Imperial reply,-'It is recorded.' I think you will agree with me, Mr. Editor, that the above is a very lamentable state of society. When my Moonshe read this paper, he said, 'I knew this was the state of things in Canton, but I never thought it was so in the other provinces; this is what drives people to rebellion; in nine cases out of ten, it is the government causes rebellions.' There is, I fear, much truth in the latter part of the old gentleman's remark. AMICUS. Criminals.-The death-warrants to be signed by his majesty, at the autumnal execution, amount this year to (935) nine hundred and thirty-five. In this number is included the lowest class of capital crimes. The share which Canton has in these this year, is one hundred and thirty-three: but to the whole number executed in Canton during the year, the word thousands, it is said, must be applied; some say three thousand. If the truth be equal to one thousand, it is a shockingly awful number of human beings for one province to sacrifice to the laws, in the space of one year. I omit the word justice, for human laws and justice are not always the same. What is the reason why so many fall victims to the sword of the law? Is it wholly the fault of the people? or does a share of the blame rest with the ruling part of the community? ART. XIV.-History of England, from the first Invasion by Julius Cæsar to the Peace of Ghent, &c. For the use of schools. By William Grimshaw. Philadelphia. 1819. Benjamin Warner. 12mo. pp. 300. We have copied so much of the title of this work, barely to express our decided approbation of the book, and to recommend its general introduction into schools. It is one of the best books of the kind to be found, and is instructive even to an adult reader. We should be pleased that teachers would rank it among their class-books; for it is well calculated to give correct impressions, to its readers, of the gradual progress of science, religion, government, and many other institutions, a knowledge of which is beneficial in the present age. Among the many striking merits of this book are, the perspicuity of the narratives, and elasticity of the style. It is with no little pleasure we have learned, that the author has prepared a similar history of the United States, a work long wanted, to fill up a deplorable chasm in the education of American youth. ART. XV. Specimen of Alliteration. [From La Belle Assemblee.] An Austrian army awfully array'd, Every endeavour engineers essay For fame, for fortune fighting-furious fray! Infuriate, indiscriminate in ill, Kinsmen kill kindred-kindred kinsmen kill; Labour low levels, longest, loftiest lines, Men march 'mid mounds, 'mid moles, 'mid murd'rous mines. Of outward obstacles opposing aught; Poor patriots, partly purchased, partly pressed, Vanish vain victory-vanish victory vain.- Yield, yield ye youths, ye yeomen yield your yell, Notoria. Linen from Nettles.-Some experiments on the preparation of linen and thread from the floss of nettles, have been made lately in Ireland. The thread in colour, strength, and fineness, is equal, if not superior, to that obtained from flax, and the linen has the appearance of common gray linen. Lit. Pan. Growth of Larch.-The following communication has lately been addressed to the Board of Agriculture, on the properties of the larch.-Ten years ago the duke of Athol transmitted to the Commissioners of Naval Revision some observations on the larch. The larch was introduced into Scotland in the year 1738, by a Highland gentleman, Mr. Menzies, who brought a few small plants from London, some of which were standing in the year 1807; and the largest then measured thirteen feet in circumference. His Grace has been in the constant habit, for more than thirty years, of using larch of various ages for different purposes, and he positively affirms, that the thinning of his plantations employed for pailing, rails, and hurdles, are more durable than oak copse wood of twenty-four years' growth.' He builds all his ferry-boats and fishing-vessels of larch; and after a lapse of years, they have proved sound, when the ribs, which were made of oak, have become decayed. In mill-axes, also, larch has been substituted for oak, with the best effect, and in cutting up cogs which had been repaired with it twenty years before, they were discovered to be as sound and as fresh as at first. The value of larch is not to be estimated merely by its intrinsic qualities, but also by its aptitude to soil and situations where few other trees can live. On the very summit of the lower range of the Grampian hills, from 1000 to 1200 feet above the level of the sea, on a barren soil, composed of mountain schist, slate and iron stone, and where even the Scotch fir cannot rear its head, the larch grows luxuriantly; and in considerable tracts,' says the duke, where fragments of shivered rocks are strewed so thick that vegetation scarcely meets the eye, the larch puts out as strong and vigorous shoots as are to be found in the vallies below, and in the most sheltered situations.' The larch is an Alpine tree, and it will not thrive in wet situations, but its comparative value is exceedingly greater than the Scotch fir, where it finds a congenial soil. The duke sold a larch that was fifty years old for twelve guineas, while a fir of the same age, and in the same situation, was not worth more than fifteen shillings. In addition to the valuable properties of this tree, some experiments have been made to prove that the bark of the larch may be used for tanning, with as much advantage as that of the oak itself. tb. THE ANALECTIC MAGAZINE. NOVEMBER, 1819. ART. I.-The History of the Lives of Abeillard and Heloisa, comprising a period of eighty-four years, from 1079 to 1163, with their genuine letters from the collection of Amboise. By the Rev. Joseph Berington. Philadelphia, published by Abraham Small-1819. O one,' says the Reverend author, has ever read Mr. Pope's inimitable poem without being interested in the fate of the lovers, whose sad and tender story he as a poet has told so well.' He is right, and the interest excited by Pope's verses will gain many readers to this volume who would not be otherwise tempted to peruse it; for certainly Mr. Berington does not excel in the graces of composition. Out of a most curious and romantic story he has made a very dull book, and most unaccountably has thought proper to mix the driest details of what he calls the general events of the period in which they (Abeillard and Heloisa) lived,' with his narrative of the misfortunes which befel the hero and heroine of his tale. Still however the volume contains much remarkable matter, and presents a view of the celebrated lovers somewhat differing from Mr. Pope's, showing Heloisa to greater and Abeillard to less advantage. As we shall see. Peter Abeillard was born in the year 1079, in the village of Palais near Nantes, and as it was said, was called by the name of Abeillard from the bee, (Abeille) because his mother dreamed she saw honey dropping from his lipsa presage of his future eloquence. He was destined for the profession of arms, but smitten with the love of learning, he resigned his inheritance and rights of primogeniture to his younger brothers, and, as he expressed it,' at the feet of Minerva sacrificed all the military pomp which blazes round the car of the god of war.' He had scarcely reached his sixteenth year, when he felt himself strong enough to rely on his own exertions, and quitted his masters who had nothing more to teach him. He came to Paris, in his twentieth year, then the great centre of all the knowledge of which the eleventh century could |