or of learning the various powers of the language. They needed a work of this kind, consisting of extracts from distinguished authors, arranged according to their relative difficulty, and exhibiting specimens of their different merits. "The object of this book," says the author in his preface, "is to furnish learners with a collection of extracts from acknowledged master-pieces, to exemplify the rules and peculiarities of the language, and, at the same time, to give them an idea of the character of the later literature of Germany." The prose extracts are from Lessing, Wieland, Herder, Göthe, Muller, Schiller, Schlegel, Richter, Tieck, &c. The poetical part is principally made up of the minor poems Göthe, Schiller, Bürger, and Körner. The selection is well made, and the pieces are well arranged. Being taken from the best models of German composition, they are well fitted to answer the purpose intended, to give the student an idea of the powers of the language and the beauties of the literature, and, by gratifying his taste, to lighten and animate his labour.

of

Le Traducteur Français; or, a New and Practical System of Translating the French Language. By MARIANO CUBI Y SOLER. Baltimore. 1926. 12mo. pp. 392.

In a former number of the United States Literary Gazette, the "Traductor Español" was recommended as a convenient and useful manual of its kind. The "Traducteur Français," by the same author, is upon a similar plan, and, we believe, will be found of equal use to the student. The selections are well made, and the notes with which they are accompanied, explaining the difficulties, and pointing out the niceties of the French tongue, are very valuable. He who attempts to acquire that language, without the help of a master, will find many idioms, which, even with the aid of the best dictionaries, will remain perfect enigmas to him, and to such a person some guide of this kind is indispensable. For the first twelve pages of the work, an attempt is made to give the reader an idea of the mode in which the text is to be pronounced, by means of corresponding sounds in the English orthography. This is much better done, in the present instance, than we have ever seen it before, but the very nature of the thing forbids that it should be done with much accuracy. Of this the student ought always to be apprised, and the difference between the real sounds of the French alphabet, and those which are supposed to correspond to them in the English, ought, with as much clearness as possible, to be pointed out, in order that he may be put upon ascertaining and mastering the difficulty before a faulty pronunciation is incurably contracted. No intimation is, however, given in this book, that the sounds represented by the English orthography are not pre

The short sound of

cisely equivalent to those of the French text. the French o is one which has puzzled grammarians not a little. Sometimes it has been said to correspond with the sound of our o in the words come, wonder, &c., and at other times with another sound of the same vowel, in the words not, order, &c. Mr Cubi has made choice of the latter. The fact is, however, that neither of these sounds is precisely that of the French vowel, which, although not difficult to acquire from the lips of a master, cannot be said to exist in our language. Instruction in the pronunciation does not, however, form a very important part of the author's plan, nor does a failure in an attempt, which is perhaps impracticable, detract materially from the praise of skill and industry with which the work is otherwise compiled.

A New Spanish Grammar, adapted to every class of Learners. By MARIANO CUBI Y SOLER. Third Edition, revised, corrected, simplified, and much improved. New York. 1826. 12mo. pp. 498.

THE value of this work is, in our opinion, very considerably increased by the changes and additions which have been made in the present edition. On the subject of orthography very minute and particular directions are given. Although the best mode of acquiring the pronunciation of a foreign language is unquestionably by the ear, from the mouth of a native; yet full and accurate observations on the niceties of that pronunciation, are of great value. Our organs, habituated only to vernacular sounds, do not readily discern the difference between sounds that partially resemble each other in the different tongues, and we every day hear people pronouncing foreign languages without seeming to be in the least aware of this. It is something to be told that there is a difference, and to be taught, as nearly as words can teach, what the difference is; it serves, at least, if it does no more, to awaken the attention of the student, and to give it a proper direction. We are glad to find in the present edition, a view of the ancient terminations of the Spanish verbs in juxtaposition with the modern. An accurate knowledge of these is not only extremely convenient, but we should think indispensable to the student of Spanish literature. On the whole, we know of no grammar of this language which we can recommend with more confidence to the public, than the present edition of the work of Cubi. The author has drawn pretty freely from other sources, but as he has done it with great judgment, this is only one of the merits of his book. We can only regret that he has not more fully acknowledged his obligations to the excellent work of M'Henry, which are sufficiently important.

The Rest of the Nations; a Poem. By GRENVILLE MELLEN. Portland. 1826.

THE author of this poem is already known to the public by his poetical contributions to the "United States Literary Gazette," most of which have been published, with his name, in the selection of "Miscellaneous Poems," made from this journal. The production before us is one of no inconsiderable merit, and is warmed with the fire of a genine poetic enthusiasm. As compared with some of his former attempts in verse, which we have seen, we should say that it was finished with much less care. It has the appearance of being struck out at a heat, for the public occasion on which it was delivered, and of being committed to the press without much revision. There are also some traces of too great an ambition of brilliancy. The former of these faults the author must correct himself,-time and practice will correct the latter.

This poem was pronounced before the Peace Society of Maine, at their late anniversary; and is taken up with a view of the wars which have desolated the world at different periods, and a consideration of the circumstances which encourage us to hope better things for the future. The following passage, relating to Napoleon, will give the reader an idea of the general style of the poem. It is characterized by a good degree of spirit and effect, along with some faults of imagery and looseness of diction.

Off where the seas look solitary-on

Those black, sharp cliffs, whose desert columns seem
Tombs of a thousand sea-kings-and whose life

Are battlements and cannon-that combine

To give stern proof of habitance and death
To those who seek that wilderness of rock-
Off on those bristling summits at noon-day,
They gave earth's last Destroyer to the worms
His life had been unrivalled-and his death
Unhonoured-distant-solitary-still.
He rose a lion on the paths of men,
And like a lion he died in his own lair;

He had no friends-but worshippers-and some
When his great sun grew occident, to catch
The last rays of his setting. An armed world
Had driven him into exile. He had been
Walking 'mid thrones and palaces, as though
They had been dreams and dust-but which to win,
He
gave his parting spirit to the winds,

And fought to madness-storming heaven with crime!
At last he died-upon the pinnacle

Of desolation-prisoned and bereft.

He was not graved with conquerors-alone

As he had moved on earth, so in it now

He made his biding-place. No monument

Channeled with tears was over him-no hearts
Were welling out their sorrows round his grave,
No pageantry or wonder-friends or foes-
The quick tramp of the sentinel--bright gun-
Shrill fife and volley-and a monarch's clay
Claimed its low turf and dull obscurity.

It may be very old fashioned in us to recommend the free use of the file to this writer, but it is only recommending the example of the greatest poets, both ancient and modern. If we did not think well of the material, we should not advise him to waste time in polishing it.

INTELLIGENCE.

Hieroglyphics. These characters have lately found another expositor in Professor Seyffarth, of Leipsic. From the celebrated inscription on the Rosetta stone, and from examining many rolls of papyrus, this laborious inquirer is of opinion, that the hieroglyphics, in general, are hieratic letters, ornamented agreeably to a calligraphic principle. He also infers, that both the hieratic and demotic letters had their origin in the most ancient Phoenician alphabet. The Leipsic Literary Journal, which contains a notice of this theory, mentions further, that the learned professor reckons the hieroglyphic signs, or characters, to amount to about six thousand, as four or more figures are frequently conjoined in the formation of one of them. By arranging and comparing the multitude of ancient Egyptian records on stones and monuments, sarcophagi, papyri, mummy cases, &c. which now abound in Europe, it is probable, we shall, at length, be enabled to decipher this language of the early world.

Egyptian Mummies. The last published portion of the London "Philosophical Transactions" (for 1825, Part II.) contains an essay on Egyptian mummies, including an account of the examination of one purchased at Gournou, and presented to Dr Granville, the author of the article, from which the following particulars are extracted. The mummy in question was contained in a case, apparently of sycamore wood, and very skilfully enveloped. "There is no species of bandage, which ancient or modern surgery has devised, described, or employed, that did not appear to have been used, in securing the surface of the mummy from the external air; and these were repeated so many times, that, on weighing the whole mass of them after their removal, they were found to weigh twenty-eight pounds avoirdupois." The general surface of the body was of a deep brown colour, and quite dry; the larger muscles soft, and yielding slightly to the pressure; the skin removed, except at the ends of the fingers and toes. The dimensions of the subject, which was a female, were nearly those of the Venus de' Medici, and its symmetry tends to confirm Cuvier's opinion of the Caucasian, rather than Ethiopian origin

of the Egyptians. The mummies before examined, had been generally found to be little more than skeletons, while this, though probably more than three thousand years old, was, at least externally, a perfect body. The intestines had been partially removed, and their place supplied by resin, myrrh, and argillaceous earth. The brain had been withdrawn through the nostrils, probably by means of some chemical agent employed to decompose it. The preservation of the subject is such, that the examiner conceives himself able to determine at what age, and of what disease the individual died; and the muscles could be separated with the same ease as in a recent subject. The art of embalming, with a view to the preservation of the human body for many years, as illustrated by the mummies of Egypt, does not appear to have been practised with success by any other nation. The mummies of Mexico, those of the Atlantic islanders, and the dried bodies found in the catacombs of some of the states bordering on the Mediterranean, are but of yesterday, compared with the age of the present specimen. Indeed, the art soon began to decline among the Egyptians themselves. In order to appreciate properly the durability of the bodies prepared by the Egyptian process, it is essential to observe, that the mummy described, after having resisted putrefaction for above three thousand years, covered by bandages, inclosed in a thick wooden case, and placed in recesses far from the influence of atmospheric vicissitude, has since withstood the inclemency and variations of an English climate, without any of those protecting circumstances; nay, exposed purposely, but ineffectually, for four years, to the various causes that are known to to favour putrefaction." Dr Granville, after a careful dissection and examination, thinks that he has discovered the materials and the process employed to produce this durability. The body seemed to have undergone a process si nilar to that of tanning, as the skin exhibited the appearance of leather. It had also been impregnated with a saline solution, as was evident from the appearance of a great number of saline crystals on its external and internal surface, after it had been exposed for a time to the air. The most important substance used, however, seems to have been a liquefied mixture of wax and bitumen, with which the bones, membranes, and muscles of this subject were thoroughly saturated. The wax, the Doctor extracted in great quantities, and came to the conclusion, that the art of embalming consisted mainly in impregnating the body with it. The name itself of mummy, he derives from the word mum, which, in the Cophtic language, means wax. By subjecting the body of a still-born child to the process which he supposes the Egyptians to have employed, Dr Granville made a mummy, which has been exposed to all varieties of temperature for more than three years, without any covering, and without the slightest vestige of decay. And, on the other hand, parts of the Egyptian mummy, from which he had extracted the preserving ingredients, putrified rapidly.

Fossil Fish. A beautiful fossil fish was lately excavated from a rock of blue lias, on the beach, between Charmouth and Lyme, England. It is about fifteen inches in length, and eleven inches broad, and is exceedingly perfect even in the most delicate parts of the eyes.

Subterranean Tree. A subterranean oak tree, containing upwards of three hundred solid feet of wood in a good state of preservation, was lately taken up in Ruskington fen, Lincolnshire, England. Although