Still, while making these concessions, we have something to urge against the mode of applying them by some writers, to the case in question. Instead of resting satisfied, that truth as drawn from the careful study of the works of God, can only harmonize with that which is by a like process elicited from his word, and thereupon setting themselves in good faith, as we would have all men do, to develope the analogies which must subsist between the results of these two processes, these writers prefer to assume, that all who study the works of the Creator, and seek by that means to learn the laws of his natural government, unless they are willing, in so many words, to bind themselves to depart in no iota from the ideas of other men, as deduced from the mere study of the expressions used in the written law, are seeking to exalt "the dictates of their own sagacity" above the authority of the written law itself. The "science falsely so called," whose summary rejection by an apostle is insisted on by these kind of writers, had, indeed, no higher authority than that of human sagacity. It was the "wisdom" in which the Greeks of his day delighted, for which they looked in vain in the simple and pure morality of the Gospel; and which is not to be found any more in the book of nature by the philosopher, than it is to be traced in the writings of the apostle by the critic. That the student of nature should also be a student of revelation, is true enough; and it is equally true, that the student of revelation ought to be likewise an inquirer into nature. When the doctrines of Galileo, in regard to the solar system, was declared to be absurd and philosophically false, because it appeared to be contrary to a passage in the holy scripture, the mere study of revelation was proved to be insufficient to make men philosophically acquainted with the external universe.

Granted, that scripture treats far more directly of mind and its phenonema, than it does of the material world; granted, that whatever it states on these subjects is, and ever will be, absolutely authoritative-does it therefore follow, either that it is designed to give us a full and complete account of all that man can profitably know in regard to them, or that, even as far as it goes, it presents to us the facts which it makes known, in the most systematic form, and in the most philosophical language? The truth is, that scripture throughout uses the terms in common use at the periods when its several portions were composed, as well in its statement of facts bearing on the mind, as of those which relate to matter. It was no more its design to unfold the philosophy of man in all its parts thoroughly, and in precise, defined, and unambiguous terms, than it was to perform the same task for any other branch of science. Its true object was to reveal to man, what he could not, but by revelation, have learnt with any certainty; and not at all to dispense with that necessity, which is laid upon him by the whole constitution of the world he lives in, to improve his state and prospects, bodily and VOL.III. (1837). No. IV.

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mental, by the use of all his powers of mind in acquiring every kind of knowledge of which they are capable. Suppose that, instead of the simple assertions which we find scripture to make, in popular language, of such detached facts and principles respecting the mind and moral truth in general, as were essential to its great design of making known the will of the Creator, a future world, and other mysterious and undiscoverable truths, it had taken the other course, and had attempted to reveal all that man could require to know of himself, and of his duties and interests here, as well as hereafter;— what could it have been at its first appearance but a sealed book to those who were (as almost all then were, as too many are even now,) entirely unprepared by their previous knowledge for any such information? What could it have been, in all ages indeed, but a standing contradiction to the course of divine providence in regard to every other branch of humanly attainable knowledge? We have no sort of doubt that all the incidental statements which it does make, are in full accordance with what the true philosophy of man, as learnt by observation, has to disclose. And this belief is to our mind only a stronger motive to the faithful and independent study of that philosophy. The harmony of Scripture with itself, the truth and fitness of its representations of man, the force and meaning of its moral precepts, cannot be fully seen, until the nature of man and the laws of the universe as they bear upon it, are fully known.

If,

Of Mr. Blakey's work, if we have not spoken so much at length in this article as its merits might seem to require, it is because its character precludes all hope of doing justice to it by any analysis or direct criticism, either of the whole or of any detached portions. We have prefered to vindicate the propriety and importance of the treatise, and to offer some remarks on the proper mode of pursuing it. by this course, we can induce our readers to study the work for themselves, we shall have done them a better service, than we could by any extructs or detached criticisms. As a whole, without making ourselves responsible for every one of its conclusions, we may say that we consider it a highly valuable work. We could have wished to find in it a greater amount of illustration, not only for the sake of giving interest to the work, but also as an essential in some cases to its full comprehension by merely casual readers. The author of such a work, it is to be presumed, will be far the best illustrator of his own views, and he should not therefore leave the task, in any considerable degree, to others. Future editions, of which we hope there may be many, might be advantageously enlarged in this respect.

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ART. XIII.-Rambles in the Footsteps of Don Quixote. By the Late H. D INGLIS, Author of "Spain," &c. &c. With Illustrations by George Cruikshank. London: Whittaker. 1837.

In the preface it is stated, that a small portion of this work appeared some years ago in the Englishman's Magazine. After the discontinuance of that periodical, and early in the year 1835, the manuscript of the whole, we are farther told, was prepared for the press; but before the printing could be begun, a mortal disease had seized upon the author, which prevented that superintendence on his part necessary to the publication of the volume. His widow has at length, however, sent forth the work; and in so doing will revive many regrets that the hand which could with such consummate skill wield the pen as these Rambles exhibit, should now be cold in the grave.

The work on Spain by Mr. Inglis, which has for years, and indeed ever since it first appeared, obtained great repute, being considered by some competent authorities as the most faithful account of that country which has been published in late times, especially as regards the social life of the people, must have prepared every one on learning that an entirely new volume was forthcoming, connected with the same field, and by the same writer, for a book of no ordinary interest and value.

It is mentioned in the preface, that this was not merely the author's last but his favourite production; and we think deservedly so. In it not only are the most characteristic features of Spanish life pictured with extraordinary clearness, and the Don Quixote felicitously illustrated, as well as finely criticised, but even as a book of sketches, both of character and scenery, it possesses uncommon merits; while the whole, whether it be in the shape of narrative or dialogue, exhibits a rare combination of ease, grace, and truth. The volume, in short, though small in size and unpretending as to the purposes contemplated by it, is quite worthy of the matured taste of such an accurately informed traveller and experienced delineator as Mr. Inglis is universally allowed to have been. The animation which he throws into the description of whatever his eye or fancy alights upon, these descriptions being one and all the faithful copies of first and warm impressions, forces the reader, at the very outset, to identify himself with the author, and so wins the attention that all along the two seem perfectly to understand one another, to see with the same eyes, and to participate in the same emotions. It is thus that we feel as if we had listened to the guides, muleteers, and others, with whom Mr. Inglis conversed during these Rambles, and mark with him in a manner never to be forgotten the national traits that his observant eye detected, which, however, by the generality of travellers, would either be unnoticed, or erroneously deciphered.

The passages about to be extracted will sufficiently show how truthfully Mr. Inglis could seize upon the characteristic features in the manners of the Spaniards, and how naturally he could dramatise them, so to speak, by making the colloquists, in the many conversations that occur, evolve and exhibit to the reader the precise points that had attracted his own attention, and which he wished to hold up to others. His sound admiration and happy appreciation of Don Quixote will also become manifest, while his criticisms and illustrations cannot fail to enlighten the literary world upon some obscure and nice matters which during his studies of that matchless work, and his Rambles in the supposed footsteps of its hero, occupied his discriminating powers.

The author finds himself in the ancient and truly Spanish city, Toledo; and one day, while looking towards the Toledo mountains, he remembers that La Mancha, the country of Don Quixote, lies beyond. Upon this, all the vivid and delightful recollections instantly started into being, which had been felt on first reading that imperishable monument of genius, and which had ever since been accumulating. He sees the tall spare figure of the courteous knight erect upon his Rosinante, and behind, in comic contrast, the square figure of Sancho, jogging on his dapple, the knight and the squire carrying on the while one of those dialogues which are the best of all comedies. A hundred other grotesque and vivid images start up and people La Mancha; and the next thought was about the pleasure it would afford to follow in the footsteps of the Don.

In this way the Rambles are very pleasantly introduced; yet in all the little connecting links or smoothing approaches which the author creates to give effect to the more important points to be illustrated, he never forgets that he is on Spanish ground, or to make use of those minor descriptive touches which prove his mastership over his subject and all its natural adjuncts. Thus on the morning that he started to cross the mountains, after having slept and fought by turns among mosquitoes and many other more silent enemies, he was soon mounted and, under the guidance of a muleteer, past the gates. But past the gates put him in mind of an occurrence, which illustrates the enthusiasm felt in Spain in relation to Don Quixote. He has no passport to go beyond Toledo, having intended to return to Madrid; therefore "when I applied to the dispenser of passports to cross the mountains to La Mancha, my request was met by a direct refusal. But,' said I, 'my only object is to visit a country hallowed by the genius of Cervantes; I am going to travel in the footsteps of Don Quixote."" The revulsion in the functionary's feelings was instantaneous, and he granted the favour asked like one who thought himself favoured.

The muleteer who accompanies and conducts the Rambler, is a character of course, and is made to serve Mr. Inglis as a peg upon

which to hang a number of national traits. We must give this worthy precisely as represented by the author, together with the man's story, to show the important use that has been made of him.

"While slowly ascending the mountain, I had leisure for the first time to think of making acquaintance with my guide, and was ready with a couple of segars to secure his goodwill; but he chanced to be at that moment busily employed, like a good Catholic, in heaping stones upon a cross -a record of murder, that stood by the way side; I can hardly say stood, because it was laid prostrate by the weight of the stones that were heaped upon it. Nowhere in Spain, that I recollect, are these crosses so frequent, as among the Toledo mountains; and if one is to be murdered at all, it is fortunate to be murdered in the neighbourhood of so devout a city as Toledo; for if every prayer that accompanies a stone laid upon the cross wipes off a year's punishment, as every good Catholic believes; he must indeed be a very wicked man who is not speedily prayed out of purgatory. When my guide had finished his act of devotion, I entered into conversation with him. He was a slight young man, of three or four and twenty; and it was evident that his dress by the profusion of silk cord and gilt buttons that covered his jacket and waistcoat, and by the open gaiters and white stockings, and crimson sash, that he was no native of Toledo, but an Andalusian.

"Si Señor,' said he in answer to my question, I am an Andalusian.' "And how,' I continued, can you live elsewhere than in your own delightful country, with its delicious fruits and wines?'

There are reasons for most things,' said he, expressing this in the words of a Spanish proverb which I have forgotten.

"I was curious to know the reason of the muleteer, and so dismounting from my mule, and giving him a poke with my stick which sent him trotting on, I walked up the mountain path with my guide: two segars had already opened his heart, and two more completed the conquest; and as we walked leisurely forward, he gave the following account of himself:

“I am a native of Malaga; my father was drowned in the bay, while smuggling some tobacco ashore, and at seventeen I was left heir to his brown cloak, and his Guadix knife, the only two things he had left at home. It is an easy matter to live in Malaga; a fine melon costs no more than a quarto, and four quartos will purchase as much wine as serves to wash down a dinner of melon; and as for oil, it may be had for the asking.

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Things went on well with me for five years, and then all went wrong. Upon the day of the Feast of the Virgin of Rosalio; I went with the only two quartos I had, and purchased a candle to carry in the procession. This I thought was only laying out my money to interest; for I had speculated this way before, and had always been presented with a few reals by the friars, for increasing the respectability of their procession. As the procession was crossing the Plaza Real, a small puff of wind blew out my candle, and I held it to my next neighbour to light it again. This fellow happened to be a scoundrel who had served me a bad trick before, and whenever I lighted my candle he slyly blew it out; till at last, one of the friars, thinking I was playing off a jest, told me I was a good-for-nothing fellow, to get about my business, and not disgrace the procession of the Virgin of Rosalio -and all the while, the rogue who blew out the candle laughed in my face: but I put an end to his laughing; I gave him my kuife.'