and pathetic eloquence which the fubject demanded. This cannot be faid of the "Funeral Oration prepared and delivered at the request of Congress," on the fame occafion, by Major Gen. HENRY LEE, who in relating the principal events in the life of his fellow-foldier, has never deviated from the fobriety and naked veracity of narrative. It is impoffible to enumerate one-twentieth part of the funeral eulogies which have been pronounced over the grave of the late Prefident; we cannot, however, omit noticing two which are particularly appropriate; the one by JEDEDIAH MORSE, to which is prefixed an Account of the Proceedings of the Town of Charlestown on the melancholy Occafion by JOSIAH BARTLETT, Efq. and the other by WM. P. BEERS, Efq. pronounced before the Citizens of Albany. Mr. NOAH WEBSTER, a gentleman already known as a philologift and grammarian, has published, in two octavo volumes, "A Brief History of Epidemic and Peftilential Diseases; with the principal Phænomena of the Phyfical World which precede and accompany them; and Obfervations deduced from the Facts stated." Mr. Webster, after enumerating the various theories which have been adopted by philofophers and phyficians refpe&ting peftilence, deduces from this variety, that the fubject is not at prefent understood, and perhaps that it never will be. He ftates what information refpecting epidemic diseases could be collected from Plutarch, Livy, Dionyfius, &c. and thus illuftrates his own opinion relative to the connection which fubfifts between peftilence and convulfions of the elements: he fays, "it will be found, as we proceed with this hiftory, that most of such extraordinary feasons and unusual concurrence of great agitations in nature happen during volcanic eruptions, and the approach of comets to the folar fyftem, of which this globe is a part." And elsewhere he obferves, it will be found invariably true in every period of the world, that the violence and extent of the plague has been nearly proportioned to the number and violence of the following phænomena, earthquakes, eruptions of volcanos, meteors, tempefts, inundations." This work contains fome curious matter; but the author's dogmatifm and credulity depreciate its value. It has been reprinted in London. Dr. BENJ. SMITH BARTON, whofe 1 name we have already had occafion to mention in this Retrospect, is one of thofe acute and perfevering naturalists from whom America may expect an extensive and minute investigation of her animal and vegetable productions. He has just publifhed the first part of what he modeftly entitles "Fragments of the Natural Hif. tory of Pennfylvania," dedicated to the Linnæan Society, of which Dr. Barton is a member. This first part of a work which, if the Dr. enjoys that portion of health, leisure, and encouragement which is fincerely to be wifhed for, will be moft comprehenfive in its execution, is confined to ornithology: it is divided into three fections, confifting of TABLES; in the first of which is exhibited the Spring and fummer birds of paffuge; in the fecond the autumnal and winter birds of paffage and in the third, the refident birds of Pennfylvania. The first and fecond fections are divided into five columns, which fucceffively exhibit the day of the month when the birds of the fecond column were first seen in the vicinity of Philadelphia; and the fecond column the scientific names of Linnæus; the third, the English fcien tific and provincial names; the fourth marks the progrefs of vegetation; and the fifth and laft column contains mifcellaneous obfervations. The introduction, confifting of eighteen pages, contains many ufeful facts, hints, and obfervations on the manners of birds, and particularly on their migration. Our readers will not be difpleafed if we infert the following lift of publications by the fame author: "Memoir on the Fafcinating Faculty of Serpents, (1797).” "Collections for an Effay towards a Materia Medica of the United States." (1798). "New Views of the Origin of the Tribes and Nations of America." (1798). Besides many interefting papers to be found in the Tranfactions of the Philofophical Society of Pennsylvania. Dr. BARTON, we understand, is moreover engaged in the compofition of a work on the Inftinct of Animals; A Tour through the Weflern Parts of New York;" "A Memoir on the Bronchocele or Goitres, as obferved in the State of New York;" "A Geographical View of the Trees and Shrubs of North America;" "A Memoir on that deftructive Infect called the Heffian Fly" and an extenfive work on the Fegetables of Pennsylvania and the adjoining States. The last work which we have to mention in our prefent Sketch of American Literature, is a Periodical Publication yet in its infancy, entitled "The Monthly Magazine:" Its contents are "Original Com Communications; American Review; Republication of Foreign Works; SeJections; and Poetry.' The original communications are, as they must be in every fimilar work, of very unequal merit; there are many admitted into the prefent, which we think are puerile and meagre. The critical part of the publication feems to be the beft; we are principally indebted to it for the materials of the prefent article, and we with they had been more abundantly furnished. To unite a Magazine and a Review, has fometimes been attempted in this country, but never with any tolerable fuccefs: American publications indeed are fo few, that it was perhaps apprehended they would hardly fupport a regular periodical review; if,mifcellaneous matter, however, muft occasionally be inferted, let it be fubordinate; the critical portion fhould on no account, as it very evidently is in the volume before us, be cramped and confined by matter of very inferior merit. A place is allotted in the American Review to "Selections" truly, from fo reign works, chiefly English: this betrays a fcantinefs of contributions which augurs not well, and yet we are perfuaded that the work is fupported by fome gentlemen of high literary attainments. Why not omit this degrading portion, and allow fcope, large, if not unlimited, for the exercife of criticifm? The following is a lift of foreign works republished in America and noticed in the first eight numbers of the Monthly Magazine; with it we shall at prefent clofe our account of its "St. Pierre's Studies of Literature, Nature," "Dr. Withius' Economy of the Covenants," "Mofheim's Ecclefaftical Hiftory," The fourth volume of Dr. Robertfon's "Hiftory of America," Count Rumford's "Effays," An "Encyclopædia" in eighteen volumes quarto, Malham's "Naval Gazetteer," Southey's "Joan of Arc," and "Poems," Bithop Berkeley's" Adventures of Signor Gaudentio di Lucca," and two Tranflations of Kotzebue's "Count of Burgundy," one by Mifs Plumptre, and one by Mr. Charles Smith of New-York. We fhall continue and probably extend this account of American Literature in our future Supplements. • Probably reprinted from the Scotch. FRENCH LITERATURE. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY AND BO TANY. "Renouvellemens Periodiques des Continens terreftres," &c.-Of the Periodical Renovation of the Terreftrial Continents; by LOUIS BERTRAND, Emeritus Profeffor of the Academy of Geneva, and Member of that of the Sciences and Belies Lettres of Berlin, 1 vol. 8vo. "This work," fays M. Bertrand, is destined for the ufe of thofe, who are pleased to afcend from effects to caufes: they will here behold a multitude of facts país in review before them; felected for the most part from the travels of the celebrated Sauffure, in the Alps." The author confiders the earth as composed of fa, formed from the refiduum of vegerables of all kinds, during the interval between the different inundations that have occurred; for, according to his fyftem, the whole earth has been covered fucceffively with water, He attempts to refute the theory of Leibnitz, relative to the caufes that have led to the prefent ftate of our planet; he alfo difcuffes the opinions of Buffon, Sauf are and Deluc, concerning the manner in which the waters have receded from the land, and concludes that it has been at once fudden and violent. The prefent ftate of the Alps, enables him to conceive a new fyftem relative to the formation of continents, and he alfo enters into mineralogical details, concerning different fpecies of frone. After combating the opinion of Deluc, that the continents tend to a permanent, which will be the laft and beft ftate, the author concludes, from the phænomena produced by the loadftone, that the earth is a hollow fphere, and he explains its compofition and motions. The above sketch is fufficient to evince that this work is calculated for the learned alone; and the philofopher and mineralogift will be at no lofs to difcover that it abounds with ideas worthy of being attended to. Manuel Economique des Plantes," &c. An Economical Manual of Plants, or an Account of all the Plants that are ufeful in the Arts, by J. P. Bucнoz, Author of feveral Medical and Veterinary works, &c. 1 vol. 8vo. 374 P.. In this manual, the author has men tioned feveral plants calculated for being converted into paper, inftead of rags; and others that may serve as fubftitutes for bark. He has alfo given two differtations by Linnæus, one on an economical flora, and another on the utility of moles. This work has attained fome celebrity, and is adapted to a variety of useful purposes. "Tableau Methodique du Cours d'Hiftoire Naturelle," &c. A Methodical Defcription of a Courfe of Natural Hif tory, drawn up for the Ufe of the Pupils belonging to the central School of the Department of Pas-de-Calais, established at Boulogne fur mer; by J. PICHON, Profeffor of Natural Hiftory in the above School, Member of the Society of Agriculture and Arts at Boulogne fur mer; a Correfpondent of various Societies, &c. 8vo. 1799. This little work contains a defcription of all the natural fubftances indigenous to the department of Pas-deCalais; and alfo an account of all the foreign productions treated of in the cen tral school. La Botanique pour les Dames. "Botany for Ladies" by Dr. A. J. G. C. BATSCH, Profeffor at Jena, Weimar. Dr. Batfch has borrowed nearly the whole of this work from Curtis's Botanical Magazine. It confifts of an 8vo volume, with 100 coloured plates; the text is French and German. VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. "Voyage de Dimo et Nicolo Stephanopoli en Grèce," &c. The Travels of Dimo and Nicolo Stephanopoli in Greece, during the years V. and VI. (1797 and 1798); in Confequence of two Millions: one on the Part of the French Government, and the other in Confequence of Inftructions from General Bonaparte, drawn up by one of the Profeffors of the Prytaneum, with engravings of Figures, Plans and Views, taken on the Spot, 2 vols. 8vo. Printed at Paris, VIII. Year (1799), and imported by De Boffe. We are informed in the preface, that modern travellers have taken very little pains to make themselves acquainted with Greece. They have never deigned to vifit Cerigo, as if it were poffible that there fhould be nothing remarkable in a spot where Venus was once worshipped. If we are to give credit to them, Maina is only peopled with ferocious and inhofpitable robbers and they confound the inhabitants of Cape Matapan called Portecaillottes, with the other Mainotes, who still retain their patriarchial manners, and confequently the virtues of the Homeric age. It was in the power, we are told, of Greeks alone, in confequence of their knowledge of the cuftoms and manners of their country, to diffipate thefe errors, and fill up the chalms in the hiftory of modern Greece. This is the tafk, which Dimo and Nicolo Stephanopoli have impofed upon themselves, and their account fills the two volumes now before us. Dimo Stephanopoli fet out from Paris, on the 2d Floreal, of the fifth year (1797) accompanied by one of his friends, and arrived foon after at Leghorn, whence he fent for three of his nephews from Corfica. With these he visited Venice, then failed for Rovigno, and was in danger of being put to death by a body of Sclavonians, whom the French had banished from the Adriatic. At Sebbenico, they were alfo on the point of being maffacred, and at Lefina, Dimo was feized and imprisoned. He was releafed however from captivity, by the good bishop of Lefina, who ranfomed him from the Sclavonians, after which he immediately repaired to Italy, and at Milan had a conference with Bonaparte, who employed him on a miffion to Albania and the Morea. He defcribes the ftyle in which that victorious general then lived, as fimple in the extreme, and particularly remarks the toaft given after dinner, "to the re-establifhment of a republic in Greece!" He found Cephalonia in the poffeffion of the French, affifted in planting the tree of liberty in the capital, and beheld, no doubt with ecftafy, the four following fentences, one of which was infcribed on each fide of the barrier that enclofed the emblem of freedom: “L'amore alla patria, "L'odio ai privileggi, "Sono le bani della democrazia." Ai Francefi, vindici Dell' umanità, Ceffalonia riconoscente." La reunione e la fratellanza "Preferire il ben generale Al proprio, E la prima virtù Del Republicano." After the ceremony was finished, all the nobles threw their armorial bearings, their parchments, their robes and their large bushy wigs into the flames! After a refidence of a few days, our traveller set out for Zante, and ́vifited Cerigo, Cerigo, the antiquities of which he defcribes. Stephanopoli thence repaired to Potamos, in the neighbourhood of which be discovered an antient arcade with a Greek infcription; entered the wood, formerly facred to the Goddefs of Love; and breakfafted on a stone bearing a reprefentation of Venus, in the act of crowning two young lovers A few hours fail, brought him to the port of Marathonice, where he landed, and was hofpitably received by the Mainotes, to one of whom he affirmed, "that Bonaparte, after fourteen battles, and as many victories, was at that moment negotiating peace under the walls of Vienna!" He at the fame time prefented a let ter to one of the Beys, addreffed "to the chief of the free people of Mainotes ;" but as this perfonage did not understand the French language, Dimo immediately tranflated it into modern Greek, and it was found to contain many handsome compliments to the descendants of the Spartans. After visiting all the antiquities in the neighbourhood, and copying every infcription, worthy of being particularized, Stephanopoli inquired into the ftate of morals, and found that thefe confifted lefs in precepts than examples in the course of his researches, he discovered a kind of moral and political catechifm, which, in point of laconiím at leaft, is worthy of the ancient Spartans. Here follows a tranflation of a few of the queftions with their answers : The Difciple. Five. The first is, to refpect and affift old age; the fecond, to love and facrifice every thing for our parents; the third, to be flow in contracting, and faithful in fulfilling obligations; the fourth, to esteem married men, that we ourselves may be efteemed in our turn; to regard their wives as inviolable, and their daughters as facred; the fifth is, to preserve that liberty which we have derived from our ancestors unaltered, and to defend it at the peril of our lives. After a confiderable ftay among the Mainotes, our traveller returned to Zante, and then vifited Corfou, whence he failed for Italy, and delivered all the information he had been able to obtain, to his patron General Bonaparte. "Voyages de la Perfe, dans l'Inde, & du Bengal en Perfe," &c. Travels from Perfia to India, and from Bengal into Perfia, with an Account of the Revolutions of Perfia, and a Hiftorical Memoir relative to Perfepolis. By L. LANGLES, 3 vols. Paris. The first volume of this work contains an account of a journey from India to Mecca, by Abdoul-Kerym, a noble Kach myrian in the fervice of Nadir-Châh, better known in Europe by the name of Thomas Koulhi Khan. This was originally tranflated into English by Mr. Gladwin, and is chiefly valuable on account of the geographical remarks of the author, and the notes of the learned Langles. The fecond volume includes the details of a journey from Perfia to India during the years 1442, 1443, and 1444, by AbdOulrizaq, ambassador from Châh-Rokh, fourth fon of Timour, (Tamerlane,) to the King of Bifnagor. This is tranflated from a Perfian manufcript, No. 106, 400. preferved in the French national library. The author was almoner to Châh-Rokh, and, befides the prefent, has compofed the Hiftory of Tamerlane, and fome other works. Notwithstanding the bigotry of this Muffulman, this portion of his writings contains much ufeful information. The third volume confifts of a tranfiation of Franklin's journey from Bengal. In that part of it which treats of Perfepolis, Langles takes occafion to `affert, that this once celebrated city was not destroyed by Alexander, as has been ufually fuppofed; he alfo gives it as his opinion, that the the magnificent palace called TchèchelMinár, or the forty columns, was not burnt to the ground, but is indebted to the ravages of time, and the effects of frequent earthquakes, for its prefent ruinous fate. It is the opinion of the celebrated tranflator, that many valuable remains of antiquity might be difcovered here, were proper measures taken for that purpose. Voyage pittorefque de la Syrie," &c. A picturefque Journey through Syria, Phoenicia, Paleftine, and Lower Egypt; by C. CASSAS, No. II. This is a periodical work of confiderable celebrity, the prefent number of which contains the fix following plates, which are admirably executed: 1. A view of the Port of Antioch, called Medina, (Bab-el-Medynab,) fiyled formerly by the Arabians Artbákyeb. 2. The remains of an ancient Sarcophagus, on the road leading from Beryte to Sidon. 3. A general view of Seide, formerly termed Sidon, and which the Arabs at prefent call Sferta. 4. A view of Jerufalem, with the Holy Sepulchre, &c. 5. Two plans of the fepulchral Monuments of the Kings of Judæa. And, 6. A third of the fame; Voyage par le Cap de Bonne-Efpérance à Batavia," &c. A Voyage to Batavia and Bengal by the Cape of Good Hope, in 1768-69-70-and 71. By J. F. Stavorinus, Commodore of a Squadron in the Service of the Batavian Republic; with Obfervations on the Navigation and Commerce of thefe Countries, as well as the Characters, the Manners, and the Religion of the People who in habit them. Tranflated from the Dutch by H. J. JANSEN, 8vo. with 3 Plates. This is a translation of Stavorinus's first voyage only the whole of the work has already appeared in Engh. Some parts of the narrative are interesting, but in the department of natural history ne is deemed incorrect. "Voyage à Canton," &c. A Voyage to Canton, the Capital of the Province of the fame Name, in China, by Gorée, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Iles of France and Re-Union; to which are added, Obfervations on the Vovages to China by Lord Macartney and Citizen Van-Braam, with a Survey of the Arts and Acquifitions of the Indians and Chinefe. By Citizen CHARPENTIER Cos SIGNY, Ex-Engineer. The author tells us, in his preface, "that every thing relative to the internal MONTHLY MAG. LXI, fituation of China, is entitled to the notice and attention of the public. "I have been eager," adds he, "to perufe the accounts of the English and Dutch embaffies to the Emperor; and much praife ought to be beftowed on the original editors as well as the translators: but I cannot refrain from obferving that these two works appear to me to be incomplete in many particulars, deftitute of exactnefs in fome, and faulty in not a few; as their authors have not collected that degree of information relative to the arts and legislation of the Chinefe, which circumftances had enabled them to obtain. In short, they have entirely neglected to make us acquainted with the fpirit of their laws, which are entirely oppofite to our customs and our principles, "It is thefe confiderations," adds he, "which have determined me to lay my obfervations on the two works quoted above, before the public. They are preceded by an account of a voyage to China, which will convey an idea of the manners of the Chinese, of thei commerce with the Europeans, and, in fhort, with all the productions of that famous country. I have also noticed the productions of the Cape of Good Hope, which I vifited twice. My idea of this fubject is different from that of the generality of travellers, for that colony does not appear to me of fo much confequence as has been afferted. I confider it merely as a place of refreshment for veffeis deftined to the Indies, or thofe returning thence: there is un doubtedly a great deal in this, but it constitutes the whole of its importance. "It is far otherwife with the Isle of France, which unites. ail the advantages attached to a numerous population, a ferthe foil calculated for the culture of exotic productions, and an admirable fitua tion, being placed in the very centre of the Indian feas; let it not be forgotten alfo, that, in addition to these bentes, it poffeffes two good harbours. In respect to this precious colony, I have indulged freely in my remarks, as its importance is not fufficiently appreciated. "After this follows my fketch of the Indian and Chinese arts, relative to which I have obtained information in the courie of my various voyages; but it is stili incomplete, as the fubject requires further inquiry and examination." It will appear from the above extract, that one of the principal objects of the prefent work, is to criticife the voyages of Lord Macartney and Mynheer VanBraam; this is coupled with the political 4 P aim |