Our author has the art of picturing a large subject within a small space, and of giving a form and a finish to the frame that are in proper keeping. We might produce many instances, but must hasten to an end, and therefore select some passages that will diversify our specimens. Here is a useful suggestion, and a characteristic feature; it relates to wooden shoes :

"A manufactory of sabots was attached to the back mill, and sold for five-pence and six-pence a pair for the largest size, and half that amount for those suited to children. Surely the introduction of these wooden shoes would be a great accession to the comforts of the Irish peasantry, as well as a new branch of employment in their manufacture. An expert Flemish workman can finish a pair within an hour, and with care they will last three months. Four pair of thick woollen socks to be worn along with them costs eighteen-pence, so that, for four shillings, a poor man might be dry and comfortably shod for twelve months. In winter, especially, and in wet weather, or when working in moist ground, they are infinitely to be preferred, and although the shape may be clumsy (though, in this respect, the Flemish are superior to the French), it is, at least, as graceful as the halfnaked foot and clouted shoe of the Irish labourer. I doubt much, however, whether the people, though ever so satisfied of their advantages, would get over their association of arbitrary power and brass money' with the use of 'wooden shoes.'"

Our author's tour having a special reference to manufactures, we must, before closing, let him be heard concerning one within a marvellously small compass of house-room :

"Close by the bleach-green, we entered a windmill for grinding bark, and at a short distance from it, another of the same primitive edifices was at full work, crushing rape oil. I never saw such a miniature manufactory -in one little apartment, about ten feet square, the entire process was carried on to the extent of a ton of seed, yielding about thirty-six gallons of oil per day. In one corner the seed was being ground between a pair of millstones; in another, pounded in mortars by heavy beams shod with iron, which were raised and fell by the motion of the wind; the material was then roasted in an iron pan over a charcoal fire, till the oil became disengaged by the heat, and was then crushed by being enclosed in canvas bags enveloped in leather cases, and placed in grooves, into which huge wooden wedges were driven by the force of the machinery; the last drop of oil was thus forced out by a repetition of the process, and the residue of the seed, which came forth in cakes as flat and as hard as a stone, were laid on one side to be sold for manure or other purposes."

We must not entirely overlook the fine arts:

"I never saw a more striking illustration of the power of a picture, than the effect produced by the Descent from the Cross. It was closed by its two folding volets when we entered, the backs of which contain, likewise,

two designs by Reubens, one of St. Christopher, the patron saint of the guild of arquebusiers, for whom he painted the picture, and the other, of a hermit, neither of them of great merit. These engaged no attention, apparently, but when, by and by, the sacristan moved them to either side, and displayed the astonishing picture within, the effect was quite remarkable— the loungers and passers-by were now arrested, one by one, as they came within the circle of attraction, till a little crowd of peasants and soldiers were collected before it, in the most breathless attention, and, as if struck with a new sensation, I saw them look silently in each others' faces, apparently to discover whether others felt as they did themselves. One girl, with a basket on her arm, was caught at once, as she passed, and remained with the rest, quite abstracted in contemplation; it recalled Wordsworth's exquisite description of the street-musician by the Pantheon :

'What an eager assembly! what empire is this,
The weary have life and the hungry have bliss,
The mourner is cheered and the anxious have rest,
And the guilt-burthened soul is no longer oppress'd.
That errand-bound 'prentice was passing in haste-
What matter-he's caught, and his time runs to waste;
The newsman is stopped, though he stops on the fret,
And the half-breathless lamp-lighter he's in the net.
The porter sits down on the weight which he bore,
And the lass wheels hither her store;

If a thief could be here, he might pilfer with ease,
She sees the musician, 'tis all that she sees!'

The genuine admiration of this artless assemblage, was as marked a triumph to the genius of Rubens, as the pecking of the birds at his basket of fruit was to the execution of Apelles."

The States of the Prussian League are to form the subject of another of Mr. Tennent's publications. Not a few of our readers may be aware, that he is the author of "Letters from the Ægean," and a "History of Modern Greece."

ART. XI.-The Spas of England, and Principal Sea-Bathing Places. By A. B. GRANVILLE, M.D. Colburn.

DR. GRANVILLE is not unknown as a gossiping and lively tourist, and particularly as the author of "The Spas of Germany." He is therefore well-equipped by experience, and in a manner bound to do that for the watering places of his native country which he heretofore performed in behalf of foreign lands; for we believe his former work of a kindred character to the present, has been the means of sending many of the English to mineral springs abroad, not merely because the doctor gave tempting accounts of the scenery and the society which distinguished particular places, but

because his medical knowledge and directions have been deemed safe guides, and almost sufficient to supersede the necessity of calling in a German physician. He was therefore in honour, and as a professional man, bound to make the attractions and the healing or healthy qualities of the English Spas, and Bathing places, equally well known with those in foreign parts; especially as the medical virtues of our springs are numerous and much diversified ; some of the wells being altogether undescribed, and their very existence a secret but to persons in their immediate neighbourhood.

What the Doctor has done on this occasion has been done pleasantly and well, although in a rambling manner; for his work is as much that of a guide-book to tourists, and also a tourist's journal itself, as it is a professional directory to the watering-places. It may indeed be expected that in the last mentioned sense, it will have the advantage of its German predecessor, inasmuch as the fruits of experience and more extensive comparison are in the author's possession; so that, we anticipate, in a few seasons, even during the ensuing summer and autumn, that not a few of the wealthy idlers, the temporary relaxers, and the anxious invalids of England, will be moved through the publication before us, to spend a considerable portion of their time and money in their native, instead of a foreign country, and to patronize places that either have been partially or wholly neglected hitherto.

It was in the summer and autumn of 1839 that Dr. Granville made his tour through England, in order to visit the various Spas, to examine their medicinal qualities, and report upon them, together with all the accessories, such as the natural and artificial peculiarities of each place, the accommodation for visitors, the prices of lodging and living, the means of access to each, and other particulars useful as well as amusing to the public. He first set forth to examine the watering-places in the northern division of England, Yorkshire being the southerly limit to that excursion, and the present volume the result. A second is to follow which, of course, will traverse the other division of the country.

The main object of our author, viz., to examine and to report upon the curative qualities of the various wells, to test and describe their temperature and flavour, and to institute a chemical analysis of the springs, which is thrown into an appendix, was, our readers may rest satisfied, pursued with becoming zeal, and with adequate skill. But we have also indicated that he notices and dwells with a hearty liking and abundant facetiousness upon a multitude of other objects and subjects, some of them of a practical nature, others merely entertaining. Perhaps nothing will strike the reader whose mind is not specially set upon the restoration of health, so much as the great improvements and vast undertakings that everywhere met the Doctor's eye. We need hardly mention that the means of

locomotion, and he tried every method of conveyance in order to give a professional opinion upon each, as individual cases may be concerned,-obtain from such an excursive and gossiping writer due notice. He is even critical upon some of these means, taking credit, for example, for being the first to proclaim the views concerning railroads which have been lately adopted by parliament with regard to the neglect of managers. He complains of having been overcharged by the Birmingham company, and his strictures are judicious. Others of his literary rambles are verbose or uninteresting; yet, taking the volume altogether it has merit; it will be useful, and it is amusing.

The author anticipates that objections may be taken to the introduction of the non-professional matter which abounds in his pages. We, however, are not of the number of those cavillers; not merely, because the Doctor was in duty bound to produce a work pretty much akin to his "Spas of Germany," in respect of matter extraneous to his main object; but because what he has thus done will repay the general reader, be a superior guide to the tourist, and above all prove conducive to the welfare of patients. We look upon his sketches of the amusements, the sights, and the recollections connected with each particular place, as being of the nature of prescriptions, as well as enlivening to the reader. Perhaps, indeed, these are almost the only parts of the work that can be safely acted upon without the advice of a physician; for however clearly and minutely the Doctor may describe a mineral spring, we presume, that resorting to it at a wrong stage in the patient's complaint, taking it in undue or insufficient quantities, or perhaps when the waters are of a quality altogether unfit for the particular ailment, may do a harm, which even the change of air, scope for wholesome exercise, and other cheering influences cannot neutralize.

As we have before mentioned, Dr. Granville not only visited and describes the more celebrated spas of the north, such as Harrogate and Scarborough, but the less and little-known to be found in Durham and Sunderland, at Newcastle and Gilsland, &c. We shall first alight with him at Harrogate, and hear something he has to say in favour of its wells. He asks:

"Who can cavil at the nature, genuineness, and efficacy of the Harrogate waters? On the other hand, who has not cavilled, and cavils to this day, at the waters of both Leamington and Cheltenham ? Those of Harrogate are unsophisticated, because the place itself remains as it was? You dip your cup into the fountain-head, and get your strong waters. There is no shuffling, and the mind is convinced at once. Elsewhere you have the complicated machinery of pumps, the ends of whose pipes may terminate Heaven knows where, and you drink in faith, but not in conviction. Harrogate is, in fact, a true and genuine Spa."

The Doctor more than once denounces the system of pumping mineral waters, declaring the system to be decidedly bad, because it has to pass through leaden pipes, and may or rather must be deleteriously affected. There is no instance of the kind in Germany, and perhaps the practice has been adopted in this country, because what costs nothing is lightly esteemed by purse-proud John Bull.

But as we have repeatedly mentioned, our author does not confine himself to medicinal subjects. Take, before we depart from Harrogate, some particulars concerning a ball, and also about inns and company. Speaking of the particular dance, he says:

เ

"The fair exhibited rather to advantage, though almost all of them inconnues. Three or four were decidedly pretty, and a couple of them, perhaps, might have been called élégantes. Indeed, all seemed surprised that so goodly a display should have been brought together at such short notice, considering how few names of any importance there were on the spa books. The thing is done somewhat more speedily, and certainly more gaily, further on in the season-when the regular balls at the Crown, on every Wednesday evening, and at the other principal hotels on other days in the week, take place by mutual agreement; or, whenever, by some sudden frisk or inspiration, The ladies and gentlemen at the Granby or Dragon present their compliments, and request the favour of the company of the ladies and gentlemen at the Crown,' or vice versa. But, on the whole, what I saw may be taken as a fair specimen of all the rest. Dancing is the principal amusement for the company at Harrogate; and it is one that greatly conduces to aid the mineral waters in their effect. There is scarcely any other occupation for the invalid and visiter, except excursions to the neighbourhood, and a promenade, de long en-large, from one well to another. lords of the creation have also the billiard-table and the cigar; the weaker sex, a circulating library; and occasionally a concert is concocted, or an itinerant lecturer comes amongst them to unravel the wonders of the heavens, or display the beauties of nature. These are so many god-sends to shorten ennui, for the preventing of which Harrogate is but ill-provided. And yet no watering place in England ought to have more sources of amusement; for Harrogate is a genuine Spa.'"

The

But further as to the hotels and sorts of company at different periods of the season :—

"The hotels are of two classes; but this division, which was a wellmarked one a few years back, is now dwindled away, from the force and change of circumstances. At one time your opulent Leeds, and Sheffield, and Manchester factors, whose ideas and supreme happiness at a spa were limited to a moderately dear hotel or boarding-house, no more dreamed of stopping at the gates of the Dragon, still less at those of the Granby, for admission, than they would at the palace of my Lord Harewood, by the way, for that purpose. No; they sneaked into the Swan, the White Hart, or the Wellington, or, as the summum bonum, into the Crown, to occupy some