on uncultivated ground. Before the hill great trees are planted, through which one sees the country, the water and the sky. Leo. But that sky,-how have you managed it?

• Pouss. It is a fine blue, mixed with bright clouds, that look like gold and silver.

Leo. What is there in the middle of the picture, beyond the river?

Pouss. A town, which I have already mentioned. It is in a hollow, which conceals part of it. There are old towers, battlements, large buildings, and a confusion of houses in strong shadow; which relieves certain parts, lighted by a soft bright light from above. Above the town appears what one almost always sees above great cities in fine weather-the rising smoke, sending off the mountains, which form the back-ground: these mountains, of irregular shapes, vary the horizon, so that the eye is satisfied.' pp. 170-176.

We must now take our leave of Mrs. Graham's work, which is evidently borrowed from foreign sources, and betrays an idiom far remote from the purity and the force of our language. We shall only attempt to sum up our own notions concerning the style and character of this great Artist.

Poussin seems to have had a great contempt for the mere art of pleasing. Hence, he disdained the vulgar limits of imitation and colouring, so bewitching in the Dutch, and so dazzling in the Venetian school, and advanced intrepidly into the regions of the imagination. He marched with the might and confidence of a conqueror conscious of his powers, and soon established his dominion over our fancies and sympathies by the transcendent grandeur and energy of his conceptions, the thrilling expression of passionate feeling, and that elevated and beautiful character of natural and artificial scenery, which are combined in his principal pieces. Less soft and graceful than Guido, his figures extort, rather than win our admiration. Less wild and terrible than Salvator Rosa, less glowing and voluptuous than Claude, he seems to occupy an intermediate rank between these great masters, by the chaste simplicity of his grouping, and the dignified repose of his landscape.

But his peculiar and distinctive characteristic was, the antique and poetical air of his compositions. This resulted naturally from his familiarity with the ancients, their mythology, their fables, their ceremonies and customs. He worshipped all the relics of Grecian art which were accessible to him, and dedicated his genius so entirely to the spirit of antiquity, that his creations seem to have but little affinity with earthly things, but rather to spring from a glowing, a refined, and a poetical fancy, gifted with that elasticity of genius which extends its grasp to the utmost confines of the ideal world. Human ambition cannot, however, transcend human powers. The soul, essentially infinite and immaterial, must, by the condition of mortality, depend

on the

agency of our grosser organs; and these are so feeble, so insufficient to her great purposes, that the pursuit of one excellence necessarily involves the abandonment of another. Hence it arises, that, in the schools of painting, every perfection is shadowed, as it were, with its neighbouring defect. The defects of Poussin were, hardness of delineation, and negleet of colouring and chiaroscuro; or, in the plain English of this term, the artificial distribution of light and shade; very serious defects, and deserving of critical condemnation, if we were not disarmed of judicial severity by the difficulties of the task, and our admiration of the achievements of this singular genius.

Art. III. History of the Indian Archipelago. Containing an Account of the Manners, Arts, Languages, Religions, Institutions, and Commerce of its Inhabitants. By John Crawfurd, F.R S. late British Resident at the Court of the Sultan of Java. With Maps and Engravings. In 3 Vols. 8vo. pp. 1637. Price 21. 12s. 6d. London. 1820.

HE position of the magnificent assemblage of islands which is most usually known by the somewhat unhappily chosen name of the Indian Archipelago, is singularly advantageous and commanding. Lying directly athwart the grand opening through which the internavigation of the most civilized and commercial nations of Asia must necessarily pass, the sheltering coasts, and the various and valuable productions of these regions, have, from a very early period, secured to them a large share of Eastern commerce. Extensive settlements have been made by different nations for mercantile purposes; Arabians, Indians, Chinese, as well as Europeans, having mingled with the native tribes in their well frequented sea-ports. If ever the moral and political condition of the Malayan states should be so far advanced as to secure the advantages of a fixed and united government, a maritime dominion may be established in this quarter, which shall control the traffic of the East. Including the long and narrow Malay Peninsula, which seems fairly entitled to take its station in the groupe, a chain of islands extends from the mouths of the Irawaddy as far as several degrees beyond the Eastern capes of the Gulf of Carpentaria, ranging Northward to the furthest limit of the Philippines. The minute geographical features of this important portion of the globe, will be best ascertained by a glance at the chart; but there are some peculiarities connected with their population and production, which we shall take this opportunity of pointing out.

Since the whole of this immense groupe lies within the Tropics, and by far the greater portion within ten degrees on either side of the Equator, there must of necessity prevail much similarity

in climate, produce, and inhabitants. To this general uniformity there exist, however, decided exceptions. Mr. Crawfurd has marked out five natural and well-grounded divisions,' each exhibiting important varieties, without adverting to the grand distinction between the more civilized races and the merely savage tribes. The first of these, comprehending the Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Bali, Sombok, and the larger part of the Western section of Borneo, is inhabited by a race of much higher civilization than can be found in the remaining islands. The productions of this portion are peculiar, springing from a more fertile soil, and nurtured by a more enlightened husbandry. Rice is abundant, and the staple article of food. The second division including Celebes, part of Borneo, with some smaller islands, is, in all respects, inferior to the preceding: the inhabitants are less civilized, the soil is more sterile, and as rice is procured with greater difficulty, the deficiency is supplied by the occasional use of sago. The third division, lying between the parallels 124°. 130°. East long., and 10°. South to 2°. North lat., differs from all the remainder in many remarkable particulars. The character and effects of the monsoons are completely reversed.

The Eastern monsoon, which is dry and moderate to the West, is here rainy and boisterous; the Westerly monsoon, rough and wet in the first two divisions, is here dry and temperate. The greater num-, ber of the plants and animals of the first two divisions disappear in the third, where we have strange productions in both kingdoms, unknown, to any other parts of the world. This is the native country of the. clove and nutmeg, and the only country in the world which produces them in perfection. For raising the higher classes of vegetable food, the soil is of inferior fertility. Rice is scarcely produced at all, and the staple food of the people is sago. In language, manners, and political institutions, the people of this quarter agree among themselves, and differ essentially from all their neighbours. They are far inferior to the inhabitants of the first two divisions in civilization, in power, and in knowledge of useful arts. They never acquired of themselves the use of letters.'

The fourth division takes in Mindanao, the Northern extremity of Borneo, and the Sooloo groupe. This quarter partakes in some degree of the different qualities of the former three; but the language, habits, and institutions of the inhabitants are peculiar to themselves. The Pailippine Islands form the fifth section, and, from their higher latitude, present considerable variations of climate and produce from all the other portions of the Archipelago. They lie within the region of hurricanes; their soil is of remarkable fertility; and though they do not produce either the spiceries or the rich fruits of some of the other islands, they have an ample equivalent in the aptitude of their mould for the growth of the sugar-cane and the tobacco plant.

A glowing sun and redundant vegetation are the general charac ters of this wide-spread range. It is mountainous and volcanic, Forests of mighty shade cover a large portion of its surface, leaving few openings for pasture, and no expanses of sandy desert, It is within the limits of the monsoon, and besides being the only country of Asia that lies on the Equator, is, of all the equinoctial regions, that which can boast of the most remarkable and varied produce, and the highest indigenous population.' The extraordinary safety and facility of intercourse by sea, and the peculiar character of some of the articles of traffic, have made all their powerful tribes navigators and fishermen. To this system of communication, with its connected circumstances, are to be traced the different stages of civilization so strongly marked in the va rious divisions of these insular ranges. The interior families are hunters; for pastoral occupations require grassy plains, and extensive tracts cleared from the deep and impassable jungles and forests which so unprofitably occupy immense portions of valuable surface.

In discussing the general features of the topography of the Archi pelago, there are two prominent and important facts regarding the condition of the different races of inhabitants, which are of great interest and importance. The first of these refers to an original and innate distinction of the inhabitants into two separate races In the Indian Archipelago there are, an aboriginal fair or brown complexioned race,and an aboriginal negro race; and, the southern promontory of Africa excepted, it is the only country of the globe which exhibits this singular phenomenon. The second fact is not of less importance, and relates to the influence of food in forming the character of the different races. We may judge of the physical character of each country by the moral character of its inhabitants, or of the latter by the former. No country has produced a great or civilized race, but a country which, by its fertility, is capable of yielding a supply of farinaceous grain of the first quality. Man seems never to have made progress in improvement, when feeding on inferior grains, farinaceous roots, or fruits, or on the pith of trees. The existence of fine spices, odoriferous gums, and it may be added, gold, gems, and the rarer pros ductions of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, has no tendency, in the state of society in which the Indian islanders are, to promote civilization. One might be almost tempted to think they were prejudicial to it, for the very countries in which they are most abundant, are among the least civilized of the Archipelago. It is the country of the cannibals of Sumatra which chiefly produces gold and frankincence; that of those of Borneo which produces gold, frankincense, camphor, and diamonds. The inhabitants of the Spice islands never acquired the use of letters, and were wandering almost naked in their spicy forests, until the Hindus, the Javanese, Malays, and Arabs, in times comparatively very recent, taught them to clothe themselves with some decency. The savages of New Guinea, surrounded at this day by the most splendid, beautiful, and rare objects of animal and vegetable nature, live naked

and uncultivated. Civilization originated in the West, where are situated the countries capable of producing corn. Man is there most improved, and his improvement decreases, in a geographical ratio, as we go Eastward, until, at New Guinea, the termination of the Archipelago, we find the whole inhabitants an undistinguished race of savages.'

Happily for the interests of knowledge, these regions, though as yet but partially explored, have attracted the attention of individuals well qualified for the difficult task of investigating their antiquities and their distinguishing peculiarities. Dampier, Stavorinus, and other voyagers have communicated information of considerable value; but the collections of Marsden and Raffles on Sumatra and Java, leave but little to be effected by future inquirers. The work of Mr. Marsden, in particular, has very high claims to our admiration. It was the first to break up untried and difficult ground; and while it opened the sources, and pointed out the proper objects of inquiry, it skilfully and comprehensively filled up the outline which its accomplished Author had been the first to trace. It is impossible to speak of the elaborate volumes of Sir Stamford Raffles in any other language than that of decided praise; but our recent notice of them supersedes the necessity of any attempt at the present time to specify their peculiar merits.

With these materials, and with the additional advantages derived from substantial local knowledge, Mr. Crawfurd has succeeded in the compilation of a very meritorious work, written in a rather slovenly style, but full of interesting and valuable details, distinctly, if not unexceptionably arranged. It should, however, be observed, that although Mr. C.'s title-page an nounces the history of the entire Archipelago, his book does not strictly fulfil bis promise. So much yet remains to be acquired respecting the character and habits of many of the Indian Islanders, that, with the exception of those with whom the European colonists are accustomed to hold intercourse, they are the subjects of imperfect and restricted knowledge. Mr. Crawfurd's official situation, while it afforded favourable opportunities for the acquisition of information, limited his means of personal inquiry chiefly to the Javanese; of them, therefore, he writes with the greater confidence, though he seems to have neglected no medium of more extensive investigation. There are, notwithstanding the comprehensive nature of this work, some deficiencies which might, we should have supposed, have been readily supplied. Of the geography and hydrography of these islands, we have little more than a few brief and unsatisfactory illustrations. The different tribes and mixtures are not discrimi nated with distinctness, nor is sufficient space allowed for their enumeration and description; and we have frequently had occa