When time has crown'd the head with fnow,
Within the cheering flame will glow.

Then fhould we ftrive with watchful art
To quell each rebel of the heart;
To wifdom's rule our wills incline ;-
Her ways with peace and pleasure shine.

Thus

may we here that bliss enjoy, Which time nor fate can e'er destroy, And taste thofe heavenly streams above, Whofe fountain is eternal love.

ALCANDER.

ELEGY,

ON THE DEATH OF A YOUNG FRIEND.
AH death, couldft thou no worthless victim find,
Nor one, whose wintry locks proclaim'd his years,
That thou didst feize the youth of generous mind,
Whofe modeft worth his memory endears?

Might not the caftle, tottering in the air,`
Have been o'erthrown thy fury to affuage?
Why need the fabric newly built and fair,
Be swept away by thy impetuous rage?

Behold yon noxious weeds, that fmile around,

And by a waste of dews and fun-beams shine!
Might not thy fcythe have cut them to the ground,
And fpar'd the garden's pride, the healthful vine?

I know thee well, thou tyrant of the grave!
Full many a time I've mark'd thy paffing bier;
Nor youth nor virtue from thy grafp can save,
Both fall before thee in thy mad career.

"My mad career?" (I heard the monster cry,
While ftill my lips were murm'ring for the youth,)
"I'm but the viceroy of the King on high;
And his commands are righteousness and truth."

W.

SONNET.

HOW fair the scene, that ftruck the fight
Of him, the father of our race;
When firft the fun display'd his light,
And fhew'd the charms of nature's face.

But, oh! what terror pain'd his heart,
When evening's shade obfcur'd the day,
Bade ev'ry blooming fcene depart,
And fnatch'd the glorious orb away.

So I, when genial friendship fhone,
Beheld her smile, with gay delight;
But now, alas, no joy is known,

Since the has fled to cheerless night.

The deep'ning gloom I view with mournful pain,
And dare not hope the light will rife again.

ALCANDER..

Selected.

INSCRIPTION

OVER A CALM AND CLEAR SPRING.

From the late Collection of Poems by T. WARTON, B. D.

HERE quench your thirst, and mark in ME

An emblem of true Charity;

Who, while my bounty I bestow,

Am neither heard nor seen to flow;
Yet bounteously repaid by Heav'n

For every drop of water given.

REMARKS ON NEW PUBLICATIONS.

A BRIEF Retrofpe&t of the Eighteenth Century, part first, in two vols. containing a sketch of the revolutions and improvements in fcience, arts, and literature, during that period, by SAMUEL MILLAR, A. M. one of the Miniflers of the United Prefbyterian Churches in the city of New-York.-T. & J. SWORDS.-New-York.

WHEN

HEN Dodfley first published the "Annual Register" in Great Britain, the critical reviewers made only this laconic remark; "Africaffe of newspapers." By the fkill and labour, however, of the literary cooks, who prepared the entertainment, a rich repast was provided, and we now fet down to it, affured of enjoying a feaft of reafon, compofed of the fruits of knowledge. There have been other collections of effays, or compila-. tions, of which many have defervedly funk into neglect, while a few still remain, which fuit the taste of individuals, and are much admired. A retrospect of the learned labours of authors, the inventions, improvements, and schemes of fpeculative men, will be a work like a compilation, although the title be novel, and the view combined with many critical obfervations of the writer. Mr. Millar, in the preface to his " Retrospect of the Eighteenth Century," claims more than the character of a compiler, and, in our opinion, with much propriety. He has offered his own reflections and reasoning, and given an historical sketch, which none but a man of genius could do fo well, and which more experience, study and care, we doubt not, will make still better, in the future editions of his useful work. We here fee the effufions of a candid and comprehenfive mind, which, though untrained to a regular study of the fciences, has acquired very confiderable knowledge from habits of reading, in the intervals of profeffional employment; and ftill more, from converfation and intercourse with the world. He comes forward a young author, but a voluminous one, in this part of the world, where we feldom find a book of ample materials, written by an American, and receiving the public patronage; notwithstanding pamphlets full of zeal in politics and religion, grammars of all Vol. I. No. 5.

FF

kinds, effays of fmaller fize and note, are scattered over the country with an unfparing hand.

But we may well fuppofe, that a book, which treats on fuch a variety of fubjects, and which contains the centurial account of every science, will be in many respects fuperficial; and, that one author is not equal to the attempt. Mr. Millar feems fully fenfible of this, and difcovers a folicitude, which shows, that modest worth may be united with fine abilities. We honour his frankness, when, in his apology for the book, he says:

"It is probable, that one of the first reflections made by most readers of the following pages, will be, that the plan is too extenfive to be executed by any individual; and that it was peculiarly prefumptuous in one of comparatively small reading, and who could not obtain access to ample libraries, to undertake fuch a work. The author feels the juftness and weight of this reflection; and is fenfible, that to present a full and fatisfactory view of any one of the departments embraced by this Retrospect, would be a task beyond his powers; would afford abundant employment for a mind much more mature, active and enlightened than his.”

A question naturally occurs, why then fhould a man undertake it? Ought we not to feel conscious of our ability to perform a thing, before we attempt it?

The author gives an answer to this interrogation, which, if not quite fatisfactory, nevertheless interefts us in his behalf. They who read the whole will not have their expectations fruftrated, if they have not raised them beyond what he promises; and we think he has done as much, as we can expect from any individual in the fame number of pages; or, in other words, that there is as complete a mafs of information collected, without making a discrimination between what he has taken from others, and what is peculiarly his own.

We have no hesitation in saying, that whoever attentively reads this work may be well acquainted with the improvements in fcience and literature, which have been made during the laft century.

In these two volumes, which are only One Part of the Four, which the author defigned, there is a view of Science, Arts, and

Lettres. In this part he divides the chapters into fections. Under the head of mechanical philofophy, which is the fubject of the first chapter, he treats of Electricity, Magnetism and Galvanifm, &c. It is neceffary to connect the additional note,* upon Galvanism, as we fhall find a more particular account of the late improvements in this fashionable science. The next is Chemical Philosophy, which displays not only a judicious arrangement, but a luminous view of the fubject. The third is Natural History; and the fourth Medicine. This is one of the very best chapters in the book. A confiderable extract may be acceptable to our readers, in which we shall see a graceful ease in compofitiont; this must be acknowledged as one of our author's excellencies, and has hitherto rendered him confpicuous among the best writers of his profeffion.

“Peftilential diseases are supposed to have greatly abated in frequency and malignity in the course of the eighteenth century. This obfervation, however, must be understood to be chiefly restricted to those parts of the world, which, during that period, have been making rapid progress in civilization, intelligence and refinement. In many parts of Afia and Africa, and in European Turkey, it is probable, that little abatement of the ravages of such diseases has actually taken place. The degraded state of man in moft of the Mahometan countries; the poverty, filth and wretchedness, which oppress the lower claffes of people in their crowded cities, and the inattention to cleanliness and ventilation, even in the houses of the most opulent, aided by the influence of their doctrine of fatalism, seem to leave them little prospect of emerging from their prefent condition into one more respectable, and exempt from malignant difeafes. The contraft of health and disease, in the Christian and Mahometan world, while it affords to the pious mind a satisfactory confirmation of his faith, furnishes also, to the philofopher and phyfician, an instructive lesson, in regard to the comparative influence of the refpective principles and institutions of Christianity and Mahometanism.

"The comparative mildness and infrequency of peftilential diseases in Christian Europe, during the late century, are probably owing to a combination of many causes. Much may be safely ascribed to improvements in the cleanliness and ventilation of houses, in diet, in apparel, in habits, cuftoms, and all the modes of life. Cities, which are usually the great nurseries of peftilence, are now lefs crowded than in former ages. The comforts, decencics, and elegancies of life, from a variety of causes, are now enjoyed by a greater portion of the community, and in a much higher degree, than in preceding times. To the fame caufes, also, may be ascribed the almos entire banishment of that loathsome disease, the Leprofy, from the civilized See page 446.