plainest contradictions to common sense, from reasonings out of our reach and beyond our capacities. Christianity calls on us to obey her Revelation, as the remedy of our maladies, and a stupendous salvation from eternal death; and makes all her discoveries and mysteries intelligible and simple in respect to our duties and wants: Infidelity calls us to speculation and presumption; denies the malady: concerns herself with finding fault with the mysteries which she will not apply aright; and leaves man without salvation, without guidance, without consolation, without hope-a wanderer in the wilderness of the world?' Vol. II. pp. 355-357.

The remarks of the Lecturer on the Interpretation of Scripture,' are in his usual serious and impressive manner, and are particularly deserving of distinct notice for the sobriety and soundness of principle which they exhibit. We are much gratified with the opportunity afforded to us by this portion of the work, to record the Author's sentiments in opposition to the erroneous system which has found so many patrons, and from which we should be glad to see others preserved.

-The mischiefs arising from Origen's fanciful scheme of old; the errors of Cocceius, in modern times; the forcible application of every part and portion of the Psalms to the Messiah, and the eagerness to find out what is called a spiritual sense, in opposition to the literal meaning of God's word; have all their origin in a discontent with the proportion in which the mysteries of Scripture are found in that divine. book, and in the wild notion of imposing unheard of, and new, and remote, and unnatural senses upon the plainest narratives or most devotional parts of the divine Records. The effect is to take away meaning from the whole Bible, to open the door for every extravagance, and to destroy that fine and beautiful variety which now characterizes the inspired book of God.' Vol. II. p. 512.

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We should not do justice to these excellent volumes, nor satisfy our feeling of concern for the best interests of our readers, if we closed our review of these Lectures on the Evidences of Christianity,' without strongly recommending them for family reading. Christian parents and guardians will do well to avail themselves of the assistance so ably and admirably provided for them by the work before us. As both an instructive and most seasonable publication, it is entitled to our warmest praise.

Art. IV. Tour in England, Ireland, and France, in the years 1828 and 1829: with Remarks on the Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants, and Anecdotes of distinguished public Characters. In a Series of Letters. By a German Prince. 2 vols. 12mo. pp. xxii. 662. Price 18s. London, 1832.

A GERMAN critic (Göthe) thus speaks of these Letters of a German Prince. The peculiarities of English manners ' and habits are drawn vividly and distinctly, and without exag

'geration. We acquire a lively idea of that wonderful combi'nation, that luxuriant growth,-of that insular life which is 'based in boundless wealth and civil freedom,, in universal monotony and manifold diversity; formal and capricious, active and torpid, energetic and dull, comfortable and tedious, the envy and derision of the world. Such is the moral enigma which 'the English form of existence' presents to the philosophic sentimentalist of Germany. The description is not very distinct or profound; and we might say to the critic, as the Americans are continually telling Englishmen, You do not understand us. It is not what we are, however, but what we appear, that we must expect to learn from the observations of foreign visiters; and for even their mistakes, we ought to hold ourselves at least in part answerable. It is worth while to learn how it strikes a stranger.' And from the blunders of foreigners, as well as from what may seem disparaging remarks or illiberal inferences, we may infer the high probability that similar mistakes will be committed by our own travellers and writers, in estimating and describing the manners and characteristics of other nations.

This is, perhaps, the chief use to be made of a slight, gossipping Sir John Carr-sort of a work like the present. Criticism or controversy would be quite misplaced and thrown away, in noticing its contents. Prince Pückler-Muskau is in all respects a free-thinker, an ultra-liberal. His right to hold and vent his opinions, correct or incorrect, profound or ridiculous, we do not presume to call in question. Nor are we at all alarmed as to the effect of the profane witticisms scattered through the letters, upon any reader who has the slightest reverence for religion, or any spark of correct moral feeling. There is nothing seductive in the vulgar impiety even of a Prince, which indeed differs but little from the ignorant profaneness of the lowest Radical. At the same time, we cannot forbear remarking, that the Translator would have exercised a laudable discretion, had he suppressed the running episode of dull, burlesque lucubrations, which is allowed every now and then to break, and is apparently designed to relieve, the travelling narrative. The pointless ridicule aimed at the Berlin Saints,' and the ignorant scoffs at the New Testament and Bible Societies, can scarcely be acceptable to any class of intelligent readers in this country; and the insight they give us into the character of the German Prince, is but little to his advantage. At the same time, these things are not quite so inexcusable in a foreigner, as in one who has enjoyed, from his youth, the full light of religious knowledge which shines upon our own favoured land; and we are on this ground disposed to pass over in silence the grossly objectionable parts of these volumes to which we allude.

The tour described in the present portion of the work, com

mences with the Writer's departure from London for Cheltenham. The account of his previous sojourn in the metropolis, is reserved for a sequel, in case these volumes meet with approbation. The most pleasing feature of the Letters, certainly, is the vivid description of the beauties of nature, which seem to call forth the Writer's best powers of thought and expression, and to excite an unaffected enthusiasm. The last thing, perhaps, of which Englishmen are proud, is the rich combination and variety of scenic beauty in their own Islands, which excites the admiration of foreigners, but upon which they fastidiously turn their backs, to seek for the picturesque on the banks of the Rhine or of the Arno. The German Prince was transported with the delights of English travelling. The first part of his route from London to Cheltenham, he describes as teeming with all the luxuriant vegetation of ⚫ the most beautiful park; the next presented boundless corn-fields without hedges,-a rarity in England; and the last nearly resembled the rich plains of Lombardy.' Cheltenham itself exhibited an elegance no where to be found on the Continent." The country beyond, the vale of the Avon, appeared most lovely, the near ground full of soft meadows and deep, green clumps of trees; the horizon bounded by the mountains, which at every 'mile grew in magnitude and distinctness of outline;' and at every stage, he passed a considerable town, which was never without its towering Gothic church. The unequivocal signs of national wealth, and the sight of a numerous population, far superior, at least in their outward condition, to the lower classes of other countries, the luxuries which among us are looked upon as necessaries, and which are diffused among all classes,

the

combination of the useful with the beautiful,' of the arts of civilization in their perfection with the mild beauties of the English landscape,-these form a tout-ensemble which the traveller in other countries may seek for in vain.

But Wales has distinct attractions of its own; and the Vale of Llangollen struck our Author as far surpassing all the beauties of the Rhine-land,' while it derives a very specific and peculiar character from the unusual forms of the peaked tops and rugged declivities of its mountains.

The Dee, a rapid stream, winds through the green valley in a thousand fantastic bendings overhung with thick underwood. On each side, high mountains rise abruptly from the plain, and are crowned with antique ruins, modern country-houses, manufactories, whose towering chimneys send out columns of thick smoke, or with grotesque groupes of upright rocks. The vegetation is everywhere rich, and hill and vale are filled with lofty trees, whose varied hues add so infinitely to the beauty and picturesque effect of a landscape. In the midst of this luxuriant nature, arises, with a grandeur heightened by contrast, a single, long, black, bare range of mountains, clothed only with thick,

dark heather, and from time to time skirting the high road. This magnificent road, which from London to Holyhead, a distance of two hundred miles, is as even as a "parquet," here runs along the side of the left range of mountains, at about their middle elevation, and following all their windings; so that, in riding along at a brisk trot or gallop, the traveller is presented at every minute with a completely new prospect; and without changing his position, overlooks the valley now before him, now behind, now at his side. On one side is an aqueduct of twenty-five slender arches, a work which would have done honour to Rome. Through this, a second river is led over the valley, and across the Dee, at an elevation of a hundred and twenty feet above the bed of the natural stream. A few miles farther on, the little town of Llangollen offers a delightful resting-place, and is deservedly much resorted to.

There is a beautiful view from the churchyard near the inn here I climbed upon a tomb, and stood for half an hour enjoying with deep and grateful delight the beauties so richly spread before me. Immediately below me bloomed a terraced garden, filled with vine, honeysuckle, rose, and a hundred gay flowers, which descended to the very edge of the foaming stream. On the right hand, my eye followed the crisped waves in their restless, murmuring course through the overhanging thicket; before me rose two lines of wood, divided by a strip of meadow-land filled with grazing cattle; and high above all, rose the bare conical peak of a mountain, crowned by the ruins of the old Welsh castle Dinas Bran, or the Crow's Fortress. On the left, the stone houses of the town lie scattered along the valley; the river forms a considerable waterfall near the picturesque bridge, while three colossal rocks rise immediately behind it like giant guards, and shut out all the more distant wonders of this enchanting region.'

Vol. I. pp. 16-18.

But the vale of Llangollen is only the proem to the true epopea, the high mountain district. After quitting the waterfall, and riding for about half an hour through a nearly level country, all at once, a little beyond the inn at Cernioge Maur, you enter the holy of holies. Huge black rocks form a sublime amphitheatre, and their jagged and rent peaks seem to float in the clouds. Below, at a depth of eight hundred feet of perpendicular rock, the mountain torrent forces its difficult way, leaping headlong from chasm to chasm. Before me lay mountains rising one above another in endless perspective. I was so enchanted that I exclaimed aloud with delight. And in the midst of such scenery, it is impossible to say enough in praise of the road, which, avoiding every great inequality of surface, allows the traveller to enjoy at his ease all the "belles horreurs" of this mountain region. Wherever it is not protected by the rocks, it is fenced by low walls; at equal distances are niches neatly walled in, in which are deposited the stones for mending the roads: this has a much better effect than the open heaps by the sides of our roads.

The mountain region of Wales has a very peculiar character, which it is difficult to compare with any other. Its height is about that of the Riesengebirg, but it is infinitely grander in form, richer in striking and picturesquely grouped peaks. The vegetation is more varied in

plants, though there is less wood, and it contains rivers and lakes, in which the Riesengebirg is quite deficient. On the other hand, it wants the majestic, impervious forests of the abode of Rübezahl; and in some places, cultivation has already occupied the middle ground in a manner which would harmonize better with the beautiful than with the sublime. The road from Capel Cerig to within a few miles of Bangor is, however, wild and rugged as can be desired; and broad masses of red and yellow heath flowers, ferns, and other plants which do not bloom in our severe climate, clothe the rocks, and replace the trees, which do not flourish at such an elevation. But the most striking variety of the picture is produced by the strange, wild, and colossal forms of the mountains themselves: some of them are much more like clouds than solid masses. The peak of Trivaen is surmounted by such extraordinary basaltic pillars, that travellers can hardly be persuaded that they are not men: they are only mountain spirits keeping the everlasting station to which Merlin condemned them. Vol. I. pp. 23-25.

The Chain Bridge over the Menai excited the Prince's highest admiration, and seemed to him well to deserve the name of the eighth wonder of the world,-although the world's wonders have long been multiplied far beyond the original number.

The more thoroughly and minutely I viewed it, the greater was my astonishment. I thought I beheld in a dream a filagree work suspended by fairies in the air. In short, the fancy cannot exhaust itself in comparisons; and, as a stage coach with four horses drove rapidly over the arch a hundred feet high and six hundred wide, half concealed by the intertexture of the chains on which the bridge is suspended, I thought I saw larks fluttering in a net. The men who were seated in various parts of the chain-work, giving it its first coat of paint, were like captive insects. Those who know the castle at Berlin, will be able to form some idea of the enormous dimensions of this bridge, when they hear that it would stand perfectly well under the centre arch: and yet the chains hold the latter so firmly, that even driving at the quickest rate, or with the heaviest burden, which is by no means forbidden, does not excite the smallest perceptible vibration. The bridge is divided at the top into three roads, one for going, another for returning, and a third for foot passengers. The planks rest on an iron grating, so that they are easily removed when out of repair, and no danger is to be apprehended when they break. Every three years, the whole ironwork receives a fresh coat of paint, to prevent rust.' Vol. I. pp. 93, 4.

Of the inhabitants of the principality, the German Traveller remarks, that, without the activity and the energy of the English, 'still less animated by the fire of the Irish, they vegetate, poor and obscure, between both. They have, however, retained the 'simplicity of mountaineers; and they are neither so rude and boorish, nor do they cheat so impudently, as the Swiss. Point d'argent, point de Suisse, is not yet applicable here.'

The fourth Letter transports us to Ireland, which appeared to the Author to have more resemblance to Germany than to