Orontes, the natives having treacherously pointed out a part to him where there was no ford. After travelling slowly along the Phoenician shore, and remaining some time at the house of M. Clerembant, French consul at Sidon-Bruce set sail for Alexandria, where his astronomical instruments were suffered to land without paying any duty, the minister of Ali Bey conceiving a high idea of the magical science of their owner. Of this circumstance Bruce afterwards took advantage, and gained the confidence of the Bey by his superior skill in medicine and prophecy. About this time he first communicated to his friends in the Levant the design he had formed of penetrating into Abyssinia. The difficulties of the enterprize were strongly represented to him, but he was not to be dissuaded from the undertaking. During his attendance on the Bey, Bruce be came acquainted with a Coptic priest, by whom he was recom mended to the patriarch of Alex andria, and procured letters of introduction to the principal Greeks at Gondar. Ali Bey also wrote in his behalf to the sheriff of Mecca, the governor of Massnah, and the king of Senaar. Before he quitted Egypt he made an excursion up the Nile, visited Thebes, Dendera, Syene, and the Cataract, and then joined a caravan, and crossed the Desert between the Nile and the Red Sea, to Cosseir. From Cosseir, Bruce embarked for Tor, on the Arabian side of the gulph, and thence sailed along the coast to Jidda, where he landed on the 3d of May. At Jidda an English factory is established, and Bruce was hospitably entertained by his countrymen. Every exertion was made to forward his designs, and letters of recommendation procured to the king of Abyssinia and the governor of Massnah With all these advantages, the attempt to penetrate into Abyssinia was considered so desperate, that the English at Jidda despaired of the return of the adventurer, and the many narrow escapes which happened to him fully justified their apprehensions. Having already reviewed the travels at considerable length, we shall not follow Mr. Bruce through his long and perilous journey. The event is well known. After exploring the fountains of the Nile, and remaining three years among the most barbarous of all Christian nations, Bruce returned to Europe in 1773-At Marseilles he was received with enthusiasm: Buffon came to congratulate him on his return, and to avail himself of his numerous and beautiful drawings. After residing some time in the south of France, for the recovery of his health, which had suffered severely, from the many hardships he had undergone, he set out for Paris, in company with the Comte de Buffon. Bruce's reception at Paris was highly gratifying to him—his travels became the subject of general conversation, and his company was courted by persons of the first distinction. His health being still unconfirmed he set out for Italy. about the end of July, and remained some time at Bologna. His next excursion, to Rome, was upon rather a singular business :-Before he had left Europe, Bruce seems to have engaged himself to some lady, (whose name is not mentioned) and on his return he seems not a little surprised to find that, while he was seeking the fountains of the Nile, his fair one should have been as successfully employed in seeking another lover. His anger, however, seems rather unjustly directed against the unfortunate husband, whom he challenges, and goes to Rome on purpose to fight. The successful rival, however, very politely, declines the combat, and Mr. Bruce amuses himself at Rome with The curiosity excited by Mr. Bruce's conversation, as might have been expected, was great, and the mode in which he related some of the various adventures he had experienced induced many of those who either envied his reputation or doubted his veracity, to propagate the report that he had never been in Abyssinia. In consequence of this circumstance, he deposited his MSS. in the British Museum; but it does not appear that any body took the trouble to inspect them. Soon after his return to Scotland, Bruce married a Miss Dundas, of Fingask; and during 12 years seems to have enjoyed a great degree of domestic comfort-he commenced the translation of the prophecies of Enoch, from the Abyssinian, but he grew tired of his task, and abandoned it. His chief amusement was shooting, and he kept up little intercouse with literary men, except such as visited him in the country. During the life of his wife he made but little progress in arranging his journals, and it was Hot till her death, in 1785, that, in order to escape from painful recollections, he began seriously to prepare his travels for the press. In 1790 the first edition appeared in quarto. The reception it met with was in every respect flattering to the author, at the same time the periodical publications of the day were filled with abuse and misrepresentation. The raw beef feasts of the Abyssinians afforded great source of amusement to the enemies of Bruce, among the most active of whom Mr. Wortley Montague and the Baron de Tott may be numbered. Among the various letters which were written to Mr. Bruce from eminent men upon the publication of the travels, one from Dr. Blair, (p. 277. et seq.) is, per. haps, the most interesting. It is, however, too long to be extracted. Mr. Bruce was advised by his friends to print a second edition in octavo,and he had made his arrangements for that purpose, when death prevented the execution of his design. On the 26th of April, 1794, having entertained a party at Kinnaird, as he was going down stairs about eight in the evening, and handing a lady to her carriage, he fell headlong from about the seventh step to the ground; he was taken up in a state of insensibility and expired early the next morning. Mr. Murray ascribes the death of Bruce to the fall, but there is every reason to believe that the fall was the consequence of an apoplexy, not the cause of his death. This is still farther confirmed by the circumstance, that no mark of contusion whatever was discovered, except upon his hand. Bruce was six feet four inches in height-his figure well proportioned, and his strength corresponding to his size. His hair was a dark red, his complexion sanguine, his features well formed, his voice strong, his walk stately. He was particularly attentive to his dress, and readily adopted that of the dif ferent nations with whom he had intercourse. Perhaps no man was ever better adapted for the explorer of unknown regions than Brucehe possessed all that activity and strength of body which must excite the admiration of barbarians, and all those acquirements without which a man may travel through the most interesting countries without adding either to his own stock of knowledge or that of others. The facility with which he acquired languages was very great: besides ap acquaintance with most of the European languages, he understood the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syriac; and read and spoke with ease the Arabic, Ethiopic, and Amharic. He had applied, during the greater part of his life, to the study of astronomy and other practical branches of the mathematics. His skill and taste in drawing were acknowledged. With acquirements rarely equalled, and possessor of a comfortable fortune, he devoted a considerable part of life to the ad. vancement of science, and voluntarily exposed himself to incalculable dangers without expectation or de sire of remuneration. The present volume is filled with extracts from Mr. Bruce's journals. Mr. Murray the editor seems to be master of as many languages as Bruce himself, and we trust he will avail himself of this faculty, to publish, what few Europeans are equal to, viz. a literal translation of the Chronicles of the Abyssinian kings, as well as of the book of Enoch. Of the latter work a short view is given in the Appendix. "The translation from the Greek, which is found in the Ethiopic bible, under the name Metsahaf Henoch, is divided into 90 Kefel, or chapters. It begins with this preface: "In the name of God, the merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and of great mercy and holiness. This book is the book of Henoch the prophet. May his blessing and help be with him, who loves him for ever and ever, Amen. Chap. 1. The word of the blessing of Enoch, with which he blessed the chosen and the righteous, that were of old. May it be in the day of temptation a protection against all the evil and wicked. And Enoch lifted up his voice and spake, a holy man of God, while his eyes were open, and he saw a holy vision in the heavens, which the angels revealed to him. And I heard from them every thing, and I understood what I saw." After this follows the history of the angels, of their having descended from heaven, and produced giants with the daughters of men; of their having instructed these giants in the arts of war, and peace, and luxury. The names of the leading spirits are mentioned, which appear to be of Hebrew original, but corrupted by of God to destroy them is then revealed Greek pronunciation. The resolution to Enoch. These topics occupy about translated into English, but, weary of 18 chapters, which Mr. Bruce had the subject, proceeded no further. From the 18th to the 50th chapter, Enoch is led by Uriel and Raphael through a se ries of visions, not much connected with the main subject of the book. He saw the burning valley of the fallen spirits, the paradise of the saints, the utmost ends of the earth, the treasuries of the thunder and lightning, winds, rain, dew. He was led into the place of the geand the angels who presided over these. neral judgment, saw the ancient of days earth before him. At the 52d chap. on his throne, and all the kings of the Noah is said to have been alarmed at the enormous wickedness of mankind, and, fearing vengeance, to have implored the advice of his great-grandfather. Enoch told him, that a flood of waters would destroy the whole race of man, and a flood of fire punish the angels, whom the deluge could not affect. (Chap. 59.) Semeiaza, Artukafa, Arimeen, KakabaThe subject of the angels is resumed. el, Tusael, Ramiel, Danacl, and others, to the amount of twenty, appear at the head of the fallen spirits, and give fresh instances of their rebellious disposition. At Kefel (62) Enoch gives his son Mathusala, a long account of the sun, moon, stars, the year, the months, the winds, and like physical phenomena. This patriarch makes a recapitulation of what takes up eight chapters, after which the remaining 20 chapters are employed on he had uttered in the former pages. The the history of the deluge, Noah's preparations for it, and the success which attended them. The destruction of all flesh, excepting his family, and the execution of Divine vengeance on the angels and their followers, conclude this absurd and romantic work." Did our limits permit we might make many interesting extrac from the journal of Balugani, whic is frequently quoted in the appen, dix. Mr. Murray has been too prolix in his account of the genealogy of Bruce, but though the present volume contains 500 closely printed quarto pages, the reader will not be fatigued with their perusal, Two excellent maps, and some engravings from Mr. Bruce's drawings, are attached to the volume. ART. XV. The Life of Thomas Chatterton. By JOHN DAVIS, Author of “ Travels in America." 8vo. pp. 168. THOUGH the world is crowded with scenes of calamity, we look upon the mass of wretchedness with very little attention, and fix our eyes upon those individuals who are distinguished from the multitude by the eminence of their qualities—so in reading the account of a battle we do not notice the vulgar heaps of slain but follow the hero through all the varieties of his fortune without a thought of the thousands who are falling around him. The misfortunes and misconduct of those men who seem by force of genius, or extent of knowledge, elevated above the rest of their kind, seldom fail of exciting general regret. But it commonly happens that these benevolent feelings are of no service to the object of them, for they do not begin to operate till death has rendered them unavailing. Instances are sufficiently familiar of men, who, during their life time, have been shunned and despised, but when malice could no longer persecute, nor pride insult, their praises have resounded from every quarter, and it seemed as if they had left none but friends behind them in the world. The short period of Chatterton's life did not admit of many reverses, but habitual melancholy and a proud consciousness of his own worth ill fitted him to struggle with poverty; the proportion of misery he endured was therefore great. He lived more in a year than most men in a life, and in the intensity, of enjoyment or of misery compensated for the shortness of its duration. Of all the instances of premature talent which this, or perhaps any country has afforded, Chatterton may be considered the most extraordinary example. We must not, however, conclude that if he had attained the common age of man, the powers of his mind would have increased in the same proportion, or that at the age of 50 he would have been as much superior to his contemporaries as he was at 17. The plant which makes the most rapid shoots does not always become the tallest in the forest. It is not necessary to speculate about what he might have been, we know what he was, and the untimely death of Chatterton will always be a subject of regret to the admirers of genius and the lovers of poetry. Mr. Davis sometime ago published a volume of travels in Americain the advertisement to his present work, he tells us that he has un dertaken the task with no small diligence, and has endeavoured to make his biography agreeable, entertaining, and instructive. It is not wise in an author to raise our expectations too highly, for it rarely happens that splendid promises at the beginning of a work, are equalled in the execution of it. Mr. Davis appears to have been ignorant of several important circumstances connected with the history of Chatterton, and has not stated what he knew in the most agreeable form. Thomas Chatterton was the posthumous son of a charity schoolmaster in Bristol. His father was succeeded in the school by a Mr. Love, to whom when five years old Chatterton was sent to learn to read, but the master considered him so dull a boy that he gave up the task of instructing him. Mrs. Chatterton observing her son to be much amused by the ornamented capitals of an old music book, took advantage of that circumstance to teach him his letters, and with the aid of a black letter bible soon succeeded. At eight years old Chatterton was admitted into Colston's blue coat charity school at Bristol. The usher of this school, Mr. Philips, was a writer of verses for some of the magazines, and his example was imitated by some of the older boys when only eleven years and five months old the following satire upon a man who became a methodist from mercenary motives, was written by Chatterton. APOSTATE WILL. "In days of old, when Wesley's pow'r Shall make me from this sect retreat. "He then his circumstance declar'd, How hardly with him matters far'd; Begg'd him next meeting for to make A small collection for his sake. The preacher said, do not repine, The whole collection shall be thine. "With looks demure and cringing bows, About his business strait he goes; His outward acts were grave and prim, name; He was a preacher and what not, As long as money could be got; He'd oft profess with holy fire, The labourer's worthy of his hire. "It happened once upon a time, When all his works were in their prime, A noble place appear'd in view, Then-to the methodists adieu; The Protestants serve best for he. A Methodist no more he'll be, Then to the curate strait he ran, And thus address'd the rev'rend man: "I was a Methodist, 'tis true, With penitence I turn to you; sent To take the place he quickly went, Chatterton remained at this school till he was fourteen years and a half old, and was at that time considered by the master as a boy possessed of no uncommon abilities. The love of solitude and eccentric habits he manifested, were attributed to dullness-his sister says he was sometimes so gloomy that for many days together he would say very little, and that by constraint. The little pocket money Mrs. Chatterton allowed her son was spent in hiring books from the circulating library, which he read during the hours allotted for play. Before he was twelve years old, Chatterton made a catalogue of the books he had read, amounting to seventy, chiefly on the subject of history and divinity. At twelve years of and the ceremony made a deep age he was confirmed by the bishop impression on his mind; about that chapter of Job, some chapters of time he paraphrased the ninth Isaiah, and wrote a satire on his upper master Mr. Warner. His mother remarked that he became more cheerful after he began to write poetry. When he left school, |