tle potion, &c. By Alexander Ross,” 1645, 12mo. Any account of this book would also be very acceptable to me. This is bad, both on account of the I have an intention of shortly republishing some, if not all, of Browne's Works; and therefore any other communication respecting him or his writwould greatly oblige Yours, &c. JAS. CROSSLEY. cause at York, a man was subpoenaed No at the expence of 207. to prove a payment of a sum of 201.; the trial was put off, and he was again subpoenaed at the same expence, for the same purpose; thus the unsuccessful party had to pay 401. for a witness to prove a fact which could not fairly be dis'puted; and the witness was taken away from his employments at least ten days. This same thing occurs perpetually; the law expences are often comparatively trifling compared to the expences of witnesses. Above 4000 causes are annually tried at Nisi Prius in England. I have now stated this grievance ; Mr. URBAN, Manchester, Sept. 4. Mr. URBAN, Kellington, Sept. 14. O work on the principles of pure geometry has, perhaps, ever been of greater utility, or more generally read, than the Elements of Euclid. The accurate, strict, and logical manner of reasoning made use of by that antient author, has contributed in no small degree to the general improvement of the human mind, upon every other subject, whether immediately connected with the mathematical sciences or not. Of the various editions of this work, published at different periods of time, in different languages, and in different countries, none, perhaps, upon the whole, is more deserving of our notice than that of Dr. R. Simson of Glasgow. This eminent Professor, by strenu ously endeavouring to exclude the false and inaccurate reasonings_by which unskilful editors, through a long lapse of years, had vitiated this I prefixed to his " Religio Medici, celebrated work, and by, restoring edit. 1736, 12mo, London, is the following passage: "He (Sir Thos. Browne) wrote a Treatise likewise, entitled De Lucis Causâ et Origine, in a Letter to Isaac Vossius, with whom he had a dispute upon that subject; printed at Amsterdam in 1663; and criticised on Vossius' Work De Naturâ et Proprietate Lucis, wherein he strongly maintains Des Cartes' hypothesis. He also wrote an Apology for the Cartesian Philosophy, in opposition to a Divine named Vogelsanq." No other biographer of Sir Thomas Browne mentions these works. I have never been able to meet with either of them; nor do I know whether the latter was ever printed. If any of your Correspondents can give me an account of either of them, or can tell me where to meet with them, I shall feel very thankful for the information. One of the books written against Sir Thomas Browne was entitled "Medicus Medicatus, or the Physician's Religion, cured by a lenitive or gen more genuine demonstrations in their place, and which he carefully collected from every possible source, seems to have produced a work nearly approaching to perfection of reasoning. It may appear strange then, Mr. Urban, that a small inaccuracy should still have been copied through the almost numberless editions of that Work. And it is, perhaps, still more remarkable that this should occur in a proposition which contains the first difficulty that beginners generally meet with in reading the Elements, viz. the 5th proposition of the first Book, "that the angles at the base of an isocles triangle are equal to one another; and if the equal sides be produced, the angles on the other side of the base shall be equal." The mistake alluded to is in comparing the two triangles BFC, GBC, in which the two sides BF, FC, are equal to the two GC, GB, and the included angle at F is equal to the angle at G, from which it immediately follows that that the angles FBC, GCB, are equal, to be found in the Greek text or not, .1773 Thomas Coombe...... 1783 .1786 H. F. Carey ............ 1787 1793 1793 1793 N. Drake.............. 1794 1794 1795 1797 .1797 ....1797 ....1797 .1797, ...1797 Sir B. Boothby.........1796 Of the preceding votaries of the Muse, a great number have gone to "that bourne from whence no traveller returns," long before Campbell made his compilation-and Downman among the rest;-the omission of whose name in Campbell's specimens I cannot account for. Surely his Lucius Junius Brutus is one of the finest Dramatic pieces of modern days. It is in Shakspeare's best man ner. Any corrections or additions to the preceding list, or biographical anec dotes, or critical observations, will be accepted with due acknowledgments. AN OLD CORRESPONDENT. Mr. URBAN, A$ Nov. 9. S you sometimes admit into your interesting Miscellany remarks which may tend to elucidate particular parts of Scripture, I take the liberty of sending you the following on Proverbs, chap. i. v. 15, 16, and 17, hoping at the same time that this may not be unacceptable to some of your numerous readers. Whenever I have read these verses, I have always found a degree of obscurity attending them, which seemed principally to arise from the waut of connexion. That the translators saw it in the same light, is not unlikely, as they have given rather an unusual meaning to the word, though it must be confessed, that with the present reading, a better translation could not be given. In the version of the Septuagint, we shall find great assistance towards removing the difficulties attending this passage. The first thing we notice is the omission of the 16th verse, which I should not think justifiable in any translator, unless resting on firm authorities. All the MSS. collated by Dr. Kennicott retain it, and therefore I retain it also; but the intrusion of this verse destroying the connexion which subsists between the 15th and 17th, I should conjecture that the 16th and 17th verses have changed places, and should therefore reverse their order. The next thing to be observed is the translation which the Seventy give of the 17th verse; « Ου γαρ εκτείνεται δίκτυα αδίκως πτερωτοις, including a small, but at the same time an important variation. By the insertion of the negative, they give a reading opposite to the present in every respect, and at once render the sense clear and intelligible. With these emendations, the verses will be as follows: "My Son, go not thou in the way with them, keep thy foot from their paths. For the net is not spread in vain in the sight of every lord of the wing," (the Hebrew idiom for a bird), as if the Royal Teacher had said, "Be extremely cautious, my Son, in what paths you walk, and keep quite clear of the ways of these sinners, whose devices I have just been describing; as in the natural, so in the moral world, the net is not spread in vain in sight of so many thousands; some will be taken in the soare; therefore I exhort you to be. very careful, lest you should be among those who are finally deceived.” Should these remarks, Mr. Urban, be of service to any of your readers, I shall be satisfied. VERUS. Mr. URBAN, Dec. 11. AS your valuable Miscellany is universally allowed to be a friend to the Establishment (and deservedly so too) and in the hands of most Clergy men, I beg leave, by means of it, to suggest a few hints to my Brother Clergy regarding the wel fare of our excellent Church. It has much perplexed the world to account for the flourishing and progressive state of Religion among the Sectaries of the present day, to the manifest detriment of the Estab fished Church, and, I would say, to the true interest of Christianity. You find some ascribe this growing evil to that love of novelty, so congenial to human nature, "that desire of hear ing some new thing," which St. Paul tells us was preached in his time, with some, who, having itching ears, fol lowed cunningly devised fables. Others ascribe it to that zeal and industry with which Dissenters of every denomination endeavour to gain converts to their doctrine. Like the Pharisees of old, they could compass sea and land to gain one proselyte. Their success must in some measure be al tributed to the above causes. But it is a truth not to be denied, that the progress they have hitherto made, to the prejudice of the Establishment, must be imputed rather to the supineness of some of its Clergy, and to that coolness and want of sociality and affection which is but too general among the Members of the Church. I remember reading an anecdote of a Clergy man in Glamorganshire, who had not been three months absent from his Parish for the space of 85 years; the consequence of which was, that there was not a Disseuter in the whole parish. Were all the Clergy to tread in the steps of this worthy Divine, sure I am, that Sectaries would no longer have reason to boast of the progress they are making. It must, however, be allowed, that the Clergy are of late much more vigilant and active at their posts, and that such conduct has produced very beneficial effects. In the emphatical language of Holy Writ, they have done as they are commanded, and yet there is room. There is another thing to be observed, which perhaps tends more to the prejudice of the Church of England than any one thing that cau possibly be named, and that is, the want of brotherly love and affection amongst her Ministers *. This does more real disservice to the Establishment than is generally thought, or indeed than can easily be imagined. For the Laity naturally conceive that there cannot be much genuine religion in that society, the professed members of which have so little brotherly love and affection among themselves. Their hauteur is no where more. observable than at their Visitations. The inferior Clergy upon such occasions are scarcely noticed, even in the Church; but out of the Church it is entirely out of the question. There is at such times a sumptuous dinner provided, at which the Chancellor, or the Archdeacon, as the case may be, with a few of his friends, beneficed Clergy, assemble at such expense that the inferior part of them, the poor Curates, are effectually excluded from partaking of the entertainment. Nor have I perceived the least disposition on the part of these Dignitaries to lessen the bill upon those occasions, so that the beneficed and unbeneficed might meet together in a friendly and social manner, become acquainted with each other, be edified by exchange of sentiment, and encouraged by mutual admonitions to carry on with zeal and assiduity * Our worthy Correspondent must have been particularly unfortunate, as, we hope and trust, there can be rarely a cause for such a complaint. EDIT. the great work of their Apostleship. Can it be any diminution to the dignity of the superior Clergy to admit the inferior part of that body to a familiarity with them, to call upon them, and invite them occasionally to their tables? On the contrary, would not such conduct exalt them in the opinion of the world, and add a lustre to their character? When the senior Clergy observe so much distance towards the junior, where are the latter, in a dilemma respecting some part of their duty, to seek for advice, if the former by their distant manner seem unwilling to give them any? There is nothing so becoming as to see brethren professing the same Religion living together in love and unity. We admire that harmony and affection subsisting among the different sects of Dissenters. It is to this bond of mutual love, union, and charity, by which they are so strongly connected together, that they owe not only the rapid growth of their respective tenets, but the very existence of their societies. They have their monthly, their quarterly, and yearly associations, wherein they meet punctually, to encourage oneanother, and to repeat their professions of zeal and resolution to support both their doctrine and their Ministers, both by personal and pecuniary aid. Here indeed Dissenters are an ex ample to the Members of the Established Church. What would be the result of a conduct of the same nature on the part of the Churchmen, it is no difficult matter to anticipate. I would venture to assert that, in a very short space of time, the number of Sectaries would visibly diminish. Their Sectarian principles would imperceptibly die away, and they would slide into the Church almost without their being conscious of the change. The body of Christ would be whole and without rent; and all the ends, at least of the British Isle, would become one fold under one shepherd. CLERICUS ECCLESIE ANGLICANE. few weeks since, I designated him as born at Coleshill, in Bucks. Coles hill, as I have since seen, is in Hertfordshire; and I presume your Correspondent proceeds on the authority of his Epitaph which says, "Edmundus Waller, cui hoc marmor sacrum est, Colshill nascendi locum habuit," &c. BYRO, no doubt, considered his authority as good, but I think Buckinghamshire has a stronger claim, and a better: Aubrey, in his life of Waller (with whom he was well acquainted), says "that he was born at Beaconsfield, in Bucks, in the fair bricke house, the farthest on the left hand, as you goe to Wickham." Captain Edward Hamden, his relation, told Aubrey that "he was borne in the parish of Agmundesham (Amer sham) in Buckinghamshire, at a place called Winchmore Hill, which was sold by his father, and which he had a very great desire to have bought again, not long before his death, but the owner would not sell it. Whichever of the accounts above you may prefer, they both seem to be of better authority than his epitaph; for we know not by whom it was written; BYRO's foundation appears to me to be but slender, but if he has any other reason to give, I should like to see it through the medium of your Magazine. Yours, &c. Mr. URBAN, J. TITTANSEL. Dec. 20. A RECENT Criticism upon Mr. Robert Owen's Address to the Sects, Classes, and Parties of the British Empire, concludes by reminding us that Ammonius of Egypt had the reverie of melting down all sects of religion and philosophy into one mass, keeping the gold and getting rid of the dross." This allusion, notwithstanding it was intended to convey an unfavourable opinion of the practical result of Mr. Owen's la bours, metaphorically describes the course which I conceive that eminent philanthropist has actually pursued. If he has not, like " Ammonius, had the reverie of boiling down all sects of religion and philosophy," he has yet managed to separate the gold from the dross, and, in imitation of the great Father of experimental philosophy, has, after long and ar duous study, and nearly thirty years of practical experience in political economy, formed a combination of principles all in unison with each other, and calculated to promote the best interests of mankind. If politics had been earlier understood as a science, that period would have been distinguished by the termination of the disputes of party, and the maxims of Government would thenceforward have become invariable. Human nature possessing the same general qualities at birth all over the globe, that system of training which is the best for one nation, is the best for all. Hitherto when any attempt has been made to assimilate the laws of one country with those of another, it has been urged, that regard should be had to the dissimilarity in the genius of the people. Nor was this caution unreasonable; for, although the foundations of the European communities were laid in an age of darkness, and bore a strong resemblance to each other, yet the alterations that have since taken place were made at various periods in each, according to different degrees of advancement towards civilization, and in the acquisition of knowledge; and were in part the effect of contingent circumstances. Hence the diversity of character among Europeans. History informs us, that under the feudal system, the German, the Gaul, and the Briton exhibited the same character, and when we contrast the inhabitants of Turkey and of modern Italy with the ancient Greeks and Romans, climate does not appear to have any influence in the formation of character which the institutions of a country cannot counteract. However generally this truth may be admitted, the important benefits that would result from its practical application in forming new and comprehensive arrangements have been comparatively unknown. But unless mankind in general were sufficiently enlightened as to be induced to act upon correct principles, how, it may be asked, can we effect a change so extensive as this view of the subject seems to contemplate, without endangering the social system altogether? and even an endeavour to graft any of these principles upon the existing state of society might so disarrange our institutions as to occasion some |