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Agesilaus thus, tho' far renown'd,
His offspring pleased, and danc'd along

the groun

ing the idea of its being the Evening of the Year.-Pitlivic, October 1801.

Thus more, their warm affection you NOW Nature drops her robes, at

will gain;

And filial love and rev'rence both rẻ.

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Autumn's close,

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tural History, including also occasional remarks on the Inhabitants, their Husbandry and Fisheries. By Patrick Neill, A. M. Secretary to the Natural History Society of Edinburgh, 8vo. 59.

A System of Chemistry. By J. Mur ray, Lecturer on Chemistry, Materia Medica, and Pharmacy, Edinburgh, Vol. I. and II. 8vo. 11. 1s. Statement of facts relative to the appointment of a Professor by the College of Surgeons, 4d.

New Editions.

Mr Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, 3d edition, 3 vols. 8vo. 11. -11s. 6d.

Lay of the Last Minstrel, 5th edit. 8vo. 10s. 6d.

-Sir Tristrem, 2d edit. 8vo. 128. Ballads and Lyrical Pieces, 2d edit. 8vo. 7s. 6d.

Swiss Emigrants, a Tale, 2d edition, 12mo. 4s.

Scottish Literary Intelligence. WE

E have to notice, among the publications of this month, an interesting addition to the topography of the Scottish islands," A Tour through some of the islands of Orkney and Shetland," by Mr P. Neill. The journal of this Tour oṛi. ginally appeared in successive numbers of our Magazine from Nov. 1804 to July 1805. This journal is here republished, but very considerable additions are made to it, both in the form of Notes and of Appendix.

The objects which I principally at"tended to, (says Mr Neill in his preface)" were those connected with

the study of Natural History, but "it was almost impossible not to "take some notice of the state of the "inhabitants of the Islands. The "freedom of my remarks, however, "on the unfortunate condition of

the common people in Shetland, "has brought upon me the censure

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er will probably be not a lit"tle surprised to learn, that these "tenants, acting at one time as far

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mers, and at another as fishers, "after enduring, in the latter ca"pacity, for many weeks, the great"est privations, and encountering "stormy seas in their open boats, are not allowed to carry their

dear-bought cargoes to the best "market, but are compelled to de"liver the whole into the store"houses of their landlords, at sti"pulated rates, below the mar"ket value! This statement has

never been controverted: and this alone would justify me for "not having formed a very favour"able opinion of the system of ma"nagement adopted by the Shet"land lairds. I shall only further 66 'state,

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state, that so slender are the ad

vantages, if any, accruing to the "tenants from this fishery, that it "is, in general, an object of aver"sion to them; in so much, that"their agreements with their lairds "are accompanied with an obliga"tion to fish, under the implied,

but well-understood penalties, of "dismissal, and consequent starva"tion, or of heavy and arbitrary "fines.

"During my excursions through the "Islands, I occasionally took notes, "and from these the Tour was "compiled: but as I then enter"tained no thoughts of publication, "my notes were very short and "incomplete. Indeed, I certainly "would not have appeared before "the public at all, had I not hoped "that the consequences of the dis"cussion might eventually be bene"ficial to the remote and neglected "inhabitants of Shetland. It is my

earnest wish that their condition "should be scrupulously inquired "into by some of our public-spirited "and patriotic characters: satisfied "as I am, that from ingenuous in"vestigation, and public discussion, "a change will result, favourable "not only to the emancipation and "happiness of the poor people, but "ultimately to the prosperity of the "landholders themselves."

In the Appendix, there will be found some valuable remarks on the Shetland Islands, and on the means of improving them, by Sir Alexander Seton of Preston, whom the author accompanied as a fellow-traveller through several of those dreary wastes in 1804.-The mineralogist will find some interesting information respecting the mineral productions of Shetland, by Dr Trail of Tirlet in Orkney.-A list of plants indigenous to Orkney, supplementary to the catalogue contained in Dr Barry's History, and some remarks on the Birds found in

the Islands, by Mr Neill himself, will interest and amuse the naturalist. These different, interesting,

and curious papers, it may be proper to repeat, did not formerly appear in our Magazine, but are now published for the first time. The Notes contain some remarks on the importance of the Herring-fishery ;. and a particular account of the droves of small Whales which were, last year, stranded on the shores of Unst in Shetland. These notes, therefore, which are all likewise additional to what was formerly pub. lished, contain some valuable disquisitions, both on topics of curious research and of national importance. This work therefore will be found to contain a large fund of political, scientific, and economical information, respecting a part of the British empire which is less known than it deserves; and it will also afford amusement to most descriptions of readers.

LITERARY INTELLIGENCE, ENGLISH and FOREIGN.

Tar matured, that its appearance is announced for the first of January. Whe shall cite the sketch of its plan, as published by those concerned in its management:

HE plan of the new Oxford Review

1. The writers are gentlemen wholly unconnected with literary factions, or with the trading interests of publishers.

2. They have been induced to volunteer their services as guardians of literature, in consequence of the numerous abuses to which periodical criticism has lately been exposed in many of the existing reviews.

3. As resident members of the first university in the world, their easy access to literary authorities of every kind, their means of constant literary communication, and their other numerous local advantages, especially qualify them to undertake the office of censors of the

public press.

4. Every book shall be reviewed according

cording to the professed object of its writer, and every writer shall be candidly judged according to his own principles.

5. Issuing from a seat of learning, which has always been justly regarded as the bulwark of the Church and State, this review will be stedfastly devoted to the interests of the established religion and government of the country.

6. Every book which appears in the British Empire, and which has been publicly advertised, or has been communicated to the editors, shall, without exception, be noticed in this review within three months after its appearance.

7. The reviewed works shall be classed systematically, under the general heads of literature to which they respectively belong.

8. Notices of foreign literature shall form a regular portion of every Number, and arrangements have been made by which they will be early and comprehensive.

Kotzebue has lately published at Berlin some volumes of Tales, Episodes, and Nouvellettes, a translation of which has been undertaken, and will speed ly appear, in three volumes, corresponding with his various travels. This gentleman and M. Muller are understood to be the authors of the admired and spiited Manifesto of the King of Prussia.

Sir William Young, Bart, and M. P. has just completed an arrangement of facts and documents relative to the West India Islands, which he intends to publish under the title of The West India Common Place Book. This work will include all that it can be desirable to know relative to the commerce, produce, and other interests of the West India Islands."

Dr Cogan, of Bath, is preparing for the press an Ethical Treatise on the passions. The first part, which will ap pear in the course of the winter, will treat of the agency of the passions in the pursuit of well-being; of the intellectual powers, as directories in the pursuit ; and of the nature and sources of that well-being of which the human species is susceptible.

Mr Davis, author of Travels in America, has nearly ready for publication, in Que volume octavo, Memoirs of the Life of Chatterton the Poet.

dily make its appearance, written by a gentleman some time resident in that island. To give a more complete view of the present state of that valuable colony, the author has written separate dissertations on the climate and soil, topography, laws, trade, natural and commercial productions, state of the negroes, and proposals for the amelioration of their condition; diseases of Europeans and negroes, and the customs, manners, and dispositions of the inhabitauts.

Mr Burney, the eminent conductor of the Naval Academy of Gosport, will publish, in a few days, two works calculated to increase that thirst for glory which has already rendered our navy invincible. One of them is a succinct account of the lives and actions of all illustrious admirals and commanders, to appear under the title of "Naval Heroes ;" and the other is a complete historical view of the rise and progress of the navy to the present time, under the title of the "British Neptune."

Mr Thornton, who has resided many years in Turkey, is preparing for publi cation an Account of the Government, Religion, Manners, military and civil Establishments of that country.

Early in November will be published, in three large volumes, royal octavo, The Political Life, and Speeches at large, of the late Mr Pitt. The Life is composed from authentic documents, interspersed with his correspondence. His speeches in Parliament, as well as on other occasions, are given at length,

Mr Walpole, a relative of the celebrated writer of that name has just completed, under the title of Recollections, a biography of that distinguished statesman, Mr Fox. It will contain a great number of curious and interesting anecdotes, and will be comprised in the compass of a neat pocket volume.

Mr Dallas has a new romance in the press, under the title of The Knights. Mr Barclay's new work on the Muscles may be shortly expected.

Mr Vetch is preparing a new work on Ophthalmia.

A second volume of Mr Manning's History of Surrey is in considerable forwardness, edited by Mr Bray, the Treasurer of the Society of Antiquaries.

A beautiful monument,to the memory of Schwartz, the German missionary, A new History of Jamaica will spec. has been just finished by Mr Flaxman,

311

intended for India. The subject is a bas relief, representing the Rajah of Tanjore's last visit to the venerable priest while on the bed of death; it was chosen by the Rajah himself: one or two of the Rajah's ministers are represented as accompanying him, with three boys, in the foreground, belonging to the school which Schwartz superintended for many years.

A periodical work, published by M. Storch, and entitled, Russia under Alexander I. furnishes the following particulars: In the German provinces of the Russian empire there are at present six printing establishments, three of which are in the government of Livonia, one in Courland, and two in Esthonia. These are, 1. The printing house of the university of Dorpat, established in 1789 by M. Genzius, who, in 1802, had the title of printer to the university. Ever since its establishment, a political gazette has been printed there.-2. The printing house of the crown and city at Riga, established as early as 1522. It has always enjoyed the privilege of printing all the church and school-books for that city: It may be considered as the mother of all the foreign printinghouses in Russia. Since the year 1785 it has belonged to Mr J. D. K. Muller. 3. The same city contains another printing-house, belonging to M. Hacker, established in 1777.-4. The pritinghouse of the government of Mittau, where there was probably one so far back as 1584. It is only of late years that it has become flourishing under the direction of M. Steffenhagen, who has conferred signal benefit on his country by circulating in it many excellent German and Lithuanian works.-5. The printing-office of the town and gymnasium of Reval, founded while the country belonged to Sweden. Its proprietor is M. Minuth, who publishes the only newspaper that appears at Reval. 6. Gressel's printing-office, established in the same town in 1802.-All these houses, especially that of Mittau, are furnished with a great quantity of types. The new King of Holland has under taken the presidency of the Society of Arts and Sciences of Haerlem, and in future its title is to be the " Royal Society of Haerlem."

The government of the kingdom of

Italy has founded an annual competition for one heroic drama and two comic dramas, which are to be represented at the theatre della Scala. A prize of 60 sequins will be given to the author of the best heroic drama, and one of 40 sequins to each of those whose comic dramas shall be crowned.

The Corridor, leading to the Library and the Museum of the Vatican, will be the finest in the world. From the present entrance to the Museum, to the place where the iron gate used to stand, the statues, busts, and basso-relievos. found in the different store-rooms of the Vatican, are now placing. The tablets on which the busts are fixed are composed of antique pieces of frieze and entablatures, and they rest upon pillars and fragments of columns which once embellished the edifices of ancient Rome. By means of this arrangement the Gallery will become of some utility to architecture, that important branch of the arts, unfortunately too much neglected in the museums of sovereigns and of the cu rious. From the place where the iron gate stood, to that where you descend to the lodges, persons are employed in encrusting the walls of the gallery with innumerable inscriptions of the Pagans and of the early Christians. The Chevalier Canova places the works of Art, and Cajetan Marini classes the inscriptions. The wall which formerly separated the lodges and the corridor is no longer in existence; the space which it occupied is

transforming into a handsome vestibule, which will be ornamented with columns and other relics of antiquity.-Thus the whole length of one part of the lodges is added to that of the corridor, which increases it nearly 225 feet. It will afford a view truly magnificent and worthy of Rome. In the present vestibule of the Museum are seen several epitaphs on the Cornelian family, and the celebrated sarcophagus of Scipio Barbatus. Accordingly, throughout an extent of 1200 feet there will be a series of authentic monuments, both of art and science, of more than twelve centuries, commencing with the first Punic war. This Gallery, the largest in the world, will lead to the Library and the Museum of the Vatican, or, to speak more correctly, that superb Gallery will form an integral part of an unrivalled whole,

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