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Lindlay Murray. The sixteenth edition. With additions and elucidations, by James Abercrombie, D. D. director of the Philadelphia Academy; printed for that institution. Philadelphia. For the Booksellers.

Introduction to the English Reader, or a selection of pieces in Prose and Poetry, calculated to improve the younger class of learners in reading; and to imbue their minds with the love of virtue; with rules and observations for assisting children to read with propriety. By Lindley Murray, author of the English Grammar, &c. A new and improved edition, containing twenty pages new matter. New-York. Collins, Perkins & Co.

A Hint to Husbands; written by Richard Cumberland, Esquire. Price 25 cents. Baltimore. Dobbins & Co.

The Study and Practice of the Law, considered in their various relations to society, in a series of letters, by James Macintosh, Esq. now a judge of the supreme court of Bengal, in the East Indies. Price $2 50. Portland. J. B. Wait & Co.

A Letter to his royal highness the Prince of Wales, concerning his moral and political conduct. By Crito. Written at Islington, England, September 6, 1806. Price 183 cents. New-York. S. Gold.

Recollections of the Life of the late right honourable Charles James Fox; exhibiting a faithful account of the most remarkable events of his Political Career, and a delineation of his character as a Statesman, Senator, and Man of Fashion; comprehending numerous Anecdotes of his public and private life; and an accurate description of the ceremonies which took place at his Funeral in Westminster Abbey, on the 10th October, 1806. By B. C. Walpole, Esq. To which is added, the Character of Mr. Fox; by R, B. Sheridan, Esq. Price $1. New-York. E. Sargeant.

WORKS ANNOUNCED.

The following works are proposed to be published by subscriptlon; namely

Black's Lectures on the Elements of Chemistry, in three volumes. 8vo. price $7. bound. M. Carey, Philadelphia.

Robert Frazier's Journal from St. Louis in Louisiana, to the Pacific Ocean, in one vol. 8vo.

Hay's Female Biography, in 3 vols. 8vo. Two dollars ume. Birch & Small, Philadelphia.

per vol

Home's observations on the treatment of Ulcers on the Legs, &c. one vol. 8vo. Cady & Eells, New-London.

Lord Lyttleton's Letters, 1 vol. 8vo. Wright & Co. Troy. The editor of the Companion, in Baltimore, has announced his intention of Publishing a weekly literary paper, in an 8vo. form, to be entitled The Observer.

Sugden's Law of Venders and Purchasers of Estates, and an abridgement of the laws of Nisi Prius, are now printing for W. P. Farrand & Co. of Philadelphia.

Messrs. Collins Perkins & Co. have in the press a new edition of Murray's English Reader.

MONTHLY

REGISTER, MAGAZINE

AND

REVIEW,

OF THE

UNITED STATES.

FIRST SECTION.

THE WANDERER, NO. IV.

THE ARTS AND SCIENCES COMPATIBLE WITH FREEDOM.,

OF

(Continued from page 135. Vol. 2. No. 3.)

F the Athenians it was justly said by one, who was intimately acquainted with their national character:

66 Αλλα μεν ούτε εωφωνια τοσέτον διαφερεσιν Αθηναίοι των άλλων, ούτε σωματων μεγέθει και ρώμη, οσον ΦΙΛΟΤΙΜΙΑ, ήπερ μαλιστα παροξύνει προς τα καλά

και εντιμα.

دو

And it was this very ra, this love of public distinction, which prompted the Athenians to excel all other nations in the Arts and Sciences.

Consider, but for a moment, the absurd consequences to which the assertion, that the arts and sciences are incompatible with freedom, unavoidably leads. If so, they should be banished from the world; and all the memorials of elevated genius, and all the productions of polished invention, should be destroyed and annihilated. Then, should we hail the barbarians, that spread desolation over the shattered remains of the Roman empire, and drew the curtains of ignorance closely round about the western world, for many and many an age, as the benefactors and the saviours of mankind. Then, should we bow lowly down in adoration to the name of that VOL. II.

2 D

savage Omar, who doomed the libraries of Alexandria to the flames, and bless his sacred memory, in that he had swept away, in one indiscriminating devastation, the profound researches of the philosopher, and the lofty effusions of the bard; that he had destroyed the labours of the sage, and had obliterated the records of the historian; for all these bind the fetters of slavery upon the human race, and altho' they polish and adorn the links, yet do they not render the chains the less heavy for being gilded.-Man is only free while he is igno

rant.

But if all this be such idle nonsense and such contemptible declamation, that even children will laugh us to scorn for using it, we may contemplate man, with satisfaction and with complacency, as a being, possessed of faculties, whose expansibility and vigour are directly proportioned to their extent of cultivation, and progressively advancing towards a higher degree of perfection in the attainment of virtue, and the acquisition of knowledge. And we shall be convinced, that whatever has a tendency to soften and to refine, also, strengthens and invigorates, the human mind, and renders it more capapable of enjoying and of preserving the exalted and the inestimable blessings of liberty, and of independence.

A striking proof of the present diffusion of knowledge, and advancement of the human intellect, is, that we now seldom see any author so besotted and so servile as to write fawning, fulsome, adulatory dedications to what are called great men ; nor are the new discoveries in science often stamped with the name of a prince or a noble, unless that noble or prince happened to be the discoverer. This species of degradation, however, was very frequent in former times. Indeed, this is not the general mode of accounting for the fact; and many people fancy themselves very wise and very severe upon the great men of the present day, by lavishing an abundance of censure upon them for not patronizing men of letters. But the truth is, men of letters have, at last, learned their own strength; and find that by an appeal to the discernment of the public voice, and by trusting to the merit of their own works, they can do much better for themselves, than by eating the bread of dependence and drinking the water of slavery,

from an abject subservience to the whim and caprice of beings, whom, for the most part, ignorance and vice render contemptible, in spite of all the great advantages of wealth and of rank; which advantages, indeed, are so great, and so calculated to win upon the minds of most men, that a very moderate portion of virtue and of knowledge renders those in an exalted station objects of reverence, almost amounting to idolatry, in the eyes of the multitude.

We may, therefore, say, that the men of letters have relinquished the chains of a patron's bondage for the sure and the steady support of an enlightened and an independent public. If, indeed, the gilded butter-flies of our day had sufficient greatness of mind and loftiness of soul to become such patrons as was Cosmo de Medici, who, in affording protection to the architecture, painting, and sculpture, which then began to revive in Italy, set the great example to those, who by their rank and their riches could afford them effectual aid: it were no shame to receive a patron's assistance. The countenance shown by Cosmo de Medici to those arts, was not of that kind, which their professors generally experience from the great; it was not conceded as a bounty, nor received as a favour, but appeared in the friendship and equality, that subsisted between the artist and his patron.

I am happy to have it in my power to refer to an instance of patronage, in our own time, which may justly claim an equality of praise with that of Cosmo, or of his more magnificent son, Lorenzo de Medici. I allude to the protection and the friendship of the late Earl of Grosvenor for Mr. Gifford, the well known author of the Baviad and Mæviad;-the inimitable translator of Juvenal;-a gentleman, whom every wise and every good man must admire and love, for the extent and the depth of his erudition,—the poignancy of his satire,— the sportiveness of his wit,-the refinement of his taste,—the frequent flashings of his imagination,-the soundness of his. philosophy,—the correctness of his political principles,—the tenderness of his heart,-the benevolence of his disposition,and all the amiable characteristics of his private life,—his every nobler virtue,-his every polished grace.

Mr. Gifford, in his very interesting, but too brief, (-for

we all wish to know as much as possible of the scholar, that has corrected the taste, and adorned the literature of his age,) account of himself, thus relates the commencement of his acquaintance with his noble patron.

"I had contracted an acquaintance with a person of the name of -, recommended to my particular notice by a gentleman of Devonshire, whom I was proud of an opportunity to oblige. This person's residence at Oxford was not long, and when he returned to town, I maintained a correspondence with him by letters. At his particular request, these were inclosed in a cover, and sent to Lord Grosvenor: one day I inadvertently omitted the direction, and his Lordship, necessarily supposing it to be meant for himself, opened and read it. There was something in it which attracted his notice; and when he gave the letter to my friend, he had the curiosity to inquire about his correspondent at Oxford; and, upon the answer he received, the kindness to desire he might be brought to see him upon his coming to town; to this circumstance, purely accidental on all sides, and to this alone, I owe my introduction to that nobleman."

"On my first visit, he asked me what friends I had, and what were my prospects in life; and I told him, that I had no friends, and no prospects of any kind. He said no more; but when I called to take leave, previous to returning to college, I found that this simple exposure of my circumstances had sunk deep into his mind. At parting, he informed me, that he charged himself with my present support, and future establishment: and that till this last could be effected to my wish, I should come and reside with him. These were not words of course: they were more than fulfilled in every point. I did go and reside with him; and I experienced a warm and cordial reception, a kind and affectionate esteem, that has known neither diminution nor interruption, from that hour to this, a period of twenty years!”"

"In his lordship's house, I proceeded with Juvenal, till I was called upon to accompany his son, (one of the most amiable and accomplished young noblemen, that this country, fertile in such characters, could ever boast) to the continent. With him, in two successive tours, I spent many years: years, of which the remembrance will always be dear to me, from the recollection that a friendship was then contracted, which time, and a more intimate knowledge of each other, have mellowed into a regard, that forms at once the pride and happiness of my life."

Mr. Giff rd has perpetuated his affection and gratitude to the, then, Lord Belgrave, now Earl of Grosvenor, in the following verses, taken from his Mæviad, a satire, which most effectually silenced the hissing, and cackling, and gabbling of those della Cruscan Geese, which put all literature into a fright, some few years since in Britain.

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