GENTLEMEN, For the Anthology. The following "elegant and glowing stanzas" are not from the pen of Mr. Barlow; nor were they recited by Mr. Beckley at the "elegant dinner," given by the Citizens of Washington to Captain Lewis. See National Intelligencer, 16 January, 1807. ON THE DISCOVERIES OF CAPTAIN LEWIS.(1) (1) There are some understandings, graduated on such a scale, that it may be necessary to inform them, that our intention is not to depreciate the merits of Captain Lewis's publick services. We think highly of the spirit and judgment, with which he has executed the duty undertaken by him, and we rejoice at the rewards bestowed by congress upon him and his companions. But we think with Mr. John Randolph, that there is a bombast in Politicks, as well as in Poetry; and Mr. Barlow's "elegant and glowing stanzas" have the advantage of combining both. (2) "With the same soaring genius, thy Lewis ascends, "O'er the sky-propping hills, and high-waters he bends, Thus sweetly sings the soaring genius of Barlow. He has in this stanza obtained an interesting victory over verse. He has brought zone and sun to rhyme together; which is more than ever was attempted by his great predecessor in psalmody, Sternhold. He never dreamt of taming tides,(3) They had but mov'd his laughter- And must we then resign the hope We never will be so fubb'd off, As sure as I'm a sinner! A bard, the tide who tames, sir- By G-, we'll change thier names, sir! Let old Columbus be once more For what is old Discovery Let dusky Sally henceforth bear Tom Pain may be when drunk, sir- Which once was call'd a Skunk, sir. And when the wilderness shall yield (4) While all our heads are swimming, And name (the thing's agreed on) True-Tom and Joël now, no more A great regeneration ;— Notes. (3) "His long curving course has completed the belt, “Then hear the loud voice of the nation proclaim, "Let our Occident stream bear the young hero's name, "Who taught him his path to the sea." BARLOW's Stanzas. Here the young HERO is exhibited in the interesting character of schoolmaster to a river; and the proposition, that the river should take his name by way of payment for his tuition, appears so modest and reasonable, that we should make no objection, were it not that the wages must be deducted from the scanty pittance of poor Columbus. He has already been so grossly defrauded by the name of this hemisphere, that we cannot hear with patience a proposal to strip him of that trifling substitute of a river, which had so late and so recently been bestowed upon him. We invite the attention of the reader to the rare modesty of Mr. Barlow himself, who, in committing this spoliation upon the fame of Columbus, does not even allow him the chance of an adjudication,.. but undertakes, by self-created authority, to make proclamation for the whole nation, and to pronounce the decree for all ages! (4) "Victory over the wilderness, which is more interesting, than that over men." -Barlow's Toast at the Dinner. THE BOSTON REVIEW FOR MARCH, 1807. Librum tuum legi & quam diligentissime potui annotavi, quæ commutanda, que eximenda, arbitrarer. Nam ego dicere vero assuevi. Neque ulli patientius reprehenduntur, quam qui maxime laudari merentur. PLIN. ARTICLE 10. Plain discourses on the laws and properties of matter; containing the elements or principles of modern chemistry, with more particular details of those practical parts of the science, most interesting to mankind, and connected with domestick affairs. Addressed to all American promoters of useful knowledge. By Thomas Ewell, M. D. one of the surgeons of the U. S. navy. "Humanity, sitting at the portal of misery, through the medium of science implores relief, while a tear is dropt for the unfortunate children of men." few from inclination, have devoted their time or their fortunes to the advancement of this science. Men of sagacious minds and of extended views have embodied their own and the discoveries of others into a regular system. They have defined the science of chemistry; they have elucidated its laws, and marked the boundaries between this and the other branches of physicks, with which it is intimately connected. But however valuable these elementary works may be to those, whose desires terminate in a general view of its prin 1 vol. 8vo. Brisban & Brannan. ciples, the artist is often disappoinNew-York. 1806. CHEMISTRY, as a science, has existed but a few years. Though many philosophers, from the time of Bacon and Boyle, were led by the spirit of experiment and induction to observe the operations of those laws, strictly termed chemical, it was not till the age of Lavoisier, of Black, and of Priestley, that the numerous facts, which they had collected, were generalised and erected into the beautiful fabrick of modern chemistry. The flame, which these philosophers enkindled, is now more widely diffused. Many from necessity, and not a Vol. IV. No. 3. T ted in the detail of those processes or operations, which are the effects of chemical laws, and on the knowledge of which depends the success of many useful and economical arts. In a system of chemistry every fact, however insulated or unconnected, must be noticed, and every substance, however useless or uninteresting, must be described and its characters defined. When therefore every thing is entitled to the same degree of notice, some important arts must be slightly mentioned, and all but imperfectly described. A work then, which should be devoted to the consideration of the chemical arts, and should contain accurate descriptions of those minutiæ, which, though necessary to be known, are usually omitted in elementary works, would be a valuable gift to society. To supply, in some degree, this deficiency, was the object of Dr. Ewell in composing the work before us. He professes, in the preface, to give a general account of the properties of matter, with more particular details of the most useful and interesting parts of the science, in a language, adapted to the comprehension of the most common understandings.' Its object is to lessen the difficulties and increase the conveniences of the citizens of the United States, by introducing them to a more intimate acquaintance with chemistry, or the qualities of the substances around them.' He acknowledges his obligations to the various systematick works of Thompson, Murray, and Accum; but, says he, it will be found, that I have advanced something new on the subjects of heat, light, electricity, vegetation, manures, and on several other branches of chemistry.' In common, however, with many other authors who have prejudged the publick sentiment, Dr. Ewell has informed us, that an allowance should be made for the errours of the work, by considering, that it was written in the moments of leisure, in the intervals of professional avocations. It is of little consequence, however, to his readers, whether it was composed in broad day, or by the midnight lamp; in the hours appropriated to business, or during the moments usually devoted to relaxation and social enjoyment. A work will be ultimately estimated by its intrinsick merit. It may be, for a while, upheld by the patronage of the friendly, or supported by the clamours of the interested, but it will event. ually sink to its proper level, and rest on its own worth. The preface is followed by an address to the farmers, artists, and other citizens of our own country, in which are detailed at large the various arts, whose operations depend on the agency of chemical laws, and the extensive application of the principles of this important science to the purposes of life. The account is well written, and is calculated to give his readers a correct idea of the immense variety of operations, which are founded on the doctrines of chemical affinity. But in speaking of the pleasures, which the chemist enjoys in the contemplation of the effects of these laws, our author quits the sober style of science for the language of the visionary. Here, in fact, commences that rage for "something new," by which the subsequent pages of this work are characterised. We could not help smiling at the affected stoicism, with which he utters the following curious sentence, in attempting to describe the last moments of a chemist: Instead of trembling,' says he, on finding his extremities losing their genial warmth, and growing dark with livid fluids; instead of giving way to shrieks and lamentations, while his perception is failing, his mind may be amused in contemplating the exercise of the laws of his visible body, till it takes a final departure for enjoyment in other scenes.' ever, is merely the commencement of the climax, which is at length unfolded in the last page of this address, where our author steps forth, arrayed in all the terrours of inspiration, in the following sublime passage: Ye free agents! ye guardians of the young! can you allow those under your care te This, how neglect learning the principles of this all-important science! What then will you say, when arraigned at the bar of justice, before a Creator, an assembled universe, for neglect of duty? Your hoary locks will not cover you! the number of the accused will naught extenu ate, and in vain will you deny the charge! The children of successive generations will rise up around you In the face of heaven they will bitterly complain of the beauties, to which they were insensi ble! At this awful denunciation, we confess, we were somewhat startled 'Steteruntque comæ et vox faucibus hæsit.' The substance of the work is comprised in fifteen discourses, in which our author has pursued the subject systematically, and has a dopted an arrangement that is well calculated to give a correct view of the objects of this science. He first divides all bodies into confinable and unconfinable. The latter term he applies to the four elements, heat, light, electricity, and galvanism. Under the former are included, first, the aëriform or gazeous fluids, and the various liquid bodies, resulting from their union. 2. The simple combustibles and the products, arising from their combination with oxygen.-3. The simple or undecompounded acids. -4 Alkalies.-5. Earths.-6. Metals.-7. Vegetable, and, 8. Animal chemistry. The whole is concluded with an address' to his fellow-citizens. We shall now proceed to examine the work itself. A new and original production on any subject of science, is such a rara avis in this hemisphere, that we opened the leaves of this work with a sufficient degree of prepossession in its favour. Our curiosity, however, was somewhat checked on the perusal of the observations, profixed to the account of the unconfinable bodies. We are told, in the title-page, that this work professes to discourse on the laws of matter, and hence we are led to expect, that it ranges through the whole circle of physical science. Yet, in the first paragraph, we are present. ed with a definition, or rather explanation, of the science of chem. istry. The object of chemistry,' says he, being to ascertain the properties, or qualities, or laws of matter, it follows, that every thing around us, commencing with the air, and ending with the earth, are the subjects of chemical research.' Dr. Ewell surely cannot be igno rant, that by this observation, which in the table of contents is called a definition, he confounds this science with mechanical, philosophy and natural history. The distinc tion, however, between these departments of physical science is very obvious, though the precise boundaries of each may not have been exactly ascertained. Natural philosophy is employed in the investigation of those effects, which result from sensible motion.* The return of a body to the earth, when deprived of the power by which it was elevated, depends on the oper ation of an unknown law or power, inherent in matter, called, by Sir I. Newton, gravitation; which is simply an expression of an ultimate fact, beyond which the most acute mind is lost in uncertainty. The ratio of the momentum of this body, or in other words, the intensity of the power, is determined on mathematical principles, and the effect is referred to the doctrine Henry's epitome of chemistry. In troduction. |