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I:•LOTRATURE.

4cCOUNT OAPEIERTO RICO. By CoLormL
Fuzfieß.—Longman and Co.
gPliert° Rico ha 4 hitherto attracted but little atten-
on
to 'l.°lll our tratellers, and thus far we are indebted
akos.
Colonel Flinter ; but a closely printed octavo is
too much for an island, that is only just rising
ha° importance. A little attention to brevity would
, condensed the whole into a space better adapted
wthe •
views of all parties. This book, unlike the
generalit
for Y of such publications, has been written more
hiatmstruction than for amusement. It is, in fact, a
ne°rie'd and statistical account of the present state of
P
its -11° Rico) detailing its commerce and agriculture,
"dition moral and physical, and comparing its
01)„°Pulation with that of other European colonies. But
A. author thus explains his purpose in the preface :-
010,,i° make known the great and growing importance of the
esthat remain to Spain in the western hemisphere, and
au—Rl:4ll3' of the valuable and fertile island of Puerto Rico ; to
Seist further improvements in the management of those
veaioii; end to recommend to the government
.of Her Most
of the Majesty the speedy recognition of the independence,
',bjeeta°°llth American republics—these are. among. the chief
Qiaraet°f the book. Besides these, to exhibit the paternal
the bone er of the colonial government of Spain—to point out
ia
preteetfiejeont operation of the Spanish slave code, not only
and the bondman from oppression, but in preparing
kinett„,ng him for final emancipation—and to demonstrate, by
iabou "e.rable facts, the mighty advantages of free over slave
ttliie;ya security, in economy, in productiveness, are objects
it have specially had in view."
de Must be apparent that the value of such a work
Pends, in the first place, on the correctness of the
thacets stated,-----and, secondly, on the deductions that
tabittlither has made from them. With his statistical
No see little occasion to find fault ; they are
40:ntlY the result of personal inquiry, and are, no
wh:t, in the main correct ; but it is far otherwise
getll he comes to draw inferences, and to lay down
oeeeral
Principles of commercial policy. On these
I„a:*.slens he is apt to bewilder himself sadly, and the
by thlins of one page are not unfrequently contradicted
triuge r
whe_. dicta of another. His mode of preventing
gling is a singular proof how a talented man may
_
Dro fess he travels out of the proper sphere of his
,4
i 8 en number of authorised ports for exports and imports
Frogles-4 Which is not confined to the injury it inflicts on the
a
49 8 Of navigation, by destroying the coasting trade. It
"Iford Of navigation tendency towards diminishing the revenue,. and
I may use the expression, a legal protection to
ng• The greater the number of ports authorized by
4'tr eat, the greater is the facility afforded to illicit corn-
hi, It is not so easy for the chief of the revenue to extend
hat gitlanee
over fifteen ports, as he might over three or four.
"Ililtir,ei'le° were there no smuggling carried on, it uselessly
the ptkvbilei! employments, which-C-9nsume an enormous sum of
"ir money, without promoting agriculture or commerce,b
leredeus, ing the revenue. I have heard it frequently o_
e-
kretter taativle
greater the number of authorized .
portsi tthhe
Ncluw,°o. be the facility certain the exportation
.o
'rine in: °I the land Under circumstances this dec-
l'esPee-ight be practically useful ; as it stands at present with
vessetato this island, it is highly injurious. The. exportation
l ue,e would be equally promoted by employing coasting
the Public welfare would be consulted by encouraging
"osid 14efal branch of trade and navigation, and the revenue
()Iltabncrease by diminishing the channels of carrying
.on a
;he 6, and trade. Even were there no duties to be paid on
ke4P°ltation of produce, or on the importation of foreign
liaior"nclize, I am still of opinion that a large number of
Lll'owli,ltt,d Ports would be disadvantageous.to the nation, by
e Of employment a number of mariners. But whilst
460 ohes are paid both on the importations and the ex or-
so the accumulation of money is the great objet of
port,, Port,, l'.lndividuals, this excess in the number of authorized
ar,d e within few leagues of coast, is injurious to navigation
le revenue.-
lhe
11'),',1,'nerce, and has a direct tendency towards diminishing
own Justification of this blessed system, he quotes our
by precedent,
in Jamaica ; but if ill were to be justified
tfer'ereeedent, there is no wrong that might not be
ed.
qi,„14(l lt is the more surprising that our author
Otily f i'sl'e fallen into such an egregious error, when,
ktUrnbieevy Pages farther, he is fortunate enough to
illegal liPon the true and only way of preventing
tram
„It is b. e :---
"'Dtheonrtersies: tZtt,thPero,ved by the experience of all commercial
irabandenue, wli increase of duties does not tend to increase
it holds out a powerful inducement to cone
muchtLd,e' I shall produce a very recent case, to prove
„rr tllgh duties tend to diminish the revenue of a na-
Lnitead—Qt° increase illegal traffic. The government of the
the tri.otates placed a very high duty on teas imported into
; the CO quence was, that the revenue on that
l'°lneilsueP'eased for the British merchants of Canada made
er ia„elMPortatioas of tea every year, which they smuggled
"tsteg--",111 small parcels, into the territories of the United
The government of the latter country knew that
lefygili?g
th to a great extent was going on ; and having done
'edse,,, in their power to prevent it in vain, they at last
e duty on tea to a mere trifle. This had a good
I;er,,,_' the British merchants found they could make nothing
tiii%-4.ggling tea into the States, and the revenue increased to
l‘hi,l',tent before unknown. These are practical examples
ter the SPanish Government have B
orderh., and which
te,, the road they should pursue, in to increase the
141;11,11„__e) suppress illicit traffic, and promote the comforts and
s's Of their subjects."
!' the • •
Pike' same spirit of self-contradiction, he in one
t talks of " the great and incalculable advantages
b_
tee: derived from free trade," while in another he
hrPr 41alends to Spain to follow the example of the
erieh
and English, who " protect their native indus-
cla " manufactures by putting heavy duties on every
(4Y foreign industry or manufactures that should
sh
ot
It °uid ?) come in competition with their own."
Would appear from our author's account that
oth`tY is milder with the Spaniards than with any
r„Zation, though this by no means agrees with
tvevll-:Tow of their conduct to the South Americans.
by „ `f it he true, the wish to raise his own country
torne'lltParison has, we think, led the patriotic colonel
e,r4what too far, when he states that
k')%t ere is a law in force at this moment in Virginia of the
Nonrernel and
unjust nature with respect to the people o
:he viti„' if a man of colour is accused of stealing property of
f
the
eighteen-pence sterling, he is sold publicly, and
ekt,a slave
ry and if the accusation be false, he has no
'esproving it for he would not be competent to give
tar,eor Would the evidence of any other coloured person
1)14 his behalf Free people, therefore, are frequently
ootittil"kialsal,Bl;veel.se in the 'United States, and are regularly adver-
'lKG4 the Public pers. Thus, in that land of superlative
is, as regards this class of men, more real des-
-11 ke in any country on the face of the earth."
toiiiltere are many of the aristocratic clan in this
l'ieQerY' who will be highly delighted at so pleasant a
41i14 ;of information. But though slavery be thus
Ni1,.11 Puerto, the same feeling of benevolence by
Itl tli':43 extends itself to the prisoner, either here or
Intioe Other Spanish colonies. The guilty and the
Yotlrlellt, the felon and the debtor, the old and the
'1(1 are :indiscriminately flung into the same gaol ;
ilhfert' consequence is, that those who go in more
,iii !nate than guilty, are sent forth to the world
lsl ItretrieVably vicious. His picture of a prison,
`'llvilll°rca, is a disgrace to any civilized nation :
1.1,41.',;-asilyed arrived within a hundred yards of the prison, it
qi,egit the Ilinguished by the faces of the inmates being seen
around was a crowd
theii!'sons _s:libbers of theiy
viva
frier,d4:
and led, Fonversinwgitwlibiethy the prisoners, apparently
also begged alms of the
, relations ;
clll,t 14 the asked the jailor, on arriving at the door, to
rooi:11 ote b,Yao! prisontoersa were cunfined
suite of subterraneous
ktn. or v,‘,.',s Winding stairca.se
Ith4te_uv• , where the prisouberosotwere promiscuously im-
doors, or any division
srly er, or four rooms without
u'lstir, • Tiled to be the dormitory for all
.confined, without
dohs to -ctiiel°ll of age or crime. The whichirongrattbinegsstre
pi a se vaults were on a level with et. PThvee
I:e're'4• Pr"Il Yard was open, to which the
which
prisoners had free
tZthe '°llle dirty old mats strewed on the floor,
titB,/ Whi°elYsi,heds, I could see, I perceived a pack of greasy
so4ne most tAI that they amused. themselves in a manner
Some of the pri-
sh,Zt bad th
e"cly to improve their morals.
011, thE, radbare blankets; and others,. as Iwas informed,
ile;s for piii,.td ground with any covering. Stones served
111 and Inisue"s* None of them had any
.employment.ldle-
th:,Y surrounri were stamped on their squalid countenances..
conlpia• ed me when I entered some asked alms ;
s eh•ti fifty or, Ined of the hardship of their case. There were
ei,al4 of ,;1-ciss°llers a all ages, from an old man of eighty to
trea erini-eve° Years, and incarcerated for almost every sped-
"erusl • There was a man in a dungeon, who had
w.al e--Z stabbed an American sailor a few days bef9re.
lair ett('
311.1e,,aed in a dirty dark hole without any ventilatip._
ate,
,rtnie from it which I could not support, and
Prisoil
sot
liewit horror and disgust. The walls of
e,,er'tkiaraf,,W "giaoedwg
;u:at:na:n ftwashed,
oie• al
44 a :ea wit, indecent figures and obscene words were
according to all appear-
vlo Ppeared t i..!areoal on the windows, doors, and. walls,
° have been the amusement of those prisoners
write. 14 greater part of; e prisoners

were confined for smuggling ; some were there for debt, and
for domestic quarrels ; and there was a child of eleven years
confined for murder I All these prisoners lived and slept in
the same room ; the unfortunate debtor was confined in the
same place with the smuggler, and with thieves and assassins."
The Colonel is for amending these abominations,
by adopting the prison discipline of America, of which
he speaks in terms of high admiration ; but it seems
not a little strange, that in all the attempts to improve
mankind, the alpha and omega of legislators should
be punishment. They walk, like the Roman consuls,
with the axe ever carried before them; the gaoler and
the hangman are their schoolmasters ; nor does it at any
time seem to occur to them, that in most cases there
is some inciting cause to crime, which ought to be
removed before they punish the criminal. Do not cut
off the diseased limb, before you have tried to extir-

pate the cause of the disease. Certain are we, that
to one crime the law prevents, it originates a thousand.
The enlightened advocates of ignorance would find
admirable allies in the elders of Puerto Rico, of whom

our author says—
" I have heard it frequently observed by old persons who
could not read or write themselves, that they considered it
highly injurious to have their children taught to read or write ;
for they say it only gives them a facility of writing love letters;
remarking that as they had made money and gone through
the world without such acquirements, why should their chil-
dren not do the same."

Asa contrast to the scene of misery already quoted,
we give a festival of the rich and happy, and with
that conclude our notice :

" On St. John's eve, and many days previously, hundreds
of persons bring their horses to the city and its neighbour-
hood, to run on that festival and succeeding days. All the
best horses in the island are kept up carefully for this day :
it is the day on which fame is acquired for swiftness in the
horse and dexterity in the rider. The steed that runs on this
day may be considered a superior horse ; and the Xivaro who
has the good foreune to beat the rest, gains the hearts of a
thousand fair ones, who admire and applaud him from every
balcony. At ten o'clock in the morning of the 24th of June, ,
—that day which the native of Puerto hails with tumultuous
joy,—which equalizes society,—a procession on horseback, of
men, women, and children, with flags waving,—preceded and
followed by a multitude of boys shouting, and persons of all
classes,—proceed to the Government House, where the chief
of the procession, who is called the king, reads a burlesque
proclamation, which is composed for the occasion, and which
is the more loudly applauded the more nonsense it contains.
This ceremony is the prelude to racing and masking. A pro-
clamation of police is published, inculcating order, which is
only a matter of form, for no abuses take place. From that
day, morning and evening, ladies and gentlemen run like furies
through the streets, in their best fancy dresses, and all the in-
habitants, with countenances which indicate the pleasure they
enjoy, fill the balconies of the houses. At night bonfires are
made at the corners of the streets, to see and to be seen by
those on horseback. Every body now takes a seat at the street
doors. Every man on horseback carries a female behind him;
and he who rides alone is hooted and jeered by the bystanders,
as a person who has been jilted by his sweetheart. It is one
of the most ludicrous scenes imaginable :—old men of eighty,
and young girls of fifteen,—the lawyer with his wig,---the
officers of the garrison,—soldiers, xivaros,—blacks,—mulat-
toes,—with their mothers, wives, sisters, sweethearts, rela-
tions, and friends, run through the streets screeching, all on
a perfect equality, without any one taking advantage of it to
offer an insult. Those on horseback make jocular remarks,
and sometimes throw out taunts and jeers on those who are
seated at the doors, which are answered in perfect good
humour. During three days all the houses are thrown open ;
lemonade, wine, and cooling drinks are offered to those who
wish to partake of them ; and although the people of colour
enter the houses, masked and without a reserve, not a single
robbery takes place.
" After St. Peter's day, also, every successive Sunday,
masked balls are given ; and all classes of the people, dressed
in a thousand fantastic ways, go from
.honse to house with
music playing in every part of the town. In some places
fifteen or twenty persons, dressed in character, make their ap-
pearance. Those ladies whose beauty is somewhat faded by
age, are sure to put on very handsome masks on these days.
Neither age nor sex is free from the contagion. Men dressed
like women, and vice versa, parade in every direction. The
blacks, dressed in a thousand odd ways, and making a thou-
sand contortions with their bodies, perambulate the streets,
until nature, exhausted by running and bawling, and by the
heat of the season at this period, sinks to a short repose. The
next day the same scenes are renewed, and continue till they
become tiresome and fatiguing. A severe censor would un-
doubtedly be disposed to warn fathers and mothers against the
danger of allowing their daughters to ride alone and at night,
with men not callous to the charms of the fair sex. It is said
that love affairs are concerted and arranged on these occa-
sions ; but my object is not to attempt to reform manners, but
to pourtray them exactly in the light in which they have ap-
peared to me."

LIFE OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.
2 VoLs Bvo. Churton, London.

It was a smart, but not over-true saying of Talley-
rand, that no great man ever wrote a book ; certainly
multitudes of persons, rather stinted on the score of
intellect, have contrived to write books, as if for no
other purpose than to expose to the eyes of the world
the intensity of their littleness. This could not have
been the object of the author, or rather manufacturer,
of the above volumes ; but, if it were, he has suc-
ceeded to his heart's content. The most inexpert
among marksmen could never shoot farther from his
mark, than he has done in his attempt to write the life
of Maurice de Talleyrand. He does not seem to
have been aware that the writing of biography, espe-
cially of contemporary personages, is the most difficult
task in all the round of literature. The most un-
swerving impartiality, and the keenest discrimination,
should go hand in hand with a biographer ; he should
know perfectly well how to strip falsehood of its spe-
cious disguises, and to draw truth from the deep well
where it is said to be hidden. In this rare tact our
author, whoever he may be, is lamentably deficient—
he sets out with a false axiom, which pervades his
whole book. He says, that in relating the history of
a public man, it is necessary to produce all the scandal
which has been circulated about him, all the shafts
which jealousy has pointed at him, and all the slan-
derous tales which envy has either fabricated or exag-
gerated. This we deny : it is the province of a bio-
grapher to study well the mass of evidence which he
may be able to procure, and by carefully examining
each circumstance in all its bearings, to endeavour to
discover the truth. We are not enthusiastic admirers
of M. de Talleyrand or his principles: we are not advo-
cates of his political apostacy and tergiversation, and we
condemn many acts both of his public and private life;
but at the same time we cannot shut our eyes to the
extraordinary tact and ability which has rendered him
the first diplomatist of this or any other age, and we
feel indignant that party spirit, or what is more pro-
bable still, the desire of making his book sell by season-
ing it with slander, should have made the writer so far
forget himself as he does when he accuses M. de
Talleyrand of blasphemy, perjury, theft, adultery, and
murder ! It is well known that the ci-devant Bishop
of Autun, was in his youthful and maturer years a
rake and a profligate ; but we put it to the candour of
our readers whether the above list of offences is not

rather outre.
When we took up these volumes, it was with the
hope that they would at least throw some light upon
the history of the last forty years, or by their delinea-
tions of character, enable us to be better judges of the
motives and actions of some of the celebrated men who
have figured during that stormy and eventful period ;
but most egregiously have we been disappointed by
their perusal. The author is evidently not equal to
his subject—it is as if a wasp were writing the history
of Mammoth or Leviathan. The best parts of his
volumes are merely a recapitulation of what may be
read in any History of the French Revolution ; the
rest of the book is despicable--an olla podrida of su-
perannuated slander. We had marked several passages
for extract, but we find we have already encroached
farther upon our limits than the volumes deserve. It
is a failure ; and the life of the wary, acute, witty, and
Talleyrand, remains yet to be written—it
intriguing g:eing time enough when he is no more, and a clever
man he will be who performs well so difficult a task.

The Earl of Pembroke having made up his mind to
return to the Continent, his Lordship has let his superb cha-
teau, Wilton House, near Salisbury, to the Hon. William
Herbert, on lease for seven years. The Dowager Countess
and the Ladies Harcourt are to become inmates ; they are now
at Malvern Wells but will leave in a few days.
;