one or more coats of white paint; and, in each assortment, makes up a good thus at once destroyed its original charac- round sum, at the foot of the account. ter, and greatly injured the expression of the face. The best sculptors and painters of the metropolis justly remark, that the face indicates cheerfulness, good humour, suavity, benignity, and intelligence. These characteristics are developed by the mouth and its muscles-by the cheeks-eye-brows —forehead—and skull; and hence they rationally infer, that the face is worked from nature. Net cost is the cash actually expended, in the formation and completion of an article, for delivery. But, to this must be added the contingencies: reut, taxes, wear and tear of tools, buildings, persons, leases; wages, in every shape, interest of money borrowed, &c. all which are to be valued, and added to the cash, paid as aforesaid. These are item's The publisher concludes his remarks to be fixed, before the question of money with what he calls an extraordinary trick, to be paid down, for goods; or, the respecting a Portrait of Shakspeare, goods being sold at a credit, the value, lately played off by a London print- of that credit can be calculated. On seller: on the contrary, we have reason the previous part of this estimate, the to know, that the trick is but too ordi- dealer is not restrained by any law, nary; and that, to buy a picture, to from charging what he thinks proper, "christen it, to value it according to according to his conscience; but, on the name imposed, and to get a good the interest to accrue after the money price for it, is the every day practice terms are settled, the dealer dare not among the conscientious furnishers of charge usurious interest. He, therefore, "the old masters." Engravings, per-involves the consideration of hazard, haps, are still more fallacious; as they credit and reputation, good, or bad, or complete the imposition; and after hav-middling, in the first price; and thus ing served as unquestionable portraits his purchaser cannot tell at what degree of such, or such, an eminent man; by a of reputation he is held. change of name, they become equally unquestionable portraits of another who lived a century or two after him. We believe, that on a former occasion, we traced a copper-plate portrait three deep; at least, we know, that was the fact; and a curious list we could give of likenesses drawn from description, or taken from other persons, who were "the very models," of him, or her, &c. A Treatise on Profits, Discounts, and Interest: explaining how to compute the gross amount of any net sum; to secure a certain net profit, after a discount has been allowed therefrom; and to compute, by short rules, interest of money; with many Tables. By John Lowe, Birmingham. Price 12s. 6d. 1816. A VERY fit book to originate at Birmingham; where the system of apparently small gains, and temptingly heavy discounts, has been adopted, and practiced to the greatest nicety. We doubt, whether it be so general throughout the nation as Mr. Lowe affirms; but, after it is well understood by both buyer and seller, it may suit that infinite variety of smaller wares, which, though trifling This is an arrangement that admits of no rules; and hence a purchaser may buy goods of one seller cheaper than he can of another, because his reputation is higher in one house than in another. No merchant will allow the correct. ness of calculations made to controul his estimate of prior profit; yet we cannot but think that young adventurers often fail, by taking their incidents at too high a rate on each delivery of goods. They hereby allow older houses, which have more accurate notions of the real cost, to accommodate their customers, in an imperceptible, but not less real, manner. It were, perhaps,. desiring too much from Mr. Lowe, to call his attention to this; it is always kept a profound secret but if any man could do it, it might be Mr. L. The present work will be found useful by sellers; and with little trouble, a manufacturer may value his proceeds; but, the article of bad debts, which of late years has been by far too conspicuous on every merchant's Ledger, or Balancing Book, by its magnitude, its fre quency, and its unexpectedness, refuses to submit to reasonable, or averagé, calculation. the menaced power should in its turn lay open the Great Books, and carry the decision of war by the majority of signa Idea of a new Law for the civilized E We should not grudge three shillings, nor thirty shillings, nor ten times the sum, for the rudiments of a practicable scheme for suppressing war; neither shall we think the worse of that philanthropy which suggests such a purpose, though we must be allowed to have our opinion on the purpose itself, connected with the means of its execution. This writer's scheme is, as follows: Supposing that, some thirty years hence, the Cabinet of Versailles were to decide on a war with Great Britain; if she wishes to act in unison with the intelligence of the times, she will act in this manner : As soon as the ministers have decided on hostile measures, the Minister of the Inte rior will cause to be opened several Great Books. One set will be inscribed our, the other, NON. Two of these, that is, one of each description, will be sent to the Prefect of each Department, to be laid open only at his residence, for the reception of signatures. The individuals, claiming right of signature, or in other words, right of voting for War, or Peace, must be pos sessed of certain descriptions of property, hereafter to be explained. The signatures, consisting of the names of individuals, their age, rank, aud the nature of their property, must be written in the presence of the Prefect, or some other magistrate. Prefixed to each of the Great Books, will be a statement of the causes which induce the Cabinet to have recourse to armis, signed by the members of the Cabinet who have decided on war. The Books must be closed at the expiration of three weeks and transmitted, sealed by the Prefect himself, to the President of the Legislative Chamber. The President, in the presence of the Deputies, orders them to be opened, and the signatures counted. If the ours predominate, a Manifesto, declarative of hostilities, is immediately issued by the Minister of the War Department, and the usual orders are transmitted to the subordinate Offices of State. If the NONS predominate, the Ministers are displaced by the Sovereign, and a new Cabinet is formed; and no war takes place, unless Now, those who recollect the election of Buonaparte to the throne by ouis and nous, cannot forget his famous "N. B. All those who do not vote, will be reckoned for the affirmative." What followed? Napoleon's satellites obtained for him a few thousands of votes, including madmen and fools; and on their election, he tyrannized over thirty millions of people, and made war interminably.-So much for popular votings! This is not the only hopeful idea; the author recommends a regulated emigration: the thought might deserve notice could the individuals be determined. Annual Emigration of Paupers, who are absolutely thrown out of employment, or who have no expectations in life, from waut of families, or friends, to Australasia, proposed to commence A. D. 1830. Some have doubted of the legitimacy of having recourse to the expedient of peopling Australasia with European colonists. The question of right may, however, be easily resolved. All accounts agree in representing it as a country very thinly and miserably inhabited. The natives of this fine quarter of the globe, are perhaps the most degraded of the human species; covering their bodies with rancid fish oil, devouring verniin, and mutilating their persons. Now there cannot be a greater act of charity exerted, than, through the medium of colonies, to meliorate their condition. Let the colonists who go thither but treat them with common humanity, and all doubt as to the lawfulness of propagating European civilization among them, must vanish in every reasonable mind. FOR GREAT BRITAIN. Concordance, &c. Agreement of the three Systems of Tournefort, Linnæus, and Jussieu, by the Foliary system, applied to the plants which grow spontane busly around Paris, &c. By Louis Lefébure. The author assures us that by means of his System, the generic name, and the proper place in the Systems of those illustrious Botanists, whose names he commemorates, may be determined at once. Assuredly, this is saying a great deal; but if it be nearly the truth, it accomplishes a purpose that has long been a desideratum among the Students in Botany. As it would give us sincere pleasure to see the systems of these authors harmonized, and as Nature, though she seem to lend herself to all systems, has really no system, that has been, as yet, discovered, we give a place to this work; believing, that if it prove to be of half the utility intended and affirmed by M. Lefébure, to make it known to the public is a service both to the science and to the world. The principles of this theory were developed in four discourses, delivered at the Atheneum, at Paris; they drew numerous and attentive auditories, and had the reputation of being so clear, and satisfactory, that not only were the rudiments completely understood, but their accuracy was immediately felt and acknowledged. Hitherto, the leaf of the plant has been excluded from all systems, as unworthy of forming part of the theory; yet it is the intermediate link, that according to the author, combines the whole. Plants are divided into two classes: the first comprizes all those which bear flowers on their stem :-the second class contains those which have no flowers on the stem, and whose leaves grow around the bottom of the plant. These classes are divided into three orders, according as the leaves are inserted :-one by one, the first order;-two by two, the second order; -three by three, the third order. These orders are subdivided into twelve tribes, the distinguishing of which is derived from the form of the corolla, as employed in the system of Tournefort, to Vol. V. LIT. PAN. 23. N.S. AUG. 1816. whom the prevailing opinion has genc rally ascribed the discovery of a happy theory for the arrangement of the minor organs of the plant, by means of this leading part, the corolla. But what entitles M. Lefébure to particular consi deration is his discovery, that so far from the respective systeins of Linnæus and Tournefort being irreconcileable, as has constantly been affirmed, and even without the suspicion of Linnæus himself, the system of the later Botanist is the simple continuation, or perfect completion, of the theory proposed by the former. It is, says M. L. necessary only to ap ply the twenty-four classes of Linnæus to the families of Tournefort, ranged in the order assigned them by the foliary system, to perceive that all the families or genera, are exactly characterized. 1 It is altogether surprising, that long as these systems have been in the hands of botanists by profession, and of amateurs of great abilities, this union, with the means by which it is accomplished, should not have occured to the minds of any. But, the author accounts for this by the inattention shewn to the leaf; without the assistance derived from that part, he acknowledges that he himself should not have happened upon it. The facilities afforded by this arrangement are so great, that the study of some years is reduced to the mere exercise of the understanding, with an attentive study of a few hours' duration. Simple inspection of a plant performs the rest, after the student possesses the key. Nothing better, certainly; can be adopted than the systems of Tournefort and Linnæus, which depend on the cònformation of the parts of the flower and fructification; but if it be true, that a certain arrangement of the leaves is uniformly followed by a conformable character of the corolla, it must be acknowledged that a considerable advance has been made in the science, since the leaves are not only more obvious, but are open to observation for a much longer time, than the flowering parts of most, not to say of all, plants which are known. This theory has, as yet, met with no opposition abroad; and we are desirous of submitting it to the test of strict exa 2 E mination by the Botanists of our own country; for which purpose, we have availed ourselves of the assistance of a foreign pen.-Time, no doubt, will do justice to the parties concerned. Brief Memoirs of four Christian Hindoos, lately deceased. Published by the Serampore Missionaries. Serampore printed. London, reprinted, for Gale and Fenner. 12mo. price 3s. 6d. 1816. uncertainty, for the sublime expectations rect. After Pitambura's death his widow was adorned rebaptized, and has for five years ligion by her conduct. fler affection for her husband, and her patient attendance on him in his long affliction, were truly exemplary. Soon after his death she voluntarily came forward and made an open profession of the gospel; to do which, in a country where females are held in such a state of extreme exclusion, is an act of real fortitude; as such persons must renounce all their former habits of life, before they can appear among Europeans, and be baptized, before hundreds of spectators. A person of a very different kind was Rughoo-Nat'h. He was Of these converts one was a Brahmin, another was of the Writer caste; the other two were Shudras. Pitambura Singhu, (the first in the tract) died at Serampore, August 20, 1805, aged about sixty years. That a man of observation and sense should be completely disgust- A poor illiterate idolator, unable to read ed with the idols of Hindostan, and with or write; and, in his case, as in that of all the profligate manners of the idolators, the heathen, his natural conscience had been generally speaking, can occasion but lit exceedingly darkened and seared by their "abominable idolatries." He was an entle surprise; indeed, we have every rea-thusiast in idolatry; his back was filled with son for concluding that many thousands scars, from the hooks by which he had been of Hindoos are dissatisfied with the reli- so frequently suspended in swinging on the gion they find themselves bound to pro-infamous churuka.* Added to all this, be fess, because they can do no otherwise. Hence, sects denying the distinctions of caste, and renouncing the worship of idols, have obtained many followers in India, and the principle has been, for some time, making great progress. It may be conjectured, that the violence of their Mohammedan conquerors. has acted with the most repulsive power on the Hindoo mind; and should the smallest approach to such methods of propagating a Religion, be patronized among any other authorities, there can be no doubt, but what the aversion they would engender would be fully equal to what now exists. * "The man who is to swing (says Mr. Ward), prostrates himself before the tree; and a person, with his dirty fingers makes a mark where the hooks are to be put. Another person gives him a smart slap on his back, and pinches up the skin hard with his thumb and fingers; while another presses the hook through, taking hold of about an inch of the skin; the other hook is then in like manner put through the other side of the back, and the man gets up on his feet. As he is rising, some water is thrown in his face. He then mounts on a man's back, or is elevated in some other way, and the strings which are attached to the hooks in his back are tied to the rope at one end of the horizontal bamboo, and the rope at the Pitambura is an instance of this dis-other end is held by several men, who, the end on which drawing it down, raise up position. He applied He applied to many to be the man swings, and by their running round taught divine things; he could learn but with that rope the machine is turned. In little, very little; and that to no good swinging, the man describes a circle of about purpose. He first became acquainted thirty feet diameter. Some swing buly a with the Gospel, in 1801, by means of few minutes, others half an hour or more. a small tract, which excited his disdain, I have heard of some who have continued as coming from an Englishman;-for swinging four hours. About the year 1800, five women swung in this manner, with even the dress of the English is offen-hooks through their backs and thighs, at sise to Hindoos. He afterwards changed Kidderpoor, near Calcutta. It is not very his inind; then visited Serampore, and, uncommon for the flesh to tear, and the perat length, quitted his state of miserable son to fall. Instances are related of such 778] Récit Historique sur la Restauration de la Royauté en France. lived in adultery many years, and wallowed in the filthiest vices. It does not appear to the reason of man in what degree a practice so repug nant to Humanity can promote Eternal Salvation: yet, perhaps these sufferings are light, to some of those adopted among the Catholics; but, for which there is no pretence whatever in the Gospel of Christ. A Brahmin of twenty-one years is the last, and the most interesting of these memoirs. At such an early age he, probably, was not initiated into all the vices of his caste; but, that he was not an ignorant person, as many among them are, the following extract will evince, He saw plainly that there was nothing in all that the Hindoo gods were said to have done that would be of use in the salvation of souls. Be it so,' he would say, that Rama did this, and Krishna that, and Doorga the other-Supposing all this to be true, that Rama fought for, and obtained his wife; that Kristina killed king Kungsha and got bis throne; that Doorga killed a number of usooras; what good do these things do you or me? I, who am a sinner, find nothing here by which my sins will go away, and I get heaven; but Christ bore our sins, their guilt, and punishment, and hence HE is the Saviour, for his work was for us, and for our salvation. He came for no other purpose. not like Rama for a wife-not like Krishna for a kingdom; not like Doorga to kill usooras and drink their blood, but to seek and save that which was lost, and to be come the ransom for sinners." Not only by his words did he confess Christ before the brahmuns, and in the very teeth of those who hated him for Christ's sake, but his Christian walk confirmed his testimony, that his Christian profession was genuine. He possessed tenderness of conscience, amongst a people who make sin their play thing, and amongst whom this sentiment is universal, that sin is the play of the gods He regarded truth amongst a nation of liars, whose very gods were liars, and whose shastrus, in certain cases, de clare the innocence of lying. He was a man of integrity, amongst a nation who value themselves on their dexterity in the arts of deception and fraud. Divine grace thus changed his nature and his habits, and enabled him to make head against sin, which runs through the plains of Bengal like a mighty torrent, carrying all before it persons perishing on the spot." History of Ilindoos, vol. II. p. 582. [774 into the vortex of Hell. It was time that God should work in some such way, and bring forth a seed to serve him out of the its toleration of sin, by its easy ways of revery heart of the idolators, for idolatry, by moving it, and by its public spectacles, has drawn the world after it; hence the Hin doos worship their Ramus and Krishnus, the Musulmans their peers* (saints); the native Catholics, their crucifixes and Virgin Marys, and in the houses of Europeans their Hindoost'hanee mistresses carry on idola trous worship. We are ashamed to see Europeans in such company; ere long, perhaps, the Christian world may justify a different picture: Hope may live to see more than Despondency can now deem credible. Récit Historique sur la Restauration de la Royauté en France, le 31 Mars, 1814, By M. de Pradt, formerly Archbishop of Mechlin. Paris printed. London reprinted, for Booth. 8vo. pp. 103. 1816. Whether it be quite fair to view a Wri ter's motives in his book, to watch him *The Musulmans present offerings to these peers, and perform religious ceremonies to them as the Hindoos to their gods. The Portuguese Catholics find complete substitutes for their former idols in the images of the Virgin, &c. On Palm Sunday they present flowers and buds of the date tree to the crucifix, before which these things are laid for a time, and the priest distributes the branches of this tree as holy things among the people who go to church. At the same time he gives them water in which the crucifix has been bathed, They take these home, and preserve or use them as sacred things, in the same way that the Hindoos carry home flowers, fruits, &c. that have been offered to their gods. The Catholic priest marks the foreheads of the people with the ashes of the date tree. The Hindoos mark their foreheads with the dirt of the Ganges. The Catholics visit the shrines of saints. The Hindoos have their holy places, The Catholics have their holy water. The Hindoos sprinkle themselves with the waters of the Ganges. The Catholics pray to the saints, as persons placed betwixt God and them. This is the Hindoo idea of the gods, The Hindoo repeats the name of his god, counting the seeds in his mala: the Catholic repeats the name of the Virgin, counting with his bead-roll. The lower orders regard St. John as a god or saint who presides over fire, and they let off fire-works to his honour. |