imagination borrowed from nature those fresh and brilliant colours which animated his descriptions; and as a reward for so much love and the worship rendered by talent to beauty, the poet regarded it as a great favour when the lady deigned to accept his homage. By turns delicate and tender, fearful and resigned, he made even the cruelty of the lady a subject for praise; or, if a complaint escaped from him, he knew how, by a soft effusion of sentiment, respect, and love, to weaken his reproaches, and add to the expression of his tenderness.

But these poets did not confine themselves to the pains and pleasures of love; many of them devoted themselves to celebrate the memory of princes and nobles, who had deserved their admiration or gratitude; at the same time their Muse severely censured the excesses and disorders of their age. The long dispute between the Court of Rome and the House of Suabia, the almost continual wars between France and England, the deplorable persecutions of Languedoc, the expeditions to the Holy Land, the murderous quarrels occasioned by the feudal system, the licence and depravity of manners ;—all became subjects for poetry. Some attacked vice with the keen arms of ridicule and irony; others more bold pointed out the faults of princes, the misconduct of the clergy, the blind prodigality of the nobles, their want of delicacy and restraint in the means they took to enrich themselves, the petulance of the citizens, in a word, the vices of all classes; and these verses, dictated by bold and severe frankness, were almost always lessons of justice, prudence, and morality.

If such is the merit of the Troubadours, which any one may be convinced of who will read the poetry that has been handed down to us; if such was their influence for more than two centuries; if it be true (which may be easily proved) that we owe the revival of letters in Europe to these poets; if their varied and fertile talents softened the manners, corrected the abuse, and hastened civilization, in countries so long torn by parties disputing for possession; do we not owe a common debt of gratitude to their meEur. Mag. Nov. 1823.

mory? And can we separate this noble sentiment from the praises justly due to him, who, by indefatigable perseverance, by ingenious and profound investigation, now offers a monument of glorious recollections, which will at once be useful to science, to history, and to

letters ?

The Haytian Propagator; a Political and Literary Journal. Written by several Haytians. Published on the 1st and 15th of every month.

THE appearance of this journal is a phenomenon worthy of observation in its origin, progress, and duration. Fortunate, but evanescent circumsances may have given rise to it, and some isolated literary characters may, for a time, support its existence and its fame; but if it continue for any length of time, it must be regarded as a production of the national talent, and proves that in Hayti arts and letters are successfully cultivated, though there are some who think that country a stranger to civilization. The prospectus of this journal was published in May, 1822. We are only acquainted with the six first numbers, each of which deserves particular mention. The prospectus itself may be considered as part of the work, and is also well worthy of attention. There is an account of the situation of the old and new world, in which Europe is not flattered. If this description be faithful we, Europeans, do not gain more by being observed at a great distance than we do when examined nearer. We are surprised that the republican editors in America had not the same opinion of the mad undertaking of Iturbide as the Europeans, and that they should think for a moment, that an imitator of Buonaparte or Christophe could form the happiness of Mexico. The government of the United States is very much praised, though the prosperity of that country is exaggerated, and we cannot think the prediction in this prospectus will be accomplished, that at the end of the present century, the United States will contain 120 millions of inhabi

nearly filled by a well-written his tory of the re-union of the Spanish part of St. Domingo, and with very just observations on the consequences of this formation of a United State, and on the guarantee of Haytian independence, arising from this union.

We shall not lose sight of this in teresting journal; and we shall take care to present our readers with any thing which it may contain that can tend to increase our knowledge of this island. The style of the Haytians is already improved though it is far from being yet correct or in good taste.

Portraits des Personnages les plus celébres de la Revolution Française. Portraits of the most celebrated Per

sons of the French Revolution, with a Fac-simile of their Writing.

THIS Collection, the execution of which is confided to the most distinguished artists, ought always to accompany the memoirs relative to the French revolution. Writings are not always sufficient of themselves to show their date. In his tory, portraits, drawings, and the monuments of the time are what the historian must consult; and in this collection costume is accurately preserved. Caricatures are also care fully preserved, which serve to show that the French are always the same, even amidst the most horrible and terrifying scenes. The monuments raised by the conquerors of the day, and overthrown the next, are correctly represented, and will bear witness to the vicissitudes of civil wars, and the momentary triumphs of faction. And, lastly, the medals, and even coins, whose stamp exhibits the spirit of the times, will concur with written history to give an idea of the French revolution.

Bucoliques de Virgil, Virgil's Bucolics, translated into French Verse. By P. F. Tissot.

MANY writers have devoted themselves to the translation of the Bucolics of Virgil. Amongst the multitude of attempts, in many of which may be traced much talent, and difficulties happily overcome, are those of M. M. de Langeac, Dorange,

Firmin, Didot, and Millevoie; but in none of them is there a continued elegance, with a constant fidelity to the genius and manner of the original. This of M. Tissot's seems to have united these qualities. The learned translator has endeavoured to imitate the flow and motion, and almost the construction of Virgil's versification, and he has laboured unremittingly to convey the_genius of the Roman language. This work, which is at once more faithful and original than those of his prede cessors, uniting the elegance of some with the fidelity of others, and hav ing more than any of them the air of antiquity, is the result of great ap plication, aided by poetical talent.

Della Lingua comune d'Italia, &c. Treatises on the Common Language

of Italy; on Varchi's History of Florence; and on the Knowledge of Counterpoint among the Ancients, with an Appendix to the Galatea of La Casa. By Andrea Mayer. 1822.

THIS author brings up again the old question, whether the language used by the Italians in their writings ought to be called Tuscan, Florentine, or Italian. Such a discussion, only interesting to those who have nothing better to do, must make all true Italians blush, to find amongst them people foolish enough to in terest themselves in such futilities.

The second treatise is devoted to proving the merit of Varchi's his tory. The faults of this historian have been universally acknowledg ed, particularly his prolixity, which foreigners often impute to Italians, and which Varchi may be partion. larly blamed for, as he never inquires into the causes and motives of the events which he details so much at length. He is very far from resembling Tacitus and Polybius, whom he says, he took for models. His style, however, must be allowed to possess the merit of correctness and elegance, and he relates facts and truths with more frankness and openness than they would the have courage to do who criticise him.

The author, in his third treatise, endeavours to prove, from a frag ment, which Macrobius has pre

served of Cicero's Republic, that the ancients understood counterpoint. This inquiry employed P. Sacchi, and many of the learned in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The last treatise is intended for the Venetians; some of whom, according to the author, are not great observers of civility.

Memoirs of the Baron de Kolli, written by himself, to which are added Memoirs of the Queen of Etruria, written by herself. 8vo. pp. 340. London, 1823.

Ar the time when Great Britain was making such strenuous exertions for the rescue of the Peninsula from the dominion of Buonaparte, our Cabinet conceived the design of li berating Ferdinand from his residence at Valency, in order that his appearance at Madrid might give countenance and consistency to the exertions we were making in his behalf, and that he might concentrate the energies of his subjects which were parallised by those dissentions that arose from a want of the presence of the sovereign. The scheme for effecting the rescue of the Spanish monarch was entrusted to the Baron de Kolli, who, in the memoirs now before us, has given us the whole history of the transaction, ab ove usque ad mala.

In considering the subject, three points naturally present themselves to our attention. The policy of the object; the nature of the plot or contrivance for the attainment of that object; and the mode of carry ing that contrivance into execution. With respect to the first point, we believe that no person of intelligence, whatever may be his country or his politics, will conceive for a moment that Ferdinand himself was worthy of the smallest exertions in his behalf, either on the part of Great Britain or of his own subjects; and with regard to the effect which his presence would have had upon the Spanish war, we have no hesitation in declaring, that his appearance amongst his subjects would have been almost fatal to the cause. At that period. Ferdinand had given no proofs of that depravity of disposi tion which has since characterised

all his public measures. He was therefore surrounded with "that

divinity which doth hedge a king;" he was moreover unfortunate and a captive, and imagination painting him in all the attributes of suffering royalty, excited in his subjects a chivalrous spirit in his cause. Had he once been rescued and placed by us at the head of the government, his conduct would have dissipated all these delusions in his favour, the liberal party of his subjects would have again seceded from his service, whilst all but the most infatuated royalists would have felt but little inclination to fight in a cause, the success of which would have again plunged them into all the bigotry, and abuses of the old. regime. Independent of which, Ferdiuand, with his religious prejudices. against the English, and with his predilections in favour of France, would have been an easy dupe to French intrigues, by which, we have no doubt, our interests would have suffered most severely in every point of view. So far, therefore, from lamenting the failure of the Baron de Kolli's efforts to effect the liberation of Ferdinand, we conceive that failure to have been the most fortunate event that could have befallen the cause at the crisis at which it happened.

With respect to the second point, the nature of the plot or contrivance for effecting the rescue of the King, one thing essential for its success appears to us to have been, not only the consent of Ferdinand to escape, but his willingness to escape by the means proposed to him. Now, whatever Ferdinand's feelings and opinions might have been on the subject, our government never took the smallest pains to ascertain them; but the plot for his rescue was begun, continued, and ended without any communication with him whatever; a folly upon which Fouché has been known to expa tiate with alternate mirth and contempt. The Emperor Napoleon,

well knowing the sensual and spiritless character of Ferdinand, had so surrounded him with luxury, and effeminate amusements of every description, that the degenerated monarch was reconciled to his bondage; and had it been otherwise he was of too weak an intellect, and was too deficient, both in moral and in animal courage,to make those efforts, and to incur those risks, which he must have incurred had he entered into the Baron's schemes for his escape.

If the object of the plot was thus impolitic, and the plot itself inherently bad, the folly of both are thrown into the shade by the egregious error of selecting a man like the Baron de Kolli for carrying it into execution.

The Baron informs us, that having received a proposal from our government to undertake a secret mission (anglice, to become a spy,) for the liberation of Ferdinand, he repaired to Antwerp to wait for further instructions. At Antwept he makes an acquaintance with a Mons. Albert de St. B-, a perfect stranger to the Baron, and moreover a person then actually in the pay of Napoleon. Our readers will scarcely credit as when we inform them that our author on no other ground than liking this stranger's physiognomy, communicates to him the business he is upon, and proposes to him to become his secretary; a proposal to which this Mons. Albert readily assented. These two gentlemen are afterwards conveyed to England by one of our men of war, composing a part of the Walcheren Expedition. Arrived in London, the plot for liberating the Spanish King is got up by the Marquis Wellesley, Admiral Sir George Cockburn, and the Baron de Kolli; and so cautious are our statesmen in their conduct, that they meet only at night, the Marquis going in a borrowed (we suppose a hired) carriage, and Sir George Cockburn and the Baron entering the house of rendezvous by a back door. In spite of this extreme caution, the Baron informs us that when he was taken by the enemy at Valency, the French police informed him of his most secret proceedings in London, the fact being that the garrulous simpleton imparted every thing

to the secretary whom he picked up in the coffee houses of Antwept, and the secretary of course communicated all he heard to his employers at Paris. Our readers will take no pleasure in our detailing the proceedings of a man capable of such gross imprudence, and we shall therefore only relate that the Baron sailed on his mission in Sir George Cockburn's squadron, which was fitted out for the purpose of landing the Baron, and of receiving the Spanish King when our agent should have effected his liberation, and should have conveyed him to the coast. Before arriving in France, the Baron had once more communicated his job to a Baron de Ferriet, a stranger and a spy that Sir George Cockburn had picked up on the coast of France; and at our hero's final arrival at Valency, he selects for a confident and an assistant in his schemes, a Sieur Richard, a perfect stranger, the ground of selection being, by De Kolli's own confession, this stranger's having told him that he had once been a Vendean officer, and had fought for the Bourbons.

The consequences of such a course of execrable folly was the seizure of our author, and of all his papers, by the French police at Valency; and, as a punishment for his attempt, he was confined for four years in the state prison of Vincennes. The French government, having got possession of our author's credentials to the Spanish Monarch, made the Sieur Richard personate the British agent and propose to Ferdinand the scheme for his escape, a proposał which Ferdinand rejected without hesitation, even betraying the person who had proposed it to him.

The Baron de Kolli at length gets liberated from prison by the Bourbon's after their restoration to power in 1814, but on the landing of the Emperor Napoleon from Elba, he again meddles with affairs of state; he mixes in the intrigues which the Duchess d'Angoulême was carrying on in the South of France, and his exertions led to his being taken and confined a second time as a state prisoner. He at length owes his liberation to the consequences which ensued on the battle of Waterloo. After this second liberation our author seeks for a reward for his im

portant services. The Bourbons of France treat him most scurvily. The Bourbons of Spain behave to him with more of the suaviter in modo, but with as little of substantial gratitude. To John Bull our hero therefore looks for a pecuniary reward of his toils; and whether in admiration of his talents for intrigue we cannot say, but our author tells us that Lord Liverpool satisfied his utmost wishes.

It really appears to us that imagination can hardly form an idea of an intrigue worse conceived, worse arranged, or worse executed than that of which the Baron de Kolli has given us the history; and we cannot restrain our feelings upon reading this author's confessions upon the infatuated profligacy with which the public money was lavished upon such a scheme, and upon such an agent. Besides a considerable sum of money, the Baron says he took with him 208,000 francs in diamonds as his private emoluments, and his "first expenses;" besides which, unlimited credit had been opened for King Ferdinand, at a Paris banker's. To what extent the conscientious Baron availed himself of this "unlimited credit" he does not condescend to inform us, but after this profuse lavishing of money, he does condescend to inform us that, though the Marquis Wellesley gave him the cut courteous, (probably for his folly) Lord Liverpool "behaved with the greatest liberality"

towards him.

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The whole account of the transaction is written in a turgid style, full of egotism and rodomontade. Our author has not intellect or spirit enough to discriminate between the brave and loyal gentleman, and the servile courtier of an Asiatic meridian; he mistakes fulsome adulation for deserved praise, and confounds a rational attachment to the principles of royalty, with a personal subserviency to the vices and follies of a king. His epithets of praise bestowed upon Ferdinand, are so extravagant and absurd as to defeat his object in using them, and they recall to the mind those transactions of this unfortunate monarch's conduct, which his judicious friends would wish to see lost in oblivion.

The whole of the Baron's sentiments and opinions are revolting to the more masculine tone of British feelings.

The most interesting part of the volume is that which relates to the author's imprisonment at Vincennes. Some of his pages upon this subject are of a nature to harrow the feelings, and to make the most lasting impression on the mind; but even in this division of the work we are annoyed by palpable exaggerations and evident inconsistencies; and even by positive contradictions.

In the details of the operations in the South of France, during the hundred days, the Baron bears testimony both to the masculine spirit and to the blind infatuation of the Duchess d'Angoulême, as well as to the astonishing attachment which all classes of individuals bore towards the Emperor Napoleon.

After the Baron de Kolli finishes his bombast and inflation, he favours us with the Memoirs of the Queen of Etruria, written, he declares, by herself; and written, we must confess, in a style very opposite to that of the Baron's. There is no evidence whatever of the authenticity of these last memoirs, and therefore they are of no authority whatever. We must confess that they bear no internal marks of being surreptitious, but it is positive evidence alone that can entitle them to public confidence. The Queen of Etruria is the daugh ter of the late King Charles IV. of Spain, and consequently sister to Ferdinand VII. At the age of thirteen and a half she married Don Louis of Bourbon, eldest son of the Duke of Parma. After being married six years she gave birth to a son, and was afterwards delivered of a second child whilst her husband was in a dreadful state of chronic disease, which ended in his death. By the treaty of Lunéville she was made Queen of Etruria; but the old sovereign of Etruria had so plundered the palace, that on her arri val, our heroine was reduced to such great shifts, that she observes, "this was the first time that the daughter of the King of Spain, accustomed to be served in gold and silver, saw herself obliged to eat off porcelain." In 1802 she was invited into Spain to witness the marriages of her