The

long eyelashes, and fine teeth; but the beauty which is most prized in this country, is that of excessive corpulency. Moorish women, however, as they arrive very early at maturity, being often married at twelve years of age, fade equally soon; I am informed that their finest women are completely in the wane of their beauty at twenty-five, when they are often grand-mothers; this may be in a great degree owing to the excessive use, or rather abuse of the steam bath.

From remote antiquity the inhabitants of this country have been styled inconstant and treacherous; this imputation may be regarded as not unfounded now, but they are far from being the ferocious barbarians which the term Algerines seems by common consent to imply. They are a people of very insinuating address, and in the common relations of life, I have found them civil, courteous, and humane. Neither have I ever remarked any thing in the character of these people that discovers extraordinary bigotry, fanaticism, or hatred of those who profess a different religion; they profess the Mohammedan creed, and fulfil with the utmost scrupulousness the rites which it ordains, but without affectation, and as far as I have remarked, without hostility to those who adopt different measures to conciliate the Divine favour. I am well aware that this character of the Algerines is contrary to what has been heretofore promulgated, and to the general belief of the world; but my impressions of them, which I have received from a long residence in Barbary, differ very much from the general opinion, particularly within the last fifty years.

The following paragraph contains the larger part of his remarks upon the literature and literary means and institutions of Algiers.

Common schools are, however, numerous in Algiers, where boys of the age of five or six years and upwards, are taught to read and write. From the invariable character of the customs of these countries, I am induced to believe that their practice is the probable origin of the Lancasterian system of tuition. Each scholar is provided with a board, upon which any thing may be fairly written with chalk, and easily effaced; a lesson from the Koran is transcribed in fair and legible characters upon one of these boards, which is then copied upon all the others, the scholars mutually teaching each other, both in the meaning, and in the formation of the letters of the text. These lessons are loudly rehearsed to the pedagogue, who sits upon his heels in a corner with a long rod, through the terror of which he maintains order and due attention amongst his scholars. Thus reading and writing are taught simultaneously, and the beautiful uniformity that characterizes the Arabic handwriting, is probably owing to this method of tuition. The education of the Algerine youth is completed when, having

learnt to read and write the Koran, he is duly instructed by the same preceptor in the forms and modes of prayer. The expenses of this course of education are very trifling, and I am informed that similar schools are kept by women for the instruction of young girls. I think there can be no doubt that these people stand on the very brink of civilization, and might be easily led into it through a system of government less repugnant to improvement in its principles and practice, than that under which they live.

He closes his description of the architecture of Algiers, and particularly of his own house, thus:

This house is entered by only one external door, which is solid and strong as that of a fortress, so that the family inhabiting it, have every thing within themselves, without fear of intrusion. All the floors are paved with marble, or with Dutch painted tiles, and the walls of the apartments are covered, to the height of about four feet, with the same species of tiles of a finer quality.

In all the houses of Algiers, there is contrived a small apartment at the outer door, and without the area of the house, where the host receives visits, and transacts business; as, on account of the women, no stranger is ever received within his domicil, except on extraordinary occasions. This apartment is called the Skiffa, and in this house is spacious and elegant. The exterior of all the houses in Algiers is kept neatly whitewashed, which, at a distance, gives a very brilliant appearance to the city. I have been thus particular in describing the house I inhabit, as well to give the reader an idea of Algerine architecture, as also a notion of the value of real estate here; this house is supposed to have cost about one hundred thousand dollars, and I occupy it at an annual rent of two hundred and fifty dollars. In past times of prosperity, the Algerines indulged very much in the luxury of building, and there are in consequence many houses in the city that are equal or superior to mine. It is forbidden to all Mussulmans, on very severe penalties, to visit the terraces of their houses during daylight, which are held sacred to the women; but as this prohibition is not extended to Christians, we sometimes, on fine evenings, obtain a sight of those fair recluses, who, availing themselves of this scanty privilege, take the air on the flat-terraced roofs of their houses.

The following remarks contradict very decidedly the general opinion respecting the horrors of Algerine slavery.

Female captives were always treated with the respect due to their sex; the labour required of the men was not excessive; those who could find security that they would not escape, were allowed to go at large on the payment of about seventy-five cents

per month; there were a number of lucrative offices that were always occupied by slaves, in which many enriched themselves; those who were employed in the palace, or attached to the great officers of state, were treated with the greatest mildness; and generally all who were industriously disposed easily found the means of profiting by it. In short, there were slaves who left Algiers with regret, and it is believed that in the aggregate, they carried away a vast sum of money at their embarkation. That they suffered occasional cruelty and hardship from the caprice or brutality of their keepers and overseers, cannot be doubted, for such are inseparable from the unprotected situation of captives of any description.

In the fifth chapter, Mr Shaler speaks of certain tribes of natives, who dwell within the kingdom of Algiers, and retain various degrees of independence. The principal among them have never been subdued by the Turks; and Mr Shaler draws from the consideration of their manners, languages, and history, plausible arguments,-to say no more,-in favour of the supposition, that they are the remnants of an original people, who have survived the successive conquests of the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Vandals, and the Turks, and have preserved through all these vicissitudes their language and principal characteristics. We cannot exactly agree with our author in the unquestionable expediency of the seizure and colonization of these countries by England or some other European power. We should certainly feel nothing like regret, if the encampment of barbarians upon this delightful spot was broken up, and its unequalled natural advantages put into the hands of a people, who would use them more for their own good and the good of the world, than the recreants by whom they are now abused. But the idea of taking forcible possession of this country, simply on the ground that it might be better governed, seems to us to savour a little too much of the principle of "doing evil that good may come."

The extracts from the Journal of the American Consulate in Algiers, are very interesting, not only as they serve to illustrate the habits and principles of the Algerine Turks in their intercourse with foreigners, but as they place in strong and favourable light, the character of Mr Shaler, and the standing which he has acquired for himself and helped to acquire for his country, with the people among whom he resides. We regret that our limits will not permit us to give our readers any part of them. The tables and extracts at the close of the volume are well selected and valuable.

MISCELLANY.

LETTER FROM AN AMERICAN IN EUROPE.

Göllingen.

My Dear C.-As you are about to put on the academic habit, I suppose you will be interested in those who wear it, though of a different hue and fashion, in other countries. I will, therefore, give you a sketch of a German university. The name of university is perhaps connected in your mind with groves and gardens, with lofty and venerable halls. But by the indigent literati of this country, such things are deemed only the splendid trappings of idleness.

A German university is most properly to be regarded as an assemblage of learned professors. The greater their number or their fame, the more numerous the students who resort to them for the purpose of hearing their lectures. It is not here as in England, where the descendant of such a family, or the advocate of such a political creed, sends his children in consequence to Oxford or Cambridge. The celebrity of these institutions has frequently risen with the appointment, and declined upon the death, of one or two eminent individuals. The professors are appointed by the civil government of each state. There are different ranks among them. They are at first only "professores extraordinarii," with little or no salary from government. As they become more distinguished, they are advanced to the rank of "professores ordinarii;" then they receive successively, as a sort of retaining fee, to prevent their accepting offers from other universities, the honorary titles of Hofrath, Justiz-rath, Geheimer-rath, which may be translated, Counsellor of State, Counsellor of Justice, Privy Counsellor; in some few cases, Ritter, which is perfectly untranslatable; and last of all, one or two in a century arrive at the ultimum of a German's notion of earthly dignity, in the permission to set "von (answering to the Dutch and the French "de") before their name. For one might say, perhaps, without uncharitableness, that the Germans are title-mad. With this increase of honour, the salary increases too; though much the larger part of a professor's income arises from the fees he receives from those who attend his lectures.

6 van

Some time before the close of each semester, or semiannual term, a catalogue is published of the lectures to be delivered in the succeeding one. The students select those which most interest them, either from the celebrity of the lecturer, their own predilection for the subject, or its indispensable connexion with the pro

fession they pursue. They wait upon the professor, whose course they intend to hear, and request a seat in his lecture-room. He gives them a ticket, with the number of the seat to be occupied, and they retire, leaving a louis-d'or (equal to four dollars) on the table. As each professor delivers three or more courses, and the more eminent have frequently above one hundred auditors, it is easy to perceive, that a popular professor might soon become comparatively opulent. Thus the professors act under the constant stimulus of ambition and of interest. Their intercourse with each other is but partial and limited. And I am sorry to say of these learned gentlemen, that there is an incredible degree of hatred and envy among them, which they often take no pains to conceal, even from the students; and the different gradations of rank before mentioned, while they keep the professors diligent, produce at the same time a supercilious spirit in the more distinguished, and a proportionate jealousy and ill-will in the rest. Where two professors read, or are desirous of reading lectures on the same subject, the hostility is naturally the greatest, as their interests are thus brought into actual conflict. This is true to such an extent, that, in the cities where the larger universities are found, it is necessary for every one, who invites the literati to a party, carefully to inspect the list of those to be invited, lest two professors who are not on terms of common civility, should be among the number, as they would infallibly destroy the harmony of the company. One professor, of some distinction in Göttingen, was so unfortunate in his temper, that when he was invited, it was hardly possible to send for any one else. Thus they laugh at each other, abuse each other, and emulously throw obstacles in each other's way, to the great edification of their pupils.

Their intercourse with the students is very slight. To those few whom they happen to know, their conduct is strikingly polite. But they meet these young men upon a footing of perfect equality; not as instructer and pupil, but as one gentleman meets another. It must not here be forgotten, that the professors are dependent for the larger part of their salary upon the good opinion of the students individually; and, accordingly, it will not be wondered at, that they neither exert, nor attempt to exert, any useful influence over them. On Sunday forenoon they hold a sort of levee, and then it is allowable for any one to call upon those professors whose lectures he attends.

Their lectures are full of scientific matter, usually arranged in admirable order. But they have no conception of a pleasing and graceful delivery; and their voices, probably from their inactive and sedentary life, are very bad; their manner often disagreeable even to the point of disgust. Literary labour, too, has now come to be as minutely divided as mechanical; and the advantage in