the 4th of October, 1823, he introduced himself to the brave and unfortunate Riego, who had the frankness to declare in the first interview, that he had very few officers on whom he could depend. On the 9th, he tried his sword in a skirmish with the French detachment, and, at the expense of a wound, procured for himself the distinction of being appointed the General's first aide de camp. On the 14th, all was over. The final overthrow of the shattered forces which still acknowledged Riego as their leader, is narrated in the following terms:

• In about an hour afterwards the drums beat to arms; I ran to the stable and bridled my horse, and then called the General, who was much alarmed at the drums beating. We mounted our horses and rode to the field; our cavalry were formed upon the plains on the right, in order to charge the enemy as they advanced; some of our infantry were lying in ambush in the vineyards, and some on the main road ready to form squares. Our Guerilla parties were upon the heights; and as the enemy advanced, they fired in upon them, which had great effect and disordered them very much. But perceiving that our cavalry did not charge them, as they ought to have done, the enemy continued to advance: had our cavalry charged them, we should have dispersed them at the first onset; but their neglecting to do so gave the enemy fresh courage; and finding that our army was disordered, they kept advancing in parties, to make us believe that they were much stronger than they actually were. I am sorry to confess that their stratagem had the desired effect; for on our cavalry seeing them, they shamefully turned round and fled. My poor brave Guerillas kept up a constant fire, until they had not a cartridge left; they were then obliged to throw away their arms, and make their escape as well as they could.'

The sequel is too well known. They were betrayed by the people of the first house in which they sought a lodging, and were ultimately transmitted under a strong guard to Madrid, where they arrived on the 2nd of October. On the 8th of the following month, Riego was basely and cruelly executed by order of the absolute monarch. His poor aide-de-camp was doomed to pay the penalty of a ten days campaign, by a six months solitary incarceration in a gloomy and filthy dungeon, in which it was probably expected and intended, that he should terminate his life. He appears to have been indebted for his liberty to the good offices of Mr. Bowring. Mr. Matthewes appears to be an open-hearted, spirited, rash, impetuous young man, whose talents only want to be rightly directed, and his feelings to be guided into a proper channel, to make him an honour to his profession.

5

ART. XII.

SELECT LITERARY INFORMATION.

In the press, and speedily will be published, Schleusner's New Testament Lexicon, compressed into the form of a Manual, comprising the whole of his explanations and scripture references; and in general containing every thing necessary for the usual purpose of consultation, as well as for academic instruction. By J. Carey, LL.D. Author of "Latin Prosody made Easy," and other popular school books.

Speedily will be published, a sinall volume of Plain Sermons, chiefly for the use of Seamen; dedicated by permission to the Right Honourable Viscount Melville. By the Rev. Samuel Maddock, Vicar of Bishop's Sutton, and Ropley, Hants.

Part I. has just been published, price 4s. 6d., of Selections from Horace, with English Notes.

This Work is intended for the Use of Schools, and for those persons who may wish to renew their acquaintance with the Classics; and the chief object is to present to the reader a Selection from the Latin Classical Poets, which shall, within a moderate size, and at a moderate expense, comprise the most important and interesting portions of the works of those elegant and justly admired writers, and which shall at the same time be free from those parts which are not fit to meet the eye of the youthful student. The notes are intended to elucidate the general meaning of the writers, and to fix in the mind of the reader those points, whether historica}, geographical, or moral, which are most deserving his notice. A short account of each author is prefixed, with such particulars of the time and circumstances connected with his writings as appeared necessary to illustrate the main purport of them. The female who has been at the pains of acquiring a knowledge of the Latin tongue, may read these Selections with perfect coufidence, that she will find nothing that can give a moment's pain to the most delicate and chaste feelings. This Part contains Fifty Odes, Six Satires, Ten Epistles, and the Ars Poetica,

The Rev. Miles Jackson, Minister of St. Paul's Church, Leeds, has a new edition of his Sermons nearly ready, in 2 vols. 12mo., in which will be included many new ones.

A poetical work, entitled The Bar, is in the press, with Sketches of eminent Judges, Barristers, &c. and with copious notes.

In the press, The Doctrine of Election, viewed in connexion with the responsibility of man. By the Rev. William Hamilton, D.D. of Strathblane.

In the press, Solid Resources for Old Age, or the means by which the Evening of Life may be rendered both Profitable and Pleasant. By the Author of Choice Pleasures for Youth.

In the press, Advice to Cottagers; shewing the means by which they may become rich, honourable, useful, and happy. By J. Thornton. 18mo.

Also, Piety Exemplified in the Lives of Eminent Christians. Collected from authentic sources, and compiled chiefly for the instruction of youth. By the Rev. J. Thornton. 12mo.

The Gaelic Dictionary, by Mr. Armstrong, that was announced to be published by subscription, and which was destroyed at the late fire at Mr. Moyes's, will be but little delayed by the accident, the publisher having made arrangements for the reprinting the sheets destroyed, at the same time that the other part of the work is going on.

The Rev. Mr. Fry's History of the Christian Church, which was nearly ready for publication, and which was destroyed at the late fire, is again at press, and will shortly make its appearance. A new edition of the Exposition of the Romans, and Translation of the Canticles, is also in the press.

The Rev. J. R. Pitman of the Foundling and Magdalen, will shortly publish a course of Sermons for the Year; containing two for each Sunday, and one for each Holiday; abridged from eminent Divines of the Established Church, and adapted to the Service of the Day. For the Use of Schools and Families. In one large volume.

ART. XIII. LIST OF WORKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED.

BIOGRAPHY.

The last Military Operations of General Riego; also the manner in which he

was betrayed and treated until imprisoned at Madrid; to which is added, a Narrative of the Sufferings of the Au

THE

ECLECTIC REVIEW,

FOR NOVEMBER, 1824.

Art. 1. 1. Travels in Brazil, in the Years 1817-1820. Undertaken by Command of H. M. the King of Bavaria. By Dr. John Bapt. Von Spix, and Dr. C. F. Phil. Von Martius. 2 Vols. 8vo. pp. xxii. 626. (Plates.) Price 11. 4s. London. 1824.

2. Journal of a Voyage to Brazil, and Residence there, during Part of the Years 1821, 1822, and 1823. By Maria Graham. 4to. pp. 336. (Plates.) Price 21. 2s. London. 1824. 3. Travels in Brazil, in the Years Maximilian, of Wied Neuwied. 4to. pp. 336. London. 1820,

Prince

1815, 1816, 1817. By Illustrated with Plates. Part I.

OF F all the acts of the late Emperor of the French and of Elba, that which has been followed by the most permanently important and beneficial consequences, is his invasion of Portugal,-an unprincipled, unprovoked aggression, from which he derived no advantage, but which, by compelling the Prince Regent to seek an asylum in his transatlantic dependencies, produced the sudden transformation of a feeble, disorganized colony into a kingdom. That kingdom, lost to Portugal through the same madness and wickedness in her cortes and ministers, that had before been displayed by an English administration with similar results, has now become an independent empire, gigantic in extent, of almost boundless physical resources, the second only in importance, if not in population, of the mighty three which almost share among them the New World. Mexico boasts of nearly double the population of Brazil, but this proportion is not likely to continue long; and in every other respect, in its geographical position, its diversified surface, its fine climate, its innumerable springs and navigable rivers, its fertile soil and rich variety of productions, the dominions of Don Pedro the First comprise the most valuable portion of the western continent.

Yet, for upwards of fifty centuries was that vast continent VOL. XXII. N.S.

21

locked up in mysterious secresy from civilised man. All the operations of nature were carried on, during that long period, beneath the sun and stars of tropical skies,-vast rivers were forming for themselves new channels, and conquering new land from the ocean, bays were being changed to lakes, and lakes to plains, forests were springing up and crumbling to decay, or falling a prey to the lightning, their ashes supplying the soil of future forests, and countless generations of the free tenants of these magnificent wilds were coming into existence and passing away; and of all these transactions, our half of the globe was as unconscious as if they had taken place in a remote planet. And in that hemisphere, there was no poet to sing of them, no historian to record them, no philosopher to interpret them. The only human eye that they ever met, was the unsteady, unintelligent glance of the polar savage or the wild hunter of the central plains. And to that scattered fragment of the human race, all that was passing in what called itself the world, all that makes up the history of man, was utterly unknown. The Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian, the Roman empires rose and fell without in the slightest degree affecting them. And this earth was made the theatre of the most stupendous transaction in the universe, without their ever hearing of the event,-if, indeed America had, at that period, received its first inhabitants. Had this new world been known to exist, the simple fact being handed down by tradition or discovered by revelation, while its situation, and productions, and inhabitants remained unknown, one can conceive with what intense curiosity the imagination would have dwelt upon the idea, and what various speculations would have been indulged respecting the moral condition of human beings in that world unknown. At length, the veil was lifted up, and discovered the other side of the earth, glowing in all the beauty of its first creation; but death was there, and the parent of death, and the hideous features of our degraded nature too evidently betrayed their affinity to the men of the old world. It might seem to be one reason that the knowledge of these regions was so long withheld, that the fall of man might be more strikingly exhibited there in contrast with the beauty of an earthly paradise. There, human nature is seen in her unsophisticated simplicity, uncorrupted by priest-craft and the artificial institutions of civilised society; and there, it has been established by indubitable testimony, man approaches nearest to the brute, or rather sinks below the brute, in feeding upon his fellow.

A little more than three centuries ago, the existence of the American continent was unknown, unless to the amphibious savages of the North-eastern extremity of Asia. The first