the better classes, may be taught, and most effectively, let our mechanics give the experiment a fair trial; and many of the more humble branches of useful knowledge if they succeed, as they are sure to do, let them print an not embraced by the arrangements of the School of Arts, annual report of their progress, and assume to themselves but which are, nevertheless, indispensably requisite before the appropriate name of THE EDINBURGH MECHANICS' any substantial benefit can be derived from that institu- INSTITUTION. tion, to say nothing of their own practical value. illustration of the sort of institution we mean, we beg to submit the following programme, which, of course, might be modified according to circumstances:

In

1. Reading, writing, and common arithmetic-bookkeeping and tradesmen's accounts-practical geometry, with every description of artificer's measuring-use of the tables, nature and application of logarithms.

2. English grammar and composition (by far too much neglected)-geography, with the use of the globes, and construction of maps-practical trigonometry and navigation-drawing and planning (very important)—and also the French language, if required.

3. (The discursive department)—Original essays and instructive extracts, to comprise, if possible, a clear elucidation of the plan and principles of friendly societies and savings' banks; and, of course, experiments and illustrations in chemistry and natural philosophy.

Such persons only as have witnessed a monitorial school in operation, can rightly conceive the peculiar facility which working men have of communicating their ideas to one another, and in many of the branches stated above, mutual instruction is all that would be required. To the voluntary lecturers already alluded to we might safely trust for lectures in popular astronomy, geology, and animal and vegetable physiology. Neither is it going too far to predict, that the reading-room and hall of the institution would soon become the chief rendezvous for all well-behaved and intelligent young mechanics, who would find the amusements which science and literature afford, every way preferable to the vulgar and degrading enjoyments of the tap-room and smoking-club. At the same time, we should wish it to be expressly understood, that only a little learning” is the utmost the great mass of the working-people can possibly acquire. Their own common sense leads them to perceive very clearly, that, even did they possess theoretical science in a high degree, it could never compensate men who must live by "the sweat of their brow" for deficiency in that practical knowledge, which, next to good moral conduct, best recommends them to good masters and constant employment. Let the "hard-working men of Athens," therefore, build their little temple of science upon the substantial basis of practically useful knowledge.

66

LETTERS FROM PARIS.

No. II.

I SHALL now turn your attention to Parisian theatricals; and first, to the Théatre Français. There is something august in the very name; it is redolent of the good old times of Louis XIV., and "la grande nation." Besides, it is sanctified and set apart for the classical drama;

the impertinent gaiety of the vaudeville, and the noise and glitter of the melo-drama, dare not enter here. No one is privileged to joke here but Moliere, and no one dare aspire to tragic grandeur but Corneille; all the rest are spell-bound by the icy trammels of etiquette. Nor is the building unsuited to inspire feelings of reverence. Its exterior is plain, and not very impressive; but the neatness, taste, and precision which preside over its internal arrangements, are worthy of that dynasty which. stamped its own character upon it. Yet even in this sanctum sanctorum have the luckless adherents of classical taste been attacked by the Goths of romance. The sacred stage, the orchestra, boxes, and proscenium, have trembled at the profanation of seeing a play of Shakspeare performed in the Théatre Français; and, what is worse, applauded by at least a part of the audience. Victor Hugo has had the audacity to perpetrate a translation of the old barbarian's "Othello" into French verse; nay, more-Mars, Joanny, and Perrier, have so far forgot themselves as to perform in it; and, worst of all, the Romantics are so shameless as to say it was successful. Five of the few remaining Emigré's, and three antiquated critics, have hanged themselves on the occasion; and tirades, argumentative and abusive, have filled the public prints. The interest of this important question absolutely superinduced a cessation of the vituperations against the ministry for a day and a half.

Closely connected with this quarrel, is the memory of the late English company. It has departed, and need be in no haste to return, for the day of its success is over. Novelty is pleasing everywhere, and the Parisians were contented to sit for a time, and wonder at the unintelligible gestures of a set of people whose language they did not understand. Latterly, however, the seats were abandoned to the use of the English residents in Paris. Even The foregoing simple outline of a mechanics' society is they attended but poorly, for the one-half thought it would little else than the plan which has been judiciously adopt- compromise their literary reputation, should they confess ed, and acted upon with gratifying success, by many of that they felt the want of an English theatre in Paris; the local institutions. That such an institution is re- and the other feared they would find little pleasure in quired, and would prosper in Edinburgh, there cannot be seeing the first line of characters sustained by actors who, the shadow of a doubt. A few mistakes would, of course, they suspected, had come here, because they were not occur at its commencement; but why should not mecha- much in request at home. For a week or two, indeed, nics, by whom alone we suppose the society to be ma- the establishment did offer an attraction. Mrs West was naged and conducted, derive, as well as others, whole- taken ill, and a Madame St Leon volunteered to supply some instruction from their own blunders ? That such her place. It was a rich treat to see our fair countryan institution would greatly promote the best interests of women in the boxes sitting convulsed, between their dethe present School of Arts, seems abundantly manifest.sire to laugh at the ineffable distress of Madame St Leon's We have heard it confidently asserted that it would Jane Shore, and their native feelings of what was due to triple the attendance, and give twofold efficacy to the politeness. excellent lectures administered at that valuable seminary. At all events, for the first year, the use of apparatus from the School of Arts would not likely be refused; and valuable aid might also be derived from the " Edinburgh Mechanics' Subscription Library" already formed. The only expense worth mentioning would be, the rent of suitable apartments to meet in; and the money for this purpose should be raised by the members themselves, for, upon no account whatever should they accept of pecuniary donations: let all such be sent to the School of Arts building fund. The drawing up of a neat code of rules and regulations would not cost much trouble, In fine,

The minor theatres here are much the same as those in London. Occasionally you find a good actor lost amidst a crowd; as, for example, Perlet at the Théatre de Madame. In the matter of dirt and disagreeable odours, too, they are worthy counterparts of our Cockney temples of the dramatic muse. Nor wants there a pretty frequent row, to make the illusion complete. A catalogue raisonné of some of the most recently produced pieces will give you the best idea of the state of the drama in these establishments.-Some time ago, a most outrageous bit of pathos was produced at the Théatre des Nouveautés with great success. "Isaura" is the name of the play,

never have taken place a topic of public animadversion, is to do much more harm than good. In the case of a recent coalition between two rival bodies, many discussions are apt to arise, with which it is neither necessary nor prudent that strangers should be made acquainted. The occurrences of the 11th instant were most unequivo cally of this description. It is with regret, therefore, that we feel it indispensable, in correcting some mis-statements that have gone abroad, to give even a general account of what really happened—a regret enhanced by the knowledge, that some member of the Academy must have lent himself to the publication of a garbled statement of the proceedings at the general meeting in the teeth of a pledge to keep silence.

surer; and that they introduced to the meeting two legal gentlemen, not members of the Academy, for the purpose of bearing down all opposition.

and its plot is as follows:-A young man, desperate from disappointed love, plunges into the recesses of a forest in the Pyrenees, and is there bit by a mad wolf. Of course he goes mad himself, and bites, in his frenzy, the poor girl who is the innocent cause of his misfortune. The consequence is, that she goes mad just as she is about to be led to the altar, and expires in excruciating agonies. This exquisite morceau still continues to draw houses, although a considerable time has elapsed since its first appearance. Mme. Albert, who enacts the part of the young girl with horrid correctness, has gained thereby the highest reputation. Fired by the success of the horrible in the instance of "Isaura," the theatre at the Porte St Martin is bringing out Schiller's "Robbers;" and another minor has announced Marschner's "Vampyr." It has been maintained, that the artists formerly conThis strange aberration cannot, however, be expected to nected with the Royal Institution, who lately acceded to hold long. Already the Vaudeville has set itself against the Scottish Academy, have conducted themselves in an the stream, by producing “L'hydrophobe," a trifle meant improper spirit towards one of the leading members of to ridicule "Isaura." It is a vaudeville more laudable that body. The accusation is rested upon two assertions, in its intention than its execution.—A new vaudeville—that they refused to continue him in the office of treahas been produced at the Théatre de Madame, by the indefatigable MM. Bayard and Scribe. It would be utterly impossible for these gentlemen to write any thing completely destitute of interest; and yet in this new piece they are scarcely equal to themselves. It is called "Les Actionnaires," and has been suggested by the mania for Joint Stock Companies, which has had its day here as well as in England. M. Geffart, a gentleman of more talent than morality, sells shares, in a great enterprise not yet projected, to a set of good people who purchase without making any impertinent enquiries about its nature. The time, however, arrives at last, when he is called upon to explain his scheme in a full meeting of the shareholders. He blunders out a thousand impracticable undertakings, all of which are rejected. Just in the nick of time, an honest countryman offers to sell him a wood at a low price, and Geffart, to the great satisfaction of the speculative crew, announces his scheme to be a new and less expensive mode of furnishing Paris with fire wood. Some of the situations are amusing enough; but, on the whole, the economical details are given with too much verisimilitude. As in the case of some Dutch painters, the joke is lost in the anxious correctness of the portrait.—“ Le Garde de Nuit," is a trifle which owed its success entirely to the spirit with which Vernet performed the principal character. The prince of some place or another, tired of the sameness of a court life, flies from a grand masked ball, to seek for a frolic among the citizens. He finds Philip, an honest watchman, about to commence his nocturnal rounds, and forces him to exchange his dreadnought for the elegant rose-coloured domino of the prince. The attendants who have come in search of the latter take Philip for him, and insist upon accompanying him back to the ball; when he, without attending to the propriety of time and place, begins to dispense home-truths on all sides, and to announce reforms of rather an alarming character. At this critical moment a plot against the true prince breaks out, and Philip, under his assumed character, is committed to close custody; from which he escapes in time to save his betrothed bride from the amorous importunity of the true prince.

These pieces will serve to give you an idea of the kind of plays which succeed here. Historical dramas, too, there are, but, as you have enough of them at home, it is needless to enter into any detail concerning them.

AFFAIRS OF THE SCOTTISH ACADEMY. We announced last week our intention of publishing a detailed account of the proceedings at the late general meeting of this body. On second thoughts, however, and upon the principle of “never throwing ashes or any thing hot to windward," we have altered our intention. We are of opinion, that to make squabbles which should

With regard to the election of a new treasurer, it was a step undeniably in the power of the Academy to take: and after the dispassionate and full account of the proceedings which we have gathered from different and trust-worthy quarters, we must say, that the measure appears to have been justified by the tone which the unsuccessful candidate assumed to the Society. In regard to the second allegation--the fact is, that some discussion was expected to arise regarding the terms of the award which was the foundation of the union of the two bodies; and, from a desire to prevent unnecessary, and in all probability warm discussions, the arbiter named by the artists of the Institution, and the gentleman who has all along, and gratuitously, officiated as the law-agent of the Academy, volunteered their attendance, in order to explain any doubtful expressions. The offer was accepted, and at the suggestion of the very gentlemen who now complain of it as an undue interference.

We refrain from entering into particulars, and from commenting on the language held on the occasion, because we look upon it as the expression of a feeling of soreness which time will assuage, if left unexcited by comment. But we would beg to impress upon the minds of the academicians, that bygones ought to be bygones that the very existence of their young institution depends upon the cordiality of their union-that wasting their time in petty squabbles must alienate from them the public sympathy-that, above all, appeals to the public upon incorrect statements, by any individual, of what takes place at their meetings, are most unjustifiable and dangerous. Here we are willing to let the matter rest, unless there be a repetition of the offence which has suggested these remarks. In that case, we shall hold it necessary to probe the matter to the bottom. This is no vain threat, for we have ample materials in our hands; neither is it uttered in any feeling of hostility, for we have approved ourselves on former occasions friendly to that portion of the Academy whose conduct we are now reluctantly obliged to condemn.

LITERARY CRITICISM.

Annals of the Peninsular Campaigns, from 1808 to 1814. By the Author of Cyril Thornton. William Blackwood, Edinburgh. 1829. 3 vols. post 8vo. Pp. 388, 366, and 450.

PRICE 6d.

their summits,-of individual prowess and suffering,bugle-notes floating on the breeze, and masses of men

glittering in warlike panoply. These vague generalities are the characteristics of war on a large scale, at all times something that will speak to the heart of human nature and in all places; we want a description of the realitywithout the aid of a commentator. Looking also to the author's management of his narrative, we are of opinion, that while he has on some occasions--for example, in his account of the advance of Sir John Moore, and of the retreat of Soult from Oporto-omitted details which were necessary in order to give a clear understanding of the whole; he has on others frequently in his third volume encumbered his pages with unnecessary notices of subparagraphs of a newspaper.

THE author of this work disclaims all intention of entering into competition with the elaborate annals of Dr Southey, or the more scientific labours of Colonel Napier. His object has been to compose "a work which should introduce to the intimate acquaintance of the great body of the people, the events of one of the most memorable periods in the history of their country, and which should diffuse and imprint more widely and more deeply a fit-ordinate movements, as meagre and uninteresting as the ting pride in the great achievements of British arms." In discharging this self-imposed task, he claims credit for fairness and impartiality. He pretends to no peculiar qualifications for his undertaking beyond a knowledge of many important localities, acquired by his having been a sharer in some of the hard-fought battles it is now his part to describe. We, however, will add what his modesty has kept untold—that the high talents displayed in his former works had led the public to look upon him as well qualified to become their historian. Lastly, he admits the possibility of some unimportant errors having crept into his history—of which, we will also say, that none but an ungenerous and carping critic would take advantage. This is an abstract of what the author has stated in his preface to be the object and ambition of his work; and we proceed to judge him by his own standard.

Viewing the work next in regard to its claim to be reckoned "fair and impartial," we fear that there lies in the word "impartiality" a deeper meaning than our author attaches to it. Impartiality does not consist in blaming our friends occasionally, and at times extending praise to our enemies. Impartiality knows neither of friend nor enemy--it probes the conduct of both parties to the bottom, and, conscious of its own rectitude, can brave the world's insinuations, and decide in favour even of those with whom it is linked and affied, when convinced that they are in the right. It is not enough, therefore, that our author should stand, now bowing toba French, now complimenting a British general-now moaning over the excesses of the enemy's troops, now indignant at those perpetrated by our own. He says that he is impartial; but we must investigate the whole tenor of his book, to see whether it does not betray a leaning of which he was not aware-a leaning which can noways impeach his character, but which may oblige us to pause before we assent to his conclusions. Tried by this test, he is found deficient. There is an evident struggle throughout his whole work to praise, more highly than they deserved, the character and conduct of the Spanish nation. He lavishes, in the outset, commendations on the people at large, and on the Guerillas in particular, which his own subsequent statements prove to have been unmerited. He endeavours to raise to a false elevation Palafox and some others, who have long sunk to their real level. He attributes to the French generals the outrages perpetrated by the soldiery, because it could not have ventured on them without their connivance; he exculpates the English commanders, because the soldiery cannot always be restrained-diametrically different inferences from identical data. The plundering of the French soldiers is execrated, the boiling French generals alive, and sawing them between planks by the Spaniards, are passed over in silence, as excesses deeply to be regretted. The truth is, that our author is a partisan, and his evi

Viewing the book, then, as nothing more than what it pretends to be an introduction to the history of the war In Spain, a first guide to such as purpose studying its annals,—or a compendious view for the use of those who rest satisfied with a superficial knowledge of them-we think it is deficient. The object in a popular history of a war is, without entering into a detail of every evolution, or a profound criticism of the operations on both sides, to narrate the principal events in such a manner as to show their mutual bearing on each other, the plans of the leaders, and whether, or in how far, they succeeded. In order to effect this, it is necessary that each individual operation be so described, that the reader obtain a distinct conception of the local relations and successive motions of both parties. If the history of a war come up to this standard—which it may, without having recourse to any tedious and repulsive detail-it- will not only be an instructive book, but its truth to nature, the thousand interesting episodes which are inseparable from the thread of its narrative, and the breathless anticipation excited by the continuity of the mighty stream of events, will render it one of high interest. The work now before us does not, in the most distant degree, approximate to this cha-dence is to be received with caution. racter. The martial movements are described with that degree of vagueness which we find in all accounts of mo- | dern warfare, except those of Napoleon and Colonel Napier. It is of no use to give us picturesque accounts of craggy cliffs, with the morning mist rising slowly from

Has the book, then, any thing good about it? Much. It is written by a man neither of a very clear nor a very comprehensive mind, and by one who has not studied his subject either long or profoundly; but it is, at the same time, the work of a gentleman and a scholar. The author