the First of Arragon, relative to the oath to be taken by advocates, and unconnected with this compilation; and the forty-fourth as relating only to a particular measure of the quintal in the importation of spices, &c from Alexandria. At the close of the preliminary discourse, the Editor gives a very particular account of an old printed copy of this code, in the Catalonian dialect, which had been at that instant communicated to him, in which these constitutions of Don Pedro of Arragon are not found. This copy, he says, is without date, or printer's name, but from the type, paper, and other internal evidence, he supposes it to have been printed about the year 1480, and consequently to be the earliest printed copy. It is remarkable that the Editor, who appears to be a person of much learning, makes no mention of the Amalphitan Table of Sealaws, which has been supposed to be prior in date to the present, and to have been in fact its parent; but I am not aware that any copy of this is extant, or that any writer professes to have read or even seen it. This Amalphitan Table is supposed to have been compiled about the close of the 11th century. The present code or at least its name must be of a subsequent date, as the first establishment of a commercial tribunal of this name was by Roger the first of Sicily, at Messina, in 1128. It may be proper to observe that most of the continental nations have a tribunal of commerce, whose judges are called consuls, established in most of their principal trading towns.

The Editor's opinion is, that the code in its present form is not older than the thirteenth century, and that it was drawn up at Barcelona in the reign of James the First of Arragon; and among other reasons for his

opinion,

opinion, he takes notice of its being in the common language of the country (en romance), which at that time began to be used in written compositions; of the mention of paper, which was not in use before the thirteenth century; and of millareses, a coin of Monpelier, which was under the sovereignty of this James. Some authors have ascribed it to the time of St. Lewis, which nearly corresponds with this date.

The Catalonian or Limoisin dialect must have been intelligible in many places, as it was derived from Limoges, and was the common language of the inhabitants not only of Catalonia but also of Valentia, Majorca, Minorca, Ivica, Sardinia, Guienne, Provence, and all Francia Gotica*; and bears a great resemblance to the old French of other provinces. This compilation is very verbose in its language, and abounds with repetitions, and has much more of the Spanish than French air.

The first printed edition, generally known, was published at Barcelona, in the Catalonian dialect, in 1502. There have been two Castilian versions before the present, one by Francisco Diaz Roman in 1539, and the other by Don Cayetano Palleja in 1732. There is also extant a French translation by F. Maysoni in 1576, and a Dutch version by Abraham Westerween, which does not seem to have been known to the Spanish Editor. An English translation of the 273d and 287th chapters, which are on the subject of hostile capture, was published in 1800, by Dr. Robinson, to whom the public is indebted for Reports of the Pro

Gaspar Escolano lib. i. de la Historia de Valencia, cap. 14, quoted in the Preface to the Amsterdam edition of the Consulate.

ceedings

ceedings in the Court of Admiralty. It is to be regretted that Emerigon, who was every way qualified for the task, did not fulfil his intention of publishing a new French translation with notes.

I subjoin a list of such printed editions as I have any where found mentioned.

Catalonian, supposed about 1480, no date, place, or printer's name, known.

Catalonian-1502, at Barcelona.

Castilian *-1539, at Valencia, by Francisco Diaz Roman.

Italian-1544, at Venice, by N. Pedrozano.
Italian-1576†, ibid. by Gabriel Zeberti.
French-1576, at Marseilles by Giraud, translated

by F. Maysoni.

Italian-1579, at Venice.

Catalonian, 1592, at Barcelona.

Italian-1599, at Venice.

French-1635, at Aix by Stephen David. Maysoni's translation.

Italian-1696, in the Discursus legales de Commercio of Casa-regis.

Italian and Dutch-1723, at Amsterdam, by S. Schouten. Westerween's translation.

Castilian-1732, at Barcelona, translated by Don Cayetano de Palleja.

Castilian-1791, the present edition.

**

*

There is a copy of this editon in the library of the Inner Temple.

Query 1567. Schomberg on the Maritime Laws of Rhodes, p. 86,

note.

ᎪᎡᎢ.

ART. II. Winter. A Poem. By James Thomson.
The Second Edition. 1726.

* See WINTER Comes to rule the varied year,
Sullen and sad; with all his rising train

Vapours, and clouds, and storms: Be these my theme,
These, that exalt the soul to solemn thought,

And heavenly musing. Welcome, kindred glooms I
Wish'd, wintry horrors, hail!-with frequent foot
Pleas'd have I in my chearful morn of life,
When nurs'd by careless Solitude I liv'd,

And sung of Nature with unceasing joy;
Pleas'd have I wander'd thro' your rough domains,
Trod the pure virgin snows, my self as pure,
Heard the winds roar and the big torrent burst;
Or seen the deep fermenting tempest brew'd
In the red evening sky. Thus pass'd the time,
Till thro' the opening chambers of the south
Look'd out the joyous Spring, look'd out and smil'd,
Thee too, inspirer of the toiling swain,

Fair Autumn, yellow-rob'd, I'll sing of thee,

Thomson, in a letter before mentioned, (see p. 65) imparted these lines

* Dr. Cranston, as his first sketch of an exordium to Winter.

I sing of WINTER and his gelid reign;
Nor let a ryming insect of the Spring
Deem it a barren theme. To me 'tis full

Of manly charms; to me, who court the shade,
Whom the gay Seasons suit not, and who shun

The glare of Summer. Welcome, kindred glooms!

Drear, awful, wintry horrors, welcome all!

After this introduction, says the post, I prosecute the purport of the follow

ing lines:

Nor can I, O departing Summer! choose

But consecrate one pitying line to you:

Sing your last temper'd days and sunny calms,
That chear the spirits and serene the soul.

Of

Of thy last equal days and clouded calms, *
When all the golden hours are on the wing,
Attending thy retreat, and round thy wain,
Slow-rolling, onward to the southern sky.

Mark, how the well-pois'd hornet hovering hangs,
With quivering pinions, in the genial blaze;
Flies off, in airy circles; then returns
And hums and dances to the beating ray:
Nor shall the man that musing walks alone,
And heedless strays within his radiant lists,
Go unchastis'd away. Sometimes a fleece
Of clouds, wide-scattering, with a lucid veil
Light shadow o'er the unruffled face of heaven,
And thro' their dewy sluices shed the sun
With temper'd influence down. Then is the time
For those whom Wisdom and whom Nature charm,
To steal themselves from the degenerate crowd,
And soar above this little scene of things;
To tread low-thoughted vice beneath their feet;
To sooth the throbbing passions into peace †,
And woo lone Quiet in her silent walks.

Now solitary and in pensive guise

Oft let me wander o'er the russet mead

Or thro' the pining grove, where scarce is heard
One dying strain, to chear the woodman's toil :
Haply, some widow'd songster pours his plaint ‡
Far thro' the withering copse. Mean while the leaves
That late the forest clad with lively green,
Nipt by the drizzly night, and sallow-hu'd,
Fall wavering thro' the air; or shower amain,
Urg'd by the breeze that sobs amid the boughs.

Of thy last temper'd days and sunny calms. 1st. edit.
To lay their passions in a gentle calm. ib.
Sad Philomel, perchance, pours forth her plaint. ib.

Then