education, when he was about the age | spelled still worse than he wrote; and knew little or nothing of arithmetic. of seven. Here he was placed under the tuition of David James Dove, an Englishman, who was much celebrated in his day as a teacher, and no less as a dealer, in the minor kind of satirical poetry. He seldom used corporal punishment, but in its stead substituted disgrace. Unlike Dr. Johnson's Latin master, "his birch was rarely used in canonical method, but was generally stuck into the back part of the collar of the unfortunate culprit, who with this badge of disgrace towering from his nape like a broom at the mast head of a vessel for sale, was compelled to take his stand upon the top of a form for such a period of time as his offence was thought to deserve." When his boys were late in their morning attendance, five or six scholars were dispatched after them, with a bell tingling and lighted lantern, in order to escort them to school. But as he professed himself a great lover of justice, and always professed a willingness to have an equal measure of it meted out to himself, in case of his transgressing, the boys took him at his word; and one morning, when he had overstaid his time, he found himself waited on in the usual form; when, putting himself behind the lantern and bell, he marched with great solemnity to school, to the no small gratification of the boys, and the entertainment of the spectators. When our author was about eight years old, he was removed to what was considered the principal seminary, kept by Mr. Kinnersly, teacher of English, and professor of oratory, where he learned to read and write his mother tongue grammatically. One day in the week was set apart for the recitation of select passages in poetry and prose: His declaiming powers were put into a state of such constant requisition, that his orations, like wornout ditties, became vapid and fatigueing, and consequently impaired his relish for that kind of acquirement. Afterwards he returned to Philadelphia, where he entered the Latin school of Mr.John Beveridge, a Scotchman, whose acquaintance with the language which he taught was deemed to be both accurate and profound. A fittle Latin, and but a little, was the fruit of our author's education. He was tolerably instructed' in the rudiments of Grammar, but in nothing else. He wrote an indifferent hand, At p. 48, the author takes notice of a subject which has often occurred to ourselves, to the truth of which we cannot withhold our assent. "My attention, to my school exercises was not at this time to be complained of; and a part of my evenings was either employed in writing them,or committing to memory. In relation to the latter, I will mention a circumstance which to me appeared remarkable, though perhaps it was not peculiar: After labouring in vain to master my task, I have gone to bed, scarcely able to repeat a line of it, but in the morning when I awoke, it has been perfect in my memory. The same thing has often occurred in respect to tunes I have been desirous of acquiring; and, indeed, I have ever found, that the morning was the propitious season for the exertion of my mental faculties." On the subject of bathing the author makes the following observations: "When in practice, I never felt myself spent with it; and it appeared to me that I could have continued the exercise for hours, and consequently have swam some miles. To recover breath, I only found it necessary to turn upon my back, in which position, with my arms across my body, or pressed to my side (since moving them, as many do, answers no other purpose than to retard and fatigue the swimmer,) my lungs had free play, and I felt myself as perfectly at ease, as if reclined on a sofa. In short, no man can be an able swimmer, who only swims with his face downward; the pressure of the water on the breast, is an impediment to respiration in that attitude, which, for that reason, cannot be long continued; whereas, the only inconvenience in the supine posture is, that the head sinks so low, that the ears are liable to receive water, a consequence which might be prevented by stopping them with wool or cotton, or covering them with a bathing-cap." (p. 54.) We cannot resist the temptation to quote another extract from this interesting work, our apology for which may easily be found in the instruction the paragraph is calculated to convey: The author's mother having mentioned to some gentlemen whom she had invited to supper, of whom Capt. Wallace was one, that there was in her house, a very honest, plain man, of the Society of Friends, it was agreed among the company that Mr. Church the Quaker, should also be invited; which was accordingly done. Mr. Church having sat down, the Captain directed his chief discourse to him, interlarded with a deal of very coarse and insolent raillery, on what was denominated his broad brim. "Church bore it all very patiently till after supper, when he at length ventured to say, 'Captain, thou hast made very free with me, and asked me a great many questions, which I have endeavoured to answer to thy satisfaction: Wilt thou now permit me to ask thee one in my turn?" Oh, by all means,' exclaimed the Captain, any thing that you please, friend-what is it? Why then I wish to be informed, what makes thee drink so often; art thou really dry every time thoufcarriest the liquor to thy mouth?' This was a home thrust at the seaman, whose frequent potations had already produced a degree of intoxication; and who, forgetting the liberties he had taken, broke out into a violent rage, and vociferated, with an unlucky logic which recoiled upon himself, What do you think I am like a hog, only to drink when I am dry?'" (p. 70.) army, where, after some time spent in active service, he was taken prisoner; but ultimately released; after which we find him married, and enjoying the luxuries of the connubial state. We recommend this volume to the perusal of all who may wish for an accurate account of the celebrated American war; in the course of which they will find delineated some pleasing little sketches of all the principal personages who figured in that eventful period. GLEANINGS FROM LITERATURE, Improvements in Brewing.-A most important improvement has lately taken place in the mode of brewing and distilling, which is now practised at the Patent Steam Distillery, at sists in the application of steam to the bottom the Greenhead, Glasgow. The invention conof the boilers, which are indented with concentric circles, varying in depth according to the progress and quantity of heat wanted. A pipe from the steam engine boiler, situated large brewing boilers and two stills. The outside of the building, is conveyed to three boiler is not larger than that required for an engine of eight-horse power, and not more than the usual pressure is employed. In addition to the saving of fuel, the improvement consists in the great disparity of temperature betwixt this mode and the common way of distilling by a coal or peat fire. The difference is as 214 to 21,877 degrees of heat. The consequence is obvious. Another improvement at the Greenhead, is a machine, styled by the inventor A Separator, that completely prevents the mixture of the ducts of distillation on the old plan, and which coarse essential oil, which is one of the prohas been so greatly injurious to all malt spirits. Preservation of Fresco Painting.-A new process for removing frescoes from one wall to another, without injury to the painting, has been devised by Signor Steffano Barezzi, of Milan. The picture is covered with a prepared canvass, to which it adheres, and is thus detached from the wall. The canvass is afterwards applied to another wall, to which the We have a striking instance displayed in p. 74, of the effect of idleness, from which cause so much mischief has arisen, and which may certainly, with a little modification, be said to be the root of all evil. Between the ages of sixteen and eighteen he lived in one continued scene of idleness. Here he became acquainted with a young man, whose degagée air, and rakish appearance, he willingly yielded himself up to emulate. He it was who first introduced him to the fascination of a bil-painting again attaches itself, without the least liard table, and initiated him into the other seductive arcana of city dissipation. He it was who taught him to drink that execrable potion called wine. He it was who led him to a miserable hovel where they poured down the fiery beverage; whence, valiant in the feeling of intoxication, they sallied forth in quest of adventures. In a word, they aspired to be rakes, and were gratified. At a subsequent period our author cntered into the trait being destroyed. The practicability of this method has been successfully proved, and the inventor is now employed in transferring a large fresco from the church Della Pace, at Rome. bottles, which must be perfectly clean, sweet, Preservation of Milk.-Provide pint or quart and dry; draw the milk from the cow into the bottles, and as they are filled, immediately cork them well up, and fasten the corks with pack-thread or wire. Then spread a little straw on the bottom of a boiler, on which place the bottles, with straw between them, until the boiler contains a sufficient quantity. Fill it up with cold water; heat the water, eye, they can be trained in any direction without damaging the wall. and as soon as it begins to boil, draw the fire, and let the whole gradually cool. When quite cold, take out the bottles, and pack them with Copper Ships. A nautical mechanic has instraw or saw-dust in hampers, and stow theinvented and completed the model of an 80 gun ship of war, of which the keel, floor timbers, lower futtocks, and bottom planks, are made of copper! A patent, it is said, is taking out for this new mode of ship-building, which, it seems, is thought well of by some naval men. in the coolest part of the ship, or in a cool place. By pursuing this method, milk has been carried to the West Indies; and, after a period of eighteen months, has been as sweet as when first milked from the cow. Arithmometer.-A French artist, M. Thomas, of Colmar, honorary director of the Phoenix Company, has obtained a brevet of invention (patent) for a machine of calculation, to be called the Arithmometer. It has been presented to the Society for the Encourage Lithography-An experiment has lately been made to take off impressions from plants by lithographic printing. A specimen of Sibthorpia Europea, which was gathered several years ago in Cornwall, was covered with lithographic ink, and impressed on a stone, from which stone several impressions were after-ment of National Industry; and by it a person wards taken. The Perpetual Motion.-Among various curious exhibitions at a Mr. Vogel's, in New York, is one called a perpetual motion. It consists of a large wheel, around the edge of which are placed, at equal distances, a certain number of moveable hollow cylinders, each containing an equal proportion of quicksilver. weight of the quicksilver, which moves from one side to the other as the wheel turns, determines the horizontal or perpendicular position of the cylinders. By this horizontal position in falling, the circumference of the wheel is continually enlarged on one side, and dimi. nished on the other, by the perpendicular opsition in rising: this creates two unequal semieircles, the one more eccentric than the other, and thus causes a perpetual motion. Gas from Peat Moss.-A gentleman has recently found, and proved by a series of successful experiments, that the dark peat moss of Scotland, produces gas not inferior in quantity and quality to that extracted from coal, possessing the additional and valuable advantage of being in a great measure free from that offensive and noxious effluvia emitted by gas produced from the latter material. Ice-breaking Machine.-A Mr. Green, of Alexandria (America) has discovered a machine for breaking ice of the thickness of six inches, at the rate of three or four miles an hour. The machine promises to be of advantage in opening a passage for ships frozen, clearing canals, &c. Production of Magnetism.-M. Poenitz, of Dresden, has lately experimented on the production of magnetism by hammering, friction, &c. and has come to the conclusion, that it is not produced in the iron, but given to it by the external magnetism of the earth. Motion, only, renders iron more susceptible of receiving magnetism. One of his modes of giving this motion to the particles, is, to fix one end of a rod of iron or steel steadily, placing the rod in any position required, and then to make it vibrate by drawing the free end from the axis of the rod, and suddenly letting it loose. If in a favourable position, the iron soon acquires magnetism. Nails for Wall Fruit.-Specimens of Nails for Wall Fruit have been presented to the horticultural society. They are made of castiron, with round heads, having a hole in the centre, and are intended to be permanently fixed in the wall when building, between the courses of brick work; by leading the branches of the trees close to them, and tying them by pieces of matting or string run through the unacquainted with figures may be made to perform, with wonderful promptitude, all the rules of Arithmetic. The most complicated calculations are done as readily and exactly as the most simple; sums in multiplication and division, of seven or eight figures, require no more than those of two or three. Lining for Ships.-Mr. W. Ward, of Bow, Middlesex, having discovered that a light felt of hide or hair, or mixture of hide, hair, and wool, when saturated with tar, tic and water proof, conceives that it may be highly elasusefully applied as a lining for the sheathing of ships, being attached to the external sides and bottom of the ship, by simply nailing with copper nails. This substance he terms Adhesive Felt; it possesses the property of elasticity in so considerable a degree, as to stretch uniformly, without fracture or injury either to its texture or its complete impermeability to water, whenever the ship's seams are opened by straining in hard weather, or in more dangerous cases of the starting of planks, or the breaking of timbers as in stranding. Literary Notices. Lord Dillon has, during his residence at Florence, composed a work under the title of "The Life and Opinions of Sir Richard Maltravers, an English Gentleman of the Seventeenth Century," which is now in the press. Religious Declension, considered in its Nature, Causes, and Effects; with the Scriptural Means of Recovery and Prevention. By Thomas Wood, 12mo. boards. Arcita and Palamon, from Chaucer, by Edward Hovel Thurlow, Lord Thurlow, a poem, has just been published. A new edition of the Porteusian Bible has just made its appearance. Just published, "A few days in Athens," being the translation of a Greek MS. discovered in Herculaneum, by Francis Wright, 1 vol. 12mo. A Selection from the Correspondence of Linnæus, and other Naturalists, from original MSS. by Sir James Smith, M. D. F. R. S. and President of the Linnæan Society, 2 vols. 8vo. Elements of Medical Logic. Second edition, by Sir Gilbert Blanc, Bart. The Investigator, Part VIII. for April, published quarterly. Price of Stocks, 3 per Cent.Cons. 801 801 5 per Cent. Navy, 103 London, March 23. 1 pm. par 3 pm. Prussian 5 Cent. with div. fr. Oct. 1, 91 Ditto Metallic 5 per Cents. with dividend from March, 78. Austrian Metallic 5 per Cents. with div. from 1st inst. 77 to 77 Columbian 10 per Cent. with div. from August, Average Price of Grain per Quarter, for the 12 Wheat. Barley. Oats. Rye. Beans. Peas, Average Prices of Sugar 12, 33 6 20, 34 03 623 5 22 8 23 4 020 821 9 23 4 721 11 21 7 23 1 Number of Bankrupts. Jan. 26, Mar. 2, 5, 18 23 23 COMMERCIAL REPORT, LIVERPOOL, 25th MARCH, 1822. THE trade of the Port in general is but languid, nor can we expect a decided improvement until the proposed alterations, recommended by the Committee for Foreign Trade, come into operation. So far as they are known, they appear to be on a large and liberal scale; and whilst they will afford some facilities and advantages to foreign nations, the benefits to this country will be decisive, and will tend to restore to us the transit trade, and several other branches which had nearly left us since the general peace. It is, however, consoling to observe, that our manufactures are in a very flourishing condition; the exports within the last six months were never known to have been so large, and though there may be a danger that some places will be overstocked, yet the demand appears likely to be good for some time to come. The Manufactories in this county, Yorkshire, and Staffordshire, seem to be in full activity. The Iron Trade in the last mentioned county is the only branch which is at a low ebb. The operations in our market, and the present state of prices, will be best seen from the transactions of the last week, in the subsequent notices. Sugars.-Only two sales of British Plantation Sugars were brought forward last week, which sold at full prices. 300 tons of strong brown and yellow Sugar, just arrived from Bourbon, have been taken by a refiner, at 24s. per cwt. in bond. Bengals have found buyers at 69s. for fine yellow, to 74s. 9d. for middling white, duty paid. Coffee. The transactions have been very trivial, at former prices. Rums.-The market is not so active as might have been expected, considering the probability that our West-India Colonies would partially be thrown open to the Americans-40 puncheons Leewards, common strengths, have sold at Is. 4d. to 1s. 5d. 180 puncheons 25. 32. OP. 2s. 3d. to 2s. 6d per gallon. 40 puncheons Jamaicas, 2s. 1d. per gallon, for 16 OP. Owing to the large stock on hand, the whole advance has only been 1d. to 2d. per gallon. Cottons.--There has a good inquiry been experienced all the week from the dealers, who have purchased freely in Boweds; a trifling speculation has likewise appeared for this kind of cotton, but no improvement can be noticed in prices. Sea-Islands still continue in request, and the quantity going out of the market is considerable, yet the prices remain stationary. In Brazils, and others kinds, there is no alteration. The sales amount to 8155 packages. Tobacco. The transactions for home use are extremely limited; previous prices however are steadily maintained. Dry Saltery Goods, &c.-The sales in Ashes have been at former prices. American Tar of inferior quality fetched 13s. per barrel; 800 barrels of Turpentine 12s. 6d. to 12s. 9d. per cwt. Quercitron Bark is in limited demand. 30 tons of Nicaragua wood have been disposed of at £35. to £39. per ton. Cuba Fustic £14. Campeachy Logwood 11. to £11. 11s. Jamaica £10. 10s. per ton. American Beeswax £12. per cwt. Malaga Sumac 18s. 3s. to 19s. 6d. per cwt. 60 casks of Cocoanut Oil obtained only 31s. to 32s. 6d. per cwt. The sales of Hides have this week been very extensive, and Horse Hides per Hide. 9000 Buenos Ayres dry Cow and Ox, at 8d3. to 10d. per. lb. 8d. 500 salted at 6d. per lb. 21,000 Horse 6s. 9d. to 7s. 6d. per hide. American Cows at 5d. per lb. Tallow very dull and declining. have improved 3d. 1600 Bulls 7dž. to 1800 salted North Corn Market. At our last market day the business was very trivial, and prices may be considered almost nominal. Nearly all the sweet American Flour in bond, has been sold for export at 28s. to 30s. per barrel. Rice is dull of sale at 16s. to 18s. per cwt. in bond. New York Flax Seed 49s. to 50s. per barrel. Clover Seed, American red, 60s. per cwt. LONDON: PRINTED AT THE CAXTON PRESS, BY H. FISHER, |