ART. XV.-A View of the American Indians. By Israel Worsley. 12mo. pp. 197. London. 1828.

We shall probably surprise most of our readers when we state the object of this little volume, which is nothing less than to shew that the Indians of America are, in all probability, the descendants of the lost Ten Tribes of Israel. This is an idea which has, it seems, of late years occupied some attention on the other side of the Atlantic, the Rev. Dr. Elias Boudinot having published a work in support of it in 1816, entitled A Star in the West, which was followed, in 1825, by another, written by a Mr. Smith, pastor of a church in Poultney. The object of the present writer is chiefly to condense and arrange the facts and reasonings that have been advanced by his predecessors; and to add such additional matter in support of the views which they have advocated, as he has been able to collect in the course of his own reading.

We extract a few sentences from his concluding chapter, in which he gives a summary of his argument. After contending that the tribes in question must have an existence somewhere, and remarking that in the book of Esdras they are mentioned as having journeyed to to a land where no man dwelt, he proceeds in reference to the Indians as follows:

They are living in tribes, with heads of tribes-they have all a family likeness, though covering thousands of leagues of land; and have a tradition prevailing universally, that they came into that country at the north-west corner-they are a very religious people, and yet have entirely escaped the idolatry of the old world-they acknowledge One God, the Great Spirit, who created all things seen and unseen-the name by which this being is known to them is ale, the old Hebrew name of God; he is also called yehowah, sometimes yah, and also abba-for this Great Being they profess a high reverence, calling him the head of their community, and themselves his favourite people—they believe that he was more favourable to them in old times than he is now, that their fathers were in covenant with him, that he talked with them and gave them laws-they are distinctly heard to sing with their religious dances, hallelujah and praise to jah: other remarkable sounds go out of their mouths, as shilu-yo, shilu-he, ale-yo, he-wah, yohewah: but they profess not to know the meaning of these words; only that they learned to use them upon sacred occasions-they acknowledge the government of a providence over-ruling all things, aud express a willing submission to whatever takes place they keep annual feasts which resemble those of the Mosaic ritual; a feast of first fruits, which they do not permit themselves to taste until they have made an offering of them to God; also an evening festival, in which no bone of the animal that is eaten may be broken; and if one family be not large enough to consume the whole of it, a neighbouring family is called in to assist: the whole of it is consumed, and the relics are burned before the rising of the next day's sun: there is one part of the animal which they never eat, the hollow part of the thigh-they eat bitter vegetables and observe severe fasts, for the purpose of cleansing themselves from sin—they have also a feast of harvest, when their fruits are gathered in, a daily sacrifice and a feast of love-their forefathers practised the rite of circumcision; but not knowing why so strange a

practice was continued, and not approving of it, they gave it up-there is a sort of jubilee kept by some of them-they have cities of refuge, to which a guilty man and even a murderer may fly and be safe.'-pp. 181, 182.

Another account, we observe, of the lost Ten Tribes has lately been given in a German publication, which, on highly probable grounds, makes at least a large portion of them to have established themselves in the district of the great plain of Central Asia, called Bucharia, where, it appears, they amount even at this day to a third part of the population. The traditions preserved among this remnant of the chosen people might perhaps assist in determining whether or no the American Indians are descendants of the same stock.

ART. XVI.-Deafness, its Causes, Prevention, and Cure. By John Stevenson, Esq. 8vo. pp. 268. London. 1828.

MR. STEVENSON is already advantageously known in the medical world, by his treatises on Cataract and on Weakness of Sight, and the present volume will sustain and extend his reputation, both as an ingenious and enlightened practitioner, and an acute and diligent observer, in reference, to those important departments of surgery to which he is known more particularly to devote his attention. It is written, like his preceding works, in a plain and popular manner, although evidently the result of a good deal of well digested reading, as well as extensive experience, and is full of information, which will amply reward the perusal not merely of the professional student, but of all who feel any interest in the subject of which it treats. It is a publication which cannot fail to be generally

useful.

ART. XVII.-Detraction Displayed. By Amelia Opie. 12mo. pp. 400. London. 1828,

Ir on opening this volume we seem at first to meet an old friend with something of a new face, we soon learn to feel that the change is more apparent than real. The accomplished and amiable authoress, although not on this occasion seeking to win the hearts of her readers by the aid of that fiction which she knows how to employ with so much grace and effect, has nevertheless produced both a very agreeable little book, and one that is marked in every page by that peculiar something of feeling and expression which we like so much to see in every successive production of a favourite writer. Detraction Displayed,' is a series of moral essays, very simply, and often very sweetly written, and which, although neither exactly tales nor sermons, are perhaps calculated to do quite as much good as either. They display, as was to have been expected from Mrs. Opie, considerable knowledge both of the world and of human nature, and if occasionally a little more desultory and conversational than a certain species of criticism would altogether approve, their garrulity is that of both a full mind and a gentle and generous heart. We hope the grateful recollection which a large portion of the public must retain of the writer's former works, may make the present be extensively read, and

that it will not fail to answer in some degree the praiseworthy purpose for which it has been composed-to amend its readers, namely, as well as to amuse them.

ART. XVIII.A Comprehensive Grammar of the German Language condensed in Two Synoptical Tables. By W. Klauer Klattovski. London: Treuttel and Würtz.

WE are sure that the lovers of this rich and powerful language will feel obliged to Mr. Klattovski, for thus bringing into juxta-position its rules and peculiarities. He has succeeded in condensing into a small space not only the common rules of construction, but many of the finer shades of distinction which so frequently perplex a beginner. His classification of the declensions, however, is liable to some objections. They are named Feminine Form of Declension, Adjective Form of Declension, Substantive Form of Declension; and it therefore appears inconsistent to give Substantives as examples to all.

As the declension of feminine nouns is by far the most simple, and burdened with very few exceptions, it might have formed a part of the Substantive Form with advantage. One other error of expression which might mislead learners, attracted our notice, but it is merely a fault of omission. In rule 192 it is said, 'every verb transitive requires the dative.' It is true that in the succeeding rule we find that all verbs transitive govern the object in the accusative, but in the former case the word indirectly,' or some other of similar import, should have been used. We merely make these remarks with a view to their consideration in a second edition.

dw

These ables prove that Mr. Klattovski has successfully cultivated the theory of the language, and they convey, in this unpretending form, as much practical knowledge as is to be found in larger works, and much more commodiously arranged.

MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE,

Foreign and Domestic.

THE mathematician and astronomer, Calandrelli, died lately at Rome, in the 78th year of his age. He was a long time Professor in the Gregorian, or Roman College, and there established an observatory, where he made his observations, which he published successively at Rome, under the title of Opuscoli Astronomici, with the assistance of his two friends, Conti and Richebach. Calandrelli was well known in the scientific circles of Europe, and was a friend of the late Piazzi, whom he has now followed to the grave. Beloved for his modesty and exemplary character, not less than esteemed for his learning, he enjoyed the friendship of three successive Popes, the latter of whom, the present Leo. XII., conferred on him a canonry in the Basilica Lateranensis, only two years before his death.

A new Latin translation of the Sagas is now printing at Copenhagen.

Goethe has reprinted, at Jena, the works of Manzoni, prefacing the edition with his comments, in which the German veteran expresses the highest opinion of the Italian writer, from whom he expects still greater things. Speaking of Manzoni's character, Goethe said to the French Professor, Cousin, that before he knew him personally, he was already acquainted with the tone of his mind, from his beautiful hymns, adding, in the true language of Christian benevolence: C'est un Catholique naif et virtueux. There appears to be a singular feeling of sympathy between these two distinguished writers, which, we believe, is the effect, not only of their common literary tastes, but also of a similarity in their moral views. Meantime, Manzoni seems to have incurred the displeasure of other critics, for being too religiously inclined, a circumstance which does him much credit.

M. Champollion, Jun., has discovered at Aix, ten or twelve papyri, of great value, in the collection of a M. Sallier. Among them are three rolls written in demotic characters, the first of which is found to contain the History of the Campaigns of Sesostris Rhameses, called also Sethos, Sethosis, and Sesoosis, supposed to be the son of the king who pursued the Hebrews to the Red Sea. The MS. bears to have been written in the ninth year of the reign the history of which it records.. Another roll treats of the Astronomy of the Egyptians. The whole will be published as soon as possible.

Mr. James Wright, teacher of elocution, recommends reading in a whisper, (gradually augmented to a louder tone), as a remedy for stuttering.

At the end of last year the number of periodical works published in South America, was as follows: Spanish America, (the Islands of Cuba and Porto-Rico), two; the Mexican Confederation, twenty-five; the Confederation of Guatemala, seven; the Confederation of the Rio de la Plata, twenty-one; the Republic of Chili, fourteen; the Republic of the Upper Peru, one; the Republic of the Lower Peru, twenty-one ; the Republic of Columbia, seventeen; the Empire of Brazil, twenty-one ; making together one hundred and thirty-three.

The Dublin Evening Mail affirms that a boy of thirteen years of age, named James Graham, residing at Mount Charles, in Donnegal, has resolved the famous problem of the quadrature of the circle.

A person named Walker, residing at Little Coxwell, Berks, is said to have invented a mechanical carriage, not on the principle of steam, which runs at the rate of twelve miles an hour.

Of the inhabitants of America it is reckoned that 11,647,000 speak English, 10,584,000 Spanish, 7,593,000 Indian, 3,740,000 Portuguese, 1,242,000 French, and 216,000 Dutch, Danish, and Swedish.

Professor Airy, of Cambridge, is said to have arrived at some new and unexpected results in experiments with the pendulum, made in some of the deepest Cornish mines. M. Biot has lately determined that the attractive force at different places on our globe is affected not only by the figure of the earth, but by the chemical composition of the materials beneath and hence that the length of the pendulum is not so invariable a standard of measure as it was supposed to be.

Mr. Peter Buchan, of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Corresponding Member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and author of the Annals of Peterhead, has in the press two 8vo volumes of Ancient Ballads and Songs of the North of Scotland, chiefly historical and legendary, and hitherto unpublished; collected from the recitation of very old people, and accompanied with explanatory notes.

Mr. Ackerman's Forget me not,' which will appear as usual at the end of October, will be enriched by fourteen engravings, by several of our most eminent artists. The literary portion will consist of more than one hundred contributions.

Mr. Ackerman has also in the press, an Annual in French, entitled Le Petit Bijou, by M. D'Embden, embellished with seven fine engravings, and dedicated by permission to her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent.

We hear that the long abandoned excavations of the buried city of Herculaneum, are to be resumed by order of the present King of Naples. Meantime the Canonico De Iorio, well known for his antiquarian learning, has published a new work, Sugli Scavi di Ercolaneo, in which he gives a correct account of the former excavations, and of the valuable objects which have been recovered from the earth, and which are now placed in the Museum of Naples. The public buildings of Herculaneum appear to have been on a more splendid scale than those of Pompeii. The forum of the former city was certainly the larger of the two; but it unfortunately lies very deep, and precisely under the present village of Resina. The ancient villa where the papyri were found, is the richest building that has been discovered yet in any of the three buried cities. The other structures of Herculaneum, viz. the theatre, three temples, the basilica, the curjee, and the tombs, are all described by De Iorio. It is a curious fact that three strata of tombs belonging to various ages, should be lying one above the other on one spot; first the cemetery of the present inhabitants of Resina, then, about 15 feet lower, Roman tombs made of brick, and lower still, at the level of the ancient town, the sepulchres of the former people of Herculaneum. De Iorio has also published a useful little work on the proper method for discovering and searching ancient tombs, in which, after deploring the loss which is daily occasioned by unskilful management in breaking up those monuments, he gives proper directions for proceeding in similar cases.

The Society of Mutual Instruction, established at Florence, stated in its last report as the result of its exertions, that twenty-five schools have been opened in the various towns of Tuscany, three of which are exclusively for girls, and two for the Jewish population of Leghorn. The number of boys actually attending these schools amounts to one thousand, that of the girls to one hundred and fifty. In the Duchy of Parma also the method of mutual instruction has been lately introduced.

We see with pleasure that the state of the prisons in the Sardinian States has attracted the attention of the Government. Improvements are

carried on, new and more spacious prisons have been built, several works and manufactures introduced for the employment of the prisoners, and a large work-house has been opened at Raconigi, near Turin, for the object of sheltering and affording occupation to the destitute, and clearing the streets of the capital of the beggars that infested them.