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of their subjects there; but none have given us so faithful a picture of the habits of the natives as Pasitchnik Rudii Ponko, the author of these four tales. The other production is not only distinguished by an unaffected ease and simplicity of style, but by the interest of the narrative, and the skill with which the feelings or the curiosity of the reader are kept excited. Besides the abovementioned, an historical novel, in four volumes, has just appeared, which is entitled the "Strelitzes." It is from the pen of Masalsky, a young poet, who had not long previously published a small collection of pieces that had ap. peared in various annuals and periodicals.

It is generally supposed that nothing approaching free expression of opinion is allowed in Russia, yet we frequently meet with translations of articles from English periodicals and journals, as well of whig and liberal, as of tory principles. As a proof, too, that something like freedom is allowed to their own writers, we may instance a recent publication entitled Obzor, &c. or "A View of the Principal Events in Russia from the Death of Peter the Great to the Accession of Elizabeth Petrovna." In this work, which is, by the by, a masterly and comprehensive sketch of a most important and interesting period in the history of the North, the author is very far from being the apologist of despotic power; for he draws a most frightful picture of the oppression endured by the people, and of the shameless tyranny exercised by Biron and other favourites. This publication is the more valuable, because it takes up that portion of Russian history which has hitherto been very little dwelt upon by native writers, notwithstanding that it is rife with eventful vicissitudes, rapidly succeeding each other within the brief space of thirty-seven years, and that so many remarkable personages took their share in them.

Raskaya Slava, or "Russian Glory," is a lyrical composition that does equal honour both to the poetical talents and the patriotic feelings of Zhukovsky; but we very much doubt whether it would find many admirers here. More, we suspect, would be scandalized at the subject, than captivated by the bard's enthusiasm, or inclined to sympathize in his exultation.

Dr. Yastrebtzeo's work on the "Mental Education of Children," is one that was much required in a country where the prejudices of custom and empirical routine have hitherto excluded enlightened scientific views of the subject; since it is certainly calculated to lead to the adoption of many improvements. There is much, however, in the system proposed by him, that is not a little questionable: for instance, he recommends that children should not be instructed at all in history; neither is he more favourably disposed towards poetry, an acquaintance with which ought, in his opinion, to be confined to the mere mechanism of versification. Still more singular, perhaps, are his ideas relative to the study, or rather the prohibition, of Greek and Latin; since he advises that the pupil should merely learn by heart such words in them as will enable him to understand the technical terms and expressions adopted in modern languages. To make amends for this, he insists upon the utility of learning English and German, and of acquiring the rudiments of chemistry, physics, and mechanics. His views, however, are for the most part rational enough; and his book will hardly fail to effect much good, should it be only by exciting attention to the subject it treats of.

ORIENTAL LITERATURE.

The East India Company have presented to the Linnæan Society their magnificent Herbarium, containing the plants collected between long. 73° to 114° E. and lat. 32° N. to the equator, by König, Roxburgh, Rüttler, Russell, Klein, Hamilton, Heyne, Wight, Finlayson, and Wallich. It includes about 1300 genera, more than 8000 species, and amounts, in duplicates, to at least 70,000 specimens, the labours of half a century.

For many years a large portion of these vegetable riches were stored on the shelves of the India House, without any one sufficiently conversant in Indian Botany to arrange and render them subservient to the cause of science. On the arrival in this country of Dr. Wallich, the distinguished superintendent of the Company's Garden at Calcutta, in the year 1828,-who brought with him an immense accession to the Herbarium from various parts of India, especially Nipal and the Burmese Empire,-the Court of Directors instructed him to make a catalogue of the aggregate collection, and to distribute duplicate specimens to the more eminent societies and naturalists throughout Europe and America.

This immense labour has occupied Dr. Wallich for the last four years; and it is the chief selection from these various Herbaria, destined for the museum of the India House, which the Court of Directors have, with princely munificence, presented to the Linnæan Society.

The liberality of the East India Company has been duly appreciated throughout the wide circle of science. It has been acknowledged by letters and addresses from the different societies and individuals honoured by their patronage; and this last act of their bounty will endear them still more to the promoters of botany, by placing the treasures they possessed along with those of Linnæus and Smith.

The Linnæan Society purchased, two years ago, at an expense of £3000, the collections of Linnæus and of the late excellent Sir J. E. Smith; and since that the Herbarium of the Society has been further enriched by the treasures of the East, it forms collectively one of the most interesting and important in Europe. The East India Company have set an example of a wise and liberal policy, which will be followed throughout the world, not only by societies, but by those enterprising individuals who have, to their own honour, made large collections of the objects of natural history; and it is a source of national congratulation that at this moment the naturalists of Europe feel indebted to this country for the most extensive contribution that was ever made to their botanical collections. They owe this general feeling of respect towards them to the enlightened conduct of the Court of Directors, who have done more to diffuse a knowledge of botany than was ever done by any government or association of persons on the globe.

A deputation from the Council of the Linnæan Society, headed by the President, Lord Stanley, waited on the Chairman of the Court of Directors, on the 26th instant, with an address expressive of the high sense the Society entertains of the honour conferred upon it by the liberality of the East India Company.

M. W. Von Humboldt, the brother of the celebrated traveller, is engaged on a work on Comparative Philology; and from the learning and sagacity of the author, the expectations of scholars will be excited to a high degree by its appearance. Australia, in particular, has excited his attention, as the only pos

sible point of intercourse between the two Continents; and to facilitate his researches in all the languages of that vast portion of the globe, the Asiatic Society of Great Britain has liberally furnished him with numerous documents, obtained from the English maritime stations.

M. Stanislas Julien has commenced the publication, in London, at the expense of the Oriental Translation Fund, of a selection, in French, of the best pieces of the Chinese Theatre, from the Repertory of that description in forty quarto volumes, of which there is a copy in the Bibliotheque du Roi. The first livraison, which has just appeared, contains a drama in prose and verse, entitled L'Histoire du Cercle de Craie. Four other pieces of the same collection, L'Avare, La Fille du Gouverneur, Le Ressentiment de Soungo, and La Chemise Confrontée, are ready for the press. It is now more than a century since Father Premare, a missionary at Peking, made known to Europe the Chinese tragedy which furnished Voltaire with the subject of his Orphelin de Chine; but Voltaire neglected to translate the lyrical part, which occupies more than half of the piece. M. Julien has not followed such a plan of mutilation, but has attempted a complete translation of the various dramas which he intends to publish. M. Julien, we are happy to learn, has been appointed Professor of Chinese in the room of the lamented Abel-Remusat, and also fills the situation of Assistant Librarian to the Institute. We subjoin a list of works published at the expense of the London Society for Oriental Translations, and we do this chiefly for the information of our foreign readers, who, we believe, are not fully aware of the services conferred on Oriental literature by this most useful and honourable body. The Society continues its labours, and the most beneficial results may reasonably be anticipated from such liberal encouragement to Oriental scholars.

Adventures, The, of Hatim Taï, a Romance; translated from the Persian by Duncan Forbes. 4to. London. 1830.

Algebra, The, of Mohammed Ben Musa; Arabic and English. Edited and translated by Frederic Rosen. 8vo. London. 1831.

History, The, of Vartan, and of the Battle of the Armenians; by Elisæus; translated from the Armenian by C. F. Neumann. 4to. London. 1830. History of the War in Bosnia during the Years 1737-1739; translated from the Turkish by C. Fraser. 8vo. London. 1830.

History, The, of the Maritime Wars of the Turks; translated from the Turkish of Haje Khalifch by James Mitchell; Chapters 1 to 4. 4to. London.

1831.

Life, The, of Hafiz Ool-Moolk, Hafiz Rehmut Khan; written by his Son, and entitled Goolistan-I.-Rehmut; abridged from the Persian by Ch. Elliott. 8vo. London. 1831.

Life, The, of Sheik Mohammed Ali Hazin, by himself; edited from two Persian Manuscripts, and noted with their various readings, by F. C. Belfour. 8vo. London. 1831.

The same, translated into English, and illustrated with Notes explanatory of the History, Poetry, Geography, &c. which therein occur, by F. C. Belfour. 8vo. London. 1830.

Mulfuzat Timury, The, or Autobiographical Memoirs of the Mogul Emperor Timûr; translated by Major Ch. Stewart. 4to. London. 1830.

Translations from the Chinese and Armenian, with Notes and Illustrations, by Ch. Fr. Neumann. 8vo. London.

1831.

Translations, Miscellaneous, from Oriental Languages. Vol. I. 8vo.. London. 1831..

Travels, The, of Macarius, written by Paul of Aleppo, in Arabic; Part II. Walachia, Moldavia, and the Cossack Country; translated by Belfour. 4to. London. 1831.

Union, The Fortunate, a Romance; translated from the Chinese original, with Notes, &c. to which is added a Chinese Tragedy, by J. F. Davis. 2 vols. 8vo. London. 1829.

Yakkun Nattannawa, a Cingalese Poem, descriptive of the Ceylon System of Demonology; and Kotan Nattannawa, a Cingalese Poem, descriptive of the Characters assumed by Natives in a Masquerade; translated by J. Callaway. With Plates. 8vo. London. 1829.

SIR WALTER SCOTT'S FAREWELL TO HIS READERS,

AND

M. ALPHONSE DE LAMARTINE'S REPLY.

SIR WALTER SCOTT! In these simple words what a spell there is to awaken the deepest-the tenderest interest of the reader!—to point to what that great and good man was-and what he now is! It would be pleasant for us to indulge the hope that the pen, which more than once in the pages of the Foreign Quarterly has delighted its readers, might again be employed to instruct and to charm them; but that hand is now powerless; and that universal intellect seems about to quit for ever its shattered tenement. At such a time, the following lines, inspired by Sir Walter's touching farewell to his readers, and written by the most popular, in England, of the living poets of France, will find an appropriate place in our pages. Instead of a translation we think our readers will be better pleased to have the original, which, we venture to predict, will not be the least admired, in after times, of its author's productions. We commence this Number with Goethe, now departed, full of years and honours; we cannot better conclude it, than by the almost vain wish that his greatest living contemporary may have as prolonged and active an evening, and as peaceful an exit.

THE FAREWELL.

"The gentle reader is acquainted, that these are, in all probability, the last tales which it will be the lot of the Author to submit to the public. He is now on the eve of visiting foreign parts; a ship of war is commissioned by its Royal Master to carry the Author of Waverley to climates in which he may possibly obtain such a restoration to health as may serve him to spin his thread to an end in his own country. Had he continued to prosecute his usual literary labours, it seems indeed probable, that at the term of years he has already attained, the bowl, to use the pathetic language of Scripture, would have been broken at the fountain; and little can one, who has enjoyed on the whole an uncommon share of the most inestimable of worldly blessings, be entitled to complain, that life, advancing to its period, should be attended with its usual proportions of shadows and storms. They have affected him at least in no more painful manner than is inseparable from the discharge of this part of the debt of humanity. Of those whose relation to him in the ranks of life might have insured him their sympathy under indisposition, many are now no more; and those who may yet follow in his wake, are entitled to expect, in bearing inevitable evils, an example of firmness and patience, more especially on the part of one who has enjoyed no small good fortune during the course of his pilgrimage.

"The public have claims on his gratitude, for which the Author of Waverley has no adequate means of expression; but he may be permitted to hope, that the powers of his mind, such as they are, may not have a different date from those of his body; and that he may again meet his patronizing friends, if not exactly in his old fashion of literature, at least in some branch, which may not call forth the remark, that

'Superfluous lags the veteran on the stage.'

"Abbotsford, September, 1831."

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