the public, form an experiment, whose success, we trust, in this, will authorize the trial in other instances. It is well known that there is still a large unpublished part of the Wodrow MSS., which may throw no small additional light on a most important period of national history, and would be a very desirable Supplement to the work before us.

tion.

Of the History itself, as the most minute, and, we scruple not to say, on the whole, the most impartial account of the times which it so vividly illustrates, it is probably unnecessary to be particular in our commendaIts character has been long established, not only among those who might be deemed favourable to any peculiar sentiments ascribed to the author, but with many who differ from them on such points, as, at least, a precious depository of historical information. That a book of so much importance should have been suffered to go entirely out of print, can be accounted for only by the fashionable prevalence of lighter literature, giving little hope of success in the republication of it; a discouragement in such cases, which we would wish to believe is rapidly giving way to a more enlightened judgment on the art of the " reading public."

we beg to know, was any formal attempt made to rebut or controvert its statements? When the advocates for Pres byterianism had recourse to argument, in support of their polity, there was no lack of replies on the part of their opponents. In covenanting times, we find a Maxwell and a Baillie in close combat together; and, immediately after the Revolution settlement, we find the learning and acuteness of Forrester, and Rule, and Jameson, and Anderson, met in battle array by the respectable talents and literature of Bishop Sage and Dr Monro; and never was the Episcopal and Presbyterian controversy managed on both sides with greater historian comes forth with his two overwhelming folios of ability. Whence, then, is it, that when the unpretending facts and documents illustrative of the sufferings of the Church of Scotland under the Episcopal ascendency, no pen was drawn to vindicate the good old cause, and no effort was made to prove an alibi for the panel at the bar? Reasoning for Presbyterianism might be met by counter reasonings for Episcopacy, and the records of a distant anWodrow says, 'are stubborn things, and will not easily be tiquity might admit of varied interpretations; but 'facts,' as set out of the way.'"-Prel. Diss. pp. vi., vii.

Were there nothing to recommend Wodrow's History, however, except the mass of important information which is to be found in it, we could not hesitate in admitting it to be of standard value. It is a most particular delineation of events, to which a merely local interest has been too often attached,-closely connected as they were with, at that time, the general interests of the two kingdoms, and the succeeding destiny of Great Britain; and, to every Scotchman in particular, it is a proud testimonial of the firm and vigorous resistance of his forefathers— no matter how they may have erred in minor points, under many disadvantages, and some temptations to a compromising submission-against the encroachments of arbitrary power on the rights of conscience and the political privileges of the subject. That some of these men were fierce and rash, both in their opinions and measures, is well known and universally allowed; though, in branding them as turbulent and seditious, it were but candour to remember the merciless persecution which helped to make them so.

Indeed, to identify their characters with their

One great recommendation of such historical works as that of Wodrow, is the fair field which they allow to the formation of opinion. More general sketches may be useful in the preliminary study of any particular period, but in these the bias of the writer's mind is almost always too prominent a feature, and the events recorded do not commonly escape the modifying influence of his own partialities, but are so accommodated as to instil them imperceptibly into the minds of his readers. It is other wise, however, where the principal characteristic of the narrative is its minute reference to, and citation of, its authorities. The whole evidence is laid before us; it is the facts themselves with which we are employed,—not the opinions already formed by others respecting them; and whatever, therefore, be the views of the author himself, we are in less danger of being misled by him. "Our public records," says Wodrow, in his preface to the first volume," the registers of the privy council, and justi- cause, or their sentiments with those of the great majority ciary, are the great fund of which this history is formed; engaged in it, is not more an unjust than it is a ridicaa great part of it consists of extracts from these, and I lous mistake; and that cause was at first the defence of have omitted nothing which might give light to the state much that was dear,-while afterwards it became the preof the Church of Scotland at that period; though in per-servation of all that was valuable in public safety and dousing or making extracts out of ten or twelve large vomestic peace. lumes, several things may have escaped me."" It is a singular feature," says Dr Burns, Prel. Diss. p. 8, "in Mr Wodrow as a historian, that he has not only given us his own narrative of events, but likewise the original documents whence that narrative has been drawn. With the opinions of a historian, we have, properly speaking, nothing to do, and every reader is at perfect liberty to accord with the sentiments which Wodrow has expressed, or to differ from them entirely, as he pleases." We are not overlooking the accusation brought by some against Wodrow, of "disingenuousness." Even if he were disingenuous,—and if it be disingenuous to have an opinion of one's own, upon a most important subject, he is certainly liable to the imputation,—even if he were disingenuous, we repeat, that the nature of his work diminishes the personal influence, as it were, of the writer over the reader. On this subject, however, let us quote the fol. lowing paragraph, from Dr Burns's vigorous, and, we think, successful, defence of Wodrow from the imputa

tion :

"The statements of our historian were not questioned at the time of their first publication. We do not deny that a deep sensation was excited by the work, and that a spirit of violent hostility was roused, and that there was every wish felt and expressed to have its testimony set aside. Nor do we deny that the author was rudely assailed with pasquinades and threats of personal violence, while the friendly reception which his Majesty (George the First) and the members of the royal family gave to the book, galled exceedingly the still sanguine adherents of the old dynasty. But

That it is no small debt of gratitude which, under Providence, we owe to the men whom superficial judges of human character regard as the “fanatics" of those days, is a trite observation; but "let even its triteness recommend its truth!" We speak in no unauthorized language, when we talk of the lofty-minded heroism, the meek and Christian spirit,—the highly creditable learning, and even the calm good sense, of many amongst them; and whatever were the merits of the contest in other respects, they were engaged in a struggle for the continuance of a form of ecclesiastical polity from which the happiest effects had previously been derived on the moral character and habits of the people, and which had gained their attachment, as much by the close and constant application of gospel truth which it maintained, as by any association of its peculiarities with the history or the rights of their country.

The plan of Wodrow's History is certainly very open to merely critical objections, but well adapted to gratify the interest commonly felt in a graphic and minute account of facts, more than in a regular and comparatively abstract narrative. It is almost unique, in the familiar air which is imparted to events, usually less interesting in dry detail, or too much idealized in their adaptation to professedly fictitious writings. The effect of the work before us reminds us much of that of old Froissart, though many may smile at the comparison. There is in both, however, we think, a similar unaffected life in description, and a felicitous touching of character, which gleams more pleasingly through simple and straightforward expres

sions.

Wodrow blends, throughout, the general occur- will own him for an equal,-beauty will smile upon him rences of the period with the most particular domestic as a friend,—and humbler aspirants will gaze with fond circumstances, as it were, of the people. Names, dates, and respectful admiration on the individual who has so places, &c., even in comparatively trifling matters, are successfully studied the Art of Tying the Cravat. But given with scrupulous exactness. The manners and ha- behold the reverse of the picture! Suppose that the unbits of the country are developed, not in colder disquisi-happy wretch is but an ignorant pretender to a knowledge tion, but in living pictures of individuals; and, while even inferior characters are thus made almost personally known to us, the more important actors in that eventful day pass before us in an equally vivid and dramatic individuality. We seem to have seen and known the crafty Sharpe, the tyrannical Lauderdale, the fierce Dalzell, and the stern Claverhouse; and there is, in such respects, more unpretending power in many of these pages than the general reader might at first anticipate. The quiet gravity-we might say, the elderly respectability-of a style peculiarly clear, is not unfrequently varied by a solemn pathos, or a generous indignation, which seldom fails in its appeal, and adds no small interest to the details of the "humble pastor of Eastwood;" and if the reader turn to any of the more marked events narrated—the rising at Pentland, the account of Guthrie's trial and death,-the "cry, 'Havoc,' and let slip," &c. of the Highland host, for instance he will find abundant evidence of a combination of candour in judgment, with a warm and often eloquent spirit of sympathy and honourable feeling, which cannot but enhance the work with all who can estimate such qualities.

of the proper mode of covering that part of the person which separates the shoulders from the chin, a being who disgraces his laundress by the most barbarous use of her well-ironed and folded neckcloths, starched with that degree of nicety, that a single grain more or less would have made the elasticity too great or the suppleness too little ;-suppose this Yahoo, with a white cravat tied round his neck like a rope, somewhat after the fashion most in vogue among the poorer class of divinity students, were to enter a drawing-room! What man on earth would not turn away from him in disgust? The very poodle would snap at his heels; and the large tortoiseshell cat upon the hearth-rug would elevate her back into the form of an arch, bristle up her tail like a brush, and spit at him with sentiments of manifest indignation, Ladies would shrink from the contamination of his approach, and the dearest friend he had in the world would cut him dead upon the spot. He might, perhaps, be a man of genius; but what is the value of genius to a person ignorant of the Art of Tying the Cravat?

Let us enquire for a moment into the history of the Cravat, and the influence it has always held over society in general. "L'art de mettre sa cravate," says a French philosopher (Montesquieu, we think), "est à l'homme du monde ce que l'art de donner à diner est à l'homme d'etat." It is believed that the Germans have the merit of invent

The arrangement by which the documents, acts of parliament, &c. have been taken from the separate appendix of the old edition, and thrown into the form of notes in this, is in every way a decided improvement; and we cannot, at the same time, but bear testimony to the ex-ing the Cravat, which was first used in the year 1636, tensive information and acuteness which Dr Burns has displayed in the notes added by him throughout these volumes. He has contributed also a memoir of the author, and some specimens of his correspondence, in which the character of the man, and the singularly strong sense he possessed, are very apparent; and the preliminary dissertation, to which we have already referred, is well worthy an attentive perusal, both as an eloquent and as an instructive composition.

We shall take more particular notice of this History when its publication is completed. At present, we cordially recommend to the encouragement of the public a work which we are persuaded has an equal claim to be considered national with many of far less general interest and loftier pretensions.

The Art of Tying the Cravat, demonstrated in Lessons,
with explanatory Plates. Forming a Pocket Manual.
By H. Le Blanc, Esq. Third Edition. London.
Effingham Wilson. 1829.

by a regiment of Croats then in their service. Croat, being pronounced Cro-at, was easily corrupted into cravat. The Greeks and Romans usually wore their neck free and uncovered, although in winter they sometimes wrapped a comforter round their throats, which they called a focalium, from fauces. Augustus Caesar, who was particularly liable to catch cold, continually used a focalium or sudarium. Even now, it is only some of the European nations who use Cravats. Throughout all the East the throat is invariably kept uncovered, and a white and wellturned neck is looked upon as a great beauty, being metaphorically compared to a tower of ivory. In France, for a long period, the ruff, stiffened and curled in single or double rows, was the favourite ornament of the neck; but when Louis XIII. introduced the fashion of wearing the hair in long ringlets upon the shoulders, the ruff was necessarily abandoned. In 1660, when a regiment of Croats arrived in France, their singular tour de cou attracted particular attention. It was made of muslin or silk, and the ends, arranged en rosette, hung gracefully on the breast. The cro-at (now cravat) became the pasWe have reviewed a good number of books in our day, sion; and the throat, which had hitherto been comparabut we never reviewed one in whose contents we felt so tively free, lost its liberty for ever. Many varieties were intensely interested as that which now lies before us. All introduced; but a fine starched linen cloth acquired the subjects, hiding their diminished heads, sink into insig- ascendency over all other, and retains it to this day. nificance the moment that the Art of Tying the Cravat Abuses crept in, however, for the fancy of the élégans ran engrosses the mind. It is an art without the knowledge wanton on the subject of pieces of muslin, stiffeners, colof which all others are useless. It is the very keystone lars, and stocks. At one time it was fashionable to wear to polite society; it is the open sesame to the highest such a quantity of bandaging round the neck, that shot honours both in church and state. Look at any indi- has been known to lodge in it with perfect impunity to vidual making his entrée into a drawing-room where there the wearer, and few sabre cuts could find their way is a circle in the slightest degree distinguished for taste through. Stocks are a variety of the Cravat species which and elegance. Is it his coat, his waistcoat, his shirt, his are now very general. Collars were the avant-couriers inexpressibles, his silk stocking, or his shoe, to which the of stocks, and were sometimes worn by the Egyptians glass of the critic, or the soft eye of beauty, is principally and Greeks, made of the richest metals, and ornamentdirected? No! it is to none of these. It is the Cravated with precious stones. The modern stock is a less that instantaneously stamps the character of its wearer. If it be put on with a recherché air,-if its folds be correct, and its set comme il faut,-then he may defy fate. Even though his coat should not be of the very last cut, and his waistcoat buttoned a whole button too high, still he will carry every thing before him. The man of fashion

costly article.

It carries with it a stiff and artificial air; but this is rather in its favour as a part of the military costume. It has other advantages, too; it forms no wrinkle, and is very simple, making but one turn round the neck, and being fastened behind by a buckle or clasp. Stocks have very generally superseded the Cravat

cases is a blessing, which can alone reconcile them to the most heart-rending affliction.

eating, burning-oil devourer, Mons. Chabert, who, it is cur rently reported, at the present moment imposes most successfully on the credulity of innumerable wonder-loving Dr Morrison's work, entitled "Medicine no Mystery," Londonians, even at the west end of that unwieldy metro- will be read with interest by scientific, or well-educated, polis! We never believed in the authenticity of Ireland's non-professional persons. His views are too general to "Vortigern and Rowena;” never put our trust in the pro-be of advantage to the mere medical student or to practiductions of Mrs Shipton; never placed any reliance on the prophecies of the Belfast Almanack; never perilled our for tune in Carrol's or Pidding's celebrated lotteries; and, finally, never under any circumstances reposed faith in Buchan's Domestic Medicine. In our swaddling clothes we may have swallowed some of Dalby's Carminative, but the recollection of the same hath escaped us; and since we have arrived at the age of manhood, and speared salmon in the Tweed, we hold even Hunt's " Family Pills” in abomination, and are sorely tempted to blaspheme against "Solomon's Balm of Gilead!"

Young well observed, in his gloomy "Night Thoughts," | that "men think all men mortal but themselves;" and this, to a very considerable extent, is true: yet, since we have ascended the Aristarchian chair, we have thought it befitting to ponder more deeply with ourselves, and know the full catalogue of the afflictions to which our "mortal flesh is heir." We think it proper, therefore, for the good of the commonwealth, and especially for the bodily welfare of the inhabitants of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen, to introduce notices of medical books occasionally in our columns, that we may warn our readers what Scylla and Charybdis they may avoid, and how they may pass safely, securely, and happily, through the Hygeian road of a long and happy life. We are not like certain managers of theatres, who, in taking leave of their friends and patrons, wish them "health and happiness until the house re-opens next season." Our affections can endure no such periodical limits or intermissions. They may, like the waters of the Nile, occasionally overflow their continents; but we can never cease to entertain a sort of parental regard for the health, happiness, and prosperity, of the contributors, subscribers, and readers of the Edinburgh Literary Journal. We can assure our fair readers especially, that this to us is a subject of the deepest solicitude. We sympathize with every cold, tremble for every headach, and are on the verge of desperation when we fancy any of them may have a twinge of the toothach. But on this subject we begin to grow pathetic. How fortunate, therefore, that a work has come under review like that before us, and that we can at last console ourselves with the pleasing reflection, that Medicine has indeed become "no mystery." A great revolution has been, and is still, taking place in medical science. Physicians have not only laid aside their well-powdered wigs, their starched ruffles, and gold-headed canes, but with these have disposed of all that mystical mannerism which, in a less enlightened age, may have imposed on the superficial observation of the patient. Society is now in so enlightened a state, that few attempts to conceal ignorance, by "outward pomp and circumstance," will be long successful; and medical men, we apprehend, frequently find it necessary to explain, to the anxious relatives round a sick bed, the cause of certain symptoms, the nature of the danger that may be impending, and the views with which certain remedies are administered. Such communications, to welleducated and intelligent people, are calculated to increase, rather than diminish, confidence in the practitioner; and as the art of medicine is not to be acquired by a few aphorisms, not to be gathered from books, but must depend exclusively on experience, the physician never need apprehend danger to his temporal interests, by communicating freely to an enquiring mind the principles on which be proceeds. There may, it is true, be some cases of slow, lingering, and fatal disease, the prognosis of which need not be rudely announced; for, where the Promethean vulture of sickness is to prey for months upon its victim, there is no humanity in at once shutting out all hopes from the surviving relatives, whose ignorance in many

tioners, as they will find, in general elementary works, the information which is here presented in a popular form, The work is divided into two parts, the first of which treats of the animal system in a state of health; the second of the animal system in a state of disease. A single quotation will be sufficient to give an idea of the style in which it is written, and the author's method of treating the several subjects he discusses. We choose one extract from the chapter on

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.

"The brain and spinal marrow form the origin and main trunk of the nervous system. The nerves of four of the senses (sight, hearing, smell, and taste) originate immediately from the brain, the position of those senses being, in all animals by whom they are possessed, in the head. The and the nerves constituting it are filaments derived from seat of the fifth sense is the general surface of the body; the nerves of sensation distributed throughout the frame. The nerves which supply the internal organs which perform the vital functions, form, as I have said, a separate system; it is called the sympathetic, or Ganglionic system. The nerves which serve for motion, and those which constitute the general sensation of the body, proceed from the spinal marrow in thirty pairs, and are distributed, the former to all the muscles of the body, which are the immediate organs of motion, and the latter to all the sentient parts of the frame. The Ganglionic nerves have their origin all along the front part of the spine on each side, and arise from small bodies like glands, called ganglions, which are connected by filaments with the nerves of motion and sensation proceeding from the spinal marrow. This very general description must serve here for that of the Nervous System, as to its structure. So intimately connected is the due supply of nervous influence with the healthy actions of every organ and part, that whenever the former is by any means suspended or diminished, the actions of the organ, whose supply of nervous power is affected, either cease altogether, or are vitiated and deteriorated, in proportion to the extent of the nervous affection. For example: When the nerves that supply the diaphragm (the principal organ in respiration) are divided, respiration ceases, and death ensues. When the nerves supplying the stomach are divided, digestion ceases, and the food previously eaten is found some hours after in an undigested state. The heart performs its peculiar action by means of its nervous supply. When a sudden shock is given to the whole nervous system by fright, that system is thrown into a state of collapse, tural powers again. The most striking effect of this state or diminished action, preparatory to the recovery of its na is the apparent cessation of the action of the heart and pulse during the swoon; the other phenomena attending this state cannot be understood until we shall have considered the peculiar functions of the heart itself, and the organs connected with it, which form the sanguineous or circulating system."-Pp. 2-5.

As a general knowledge of the most important functions of the human body is essential to every well-educated man, we have no hesitation in recommending, for the attainment of that object, the work of Dr Morrison.

MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GERMAN LANGUAGE,
AND REASONS FOR ITS MORE GENERAL CULTI-
VATION IN THIS COUNTRY.

(A Communication from Gottingen.)

THE German is a language to which neither the Scotch nor English pay that attention which it undoubtedly deserves. Since my arrival in Germany I have been more struck with our neglect of this useful language than I had ever been in Scotland; for here, English is as common a study as French is with us. Hamburg, where all merchants of any respectability speak our language, may