EDUCATION. Art. 27. Juvenile Biography, or Lives of celebrated Children, inculcating Virtue by eminent Examples from real Life. By Mr. Josse, Professor of the Spanish and French Languages. Translated by Mrs. Cumming. 12mo. 2 Vols. 6s. sewed. Dulau, and Co. &c. The author, or compiler, of this little work expresses his surprise that, among the attempts for the improvement of youth, no history has appeared of such children as have been remarkable for their talents or their virtues, and therefore here exerts himself to supply the supposed deficiency: we say supposed, because, if direct collections of this nature have not been laid before the public, several instances, as they have arisen, have been exhibited to notice; and most, if not, perhaps, all which are here united have, under one form or another, already appeared. However, these volumes have certainly their merit, as coming in aid of the great cause of sobriety, frugality, early industry, and virtue.-Mere talents of an extraordinary kind, shewing themselves in childhood, excite admiration: but it is their exertion and application which improve and edify spectators. Among these, John Philip Baratier, born at Schwoback, A. D. 1721, was eminent: but he died, after amazing attainments, in his twentieth year. Most of the others, male and female, here mentioned, fell short of that period. The account of Louis duke of Burgundy, who died at the age of nine years, about 1760, is very remarkable :-at the same age died the Dauphin, son of the late king of France, whose history awakens, at once, grief for the little sufferer, and resentment for the brutal and barbarous treatment which he received: yet, as there is nothing very superior nor uncommon in his behaviour, the mournful tale of this unfortunate child might, we think, have been omitted. It was well judged to insert here some instances of the sad fruit of a vain, frivolous, and, as may too justly be added, what is termed a fashionable, education.-Among several instructive narratives pre-sented, one which strikes us the most is that of Nicol, the young wool-merchant; because of the active exertions both of body and mind, which so early and silently appeared, and were so steadily maintained; accompanied by probity, prudence, and other virtues, in the exercise of which he succeeded, and became a blessing to himself and others. Art. 28. Subjects on Divinity and Morality. Adapted for Academies of both Sexes. Part I. Thoughts on Religion, united with Virtue. Part II. On Morality, or the Ten Commandments. Part III. On Justice and Temperance. Dedicated, by Permission, to her Royal Highness the Duchess of York. By M. C. Walker. 12mo. 38. sewed. Cadell jun. and Davies. Books for the rising generation need not be elegant and sump. tuous, but they ought to give correct views of things: they need not be elaborate, but the ideas ought to be clear and well arranged. In neither of these respects do we deem the work before us well adapted for academies. The thoughts on Divinity and Morality are very desultory and confused; the comments on the Ten Commandments, and P2 the Hi. the observations on Justice, Temperance, &c. have a better charae ter, and may be useful for young persons:-but the last essay, in titled Thoughts on the Creation, is a strange composition; in which we are hurried with great rapidity from Genesis to the Revelations ; and in which we are informed that the Heaven Heavens), which God first created, was the City of the living God,' and that three Eastern princes were directed by an angel to go and worship Christ.' In the first instance, the Heavens, mentioned in Genesis, chap. i. 1. are always understood to mean the visible heavens; and as to the three Eastern princes who were directed to worship Christ, there is no such record in the New Testament. Parents are under no obligations to instructors who teach this sort of divinity to their children. LAW. Art. 29. Addenda to the fourth Edition of the Bankrupt Laws; con- In our 24th Vol. N. S. we gave an account of the work to which the present volume is intended to form a supplement. All the determinations on the subject of the Bankrupt Laws, arranged under their respective titles, which have been decided in the interval since the former publication, are here introduced; and the value of this appendix is enhanced by the insertion of several cases which are not to be found in any book of Reports. We entertain some doubts respecting the propriety of quoting the case of Doe on the Demise of Mitchinson against Carter, B. R. M. 39 Geo. III. reported in the 8th volume of the Term Reports, pp. 57. and 300. in which it was decided that there was no forfeiture of a lease where a lessee, who had covenanted not "to let, set, assign, transfer, make over, barter, exchange, or otherwise part with, the indenture," &c. with a proviso that the landlord might in such case re-enter, had given a warrant of attorney to confess judg ment, on which the lease was taken in execution and sold. The Court, in its decision, proceeded on a distinction between what was done voluntarily by the tenant, and those acts which pass in invitum; of which latter description judgments are ever considered. It was afterward ruled in this very case that, if the warrant of attorney were executed by the tenant for the express purpose of enabling a creditor to take the lease in execution, such conduct was in fraud of the cove. nant; and that the landlord might recover possession of the premises in an action of ejectment from the purchaser under the sheriff's sale. Mr. Cooke has probably introduced these cases, because the reasoning applies to a commission of bankruptcy, which is indeed a species of execution, being taken out against a tenant. This inconvenience may easily be avoided by landlords inserting covenants that the leases shall be forfeited by the bankruptcy or insolvency of lessees; and such covenants are now usual. Art. 30. The Proceedings at large, at Guildhall and Westminster, on the Motions of Counsel, respecting the Postponement, by his Ma ́jesty's Attorney-General, of the Trials of Allan Macleod, charged, 5 Mo-y. S.R. ex officio, with the Publication of two political Libels. 8vo. Is. 6d. Ridgway. 1802. It has been settled since the Reign of Queen Anne, in the case of the Queen against Banks reported in Salkeld and Lord Raymond, that a defendant, in a case in which the king is a party, cannot carry down the Nisi Prius record to trial by Proviso; and in that case Lord Holt made the satisfactory observation, "that the reason for carrying down a cause by Proviso was Laches; and there can be no Proviso as against the crown, because in the crown there cannot be default, or Laches." The authority of this case was recognized in the subsequent one of the King against Dyke, E. 38 Geo. III. T.T. R. 661. but the attempt was again made, in the case of Allan Macleod, in order to relieve him from the pressure of prosecutions hanging for an indefinite time over him, and from the expence and vexation of notice of trial being given, and countermanded by the Attorney General without any reason being assigned. The application was unsuccessful, and of necessity unsuccessful; since in the person of the Attorney General such power is undoubtedly vested as may be used in an oppressive manner, to the great inconvenience and frequent injury of the subject.-The present tract gives a correct account of the proceedings on this occasion. Art. 31. Act of Grace, &c. explained to a Man of singular Character and Consequence, now a Prisoner in a County Gaol. 8vo. 6d. Parsons and Son. 1801. It is impossible, after having read this pamphlet, to conjecture what was the author's object in writing it. Supposing that it were to enlighten his correspondent, that person must indeed be a man of singular character,' if he can derive any information from such a performance. Art. 32. A full Report of the Proceedings on the Second Trial in the Cause Kerslake against Sage and others, Directors of the Westminster Life-Insurance Office; including the Evidence and Opinions of Drs. Carmichael Smith, Crichton, Willich, Reynolds, Latham, and Blane, on Cases of Pulmonary Consumption: Faithfully taken in Short-hand. With an Appendix of Documents. 8vo. 3s. 6d. Row. 1802. This action was brought by Mr. Kerslake against Mr. Sage and others, Directors of an Insurance Office, for a sum which had been insured on the life of Mr. Robson. On executing a policy of this description, there is a warranty that the party insured is at the time in good health, and not affected with any disorder tending to shorten life. This was the issue which the jury had to try in the present instance; and, after a very long trial, in which the opinions of different medical men were received, (for the defence was that Mr. Robson was not at the time in good health, but afflicted with a pulmonary consumption,) a verdict was returned for the plaintiff, for the sum insured The publication contains curious and interesting particulars. MEDICAL, &c. Art. 33. Practical Observations on the Nature and Treatment of some exasperated Symptoms attending the Venereal Disease. By Edward. P3 Geoghe S.R. S.R. S.R. Geoghegan, Surgeon, &c. Small 8vo. 3 s. Boards. De The principal symptom, to which Mr. G. directs the reader's at tention in this essay, is phymosis. venereal symptoms are occasionally exasperated by prevailing epide. He is of opinion that many mics; and he particularly instances the frequency of alarming consequences from phymosis, in the rainy year of 1799. He very sensibly recommends general blood-letting as more efficacious than topical evacuations, or even bleeding from the large vein on the dorsum penis. The use of mercury he deems inadmissible while the inflammatory symptoms continue. Topical applications tending to lessen irritation are enjoined, such as a weak solution of cerussa acetata; and moderate suspension of the part.-The essay is written with modesty and intelligence, and deserves to be perused with attention. Fer, Art. 34. Observations on the Opinion of Dr. Langslow, that Extravasation is the general Cause of Apoplexy, in Letters to a young Surgeon. By William Crowfoot. 8vo. 13. 6d. Robinsons. 1801. Art. 35. An Historical Sketch of the Important Controversy upon Apoplexy, &c, By R. Langslow, M. D. A. M. 8vo. Cadell jun. and Davies. 1802. Is. 6d. As it is always our wish to avoid interference in personal altercations, we shall only remark, on the individual controversy discus sed in these letters and the essay, that Dr. Langslow appears to have been hardly treated, when an expression dropped by him in conversation was made the basis of a public dispute. We are no advocates for the infallibility of physicians: but we conceive that, in this instance, the apothecary has over-stepped the line of his duty: the responsibility of the case rested entirely on the physician, after he had decided on the plan of treatment; and Mr. Crowfoot ought to have contented himself with stating his objections in a private and respectful manner. With liberal practitioners, the opinion of every medical man will be allowed its due weight, whatever may be his designation in the profession; and arrogance, whether titled or otherwise, must always produce disgust. With regard to the general question, respecting the admissibility of emetics in cases of apoplexy, there seems to be a mutual misconception of terms. If apoplexy consist, according to Hoffman and others, only in an effusion of blood in the brain, the dispute is nugatory, since the patient will generally die: but, if this term be applicable to those cases which are indicated as symptomatic by Cullen and Sauvages, no doubt can exist that emetics must be frequently useful. Fortunately for the patient whose disease gave rise to this paper-war, there was no opportunity of ascertaining whether extravasation had actually occurred with her. There are, however, two modes of practice sufficiently established, which may serve to prove that Dr. Langslow attributes too much to the effect of emetics, in increasing determination to the head. The first is that of giving emetics where blindness is threatened from compression at the origin of the optic nerves: the other is the safety with which these reme. dies have been administered in alarming hemorrhages from the lungs. 15. Emetice Emetics may certainly be useful in genuine cases of apoplexy, in order to restore the equilibrium of circulation in the vessels of the head, and thus to remove congestion; or sometimes to promote the absorption of effused fluids: but the application of these principles to particular cases must be regulated by the discretion of the praetitioner. ས་ We hope to hear no more of this unpleasant, and (we think) unnecessary dispute. MUSIC. Fer. Art. 36. A Complete Dictionary of Music. To which is prefixed, a familiar Introduction to the first Principles of that Science. By Thomas Busby, LL D. Crown 8vo. 6s. Boards. R. Phillips. We should perhaps have expected more from this little work, if the author had not promised so largely but to point out to the reader, by a kind of finger post direction, what the reader himself should have discovered, borders so much on the puff direct, that it raised suspicions concerning the accuracy of the assertion. Had the author left us to our own judgment, we should not have hesitated to say that it was a very useful little work but with regard to its being complete, we must put in a caveat. A musical dictionary, in order to be complete, requires etymologies, authorities, plates, and examples in notes. Brossard's Dict. de Musique, the archetype of all subsequent musical vocabularies, and which contains much musical learning and science, is not called complete in the title. Indeed, this author has claims on the gratitude of subsequent musical lexicographers, for the trouble which he has saved them in finding materials, and forming them into an exemplar which has been generally followed by his successors. He has given no plates, indeed: but examples abound in notation of characters and passages which it would be difficult to describe in words. Walther's Musical Lexicon, (in German,) though, besides definitions, it includes derivations from antient and modern languages, history, biography, and a chronological list of the productions of the several composers and theorists mentioned in the work, still is not styled complete. Grassineau's Musical Dictionary, in English, is little more than a translation of Brossard: but it was thought sufficiently useful at the time (140) to merit a recommendation from three of the most respectable masters then resident in London :-Dr. Pepusch, Dr. Greene, and Mr. Galliard. Rousseau's Dict. de Musique, though declared by the author to be calculated merely for the meridian of France, is replete with general musical information, with good taste, eloquence, new ideas, and profound and elegant views on the subject of dramatic music; yet the citizen of Geneva, "too proud to be vain," has not told us that his dictionary is complete. Dr. Johnson says: "He, who thinks he has done much, sees but little to do."-We may add that readers like not now to be treated with the same familiarity at the beginning of a book, as a Roman P 4 audience |