"If we suppose the eight hundred thousand slaves to be divided, as nearly as possible, into congregations of two thousand each, and that one clergyman could take on him the charge of two adjoining congregations, it would require two hundred clergymen for the whole; and, farther, it would require fifty supernumeraries to assist those who might be disabled by sickness, and supply the vacancies as they occur. It seems almost indispensible that they should be married men, both for the sake of their own domestic society, and for the sake of furnishing examples to the slaves, of the married state as it ought to be. The buildings in the plantations, which it is proposed to throw up, would conveniently enough supply habitations and churches; and to each should be allotted a few acres of land for private use, but not enough to allow of any speculations of gain. Their stipends should not be such as to tempt worldly. avidity, but sufficient to place them beyond the cares of any rea sonable want. Above all, they should be freed from any undue solicitude respecting the families they may leave behind them. "It does not seem, that a married couple could live in 2.75,000 5,000 20,000 "It would require one Bishop for Jamaica, and two 12,000 6,000 "Passages, &c. &c, 2,000 £.120,000 "Total church establishment "Taking the number of children to be educated at forty thousand, and dividing them into schools of fifty each, and supposing each teacher to attend four schools, it would require two hundred teachers, and fifty supernumeraries as these persons ought to be of a description to assist the clergy as catechists and readers, a stipend of less than 2001. per annum would not be more than sufficient to maintain them, and thus we should want : "Incidental charges would amount to, probably 50,000 10,000 60,000 "A sufficient fund for the support of all that were disabled in both services, for their widows and children, might require "Church establishment, as stated before 70,000 120,000 £250,000 Appendix, p. 71. Having thus freely availed ourselves of the great local knowledge of Mr. B. on these interesting subjects, we cannot conclude this article without returning him our sincere thanks for the very candid spirit with which he has conducted his inquiries. We could have wished, indeed, that he had not hazarded those reflections on a great commercial town, which are contained at the bottom of p. 29. But with this single exception we do not hesitate to state, that his calm and dispassionate manner is more likely to benefit the cause of Slavery than all the declamations of Messrs. Wilberforce and Stephens, or than all the petitions which can be signed by unthinking multitudes. ART. X. Historical Illustrations of Quentin Durward; selected from the Memoirs of Philip de Comines, and other Authors. 8vo. pp. 171. Knight. 1823. THB sagacious reader has questionless observed, (or, if he have not, for the sake of our simile we exhort him to observe it,) that when a wild "haggard of the forest," hovers with slow and stately motion near the confines of a rookery, suddenly, the whole croaking population arouses itself in hasty pursuit; while tom-tits and sparrows, mingling with the circumambient throng, contribute their quota to the obstreperous clamour. Or, peradventure he has seen (for who has not?) a motley assemblage of "mongrels, puppies, whelps, and hounds, and curs of low degree," grumbling and growling at each other; until they discern, at short distance, a solitary turnspit, gnawing with peculiar zest a delicious bone bestowed by the fat (we wish we could add, fair!) hand of some greasy cook-wench-the bountiful reward of past exertions: instantly the whole canine congregration scamper off, "helter skelter," determined to lose nothing of the good cheer, which may be had by running for. The Author of " Waverley," et cætera, et cætera, resembles more the stately bird above described, than the voracious, and it may be, half-starved animal last alluded to; but the anomalous race of scribblers that infest the public, we consider better designated by our second metaphor, than even by the hoarse screaming of our rooks, or the insipid twittering of our sparrows. No sooner does the fertile imagination of the " great Unknown" embody itself in three fair volumes of letterpress-no sooner do the thousands pass from the pocket of the publishers, to the thousands, dormant in the pocket of the Author, than the whole noisy pack instantaneously give tongue in pursuit of the fortunate possessor of the bone; and, albeit, the cunning dog catches up the precious relic, and inserting his tail between his legs, steals off with the prize, yet do these creatures ingeniously contrive to pick up here and there a few scattered morsels, upon which they regale, with very singular pleasure. First, we have plays and melodrames; then engraved illustrations; then historical illustrations; then-in truth we know not what! There is no pause, no interval. The novel is scarcely out of the hands of the printers before it gives occasion to a hundred catch-penny publications, which we do not think much to the honour of literature. Yet, the fame of their original causes them to be bought, and-read? perhaps; but we are doubtful. However, they sell, more or less; and it is amusing to perceive the avidity with which authors, editors and booksellers run to dip their wooden spoons into the plum-porridge of the Scottish Novelist. We have before us a work of the nature in question, entitled, "Historical Illustrations of Quentin Durward," in the preface to which the writer lets us know that "the execution of this plan has been unavoidably hasty, but it is hoped that no material errors have escaped observation." P. v. "Unavoidably hasty!" and why? Because it was apprehended that certain unwelcome brothers and sisterscurs of all degrees, would be starting off, at the same period, and with the same object in view! Because the book would lose all its interest, (interest, means sale!) if not brought out while the reading public were busily employed upon Quentin Durward! The great resource of this hasty writer, appears, as might be expected to have been, the Memoirs of Philip de Comines; which he has perused according to the best of our judgment, through the medium of a " Table of Contents." The circumstance may be accounted for by the "unavoid able haste" which constrained him to adopt the most expedi tious system. It may have given occasion, moreover, to the generous hope which the Preface expresses, that "no material errors have escaped observation." Errors, in a production like the present, can scarcely be any other than those of omission; and of such, we shall clearly convict him. But there is a more serious charge to be exhibited ; and from which, the shelter of his anonymous target shall yield him no protection. His extracts are principally from an English translation of Comines Memoirs, published in 1674; for which service, he not only withholds an acknowledgment, but here and there modernizes the phraseology, as if to conceal the robbery and bear away the merit of a faithful translator. Yet the labour of such an inquiry," as he thinks, "is great" and, in consequence, he seems inwardly to exult at the miraculous success of his toilsome investigation; and to contemplate a vast award both of reputation and booty. Upon such a publication, much longer criticism would be wasted; we shall, therefore, apply ourselves directly to the Memoirs of Comines, and from thence extract, rather what has been omitted of interest in the volume under review, than what has been noticed; in the supposition that it is already purchased by our readers to fill up the complement of their libraries, and to adorn, in uniform gilding, the distinguished shelves which support the magnificent tomes of the Author of Waverley." Whilst Charles the Bold was besieging Paris in 1464, a conference was agreed upon between himself and Louis, for the purpose of entering into a treaty of peace, at which the following dialogue is reported to have passed. We shall extract the whole passage, as it is curious and illustrates the character of both these Princes. "The negotiation went on so far, that the King came one morning by water right over against our Camp, having drawn up a good body of horse upon the bank of the River, but in the boat with him there were not above five or six besides the boatmen. Among those who attended him in the boat, there were Monsieur du Lau, Monsieur de Montauban (at that time Admiral of France) Monsieur de Montovillet and others. The Count de Charolois (afterwards Duke of Burgundy, his father Philip being then alive ;) and the Count de Saint Paul were at the same time upon the bank of the River on our side, attending his Majesty. The King accosted him in these words, Brother,' (for his first wife was the * Preface, p. iv. 1 King's sister) shall I be safe if I come to you, and will you assure me? The Count replied, As safe as a brother ought to be." Then the King came on shore, and the aforesaid Lords with him. The Count de Charolois and the Count de St. Paul received him with great honour (as reason good they should) and he, being not sparing after the compliments were passed, began in this manner Brother, I find now you are a gentleman and of the family of France. Why so?' replied the Count de Charolois. Because,' (said the King) "when I sent my Ambassador lately to Lisle towards your father and yourself, and that fool Morvillier* talked so saucily to you, you sent me word by the Archbishop of Narbon (who is a gentleman, and indeed he has shewn himself so, for every one is pleased with him) that before the year came about, I should repent me of what Morvillier had said to you. You have been as good as your word, and much before your time was expired.' Which words the King delivered pleasantly and smiling, knowing the humour of the person to whom he spoke to be such, that he would be tickled at such an expression, and, in truth, they pleased him exceedingly. Then the King went on,' It is with such persons that I would deal, who are punctual to their promise, and afterwards he disavowed whatever Morvillier had said to him, and denied that he had given him any such commission." Mem. of Phil. de Com. transl. from the Ed. of "Denys Godefrag Councellor and Historiographer to the French King," 1674. P. 56, 7. If the reader compare with this passage the conversations between Louis and Charles in the last volume of "Quentin Durward," it will evidently appear to have been the basis upon which they were built. And he will also observe with what admirable tact the author has conceived and drawn the character of Louis. But to seize some prominent feature, and with a delicate and masterly hand to work in vivid and picturesque colourings, is one of the least merits of this surprising writer. "His retinue" (speaking of the Duke)" absolutely blazed with gold and silver; for the wealth of the Court of England being exhausted by the wars of York and Lancaster, and the expenditure of France limited by the economy of the Sovereign, that of Burgundy was, for the time, the most magnificent in Europe." Quentin Durward, Vol. I. p. 47. Comines remarks, that "At that time the subjects of the house of Burgundy were very rich, by reason of the aforesaid long peace which they had enjoyed; * Morvillier was the Ambassador, whose unbecoming language was made a pretence for the war between France and Burgundy. A |