Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

There are several mistakes and superficialities in the brief accounts of the different states referred to. Siberia, p. 18, was subject to Russia long before the reign of Peter the Great. Instead of twenty-five millions of inhabitants in the Russian empire, the author would have been nearer the truth if he had assigned thirty-five millions.

Under the Turkish empire, we are told that the finest portion of the world has been in the possession of the Turks ever since the year 1000. This world is very wide; and the Turks scarcely existed as a power in the year 1000. It was only in the middle of the fifteenth century that the Turks seised what our author affects to call the finest portion of the world. No character or talents of any Turkish emperor whatever, even if he were to reign for one hundred years, could re-establish the ancient energy of that empire, which chiefly depended on the ignorance, barbarism, and effeminacy, of the surrounding states. The most able Turkish emperor--unless he began with the abolition of Mahometanism, and with commanding a new crop of subjects to rise out of the earth, could never oppose its certain, and perhaps irremediable, destiny. It is also ridiculous to include any portion of Africa in the Turkish dominions-this subjection being merely nominal and useless. We do not know what to make of our author's Ancona, p. 21, a Turkish city of 104,000 inhabitants; nor feel inclined to reckon lions among the useful productions of the Turkish empire.

The view of Swedish history is not very correct; and we believe olives, p. 25, are not a common product of Germany. It is surprising that our author, who affects to put on the spectacles of a statesman, did not perceive that a new and grand division of the German empire would be of the utmost importance to the interests of Great-Britain. Supposing, for instance, that Prussia possessed the whole northern half, and Austria the southern, in full and complete sovereignty, Great-Britain might, by an alliance with either, excite a powerful diversion of the arms of France; while, at present, the minute partitions, and inextricable perplexities of interests, render the advantages to be derived from such a diversion remote and precarious.

When cur author, in his account of the Austrian dominions, asserts, that if the states of the empire should oppose those of Austria, they would lose their importance, and lay the foundation of their own destruction, he is contradicted by the voice of history and experience. For, by the thirty years' war against the house of Austria, the northern states first established their consequence; and the success of the house of Brandenburg is a glaring additional instance, in modern times, of the fallacy of his opinions. We must whisper in Mr. Playfair's ear, that he is an ephemeral and shallow politician.

We do not believe, p. 29, that the Norway timber is of an inferior quality.

By estimating France as it stood before the revolution, the author has antiquated his own work. The number of inhabitants is only computed at twenty-six millions, instead of thirtytwo; for six millions, at least, might have been added to the number here stated.

He computes the kingdom of Prussia, p. 39, to contain five millions and a half-an error probably proceeding from his confined retention of the kingdom of Poland. But he afterwards gives a second chart, representing the state of the principal European nations after the division of Poland and the treaty of Luneville; which, instead of forming an appendage, should have constituted the body of the work. Great-Britain, Spain, and Portugal, are the only countries whose revenues far exceed their population-the revenues of the first extending to the line of twenty-eight millions, where the population only reaches fourteen. Those of Spain are taken at fourteen millions, while the population is nine; those of Portugal at three millions, while the population is at two. Among the other states, France is estimated at thirty millions of souls, and her revenues at seventeen millions of pounds sterling. We by no means look upon Mr. Playfair as infallible in such calculations.

To these statements is subjoined a chart of the chief cities of Europe, which appears to us not a little arbitrary. The inhabi tants of London are computed at one million, one hundred thousand; while Mr. Middleton, in his laborious view of Middlesex, asserts that they fall short of seven hundred thousand: and we should not wonder if the inhabitants of Constantinople, here stated at nine hundred thousand, should be found not to exceed half a million.

On the chart of Hindustan we have little to observe, except that the Mahrattas and the king of Candahar are the chief rivals of the British power. Upon the whole, this little work, however useful, cannot be entirely depended upon; and, instead of giving us nothing but mere assertions to trust to, we cannot but wish that Mr. Playfair had doubled the size of this thin volume by adding the authorities and reasons upon which his tables are grounded.

ART. IX.-Letters upon the Atlantis of Plato, and the ancient History of Asia: intended as a Continuation of Letters upon the Origin of the Sciences, addressed to M. de Voltaire. By M. Bailly. 2 Vols. 8. 18s. Boards. Wallis. 1801.

IN the second volume of this version, the name of the translator appears to be James Jacque, esq. It seems to be decently

executed, and the book is neatly printed. The original work is • sufficiently known to literary men, who regard it as a series of learned dreams, united with much ignorance of facts, and particularly of the natural history of Siberia. The utility of the translation we cannot see, as men of letters will read the work in the original, while it is wholly foreign to the pursuits of others. The translator has prefixed an account of Bailly, whose cruel "fate' by the guillotine is well known.

As a specimen of his labours, we shall take an extract from the second volume; and the readers of the Arabian Nights may perhaps be pleased with the account of the fairies,

The Fées, as you see, sir, had their origin in Asia. The fairy race, in general, is the offspring of the lively and brilliant imagination of eastern nations. Schadukian, otherwise called Ginnistan, is the native country of those fantastic beings: the capital city was of diamonds. You must not be surprised at this: those beings had the whole powers of nature at their disposal: the elements obeyed them: they had the power to create, which they employed for domestic magnificence, or for the purpose of gratifying the wishes of men, who, above all things, demand riches. And though the diamonds and precious marbles should have been nothing more than the result of enchantment; though all this magnificence should be but an illusion; it would be quite enough for our frail species: what it possesses torments it, what it thinks it possesses makes it happy. Illusion sits in the vestibule of life; and when age and truth arrive, illusion vanishes, and happiness and youth depart together. Those beneficent beings who could confer riches, who could give aid and protection, have been cherished in the mind of man; because he feels his weakness, because he seeks the assistance of nature against the dangers that surround him, and frequently against himself. No man ever saw those Fées, or received their succour, though history is full of the acts of their beneficence: it was usual to quote instances of heroes, dead, it is true, of a long time, whom they had loaded with riches and glory. This was sufficient for the generation of that day, fond as it was of fables. The happiness that disappointed us yesterday, may make us happy to-morrow. He who has hope, has every thing.

It is a very singular idea, sir, that of spirits which hover around us, which live in the elements, in a manner invisible to us, and reside in the departments of nature, in order to animate her productions. As in this troublesome life we feel much want of a better one, we feel also, by our weakness and dependence, that nature is moved by something more powerful and perfect than ourselves. This inward sentiment directed the imagination, which, with different degrees of rudeness or delicacy, gave birth to different beings, to different species of spirits, which we ought to distinguish. As soon as man came to discover the immortal substance which ennobles his existence, he exempted it from destruction; he with justice invested it with immortality. Matter may circulate for ever it is only the cover which envelopes the souls of men: it alone is susceptible of

dissolution. We hold of the earth: we dread the moment when we must take leave of it; and, judging from our present feelings, we have no doubt that souls would be very glad to return to it again. The souls which hover about the places dear to their mortal existence, make one of those species of spirits. The Lutina, the Lemures, the Larva, of the Romans, were the souls of the wicked: they were still actuated by the desire of mischief, and they attended us only to injure and molest us. Hence came sacrifices and expiations, which were supposed to conciliate and dismiss them. The souls of the good were named Lares: every one courted their return, and were anxious to assign them the places in which they had been happy; and what is more, in which they had produced the happiness of others. They were believed to seat themselves round the domestic hearth: it was there that, in the winter evenings, a father, become white with age, instructed in their presence his young family. The Lares were the protection and common defence: they were never to be lost sight of, without necessity; and it was an indispensable duty to invoke their return. The same principle which induced the Atlantides to write the names of their ancestors in the skies, placed them here in the paternal mansion, that it might be still more the object of affection. In China, the tablets on which those names are inscribed, and exhibited as objects of filial veneration, have the same origin; so deeply is a respect for age and virtue engraven in the human heart! But, sir, this notion of the return of spirits separated from the body, which, from its object, I should venture to call a moral superstition, implies a belief of the soul's immortality. Among a people unassisted by revelation, it could only arise along with this belief, and when men, less enslaved by the grosser appetites, acknowledged its supremacy and genuine excellence. This superstition, then, must have taken its rise in enlightened times: it has been lasting, because it is analogous to our natural sensibility. The protecting tutelary ge niuses of empires and individuals were of a different description. I there perceive the public spirit, and the character of particular men ; circumstances which constitute the happiness of empires, and the wisdom of life. The genius of the Roman people was the influence of an invincible pride, and of a warlike virtue. The genius of Socrates was the light of his own mind. Separate thyself from Octavius, was a saying addressed to Marc Antony: thy genius is overawed by his. When leaders enter the lists, the contest is decided by the respective force of character: the weak must yield to the strong. Thus, the genius meant nothing but this ascendant; a certain vigour of mind and thought, which seems frequently to govern fortune itself. But those metaphysical expressions are above the comprehension of the vulgar: they take up more readily with beings of their own creation. Of these, they imagined some strong and some weak, which combated in our favour. Fortune was various, but its reverses did not humiliate. A man had nothing to regret, except that he should have had so weak a genius. Observe, sir, how we always retain a certain feature of truth in the midst of our errors. Genius, in fact, is the great and sole agent on earth: the only dif ference between one man and another, is that of genius.' Vol. ii. P. 123.

[ocr errors]

The original abounds with many gross errors in geography, chiefly derived from the Histoire Générale de Voyages-a superficial compilation, which Bailly is contented with quoting, while he ought, in every instance, to have turned to the originals. But, in truth, the learning of Bailly is in general of a dubious kind, and often disguised by his fondness for rhetorical

ornament.

ART. X. The Circular Atlas, and compendious System of Geography; being a comprehensive and particular Delineation of the known World, whether relative to the Situation, Extent, and Boundaries of Empires, Kingdoms, Republics, &c. or to the Description of Countries, Islands, Cities, Towns, Harbours, Rivers, Mountains, &c. comprising whatever is curious in Nature The Materials, derived from original Productions, and from Works of the first Authority, are arranged upon a Plan of Perspicuity and Conciseness, methodised so as to be accessible to every Capacity, and illustrated by Circular Maps, from accurate Drawings, made expressly for this Work. By John Cooke, Engraver. Part. I. 4to. 10s. 6d. Hurst. 1801.

or Art.

IT is a common observation, that a good book never has a long title; and we see nothing in the present production to affect the justice of the maxim.--As this First Part contains some maps of German circles, we suppose that this improper appellation of provinces, neither, circular nor square, has suggested the strange idea of giving maps in circles-a practice which could only tend to reduce the scale, and increase the waste of paper. For-most countries certainly partaking more of the square or of the oblong than of the circle-the consequent reduction of size may be easily foreseen by the most moderate proficient in geography, and here becomes palpable, since the maps of the countries referred to, divested of their circular adjuncts, might have passed into a small volume in twelves for little girls at school, instead of a solemn quarto, probably to consist of twelve parts, and the price six guineas! The maps, when completed, must be so diminutive and unsatisfactory, that no person of common skill would give six shillings for the whole collection. If the drawings be made expressly for the work, as the title asserts, they are very inaccurate in many respects, and seem to be taken from antiquated maps. To point out the mistakes with any degree of attention, would be not only an idle but an infinite labour, since the maps themselves are so diminutive and insignificant. In the first, that of Russia in Europe, the lake communicating on the west with the Ladoga is grossly erroneous. Spain, instead of presenting numerous CRIT. REV. Vol.35. May, 1802.

G

« ElőzőTovább »