ginally from the Greek πεττεια. This supposition is founded on an hypothesis respecting the elevation of pebbles as the boundary mark, which are now denominated, King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, and Rook. Some farther remarks are offered, in the two following chapters, respecting the Indian game of Chess, and the Hindu claim to the original invention; and the author concludes his annotations with the following candid and modest declaration : 'I have now endeavoured to clear up the difficulties in which the classic games of skill have been involved, and to display the several coincidences which connect them together; and especially those leading points, which may have furnished materials for the construction of the game of Chess. Since much of what I have adduced as proof upon this last head may be thought to amount to little more than probabilities, I leave the first question-whether Chess was in vented by the first intention, or passed through various stages of improvement, to the judgment of the candid and unprejudiced teadet.' As it has been asserted by Julius Pollux that the Andov was a game permitted in the temple of Minerva Skiras at Athens, the author has subjoined an Appendix, in two parts, designed to investigate the nature of the ceremonies in the interesting Athenian festival called the Skirophoria, i. e. the solstitial feast of the umbrella, or bough: but we must refer the learned reader to the book itself for information on these points; and we readily assure him that he will find his time and attention well repaid by the gratification and amusement which it will afford him. The volume is elegantly printed, and the vignettes and other engravings are executed with taste and judg ment. If some of our readers should remark that the writer has bestowed more attention on this work than the nature of the subject deserved, let them consider whether, if Montaigne's observation be true that Chess is too serious for a game, it may not be admitted as sufficiently serious for critical inquiry and remark. We would, however, advise those who are not at present greatly interested in this game, to read, as a prelude to the entertainment contained in this volume before us, the celebrated poem of Vida intitled " Sacchia Ludus;" or an imitation of that composition, under the title of "Caïssa," to be found in the fourth volume of the valuable works of the late Sir William Jones. REV. JULY, 1802. ART. ART. V. Mural Nights; or, Elements of Civil Knowledge, Vol. L By Henry Redhead Yorke, Esq. 8vo. pp. 340. 95. Boards Clement. WHATEVER may have been a man's indiscretions or crimes, he makes some atonement to the public, and becomes intitled to some respect, when he devotes the hours of punishment to earnest study, and consecrates his prison-meditations to the improvement both of himself and of his fellow-creatures. The political ground of the present author's confinement in York Castle, in the years 1794 and 1795, it would be as ungenerous in us at this distance of time to discuss, as it would be impertinent in us to decide between him and that part of the community, which is here accused of having first flattered and then deserted him':-it will be sufficient for us to observe, that he sustained his imprisonment with philosophical tranquillity and that, so far from suffering his lamp " at midnight hour," to burn to waste in "the lonely tower," he employed his Mural Nights' in projecting, amid other literary pursuits, a sytem of instruction for the young and rising generation. In this seclusion, Mr. Yorke appears to have not unsuccessfully reviewed his own conduct and sentiments, as well as to have examined the general state of civil society: for he very ingenu ously confesses, in a pamphlet which will be the subject of the next article, that the advantages which he acquired took, about seven years ago, a wrong direction.' This acknowlegement will not be lost on a liberal public; and we esteem it to be our duty to mention such an avowal, in order that former prejudices may no longer operate, nor obstruct the due examination of those important remarks of which we are now required to give an account. We term the observations of Mr. Yorke important, in reference to the nature of the subject, and because they are the production of a strong and well stored mind. The system which he recommends may in some respects be Utopian: but the discussions which are intended to explain and enforce it are so replete with judicious hints, applying to education in general, that parents who wish their children to possess cultivated and virtuous minds;-tutors who are desirous of doing justice to those who are intrusted to their care;—and statesmen who are solicitous for the instruction of the great mass of mankind, under a persuasion that this improvement is essentially connected with the order, peace, and happiness of society;-should not be inattentive to the contents of this volume. Its headtitle, Mural Nights, no more indicates the nature of the work, than the Diversions of Purley explained the object of Mr. Horne -Tooke's Tooke's philological elaborate production. Had it not been for the second title, we should have supposed, on opening the book, that Mr. Yorke's Prison-Thoughts were of a sombre cast: but they have no relation to his personal and temporary situation, being designed to embrace the amelioration and happiness of mankind in general. He discusses the importance of early instruction, endeavours to ascertain the best mode of education for the superior and the middling classes of the community, and gives a plan for a public elementary school, and for an under-academy. After all that has been advanced on the subject of Education, the world is far from being decided respecting the best possible system. Perhaps it is necessary to fix certain fundamental principles, on which a general theory of education may be erected. If the slavish maxim be admitted that men are more docile and submissive in proportion as they are kept in ignorance, and if the mischievous assertion be allowed that philosophy is a stimulus to rebellion against lawful governors, we cannot expect that the rulers of kingdoms will encourage the general diffusion of knowlege: but it is the interest of virtue and humanity to reprobate such fallacious and such odious doctrines. We daily observe, (says Mr. Y.,) that in proportion as the sciences make their progress in countries, they transform the inhabitants into new creatures; and by inspiring them with gentler inclinations and manners, and supplying them with better forms of government and more humane laws; they raise them from the obscurity wherein they had languished before, and engage them to throw off their former roughness. Thus, they prove evidently, that the minds of men are very near the same in all parts of the world; that all honorable distinction in regard to them is owing to the sciences; and that according as these are cultivated or neglected, nations rise or fall, emerge out of darkness, or sink again into it; and that their fate in a manner depends upon them. The advantages of education and learning are more lasting and extensive than those of arms. The courage of a soldier does little service to his country after his death, the benefit of it being usually confined to one age; whereas, public provisions for society are framed, and the constitution adjusted to the temper and convenience of the people; of the happy effects of which, remote posterity is often sensible. And as the consequences of valor seldom reach beyond the death of him who shewed it, so there are few the better for it, except those for whom a man engages; and they are commonly none but his countrymen. But learning, by inventing and improving the arts and sciences, scatters its favors in a much larger compass; becomes an universal benefactor, and obliges mankind in its most comprehensive latitude of place and time. The successes of learning are naturally of a very innocent tendency, and under good management, S 2 prejudicial prejudicial to none. The conquests of arts are not like those of arms, gained by slaughter, and attended with ruin and desolation. No; here is nothing routed but ignorance and error; nothing destroyed but obstinate humor and savage disposition. Emollit mores, nec sinit esse feros.' Persuaded of the high consequence of education, Mr. Yorke recommends the commencement of its beneficial effects in good time: At our entrance into the world, we are helpless and ignorant; and the mind, like blank paper, is capable of receiving any impressions which may be made upon it. This, then, is the point where we ought to begin, nor should we desist until the mind is competent to form its judgments without the direction of the parent or tutor. As education is merely the instrument of facilitating our attainment of this capacity, it should be laid aside as soon as the object is attained.'— If, instead of dangerous opinions and delusive enchantments, a child hear nothing but the voice of truth, honesty, and right reason, pointing out to him the errors that prevail in the behaviour and conversations of mankind; and if the rules by which they are to be discerned be laid before him, there is almost a moral certainty that he will escape the dangers of intemperance, and be preserved from the contagion of vice. Youth is the season of curiosity and impetuous desires. It will require, therefore, a skilful and masterly hand to direct the former to proper objects, and the latter to honorable attainments. Nature seems to have given us, during our infancy, an inquisitive spirit and a ductile temper, for the express purpose of facilitating our acquisition of the rudiments of knowledge. We ought, however, to remember, that notwithstanding this favorable disposition, we are not at liberty to use compulsion, threats, or angry expressions, as instruments for the communication of truth. If pos. sible, every acquirement of a child should be a matter of choice; for reason is the enemy of all violence and of all force, and conquers only by gentleness, persuasion, and truth. That species of mental torture, that outrage of all feeling, which would stretch and weary the active genius of infancy, cannot be too much reprobated and discountenanced. The talents with which infancy is endowed, are to be treated and cultivated in a different manner. Every temptation should be held out to the child, that he may demand information voluntarily. It should be disguised under the most agreeable forms and names, and should steal unobserved into his mind by every avenue. But, let it not be imagined, that I would insinuate by the above observation that truth itself should be disguised. It is the mode only of displaying it, not the truth that is here alluded to. This divine progeny of heaven, ought to be contemplated in every light and in every situa tion, that, like the sun in a cloudless heaven, it may illumine and refresh every object which it pierces with its rays.' Mr. Yorke's great object is to abridge the means employed for the acquisition of knowlege. He reprobates the notion that, in order to avoid losing time, we must hasten to 'cram the the memory' in any mode whatever; and he advises the tutor to be solicitous in causing ideas to accompany words. This certainly ought to be a consideration with every preceptor : but, since memory comes much sooner into exercise than judgment or the power of discrimination, may it not be stored with effect under wise management, and the difficulties of learning be surmounted by its being well supplied with words? Reasons cannot be given to a child on every occasion; and if, like old Macklin, he should ask why Io sono meant I am, and were not to proceed till his master could give him a satisfactory explanation, we apprehend that his progress in language would be very soon interrupted. ، Since to Englishmen, and especially to those in the middling classes of the community, the study of their own language is of the greatest importance, Mr. Yorke would direct their chief attention to this point; and though we do not think with him that our language is now highly polished,' and that by its simplicity it is fitter to exhibit a clear system of Grammar than the Latin *: yet, as it certainly possesses great beauty, force, and elegance, many advantages may be obtained by making it a more prominent feature of education. The Latin and Greek languages, considered as models of taste and fine writing, are useful to form the style, and sharpen the wit of men. But a coryphæus in ancient learning is but a mere pedant, if he be ignorant of the nature, beautics, and power of his mothertongue. His learning, which would otherwise be an useful ornament to his more practical knowledge, cannot but impede his progress in the world. An Englishman, destined to reside in his native country, is to think, write, and to speak in English, not in Latin or Greek ; and the greatest cause that has hitherto obstructed the refinement of English literature is, the total neglect of our own language, during our education. We cannot therefore be surprized when we find scholars express themselves aukwardly in it, or when we discover that the French, Italian, Latin, and Greek tongues, are better understood (because they are more attended to) than our own. Our acquaintance with the authors of antiquity should have taught us better plans. For, according to the undoubted testimonies of Quintilian and Cicero, the greatest pains were taken to instruct the Roman youth in the Latin tongue, before they were taught the Greek, which was as foreign to them as French, Latin, or Greek are to the English. Were the Roman Republic in existence, and were it judged proper that its youth should be conversant in the language of our country, we should find that it would not be attempted until they had been thoroughly acquainted with the general principles of Latin. The same observation will apply to us. Let the divine languages of How could Mr. Y. advance this assertion, when he tells us that we have in our language no future tense? |