2 
662 
MISCELLANIES, 
beasts not like any in earth below, and spread eagles are like devils, andthe 
the common fish not like any in the hippopotamus resembles a Frenchman 
waters under the earth. ‘The griffinsand taking snuff. 
Art. III. The Decameron, or ten Days? Entertainment of Boccaccio, translated from the 
Italian. Second edition, corrected and improved. To which are prefixed, Remarks onthe Life 
and Writings of Boccaccio, and an Advertisement. * By the Author of Old Nick, Se. 
8vo. 2 vols. 
LITTLE need be said upon an old 
translation of a well-known work. ‘The 
editor has corrected a few inaccuracies, 
yand has chastised the manners, if not 
the morals of Boccaccio. The life of 
the, author is very ably drawn up, and 
,the remarks which he has prefixed, have 
‘been selected with sufficient care. It 
swould have added considerable value 
to these volumes, if each tale had been 
prefaced with a reference to the ori- 
.ginal. story, where it was known, and 
mi 
‘the author tells us in, his preface, is 
*« To demonstrate the équality of the two 
sexes, cliffereist'as they mnay be ;! and to prove 
that every thing is*compensated between 
them ;— at }f the’one séems to be endowed 
with peculiatqualities, not possessed by the 
‘other,. we cannot deny the other advantages 
equally to be valued ;—that where corporeal 
strength.is wanting, strength of soul supplies 
the kere 3—that our domination over 
the female sex is but a continued usurpation ; 
—that they have dexterously availed them- 
selves of every opportunity of re-establishing, 
at least for a time, the*balance between us ; 
—that in these moments of transient equa- 
lity, they have evinced an ability for every 
thing, equal to ours ;:and that, with the ex- 
ception of inventive genius, their intellectual 
faculties are not inferior to ouy,own.” 
With this view M. Seguy has ran- 
sacked the histori¢:annals of almost 
every age and country, and collected a 
Jarge and curious: body of facts, exhi- 
biting the situation of women;in different 
stages .of ‘society, their .emplayments,. 
their rank, &cs,&es Wereel, hewever, 
that all: the use: is mot. made of these 
facts to which they might have been ap- 
plied,-and: after. having - perused the 
pages before. us, when we turned to 
these: of \ professor’ Millar, where he 
treats, on the same. subject,* we were 
sensibly impressed with the superiority 
of our countrynian, who traces in a 
more brief and philosophic. manner, 
the general effect’ which different de- 
to those which have grown out of its 
where it had ‘been imitated. This 
would have given it an historical uti- 
lity.” 
Why is not the Tvseide of Boccaccio 
reprinted? A sufficient sale would sure- 
ly be found’in England, for we have 
a national interest in the story, 
which has. been made our own by 
Chaucer and Dryden, and by that play 
wherein Fletcher is said to have been as- 
sisted by Shakespeare. 
‘ : 
Women: their Condition and Influence in Society, By Jos. Avex. Szcur. 
.. »Lranslated from the French. 
aD RE design of this amusing. work, 
12mo. 3 vols. pp. 1012. 
grees of civilization in sogiety produce 
on the condition of females, and the re- 
action, as it were, of female influence 
upon the state of society. 
Throughout the animal creation na- 
ture has made a distinction, obvious and 
unquestionable, between the physical 
powers of the male and the female. 
The human race forms no exception: 
man excels woman in strength, activity, 
patience of fatigue, and courage—if 
that can be called courage which arises 
from a consciousness of greater muscu- 
larity and superior force. What then has 
she given to woman? Beaury, 
— Kadrross 
> > 1) ’ ‘ 
Av? QOTi0wy a2TacEewy 
ore ’ « 7 ry ‘ 
Art &Y x Eu aT aT WY ay 
Nixd Oe, xed ai Ongovy 
} K ee z 
Hb GUC, KAN TIS UTAH. 
fie 
This beauty, however, which the 
_ elegant, and refined voluptuary of Teos 
celebrated as so triumphant and resist- 
less in the. person of woman, may be 
ascribed without flattery to her mind ; 
and although the soul, indeed, is desti- 
tute of sex, the distinctién is, scarcely 
less obvious and unquestionable between 
the mental, than the corporeal qualities 
of man and woman. Rae 
Much has been said of late years by 
Mrs. Wolstonecraft, and her disciples, 
concerning the state of humiliation and 
bondage im which the female sex has 
been confined by us fords of the creaiion, 
* © Observation; concerning the Distinction of Ranks in Society.” Chap. i. 
Sl ee 
