AND Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, etc. This Journal is supplied Weekly, or Monthly, by the principal Booksellers and Newsmen throughout the Kingdom: but to those who may desire No. 184. REVIEW OF NEW BOOKS. SATURDAY, JULY 29, 1820. The course of fish among others includes At notus lacuum terror, stagnique vorago, Tabella Cibaria. The Bill of Fure; a ; Conosos inter lucos, fœdasque paludes, Olim prædator Lucius ille fuit: Crimina-at ultores invocat illa Deos. PRICE 8d. word gourmand means, as we stated above, a man who, by having accidentally been able to study the different tastes of eatables, does accordingly select the best food, and the most pleasing to his palate. His character is that of a practitioner, and answers to the appellation of an epicure in the full sense of the word, as we use it in English. The gourmet on the other hand considers the theoretical part of Gastronomy; he speculates more than he practises; and eminently prides himself in discerning the nicest degrees and most evanescent shades of goodness and perfection in the different subjects proposed to him. In fact, the word gourmet has long been used to designate a man who, by sipping a few drops out of the silver cup of the vintner, can instantly tell from what country the wine comes, and its age. This denomination has lately acquired a greater latitude of signification, and not improperly, since it expresses what the two other words could not mean. prit which we have lately met with and we hail the writer as the opposite to Varro's homo Cibarius,-vulgarly, a scamp. Had we christened the volume, however, we should have called it Tabel- But without going through the list of la Cibariorum; though no doubt so stur- dishes, which we think unequalled except by dy a student as our author can justify the admirable description of a dinner party in the Counter Prison, attributed to L'Eshis own titular reading. The latin verses are ludicrous enough; but the notes trange; we must hasten to the end— are the rich part of the treat. They are At satis est, nec nostra cupit te Musa morari; Prandistin?-sumptus solve tuos-et abi. playful, facetious, and witty: full of drollery, and evolving many as genuine Of the hundred messes of which the Tahits of humour as any book we know bella is composed, several require and reof, not excepting that tome of fortu-ceive delectable illustration in the appended notes. From these we shall copy some of nate destiny, the Miseries of Human the table-talk, which seasons the entertain-ry with practice, and may be denominated Life. ment. * tion on the 66. From the foregoing observations we must conclude that the glutton practises without any regard to theory; and we call him Gastrophile. The gormand unites theoGastronomer. The gourmet is merely theoThe Bill of Fare offers, as usual, a It may be supposed that in a work like this, retical, cares little about practising, and defeast; and it is with cordial content- the Apicii are named. In the note upon serves the higher appellation of Gastrologer. "We need not inform the classical reader ment we add, that, as is unusual, there these renowned Romans, we have a disquisi- that the Greek word yap, gaster, means is no disappointment: none of its ar"Material difference between a gormand more extensive and somewhat figurative the stomach, and all that relates to it, in a ticles have been spoilt in the cooking and a glutton. The first seeks for peculiar He who has dressed it for the public delicacy and distinct flavour in the various sense. The words you, nomos, Q.xos, phitaste is not one of those whom, accord-dishes presented to the judgment and enjoy-los, and hoyos, logos, added to it, classify the ing to the proverb, "the devil sends ;"ment of his discerning palate; while the but a real good fellow, who furnishes an other lays aside nearly all that relates to the entertainment worthy of any epicure, and yet substantial and pleasant for common, as it is piquant and relishing for learned palates. We got to the last morsel uncloyed; As if increase of appetite did grow A couple of passages will exemplify the poem, which consists of only 220 lines. After a few preliminary dishes, notice is taken of Bubula tum sequitur simplex, sine condimento; rational pleasure of creating or stimulating "We find besides a curious shade between * See Poem in Nichol's collection; "The Counter Scuffle," one of the most humorous of a inerry age, when England, tired of politics and revolutionary madness, gave itself up without reserve, to holiday, sport, and dissolute pleasure. practical, physical, and theoretical varieties." Our author seems to unite in himself all the excellent qualities of the three classes. He descants with the skill of practical exment in his lucubrations: on soup, for experience, and displays both taste and refineample. The caulis cum carne-broth and cabbage, is another sort. "The red cabbage stewed in veal broth is accounted, upon the continent, a specific cure against pulmonary complaints, and what is called here consumption. Pistachios and calf's lights are added to it. For this in French kitchen-gardens. This reminds us purpose red cabbage is especially cultivated of an anecdote which passed current at the time we heard it:-A young clergyman, rector of a country parish, was called upon to preach a sermon upon a grand solemnity, at which the bishop of the diocese, who was a cardinal, appeared in the Roman purple, surrounded by his clergy in their white surplices. The preacher performed his task to After the the approbation of every one. ceremony, his cuninence, meeting him, seemed to wonder at his not having been abashed when in the presence of a cardinal pliment.'' "The name of this bird in Greek is xn, pronounced cane, from which, by a misapplication, the mallard and duck are called canard, and cane in French. Were they the originals, and the goose but a magnified copy?" The staff of life supports the subjoined digression, Whiting also supplies an amusing note. in the full blaze of his red paraphernalia. when we roast a friend, let us be aware of Loyola's order. Why the French should The simple and honest clergyman replied that many stand ready to return the com-call them alouettes de savetier,' cobler's "Your eminence will cease to wonder, larks, cannot easily be accounted for. This when you know that I learnt my discourse bird is so stupid, or timorous, that if you by heart in my garden, and used to practice balance a bit of straw on his head, or draw declamation before a plot of white cabbages, a line with chalk on the ground from his in the centre of which stood a red one."beak, he fancies himself so loaded or so A preferment was the reward of this answer." bound, that he will remain in the same poFat hens have always been a luxury.sition till hunger forces him to move. We "The Romans were so desperately foad made the experiment." of fattened hens (poulardes, Fr.) that the good consul Cains Fannius, fearful lest the breed should materially suffer from this voracious practice, caused a law to pass the senate in order to prevent any fatal consequence. Gastronomy frowned at the senatus-consultum; but capons, properly educated, being substituted in the coop for their emancipated sisters, hunger siniled, anger subsided, and all was right again. The Syrians of old used to worship hens on account of their fecundity, and the exquisite taste of their eggs, which, at Athens and Rome were carried, with pompous show, in the great festivals of Cerès. ́(Livy.) "It has been remarked with a sort of superstitious wonder, that some hens have received from nature the masculine talent of crowing; and, in general, such an anomaly is punished with death in the farm house or cottage where this preposterous uttering is heard. And indeed there is a French proverb which says: Poule qui chante, prêtre qui danse, Femme qui parle latin, N'arrivent jamais a belle fin. "A crowing hen, a dancing priest, a man who speaks Latin, never come to a good end. "Pane, apio, chartá, amicta. Panis. Frigitur Alburnus. Merlan frit.' 'Pain.' Bread is of a very ancient origin, Fried whiting. This fish undergoes also the the Hebrew called it lehem, the Greek apros; operation of boiling; but, frying being the and it appears that the Gauls and Celts gave most common way of dressing this delicate it the name of bar. The Greeks, having and salubrious gift of the Nereids, the aubeen taught the art of cultivating wheat and thor contented himself with taking notice of of making bread, were generally assailed on it. In France they are often broiled after the confines of their dominions by those having been lavishly powdered with flour; people, who used to call bar, bar-bread, a circumstance which gave rise to the ludibread; hence the Greek barbaros, Bapapos. crous appellation of Merlan' for a hairThe word barley attaches itself to this hypo- dresser. The Latin alburnus, from albus, thesis, since barley-bread was known at the white,' corresponds with the English name. same time with or even before wheaten The French Merlan' exceeds the extenbread. Some authors of respectability pre- sion of our ken in etymology, unless the fish tend that wheat originated in Egypt, and is so called by antiphrasis, from merle a that the Phocean colony brought it to Mar-black bird, as lucus à non lucendo. If this seilles. The Saracens used it before the be the case, the joke originated with the crusades, but it was that inferior species Romans, who called a mearl or black bird, named buckwheat, which is still called in merula, and by the same name designated French, sarrasin. There was a particular this white fish." sort of bread made to be eaten with oysters; and such rolls as we butter for breakfast were invented by the Parthians, and called consequently panis Parthicus. (Pliny.)" Turkeys are thus mentioned. The odd application of the above appellation to a hair dresser in France, reminds us of similar nick-names in England, which we hear daily used, without thinking of their origin: for instance, the reproach of Jarvis for a Hackney-Coachman, now so common, but which fifty years ago, was synonymous with murderer, Jarvis being the name of a coachman, who was executed for the murder of his Fare somewhere (we believe) about Chelsea. The length to which we have carried these selections, show how much we relish the Tabella Cibaria; but we must still add two or three brief and curious remarks, taken from the notes, on spits, onions, parsley, and eggs. And first of Verubus, the spit. 46 Meleagrides. Dindons. Turkeys. wo-Naturalists are at variance upon the origin of this bird. Some pretend that it was not known before the discovery of America, and "The abstinence practised by the hen dur- that the first which appeared on a table in ing incubation, is much above what Chris-France was eaten at the nuptials of Charles tians and Mahometans can boast concerning IX. in 1570. Henry VIII. had some of their Lent and Ramadan; and Mendoza pre- them brought to England in 1525, and they tends to have seen a hen, who, for ninety are supposed to be indigenous to Canada days, never opened her beak to take food. and the adjacent countries, where they are "The digestive powers of the hen have found sometimes weighing upwards of fifty been most horridly tried by Spallanzani, who pounds. Credut Judæus Apella. However, ought to have been put under the lex talio- we must allow that the Norfolk breed does Spits were used very anciently in all nis. He ascertained that this poor creature not fall considerably short of that weight. On parts of the world, and perhaps before the could not indeed digest a musket ball, larded the other hand, it is said that Meleager, a plain practice of hanging the meat to a string all round with needles and lancets, but had king of Macedonia, brought them from In- before the fire. Ere the iron-age had taught strength enough to blunt the edges of these dia into Greece, at a very early period; and men the use of metals, these roasting instru destructive instruments. This leaves far that, ont of gratitude for such an acquisition, ments were made of wood; and, as we find it behind all that has been said of the ostrich; the Athenian Gastronomers called the bird in Virgil, the slender branches of the hazelbut have we not heard lately of several clasp Meleagris. Mythology contends that they tree were particularly chosen. Gɛo. 11. 396. knives found in a fair way of digestion in the were so named from the Caledonian hero stomach of a madman?”` above mentioned, after whose death his woebegone sisters were transformed into these birds of mournful appearance. But there is still a doubt whether the Meleagris of Aristotle, of Clytus, of Calixenes, of Ptolemy, and other authors of ancient times, was not the bird now known under the name of Guinea-hen. Ovid certainly says, B. viii. of the Metamorphoses, that Meleager's sisters were turned into birds, but mentions nothing else, except that, having acquired horny beaks and extensive wings, they were sent adrift to find their way through the vacant air. The idea that the Jesuits brought them into notice is erroneous. They were known in Europe long before the institution Of another sort of poultry the following is a part of the notice. 66 Large droves of geese were anciently led from Picardy to Italy, waddling over the Alps, and constantly stooping, according to their prudent custom, under the lofty triumphal arches under which they happen to pass in their way. Yet geese are not so stupid as they are generally supposed to be. The famous chymist, Lemery, saw a goose turning the spit on which a turkey was roasting; unconscious, we hope, that some friend would soon accept the office for her. Alas! we are all turnspits in this world;' adds the Gastrographer who relates the fact, and, Stabit sacer hircus ad aram Pinguiaque in verubus torrebimus exta co lurnis. The altar let the guilty goat approach, "Why the hazel twig should have been preferred to others for making roasting broaches or spits, is not easily accounted for. There is, however, an old custom on the continent which, though rather superstitious, seems to have originated in the circumstance of using hazel sticks for the same purpose. On the eve of Epiphany, called here Twelfth-Night, a few larks are spitted upon a fresh-cut twig of hazel, and placer before a good fire; after a few minutes ex "When we consider that the very small | vancing step by step to his conclusions, quantity of elemental air concealed under through an analysis of the phenomena equalthe blunt end of the egg, being dilated by ly strict and beautiful. He observes in the the heat of incubation, forces the whole of preface: "Whatever other imperfections the contents into organization, motion, and may be found in the opinions of which the life; we cannot help musing,' in awful si- following abstract exhibits a feeble sketch, it lence, the praise' of God in the works of will not I hope be imputed to them, that nature." they are the opinions of one who has accusWith this serious reflection we close this tomed himself to think after any particular merry book, which he who does not like school. There is no department of science must, in the writer's phrase, be "in a state in which this sort of error seems to have of downright dotage and complete doodle-been so prevalent as in the philosophy of dom." We confess to being quite captivat-mind; not certainly, as has been sometimes supposed, because inquiry in that depart ment must relate to phenomena that are too simple to admit of any great difference of opinion with respect to them, but from the influence of a few primary and diffusive errors, which have passed in ready transmission from enquirer to enquirer, and have vitiated accordingly in the same manner, or nearly in the same manner, all the investigations of which they have formed a part." pectation, the whole begins to turn without Sketch of a System of the Philosophy of There are circumstances of melancholy interest connected with this volume: it is only a fragment of a work which the ill Of onions the author inter alia says- health of the author prevented him from fi"Onions are supposed to have been ori-nishing; and it was published about the time ginally brought from Egypt, where they of his lamented death, in the beginning of must have possessed a most hewitching April. taste since the Israelites would fain have Dr. Brown, at an early period of his life, returned to bondage for the sake of enjoy-became distinguished as a metaphysician. ing them again. Alexander the Great sent When he was only eighteen years of age, them to Greece, and from thence they be he published his "Observations on Darcame common on the whole continent. It win's Zoonomia," a work which would have is remarkable that the particles emanating done credit to the most eminent and matured from this bulbous root are so volatile and so abilities. His encreasing reputation was afkeen, that they instantly corrode the exter-terwards fully established by his "Inquiry nal surface of the eyes, and draw tears; and it is more curious still, that if, when peeling an onion, the cook wishes to be spared this lachrymatory affection, a small piece of bread placed at the end of the operating knife, will absorb the effluvia and pre-vent the disagreeable effect." In seeking for some principle on which to ground an arrangement of the mental phenotion, which refers them to the understanding mena, the author rejects the old classificaand the will, on account of its want of precision and of comprehensiveness. He rejects also, as equally imperfect, the method which arranges the phenomena under the intellectual powers of the mind, and the active powers of the mind; and, having resolved to consider them without regard to any former arrangement, he observes:-" The various feelings of the mind are nothing more than the mind itself, existing in a certain state. They may all then be designated states of the mind, it we consider the feelings simply as feelings;or affections of mind, if we consider the feelings in relation to the prior circumstances that have induced them." These states or affections of mind are then distinguished by him as external and internal, according as they "arise in consequence of the operation of external things, or in consequence of mere previous feelings of the mind itself.” former of these classes," he remarks, “admits of very easy subdivision, according to the bodily organs. The latter may be divided into two orders, intellectual states of the mind, and emotions.", "The into the Relation of Cause and Effect" in which the principal errors of Mr. Hume's philosophy are investigated and most satisfactorily exposed. A third edition of this admirable work, greatly enlarged, was given to the public about two years since. In 1810, upon the retirement of Professor StewWe should like to try if it be true as sta-art from the Chair of Moral Philosophy, in ted, that "If after having bruised some the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Brown was sprigs of parsley in your hands, you attempt chosen, as if by general acclamation, to fill that In treating of sensation he rejects, as imto rinse your glasses, they will generally important situation, which had become in- philosophical, and founded on imperfect snap and suddenly break." vested with so much additional honour from analysis of the complex phenomena, "the the highly distinguished character and abili-distinction which is very commonly made of ties of its last occupant. The volume before external causes, which act directly, as in us consists of outlines of the scheme of phi- smell, taste, and touch, and of others which losophy which he delivered in his lectures, act through a medium, as in hearing and and was intended for the use of the students vision." "The real object, or real external of his class. According to his view of the cause of hearing, for example, is the subject, the philosophy of mind is capable vibratory air, or rather elastic substance of being regarded under four distinct heads; itself, which is said to be only the medium as a physiological, an ethical, a political, of that sense." We learn to refer the sensa and a theological science. This unfinished tion to the external object which emits the work contains nearly the whole of the physi- sound, "as its indirect and remote cause; ological part. but it is a reference which the sense of hearing never could have enabled us to make it is the result, as we shall afterwards find, of another principle, which connects the affections of other senses; as it extends the same connecting influence, indeed, to every other class of feelings of which the mind is We all know the intimate connection between parsley and hemlock; and most people have heard of the famous (and in that country very prudential) Venetian glasses, which cracked and burst on poison being put into them, if a vegetable poison, hem lock to wit: here we have the same pheno menon! We are sorry we have not room for the note on eggs ab ovo. "The most extraordinary manner of cooking eggs is, as it stands recorded, to turn them round in a sling till they appear slightly-boiled." The surest mode of trying an egg is to apply the tip of the tongue to the blunt end; if it feels warın, and the acute end cold, it is a proof that no fermentation has yet taken place." With the utmost respect for the labours of those who have preceded him, and admiration of their talents, Dr. Brown has yet in no instance been swayed by their mere authority, but has derived his system from his own investigation of the mind itself, ad susceptible." The principle here alluded to is beautifully explained in the chapter concerning swell and taste, with which we will conclude our extracts. In the variety of feelings that arise after affections of the olfactory nerves, there is nothing to be discovered that might of itself be indicative of the existence of things without. If the sense of smell were our only sense, we might have the pleasures of mere fragrance, repeated in varied and endless succession; and we might ascribe these changes of feeling to a cause of some sort but that the cause was of the kind which we now term corporeal, we could as little discover, as if we had been formed without any sensitive organ whatever. We might give, indeed, as now, if the use of language were possible in such a case, the name rose to the unknown cause of one of these delightful feelings; but the name would be as little significant of matter, in our present sense of that word, as the word spirit or angel. To know the cause as matter would be to know it as an extended resisting mass; and for informing us of the figure and of the hardness or the softness of the beautiful circular crimson flower, with its convex stem and green flexible foliage, the sensation of fragrance seems to be as little fit as any other feeling of mere pleasure or pain of which the mind is susceptible." "The same remark may be applied to our primary sensations of mere taste, abstracted from every tactual sensation that may accompany them. If we had no other medium than this sense, for acquiring a knowlege of nature, the things which we now term sweet and bitter would be unknown to us; and the feelings which we now ascribe to them as their effect, would have been mere pleasures or pains, that began we knew not how or when, and ceased when we were as little capable of inferring the time or the manner of their fading away. It is very different, in the circumstances of that richer complexity of senses with which nature has endowed us. By frequent co-existence with the sensations afforded by other organs, that have previously informed us of the existence of matter, our sensations of mere smell and taste seem of themselves, ultimately to inform us of the things without. A particular sensation of fragrance has arisen, as often as we have seen or handled a particular flower; it recalls, therefore, the sensations that have previously co-existed with it, and we no longer smell only; we smell a rose. In taste, in like manner, by the influence of similar co-existence of sensations, we have no longer a mere pleasurable feeling we taste a plum, a pear, a peach. The suggestion of things external is as quick in these cases as in any other cases of association; but the knowledge of these corporeal masses, is still a suggestion of memory only, not a part of the primary sensations either of smell or of taste." In considering the sensations commonly ascribed to touch, the author is led to take a view of the sceptical argument of the nonexistence of matter, and to examine the system of Dr. Berkeley, when it is made to appear that, in ascribing to mind qualities intelligent and interesting;—has read a which can belong only to matter, that phi- good deal, and writes with all the air losopher is as much of a materialist as a of having read much more ;-attacks in spiritualist. Dr. Reid's theory of perception is also subjected to a strict analysis, and is print with all the flippancy which we shewn to lead to conclusions of a sceptical (of the coarser sex) feel so potently in nature, which the author most wished to conversation, when the artillery of avoid. tongue, eyes, and other charms are unreservedly employed by woman-kind (as our worthy friend Jonathan Oldbuck calls the enslavers); and, in short, seems so well satisfied with her erran It would occupy too large a portion of our columns if we were to attempt to give a complete view of the system of Metaphysics contained in this volume. It is written with that clearness and precision of language which is best suited to the subject. Nothing try, and is so socially communicative, is left vague and undefined, and at every that he must be a churl and cynic, at step as we advance, we feel ourselves to be once harsh and inhuman, who could upon firm and solid ground. The abrupt refuse to yield himself prisoner, to be termination of the work forcibly recalls that led over Italy in these new chains. We regret and sorrow with which the premature shall exhibit a few of the links as pattern death of a man who, besides his great talents of the whole; merely premising that and public usefulness, was in every other respect so excellent, must ever be contem- the 1st volume takes you from England plated. Dr. Brown died at the age of forty-to Rome, the 2d detains you there with two, when he may be supposed to have just a laughable composition of active rematured his investigation of those philosophi- search reviving a multitude of well cal subjects to which his mind was chiefly known accounts, and of decisive blundirected, and which he was perhaps better dering upon every imaginable doubtful qualified to illustrate and explain than any individual who has ever yet appeared. He point upon which an opinion can be is known to the public also as the author of hazarded, and which are here settled the "Paradise of Coquettes," and of several ex cathedra without hesitation; the 3d other poetical works of high merit, though takes an excursion to Naples and back; we certainly prefer that racy and original and the 4th visits Florence, Venice, production to any other that we have seen Milan, and Switzerland, on the way to from his pen. Dover. To begin with the beginning, our first extract is at Fontainebleau: here the travellers were shown the We recommend his philosophy to the student, his verse to the general reader. Sketches descriptive of Italy in 1816 and 1817, with a brief account of Travels in various parts of France and Switzerland. London, 1820. 12ino. 4 vols. This is a very lively and entertaining work, by a young blue-stocking, who rattles through all sorts of subjects in the same way; whipping up classics, antiquities, arts, sciences, the perils of travel, poetry, female dress, ethics, housewifery, physics, &c. &c. into a kind of syllabub agreeable to the palate, and having, in verity, some nutriment in it, though apparently so slight and trifling. It is very true, that there is not one of her topics which has not engaged (as the preface states) abler pens; but as we have been told that knowledge resembles the changes which apothecaries make in their coloured bottles, pouring from one into another, and mingling the reds, blues, and yellows, secundum artem, so with travelling in Italy, if we look for nothing beyond change of tinting in the vials, it is at least pleasant to have the hues bright and the mixtures gay. Therefore it is that we agree with our fair companion on the present voyage very well. She is Recalled a circumstance related by a friend of ours who visited Fontainebleau soon after that event, and there purchased a pen which these people assured him was the identical one used by the emperor on that memorable occasion: on his return to gentlemen, who each produced its counterLondon, however, he met with three other relics, so I suppose all the quills in the part! We were not shewn any of these country were by this time exhausted." At Nice, our country-woman visited sereral religious houses, and must have perplexed the innocent friars by her vivacity. She tells us― "On a subsequent day, we walked to another Capuchin convent, San Bartolomeo, an three miles from Nice. ugly monastery, in a secluded valley about "The brotherhood here were very cour teous, and shewed us their church, sacristy. and garden; but my sister and I, escaping from their guidance, and running wild about the convent, stumbled by chance on a small a room in which these sanctified friars had got half a dozen young women shut up, who, There is some want of charity in this; but we will not dispute a lady's knowledge on such subjects. The following story of a picture, in which the French robbers were mystified at Modena, is only hearsay. of Raphael, painted by Carlo Maratti; but the inscription beneath it is now totally illegible, and the picture itself so faded, that it is very difficult to distinguish it from those of the Madonnas before which the only At the time the pictures were taken lamps that illumine the streets of Rome are away, a curious instance occurred of French suspended. A larger and more elegant knowledge of the arts. There was a very mansion, built on his own designs, in the fine Crucifixion, the single figure of our Borgo San Spirito †, was afterwards inhaSaviour on the cross, by Guido, and an ex-bited by him; but no actual memento recellent copy from it, hung within a short dis- mains at either of these houses of their fortance of cach other. The French officer, mer distinguished possessor; and to his commissioner, or whatever was his title, in- Pincian villa we must resort for the only trusted to select those pictures which were existing traces of his Roman residence. considered worthy to be presented to Parisian admiration, after much puzzling, fixed at length on the copy, which was accordingly carried off and hung in the Louvre, where it passed for an undoubted original, to the great delight of the Modenese, who, besides keeping the picture itself, enjoyed the pleasure of knowing their oppressors to be thus notably deceived." From the remarks on Rome we shall select but one passage, which has more of novelty than any other that we meet with, and with its addenda, is perfectly illustrative of the fair author. Near the Porta Pinciana, "A very curious object may be observed. An uneven block of discoloured white marble rises above the ground to the right of the Gate, and appears to be partly enclosed in the wall. The following inscription is perfectly legible on that part which protrudes beyond the building. DATE OBOLVM BELISARIO. "We were taken to this place by two English friends-excellent classic scholarswho had made the discovery of this stone themselves, and were, like us, much puzzled to account for it. It is not likely to be an imposture, for of what benefit could such an imposture be to any one? and as the mendicity of the blind old general is always believed to have befallen him in Asia, if it ever befel him at all, the idea that the inscription is genuine only involves the matter in deeper obscurity. This stone is unknown, or at least untalked of, at Rome. "Continuing our route along the outside of the walls, a mean-looking gate appears opening into a vineyard. It is the entrance to Raphael's villa, and to every one who can, with a share of Corregio's exultation, exclaim, Anch' io son' pittore!' the spot will be replete with interest. "There are two houses in the city which were once inhabited by Raphael. But, as it is often very difficult-nay, frequently quite impossible-to gain information on subjects which one would imagine every body would be acquainted with, it cost us no small trouble to ascertain these mansions. The first stands in a mean inconsiderable street in the Campo Marzo*, and is marked by a portrait Via Coronari, No. 124. The vain inquiries we made in the different houses and shops in this street, reminded me of the answer of the Landlady of the inn at Huntingdon, whom, while horses were putting to our carriage, on a hurried journey made some years ago, I had asked to shew me the house Cowper had once "This small habitation has a garden and When at Naples our lady-bird flew to all "About the middle of the Carnival, a "It was the first fête which had been given since the restoration of Ferdinand the Fourth to the kingdom of the Two Sicilies :— and so much was said and thought about it, that it was like 'O'Rourke's noble fare Which ne'er was forgot, "All strangers were dying to obtain another, this ball excited a nonstrous commotion both among foreigners and natives. "In the forenoon of the day, the Principe di L, a Sicilian nobleman of our acquaintance, came to us in great distress, to know if my sister or I could lend a Bird of Paradise Plume to a friend of bis, who had been chosen by Prince Leopold, along with four other favourites, to attend him all the evening, and who were all to be attired alike. Four of these plumnes had been procured; but, alas! Naples did not produce a fifth! In all countries, courtiers worship the rising sun. Those only who know something of courts, can imagine the eagerness with which this chase of the paradise plume was conducted all over the city on this day, and into how much importance these feathers rose in Neapolitan estimation. I laughed at myself for the interest I took in the business; and it certainly did not arise from any admiration for Leopold himself, who is a fat, heavy-looking young man, with white hair and eye-brows, and the thick lip of the Austrian family, from which he is maternally descended. "Though generally known by the name of Prince Leopold, his proper title is Prince of Salerno. He is believed to be his father's favourite; and I heard it often confidently affirmed, that Ferdinand intended the Duke of Calabria to inherit only Sicily, where he was then resident as Viceroy, and that Prince Leopold was to be King of Naples. An absolute monarch may do much-when alive; but an absolute monarch, — when dead-is quite another sort of personage: and I should doubt the power of Ferdinand to scat his favourite on the throne, more especially as the Duke of Calabria is said to have a strong party in his favour in Naples itself, where Prince Leopold is much less popular than his father. On this occasion, indeed, the old monarch, weak and silly as he is, appeared to much the greatest advantage of the two; for his manners were kind, frank and affable, while his son sauntered about the whole evening as if half asleep, leaning on the shoulder of one of his plumed favourites, and scarcely deigning to notice any one else in the room. "The King is a good-humoured respectable looking old gentleman. He was dressed in a plain black domino and hat; and seemed to enjoy the amusement from his very heart. La Moglie also wore black, with a tick-profusion of diamonds. Though the wife of pre-ed either the title or state of Queen; for she the reigning sovereign, this lady is not allowof the King. She was created Duchess of was the subject, before she became the wife, Santa Florida; but is more commonly called La Moglie. She is young and rather hand sented at their own courts were invited, and derstand who I meant, but when it was explained occupied in that town. At first she did not un + It is on the right hand as one goes from the Castel San Angelo to the Vatican, exactly opposite to a fountain. some. Ferdinand, and her husband, brother to the "The Duchess of Genoa, the daughter of King of Sardinia, were also present at this ball. He is very uninteresting, and she very plain, in appearance; but though apparently far from young, she is so immoderately fond of dancing as to tire cut the most youthful and indefatigable courtiers." It does not seem unlikely if these premisca |