stantly fail. For the misfortune is, that the Head of Dulness, unlike the tail of the torpedo, loses nothing of her benumbing and lethargising influence, by reiterated discharges; horses may ride over her, and mules and asses may trample upon her, but with an exhaust less and a patient perversity, she continues her narcotic operations even to the end. In fact, the Press was never so powerful in quantity, and so weak in quality, as at the present day; if applied to it, the simile of Virgil must be reversed, "Non trunco sed frondibus efficit umbram." It is in literature as in finance-much Paper and much Poverty may co-exist. Thus does the author break in with his preface, or, as the fancy folks would term it, his facer. "The following pages, such as they are, have cost me some thought to write, and they may possibly cost others some to read them. Like Demosthenes, who talked Greek to the waves, I have continued my task, with the hope of instructing others, with the certainty of improving myself. "Labor ipse voluptas." It is much safer to think what we say, than to say what we think; I have attempted both. This is a work of no party, and my sole wish is, that truth may prevail in the church, and integrity in the state, and that in both the old adage may be verified, that," the men of principle may be the principal men.' Knowledge indeed is as necessary as light, and in this coming age most fairly promises to be as common as water, and as free as air. But as it has been wisely ordained, that light should have no colour, water no taste, and air no odour, so knowledge also should be equally pure, and without admixture. If it comes to us through the medium of prejudice, it will be discoloured; through the channels of custom, it will be adulterated; through the gothic walls of the college, or of the cloister, it will smell of the lamp. "In an age remarkable for good reasoning and bad conduct, for sound rules and corrupt manners, when virtue fills our heads, but vice our hearts; when those who would fain persuade us that they are quite sure of heaven, appear to be in no greater hurry to go there than other folks, but put on the livery of the best master only to serve the worst ;-in an age when modesty herself is more ashamed of detection than delinquency; when independence of principle, consists in having no principle on which to depend; and freethinking, not in thinking freely, but in being free from thinking ;-in an age when patriots will hold any thing, except their tongues; keep any thing, except their word; and lose nothing patiently, except their character ;—to improve such an age, must be difficult, to instruct it dangerous; and he stands no chance of amending it, who cannot at the same time amuse it." This book is not one to be taken up and read through like a novel or a history. Indeed the aspect of it is deterring rather than inviting. Five hundred detached maxims, thoughts, and observations, without a narrative to interweave them, are quite appalling to modern readers. We looked at the volume, full of figures (X's, and D's, and C's and L's) in every page, and we laid it down again-we read one remark, found it piquante; another, just and forcible; a third, curious and entertaining: the author had now caught hold of us, and we believe we have since perused every axiom he has written, and many of them several times over. In fact, we discovered that under the inauspicious form of pithy pieces of advice, there was a great deal of originality, and the fruits of much reading, much observation, and much reflection; that, together with a perhaps too frequent repetition of antitheses, a little sprinkling of triteness, and a certain quaintness of style, there was terse philosophical remark, useful instruction, and often elevated ideas in elevated language: upon the whole, that Lacon was a book to be dipped into at any time with pleasure and advantage; and though there are some of the principles to which we canno' subscribe, and some of the inferences from which we differ, we must in justice say, that the general cast is liberal, essentially good. All that it is necessary for us to add to these remarks, in order to afford an idea of Lacon, may be comprised in a few selections; and these we subjoia promiscuously. "Avarice begets more vices than Priam did children, and like Priam survives them all. It starves its keeper to surfeit those who wish him dead; and makes him submit to more mortifications to lose heaven, than the martyr undergoes to gain it. Avarice is a passion full of paradox, a madness full of method; for although the miser is the most mercenary of all beings, yet he serves the worst master more faith fully than some Christians do the best, and will take nothing for it. He falls down and worships the god of this world, but will have neither its pomps, its vanities, nor its pleasures for his trouble. He begins to accumulate treasure as a mean to happiness, and by a common but morbid association, he continues to accumulate it as an end. He lives poor, to die rich, and is the mere jailor of his house, and the turnkey of his wealth. Impoverished by his gold, he slaves harder to imprison it in his chest, than his brother slave to liberate it from the mine. The avarice of the miser may be termed the grand sepulchre of all his other passions, as they successively decay. But unlike other tombs, it is enlarged by repletion, and strengthened by age. This latter paradox, so peculiar to this passion, must be ascribed to that love of power so inseparable from the human mind. There are three kinds of power-wealth, strength, and talent; but as old age always weakens, and often destroys the two latter, the aged are induced to cling with the greater avidity to the former. And the attachment of the aged to wealth, must be a growing and a progressive attachment, since such are not slow in discovering that those same ruthless years which detract so sensibly from the strength of their bodies, and of their minds, serve only to augment and to consolidate the strength of their purse." "Of modern theorists, Gall and Spurzheim are too ridiculous even to be laughed at; we admire Locke and Hartley for the profundity and ingenuity of their illustrations; and Lavater for his plausibility; but none of them for their solidity. Locke, however, was an exception to that paradox so generally to be observed in theorists, who, like Lord Monboddo, are the most credulous of men with respect to what confirms their theory, but perfect infidels as to any facts that oppose it. Mr. Locke, I believe, had no opinions which he would not most readily have exchanged for truth. A traveller shewed Lavater two portraits: the one of a highwayman, who had been broken upon a wheel, the other was the portrait of Kant, the philosopher; he was desired to distinguish between them. Lavater took up the portrait of the highwayman, after attentively considering it for some time, "Here," says he, “we have the true philosopher, here is penetration in the eye, and reflection in the forehead; here is cause, and there is effect; here is combination, there is distinction; synthetic lips! and analytic nose:" Then turning to the portrait of the philosopher, he exclaims, The calm thinking villain is so well expressed, and so strongly marked in this countenance, that it needs no comment." This anecdote Kant used to tell with great glee. Dr. Darwin informs us, that the reason why the bosom of a beautiful women is an object of such peculiar delight, arises from hence; that all our first pleasurable sensations of warmth, sustenance, and repose, are derived from this interesting source. This theory had a fair run, until some one happened to reply, that all who were brought up by hand had derived their first pleasurable sensations from a very different source, and yet that not one of all these had ever been known to evince any very rapturous or amatory emotions at the sight of a wooden-spoon !” 66 "Men will wrangle for religion; write for it; fight for it; die for it any thing but-live for it." The following is a noble picture of and final friend of truth. Time is the time :- "Time is the most undefinable yet paradoxical of things; the past is gone, the future is not come, and the present becomes the past, even while we at tempt to define it, and like the flash of the lightning, at once exists and expires. -Time is the measurer of all things, but it is itself immeasurable, and the grand discloser of all things, but is itself undisclosed. Like space it is incomprehensible, because it has no limit, and it would be still more so if it had. It is more obscure in its source than the Nile, and in its termination than the Niger; and advances like the slowest tide, but retreats like the swiftest torrent. It gives wings to pleasure, but feet of lead to pain, and lends expectation a curb, but enjoyment a spur. It robs beauty of her charms, to bestow them on her picture, and builds a monument to merit, but denies it a house; it is the transient and deceitful flatterer of falsehood, but the tried most subtle yet the most insatiable of depredators, and by appearing to take nothing, is permitted to take all, nor can it be satisfied, until it has stolen the world from us, and us from the world. It constantly flies, yet overcomes all things by flight, and although it is the present ally, it will be the future conqueror of death. Time, the cradle of hope, but the grave of ambition, is the stern corrector of fools, but the salutary counsellor of the wise; bringing all they dread to the one, and all they desire to the other; but like Cassandra, it warns us with a voice that even the sages discredit too long, and the silliest believe too late. Wisdom walks before it, opportunity with it, and repentance behind it; he that has made it his friend, will have little to fear from his enemies, but he that has made it his enemy will have little to hope from his friends." We now bid Mr. Colton farewell. That his book merits to be read by thousands-is our imprimatur. VARIETIES. From the English Magazines, June 1820. THE NEWGATE SPECTRE. ON N Tuesday night last (June 13, 1820,) a most extraordinary circumstance took place in the prison of Newgate. The following are the particulars :-Tuesday night, as usual,several of the unfortunate criminals under sentence of death were taken to their cells, and locked up for the night, and watchmen were stationed in various situations, and the doors were locked, barred, &c. At nearly the hour of 12 o'clock, the head keeper was in his room, when his attention was attracted by loud knocking at his door, as if some one was beating it with a sledge hammer; the door being separated from the cells by two large windows, he opened one of them to ascertain from what it proceeded, but to his astonishment he could see no one. On the repetition of the noise, he fearlessly made search, but to no avail, he could not ascertain from what it proceeded. Shortly after, one of the culprits, a bold, courageous man, who had been convicted for horse stealing, and who was in his cell, was driven into fits by the following singular cir cumstance :-He states, that while he was in his cell he beheld a ball of fire pass through the grating of his window with great force, which struck him with vehemence upon his shoulder. He was much terrified, and after some time it assumed the appearance of a horrid ghastly human form. The sight of it deprived him at the moment of his senses and utterance, and he gazed on it until it vanished, as he says "through the key-hole of his cell," and the place appeared to be in flames. About the same time another spectre was seen by one of the watchmen of the prison, and had such an effect upon him that he fainted away. Here it did not stop its progress,—a soldier who was confined in the next cell to the horse-stealer, also saw a spectre of the same description, and he was siezed with fits of a violent nature in consequence, and continued so for a length of time. He says that he has been in the field of battle, and has frequently slept in the field with the dead, but was never so much frightened in his life. He is now very bad. To corroborate the above,another watchman, stationed on the top of the prison, positively asserts, that he saw a ball of fire on the staircase about the time represented by the above persons, and made oath of it for the satisfaction of the prison. During this time tremendous blows were repeated at Mr. Barret's door, and the borse-stealer and soldier were in fits the whole of the night. The former implores not to be put into the same cell, and says that he would rather submit to be doubleironed and have himself chained to the floor, or any other punishment, rather than be put into the cell again-The above circumstance was mentioned to Mr. Cotton, the Ordinary, who intimated it to Mr. Brown. night. There are five condemned cells in one passage, in each of which there is a prisoner. At ten o'clock, when all was dark, Hay entered the passage, knocked at the door of one of the cells, spoke a few words, and thrusted a lighted candle through a hole, which is just large enough to admit it, and as suddenly withdrew it to the consternation of the inmate, who cried out, "O Lord, have mercy upon us!"-He did the same at the doors of the other four cells, and exclamations of fright were heard at each. He then stole away, after having uttered a deep groan, which was re-echoed from the cells. A MAD SONG. COME ye to seek me? then bear me home; Warble your blithest strains to-day; Scatter sweet flowers in my thorny way,- The flowers that sparkle with morning dew, At evening my quiet grave shall strew. Clothe my form in a robe of white, Pluck a lock from my raven hair, And say to the youth, as ye bear me home, IMPORTANT MECHANICAL INVENTIONS. The following additional particulars "form the sequel to this extraordinary circumstance. The convicts thought fit, after having been assured by Mr. Brown that one of the fraternity had been amusing himself at their expense, to make some inquiry, and they succeeded in ascertaining that a convict, named Hay, was the ghost, and the flame of fire and the brimstone. They held a Council of War upon the quest ion whether they should try him, and punish bim according to law by bumping. The joke, however, was considered too well performed to be punished, and they wrote a letter to Mr. Brown, expressing their regret at having been so weak as to think there could be any thing within the gates of Newgate at night but mortality, and very frail mortality too. Hay had taken it into his head to try whether five men, who bad. not been afraid to commit robberies is a machine, which, in its appearance, day or night, would be afraid of a is classically chaste; and, in its properFound and the light of a candle at ties, as far surpasses any other Printing THE following are the inventions of an American gentleman named Clymer, lately arrived from Philadelphia. These productions of his genius have been seen with surprise and admiration by many competent judges, whose testimonials in their favour merit the highest regard. The first of these, which we shall briefly describe,may be considered as a machine of a higher order of mechanics; and the second, as an invention of the highest class in Hydraulics. The COLUMBIAN PRINTING PRESS, seconds, changed into a ship's purifying syphon, To ship-owners this will prove of incalculable advantage; because, when used as such, by apply ing two hoses and tubes, to the tube below, which discharges the water from alongside into the vessel, extend Press, as the late Earl Stanhope's improvements exceeded all others which preceded him. We have perused a variety of corroborating testimonials in favour of this Press, which clearly prove its superiority. The simplicity of its construction; the ease of labour which it occasions to the workmen ; the amazing to each extremity fore and aft, the ing power, and the simple mode of reg water being discharged through them, ulating it to work the heaviest forms or will drive all the bilge-water into the the lightest card, by the legitimate mode midships, where it will be almost as of producing the finest typographic spe- quickly thrown out by the pumps; cimiens between two flat surfaces, or thus keeping the vessel clean and wholewhat is technically termed the table and some, and removing those noxious and plattin, all conspire to announce it the pestilential exhalations,so unwholesome perfection of the Printing Press. to the passengers and crew, and so destructive, from their corrosive powers, to the timbers and metals of which vessels are composed, arising from the stagnant bilge-water, to which all vessels are liable. The COLUMBIAN SHIP'S PUMP, EXTINGUISHING ENGINE, AND SHIP'S PURIFYING SYPHONS, we have seen, says our correspondent, with amazement. Having heard of its powers, we visited Mr. Clymer for that purpose, at his manufactory, Finsbury street; and we confess we were taken by surprise at seeing its effects as a Ship's Pump. It raises and discharges from 250 to 300 gallons of water per minute, together with all substances which do not exceed the diameter of 18 or 24lb. shots; and, with the water, it raises and disgorges 18 and 24lb. shots in rapid succession, This circumstance sufficiently proves the impossibility of choking or retarding it in its operations, in any situations in which vessels may be placed. All other pumps,particularly those on board East or West Indiamen, are liable to be choked and rendered useless, by the very goods which they are chiefly calculated to import-coffee, sugars, spices, molasses, &c.; but this Pump bids defiance to them all; it will raise and discharge sand, stones, shot, gravel, ballast, coffee, sugars, molasses, spices, any thing which the diameter of the tube below will suffer to enter it, without a shadow or possibility of impeding its operations, or putting it out of order; and being almost of one solid mass, and remarkably simple in its construction, any person of common understanding can always keep it in working trim. In a few seconds it is convertible into an Extinguishing Engine of amazing powers. It is also, in a few From the specimen which we bave seen of Mr. Clymer's inventive genius, we are persuaded that it will not be unacceptable to our agricultural friends to be informed, that that gentleman has also invented a PLOUGH, possessing, in a proportionate ratio, the properties of easing the labour of that noble animal the horse, as much as the Columbian Press eases the labour of man; and with less expense and labour ploughing more land, in a giv en time, than any other plough now in use. BARRY CORNWALL'S NEW POEMS. THE first of these is founded on the death of the Emperor Julian, called the Apostate, and opens thus (Julian-alone.) To-morrow?-aye, to-morrow. The bright Sun of my life will set in blood. Dark, heavy clouds And in its bosom is-my grave. Oh! then, Now nursest with cold dews the sleeping flower, |