636 
the glorious atchievements of the Bri- 
tifh arms within the laft four years, 
namely the Sicilian Order of St. Ferdi- 
nand and of Merit, and the Imperial 
Order of the Turkith Crefcent.. The 
firft of thefe two was inftituted in the 
year 1800, in honour of Lord Nelfon, 
who fafely conduéted the royal family 
of Naples from the republican army to 
the fhores of Sicily. The latter was 
inftituted, in 1799, by Sultan Selim ITI. 
concerning which it is juftly obferved 
by M. Ruhl, that theinftitution of it 1s 
an event which forms a memorable era’ 
inthe annals of the eighteenth century. 
That the Ottomans, againft whom the 
firft order of knighthood, namely that 
of Malta, was eftablithed, fhould have 
inftituted a military one to recompenfe 
the bravery of a Chriftian and a hero, 
and exprefsly to commemorate a vic- 
tory, gained on their own coafts, and 
upon which their exiftence as a nation 
depended, is certainly a very fingular 
circumftance. The diftinguifhed fuc- 
ceffes of the army under Abercrombie 
and Hutchinfon on the plains of Ecypt, 
and the weighty fervices of Lord Keith 
and the royal navy under his command, 
have induced the Sublime Porte to ex- 
_tend this Order much beyond the 
bounds of its original inftitution. It 
has been formed into two clafles, and 
fucceflively conferred on all the com- 
manders in chief, and fuperior officers, 
naval as well as military; and the in- 
fignia of the fecond clafs have been 
prefented to eight hundred Britith offi- 
“ers, who ferved, in that expedition. 
The decorations are compofed of a 
badge, or medallion, of an oval form ; 
on which are reprefented, upon a field 
azure argent, acrefcent and a far ar- 
gent in the centre. 
rounded with diamonds. The ribbon 
is red, the knights of the firtt clafs wear 
it {carf-wife, with the badge append- 
ant; and on the left fide of their upper 
apparel is embroidered a ftar of fiiver 
in the form of aradiant fun, bearing 
in the centre the ftar and crefcent, on 
‘afield of azure. The infignia, which 
diftinguifh the knights of the fecond 
clafs, are the fame, with the following 
Variations: the medallion is fomewhat 
fmaller, than that afligned to thofe of 
the firft clafs, and is not ornamented 
with jewels; the ribbon is not fo broad ; 
it is worn faltire-wife, and the junior 
Knights have no ftar. 
Thefe yolumes give an account of 
The whole is fur- 
Retrofpect of Dameftic Literature.—Mifcellanies¢ 
the infignia of the different orders, and 
the origin of them. The ceremonies of 
inveftiture are generally added, their 
conftitution, rules and orders, ftate of 
{plendor and decay, &c. 
“* Amadis de Gaul, by Vasco LoBey- 
RA, fromthe Spani/e Verfion of GARC1IOR- 
DONEZ DE MonratLvo, by Rogerr 
SOUTHEY.” | cbt 
‘* Amadis de Gaul, a Poem in three 
Books, freely tranflated from the firft Part 
of the French Verfion of NicHoLas DE 
HERBERAY, Sieur de Effars, with Notes, 
by WILLIAM STEWART Rose, Efq 
The author of this celebrated ro- 
mance, of which we have all heard, and 
which very few of us have read, is not 
decidedly afcertained. “Mr. Rofe is 
difpofed to think the ftory is of French 
extraction, whilft Mr. Southey is of 
opinion that Vafco de Lobeyra, a Por- 
tuguefe Knight, who died in the be- 
ginning of the fifteenth century, is the 
original author. Bethisas it may, the 
{tory is contrived with fuch admirable 
ingenuity, the manners of the feudal 
ages, when chivalry was in its zenith, 
the cuftoms and the charaéters are de- 
fcribed with fuch accuracy, that thefe 
tranflations of fo renowned a,tale, ac- 
companied as they are with the notes 
and differtations of two fuch compe- 
tent editors as Mr. Southey and Mr. 
Rofe, will be received with thankful- 
ne{fs by a curious and inquiring public. 
Mr. Southey’s is a profe tranflation, 
over which he has thrown an appro- 
priate air of antiquity, lefs by the in- 
troduction of obfolete phrafes than by 
the form of expreffion. 
Mr. Rofe’s is a poetical verfion of 
the firft book only of Amadis, contain- 
ing the earlier adventures of the hero, 
and ciofing with his gaining pofleffion 
of Ariana, The avowed model upon 
which Mr. Rofe has framed his Ama- 
dis is the tranflation of Le Grand’s 
Fabliaux, by Mr. Way 3 and it is pay- 
ing him no mean compliment to fay 
that he has fully attained what he pro- 
poied. . 
Mr. PercivaL’s “* Account of the 
Tland of Ceylon” is a compilation of me- 
rit. Mr. Percival has made himfelf 
acquainted with the hiftory, geogra- 
phy, and natural hiftory, of the coun- 
try, and has delineated the manners 
and culftoms of its various inhabitants 
with apparent fidelity. Our Compen- 
diumis already fo extended, that we 
muit deny eurielves the pleafure which 
; 3t 
