most of our prose communications were in as few words, and no worse than the following! A FEW WORDS ON MOTTOS. A motto, says Samuel Johnson, is a sentence or word added to a device, or prefixed to any thing written, to express its scope and tendency. There is more in a good motto than one is at first apt to think; in fact, it is sometimes of more effect than the book or pamphlet to which it is appended. Frequently, however, a motto is very ill applied. Take, for instance, the following, which we find on the title-page of a new edition of Voltaire's talented but infamous production, "The Philosophical Dictionary:" "How charming is Divine Philosophy! Not harsh and crabbed as some dull fools suppose, Never was Milton so misplaced.-Sir Walter Scott is a Shakspeare has it, "And must I ravel up," making the "I will play at Bowls with sun and moon”— which is good; but that of his clerical antagonist is still better "He that plays at Bowls must expect rubbers." Among the best mottos of modern days, is that of George Combe, when he so successfully replied to Jeffrey's severe animadversions on the noble science of phrenology. Combe chose the famous lines by "Glorious John:" "Soothed with the sound the king grew vain ; Fought all his battles o'er again ; ON A PAINTING OF TWO CHILDREN. Bless ye, my darlings, with your cherub looks Murmuring music of two tiny brooks- And bickering onward thus in mirth for miles, Of that o'erarching leafy summer bower. No ills its brimming nectar cup to sour- Yet let me shun the puling rhymester's whine;→→→ Thy brow's irradiance, which the signet bears Ye lovely elves! if thus your imaged smile Can cheat a pining heart of half its pain, Your kiss of rapture welcomes home again, My dreaming fancy must not there remainFarewell! Heaven shower its blessings on your infant heads like rain! At a single leap we go from the west end of Prince's Street to Kilmarnock, and there we find Mr John Ramsay, weaver, " chewing the cud of sweet and bitter fancies" over his loom. We mentioned Mr Ramsay before, but we would particularly wish it to be understood, that though Mr Ramsay writes verses, every weaver is not a poet. The number of rhythmical effusions we receive weekly from weavers is immense. There was one fellow especially, in Stonehaven, who signed himself "A poor but honest Weaver," and who wrote to us every second post, till we put an extinguisher upon him by a word or two among our notices to Correspondents. That And thrice he routed all his foes, and thrice he slew the Mr Ramsay has not only a poetical vein, as already adslain ;" alluding to the three attacks in the Edinburgh Review, "Here's freedom to him that would read, We like the half-playful, half-sentimental spirit of the following stanzas, which come to us from the west end of Prince's Street, Edinburgh ; mitted, but some humour in his composition, the following epigram proves : EPIGRAM ON SEEING A CARPET-FACTORY SUBSCRIPTION BALL Old Plato once met father Jove, And asked the self-existent, Of all most inconsistent? Jove heard the question, gave a nod, To heaven's high towers advancing, Unveil'd this world,-" Now," said the God, "D'ye see those weavers dancing?" Our We have From a weaver, the transition to a plumber-genius despises the artificial distinctions of rank-is easy. interest in Mr M'Laggan is not diminished. already given him a fair start, and made his name known far beyond the limits of Rose Street ;-his own talents must do the rest. We are glad to tell him that we think our readers will be pleased with the poem he has last sent us: STANZAS ON THE DEPARTURE OF SUMMER. By Alexander M'Laggan. There falls a yellow blight upon the leaf, And leave but phantom Memory whisp'ring they were there. And ye, blue skies! must ye too feel the blight, But dearly by its death is summer's sweetness bought. And-you, ye young, ye beautiful, ye gay, Who dance like moats in fortune's golden beam, Visions of loveliness! on--on ye stray, Your flower-paved path of life, as in a dream! No storms above, no dark waves on your streamBright beings! ye will fade-your fair day close, And o'er its lustre fall stern Winter's snows, Till Time the tomb-door lock against Love's glorious gleam. Winter, stern conqueror, thy hand will fall On many a withering heart and drooping head, And over thousands throw the dark-grey pall; Thousands, who once in light were all array'd, And dreamt not of the darkness of the dead ;— Love, whilst ye may, young hearts! enjoy-admire, Ere the blood freeze, and life's rich light expire, The soul is on the wing,-the gaunt grave must be fed! We shall now take a seat in the coach and go out to Dalkeith, where we shall meet with the author of the following sonnet: SONNET. What art thou, earth, with all thy fair array Of mountain, meadow, ocean, wood, and stream, But one vast sepulchre, whose dark decay Is vainly shaded by the vernal gleam Which gilds thy brow with beauty? Yes, the dust Awake to spurn thine insolence and power; The following song, by a gentleman of this city, is somewhat in the style of the older English writers, and is very pretty and classical : SONG, TO A PERSIAN AIR. As the cloud, that dark as night As the sun converts to dews O'er wild dank moors, When wildest passions burn, My soul to calmest mood, And evil change to good; Smile, then, and, smiling, woo That soul to be as true And pure as yours, How happens it, gentle lady, that we did not light on thee sooner, and how is it that the world knows so little of thy talents? Countless are the sweet creatures with whom we are acquainted who occasionally pour out their souls in verse and, sooth to say, in very weak and limp ing measure-but thou art not one of them. There is strength and genius in thy mind, else couldst thou never have written what we now subjoin: JERUSALEM.-A SACRED MELODY. The unechoed breeze, that sweeps along O'er Judah's solitude. No longer now on Horeb's Mount No more upon the hostile foe Death's angel waves his brand; The sun, arrested in its sky, The earthquake and the hail, The voice of an avenging God Is heard on earth no more; But still in characters of light Truth's awful records lie, When the tempest hath past by. Seal'd on the mystic page of life Be bush'd, ye fiery chariot wheels, Hark! 'tis the still small voice of peace- THEODORA. We thought to have stopped here, but a letter has just come to us from Moffat, so good-naturedly expressed, that we, who are the very essence of good-nature-when our SLIPPERS are on-cannot turn a deaf ear to it. Our Moffat friend writes to us in these words :-" Mr Editor,There is no part of your LITERARY JOURNAL I peruse with greater interest than your answers to Correspondents. This you will easily account for when I tell you, that, at the end of every answer, I am in the habit of saying to myself, I wonder what he would say to me, were I to send him a scrawl? Sitting at the fire one stormy af ternoon, with a newly-come Part of your Journal in my hand, after looking over your answers to Correspondents, A PROPOSAL TO JESSIE. Dear Jessie, I'm tired o' jogging my lane Through the mists and the fogs o' the valley o' life; And, Jessie, have I not more need of one now, Since the earth is accursed thro' our ancestors' crimes? I've a cot at the foot of yon far-away hill, Wi' a yard at the back o't for leeks and for kail; The threshold's grown green through the want of repair; No light from its window solaceth my eye I think of the time, though it never may be, Were it not now past midnight—and we have been in our study since eight in the morning, without eating a single morsel of any thing-we might be tempted to give the whole of Mr John Currie of Ayr's" Address to the LITERARY JOURNAL;" but we can only mention that it begins thus: All hail! all hail! literature's great light, shaken off our slumbers, opened our jaws with a tremendous growl, and given ourselves a shake, terrific enough to make the stars wink. Some such exordium had we contemplated; but we have this moment received a note from, our friend the Editor, telling us that we must have our article ready for him in an hour. We therefore deem it expedient to proceed to business at once. It is amusing to observe, how completely in the dark with regard to our theatrical arrangements, many of those persons are who undertake to inform the public upon the point, and to guide their taste in dramatic matters. That we have better sources of information, the following statement, which we are exclusively enabled to put into print, will sufficiently show. The Theatre-Royal re-opens on Monday evening with the play of "The Stranger," which will introduce to us both Mr Barton, an actor who has been engaged for the first line of parts, and Mrs W. West, of the Theatre-Royal, Drury Lane, who has come down to perform with Kean during his approaching engagement, To this is to be added, the new farce of "The Happiest Day of my Life." On Thursday, Mr Kean will make his first appearance, and continue here for a fortnight. will be succeeded by Madame Vestris, also for a fortnight, and she will be followed by Braham, who brings with him Miss Phillips, with whom he is accustomed to sing. At the conclusion of their engagement, the theatre will close for ten days, as it always does at the time of the preachings. When it re-opens, Miss Jarman, who is to remain with us at all events, till February, will make her appearance; and about Christmas a harlequinade will be produced, for which Parsloe, the celebrated man-monkey, and Taylor, the very clever clown, who was formerly here when "Mother Goose" was brought out, have been engaged. Early in the year, Vandenhoff and Young will visit us, when, besides playing their favourite parts toge ther, Miss Mitford's "Rienzi," so successful last season He in London, will be represented on the Edinburgh boards. Miss Paton will come next, and with her, perhaps, Sin clair. Liston, T. P. Cooke, Matthews, and Miss Foote, will successively follow, and bring down the season to the time of the May Sacrament, after which the benefits com mence. When T. P. Cooke is here, he will appear in his favourite part of William, in the new nautical piece called "Black-eyed Susan," which has had so great a run at the Surrey Theatre.-Such being the arrangements made with the stars, the next question is-Of whom is our regular company to consist? Jones is not to return,-MaGray is not to return,-Miss Clarke is not to return. son is not to return,-Thorne is not to return,-Miss kay, Denham, Montague Stanley, Miss Tunstall, Mrs But we are to have Pritchard, Mr and Mrs Stanley, MacNicol, and the rest; and, to make up for those we have lost, we are to have Barton, Hooper, from London, Williams, formerly of Ryder's company, M'Gregor, from the Caledonian Theatre, Rae, of the Glasgow Theatre, Miss That, gemm'd, shines through the dark abodes of night, Jarman, a very superior actress, the Misses Weston, from And looks, the conqueror of literature's tomb High waving o'er the nation like a plume. It seems like Napoleon in magnitude, Stopping darkness with an illustrious flood; And thus the crown'd JOURNAL now appears, And walks pure in state through sublime spheres. We strongly suspect that Mrs Cookson must have assisted Mr Currie in this production; for we do not think any single and unaided genius could have given birth to it. Be this as it may, for the present we bid our readers and contributors good night, promising that we shall meet again at Philippi. THE DRAMA. We had contemplated an eloquent introduction to the present article, setting forth how we have been sleeping for the last three months, and dreaming different dreams with each of our three heads, and how we have at length one of the English theatres, and several others to fill subordinate parts. As to Mrs Henry Siddons, we regret to say that her health is still in a very precarious state. She is at present in London; but, as soon as she is able, she will join the establishment here. As it is our intention at present to state facts, and to reserve all discussion concerning them till next week, we shall add to the information we have already given, by laying before our readers an interesting extract from a letter addressed by the Manager, Mr Murray, to the Editor of the LITERARY JOURNAL, from whom we have received it, with permission to make what use of it we please. Mr Murray expresses himself in these words: "On the commencement of the last season during which I may have the honour of conducting the theatrical amusements of this city, it is but natural that I should feel considerable anxiety as to the expectations of that portion of the public who take an interest in the Drama, and my own powers of meeting those expectations. Whenever it may be my lot to quit Edinburgh, my recep- Turn me away, and let the foulest contempt "incidental expenses" too small. Upon this question we LITERARY CHIT-CHAT AND VARIETIES. vings, executed from coloured drawings taken on the spot by Mr Prout, and the whole of the embellishments under the direction of Mr Charles Heath,-are the attractions advertised. The literary department is conducted by Mr T. Roscoe. A few specimen copies of the work,-a size larger than the Keepsake,-are already exhibited. -The proprietors of the new Literary and Religious Annual, edited by the Rev. Thomas Dale, and advertised under the title of The Offering, in consequence of an objection made by the publishers of the Friendship's Offering, have changed the name to The Iris, a Literary and Religious Offering. The embellishments are selected exclusively from the works of the Ancient Masters, and so arranged as to constitute a regular series of Scripture Illustrations.-If the Annual announced under the name of Emmanuel has not yet been re-baptised, the sooner that ceremony is performed the better, for the name, as it at present stands, is most improperly chosen. THE ANNUALS ONCE MORE.-The Landscape Annual, which we announced some time ago, and which is said to be on a more splendid scale than any hitherto published, is now, we are informed; in active preparation. The volume for 1830 is to be entitled The During the usual vacation, I made it my business to Landscape Annual, or the Tourist in Switzerland and Italy, and will visit several of the principal provincial theatres in Eng-be published in November. Twenty-six highly-finished line engraland, selecting Liverpool, as one pre-eminent for the spirit and talent of its management, the general ability of the company, and the great resources of the population of that rising port. By the great kindness of the manager, I was enabled to compare the expenditure of the Liverpool Theatre with Edinburgh, and found them equal, though the size and receipts of the Liverpool Theatre considerably exceed ours. From Liverpool, I proceeded to visit others of the provincial theatres, and though in most I saw much to admire, I saw nothing to make me blush for my professional brethren in Edinburgh. With the principal theatres in London we cannot be expected 'to compete; and when it is considered that many of the minor ones rival the patent establishments in the amount of their principal salaries, it will be acknowledged that the difficulty of forming an efficient company out of London is thereby considerably increased. All that the Edinburgh Theatre can justly afford, the public are justly entitled to. Were I to do more, there is no one in Edinburgh who would not censure me, as endeavour-pedia. Sir James Macintosh is to furnish a History of England, ing to raise a fleeting popularity at the expense of my employer, when no personal responsibility attached to myself." It is stated in the last Number of the London Literary Gazette, that Sir Walter Scott is not preparing another series of the Tales of a Grandfather. This is incorrect; one volume of the new series is already printed, and the work is proceeding. Sir Walter is also preparing a History of Scotland from the earliest period of authentic record to the union of the crowns, which will be published on the 1st of November, being the first volume of Dr Lardner's Cabinet Cyclo and Mr Moore a History of Ireland, for the same work. Letterpress. Mr Henry Burgess has announced a Pamphlet on the Measures of Parliament respecting Currency and Bankers, with Illustrations and Reflections, to show the utter impracticability of perfecting the present Policy. The Rev. William Turner, of Newcastle, has in the press, for the use of schools, Selections from Pliny's Natural History, with English Notes, in 12mo. Mr Lindley, Professor of Botany in the University of London, in conjunction with Mr W. Hutton, F.G.S., is preparing for press the On the subject of these remarks we shall at present Fossil Flora of Great Britain, or Figures and Descriptions of the Veonly observe, that however we may agree or disagree getable Remains found in a Fossil State in this country. The work with the Manager on individual points, one great principle will be printed in royal 8vo, and it is proposed to publish it in Quarupon which our criticisms proceed is, that the Theatre-terly Parts, containing Ten Copperplates, and about Forty pages of Royal of Edinburgh is at present in safe and proper hands, and ought to be supported by all who do not wish to see the Drama deteriorating among us. Whether Mr Murray does more than any other manager, we shall not attempt to decide; but he certainly does as much as, under all the circumstances, he can be expected to do; and therefore we shall never rashly or ignorantly find fault, in order that our blame, when we do blame, may carry Chaldæa is deferred till October. The work will contain numerous The publication of Captain Mignan's Travels in Babylon and with it the greater weight. An amusing letter was pub-illustrations, and is said to elucidate many striking passages of Scriplished in last Wednesday's Scotsman, in reply to a hint ture, relative to the once mighty metropolis of Chaldæa. we threw out some time ago, that in certain things Mr Murray was too parsimonious. The mode which the writer of the letter in question takes to discountenance such a supposition is not altogether satisfactory. He states what Mr Murray's expenditure was for the years 1826, 1827, and 1828, and the sum, putting all the items together, is certainly a large one. But, in the first place, although he shows that the outlay was greater in 1828 than in either of the preceding years, he says very little of the year 1829, to which our observation more particularly applied; and in the next place, as he gives us no information whatever on the subject of the receipts, all that he in point of fact tells us is, that the conducting of a theatrical establishment is connected with consider able expense, which, we suppose, most people knew before. But it is quite possible that a manager may be extravagant in some things and parsimonious in others; and this is all we ever meant to say. Mr Murray's payments to "extra performers" might be too large, and his payments for A work is announced for publication, under the title of Gleanings of an English Hermit in Portugal, during the years 1827, 1828, and 1829. It will contain personal observations on a variety of subjects little treated of, and include a notice of the military operations in that country in 1827, together with an account of its present condition, and its relations with England and Spain at the present mo ment. Mr W. Davison, of Alnwick, has announced a new work, entitled Border Excursions; or, Descriptive Tours throughout the English and Scottish Borders, with Historical Illustrations of the Antiquities, Battles, Sieges, &c. &c. THE PITT LIBRARY.-A new building, under this denomination, is about to be erected at Cambridge, out of the surplus of the fund subscribed for a statue to that distinguished alumnus of the Univer sity. CHESTER MUSICAL FESTIVAL.-This grand musical meeting took place last week. Madame Malibran, Miss Paton-who laboured under extreme debility-Mr and Mrs Knyvett, Braham, and Phillips, were the leading singers, supported by a powerful band and chorus. There were three oratorios and the like number of concerts; a fancy ball, and a public breakfast. LITERARY CRITICISM. History of the War in the Peninsula under Napoleon; to By PRICE 6d. in the cabinet and the field-a sympathy with those who, in the lower walks of life, act only from impulse, and with those who, in their far-reaching plans, are too apt to forget the beatings of the human heart-a searching judgment, a dramatic vividness of expression, and a fearless spirit-all these are indispensable; and where or when are all these to be found united? Meanwhile, as service by attempting to appreciate their value, although materials are accumulating on all hands, we may do some unable to turn them to the noble use of which we speak. General Foy's work ought to be treated with leniency; it is a posthumous publication-it is a fragment—and History of the Peninsular War; with plates, &c. Lieut.-Col. William P. P. Napier, C. B. L. London. even of that fragment a considerable portion was left in an unfinished state. Vol. I. John Murray. It was to have contained, in the Vol. II. Thomas & Wil-first place, a view of the political and military state of the liam Boone. 1828 and 1829. belligerent nations, with a comparative view of the powers WHO, that is old enough to remember, will ever forget and resources with which they entered the contest; and, the time when the news of battles fought and won came in the second place, a history of the transactions, political thick and frequent-more thick and more frequent than, in and military, which gave rise to and determined the issue these commercial-travelling times of peace, come the thrice- of the Peninsular War. The plan is unexceptionable, told tale of stage-coach accidents? Who will forget how, being sufficiently comprehensive to admit of every requion the long and narrow bridge, and the dusky crooked site detail; but the second part of the work cannot fairly lane, which lead to our burgh towns, the post was checked be considered as at all executed. The very small portion in his progress by the citizens crowding to hear a fresh of it which has been given to the public, narrates only the story of British valour? We might live for ages, yet preliminary movements down to the time that Junot evanever again witness a period when the national heart beat cuated Portugal; and even this fragment, there is every so in unison, and when all party feeling seemed merged reason to believe, from the vagueness with which the miliin the intense interest with which all eyes were riveted tary details are given, is a mere unfinished draught. The on the great movements of the belligerent powers on the first part, however, seems to have been almost ready for Continent. Those days are gone! We have turned since, publication at the time of the author's death, and on it actooth and nail, to our old trade of domestic bickering, and cordingly we may hazard a few remarks. deep and fierce have been our heart-burnings towards each Foy was a brave, high-minded, and experienced solother. But the feelings which that momentous crisis im- dier; and he approved himself, in the senate, an orator of pressed upon the mind have not yet passed away, and, no mean powers. But it does not appear, from either his unless we much deceive ourselves, the sacred tie expressed writings, his harangues, or his conduct, that he possessed in the name of Briton has ever since been held doubly that reach of mind which is necessary to form either a dear. The sentiments engendered by the French Revo- statesman or a deep thinker. His book contains an imlution had rent asunder for a while even the bonds of do- mense fund of facts, which would be more valuable were mestic affection; and political animosity had assumed a ma- there not reason to fear that he has often acquiesced withlignant and reckless character. But it lost much of this out sufficient enquiry in the truth of a story, because it in the day of national enthusiasm, when all hearts united in chanced to strengthen a preconceived opinion. His reaone great prayer. Those, too, who fought side by side, soning, in like manner, is often just, but more frequentlearned to love each other; and they brought back and dif- ly specious. He is induced occasionally, by aiming at fused their kindly feelings when they returned to their own brilliancy, to express himself with unwarranted strength; firesides. Those days are gone! We can now look with so- and is by this means not seldom led into contradictions. bered feelings on the huge struggle, the weight of whose He aims at the strictest impartiality, and, we believe, is presence then sate like a spell on our breast, and baffled our strictly correct in the main. But we must be allowed to attempts to comprehend its workings, or guess at its issues. say, that he has (unconsciously, we daresay) grossly misThe time is already come when we may safely indulge a represented the character of the British army. On the retrospective view, and hope to profit by the study of the whole, his book, as the work of a man of genius,-of past. one, too, who had seen much, both in peace and in war, The eventful episode, however, in the history of Europe, to which we now allude, demands a writer of no common powers. Even supposing that we were already in possession of all that is necessary to throw light on its darker details, the man has not yet appeared that can make a due use of them. Is there reason to think that he ever will appear? A glance that can read at once the past and present an eye undazzled by external splendour, unjaundiced by its own peculiar feelings-a mind alike at home is a valuable acquisition. It must, however, be used with caution. It forces the reader to think, and cannot fail to suggest many profitable thoughts and useful investigations; but unless where its statements are corroborated, they cannot be relied upon. The Marquess of Londonderry is acknowledged, on all hands, to be a brave and enterprising cavalry officer. His situation, too, on the Duke of Wellington's staff, must have given him opportunities of acquiring informa-' |