as the magnitude of the events is gone. A bad writer would have thought it necessary to proceed with the same pathes. For the time about the end of the war, and during the tyranny, Thucydides would have re-assumed his sublimity; but the epoch of protracted sufferance during the undecided contest needed a narrative of a more gentle tone.

He, who supposes that a Syracusan, Themistogenes, wrote the history of the Anabasis, but not the one which bears the name of Xenophon, must also believe, that the latter wrote his Anabasis. later than the Hellenica, but when much advanced in age. But the Anabasis has not the stamp of an old writer, but of a much younger one than the Hellenica.

Does the name Themistogenes allude to the son of a prince, to Dionysius?

TRANSACTIONS of the ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE of the United Kingdom. VoL. I. PART I. 4to: pp. 227. Printed by A. J. VALPY, and sold by J. MURRAY, London, Pr. 21. 2s.

THAT a Society for promoting the general objects of literature should not have been formed, in this country, before the nineteenth century, is surely more extraordinary, than that such an institution should have been established at length, under the liberal patronage of his present Majesty. A large and respectable branch of literary inquiry is indeed comprehended under the objects of the Society of Antiquaries; but languages, inscriptions, manuscripts, criticism, particularly in classical subjects, and other topics of general literature, still wanted the encouragement of a society devoted to these objects. This is now provided: and the munificence of George the Fourth has added to it the means of giving honorary rewards to literary merit, and of adding to the comforts of a few distinguished authors, for whom learning and ingenuity have not yet made adequate provision.

Such is, briefly, the nature of that Society, the first part of whose Transactions is now to be considered. In forming this society, the example of those institutions in foreign countries, which are supported by the public resources of the state, could not here, for obvious reasons, be followed. The Royal

Society of Literature has therefore been modelled after the plan of that highly distinguished body which has rendered such inestimable services to philosophy; and which has properly. been followed by many other societies. Members are similarly elected, under regulations of the same kind; and, at the periodical meetings of the Society, papers on literary subjects are read ; a selection from which is occasionally published; and the present volume, or half volume, forms the first result of these labors.

The variety of subjects here included sufficiently illustrates the extended views of the Society. In the compass of sixteen articles, we here find large inquiries into the affinities of languages; accounts of curious manuscripts of different dates; the history of discoveries made in ancient Greek Mss.; historical and geographical researches; illustrations of coins, and the cities which produced them; the elucidation of a most curious ancient edict; a theoretical treatise on political economy; and, finally, a most learned and curious account of hieroglyphi-: cal monuments, brought from Egypt, with correct delineations of the objects themselves. Yet this is only a specimen, and an early specimen, of the papers communicated to the Society; and, as it happens, exclusively by its own members: though learned papers, from any other competent persons would doubtless be received, and duly considered. A brief account of the papers comprised in this portion of the Literary Transactions will doubtless be acceptable to many of our readers.

The first memoir is historical, and materially elucidates a doubtful part of our national records, by means of a remarkable fact discovered by Mr. GRANVILLE PENN, in an old French Ms. obtained by him at Lille in 1819. It will be the more generally acceptable, as throwing light on the character of our most popular monarch, Henry V.

It is known, from the Chronicles of Monstrelet, that, on his death-bed, this warlike prince made a solemn declaration of having intended, after settling matters in France, to proceed on a war for recovering Jerusalem out of the hands of the Infidels. Of the few English historians who have noticed this declaration, Hume alone treats it as a late and feeble resolve, unworthy of the character of Henry, and not even practicable at that period. Mr. Penn effectually proves that both these assertions are unfounded. But, what is most important, he shows, from this Ms., that so far from being a late and feeble resolve, it was a project towards which Henry had taken actual steps three years before he thus avowed it; for the Ms. here

described is found to contain "a succinct military survey of the coasts and defences of Egypt and Syria, from Alexandria to Gallipoli," made by a noble knight, Gilbert de Lannoi, confidentially sent by Henry, for that purpose, three years before his death; but completed too late to be delivered to the king. This Ms. was evidently intended as an official report; for it is a 4to volume, finely written, on vellum, richly illuminated, and altogether fit to be presented to a sovereign. It consists of 26 divisions or chapters, the subjects of which are here enumerated; and sufficiently show the care with which the king's commission had been executed.

That this Ms. had so long remained unnoticed, is the more remarkable, as another copy has been found by Mr. P. to exist in the Bodleian Library, among the Hatton Mss, This copy, after examination, the present writer concludes to have been intended for the king, rather than the other. This conclusion is very fairly drawn from the circumstance, that “the introduction, by enlarging the style of Henry, and making no mention of the Duke of Burgundy," appears to have been intended for the Crown of England. "The other, by abridging that style, and introducing that of the Duke of Burgundy, shows that it was designed to remain in Flanders, where it was obtained" by Mr. Penn. This opinion is further confirmed by comparing the form of the two Mss. For, though the writing and decorations completely resemble each other, yet the size and condition of the Oxford Ms. is much superior to the other. Lannoi was a confidential servant of the Duke of Burgundy. An erroneous entry of the Ms. in the Bodleian catalogue is properly corrected by Mr. Penn.

Thus is the invidious remark of Hume completely repelled; and it becomes certain, that our English hero had long meditated the enterprise, which he so late made known; acting according to that character of prudence, which is justly given to him by Hall; that," of his devices, few persons, before the thing was at the point to be done, should be made privy." He had," that historian adds, "such wit, such prudence, and such policy, that he never enterprised any thing before he had fully debated, and foreseen all the chances that might happen.' In this manner, and with this caution, he had evidently begun to prepare for his intended crusade. It is too much the practice of historians, assuming to be philosophical, to reason on their own notions, rather than on those of the times they are describing; and such was clearly the error of Hume in the present instance.

Six papers, by Mr. SHARON TURNER, are employed in the endeavour to investigate the affinities of languages. His object is to illustrate, and in some degree to confirm, the account of the dispersion of mankind, and the confusion of tongues, as given in the Mosaic history; by showing that, after all the causes of diversity, which have been operating for more than 40 centuries, there are still similarities existing in all languages, in sounds employed to express the same things, sufficient to justify the inference, that they were all originally derived from one common origin. The extent to which this inquiry is carried, and the vast variety of dialects thus compared, defy all attempt at abridgment; and these papers must be studied, with a diligence nearly approaching to that of the author, before a correct judgment of them can be formed.

The eighth memoir contains some curious remarks on the great river Euphrates, by Sir WILLIAM OUSELEY; the result of observations made by him in those regions, and of his extensive knowlege of the oriental languages.'

We next meet with an historical account of the discoveries which have been made by means of palimpsest, or re-written. manuscripts, drawn up by Archdeacon NARES, one of the VicePresidents. It must appear surprising to any one who had not previously attended to the subject, how much has been done by this species of inquiry within a few years; authoris ing a very fair hope that, by a further pursuit of the same methods, discoveries still more important may hereafter be effected. Lost works, or parts of works, by Isocrates, Livy, Cicero, Symmachus, Plautus, and others, have thus been recovered: a very considerable part of the writings of Fronto, the Cicero of Hadrian's reign, has thus been snatched from the wreck of time;-so much, indeed, as, with the necessary illustrations, to form two Svo. volumes. But, what is more to be valued, very ancient transcripts and translations of the sacred books have been found thus to have lain concealed for centuries under the writings of monkish or barbarous authors. As objects much more important than criticism depend sometimes on the various readings of those books, it cannot be denied, that such inquiries may eventually turn out to be of the highest importance. The names of the chief investigators in this line are Knittel, Bruns, Barret, (not the first discoverer, but the first publisher, of the Coder Ephrem,) and Signor Angelo Mai,

Both Mr. Turner and Sir Wm. Ouseley are Royal Associates of this Society.

of Milan, and since of Rome. The last indeed, by unwearied and almost incredible assiduity, has performed much more than all the rest united. Insomuch that the chief part of this memoir is occupied in tracing the labors of this able scholar; to whom, as a just reward for his eminent services to literature, the first gold medal of this Society was adjudged.

The introduction to this memoir is that part which will best convey the purport of it to the general reader. Any other part would be a mere fragment of the history.

The value of ancient manuscripts has long been rightly estimated, and they have accordingly been collected and preserved with care, in every part of Europe. For a time, indeed, after the invention of printing, it was thought that, when the contents of a manuscript had been copied, and multiplied by that wonderful art, the original was rendered useless. But, as manuscripts of the same work often differ from each other, it was found necessary to examine and collate a number of them, to ascertain the preferable readings; without which previous care, no new edition of an ancient work can now be well received. Such is the most direct and obvious use of ancient manuscripts, and such in general the most important labor of an editor.

But, on a more minute examination of a certain class of manuscripts, it appeared, that some among them might have a value hitherto unsuspected, by supplying portions of more ancient copies than were known before, and even portions of more important works supposed to be entirely lost. These were manuscripts in which an attempt had been made to obliterate some more ancient writing, that the parchment might be used again, to receive another work. This practice was not uncommon in the darker ages, before and after the 13th century, when the material was scarce and dear, and the older works either not understood, or not duly esteemed. But the endeavor to wash out or erase the first writing had often so far failed, that an attentive eye could, with more or less difficulty, discover the traces of the older letters, and even decipher the words. Manuscripts of respectable antiquity were thus found sometimes to conceal within themselves others, some centuries older, and often of much superior interest and value. These manuscripts therefore, received from the learned the name of Palimpsest, or Rescript,' from having been twice cleaned, or twice written; and became most worthy and interesting objects of investigation.

The ancients also had the term Palimpsest; but they applied it only to leaves or books, so prepared, that one writing could easily be expunged to admit another; and these were used by authors for correcting their works, or submitting them to revision. They are thus mentioned by Plutarch,2 Catullus, and Cicero. The poet particularly ridicules a bad author, for not writing his crude works at first on palimpsests, but entering them at once in fine and costly books. The palimpsests, now to be considered, are of much superior importance.

3

From Tά and faw, to wipe or cleanse.

2 De Garrul, viii. 9. Ed. Reiske.

Ep. ad Fam. viii. 18.

3 Carm. xxii. 5.