fider drunkennefs as a manly pleafure, blafphemy as wit, and lewdnefs as a Spirit of noble enterprife! The precepts of virtue will appear to him as the follies of a fanatic eclufe, and religion he will regard merely as the quarantine of the aged. The Sabbath, which the wifdom of Providence has fet apart for the more immediate fervice of our Maker, he will not employ in the facred offices of devotion, but will dedicate to finful paftimes. Every action of his life will have a view only to this world; and he will, perhaps, fink into the grave without learning the purpose for which he was created. If we turn our attention to the more respectable orders of fociety, we fhall here, too, fee the advantages of a liberal education. He, whofe fphere of knowledge is confined, is always labouring under that awkward timidity, which the confcioufnefs of ignorance never fails to infpire. Though prefented by Nature with confiderable mental endowments, and though, perhaps, furnished with the leftons of experience, he can never deliver his opinion with confidence: however juft and lively may be his ideas of the fubject which he is difcuffing, his communication of them will be unpleafing to others, and unfatisfactory to himfelf. Instead of employing himself in the cultivation of his mind, he will either fleep away his hours in fluggish inactivity, or else he will facrifice them to childish amufements, or habitual ebriety, and will feek from the fociety of others that pleasure which he cannot derive from 'himfelf.

A liberal education is admirably calculated to obviate thefe important evils. Through its means we are enabled to detect the errors of prejudice, and to enlarge and adorn the faculties of our minds. It places a man, as it were, on an eminence, from which he looks down with an air of fuperiority on the reft of mankind. But the most important advantages which it pro duces, are, that it teaches us to difcen good from evil; it lays before us the feveral duties of our fituation; it holds forth to our hopes the rewards of virtue; it forewarns us of the rueful confequences of vice; and excites our admiration of that incomprehenfible Being, whofe glory fhines forth in his works.

Some will object, that the profecu tion of literary ftudies tends to raife

haughty hotions in the mind, and to difqualify one for the common occupations of life. To fuch it may be anfwered, that a liberal education, instead of unfitting a man for ordinary avocations, prepares him for any fituation in life, and teaches him the propriety of applying himfelf with diligence to whatever he undertakes.

Learning will find enemies, too, in a very confiderable part of the female fex, who would rather see the rifing generation running out into all the fooleries and extravagancies of fathion than acquiring a habit of manly steadinefs. It is true, that the serious student will be apt to treat the fantaftic exceffes of the coxcomb with contempt, and that to fome he may appear fretful or morofe; but furely the pedant, with all his ftiffnefs, is a much more useful and refpectable character than the airy and fuperficial foppling. But it is far from being true, that learning is always accompanied with cynical aufterity: its tendency is not only to confirm the vigour and enrich the ftores of the mind, but also to add an amiable facility to the manners. After studying the venerable pages of claffic lore, we rife pleafed with our author and ourfelves, and with the beft difpofition poffible to be pleafed with all around us. Even after the images, which delighted us, have for a while receded from our thoughts, ftill they leave behind them a vivacity and lightfome fatisfaction, which will plainly discover themselves in our demeanour. The biography of our own country abounds with inftances of men, who have been at once the most elegant scholars and the moft pleafant companions of the age. Although, in running back from the prefent period over the lift of the moft diftinguished champions of litera ture, we inay be fomewhat disconcerted by the well-known acerbity of a Johnson, fill this difficulty will be abundantly compenfated, when we recur to the illustrious names of Addison, Marvell, Verulam, and More.

Whilft the jovial crew fly to the accustomed resort, to beguile the lonefomeness of a winter's evening, and to lofe themfelves and their cares in drunkennefs; whilft the fifterhood of matrons amule themleves with terrific tales, with fcandal, or with cards; whilst the torpid lounger proves the comfort of an elbow-chair; the fcholar retires to his study to fate of plea

fures

fures, to which the Bacchanalian, the Golfip, and the Idler, are alike eftranged. Here he either attends Ulyffes through all the difalters and efcapes, of his eventful voyage, or with Eneas leaves the walls of Troy in quest of the promifed fettlement, encounters all the viciffitudes of adverfe fortune, avenges the death of Pallas, and lays Turnus proftrate at his feet; or, coming down to later periods, with Marlborough he takes the field, with Aufon circumnavigates the globe, with Locke afcertains the faculties of the human understand ing, or with Latimer experiences all the horrors of religious intolerance and relentless perfecution. To fome his pleafures may appear taftelefs; but he himself knows their value too well to barter them for any paltry gratification to be derived from noily merriment. But, if we follow him to the laft ftage of his existence, the fuperior advantages which he enjoys will now crowd upon our view. When the vigour of manhood gives place to the infirmities of age, and the eagernefs of appetite is exchanged for fenile indifference, when all the fenfelefs pleafures, which folly can devife or luxury enjoy, are now ftripped of all their charms, the delights to which he has accustomed himself, inttead of be. coming loathfome or infipid, rife every day in his eftimation. He can reflect with fatisfaction, that no voluptuous intemperance has fapped his conftitution, no bafe purfuit attracted his attention, no unmanly lethargy worn away his days; but that his endeavours have been uniformly exerted to improve that inestimable gift, by which he is diftinguished from the brute creation. When illness confines him to his chamber, his books will be his ever pleating and unfailing companions: when the tortures of pain provoke the murmur of complaint, the precepts of philofophy, with which he has provided himself, will step forward to allay the rifing turbulence of his mind, and to remind him, that it is his duty to bear with fortitude thofe trials which are incidental to the fons of men.

If fuch, then, are the advantages of education, furely thofe inftitutions, which are calculated to extend thefe benefits to the lower orders of fociety, are entitled to our fupport. It is uapardonable,in fuch as are happily acquaint ed with its value, to be backward in promoting the welfare of their fellow

creatures in a matter of fuch ferious importance; and thole who have themfelves felt the want of erudition, must indeed be devoid of benevolence, who would ungeneroudly fuffer the next generation to inherit the ignorance of their fathers.

Agreftis was unfortunate enough to lofe his father when he was yet but a few years old, and the care of his edu. cation devolved to his mother, with whom he spent the years of his childhood in a country village. Her pride could not long conceal from him that he was born to an independent fortune; and the flattery of fawning fervants foon filled him with abfurd notions of his own importance. He had completed his twelfth year before his education became the fubject of her thoughts: the however began now to be ashamed of his ignorance, and was convinced of the neceffity of fending him to fchool. Unacquainted with the discipline of public feminaries, and without any fufpicion, that his authority, which had hitherto been abfolute, would now be restrained, the love of novelty, fo natural to youth, procured his confent. His tutor foon difcovered, that he was poffeffed of refpectable mental powers, and through all the humours of a spoiled child was able to trace a latent goodness of heart; he was therefore not without a hope, that the courfe of a few years' education might overbalance the ill effects of his mother's mistaken tenderness, and give to fociety an useful and a creditable member. The constraint which was now impofed upon him, and the infults and injuries of fchoolboys. fub ftituted for the obfequioufnefs of menials, could not but be extremely irkfome to the feelings of Agreftis. At every interview with his mother, he was not fparing in complaints of the feverity of his tutor, and the cruelty of his fchoolfellows; and, after repeated folicitations, he obtained her confent to return home. The specimen which he had now had of school was not fuch as to leave him any defire of making a fecond trial. His mother frequently preffed him to return to fchool; but the weakness of her affec tion gained the afcendancy over her judgment, and, in compliance with his earnest entreaties, the evil hour was continually deferred, till he at length attained the eftate of manhood, and it was now too late. The little whims in whod v 1. lol... which

which he had been indulged were now hardened into habitual petulance; and the transition was but too eafy, from the authority which he had been allowed to exercife, to the imperioufnefs of domestic tyranny. The village ale house became his conftant haunt, and he affociated with every worthlefs fellow, whose company and adulation could be purchafed for a treat. As his mind had never received from education any generous cait, his life became a burden to him; and his time was at length regularly divided

between drunkenness and sleep. This lamentable intemperance could not but be attended with the most woeful confequences; and he was cut off, before he had fcarcely reached the prime of life. Thus fell ingloriously one, whofe example, whofe benevolence, and whofe talents, might have been eminently beneficial to fociety; but who, through the want of a Liberal Education, was loft to others and to himself!

December 8, 1802.

AURELIUS.

by a fmall fly which feeds on them, whilft quite young, that farmers are, in a great measure, deterred from attempting to cultivate that valuable root. The following methods are recommended for preferving the plant:

Firft-To a quart of turnip feed, add one ounce of brimstone finely powdered-put both into a bottle large enough to afford room to fhake them well together every day, for four or five days previous to fowing, keeping

.the bottle well corked.

Second-Take fuch a quantity of elder leaves, as, when bruifed, will yield juice fufficient to cover the tur

let it foak about twelve hours-the next day mix it with the bruised leaves, and a fmall quantity of alum-then fow all together.

Turnip-feed is generally covered with a brush harrow; take elder bushes for this purpose.

If, not withstanding thefe precautions, the fly fhould attack the young plant, draw elder bushes gently over them.

If turnip-feed is fown while it rains, it does not require to be harrowed in, and the young plants shoot fo ftrongly, that they foon gain ftrength beyond the power of the fly.

A Mr. W. CLOSE has made a great variety of experiments, in order to ascertain the best method of making ink, which fhall not be discharged by time or chymical proceffes. As the refult of his inquiries, he recommends, for black ink"" Oil of lavender 200 grains, copal in powder 25 grains, lamp-black from two and a half to three grains with the affiftance of a gentle heat, diffolve the copal in the oil of lavender in a small glafs phial, and then mix the lamp-black with the folution upon a marble flab, or other fmooth furface." The compofition is to be put in a bottle, and kept from the air. If, after a few hours, it be found too thick, it must be diluted

BALANCE.

with a little oil of lavender, oil of tur. pentine, or alcohol. For red ink

Take of oil of lavender 120 grains, copal, in powder, 17 grains, red fulphur of mercury 60 grains." Both these compofitions poffefs a permanent colour; the oil of lavender being diffipated with a gentle heat, the colour is left on the paper furrounded with the copal, a fubitance infoluble in water, fpirits, acids, or alkaline folutions. A manufcript written with them, may therefore be expofed to the procefs commonly used for restoring the colour of printed books, without the smallest injury to the writing; and, in this manner, all interpolations with common ink may be removed.

IT drives wit out of the head;

Money out of the pocket; Wine out of the bottle;

Elbows out of the coat; And health out of the body, 4

LONDON

8vo.

THE chief merit of this work, as it refpects our Countrymen, confills in its being the most recent account of the actual itate of Spain, that has appeared from the English prefs; and may be of great fervice to thofe whofe interest or inclination-who for profit or pleasure, may be difpofed to vifit the different provinces and celebrated cities, accurately defcribed by this traveller; who has likewife taken care to give a pleafing account of the manners and customs of the Spaniards. From this outline it may alfo be inferred, that to thofe Readers who with to add to their stock of intellectual knowledge and mental recreation, it will furnish the means of paffing a few hours in very agreeable company.

The author profeffes that his object in this work was to exhibit the firit impreffions of a traveller, and to give a lively picture of the country. For the accomplishment of this defign, "he has endeavoured to note thofe particulars which have efcaped other writers: the reader will therefore confider these sheets as a series of practical notes to Bourgoanne, and other works," on the fame fubject..

The narrative is conveyed to the publick in the form of letters, and occationally, during the traveller's pro. grefs by land, through the interior parts of the Spanish territories, it affumes that of a diary. The first feven letters relate to incidents at Sea, in a voyage from Rotterdam to Bourdeaux, and contain nothing new or remarkably interefting, yet they are difplayed with much oftentation in the table of contents. The description of Bourdeaux, the fubject of Letters 9 and 10, inVOL. XLII. DEC. 1801.

cluding reflections on the character and language of the Gafcons, merits particular attention, but our bufinefs being with Spain, and not with France, we must take the liberty to pass the Pyrenees, and halt at Bayonne. The commerce of this fea-port and frontier town belonging to Spain has declined confiderably of late years, and during the two laft wars, the merchants moftly employed their capitals in fitting out Privateers, and the Bifcayans being excellent feamen, and not deficient in valour, they were more fuccefsful than the French. Chocolate being a confiderable article for exportation from this place, not only to France, but to moft of the Northern countries of Europe, our author takes occafion to defcribe the various qualities of that manufacture, to point out the excellence of the Bayonne, and to expofe the mode of adulterating it in other countries; and we are glad to find that the tranflator in a note of his own, of which there are many containing ufetul remarks on the original, has given due commendation to the fu perior mode of preparing chocolate in England, by a double cylinder, for an exact trituration of the cocoa nut, fo that no oil appears in the folution. The next arrival of our German travelier is at Bilboa, the capital of the province of Bifcay, which, from his defcription of it, could not give him any favourable opinion of the Biscayan buildings andaccommodations--"Every object around me here has fomething very fingular in its appearance, and their forms are quite original and foreign. The rooms are covered with a floor-cloth reprefenting Bull-fights;

Kkk

the

the feats mean, old fashioned, and extremely low; the floors are brick, and the walls full of Saints and Crucifixes; and, to the astonishment and difgult of ftrangers, they find certain conveniences placed in the kitchen, clofe to the chimney.

With relpect to the buildings, he diftinguishes between the old and the new town; in the former the houfes are mostly of wood, in the latter of brick; the firft are deftitute of art or convenience, but in the fecond, he found a prodigiousimprovement of talte, particularly in three broad streets, all ending at the arenal or promenade along the river Ybeyzabal (which in the Bafque language fignifies the narrow river); the houses being all built of free itone, and fome of them are even magnificent. The variety and richness of the fcenery of nature around this town is defcribed in captivating terms, for it is faid to equal the most ravishing profpects in Switzerland, perhaps to be fuperior to it, on account of its vicinity to the Sea, only three hours diftant from it.

But the most extraordinary circumitance, not noticed, we believe, by any preceding traveller, is the political conftitution and privileges of the whole province of Bifcay, which ac counts for the crowded population of Bilboa, "where, at firit fight, there appears to be fcarcely room for 8000 inhabitants, yet it contains 13000, and the houfes, which are four and five itories high, are filled even to the roofs. The fact is, that the province is not properly dependant on, but only under the protection of, the Spanish crown. It is indeed a kind of political anomaly to fee a fmall Republick thus united to fuch a Monarchy as Spain. But, however unlimited may be the power of the Kings of Spain in their other provinces, it is a truth, that in Bifcay they have only the thadow of doraination. Here are neither garrifons, custom houfes, ftamps, nor excife; in thort, of all the royal taxes, they know none but the donativo, or gratuitous donation." On the manners and general character of the Bifcayans, particularly of their hatred of the French, the ainutements of Bilbon, &c. our author affords ample information in the course of leven entertaining letters.

The journey from Bilboa to Madrid, which is comprifed in Letters 26 and 27, was performed in ten days, and the

particulars are given in a kind of diary, in which we difcover but few incidents worthy of notice, except the change in the appearance of the country, after he had paffed the frontier custom houfe of the province of Alava. "Here the cultivation began to decline, the country to fpread, and the coftumes and countenances to affume a more foreign air. The climate too became rougher, the villages were a mere heap of huts built with earth often full of holes-the Churches, however, were always large and magnificent nor was there any scarcity of Convents. The fields were mostly uncultivated, and, as far as the eye could extend, we perceived neither tree nor fhrub; in lieu of mules, we frequently met mall affes, called borricos; our fleeping places became lefs clean, and the bread as well as the water bad; but the wine was better and cheaper.

From the ample and fatisfactory account of the capital of the Spanish Monarchy, we have taken the liberty to felect fome descriptions of the manners of the inhabitants, their character, &c. as fpecimens which cannot fail to induce the curious reader to refer to the work for further information.

"The public fquares are used throughout Spain as promenades and piaces of affemblage. The most frequented at Madrid, is the fquare called the Puerta del Sol, which is fituated in the centre of the city, and is decorated on one fide by the great and magnificent building, the Poft Office, but the others are full of difgufting old houfes, ftill it is the general rendezvous of the inhabitants of all defcriptions"The clock has ftruck eleven, and a troop of officers of the guard with brilliant accoutrements, monks in black cloaks, charming women ia veils embroidered with gold, holding the arms of their Cortejos (gentlemen uthers), and a party coloured crowd of all kinds, wrapped up in their cloaks, pour from every street to read the advertisements and pottingbills (noticias fueltas)-To-day there will be a fermon and mufic at the Francifcans; there will be an opera, and fuch and fuch plays-to-morrow there will be a ball fight, or the novena of San Felipo commences. Loft yesterday at the Prado, a little girl, and this morning a chaplet. Stolen three days ago fuch and fuch a Jewel; if it has been taken through want, and if the thief will restore it by his confeflor, he