introduction of genuine Christianity into that district. In honour of him was the place at which the cathedral was built called St. German's. Qur author fpeaks very highly of a king of Cornwall who flourished in the fourth century; embraced the Chriftian religion under the adopted appellation of Solomon; " revered (fays our author) in Cornwall, revered in Wales, and worthy of all reverence throughout the Chriftian world." Mr. Whitaker attacks Dr. Borlafe's legend concerning the calendar of Cornwall, and proves that that writer has greatly exaggerated the number of faints. Having faid a few words more of Cornish churches and religion, our author proceeds to an account of diftinguished spiritual edifices throughout the kingdom, fuch as Verulam. He now commences a differtation upon church architecture in general, which lafts through the third section of the fifth chapter. The first section of the the fixth feems to have for its object the coincidence of the Erfe, Welsh, Irish, and Cornish languages as all dialects of the Celtic. On this fubject the author's fertile genius throws as much novelty as can be bestowed on a topic which has of late been fo often difcuffed. The fecond fection of chapter VI. reverting to the cathedral, and mentioning one of the confutes an account delivered by Mr. Bentham; and deduces bells and bell towers from the Roman conquefts. The hiftorical furvey goes on accompanied by fome account of Cornifh prelates, who flourished during the independence of that district. The prelacy of Cornwall was very well endowed, nevertheless the bishops complained that the revenues were fcanty. Mr. Whitaker proceeds to a defcription of various other churches and chapels, with anecdotes of different bishops, and other clergymen. It would be unneceffary for us to detail thofe buildings, which would be anticipating the pleasure that the reader muft, if a man of taste and piety, derive from very glowing defcriptions of objects which are fo very conducive to devotion. In the course of the work our author lays before his readers a very accurate account of the internal economy of a priory; which, as he justly obferves, few Proteftants at prefent make a subject of tudy, however curious and amufing. towers, Having to his own fatisfaction established his grand pofition, that Cornwall enjoyed monarchy and hierarchy before it was conquered by the Saxons; and that St. German's was the feat of the Cornish bishop, he concludes in the following words. "In this manner was a prelacy and a royalty established formerly among the Cornith; Cornwall being modelled at once into a kingdom and a bishopric. In this manner too, was the metropolis of the latter settled at St. German's, and the capital of the former fixed at Lefkard. Both went on in the fame courfe of continuance, till the power of the Saxons, like an Alpine fnowball, growing with its own progrefs, and fwelling from its own accumulations, came ruling upon them both with an overwhelming fweep of violence. Then the fecular monarchy was buried for ever, but the ecclefiaftical ftill reared its head above the waste. The Cornifh epifcopate remained, under the fway of the Saxons; and even received a magnificent magnificent addition to its cathedral, from the Chriftianity imbibed by the Saxons on their fettlement among Chriftians. Nor did the Normans come to St. German's, with the Saxon heathenifm renewed upon these seeming Saxons of Denmark. They came with the Chriftianity of the Saxons, communicated equally to the Normans by the Chriftians of France; and with the architecture of France, improved by its nearer neighbourhood to Italy. They came to lend more elegance and more grandeur to the British, to the Saxon church of the Cornish fee. Even when this fee migrated to Exeter, it merely reverted back to its original abode; and the current, after many wanderings to the right or left, only rejoined the occean from which it had fprung before. "In tracing this current, I have been enabled to lay before my reader many a fine object upon the banks, important in itself and in its confequences, important to Cornwall in particular, important to the island in general. I have difplayed that period of the Cornish hiftory, in the full light of historical radiance; which has hitherto been buried in the clouds and mifts of ignorance, yet concerns the very faints, male or female, that almost every parish acknowledges in its name, that almost every town honours in its wake, and that form a neceffary link in the chain of Cornish hiftory. But I have not confined myself, like a limitary intelligencer, to this peculiar orb. I have ranged over the island, held up the origin of Gothic and of modern architecture within it, the origin of chefs, the origin of free-mafons, the origin of armorial bearings; pointed out the period at which all the grander parts of our large churches, the chancel, the nave, or the aile, the bell-tower, the lantern, the fpire, or the chapel, were added to them, or at which thofe peculiar decorations of our cathedrals, the mitre, the crofier, or the throne, appeared within them; and, exhibiting feveral churches in Britain, as built by the very Romans themfelves, yet exiftent ftill in part or in whole among us. I have fhewn the abbey-church of St. Alban's, in direct contradiction to its own hiftorian, to be one of the number. In doing all this, I flatter myfelf I have been usefully employed, have added fomething to the flock of antiquarian knowledge, have enlarged fomewhat the bounds of hiftorical certainty, and have broke open fome new fountains of intelligence, hiftorical or antiquarian, for the benefit of the public." Moft readers we think will agree with us in opinion that the queftion here canvaffed is not of the highest intereft. Nevertheless, the genius of the author bestows a luftre upon the topic which he treats; and makes what is naturally waste and dreary, pleafant and engaging. We did not think it poffible that on an apparently dry fubject of antiquarian research, there could be introduced fuch amufement and entertainment. We give high credit to the powerful genius of Mr. Whitaker, which can produce such an effect with fo very unpromifing materials. It is almoft needlefs to remark, in mentioning a production of fuch an author, that he embraces and creates opportunities of doing justice to our church and king; and the conftitution as connected with them. Would all clergymen were like Mr. Whitaker; then we should have no methodists, independents, or other difturbers of the public peace, at least in our pulpits. Caffas's Travels in Iftria and Dalmatia. FTER pursuing his inveftigations for fome time in the valley and burgh of Slofella, the moft barren, and difagreeable spot in this region, our author embarked at Sebenico, to proceed to Spalatro; and in his way through the channel, he made a variety of remarks on the different iflets, which were formerly inhabited by the Romans. An infcription found in the 16th century in one of these islands, called Zlarin, excited a long controverfy amongst the learned men of that period. It confifted of an epitaph on a queen named Panfania, who is no where mentioned in hiftory, and the literati reforting to conjecture, concluded, that it related to a queen, who had been made prifoner by the Romans, and banished to that ifle, after having appeared in the triumphant proceffion of a Conful. Our traveller ftarts fome objections to the opinion of thefe gentlemen, by fuppofing that they may have been deceived by fpurious copies of the inscription; or might have read fome other name for Panfania, as the letters fculptured anterior to the reign of Auguftus were in general badly formed; hence he infers, that they might have read Panfania inftead of Paufaniæ, which would have fhewn the infeription to relate to the victories of Paufanias; while the title of queen, faid to be found in this infcription, might have related to Juno, to whom the ancients gave it as an honorary term. Thefe fuppofitions, although they do not in our opinion refute the conclufions of the learned men already mentioned, nevertheless place the talents of our author in a very favourable view, by fhewing, that he did not travel merely as an artift to make drawings of fuch ruins as lay before him, but that his taste for investigation, and his knowledge of ancient history, often caused him to offer with modeft deference a new hypothefis on many points, which are ftill involved in obfcurity. Speaking of the abundance of Roman antiquities in the isle of Zuri, our author makes the following remarks, in which, from a proper, though by no means immoderate attachment to antiquarian knowledge, we cordially join him. "It is to be hoped, that the century which has lately commenced, will be diftinguished by this kind of ftudy and research; that their promoters will reprefs the prejudices of ignorance and avarice, which caufe the oppofition on the part of the different hordes, to the making of excavations, the importance of which is well underfood; and that, finally, this fcience, which may be confidered as hitherto only fuperficially known, in confequence of the oppofition and indifference of governments, and the ridicule of interested individuals, will ceafe to be conjectural. This hope is founded upon the direction, which the events at the close of the eighteenth century have given to mankind, relative to glory and the arts. Every age thinks itself called upon to adopt, and be proud of, the reigning tafte; but tafte is only a relative term:-it is a fentimental impreffion, received from the furrounding objects: objects: and when it is refined, it does not prove that men are more leamed, but that they are better." Our traveller, after leaving the ifle of Zuri on his right, proceeded in a direction to the eastward, with a view of examining the confiderable canal of Braza, on which the town of Spalatro is fituated. In his course thither, he paffed between San Marco and Pianco, two fmall iflets, left to the fouth the ifle of Zivana, and doubled the western extremity of Trau, having the ifle of Solta in a fouth easterly direction. Among other obfervations made by M. Caffas on the ifle of Trau, he states, that according to fome ancient, authors, particularly Ptolemy and Strabe, the feparation was formed by Nature, an opinion, which is, however, oppofed by Spon, who argues, on the authority of a learned man, a native of that country, named John Lucius, that the canal is a work of art. Of this Lucius we learn, that he was born at Trau, and had acquired his education at Rome; and that fo great and diftinguished were his talents, that he not only enjoyed the univerfal efteem of all the literati in Italy in the seventeenth century; but that he alfo, at the inftigation of the celebrated Ugheli, undertook to write the history of his country under the title of "Dalmatia illuftrata, feù Commentaria Rerum Dalmatia et Croatiæ;” this work made its appearance in the year 1666, and has fince that time been reprinted at Vienna in the year 1758, forming a part of the Scriptores Rerum Hungaricarum." 66 As Spon has fo accurately reported the infcriptions difcovered at Trau and Bua, we fhall not repeat the remarks of M. Caffas on the fame fubject. Our claffical readers will recollect, that this fland, under the en pire, bore the name of Boas, and was rendered important by the exile of a number of perfons, celebrated for their theological contentions; but when we confider the admirable climate of this place, we can hardly think that their exile was a punishment: for, according to M. Caffas, it is fo highly favoured by Nature, as to produce the fruits of Europe and Afia, as well as to admit of the naturalization of the palm-tree of Africa. It alfo affords abundance of the finest Afphaltes, which is faid to have been employed by the Egyptians for embalming their kings. The ifle of Trau is equally rich in foil, and agreeable in climate, fo that both fituations would form a perfect paradife were it not for the deftructive plague of infects. "The temperature and fhort duration of winter, which is in general very mild, and in all the low parts of this country is farcely felt for two months in the year, preferves them from death, though their delicacy would prove their deftruction, if they were fubjected for two or three days even to a flight froft. All the grain is generally infefted by a destructive worm, which is here called Magnacez. These little infects blaft the hopes of the most abundant harvefts; and perhaps the impoffibility of oppofing their ravages is partly the caufe that the induftrious agriculturift prefers the culture of the vine and olive to that of wheat, which would fucceed fo well on account of the general fertility of the foil. But the existence of man being here attacked, by the deftruction of the articles neceffary for his fupport, is D 3 only. only an inferior misfortune: his very life is every inftant in danger, from the affaults of two fpecies of venomous tarantula. These infects are known in the Illyrian dialect by the generic name of Pauk, which is applied to all fpecies of fpiders; but one of them is the real tarantula, fo well known, and jufily dreaded, in Calabria. The other is the Corfican Tarantula, known in that island under the name of Malmignata; and which differs from the first by having fhorter legs: but they have both the common property with thofe of Naples, of being hairy and fpeckled; while, if any variety be perceptible, it is only in the colours. Thefe odious infects, whofe very appearance is difgufting, do not poffefs the timidity of other kinds, who flee from the fight and approach of man; but they are at once mifchievous, impudent, and ferocious. They bite, not for the purpose of defending themselves, or of procuring food, but from an evident with to do injury; and it is only by continual vigilance, that those whofe labours keep them in the fields the whole of the fummer, can fecure themselves from their attacks; while their precautions are often unavailing. What they are particularly obliged to avoid, is fleeping in the open air, either in meadows, at the foot of trees, or on the ftacks of grain which are got in. Fortunately, these infects seldom penetrate into the houses; fo that the fields are the theatre of their animofity. Their bite produces here the fame effect as in Calabria and Corfica; and their poifon is commmunicated to the blood with dreadful rapidity. The moft effectual remedy is to cut off immediately the piece of flesh which has received the impreffion of their teeth, or to cauterize the wound with burning charcoal, or a hot iron: the leaft delay often proves fatal; a heaviness is then speedily felt over the whole frame, the circulation is checked; the blood coagulates; drowlinefs fucceeds, and is attended with convulfions and delirium, which terminate in death. A violent agitation is the only means of preferving the patient from the deftruction which threatens him; and it is the acknowledged neceflity of this agitation which has given rife to the opinion, that the venom of the tarantula is to be expelled by mufic. It is however certain, that in the county of Trau they do not have recourfe to mufic, but exercise the patient violently, and for a long time, in a kind of fwing :this produces abundant transpiration, and sometimes naufea, which faves the perfon's life, by diminishing the mafs of venom abforbed, and reftoring the blood to its proper circulation. But although life is thus preferved, it is, unfortunately, but very feldom that the fibres of the brain are unaffected; fo that the patient often lofes his fenfes." Our traveller purfued his courfe in fafety to the bay of Spalatro, the impreffive appearance from which he defcribes in the following terms: "At the entrance of the bay you difcover Spalatro, and nothing is more interefting than this perfpective. The firft range of buildings which frikes the eye, are the high and long walls which inclose the Lazaretto: at one. end they reach to the great mole which encircles the port; and at the other they join the fortifications of the town, and feem, of themselves, an immense and formidable rampart, with which an attempt had been made to cover this part of Spalatro. In front, and on the edge of the quay, which extends along the port, inclofed between the great and fmall mole, there appears, with fuch majefty as is undefcribable, the auguft remains of the longand ftupendous colonnade which decorated the maritime façade of the palace |