and watered the roots of flowers where bees were humming over their honey-yielding treasures.

I threw myself down on the grassy bank.-I did not thank, or praise, or supplicate my God; but I seemed to ask, and find security in the sight of the water and the flowers, and a companionship in these sweet, natural sounds. Wrath was on the city; but here, even I should be spared here, for the very bees' sake.

An Address delivered in the Chapel of Dartmouth College, upon the Induction of the Author into the Professorship of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy, May 19, 1825. By DANIEL OLIVER, M. D. Concord. 1825. 8vo. pp. 24.

THE subject of Dr Oliver, in the address before us, is, of course, the importance of that branch of philosophy which he is now called upon to teach; but his mode of setting forth and illustrating this is very striking and original. He takes for his theme the leading idea, that mind imparts its own qualities to the material world; that our knowledge of the latter is never unmingled with that of the former; and that most of those properties, indeed, which we think belong to outer things, are in reality purely mental,-mere laws of thought,-the colours, which our own fancy throws over all the objects with which our senses are familiar. Hence, he says, the science of mind lies at the foundation of of every other science.

In prosecuting successfully a particular subject of inquiry, we are in the progress of discovery, unfolding the laws and the nature of the intellect, no less than the properties of the objects on which its powers are exercised. We are bringing to light powers of the most wonderful nature, which might otherwise have slumbered forever unnoticed and unknown. The simplest object of knowledge, which merely awakens the power of consciousness, lifts the veil from the world of intellect, and discloses to the admiring eye the foreground of that immense prospect which now begins to open before it, and which, in the progress of life and knowledge, will be continually expanding, till it displays the wide extent of our intellectual and moral nature. pp. 4, 5.

The knowledge of the mind, therefore, is to be acquired as much by looking out of it, as by looking into it. The materials of this knowledge are to be collected ab extra. We can know nothing of mind, but its relations to other things; and it is only by comparing it with other things that we can arrive at any knowledge of its properties. pp. 9, 10. It is evident, that as sensitive and intellectual beings, we have no concern with any thing but our own thoughts and feelings. And in truth, what else is real to us? What reality has even the external world to us, but as it affects the sentient power within? It is true, that as the mental feelings, resulting from the impressions of external objects, are the signs of these objects, and the only means by which we become acquainted with them, we are apt to forget that all of which we are

really conscious, and that we primarily know, are these mental affections themselves. We pass unconsciously from the signs to the things signified, and entirely overlook, not only that process by which the latter become known to us, but that mysterious affection of the intellectual principle in which this knowledge itself wholly consists. We confound and identify these feelings with external realities, and the illusion can be destroyed only by the closest examination of our mental nature. One great error which has arisen from false reasoning in metaphysics, is the denial of the outward existence of matter. Another equally signal, but almost precisely opposite, is the belief of the independent existence of certain conceptions of our own minds. From the constant exertion of our faculties outwardly, we acquire a habit of referring our own conceptions to a position external to the mind, and in this way we give a delusive existence to what truly can exist nowhere but in the mind itself. pp. 12, 13.

Even the grossest objects of sense, which absorb the attention of the greater part of mankind, and are apt to be regarded as the only solid and permanent things, are nothing to us, but as they have the power of producing certain varieties in our own consciousness. What they are in themselves, we know not. It is, perhaps, impossible to prove, though it is equally impossible to doubt, that they are any thing, but as perceived by the mind. p. 15.

Our readers will perceive by the paging, that this sentiment runs nearly through the address. The rest is indeed little more than a happy amplification or illustration of it; and this gives to the whole a unity and connexion, which are rarely to be found in discourses of so general a nature, embracing topics so various and extensive, within such narrow limits.

We have remarked, that this method of recommending the study of mental philosophy is quite original with the author of the address. The leading idea in it, however, that which forms, as it were, the nucleus, around which all the others gather, or with which they are incidentally connected, is far from being new, or even uncommon. Many fine writers on the subject have pointed to it; and some of the most curious, refined, and interesting speculations that ever puzzled or enlightened the human mind, were derived from this principle entirely. Witness the scheme of impressions by Hume, and the idealism of Berkley; it makes a very great department too, in Kant's Philosophy. Perhaps we should not go much too far to say, that it is the ground-work of his whole system of metaphysics, or at least of those peculiarities of it, which are exclusively his own. Time and space, for example, with all their modes and varieties, have, according to this philosopher, no external existence, but are the mere laws or properties of the mind itself. They form the intellectual limits to our knowledge. They are, as he calls them, moulds both of sensation and reflection. We can neither perceive nor think of any thing but under these two qualifications, which always lie within,

but which we always, nevertheless, transfer to outward objects. The idea is expressed in the following extract.

"Space and time lie entirely within ourselves and in the laws of our perception, not in the external world itself; before the influence of this last upon us, they are, as it were, slumbering forms; by this influence they are called into view, and then first become objects of thought and contemplation."

But another extract from the famous German writer, gives the whole idea, of which Dr Oliver has made so much use, in the fullest and most satisfactory manner.

"The amount, which things in themselves contribute to our knowledge is quite inconsiderable and indefinite; but that which is imparted by our own internal or self activity, is very various,― embraces much of that which is generally ascribed to external objects, and may at the same time be very exactly defined."

It is on this principle, that he accounts for what he calls the important proposition, that those sciences only are certain, exact, and demonstrative, which are based entirely on the laws of the human mind; and that those which spring merely from experience, are variable, and will always be incomplete.

We do not mean to speak disparagingly of Dr Oliver by these remarks; on the contrary,-if he has wound his way through the pages of the truly great metaphysician whom we have quoted, he is the better qualified for his present undertaking; if not, he has the more claim to originality; at any rate he has very happily amplified the leading idea and turned it, we believe, to a purpose entirely new. On the whole, we look upon his address as a favourable specimen of his qualifications for the important station in which he has just been placed. It is written with much ability; some parts might be called eloquent, and every page of it exhibits proofs of a strong mind, familiar with, and very fond of moral and metaphysical reasonings. It is true, we think it spread over rather to great an extent of surface; there is some carelessness, too, about the style, of which thinkers are very apt to be guilty. But these are trifles, compared with the real merits of the piece. admirable one delivered at Harvard College, by the late Professor Frisbie, on his being introduced there into a professorship similar to that of Dr Oliver, we do not know when we have been better pleased with a public performance of this kind; and we cheerfully recommend it to our readers, as evidence, that a science is springing up among us, which every where is centuries behind the other sciences, which in this country particularly has hitherto been so little and so miserably cultivated, and which yet embraces within its scope subjects of the utmost importance,-subjects, indeed, in comparison with which all others, excepting revealed religion, are superfluous and trifling.

Since the

INTELLIGENCE.

VARIETIES OF FORM IN SHELLS OF THE SAME SPECIES.

It has been remarked, that the same fossil shells found in places at a distance from each other, always exhihit some differences in their form, the deepness of their grooves, the degree of projection of their spines, and in other marks of distinction. Mr Basterode affirms the same to be the case with living species, as he found that they do not exhibit the same characters in places separated at considerable distances from each other, or even in near localities, when the heat, humidity, and nourishment are different. Hitherto but little attention has been paid to those local differences; hence it has happened that new species have been proposed, which were only varieties of known species. This fact is of great importance in a geognostical point of view. Edin. Phil. Journ.

It is a fact of equal importance in its bearing upon every branch of natural history, although it has been too much neglected, and this neglect has introduced confusion and obscurity into the science.

LANGUAGE OF THE LAW IN SPAIN.

Ferdinand, el Bruto, as some of his subjects have surnamed him, has issued a decree requiring all legal studies and proceedings to be in the Latin language. This was done in England on the restoration of the Stuarts in the year 1660, but it was an expiring effort of barbarism there; we hope it may prove so in Spain.

VARIETIES.

Memoir of Lafayette.-Professor Ticknor's Memoir of Lafayette has been translated at Paris into French, with but few alterations by the translator, to accommodate it to the censure.

Klopstock's Messiah.-A translation of the six cantos of Klopstock's Messiah, in verse, is soon to be published in London.

American Novels.-There have lately been published in London, editions of "The Refugee;" "Valley of the Shenandoah, or Memoirs of the Graysons; " and "Stranger of the Valley," each in three volumes. We congratulate the several authors upon the flattering attentions that have been paid to their works by the London publisher and the London public. We hope the former will be richly rewarded for his enterprise; but, really, if John Bull will bear this, he must be a more enormous consumer of ink and paper than we had ever supposed him to be!

St Valentine's Day.-Two hundred thousand letters beyond the usual daily average are said to pass annually through the two-penny post-office in London on St Valentine's day.

Captain Parry's Return.—Captain Parry has arrived in Scotland in the Hecla discovery ship. The Fury was lost in August-crew on board the Hecla. No discovery of importance was made by the expedition. As this failure is attributed to the accident of losing one of the ships, the English papers urge the expediency of another attempt to discover a northwest passage. The following extract from a communication of an

officer on board the Hecla, dated October 12th, 1825, contains all the particulars we are yet in possession of, relating to the voyage :

"We sailed from the west coast of Greenland on the 4th July, 1824. In passing Davis' Straits we were beset fifty-eight days in the ice. On the 9th of September we cleared the ice, and on the 13th of the same month entered Barrow's Strait. The winter was now setting in fast; we therefore endeavoured to reach Port Bowen, in Prince Rupert's Inlet, which we effected with some difficulty on the 28th. By the 6th of October we were completely surrounded with young ice. The winter rassed more agreeably than could have been expected; we had a good library on board, and managed to raise a tolerable masquerade in one of the ships every fortnight. The winter was what might be called a mild one in this part of the world, the thermometer never exceeding 48 degrees below zero. During its continuance, we had fine sport chasing white bears, twelve of which were killed White grouse were abundant in spring; we shot a great number of them; they were excellent, and proved a great luxury to the officers and men. The summer, which commenced on the 6th of June, with a shower of rain, was very fine; the thaw went on rapidly. On the 19th of July the ice broke up, and we bade farewell to Port Bowen, where we had passed nearly ten months. On the 23d we made North Somerset, and worked to the southward along its coast until the morning of the 1st of August, when, unfortunately, the Fury was driven on shore by the ice. Every exertion was made to save her, but our exertions proved fruitless; she was abandoned on the 19th, and her people taken on board the Hecla. Thus ended all our hopes of making the northwest passage, which seemed favourable till this accident. On the 1st September we left Rupert's Inlet for England, and made the coast of Scotland on the 10th. We have been extremely fortunate during the voyage, not having lost a man either by disease er accident."

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

ARTS AND SCIENCES.

The Boston Journal of Philosophy and the Arts. No. XIII.

An Elementary Treatise on Mechanics, the Doctrine of Equilibrium and Motion, as applied to Solids and Fluids. Chiefly Compiled, and Designed for the Use of the Students of the University at Cambridge, New England. By John Farrar, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. 8vo. pp. 440. Cambridge. Hilliard & Metcalf.

AGRICULTURE.

The American Orchardist. By James Edition, much improved. 12mo. pp. 136.

EDUCATION.

Thacher, M. D. Second
Plymouth. E. Collier.

The Student's Companion, containing a Variety of Poetry and Prose, selected from the most celebrated Authors; to which are added, Miscellaneous Matters, particularly designed to improve Youth in Reading and Parsing the English Language. By Amos 1 Cook, A. M. Preceptor of Fryeburgh Academy. Second Edition. Concord, N. H. Isaac Hill.