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young man may not feduce, if he purfues a proper method. They will tell you that nothing is neceffary but to affume the character and difpofition of each whom you addrefs. "Read," fay they," with the woman of learning; frolic with the romp dance "with those who are fond of dancing, "and you may rest affured, that in "three or four visits you will fully "accomplish your end." All this may, in a great measure, be true; but there are fome women whofe virtue is fo ftrongly marked in their phyfiognomy, that with a fingle look they can damp the courage of the infamous betrayer, and, notwithstanding his confummate impudence, plunge him into the depth of defpair. Difappointed in his aim, he must then retire like a fool, and, amidft confufion and embarraffment, defift from his vain attempt.

By indulging in these reflections, we do not pretend to apologize for the levity of the fair fex, nor to plead any excufe for their gallantry, but only to prove to the men, that what they complain of has prevailed at all times and in all countries; and that the ladies too often fuffer, and very

unjustly, from the mifreprefentations of those who ought to be their most ftrenuous advocates and defenders. Our modern ladies are not more culpable in refpect to their amours than the Roman, and perhaps they are less fo, fince the generality of them have not that aufterity of manners, and firmnefs" of character, which distinguifhed the latter, and which feem little calculated to inspire love, or to roufe the tender paffions. We must allow, indeed, that if we confult the annals of Doctor's - Commons, and thofe of the court of King's-Bench, we shall find many examples of infidelity and bafeness, which we cannot behold without indignation and regret; but it would be highly unjust, and even cruel, on account of the profligacy and abandoned licentioufnefs of what may be called a few in comparison of the whole, to throw a flur upon all the fex, to leffen their dignity and confequence, and by this, to deter men from entering into the ftate of marriage; which the wifer part of them muft undoubtedly confider as one of the greatest bleffings given by Providence to alleviate the miferies of life.

Abridged Review of remarkable and interefting Publications.
[To be continued Monthly.]

Memorial Literario de 1788. Lite-
rary Memoirs of 1788. Madrid.

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Utkaft til Suenska Hollans; or, An
Abstract of the Naval Hiftory of
Sweden, by G. Tornquift. Stock-
holm. vols, 8vo.

THE battle at Hogland having
roused again the attention to the Swe-
dish navy, it affords fome pleasure to
find here a sketch of a nával history
of that kingdom; which can be the
more depended on, as the author was
admitted to the perufal of the ar-
chives of the kingdom and the ad-
miralty, together with many more o-
riginal papers.
H 2

Ern.

Ern. Frid. Car. Rofenmulleri. Phil. Mag. Scholia in vetus Teftamentum. Pars prima continens Genefin et Exodum. 8vo. Leipfig.

THIS work is not calculated alone for beginners, but likewife for the generality of those who are either not in the poffeffion of the numerous books neceffary to study the Old Teftament, or are too busy to make ufe of them.

Epitome Theolgia Chriftianæ. Fu-
turis Doctoribus religionis fcripfit
D. Sam. Frid. Nath. Morus, Th.
P. Lipf. 1789. 8vo. Leipfic.

THE greatest requifites in works calculated for inftruction, viz. concife nefs, with precision and facility of expreffion, together with the greatest purity of language, are excellencies which we find in an eminent degree in this book.

Kurzer Abrifs der Ruffischen Kirche. -or, A Short Sketch of the Church of Ruffia, with regard to its Hiftory, Tenets, and Rituals; 8vo. Erfurt.

THIS work is divided into three parts. The first contains A Short hiftory of the church of Ruffia; in which the author gives us a concise account of the feparation of the Greek from the Latin church, the hiftory of the propagation of the Chriftian faith in Ruffia, the patriarchat, the exarchat, the holy directing fynod, and the attempts made for ecclefiaftical improvement, The fecond part treats the tenets of the church of Ruffia, or more properly of thofe which diftinguish it. We are amazed at the defcription of the fervice of the church, or Euchologion, which confifts of twenty voJumes in folio, of which one consains nothing but rules how the reft of them must be used.

of the church of Ruffia, and what is
taught concerning them. The Ruffian
churches, with regard to their inter-
nal construction, bear a greater fimi.
larity to the Jewish temple than any
other in Europe; at least the holy
table or altar is not always expofed to
the eye here, as it is in the churches
of the Roman Catholics and Protef-
tants. The holy of holes is feparat-
ed from the body of the church by a
partition wall, behind which the holy
table above-mentioned it placed. The
doors are opened at certain times
only, through which the people may
peep into this holy place: the holy
table ftands in the middle of it fac-
ing the chief entrance. The partition
wall is called Ikonoftas, on account of
its forming a figured fence, on which
the holy images are found. Laymen,
and efpecially women, are not admit-
ted here, yet perfons of rank are ex-
cepted from this rule. It is further
remarkable, that there are neither pul-
pit, baptiflery, pews, nor galleries, in
the Ruffian churches.
no fermons in general, and if occa
fionally there fhould be a kind of a
fermon, it is delivered either from
the reading chair, or from the reading,
pulpit. There are indeed very often
fermons in the chapel of the court,
and a place fomewhat fimilar to fuch
a pulpit is found there. In cafe of
neceffity, the font or baptiftery is pre-
viouily carried into the body of the
church. The congregation either
ftand, kneel, or lay down on the floor.
On Wednesdays and Fridays, efpe-
cially in Lent, you will fee a number
of people kneeling, lying stretched at
full length on the ground, or bowing
down fo low that their doubled fifts
and foreheads touch the floor. By
this ceremony religious perfons, ef-
pecially thofe of the fair fex, diftin-
guifh themselves.

They have

Their imagès, when confidered as the productions of art, are beneath all The third part treats of the rites criticism; yet the churches of the

court,

court, of St Peter and St Paul, of
Kafan, and a few more, make an ex-
ception in this refpect, and exhibit
true master-pieces in fculpture. In
fpite of all the pomp which is difplay-
ed in the churches, their pictures
bear the ftamp of crude tafte and a
great fimilarity to the paintings we
fee on the Japan and China ware;
their colours are generally laid on
very thick, without fhade, and the
figures are not rounded.
A great
number of their images are co-
vered either with filver or gold,
in a manner that only their faces,
hands, and feet, are feen. The co
lour of their faces is generally of a
Swarthy or live hue; fo that you
would ink yourself tranfported to
India; (perhaps this colour is not
original in thee images, and rather
derived from the great number of
lights and lamp. uled at their cere-
monies, and fro: the incenfe, and
the heating of the churches in feverc
winters). The bells of the Ruffiau
churches are bleffed, chriftened, and
have names given them, after the
manner of the Roman Catholics.

The treasures of the churches are in part very confpicuous. Troitzkoi Sergiew Monaftur is the Loretto of Ruffia: the coffin of St Sergius, together with the canopy over it, and the four columns by which this canopy is fupported, are of native filver. The archimandrite has fifteen different pontifical robes and mitres, each of which outdoes the other in point of richness; the mitres are of gold ftudded with pearls; one of them is faid to weigh thirteen pounds, and to be decorated with a ruby of the value of five thousand roubles. The emprefs Elizabeth prefented the convent with another mitre of the value of fifty thousand roubles, and with a panagium (a badge which denotes the claim to a certain fum) of thirty thoufand roubles; this the archimandrite wears fufpended from his neck by a golden chain. For the Eafter

feaft of 1769, in the prefent reign, a new pontifical drefs was made of crimfon velvet embroidered with pearls, which was valued at seventy thousand roubles; the workmanship alone amounted to four thousand roubles, of which Catharina made a present, together with the velvet; the rest, such as pearls and other jewels, were ta ken out of the treasure of the convent.

Altgemeine Gefchichte der Chriftlichen Kirche; or, Universal Hiftory of the Chriftian Church, in Chronological Order; calculated for the Ufe of Academies, 2 vols. 8vo. Brunfwick.

THE prefent work not only occupies one of the first places among the effays on the hiftory of the Chriftian church, hitherto published, but it is likewife preferable to the best of them, if not in every, at least in many refpects. It diftinguishes itfelf particularly from the reft by its plan, and the arrangement of facts.

It is commendable, not only for the skilful execution of its well-digefted plan, but likewife for the remaining good properties requifite in an hiftorical treatife. It is very rich in facts, and contains real history, and not merely refults and reasoning. The events are related with exactnefs, fidelity, and without any fpirit of party, or admixture of hypothefis. The language is very chaffe, and the file concife, noble, and plain.

Charta Papyracea, Gracce Scripta,

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Mufei Borgiani Velitris; qua feries incolarum Ptolemaidis Arfinoitica in aggeribus et foffis operantium exhibetur, edita Nic. Schow, cum adnotazione critica et Palaeographica in textum chart. 1788. 4to. with fix Copper-plates.

Rome.

IN the year 1788, from forty to

fifty rolls were found in a subterraneous place at Giza, in Upper E. gypt, in the very diftrict where formerly Memphis was fituated. Thro' the ignorance of the Turks, who fmoaked their rooms and lighted their pipes with them, they were immediately destroyed, except one, which had the good fortune to fall into the hands of a merchant, from whom the then fecretary De Propaganda, and now Cardinal Borgia, obtained it, by means of the Roman miffionaries in Egypt. The attempts of decyphering the writing which was found on it was for a long time attended with no fuccefs. The ftrokes of the letters were fo entwined and uncommon, that they were taken even for Coptic writing, till at laft our author, whom we know by his edition of the Allegories of Heraclides Panticus, fucceeded fo far as not only to ascertain that the writing was Greek, but also to unravel in full its contents. It contains, as the title fhews, a lift of the people employed in the making of dikes and canals on the Nile, in Upper Egypt, whose names, defcent, and profeffion, are mentioned in it. This piece, when confidered as an historical monument, certainly can intereft the antiquarian but very little; but it grows much more important on the other hand, by a number of accidental circumftances; its deftination, antiquity, kind of writing, and the dialect which prevails in it, and laftly, by the matter itself on which it is written. All thefe objects have been minutely analyfed by the author, partly in the preface, and partly in the remarks. After having explained the monument itfelf in the former, he gives us a very learned treatife on the Egyptian papyrus, and the method of making it; to which this monument gave him not only a natural occafion, but alfo afforded him fufficient matter for new obfervations; it being the only one, of which it might be

faid with a certainty, that it is written on real Egyptian papyrus.—Its antiquity and destination cannot, indeed, be afcertained with any fulness of affurance; yet, with regard to the latter, it can hardly be doubted, but that it belonged to fome archive, and confequently ftands likewise fingle in this refpect. As to its antiquity, the author endeavours to prove, by very learned argumentation, that it is a monument of the fecond century after the birth of Chrift. As there occur no Christian names in it, it may at least with certainty be faid, that it is anterior to the times in which Chriftianity was introduced into Egypt.

Mineralogifche Geographifche und andere vermifchte Nachrichten, &c. Mineralogical, Geographical, and other Mifcellaneous Accounts of the Altai Mountains, belonging to the Ruffian Domisions; by H. M. Renovanz, chief Inspector of the Mines to her Majefty the Empress of Ruffia. Reval. 4to.

THIS work contains many valuable accounts, which are not merely interesting to the geographer and the politician, but likewife more so to the financier and the natural philofopher.

The Korbolichinski mountains are the fource of the wealth of the Kolywan government, and the Smeinogoriki mines, in the famous Schlangenberg, have been peculiarly productive in this century. A German miner, in the fervice of Mr Demidow, difcovered here the first gold and filver ore in the year 1741. He fhewed his companions a whole hat full of native gold and filver, which he had picked out; yet he did not divulge his difcovery before his agreement with Mr Demidow, was ended, when he went to Petersburg himself. Hence a deputation was fent to the fpot in 1745, who opened

the

the mine by a new fhaft made on the old vein. It is aftonishing to fee the richness of thefe veins. Be fides the many ochre, lead, and copper ore, which contained gold and filver, they found, and do find now, ores of native gold, native corneous filver ore, vitreous ore, and red filver ore. The corneous filver ore was wafted in great abundance, which in former times likewife happened in Saxony; and Mr Rénovanz excited the attention of the owners to this fubject in the year 1784. From the ores of the Altai mountains fix hundred and eighty-fix pud, fixteen pounds, forty-nine folotnich (twenty-feven thousand four hundred and fifty-fix pounds eight and onefixth ounces) of pure gold have been feparated, from the year 1745 to 1780.

for the accuracy of its parts, the coherency of its fyftem, the maturity of the thoughts, and even for the noblenefs of its execution. Little as the author himself may think of having attained the non plus ultra in this fubject, and little as we find ourselves inclined to difpute the talents of other writers, yet we feldom witneffed an inftance where the latter were attended with the fuccefs fo necffary to fuch an undertaking The greateft talents would not have been 'adequate to the grand and extenfive furvey which the author appears to have made of the immenfe number of objects which he has felected from the refult of the most laborious and minute enquiry, and which he has applied to the arrangement of an apparent chaos of forms, had they not met with the most extraordinary encouragement, and been attended with. the advantage of many years of leisure. Befides the contributions which the author derived from the botanical garden at Leyden, the generous affiftance of Sir Jofeph Banks deferves the thanks of every botanift, as well as those of our author, who has very properly dedicated his work to this ingenious gentleman, whofe extenfive and choice collection flood open for the use of this work; the author was even permitted to diffect fome of the fingle and rareft plants to make his obfervations the more complete. This liberal affistance here proved its own reward. All the different perfections, for which the best botanists deferve. the thanks even of our defcendants, feem to be united in this work.

The fmelting of the ores has in former times been treated with very little attention; for the author fays, that two hundred and fixteen pud, thirty-five pounds (eight thoufand fix hundred and seventy-five pounds) of filver were separated from the rejected drofs, from the year 1769 to 1784. Notwithstanding this, the feventeen million pud of pounded ore, till the year 1783, produced a gain of two million eight hundred and eighty-fix thousand roubles. Of what importance the Schlangenberg is at this time, we may conjecture by the number of hands employed, who are faid to amount to four thousand one hundred and eighty-fix.

Jofephus Gartner, M. D. Acad. Imp. Scient. Petrop. Memb. & Reg. Soc. Lond. Sodal. De Fructubus & Seminibus Plantarum. Accedunt Seminum Centuriæ quinque priores cum Tabulis LXXIX. 1788, 4to Stutgard.

THE prefent work ftands eminently fingular in its kind, for the amazing extent and the richness of the whole,

Joh. Fred. Blumenbachii. Prof. Med.

Ord. M. Brit. R. a Confil. aul&c. Specimen Phyfiologiæ comparatæ inter animantia calidi Sanguinis vivipara et ovipara. C. Fig. 1789. 4to, Gottingen.

PHYSIOLOGY ftands already highly indebted to Mr Blumenbach for his former

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