be turned out of any decent house, on this side of the water, for his impertinence, is virtually made the hero of the piece! He is, to be sure, endowed with many commendable qualities of the heart, by the bounty of the author, but we cannot get over the absurdity of obtruding such a spectator upon the privacy of fashionable ladies, and placing him upon the familiar footing of confidential adviser to his master, in the delicate scrupulosities of love. If this were possible, we could never forgive his listening and peeping. As for the picture of persons of quality, Miss Edgeworth may exhibit her countrymen and countrywomen as she pleases, but we must be excused for thinking better of civilization than to believe that it can produce effects so widely different on the opposite shores of the Atlantic. The last of these dramas is called the Rose, Thistle and Shamrock. The scene is here changed again to Ireland. This play has more of a story to it than either of the others. Some superficial national traits are displayed with considerable strength of expression. We may add, too, that the denouement, though discernible afar off, is not in this drama so minutely anticipated as in the first, nor is it so improbable as in the second. To judge from this specimen of her dramatic talent, we think Miss Edgeworth was wise in so long resisting solicitation to write for the stage,-weak in volunteering in its service. E. Vindication of the captors of Major Andre. New-York, Kirk and Mercein, 12mo. pp. 100. The object of this publication, as its title purports, is to clear the captors of Major Andre from some imputations cast upon them in the course of a debate in Congress, during its last session, on an application of John Paulding for an increase of pension. It contains an abstract of that debate; the affidavit of Isaac Van Wart and his neighbours, with some crude remarks of Mr. Gardenier, the editor of the New York Courier, on the subject; the affidavit of Paulding; a communication published in the Gleaner; extracts of letters from Gen. Washington to the President of Congress in relation to the circumstances of Andre's capture; the trial, and condemnation of Andre and the correspondence growing out of it: the doings of Congress in regard to Paulding, Williams, and Van Wart; the very eloquent letter of Gen. Hamilton, written immediately after the execution of AnVOL. 1. NO. v. dre, and a very clumsy and disingenuous commentary on the whole affair by the compiler. E. History of the late war in the Western Country, comprising a full account of all the transactions in that quarter from the commencement of hostilities at Tippecanoe, to the termination of the contest at New Orleans on the return of peace. Lexington (Ky.) Worsley and Smith, 8vo. pp. 534. Those qualities which make the best patriot are the worst ingredients that can enter into the composition of a historian. An ardent and exclusive attachment to one's country, and to one's own section of it, a determined faith in the moral and physical pre-eminence of its citizens to all other people and kindred, an utter incredulity to whatever might militate in any point with this hypothesis, and an unbounded capacity of belief for every thing that favours it, are excellent traits in a partisan, but unpromising indications in an annalist. We give full credit to the sincerity of the author of this history, and however his partialities may have led him to view facts, do not suspect him of voluntarily warping them. Our limits will not allow us to enter into a particular examination of the military details of the work, nor have we materials at hand for the purpose. It is rather too summary a way of judging of the merits of enterprises, to decide on them solely by the event. In this book every failure is imputed to inefficience, and every success to extraordinary skill and prowess. We hardly know which is most prejudicial, such praise or such condemnation. Mr. M'Affee, for such we find is the name of the writer of this history, has evinced too great an inclination to attri bute all meritorious services to the Kentuckians. They undoubtedly are entitled to great praise for their readiness in meeting the consequences of a war which they had advocated. But they were not the only portion of our citizens who exhibited consistency or courage. We do not however so much reproach him for ascribing honourable actions to the Kentuckians as for detracting from the claims of the militia of other states, and of the U. S. troops. It was perhaps impossible for one who had taken an active interest in a contest of so peculiar a character, to divest himself on a sudden of the feelings which he had thought it laudable to cherish. With proper allowances for recent irritation and local predilections, we may 3 E The Home in the West, a Poem, delivered at Dartmouth College, July 4, 1817. By a Member of the Junior Class. 24mo. pp. 19. This poem is written in the anapastic measure, with the proximate lines rhyming. There are four feet in the verse. This measure is ill calculated for a piece of any length, and only tolerable when the rhymes alternate. There is a monotony in the anapæstic movement that soon tires. It should be confined to songs. To have selected it for a performance of this nature is an evidence of juvenility. Nor is it a solitary indication. But as the production of an infant muse, and written with involuntary precipitancy, we are not inclined to treat it with harshness. It will, however, be of service to the author to point out some of his faults. The first of these is his obscurity, which has arisen, manifestly, in a great degree from want of distinctness in his own mind. To some passages we can attach no meaning. Besides this, we have to reprehend his awkward and unauthorized transpositions, his unemphatic reduplications, and the introduction of familiarly colloquial and most unpoetic phrases. Were we to descend to particulars, we might point out many other defects, which we attribute rather to want of practice than to want of talent. Had we not discerned something of the latter in this poem, we should not have thought it worth while to make it the subject of remark. We trust that the writer, who has shown his discretion in not affixing his name to a work of which, hereafter, as a whole, he will not be vain, will improve upon our hints. To atone for our seeming severity, we will make an extract which may counteract any unfavourable impression. The poet contrasts his own country with those which have been fam'd in history. True! here are no remnants of greatness that's No atoms of grandeur gone down to the dead, No arches of triumph frown lofty and proud, death, When the shell of the Troubadour swell'd its loud breath, No sunk Druid columns, and on them unstrung No helmets and shields rustle on the dark walls, And hold a contention to touch the blue sky, ters that spring, Are as soft and as soothing as wild bird may Where innumerous rills the proud mountain for- sake, lalke, The eremite seas, in seclusion, that pour flowers Be nobler in tint or in relish, than ours? E. A sermon delivered in the city of Raleigh, at the administration of the Lord's Supper, Nov. 10, 1816. By Joseph Caldwell, D. D. Professor of Mathematics in the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Raleigh. A. Lucas. 12mo. pp. 33. This is an extremely well written practical discourse. The author does not conceal his own tenets, which are rigidly orthodox, whilst he inculcates a spirit of charity by which true religion always commends itself, but which is too often forgotten in fanatical zeal. E. Harrington, a Tale, and Ormond, a Tale, by Maria Edgeworth. Van Winkle & Wiley. 2 vols. 12mo. pp. 600. An Analysis of the Mineral Waters of Saratoga and Ballston, containing some general remarks on their use in various diseases, together with observations on the Geology and Mineralogy of the surrounding country. By Doctor John H. Steel, Resident at the Springs. Albany, E. & E. Hosford. 12mo. pp. 94. This is a book from which all who visit the watering places will derive both instruction and entertainment. Doctor Steel has given a good account of Saratoga, Ballston, and the vicinity, and appears to have conducted his Chemical Analysis of the mineral waters on just principles, and with due circumspection. His remarks on the medicinal use of the waters are judicious. The work is printed with good taste and in a convenient form. Nothing is more awkward or uncomfortable than the thin octavos which have become so fashionable among our booksellers of late. E. Armata: A Fragment. New-York, James Eastburn & Co. 12mo. pp. 210. This book is an attempt, in the way of a supposed case, to give an account of the rise, progress, and actual condition of the English constitution, together with a sketch of the character and manners of the people, and the present situation and prospects of the British nation. For the sake of effect, the author has thought it expedient to suppose a nation, in some remote and hitherto unknown part of the habitable creation, but in all respects of constitution, character, policy and condition, exactly like the British, about which he might speak freely, and from which, by means of the striking manner in which he would be able to present to his readers the various crises in its history, and the eventful character of its present situation, he might draw impressive lessons, and forcibly inculcate what he conceives to be the principles and policy which alone can save the nation. To this end, the author represents that he sailed from New-York, on the 6th of September, 1814, in the good ship Columbia; that he was bound to China, via. New South Wales; that the voyage was very prosperous, until the 10th of February, when an awful storm arose, and the ship, by the violence of the wind and the stroke of lightning, was left a sparless hulk. The ship drifted, in this forlorn condition, at the merey of the wind and waves, until the 16th of March, 1815, when on a sudden, in the midst of a bright morning, she approached a region of the sea, overhung by a dark cloud, that shed a fearful darkness around, and where the waters were "convulsed into whirlpools" as they were horne against and among the rocks by a current of supernatural velocity. This current, which was produced by compression, seemed to lead directly from all known seas; its entrance, between two frowning precipices, was very narrow, and it continued on, between boundaries of rocks about fifty yards apart, without any dimunition of its velocity, or one jot of deviation from a right line, for the distance of 70,000 miles. To perform this passage, required only three months and two days, such was the rapidity of the current, and on the 18th of June, our au thor and his fellow-voyagers found themselves "suddenly emerging into a wide sea as smooth as glass, the heavens above twinkling with stars," some of which he remembered to have seen in the world which he had lately left, while some were new to him, and the moon, which was riding through the sky in great splendour, seemed much nearer and larger than he had ever seen it before. The smoothness of the new sea did not continue long, however,-another storm arose, and the vessel soon struck on a sunken rock and went to pieces,-the author jumped into the sea and seized á plank; before he reached the shore he became senseless, (some perhaps might think he was so from the beginning,) and it seems when he recovered, he found himself on a rock, over which the sea spray was dashing, and surrounded by an immense multitude of people, whose. speech he could not understand. At length an individual approached, to whom the multitude paid reverence, and who, to his great surprise and joy, addressed him in English, and with great kindness. This man's name is Morven, and from him the author receives his account of the island of Armata. After Morven has given a history of the people of Armata, by whom it is at once perceived that the British are intended, and stated the difficulties under which they are labouring, he asks the opinion and advice of the author upon the subject,--and then it is that we come at the object, for which the book seems to have been written. But the author after all teaches us but little. His invention seems to have been exhausted in contriving his fiction and running his parallel between Armata and Britain,and nearly all he has done,by way of instruction, is to state the grievances of the nation, and the embarassments into which every branch of industry is thrown, and then say they ought to be removed,indicating generally the remedies, without illustrating the manner in which they should be applied. He seems to find most fault with the corn lass, and the importation of wool. In regard to the fictitious voyage, we do not perceive why the author should set sail from New-York, and in the good ship Columbia, when it is obvious he intends to represent, by the current that bore him to Armata, the vigour and enthusiasm of the British nation, produced by the dangers by which it has been surrounded during the late momentous conflicts, and by Armata itself, the condition into which that nation has been brought by her preternatural efforts. On the whole, the book is quite a fragment, exhibiting but little ingenuity, and illustrating clearly no important political truths; and we are unwilling to believe that report is correct in ascribing it to the pen of Lord Erskine. L. A Dissertation, exhibiting a general view of the progress of Mathematical and Physical Science, since the revival of Letters in Europe. By John Playfair, Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, &c. &c. Boston, Wells & Lilly. 1817. pp. 197. Though the main object of this dissertation be to give a history of the progress of mathematical and physical Science from the time of the revival of letters, yet it also contains a brief but comprehensive view of the discoveries andinventions of the ancients in these departments of knowledge, and the condition in which they descended to the moderns. In the progress of the work, the learned author not only gives an account of the successive discoveries and theories, which have finally brought the knowledge of nature and its laws to its present elevated and advanced state, but also discusses the principles on which the theories have been founded, and explains the obstacles which science has had to encounter from the prejudices of ignorance and the jealousy of power. To those who have any acquaintance with the reputation of the author it will not be necessary to say that he has executed his task with admirable skill. L. The Prophetic History of the Christian Religion Explained; or a brief Exposition of the Revelation of St. John; ac-cording to a new discovery of prophetical times, by which the whole chain of prophecies is arranged, and their certain completion proved from history, down to the present period-with summary views of those not accomplished. By J. George Schmucker, Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, in York-Town, Pennsylvania. Vol. I. Tempora distingue, et concordat Domini Verbum. Baltimore. Schaeffer & Maund. 8vo. pp. 265. The second volume will make its appearance shortly. ART. 15. MATHEMATICAL LUCUBRATIONS. **For want of proper types, we are obliged to omit the two remaining questions for this month. We have every disposition to encourage domestic manufactures, and shall be happy to learn that there is a type foundry in this country that can furnish a complete font, of the various kinds of letter, with the French accents and characters, and the mathematical signs. To such an establishment we will lend all the patronage and influence that we possess. We have too many half-way expedients in this country. We wish to see what is done, well done. The prize for the best solution of each prize question, will be a set of the Magazine for the year, from its commence ment. ART. 16. REPORT OF DISEASES TREATED AT THE PUBLIC DISPENSARY, NEW-YORK, DURING THE MONTH OF JULY, 1817. ACUTE DISEASES. FEBRIS Intermittens, (Intermittent Fever,) 3; Febris Remittens, (Remittent Fever,) 2; Synocha, (Inflammatory Fe) 1; Febris Continua, (Continued Fe ver,) 8; Ephemera, (Ephemeral Fever,) 1; Febris Infantum Remittens,(Infantile Remittent Fever,) 19; Phlegmone, (Inflammation,) 1 ; Inflammatio testium, 2; Ophthalmia acuta, (Acute Inflammation of the Eyes,)7; Pharyngitis Acuta, (Acute Inflammation of the Pharynx,) 1; Cynanche Parotidæa, (Mumps,) 1; Catarrhus, (Catarrh,) 1; Pneumonia, (Inflammation of the Chest,) 6; Mastitis, (Inflammation of the Female Breast,) 1; Gastritis, (Inflammation of the Stomach,) 1; Hepatitis, (Inflammation of the Liver,) 1; Rheumatismus Acutus, (Acute Rheumatism,) 3; Hæmoptysis, (Spitting of Blood,) 1; Cholera, 43; Dysenteria, (Dysentery,) 12; Palpitatio, (Palpitation of the Heart,) 1; Convulsio, (Convulsions,) 2; Hydrocephalus, (Dropsy of the Brain,) 2; Erysipelas, (St. Anthony's Fire,) 2; Roseola, 1; Miliaria Estiva, 2; Uticaria, (Nettle Rash,) 2; Aphtha, (Thrush,) 1; Vaccinia, (Kine Pock,)15; Morbi Infantiles, (Infantile Diseases,) 3. CHRONIC AND LOCAL DISEASES. Asthenia, (Debility,) 3; Vertigo, 7; Cephalalgia, (Head-uch,) 7; Dyspepsia, (Indigestion,) 18; Vomitus, (Vomiting,) 3; Gastrodynia, (Pain in the Stomach,) 6; Enterodynia, (Pain in the Intestines,) 5; Colica, (Colic,) 4; Obstipatio, (Costiveness,) 20; Icterus, (Jaundice,) 1; Hypochondriasis, 1; Hysteria, (Hysterics,) 1; Syncope, (Fainting,) 1; Paralysis Manûs, (Palsy of the Hand,) 1; Paralysis, (Palsy,) 2; Trismus, (Locked-Jaw,) 1; Epilepsia, (Epilepsy,) 2; Rheumatismus Chronicus, (Chronic Rheumatism,) 8; Pleurodynia, 8; Lumbago, 3; Ophthalmia Chronica, (Chronic Inflammation of the Eyes,) 8; Pharyngitis Chronica, (Chronic Inflammation of the Throat,) 4; Bronchitis Chronica, (Chronic Inflammation of the Bronchia,) 8; Asthma et Dyspnoea, (Asthma and Difficult Breathing,) 2; Phthisis Pulmonalis, (Consumption of the Lungs,)7; Hæmoptysis, (Spitting of Blood,) 2; IIæmatemesis, (Vomiting of Blood,) 1; Diarrhoea, 25; Leucorrhea, 2; Amenorrhea, 4; Plethora, 13; Anasarca, (Dropsy,) 1; Edema Cruris et Femoris, 1; Ascites, (Dropsy of the Abdomen,) 2; Scrophula, (King's Evil,) 2; Tabes Mesenterica, 2; Verminatio, (Worms,) 21; Hernia, 2; Syphilis, 7; Eruptio Veneria, 1; Urethritis, 5; Phymosis, 1; Paraphymosis, 1; Scirrhus testium, 1; Tumor 2; Staphyloma, 1; Dolor Facei, (Pain of the Face,1; Odontalgia, (Tooth-ach.)24; Paronychia,(Whitlow,) 1; Abscessus, (Abscess,) 1; Contusia (Bruise,) 8; Stremma, (Sprain,) 2; Vulnus, (Wound,) 6: Ulcus, (Ulcer,) 17; Ulcera Faucium," (Ulcers of the Throat,) 2:stio, (Burn,) 4; Aphtha, (Thrush,) 1; Morbi Cutanei, (Eruptions of the Skin,) 33. The weather during the greater part of July, has been unusually warin, and occasionally hot and oppressive. The mercu ry'in Fahrenheit's Thermometer once marked 87° at noon, in different shaded situations; and on twelve different days ranged from 80 to 86o. On five days of the month only, it was below 76°, at noon. The atmosphere, though sometimes moist, and obscured by louds or fogs, has been, generally speaking, clear, often serene, and seldom fanned by gust or wind, or agitated by thunder-showers. Southerly winds have greatly predominated. There was a considerable fall of rain, accompanied with thunder and lightning, on the night of the 7th; a heavy shower on the afternoon of the 20th; and another on the 23d, with some thunder. Lesser showers or gentle depositions of rain, occurred on the 8th, 9th, 12th, 18th, 21st, 25th, and 30th. Quantity of rain three inches 7-100. Highest temperature, 87°; lowest 58°; greatest diurnal variation 21°. Mean temperature at sunrise 66°, in the afternoon 78 1-2°, at sunset 75°. Greatest elevation of the mercury in the Barometer, 30 inches 36-100, on the 10th, wind N. moderate, clear: greatest depression, 29 inches 76-100, wind S. E. moderate, overcast. Considering the season, and the warmness of the weather, the city during this interval, may be pronounced to have been remarkably healthy. The number of deaths, indeed, amount, according to the New-York Bills of Mortality, to one-fifth more than for June;-but this numerical augmentation appears to have arisen not so much from an increase in the quantum, as from a change or transmutation of the character of diseases. The recurrence of certain trains of morbid action, as connected with different seasons of the year, must be obvious to every observing physician. We often see a renewal and succession of nearly the same kind of diseases year after year; and simultaneous with the decline of some particular class of disorders, we may many times date the rise and progress of another class of affections equally, or, perhaps, more numerous. This principle has been strikingly exemplified in the two last months. While there has been a gradual diminution of diseases of the inflammatory diathesis, there has taken place a proportional augmentation of those disorders of the primæ viæ, that are mostly peculiar to the summer heats, particularly cholera, dysentery, and diarrhœa. These have constituted a prominent feature in the history of the complaints of this month-and from their general prevalence may be said to have characterized the constitution of the season. Bilious vomiting has been an attending |