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spirit of enquiry; and his constant reference to facts and solid principles gives great weight to his opinions. The general result of his researches is such, as to inspire confidence in the resources of the country. To the agricultural interest, he opens, upon various considerations, which are dis tinctly and ably stated, a prospect of gradual relief. The advantages of a free trade in corn he strongly advocates, regarding it, however, as a remote result, which is less likely to be effected by any arguments that can possibly be urged, than by a continuation of low prices. The consequent reduction of the cost of production, and the re-establishment of our tenantry in nearly the same situation as in 1792, may, he conceives, cause our corn-laws to expire by a natural death. On the question of population, Mr. Lowe takes a middle course be tween the extreme positions of Mr. Malthus and Mr. Gray; but inclines, with certain modifications and restrictions, to the principles asserted by the latter, and fully assents to his main doctrine, that the increase of population enriches, instead of impoverishing, a nation, and that it is the tendency of income to increase along with population. Europe he considers not to be peopled to the extent of a fifth, or perhaps a tenth, of the numbers it is capable of supporting. On the subject of our finances, his ideas appear to be rational and just. He insists upon the reduction of taxation, however inconsiderable the proposed abatement may appear; and is anxious to prosecute the system of retrenchment, which must eventually lead to a favourable issue. Whenever the unnatural affect of war, taxation, and corn-laws, shall be removed, the industrious will no longer be in want of employment; the interruption to which, he chiefly traces to these causes. Having indicated the most promineat opinions of Mr. Lowe, we must recommend our readers to a closer acquaintance with his very interesting volume, from the perusal of which we can confidently promise them no small degree of pleasure and improvement.

Although the Poetical Works of EAGLESFIELD SMITH, esq. have received the honor of a second edition, we shall report our opinion of them to our readers, under the conviction, that the first edition has never met their eyes. We could not but conceive some prejudice against the skill of Mr. Smith, in, at least, the mechanical department of his art, when, upon opening the work at vol. i, p. 209, we found a poem of twenty-four lines, called A Sonnet; an error unworthy of the most inexperienced school-boy rhymer, who knows well that this species of poem consists of neither more nor less than fourteen. Nor were our prejudices removed upon perusing this anomalous piece of verse, or any other of the very numerous and tedious contents of

these volumes. It is high time, when a fictitious personage like this author has gone so far as to impose upon the public two volumes of such materials as these we here find, that we should do all in our power to check the ridiculous rhyming passion of the age. We sincerely advise the real author of this book to forsake his treacherous muse; as we must, otherwise, consider it our duty to speak our minds plainly, and to inform our readers that his productions are, in real truth, quite beneath their notice.

The high reputation which the author of the Favourite of Nature acquired, by the publication of those deeply interesting volumes, will not, we are sure, suffer any diminution by the publication of Osmond, a Tule, in three volumes, The pleasure we derived from the perusal of the former work, made us look forward with some anxiety to the appearance of Osmond; and, we are happy to say, our expectations have not been disappointed. The tale is by no means an artificial one, and possesses but little incident to engage the attention of the reader; but the deep pathos with which it is fraught, is infinitely more captivating. The character of Osmond may perhaps be thought a little overcharged, a fault which has sometimes been attributed to that of Eliza Rivers; and yet we should hesitate, before we asserted that such a character is entirely out of nature. The history of Caroline Lascelles is altogether beautifully told. Her misfortunes and fate are highly affecting, and the way in which they are related would not have disgraced the author of Clarissa. What is still better than all this, is, that a strain of the most pure and amiable feeling pervades the whole work.

We can do little more than give the title of a small poetical production, which has just come under our eye: Ontwa, the Son of the Forest, is a poem that, with singular inequalities, discovers passages of striking beauty and power. Founded on traditionary story, its air of native strength and wildness is well preserved, bearing much of the character which Chateaubriand applies to Attala, that it was written in the desert, and under the huts of savages. It has singular merit in the fidelity of its descriptions, and the picturesque and lively force of delineating some aboriginal scenes and manners. But, as a sus tained and regular whole, it must certainly be pronounced deficient.

The Geological Society has just published a half volume of valuable Transactions, being the commencement of a new series. It contains the following papers. On the Geology of the southern coast of England, from Bridport to Babbacombe bay, Devonshire; by H. T. De la Beche, esq. On the Bagshot Sand; by Henry Warburton, esq. On a Freshwater Formation in Hordwell

Cliff;

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Cliff; by Mr. Webster. On Glen Tilt; by Dr. M'Culloch. On the Excavation of Vallies by Diluvian Action; by the Rer. Professor Buckland. On the Genera Ichthyosaurns and Plesiosaurus; by the Rev. W. Conybeare, Outline of the Geology of Russia; by the Hon. William T. H. Fox Strangways. On the Geology of the Coast of France, Departement de la Seine Inferieure; by H. T. De la Beche, esq. On the Valley of the Sutluj in the Himalaya Mountains; by H. T. Colebrooke, esq. On the Geology of the North Eastern Border of Bengal; by H. T. Colebrooke, esq. with various other papers and notices, the whole illustrated by twenty-four plates, maps, and sections, many of them coloured.

We forebore, in our last, to notice a meteoric production called the Liberal, because we imagined it would soon be forgotten; but, as a second number is announced, we consider it respectful to our readers to bestow a few words on its extraordinary character. We do not wonder at the bitterness with which a malignant turn-coat, who outrages all decency in a certain right-infamous Review, is treated; but we lament that good education, superior talents, and gentlemanly character, should be so abused as they are by all the parties in these personal controversies. It forms a new era in literature, and the printing-press is now become the recognized vehicle of the scurrility of St. Giles's. The moral sense of the public seems, too, to be so vitiated, that works sell in the proportion in which they are filled with personal abuse, and whose chief characteristics are their undisguised arrogance, egotism, and intolerance. cannot be right, yet each writes as though he were endowed with omniscient authority over all other men, and as though the rest of the world could think only through his majesty. He who began such a contest is unquestionably the most culpable of the set; but silent contempt would have been his surest punishment,

Both

Sir GILBERT BLANE, the father, or nearly so, of the medical profession, and perhaps, also, of more than one Royal Society, has presented to the world the results of forty years' active and able practice, in a volume of Select Dissertations. We looked into it with anxiety, as likely to exhibit the standard opinions of the day, and we have not been disappointed. As ours is not medical work, we shall be excused from entering into details in regard to his medical opinions, which, as founded on experience, merit general respect; but of his philosophy we take the liberty to annex some specimens and remarks. The following is one of the most extraordinary passages ever put forth in a philosophical production. He has been speaking of contagion, and, after some trifling, he arrives at this conclusion:-"The

truth is, that it has pleased Almighty God in his mercy to smite only a certain proportion of those exposed either to the one or the other, and many of them in a degree short of fatality, otherwise the human species might be extinguished."-We were curious to see in his Croonian Lecture his observations on matter and motion, and they will astonish all who have made them selves acquainted with the new doctrines on these simple subjects:-"Every species of matter has a mode of aggregation peen. liar to itself, when its particles are at liberty to attract each other according to that tendency which has been called their polarity. Those who first conceived this idea, seemed to have proceeded on the supposition of the ultimate particles of matter being solid bodies, infinitely hard, having their different sides endowed with different powers of attraction and repul sion, so as to give various configurations to the parts of matter, when concreting into a solid form. There is a still more profound doctrine (profound indeed!) on this subject, founded on the hypothesis of the ultimate particles of matter being combinations of attracting and repelling points, which, when brought much within the natural limits of these powers, produce unequal degrees of attraction and repulsion at equal distances from their common cen tre; thereby defining what may be called the shape of the particles, and constituting polarity. We cannot trace, by inspection, the manner in which the fluid nutritious matter is ultimately applied in forming solid parts; but, as muscles are composed of parts so regularly figured and endowed with contractility, it seems probable that there is some provision made by Nature, whereby the particles follow the precise tendency of their polarity, and constitute a more exquisite structure than in other parts of the body" How truly pro found! His discoveries in regard to motion are equally wonderful:-"So far as we know, either from actual observation or from analogy, there does not exist in nature any such thing as absolute rest: for, when we contemplate the motions of the earth and heavenly bodies, the various complications of the planetary revolutions in their rotation round their own axes, and in the paths of their orbits, in the ir regularities arising from the disturbances of their mutual gravitation, and from the precession of the equinoxes, not to mention the influence of the innumerable sidereal systems upon each other, it may be affirmed, on incontestible principles, that no particle of matter ever was, or will be, for two instants of time, in the same place; and that no particle of it ever has returned, or will return, to any one point of absolute space which it has ever formerly occupied. Whether motion, there fore, can strictly be called an essential

property

property of matter or not, it is certainly, by the actual constitution of nature, ori. ginally and indefeasibly impressed upon it; and as rest does not exist in nature, but may be considered, in a vulgar sense, as a fallacy of the senses, and, in a philosophiral sense, as an abstraction of the mind, it follows that what is called the vis inertia of matter is not a resistance to a change from rest to motion, or from motion to rest, but a resistance to acceleration or retardation, or to change of direction." He rises into the sublimity of philosophical superstition when he treats about attraction and repulsion. "The active nature of matter (says he) is farther proved by those attractions and repulsions which universally take place among its parts, however near or remote; and every instance of motion within the cognizance of our senses, in the bodies around is, is referrible, either in itself or its cause, to some mode of attraction or repulsion. Mechanical impulse being the most familiar cause of motion in the ordinary events of life, is apt to be considered as the most simple and original cause of it; but it is obvioas, upon reflection, that it cannot originate in itself, and that all collisions are produced either by the efficiency of living animals, that is, by muscular action, or by means of some operation of nature, depending on attraction or repulsion.-Attraction and repulsion may be considered as one principle, inasmuch as they are both expressive of that active state originally inherent in matter, and because any two particles acting upon each other either attract or repel, according to their distance, their temperature and affinities; and this is so universal an agent in nature, that some modern philosophers have made it absorb, as it were, every other power and property of matter. The late Father Boscovich, of Milan, about forty years ago, advanced a very bold doctrine to this effect, alleging with great strength of argument, illustrated by geometrical reasoning, that there does not exist in nature any such thing as impenetrable extended particles; and he deduces all the phenomena of the material world from one principle, which supposes it constituted of points having several spheres of attraction and repulsion, which, being variously arranged and combined, produce the differ ent forms and properties of matter, and its several powers of attraction, whether chemical affinity, cohesion, or gravitation. Whether this hypothesis is founded in truth or not, it would appear, from the reasonings made use of, that all the relative properties of matter may be account ed for, though we abstract from every other consideration but attraction and repulsion."--We wonder, as the learned doctor is so fond of quoting authorities, that he did not rather, with Sir H. Davy,

adopt the Cartesian doctrines of rotatory atoms in the formation of expansive gases,

a doctrine which explains all the phenomena without the absurd agency of attrac tion and repulsion. In truth, though every page of this work proves the author to be a most able experimental practitioner, yet he is the sorriest philosopher we ever met with, and his doctrines can have no credit out of the Royal Societies, of which, we have no doubt, he is a very distinguished member.

JOHN GAGE, esq. F.S.A. of Lincoln'sInn, has recently published the History and Antiquities of Hengrave, in Suffolk, a work containing many curious particulars relating to various periods of our historical annals, and to the characters and possessions of its owners. In this very cir cumstantial account of the foundation, progress, and changes incident to many of our old English halls,-of which few accounts have escaped the wreck of time,— we think we are to look for the chief attractions and interest of Mr. G.'s very able and interesting researches. He is entitled to all praise for the accuracy and extent of his historical and antiquarian labours, discovering every existing information applicable to the subject in which he was engaged. We have a singular catalogue of the goods and chattels of Sir Thomas Kytson, taken after his death, by regular appraisers, in 1603, with a rare inventory of "Instrewments and Bookes of Musicke preserved in the Chamber where ye Musicyons playe," giving us a high opinion of the knight's elegant and luxurious taste and establishment at the period in which he flourished. We are sorry we cannot give even a specimen of them here; as well as the list of original portraits, old books, and "tyrants in tapestry," with which the walls of many of our old mansions used to abound. There follows a lively description of the beauties of Hengrave, of the hall, and of the ancient church, whose antiquity, from its circular towers, is judged to be very remote, being no longer appropriated to religious purposes, and serving only as a family repository of mortal remains, mouldering together with the last vestiges of its architectural form. From the monument, however, which he discovered, Mr. G. has contrived to give us several beautiful plates; and the tombs of Margaret countess of Bath, and of Sir Thomas Kytson the younger, are of a splendid and magnificent kind. We have also a very amusing history of the old lords of the manor; Hengrave, in the time of the Confessor Edward, being part of the territory of St. Edmond, which we learn from Dugdale arose from a very unusual stretch of the sacred prerogative, belonging to the abbot of blessed memory. It appears that in the twelfth century the manor was granted by the monks of that

powerful

powerful community to Leo de Hemmergrave, and it continued in his hands, and in those of his successors, for more than 200 years. Henry, the unfortunate Duke of Buckingham, succeeded long after, but had scarcely taken possession, when both life and estates were torn from him by Richard III. and conferred on some more pleasing favourite, As we have no space to lay before our readers any portion of the Hengrave papers contained in the work, we trust it will have the effect only of inspiring a desire of reading and consulting them in the original.

A publication, entitled Essays, by Father FITZ-EUSTACE, is in our opinion of a very indifferent and equivocal sort of character. Though we do not look for great depth of thought, extent of reasoning, or profound learning, in a work modestly ushered in under the unpretending form of "Essays," yet we have a right to expect a degree of clearness and meaning, in efforts however trifling and amusing. These qualities we are here at a loss to discover. We cannot think the author has succeeded in his professed object to amuse, much less to inform the understanding. How he could suppose, indeed, he should amuse us by treating important subjects in a style of obscurity and levity, is really beyond our comprehension. Of this we have numerous examples in treating on "the Formation of Political Society," "the Political Character of James I. of Scotland," "the Moral and Political Causes of the Downfall of the Roman Empire;" the whole written in a tone of common-place and studied frivolity.

We must not, in justice to the students of mineralogical and geological science, omit to notice a very useful and clever lit the work, by Mr, J. MAWE, consisting of Familiar Lessons on Mineralogy and Geology. As a compendium, embracing many of the important discoveries which have marked the progress of the science within the last twenty years, calculated to encourage young beginners to proceed fur ther into the theoretical and practical branches of geological knowledge, it can not fail to prove a valuable acquisition. They will perceive that whatever wonder, ful additions have of late repaid the unwearied labours and enquiries of our Eng. lish geologists, such a science is still increasing, and likely to increase, both in its acquisitions and importance. Mr, M, is the author, also, of another valuable treatise, entitled, "Instructions for the Management of the Blow-pipe, and Chemical Tests."

We think that the students and admirers of oriental languages and literature will feel themselves indebted to the philological labours of Mr. B. Babington, of the Madras Civil Service, who has lately published a Tale in the Tumul Language, contain

ing the Adventures of the Gooroo Para martan, accompanied by a translation and vocabulary, together with an analysis of the first story. The original appears to have been written by Father Besche, a Jesuit missionary, about the year 1700, The author possessed the advantage of an intimate acquaintance with the Tamal dialects, as well as of the Sanscrit, the Teloogoo, the Hindostanee, and the Persian. Owing to these attainments, he was advanced to the office of Divan, under the celebrated Chunda Labeb, nabob of Trichinopoly. The tale of the Gooroo Paramartan seems to have been chosen rather for the information it afforded in regard to the Tamul language, than for any inherent merits, which we are at a loss to discover, There are occasional traces, also, of the hand of a foreigner,—a Jesuit and an Italian. The adventures of Gooroo Paramartan, alias Noodle, together with his five disciples, Blockhead, Simpleton, Ideot, Dunce, and Fool, certainly furnish our Jesuit very fair game, on which to exercise his Christian talents; and, should the faith of the Tamul priesthood have received a fair interpretation at the Mis sionary's hands, we are quite of opinion that it might fall to pieces even before the argumentative battery of a Catholic,

ANTIQUITIES.

Ancient Unedited Monuments, principally of Grecian Art; by James Millingen, esq. F.A,S, 11, 10s,

ASTRONOMY.

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A New Theory of the Heavenly Motions, &c. in three dialogues. 8vo. $s. BIBLIOGRAPHY,

A Catalogue of Books for 1823, now on sale by James Rusher Reading.

BIOGRAPHY.

The Life of the Rev. Arthur O'Leary, &c, &c, including much Historical Anec dote, Memoirs, and many unpublished Documents, illustrative of the Condition of the Irish Catholics during the Eighteenth Century; by the Rev. T. R. England, Sve, with portrait. 12s. boards.

The fifth edition of Napoleon in Exile. 2 vol. 8vo, 11. 8s.

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The Life and Adventures of John Nicol, Mariner. 12mo. 5s. 6d,

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CLASSICS.
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-EDUCATION.

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Exercises for writing Greek Verses; by the Rev. E. Squire, M.A. 78.

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Time's Telescope; or the Astronomer's,

Botanist's,

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