666 
them, they would not-Voluntarily have 
suffered any superior sway. Force alone 
could have brought them under subjec- 
tion. When the passions are kindled 
they are capable of rising to the most 
heroic actions, or of falling into the most 
odious excesses.” If they are less sus- 
ceptible of friendship, however, he ac- 
knowledges. that in them the torch of 
love burns with a brighter and more ar- 
dent flame than in the bosom of the other 
sex ; “love,” says he, “ is made for them, 
and they for love.” 
As to the intellectual faculties of the 
sex, M. Segur considers their genius “ as 
creative only in modifications.” We are 
at a loss to comprehend the meaning of 
this delicate distinction; their under- 
standing, he continues, more subtle than 
profound, defines with more-grace than 
accuracy, with more elegance than logic. 
All energetic jdeas, he contends, are de- 
nied to women; they think, but they 
¢aii rarely meditate ; they bring ‘to’ per- 
fection, they seize with greater vivacity 
than we do all, the <uferjictal relations, 
which they present with a grace which 
is peculiar to them. . Examples to the 
¢ontrary are of no avail : these he chooses 
to consider as exceptions, and although 
M. de Segur has employed at least one 
‘half of his three volumes in sketching 
the characters of illustrious women, and 
although this one half is a refutation to 
the reasoning contained in the other, he 
is not to be convinced. 
»MISCELLANIES. - 
Among the numerous examples of fe- 
male superiority, that afforded by Ca- 
therine the first of Russia is conspicuous. 
M. de Segur has given us the history of 
this very extraordinary woman, but the 
narrative is full of anachronisms from an 
original blunder as to the date of her 
birth. She is stated to have been born 
in 1702; it was in the year 1711 that 
she extricated the Czar from his perilous 
situation before the Grand Vizier on the 
bank of the Pruth! Catherine was born 
in 1687; Peter espoused her in 17i1; 
and crowned her with hij own hand at 
Moscow in 1724. -- 
In no country, perhaps, has the influ- 
ence of women been more decided than 
in France, and M. de Segur did right to 
select his.own country, as affording a 
history of the reign of beauty. He goes 
back tothe gallant period of Francis I. 
and marks the oscillations of their em- 
pire during the successive reigns, inter- 
spersing the narrative with several amus- 
ing anecdotes. It may be observed, 
however, that this is rather a history of 
gallantry than of any thing else; it is a 
history of the influence of courtezans 
upon the monarch; and this influence, 
it is obvious, depended very much upon 
his character and temperament. At last 
we come to the stormy period of the re- 
volution, which, as we have already re- 
marked, gave occasion to a thousand 
godlike instances of heroism, and affec- 
tion, and fidelity. 
Art. V. Gleanings in England, descriptive of thé Countenance, Mind, and Character, of 
the Country, with new Views of Peace and War. By Mr! Pratt. Vol. II. 8vo. 
{3 ¢ , tt F223 J 
pp- 680, 
THREE thousand one hundred and 
fifty pages and upwards of these Gleanings 
has Mr. Pratt, by his own account, ‘laid 
at the feet” of the public, and his pages 
have been successful. 
Lottery tickets are scarcely more at 
the disposal of blind chance, than are 
the literary productions of this genera- 
tion. Three years ago a translation was 
published of the True History of Mexico, 
by Bernal Diaz, himself one of the con- 
querors. ‘This accurate and most inte- 
resting detail of one of the most splendid 
events which has ever been recorded in 
history now lies upon the publisher’s 
‘shelves, or is to be found at the book- 
stalls, priced at half its value: for the 
public are contented with Dr. Robertson, 
2 writer who either did not read what he 
ought to have read, or suppressed the 
facts hé found which contradicted his 
own theories. Dr. Petcy, to whom for 
his exquisite taste the people of England 
are more indebted than to any other 
living author, has published two works, 
both of exceeding importance, which 
have been equally unsuccessful. The 
«Northern Antiquities” are often quoted, 
yet never reached a‘ second edition. The 
Chinese Novel, the most indisputably 
Chinese, has scarcely been heard of. We 
have particularized. these three works of 
many, because they who read merely 
for amusement, can scarcely find more 
amusing than these. Yet these works 
have obtained no sale in an age when 
Mr. Pratt finds purchasers for three thou- 
sand one hundred and fifty pages and 
upwards of his Gleanings! | 
It is not our jntgntion to exercise any 
