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will not introduce
you to any of these cattle
at dinner. No, sir, you must know that
there are a few men of refinement and polite
information in this city. I have warned two
or three of these rare aves, and, depend up-
on it, you shall have a very snug day's work.
So saying, he took my arm, and observing that
five was just on the chap, hurried me through
several streets and lanes till we arrived in
the
where his house is situated.
His wife was, I perceived, quite the fine lady,
and withal a little of the blue-stocking.
Hearing that I had just come from Edin-
burgh, she remarked that Glasgow would
certainly be seen to much disadvantage af-
ter that elegant city. Indeed,' said she,
a person of taste must of course find many
disagreeables connected with a residence in
such a town as this; but Mr 's busi-
ness renders the thing necessary for the pre-
sent, and one cannot make a silk purse of a
sow's ear-he, he, he!' Another lady of the
company carried this affectation still further.
She pretended to be quite ignorant of Glas-
gow and its inhabitants, although she had
lived among them the greater part of her
life-and, by the bye, she seemed to be no
chicken. I was afterwards told by my
friend, the major, that this damsel had in
reality sojourned a winter or two at Edin-
burgh, in the capacity of lick-spittle, or toad-
eater, to a lady of quality, to whom she had
rendered herself amusing by a malicious
tongue; and that during this short absence she
had embraced the opportunity of utterly for-
getting every thing about the west country.
But there would be no end of it were I to
tell you all, &c.

"The dinner was excellent, although calculated apparently for forty people rather than for sixteen, which last number sat down. Capital salmon, and trout almost as rich as salmon from one of the lochsprime mutton from Argyleshire, very small and sweet, and indeed ten times better than half the venison we see in London-veal not superior-beef of the very first order some excellent fowls in curry-every thing washed down by delicious old West India Madeira, which went like elixir vitæ into the recesses of my stomach, somewhat ruffled in consequence of my riotous living at Edinburgh. A single bottle of hock and another of white hermitage went round, but I saw plainly that the greater part of the company took them for perry or cider. After dinner, we had two or three bottles of port, which the landlord recommended as being real stuff. Abundance of the same Madeira, but, to my sorrow, no claret-the only wine I ever care for more than half-a-dozen glasses of. While the ladies remained in the room there was such a noise and racket of coarse mirth, ill restrained by a few airs of sickly sentiment on the part of the hostess, that I really could neither attend to the wine or the dessert; but after a little time, a very broad hint from a fat Falstaff, near the foot of the table, apparently quite a privileged char

acter, thank Heaven! set the ladies out of the room. The moment after which blessed consummation, the butler and footman entered as if by instinct, the one with a huge punch bowl, and the other with, &c."

"A considerable altercation occurred on the entrance of the bowl, the various members of the company civilly entreating each other to officiate, exactly like the "Elders" in Burns's poem of the Holy Fair "bothering from side to side" about the saying of grace. A middle aged gentlemen was at length prevailed upon to draw" the china" before him, and the knowing manner in which he forthwith began to arrange all his materials, impressed me at once with the idea that he was completely master of the noble science of making a bowl. The bowl itself was really a beautiful old piece of Porcelain. It was what is called a double bowl. that is, the coloured surface was cased in another of pure white net-work, through which the red and blue flowers and trees shone out most beautifully. The sugar being melted with a little cold water, the artist squeezed about a dozen lemons through a wooden strainer, and then poured in water enough almost to fill the bowl. In this state the liquor goes by the name of Sherbet, and a few of the connoisseurs in his immediate neighbourhood were requested to give their opinion of it-for in the mixing of the Sherbet lies, according to the Glasgow creed, at least one half of the whole battle. This being approved by an audible smack from the lips of the umpires, the rum was added to the beverage, I suppose, in something about the proportion of one to seven. Last of all, the maker cut a few limes, and running each section rapidly round the rim of his bowl, squeezed in enough of this more delicate acid to flavour the whole composition. In this consists the true tour-de-maitre of the punch-maker. Upon tasting it, I could not refuse the tribute of my warmest admiration to our accomplished artist-so cool, so balmy, so refreshing a compound of sweets and sours never before descended into my stomach. Had Mahomet, &c.

"The punch being fairly made, the real business of the evening commenced, and, giving its due weight to the balsamic influence of the fluid, I must say the behaviour of the company was such as to remove almost entirely the prejudices I had conceived in consequence of their first appearance and external manners. In the course of talk, I found that the coarseness which had most offended me was nothing but a kind of waggish disguise, assumed as the covering of minds keenly alive to the ridiculous, and therefore studious to avoid all appearance of finery -an article which they are aware always seems absurd when exhibited by persons of their profession. In short, I was amongst a set of genuinely shrewd, clever, sarcastic fellows, all of them completely up to trapall of them good-natured and friendly in their dispositions and all of them inclined

to take their full share in the laugh against their own peculiarities. Some subjects, besides, of political intent, were introduced and discussed in a tone of great good sense and moderation. As for wit, I must say there was no want of it, in particular from the privileged character' I have already noticed. There was a breadth and quaintness of humour about this gentleman which gave me infinite delight; and, on the whole, I was really much disposed, at the end of the evening (for we never looked near the drawing-room) to congratulate myself as having made a good exchange for the self-sufficient young Whig coxcombs of Edinburgh. Such is the danger of trusting too much to first impressions. The Glasgow people would, in general, do well to assume as their motto, Fronti nulla fides; and yet there are not a few of them whose faces I should be very sorry to see any thing different from what they are. Among the most agreeable fellows I met with in the course of iny stay were the following," &c.-Vol. II. pp. 50-60.

We quote the following extraordinary passage respecting the university of Glasgow, in the confident expectation that the charge contained in it will be refuted by some one or other of the eloquent professors.

"The university of Glasgow consists, like that of Edinburgh, of one college, and contains, I am informed, almost as many students; but, in regard to the higher branches of education, it certainly bears, and deserves to bear, an inferior character. This is singular, and must not be allowed to pass without remark. The college of Glasgow is a far older, more venerable, and infinitely richer institution than that of Edinburgh; it is situated in a rich town, and a most populous part of the country. It would, at first sight, seem to possess every advantage, but on inquiry I found that it makes very little use of those it does possess. I was much pleased with the first appearance of the college. It is a plain but respectable old building, not unlike some of our third rates at Cambridge and Oxford. The students are, in general, a miserable looking set of creatures, rough, ill-clad lads, with tattered red cloaks (like those of the Dames des Halles), having, in short, any air rather than that of studious ease and elegance. There are many clever fellows among them however, and indeed, during the first years of their attendance, I am informed they enjoy the best opportunities of cultivating their faculties particularly under Professor John Young, who was an intimate friend of Porson and Burney, and probably would rank high, even among the scholars of England, were he removed thither,also, Dr Jardine, the professor of logic, who possesses, as I am told, a tact in directing the energies of young minds entirely peculiar to himself.

I have heard some other individual names among these professors mentioned with respect, but, as a body, I must say they were universally talked of, in my hearing, in termsof very little worship. Whether it be the air of the place, or the influence of example, this corporation has assumed, in all its ideas and conduct, the appearance of a petty mercantile house. The interests of science are very far, according to the report I heard, from being alone, or even uppermost, in the minds of Taylor and Co. (for so the Glasgow wags have christened the principal and professors). For example, the ground bequeathed as a garden to the university, has been lately appropriated to the personal use of the professors, where, instead of young men and boys en. joying innocent recreation or healthful exercise, no inhabitants are now to be seen, but ewes and wethers fattening for the tables of these epicurean philosophers. Nay, such is the spirit of encroachment that they have actually sold a considerable part of the soil, so that all around what used to be a kind of intellectual insula in the midst of this mercantile city, there are now springing up huge cotton-mills, soap-works, singeing-houses, &c.so much for auri sacra fames!-I men tion these things as I heard them." PP. 83-84.

Then follows a long history of the origin and characteristics of a species of wit peculiar to this mercantile city, and known in it by the name of gaggery; which we shall omit for the present, but hope soon to insert, with a running commentary, by some member of our fraternity better acquainted with the subject.-Next comes a very amusing and well written chapter on the state of religion in the west of Scotland, the original head-quarters of the Covenanters. Our author, as our readers are by this time prepared to expect, is pleased with the air of sincere but rational piety diffused over the countenances and manners of the peasantry, and describes the appearance of a country congregation in church, in a way that cannot fail to give delight to every reader whose heart is not corrupted and dead to the influences of all the finer parts of human nature. He spends a day or two in Clydesdale, at the house of an eminent clergyman, whom he met with at Glasgow; And accom panying his host to a meeting of the Presbytery, followed of course by an excellent dinner, and a moderate allowance of whisky-toddy, he breaks out into an eulogy of the clergy of our church, their simple manner of living, their unwearied exertions in doing good, and last, but not least in the

Doctor's estimation, their eminent qualifications as pleasant companions over the bowl-all in such a style of warm and affectionate eloquence, that we think the Presbytery of Hamilton ought real ly to present the Doctor with a ram'shorn shuff-mill, or some other suitable token of their gratitude. But, indeed, we doubt not this hint from us is entirely superfluous.

On his way back to Edinburgh, the Doctor visits many remarkable spots, alike interesting from the beauty with which they have been clothed by the hand of nature, and the memory of great deeds done there;

"Battle and siege, in the old time When Caledon was in her prime." Among these are, of course, Bothwell castle, which Aymer de Valence defended against Sir William WallaceBothwell-bridge, rendered immortal by the achievements of Dalyell and Burleigh and Morningside, that sequestered romantic field, where the gratitude of posterity has consecrated a superb fountain to the never-sufficiently-to-be-applauded valour of the Gudeman of Allantoun. After driving his shandrydan, at a slow and reverential pace, three times around this great national monument, the Doctor alights, and having procured a stone bottle from a cottage in the neighbourhood, he fills this vessel with the water of Morningside well, in the view of presenting it, on the conclusion of his travels, to the museum of the college about to be founded in Wales by the excellent Bishop of St Davids. The EHMA ΠΕΛΩΡΙΟΝ ΗΡΩΟΣ is then left in the distance, but the effect of the visit is such, that the enthusiastic mind of the Doctor does not quite recover its tone till he once more finds himself opposite the door of Mr Oman's Hotel, in Edinburgh. And here, for the present, we must bid adieu to this intelligent traveller. His book is a valuable present to the people of England and Wales, for it furnishes the only graphical and trust-worthy sketches of the present

manners and society of Scotland, which they have it in their power to peruse. To make any lengthened comments on Doctor Morris's style would be superfluous, after the very copious extracts which we have given, He is singularly free from that passion for fine writing which infects most modern tourists. He never goes about the bush for a phraze, but seems resolved to express his meaning in the most brief, and direct, and precise manner. His compliments have an air of sincerity about them which must additionally endear the Doctor to those who had the pleasure of knowing him personally during his stay among us; although, indeed, from the way in which we hear him talked of at a club of which he became a member when in Edinburgh, for this there is no occasion. The Doctor is a keen satirist too, but as, in general, he does not seem to bestow his cuts except where they are pretty well merited, we, for our parts, are very willing to pass over this little failing in a countryman of our old friend Matthew Bramble.

To show that our admiration of the Doctor is sincere, we shall now mention a small circumstance which, from feelings of delicacy, we omitted to speak of in its proper place. We our selves occupied a great share of the Doctor's attention during his visit, and he has dedicated a whole chapter to the character of our miscellany. He pays us many fine compliments, no doubt; but we must be honest enough to confess, that he gives us now and then a pretty severe sarcasm into the bargain. The compliments and the sarcasms we take alike in good part, and can only say, that we hope he will dine with us at Ambrose's the next time he comes-when we have no doubt we shall easily convince him that there is much less difference between our way of thinking and his, upon most subjects, than he is at present aware of. M. M. Seafield Baths, Feb. 18th 1819.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.

Monument to Werner.-The Saxon government has ordered the erection of a magnificent monument in honour of the celebrated Werner.

Professor Mohs.-Professor Mohs, the successor to Werner, has commenced his public labours at the mining school of Freyberg. He teaches the method of Werner, and also his own new and highly important views in regard to crystallography.

La Place. The celebrated La Place has just published some important geological inferences in regard to the formation of the earth. He seems now inclined to the Neptunian system, although formerly rather a Plutonist. This change of creed in geology is not uncommon; for one day we find naturalists vigorously supporting the absurdities of the Neptunian system, and the next as keenly embarked in a defence of all the visionary fancies of the Plutonists.

New Fire Theory of the Earth.-The Italian geologist Breislac, a great volcanist and active investigator of volcanic countries, has just published a work on geology, in which he proposes a new igneous theory of the earth, and rejects the fire system of Hutton as absurd.

New Minerals.-The number of well ascertained mineral species is inconsiderable. Very lately a considerable addition has been made to the list of vague species. Of this description are the following: spak, kollyrit, copper-indigo, allophane, skordite, stilpnosiderite, hauyne, konite.-Old minerals have got new names, thus the Andalusite has been re-described and named Jamesonite, while new species, as the Allanite of Thompson, have been banished from the system. Even the mountain rocks have not been allowed to remain at rest, some geologists having reduced them all to one extensive species, while others have increased the number of species tenfold.

Mineralogical chemistry.-It may be useful to our readers to know those chemists who are at present considered as the principal authorities in chemical mineralogy. On the continent, the most eminent are Vauquelin, Berzelius, Bucholz, and Stromeyer,-Gmelin, a pupil of Berzelius, Vauquelin, Klaproth, and Rose, promises, from his great knowledge and practical skill, to improve this difficult and important branch of chemistry. In Great Britain Wollaston stands unrivalled for the accuracy and elegance of his methods of analysis. Next to him ranks Hatchett, who unites great ingenuity with neatness and accuracy. Our active and distinguished countryman Thomson, has published many analyses of minerals, which are executed with his usual address and ingenuity. We look forward to numerous and important discoveries in chemical mineralogy, from the great chemical laboratory which Thomson has just established in the college of Glasgow. Murray has principally distinguished himself by his analysis of mineral waters. Philips in London, and Holme in Cambridge, promise important services to chemical mineralogy. Hope appeared but once as a chemical mineralogist, and eminently distinguished himself by his paper on Strontites. Chenevix, an excellent chemical mineralogist, has entirely abandoned the field.

Dictionary of Mineralogy.-We understand that a dictionary of mineralogy by a naturalist of this country, is considerably advanced, and will appear next season. This will supply a desideratum in our mineralogical literature.

Mineralogical Map of England.-The great geological map of England, by the president of the geological society of London, will appear next month. We trust that a part, at least, of the mineralogical map of Scotland, will ere long be laid before the public.

New Expedition.-We understand that a new expedition, under Lieut. Parry, is to sail early in May to Cumberland's Straits, with the view of discovering a north-west passage in that direction.

Chemistry of Minerals.-All mountain rocks are more or less compound, and hence are not fit subjects for regular chemical analysis. Yet in defiance of this, chemists are daily favouring the world with the results of their chemical examination of the rocks of different districts-we have analyses of granite, white-stone, porphyry,&c.!!! Other chemists are more laudably employed in analysing simple minerals, but to these a hint may be useful. The analysis of one variety of a mineral species will not afford us a distinct and accurate conception of its chemical composition. This can be obtained only by a regular analysis of all the principal varieties of the species. This mode of New Hygrometer.Mr Adie has also investigating minerals has never been fol- invented a new hygrometer of great delowed, and hence nearly all the information licacy, which will form a valuable addiwe have in regard to the chemical composition to our stock of meteorological instrution of mineral species is unsatisfactory.

Mr Adie's Sympiesometer.—Mr Adie, of Edinburgh, has taken out a patent for his new and valuable barometer, to which he has given the name of Sympiesometer. The instrument was carried out with the expedition under Captain Ross, and was found greatly superior in every respect to the mercurial barometer.

ments.

New Life Boat.-A new life boat has been invented by Lieut. Gardiner, R. N. It supports eighteen men when filled with water, and rights itself again spontaneous ly when overset, even though its mast and sail are standing.

Shower of Salt Water in Dumfriesshire. -Some weeks ago a severe shower of salt water fell in the parish of St Mungo, in Dumfriesshire. The day after, when the wind evaporated the water, the leaves of evergreens, and branches of hedges, glistened with crystals of salt.

Scientific Expedition in America.-A scientific party will proceed in March to explore the natural productions of the numerous large rivers tributary to the Mississippi. They will go in a steam-boat now building for the purpose at Pittsburg, and expect to be absent for upwards of three years. Say, Esq. of Philadelphia, will be one of the party.

T.

Subterranean Noises.-At Haddam, in Connecticut, for several years past, noises, like the firing of small arms, have been continually heard, which have been accompanied with almost continual concussions of the earth. So frequently have these effects been experienced, that they are quite disregarded by the inhabitants. About six years since, however, a serious explosion took place, which rent and dislocated large masses of the granite mountains.

Sulphate of Strontian.-This substance

has been lately found in considerable quan tity at Carlisle, about 34 miles west of Albany, state of New York, imbedded in clay slate, forming very extensive strata. It was first tried by a common smith as a substitute for borax, and has been found the most useful flux ever employed in brazing and welding. By employing a very small quantity of it in powder, instead of clay, he welded easily the most refractory steel; and in brazing, it proved superior to borax, on account of its remaining more fixed at a high temperature.

Woodanium.-M. Lampadius gives the above name to a new metal which he has discovered in some English ores; but the characters of the ores are not mentioned in the letter which he has addressed to Dr Müller on this subject.

Universally Applicable Theory of the Earth.-A tract is in preparation on the Theory of the Earth. We understand it is to combine the principles (if there be any) of the Huttonian, Wernerian, Volcanic, and Breislackean, theories, in such a manner as to produce a consistent and harmonious whole!!-We would advise the author of this adventurous and very meritorious undertaking to write in such verse (as it must necessarily be a poem) as has been used in celebrating the volcanic fires of Ireland, and in painting the formation of the organic mountains and valleys of the black fo

rest.

WORKS PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION.

LONDON.

A Traveller's Tale of the Last Century; in 3 vols 12mo; by Miss Spence, author of Letters from the Highlands, &c.

Mondouro; a novel.

Sir Arthur Clark has nearly ready for publication, an Essay on Warm, Cold, and Vapour Bathing; with Observations on Sea Bathing, &c.

Capt. James Burney, of the royal navy, is printing an Historical Review of the Maritime Discoveries of the Russians, and of the attempts that have been made to discover a northeast passage to China.

Mr S. Fleming proposes to publish, in a quarto volume, the Life of Demosthenes; with an account of the age of Philip of Macedon, and Alexander the Great.

Mr P. B. Shelley has in the press, Rosalind and Helen, a tale; with other poems.

The Rev. B. Kennicott will soon publish, an Analysis of the fifth book of Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity.

A Voyage in the Persian Gulph, and a Journey over Land from India to England, in 1817, is preparing for publication, in one volume quarto, illustrated by plates; containing an account of Arabia Felix, Arabia Deserta, Persia, Mesopotamia, Babylon, VOL. IV.

Bagdad, Koordestan, Armenia, Asia MinoTM, &c.; by William Hende, Esq. of the Madras Military Establishment.

Mr Peter Nicholson, author of many esteemed mathematical works, is preparing for early publication, a popular Course of the Mathematical Sciences; which is adapted to succeed to the study of arithmetic in public schools. It will comprise the entire elements of pure and mixed mathematics, and every part will be accompanied by numerous questions, examples, and cases, for the exercise of the pupil.

A translation is printing in London of the Abbé Guille's Treatise on the Amusement and Instruction of the Blind, with engravings. It is well known that this gentleman is the conductor of the famous national establishment for the blind at Paris, and in this volume he has presented the world with the interesting results of his experience.

Mr Britton announces a History and Description of Lichfield Cathedral; to be illustrated with sixteen engravings, from drawings by Mackenzie; among which is one representing the justly famed monument by Chantrey, of the two children of Mrs 4 K

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