Rambles in Germany and Italy, in 1840, 1842, and 1843. By Mrs. Shelley. 2 vols.

THE talents of the author of these volumes are too well known and esteemed to need any fresh panegyric. Frankenstein is alone sufficient to render her name imperishable, and these volumes will form a pleasing memorial of her knowledge and taste. Mrs. Shelley travelled through the North of Germany, and Italy; and we think that as soon as she enters the

land of song she becomes inspired at once by the loveliness of nature and the beauty of art; and her volumes increase proportionally in interest. Let us make a few extracts from the more remarkable scenes.

Vol. I. p. 51. The Falls of the Rhine."What words can express-for, indeed, for many ideas and emotions there are no words-the feelings excited by the tumult, the uproar, and matchless beauty of a cataract, with its eternal everchanging veil of misty spray? The knowledge of its ceaseless flow, there before we were born, there to be after countless generations have passed away: the sense of its power, that would dash us to atoms without altering the tenor of its way; which gives a shiver to the frame, even while we gaze in security from its verge; the radiance of its colouring, the melody of its thunder,- can these words convey the impression which the mind receives, while the eye and ear seem all too limited in their power of perception? No! for as painting cannot picture forth motion, so words are incapable of expressing the commotion in the soul. It stirs, like passion, the very depth of our being; like love allied to ruin, yet happy in possession; it fills the soul with mingled agitation and calm," &c.

P. 207. "We now entered the depth of the Thuringerwald, and stopping at Eisenach for dinner, had a lounge,-the distance was not much more than a mile, but the day was wet-to take us to the castle of Wittemberg. Luther, on his return from the diet of Worms, was waylaid by his friend, the Elector of Saxony, and carried thither as a place of safety. He remained ten months, passing for a young nobleman, and being employed in translating the Bible, and composing other works. The castle of Wittemberg is situated on a steep wooded eminence, ascended by a winding road thickly shaded by trees. The chamber that Luther inhabited has one large window, overlooking a wide extent of hill and dale, stretching

far away over the Thuringian forest,-a noble prospect; and the very site, highraised and commanding, was well-suited to the lofty and unbending soul of the recluse. This chamber is preserved in illustrious guest, and, except his bed, his the same state as when it harboured its furniture remains; his table, his stool, his chair, and his inkstand, are there; and if not the stain in the wall, marking his exploit of throwing his inkstand at the Arch-Tempter's head, there is, at least, the place where the ink was,-some tourist having carried off the memorable plaster," &c. II. p. 112. "Play is the

On the Italian Nobles.whirlpool that engulphs most of them. As with us during the middle of the last century,-as among a certain set of our present aristocracy,play is their amusement, their contention, their ruin. Many of the noblest Italian families are passing away, never more to be heard of,-the heirs of their wealth having lost all at play. New men, mostly of Jewish extraction, who have gained by banking, stock-jobbing, and money lending what the others have lost by their extravagance, are rising on their downfall," &c.

P. 158. "One of the most interesting paintings in the world has been lately discovered in Florence, the portrait of Dante by his friend Giotto. Vasari mentions, that Giotto was employed to paint the walls of the chapel of the palace of the Podesta at Florence, and that he introduced into his picture a portrait of his contemporary and dear friend Dante Alighieri, in addition to other renowned citizens of the time. This palace has been turned to the unworthy use of a public prison, and the desecrated chapel was whitewashed and divided into cells. These have now been demolished, and the whitewash is in process of being removed : almost at the first, the portrait of Dante was discovered. He makes one in a solemn procession, and holds a flower in his hand. Before it vanishes all the preconceived notions of the crabbed severity of his physiognomy, which have originated in portraits taken later in his life. We see here the lover of Beatrice-his lip is proud-for proud every contemporary asserts that he was, and he himself confesses it in the Purgatorio; but there is sensibility, gentleness, and love-the creation breathes the spirit of the Vita Nuova."

The author adds, that "the common prints taken from this picture are very unworthy of it; they seem to substitute sensuality for sensibility in the

lines of the countenance, and that Mr. Kirkup's drawing, made for Lord Vernon, is excellent."

P. 262. Sorrento." It seems to me as if I had never before visited Italy-as if now for the first time the charm was

are

revealed to me. At every moment the senses, lapped in delight, whispered to me-this is Paradise. Here I find the secret of Italian poetry,-not of Dante; he belonged to Etruria, and Cisalpine Gaul. Tuscany and Lombardy beautiful, they are an improved France, an abundant sunshiny England; but here only do we find another earth and sky. There the poets of Italy tasted the sweets of those enchanted gardens which they described in their poems, and we wonder at their bright imaginations,-but they drew only from reality-the reality of Sorrento. Call to mind those stanzas of Tasso, those passages of Berni and Ariosto, which have most vividly transported you into gardens of delight, and in them you will find the best description of the charms of this spot. I had visited Naples before, but that was in winter; and, beautiful as I thought it, I did not then guess what this land was in all the glory of its summer dress. Here is the house in which Tasso was born-what wonder that the gardens of Armida convey to the mind the feeling that the poet had been carried away by enchantment to an elysium, whose balmy atmosphere hung over him, and he wrote under its influence-so indeed was it-here is the radiance, here the delights which he describes-here he passed his childhood: the fragrance of these bowers, the glory of this sky, haunted him in the dark cell of the convent of St. Anna," &c.

Many more such passages might be quoted, shewing the author's perception of the beautiful, both in art and nature, and her power and elegance in describing it.

The English Universities. From the German of V. A. Hecker, abridged and translated by F. W. Newman. 3 vols. THIS work, compiled by a German writer, is, we think, calculated to be more useful to readers of that country, than of ours; because the historical part will present little novelty to an English scholar, and the critical will be too slight and superficial to afford him instruction. We do not deny that great pains are shown in collecting information, and that the general view of society, and of religious belief and

profession, connected with the foundation and progress of our universities, may be useful and correct; we do not deny but that the volumes may afford sufficient matter to satisfy the curiosity of the foreign student; but we should have scarcely considered it to be a work that could be translated with advantage. As, however, it is presented to us in this form, we shall give a sort of tabular view of its contents, that may be satisfactory to those who are alive to the very interesting subject of the history and structure of those seats of learning, and twin eyes of England, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

The first volume begins with an account of the growth of Universities in the twelfth century, with their relation to the church and the philosophy of the time. This is followed by the history of Oxford as an University in the Saxon times, and an account of its difference from, or similarity to, the system at Paris,-of the northern and southern portions,-of the relation of the universities to the town corporations, with their jurisdiction and privileges. The sixth chapter includes remarks on the universities from the middle of the 14th century to the Reformation, with the elevation of the colleges. The eighth chapter is interesting, as it gives a review of the universities during the Reformation, to the end of Elizabeth's reign; including the reciprocal influence between the universities and the inns of court, and the schools and the church, and the other professions: there being a fierce struggle between the high church and puritanical principles, when Leicester was Chancellor. Many interesting subjects are opened in the various discussions in this volume, which are worthy of a fuller inquiry than the work would admit, considering the copiousness and variety of its matter, and the space occupied by the author's fondness for entering into collateral details at much length. In chapter ix. the history is continued from the death of Elizabeth to the Revolution, containing an account of the conduct of the universities during the Civil Wars, and of Archbp. Laud as an university reformer. The tenth chapter is employed in an inquiry into the con

stitution of the universities,—of the official personages,-of the rise of the colleges, of the academic offices,-and of the external regulations of the universities with the crown and the national church. The eleventh chapter renews the history to the times after the Revolution, and through the eighteenth century, including the consideration of many separate questions, more or less closely connected with the main subject—as the exclusion of dissenters; and the whole survey is concluded by miscellaneous observations of the author, and by a volume of notes and appendices.

That much diligence has been employed in compiling this work, and that much and various information has been collected, is not to be denied; but, as we have already observed, we think that, however useful it may be in Germany, in giving a general review of the framework of our universities to foreigners,—neither in the bistorical reasoning, nor in the antiquarian details, will it satisfy the demands of our own countrymen. The general views may be correct, the outlines not far from the truth; yet, after all, it will appear to us the cold resemblance of an inanimate statue, and not of that which bears the fresh hue of vitality, and the movement and animation of reality. There are some serious, and some mistakes of a lighter character, that might be collected in the volumes. Assuredly one of the former is, when the author says "that Unitarianism, though openly avowed by few, is secretly held by vast numbers nominally members of the church" but this the Translator has animadverted on. On the subject of Locke's expulsion, the author or translator should have transcribed from Lord Grenville's pamphlet: and it is a gross error to say that Gray, when holding the Professorship of Modern History, never intended to read lectures; whereas it was his constant inten

tion, and a source of perpetual regret that his increasing infirmities and ill health and depression of spirits prevented his being able to execute it. This fact is fully declared in Mason's life of him.

Life of Christ; from the Latin of St. Bonaventure. Newly translated for the use of the Members of the Church of England.

WE much mistake if the members of the Church of England will avail themselves of the offer here made in their favour, while they can possess a Life of Christ written by the Evangelists. But this Life is suggestive or supplementary to them; ex. gr. the Evangelists wrote that the Virgin, when she went to Elizabeth, travelled in haste, ἐπορεύθη μέτα σπουδῆς. St. Bonaventure suggests the reason. "She was loth, in her great modesty and love of retirement, to be long abroad." The wise men from the East offered our Lord gold as well as spices. The Saint asks what became of all this gold? and suggests that the Virgin Mary used it in bountiful almsgiving. In Scripture, there is no intimation that Christ appeared to his mother on the day of the resurrection. Yet, says the Saint, though not recorded, it is almost a result of natural piety to suppose it, especially as the Holy Spirit says,

our Lord did many more things than are written." Let the reader, he says, turn in thought to the narratives of the Annunciation, of the Visitation, of the Marriage of Cana, of the Crucifixion, and again to the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and surely he will remember passages which are at least suggestive of very wonderful thoughts concerning the mother of God. The Scripture tells of the visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth; but the sacred biographer would have been much surprised had he found how his outline had been filled up out of the imagination of the modern saint, who tells us,

"They seated themselves (after some ceremonious apologies) side by side; then succeeded mutual inquiries concerning the mysteries of which each had been the subject, and this was a topic of happy narration; and so they passed a long and joyous day.... When Elizabeth's full time was come, she was happily delivered of a son, which our Lady received into her arms, and swaddled with becoming care. The infant, as if conscious of the majesty of his nurse, fixed his eyes stedfastly on her, so taken with her beauty, that when she delivered him again to his mother, he still

riage it was at Cana of Galilee, let us, for meditation sake, suppose it to have been that of St. John the Evangelist, which St. Jerome seems to affirm.... . And our Lady going out to her son, who was humbly sitting, as I have said, at the end of the table, near the door of the room, she said, to him, 'My son, there is no wine, and our sister is poor, and I know not where we shall get any.' We may gather from her taking notice herself of the want of wine, that she was not there in the character of a guest, but as one who had the management of the entertainment, and observed the want of wine. Had she been sitting among the women, would she have observed the want of wine? And therefore it is probable that she was not there as a guest, but that she was engaged in arranging the entertainment, for we are told often that she was ever attentive in helping others," &c.

We must make an end somewhere, and, as these quotations are sufficient, let it be in this place; and all we need add is, that besides the extreme impropriety of the design, nothing can well exceed the ignorance of the execution. The whole account of the manger, of the hay, and of the lowest place in the room being near the door, shows an entire want of knowledge of Oriental customs and observances, such as would of itself unfit the author for his task, and has filled his work with errors of various kinds. To those who know the manners of the East, we need hardly point out the monstrous absurdity of the observations made on the Wise Men's offering of Gold,none of which, we think, will come into the pocket of the publisher.

On Holy Virginity; with a brief account of the Life of St. Ambrose. By A. J. Christie, Fellow of Oriel Coll. Oxford.

THE dedication of this little work is as follows: In honorem beatissimæ et gloriosissimæ superque Virginis Marie Collegii Orielensis apud Oxonienses Patronæ istum libellum in lucem profero. J. C." We must give one extract from the author's preface, as showing his view on the subject, and how closely it agrees with the work which he translates.

"That the grace of holy virginity is a very great gift no Christian who receives the testimony of Holy Scripture can doubt. Some are so highly favoured as GENT. MAG. VOL. XXIII.

to possess this gift from their mother's womb; but those who are not so blest need not despair of being made worthy of it; for, if there be an earnest mind, God is faithful, and will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able, but will with the temptation make a way to escape, that we may be able to bear it. In the present state of the Anglican Church it may be harder to acquire than elsewhere, still the means are the same as ever they were, and they are such as these: abstinence from the company of the other sex; that covenant with the eyes, spoken of by the patriarch Job; obedience to the Church's rules of fasting, together with a general low diet; an earnest coveting of that most excellent gift of chastity, making it a subject of perpetual prayer; and (would that it could be added with the hope of being practised) frequent confession. One more consideration may be added, namely, the habitual contemplation self, and of his holy mother. If we find of the chastity of our blessed Lord himfew external helps in the present external provisions of our Church, if our churches are closed against us, and the blessed Eucharist, where we are made one with the virgin body of our Lord, is rarely celebrated, we must endeavour to fulfil the Church's requirements in private; and, so doing, we shall gain time for prayer, and be able, the more we renounce the world, to prevail with God to make up to us the disadvantages under which we lie. Since then holy virginity is, as all must admit, a great grace, wherever it is possessed, so it is equally clear that to certain persons it is in some sense a duty. It would plainly be a duty in those who are described by our Lord as Eunuchs which were so born from their mother's womb;' and in another sense it is ecclesiastically and in the abstract the duty of the clergy,† not indeed by divine obligation, but by the unvarying practice and reported decrees of

councils from the earliest times down to the division in the Western Church. It

is, indeed, difficult to say how far in the Anglican Communion modern habits may, under the reformation of the canons, be excusable, or even in particular cases