West Indian Colonies are painted in a deep red color to intimate what they please to term the sanguinary nature of the system of society there.* Paltry as this expedient is, it is not without effect in adding force to the prejudices of the public against West Indians, and at least preparing the minds of the multitude to receive with approbation and applause the denunciations which are periodically poured forth at county and tavern meetings against the unfortunate Colonists. The name of the West Indies becomes inevitably associated with ideas of misery and suffering which render the very mention of it distasteful to the common reader. Coleridge's pleasant work, "The Six Months in the West Indies," was of incalculable effect in sweeping away a host of these notions. People read and found with astonishment that there was as much of laughter, mirth, merriment, and social happiness, under a West Indian as under an English sky; and, indeed, at that time their own sufferings compelled them to believe, what Coleridge so distinctly asserted of the superior degree of comfort enjoyed by the Negroes over the laboring classes in England. The work before us we consider as a companion to Coleridge's, as it contains representations of the scenery which that fascinating writer described so enthusiastically and so well. The first number at present alone has been published, containing two views in the Island of Antigua, one in St. Christopher, and one in St. Vincent. They are tastefully and spiritedly executed, and afford very pleasing representations of the external features of the islands of which Coleridge has given such animated descriptions. That in the island of St. Christopher's is peculiarly striking and romantic, and gives a very good idea of the scenery which was so enchanting, that the captain's clerk, as Coleridge relates, "wondered that Colon, who was so Blasphemy and folly go hand in hand to slander the Colonists. A vamped-up story of cruelty has been the subject of an engraving; and a song, which has been very extensively circulated-among others, each member of parliament was favoured with a copy of both papers. We give the song, as it is a curiosity. Anger, Grief, and Indignation! Every righteous passion come! Drive the fiend of desolation, Britons, burn with hallow'd fury At the tale of Afric's woes, When her daughters, lash'd and gory-- (Blush ye heav'ns, my heart o'er flows!)!!! Cursed lash! thy fall resounding, Bursts the fountain of our eyes! Monster-men! your crimes, abounding, Shall the hapless Negro-mother, Or, in speechless sorrow, smother Pangs which fiercer hearts would break? England, weep! though not by weeping Can thy guilt be purified : Prostrate thou, for pardon seeking, delighted with this island, as to give it his own name, should not "have made a full stop on his shores." All those who are in possession of the "Six Months," will, we think, feel very strongly tempted to possess themselves also of these "Views;" but we very much fear that the West Indians are by far too much reduced in pride and properties, to give to such a work as this the patronage and support which it amply deserves, and which, in better days, they would most infallibly have bestowed. Melancholy it is indeed to think of the prejudice and fanaticism which are now assiduously at work in endeavouring to enumerate the destruction of West Indian influence and prosperity. The present proprietors of Slaves are innocent of the guilt of the system, and have for years been employed in the task of ameliorating the condition of the unfortunate beings committed to their charge. The testimony of Coleridge, and a thousand others, is adduced to shew how humane is the general treatment of the Slaves by their masters; and yet it is upon those who are endeavouring to atone for the guilt of the nation, that the Abolitionists are imprecating the vengeance of God and man. They do not disguise their object. The 22nd number of the Anti-Slavery Reporter has just fallen into our hands, where we find the writer avowing, that it is the wish of himself and his party to destroy the cultivation of the sugar in the West Indies---to drive every West Indian proprietor from all the enjoyments of legislature, rank, influence, and property, in the Mother Country. And yet these men will talk of conscience and humanity! THE HIEROGLYPHICS. Miratur, rerumque ignarus imagine gaudet.-VIRG. 'Egad! I think the interpreter is the harder to be understood of the two.-OLD PLAY. There are at present no less than six different systems of interpreting the Hieroglyphics. In a recent work, by Dr. Sickler*, we have met with a classification of them, which is curious enough. We subjoin it here, with a few remarks of our own; and we are confident that our readers will share in our admiration for the learned personages, who claim the merit of their invention, and in a due sense of the ignorance under which we have hitherto been laboring on these subjects. The first question, of course, is this: what language is intended to be expressed by the signs called Hieroglyphics? Some of the systems which we shall quote, are built upon the supposition, that they express merely an ideal language, which was never spoken; that they are signs of things, not of names or sounds. Others again think, that they have discovered words which are found in the Coptic language, and that, therefore, they must be deciphered by Coptic scholarship. Dr. Sickler himself is inclined to the opinion, that the books * Ueber die Priester-Sprache der alten Egypter. Hildburghausen. 1826. of the Semitic dialects (of which the Hebrew is one) would furnish the long wished-for clue. The first system of interpreting the Hieroglyphical signs is commonly called the figurative. It maintains, that by the signs were intended to be expressed the immediate objects, of which they present a likeness. So that a likeness of a dog signifies a dog, and that of a cat, a cat; and that "the head and front," of their meaning "hath "this extent, no more." Now this would, at first, appear sensible enough; only it throws cold water on all our sanguine hopes of ever learning all about the sense of those mysterious writings, seeing that they have no sense at all. The second system is the symbolical. By this system the images by no means represent the object of which they present a physical likeness, but "More is meant than meets the eye." This would, in some measure, agree with a tropical and figurative mode of speech; for instance, when Shylock says "Stop my house's ears, I mean my casements." Of this system of interpretation, which is old, we shall present our readers with a remarkable specimen from Plutarch (de Is. et Osir. c.. 32.) "In the porch of the temple of Minerva, at Sais," says Plutarch, "the following figures are to be seen: first, an infant; next to him “ stands an old man; after him follows a hawk; then a fish; last of "all a sea-horse; the meaning of all which is plainly this: O! you "who are coming into the world, and who are going out of it, (that is, both young and old) God hateth impudence! For, by the infant is intended all those who are coming into life; by the old man, those who are going out of it; by the hawk, God; by the fish, hatred, on account of the sea, as has been before observed; and by the sea-horse, impudence." all The third system is called the phonetic and paronomatic, the first of which names our readers are aware, implies that it consists of vocal sounds; and the second, that it rests on the very ancient and antediluvian art of punning. For Dr. Sickler strongly maintains that the venerable personages who wrote down the invaluable, though to us partly illegible, documents of Egyptian wisdom, had frequent recourse to the paronomatic figure, which is the Greek, and a very decent expresion too, for a pun. When they intended to express the name, whether of persons or things, they frequently hit upon a similar sound, which signified another and more palpable object, and wrote its likeness instead. In that way they used to treat not only the most sublime metaphysical ideas, but even the names of their Pharaos; and such being the case, we really cannot see what reason of offence it should give to Mr. Brougham, for instance, if the same liberty is taken with his name in the hieroglyphics of the day. The fourth system is the ideological---the names are improving, as we go on; but we must say, that it strikes us as rather complicate. According to this principle, if the Egyptian priests meant to designate an object, they first analysed its different properties and predicaments, and then expressed them severally by separate images, so that different signs belong to one and the same subject. The fifth is the protophonetic system. This is still more curious. According to it, in a system of English hieroglyphical writing, the likeness of a cat would stand for the letter C, because the word begins by the same letter*. The two last mentioned systems act a principal part in the interpretations devised by Dr. Young and M. Champollion. The sixth and latest system is that of Messrs. Spohn and Seyffarth. According to this system, the hieroglyphics are neither more nor less than embellished characters of an alphabet used by the priests, just as we have an elegant alphabet, of which the characters present select views in Great Britain, and several curiosities of the same kind, published, we believe, by Mr. Harris, St. Paul's Churchyard. Professor Seyffarth is of opinion, that the alphabet in question consists of 6000 characters, of which he modestly states, that 3000 only have yet been ascertained. We strongly recommend to our readers, to examine the specimens in the eighth and ninth rooms of the British Museum, and, in Christian charity, to give Professor Seyffarth their assistance in ascertaining the remaining three thousand characters of his alphabet. As to ourselves, we confess, that we have been put in mind of rather a ludicrous scene in one of Kotzebue's plays. A village schoolmaster examines his flock in geography. "Hans, which is the exact height of Mount "Sinai?" Sir, I believe ten thousand feet. "You're an ignoramus, "Hans, and shall be flogged for it. Michel, can you tell ?"---" No, sir, "I can't tell." "That's as bad. Heiner, can you?" Why, sir, nobody "can tell." "That's a good boy. Why, to be sure, nobody can tell "how high Mount Sinai is. Could not you have known that before, you blockheads?" THOU HAST SAID MY LOVE WAS ALL A DREAM. Thou hast said my Love was all a dream---if so, it would depart,--- When others praise the summer's sun---the buds and flowers of spring, I think how dear the wintry hours, when snow hangs on the tree, And others talk of noon-day's glow, or morning's crimson glance, Oh awful is the sound of waves that dash against the shore, This is the same way in which the Chinese spell their names. A DREAM AT THE LONDON DEBATING SOCIETY. I went the other day into the London Debating Society, where I sat some time listening to the speakers. The subject under discussion was, which form of government was best, and whether the alterations which ours had received since its first institution had much contributed to its improvement. The debate was conducted with great warmth on both sides, but, whether it was that an unusual drowsiness overtook me, or that the subject interested me but little, I fell asleep in the midst of it, and was entertained with as extravagant a dream as ever possessed the imagination of an enthusiast. I was standing in the most lovely plain that eye ever dwelt upon. It was for the most part level, though occasionally varied with gentle. inequalities, which rose and subsided like the undulations of a calm sea. Lawns were enamelled with silken flowers. Harvests raised their heads as if in pride of springing from such a favored territory. The trees were besprinkled with gold. Streams sparkled in meanders. The bounties of nature had been poured forth, and the hand of art employed; and each seemed to vie for superiority, in the land which both variegated. I heard the song of labor, and the laugh of merriment. Universal happiness wooed the sight. Aromatic gales breathed repose upon the soul; and I felt every emotion of pleasure. As I was enjoying myself in this delicious spot, my attention was diverted to a Vehicle of so curious a fashion, that it was unlike any thing I had ever seen before. It was low at one end, but rose gradually towards the other, until it had attained a considerable elevation, when it suddenly shot upwards to a pinnacle, which fell from behind in a precipice. The Vehicle must have been the work of several centuries, as it was constructed in various styles of building, according to the tastes of different ages, which formed an odd contrast to each other. The body was chiefly Saxon, with a little mixture of Gothic, and the wheels it turned upon, which were very wide and strong, were of the same architecture. The other parts of it were more modern and ornamental; but, notwithstanding the beauty of some of them, and the art by which they were constructed, I could not help fancying they were somewhat tinselly, and on no account worthy of an unison with the rough and stately grandeur of the body. Though antiquity, novelty, elegance, and uncouthness, were thus fantastically intermingled, and wrought into a motley group, the Vehicle, upon the whole, was wonderfully imposing. It was, perhaps, the more so from a sort of indistinctness; and, like the figure of Death in Milton, was carried further into the sublime, by the imagination being left at liberty to wander into conjectures about it. "The---shape, If shape it might be call'd, that shape had none Or substance might be call'd that shadow seem'd, For each seem'd either; |