has examined the wonderful monuments of Ancient Egypt: but so great is the aversion with which, like their illustrious ancestors, they regard all persons who are not of their own race, and so reluctant are they to admit such persons to any familiar intercourse with them, that I had almost despaired of gaining an insight into their religious, moral, and social state. At length, however, I had the good fortune to become acquainted with a character of which I had doubted the existence-a Copt of a liberal as well as an intelligent mind; and to his kindness I am indebted for the knowledge of most of the facts related in the following brief memoir."-vol. ii, pp. 308.

The account from the source mentioned, which our author gives of these people, is extremely unfavourable, exhibiting them as ignorant, deceitful, faithless, and abandoned to the pursuit of worldly gain, or to the indulgence of sensual pleasure. The following is among their forbidding characteristics, as here described :—

"One of the most remarkable traits in the character of the Copts is their bigotry. They bear a bitter hatred to all other Christians; even exceeding that with which the Moos'lims regard the unbelievers in el-Isla'm. Yet they are considered, by the Moos'lims, as much more inclined than any other Christian sect to the Mohhammadan faith; and this opinion has not been formed without reason; for vast numbers of them have, from time to time, and not always in consequence of persecution, become proselytes to this religion. They are, generally speaking, of a sullen temper, extremely avaricious, and abominable dissemblers; cringing or domineering according to circumstances."-vol. ii, pp. 333, 334.

On the subject of the innovations which have lately found their way into Egypt, Mr. Lane declares that the reports which have reached Europe are exaggerations. He denies that civilization has advanced to the extent supposed. But he conceives it to be probable that the time is not distant when these desirable attainments will be realized. He says

"The account which I have given of the present state of the government of this country shows how absurd is the assertion, that Egypt possesses a legislative assembly that can, with any degree of propriety, be called representative of the people. The will of the Ba'sha is still absolute; but he has certainly effected a great reform, by the introduction of European military and naval tactics, the results of which have already been considerable, and will be yet more extensive, and, in most respects, desirable. Already it has removed a great portion of that weight of prejudice which has held down the Turks so low in the scale of humanity: by convincing them that one of our branches of science and practice is so far superior to that to which they were accustomed, it has made them in general willing, if not desirous, to learn what more we are able to teach them. One of its effects already manifest might be regarded by an unreflecting mind as of no importance; but is considered by the philosophical Moos 'lim as awfully portentous, and hailed by the Christian as an omen of the brightest promise. The Turks have been led to imitate us in our luxuries: several of the more wealthy began by adopting the use of the knife and fork: the habit of openly drinking wine immediately

followed; and has become common among a great number of the higher officers of the government. That a remarkable indifference to religion is indicated by this innovation is evident; and the principles of the dominant class will doubtless spread (though they have not yet done so) among the inferior members of the community. The former have begun to undermine the foundations of el-Isla 'm: the latter as yet seem to look on with apathy, or at least with resignation to the decrees of Providence ; but they will probably soon assist in the work; and the overthrow of the whole fabric may reasonably be expected to ensue at a period not very remote. "The acquisition of a powerful empire, independent of the Porte, appears to have been the grand, and, almost, the sole object of the present Ba'sha of Egypt. He has introduced many European sciences, arts, and manufactures; but all in furtherance of this project; for his new manufactures have impoverished his people. He has established a printingoffice; but the works which have issued from it are almost solely intended for the instruction of his military, naval, and civil servants. A newspaper is printed at another press, in the Citadel; its paragraphs, however, are seldom on any other subject than the affairs of the government. It is in Turkish and Arabic. Sometimes, three numbers of it appear in a week: at other times, only one is published in a month."-vol. ii, pp. 349-351.

The

But Mr. Lane also declares that since his first intercourse with the people of Egypt, he finds them much changed for the worse, especially with respect to their humanity to their fellow men. same sort of degeneration may be evidenced by their greater cruelty to dumb animals; not only the foul dogs, but the enslaved asses, and the domesticated cats, which were once favourites, feeling the effects of the change. The increased severity of those who govern is alleged to have been greatly instrumental in depraving the people's common humanity. But we must leave off, and refrain from farther observation upon these volumes, satisfied that we have done enough to make good our opinion of them, that, in point of variety and novelty of matter, or of plainness and simplicity of description, they surpass any that have yet appeared concerning Modern Egypt.

16

ART. VI.-Crichton. By the Author of Rookwood." 3 Vols. Macrone. 1836.

PROBABLY the first remark that every critical reader of this admirable romantic novel makes, refers to the learning which it displays; and the second observation ought to regard the success, the bold freedom, the perfect ease with which the author embodies in his work the spirit of the times, and personates the characters represented. It is impossible, we think, to peruse these volumes without frequently being so strongly carried back into the sixteenth century, and so deeply convinced of the reality of the events described, as to believe that Mr. Ainsworth must have been an immediate

witness of what he details, and a hearty actor in many of the incidents; so completely has he identified his representative characters with all that history has bequeathed us concerning one of the most stirring epochs in the annals of nations, and concerning some of the most celebrated names on record; and so firmly does he seem to stand, as it were, in the shoes of all the illustrious personages introduced.

66

To have accomplished all this in the case of such characters, and of such a period as he has chosen, required no ordinary skill and attainments. Of late years there have been hundreds of novels and romances, which have usurped a claim to the dignity and authority of historical, without possessing one shred of a title to the character, farther than might consist in the adoption of certain proper names, the assumption of a particular era, and the arbitrary use of a few obsolete forms of speech, without the betrayal of one idea, or circumstance of action that can point to the genius of the characters or the periods supposed. But whoever bestows an hour's attention upon Crichton," or glances at the few specimens from the work that appear in our pages, cannot fail to perceive that the author is not only gifted with a lively fancy, and a creative imagination, so as both to paint faithfully and invent with a master's confidence, but that he has studied with an antiquarian's care and relish every thing pertaining to his theme. To all this is added great scholarship, as we have already intimated, a highly polished taste and style, and that con amore relationship to his subject which enables him to be the accomplished, the spirited, and enthusiastic artist that he is. In short, " Crichton" will become one of our standard novels, because it combines deep learning, accurate representation, and beautiful writing, in the production of a splendid, and an arresting story. It must be added, that the reader cannot rise from its perusal as from a display of merely gorgeous pictures, but will experience something like those valuable and gratifying results which partake of mental enlargement and moral instruction.

We think it will not escape the reflections of any one who turns his attention to the number and variety of English novels and romances belonging to the modern school, that no small degree of ingenuity must have been exerted, and no small share of anxious theme or subject-hunting encouutered by the authors of many of them. Is it not strange, that, in such a dilemma, toil of research, and occasion for squeamishness of taste, no one should have forestalled Mr. Ainsworth in reference to his present hero? This neglect, we may presume, however, did not arise so much from oversight, as from a conviction that must have been entertained by every modest writer, of mediocre powers and acquirements, viz., that nothing but surpassing ability and rare attainments could deal with a hero, who, from a few recorded achievements, and a tradi

tional renown had obtained the highest possible honour and glory which the imagination can accord to humanity. He who was proverbially "admirable," how could he acquire a higher fame or a more affectionate wonder? But we deem it fortunate that he has been so long neglected, that he might at last fall into the hands of Mr. Ainsworth; for, however graceful and exalted, " Crichton" may formerly have appeared to the wholesale and indiscriminate admirer, he is here made to stand out above all others, the greatest among the great, with a distinct personality, and to take a prominent share in some of the most interesting, stirring, and dazzling scenes recorded in history, so as to become decked with new and more extraordinary attributes; and to have possessed not only more astonishing, but more diversified gifts than we had ever dreamt of, even in his case. This, the author has legitimately done, by overstepping that confined boundary, which would merely represent his hero as an unparalleled scholar, or the beau ideal of all that is graceful in personal appearance and elegant accomplishments. He has, accordingly made his " Crichton" a courtier, and the observed of all observers, amongst the gayest and most exalted of the age in which he lived. His gallantry, his honour, his intuitive royalty of thought and action, are altogether matchless.

It has not once been our thought, delighted as we are with these volumes, to treat either them or our readers so unjustly, as any attempt at a summary outline of the narrative before us would deserve to be pronounced. It is not the story, or the quantity of good things in it that we wish to exhibit, but the quality of the matter; and this, it requires little labour of research, satisfactorily to offer. But before doing so, let us refer to Mr. Ainsworth's preface. In this he enters upon an able and critical inquiry regarding the life of his hero, and the authenticity of the accounts delivered concerning him; and shows that the current story of Crichton's death, at least, as to its date, that being usually held as occurring on the 5th of July, 1583, is erroneous; and for this reason, that more than a twelvemonth afterwards, the said "admirable" wrote an Epicidion on the Cardinal Borromeo, which is here printed, for the first time, and translated. After this poem, indeed, no farther literary documents have been discovered, to mark the character of Crichton's genius. But that fame has not greatly exaggerated the truth as regards his unexampled powers and accomplishments, may be fairly inferred from what our author has suggested on the subject of his intellectual efforts as found in his poems.

"It is not, however, from what remains to us of his writings-but from the effect produced upon his contemporaries (and such contemporaries), that we can form a just estimate of the extent of Crichton's powers. By them he was esteemed a miracle of learning-divinum plane juvenem ; and we have an instance in our own times of a great poet and philosopher, whose published works scarcely bear out the wondrous reputation he

enjoyed for colloquial ability. The idolised friend of Aldus Manutius, of Lorenzo Massa, Giovanni Donati, and Sperone Speroni, amongst the most accomplished scholars of their age; the antagonist of the redoubted Arcangelus Mercenarius and Giacomo Mazzoni, (whose memory was so remarkable that he could recite entire books of Dante, Ariosto, Virgil, and Lucretius, and who had sounded all the depths of philosophy)—could not have been other than a very extraordinary person; and we may come to the conclusion respecting him, arrived at by Dr. Johnson, that whatever we may suppress as surpassing credibility, yet we shall, upon incontestable authority, relate enough to rank him among prodigies.'

"

But to the story, which opens with a description of Paris in 1579. There seems to have been a Young France (for Paris is France) in those days, as well as there is, and not unresembling what there is in our own.

"Notwithstanding its shabby appearance in detail, the general effect of this scholastic rabble was striking and picturesque. The thick moustaches and clipped and pointed beards with which the lips and chins of most of them were decorated gave to their physiognomies a manly and determined air, fully borne out by their unrestrained carriage and deportment.

To a man, almost all were armed with a tough vine-wood bludgeon, called in their language the estoc volant, tipped and shod with steel; a weapon fully understood by them, and rendered, by their dexterity in the use of it, formidable to their adversaries. Not a few carried at their girdles the short rapier, so celebrated in their duels and brawls, or concealed within their bosom a poniard or two-edged knife.

The scholars of Paris have ever been a turbulent and ungovernable race; and at the period of which this narrative treats, and, indeed, long antecedently, were little better than a licensed horde of robbers, consisting of a pack of idle and wayward youth drafted from all parts of Europe, as well as from the remoter provinces of their own nation. There was little in common between the mass of students and their brethren excepting the fellowship resulting from the universal licence in which all indulged. Hence their thousand combats among themselves-combats almost invariably attended with fatal consequences-and which the heads of the university found it impossible to check.

"Their own scanty resources, eked out by what little they could derive from beggary or robbery, formed their chief subsistence; for many of them were positive mendicants, and were so denominated; and, being possessed of a sanctuary within their own quarters, to which they could at convenience retire, they submitted to the constraint of no laws, except those enforced within the jurisdiction of the university, and hesitated at no means of enriching themselves at the expense of their neighbours. Hence the frequent warfare waged between them and the monks of St. Germain de Pré, whose monastic domains adjoined their territories, and whose meadows were the constant champ clos of their skirmishes: according to Duluare-presque toujours un théâtre de tumulte, de galanterie, de combats, de duels, de débauches, et de sédition. Hence their sanguinary conflicts with the good citizens of Paris, to whom they were wholly obnoxious, and who occasionally paid their aggressions with interest.”