in Egyptian paintings, pots of flowers (whence came the legend of the gardens of Adonis), among which flowers, the manapas, or hand-plant, doubtless symbolic of rule, appears to have been a favourite.

Again: the most striking of these analogies is, that actual adoration is paid, and infantine victims offered, to the Egyptian Tau, or cross; and that the cross is every where multiplied, in the architectural forms and ornaments of the Palencian city.

The hieroglyphics, more elegant in their form than the Chinese, are less so than the Egyptian: they appear, like the Egyptian demotic writing, to have reached that stage of their progress, when beauty was sacrificed to utility, and when the pictural image was almost entirely superseded by the conventional form. They, in short, bear no inapposite resemblance to modern highly-ornamented letters of the Roman alphabet.

All these circumstances certainly go to show a common origin: still there are, in the midst of the analogy, as in the case of the Astronomical System, marks of an independent, aboriginal and peculiar people, which are not in fairness to be overlooked. The nose, lip and ear jewels would seem to be of Indian extraction; -the armlets and anklets are entirely American;-the temples, surmounted by three fire vases, are Japanese;-the ornamental parts of the dress approach the Arabesque;-the royal mode of sitting is decidedly Hindoo;-finally, the physiognomy is different from that of any people with whom we are acquainted; though bearing an exaggerated resemblance to that of the Cherokees and other Indian tribes. The receding forehead and conical form of the head-according to the very principia of craniology-would indicate idiotism: did we not know that the modern Mexican savages model the head of their children in the same way; the Cherokees dress their hair in tufts on the top of their head, in the same manner: for the predominant nose, and under-hung lips, we know of no analogy in any nation, ancient or modern; neither do the modern Mexicans resemble their ancestors more than the modern Copts do the ancient Egyptians. It is, however, probable, that the protrusion of the lower lip was produced among the Mexicans, as it is now produced among their neighbours, the Botecues, -namely, by boring a hole through it, in order to load it with heavy ornaments.

We might be inclined to distrust the drawings attached to the description of ancient Palanque, were they not corroborated by figures similarly habited on the sides of magnificent sacrificial altars.

We had intended to have expatiated, at some length, on the valuable picture-writings of Mexico; but our space will not allow

Dr. Robertson had not seen the map of ancient Mexico: had he done so, he would have inferred that it possessed advantages still superior to the accuracy and rapidity of its posts, and the copious supply of its water-both proofs of high civilization-in the admirable order of its municipal regulations.

VOL. VII. No. 38.-Museum.

Y

us to expand this article beyond its present limits. We have little doubt that one of those curious historical paintings, is the same which the Mexican painters were employed upon by Montezuma's commands, at the first interview of his deputies with Cortez, in order to supply intelligence of the ships, the horses, the artillery, the soldiers, and whatever else, in the array of the expedition, attracted their attention. The painting evidently details the line of march pursued by Cortez; the resistance he occasionally met with; the alliances he formed, and the time which his various days' journeys (indicated by the obvious symbol of human feet) occupied. We are not to judge of Mexican skill in painting from this picture-writing, which was, probably, like that of the Egyptians, of a sacred, and therefore unchangeable, character. It is quite evident that the Mexican artists were capable of drawing the human figure with as much accuracy, and quite as much ease, as the Egyptian. This, the drawings taken from the ancient Palencian city indicate;-this, the sculptures on the astronomical cycle and circular altar-stone fully establish. [Monthly Magazine.

SELECTED FOR THE MUSEUM.

HENRY FUSELI, ESQ., R.A..

THE death of this distinguished artist and most accomplished scholar, took place on the 16th of April, at the house of the Countess of Guildford, Putney Hill. He had attained the great age of 87, in perfect possession of his faculties, his mind remaining as vigorous and firm as at any former period of his life. Mr. Fuseli was a native of Zurich, and came to England at an early age, more with the intention of making literature his study than art: while he was yet undetermined, and speculating, as he said, on the great resolve of life, he took some of his drawings to Sir Joshua Reynolds, and asked his candid opinion, whether he thought he had any chance of success as an artist. The president was so much struck with the conception and power displayed in them, that, after viewing them attentively, he said, "Young man, were I the author of these drawings, and offered ten thousand a year not to practise as an artist, I would reject it with contempt:" this decided him. But it was not until the opening of his Milton Gallery, about the year 1798, that the extent of his intellectual acquirements, his lofty imagination, and singular fancy, were fully appreciated. None who witnessed it can ever forget the effect produced on them by that exhibition. The pictures he painted for the Shakspeare Gallery must also be remembered with feelings of high admiration. His Ghost of Hamlet, unquestionably the grandest work in the collection, can never be forgotten. Mr. Fuseli enjoyed the friendship of the most distinguished literati of the age. The high opinion entertained of him, even in youth, by his celebrated townsman, La

vater, was shown by his putting into his hand, at parting, a small piece of paper, beautifully framed and glazed, on which he found written in German, "Do but the tenth part of what you can do." Hang that up in your bed-room, my friend, said Lavater, and I know what will be the result. The result did not disappoint him -their friendship only ended with life; and on the part of the artist, was continued to Lavater's son with unabated fervour. Mr. Fuseli enjoyed excellent health, probably the result of his habitual temperance. He was a very early riser, whether in the country or in town in summer or winter, he was seldom in bed after five o'clock. He enjoyed the most perfect domestic felicity, and was perhaps one of the most affectionately attached husbands that ever breathed. His lady survives him; he leaving her every thing he died possessed of. His remains were interred in the Cathedral of St. Paul's. [New Monthly Mag.

SELECTED FOR THE MUSEUM.

SONG.

BENEATH thy magic note
My heart is as a slave,
And sinks and rises, like a boat
Upon the heaving wave.

Thy voice has power to stay

The 'whelming tide of years,
And sorrow's mists are roll'd away,
And beauty reappears.

Through all the soul it flies

Like a pervading wind,

And searches out the sweetnesses
Of the mysterious mind.

Alas! that hollow art

Such raptures should bestow!

Alas! that sounds so full of heart
From heartless lips should flow!

The thrush is glad within

When he sings his song of pleasure,
The Cushat dove is full of love,

When he pours his wooing measure;
But thou art cold and base,
Thy heart is light and vain;

I may not look upon thy face
While I listen to thy strain!

[Knight's Quarterly Magazine.

SELECTED FOR THE MUSEUM.

MUSIC.

I PANT for the music which is divine,
My heart in its thirst is a dying flower;
Pour forth the sound like enchanted wine,
Loosen the notes in a silver shower;

Let me drink of the spirit of that sweet sound,
More, O more,-I am thirsting yet;

It loosens the serpent which care has bound
Upon my heart to stifle it;

The dissolving strain, through every vein,
Passes into my heart and brain.

As the scent of a violet withered up,

Which grew by the brink of a silver lake,
When the hot noon has drained its dewy cup,

And mist there was none its thirst to slake-
And the violet lay dead while the odour flew
On the wings of the wind o'er the waters blue.
As one who drinks from a charmed cup
Of foaming, and sparkling, and murmuring wine,
Whom a mighty enchantress filling up,
Invites to love with her kiss divine.

Du Sacre des Rois de France à Rheims. 1 vol. (Of the Coronation of the Kings of France at Rheims.)

This is a very curious work, and has given rise to a singular determination on the part of the King's favourites. Some of the formalities observed at the Coronation of the Kings of France are of so liberal a bearing, and seem so clearly to recognise the rights of the people, of whom it is twice demanded if they wish such a one for king, that the favourites of Charles X. have determined that under some pretext or other the objectionable part of these formalities shall be dispensed with at the approaching Coronation. When the French people were stupefied by the effects of a long and profound despotism, as in 1775, when Louis XVI. was crowned, these formalities were observed without attracting any particular notice. But at present the liberal writers, who are incontestably superior to those of the ultra party, would take advantage of these formalities to prove, what is very true, that it is liberty and not despotism that is of ancient date in France. We see by Tacitus (De Moribus Germanorum) that the first pretended Kings of the French were nothing more than generals-in-chief, who were obliged upon all important occasions to consult the opinion and wishes of their followers. A despotism tempere par des chansons, such as that swept away by the Revolution, can be said to have commenced only under Cardinal Richelieu. This truth, so fatal to the pretensions of divine right and despotic sway, is now brought home to the conviction of every one by the early chronicles and historical memoirs now publishing in France.

De la Loi du Sacrilege. Par M. l'Abbé Ferdinand de la Mennais. (Of the Law of Sacrilege, &c.)

This is one of the most singular brochures that has appeared in France in these latter times. The law for the punishment of sacrilege which has just been passed in the Chamber of Peers, thanks to the voices of ten bishops who voted for the punishment of death, has excited a sensation of horror in the public mind. And yet the Abbé de la Mennais endeavours in this pamphlet, to prove, that the provisions of this law are still wanting in wholesome rigour. Next year it is most likely that a clause will be added, subjecting to the punishment of the galleys all those

who may print or publish works of impiety. A commission of bishops having seats in the house of peers, will be the sole judges of what constitutes this impiety. The brochure of the Abbé de la Mennais resembles not a little in its tone of atrocious violence those fierce tracts published in France in the time of the league, in support of the Pope's authority. This is the more singular, when the difference in civilization and humanity between these two periods is taken into consideration. This publication has produced the effect of a warning to the opposite party of what they have to expect, and under this political point of view is worthy of notice. It is in fact a declaration of principles on the part of the Jesuitical party -it is very well written, for there are few more clever or eloquent men in France than the Abbé de la Mennais.

Tableaux Chronologiques de l'Histoiré Ancienne depuis les tems les plus recules jusqu'à l'ere Chretienne. Par feu Thouret de l'Assemblée Constituante. 1 vol. in folio. (A Chronological Picture of Ancient History, from the most remote times to the Christian æra, &c.)

This work is not only useful as a book of reference, but curious for the very erudite information it contains. Chronologists in general, are but mere machines for calculating and fixing dates, and seldom think themselves or give their readers occasion to reflect. But such a one is not Thouret, the author of the above mentioned work. The abridgment of Mably which he published, is a much more valuable production than the work of what it purposed to be an abridgment. In the course of it he threw considerable light upon the obscure and earlier periods of the French monarchy. Thouret was one of the most impartial and calm philosophers belonging to the school of Voltaire.

Le Provincial à Paris, ou Esquisses des Moeurs Parisiennes. Par M. de Montigny. 2 vols. (The Provincial at Paris; or Sketches of Parisian Manners. By M. de Montigny.)

This book is a clever imitation of the famous "Ermite de la Chaussée d'Antin” of M. Jouy. Numberless modifications and changes have taken place in the manners of French society since legitimacy and the influence of old courtiers have replaced Napoleon and the domination of the military spirit. The Frenchmen of the present moment show a strong tendency to become serious, jesuitical, and what is still more contrary to their nature-prudent. The vigilant surveillance exercised not only over public but private opinion, and the immediate vengeance (in the way of dismissal from place or otherwise) that follows any divergence in politics, render the very numerous class of persons in the employment of government, or having their friends so situated, extremely cautious and almost diplomatically reserved, in the common intercourse of society. Such being the case, the Sketches of Parisian life, struck off by M. Montigny with some spirit and finesse, differ in numberless details and shadings of character, from those which have rendered M. Jouy's name known to Europe.

L'Homme du Midi et l'Homme du Nord; ou l'influence du Climat. Par Charles Victor de Bonstetten. (The Man of the South and the Man of the North; or the Influence of Climate. By M. C. de Bonstetten.)

This is the production of a pupil of the celebrated philosopher Bonnet. Though wanting in purity of language and severity of logic, yet it may be read with a certain degree of pleasure and not without profit. M. Bonstetten scatters the flowers of his imagination upon the important question of the influence of climate, treated of by Hippocrates, and brought into vogue by Montesquieu about eighty years ago. In later times, Volney, and Cabanis, threw additional light upon the theory of climates, an accurate knowledge of which might be rendered so useful to the happiness of mankind. M. Bonstetten very judiciously remarks, that the greater or less distance from the pole, is far from being the sole cause of the difference of climate; for instance, the climate which exists at forty-five degrees from the