thought incapable, we can begin and continue to dance, without feeling ourselves in any degree tired, twice the time we could employ ourselves in any other way, divested of the charms that amusement affords us.

Thus viewing dancing in any light we please, its pleasures and utility must INSTANTLY remove every objection that can be raised against it; and parents who deprive their children of this accomplishment are robbing them of benefits and enjoyments for which they can find no ADEQUATE sub

stitute.

Young females, in particular, if deprived of dancing, are totally at a loss to find any healthful amusement; boys certainly have their games of cricket, trap-ball, &c. but what can we find so proper for girls? Novel reading, I am sorry to say, is too often an apology for exercise.

accustomed to receive flattery without regarding it, to learn good breeding and politeness without affectation, to see grace without wantonness, gaiety without riot, air and dignity without haughtiness, and freedom without levity.

The grand object that determined me in publishing this work, was the more generally to promote English country dancing, as I am proud to say it will afford the more enlight ened countries of Europe an opportunity of judging of the most fashionable amusement of England; an amusement, I am sure, worthy of being copied by any people who call themselves social beings. It is true they all have dances of their own; the French have minuets and cotillions, the Italians and Germans waltzes, the Spaniards fandangos, and the Turks have dancing girls to divert them; but none of them are half so sociable or de

There is in this metropolis many a trades-lightful as English country dancing. man's daughter, who as soon as she leaves school is all day cloistered in a city garret, whose prospect at some dozen yards is bound ed by the enlivening walls of a Manchester

timidate its votaries, joy and gaiety animate every countenance, while pleasure beams in every eye; the young and old are equally employed in forming the mazy circlets of the figure.

O rare, Mr. Dancing-Master Wilson!

If we depicture to ourselves a company of one hundred persons assembled, and among that number five or six dancers, if to the brilliancy of rapid execution-they add the warehouse. most enchanting attitudes, displayed in GreWithout air and exercise her health is im-eian sculpture, the company at best will be paired, and she becomes indolent and negli- but silent and inactive gazers, and whilǝ gent; the rosy seat of beauty is usurped by some are wrapt in admiration, others are a sickly paleness, and instead of " tripping stung with envy, some are tired of repetition, on the light fantastic toe," she imitates the and others with long inactivity contrast the briskness of the snail; her days are passed in scene. Imagine yourself in the midst of a lazy solitude, and while her hands are em- country dance; there all are partakers of the ployed in joining scraps of linen to form a pleasure; there are no silent envious gazers, Coverlid, her head is teeming with knight-no sullen critics to mar the amusement or inerrantry; her evenings are ushered in with subterraneous caverns and hair-breadth elope ments, she forms a strict acquaintance with the manners of the gothic age, but knowing neither the vices or follies of the day. Thus equipped at twenty, she enters the theatre of the world, to sustain a character she knows not even in theory; innocent and unsuspect ing herself, she sees no treachery in others; flattery delights her, and those she considers her best friends who most praise her beauty and accomplishments; she looks in vain for the heroes she has read of in romances, till some designing fop, taking advantage of her i experience, plays the lover with all the warmth and protestation of a Romeo, till by prayers and promises (added to the resem blance he bears to Tancred, Selim, Edwin, or Rinaldo) she is persuaded to quit her father's roof to become a countess of the imaginary wide domains and splendid mansion of a knight errant. Horrible delusion! The villain flies, leaving his innocent unsus pecting victim a prey to infamy and despair! These are misfortunes which an acquain-savage tribes excite our curiosity by their Lance with the world would generally prevent; what place then is so proper as the ASSEMBLY ROOM, to see the fashions and manners of the times, to study men and characters, to be

Dissertation on the Gipsies: representing their Manner of Life, Family Economy, Occupations and Trades, Marriages and Education, Sickness, Death, and Eurial, Religion, Language, Sciences and Aits, &c. &c. &c.; with an Historical Inquiry concerning their Origin and First Appearance in Europe.-From the German of H. M. G. Grellmann.-London, Wilson. 1807.

Human nature in every state is an.. object of rational inquiry: polished nations delight us by their refinements,

rudeness; man seems to approach to the nature of angels here, while there the difference between man and brute is scarcely perceptible. Which of these ex

tremes is most natural ?-that in which competent authority. The hint may be. every faculty of his mind is exalted, and pursued by whoever desires conviction on the soul triumphs, as it were, over the the subject. This is the opinion also of tabernacle of clay; or that in which the M. Grellman, who has compiled a voday fabric envelopes completely the cabulary of the Gipsey language, the ethereal inhabitant, and man is evidently words of which he compares with the Sansallied to the dust of the earth? If man crit, and other dialects of Hindostan. He was formerly a demi-god, the mighty is supposes, with great probability, that these sadly fallen; if he was formerly a brute, tribes were expelled from their original he is wonderfully improved by his dili-country by the famous Timur Beg, in 1401. gence and is become no unworthy spectacle to beings of a superior class. Angels may well

-Admire such wit in human shape,

And shew a Nawron as we shew an ape.

[How far did Timur penetrate into Hindostan?]-They first appeared in Germany about 1407, and they are now found in al countries of Europe. Their numbers cannot be less than 7 or 800,000 persons. It is probable, that if we could exa- sordid, thievish, rude, idle, and profligate. Their manners are everywhere unsettled,, mine the history of the world completely, They are ignorant, cunning, adroit, even we should find nations, as well as indivi-ingenious, yet unwilling to work. Their duals, formed by circumstances either to honour and dignity, or to depravity and disgrace. The triumphs of a single hero have often been the means of spreading calamity among thousands and tens of thousands of his fellow-men; and while the loud clarions have proclaimed his triumphs, the sighs of suffering humanity, the desolations that have marked his course, the privations under which the vanquished have sunk, have appealed to heaven against him, in clamours far louder

than those which re-echoed around his throne. The effects of such convulsions

we discover in the expatriation of various tribes, and in their migrations to distant lands. Such appears to have been the origin of those roving families, that, happily for our country, seldom go in bodies sufficiently numerous to disturb the public peace, though they pilfer whatever their hands can reach, as individuals, or in groups terrify the lonely traveller now and then into acts of involuntary charity. On the Continent, their depredations are not always equally moderate; they do mischief on a larger scale, and have been known to require the interposition of a military force to reduce them to submission. We have very little doubt of the Gipsies being a caste of the population of India; and whoever has perused Dr. Buchanan's Travels in Mysore with attention, will find sundry tribes to which they bear a marked resemblance. We may add, that some of our officers, returned from India, have readily understood the language used by this people, and have been understood by them: such is our information, from

tempers are hasty and violent; they are. cowardly, some say cruel; and though they have chiefs to whom they submit, yet they pay little or no obedience to law; and all the endeavours of the governing make them good soldiers, agriculturists, powers, wherever they reside, cannot or craftsmen. They are a people apart, and apart they are likely to continue.

The volume before us has already appeared in an English dress; we remember it many years ago. The title may serve as an analysis of it. We shall do no more than transcribe a few extracts, some of which may contribute to increase the caution of our readers, should they ever have any intercourse with Gipsies.

The art of goldwashing is brought to much description of the process adopted in that greater perfection in Transylvania. In the country, it is said that all the rivers, brooks, and even the pools which the rain forms, produce gold: of these the river Aranyosch is the richest, insomuch that the historians have compared it to the Tagus and Pactolus. Excepting the Wallachians, who live by the ri vers, the gold washers consist chiefly of Gipseys. They can judge with the greatest certitude where to wash to advantage. The appartus used by them for this work is a crooked board, four or five feet long, by two or three broad, generally provided with a wooden rim on each side; over this board they spread a woollen cloth, and scatter the gold-sand, mixed with water, upon it: the small grains of the metal remain sticking to vessel of water, and then separate the gold by the cloth which they afterwards wash in a means of the trough. When larger particles of sand are found in their washing, they make deeper channels in the middle of their crooked

servation on the vicissitude of all sublunary affairs, are necessary, before any one can estimate the real value of improved talents; before they can sufficiently observe how frequeatly, and by what unforeseen events it ocears, that many who have acquired accomplishments, as ornaments suited to their station, have experienced a change of fortune; and in the sorrowful days of adversity have found in such acquirements a blessed source of humble independence. The word humble, I hope, will not alarm you; for believe ine, that the most moderate situation in which independence is supported by talents and by virtuous exertions, is a state not merely more happy, but, in the estimation of the wise and good, far more honourable and respectable, than the must brilliant style of life, which must be attained, or supported, by the contemptible meanness of flattery and dissimulation.

Observations on the Influence of Soil and Climate upon Wool; from which is deduced, a certain and easy Method of Improving the Quality of English Clothing Wool, and preserving the Health of Sheep; with Hints for the Management of Sheep after Shearing: an Inquiry into the Structure, Growth, and Formation of Wool and Hair; and Remarks on the Means by which the Spanish Breed of Sheep may be made to preserve the best Qualities of its Fleece unchanged in different Climates. By Robert Bakewell, With occasional Notes and Remarks, by the Right Hon. Lord Somerville. 8vo. pp. 160. Price 5s. London: Harding.

1808.

Exclusively of the advantage of acquirements in cases of necessity, there is a heart of the public to the important subject of EVERY attempt to direct the attention felt pleasure in communicating our knowledge to those around us; and this is, perhaps, British wool, is deserving of commendathe most unmixed pleasure our acquirements tion; and whoever proposes to the conare capable of affording, for although self-sideration of the wool-growers of Britain love is sometimes gratified by the praises bestowed on our talents, it is at other times wounded by coldness, or disconcerted by the superior abilities of contemporaries. Even the uncertainty, whether the praises given are really sincere, may sometimes throw a gloomy shade over our enjoyments ;-but in teaching a beloved child, or the child of one

we love, no such doubts or mortifications can cecur; the pleasure is unmixed and pure it is an act of benevolent affection, inconceivable grateful to the heart. Should either of you ever undertake this useful task, you will find a delight of witnessing a child's improve ment amply repay the pains you may employ to qualify yourselves as instructors.

I would farther recommend on this head, as a point of the utmost consequence, that whatever accomplishments you have an opportunity of acquiring, you should endeaour to employ as ineans of usefulness and happiness. If they are possessed without vinity, and 97 exercised as not to interfere with your duties, they will contribute to render you agreeable and serviceable to your friends, and prove, at all times, a source of amusement to yourselves.

a superior management, in any instance, to what has heretofore obtained among them, deserves their thanks and that of the public. Nor let any, on a practical subject, undervalue the communications of practical men. They are often valuable, when the train of reasoning by which they are supported may be inconclusive. The observation of a fact, may denote a keen eye and a reflective mind, while the attempt to account for that fact may be founded on data not perfectly unexceptionable. We do not mean by these hints, to oppose in any degree the theory of Mr. Bakewell, but we mean to recommend his observations to the notice and examination of the

judicious; of the wool growers in gene. ral: and to subject his propositions to the test of experience.

That alone is the true support of judgment on a subject like the present.

Wool is an article of so great importance to our country, yet one on which such different opinions are maintained, that we wish to give circulation to such tracts as have its amelioration in view, and thereby to confirm and perpetuate those advantages which our woollen manufactures have long enjoyed, and which our rivals have long beheld with envy, and are now making every effort to

surpass.

75] Bakewell's Observations on the Influence of Soil and Climate upon Wool. [76

We are, therefore, glad when men, of skill and ingenuity favour as with their sentiments, and we feel obliged to Mr. B. and his noble annotator; of whose labours we shall avail ourselves pro bono publico.

That different soils have im portant effects no the wool of animals that feed on their productions we can confirm from our own observations.

Having been introduced into the wool business at an early period of my life (says Mr. B.), one of the first things which engaged my attention was, the remarkable difference in the softness of wools equally fine, but the produce of different districts. The soft, silk-like feel, peculiar to some wools, was not then so highly valued as at present, from causes I shall afterwards explain; it gave however a decided preference in the market to wools distinguished by this quality. A little attention to the wool from various districts, soon discovered that the soils most favourable to the production of this soft quality were, first, the argillaceous; next, the siliceous; and it was well known that calcareous soils, whether limestone or chalk, produce wools of a contrary quality, remarkable for their harshness to the touch. In proportion as the above earths preponderate in a loose state near the surface of different soils, their effects on this quality of the wool may be detected, whatever be the breed of sheep from which the wool be shorn.

Mr. B. commends the practice of rub bing the sheep after shearing with a mixture of butter and tar. This is to answer the purpose of a more plentiful secretion of the natural unguent called the yolk it may be more suitable and beneficial in a variable climate like our own than in milder regions; but that nature generally answers her purposes best by her own proceedings, we believe will be admitted by all persons of reflection; however, let us hear Mr. B.

An intelligent clothier in my neighbourhood, who kept a small flock of fine-woolled sheep, informed me he had adopted the reprobated practice of our more northern farmers, of rubbing the sheep with a mixture of butter and tar. He could speak decidedly to the improvement the wool had received by it, having superintended the whole process of its manufacture. The cloth produced was superior to what ungreased wool could have made, if equally fine; it was remarkably soft to the touch, had what he called,

a good bottom, a good top, and a good hand, or feel," viz. the appearance of the threads were nearly lost in a firm even texture, covered with a soft full pile. The wool

had been defended from the action of the soil, the rain, and the air, on its surface, and had been kept soft, moist, and pliable, by constant contact with the unctuous mixture. Reflecting on the well known power of unguents to soften hair, horn, and 'other animal substances, it appeared surprising that its application to wool for the same purpose, had not been more generally practised. From the similarity of wool to these substances, it occurred to me, that covering the fleece with unctuous matter, would, in almost all situations, improve its quality, and this in a degree greatly beyond what the simplicity of the means would at the first view induce us to believe. A further investigation has given me the most ample and satisfactory proofs of the truth of this conjecture, and has enabled me to state as a general position, that by the application of a well chosen unguent, wool may be defended from the action of the soil and elements, and improved more than can be effected by any other means, except an entire change of breed.

Not only will the quality of the wool be insured by this practice, but it will become finer, and the quantity will be increased: it is also found to preserve the sheep in situations where they would inevitably perish, without this defence. Where the practice of greasing the sheep has prevailed, the great quantity of tar, which was always combined with the unguent, prevented the advantages of its application to the wool from being discovered; and the breed of sheep on which it is most practised, is naturally the worst which exists in Britain from the production of wool. It is only in Northumberland, and in some parts of the neighbouring counties, that flocks of fine woolled sheep have received the benefit of greasing with a mixture, in which the tar used was merely sufficient to give it tenacity. The ignorance, or the selfishness of the wool-buyers, for a long time prevented the acknowledgment of the advantage which the wool received from the ointment. Many were afraid to purchase it, from the extra weight of grease in the fleece, and made its dirty appearance a pretence for reducing the price below what ought to have been allowed for the weight of the ointment it contained. The nature of this wool is now better understood; when sorted, it is purchased by the manufacturers of coloured cloth, in preference to any other. The same preference is given to the cloths when sold in an unfinished state, in the Yorkshire cloth-halls, and they always have a ready sale, whatever may be the general depression of trade.

When these cloths are finished, their su am in periority is still more apparent. formed from authority which I cannot doubt, that many cloths made from greased Nor