"No Spaniard, rich or poor,' says Depons, refuses protection to the illicit trade.' 'A vessel, driven by a storm on the Spanish coasts, is robbed and plundered by the country people, if the cargo is covered by legal papers; they succour and protect it, if contraband. In the first case, they save the effects to appropriate them to themselves; in the second, to hide them, to keep them from the revenue, and to restore them to the proprietor. The government, which in vain opposes to this opinion the severest laws, invokes incessantly the authority of the church, to make this considered as a sin, which nobody will consider as a fault. Decrees of the king, renewed and published at intervals in homilies, order the bishops to announce to the faithful, that the contraband is a mortal sin, which communicates to those who favour it, and to those who buy or trade in merchandises of contraband; that deunciation is a duty, the neglect of which would be a heinous sin. In short, the confessors are bound to refuse absolution to every smuggler, who does not restore to the king the duties, of which he has defrauded him. There is no time worse employed than that, which the priest spends in making this publication; for there is no act in the whole ecclesiastick liturgy, which makes less impression on the Spaniard.' p. $29.-* This is a true picture of a Spanish colonist's morals. From the establishment of the consular assembly much was expected; but where individuals are all indolent, corporations must be inert. I hoped that the examination of the first operations of the consulative assembly would have furnished additional food and excitement to my enthusiasm. But, having with difficulty procured the means of learning its labours in favour of agriculture, I found they consisted merely in having demanded, in 1797, of enlightened cultivators,memoirs on the kind of cultiva tion peculiar to each of them, which remained for four years, in the hands of commissioners appointed to examine them, and to render a general report, without the same having ever been made or demanded. Desirous of viewing these memoirs, I found them at length, covered with dust, at the house of Count de la Grange, one of the commission ers. He lent them to me with uncommon facility. After having read them, I returned them into his hands, and I dare assert, that centuries will elapse before they will be again displaced... Can a people thus careless justifiably tax the laws or the govern ment with the slowness or the nullity of its progress in the arts and sciences? What could the king of Spain do more praiseworthy, than to order the citizens to contribute their information to publick welfare? Men, whose torpid and sluggish dispositions prefer the repose and indolence of poverty, to the activity of fortune, should never complain of misfortune or indigence.' ART. 54. p. 344. The Picture of New-York, or the traveller's guide through the commercial metropolis of the United States. By a Gentleman of this city. New-York, published by I. Riley & Co. 1807. 12mo. pp. 224. WE are not disposed to discourage the publication of any works, which may tend to correct the topographical or geographical accounts of our country. So few have been published, that it is much more difficult for an American to learn accurately the internal state and productions of his native land, than those of any part t of civilized enjoy the fresh breezes from the Europe. bay and the shade of the trees,ds As a first attempt, the present every afternoon of the summer, and receive refreshments after a swelmay not be considered an uninteresting sketch, though the mat prospect of the Jersey shore, of tering day. In the morning, the ter is not very novel, nor the re- Staten-Island, of Long-Island, and searches very profound. In some of Fort Jay, and the other small or parts the work resembles a direc-islands, of the ships at anchor, and was tory, or mercantile diary, more of the vessels passing and repass than a picture; but the topographing, is at once variegated and deical sketches of the neighbourhood is desired, musick, ice-creams and lightful. And if more gratification of New-York contain some pleas other delicacies, are provided in ing information, which may be of the evening, at Mr. Corrie's use to the traveller and the man of lick garden, not far from the cenpub business. We cannot, however, tre of this exquisite place of recre but wish the work were condensed ation. into a smaller space, which might be done, in our opinion, without injury or loss. But the present is the age of book-making, and the republick of letters is overwhelmed with tomes of ponderous size, of which the useful matter might be comprised into a six-penny pamphlet. We have cast our eyes over the volume for the purpose of select ing a short specimen of the work; and recollecting the pleasure we have derived from walks on the Battery and in the Park, we give them to our readers, as faint out lines of the living pictures : The battery is an open space at the south-western extremity of the city, situated between State-street and the bay. It is so called, because part of its space was, in the early settlement of the city, occupied by Fort James, and much of the remainder was a battery to strengthen the fort on the waterside. It is reserved for that purpose to the present day. Military parades are frequently held there. On the 4th of July, ‹ The park is a piece of inclosed and Chatham-streets, in front of ground situated between Broadway the new City-hall. The area consists of about four acres, planted with elms, planes, willows, and catalpas, and the surrounding footwalk is encompassed with rows of the middle of the city, combines in poplars. This beautiful grove, in and pleasure; and to enhance the a high degree,ornament with healthy enjoyments of the place, the English and French reading-room, the Shakespeare gallery, and the theab tre, offer ready amusement to the the London hotel, and the New-~ • York gardens present instant re freshment to the body. Though the trees are but young, and of few years growth, the park may be pronounced an elegant and improv ing place. p. 153. p mind; while the mechanick-hallo ART. 55.* -905 202691 Cali Symposit Enigmata. Hanc d optimas, diligenter congestam cus novám editionem, juxta lectiones 19 ravit Lucius M. Sargent.i5 Bost ?o toniæ, Nov-Angle prelo Belcher which is the national anniversary," and on several other days, there is a THIS pleasant collection of trifles is extracted from the latter part of yol. 6 of the Poeta Minores by John Christian Wernsdorf, printed at Helmstat 1799. The Mr. Sargent presents us with a neat Latin preface,in which, abridging the wordy dissertation of the German editor, he informs us, that several Greek writers of Enigmas are recorded by Athenæus, and that many remnants of their wit have come down to our days; but a single poem of Ausonius is the only example of that style among the Romans, except these jocularia of Symposius. Of the edition of Wernsdorf he expresses his respect, but not without limitation ejus editio, prioribus longe emendatior et auctior, atque præmio pene sempiterno commitata, est multo magis quam priores,' &c. to • medullam habet.' Factitious honour may have heretofore been rendered to this work, as it has been attributed to the venerable Lactantius, the most eloquent of the fathers of the Christian church; but so little reason does there appear for it, that much interest can never again be excited by the circumstance, though the verses hold their place in the Leipsic and Bipont editions of that divine. > 5. I was may sense to publish an occa The catalogue of editions of Symposius is ample. In the one before us the various readings are abundant, from the inexhaustible German mine. In tenui labor. For the notes Mr. Sargent deserves praise. We agree with his Vol. IV. No. 96H3Q1 36 65N man sional sermon. It cannot be the hope of fame, one would think, forja, who ever reads a charity sermon, except his nerves are so out of order as to require an anodyne? And yet we can hardly ascribe it to the you (5) 970H 1 nobler motive of a hope of useful- the particular subject of his studies. ness, for even the self complacency of an author cannot conceal from himself that on such a topick, he is adding nothing to what all the world already knows,and that every thing he can say has been at least as well said a thousand times before. We will go no farther with our conjectures, lest we should be led to imagine that this propensity to publish may proceed from a childish vanity of seeing one's-self in print, from which we would will ingly believe our clergy to be exempt. In these remarks we express our general opinion on the subject, though we would by no means be understood to say, that there are no instances to which they will not apply. The sermon before us we doubt not was heard and deserved to be heard with much pleasure, but we must think, that the world would have lost little, if the author had resisted the solicitations of his friends and forborne to give it to the press. The testimony and the practice of other learned men and successful students, are in favour of such a method of research. The attempt to explain and state our knowledge must naturally bring its accuracy and extent to the test. Dr. P.'s employment as a teacher required him to compose elementary treatises. In these he certainly excelled. His works of this kind are distinguished by a simplicity of statement, and aptness of illustration, and plainness of style. He never forgets that the pupil is to be supposed ignorant of the subject on which instruction is given. He wrote an English grammar, which was published just before that of Dr. Lowth, and, after several editions, was superseded by the latter; its author, Mr. Cooper observes, having at that time (in the year 1772) more literary reputation than Dr. P. The editor says that the last edition of this grammar was in 1772. We have seen a new edition, corrected and published, London, 1789, by the Rev. Mr. Bretland, of Exeter, entitled the Rudiments of English Grammar, adapted to the use of schools, with examples of English composition. He thinks the publick obliged by his getting a work reprinted, which he says has been always justly celebrated for the peculiar simplicity of its plan, and was no longer to be procured. though frequently inquired for, What peculiarity there is in this work, consists principally in rẹjecting the distribution and technical terms of the Latin grammar; an absurdity, which the author ad'mits had much gone out of fashion; but were still so much retain THE Appendix No. 4, contains an account of Dr. Priestley's writings on miscellaneous literature. It has been said, that he found it a convenient way of learning aed as to injure the uniformity and science, to undertake to teach it, usefulness of English grammars. or to make a book or treatise upon A little reflection (he says) may, I think, suffice to convince any person, that we have no more business with a future tense in our language, than we have with the whole sys tem of Latin moods and tenses; because we have no modification of our verbs to correspond to it; and if we had never heard of a future tense in some other language, we should no more have given a particular name to the combination of the verb with the auxiliary shall or will, than to those that are made with the auxiliaries do, have, can, must, or any other.' He gives his opinion on English composition as an exercise of schools, To obviate this inconvenience, [ignorance of our mother tongue] we must introduce into our schools English grammar, English compositions, and frequent English translations from authors in other languages. The common objection to English compositions, that it is requiring brick to be made with out straw, (boys not being supposed to be capable of so much reflection as is necessary to treat any subject with propriety) is a very frivolous one; since it is so very easy to contrive a variety of exercises, introductory to themes upon moral and scientifical subjects; in many of which the whole attention may be employed upon language only; and from thence youth may be led on in a regular series of compositions, in which the transition from language to sentiment may be as gradual and easy as possible.' There is a copious analysis, of Dr. P.'s lectures on the theory of language and universal grammar, printed at Warrington, in 1762, and delivered to the students, but never fully published. The lectures on oratory and oratory and criticism have been much commended as exhibiting an ingenious and successful application of Hartley's theory of association to the phenomena of taste. The lectures of the same author, on history and general policy, make a valuable and pleasing introduction to the study of history. A new edition of this work has been published in Philadelphia, with the addition of a chapter on the constitution of the United States. An extract is giv en, in which the doctrine of the cosmopolitan statesmen is defend. ed, that war is never justifiable to secure the exercise o of commercial rights; because it is favouring one class of the citizens more than another; especially the merchant more than the farmer. If the merchant finds his business a losing one, (say they), let him give it up, or do something else, or do nothing; but not urge his country to hazard her blood and treasure to enable him to prosecute his trade. We believe this book contains no other principle advanced as a state maxim, so weak and so pernicious as this. The interest of the parts is the interest of the whole. The farmer is directly concerned in the protection and prosperity of the merchant. If force may never be employed to defend commercial rights, it is vain and ridiculous to pretend to have them. It is not the justice of our claims, but the power to enforce them, and to repel aggression, which gives them value. Till nations have agreed upon some common judge to decide their differences, there must be occasional war. The chart of biography is a map invented by Dr. P., which shows by a glance of the eye the duration of any eminent individual's life, and that of all his contemporaries. It has been engraved in this country,. and deserves to make a part of the furniture of every literary room |