striking particulars. The physicial, the organic; the moral and intellectual constitution of man are next treated of, and the precise relations of these to each other, and to external things, very carefully traced. This is done by a detailed account of the correspondences among all this variety of being, especially as it regards the laws by which they are severally governed. We have in the next place, very amply discoursed, what the effect must be, and actually is, of an infringement of these laws; and what a strict obedience to them necessarily produces. In the one case the individual must be miserable, and in an exact proportion to the amount in which the law or laws have been violated. Implicit obedience, as far as the relations treated of are concerned, has its reward in the enjoyment which necessarily attends it. The whole system of things is shown to be one of perfect benevolence, and punishment is no less so both in its necessity and its consequences than is reward. The contrivances in nature for promoting human happiness, and the adaptation of the constitution of man in all its variety for the full operation of all these means of good, are treated with great force and beauty. The author has secured to himself the interest of his reader by the clearness with which he presents his subject, and especially by the variety and felicity of his illustrations. It will teach every one much that it concerns him greatly to know. The instructer of the young, and the advanced scholar must acknowledge their obligations to Mr. Combe for the important knowledge his work contains. We close by recommending it to the whole community.

ART. II.-1. Letters written in the Interior of Cuba, between the Mountains of Arcana to the East, and of Cusco to the West, in the Months of February, March, April, and May, 1828. By the late Rev. Abiel Abbot, D. D. Pastor of the First Church in Beverly, in Massachusetts. Boston. Bowles & Dearborn. 1829. 8vo. pp. 256.

2. Sketches of Naval Life, with notices of Men, Manners, and Scenery, on the Shores of the Mediterranean, in a Series of Lellers from the Brandywine and Constitution Frigates. By a Civilian. New Haven. Hezekiah Howe. 1829. 2 Vols. 12mo. pp. 570.

In pursuance of the design, mentioned in the introduction to the present volume of the Journal, of discussing those things.

which form the subjects of education, we now enter upon a review of that large class of works which profess to describe foreign countries from actual observation. Books of this description claim and receive considerable attention in early life, and contribute not only to the mass of geographical knowledge which a young person acquires in the process of education; but to the far more important object of liberalizing the mind, by the removal of national and local prejudices and the infusion of that humane and philosophical spirit which travel itself is so eminently fitted to produce.

To say merely that a youth must read travels in order to understand something of the condition of foreign countriesmust apply to original sources of information, instead of resting content with his Geography,' and 'Manners and Customs,' is not enough. It is turning him into a wilderness of books, good, bad, and indifferent; and referring him to teachers who are influenced by almost every variety of motives, and furnished with every kind of qualification or disqualification for the office. There is no class of books in which judicious selection is more important than in that which embraces travels, voyages, and descriptions of scenery, society, and manners. To aid those who have the care of youth, in the selection of such works of this kind, as may with perfect safety and propriety be recommended, for the purpose of storing the mind and forming the spirit and character, will be a primary object in this part of our undertaking.

The books before us relating to countries widely remote from each other, and written by authors in widely different circumstances, are alike in one most essential point. They are both written by men actuated by christian principles and that spirit of liberal philanthropy, which should always characterize the traveller; and much more the writer of travels.

Doctor Abbot visited Cuba in the winter and spring of 1828, for the sake of its salubrious climate, which is so peculiarly efficient in restoring the health of persons afflicted with pulmonary complaints. His opportunities for observing the features of the country and the state of society were ample, and his admirable talents for observation and description have given us a picture of Cuba as accurate and graphical as it is interesting. Nothing seems to have escaped his quick and scrutinizing eye. He gives us not only the grand features of each scene, but the minuter parts, not only the magnificently great,' as Dr. Johnson would say, but the 'elegantly little;' not only the form and costume of these interesting islanders, but their finer traits

and fleeting expression; the free and easy air of the Montero, and the nameless grace which characterizes the Cuban female, from the belle who moves in the proud circles of Havana to the humblest cottager among the Camarioca hills. The country of which he has presented so lively a picture is deserving of notice among us; and on account of its proximity and growing commercial importance it is particularly so to the rising generation.

Cuba is undoubtedly the most important and interesting island of the Western Archipelago; important not less on account of its salubrity and fertility than its size and its numerous white population; and, from the character of its scenery and inhabitants, not less interesting to the attentive observer of men and things, than to the politician or commercial speculator.

The principal part of the white population of the other West India islands consists of adventurers, who resort to them for a temporary residence to accumulate property which they propose to spend at home. In Cuba the case is widely different. The white inhabitants of the islands, who, by the way, are more numerous than those of all the other islands, are mostly natives of the country. Their ancestors were born there; the estates of the great proprietors and the titles of the resident nobility,* have long been transmitted through their families, and the mass of the people have, by the lapse of time, acquired a sort of national character of their own, in which the love of country is by no means the least prominent trait.

Among the higher classes there are many of the descendants of the most illustrious men of the parent country; and the traveller is continually recognizing names here which have graced the brightest epochs of Spanish history. The early adventurers to the western world often fixed themselves in this island, the scene of many of their enterprizes, and here their descendants have remained to the present day. Those who in subsequent periods have come to the island from Spain for the purpose of acquiring property by agriculture or commerce have almost always remained; prevented from returning, no doubt, by the consideration that the same wealth which would give them importance and respectability here, would by no means. entitle them to rank with the ancient gentry, the high spirited hidalgos of the mother country.

A similar motive has influenced many foreigners to fix them

There are twenty nine resident nobility in Cuba, many of whom have never seen Spain.

selves permanently in the country. When to these circumstances we add that a great number of the white inhabitants of the neighbouring island of Hispaniola, took refuge here after the insurrection which drove them from their home, we shall be at no loss to determine why so large a proportion of the population is white.

We should remark, in passing, however, that it is by no means an easy matter for us to come at the precise relative proportion of blacks and whites in the island; or, what may seem strange to us, for the government of Cuba itself to form any correct estimate of the number of inhabitants, the amount of produce, or any other general statistical fact relating to the island. This arises from an unwillingness on the part of the inhabitants to make full returns; as they are very well aware that such returns are never sought but for the purpose of raising a revenue by direct taxation; and moreover that they themselves are to have no voice in determining the objects or amount of this taxation. A planter, therefore, instead of returning the true number of his slaves, returns half, a third, or even a tenth; and follows a similar rule in reporting to the government of the siempre fuel isla, the amount of sugar, coffee, or tobacco, produced on his estate.

This uncertainty extends even to the amount of imports and exports; for it is a literal fact that on inquiry being made, by certain commissioners of the government, concerning the amount of flour, sent from Matanzas to Havana, in a year, it was found to be greater than the total amount entered from abroad at the custom-house of Matanzas; so that, since none is produced in Cuba, an amount greater than all which was consumed during the year in the large city of Matanzas and the surrounding estates and villages must have been smuggled into that port. Again, when a board of commissioners, appointed by the government, attempted to learn the whole amount of products of the island and had brought in their returns, it was found on comparing them with the custom-house books at Havana, that the conscientious planters had returned a smaller amount of sugar for the whole island than is annually exported from the single port of Havana.

For the present, therefore, the statistics of Cuba must be left to conjecture. But the statistics of a country are certainly not its most interesting features. Its moral and intellectual aspect, the adaptation of its scenery and society to affect the mind and heart-these claim our first and highest regard. In point of

actual personal intercourse, it is probable that Cuba has much more to do with this country than Scotland. But which is most intimately known to us? Who will think of comparing the influence exerted over us by the Cubanos to that which we daily feel to be exerted by the Scotch? The former influence is weak because it is commercial only-material,—the latter is powerful, because it is moral and intellectual, the intercourse of mind with mind and heart with heart.

It is one of the best characteristics of Doctor Abbot's work, that it makes us acquainted with the moral and intellectual condition of the country he describes. He pourtrays its scenery, it is true, with all the enthusiasm of an artist, but he does not forget to delineate those higher traits on which its future destiny depends.

The first extract which we shall present, will illustrate this observation.

The cursory view of the free population of the island, taken in my former letters, would be imperfect, should I not attempt some account of its moral character. They have their virtues; and they have their vices. Of the first I shall speak with unfeigned satisfaction; of the last with regret, and, I hope, with candor, certainly without intentional exaggeration. For though my residence in this island has been short, I have been so absorbed in the subject of my investigation, and my feelings have risen so far towards enthusiasm, that I may almost lay claim to the local passion of patriotism. At least I must be allowed to say that few things could give me a satisfaction so solid or so great as to see their virtues increased a hundred fold, and their vices, deep rooted as they are, entirely eradicated.

'It has been with great pleasure, that I have heard, in all parts of the island, which I have visited, of the parental authority and filial piety of the Spaniards. In a former letter I mentioned, on the authority of a respectable and intelligent Spaniard of Old Spain who had passed six weeks among them, the patriarchal state in which Monteros live, in a district about fifty leagues to the windward of Matanzas. The case is very similar fifty or sixty leagues to the leeward from the same city. A few anecdotes will best illustrate the point which I give on unquestionable authority, and only at second hand from the Montero himself, whom I have seen again and again.

'Having long been employed by the lady, to whom I refer, as a carter of produce to the market, he sometimes took the liberty of conversing with her on his own affairs; and once mentioned the grief, that had come upon himself and his wife by the gross misconduct of his son, then eighteen years old. Why, mad