fessor Muncke; and obtained the prize in 1815. 2. A memoir that has for its subject the origin of potash in plants: it is by Professor John, of Berlin. 3. A memoir by Professor Boekmann, of Carlsruhe, in which the question is examined, why the vapours from charcoal in a state of imperfect combustion, are more deadly than those from charcoal in a state of complete combustion? We conceive that this enquiry might prove interesting to our workmen in various branches of operative arts: it is certain, that many who have occasion to sit or stand long over charcoal, and are exposed to inhale the fumes of it are never healthy or fresh looking-the cause why, is important. called enemies, and to afford temptation | simple watering? This memoir is by Proto cupidity, yet, considered as to their primary object, that of exciting military ardour, they have been sometimes excellent. A collection of these pieces has lately appeared under the title of Eloquence Militaire, &c. &c. the compiler traces this species of eloquence among the Greeks and the Romans, then in France, from the days of Francis I. and especially in the energetic harangues of Henri IV. Materials become abundant from the year 1792; and the sanguinary events which intervened from that date to 1814-15, have furnished the major part of this collection. We must, however, caution future historians-if such should extract from this series-against believing much that they may find here. It is true, we read with a lively interest, Geschied en redekunstig Gedenkschrift, the sentiments attributed by ancient his &c. Historical and Rhetorical Memoir on torians, Livy, Tacitus, &c. to their heroes; the Restoration of the Low Countries in but, the judicious are aware of the ne1819. By J. Henry Vander Palm. Amcessity for receiving them with great de-sterdam. 8vo. pp. 173. Admiral Kingsductions; how much more then, the state bergen proposed in 1816, a handsome ments and flourishes of modern French prize for the best historical memoir on this subject; committing to several learned men of Amsterdam, the charge of examining the productions sent in competition. This of M. Vauder Palm obtained the prize. It includes a succinct view of the condition of the Low Countries under the domination of Napoleon until the accession of his present Majesty. Generals? Artificial Stone: treatise on. We are aware that various patents have been obtained in Britain for inventions analogous to that which is here announced; but, we do not recollect that any work, specifically treating on them, has been published among us. The Art of Composing Artificial Stone, as hard as flint: Researches into the manner employed by the Ancients in preparing, using, &c. their hardest Mortars; with an examination of the causes of their hardness. By M. Fleuret, Professor of Architecture in the Royal Military School at Paris, 2, ols. 4to. one containing the text, the other plates. The main object of this work is the composition of water pipes, basins, reservoirs, acqueducts, terraces, facings to walls, and other materials for repelling the action of water and of humidity. It is impossible to say how far such a work might be useful in our own country: we have a few pamphlets on certain branches of the subject; but little that is popularly known: yet our climate needs all precautions against humidity. M. Fleuret adds, directions for executing artificial mosaics; bas reliefs, and other decorations exposed to wind and weather. HOLLAND. The Society of Sciences at Haarlem continues to publish its Memoirs: the eighth volume (1817) contains essays on the following questions proposed by the Society. 1. Why is the vegetation of plants accelerated in a greater degree by rain than by We cannot but think that memoirs of the same nature drawn up while facts are fresh in the recollection of the public, and submitted to the revision of judges who most valuable materials for history: there are likely to be well informed, furnish may be, and there always are, private coincidences knowu only to principals in such events; nevertheless, such performances are of essential use in guiding general opinion. ITALY. Storia d'una Donna, &c. History of a lady, the greater part of whose body is covered with black hairs. By Cesar Ruggieri. This is a remarkable case, we might, almost say singular, did not our recollection furnish us with others in old authors. it is not easy to account for the departure of nature from her usual course, in such instances; but happily they are rare. Whether the posterity of such persons partake of the same disposition, may perhaps, be determined from the instance here recorded; but, we do not wish this lady a bear for her husband, in order to enjoy the pleasure of knowing that the question has been put to the test of experiment. Voss, who long has distinguished himself in the department of romance, has now directed his taleufs from works of imagi On the Beautiful in Art. We know not whether we are really doing service to the arts, when we record treatises on what is their principal object-nation to works of reproof, as appears by the Beautiful for this can never be taught; and the artist who places his dependance on rules for acquiring it, or even for discerning it, is lost. Nevertheless, it is more than possible, that a student may gather from the observations of a tutor-in which character a treatise on the Beautiful should be considered-hints and ideas, susceptible of much improvement in a plastic mind. We, therefore, inform such students, that Sig. Leopold Cicoguara, has published at Florence, a tract (Del Bello, &c.) a Discourse on the Beautiful. a volume he has lately published, entitled Geissel fur Zeit thorheiten, &c. The Scourge for the Follies of the Times. The candid, equally with the critical, enquire whether he has included his own? A strange question to be started among any who are acquainted with the privileges of authorship! M. de Voss directs his satire against the great:-but when was an author great? Against the rich:-but when was au author rich? Against the critics :-but here we stop ;-for when was not an author critical? Ur geschicte des Staats, &c. History of the State, by Professor C. D. Hullmann: A volume of 183 pages, 8vo. has been published at Konigsburgh under this title; in which the author enters on his subject by examining the relations between the com, ponent parts of Society in its earliest stateand the progress of time, or the system of chronology. He then proceeds to compare these same social relations with the constitution of a country, and the organization of society with the model of domestic life. In a fourth section he considers the inevitable results from this orga This volume is rather a series of discourses, the first of which treats on nature and art as sources of the Beautiful; the secoud on the Beautiful, and on the works already published on this subject; the third on Absolute Beauty, and on its limits; the fourth on the effects of Beauty on the mind; the fifth on the graceful; the sixth on the sublime, which the author treats on the principles of Kant; and the seventh un Ideal Beauty. We know well the difficulties of the subject, with the hazard of conveying erroneous conceptions by the most correct and guarded descriptions: yet they may excite emulation, perhaps, maymization of society, in order to shew that animate competition: and thus may even tually produce benefits, either directly or indirectly. This subject has also engaged the pen of Marianno Gigli, at Milan; who has lately published Il Bello, &c. An Essay on the Beautiful in Nature and Art. 8vo. PRUSSIA. Satirical Scourge for Folly. Is it just in a novellist to become the censor of the follies of his times? This admits of doubt; for not many are the occupations which contribute more to the propagation of folly than that of the novellist. As novels go now-a-days, speak ing of the generality of them, the folly of reading them is only exceeded by the folly of writing them. The novel shelf in every library is a lottery, in which the number of blanks to a prize, much exceeds what is boasted of in those schemes so beautifully printed in red and black, and ornamented with all the colours of the rainbow, which are profusely distributed gratis, and thrust into every door and window in the City of London; to the very opposite effect of Banks for Savings. Leaving the main question undecided, we have to report, that-M. Jules de the primitive form of all society was republican; and that the exercise of power passed alternatively from one tribe to another. He concludes in his fifth section, by examining bywhat means the original rights of society founded on compact, have been limited by the prevalence of tribes and families over others. Annexed is an enquiry containing much curious research, concerning the causes which have operated to render the organization of society in the east so contrary to that in the west; insomuch, that des potism has predominated among the orientals, while republicanism long maintained itself in popularity in the west. We presume to think this latter part of the enquiry equally amusing as curious; and as it may be founded on authentic documents, while it developes a striking disposi tion of the human character it affords materials for reflection worthy the deepest consideration of the metaphysician. TURKEY. The difficulties under which the press labours in Turkey, are not unknown to our readers; and for this reason, among others, we readily pay attention to what the Turkish press produces from time to time. The establishment is fixed at Scutari, near Constantinople: in 1816, it published a the sexes, that extensive cause of moral work in the Turkish languoge, on the Du ties of Pilgrims travelling to Mecca. The title is to this effect:-Litabol Menassik, &c. The Book of the Duties of Pilgrims; or the Guide to the Stations. Printed at Scutari, and finished the first of the month Dschemasiulewet, in the year of the Hegira 1252 (A. D. 1816.) 8vo. pp. 256. contamination, is strictly prohibited; the diet, a powerful agent on the human passions, is moderate and wholesome. Ardent spirits, the great source of his present punishment, are strictly denied him; idleness, the parent of vice, is substituted by regular and constant labour, except during the short time appropriated to meals and during the hours of sleep; and silence, which naturally produces reflection and attention to duty, is strictly enjoined and enforced. The mild but firm conduct of the keepers, who never carry weapons, banishes the ir Th author of this work is a dervise named El Hadgi Mohammed Edib ben Mohammed, who undertook the journey to Mecca in the year of the Hegira 1193 (A D. 1778) and who composed this work for the edification and instruction of Piritating idea usually attached to such cha grims. This volume, though finished in 1816, has been put in circulation but very lately, and since the defeat of the Wahabees; who had blocked up the road to Mecca, and prevented for a time all access to that Holy City, It may not, perhaps, be improper just to to remind our readers, that appointed cere mouies are performed when the pilgrims arrive within certain distances of Mecca; and that at the last station, or that nearest the city, the devotees take off their dresses and clothe themselves in the Ihram, or robe of penitence, which affords but a slender covering, so that they may be said to enter the city, in a state of comparetive nakedness. HINTS, PLANS, and PROCEEDINGS OF Benevolence. Homo sum: PRISON DISCIPLINE. racters, and transforms them into employers superintending their workmen ; and lastly, the religious counsel which is given on the sabbath seals the whole, and proves to them that neither the law, nor the officers appointed to execute it have any other object in view than their reformation. The criminal, therefore, makes this calculation, to conduct himself so as to command the goodwill of the keepers and inspectors, and merit recommendation for a diminution of his time of servitude. This calculation, which all the convicts make, and the justness of which they oc asionally see exemplified by the enviable reward being conferred upon the meritorious, is one of the most powerful motives to good behaviour that could be held out: and if it be doubted whether gratitude for mild and kind treatment has not some effect in causing obedience to command, and attention to work, facts enough have occurred to show that they are not insensible to the influence of this quality of the mind. On one occasion, an inspector states, that when roused by the harshness of a keeper, to make a desperate attempt to escape, they were prevented in part from succeeding, by another whom they respected, throwing himself in the way of the door, and whose life would have been sacrificed if they had Philadelphia Prison. The great causes of vice are idleness, intemperance, and evil connexions; and as the system pursued in this prison admits of none of these, but proceeds upon the principles of industry, sobriety, good ex-persisted:† and that they are not insensiample, and other co-operating measures, it must follow, from the very constitution of ing the time of servitude of a criminal, are * Petitions for pardon, or even for shortenhuman nature, that salutary effects must be made with extreme caution by the inspectors. produced. The criminal knows, and must ↑ An accidental visit to the prison by a be convinced, however unwilling to ac- humane man, formerly a keeper, has occa knowledge the fact, that his sentence issioned universal joy among the convicts, who justly inflicted; the nature of this sentence moreover assures him, that his improvement in morals is the sole object in view: hence those angry passions which the laceration of the body, by stripes, cropping ears, and pilloring, invariably ex cite, are restrained, and the whole discipline of the prison is eminently calculated to produce the same conviction, to conduct to the same result. Intercourse between came forward to welcome him. In the fever ble even to the principles of honour and of | humanity, the following facts, with other occurrences, afford ample proof :— "A criminal, one of a desperate gang who had long infested the vicinity of Philadelphia, for several years before the alteration of the system, on being discharged, called upon one of the inspectors, and addressed him in the following manner," Mr. , I have called to return you my thanks for your kindness to me while under sentence, and to perform a duty which I think I owe to society, it being all in my power at this time to afford. You know my conduct and character have been bad, and therefore whatever I might say would have but little weight, was I now not at liberty. Pursue your present plan, you will have neither burglaries nor robberies | in this place." He then stated the sentiments held by those characters who had devoted themselves to this mode of life, and the plans generally pursued by them. The certainty of conviction and the execu tion of the sentence, the privations, temperauce, order, labour, &c. were more dreaded than any thing they had ever experienced. He observed at parting, that he should never trouble the inspectors more. This promise has been fully com plied with. A convict, by name Jackson, who acknowledged himself to be an accomplished villain, and to have been in most of the gaols of the United States, was sentenced to hard labour for several years in Philadelphia. He gave much trouble, and at length escaped over the wall: he was pursued to Maryland, and on his way back escaped again. He was finally taken and lodged in the cells, where, full of health, and with a mind high-toned, he boasted of his resolution and of the impossibility of subduing his spirit, or of effecting any change in him. But after having been confined for some time, an alteration in his deportment became evident, and he took occasion, when the inspectors were going through the prison, to enter into conversation with them, and inquired how an old comrade in iniquity, who had long been confined, had obtained release from the cells. The reply was, that "he promised to behave well, and that he had been put upon his honour." Would you trust mine? he rejoined: yes, it was said, if he This man had been confined for six months in the cells, at the end of which time, heing completely subdued, he was let out upon a solemn pledge of good behaviour, and during the rest of his time gave no trouble. In this case the mild conversation, and serious advice of one of the inspectors, powerfully assisted. would pledge it. He did so, was liberated from the cells, went cheerfully to work, and behaved with propriety during the remainder of his confinement, and never returned to Pensylvania. Several states in the Union have followed the example set by Pensylvania, with various degrees of success, The principle, however, just as it is, may be abused, and the objects of course defeated. A good system of regulations should at first be established, and afterwards adhered to with rigid punctuality; pardons should never be thought of, nor any diminution of the period of servitude recommended, unless after the most mature deliberation: inspectors, zealous in the cause, and willing to devote their time thereto, should be continned in the direction, to instruct the new members, otherwise impositions will be practised; and to guard against the frailty of human nature, no inspector should be permitted to supply any article of provision for the convicts, or to derive any emolument directly or indirectly from the prison. The management of the prison is committed to a board of inspectors, with the usual resident officers, whose duties are pointed out by an act of the legislature, and by the rules established by the inspectors. Bible Tourists. Among the foremost of these may be ranked Messrs. Drummond and Haldane (the former a banker, and the latter once an East-India Captain). Mr. Drummond has lately returned home, and we hope his example will animate many others. The foreign papers frequently notice these, but by the aukward way in which they mention them, betray the grossest ignorance both of their character and object. A letter from Berlin, dated the 12th it. says. "Mr. Pinkerton, agent for the English Methodists, and their Bible Society, has arrived here. This sect daily gaiu ground in Germany, particularly among the lower classes, even in the Catholic countries. They pretend to revive the ancient zeal for the exterior practice of religion, the strict observance of Sunday, and austerity of manners."-Mr. Pinkerton is the agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and travels with the particular sauction of the Emperor Alexander, whose zeal in the distribution of the Scriptures and the instruction of mankind, is perhaps equal to that of any Missionary engaged in their actual dissemination. A French paper says, "Several emissaries have recently arrived in Paris, from the English Society in London for the conversion of the Jews, either to the Protestant Missionary Tour. Calvinist, or any other Christian sect. in washing the weekly changes of linen and They have had several interviews with bedding, &c. some persons who interest themselves much in religious affairs." Now the fact is, that the object of these emissaries is not to make converts to any sect, but to Chrisianity and the Bible; and the success they meet with is equal to their most sanguine expectations.ing west of the Allegany Mountains. Ilchester Gaol. We have been favoured with the Report of a Missionary Tour through the back settlements of the United States, During the whole journey of the Missionaries, S. J. Mills and D. Smith, in 1815, Bibles were every where scarce and greatly wanted. Not a Bible was to be purchas Florida, which are principally Americans, are generally without the Scriptures. This is so generally the case throughout the United States, that not less than half a million of Bibles are supposed to be wanting to supply them. The following circumstance will be highly gratifying to our readers, and particularly to the members of "The Naval and Military Bible Society." The British soldiers when sent to America in the last war, were supplied with Bibles and Testaments at their embarkation by the above Society; but on the assault on the lines at New Orleans, they left their heavy baggage in the camp, and about 400, who were taken prisoners, were found wholly destitute. The Bible Christians in America visited them in prison, and distributed among them both Bibles and religious tracts, as well as among their own sick soldiers in the hospital. Observations by an eye witness. This gaol stands in an airy situation; a considerable part of it was built by prison-ed at New Orleans. The inhabitants of ers, without the assistance of any other mechanic, artizan, or labourer: and that part is allowed to be, both in point of stability and neatness, the best workmanship in the goal. This happy suggestion has produced a very important saving to the county; it has certainly produced a very importaut change in the manners of the prisoners Their behaviour, and the skilfuluess they have acquired in the various departments of building, may excite a well-grounded hope, that when released they will desist from their former practices, and adhere to those habits of industry and to those methods of obtaining an honest livelihood, which they have thus learned. One cannot but admire an arrangement, which employs prisoners in erecting their own prison, and in preventing the possibility of their own escape; and which at once and by the same effort, enlarges the gaol and diminishes the number of its future inmates. But besides the buildings which have given employ- At the return of these prisoners on the ment to a number of masons, bricklayers, close of the war, Mr. Mills had the curiocarpenters. painters,-manufactures to a sity to examine whether they had taken considerable extent are carried ou. All their Bibles; "but not a Bible, nor the the prisoners are clothed in a dress, every remnant of a religious tract was left." A article of which they make. In the store servant informed him, "that he saw them room I saw a collection of suits, of clothing packing them up in their knapsacks a for the men, worsted caps, dowlas shirts, little before their departure. jackets, waistcoats, breeches, stockings, and shoes for the general use of the prison, beds, mattresses, sheets, linen. &c. Each of these numerous branches of labour furnishes occupation to a proportion of the prisoners; and the knowledge of each trade is perpetuated, by apprenticing all who come in to some experienced workman. It was a sight of much interest to see the whole process of converting wool into cloth, carried on in one vard, and that yard within the walls of a prison. In the first workshop several were engaged iu washing the wool; in the second, in dyeing it; in the third, in hand-carding it; in the fourth, in spinning it; in, the fifth the looms were in activity in weaving it; and, lastly, the tailors were busy in making it into clothing. In the laundry, which I am persuaded equals that of any institution in the kingdom, all the female prisoners are employed On the distribution of French Testaments at New Orleans among the Catholies, we were pleased with the following instance of Catholic candour and liberality in the Bishop. A poor woman called on him, and presenting him a book "Good with much anxiety enquired father what book is this?" "It is the history of the Evangelists-the Gospel." — "But is it a book you would recommend to your people?" "It is a Protestant version (replied the Bishop) such as Calvin would have translated it."-" Good father My (said the woman) keep the book.” child, you may retain the book if you please. Read it with care and should you find in it any thing contrary to the Catholic faith, you will bear in mind that it is a Protestant version." The Bishop regretted that this edition was not taken from the Catholic version |