the real twins from whom the title of the poem is borrowed, are represented as of entirely different characters. Chang's disposition is grave, contemplative, and sentimental, while Ching is light-hearted, gay, and volatile. Their protector, Hodges, has a handsome daughter, with whom the meditative Chang falls in love; but, without any apparent cause, he imagines that she has given her heart to Ching. He becomes exceedingly jealous, and absurdly enough, considering the nature of their connexion, meditates the murder of his brother. He however discovers his mistake in time to prevent the deed, and feels a reasonable share of remorse. In the meantime, Mary, the lady in question, who commiserates their condition, contrives, while they are asleep, to introduce a surgeon and his assistant, who successfully cut through the connecting bond of flesh, and, to the great joy of Chang, who had long felt much mortification at the unnatural union, they are separated. Chang now cherishes strong hopes of becoming acceptable to Mary, which are destined soon to be blasted for ever. By an incident which detracts much from the sentimental dignity with which he has been hitherto invested, for it represents him as an eavesdropper, he discovers that she is irrevocably engaged to her cousin, who is called Julian Laneham. This discovery arouses him to a certain fit of magnanimity. He understands that Mary's father objects to her union with Laneham, on account of the young man's poverty. He suddenly disappears; and four days afterwards, two letters are received, one by Hodges, and one by Ching, which, as the author says, "shows the last dénouement of the story." The public curiosity had rendered the brothers rich; and in his letter to Hodges, Chang generously bestows on him his share of their property, on condition that he will give his daughter to Laneham.

The old gentlemen agrees to the compact; and if the reader should have patience enough to carry him so far through the book, he will, towards its conclusion, be rewarded with a marriage, according to the old established laws of romance writing. Why did Mr. Bulwer so far forget the "originality of matter and of manner," in other words, the new school of poetry, which he promised us in the preface, as to put us off with so trite a conclusion?

In a passage towards the close of the poem, the indomitable egotism of our author appears, in a curious allusion which he makes to the failure of his efforts to become a member of parliament at the last general election. His hero Laneham, for he is the true hero of the work, had been a more successful candidate for the people's favour. The poet says, without jealousy, we presume,—

"Moreover in the late election

He won a certain Burgh's affection.

Dined-drank-made love to wife and daughter,
Poured ale and money forth like water,
And won St. Stephen's Hall to hear
This parliament may last a year!
The sire's delight you'll fancy fully-
He thinks he sees a second Tully;
And gravely says he will dispense

With Fox's force and Brinsley's wit,
So that our member boast the sense

Of that great statesmen-Pilot Pitt!
For me, my hope lies somewhat deeper;
We'll now, they say, be governed cheaper!
So Julian, pour your wrath on robbing,
And keep a careful eye on jobbing.
If you should waver in your choice
To whom to pledge your vote and voice,
You'll waver only, we presume,
Between an Althorpe and a Hume.
But mind-ONE Vote-o'er all you hold,
And let the BALLOT Conquer GOLD.
Don't utterly forget those asses,
Ridden so long,-the lower classes;
But waking from sublimer visions,
Just see, poor things! to their provisions.
Let them for cheap bread be your debtor,
Cheap justice, too-that's almost better.
And though not bound to either College,
Don't clap a turnpike on their knowledge.

And ne'er forget this simple rule, boy,
Time is an everlasting schoolboy,
And as his trowsers he outgoes,
Be decent, nor begrudge him clothes.

In these advices towards your policy,
Many, dear Julian, will but folly see;
Yet what I preach to you to act is
But what had been your author's practice,
Had the mercurial star that beams
Upon elections blessed his dreams,
Had-but we ripen with delay,

And every dog shall have his day!"

From the last couplet, it appears, that our author has not yet relinquished his expectations of being gratified with a seat in St. Stephens.

In the following concluding lines, which succeed those we have just quoted, the Twins are finally disposed of. We insert them here as a notable instance of long efforts to kindle a blaze, at last dying away in the suffocation of their own smoke.—

"And Ching?-poor fellow !-Ching can never

His former spirits quite recover;

Yet he's agreeable as ever,

And plays the C-k as a lover.

In every place he's vastly fêted,
His name 's in every lady's book;
And as a wit I hear he 's rated

Between the Rogers's and Hook.

But Chang-of him was known no more,
Since, Corsair like, he left the shore.
Wrapped round his fate the cloud unbroken,
Will yield our guess nor clew nor token.
He runs unseen his lonely race,

And if the mystery e'er unravels
The web around the wanderer's trace-

I fear we scarce could print his travels.
Since tourists every where have flocked,
The market's rather overstocked-
And so we leave the lands that need 'em
Throughout this 'dark terrestrial ball,'
To be well visited by freedom,-
And slightly nibbled at by Hall !”

ART. VI.-Europe and America; or, the relative state of the Civilized World at a future period. Translated from the German of Dr. C. F. VON SCHMIDT-PHISELDEK, Doctor of Philosophy, one of his Danish Majesty's Counsellors of State, Knight of Dannebrog, &c. &c. By Joseph Owen. Copenhagen 1820.

ALTHOUGH the translator of this book professes in his Preface to have been principally induced to undertake the task by "the desire of being the humble instrument of imparting to the American nation, that picture of future grandeur and happiness, which the author so prophetically holds out to them," we believe it is but little known among the readers of this country. Yet it is in every respect a very interesting and curious work. It will be seen by the title-page, that it was not only translated into, but printed in English, at Copenhagen, with the view of disseminating a knowledge of its contents among the people of the United States. Yet we do not recollect that it was noticed at the time of its publication in any of our critical journals, and the only copy that has ever fallen under our notice is that now before us, which has been in our possession many years. Nevertheless, it is the work of a man of very extensive views, and of deep sagacity. His speculations on the state of the different kingdoms of Europe, in relation to the past and the present, seem to us equally just and profound; and the predictions which ten years ago the author announced to the world, are every day, nay, almost every hour, becoming matters of history.

It has been said, and said reproachfully, that the people of the United States are somewhat boastful and presumptuous. One

reason doubtless is, that they have had to bear up on one hand against much obloquy and injustice, and on the other against certain airs of affected superiority on the part of the nations of Europe, equally offensive. Those who are perpetually assailed, are perpetually called upon to defend themselves; and what in other cases would be an offensive pretension, is, in ours, simply self-defence. It is not boasting, but a manly assertion of what is due to ourselves, in reply to those who take from us what is our right. But even if the charge of national pride were true, we are among those who rather approve than lament it. National pride is a commendable and manly feeling; it is the parent of virtue and greatness-the foundation of a noble character; and if the nation which has led the way in the bright path of freedom-which, young as it is, has become already the beacon, the example, the patriarch of the struggling nations of the world-has not a fair right to be proud, we know not on what basis national pride ought to erect itself.

For these reasons, we feel no hesitation in calling the attention of the people of the United States, to a work eminently calculated to awaken the most lofty anticipations of the destiny which awaits them. Nothing but good can come of such contemplations of the future. They will serve to impress upon the nation the necessity of being prepared for such high destiny; of fitting herself to maintain it with honour and dignity; of attaching herself, heart and hand, body and soul, to that sacred union of opinions, interests, and reflections, which alone can lead us steadily onward in the path of prosperity, happiness, and glory.

"The 4th of July in the year 1776," observes Dr. Von Schmidt, "points out the commencement of a new period in the history of the world. Not provoked to resistance by the intolerable oppression of tyrannical power, but merely roused by the arbitrary encroachments upon well earned, and hitherto publicly acknowledged principles, the people of the United States of North America declared themselves on that memorable day independent of the dominion of the British Islands, generally speaking mild and benevolent in itself, and under which they had hitherto stood as colonies, in a state, not of slavish servitude, but of partial guardianship, under the protection of the mother country."

The author has here marked the nice and peculiar feature which distinguishes the American Revolution from all others, and confers on it a degree of philosophical dignity. It was not a ferment arising from momentary impatience of existing and operating hardships; nor the result of extensive distresses pressing upon a large mass of the nation. When the people of the United Colonies rose in resistance to the mother country, they were in possession of a greater portion of all the useful means of happiness, than the mother country itself. It was not therefore a revolution originating in the belly, but the head; it was a revolution brought about by principles, not by distresses. The early emigrants to the new world,

brought these principles with them from England;-every year added to their strength, and every accession of strength, brought the crisis nearer to maturity. The annals of each one of the colonies, exhibit every where evidence of the existence of this leaven of freedom, which was perpetually rising and agitating the surface; and, although like the eruption of a volcano, it broke forth at first in one particular spot, it was only from accidental causes. The whole interior was equally in a ferment, and the boiling mass must have forced a vent somewhere, and soon. It had long been evident, that, wherever the pressure should be greatest, there would be the point of resistance.

That the American revolution, though unquestionably precipitated, was not produced by a sudden excitement originating in any particular measure of the British government, we think must appear to all those who read with attention the early records of our colonial history. As long ago as the year 1635, representations were made to the government of England, touching the disloyalty of the people of Massachusetts.

"The Archbishop of Canterbury," says Hutchinson, "the famous High Churchman Laud, kept a jealous eye over New England. One Burdett of Piscataqua, was his correspondent. A copy of a letter to the Archbishop, wrote by Burdett, was found in his study, aud to this effect: That he delayed going to England, that he might freely inform himself of the state of the place as to allegiance, for it was not new discipline which was aimed at, but sovereignty; and that it was accounted perjury and treason in their general court, to speak of appeals to the king.""*

But to return to the immediate subject before us. Dr. Von Schmidt-Phiseldek, after stating the result of this declaration in the establishment of our independence, proceeds to notice the second war between the United States and England, in which the former successfully maintained the positions she had assumed, as the grounds of hostility:

"By these occurrences," he says, "which we have only cursorily touched upon, the North American confederacy had tried her strength, preserved her dignity by the rejection of illegal pretensions, and vigorously proved and maintained her right as an active member in the scale of nations, to take part in the grand affairs of the civilized world. From that moment, the impulse to a new change of events, ceased to proceed exclusively from the old continent, and it is possible that in a short time it will emanate from the new one."

The author then proceeds to deduce the attempts of the South American Provinces, which, however, at that period, had not been consummated, from the example of North America, which had inspired them with the desire of emancipation:—

"This word, as intimating the resistance of a people feeling themselves at maturity, to their wonted tutelage, and desirous of taking upon themselves the management of their own affairs, most suitably expresses the spirit of the times, which, being called to light in 1776, has spread itself over the new and old world.”

* Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, Vol. I, pages 84, 85.