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1. An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce, wrecked on the western coast of Africa, in the month of August 1815, &c. By James Riley, late Master and Super-cargo.—The sufferings which Riley and his crew endured, at the time of their shipwreck and afterward, while they remained in captivity among the Arabs, were so severe, that the Reviewers would have felt inclined to withhold their belief from some parts of the narrative, if they had not been satisfied with regard to the writer's general veracity, from the well authenticated documents which they possess. Nothing can place in a stronger light the miserable condition to which these unfortunate men had been reduced, than the following extract from the narrative itself:—"At the instance of Mr Willshire," (the British vice-consul at Mogadore, by whom they were ransomed), "I was weighed," says Riley, "and fell short of ninety pounds, though my usual weight, for the last ten years, had been over two hundred and forty pounds; the weight of my companions was less than I dare to mention, for I apprehend it would not be believed, that the bodies of men, retaining the vital spark, should not weigh forty pounds!" This extraordinary emaciation was effected in about two months, the period which intervened from their shipwreck until they arrived at Mogadore, where every comfort was most humanely provided for them by the gentleman whom we have just mentioned. Were we not so positively assured by the Reviewers of Mr Riley's veracity, there are one or two points which might excuse a little scepticism; on one occasion, we read of an immediate interposition of Divine Providence in behalf of the desponding sufferers; and at another time, Riley, in a comfortable dream, saw a young man, who spoke to him in his own language, assuring him that he should again embrace his beloved wife and children, and whose features he afterwards recognized in Mr Willshire.—"The addition which Mr Riley has afforded to our information," say the Reviewers, "respecting the geography and natural history of the great desert of Africa, amounts to very little, and that little not very accurate."—A large portion of this article is occupied with the travels of Sidi Hamet, Rilcy's master, who remained for a fortnight in Mr Willshire's house, and who, besides entertaining them with an account of his expeditions to Tombuctoo, introduced them to the knowledge of a country to the south-east of it, wholly new to Europeans, containing the city of Wassanah, situated on the Niger, above sixty days journey from Tombuctoo, and twice its size. Upon the authority of the same traveller, the Reviewers proceed to offer some speculations regarding the course of the Niger. There is a strong presumption, they think, that the Niger, or Nile of the Negroes, has two courses, one from west to east, by Silla and Tombuctoo; the other from east to west, through Wangara, Ghana, and Kassina. This Sidi Hamet is altogether a very respectable sort of person. "Your friend," (Mr Willshire) said he to Riley at parting, "has fed me with milk and honey, and I will always in future do what is in my power to redeem Christians from slavery;" a promise which, to a certain extent, he is known to have since performed. We have met with a gentleman belonging to the Surprise of Glasgow, to which the Reviewers allude, who gratefully acknowledges the personal kindness he received from Sidi Hamet in the deserts of Africa.

2. Ambrosian Manuscripts.—The Reviewers begin by discouraging the too sanguine expectations that have been entertained of the researches of antiquaries, in bringing to light the precious relics of Greek and Roman literature; and they then endeavour to account for the imperfect and mutilated state in which some of the ancient authors have come down to us. "The truth, after all," they say, "is, that of the Latin writers not many have perished whose loss we need greatly regret." The discoveries recently made by M. Angiolo Mai, professor of the oriental languages in the Ambrosian library at Milan, consist of