There is no indication of any great Indian peninsula. The river Indus begins to be navigable at Caspatyrus, and flows to the east [Book iv. 44]; a proper consideration of this will show us, as Niebuhr remarks, that the Northern Indians of Herodotus are north of the higher stream of his Indus, and the Southern Indians south of it; the region near the lower waters of the great river is a sandy waste.

The Caspian Sea of Herodotus is a lake, and not, like the Caspian Sea of Strabo, connected with the Northern Ocean; it is impossible to say accurately how far his notions of the length and breadth were exact, nor does it appear certain, as Niebuhr remarks, that he makes its greatest length to lie from north

to south.

Herodotus sees no propriety in dividing the world into three parts, and giving to these divisions female names; according to him the world is one.-Book iv. 45.

Niebuhr has not observed that the Libya of Herodotus is the completion of the second acte: the description of part of which, along its Mediterranean limits, he finds inexplicable [p. 24]. An acte should be bounded by water except on one side, but this is not the case with the second acte, unless we add Libya to it, which, as we shall presently see, Herodotus recognized as an island, all but the Isthmus of Suez. "Now Libya," he says [Book iv. 41]," is in the other (the second) acte, for Libya immediately follows Egypt; and close to Egypt the acte is very contracted, for from this sea (the Mediterranean) to the Erythrean (the Red Sea) the distance is only one thousand stadia ;* but after this point the acte, called Libya, becomes very broad," by which he means its direction from north to south.

Now Libya completes the second acte, being surrounded by water, according to his notions, except at the Isthmus of Suez. Herodotus asserts [Book i. 202], that the Erythrean Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic beyond the Pillars of Hercules, are one; and [Book iv. 42] he describes the circumnavigation of Africa by the Phoenicians in the reign of Necos king of Egypt.

Niebuhr has no remarks on this voyage, the discussion of which hardly belongs to his plan. Major Rennel has examined it with great care and minuteness, and almost convinces us that a real voyage of circumnavigation was made.

The notions of Herodotus respecting the Nile and its course are connected with his system respecting the course of the Danube; and in this instance there is some difficulty in explain

This is a considerable error. See Rennel Geogr. Herod. p. 450.

west beyond Cape Soloeis, as it really does; Herodotus, however, imagines Soloeis to be the most western point [Book iv. 43]; and the coast south of it, whenever it takes a turn, must be supposed to incline towards the east. This explanation will tend to keep Libya within the moderate bounds which Herodotus assigns to it. It is doubtful if Herodotus was well acquainted with the great bend on the north coast of Libya, which forms the district of Carthage; Niebuhr assumes that he did know it, but we find no indication of this except where he mentions the acte of the Lotophagi.

The Macrobii Æthiopes dwell on the southern sea, on that projecting part of Libya which lies opposite to Arabia, and perhaps forms the most southern part of the Libyan acte.

Another important point in the general geographical system that remains to be discussed, is the figure of Scythia. Herodotus was a great traveller in this country, and was acquainted from personal observation with the relative positions of the rivers between the Ister and the Borysthenes. It should be observed that he knew the course of the Pruth, the Dniester, and the Tyras to tend generally to the south, and it is not surprising that he imagines the same direction for the Ister, which river, it is most probable from his narrative, that he never saw. Thrace, he remarks, lies in front of Scythia, and its coast forms a bay or hollow (koλπoç); then comes Scythia, which presents two sides of a square to the Sea. Each side of this square measures 4,000 stadia. From the mouth of the Ister to the Tauric acte, is one side of his square, which is turned towards the south, or rather a point between south and south west: at the point of the Tauric Chersonese the Eastern coast commences, and is bounded by the Cimmerian Bosporus and the Mæotis; the Mæotis, according to Herodotus, is as large as the Euxine, and its length lies from south to north-at its northern extremity the Tanais (Don) flows into it.

The relative positions of the rivers between the Ister and the Borysthenes are given by Herodotus with accuracy; the geography of the Tanais and the regions north and east of this river is connected with the marvellous Scythian expedition of Darius, which in the narrative of Herodotus is filled with geographical impossibilities.

When the situation and figure of Scythia are understood, we comprehend the description of Thrace: this country, according to Herodotus, is of great extent; it runs from the Euxine along the Ister in its northern course, and extends also along the banks of that river from east to west. Thus Herodotus becomes intelligible when he says that the regions north of Thrace and

beyond the Danube are unknown, and uninhabitable from cold [Book v. 9. 10.] His Thrace lies west of his Scythia.

We have endeavoured to describe the general notions of Herodotus on the figure of the earth, and the relative position of its great divisions; and in general the ideas here developed are the same as Niebuhr's. The dissertation, though short and incomplete, contains materials for reflection and research; and even where it is not satisfactory, it is still instructive and ingenious. A careful perusal of it (and it must be a very careful perusal, for it is occasionally rather difficult to seize the exact meaning) cannot fail to point out the kind of spirit in which ancient books should be studied. At present they are dead letters, and like a church ritual are read and re-read till they cease to interest, or to be intelligible. It may be asked by some why we should take such pains to ascertain the erroneous conceptions of a Greek who wrote above two thousand years ago. The answer is, that the investigation pleases some people just as much as the guessing a riddle, or solving an intricate mathematical problem delights others; and that it is as practically useful as a great many speculations which employ the learned leisure of a great many people.

ART. V. Southennan, by John Galt, Esq. author of "Lawrie Todd," "The Annals of the Parish," &c. &c. London. Colburn and Bentley. 1830.

WHETHER it be that Mr. Galt understands much better

the secrets of the woods of Canada than the arcana of palaces, we do not know; but it is most certain that he has made the history of Lawrie Todd the nail-maker, ten thousand times more interesting than that of Mary Queen of Scots. It is true, Lawrie was a more useful and respectable person than the said queen, and much better deserving the sympathy of mankind; but we do not believe this to be the only reason why his biography, as we took pains to shew, is a very charming book, and Southennan, which is a portion of hers, a very dull one. The cause lies probably in the difference between a labour of love and a labour of lucre. Lawrie Todd was the solace and occupation of a remote and secluded residence, while Southennan, it may be guessed, has been written amidst the bustle of London, and in such uneasy retirement as man can snatch from the numerous and imperious engagements of a great capital. But the failures, even, of a man of genius are worth recording out of respect, therefore, to the two works which the VOL. XIII.-Westminster Review.

2 A

author has placed in his title-page we shall render a short account of Southennan.

Mary, Queen of Scots, about whose character so much idle controversy has been carried on, had successively two secretaries, the one a young Frenchman, Chatelard, who was executed for a supposed design upon her person, and David Rizzio, the Italian musician, who was assassinated in her presence by some Scotch noblemen, under the sanction of Mary's husband, Darnley. These two persons are the heroes of Southennan; and their fatal connexion with the queen its subject. The historical materials relative to the primitive history of the parties are scanty, the greater scope, therefore, for the imagination of the inventor; the few circumstances that are known are of a romantic character, and consequently, the mind of the reader is favourably and credulously disposed towards the inventor of incidents of a similar nature. These propitious qualities have, however, attracted such a crowd of embroiderers and embellishers, that not only the plain facts are already buried under ornaments, but the very subject has become nauseous and revolting. What novelty might be put into it, Mr. Galt has probably succeeded in infusing; .nevertheless, the oft-told tale is wearisome enough. Boys at school, when they introduce Alexander and Clitus into their themes, are fined for the barrenness of their information; and, truly, novelists who can write tales about Mary of Scotland, ought to be driven even from the circulating library in disgrace. Robertson began the romance, let Galt end it. Kings and Queens are a class who have done much mischief in life, but it must be allowed that poets and novelists have taken ample revenge after their death. The “ right divine to govern wrong "is scarcely a compensation for being made the puppets of every scribbler who chooses to move the royal wires. It is lucky, however, that few can do their deceased majesties an injustice, such is the corrupting influence of power upon character. Mr. Galt has made his puppet all purity and innocence, and sinned against, but not sinning, and has thus omitted making the only good use that could be made of such a subject: viz. that of shewing how much private misfortune arose out of misgovernment, and of what very slight importance were the crimes imputed to Mary, in relation to the only rational object in maintaining either of king or queen, viz. the happiness of the people. The graceful, the serious, and refined, are qualities we are not disposed to consider the most familiar habits of Mr. Galt's mind: in attempting, therefore, the delineation of his view of Mary's character, and that of her court, he has hit very wide of the mark. His notions of courtly elegance

are certainly not those of their time, if, indeed, they are of any period. His Mary is a goddess, and her ladies are angels. Chatelard and Rizzio are attendant spirits-evil ones it is true, such as might be supposed to minister in the court of Calypso. Into the other personages who figure in the story, the author has failed to breathe the breath of life, infernal or supernal: they are mere brute matter: all except the dwλov of the old earl of Morton, which, because he was of "a gritty humour' truly Scotch, and well understood by Mr. Galt, is charmingly represented. Rude and unscrupulous in his purpose, wily in his schemes, coarse in his expressions, and yet playful and humorous, and, when he chooses, biting in his banter, the character of Morton is the only part which throws a kind of uncertain and lurid light over the work. At the council-table, in the closet, or in action, he is ever ready with a joke or a jeer, the more tranchant because the sarcasm is always based in shrewdness and truth.

On occasion of the discovery of Chatelard under the bed of Mary, the Council deliberate on the steps to be taken; the expression of Morton's opinion is a fair sample of the author's talent in playing off this sturdy old thane.

"My lords," said the Earl of Morton, with his characteristic familiarity, when the examination was finished, "my lords, we shouldna' make twa bites of a cherry. That the hempie was found aneath the Queen's bed is proven; but that shews no animus. Now, unless we can make out what he was doing there, I canna' see wherein the treason lies; for surely, as some of your Lordships weel ken, its no sic a miraculous thing to catch a lad hidden in a young woman's chamber. My word, the fallow has a gude taste. But to speak in a solemn manner, as reverence for the Queen's Majesty requires we should do, I think he might have been there by an accident. Wha can gainsay that? Or he might hae been looking for a curiosity, and hearing the Queen and her giggling leddies coming in, might hae crept in aneath the bed out o' sight, to make his escape at a mair convenient season. 'Deed, my lords! though no man can respec' the observance of a strict morality more than I do, yet this is a question that has twa sides, and it behoves us to take care in doing justice that we dinna' offend the Queen. My mind, and I hae had in my day some preeing of human nature, and of womankind, is an opinion, that we maybe would best consult discretion if we remitted the whole tot of the concern to be dealt with by her Majesty as in her wisdom and chastity she may see fit."

"At this declaration the Count Dufroy addressed the Chancellor, and informed him of the injunctions he had received from the Queen to deal in this affair with the most rigorous adherence to the law.

"Weel," said Morton, "that changes my opinion. I doubt, Monsieur Chatelard, ye're in a bad way; for, as ye didna' please her Majesty, we, as ye hae heard, can do naething mair for your gude than to send