Final end thefe geographical inveftigations of ancient writers, fo aufpicioufly commenced; and which, on the whole, as Dr. Johnson candidly acknowledged of Gray's celebrated Elegy, it would be vain to blame, and ufelefs to praife.

This volume extends to almoft eight hundred pages; an excellent index is annexed; and eleven maps are introduced, explanatory of the different Sections.

ART. VI. A Difcourfe on fame Events of the laft Century, delivered in the Brick Church in New Haven, on Wednesday, January 7, 1801. By Timothy Dwight, D. D. Prefident of Yale College. Copy-right fecured. 8vo. 55 pp. New Haven printed, by Ezra Read. 1801.

AS S we do not know that this difcourfe, though it well deferves it, has yet been reprinted in England, we fhall defcribe it from a copy which was tranfmitted to us from America; and shall extract the most important part, as our readers - might not easily procure the book itself. Dr. Dwight, whofe name and merits we have already made known to the English public, takes a regular view of the progrefs and improvement of North America from the beginning to the end of the laft eentury; with the defign of excuing thankfulness in his hearers, for the mercies of God to that country. The progress is furprifing." In the year 1700, there were 116 incorporated towns in New England, and probably about 80,000 inhabitants. There are now about 860 towns, and probably 1,200,000 people." Other things are in proportion. To the whole of this retrofpect we have nothing to object, but that the author, as was doubtlefs neceffary in America, reprefents the separation from England as a bleffing, which we have reafon to believe it has not yet proved, as we fhall further explain in the fequel. A very ftriking view is given of the changes of morals, for the better or worse, which have taken place in' America. But, in the clofe, great alarm is avowed for the actual ftate of things, and the danger of a Jacobinical regeneration. The addrefs of the Doctor to his countrymen, on this fubject, is forcible and highly impreffive; we thall therefore infert it, as applicable no lefs, in many points, to the people of this country; and as illuftrative, in fome refpects, of the delufion already hinted at, on the fubject of the advantages gained by America by its Revolution,

"When

"When we revert," fays Dr. D. " to the troublous times which are now revolving, the foul irrefiftibly returns to furvey the fins and er Fors which rage around us, the temptations which aların, enfnare, and feduce, and the miferies which are refounded from a fuffering world,, In this fituation it inftinctively afks, How fhall thefe evils be averted' from ourselves and ours?

This question is now in truth asked, with ftrong emotions, and many forebodings, by the great body of the people in New England; and is felt to involve the peace, freedom, and fafety, the morals, religion, and immortal welfare of themselves and their children, The mind is awake, the heart is alarmed; anxiety is on the wing, and the Spirit of foreboding looks through the eye, with melancholy fufpence and agitation. Suffer me then, in the indulgence of imagination, to assemble here this vaft multitude, to view them as already gathered around me, and to address to them, as to you, an answer to this folemn enquiry.

"My Friends and Brethren,

"In all the changes which have befallen our native country, the interpofitions of divine providence in its behalf have been wonderful. Think, if you are at a lofs on this fubject, of the manner in which God bare your fathers to this land on eagles' wings, and kept them in the hollow of his hand, Recal their numerous deliverances from the favages, and from the more bitter enemies, who fpurred thofe favages to war and flaughter. Remember their wonderful prefervation from the armament of Chebucto, completed on the night of that folemn day, when with fafting and fupplication they lifted up their united hands to implore the falvation of their God. Who gave the artillery of your enemies into the hands of Manly; and their ammunition into thofe of Mugford? Who furrendered to you the army of Burgoyne? Who, in fpite of pretended friends, more malignaut than open enemies, established on folid grounds your independencet and your peace; and jet your feet in a broad place, a poffeffion rich, fecure, and immenfe? Who has filled your veins with health, and your garners with all manner of flores? Who hath filled your land with ceiled boufes, adorned it with schools, and enlightened it with innumerable churches?

"A work thus begun, and thus carried on, is its own proof that it will not be relinquished. We may be fcourged, for we merit it, but I truft we shall not be forfaken; we may be cast down, but we shall not be deftroyed. The present unusual and glorious prevalence of religion, is the hand of God, writing on the wall, that we are not yet numbered and finished."

* The French, fee p. 9 of this difcourfe. Rev. + On this we shall subjoin a remark at the end.

66

Rev.

The author has before (p. 17) fpoken of certain periodical revi wals of religion, the laft of which, he fays, ftill extenfiyely exifts." He owns, however, that fome perfons of refpectability confider these fuppofed revivals as ebullitions of enthufiafm. At this diftance, we cannot judge. Rev.

After

After more exhortation to the fame purpose, applicable, in great meafure, like the reft, to England as well as America, the preacher proceeds thus.

"At the fire-fide, in the ftreet, in the court of juftice, and in the legiflature, be, and be feen to be, the friends and followers of God. From the dawn of life let your children be taught, both in the family and the school, to fear GoD, to truft the Redeemer, to hate iniquity, and to do that which is good. Teach them to read, to love, and to obey the Scriptures; to reverence magiftrates; to rife up to the hoary head; to venerate the fabbath; and to worship in the fanctuary. For this end, efteem, and fhew that you efteem, the fabbath a delight, and the Holy of the Lord honourable; and let them fee that you turn away your feet from finding your own pleafure on that day. Them that honour me, faid God, I will honour; but who fo defpifeth me fhall be lightly esteemed.

"In your daily intercourse, recal the probity, fairness, and good will of your forefathers; their enlarged charity to the poor, the fick, and the friendlefs; and their principled refpect and obedience to the laws of the land. Unlearn yourselves, and unteach your children, the fenfelefs doctrines that no man is honeft; that office makes an honeft man a villain; that men whom you have long and thoroughly tried and approved are for that reafon to be marked with jealoufy, and hunted down with flander. Remember, that it is equally a fin, and a shame, a debasement of common fenfe, and an infult to God, to speak evil, without caufe, of the rulers of your people; and ceafe to believe it an eafy or probable thing for thofe rulers to opprefs you, when the fame laws muft equally opprefs themselves.

"In the meantime, let me folemnly warn you, that if you intend to accomplish any thing, if you mean not to labour in vain, and to fpend your strength for nought, you must take your fide. There can be here no halting between two opinions. You must marshall yourselves, finally, in your own defence, and in the defence of all that is dear to you. You must meet face to face the bands of diforder, of falfehood, and of fin. Between them and you there is, there can be, no natural, real, or lafting harmony. What communion hath life with darknefs? What concord hath Chrift with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an Infidel? From a connection with them, what can you gain? What will you not lofe? Their neighbourhood is contagious; their friendship is a blaft; their communion is death. Will you imbibe their principles? Will you copy their practices? you teach your children that death is an eternal fleep? that the end fanctifies the means? that moral obligation is a dream? Religion a farce? and your Saviour the fpurious offspring of pollution? Will you fend your daughters abroad in the attire of a female Greek? Will you enrol your fons as confcripts for plunder and butchery? Will you make marriage the mockery of a register's office? Will you become the rulers of Sodom, and the people of Gomorrah? Shall your love to man vanish in a word, and evaporate on the tongue? Shall it be loft in a tear, and perish in a figh? Will you enthrone a Goddess of Reason before the table of Chrift? Will you burn your Bibles?

Will

Bibles? Will you crucify anew your Redeemer? Will you deny your God?

"Come out, therefore, from among them, and be ye separate, faith the Lord; and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a father to you: And ye fhall be my fons and daughters, faith the Lord Almighty.

To this end you must coolly, firmly, and irrevocably make your determination, and refolve, that Jehovah is your God, and that y avill ferve him only. His enemies are the enemies of your felves and of your children; of your peace, liberty, and happinefs; of your religion, virtue, and falvation. Their principles abhor; their practices deteft. Before your fteady indignation, and firm contempt, they will fall of course. No falfehood can bear the funbeams of truth; no vice can withstand the steady current of virtue. The motives to this oppofition are infinite. Your all, your children's all is at stake. If you contend manfully, you will be more than conquerors; if you yield, both you and they are undone. You are endeared by a thousand ties. Your coinmon country is a land of milk and honey. In it a thoufand churches are vocal with the praife of your Creator; and four thoufand fchools receive your children to their bofom, and nurse them to wifdom and piety. In this country you all fprang from one flock, fpeak one language, have one fyftem of manners, profefs one religion, and wear one character. Your laws, your inftitutions, your interefts are one. No mixture weakens, no ftrangers divide you. You have fought and bled, your fathers have fought and died together. Together they worshipped God; together they fate around the table of the Redeemer; together they afcended to heaven; and together they now unite in the glorious concert of eternal praife. With fuch an interest at hazard, with fuch bonds of union, with fuch examples, you cannot feparate; you cannot fear.

"Let me at the fame time warn you, that your enemies are numerous, induftrious, and daring, full of fubtlety, and full of zeal. Nay, fome of them are your own brethren, and endeared to you by all the ties of nature. The conteft is, therefore, fraught with hazard and alarm. Were it a war of arms, you would have little to dread. It is a war of arts; of temptations; of enchantments; a war against the magicians of Egypt, in which no weapons will avail, but the rod of God. In this contest you may be left alone. Fear not. They that be for you will, even then, be more than they that are against you. Almighty power will protect, infinite wifdom will guide, and unchangeable goodness will profper you. The Chriftian world rifes daily in prayer to heaven, for your faithfulnefs and fuccefs, the hoft of fleeping faints calls to you from the grave, and bids you God fpeed. The fpirits of your fathers lean from yonder skies to furvey the conflict, and your children of many generations, will rife up and call you bleed."

After reading this noble exhortation, and determining, as we ought, to profit by it, let us not fail to recollect, that if America had continued united with Britain, her dangers

Would

would not, probably, have been fo urgent as they are here reprefented. Jacobinifm and irreligion would not have made fuch mighty ftrides, to alarm, with reason, all who wish to adhere to virtue and religion. They would not have had a Chief Governor connected in interefts and opinions with France, and likely therefore to give ten-fold ftrength to every affault which this excellent teacher apprehends. Perhaps, therefore, it may ftill appear in the end, that the feparation from England was a judicial punishment to America, and not a blefling. However this may be, we shall be always glad to fee their real interests flated to that people, in language fo forcible and fo just as is here employed.

ART. VII. Supplement to the Third Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, or a Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Mijcellaneous Literature. In Two Volumes. Illuftrated with Fifty Copper-Plates. By George Gleig, LL. D. F. R. S. Edin. 4to. More than 800 pp. each Vol. 21. 2s. Bonar, Parliament-Square, Edinburgh. 1801..

No work, of fimilar nature or extent, was ever more eagerly purchased than the Encyclopædia Britannica*; and the Supplement, being avowedly carried on under the care of Dr. Gleig, to whom the third edition owed fo much of its celebrity, appears, with a certain pledge of approbation, in his name. Like a man of true merit, Dr. Gleig is careful not to affume to himfelf the credit of thofe parts of the work which were executed by others; and, therefore, in a fhort Preface to the fecond volume of this Supplement, he affigns to his feveral coadjutors the most important parts which were contributed by them. To Dr. ROBISON, fo well known, and fo juftly valued, for integrity as well as fcience, the public is indebted for the very excellent articles Arch, Aftronomy, Carpentry, Centre, Dynamics, Electricity, Impulfion, Involution and Evolution of Curves, Machinery, Magnetifm, Mechanics, Percuffion, Piano-forte. Centre of Pofition, Temperament in Mulic, Thunder, Mutical Trumpet or TrumpetMarine, Tfcbirnhaus, and Watchwork. Of thefe it may juftly. be faid, that, for the quantity of original and important ideas conveyed in them, for clearnefs and foundnefs of information, they will not eafily be matched, by an equal number of articles,

The third edition was reviewed in the Brit. Crit. vol. xiv. pp. 97 and 532.