damask to please the bride, and covered all over with chains and jewels. Misson, who happened to witness at Augsburg, about a century later, a magnificent marriage ceremony, proves that in wealth at least, its citizens had not degenerated. The bride,' says he, 'was loaded with gold, a chain (like that of some order), hung from her neck-another, equally massive, formed her girdle; every seam of her gown was bordered, and its bottom fringed with the same metal; and her very head fantastically attired (in a manner hardly to be described), with a sort of wig of gold wire, at every intersection of which dangled a drop of polished gold, which sparkled with every movement she made.' It affords a curious instance of a hereditary love for peculiar styles of display, that in Augsburg, at the present day, not only does the head-dress of the peasantry exhibit, as in many parts of Holland, plates of solid gold, but even the modish modern costume of its burgher females, is blended with a crown-like appendage of the same costly material. And the hall large and handsome, sparkling with gold and silver, so that one might take it for a paradise. In the evening, I attended a rich maiden home, whose father's fortune, it was said, exceeded two tons of gold. I was received by him as if I had been a prince, and nobly treated. Then, as is the custom in the place, he conveyed me home to my lodging in a coach, attended with torches. I wished such a life might last many years."-pp. 184-185, The very same spirit still marks the good inhabitants of Augsburgh, and we are told by modern travellers, that at the present day, not only does the head-dress of the peasantry exhibit, as in many parts of Holland, plates of solid gold, but even the modern costume of the burgher ladies is blended with a crown-like appendage of the same costly material. Nothwithstanding all this apparent exuberance of wealth, it is well known that at the same era Germany was still very defective in its want of comforts. The patience and resignation of Olympia are dwelt on by her friends, for the indifference with which she treated the privations attending her residence in Germany; she being all her life previously accustomed to a very different style of living. There appears to be only a single suggestion made by her, all the time that she stood in need of any convenience, and that was in a letter, addressed from Heidelberg, to a friend, whose daughter was about to go there on a visit to the writer of it. In this letter she enjoined it as a particular duty on the father to send the young lady's bed along with her, as such articles of furniture were not to be purchased in the town. But we shall not be surprised at this, when, a century later, Misson states, that he accompanied the Duke of Ormond to Heidelberg, and that from thence, all the way to Nuremberg, they could seldom get any thing better than straw to lie on. It is stated, to the immortal honour of Grundler and his wife, that he was offered the post of chief physician to Ferdinand, King of the Romans, but that he declined the office because of his consistency in the maintenance of his religious principles. "You are well aware," wrote Olympia to the powerful friend who had succeeded in obtaining the appointment for her husband, "you are well aware that we are the soldiers of Christ, and have taken our solemn oath to his service; so that if we desert it, we shall be. liable to everlasting punishment. And such is the greatness and omnipotence of our heavenly Captain, that not only has he over his soldiers the power of life and death, but can even consign them to eternal condemnation; nor will he suffer them for a single instant to be off their duty. Wherefore we ought to be especially careful, lest from fear of worldly enemies we forfeit his protection; or from love of worldly advantages, rush into dangerous situations, in which we may be tempted to commit crimes against his laws. "I most earnestly entreat, therefore, that by your own letters, or those of your friends who reside at Lintz, you will inform us if (as we have heard) Antichrist is exerting his cruelty in that place; and if they punish severely all who do not attend mass, and who cultivate the true religion. For our deliberate opinion is that we are not at liberty to conform to the outward worship of a perverted and impious faith, and at the same time profess to be Christians. If, therefore, as in other places, the inquisitors of Antichrist would there take observation of us, and wish to force us into their style of worship, we cannot go thither; for by so doing (as I said before), we should sin against God. I beseech and entreat that you will assist us in this matter with your information and advice. Farewell." Some time after this, the native town of Grundler, Schweinfurt, in Franconia, was besieged by a Spanish force under the Emperor, and Grundler being invited to that place as a medical friend, in whom his townsmen could put confidence; he readily complied with their wishes, and taking up with his wife a residence in the town, they patiently submitted to all the hardships imposed on the inhabitants by a fourteen months siege. The letters of Olympia described the sufferings of the inhabitants, controlled as they were by a lawless soldiery, and devastated by the ravages of pestilence and the horrors of famine. She is uniform however in submitting to the decrees of Providence with humble hope and satisfaction. Her husband was seized with the pestilence, and brought to the extreme verge of life, but his final recovery was hailed by her with enthusiastic joy. The town at last was fired; every sort of perty was plundered or destroyed, and amongst them some of the most precious of the works of Olympia were lost for ever to the world. Issuing from their home to escape from the flames, Olympia was stripped to a single garment by the soldiers, and her husband was arrested. Ultimately both were permitted to depart. They took the road to Hamelburg, a small village about nine miles from Schweinfurt, Olympia, looking, as she writes afterwards, for all the world like the Queen of the beggars, being destitute of shoes, her hair dishevelled, and her feet bleeding. But the Hamelburgians had no bowels of compassion for the houseless strangers, and were in some jeopardy, as the Bishop had given orders that all refu pro Bnt for this gees from the besieged town should be put to death. inhumanity they were amply compensated afterwards, by the family of Count Rhinek at Furstenburgh, where they were kindly received and most tenderly treated. It was through his good offices, that Grundler was at length appointed to the professorship of Heidelberg. 66 The consideration in which Olympia was held in Germany, is remarkably manifested in the general spirit which displayed itself among the friends of literature. A host of eminent men, on hearing of the destruction of her library at Schweinfurt, vied with each other in sending presents to make up the loss, the contribution having been generously assisted by the liberal booksellers of Frankfort and Basle. Numerous selections are made by the biographer from the letters of Olympia at this period, which distinctly show the predominance of religious feelings in her mind, and the zeal with which she sought to promulgate the new principles of the Reformation. To Vergerio, a learned convert, she addressed a letter energetically urging him to labour in the great cause. "I write," she says, in one of her epistles, "to entreat that you will devote your well-known energies to the extension of the Church, by giving it an Italian version of that work of Luther's, called the Greater Catechism, already translated from German into Latin by Vincentius Opsopous. You must be aware of what great benefit it will prove to our Italian countrymen, to the young especially, if diligently perused. Therefore I entreat, I conjure you, in the name of Christ, that for the sake of those brethren for whom we ought to brave death itself, you will apply yourself to this task. Besides, being, alas! not ignorant of the unfortunate contentions which exist at present among Christians respecting the sacrament, (which would be easily put an end to if men would only have in view, not their own, but the glory of Christ, and the safety of the Church,) I am the more disposed to reiterate my request, for I think the work will be of the greatest possible service to our countrymen, provided you will give your able assistance in its translation; which, with the greatest imaginable earnestness, I entreat you to do. The anxieties and the ceaseless exertions of Olympia Morata must have contributed a great deal to the shortening of her life, and no inconsiderable length of warning was given to her of its speedy termination. She was far from being depressed at the contemplation of the event, but thought, spoke, and wrote about it as of an affair on which she liked to meditate. The biographer inserts in this volume a letter written by her husband, in which her last moments are powerfully described. The scene will be found highly edifying to the reader, but no extract, for which we can make room, would afford an adequate idea of its nature. Olympia died in the 29th year of her age, and her husband survived scarcely a twelvemonth. Never did a public character, on the termination of its useful career, depart in the midst of more numerous manifestations of regard than Olympia Morata; the poetical tributes alone to her memory would fill a volume, and the author of this life presents us with two specimens of those eulogies, one by Micyllus, an eminent Latin poet of the time, the other by Curio, the friend who had long behaved to her as a father. The epitaph written by the latter has been translated by the biographer, who appears to have preserved the peculiar characters which she states that it possessed. Even in this form it may be regarded as a faithful specimen of Italian poetry, such as it existed in the sixteenth century. EPITAPH BY CELIO SECUNDO CURIO ON OLYMPIA MORATA. "Dost marvel, traveller! as thy footsteps tread This hallow'd ground, with purple violets spread- Hid beneath, Lie flow'rs of heav'n that holier perfumes breathe. Of one whose soul partook of Muse and Grace; A considerable portion of the volume is appropriated to letters or extracts from letters written by Olympia. They exhibit great strength of mind, and a profound conviction of the truth of revelation. They exhibit the characters of true Christian piety, in a form which cannot be contemplated without advantage to those who will take the trouble of perusing these letters. They likewise prove how indefatigable she pursued the great object of all her life, the estab lishment of what she regarded, the genuine principles of religion. No consideration of personal sacrifices, no dread of power ever swayed her, or in the least interfered with her boldest projects. Nor was it by her sanguine efforts alone in the propagation of her creed, that she proved herself a sincere Christian, for the multitude of her charities, the disinterestedness which animated her to the performance of them, could have proceeded only from the impulse of such an influence. The works left by Olympia Morata were afterwards carefully collected and published under the superintendence of Curio. "To the mixture," writes our biographer, "of affection and reverence with which the editorial office was performed, the original collection of her recovered works (dedicated, with singular propriety, to the protestant Queen Elizabeth of England) bears sufficient witness. And it is felt to be no very presumptuous hope, that the fragments of exalted piety and classical eloquence, judged worthy of being presented to the admiration of contemporaries by one himself so gifted with both as Curio, may command (especially when embalmed in the venerable antiquity of nearly three centuries) not only the curiosity, but interest, of the countrywomen of her to whom they were originally, as no unworthy or unacceptable offering, inscribed. Great credit is due to the compiler of this work, for such a contribution to our staple literature. : ART. X.-A Review of the Labours, Opinions, and Character of Rajah Rammohun Roy in a Discourse on occasion of his Death, delivered in Lewin's Mead Chapel, Bristol; with a series of Illustrative Extracts from his Writings: to which is subjoined an Examination of some derogatory Statements in the Asiatic Journal. By LANT CARPENTER, LL.D. London: Hunter. Bristol: Browne and Reid, 1833. 1 SOME difficulties have been felt, or pretended to be felt, in certain quarters, as to the real definition of the creed which he was prepared to avow after his researches in this country. We are not prepared upon this or any other occasion for the discussion of theological questions, and still less are we disposed to take a part in any sectarian controversy. But as the circumstances connected with this singular individual have a bearing on some questions of high importance, and worthy to be considered by the intelligent portion of the public of England, we have no hesitation in stepping in to state impartially the truth. Mr. Carpenter seems to have been acquainted with the Rajah in India, and to have been instrumental in introducing his name to the acquaintance of the religious communities of this country, and when he arrived in England, the author was one of the num |