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filled, no threat unexecuted.' And in p. 23, we find a recommendation of the employment of pious frauds, and of certain deceptions contrived to make strong impressions on the senses ;' and it is afterwards said, that deception is onlyadmissible, when employed with a view to relieve the disease. P. 52. There is perhaps rather a want of perspicuity, than of consistency, in these observations. So far as relates to promises and obligations, on the part of the physician, deception should unquestionably be avoided; but in cases where it is obvious that an impression on the senses, may without hazard of discovery, he made to counteract some erroneous fancy, the fraud may be safely and usefully resorted to. On one important question, the propriety of humooring or of combating the insane idea, Dr. Cox is absolutely con tradictory. In an inpumerable tribe of ballucinations resulting from notions founded only in imagination, and which occasion that species of mental derangement not curable by the common methods, in which no obvious corporeal indisposition exists, nor consequently any indications to direct the practitioner, ; in all such cases,' Dr. Cox af. firms, the deranged idea must be humoured contrary to the established rule in the more common ones.' P. 39.Yet advancing to P. 49, we meet with the following unquaJified assertion. It has been a very general, but erroneous idea, that the subject of hallucination should be humoured and attended to in order to dissipate or correct them, that the fear of exciting madınen by contradiction, indicates the necessity of acquiescence with their eccentricities, and the propriety of reasoning with them on the topics of their alienation, but such a practice is not only nugatory, but often productive of aggravation of symptoms. It is singular, that, with his usual disregard to arrangement, Dr. Cox proceeds abruptly, after stating the first of these propositions, that the insane idea ought to be humoured, to relate cases produced by religious fear, which are characterized by i notions founded only in the imagination, without corporeal disease,' but in which he effected a cure by the most opposite method, by withdrawing every thing that could support the insane idea, and opposing it in every possible way. In the midst of this confusion, however, we discover a glimpse of new light, of which although from bis dread of the treasonable practice of reasoning, the author has not thought proper to develop to his readers, he seems to have availed bimself in practice with discrimination and success. If we may presurne to generalize for ourselves, from considering the gature of the ballucination in the few cases which Page 3
< To Mr. JOHN WEDGEBOROUGH. Sir, Having made known to the flonorable Court of Directors my intentiyn of remaining at this place, you will take charge of the PANTher, with all her stores and provisions; also the journals, charts, surveying instruments, and every thing belonging thereto; you will make out exact inventories of all the stores belonging 10 the vessel, also duplicates of the same to be lodged with me or my attornies: the originals you will deliver to the Bombay Presidency, with the other accounts which you will be charged with. I will write to the Bombay Presidency the cause I have for remaining at this place. It will be a sufficient vindication for you, and the rest of the gentlemen belonging to the vessel, for me here to acknowledge, that you have used every argument in your power to persuade me from this uncommon and unprecedented step; and I say, moreover, you have not only done your duty in this point, but in every other, as officers and gentlemen could do, since I had the honour of commanding the PANTHER, Considering my circumstances and rank in the service, this step. will be taken as an act of insanity, or the effect of some disorder ; however, this is not the case ; for I have determined upon it ever since I left Bencoolen, and have provided accordingly at the differ‘ent ports we country that prompts touched at; and it is nothing but my zeal for my me to follow this resolution; and I hope to succeed in the plan I have formed, which may benefit my country and the world in general, by enlightening the minds of these noble islanders: should i fail in the attempt, it is only the loss of an individual, who wished to do good to his fellow-creatures. • To make my situation comfortable, and the natives attentive to me, inclosed is a list of articles, which you can spare from the vessel, without distressing her in her now siiuation.' • John M'Cluer.' The articles requested were allowed, and on the sd of February, Captain M'Cluer came on board, resigned his command to his lieutenant, and took up his residence in the spot, which some time before he had declared to be an earthly paradise. On the 11th, the ship set sail, and arrived at Bom. bay on Saturday, the 17th of August, after an absence of nearly three years, the vessels having left the harbour of Bombay on the 24th of August, 1790. active mind of Captain M'Cluer, Tired with his situation, Fifteen months stay in paradise was too much for the barked on board his boat with three Malay inen and two of eaten up with ennui, and anxious to bear the news, he emannounced that he was at that time in Macao. He informs his own slaves, and a letter dated the 14th of June, 1794, his correspondents that the soil of Cooroora is remarkably fertile, yielding two crops of rice in nine months; that the cattle, sheep, and goats throve so amazingly on the herbage, CRIT. REV. Vol. 5, July, 2805. Page 4
to the investigation. But there is a passage in the early part of the Introduction which must not pass unnoticed. It has been somewhat loosely affirmed, that the Egyptians always buried their dead in an upright posture; which can neither be reconciled with the appearance of the tombs of the kings of Thebes, nor with the evidence afforded by the principal pyramid at Memphis. The interior chamber of that monument exhibits at this moment a sarcophagus similar to the Tomb of Alexander. Another, of the same size and the same form, is now in the British Museum. It was brought by the French from Caïro to Alexandria, and has been de'scribed by Pecocke, Maillet, Niebuhr, and Browne. It once stood near the Old Castle Kallaat el Kabsh in Caïro, and was called the * Lover's Fountain. Denon, in his description of the Tbeban tombs, - not only proves that such a mode of burial was consistent with the customs of Egypt, in the remotest periods of its history, but he refers to the particular sarcophagus which forms the subject of this work, to ex- plain the sort of receptacle in which the bodies were placed. “The sar. cophagi,' says he,* appeared insulated at the bottoms of all the gal- leries, of a single block of granite each, of twelve feet in length, and eight in widih, decorated within-side and without with hieroglyphics; . sounded at one end, squared at the other, LIKE THAT OF ST. Asha. NASIUS AT ALEXANDRIA; and surmounted by lids of the same materials, and proportionate bulk, shutting with grooves.' Sarcophagi, in fact, are not nunerous in Egypt. They are generally supposed to be of higher antiquity than the time of Ålexander; and to have been used by those only whose rank might have claimed a pyramid, but whose fortunes were una equal to the building of it. Yet surely it will surprise the reader to learn, that one of the principal writers by whom the fact above alluded to, has so loosely been affirmed, was Herodotus, who lived and was initiated among the Egyptian priests, · and whose express words are these: ενθεύτεν δε παραδεξαμενοι μιν οι προσήκονlες, ποιευλαι ξυλινον τυπον ανθρωποειδέα ποιησαμενοι δε, εσεργνυσι τον νεκρου" και κατακληϊσανlες ετω θησαυριζοσι εν οικηματι 9ηκαίω, ισανίες OPOON OPOE TOIKON, Euterpe. Ixxxvi. However, that in some cases the usual practice was departed from, is more than probable; and if any thing way be gathered from the ancient writers who mention the imperial visits to the corpse of Alexander, it is, that his body was placed in an horizontal posture. We now come to the body of the work itself. At the opening of the testimonies, Dr. Clarke endeavours to explain
* Denon's loyage co' Egypte, Tom. i. p: 236. Page 5
the upper end, and covered, both internally and externally, with hieroglyphics. One of the symbols we cannot but mention with astonishment. It represents the figure of a man placed horizontally, upon his back, (with the beetle, the emblem of the Deity, at his head) surrounded by a serpent: and strongly resembling the Indian representation of the sleep of Veeshou. In the hieroglyphic, the serpent has four heads : in the Indian painting, five. In its composition, to use the terms of Professor Hailstone's letter to Dr. Clarke, (Append. No. 3) the sarcophagus is an indefinite concretion of fragments, in wbich jasper and hornstone form the most prevailing species. The basis of it seems to be a greenish argillaceous substance resembling chlorite earth, connecting small grains of pellucid quartz and minute fragments of a black schistus rock. Its beauty is incomparable. Till the invasion of Egypt by the French, it had been long jealously preserved in a small octagon temple within the great court of the mosque of St. Athanasius in Alexandria, where the avarice or enthusiasm of the Moslems, during the period of the late invasion, is said to have represented it as the tomb of ISCANDER, the founder of their city; and whence, Dr. Clarke asserts, it was borne away, amid the howling and lamentation of its deluded worshippers. The earliest mention that we find of a sarcophagus like that which we have described, at Alexandria, is by Benjamin of Tudela, a Spanish Jew, who lived about the middle of the Iwelfth century. But the one he saw, only answered to that of the Museum, as far as the hieroglyphics were concerned : for it was upon the sea-shore; its dimensions were considerably greater ; and the TRADITION of the country was, that it once belonged to a nonarch whose memory had not survived the deluge. I In short, the first mention of the tomb at the Mu. seum was made by Leo Africanus, who visited Alexandria in 1491, above twelve hundred years after the existence of the Teal tomb of Alexander had been last mentioned. Marmol, the Spaniard, who followed him early in the sixteenth century, also mentions it; but his work was almost a verbal copy of Leo's: he says, the sepulchre was honoured by the sectaries, who believed it to contain the body of Alexander the Great. So that at that period the sarcophagus must have been closed. This curious chest is also mentioned by the generality of subsequent writers; but none of them appear to have considered it as the receptacle of any particular person whose name had been transmitted. And several men of higher authority and greater character than Marmol, expressly declare that it was in vain they inquired for the tomb of Alexander. Furer, who went to Egypt in 1565, though minute in regard to Alexandria, is silent on the subject of the tomb. Boucher, who published his Bouquet sacré in 1613, is equally so; and Vansleb, who performed his voyage in 1672 and 1673, appears to have been as unconscious of its existence as either of them. Pococke says, ' As the Mahometans have a great regard for the memory of Alexander, so there have been travellers wbo relate that they pretend to have bis body in some mosque; but at present they have no account of it. (Description of the East, vol. i. p. 4.) Norden's words are yet more pointed; and Dr. Clarke has not thought it necessary to arrange them with his Testimonies. He states, that 'The tomb of Alex. apder, which, according to the report of an author of the fifteenth century, subsisted still in his time, and was respected by the Saracens, is no longer to be sceri ; even the tradition of the people concerning it is entirely lost. I have sought without success for this tomb; I have in vain endeavoured to inform myself about it.' l'an Egmont, it appears, had beard of the sarcophagus we are now considering, but he heard of it only as a chest, which, according to the tradition of the Turks, no man could approach. He further tells us that the Jews, whose situation and intercourse must have rendered their access to cominon traditions easy, and who were very particular in their account of the mosque,' with regard to the dangerous chest,' acknowledged themselves entirely ignorant.' Niebuhr makes no mention whatever either of the townb or the tradition. Bruce confesses bimself to have been as unsuccessful in his inquiries as Norden. Irwin, who saw the chest, and considered it as an interesting' object, only says, that from a rail which inclosed it, it appears to have served some religious purpose ;' and Sonnini, whose attention was minute, not only in degard to the sarcophagus, but the temple that contained it, (which he tells us was erected by one of the Caliphs) merely expresses a hope that, when the hieroglyphic language shall be understood,' we may, perhaps, learn the origin of the sarcophagus, and the history of the puissant man whose spoiis it contained.' Denon and Dolomieux's visit to this singular relic, has been already noticed, and we have now to state, in few words, the means by which Dr. Clarke ascertained, to his own satisfaction, that the sarcophagus of the Museum was the real depository of Alexander. Page 6
their idols, presented obstacles to their demolition which were not so easily overcome. From this period, the close of the fourth century, to the time when Leo Africanas first saw the sarcophagus which is now at the Museum, alt is darkness. Chrysostom, indeed, who was made patriarch of Constantinople eight years after the imperial mandate for the destruction of the idols in Alexandria, gives us reason to believe that the tomb and the body were destroyed together. The passage is remarkable; and if we may rely upon his words, the question is at once decided. Που γαρ, εισε μου, το ΣΗΜΑ Αλεξανδρου και δειξον μοι, και ειπε την quepay καθ' ην ετελευτησε. . Των δε δουλων τα Χριστου και τα σηματα λαμπρα, την βασιλικωτάτην καταλαβονία πόλιν" και ημεραι καταφανεις, εορτήν τη οικουμενη ποιουσαι.. • Where is now the TOMB of Alexander? Shew me! Tell me the day of his death? But the sepulchres of Christ's servants are so splendid, that they occupy a renowned and regal city; and their days are so illustrious and famous, that they are celebrated as festivals over the whole world.' . Chrysost. Opera. tom. x. p. 625. Had the tomb of Alexander been at that time in existence, the triumphant exclamation of Chrysostom would have been the height of folly. But here it is but reasonable to inquire, why the different oriental historians have been silent on the subject; since almost all the nations of the east have added to the number of Alexander's biographers.' One work, however, the Leb. tarikh, or Marrow of Histories, written in Persian about the year 1570, is cited through the mediuin of the Bibliotheque Orientale of D'Herbelot; it states • That Alexander the Greek built the cities of Alerandria in Egypt; of Damascus in Syria ; of Heral, which was formerly Aria or Artacoana, in Khorassan; of Sarmucand, in the province of Ma. taranahar, which was the Sogdians of the ancients; and that his body was carried after his death to Alexandria, in a golden coffin, which his mother caused to be chunged for one made of EGYPTIAN NARBLE.'. The commentary which Dr.Clarke has given on this curious passage, deserves the reader's best attention. Here, says he, • Even the nature and country of the substance is ascertained : and with regard to the circumstance related of Olympias, iç may be observed, that as the body was brought to Egypt in the year - 321 before Christ, and she was not put to death till the year 316, a sufficient interval is afforded for the construction of the sarco. phagus. Page 7
we have an equation of this forin f tanf' + ni'f" =0, (m. m' denoting constant coeficients) similarly s' t af" + n'f" = 0 f" + pf" + pfis = 0, consequently by a simple process of elimination, we easily obtain f + 9f" + af'" = 0, or &c. &c. Since f, f' &c. are the analytical expressions for the arcs of ellipses, the above formulas translated into geometrical language, become theorems announcing curious properties subsisting between the peripheries of ellipses, whose excentricities vary according to a certain law. Fagnani's theorem, the author shews, may be immediately deduced from the first formation.-When the process for expressing f by similar quantities f(") &c. is continued, so that, is a very small quantity, there results a commodious form for f, which was first given by Mr. Wallace in the Transactions of the Edinburgh Society'; this our author deduces, and shews that it is peculiarly adapted to the computation of f when e is any value between 0 and VC); he then investigates and exhibits a series adapted for the computation of f, when e is between 1 and ve», and the more commodious, the more nearly e equals 1: this series for the whole integral ( f (1)) of f is as follows: 6.1+ f(1)=1-6 6.6.(1+') (1,+""))+&e.) +7(1+B) + .'P.'Q.1 ? (2 V 1-11-12 1-VI-112 b=vice','b= "B &c. 1+VI-62' l+vi-10 P= (1+6) (1 + "b) ---(1+B) b. "Q= b.'." After the demonstration of this series, the author gives, as Page 8
cles to arrange, will cause other particles to arrange also, wbich will forin round the nucleus. This will be repeated, and concentric coats formed till the whole glass is converted into the same substance. By these means the concentric layers are accounted for with considerable probability. But the radiation is also to be taken into consideration, and this which is almost a constant attendant of concentriciajeri, Mr. Ilait imagines to be produced by the radiation of enitted heat, or of moisture in cases where the solution is aque This is certainly very inferior in probability to the theory of the concentricity: indecd, we do not see any thing like a reason for such an assumption. It seems an overstrained hypothesis, which can thus assign the position of particles to such a motion of caloric as radiation, which in all likelihood never occurs in the substance of solid bodies. Even the concentric layers can hardly have altogether arisen from this source, since, if it had been so, the bodies formed would only have been spheres when the mass was spheroidal, and equally exposed to cooling causes on every side : but when the mass was irregular, they would have accommodated their shape in some measure to the circumstances of the situation in which it was placed. No doubt it is justly affirmed that if the first globules be allowed to be formed in the manner described, the other spheroids may be explained by the same means. But this is our very dispute. Nor do we see why if radii diverge froin a centre, the compactness of the sphere must diminish, any more than we understand how, according to Mr. Wall's view, the particles of cach coat are arranged in immediate contact with each other, leaving no spaces for penetration. We presume this is not meant in the strict sense, and that absolute contact is not alluded to, but merely relative approximation. But a great difficulty seems to be how the nucleus, extending itself to the peripheries of the spheroids, does not assume the same texture as before. For any thing we can see, the emission of heat, as well as all the other circumstances, are equaliy favourable for the fibrous and concentric structure. But Mr. Watt attributes this difference to the greater state of aggre. gation, which, though a possible, is a wholly approved assertion, unless it shall appear that no radiated substance in nafure is harder than the refrigerated basalt. lo a note we observe an idea stated by Mr. Walt, that when crystals are generated in glass, the molecules of which they are formed have doubtless been only suspended in the vitreous medium, and that this union is determined by crystalline polarity, and appears to him perfectly distinct from the simple aggregation which changes a fluid into a sold, whether it be bomogenous or compound. Now, we doubt this extremely, or to speak plainly, we do not believe it to be a jast account of the matter. We do not perceive the necessity of ihus subdividing the acting powers of nature : Frustra fit per plura. Besides, how is it possible to account for the solidification of water by simple aggregation, when that substance is perfectly ascertained to swell during its freezing. Surely, aggregation ought to have the effect of diminishing its bulk instead of increasing it. It seems to us essential to call in the help of soine other property, and we do not know any so likely to answer the purpose as that called polarity. Of this, it is true, we understand very little, but we are very sure of its existence in many cases, and it seems more philosophical to allow all consolidations to take place on the same principles if possible, than to fritter down the process into several ill-defined and indistinct divisions. In effect, the particles of all solid bodies must have a tendency to one particular form more than to any other. The elasticity, so frequently observed, seems to arise from this property. If we difier in these particulars from this gentleman, we hope that we do so with that diffidence of which he sets so becoming an example, and with that respect which the incrits of this paper so inuch demand. Page 9
lucted experiment. There is something very singular in the progressive increase of the inazz.ctic influence during the refrigeration and arrangement of the basaltic mass. He hore trat it will be another ray to illuminate that dark and uupenetrated reizi nof science. Mr. Wilt lennukis, the analogy betwcen his experiments and the formation of Reavinur's porcelaine from cominon glass, and et opaque and stony inasses from various slags and vitrited substances. All these bodies seem to be such as part with their latent heat gradually and pass throngl a long series of changes during their progress from perfect solidity to complete fusion. Similar phenouitna inay be noticed in the to'rnation of calcareous stalactites, thich are confessedly of aqueous origin, from which it years that fluida ity though necessary to this process, may arise either from fusion or sciation. In the following pages of this letter, Vr. Wat enters into some very ingenious and highly interesting speculatious upon the appearances recorded in the former part. To those we fear it will be hardly possible to do justice in our present limits. We strongly recommend the poensal and consideration of them to every scientific chemist. Some accomut of them, however, we shall now attempt to give, although the abridgment of such details oi mutite reasoning is peculiarly, arduous. Atier noticing the experiinents of Berthollet, instituted to prove that the attraction of masses of matter is as their quantities, Mr. Waiticunarks, that the consequent crystalli. zation in any mixture of the most abundant material will not comprehend the whole of its molecules, since the proportions of the ingredients are speedily altered. It is ingeniously observed that the most infusible crystals need not be first formeil; for they may remain suspended in the more fusible bodies, and various powers of attraction and polarity concurring, that the more infusible crystals may be impressed by the more easily melted. This being equally true in crystals of aqueous as of igneous.production, ailords considerable illustration to all systems of geology, and removes forinidable difficulties especially from the argument of the adherents of fire. There appears throughout these discussions a laudable impartiality and nearly a freedom from the trainmels of hypothesis. 'Mr. Watt" is induced to remark, that though the possibility of theigneous origin of basalt is synthetically demonstrated, yet the converse of that proposition is equally probable. The mind of this gentleinan seems to have hung in suspense, impressed on the one hand by the numerous instances of strata indurated, and of beds of coalcoaked by the heat emanating from basalt, and on the other by the frequent petrifactions found in the contested mineral We do not think any arguments would answer the frequent appearance of organized exuvia in basalt, and we wish Mr. Watt had stated bis authority, or his own observation. Fluid basalt, erupted from the internal regions of the earth, may be supposed to intermiigle with strata at its edges, and occasionally to sweep along with it, and before it, part of the organie iemains which it meets in its course. But it is impossible in this way to account for any very general diffusion of these substances in basalt, and the theory of its igneous origin could not have been listened to for a moment had not these appearances been extremely rare, and basalt in general believed to be a mineral not containing animal or vegetable subsiances. Page 10
as every benevolent mind may feel for the adject condition of human nature in many essential respects, it is a consolation to think, that whilst a great deal reinains undone, something has been effect, ed by the philanthropy of our country for the protection and comfort of this humble race of men.' P. 8. We read in page 62, that the greater part of the congregation of a charch in the town of St. Johns is composed of the children (blacks) of a charity school emanating from the bright example of the mother country, and cherishing even in the midst of slavery the spirit of an exalted faith !!! The account of the slaves in p. 63 is very favourable. *I have never witnessed a more lively or grotesque scene than they afford on Sunday, the day of market, and also the day of mirth and recreation, when the whole negro population of the island seems in motion. The clothes in which they appear, and the property they display on these occasions, would induce one to believe that ihe rigours of slavery, on many estates, are not a little softened by the liberality and benevolence of the masters; and, indeed, notwithstanding the absolute and unlimited nature of their legitimate authority, a sentiment of honour amongst the planters protects the slave in the enjoyment of the little peculium he may acquire, as effectually as the most sacred laws; while some of the negroes are perhaps riche er than many peasants in the heart of Europe.' Again, page 218 • I was witness to the sale of a pretty numerous cargo, which wag conducted with more decorum, with respect to the slaves, than I had expected. They were distributed mostly in lots from five to twenty in each ; but some of the boys and girls were disposed of separately. On the neck of each slave was slung a label specifying the price which the owner demanded, and varying between two and three hundred dollars, according to age, strength, sex, &c. This cargo was composed, as generally happens, of slaves froin different nations, and speaking languages unintelligible to each other. Some apprehensions prevailed, not withstanding all the expedients which had been used to convince them to the contrary, that they were brought over to be fatted and caten. I had an opportunity of observing two or three the day after the sale in the hands of benevolent masters purchased for domestic servants, who seemed much delighted with their kind treatment as well as change of situation. Instead of being naked, they were clothed in this climate as usual) in woollens; their food was much superior to what they had ever known before; they found themselves lodged in babitations abounding in comforis, some of them indeed superior to their comprehension; and in the streets they beheld many of their own colour, whose appearance, friendship, and hilarity had the most powerful influence in rendering them contented and happy in their new scene of life. I shall not presume to touch upon a subject of so much gravity and importance as the slave-trade, which has engaged all the eloquence and almost exhausted the attention of parliament: but whilsi I appland the philanthropy which still advocates the abolition of this trafic, I must remark that I have found the opinion of many liberal and enlightened strangers in the West Indies undergo some relaxation on becoming acquainted with the actual situation and character of the negrocs. Whether most of the persons of this description with whom I conversed felt the bias of some personal interest, or the contagion of an opposite opinion by associating with the proprietors of slaves, or whether on a familiar view of what is vicious it becomes less obnoxious to our feelings, I cannot pronounce. But with respect to myself, I must frankly confess that at times I found an inclination to pardon someiling of supposed criminality of transporting them from Africa, on comparing their destitute and wretched state wben first imported with their condition under the treatment of good masiers. Still it was at a moment when I forgot the unfeeling and often capricious cruelties excrcised by superintendants and people of colour (tlieir worst domestic tyrants), instances of which cannot be controverted or everexcused by those who have seen themand fell“ les angoisses que fait éprouter à une ame fiere et sensible le spectacle d'une injustice."; Yet, whatever may be the horror we justly feel at the idea of their perpetual bondage, it will be recollected that they are mut often endowed with that spirit of independance and dignity of sentiment which render it insupportable to a generous mind. On this principle Las Casas felt justified, it is said, in relieving the slavery of the high-spirited Indian nations by promoting the introduction of negroes. The cause of humanity, however, has been very little indebted to him by this expedient: for the Indians in the islands have nearly perished, and the negroes continue slaves.' Page 11
sary, the bible, he affirmed, was a sealed volume; that he was delivered over to a judicial blindness; that seeing he might see and not perceive; but that to himself, by the power of the Holy Ghost, the eyes of his understanding were enlightened, the mysteries of God were revealed, and the law and will of God, which had been hidden for ages, were re-opened, and brought as it were to life again. Nor did they always stop here. When pressed by testiinonies of scripture, too explicit to be evaded, and too insignificant to need or permit the interference of any auxiliary ineans of interpretation, fired as they were with a furious zeal, and bound logether by an engagement, to conquer or to die, they did not dread to take one step further, to decide all controversy at once, and to lay claim to new original revelations; and thus did the scripture become, in comparison of the word and light within, what they did not scruple to call it, a dead leiter, a letter that killith, a carnal teaching. The founders of the sect of quakers, and other enthusiasts, who sprang up amongst us during the times of Charles I. and of the Cominonwealth, walked but too faithfully in these footsteps. And though their notious, in this respect, as in many others, have, by time, been much reformed and sobered, yet we read in a work on the principles of religion among friends, printed within the present year, a caution that there is not only a possibility, but a danger of placing, too inuch dependence upon the scriptures, by preferring them to that divine principle of light and life afforded to man, of which they testily.'* And we find the same writer, with too much of the ancient hardihood of bis sect, in his argument against the sacrament of baptism, venturing to arraign the infallibility of an inspired apostle, St. Peter.t. Other Christians, who profess continually to be distinguished above their brethren, by bringing religious subjects more than others do, to the test aid hazard' of their own reasonings, have proceeded to like conclusions with regard to the inspiration and divine authority of the scriptures : but with this difference, in the order and method of their proceedings. En’husiasın does his work speedily; and strikes off the forgeries of his brain at a heat. In process of tine, he is wont to become more sober; to grow ashamed of his follies; and his later years are gencrally spent in a comparative supineness, or in endeavouring to undo bis work, to steal back again, if he can, by contrivance and tergiversation, to the common practice, and the ordinary doctrines; or by ambiguous expressions, and interpretations, to preserve a compromise between his own better knowledge and his partial filial sense of the intoxication and the nakedness of his forefathers. On the other hand, the operations and pretensions of cold blooded reason are cautious at first, and only by slow degrees become more hostile, more presuming, and adventurous. Socinianism began her course rather by flattering words to soothe and gratify the ear of human reason, than by hazarding any direct imputations against the authority of scripture. But in later times, having interwoven herself in a close and long-continued alliance with the pride and self-sufficiency of a minor philosophy, she has made much further progress, and has ventured into a more extensive and offensive warfare. In our own day, we have seen a controversy which began with an endeavour to ascertain the opinions of primitive Christian antiquity, for the express purpose of applying them to the explanation of what the scripiures contain in reference to an important.doctrine, an investigation instituted, therefore, and proceeding upon a mutual acknowledgment of their divine and unquestionable authority; this controversy thus beginning, we, in our own day, have scen ended by the champion of socinianism, with unreserved declarations on his part, that the apostles were, like other men, liable in their writings to mistake and error, and that therefore, their teaching on the point in debate, whatever it might be, was not necessarily final and decisive. Since the time of Dr. Priestley, we have seen the rationalizivg spirit erect her head yet higher, and vannt herself against the powers and possibilities of heaven. We are told of a certain doctrine, not only that it is not true, but that it is impossible, and that no testimony, not even that of an angel from on high, could make it credible. Page 12
that charity, one of whose most beautiful characteristics is, eren that she seeketh not her own,' when a writer does thus exceed bis due claims, when he aggravates the mate. rials of dissention among Christians, as it they were not large enough already, and, in the character of one zealous for the interests of religion, exposes the name of a brotherto the harsh censures and judgments of ignorant and undiscerning men. But, in matters like the above, we have observed, that the ingenious and inconsiderate aggressor does himseif seldom escape unhurt. The blow which charity sustains, is in some way or other repaid or reverberated to bim who inflicts it. Accordingly, in our judgment, Mr. Dick's character as a writer and a reasoner must suffer materially by the union of which we have complained. In the first chapter Mr. Dick's notions on the nature of iospiration, and of the sense in which he means to assert and prove that the scriptures are inspired, are laid before the reader to a considerable extent, and in a way in which we are not disposed to find much to blame, inasmuch as the whole is, in the place where it etands, hypothetical or enumerative, and can only be received in as far as it shall be substantiated and established by the proofs which are afterwards to follow. It is our business, however, to remark, that Mr. D. asserts to the sacred writers the union (though with some disapprobation expressed of the terms by which they are wont to be designated) of the three denominations of inspiration (with Cone or two of which most authors on this subject have been contented) viz. that by superintendance, by eletation, and by suggestion. He maintains also the inspiration of the words and language of scripture without any exception or reserve; he considers the sacred writers as the amanuenses of the Dia vine Spirit, and accordingly, is a strenuous advocate for that which is called plenary inspiration in the highest and fullest sense of that term. Who then would believe that a writer, who lays down propositions like these, should, when he comes to the body of his work, which onght to contain the demonst.ation of them, engage bis reader in little else than an exposition of the arguments which may be met with in almost every treatise on the evickenets of christianity, where they are brought forward in proof of the divine origin of our religion, and to establish the credibility of the evangelical history ? Yet this is precisely the case in the present volume. Many proofs of that kind are stated, and we will allow are well stated, by Mr. Dick. But how they are to convince us of the inspiration of the scriptures, particularly in that extensive meaning of the term which he contends for, we are utterly unable to un. derstand. Were Dr. Priestley alive, he would, we believe, as we do, accede to the justness of the generality of Mr. D.'s premises; but we have no difficulty in declaring that he would be fully justified in rejecting the conclusions, in impeaching the pertinency of Mr. D.'s arguments, the correctness of his ideas, and the soundness of his logic. Page 13
The remainder, except the Maxims of this first volume of Mr. Twiss's Miscellanes, is borrowed from Van Effen; and of a piece with the preceding essays, one of the middling and indifferent efforts of the art of writing. The names of the articles are, the Coquelle,' 'an Old Woman,' and • Romances ;' old subjects by no means newly treated. The Maxins and Apothegms which conclude the volume, are collected from many books in various languages; and like most maxims and apothegis, very wise and very tedious. Two hundred and forty-two pages of the second volume are devoted to Chess and Drauglits; which, after Mr Twiss's two volumes of Chess, published in 1787 and 1789, must be confessed, even by chess-players, to be a pretty ample quantity of matter devoted to ihe illustration of the moves of party-coloured bits of ivory! From Palamedes to Phillidor, Mr. Twiss collects every allusion to bis favourite game from every author who probably ever wrote upon it. Fox's Book of Martyrs, and Poor Robin's Almanack for 1693, and all such reading as we never read,' are brought to bear upon this chosen point. We shall be satisfied with a quotalion from Fielding's Covent Garden Journal. The same labour, and perhaps the same genius which brings a man to perfection at the game of chess, would make a great proficiency in the mathematics.' The next article is that of Entertaining Chemical Experiments, communicated by Mr. Frederick Accum. We shall select one for the use of the ladies. • EXPERIMENT 9. (HOW TO GILD A RIBBON CHEMICALLY. * Take a silk ribbon, wet it thoroughly with phosphorised ether (prepared by letting ether stand over phosphorus for some weeks) and dip it into a solution of muriate of gold, which will gild it; and the gilding is so permanent that it will bear washing. Mrs. Fula hame, to whom we are indebted for this experiment, has availed herself of this property by gilding a whole garinent,' &c. Splendid Mrs.Fulhame! in her garment of gold, and her &c. she must look like the Queen of Sheba ! Galvanism succeeds Chemistry, and Natural Courtship follows Galvanism ; the one being an old, the other a new way of exciting electricity. The natural courtship is after the Dutch fashion. Mr. Twiss now calls in bis auxiliaries, the poets. We cannot exactly say, That expletives their feelle aid do join, And ten low words creep on through one dull line. Page 14
“The Danes of yore invaded, They scaled the sea-beat steep, Their ships are in the deep,' &c. &c. But though the comparison between the French and the Danes, may be poetical, God forbid that there should be any real resem, blance between the success of thc invaders. Let Apollo twitch the ear of this poet, and tell bim that when • The'umber moon serenely shone, Silvering the raven plumes of night,' it made him talk egregious nonsense, ART. 20,- A Poetical Epistle to James Barry, Esq.containing Stric tures upon some of the Works of that celebrateıl Artist; with an Aps pendir. By Francis Burroughs, Esq. 8ro, Carpenter. 1805. WHATEVER Mr. Barry's abilities as a painter may be, and indeed they are unquestionably great, whatever Mr. Burroughs' own taste and science as an admirer of the productions of the Italian school may be, certainly there are some doubts of the correctness of his French pronunciation, of his Greek metrical, and English gram. matical knowledge. P. 33. Apart in Christian conclave, duly sel, (rice sit) Our pious Butler, Pascal, and Bossuet. The familiarity also with which he speaks of his dear friends, the Italian painters, reminds us of our countryman Jarvis, who, on completing one of his paintings, cried out in rapture. Poor little Tit!. (meaning Titian) how he would stare!' Nir. Burroughs, in like manner, converts the more respectful title of Leonario de Vinci into the friendly abbreviation of Lennardo.' Like Parson Adams's son Dick, in Joseph Andrews, when he read the story of Paul and Lennard to Lady Booby, 'Call it Leonard,'—said parson Adams to his son- Call ji-Leonard.'-say we to Mr. Burroughs. • Hold your tongue,' said Lady Booby io Parson Adams— Don't interrupt the child-Hold your tongue,'--says Mr. Burroughs to us Don't interrupt me.' We obey, out of the kindness we have for him; but hope he will be equally kind to us in return, and never let us hear his voice again. We had almost forgotten to menrion that in this pamphlet, which consists of 1: 2 pages, ihere are eighty of notes; and that besides these, there is an unnecessary introduction, and a gratuitous apologue, purporting to be explanatory of an unmeaning frontispiece that libels the figure of Minerva. MEDICINE. ART. 21.- The Anatomy of the Human Body. Vol. IV. Containing the Anatumy of the Viscera of the Abdomen, the Parts in the Male and Female Pelris,and the lymphatic System. By Charles Bell. 15s. Jongman. 1804. We were not aware that this volume had appeared, when we announced volume iii. in our last number. The same generaj Page 15
designed ad captandum vulgus, in which vague allusion, appeals to prejudice, and ridicule may consistently enough supply the place ofaccuracy of detail, of philosophy, and of argument. But we have received our principles upon evidence alors, and are ready to abjure them only when that evidence is countervailed. We admit the contrariety of analogy, which was originally telt by numbers in the profession, with whom extensive experience has prevailed. But the prejudice was uiconquerable with Dr. Mosely. I thought then (in 1798,) as I do now, that experience is not necessary, to know that cow pox camol be a preventive of the small pox. Prof. This is giving the lie to Bacon and to Newton, and trampling inductive philosophy under foot. We believe indeet, that the investigation of The cow pos has not been complete and final; and fear that it has often been conducted carelessly; and it will be well if the investiga. tors examine more minutely the statement of Dr. Mosely, that other eruptive diseases have a partial power of preventing the occurrence of sinall pox. But we cannot forget that, on a question of fact, analogy, ridicule, and general assertions, are but as a feather in the baJance, when poised against the leaden weight of the results of experiment and induction.
NOVELS. Art. 23.-Lore and Grutitude, or Traits of the Human Heart, Sie Norels, translated from Augustus La Fontaine ; prepared for the Press by Mrs. Parsons, uthor of Mystcrious IV'urning, fic. &c. 3 Vols. 12mo. 12s. Longman. 1805. MRS. Parsons had much better exercise lier original talents than translate Augustus la fontaire. Augustus la Fontaine's works, in our opinion, are stamped with that insipid mediocrity which one can Deither admire nor laugh at. The very titles of these novels are mawkish and disgusting : • Love and Gratitude,' • Love and Greatvess of Soul, Love and Esteem,' Love put to the Test,' • Lure and Probity,' Love and Vanity;' which is the last. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Really, to an English ear, that is accustomed to 'Love and Magic,''Love laughs at Locksmiths,' &c. this is but dull unprofitable chat. For the style take the following specimen: * Poor Firmin, however, had received no transient impression, it rushed violently into bis heart,-ihe image of the beautiful lady was engraven on his soul. He thought, he talked of herincessantly; and when he came to the ealugy of her charms, he made use of such exaggerated expressions, he talked so loud and with such uncommon vivarity and fire, that his parents and the old bailiff were quite astonished. • Poor Firmin ! Poor Fontaine. ART. 24.—The Adventures of Coorno, a Native of the Pellew Is lands. By C. D. Lumbert. 870. , 5s. Scarcherd. 1805. • ROMULUS and Remus, the two famous wild men of antiquity, and Orson, of modern days, have been justly the admiration of all Page 16
cates, and was accepted. But his efforts to save his royal client only recoiled upon his own head, and Malesherbes soon after, with his daughter and his son-in-law, fell a sacrifice to revolutionary cruelty at the advanced age of 72; like many others, he atfirst hailed the revolution as the restitution of liberty, but the terrific events, which ensued, dispelled the delusion.' We could make several extracts with pleasure from this little piece of biography; but our limits permit us only to recommend the whole, as an exhibition of one of those rare characters, whom neither the 'vultus instantis tyranni,'nor the 'civium ardor prava jubentium' can deter from truth and justice. We cannot, however, deny curselves the insertion of one anecdote of Louis XVI. A little before bis trial, having requested Malesherbes, who it seems was a philosopher, to speak to a priest to attend him in his confinement, he added: “This is a very strange errand for a philosopher! for I know you are one; but if you should suffer, as I have done, and be doomed to die as I must die, I wish you the same sentiments of re. ligion with myself: they would console you much inore than any philusophy:
Art. 31. –Exercises on the Globes; interspersed with some Historie cal, Biographical, &c. Information. By William Butler, 3d ed. sro. Longman. 1804. The didactic part of this little introductory work is well arranged and perspicuously expressed, and no small pains have evidently been bestowed in garnishing it with anecdote, miscellaneous information, and poetical extracts. The latter might, perhaps, here and there, be beiter selected: The name of Blackmore, for instance, struck us as not likely to improve the taste of the rising generation of females, Upon the whole, Nr. Butler deserves weli of the public for having prepared the cup of useful elementary kaowledge, and at the same time tipped its rim with honey. ART. 32.- A practical Treatise on Brewing, adapted to the Use of private Families, anil Publicans who brew their own Ale; with proper Directions for conducting each Process with certainty. The Die rections are selected from Experiments made with uprcards of 150 Brewings, wherein is shewn the Use of the Thermometer and Hydrometer, &c. &c. &c. By A. Shore, who has been Butler to Sir T. Broughton, Burt, near 20 years. 12mo. 6s. Longmun. 1805. Our knowledge of the art of brewing is not sufficient to cnable us to follow this author throngh the different processes of mashing, &c. His experience, we doubt not, qualities him to give directions on this useful subject : but we think that more of those private families and publicans, to whom he recommends his treatise, would have been inclined to profit by his instructions, had he sold them at a more reasonable rate, and not charged six shillings for a thin duocecimo, printed on wretched paper. We are induced to suspect that Page 17
of many improvements; but I no sooner tako up my pen to this effect, than I see before me nothing but my nephew, and find myself incapacitated for the task. Besides, the manuscript is already so full of erasures, that there is scarcely room for the alterations I wish to make. I have therefore, to request of you to make me a fair copy in a legible hand-writing, and to make the spaces sufficiently considerable to allow of my interlining what I think necessary. But you are not acquainted with my hand-writing, rather, let me say, with my scrawling, and will not perhaps be able to decypher it. For this reason, I will read it to you, that you may, the more easily divine what I intended to say ; first premising that, in addi. ţion to the request I have made, I further expect from your zeal note of the faults you shall detect in it both in respect to language and the rules of oratory." 'He then took up his manuscript, which lay on a small table at which he always sat, and which was covered with books, a writings desk, paper, and frequently several snuff-boxes. He began the reading in a posture and manner that she wed he was determined to remain the master of his feelings. It was plain to perceive by the tone of his voice that he made efforts to strengthen it, as if to fortify himself against the impressions of grief. His enunciation was slow, and he made long and frequent pauses. The struggle, however, was short. When he had got to the second or third page, his voice faltered, and his eyes filled with tears; he could not proceed without stopping, and he had often recourse to his handkerchief. But it was in vain that he wiped his eyes, and coughed or spit;, all his endeavours did not carry him to the end of the fourth page before his eyes, gushing with tears, could no longer see, and his voice, suffocated and extinct, could no longer pronounce a word : at length, yielding to the subs he found it impossible to repress, he held out the manuscript to me without being able to utier a sylla- ; ble. I took the manuscript, contemplating, with a sort of respect and consolation, this great man, like the rest of his species, accessible to the most sacred and most endearing attections of humanity. After a ininute or two of silence, having regained the power of speaking, he said, " You understand what I desire of you; you may now leave me. I wish you a good evening." vol. 1, PP. 44, 45, 46, 47. "My problem,' says the author with honest exultation, was now resolved;' and three pages more of anxious discussion enable him la pronounce the following important and profound result: A feeling heart, a head capable of imposing op it due restraint, these two terms may be considered as the key to all the actions he (Frederic) performed, that were in any degree remarkable ! P. 50. With this, however, it is equitable to contrast another cir.. cumstance, of a very different complexion, that exhibits a combination of insensibility and meanness, froin which all Page 18
too ignorant and lethargic for this : but with French women the case is diferent; they have a decided taste for intrigue, and gallantry with them is often the vehicle that enables them to cabal the more successfully; I will have none of these in my territory; let her be sent away immediaiely." “The apprehension entertained by Frederic concerning the French ladies was founded on his having studied the history of France, and in particular that of the mistresses of our kings. He one day con versed much at large on this subject with M. de Labaye de Launay, when he proved that almost all ihese mistresses had been enemies to the glory of their lovers. l all ihe mistresses of Louis the Fif eenth he excepted only Madame de Chateauroux. " This mistress,” said he, ' persuaded the king to head his army in person: she made him sensible that this was his duty, and she gave this advice at the risk of losing his affi-ction. She wastruly worthy of being the mistress of a king; and you see I have her portrait in my cabinet. All ile others are public plagues, and” &c. P. 219. VOL. 1. With Madame de Chateauroux, he might also bave ex: cepted the fair Agnes Sorelle, the spirited and magnanimous mistress of 'Charles the Seventh, who threatened to aban. don him for some more worthy lover, if he did not renounce the cowardly determination of retreating before hiš enemies; and thus inspired him with that resolution, which ended in his coronation at Rheims, and the expulsion of the English from his dominions. • Madame de Valmore,' continues Mr. Thiebault 'was not the only person he sent away with the same celerity. I remember, in 1767; "he sent off a whole company of French players, in public waggons, in the depth of winter, because he had been informed of some amorous intrigues carried on by the actresses, particularly by two sisters, one of whom was very young.? P. 219. vol.I,.. Although we are fully aware that we are beginning to trang, gress the limits we had assigned to our notice of this work, we cannot forbear to copy some remarks of the king on the merits of the famous actor Le Kain, which display a singular propriety of judgment, and acuteness of discrimination. “ The first time I saw the acting of L: Kain I did nothing but compare him with nature, such as she most frequently presents herself to our senses : 1 ound no resemblance; and accordingly I considered him as an unfaithful, extravagant, and dangerous performer. The second time I saw him, 1 perceived that he exercised; an art, and that this art consisted of rules he had closely 'studied, and with con, siderable skili bad made them his own. I however could not divest myself of the notion that he followed those rules too strictly, and thaq he left nature at too great a distance. I am now, us it appears tu ipe, arrived at the true point of view to pass a sound judgment on his per: formance. -Poetry should always take its subject from select nature: this principle should invariably govern aramatic writers, and among these, most particularly writers of tragedy; so that an actor cannot without a violation of the likeness; imitate ordinary nature, such as it every wlicre meets our eye. Still further, the action brought by the poet on the scene is not an action tliat occurs in common-place society, or in the bosom of a family; it is transposed to a grand theatre, and passed under the eye of nations. What ornament does it not requires Anel the actor, if he has calculated whát is suitable to the scene, will take care not to overlook so important a considerátion. We should next-inquire if the actor is on the same floor as that from which he is viewed by the spectators ? He is not. We see him as it were at a great distance, aird in perspective, should he not therefore proportion his action to the circumstance ? In Le Kain every thing takes a gigantic form, or rather an heroic and colossal form. No doubt he is on a pedestal! His action could be no way different from what it is without becoming aukward, snjudicious, inconsistent, and unfaithful. My final declaration therefore is, that he is a great and admirable actor, and I will add, the first I have seen of this description in the walk of tragedy.' Till I saw Le Kain, I knew not what it was to play tragedy ; and I shall read the pieces in which I have seen him perform again with the greater pleasure." 1. 448 and 419. VOL. I. Page 19
bow to touch the keys. But though it is itself a diamond of the first water, its grand excellence consists in the skill with which it is set. It is impossible, however, to read this episode without regretting the unmusical roughness of the hero's name, which the poet bas not much mended by placing it in the most conspicuous part--the beginning of de serse : "Accomplish'd, gen'rous, gentlé, brave, sincere Robert a Blachin. My heart has sigh'd in secret, when I thought My country, of thy greatness, and thy name, Page 20
poem like the present. The spangles, which could add Shakespeare. Bowles. It would be useful to have some name for this peculi. arity of English verse, and, until a better is invented, we would propose that of the noun enclitic. When introduced sparingly and with judgment, it is capable, besides adding variety to the rhythm, of giving a great charm to sentiments of simplicity and pathos. What ear is so obtuse as not to perceive this effect in the above line from Shakespeare? In a word, we by no means condemn this usage altogether: we only contend that, as it rather borders on the prettinesses of poetry, it should be dealt out with caution, particularly in a poem rising to epic dignity. Mr. B. is lavish of it usque ad nauseam. Another point upon which our taste differs from Mr, Bowles's is the effect of repetitions. We will lay an instance or two before the reader. • Stilly the streams P. 51. To sheltering cove, the long coast winds away.' P. 53.' We deny not that the above passages (partieularly the first,) possess high poetical merit, 'that sort of merit which the Greeks call 'Evagycia, vividness. By a judicious selection and arrangement of circumstances, by the flow of the verse, and by the aptness of the expressions, they produce such lucid conceptions as approximate to the force of actual impressions upon the senses. But true critical acu. inen, applied to eloquence or poetry, consists in abstracting Page 21
private Christians, we cannot, even now, give any better counsel than to suspend their judgments; to wait for the day when God shall reveal even this unto us; and rather than inflame their zeal by aggravated inferences from scriptures, which are yet of doubtful interpretation, to gather, so far, and so long as the reasonableness of those doubts may seem to justify them, a lesson of moderation and charity: For 'prophecies in our interpretation of them may fail; but charity never faileth.' In bis dissertation on the Man of Sin (2 Thes. ii. 3) wbich Mr. Bingham understands to imply the whole Jewish nation, previously to the destruction of Jerusalem, we find the following minute and valuable observations, which may afford an useful and honourable exainple of the critical talents which the reader may expect to see displayed in many parts of these dissertations. We are led to the choice of this specimen, because it refers to passages of Scripture, the interpretation of which has much divided the commentators of ages, and to which the public attention has been lately called afresh by Mr. Nesbit, in more than one publication, and by some other writers, • Should the propriety of this interpretation be questioned by any because the day of Christ is here said to relate to the catastrophe of the Jewish state, and not to the day of judgment, let ibem strictly examine our Lord's account of this matter, as it is recorded by three of the evangelists. The expressions here are Παρsσια το Κυριε. Ημων επισυναλωτη επ' αυίον. (2 Τhes. ii. 1.) “Η ημερα τα ΧρισB. (2.) Αποκαλυφθησείαι και ανομος, ον ο Κυριος αναλωσει τω πνευματι τε σομαίος αυλία, και καθαρίσει τη επιφανεια της αρεσιας avis: (8.) Parallel to these are the words of St. Matthew.. Τι το σημείου της σης τσαρεσιας, και της συνθελειας τα αιωνος; (Μatt. xxiv, 3.) Δια το πληθυνθηναι την ανομίαν, (abstract. ανομος concret.) (12.) Το τελος. (14.) “Ωσπερ γαρ η ατραπη κ. τ. λ. είως εσαι και η παρασια τα υιε τα ανθρωπε, (27.) Όπυ γαρ εαν η το σθωμα, εκει αναχθησονλαι αι αείοι, (28.) This last verse is allowed to allude to the Roman army, whose ensign was an eagle. And this strongly indicates what was indeed verified by experience, that this destruction of the Jews was not confined to their own city or country, but should extend to them wherever they were, throughout the Roman einpire. They therefore of Thessalonica were personally interested in the event of these prophecies. Οψονίαι τον υιον κ. τ.λ, μέλα δυναμεως και δοξης πολλης. (30.) Page 22
8 preached word. But settle this as you please, whether St. Paul writ' before or after St. Luke, the saine conclusion is to be drawn, that from similarity of expression, we may fairly argue simliarity of subject; and as Luke xxi. 34. plainly referred to the destruction of Jerusalem, so also did St. Paul, 1 Thes. v. 3. and that the Xgoros sus xxigsı of the latter is to be understood of the ó nue par exelyn of the former; and I need not repeat that this is the passage referred to, and this the nurga Te Xpose in the second epistle, ch. ii. 2. I cannot but compare some passages in the epistles to the Thessalonians on which we are now discoursing with the expressions in St. Luke above cited. They seem to have fallen into the very error which our Lord had warned his disciples of: They who were to come in his name would say 8 xotipos myluxe, but our Saviour encoyrages his disciples un alonOrle (v. 8, 9.) Saint Paul earnestly entreats his converts in Sporto I ws ÓTi sveşnxev on suspz to Xg:58. (2 Thes. ii. Our Saviour says, Bastile pen whambule, (Luc. xxi. 8.) St. Paul, Μηλες υμας εξαπαίτηση καλα μηδενα τροπον, (2 Τhes. ii. 3.) Our Saviour adds du cxalasacias yevoJai opalov, (Luc. xxi. 9.) St. Paul pursues his argament in great similitude of expression, Orı tar un'enorme και αποφασια πρωλον. As if he had said, The great revolt, those commotions foretold by our Saviour are not yet come to pass. Our Saviour proceeds--Before these insurrections take place, they will lay hands on you and persecute you, (v. 12.) This was the state of the Christian church in Thessalonica. He adds, and when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh, (v. 28.) Do they not receive from the Apostle the same consolation? It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you ; and to you zho are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaten with his mighty angels--taking vengeance dedoylos exdixacin on them that know not God (? Thes. i. 6,7): agreeable to the expression in St. Luke, Ozo mpegao exorence ws aulaHow: and that this part of the epistle relates not to the final coming of Christ one expression seems to evince, When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired of all them that believe in that day, (v. 10.) For in THAT DAY faith shall be lost in certainty, When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." (1 Cor. xiii. 10.) The second volume opens with the vindication of the doctrine and liturgy of the church of England against Mr. Lindsay, which extends to the 110th page. Next to this follows, (p. 111--158) the Tajnos ey Abrvais, consisting of desultory remarks on that part of the Acts of the Apostles which relates to St. Paul's visit to Athens. The remarks contain, perhaps, nothing which can be called new, but they will be read with pleasure by those who are gratified by learned and sensible illustrations of Scripture. After this follows (P. 160 244) a translation and notes upon the Song of Solomon. The volume is concluded by four select Sermons, the third of which, on the doctrine of eternal punishments, occasioned by Bishop Newton's dissertation on that subject, is the most important and valuable. Page 23
for employment; yet the case is not essentially altered when these people are dismissed in a gradual and continued progress, one after another. The effects on the state of the country are the same; and to the individual who is disposa. sessed, it makes no other difference than that he has fewer companions to share his inisfortune. W'e inust therefore consider the whole territory of the Highlands of Scotland as greatly over-peopled; and must bear in mind, that the destruction of the old agricultural farms occasions the loss of maintenance to large bodies of men, without furnishing in any quarter the additional means of supply to counterbalance this failure. We repeat, that it would have afforded us considerable satisfaction to have been informed of the actual numbers which during the last few years have been driven from their respective habitations to other regions; and to have learned the opinion of those whose opportunities of inquiry have enabled them to form a judgment of the probable: extent of future migrations. In order to ascertain what rank or class of men it is for the interest of Scotland to dismiss from her lands, it will be neeessary to lay before our readers, the description of the different orders employed in farming, which the work before us contains. • The farms occupied by the common tenantry are hamlets os petty townships, held by six or eight partners, sometimes many more. These farms consist in general of a portion of a valley, is which is annexed a tract of mountain pasture, often stretching to the distance of many miles. The lands in tillage are sometimes cullivated in common, but are more usually distributed ainong the tenants in proportion to their shares; seldom, however, in a permanent manner, but from year to year. The produce of the tillage land rarely affords a superfluity beyond the maintenance of the tenants and their families. Their riches consist of cattle, chiefly breeding cows, and the young stuck produced from them, which are maintained on the farm till of a proper age for the market; and by the sale of these the tenants are enabled to pay their rent. The number which each farm or tenure is capable of maintaining, is regulated by ancient usage, and may be in general from 30 to 80 cow's, besides other cattle. The total amount is divided among the occupiers according to their respective shares, no one being allowed to keep more than his regulated proportion. • The joint occupiers of such farms are termed small tenants, 10 distioguish them from the tacksmen, who hold entire farms, and who are in general of the rank of gentry; each of them tracing himself to some ancient proprietor of the estate, who has allotted the farm as a provision for a cadet of his family. Upon ibe farms of the tacksmen are a number of sub-tenants or rotters, under which term may be included various local denominations of crofters, mailers, &c. &c. These people hold their possessions under various conditions; sometimes they differ from the tennnts in little else than the diminutive scale of their possessions; but in general they have a greater or less amount of labour to perform as a part of their rent. Frequently they are absolute servants to their immediate superior, having the command only of a small share of their own time to cultivate the land allowed thein for maintaining their families. Sometimes the tacksman allows a portion of his own tillage field for his cotter; sometimes a small separate croft is laid out for him; and he is generallly allowed to pasture a cow, or perhaps two, along with the cattle of the farm.' P. 39. et seq. Page 24
furnish the most desirable soit of intermediate employment between the agriculture of the Highlands, and the manufac. tures of the Lowlands and of South Britain. But the policy of emigration to foreign settlements is the chief topic which the noble author labours to illustrate and enforce throughout the whole of his treatise. To this mode of disposiug of the superabundant population of the Highlands he gives the. most decided preference, upon the following grounds; first, as affording the best prospect of furnishing a comfortable livelihood and moderate riches; secondly, as suited to the genius and habits of the people; and thirdly, as giving the opportunity of preserving ancient manners, customs, and connections. In support of the first reason, (which is undoubtedly cal. culated to have the greatest weight with those who are about to make a change in their mode of life,) some very flattering and substantial proofs are adduced. We are not indeed told of any long continued career of success which has bitherto attended the new settlers in any region; but we are informed that the means are adequate, and the way open, to all whose industry and perseverance are suficiently great for the steady pursuit of fortune. The prospect of immediate maintenance and speedy aggrandizement, though at the expence of much toil and suffering, is certainly the most inviting and desirable to those who are loosened from their old connections in society, and thrown at large upon the world. But in the calculation of probable success, other circumstances are to be considered besides the physical and natural aids which present themselves. The operation of moral causes, wbich in all conditions of society, is irresistibly powerful, is peculiarly strong and ungovernable in new situations, and by its unexpected influence on the conduct of men, frequently overturns the best laid schemes, and frustrates the most expected events. We must therefore be permitted to suspend our decision on the policy of emigration, till we are assured by long detailed and authentic statements, that what is called wealth in those parts, is preferable even to poverty in these dominions; or rather that the rapid acquisition of riches is a benea fit great enough to counterbalance the blessings of the British government at home, the comforts of civilized life, and the free competition for lucrative and honourable employments which this country affords. That the habits of the Scottish people and their cast of character peculiarly fit them for encountering the difficulties and hardships of new settlements, way to a certain extent, be true; but it furnishes of itself no Page 25
ART. VI.- An Excursion to the Highlands of Scotland and the English Lakes, with Recollections, Descriptions, and References to Historical Facts. Svo, gs. Mawman. 1805. THE Highlands of Scotland and the English Laker have each had their mob of tourists, quei che le charte empion di sogni, Lancilotto, Tristano, e gli altri erranti, who pyrite with ease' what they observe without judgment or accuracy. These have sometimes assumed the independence of a distinct volume; but have more frequently and more appropriately claimed a humbler station in the pages of the Monthly or the Ladies' Magazine. Mingling there with the elaborate details of the philosophy or the fashions of Paris, the proceedings of the Imperial Institute or the boudoir of Madame Recamier, they elude the severity of periodical criticism, and in the multitude of their fellows find that there is safety. Those scenes have occasionally, however, been honoured by visitors of a higher order. Forsaking the bustle of the capital and the tranquillity of a college life, philosophers and poets have sought for nature in her wildest recesses, and have traversed the precipices of Auknasheals, or' pierced the hideous gorge of Borrowdale.' Of Johnson's journey, performed in the autumn of 1773, the public have been favoured with two accounts from the pens of the two fellow-travellers, each possessing it's peculiar and very considerable merit. That in particular, given by the Rambler himself, was well described by Mr. Orme, as * containing thoughts polished by long circumvolution in the author's mind, like pebbles in the ocean.' And in his disquisitions upon the general character of the Highlands, the authenticity of the poems ascribed to Ossian, the question of the Second Sight, and 'the ruins of lona,' remarks are certainly to be found, which for ingenuity of speculation, closeness of argument, and magnificence of expression yield to no part of his other valuable compositions. But much likewise, it is universally conceded, must be set down to violent prejudice. Originating perhaps in that turn for raillery, of which even his companion now and then very justly suffered the laslı, his observations upon the want of trecs, &c. were as ill received and as indignantly repelled, as if the timber of a country were the standard of the merit of it's inhabitants. Hence mutual vehemence, and it's too common attendant, putual hostility. His other private feelings likewise were, more suo, indulged in many parts of the work beyond their legitimate limits. In his gloomy reflections upon the mise ries of a thin population, we trace the writer, who revelled in the full tide of human existence'at Charing-cross;' and he was perhaps not quite insensible to the fame of classical allusion when, in the very neighbourhood of the Gordonforests, he characterized the hills of Caledonia as resembling rather Homer's. Pelion waring with woods, than his Ida abounding in springs.' Moral appearances too, it may be added, are usually affected-even in the remote provinces of a eivilized kingdom-by a lapse of thirty years. The late terrible convulsions of the Continent have not been unfelt by the natives of North-Britain ; and we now behold them, aloof from thie Jacobitism of ancient, and the Jacobinism of modern times, zealous to prove themselves (what one of their own poets has pronounced them) Page 26
water ; or rather, from their barrenness, that they músť now have as exact resemblance to the bottom of the sea. The belief, that we observed the salient angles of one mountain constantly opposite to the re-entering angles of its adverse neighbour (an appearance, said to be observable in almost every country in the world) left no doubt in our minds of the great revolutions which have taken place on the earth's surface; and disposed us to conclude that, as these inountains had probably at some very remote period been immersed in the sea, so might they again, by the incessant workings of the lides of the great waters, and in the immeasurable existence of the world, be overwhelmed in the depths of the Atlantic; while those now hidden init's bosom may rear their tops, enriched with beds of sea-shells, the objects of awe and of perplexity to the astonished traveller, The little sketch, likewise, of the margin and surface of Loch-long is graphic enough for the pencil of Gray: • A few mean buts, here and there a naked human being, and at intervals, a boat on the lake with a fisherman and his boy. "A drizzling rain gave a thick darkness to the natural dinginess of the lake, the effect of which was still farther augmented by the sea-weed that clung to the shores and rocks, and rode on the surface of the mournfully dashing waves; and by the lowering clouds which enveloped in obscurity the tops of the hills, and threw a sublime and awful majesty over this dreary region. The sides of the lake stretched along without the intervention of trees, or the relief of any vegetation upon it's banks; and a solitary boat, slowly moving across, appeared to us almost as passing 6 the melancholy food, P. 128. The twelfth chapter, P. 151, consisting of general remarks upon the Highlanders, is well written, and appears to be accurate. It opens, however, with a comment upon bare feet, which has been made twice or thrice before. Mr. M. does not seem to admit, with respect to the Scottish lassies, the part;al application of the exuitur, ipsa forma est' of the ancients. The moonlight-scene by the side of Loch-long, P. 164, bursting upon the travellers after they had been winding till near midnight among the mountains, may vie with any thing of a siunilar kind : we almost felt from it the heart's delight experienced by Homer's shepherd. But we are expatiating with too much detail, or we could specify many more passages deserving commendation, and many in which emendation is required. e. g. It is commonly allowed, that the children employed in our English manufactories are not in general judiciously treated : Of this. Mr. M. adduces a striking instance in the meagre, pale, and |
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