I to him, 66 a Turk may strike you and you cannot resent it." 66 'Oh," answered he, "there's our glorious privilege. If a Turk insults me, I complain to the judge; he sends for the Turk, and says to him-What! you rascal, do you dare to insult a woman? (for you must know, sir, that we have the prerogatives of women, as the priests have in Christian countries;) and the Turk is reprimanded or punished as the case may be." I told him that I thought it was shocking they should cut off their sultans' heads without ceremony. "Oh," said he, "that's beautiful! Look at France, how much blood it has cost them to get rid of one sultan! We, on the contrary, cut off the head of our own at once, and no more is said about it; the tranquillity of the state is not disturbed." To every objection I made to him, he answered in the same manner; and at last concluded by saying " I would rather live in Jerusalem upon bread and water, than in your country upon the best that the land affords!" Thus, also, the Spaniard boasts that the Inquisition has saved his country from the miseries of religious wars. my part, I love the government under which I live, and I honour those who love their own-I don't except my poor Turk.' For ᎪᎡᎢ. ART. VII-1. Narrative of a Journey from Constantinople to England. By the Rev. R. Walsh, LL.D., M.R.I.A. London. 1828. 12mo. 2. Travels in Turkey, Egypt, Nubia, and Palestine, in 1824, 1825, 1826, and 1827. By R. R. Madden, Esq., M.R.C.S. 2 vols. 8vo. London. 1829. 3. Travels to and from Constantinople, in the Years 1827 and 1828 or Personal Narrative of a Journey from Vienna, through Hungary, Transylvania, Wallachia, Bulgaria, and Roumelia, to Constantinople; and from that City to the Capital of Austria, by the Dardanelles, Tenedos, the Plains of Troy, Smyrna, Napoli di Romania, Athens, Egina, Poros, Cyprus, Syria, Alexandria, Malta, Sicily, Italy, Istria, Carniolia, and Styria. By Captain Charles Colville Frankland, R.N. 2 vols. Svo. London. 1829. 4. Révolutions de Constantinople en 1807 et 1808, précédées d'Observations générales sur l'Etat actuel de l'Empire OttoPar A. de Juchereau de Saint-Denys. Paris. 1819. man. IN N the state of tottering decay, towards which the Ottoman Empire has for some time past been progressing, and which, in the opinion of all men, is likely to terminate in a total dissolution, it is not surprising that a number of volumes treating on Turkish affairs should issue from the press; and among all that have fallen under our observation, we know not that we could pitch upon any one that contains a more clear, comprehensive, and, at the same time, concise description of the countries and people on which it treats, than the little unpretending duodecimo volume of Doctor Walsh. It is so perspicuously written that, even without the accompanying map, there would be no difficulty in following the author's footsteps; as little in comprehending his graphic descriptions; and we find no hesitation in acknowledging the justness of his observations, and in expressing our conviction of the correctness of his facts. A book like this is at ali times valuable, and more particularly so at the present eventful period. His residence at Constantinople for several years as chaplain to the British embassy, and a journey from thence to England, afforded Dr. Walsh more favourable opportunities for collecting information with regard to the Turkish provinces, as well as some of the most important events which ever occurred in their capital, than fell to the lot of the other travellers, whose title-pages we have transcribed. These were merely casual visitors; with the exception, indeed, of the last on the list, who was resident in Constantinople at a most interesting period. We We do not feel that we could, with truth, pay a similar compliment to Mr. Madden's book. In it we at once perceive that the writer is ambitious to say smart things on trite occasions, and to convert every little incident into a perilous adventure; and these so frequently occur, that the reader, who expects a sober book of travels, will be apt to imagine that he has stumbled on a romance, full of most disastrous chances, Of moving accidents by flood and field, Of hair-breadth 'scapes, &c. - For all this, indeed, he prepares us in his preface: It has been my fate,' says he, to have been taken for a spy in Syria-to have endangered my life in Candia, for refusing to administer poison to have been shot at in Canea twice, and once on the Nile, by Turkish soldiers-to have been accused of changing the fragments of a broken statue into gold at Thebes-to have been charged with sorcery in Nubia, for showing an old woman her own frightful image in a pocket mirror-and to have been a captive with Greek pirates, for wearing a long beard, when taken in a vessel bearing Turkish property.' If this gentleman descends into a Tomb of the Kings, the candle is sure to go out, and he is in danger of being lost in the subterranean chambers; if he ventures into a pyramid, the Arabs roll stones against the mouth of the passage, and he is in danger of being suffocated: these are the sort of hair-breadth 'scapes which other travellers, some of them women and children even, have run the same risk of encountering, without danger or molestation. This gentleman has besides the bad taste, to say nothing more, to sneer at Herodotus; because his description of the pyramids of Egypt, made four hundred years before Christ, does not correspond with their appearance eighteen hundred years after Christ. He also charges Bruce with habitually sacrificing veracity to vanity. On this particular point we would just hint to Mr. Madden, that vanity is not at all events the chief characteristic of Bruce's work; moreover, that vanity makes her appearance under a variety of shapes; and that the full-length portrait of the author in his Syrian costume,' stuck in front of the title-page of his own book, in the act of feeling the pulse of something like a lady's hand, is, perhaps, as strong an instance of it, as any that could be pointed out in the Abyssinian. On the present occasion, however, the painter has happily supplied a corrective well calculated to chasten personal conceit. The volumes of Captain Colville Frankland are just such as we should have been led to expect from the pen of a naval officer; containing, in the form to which seamen are most accustomed, VOL. XLI. NO. LXXXII. O G namely, |