horned, and thei speken nought, but thei gronten as pigges. And there is also gret plentee of wylde houndes; and there ben manye popegayes that they clepen psitakes in hire langage, and thei speken of hire propre nature, and salven men, that gon thorghe the desertes, and speken to hem als appertely as thoughe it were a man. And thei that speken wel han a large tonge and han 5 toos upon a fote: and there ben also of othere manere that han but three toos, and thei speken not, or but lytylle, for thei con not but cryen."

In conferring farther on the "Lordscipe of Prestre John," our kind instructor favours us with a picture of the "Develes Hed in the Valeye Perilouse in mydde place of the whiche, under a roche, is an hede and the visage of a devyl bodyliche, and he beholdethe everysche man so scharply with dreadfulle eyen that ben evere more mevynge and sparklynge as fuyr, with so horrible countenance, that no man dar not neighen him; and fro him comethe out smoke and stink and fuyr, and so moche abhomynacioun that unethe no man may there endure." Journeying from the isles of the Lordschipe, of whiche the moral and natural history are briefly sketched, we arrive at the "Yle of Bragman," and are delighted at finding it gret, gode and plentyfous, where ben gode folk and trewe, and of gode lyvynge aftre hire beleve, and of gode feythe. A neighbouring island is clepen Gnosophe, and its inhabitants are gode folk and fulle of gode feythe; but thei gon alle naked. Their wisdom is exemplified in a dialogue between Alexander the Great and the men of that contree. In the following section, we read of the "hilles of gold that Pissemyres kepen," and of the four Flōmes that issue from the terrestrial paradise. These golden hills, as men seyn," are in the Yle of Taprobane, and there, in Sir John's diction,

"Ben grete hilles of gold that Pissemyres keepen fulle diligently: and thei frymen the pured gold and casten away the unpured. And theise Pissimyres ben grete as houndes, so that no man may get of that gold but be grete sleighte; and therfore whan it is grete hete the Pissemyres resten hem in the erthe from pryme of the day in to noon, and than the folk of the contree taken camayles, dromedaries and hors, and othere bestes, and gon thidre and chargen hem in alle haste that thei may; and aftre that thei fleen awey in alle haste that the bestes may go, or the Pissemyres comen out of the erthe; and in other tymes whan it is not so hote, and that the Pissemyres ne resten hem not in the erthe, than thei geten gold be this sotyltee; thei taken mares that han zonge coltes or foles and leyn upon the mares voyde vesselles made therfore, and thei ben alle open aboven and hangynge lowe to the erthe, and thanne thei sende forth the mares for to pasturen aboute tho hilles, and with holden the foles with hem at home. And whan the pissemyres sen tho vesselles thei lepen in anon, and thei han this kynde that thei lete no thinge ben empty among hem, but anon thei fillen it, be it what maner of thinge that it be, and so thei fillen tho vesselles with gold. And whan that the folk supposen that the vesselles ben fulle thei putten forthe anon the zonge foles and maken hem to nyzen aftre hire dames, and than anon the mares retornen towardes hire foles with hire charges of gold, and than men dischargen hem and geten gold y now be this sotyltee; for the Pissemyres wole suffren bestes to gon and pasturen amonges hem, but no man in no wyse."

.

* It might be a theme for Naturalists to decide whether or no this orien

Among the customs of the kings and their people that dwell in the islands" costynge to Prestre Johnes Londe, the worshippe that the sone do the fader whan he is dede," appears to be the most remarkable. It consists of the most revolting ceremonies; thus,

"Whan the fader is ded of ony man, and the sone list to do gret worshippe to his fader, he sendethe to alle his friendes, and to alle his kyn, and for religious men and preestes, and for mynstralle also, in gret plentee. And thanne men beren the dede bodye unto a grete hille, with grete joye and solempnyte; and whan thei han brought it thider the chief prelate smytethe of the hede and leyethe it upon a grete platere of gold or of sylver, zif so be he be a riche man; and thanne he takethe the hede to the sone, and thanne the sone and his othere kyn syngen and seyn many orisouns; and thanne the preestes and the religious men smyten alle the bodye of the dede man in peeces; and thanne thei seyn certyn orisouns. And the foules of raveyne of alle the contree abouten knowen the custom of longe tyme before, and comen fleenge aboven in the eyr, as egles, gledes, ravenes, and othere foules of raveyne that eten flessche; and thanne the preestes casten the gobettes of the flessche, and thanne the foules eche of hem takethe that he may and gothe a litille thens and etethe it; and so thei don whils ony pece lastethe of the dede bodye; and aftere that the preestes syngen for the dede. And thanne semethe it to the sone that he is highliche worshipt whan that manye briddes and foules and raveyne comen and eten his fader; and he that hathe most nombre of foules, is moste worshiped. Thanne the sone bryngethe

tal legend concerning the " Pissemyres" may not have derived its origin from a fantastic consideration of the Termites and the wonderful sagacity displayed in their labours and their social economy. Consult the Philosophical Transactions: vol. 73, p. 139, 1781.

hoom with him alle his kyn and his frends and alle the othere of his hows, and makethe hem a grete feste. And whan thei ben at mete, the sone let brynge forthe the hede of his fader and there of he zevethe of the flesche to his most specyalle frendes in stede of Entre Messe or a sukkarke. And of the brayn panne he lettethe make a cuppe and there of drynkethe he, and his othere frendes also, with grete devocioun, in remembraunce of the holy man that the aungeles of God han eten; and that cuppe the sone schalle kepe to drynken of alle his lif tyme, in remembraunce of his fader."

Another of the islands is represented as being a great kingdom where the king is full rich and mighty; and, amongst the rich men of the country, there is a passing rich man that hath every year an annual rent of three hundred thousand horse charged with corn, rice and different kinds of grain. Now, this wealthy personage leadeth a noble and delicate life; for, says the historian,

"He hathe every day fifty fair damyseles, alle maydens, that serven him everemore at his mete; and whan he is at table, thei bryngen him hys mete at every tyme, 5 and 5 to gedre; and in bryngynge hire servyse thei syngen a song; and after that thei kutten his mete and putten it in his mouth; for he touchethe no thinge, he handlethe nought, but holden evere more his honds before him upon the table. For he hathe so longe nayles that he may

take no thinge, ne handle no thinge. For the noblesse of that contree is to have longe nayles, and to make hem growen alle weys to bend as longe as men may. And there ben manye in that contree that han hire nayles so longe that thei environne alle the hond; and that is a gret noblesse. And the noblesse of the women is for to haven smale feet and littille; and therfore anon as thei ben born, thei leet bynde hire feet so streyte that thei may not growen half as nature wolde. And alle weys theise damyseles, that I spak of

beforn, syngen alle the tyme that this riche man etethe; and whan he eteth no more of his cours, thanne othere 5 and 5 of fair damyseles bryngen him his seconde cours, alle weys syngynge as thei did beforn; and so thei don contynuelly every day to the ende of his mete; and in this manner he ledethe his lif; and so did thei before him that weren his auncestores, and so schalle thei that comen aftre him with outen doynge of ony dedes of armes, but lyven evere more thus in ese as a swyn that is fedde in sty for to ben made fatte."

From the preceding analytical sketches, the archeologist may elicit motives to institute an attentive perusal of SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE'S Voiage and Travaile, for the purpose of discriminating such of his facts and observations as have been confirmed by subsequent experience, from the flourishes of fiction wherewithal his venerable chorography is liberally arrayed. With regard to the marvellous stories so readily credited by our author, and the great respect he pays to every relic, as the Editor has judiciously observed, these are not matters of surprize when we consider the enthusiasm of a zealous Roman catholic of the fourteenth century. He was treading on sacred ground, and credited, because he desired to credit, every idle story that came floating before his view. We may grieve over the prostration of a vigorous intellect, in conning the Knighte's grete meraycles; but we need not express astonishment nor employ reprehension, on discovering the credulity of a romantic pilgrim, when we reflect that even his tales of saints and monsters, of bugbears and miracles, were originally the elaborate fabrications of " Ghostly Fathers" to whose charge the secular and religious education of Christendom was then confided. Throughout his "Tretys" are interspersed many practical directions which would prove useful to others afterwards engaged in the same course of peregrination: its extraordinary popularity, indeed, as evinced by the numerous M.S.S. and printed editions of his Travaile, in various languages, most clearly shows that the book was considered both entertaining and instructive: nevertheless, in all its sections, we may discern the ingenuous traveller's powerfulness to detect the detestable contrivances whereby the priesthood laboured, in those days, to paralyze the divinely elastic energies of man's immortal mind.

VOL. X., NO. XXVIII.

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REVIEWS OF FOREIGN WORKS LATELY

PUBLISHED ON THE CONTINENT.

Geschichte und System der Platonische Philosophie (History and System of the Platonic Philosophy), by Dr. K. Fr. Hermann. 1st Part. Heidelberg, 1838.

SOME years ago, Mr. Hermann, one of the most distinguished scholars, philosophers, and antiquarians of the day, intimated his intention of publishing a complete system of the Platonic Philosophy. That promise, which had excited in no small degree the curiosity of the literary world on the continent, is in part fulfilled by the appearance of the first volume, divided into three books. Though we must confess that the volume before us, so far from completing the system, on the contrary, suggests new points for inquiry, the novel and original point of view, however, which the author has taken to develope the system, will undoubtedly form a new era in the Platonic literature.

The author's plan is, to connect as close as possible the development of Plato's philosophical views with that of his moral and civil life. He is, therefore, not satisfied with the exhibition of a few detached periods in the life of Plato, but follows him through all the stages of his life, as bearing immediately upon his political and philosophical views. The period in which Plato was born leads to the investigation of the administration of Pericles and its consequences, on which Plato animadverted in unsparing terms. Plato's exclusive intercourse with Socrates, which prevented his becoming acquainted with the other philosophical systems of the day, and the subsequent death of the latter, which opened to his view the fallacious systems of his contemporaries, form a peculiar epoch in his life, not only for his philosophical opinions, but also with regard to his political views, having formed but a poor opinion of the principles of justice as prevalent in his native place, which condemned his righteous teacher to a villainous death. This his indignation induced him to decline serving his country practically, by fulfilling some public office, to which he was entitled by birth and station in social life. The author, on the other hand, points skilfully out all the advantages Plato had derived from his travels in Major Greece, and the reconciliation with his countrymen, the result of his intercourse with Dionysius and other influential characters, which also roused in him the confidence of realising his moral notions.

These are the outlines of the first book, in which an historical development of the life of Plato is most elaborately sketched. There