But at their parting from him, Mr. Cranmer said, "Good Tutor, I am sorry your lot is fallen in no better ground as to your parsonage; and more sorry, your wife proves not a more comfortable companion, after you have wearied your thoughts in your restless studies." To whom the good man replied, "My dear George, if saints have usually a double share in the miseries of this life, I that am none ought not to repine at what my wise Creator hath appointed for me, but labour, as indeed I do daily, to submit to his will, and possess my soul in patience and peace."

BOERHAAVE.

BOERHAAVE, through life, consecrated the first hour after rising in the morning to meditation and prayer; declaring that from thence he derived vigour and aptitude for business, together with equanimity under provocations, and a perfect conquest over his irasible passions. The sparks of calumny," he would say, "will be presently extinct of themselves, unless you blow them; and therefore, in return, he chose rather to commend the good qualities of his calumniators (if they had any) than to dwell upon the bad."

LORD ASTLEY,

LORD ASTLEY, before he charged at the battle of Edgehill, made this short prayer:-" O Lord, thou knowest how busy I must be this day. If I forget thee, do not Thou forget me!" "There were certainly," says Hume, "much longer prayers made in the parliamentary army; but I doubt if there was so good an one."

SIR GEORGE SAVILLE.

WHEN Sir George Saville first came home from his travels, there was a petition presented to him at one of the county meetings from a tenant of his, who stated that he had lost the greatest part of his property by fire. Sir George, who then took up that just and wise principle of judging for himself, said, very coolly, that he would consider of it, and passed it by. The rest of the company, consisting of some of the first gentlemen in the county, seemed to think that this conduct of the baronet augured not a little of parsimony and inhumanity, and immediately put about the hat for a subscription, which every body but Sir George readily complied with. The next day Sir George made the necessary inqui ries relative to the misfortunes of his tenant, and found them not only to be truly stated, but that the goodness of his private cha racter still rendered him more an object of consideration. Satisfied with this account, he waited upon him, explained to him why he did not immediately relieve him on his petition, and was now come to ask a favour in his turn, which was, "that he would please to accept a five hundred pound bank note, as a reward for his character, and as an alleviation of his misfortunes;" laying him under one injunction, that he was never to speak of the transaction.

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Though the poor man was penetrated with gratitude for this noble act of benevolence, it was with reluctance he promised to conform to this act of secrecy. He, however, complied for several months; till siting one evening with some friends, who were abusing Sir George for his supposed act of unkindness to him, the latter burst into tears, and said, " he could hold out no longer." He then related the circumstance of Sir George's generosity to him, which afforded the highest satisfaction to the company, and gave a happy assurance of Sir George's good discernment and liberality.

Soon after this, Sir George Saville happened to be on a special jury, on the trial of property to the amount of about 1,500l. where, though he saw from the nature of the evidence that the plaintiff had a clear title, his brother jurors thought otherwise. On retiring from the box, Sir George, with great coolness and perspicuity of reasoning, which he was very much master of, endeavoured to convince them of their error, but to no purpose; prejudice in favour of the opposite party, or some other cause, prevailed; they were unanimous against him. In this dilemma he was for some time undetermined how to proceed-his high sense of justice and honour would not permit him to accede to their verdict. From their obstinacy he found he could not convince them by reason, and as to bringing them to, by what is called tiring them out, he equally despaired of, from the weakness of his own constitution. He at last made up his mind, and acceded to their verdict; but before ever he went out of court, he gave a draft to the plaintiff on his banker for the 1,5001. (the full amount of the action) as a satisfaction for the injustice he was obliged to do him from the peculiar situation of his health.

GARRICK.

THE following anecdote of Garrick is told by a French writer, as a proof that he could not only, at will, represent all passions, but all persons:

"A woman of fashion, in London, had a great desire to procure the portrait of a nobleman, with whom she was in love; but who had a particular aversion to sit for his picture. She prevailed upon Garrick to notice the face of this Lord; and so to possess himself of his features, that the painter might easily design a faithful likeness through the medium of his borrowed resemblance.

This was undertaken; and, after having studied every trait and gesture, and each possible manner of giving them variety, till he was no longer Garrick.-but, My Lord,-the painter was set to work; and so succeeded, that the portrait was universally known for the nobleman in question; who was the first to express his astonishment at so perfect a likeness being obtained without his knowledge;-and who liberally rewarded the actor, and married the lady, in return for her love and her ingenuity."

LITERATURE.

LITERATURE.

MONTHLY REVIEW.

Mural Nights; or Elements of Civil Knowledge. By A. R. Yorke, Esq. Svo. 9s. Lockett, Dorchester; Clement, London.

THE author declares that, in writing the present work, "public utility has been his sole object;" and after a careful perusal of his Elements of Civil Knowledge, we feel little difficulty in giving full credit to his declaration. The measures which he recommends, although marked in some instances with a novelty which might be the subject of much discussion, are in general founded upon principles long sanctioned by theory and practice, and illustrated by arguments and authorities of great force. He seems to have studied the best mode of cultivating the mind and promoting the cause of truth, virtue, and social happiness, with a minuteness of research, and a laborious perseverance, well suited to the importance of the topics of which he treats.

The work is arranged under five heads:-1. On early educa tion. 2. On the best mode of education. 3. On the study of the Latin and Greek languages. 4. Of the education of the middleing classes of the community; and 5. He enters into a plan of a public elementary school.

The first chapter is without doubt the best, both in sentiment and diction; and the author wisely gives to the force of example, and the impulse of emulation on the youthful mind, that preeminent rank to which, in the scale of education, they are entitled. In that part which relates to the acquisition of useful knowledge, there is scarcely a sentence that does not impress irresistible conviction.

In his remarks on the elegancies and refined embellishments of life, Mr. Yorke has, perhaps, shot his arrow beyond the mark. The praise given to Lord Chesterfield's letters, in the second chapter, will appear to many, if not absolutely dangerous, at least yery ill-placed; and neither the deep thinking philosopher, nor the truly accomplished gentleman can, we think, recommend the perusal of a book, and the adoption of a system, that tends to yitiate the understanding and corrupt the heart. The writer shall, however, speak for himself:

"A cold pedantic spirit has excited against those admirable letters, a considerable degree of unjust and acrimonious censure. But, they will assuredly outlive the calumnies that have been cast upon them. They will be found, by a diligent observer of men and manners, to convey at once the best precepts of morality, with the best recommendations for the attainments of literary and political knowledge. They point out in chaste and elegant language, YOL. 2.NO. 8,

the

the many dangers that surround and too often allure the unwary and ingenuous youth, and unfold in all their horrors, the mischiefs attendant on a life of dissipation and vice. The bottle, the gambling table, the sluggard, the bravo, and the prostitute are placed in their proper colors, and while the description nauseates, it animates the soul to shun the phantoms of pleasure, and to listen to the admonitions of prudence and virtue. The most predominant vices of the gay world are probed into with the hand of a master, and their pernicious influence on the minds, characters and fortunes of all orders of men, are develloped with censorial criticism. If he display the poison, he presents also the antidote: if he recommended caution, it is because hypocrisy has seated its empire, in almost every breast. Let his writings therefore, be judged with impartiality, by every discreet parent, and the character of Chesterfield will appear in the light of a well informed monitor, not as an aged voluptuary, the pander and pimp of youth. Nor let it be thought that these sentiments have a tendency to foster or to encourage licentious manners. Decorum is an attribute of virtue, and an essential requisite in all polished communities; its effects are more extensive than is generally supposed by the great part of mankind. If it be not calculated to strengthen the understanding, it operates at least, most powerfully on the morality of a people, and establishes a tribunal within the breast, which, in checking disorderly passions and restricting the conduct of men within the rules of propriety, usefully supplies the deficiencies of municipal law. Such means, therefore, as appear well adjusted, to promote this end, and to pave the way, for an happy introduction into life, may be considered in the light of secondary objects of education, essential indeed in themselves, but not of sufficient importance, to preclude rational employments."

The author's observations on the attention which should be paid to the language of youth in their earlier years, are entitled to particular notice. He justly reasons with Quintilian: "Multa linguæ vitia, nisi primis eximuntur annis, inemendabili in posterum pravitate durantur."

In his plan of a public elementary school, the writer endeavours to keep pace with the progressive improvement of man, by making every preceding branch of study the basis of that which follows it; but the project is too visionary to be realized. The books which he recommends are unobjectionable, but his defini. tions are frequently inaccurate, and his distinctions futile.

Mr. Yorke, fearful that his system of public education may appear to border on enthusiasm, concludes his book with the following apology:

"I am sensible that good men may entertain too sanguine views of the moral improvement of the world, and that their speculations may lead them to magnify the effects of education. Let it be so. The simplicity of their plans corresponds with the innocence of their motives; and if it be enthusiasm, I am certain, that it is an enthusiasm of an honest tendency, in which nothing is intended unfavourable

unfavourable to the welfare of mankind. Its route is not marked by scenes of violence and human slaughter, but it leaves the benefits it proposes to confer, to the slow but progressive operations of human reason. And in the full confidence that conformably to the order of nature, man was destined to improve and to be happy, I look forward with no small degree of exultation to the arrival of that epoch, when the claims of humanity shall be inviolably respected, and when Public Instruction superseding the logic of bayonets, shall be universally considered as the most effectual method to render a nation powerful and a people happy."

Such a justification might be advanced, with equal propriety, in support of any doctrine of improvement, or any system of human reform, of a pacific and benevolent nature; but it is too vague to be applicable to the immediate case before us.

A second volume is promised, which, with the present, is in tended to embrace all those parts of knowledge that are called elementary.

Elements of the Natural History and Chymical Analysis of Mineral Substances, for the use of the Central Schools. Translated from the French of Mathurin James Brisson, member of the National Institute of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Natural Philosophy and Chymistry in the Central School at Paris. 8vo. Walker, and Vernor and Hood. 1800.

We do not know any elementary work better adapted to the instruction of students, in the curious and useful sciences of Lithology and Metallurgy, than the present production. All the mineral substances are classed in just order, and the chief characters by which they are distinguished are ascertained with perspicuity and precision.

The author first considers earthy and stoney substances, and then treats of metallic substances. After considering as simple all those substances, the principles of which have not been yet separated, he proceeds to composed substances, the constituent principles of which have been demonstrated by their analysis. The primitive earths he estimates at seven in number; and the stones, constituted by these primitive earths, he divides into four orders. In this classification he gradually passes from the simplest to the most compound substances.

Professor Brisson bestows particular attention on that part of his subject which relates to metallic substances, and in this he is justified, by the various and frequent uses to which they are applied in the arts. He divides them into two orders, the one comprehending those which are both malleable and ductile, and the other embracing such as are little malleable, or which are commonly known by the name of semi-metals.

The different combinations of which these mineral substances are susceptible, and the products they afford, are minutely detailed, without any ostentatious display of learning, or idle digression,

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