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the brightness of the silver. But this niello was fixed into the strokes by means of fire, being melted, and run in, so that, like a solder, when it had filled up those strokes, it could not be removed; and consequently no further corrections or improvements could be added to the performance. In order, therefore, to study the progress of his work, the artist filled in his strokes with some more compliant matter, and then took off impressions in sulphur, which drew out this matter, and retained it on its surface. This countermark was, of necessity, reverse from the original, and this reversion enabled the artist to detect defects, errors in drawing, &c. with the greater readiness. Several of these study sulphurs are still preserved among the cabinets of the curious in Italy, especially in Genoa, where they have been for ages carefully framed and ornamented. It should seem, that Finiguerra was at the top of his profession as an engraver ; and that he was the first who thought of making paper take an impression of the same kind, as that for which he had hitherto employed sulphurs. Vasari says be filled in his strokes with oil and soot; but, whoever knows the practice of engravers, knows that the oil-stone on which they whet their tools, furnishes a ready material for this purpose; and this, most probably, was the first kind of ink, that was drawn out by Finiguerra on paper, pressed in with his fingers, or strongly rubbed with his burnisher. Encouraged, probably, by some accidental success, the master pursued the experiment, and at length succeeded in taking off prints, and thereby multiplying representations of his performances, in a more compact form than that of sulphurs.

The first prints were, no doubt, rubbed on the back with the burnisher: the following were taken off by a roller; of which the rolling press is now the perfection. It had been exceedingly regretted, that none of these originals of Finiguerra were distinguishable, if they had been preserved; but Mr Ottley gratifies the curious with copies of two; one of them executed, as he conjectures, about the year 1450, the other, confessedly the masterpiece of the artist, is known to have been executed in the year 1452; its weight is recorded in the archives of the church for which it was intended, which is fifty-five ounces eleven denarii of silver; and its cost was fifty-six ounces of gold. Both these prints appear to be the lids of paxes; they are both compositions in honour of the Virgin; and the latter, especially, is executed with singular taste, skill, and effect. They contain many figures. As a work of the graver, it is exquisite; as an impression of so great importance in the history of art, it is invaluable. The original still exists; and the let ters on this impression being reversed, sufficiently ascertain its character. In fact, as it could not be taken off after the niello was melted into the strokes, it must have been taken off previously; and it corresponds to a line, a letter, and a mark, with the original plate, which is still existing. Mr Ottley proceeds to describe other works in niello, performances of other masters; they are unquestionably curious; but, in point of merit, they do not exceed those of the master already distinguished. The art long retained the execution and manner of the goldsmith; and though various degrees of merit were communicated by different masters, in succession, to the composition and the outline, the shadowing was still the same; feeble, simple, unvaried, without energy, and without charac

ter.

Arts and Sciences.

Roman Cement.-A sort of plaster so called, which well withstands our moist climate, is made by mixing one bushel of lime slaked with three pounds and a half of green copperas, fif. teen gallons of water, and half a bushel of fine gravel sand. The copperas should be dissolved in hot water; it must be stirred with a stick, and kept stirring continually while in use. Care should be taken to mix at once as much as may be requisite for one entire front, as it is very difficult to match the colour again; and it ought to be mixed the same day it is used.

Analysis of Tin.-Dr Thomson has analysed a specimen of tin from every smelting-house in Cornwall, fourteen in number, and is thus enabled to confute an opinion which appears to exist on the Continent, that Cornish tin is not pure, but artificially alloyed with some other metal. The specific gravity of these specimens varied from 7.2853 to 7.3082. The quantity of iron contained in them was from 1-1000ths to 1-10000ths of the weight of tin. In the most impure the copper amounted to 1-500ths, and in the purest specimen the quantity of that metal was so small as not to exceed 1-100000ths of its weight. The average quantity of copper contained in Cornish tin Dr T. estimates at 11-1000ths; and he suggests that the opinion entertained on the continent of its impurity may arise from pewter having been mistaken for tin, as the French have but one word, etain, for both.

[October 25, 1817

vegetables. In the process for obtaining poe and pearl ashes, it is necessary the weeds should be cut just before they seed, when they are to be spread, well dried, and gathered clean. They are to be turned within doors on a grate, and the ashes laid in a chest as fast as they are produced, and afterwards lixiviated with twelve times their weight of boiling water, which is then to be evaporated to dryness in iron pans. The salt is put into a reverberatory furnace, in which the extractive matter is burnt off, and much of the water dissipated. Soda, or what is called the mineral fixed alkali, it may be ohserved, is found native in many hot countries, subsaturated with carbonic acid; and in the water of the sea, in very large quantities, saturated with the muriatic acid. In Europe, it is generally obtained from plants that grow in the sea, or on its shores. If these plants be removed to an inland situation, the soda they yield gradually diminishes, in proportion to the distance, till at length they gradually afford no other alkali than potash. From the experiments of Sir Humphry Davy, it is now found, that potash consists of 85 parts of a metallic base, and 15 of oxigen; while 80 parts of a similar base appear to combine with oxigen to form soda. Oxigen, or vital air, has, in consequence, been discovered to be the principle of alkalescence, as it was before known to be, in almost every case, that of acidity.

Proportion of Potass in different vegetable sub- Gas lights-The whole interior and exterior stances. It is well known that the vegetable of the new Mint, together with the military fixed alkali, or potass, may be extracted in great-way and adjoining edifices, have been lighted er or less quantity from almost all vegetables. with gas. The apparatus, which is on a new The proportion of ashes afforded by different plan, is erected within the walls of the Mint. vegetables, and that of alkali by each vegetable, The gas is prepared, not by distilling coal in rehas of late been accurately ascertained. For torts in the usual manner, but by means of a the satisfaction of such of our readers as have cylinder kept red hot, and revolving round its not attended to these results, we present the fol- axis. The cylinder is upwards of ten feet in lowing table of the relative proportions of this diameter, and produces, during its revolutionų kind of salt, which has been extracted from in 24 hours, a sufficient quantity of gas to light different vegetables, with the process which is 1600 lamps. The purification of the gas is followed for the purpose of obtaining it. effected by means of chlorine, instead of quick 1000 libs. libs. ashes. libs. salt. lime, and all the inlet and outlet mains and Stalks of Turkey wheat or mais, 88.6 17.5 pipes are made to open and shut by mercurial Sun-flowers, valves. The quantity of gas daily made and Vine branches, consumed by the burners and lamps, is regis. Box....... tered in the absence of the observer, on a dialplate of a machine, the moving power of which is gas. The effect of the new lights, scattered upon so extensive a scale, over the beautiful machinery of the coining processes, is uncommonly striking; and the new Royal Mint now exhibits the most elegant establishment of the kind in the world.

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1000 libs, ashes of wormwood will produce 748 libs. salt, and from the same quantity of ashes of fumitory 360 libs. but the same quantity of wood yields in both nearly the same quan. tity of salt. From 1000 libs. of ashes of the sunflower, 349; and from 1000 libs. ashes of beech, 219 libs. but it will be observed, that little more than 1 lib. of salt is produced from 1000 libs. of this wood.

Kirwan remarks, that in general, weeds yield more ashes, and their ashes much more salt, than woods; and that consequently as to salts of the vegetable alkali kind, as potash, castrup, &c. neither America, Trieste, nor the northern countries, have any advantage over Ireland. 100 grains of the salt of wormwood contains 6 of sulphat of potash, while the same quantity of the salt of fumitory contain 15 grains. The quantity of sulphat of potash varies in different

ANTIQUITIES.

Iceland. The young scholar, M. Rask, advantageously known by his Icelandic Grammar, and his profound knowledge of the language and antiquities of Iceland, has undertaken a new journey for the elucidation of the antiquities of the North. His first excursion was to Iceland, where, supported by the Danish government, he resided three years. The regions of Caucasus are now the object of his curiosity; patronized on this occasion also by the government, he is going to seek among the Caucasian tribes the origin of the ancient northern language and mythology. The idea of this jour ney seems to have been excited in M. Rask by his prize essay, not yet printed, On the Origin of the Icelandic Language. In this essay he has investigated the original sources, and clearly proved the great similarity, of the above-men->

October 25, 1817.]

tioned language to the Greek and Roman.The learned Icelander Finn Magnussen, professor at the university of Copenhagen, has ex. pressed the same opinion in his Lectures on the mythic and ethic Poems of the ancient or Samund Edda.

Antiques from Lebyda.The Dey of Tripoli having presented to the Regent such remains of antiquity as are moveable from Lebyda, the site of Carthage, the Weymouth store-ship is on her voyage thither, for the purpose of receiving and bringing them to England. They are represented as highly curious, and illustrative of that once splendid capital. It is also stated, that the Dey has offered his protection to any European who is willing to attempt the journey from Tripoli to Tombuctoo.

VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES.

A Voyage to New Zealand, 1814-15; by J. L. Nicholas.This island, which is divided by narrow channel, is situated between 30° 22', and 47° 25′ south lat. and between 166° and 180 east long. Taken together, they form an area of 62,160 square miles. The soil is generally fertile, the verdure rich, the climate favourable, and the population active, robust, and intelligent. It was first visited by Tasman, a Dutch navigator, in 1642, who was killed there with four of his men. Captain Cook sailed round it in 1769-70; and in subsequent voyages in 1773-4. The Rev. Samuel Marsden, principal chaplain of New South Wales, having determined, with all the zeal of a missionary, and the benevolence of a Christian, to carry civilization into this region, sailed from Port Jackson on the 19th November 1814, in the Active of 110 tons, purchased and fitted out on account of the church missionary society. Mr Nicholas, who then happened to be disengaged from mercantile pursuits, joined the mission, and the result of his remarks is contained in these volumes. In the Active sailed also from Port Jackson, three New Zealand chiefs, Shungi, Korra-korra, and Duaterra, the latter of whom had been for some years a common sailor in the English merchant service, and had been subjected to the most cruel treatment by several masters of vessels, in an attempt to see King George, for which pur pose he left New Zealand in a whaler, and was brought only into the river Thames! These three chiefs had resided for some time at Port Jackson for the purpose of improvement. On the 17th December the Active arrived off the coast, and immediately commenced an intercourse of the most friendly kind with the natives. The chiefs in the Active saluted those from the

shore by touching noses, a ceremony which is continued in proportion to the respect or regard of the parties. About a dozen of canoes came off filled with men, who were generally of a high stature, but with great symmetry of limbs and muscular strength. Their countenances were pleasing and intelligent, and had none of those indications of ferocity which the imagination naturally attributes to cannibals. The Active coasted along to the harbour of Wangeroa, where the crew of an English vessel, the Boyd, had been massacred some time before. Mr Marsden, Mr Nicholas, Mr Kendall a schoolmaster, and Mr Hall a carpenter, (the two latter intended settlers), proceeded with the two chiefs Shungi and Duaterra on shore, to the encampment of the tribe of Wangeroa. They passed through a large village, the inhabitants

Voyages and Discoveries.

of which gazed very earnestly at them, but neither spoke to, nor interrupted them. But the moment they were discovered by the Wangeroans, a woman made a signal by holding up a red mat and waving it in the air, while she repeatedly cried out in a loud and shrill voice, Come hither, the customary salutation of friendship. Duaterra and Shungi then advanced, and touched noses with the opposite chiefs George and Tipponie, who stood up while their warriors were seated round with their spears stuck in the ground, the old woman still continuing to wave the red mat, and to repeat a prayer designed for such occasions. The chiefs now fired off their pistols in token of amity, when the warriors, amounting to about 150, immediately sprang up, fired off some muskets, and struck their spears and fire-arms against each other. The war dance then commenced, which was at tended with the most frightful gesticulations and convulsive distortions; yells, shrieks, and roars, answered in responsive discord to the clashing fury of their weapons. The chiefs were distinguished by cloaks of different-coloured furs, at tached to their mats, and suspended in a manner similar to the loose jackets of the English hussars. The dress of the common warrior

only wanted the fur cloaks to make it equally

rich.

Some of the mats had fancifully-worked borders executed with great art and taste; others were of a beautiful velvet softness and glossy lustre. These mats were all made from flax. Each individual wore two, the inside one being tied with a belt, in which was stuck the pattoopattoo, a deadly weapon resembling a battledore, which they used with great skill and effect: they were also armed with a spear and a lance: some had battle-axes, others a weapon somewhat resembling a serjeant's halbert, and a few had long clubs made of whalebone. The chiefs were tatooed, and all had their hair neatly combed, and collected in a knot upon the top of the head, where it was ornamented with the long white feather of the gannet. The teeth of their enemies whom they had slain hung down from their ears. The dollars which they had found in the ship Boyd were suspended from the breasts of most of them, with rude representations of the human form made of green jade, carved with great ingenuity. The missionaries were soon pleasantly situated, with their live stock, at Rangehoo, the village of Duaterra, the amiable chief who had accompanied them from Port Jackson, but who died soon after their arrival. These missionaries are represented as rational and pious mechanics, whose wish is to teach Christianity by their own good example, and to combine useful practice with well-timed faith. No military force accompanied them, and none was necessary, for the New Zealand. ers appear to be a well-disposed and inquisitive race, as anxious to learn all useful arts as others may be to teach them.

Cape of Good Hope.-A very important conference took place in April last between Lord Charles Somerset, attended by his suite and body-guard, and king Gaika, (or Geika,) at the head of 300 armed Caffres; when an amicable arrangement was formed for preventing future depredations and contentions between the colonists and the Caffree nation, and to promote a On friendly intercourse in the way of trade. this occasion, Gaika, in the presence of, and with the concurrence of the other chiefs, agreed to use his utmost endeavours to put a stop to the continual depredations committed on the colonists; and he consented, that in future ca

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ses of cattle being stolen from the colony, and traced to any particular Krall, that Krall should be made responsible for the cattle, although not to be found there, and should be bound to furnish from its own herds the number of cattle stolen from the colony; he said this would be right and just, and would induce the Kralls to give up, and not secrete the thieves, as they now did. He said, he would assuredly punish with death any Caffre he discovered plundering the colonists. The gracefulness with which Gaika spoke was very striking; and the manly and decided tone he took was extremely impressive. After the conference had terminated, presents were produced and given to the 'several chiefs: particular articles had been selected for Gaika and his son. His excellency also presented Gaika with a beautiful grey horse.

New South Walcs.The Hobart Gazette contains some interesting particulars of recent maritime discoveries in Austral-Asia, by Lieut. Jeffries, of the British nation's armed brig Kan. garoo: she sailed from Port Jackson the 19th of April, 1815, for the island of Ceylon. On the night of the 30th of May, Capt. J. anchor. ed under a large group of islands, on the coast of New Holland, to which he gave the name of Flinders Group. Ascending a high moun tain, at day-light, he examined the coast, and perceived a chain of reefs along it as far as the eye could penetrate.-On the first of June, at half past twelve, the vessel fell in suddenly with a dark red coloured water, when, upon examination, the changed colour of the water was found to have been occasioned by a bed of mushroom coral-rock, about four feet under water. The latitude of this dangerous rock is 13 deg. 32 min. 5 sec. S. and the longitude, by lunar observation, 143 deg. 47 min. east. On the 6th, after having run through all the reefs laid down in Capt. Flinders' chart, Capt. J. doubled Cape York, and found it to be an island, and not part of the main land, as heretofore supposed. A continued chain of sand banks and shoals extends from Cape Grafton, which is in lat. 17 deg. S. to Cape York, which is in lat. 10 deg. 30 min. with numerous narrow passages no more than a mile wide, from four to fourteen miles off shore. The resources of the Isle of Van Diemen are daily developing; two harbours have been discovered on the bleak and western shore of the isle. To the northward of Port Davey, in lat. 48 deg. 10 min. S. and lon. 145 deg. 30 min. E. is another harbour, named Macquarie harbour, of very considerable extent. Inexhaustible mines of coal have been found at various places on the isle, and more is likely to be discovered. Good slate has been found; and a lime-stone quarry has been opened and worked within a mile and a half of Hobart town. The natural advantages will enable the agriculturists of Van Diemen's Land to carry on their concerns with much greater success than the inhabitants of Port Jackson.

Discovery of America before Columbus.--Dr Deuber, in his History of the Navigation in the Atlantic Ocean, thinks that not only the conti. nent of America was known to the ancients, but also that the compass was known before the time of Flavio Gioja. He quotes an obscure passage in Ammianus Marcellinus, beside others equally obscure in Plato, derived from the Egyptians. But his stronger proofs rest on discoveries made by the Normans before A. D. 805, when, he states, that they knew of the American coast. To which he adds the report

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made by Columbus himself, to Raphael de San. xis, grand treasurer to the king of Spain.

go.

Expedition to Africa.-The attempt to explore the interior of Africa by the expedition sent to the windward coast has proved equally abortive with that which was sent up the ConA letter from Sierra-Leone, of June 30, states, that intelligence of the failure had arrived at that place a few days before. Captain Campbell was reported to have died of a broken heart, and the expedition was expected to return. The second naval officer in command, who had been left at Sierra Leone on account of

Il health, but was recovered, and on his way to join the expedition, returned to Sierra-Leone on hearing of Capt. Campbell's death, to consult the Governor upon the future conduct of the expedition. A dispatch was immediately sent home to Lord Bathurst.

Captivity of the crew of the ship Union, in the island of Engano.-Accounts were received at Calcutta, in March last, of the loss of the long missing ship Union, Captain Barker. A seaman, a native of Batavia, has escaped, with two Las. cars, from the Island of Engano, where the ship was wrecked, above fifteen months before, on a reef seven miles from the island. He relates, that nearly fifty of the erew, including the cap. tain, and three officers, reached the shore, when they were immediately stripped by the natives, who separated them into parties of three and four, and drove them to the plantations, which they were obliged to weed and clean, and in the evening to cut firewood and carry it home. Their daily allowance of food was three plantains to each person, but the Europeans had some pork given to them. There was no rice ever seen on the island. The men were perfectly naked, carried spears, and cut their hair quite short. The women were fair, wore leaves round their waists, and had long hair. If any of the unfortunate captives were too ill to work, the natives tied their hands together, and threw them into the sea: several Lascars had perished in this manner. Captain Barker was once very ill, and they threatened to cast him into the sea. The seaman states, that he himself being very ill for some days, one night heard the natives say that they would throw him into the sea next morning; he therefore resolved to attempt to escape, and contrived to communicate his intention to Captain Barker, who desired him, if he succeeded, to steer for the rising sun, when he would soon reach land. He ran off while his masters were sleeping, got to the beach at midnight, and went to a hut where two of the Lascars were kept; he awoke them, and they together contrived to bind two very long but narrow canoes to each other; procured a few cocoa nuts, and making a sort of sail, put to sea. In five days the current and wind drove them ashore at Bellamburg bay, near the southern extreme of Sumatra. Thence they went to Croee, and the gentlemen stationed there forwarded them in a boat to Fort Marlborough, where they arrived in January last. The acting resident immediately resolved to send a civil servant, with a surgeon and a party of troops, to Engano, in the ship Good Hope, to accomplish the liberation of the prisoners, by prevailing on the natives to give them in exchange for a variety of arti cles, which he collected for the purpose, the use of money being quite unknown on the island.

[In our next Number will be given an ac count of Ellis's Journal of the proceedings of the late embassy to China.]

Voyages and Discoveries.-Literature.

LITERATURE.

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Transactions of the Geological Society, Vol. IV. £.3 3s.

A complete View of the Geology of England and Wales, in a picturesque elevation and section: by W. Smith. 7s.

A Compendium or Epitome of Winds, Weather, Waves, &c.; by James Horsburgh. 2s. The Naturalist's Pocket-Book, or Tourist's Companion, being a brief introduction to the various branches of Natural History, with approved methods for collecting and preserving the various productions of nature; by G. Graves, F.L.S. 8vo. with eight plates, 14s.-or 21s.

coloured.

No. XXIV. of the new edition of Curtis's Flora Londinensis; by G. Graves, F.L.S. Royal folio, with six plates, 10s. plain-or 16s. coloured.

Anecdotes of remarkable Insects, selected from Natural History, and interspersed with Poetry; by J. Taylor, embellished with engra. vings. 18mo. 3s.

General View of the Anomalies in the Vege. table kingdom; by T. Hopkirk. 8vo. 10s. 6d.

NOVELS.

Beauchamp, or the Wheel of Fortune. 4 vols. 12mo. £.12s.

Fairy Tales. 2 vols. 24mo. 8s.

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Memoirs of the Montague Family. 3 vols. weights, measures, and coins, with their value 12mo. £.11s.

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in English and French money; with three large maps. 18mo. 10s.

An Itinerary of France and Belgium, or Traveller's Guide through those countries; with a map. 18mo. 8s.

Border Antiquities of England and Scotland; comprising specimens of architecture and sculp

Calebs deceived. 2 vols. 12mo. 8s. Some Account of Myself, by Charles, Earl of ture, and other vestiges of former ages, accomElpingham, &c. &c. 4. vols. £.12s.

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panied by descriptions: together with illustrations of remarkable incidents in border history and tradition; by Walter Scott, Esq. Parts XVI. and XVII. together. Medium 4to. £.116. and imp. 4to. £.112s.

A Picturesque Voyage round Great Britain; containing a series of views illustrative of the character and prominent features of the coast; by Wm. Daniell, A.R.A. No. XXXVI. 10s. 6d.

VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.

Six Weeks in Paris, or a cure for the Gallomania; by a late Visitant. 3 vols. 12mo. 18s. A Narrative of a Voyage in New Zealand, performed in the years 1814 and 1815, by John Liddiard Nicholas, Esq. in company with the Rev. Samuel Marsden, principal chaplain of New South Wales. Illustrated by plates, and a map of the Island. 2 vols. 8vo. £.14s.

NOTICES OF WORKS IN THE PRESS, &c.

Whatever may have been the wisdom of that display of national pride which caused the failure of the late embassy to China, it seems likely to afford the literary world considerable gratification in the ensuing winter. Three considerable works have already been announced, and each of them appears to lay claim to public attention :-The first is by Dr. Clarke Abel, physi cian and naturalist to the embassy, and is entitled, Personal Observations made during the Progress of the British Embassy through China, and on its voyage to and from that Country, in the years 1816 and 1817. It will comprise the author's personal narrative of the most inter

October 25, 1817.]

esting events which befel the British embassy, from the time of its leaving England to its return; together with his remarks on the geology, natural history, and manners of the countries visited. It will be printed in quarto, and be illustrated by maps and other engravings, under the sanction of the Hon. East-India Company, and be dedicated by permission to Lord Amherst. The second is by George Ellis, Esq. one of the commissioners of the embassy, and will form a quarto volume, with an atlas of engravings. And the third is by Captain Basil Hall, of the Lyra, and will relate chiefly to the nautical concerns and discoveries, with new charts, &c.

Dr Buchanan will immediately put to the press, an Account of the Kingdom of Nepaul. This gentleman practised as a physician for several years in that country, during which time he was employed in collecting information relative to its natural, civil, and political con. dition. The value and accuracy, as well as vast extent, of Dr Buchanan's Researches concerning this part of India, are well known.

Mr Barlow, one of the mathematical teachers at Woolwich, will publish early in October, an Essay on the Strength and Stress of Timber, founded upon a course of experiments made at the Royal Military Academy. A new theory will be developed, founded upon the results of numerous experiments on a great variety of subjects, assisted by communications from several gentlemen of great scientific research. The work will include an historical review of former theories and experiments, and be illustrated by numerous tables and plates.

A Narrative is printing of Discoveries in Africa by Mr Burkhardt. He has for some years been travelling in the countries south of Egypt, in the disguise of an Arab, and by the name of Shekh Ibrahim, under the auspices of the African Association. He is still, it is said, prosecuting his discoveries, and entertains san. guine hopes of being able to reach Tombuctoo from the east, and proceed from that city to the western coast. This would perfect the geography of northern Africa.

A work on Meteorology is promised from the pen of Mr Luke Howard.

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A third volume of Sermons by the Rev. John Venn is in the press.

and will afford many new facts to the historian
and politician. The work will be comprised in
two volumes, royal quarto, and will be embel- An Oxford Encyclopædia, or Dictionary of
lished with several portraits, engraved by the Arts, Sciences, and general Literature, is pre-
best artists, partly from the most exquisite draw-paring for publication, in twenty-five parts, which
ings of celebrated masters, now in the possession will form five quarto volumes.
of the Evelyn family; and with other interesting
plates. We anticipate great pleasure from its
perusal, and we doubt not that our readers in
general will partake of our feelings.

A

Dr Turton has ready for publication, a Conchological Dictionary of the British Islands. residence of some years in Ireland has enabled the author to bring forward a large accession of new and valuable matter, in this department of natural history. The work will be in a portable form, and accompanied with a correct outline, from the author's own cabinet, of some individual of each genus and subdivision, mostly selected from such as are nondescript, or not known to British collectors.

The Memoirs of Dr Benjamin Franklin, written by himself to a late period, and continued to the time of his death by his grandson, will appear on the first of November. It will form a volume in quarto, and be printed formly with the private correspondence.

A Narrative of a Residence in Japan, in the years 1811, 1812, and 1813, with observations on the country and people of Japan; by Captain H. Gowlownin, of the Russian navy, is printing in London.

A Treatise on Pulmonary Consumption is printing by George Henning, M. D. of Bridge

water.

The History of England, from its earliest Period to the Death of Elizabeth, is in the press; by the Rev. T. Morell, author of "Studies in History," to which this will form an additional volume. The concluding volume of the Series, in which the History of England will be brought down to the present period, will follow as quickly as possible.

The Rev. Ingram Cobbin, A. M. announces Philanthropy: a Poem.

A Poem is printing, called, the Wreath of Solitude: containing tributary stanzas to the memory of Henry Kirke White, and other Poems; by Charles Feist, author of Poetical Effusions, Breathings of the Woodland Lyre, &c.

The Lyrical poetry of the language has sweluni-led, within the last century, from a mole-hill to a mountain; yet there exists no general collection of the exquisite pieces which constitute that species of poetry. The best is by Aikin, containing about two hundred songs; and there are two or three others, but none of them containing above three hundred songs. The Aviary, printed in 1773, contained about eleven hundred songs, decent and indecent; but it has long been out of print, and copies have sold at ten times the original cost. It is proposed, therefore, to stereotype a collection of from 2,200 to 2,500 pure, elegant, and popular songs, under the title of the Vocal Library; and the work is in such progress that it will be pub

Mr T. Squire, of Epping, has announced a Grammar of the Elements of Astronomy, for the use of schools and students. Besides its luminous display of all the facts connected with this interesting science, in brief, yet popular language, the work will be enriched with every variety of embellishment of which the subject is susceptible, so as to address the understanding through the medium of the eye.

A Concise Grammar of the Romaic, or Modern Greek Language, with Phrases and Dialogues on the most familiar Subjects, is in course of preparation, by Dr Robertson, after a resi dence of some years in the Ionian Islands.

greater promise in regard to the class of Lilli-
putian subjects on which it treats.

The Rev. Mr Dibdin has published a very copious analysis of his "Bibliographical Decameron. The work will be executed in the The Rev. C. Maturin, author of the tragedy finest style of printing, in three royal octavo of Bertram, is printing a tale, in three volumes. volumes, and will be found to contain, in the The Diary of John Evelyn, Esq., printed whole, not fewer than four hundred and sixty from the original manuscripts in the library at embellishments; of which upwards of eighty Wotton, embracing the greatest portion of the are upon copper, exclusively of the head and Life of the celebrated author of the "The Syl-tail-pieces, and initiatory capital letters to each va," and other works of celebrity, is nearly day. To bibliomaniacs, lovers of bibliographical ready for publication. This extremely curious gossipiana, hucksters in literary small-ware, adand valuable journal contains his observations mirers of anecdotes without point, and of facts and remarks on men, manners, the politics, without utility-this will be an interesting publiterature, and science of his age, during hislication ; at least, we never read a prospectus of travels in France and Italy. his residence in England towards the latter part of the protectorate, and his connexion with the court of Charles II. and the two subsequent reigns; interspersed with a variety of anecdotes of the most celebrated persons of that period. The work will be enriched with original private letters from Sir Edward Nicholas, (secretary of state,) to King Charles I. with the king's answers, in his own hand-writing, now first given to the world. It will also contain selections from the correspondence of John Evelyn, and numerous letters from Sir Edward Hyde, (Lord Clarendon,) to Sir Edward Nicholas and Richard Brown, during the exile of the British court. The whole work will, of course, be highly illustrative of the events of those times,

It is proposed to publish immediately after Christmas, and continue annually, a volume containing the Chronology of the last Fifty Years. The first edition will include all events from 1768 to Christmas 1817 inclusive; and in every subsequent year the first year will be dropped, and the past year added. A contemporaneous chronology will thus be kept up of events which are interesting to the whole living generation of men, or which can be operative in their effects upon passing and rising events. It will form a red book, and serve as a companion to the Court Kalendar, Entick's Dictionary, Watkin's Portable Cyclopædia, and other similar books of useful reference.

lished before Christmas.

The City of Refuge; a poem, in four books, by Mr Thomas Quin, is in the press.

Mr Wilson is engaged on a work, descriptive of a new species of dancing-the Ecossoise.

In January will be published, embellished with vignette engravings, an Historical Account of the City and Environs of Winchester, by Charles Ball. It will be accompanied by de. scriptive walks; in the course of which every object distinguished for its historical importance, or interesting from its remote antiquity, will be carefully noticed.

Melcombe Lodge, or Traits of Family Pride,. will be published in November.

Mrs Ryley has a novel in the press, entitled Fanny Fitzyork.

Such is the incessant activity of the press in the northern metropolis, that one publishing establishment (Constable & Co.) announces for speedy publication the following new and promising works:

1. Mandeville, a domestic story of the seventeenth century in England; by William Godwin, author of "Caleb Williams;" in 3 vols. 12mo.

2. Rob Roy, a novel; by the author of Waverley, &c. in 3 vols. 12ino.

3. Travels from Vienna through Lower Hungary, with some account of Vienna during the Congress; by R. Bright, M. D. in 4to. with numerous engravings.

4. Dr Buchanan's Nepaul.

5. An Account of the Life and Writings of the late John Erskine of Carnock, D.D. by Sir Henry Moncrieff Wellwood, bart. in 8vo. Besides numerous extensive works in progress

88

FOREIGN LITERATURE.

The everlasting Abbe de Pradt has published another work on South American affairs, and "The personalities and incivilities of the Quotidienne and Journal des Debats!""

Madame de Stael's posthumous work, entitled "Considerations on the Principal Events of the French Revolution," in three octavo volumes, is about to be published. The two first volumes embrace the era from the administration of her father to the battle of Waterloo : the third is devoted to England.

The total produce of the sale of the MacCarthy Library at Paris, was 404,000 francs (£16,000 sterling), a much less sum than had been offered for it three years since by an Eng. lish nobleman. The Royal Library at Paris will have 300 volumes printed on vellum from this collection, about half of which is destined for this country, most of our bibliomaniacs having added some of its treasures to their former stores. Among others, the article of the highest price and greatest intrinsic value, the Complutensian Polygott, printed upon vellum, was

Literature. Poetry.

purchased for 16,100 francs for Mr Hibbert,
whose collection previously ranked as one of the
first private libraries in Europe.

Professor Cramer, of the university of Kiel,
devoted his last journey to the south of Germa
ny and Switzerland to researches into ancient
literature and the sources of the German civil
law. The public libraries of Bavaria and Aus-
tria furnished him with valuable materials; but
it was at Zurich and St Gall that he proved
most successful. At St Gall he saw the most
ancient catalogues of the MSS. of that convent,
formerly so rich in literary treasures. He even
discovered there the MS. of a grammarian not
contained either in the collection of Pulsch, or in
that of Godefroy, and the entire Scholiast of
Juvenal, of whom we hitherto possessed only
some detached fragments.

At a late meeting of the Scandinavian Literary Society, Professor Broenstedt read an essay on an ancient chronicle in rhyme, by Robert Vace, canon at Caen, and court-poet to Henry 11. in the 12th century. This chronicle, which has never been published, relates the exploits of

[October 25, 1817.

Hasting, Rollo, and the first Normans in Bre tagne and France. M. Broenstedt gave last winter a course of lectures on Modern Greece, its inhabitants, antiquities, &c.

The library of the university of Copenhagen, to which the Museum of the Antiquities of the North has been united, and which was founded by King Christian IV. possesses, according to M. Thaarup, about 60,000 volumes. The very curious collection of Icelandic and other MSS. which relate to the history of the North, is due to the celebrated Icelander, Professor Arnas Magnæus, who was appointed, in 1694, professor of Danish antiquities, and in 1702, by order of the king, visited Iceland, where he passed ten years.

Memoirs of the History of the Fifty Years from 1760 to 1810, by the late Abbe Georgel, a distinguished member of the order of the Jesuits, and confidential secretary to Cardinal de Rohan, is about to be published at Paris in 3 volumes. It is said to excite great interest from the talents and means of information possessed by the author, who died in 1813.

CARABOO.

Written in consequence of a singular imposition
practised upon the benevolence of a lady residing
in the vicinity of Bristol, by a young woman
of the name of Mary Wilcox, alias Baker, alias
Bakerstcndt, alias Caraboo, Princess of Javusu.
OH! aid me, ye Spirits of wonder! who soar
In realms of romance where none ventur'd before;
Ye Fairies! who govern the fancies of men,
And sit on the point of Monk Lewis's pen;
Ye mysterious Elves! who for ever remain
With lusus naturæs, and ghosts of Cock-lane;
Who ride upon broomsticks, intent to deceive
All those who appear predispos'd to believe,
And softly repeat from your home in the spheres
Incredible stories to credulous ears;

With every thing marvellous, every thing new,
We'll trace a description of Miss Caraboo.

Johanna's disciples, who piously came
To present babies' caps to the elderly dame,
Though all hope of the virgin's accouchement
is o'er,

Shall meet with the smile of derision no more;
Their wonders were weak, their credulity small-
Caraboo was engender'd by nothing at all!
And where did she come from?-and who can
she be ?

Did she fall from the sky ?-did she rise from
the sea?

A seraph of day, or a shadow of night?

Did she spring upon earth in a stream of gas-
light?

Did she ride on the back of a fish, or sea-dog?
A spirit of health, or a devil incog. ?

Was she wafted by winds over mountain and
stream?

Was she borne to our isle by the impulse of

steam?

Was she found in complete "fascination" elate?
Or discover'd at first in a chrysalis state?
Did some philosophic analysis draw

Her component degrees from some hot water
spa?

Did some chemical process occasion her birth? galvanic experiments bring her on earth?

Poetry.

Is she new? is she old? is she false? is she
true?

Come read me the riddle of Miss Caraboo.

Astronomers sage may exhibit her soon,

A daughter-in-law to the man in the moon ;
Or declare that her visit accounts for the rain
Which happen'd last year, and may happen
again;

That dark spots appear in the course she has

run,

Coeval perhaps with the spots on the sun;
That she may be connected with Corsairs-all
these,

And as many more possible things as you please.

In what hand does she write ?-In what
tongue does she speak?

Is it Arabic, Persic, Egyptian, or Greek?
She must be a blue-stocking lady indeed,
To write an epistle which no man can read,
Though we have some publishing scribes I could
name,

Whose letters will meet with a fate much the

same.

She then wore no ear-rings, though still may
be seen

The holes in her ears, where her ear-rings had
been;

Leathern shoes on her feet; a black shawl round

her hair;

Even those who have doubted the truth of her

case

Have forgotten their doubts when they look'd

in her face.

I never have seen her; but if, when I see,
The truth of her tale is apparent to me,

I will cancel these lines, and most gladly rehearse
Her swimming and fencing in beautiful verse;
In the graces and charms of my muse to adorn
her,

Shall be the employment of

Q. IN THE CORNER.

ODE.

THE BLACKBIRD.

Sweet minstrel of the pale and pensive eve!
What time the radient orb sinks in the west,
Diffusing o'er the scene

A softening, soothing ray,
Within the covert of the shadowy grove,
Or in the orchard's undisturb'd retreat,
Thou pour'st thy evening hymn,
Melodious, strong and clear.

Sweet is the scene, and solemn is the hour,
But ah! more sweet, more solemn is thy note,
Which fluctuates in the gale,
And fills the grove with song.
In thoughtful mood I wander by thy haunts,

And of black worsted stockings an elegant pair; Thy solitary haunts, where all were death,
Her gown was black stuff, and my readers may
guess

If her story contains as much stuff as her dress.

Of the famed Indian Jugglers we all must
have heard,

Who to gain a subsistence would swallow a

sword;

But men (without proof) who believe tales like
these,

Will undoubtedly swallow whatever you please.
I have heard those who thought that she
wish'd to deceive,

After seeing her person have learn'd to believe ;

And gloom, and solitude,
And silence-but for thee!

Sweet bird! whate'er betide my way ward lot,
Whate'er may blight my hopes, or wound my
mind,

Destroy my promis'd bliss,
Or clog my future joy;
Still let me listen to thy soothing note,
Which far more joy, more heartfelt pleasure
brings,

Than Eastern wealth could give,
Or princely power command!

W. G.

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