painted. It is also not improbable that, on the obelisk at Memphis, one object should have been chosen, and on the obelisk at Thebes another object have been selected, to designate the same letter; whence, perhaps, the various designations, which have been detected, of the same articulate sound. We seek in vain, however, for any proof of ideography. That the preposition ne, (of,) or the pronoun te, (that,) have an appropriate character, only indicates that the vowel was short, and that the solitary consonant formed the whole word.

This treatise is illustrated by four lithographic engravings, of which the plate No. iv. is peculiarly important and instructive, containing nearly a complete clue for reading the hieroglyphic alphabets. We feel grateful for this learned publication; which will materially abridge the labor and difficulty of future students, and assist in recovering from oblivion the archives of primæval civilization.

ART. X. Du Commerce de la France, &c.; i.e. On the Commerce of France in the Years 1820 and 1821. By M. le Comte de VAUBLANC, Minister of State, Deputy from Calvados. Svo. pp. 207. Paris. 1822. Imported by Treuttel and Co. Price

IT

4s. 6d.

seems that Monsieur de Saint Cricq, Director-General of the Custom-house duties in France, gave a very flourishing account of the state of French commerce in a speech delivered by him in the Chamber of Deputies, at a time when petitions were presented from Nantes, Bourdeaux, Marseilles, &c. complaining of its depression; and he asserted that the value of the imports of France, in 1820, was 360 millions of francs, while the value of her exports was 450 millions, leaving a balance in her favor of ninety millions. We have not before us that speech, to which M. DE VAUBLANC here makes a reply; nor, if we had, would it be in our power to appreciate the accuracy of the statements on the one side, or of the counter-statements on the other: but the Count charges M. de Saint Cricq with having given a very fallacious representation; and he wishes to awaken his countrymen to a sense of the perilous condition of French commerce, which, according to him, has been gradually declining for some time. The balance, he says, was favorable in 1819; the equilibrium was restored in 1820; and the balance turned against France in 1821, and so continues.

In making calculations seriatim, of a great number of articles imported into France and exported from it, cattle,

cloths,

cloths, wines, oils, glass, coffee, spices, sugar, &c. &c. reference is generally made to the corresponding exports and imports of England; and, in almost every page, this country receives the praise of great political wisdom for giving encouragement to her own industry, and for the restrictions which she imposes on foreign commerce by means of high duties. It is this leaf in our code which Comte VAUBLANC Covets (see particularly p. 104.); and, for our part, we should have no objection to spare it: our opinion being very different from that which he entertains respecting the advantages of foreign commerce, and the manner in which it promotes the wealth of any country. We see that both M. DE Vaublanc and M. de Saint Cricq measure the balance of profit by the excess of exports over imports. In deference to public prejudice sometimes, and at other times from ignorance of the true bearings of the question, legislators have not only encouraged home-trade at the expence of foreign, but have likewise had their preferences of certain sorts of industry over other sorts, agricultural, for instance, over manufacturing, or vice versá; and they seem not to be convinced, even yet, that in all the operations of trade, whether domestic, colonial, or foreign, the benefit is necessarily reciprocal: so that one nation does not lose, in her commercial transactions with another nation, what that nation gains.

The exports of France in 1820 are vaunted by the DirectorGeneral to have exceeded the imports by ninety millions; and this is deemed a balance in her favor, because she received money in exchange for goods. His opponent denies the fact, and exclaims, Would that it were true! Would that the balance were in favor of France! - evidently bottoming his efforts for the commercial prosperity of France on the same policy of keeping money at home. Suppose that England, by her abundant mines and adapted machinery, prepares more tin and iron than she wants for herself, and exchanges the surplus for wines, olives, and silks of France: - she gains a much greater quantity of these latter articles than the labor and capital, which have been expended on the equivalents with which they are purchased, could have raised at home. Here is a profit to England: but is it a loss to France? quite the contrary. France, by her advantages of soil and climate, has more wines, olives, and silks than she wants for herself; and the surplus she exchanges for our tin and iron, of which she obtains also a much larger supply than the labor and capital, expended on the growth and manufacture of these equivalents, (that is, on the growth of olives and the M m 4

manu

manufacture of wines and silks,) could otherwise have obtained for her: but M. DE VAUBLANC does not like that foreign trade should interfere with home-trade; and, looking with envy on our restrictive system, he mourns over the laxity of the present administration of commercial affairs in France, and sighs with regret over the prosperous times of Henry the Fourth and Sully, of Louis the Fourteenth and Colbert. The balance of trade, however, it seems, is against France, because the value of her imports exceeds that of her exports: other nations, particularly England, adopt a more rigorous and restrictive system than she does; and they are wise enough to keep their money at home, while she is foolish enough to send it abroad. It is certain that, where two nations have commercial dealings, unless the value of exports balances that of imports, the difference of value must be paid in money. What then? The nation, which has to pay the balance in money to one country, has probably to receive a corresponding balance from some other, and it is thus that the stream circulates. The nation which pays money, now, for the products of foreign labour, must have received that money before, by exporting the products of her own; that is to say, she must have purchased the money with which she now buys other commodities. No country will give her productions to another without an equivalent: she will require, in exchange, either commodities or money; and it signifies but little which she takes. Thus, while the author does not wish to see an efflux of money from France, we presume that he would be very well pleased to send us wines, silks, and olives but he would rather have money in exchange than British tin, for instance, and British iron. Very well: let us accommodate him; we have only to export our tin and iron to some other country, in order to purchase money to pay France. The operation is more circuitous, indeed, but the result is the same.

:

Though we cannot agree with this writer's doctrines, his book contains much interesting matter concerning the actual state of the commerce of France, colonial and foreign. It is polemical; and we should be glad to know not only what sort of reception it has experienced in Paris, but particularly whether M. de Saint Cricq has been able to confirm the statements which called it forth.

ART.

ART. XI. L'Hermite en Province, &c.; i. e. The Hermit in the Provinces, or Observations on French Manners and Customs at the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. By M. DE JOUY, of the French Academy. Vol. IV. 12mo. Engravings. Paris. 1822. Imported by Treuttel and Co.

Price 7s. 6d.

THRE

pp. 366.

With

HREE former volumes of this lively and ethic tour have been noticed in our eighty-fifth, ninety-first, and ninetyfifth volumes; and the fourth yields not to its predecessors in variety of topic, precision of delineation, or urbanity of style. Forty years have now elapsed since the writer of this article undertook nearly as extensive a tour through the provinces of France as M. Jouy has narrated, and he can attest the fidelity of the picture of provincial manners most certainly; while he feels not a little surprized that they remain so unchanged for more than a generation, and when so great a revolution has taken place in the political institutions of the country and in its public education. Yet, wherever he reads, he is reminded of old times, in all the little particulars of drapery, dialect, building, landscape, and in the very proportion of the classes of characters which assemble in the public walks. The gale of Revolution has bowed the barley into billows, but left the trefoil at its feet, seemingly unconscious of its blast.

The department of the Isere is now the site of the Hermit's peregrinations. He passes from Lyons to Saint Marcellin, to Grenoble, and to Gap; wanders among the mountains, visits the Chartreuse, and returns at length to Lyons by La Tour du Pin. In the neighbourhood of Gap, at Champsaur, occurs the following pastoral scene, which paints the native hospitality of the mountaineers; and the whole volume is a sort of eclogue in the form of a tour:

Crossing the village, I stopped to contemplate a groupe of girls, who were dancing to the music of their own song, under a canopy of verdure formed by an old and spreading elm, which adorned the turf of the common. A young man came towards me, and, addressing me in a frank and easy manner, said to me, "Sir, this is the holyday of the village-saint, and every inhabitant of consideration keeps open table to-day for the passing stranger or the poor neighbour; will you do my father the honor to be his guest? To-morrow, if you want a guide, I shall be happy to attend you any where."I gave my hand to the young man, and said that I would accept the patriarchal hospitality of his family. At his father's dwelling, which seemed one of the best farm-houses in the parish, I was introduced into a large hall where a man whom age had marked with many wrinkles, and with white hair, rose to receive me with a smile full of benevolence. Then patting his son on the cheek, he said, "My dear

Peter,

Peter, you are as lucky as I used to be at your age: if a stranger came to the place, I always tried to meet him first, and to bring him to my father's table. I will get this gentleman some refreshment, and gladly offer him a lodging: but you must be his guide when he wishes to roam about, for I am no longer active enough for that office."

As the day was hot, I gladly accepted some immediate refreshment. After the common questions, I learnt that these parish-feasts are called vogues; that every house is open on that day; that toasts are given after dinner; and that, the master of the feast setting the example, the guests empty their glasses in turn. This ceremony was repeated quite as often as I wished; and when it grew dusk, and I thought that I might retire, it seemed to me a long way to my bed.'

The entire work consists of eighteen numbers, one of which includes some very equitable criticisms on Bonaparte. It is so agreeably written that we have no doubt of its becoming a French classic, and it is worthy of the pen of their Addison.

ART. XII. Vaux-de-Vire, &c.; i. e. Ballads of Oliver Bassin, a Norman Poet of the Fourteenth Century. Edited by Louis DUBOIS. With a Selection of Antient Norman Poems, rare or inedited. 8vo. pp. 272. Caen. 1821.

A LIFE of Bassin introduces this publication, whence it

appears that he was born at Vire about the middle of the fourteenth century; for, when the English in 1417 invaded Normandy, he was a grey old man, but spiritedly assisted to repel the invaders, by whom he was seriously wounded, so that he died in the year following. From the poems, we learn that he went occasionally to sea, and that he once ran his vessel aground in consequence of intoxication; and it is also recorded by him that he kept a barber's shop on shore. He boasts of loving cider, and of having a purple nose. At one time, he was employed in a fulling mill; and this, in the biographer's opinion, was his most habitual occupation.

A dissertation on song-writing introduces sixty-two songs ascribed to Bassin; thirty-four by anonymous Norman authors hitherto unpublished; four that were out of print; twentyone antient drinking songs; and twelve little poems of the same class by Le Houx. Various notes and a perpetual glossary accompany the poems; which, however, like the older verses of most nations, are far inferior to the productions of modern date. We copy the song written in, 1417, when Henry VI., who hrad landed at Tonques, was about to besiege Caen, and threatened Vire.

"Tout