ber the course of lectures on China delivered by Mr. Hernitz, a few years ago, at New York, and be ready to anticipate a good deal of pleasure from this work. We will not give an analysis of the entire work, and spoil the effect of the novel by relating the whole of its plot; for its whole, we trust, will soon be laid before the public.

"In a retired and peaceful part of the district Lung Mun, in Keang Chan Fu, in the province of Shan Se, there was a village called Se Kea. In that village lived a very wealthy man, whose name was Se Han. He had two sons: the name of the oldest was Se Heung, that of the younger, who was then about thirty years of age, was Se Ying. After the death of the old man the two brothers made an equal division of the heritage. To each fell a share of a considerable extent of rich soil, and both enjoyed in their neighbourhood the reputation of being wealthy gentlemen. Se Ying had married a lady called Fan, who, when she was in her thirty-fifth year, dreamed one night that a star had fallen into her lap. Soon afterwards she became pregnant, and at the end of ten months gave birth to a boy, who received the name of Te Le, with the additional designation of Jin Kwei. As he grew up the boy never uttered a word, and his parents were apprehensive he would remain dumb for life. This was to them a subject of great sorrow.”

One day the Emperor, Tai Tsung, held his court, and the Duke Sew Mo related a dream portending misfortune to the empire. But the Emperor also had a dream, of the same import, which he told as follows:

"My dream was a strange one, indeed. I dreamed I had mounted my horse, and, unattended, was riding out of the camp. I admired the scenery before me, which was extremely beautiful. After a short while I looked back, when, lo! my camp had disappeared, and I perceived a strange man hastening on towards me. He wore a red helmet, was clad in complete armor of the same color, and flourished in his hand a red copper sword. His face was of a green hue, and bore an expression of extreme ferocity. He urged the steed upon which he was mounted to the utmost speed, pushing forward with the evident design of taking my life. I immediately called out for assistance, but no one came. In this perilous situation, I had no other resource but to whip my horse and flee for my life. The road through which I fled was hilly, steep, and dangerous, but still my pursuer continued after me. I came to the shore of the sea, the agitated waves were rising to the skies. There was no road left for me to escape, and my heart was full of agitation and terror. In this extremity I rushed into the sea, but my horse's feet soon sank in the muddy bottom near the shore.

"I once more called out for assistance, and, to my great joy, a warrior made his appearance. He wore on his head a white hel

met, was clad in a white silken war-dress, was mounted upon a white steed, and held in his hand a large double-headed spear. 'Sire,' he shouted from a distance, 'be not alarmed; I come to the rescue of your majesty.' He immediately fell upon my pursuer, attacked him vigorously, and after a struggle of a few minutes killed him with a thrust of his spear. My heart was full of joy; I requested my deliverer to tell me his surname and name, and invited him to accompany me to the camp, where I would richly reward him for this signal service with promotion to a high office at my court. But he excused himself, by saying that he was called away by urgent business, and could not accept of my invitation. Upon another occasion,' said he, 'I will again appear to save your majesty's life, but now I must depart.' I continued, however, to urge him to give me his name and place of abode, that hereafter I might send messengers to bring him with honor to the capital, and promote him to a high office. He replied that he could recite before me some verses, from which could be gathered his surname, name, and residence. I requested to hear them, and they ran as follows:

:

'My home is far away

Where the red dot is seen,

Where storms rage with fury,
And fierce winds careen;

No footstep leaves a trace behind,

And shadows flit unseen.

In my infant days,

When a child but three years old,

My merits shone conspicuous;

I did such wit unfold

That my worth esteemed was

A thousand leang in gold.

In future I may be

In serving my native land,

The saviour of my Emperor's life,

When he will cross the Eastern Sea,

To commence the bloody strife,

And assert his supremacy.'

"When he ceased to speak, there suddenly arose a blue dragon from the sea; his immense jaws were wide open, and into these the warrior and his horse suddenly sprang and disappeared. How strange and wonderful! exclaimed I, laughing at the same time at his singular departure. But here I awoke, and found that the whole had been but a dream. I know not whether this portends good or evil."

The Duke thought this portended a war, and therefore the hero of the dream must be found out. The Duke then explains the vision, and concludes that in the province of Shan Se, the district of Lung Mun, (Dragon's Jaw) the man must be found, and that his name must be Se Jin Kwei. But to find the man

was the next difficulty, and the Duke prepared to send thither an able officer to organize an army of one hundred thousand men, for the hero would certainly present himself amongst them. Several officers presented themselves as candidates for this post of honor, and, amongst others, General Chang S'z Kwei, the commander of the vanguard of the seventy-two roads, presented himself. Now this general with the melodious name wished his sonin-law, Ho Tsung Hien, to fill the office of the visionary hero, and, already conceiving a hatred against the actual Se Jin Kwei, determined to kill him if he should ever be found; with this intention he set out for the province of Shan Se.

By and by it appears that the king of Corea intends to invade the Central Empire; the king is in a great rage, intending iustantly to punish the rebellious chief, but the Duke advises him to wait till the Hero is discovered. The hero, Se Jin Kwei, remained entirely dumb, until once upon a time, in his tenth year, whilst asleep in his father's library, he dreamed he saw a white tiger enter the room, beating his ribs with his tail; he woke up and cried out "Ah me!" and ever after had the art of speech, but his father and mother both died, in consequence of the visit of the white tiger. After their death Jin Kwei applied himself to study the arts of war, "bending the bow, and riding the horse." But by the time he had mastered "the eighteen branches of military science," he had spent all his patrimony, which was considerable. He was reduced to the last extremity of want; applied to his rich uncle, Se Hung, who only turned him out of doors. Then Jin Kwei in despair made a rope of rushes and hung himself by the neck, but, before life was extinct, a man in humble circumstances, by name Mo Sang, came and took him down, conducted him to his own home, and adopted him as a brother. At length he goes to work as a day laborer for a wealthy man called Lew, who is building a palace, and is so prodigiously strong that he carries three immense logs at a time, one on his shoulders and one under each arm. In the winter he is set to watch the buildings, and has a hut of straw built near the palace. Now Lew had a beautiful daughter, rejoicing in the name of Kin Hwa, and one day she saw Se Jin Kwei, and fell in love with him. So one night, in pity for his sufferings in his straw hut, when the snow was deep and the weather devouringly cold, she dropped out of her window a piece of cloth, which fell upon the sleeping youth. It was dark when this was done, and she knew not what cloth it was she had thus bestowed upon him. But in the morning the father, old Mr. Lew, finds his servant wrapped in an elegant scarlet cloth, which he had bestowed upon his daughter. He accuses her of the basest conduct, and threatens to kill her. Jin Kwei flees off for his life. Dame Lew, the mother, gets a servant to throw a great earthen jar into the well, and then all pretend it is

the daughter who has thrown herself there. In the mean time she escapes with an old nurse and three hundred pieces of silver. Now, as fortune will have it, Miss Kin Hwa and the nurse stop to pass the night in an old house where Mr. Jin Kwei lay concealed. He overheard the young maiden's conversation, and thereby learned how he had obtained his scarlet cloth. The nurse proposed that he should conduct his benefactress to his home-but alas! he had no home save a chance lodging in a neglected brickkiln;-then that he should marry her. At this proposition of the old nurse, Kin Hwa reflected within herself; she confessed to herself that when she threw the scarlet cloth on Jin Kwei she had done so really from a feeling of affection for him. The advice she had just received was therefore in accordance with her own desires, but she thought it was unbecoming in a young lady to speak out her mind freely upon such a subject. She therefore modestly hung down her head and made no reply. Jin Kwei objects to the proposition, but at length is prevailed on to take the maiden in his arms to his brick-kiln and then marry her. When there he meets his adopted brother Mo Sang, who again is a friend in need, and supplies the wants of the wedded pair. Jin Kwei remains in his brick-kiln till the money is all spent, and then, as the wife suggests he should do something to earn their bread, he takes to shooting wild geese, and is so skilful an archer that he shoots an arrow down the throat of the birds, and thus kills his game without ruffling a feather. After continuing for a while in this business, he learns that General Chung S'z Kwei has come into the province for the sake of raising an army. He meets with an old friend, Chan Tsing, and the two go to offer themselves as volunteers, after Jin Kwei has taken a leave of his wife, whose condition renders his absence painful. The two friends send in their cards to the general. Jin Kwei arrayed himself in garments borrowed from his friend. He covered his head with a white silken cap, on his body he put a war robe of white sarsnet, shod his feet with black leather shoes, and completed his costume with all the other necessary articles. His face was covered with a fine down, his nose was straight, his mouth large, garnished with teeth of snowy whiteness; his ears were long, his eyes bright surmounted by beautiful eyebrows; his height was about ten cubits, and his whole appearance bespoke a young hero." Chan Tsing was examined and admitted to the army as a volunteer, and immediately raised to the rank of a standard-bearer. Jin Kwei sent in his card, with this inscription: "Card of a volunteer. Se Jin Kwei, a native of the district of Lung Mun, Keang Chan Fu, in the province of Shan Se." When the general read the words, he remembered the name of the visionary man, and resolved to be rid of so formidable a rival. So when Jin Kwei presented himself, the general ordered him to be beheaded, on the plea that he had taken

the name of his commander- Kwei. After much entreaty his life is spared, but he is forced to flee from the camp. He wanders on in despair, till, overtaken by night, he seeks shelter in a house brilliantly illuminated. The owner receives him kindly. "May I respectfully ask," said Jin Kwei, "what is your honorable surname and name? My name," replied the host, "is Fan, and my surname Hung Hae, and I possess great wealth, but I have no male issue." It presently appears that Mr. Fan Hung Hae is about to give his only daughter, Seu Hwa, in marriage to a famous robber, Le King Hung, who with his brothers, Keang Hing Pa and Keang Hwan Pan, called themselves Ta Wang, (great kings) and ravaged all that part of the country. Neither the father nor the bride had consented to the marriage, which was one of necessity, and which was to take place that night. Jin Kwei went out to meet the robbers, who came with a great army to celebrate the nuptials, conquered them and made them prisoners. He spares their lives, and makes them promise to go and join the army with him. The host, Fan Hung Hae, offers Jin Kwei his daughter in marriage. But Kwei pleads that he has already a wife; that is no objection, says the father, for the law allows three wives. Kwei, however, obtains a respite for two years, and leaves his "many colored girdle" as a token of his engagement, and departs to the army with the three robbers, who have now sworn eternal fraternity with their conqueror. Here we will leave the book. only adding that the translation is made into easy and rather beautiful language. We hope soon to see the work laid before the public.

3. A Complete Dictionary of English-German and GermanEnglish Languages. Containing all the words in general use, in two volumes. Vol. I. English-German; Vol. II. GermanEnglish. Compiled from authors of established reputation, and exhibiting the pronunciation of every word, according to Walker, Smart, and other prominent English orthoepists. By DR. J. G. FLUGEL, Consul of the United States of America. Third edition. Leipsic. 1847. 2 vols. 8vo. pp. LXXXII. and 1656, and VIII. and 1274.

DR. Flügel is well known to the American and European public by the two previous editions of his dictionary published at Leipsic, and by the scandalous and piratical reprints of it elsewhere. It would be difficult to mention an author whose works have been so shamefully pirated as his; nor is this all: but the men who pilfered his gold were not satisfied with the theft, but fell to abusing him, and declared that the gold was of their own minting, while in his treasury there was nothing better than brass, or so lasting as that.