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The very lands which we incline to style semibarbarous possess natural advantages of the highest kind. Russia knew well what she was doing when she made Sebastopol her southern outpost. Not merely did she design to step from its solid rocks across the sea to Sebastopol, but she believed it possible to cover the whole northern sea-board of the Pontus Euxinus with flourishing cities, smiling villas, productive orchards, and fertile fields. Nor was the idea a dream. Such was the character of this district in ancient times. Greek colonies planted themselves around the sea. The centre of the present war was of old a centre of classic civilization. These facts are set forth by Dr. Neumann in a pleasing manner, and with an accuracy and fulness of treatment which make his book a model. The materials for his subject have been greatly augmented of late by the discovery of ancient remains, a full account of which has been given in a splendid work, whose title we give below, and which was published at the request and the expense of the lately-deceased Emperor of Russia. The remains have been discovered in the vicinity of Kertch in a tumulus, called by the Tartars Kul-oba (Aschenberg), in which was found an abundance of gold ornaments, and, among them, a royal diadem, two silver sceptres, appearing to have belonged to two royal personages-a king and a queen. Further research brought to light a human skele

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Other tombs were discovered in the same

occupied by Greek colonists. The Second Book speaks specially of the inhabitants, and affords new, as well as valuable, information respecting the Scythians-their immigration, their bodily structure, their language, their religion, food, modes of life, &c. The Third Book is devoted to a review of the Greek colonization—its origin, spread, prosperity, influence, and remains. The facts set forth in this last division will gratify the scholar and the archæologist; while in the second division may be found much and varied information of interest to the classical student. The work is enriched with maps constructed in a superior manner. We subjoin a specimen (in a translation) of the manner in which the work has been composed, premising that Panticapæon is the modern Kertch.

That Panticapron was adorned with numerous temples and images of the gods is clear, alike from the inscriptions found in its soil, and from the marble fragments which even yet are thrown up by the spade. In a land whose inhabitants were indebted for their weal chiefly to the gifts of Demeter (Ceres), that goddess, whom Hesiod well described as the mother of Pluto (god of wealth), naturally received special honours. Scassi found an altar of hers on the spot where the Acropolis had stood. This altar is adorned with figures referring to the mysterious worship of Ceres; and the ornaments, also, appear, with slight variations, in paintings on ancient vases, clearly showing how numerous the worshippers of that divinity were in the regions of the Cimmerian Bosphorus. Of the votive tablets which were affixed in her temple, three have already been found. On one of them she bears the title of Thesmophoros, or Lawgiver; for she was re

vicinity. Some had been opened and plundered; puted to have taught men agriculture, the commenceothers still contained valuable booty for the antiquarians, with human relics, in part as skeletons, in part reduced to ashes. These, however, are only a small part of the discoveries made in the Crimea. Those who are curious on the subject may, at a small cost, find exact information in the third part of Dr. Neumann's work. Of a more practical value are other portions of this instructive volume. Its usefulness, as well as its learning, will, however, best be seen if we give a brief outline of its contents. The work is divided into Three Books. In Book the First the learned writer treats of the land, which may, in general terms, be designated as the seat of war, or Southern Russia, along the shores of the Black Sea. And here we have a satisfactory exhibition of facts bearing on the formation, the climate, the productions, &c., of the country, particularly as it was when first

Antiquités de Bosphore Cimmérien conservées au Musée imperial de l'Ermitage. 1854. 2 vols., with plates, maps, &c. London, Nutt.

ment of civil existence. She had, also, accustomed them to fixed abodes, to respect for domestic rights, the rights of property, the sanctions of law. The important bearing of agriculture on morals, civilization, and law-ordered existence, which are highly valued by Greek thinkers generally, must have specially forced itself on the attention of those Greeks who, far from their native land, and among barbarians, had found a new home, blessed with the riches of fertility, and who, at the same time, saw in their neighbours, the Sarmatians, the evils which belong to martial tribes, at once lawless and untrustworthy. The temple of Ceres, in these parts, was a memorial of the culture carried far north by the Greeks. To extend her worship yet further was enjoined on them alike by their interest and inclination. For here must they soon have learnt that safe commercial relations, security of their dominion, the continued subjection of the restless and warlike natives, could be brought about more easily by the peaceful goddess of agriculture than by the sanguinary god of war; and, consequently, the numerous festivals of Ceres would be celebrated here with a more vivid apprehension of their advantages, and with more intelligent joy, than in their native Hellas, where the times of the infancy and perils of civilization lived on only in the myths and the notions of antiquarians. With gratitude, therefore, did Panticapron stamp on many of her coins a plough and an ear of wheat. (Pp. 483-4.)

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Schiller's Lied von der Glocke (Schiller's Song of the Bell); illustrated in forty drawings by BERNHARD NEHER. Folio. 1855. Leipzig: Weigel. London: Nutt.

WILLIAM VON HUMBOLDT has said, "There is not in any language a poem which, within so narrow a compass, opens so wide a poetic field; for here the reader is led through all the leading tones of human sentiment, and in a strictly lyrical manner contemplates man's life in its most important events and epochs, as a great epic reality contained within natural limits." Such a conception disclosed the mind of a master; and with a master's hand was the conception reduced into an objective reality. In "The Song of the Bell," accordingly, you have a picture of our human life, which, like Shakspeare's "Seven Ages," shows you poetically what you have each to pass through in all the vicissitudes of stern individual and social existence. For such a subject "The Song of the Bell" has a somewhat strange sound. What can a bell have to do with the epochs and events of our human life? The answer was in the poet's mind; and well and truly has the poet, in his song, given the answer to the world; for his bell rings out all the great facts of our mortal career, in tones ever suitable to each successive experience. While "The Song of the Bell" thus sketches human life, it also paints the poetic life of its author. Whether we regard that sign of the true poet, namely, the power to see poetry and the power to speak poetry there where other men see and utter mere prose; or whether we regard the beautiful, classic serenity of style which characterises the writings of Schiller, we do not find, in the whole circle of his immortal poems, one which more correctly shows forth the author in his idiosyncrasies and his power. 'The Song of the Bell" is the most Schillerian of Schiller's poems. In saying this, we say that it is an exquisite product of art, uttering the simplest and deepest voices of nature. Schiller, in

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romantic poetry, is that which Horace is in classical poetry. The phrase, simplex munditiis, applied to the latter, is equally descriptive of the former; for simple elegance is the characteristic of both. But simple elegance is the highest expression, as it is the highest effort, of art. The painter, then, that would illustrate Schiller, must, in thought and execution, stand in the same rank as Schiller. To assert this absolutely of the minds to which we owe these pictorial illustrations, might expose us to the charge of exaggeration; but in honesty can we report, that the painter and the engravers appear to have caught the spirit, and shared the power, of their great original. The origin of these paintings is interesting. The old ducal palace at Weimar having been burnt down in

1774, and a new palace having been erected in 1804, the Archduchess Maria dedicated chambers therein to the great German poets, Schiller, Goethe, Wieland, and Herder. These apartments were decorated with appropriate fresco paintings by Neher, Preller, and Jäger. The frescoes executed by Neher, in honour of Schiller, are the originals of the illustrations now before us. These statements will suffice to show that, in this work, we have to do with the highest productions of German art. A great poet is here represented by a great painter. Nor has the publisher judged unwisely in calling for the aid of wood-engraving. Certainly we find, in these copies of Neher's cartoons, an elegant simplicity, which well reproduces, in our mind, the tone and manner of the poem itself. With an extraordinary truth to nature, as well as with admirable vigour, are these sketches executed. The pictures live and speak, each telling its own tale. Its own tale is, however, appended to each picture in the particular stanza or stanzas of the poem whose subject it is intended to set before the eye. The general reader will better comprehend the nature of the poem, and of these pictorial illustrations of the poem, if we append two or three stanzas of the former, which make the subjects of so many sketches of the latter.

GENERAL SUBJECT.

What we are forming in the mould,

By dint of hand and melting flame, High in the church tower shall be tolled, And far and wide our work proclaim. To distant days it shall remain;

Its tones on many an ear shall fall; Its chimes with Sorrow shall complain, And ring abroad Devotion's call. Whatever to us mortals here

A shifting destiny e'er brings,
Is struck upon its metal clear,
Which to all ears the lesson rings.
Illustration 1st.

Clear and full with a festal sound

It hails the lovely infant child, First entering on his earthly round, Borne in the arms of slumber mild. His future lot, or dark or clear,

In Time's deep lap await him yet; He wakes beneath a mother's care, And golden moons his glad eyes greet. Illustration 2nd.

The arrowy years have sped away! From trifling maid, from childish play, Th' impatient boy, with ardour burning, Storms into life, unchecked, to roam The wild world round;

Illustration 3rd.

And now returning, He hails his dear paternal home, A stranger mid old scenes-when lo! In ripened youth's full, mellow glow,

Beaming with beauty's every charm,
Majestic as some heaven-lit form,
With downcast eye, and cheek o'erspread
With deepening blushes rosy red,
The maid before his sight appears-
The child he left in lighter years!
Illustration 4th.

Then creeps a nameless, longing feeling
O'er his whole soul: he seeks the shade,
The solitude of wood and glade;
And ever and anon come stealing
Stray tears adown his cheeks no more
He seeks the sports he loved before,
But, in abstracted mood, would flee
His brother's gladsome company.

He seeks her steps with burning cheek,
Her welcome smile his only joy;
The fairest of the flowers to seek

To deck his love, his fond employ.

Ah! tender longing, sweetest hope,

Love's golden prime-when, drunk with bliss,

The eye sees heavenly treasures ope,

The heart beats high with happiness!

Still ever green and constant prove
The fairy time of youthful love!

The pictorial illustrations of these stanzas

are admirably executed. Throughout, with an exception or two, the cartoons picture forth their several themes with a truthfulness no less remarkable than their spirit. We are glad to learn from the prefatory remarks that Schiller is still rising in the estimation of his countrymen; and a high position in the loving respect of the world must be held by him so long as pure, deep, and tender feeling graceful, fancy, and a lofty spirit, uttered in the fewest, yet the most appropriate and simple words, continue to be appreciated. While this publication affords the best commentary on the most peculiar of Schiller's poems, it also serves the interesting purpose of commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of his death. The poet departed this life on the 9th of May, 1805. The 9th of May, 1855, is the date affixed to the Editor's introductory observations. Thus is Schiller's demise rung out to the world by his own passing bell.

Der Krieg gegen Russland (The War with Russia). By W. RUSTow; with Plans and Portraits. 1855. Zürich Schultess.

WHO can be, who in England would wish to be, impartial, that is, indifferent, in regard to the war with Russia, and the events of which it is composed? No one but those who are for peace at any price. And of such there are few beyond the small knot which has the member for the West Riding for its oracle, and the martinet representative of Manchester as its herald. The rest of the country will take good care not to play into the hands of the enemy by creating or fostering divisions in our own camp, or by attempts to enfeeble the government to whom the conduct of the war has been assigned. Herr Rüstow, however, makes profession of impartiality in the narrative he gives of the course of its important events. The profession is, in a measure, made a reality; and the work may, in consequence, be accepted and read as a useful and not unattractive outline

London: Nutt.

of the rapid progress our brave soldiers and sailors have made in bringing an unscrupulous robber to do penance, covered with sackcloth and ashes. Appearing as a serial, the work keepe pace with events, and so constantly affords thlatest authentic information. The matter, howl ever, supplied by Rüstow consists in genera. sketches, accompanied by critical judgmentst Those who may desire to see the same subjecs handled in all the details and particulars connected therewith may find their account in another work on "The War against Russia," which, treating the matter in great fulness, has the advantage of being copiously illustrated with maps, plans, and other artistic aids.* materials are said to be supplied by eye-witnesses.

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* Der Krieg gegen Russland im Jahre 1854-55. Leipzig, Mendelssohn; London, Nutt.

ITALIAN LITERATURE.

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RÉSUMÉ.

In the task of chronicling, for the benefit of English readers, the productions of contemporary Italian literature we are met at the outset by the somewhat ominous fact, that some of the first thinkers and writers in Italy are now earnestly discussing the causes why this literature is generally so unpopular in the peninsula itself. Perchè la Letteratura Italiana non sia Popolare in Italia," is the title of a series of letters lately published in Lo Spettatore, of Florence, by Ruggiero Bonghi, a young scholar, formerly known by his translations of Aristotle and Plato; but more likely to be henceforth remembered for the energy and eloquence with which he has signalized the defects and decay of a literature once the first in Europe. And as the first step in literary as in all other reforms is a correct estimate of the extent of the evils to be removed, we apprehend that no greater service could be rendered to the rising generation of Italians.

How comes it that, with the exception of Manzoni and Silvio Pellico, there are no writers of general popularity in Italy? Why are the latest French and English works devoured with eagerness, whilst Italian writings, though by men of genius and learning, are contemptuously thrown aside? Why do Italians prefer reading the works of their countrymen in French translations, to perusing them in their own tongue? And, finally, by what studies can these patent and palpable impediments to the formation of a popular Italian literature be best corrected and removed? Such are the interesting questions proposed by Bonghi; and the answers to which he seeks in the intellectual, social, and literary history of Italy; in the structure of the Italian language; the traditions of Italian letters; and the influence of the Romish Church.

The first great defect in all Italian writings is the want of a logical analysis; and to this cause must be ascribed the inferiority in the talent of composition of the Italian to both English and French. This was not always the case; for both Boccacio and Macchiavelli, though writing on such dissimilar themes, are remarkable for the logical character of their intellects, reflected in all their works. But few Italians have, like them, thoroughly

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grasped the whole subject which they proposed to treat, and then assigned to each part its due proportion, bringing to their literary labours the logical discrimination, without which reading or writing is as mechanical a task as the mere grinding of a mill. Because free inquiry was stifled in Italy, she had no Bacon, no Descartes; and because she wanted them, her writers have wanted the comprehensive intellects which their inquiries fostered and matured. Yet this was not the only want. Even Bacon and Descartes were but the children of their country and their age. Reformation and the Revolution, the Ligue and the Fronde, were the true creators of English and French prose, which, in their passionate struggles, were something more than an ornament or a toy, which were both sword and shield. To think profoundly, and to will strongly, are, in literature as in life, the first conditions of success; and until Italy has deeper thinkers and sterner doers, she must be content to lag behind the rest of Europe. She must have a thoroughly national life before she can have a thoroughly national language, and before her writers can wield a thoroughly popular style. When Guerrazzi wrote "The Siege of Florence," he informed his readers that he did so only because he could not fight a battle; and when Manzoni first gave to the world the "Promessi Sposi," it was, we strongly suspect, strongly_suspect, because he could not create a new Lombard League.

Logical science, comparative philology, but, above all, thoroughly popular and idiomatic language-language drawn from the pure well of Tuscan undefiled-are the three things which Bonghi-to borrow a Baconian phrase-chiefly "notes as deficient" in the resources and training of Italian writers. We cannot follow him in his minutely-critical remarks on the defects of style in both the past and present authors of his country. Among the great models of the past, he records a just, discriminating, though by no means commonly-allowed, preference to Macchiavelli. Among modern writers, Manzoni stands alone and unapproachable; for the extraordinary merits of Giacomo Leopardi do not raise him to a level with the author of the "Promessi Sposi."

Del Romanzo Storico e, in Genere dei Comporimenti Misti di Storia e d' Invenzione. Opere varie di ALESSANDRO MANZONI. Milano. 1855.

WHILST the first critics of Italy are holding Manzoni up to the admiration and imitation of their countrymen, the author of the "Promessi Sposi" sends forth a note of warning, describes his own literary triumphs as the mere result of chance, and his celebrated work as at best "a happy accident;" in short, attempts, by every argument at his command, to prove that his torical romance, nay, all compositions in which fiction and fact are blended, must be viewed as fundamentally erroneous, and are carefully to be shunned by the young aspirant to literary fame. He here contends that, in every mixed composition of history and imagination, it is impossible to combine the two elements of truth and probability in such proportions that the result be perfect unity, and infers that the writer of historical romance is compelled to struggle against overwhelming difficulties-difficulties which even the most brilliant genius is quite unable to surmount.

Fortunately, Manzoni's old practice is better than his new theory. But the errors of that theory were detected and refuted thirty years ago by Goethe. When conversing with Eckermann on the first appearance of the "Promessi Sposi," he said, "Manzoni entertains far too much respect for history, and always accompanies his works with explanations to show how faithfully he adheres to minute historical details. Now," continues Goethe, "his facts may be historical, but his characters are not, no more than my Thoas and Iphigenia. No poet has ever known the historical characters whom he represented; but even had he known them, he could not have employed them in their real natures. The poet must first know what effects he intends to produce, and adapt to them the nature of his characters. Had I attempted to make my Egmont like the real Egmont of history, the father of a dozen children, his foolish conduct would have been simply ludicrous. I was, therefore, compelled to create another Egmont, more in harmony with his own acts, and with my poetical aims; and this, as Clärchen says, is my Egmont.' And why, let me ask, should poets exist at all, if they are only to repeat the histories of historians? The poet must go farther, and give us something better and higher." The same views are expressed still more strongly and exclusively in Goethe's review of Manzoni's "Carmagnola." After rejecting altogether the distinction between historical and ideal characters in poetry, he proceeds to say :—

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it is his pleasure to represent a moral world, and for this purpose he does certain personages in history the honour to transfer their names to his creations.

In these words of Goethe are contained the true vindication of historical romance, and, whatever Manzoni may now choose to write, the real secret of his own success. Manzoni sought to represent a moral, nay, a religious world in the "Promessi Sposi -a world with which no Italian writer had been familiar since the days of Dante. His Cristoforo, and Borromeo, and Lucia, are eternal types of selfsacrifice, and charity and love; and what chiefly concerns us is not whether certain facts actually occurred during the famine and plague of Milan, but whether, given such personages as Cristoforo and Lucia, their sufferings and sacrifices in those wretched times have been faithfully described.

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Manzoni describes the success of his celebrated work as at best "a happy accident." Vincenzo Gioberti, by whose bed it was found lying after death, along with The Imitation of Christ," declared that its chief merit consisted in its being a work of Christian philosophy, and an eloquent apology of religion." The passage so remarkably illustrates and confirms the criticisms of Ruggiero Bonghi, and the great merit of Italian literature, that it will probably interest our readers :—

The Italians have long wanted remarkable religious compositions, and Dante may be regarded as at once the first and last whose lofty poetry was inspired by the dictates of Christianity. Hence the weakness of Italy, centuries; for the true greatness and strength of and its civil and literary decline during the last three Christian nations can spring from no other source than from the moral empire which the Gospel exerts over them; and whenever lofty imaginations and intellects wholly neglect religious ideas, it is but natural to suppose that they will find admission with difficulty into the hearts and memories of the great mass of mankind. But the whole of Allighieri, though profoundly Christian, still bears the stamp of the time when it was written, and exhibits the traces both of the bar. barous age which it brought to a close, and of the

medieval and rude civilization which it helped to foster. The religion of the poet is masculine and sublime, often angelical and pure, but too frequently darkened by political enmity, and by the passions of those rough and ferocious times; it is, if I may so express myself, like gold mixed up with the scoriæ of an age of iron; whilst, in the writings of him who is the living glory of our country, it is chaste, magnanimous, venerable, meek without effeminacy, strong with. ordered passions, such, in short, as it is reflected in out harshness, unruffled by the slightest break of dis. the Gospel, such as God sometimes kindles it in pure and noble minds, when seeking to give an image less removed than usual from the purity and perfection of his divine model. This is he whom our contemporaries For the poet there exists no historical character; should follow as their guide and example in the new

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