ART. XX.-The Saga of Frithiof: a Legend. Translated from the Swedish of Esaias Tegner, Bishop of Wexio, by OSCAR BAKER. ANOTHER translation of Tegner's Frithiof, and the most vigorous as well as apparently least laboured of any we have yet seen of this favourite Saga.

ART. XXI.-The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore. Vol. III. London: Longman.

CORRUPTION and Intolerance-The Sceptic-Twopenny Post-bag-Satirical and Humorous Poems-Irish Melodies-are contained in this volume. The last named of these contents will excite a more than ordinary interest, where it but for the prefatory and explanatory matter with which the poet is enriching the collection. But as this is deferred till the melodies are completed, we must wait for it with patience. At any rate, the volume has come too late to hand to allow time and space for a longer notice.

ART. XXII.-The German Manual for Self-Tuition. By WILHELM KLAUER-KLATTOWSKI. Third Edition. Entirely Revised and Improved. Three Parts. London: Simpkin.

WE have frequently occasion, and with unqualified approbation, to notice this gentleman's educational works, which extend to a diversity of languages. He is certainly one of the most ingenious and zealous teachers, as well as writers of elementary books, both for tutors and pupils,-the taught and those who must have recourse to self-tuition,-that exists. The number of editions to which his works reach, and the continued and repeated corrections and enlargements bestowed upon them, announce quite enough towards their recommendation. We have a variety of this author's other works recently published before us; but owing to unavoidable circumstances our notices of them must stand over till next month.

ART. XXIII.-The Poems of Geoffrey Chaucer Modernized. WORDSWORTH, Leigh Hunt, the editor Mr. R. H. Horne, and others, have laboured to popularize Chaucer by giving a modern spelling to the original; or, when that appeared to be insufficient, to render him intelligible or attractive, they have endeavoured to recast the poet's thoughts. The volume before us contains the results of these efforts, which do not extend however to the whole of the works of the Father of English poetry. We have only selections. The names mentioned of the Modernizers speak distinctly enough as to the success of the attempts, although the pieces may not all be equally true to the spirit of Chaucer, or exactly what he would have written had he lived in our day.

ART. XXIV.-Patchwork. By CAPTAIN BASIL HALL, R.N. 3 vols

London: Moxon.

CAPTAIN HALL'S travels and tours have furnished him with a vast mass of materials to turn into stories, or to afford subjects for sketches, off-hand remarks, and more elaborate essays; and when his literary habits, self-con

fidence, and frankness in addition are considered, nothing less can be expected from a publication of this kind than a great deal of agreeable, amusing, and informing reading. We have not time at the late period of the month when these volumes have appeared to go carefully over the several portions of the Patchwork, or to remark on the merits and contents of distinct papers. Suffice it to say that France, Switzerland, Italy, Sicily, &c. have supplied him with numerous points for observation and discussion, -for contrasts and suggestions; and that the royal navy and trading marine, with their recent improvements and their prospects obtain from him such a plain treatment as must be popular and yet have its weight with professional persons. Two passages, for which only we can command room, will serve to show how the Captain complacently passes from topic to topic, when there may be no close connexion in the case, and also the sort of homely sense which pervades whatever he has to communicate, as well as the useful hints which he is fond and frank to throw out:-

"As we were driving along, we fell in with a party of Sicilian shepherds travelling towards the sea-coast. One of these was playing what I suppose is the celebrated Doric reed mentioned by ancient writers. It was formed of three pipes made of the common cane, to be seen growing everywhere in that country, from which he produced really very sweet music. Three hours' drive next morning brought us to the town of Bronte, from which Lord Nelson took his title as a Sicilian Duke. The estate attached to the title lies near the town, and both were very nearly obliterated by a flood of lava in 1832; a fate which the hero would have smiled to think of had he visited this property, which I believe he never did. About twenty months before our visit, the inhabitants of Bronte were thrown into the greatest terror by an eruption of Etna, in the flank just above them, from an opening in which a stream of lava came almost upon their houses. Had it not stopped when it did, it must have gone right over the town and smashed it as easily as a broad-wheeled waggon would do an old woman's basket of eggs.

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Supposing the people and their effects out of the way, I can imagine no more curious or interesting sight than a stream of lava moving at the rate of a foot or two in an hour, gradually driving down, crushing, and finally swallowing up a whole town, house after house, street after street, churches and all, and leaving not a vestige behind! On propounding this speculation to the guide, he looked at me as if he thought me a monster worthy of being thrown into the crater; and shaking his head, remarked, that after I had seen the effects of a lava stream, I might probably change my opinion. "In the mean time, we followed up the course of the valley above Bronte, till we came to the end of the stream of lava which had so lately threatened the town. We found it about a hundred or a hundred and fifty feet deep, and perhaps one-third of a mile wide; the outer surface or crust consisting of huge piles of broken masses of scoriated lava as black as coal, the whole scene being very dreary and desolate to look at. This desolation was rendered more striking by the corners of gardens, ends of walls, bits of corn-fields, peeping from underneath the lava, all burnt up and destroyed. Everything indicated the irresistible nature of the fiery torrent, and foretold too surely the fate, sooner or later, not only of this fated spot, but of Ran

dazzo, Catania, and all the rest, which must in turn be overwhelmed again and again as they have been before."

Again,

"So far as I am able to judge from what I have seen or been told of the climate of Sicily, I should consider it the best in Europe for a delicate patient; and yet, by reason of a strange prejudice on the part of the natives, that island is rendered almost entirely useless in this respect. They have unfortunately taken a notion into their head, I believe without any foundation, that consumption is not only occasionally infectious-but that it is always so-even worse than the plague or any other disease. Consequently they will not admit a person suspected of having a tendency to pulmonary complaints into their houses. If any one afflicted with this malady should die among them, a ban is put on the house, its furniture destroyed, and no one allowed to inhabit it for a period of many months. As this is ruinous ito innkeepers and inconvenient to all, and as every native firmly believes In the truth of this persuasion, it becomes impossible for any consumptive patient to find house-room in Sicily. I have even heard of instances of such persons being allowed to perish in the streets or in the country-roads, to which they were driven by the excessive terror of the inhabitants." This much from Captain Hall's agreeable Olla Podrida.

ART. XXV.-A Faithful Picture of the French Revolution.
ARNEIL, A.M. Glasgow: M'Phun.

By W. C.

THIS work professes to contain a full and impartial account of the French Revolution and its attendant horrors, illustrated by numerous details of the sanguinary cruelties committed by the mob and the military on the helpless and innocent populace. But the author has failed even in attempting to paint a faithful and accurate picture of the facts, much more to afford a philosophical view of the terrible political whirlwind.

ART. XXVI.-Sketches of the Coal-Mines in Northumberland and Durham. By T. H. HAIR. Madden and Co.

SEVERAL parts of this large (it is of a folio size) and beautifully illustrated work have appeared, and which contain descriptions and particular details of the Wallsend and Willington collieries. We shall not however enter into these, but extract some of the preliminary observations which are of a more general character, and less technical.

That coal is an article of unmeasured importance, and that it is the most valuable and serviceable of all minerals become obvious truths the moment that one reflects on the following facts:-Without coal the forge and the foundry would be comparatively useless; it is by coal that other precious metals are rendered available, as well as all the gigantic discoveries in science and manufactures. What without its means would the steam-engine be, and all the masses of machinery which steam-power puts in motion? But we need not do more than set the mind upon this train of contemplation, and therefore proceed to copy out some historical notices.

"Much learned discussion has been brought to bear on the history of

coal, and of the coal-trade. The well-known description of this fossil by Theophrastus, the pupil of Aristotle, is the earliest known record of its existence; for the occasional use of the word in our translation of the Scriptures evidently refers to burning wood. The celt, found in a vein of coal at Craigy Pare, Monmouthshire, proves it to have been known by_the_ancient Britons: and the ashes discovered in the Roman stations at Lanchester, Ebchester, and other places, bear conclusive testimony to the use of coal by the masters of the world. Some have argued that it was known to the Saxons by the name of Grafan. The total silence of the records, about the time of the Conquest, on the subject of coal, is easily accounted for by the turbulence of the period, when the north of England, in particular, was rendered a smoking wilderness by the Norman king. One of the earliest documents in which it is mentioned is the Boldon Book' of Bishop Pudsey, 1180, in which, though the term 'wodlades' frequently occurs, we find the following notices of coal:-At Escomb, near Bishop Auckland, 'a collier holds a toft and croft, and four acres, providing coals for the cart-smith of Coundon.' At Bishopwearmouth, the smith has twelve acres for the iron work of the carts, and finds his own coal;' and at Sedgefield, the smith has one oxgang upon similar conditions. At that period, probably, little more coal was worked than what could be found at or near the day. Delving would lead to perpendicular boring, which led again to horizontal working. What was the condition of the persons who actually worked the coal cannot now be ascertained. It is said that, in ancient times, the Scottish colliers had so little relish for their employment, and were, at the same time, in such a servile condition, that they were chained to the pits. Certain it is that, in the present day, in some countries af Europe, where the agricultural labourers, or serfs, are held in a state of thrallage approximating to that of the villains' named in the Boldon Book,' the mines are entirely worked by slaves and criminals. charter of King Henry III. to the townsmen of Newcastle, to dig coal and stone in the Castle Field and the Forth, was granted in 1289. Some idea of the value of coal-mines at that era may be formed from the lessee of the mines under the manors of Whickham and Gateshead, granted by Bishop Bury to Sir Thomas Gray, Knt., and John Pulhore, rector of Whickham, for twelve years, under 500 marks rent. This lease was renewed to the same parties by Bishop Hatfield in 1356. The struggle between utility and prejudice on the use of coal has already been detailed. The former prevailed, of course, and the coal-trade has continued to increase to the present day. It would be tedious to enumerate the various legislative enactments that have been passed for its regulation. The price of this essential article of trade has also often been enhanced by monopolies, one of the most important of which originated in the Grand Lease' of the manors and royalties of Gateshead and Whickham, which Queen Elizabeth obtained for ninety-nine years, at an annual rent of 90l., and which she transferred to the Earl of Leicester. That nobleman assigned it to his secretary, Thomas Sutton, the founder of the Charter House, who sold it to the mayor and burgesses of Newcastle for 12,000l. On each of these transfers the price of coal advanced in London, until the matter became a subject of complaint by the lord mayor. From the HostVOL. I. (1841.)No. 1.

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men's books, the following particulars have been collected. In 1602 there were twenty-eight members of the company, whose vend was 9080 tons of coals, by means of eighty-five keels. In 1615, 400 ships were employed in the coasting trade; besides French and Dutch vessels, for the supply of their respective countries. In the following year, 13,675 tons of coals were shipped; and in 1622, 14,420 tons. The civil wars (partly induced by the impolitic tampering of King Charles I. with the coal trade) checked this stream of prosperity. The panic which occurred when the Scots entered Newcastle, after their victory at Newburn, has been described by Rushworth. In 1643, the Marquess of Newcastle ordered the coal-mines to be fired; but this catastrophe was prevented by General Leslie. After the capture of the town by the Scots in 1644, the parliament undertook the management of the trade in coals, the price of which had risen in London to 4l. per chaldron. Notwithstanding their efforts, however, much distress was occasionally experienced in the metropolis from the scarcity and dearness of fuel. The principal events in the subsequent history of the coal-trade, are the imposts laid upon it for the rebuilding of St. Paul's and other churches, and the Richmond shilling.'

Mr. Hair then goes on to state what has been the amount of coals exported from some of the collieries, during different years. It increased gradually during the last century. The annual average from Newcastle from 1704 to 1710, was about 178,143 chaldrons. We shall not accompany him regularly down to the present period, but conclude with merely stating that the increase in the trade in 1838 over that of the preceding year was 339,114 tons of coals, and 2421 tons of cinders,—that is, the trade coast-wise and foreign taken together; and this is confining it to the ports of Newcastle, Sunderland, and Stockton. What then must be the entire trade in Britain? what the entire consumption of British coal?

ART. XXVII.-Passages in the Life of a Radical. Nos. 1-16. By SAMUEL BAMFORD. Published by the Author. Middleton, near Manchester. 1841.

SAMUEL BAMFORD is a weaver, who in his autobiography details many of the occurrences in the political commotions of the north of England, from 1816 to 1821; interspersing the narrative, which often concerns himself personally, with opinions and suggestions relative to later events and reforming views. From the extracts which we shall give it will be seen that he is a man of mettle; of strong sense, of ardent feeling, and of earnest purpose. He writes like an upright and honest man; and seeing that the things which he has to record were of a stirring and extraordinary character, the story becomes deeply interesting, merely as an autobiography. But it has higher claims to notice, for it sheds a strong and we believe a genuine light upon certain notorious national events, and also upon class opinions,— their origin and progress. It above all, perhaps, ought to engage the attention of the higher orders of society and of our rulers, on account of the clear and affecting insight which it affords respecting the condition of multitudes in the north of England, who form some of the strongest of the thews and sinews of the country; the intelligence of the operatives in the districts alluded to being powerfully combined with physical muscle.