protection of Shale, for whose mellow society he had conceived a very decided penchant.

The object of Baron Basalt's Tour is to sketch the localities of the principal primitive and flatz-trap-formation of England and Wales. It is very happily conceived, and executed in the style of the old romantic ballads, and in various measures. The Baron bestrides his Atlas; and his groom, Zeolite, rides Skeleton. The journey commences on the borders, and is prosecuted through the trap-districts of Northumberland, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Shropshire, Wales, Gloucestershire, Devonshire, and Cornwall; and the travellers encounter various adventures, occasionally alarming the natives, and quaffing freely wine or ale as often as they experience the hospitality of the hero's kindred.

The Geological Primer' is derived, we believe, from the pen of Mr. Bakewell, who is so well known by his geological lectures and publications.

The design of the Poetical Geognosy is to present, in familiar rhymes, a view of the general stratification of the earth's surface. At a grand dinner, given to all the rocks by old Neptune, each of the guests passes under the cognizance of the Muse, and his or her station is assigned in some spirited lines, which recall the smartness and vivacity of the preceding bard; and which, by the aid of an Argument' and a few marginal notes, unfold the presumed history of mineral formations to country gentle

men.

The Strata from Paris arrived very late,

With letters requesting a chair and a plate.

"Eh bien," said the God, with a good-natured air,
"Faites entrer Monsieur le Calcaire Grossier ;

Let him and his friends at a sideboard be placed,

And with Cerites and Lymnites the covers be graced."

'Now, Muse, raise thy voice, and be kind to our wishes,

And tell us the names of the principal dishes.

To Chalk, preserved palates and fossil Echini

Were handed in Cham-shells more pearly than China.
Then Alcyonites, Nautilites, graced a tureen,
With Belemnites tastefully stuck in between.
The Oolites were served with a wondrous profusion
Of Bivalves, dish'd up in apparent confusion
There Trigonias, Anomias. and Arcas were placed,
And each rock took the species that tickled his taste.
At this juncture some Limpets were sent in on one dish,
From our worthy friend Halifax, vicar of Standish.
Now oviparous creatures, in which the back-bone is,
Were hash'd with remains of the Cornua Ammonis.'

The close of the banquet was disturbed by the fiery opera

tions of Pluto, who felt highly incensed at not being asked by his brother:

'Thrice he stamp'd in a rage, and with crashes like thunder
The earth open'd wide, and the rocks burst assunder,
And the red streaming lava flow'd over and under.
It spread far and wide, till grim Pluto said "Halt !"
And ranged it in columns and files of Basalt!
For he saw Neptune coming, collecting his might,
And roaring and raising his waves for the fight.
Now were Eurite and Greenstone beginning to run,
Which Hutton and Hall said was excellent fun.
But a rock-rending scene in the sequel it proved,
E'en the hard heart of Porphyry was melted and moved.
And many a rock the Muse could not draw nigh to,
She saw very plainly was soften'd in situ.

Now thick vapours of Sulphur, and clouds black as night,
Roll'd in volumes, and hid the whole scene from the sight;
And the Muse told the Poet 'twas time to take flight :

Adding this" My good fellow, pray leave off your writing,
We have had quite enough both of feasting and fighting."

The Geological Primer, which, according to the title-page' should have been first in order, is intended as an Introduction to King Coal's Levee,' and is modelled on that erudite alphabetical effusion which begins with.

"A was an Archer, and shot at a Frog," &c.

It exhausts all the letters of the alphabet, except Y, which might also have been pressed into the service of yanolithe: but the principal objection to this parody, in a critical point of view, is that it blends geology and mineralogy, and is a complete primer of neither.

The Granitology was suggested by a visit to Derby, the former residence of Dr. Darwin; who, had he lived, might, it is supposed, have sung "The Loves of the Mountains," and have adopted a strain somewhat similar to that which is here exhibited. Thus:

In ancient time, ere Granite first had birth,
And form'd the solid pavement of the earth,
Stern Silex reign'd, and felt the strong desire
To have a son, the semblance of the sire.
To soft Alumina his court he paid,
But tried in vain to win the gentle maid;
Till to caloric and the sprites of flame

He sued for aid-nor sued for aid in vain :

They warm'd her heart, the bridal couch they spread,
And Felspar was the offspring of their bed:

He on his sparkling front and polish'd face

Mix'd with his father's strength his mother's grace.'

Geological Cookery consists of six receipts for the production of Granite, Porphyry, Pudding-stone, Amygdaloid, good Breccia, with a calcareous cement, and a coarse Breccia. We quote the second:

• To make Porphyry.

'Let Silex and Argil be well kneaded down;

Then colour at pleasure, red, grey, green, or brown:
When the paste is all ready, stick in here and there
Small crystals of Felspar, both oblong and square.**

*This is the old-fashioned receipt for making Porphyry, used by our grandmothers; viz. they made the paste first, and stuck in the Felspar afterwards. This method is easy and plain: but in the most approved modern receipts, the ingredients are all mixed together at first, and the Felspar is left to crystallize while the paste is hardening.'

ART. II.—Anastasius; or Memoirs of a Greek, written in the 18th Century. London. Murray. 3 vols. 8vo.

[Edinburgh Review-March, 1821.]

ANASTASIUS is a sort of oriental Gil Blas, who is tossed about from one state of life to another, sometimes a beggar in the streets of Constantinople, and, at others, an officer of the highest distinction under an Egyptian Bey,-with that mixture of good and evil, of loose principles and popular qualities,-which, against our moral feelings and better judgment, render a novel pleasing, and an hero popular. Anastasius is a greater villain than Gil Blas, merely because he acts in a worse country, and under a worse government. Turkey is a country in the last stage of Castlereagh-ery and Vansittartism; it is in that condition to which we are steadily approaching-a political finish; the sure result of just and necessary wars, interminable burthens upon affectionate people, green bags, strangled sultanas, and murdered mobs. There are, in the world, all shades and gradations of tyranny. The Turkish, or last, puts the pistol and stiletto in action. Anastasius, therefore, among his other pranks, makes nothing of two or three murders; but they are committed in character, and are suitable enough to the temper and disposition of a lawless Turkish soldier; and this is the justification of the book, which is called wicked, but for no other reason than because it accurately paints the manners of a people become wicked from the long and uncorrected abuses of their Govern

ment.

One cardinal fault which pervades this work is, that it is too

long;-in spite of the numerous fine passages with which it abounds, there is too much of it ;-and it is a relief, not a disappointment, to get to the end. Mr. Hope, too, should avoid humour, in which he certainly does not excel. His attempts of that nature are among the most serious parts of the book. With all these objections, (and we only mention them in case Mr. Hope writes again,) there are few books in the English language which contain passages of greater power, feeling and eloquence, than this novel,--which delineate frailty and vice with more energy and acuteness, or describe historical scenes with such bold imagery, and such glowing language. Mr. Hope will excuse us,--but we could not help exclaiming, in reading it, Is this Mr. Thomas Hope?-Is this the man of chairs and tablesthe gentleman of sphinxes-the Edipus of coal-boxes-he who meditated on muffineers and planned pokers ?-Where has he hidden all this eloquence and poetry up to this hour?-How is it that he has, all of a sudden, burst out into descriptions which would not disgrace the pen of Tacitus-and displayed a depth of feeling, and a vigour of imagination, which Lord Byron could not excel? We do not shrink from one syllable of this eulogium. The work now before us places him at once in the highest list of eloquent writers, and of superior men.

[The Review here gives an account of the tale, with copious extracts, and concludes thus:]

We consider it as a work in which great and extraordinary talent is evinced. It abounds in eloquent and sublime passages,-in sense-in knowledge of history,-and in knowledge of human character; but not in wit. It is too long; and, if this novel perishes, and is forgotten, it will be solely on that account. If it is the picture of vice, so is Clarissa Harlowe, and so is Tom Jones. There are no sensual and glowing descriptions in Anastasius,nothing which corrupts the morals by inflaming the imagination of youth; and we are quite certain that every reader ends this novel with a greater disgust at vice, and a more thorough conviction of the necessity of subjugating passion, than he feels from reading either of the celebrated works we have just mentioned. The sum of our eulogium is, that Mr. Hope, without being very successful in his story, or remarkably skilful in the delineation of character, has written a novel, which all clever people of a certain age should read, because it is full of marvellously fine things.

ART. III.-ON DANCING.

[New Monthly Magazine-March, 1821.]

A good man's fortune may be out at heels.

SHAKSPEARE.

WERE a book to be written upon the discordant opinions held by different nations, or by the same people at different periods, upon any given subject, none would present a more contradictory estimate, than the harmless recreation of dancing. For some thousand of years, in the early stages of the world, it was exclusively a religious ceremony. The dance of the Jews, established by the Levitical law to be exhibited at their solemn feasts, is, perhaps, the most ancient upon record. The dancing of David is also frequently quoted; and many commentators have thought, that every Psalm was accompanied by a distinct dance. In several of the temples, a stage was specially erected for these exercises; but, in process of time, they seem to have been practised by secular, as well as spiritual performers. The daughters of Shiloh were thus recreating themselves in the vineyards, when they were caught by the young men of the tribe of Benjamin, who presently danced into their good graces, and carried them off for wives-a process, which is frequently imitated, even in these degenerate days. The heathens, also, could "sport a toe," in the very earliest ages. Pindar calls Apollo "the dancer;" Homer, in one of his hymns, tells us, that this deity capered to the music of his own harp; and from Callimachus we learn, that the Nereides were proficients in this elegant accomplishment, at the early age of nine years.* For several centuries, it was confined to military movements, when a battle was a grand Ballet of Action, opposing armies became partners in the dance of death, and cut throats and capers with equal assiduity. Since those truculent and operatic days, it has been limited to festive and joyous occasions; but how various the estimation in which it has been held by inconsistent mortals! Socrates, a wise Grecian, took lessons in this art from Aspasia. Cicero, an enlightened Roman, urges the practice of dancing against Galbinius, as a grave and heinous offence. Of the moderns, many hold it an utter abomination to dance upon a Sunday; while others signalize the Sabbath by an increased hilarity of heel. In Germany, a band of enthusiastic damsels formerly testified their devotion to St. Vitus, by dancing round his shrine, until they contracted a malady, which still bears his name: the modern Herrnhuters, of the same district, would suffer martyr dom rather than heathenize their legs by any similar profanation.

* See the Vestriad, a mock Epic Poem.
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