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been adopted, that you have omitted Bristol, though they have plyed for several months between it and Bath; and with such success that a second is to be launched in March. We keep forty-one horses for towing the vessels down the river, which might no doubt be done by steam-boats, and the land necessary to raise food for the horses be applied to raise food for man.

Can any of your readers assign a reason why the Chinese hang the rudder of their boats so low that a portion of it is below the keel? They are not a people likely to persist in a thing which has no advantage attached to it. Bristol, Dec. 20. J. W.

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

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YOU have expressed a desire for communications from the seat of war, and the following are the remarks of military men who have been in action with the enemy.

"

At the battle of Corunna, the French never advanced within three hundred yards of the British troops, but retired from their charge. Particular English regiments, after having repulsed one party of the enemy, found themselves assailed by another, so far as concerned firing. When the field was even thought to have been cleared of them, a detach ment was descried marching up a lane in a new direction, but some artillery being brought to bear upon them, their loss was enormous, and they effected nothing. Eye-witnesses say, that their dead lay in heaps. In one of Sir Arthur Wellesley's actions in Portugal, (the earliest) they rushed out of a wood, like hounds, in canvas clothing; and, after disappearing for a short time, returned in uniform. The intention, by all these manoeuvres, was to induce an opinion of such numbers, and such unwearied perseverance, as to dishearten the British. It had no success, for the soldier of that nation does not estimate that so much as his comforts; and it is a well-known fact, that parties

of pleasure were daily made to the lines of Torres Vedras, to drink tea, and smile at Massena. The perseverance of the French soldier is incredible. In one of the actions before Flushing, a slender stripling of a conscript was seen leaning against a sentry-box, but levelling his musket. A stout British serjeant came up to him, found him pierced with five bayonet wounds, nobly disdained to murder him, and wrenching the piece from his hands, with some words of scorn, conveyed him a prisoner to the hospital, where, on the next day, he died.

A favourite disposition of the French troops is in the obtuse wedge form, the artillery at the point to act upon the centre of their enemy. Their troops thus present, to a certain degree, only a feather-edge to the shot, while their own fire is equally efficacious. This disposition gained the battle of Jena. It was attempted at Vimeira: but the English advanced with the bayonet, under General Ferguson. They were driven till their artillery remained in the rear of the advancing British, who pursued them till Sir Hugh Dalrympla ordered the bugle to sound a retreat.

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In case of disaster of a serious kind, their practice is, according to the lan guage of their bulletins, (I quote those recently issued before Marquis Wellington's retreat from Burgos, and concerning the Russian advance into Germany,) to bring up a mass of force which shall compel retreat." The ccn. scription enables them to disregard waste of life; and the perseverance, which is to make up for lack of other qualities, renders their retreat never to be expected while hope remains. They bear down with an overwhelming force upon their object; and fresh bodies are repeatedly poured in. If, after all, as at Talavera, they are repulsed, they draw a new force up immediately afterwards, and at last compel retreat. They disguise the intervening events, and then publish a pompous annunciation of vic tory. This was done at Busaco, (as it had been before done at Talavera.) and no one would have known, from their accounts, that any battle had ever been fought at the former place. Lord Wel lington remained six days at Talavera, after the battle, but the French published the battle and his retreat, as a contemporary event. If they have no hope, they throw themselves behind their fortresses; they risque no second actions if they can avoid it.

They must

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must have numbers, or their plans are .deemed abortive. If they are thus confident, they will persevere till they -Succeed.

Bonaparte has been justly blamed for not attending to the importance of irregular cavalry. They surround and cut off detachments of 1, 2, or 3000 men, if ever separated from the main body; Convoys of provisions, &c. One hundred and fifty thousand cavalry were prepared for him, had he proposed to proceed to India, i. e. if he could have found magazines for such an expedition in the desert, &c. The excellence of the British artillery is rarely known. Saltpetre being of nearly equal value with dirt in India, bets are frequently laid to throw shells, so as to burst, at one, two, three, or more feet from the ground, among cavalry. Skill of this kind cost Marmont his arm. The battle of Salamanca was won by the infantry breaking them with the bayonet, and the imme. diate irruption of the cavalry preventing their power to form again; otherwise they would certainly have retreated to some adjacent position on the field of battle, and renewed the action, by firing, Marmont said, that the cannon taken by the English were eleven, which had been dismounted. How came that about? Probably he thought that the English, like the Austrians, would patiently endure a cannonade for a whole day; but he found, that his enemy only used his artillery to aid his men; not the men to support a battle won by the artillery, The French place voltigeurs and rifle men upon little eminences, to fetch down the English; but the result com monly is, that they are bayonetted. This kind of troops often accompanies the artillery in an attack upon the centre; but neither the one nor the other bas availed much, because the method adopted at Salamanca, beforementioned, renders such a plan nugatory. As they are themselves unable to get rid of the English artillery in any such form as their adversaries practise, they are either obliged to break, and are so defeated, or to concentrate, and thus give double effect to round and grape, or the diagonal and enfilading fires of the horse-artillery.

Our military men speak of French soldiers, in general, with high respect; and of French officers, as men eminently skilful in the art of war. But they claim impossibilities in their bragging bulletins. When they fight, their ene ies are only a flock of pigeons; but MONTHLY MAQ. No. 251.

33.

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the truth is, that, like the Goths and Vandals, they wear them out by num bers. Feeble ministers have of late been the fashion; at least it is the taste at court: but had the opinions of eminent officers been regarded, this war would have long ago terminated, in the actual inability of the Emperor Napoleon to subdue his enemies. The English method of fighting his troops would have soon quieted him; and as it has been successfully practised by the German Legion in our service, it might have been so out of it. English tactics, in substance, consist in a good position, an admirably served artillery, a fire of infantry at about forty yards, followed by an irruption with the bayonet, which drives them behind their artillery, and leaves them no resource but in numbers and reserves.

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At least this has

been the general practice of Marquis Wellington. AN OLD OFFICER.

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

SIR,

$ your valuable miscellany seems

A devoted to objects interesting either

to the circle of society in a collective point of view, or connected with indi vidual weal, I address to you the subjoined recipe for Odontalgia. A specific is not to be expected where the exciting causes are so varied.

The tinctures of opium, myrrh, and horseradish, produce a relief, but an effect evanescent. The ingredients of that submitted to your readers, stand recommended by intrinsic worth, and the good benefits which, happily, have accrued from the application. Here we see combined the antiseptic virtues of carbon, with the properties of an anodyne, possessing a counteracting warmth, and susceptible of allaying the inflam mation concomitant on tooth-ache.

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The price now charged by the London refiners is 51. 8s. per ounce.

Fine silver remains at 7s. 6d. Hence, silver is become dearer in price than gold; the proportion, according to the Mint regulation, being nearly as fifteen to one; but, at the present prices, an ounce of fine gold is not quite equal to fourteen and a half of silver. B. S.

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

I

SIR,

LATELY saw the name of PRIEST

LEY classed in a literary miscellany

with those of Brothers and Southcott-
but I put it fairly to the public whether
30 paltry an attempt to degrade the illus.
trious father of English chemistry, and
the discoverer of the Gases, is not more
degrading to the miscellany alluded to,
and its writer, than to the great man in
question?
VERITAS.

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.
SIR,

I HAVE oftentimes taken notice that

the branches of the scarlet-flowered French bean, twine round the sticks or poles, with which they are sustained, the Contrary way to what the sun goes. What the cause of this peculiarity is I do not know, neither have I met with any one, hitherto, who was able to account for it; and indeed I think I may say, who ever took notice of it before.

I remember having once seen our gardener twining the branches of a young plant of this sort round a stick, "to show it the way it should go," as he said, though in fact he twined it the wrong way, which he soon perceived by its turning back again.

I have also taken notice of several other plants of the same genus, and I find they turn both ways indiscriminately, but the scarlet-flowered French bean turns, invariably, the contrary way to the sun.

LINNEUS.

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SIR,

to apply for information from such of AM induced, through your medium, your readers who are more acquainted with ancient Scottish history, particularly with the records of the University of St. Andrews, and the history of the College of Dumbarton, than I am, on a subject respecting which information has been solicited from myself, and which I cannot give to my own content.

The subject is the history of a large Gothic arch, standing on the north-east

quarter of that we of Dumbarton, ded

tached from all the other buildings, and denominated by the inhabitants the College bow. It seems not to be much no ticed by modern tourists, although evidently the building of which it is said to be the remains, and chief entrance, must have been of great antiquity, and perhaps celebrity. In part confirmation of its antiquity and celebrity, the town to this day pays some attention in keeping it standing as a memorial of more ancient splendour. But unless something farther be speedily done, which would not cost many shillings, the memorial, from its present state of decay, through the ravages of time, and dilapidations of the mischievous, has every appearance of soon tumbling to the ground.

Traditionalaccounts are often vague and always uncertain. On enquiring of the oldest natives concerning it, they tell, that the college of Dumbarton, of which the arch or gateway mentioned is the only vestige, was a celebrated seminary of learning, long before the foundation of any of the present four Scottish universities. That prior to the years 1454, 1477, and 1582, the dates of the foundation of the Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh, universities, it was by royal authority appointed an appendage of St. Andrews, the oldest of the four, and called in the records of the latter, our Lady Sister College of Dumbarton, or some other similar appellation; and from monarchical, and other endowments, had more land, now a waste and almost useless cominon,

daily

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1814.]

Commercial Intercourse with Africa.

daily inundated by the tides, attached to it for the exercise, pleasure, and amusement of the professors, students, &c. than the extent of the present college green of Glasgow.

In corroboration also to a certain extent of the traditional accounts, history relates, that in 1602 the provost, (in England called lord mayor,) and some of the collegionars" of Dumbarton, who had by some unfortunate fatality gone some miles distance to witness a bloody confict betwixt two contending highland clans, were there massacred by one of the parties. J. M.

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

35

ports, states, and kingdoms, of the world have failed, it becomes essentially neces sary, amidst our exertions, to become better acquainted with South America and other remote regions; not to forget the commerce, markets, and produce of a continent, which, however neglected and disregarded, offers to the philosopher, the statesman, and the merchant, incal culable resources, and which is moreover situated at a very short distance from us. On this subject the information lately communicated to the public by Mr, JAMES GREY JACKSON in his recent travels in Africa, becomes highly interesting. From the accounts which he has given of the city of Timbuctoo and its commercial relations, there is great reason to con clude, that if we could find means to

DURING a late view of Hereford Car opun, ation maintain a safe and easy com

thedral I saw an ancient map of the then known world, written and emblazoned on vellum, which from the characters employed, and other circumstances, must have been at least 500 years old.

Those who then possessed this treasure were so unworthy of it that I found a quantity of glass lanthorns sacrilegiously piled against it, and perhaps ere this it may be defaced or destroyed. If not, it ought forthwith to be removed to the British Museum, as a curiosity of the highest order, equalled by nothing of its kind in Europe.

Should this meet the eye of any antiquary in that ancient city or vicinity, a fuller account, and even some sketches of the original map, could not fail to gratify your readers. What I chiefly remember is the separation of Great Britain by channels of water into three parts, some considerable variations of form in the Ba tavian coasts, the rich emblazoning of Rome placed in the centre, and the con spicuous display of the isle of Oleron. Geology, history, and geography, may be served by rescuing this relique from obscurity, or total destruction.

London, Nov. 18, 1813. CAMDEN.

Our correspondent will find some particulars of this map in Gough's Topographical Antiquities-but further particulars will be acceptable.

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine,

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AT

Ta time when Europe appears to be emancipating from subjugation, and commerce and intercourse between different countries appear to revive, and the attempts to cut off all communication between Great Britain and the various

munication with that great emporium, and with the rich, fertile, and populous regions in its vicinity, we might acquire a market that would consume an incalcula ble quantity of our mauufactures. In the warehouses of Timbuctoo are accumula ted the manufactures of India and of Europe, and from thence the immense population that dwells on the Niger is supplied; there is no doubt that we could furnish the articles they want upon much lower terms than they can obtain them at present; and, in return, we should furnish the best market they could have for their gold, ivory, gums, and ather rich products and raw materials. Now it certainly appears to me, and I think it must appear to every man who takes the trouble of investigating the subject, that, provided government would give proper support to the enterprise, this important communication might easily be established. For this purpose, nothing more is necessary than to take a fortified station upon the African coast, somewhere about, the 29th degree of north latitude, near the confines of the Morocco dominions, to serve as a safe magazine or emporium for merchandise. From this station it would be easy to maintain a direct correspon dence with the opulent merchants of Timbuctoo; regular caravans might be established, to depart at fixed periods: the protection of the Arabs can at all times be purchased at stipulated prices, which may be considered as premiums of insurance, or as a tax for convoy; and thus, in a little time, these caravans might carry out merchandise to and from Timbuctoo, with as much regularity and safe ty, and with less expence, than our fleets convey our goods to and from the West Indies. The expence of such a fortified F2

station

Station as is here proposed would be very anoderate in comparison with the advantages it would produce, and it would be easy to draw out a plan for it; but I do not think it would be proper to go into detail here-non est hic locus. It has been well observed, that "commerce is

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the key of Africa and I only A

that if the plan I have suggested were carried into execution, those interesting regions of Africa that have heretofore baffled the attempts of curiosity and en. terprise, and remained for so many ages a sealed book to the inhabitants of Europe, would soon be explored and laid open. This is an object that cannot be indifferent to a prince who has so evidently evinced a desire to patronise science, and who is undoubtedly desirous to encourage, to facilitate, and to increase still further the vast geographical discoveries which have added such lustre to the reign of his august father.

VASCO DE GAMA.

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

A

SIR,

S your Magazine circulates more extensively in foreign countries than any other production of the English press, I call the attention of the growers of FRUIT in SPAIN, PORTUGAL, the LEVANT, and AZORES, to the imperfect and inadequate manner in which Great Britain and all northern countries are supplied with the unpreserved fruit of the south. Fo. reign grapes fetch at this time in London four shillings and sixpence, per lb. of sixteen ounces; oranges, twelve and fifteen shillings per hundred; and chesnuts, twelve shillings per peck: and, even at these rates, they are not plentiful. What an opening for a large fortune exists in the more rapid and abundant supply of articles so desirable in these climates! Windsor, Dec. 20.

POMONA.

To the Editor of the Monthly Magasine.

A

SIR,

FTER passing many an hour of pain and uneasiness from a bad tooth, which I was advised not to have extracted, I was recommended by a friend to make use of the following remedy, which he stated to be infallible. Take the inside of a nut-gall, and put a small piece into the hollow tooth, which is to be removed and replaced by another bit about every half hour, so long as any white matter comes away with the piece taken out, As my friend, as well as myself, have found this remedy, not a temporary, but a permanent cure, I feel desirous that

SIR,

PERSON who has the instruction of youth very much at heart, would thank any of your correspondents who can inform him as to the reception which the works of the late Mr. Clarke, of Hull, have met with in the different seminaries? Likewise as to the reception which Stirling's Edition of some of the Classics, for the use of schools, has obtained? And also, in regard to experienced benefits in the Interrogative System, lately adopted in many considerable schools?

W.

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

SIR,

SHALL feel obliged by any of your

readers who may have it in their power, and will take the trouble to give me information respecting Pestalozzi, whom Madame de Stael, in her very interesting work on Germany, informs us, has formed and put in practice a system of instruction, that greatly assists the young mind in its progress towards know ledge. We are not informed where this very valuable member of society resides, nor how long his establishment has been formed: he is much occupied, it seems, with the poorer classes, and considers it of importance to provide them with safe and proper means of instruction; his pen is therefore devoted to their service, and at the same time that truth and morality are inculcated, the various situations and circumstances of humble life are painted with a force and warmth of colouring, which cannot fail to be interesting and attractive to them.

In the slight sketch with which Mad. de Stael has favoured us, of his system of instruction, we are struck with some points of resemblance to that introduced into this country by Mr. Lancaster. Yet in some respects it seems essentially to differ; neither reward nor punishment. excite to the attainment of excellence and not even the display of the greatest talents is suffered to encroach on the perfect equality that pervades this school of 150 children. Emulation and fear, which have been made the master springs of the Lancasterian, and of Dr. Bell's system, are here unknown. The reflection of Mad. de Stael upon this fact is beautiful; "Combien de mauvais sentimens sont épargnés à l'homme quand on eloigne de

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