able levity of difpofition, which is the ruin of youth and the difgrace of old age. To a neglect of this method may, in great measure, be afcribed thofe glaring abfurdities and ridiculous inconfiftencies fo confpicuous in the conduct of thousands -fuch perfons are certainly entitled to our pity; hav ing never been taught reflection, how can it be expected that they fhould be able to fteer their courfe through life with propriety; having never been taught to form plans for the regulation of their conduct, can it be matter of furprize that they fhould act at random! There cannot be any thing more difgufting to a ferious mind, than the trifling frothy converfation of what is termed polite company; in vain fhould we expect to hear a fingle fentence which might have a tendency either to inform the judgment or improve the heart; there are objects for which their fuperficial minds have no relish, and on which they cannot endure to bestow a thought; low witticifms, rude jefts, and immoderate laughter, conftitute the chief part of their entertainment, or perhaps, fometimes, for the fake of greater variety, criticifing with the most unrelenting feverity, fome trifling defect in the dress or behaviour of an ab· fent acquaintance: fuch a conduct must become still more pernicious, when fanctioned by the example of thofe from whofe years and experience we might juftly have expected them to have been patterns of every thing great and praife worthy. What melancholy in ftances do fuch perfons exhibit of the deplorable effects of an erroneous education; had the time and pains which they spent in acquiring mere fhewy accomplishments been employed in endeavouring to attain useful ones-what a different fet of beings fhould we then have beheld; instead of the infipid nonfenfe with which we are now perfecuted, as often as we have the misfortune of falling into their company, we should have been regaled with a rich variety of fentiment, combining combining inftruction with delight; their minds would have been store houfes of wildom, from which they would, frequently, have imparted a portion to the young and inexperienced; inftead of infpiring contempt and difguft wherever they appeared, they would have been regarded with veneration and delight, as the ornaments of fociety and patterns to the rifing genera tion. By indulging an habitual levity of behaviour, we fhall be in danger of exciting unfavourable fufpicions of our morality; levity of difpofition and profligacy of manners are fo nearly allied, that wherever there is any confiderable fhare of the former, it will always be in danger of producing fome degree of the latter; or if it fhould fail of fuch an unhappy effect, it must inevitably tarnish our reputation and leffen us in the esteem of our more fenfible and difcerning friends. The utility of a ferious fpirit will be farther evident, if we confider the indifpenfable neceffity of it in order to enable us to meet the afflictions of life with any tolerable degree of fortitude. The giddy volatile mind, that rushes through life without reflection and without forecast, is cafily overwhelmed with the most trivial accidents; like flies basking in funthine, it never once dreamt of an intervening cloud; hence it is no wonder that the flighteft difappointments frequently four the temper and occafion a fretfulness and difquietude difgraceful to rational beings; whereas by habituating ourselves to expect and prepare for trials, we fhall be enabled to fupport them with firmness and decency, The belief of a kind providence superintending all our affairs, will brighten the gloomieft fcenes of life, and cheer us in the darkest night of adverfity. But it is not to be fuppofed that this frame of mind is to be attained by a conftant round of tumultuous pleafures, or inceffantly frequenting the haunts of extravagance and diffipation; if we would acquire this va luable luable difpofition, it is neceffary that we fhould fometimes step aside from the world, and hold converfe with our own hearts in the retirements of folitude; fuch a practice would tranquillize the mind, and prepare it for the relifh of fuperior gratifications. By what has been here advanced I would not be un derfood to recommend a fullen aufterity of temper, or to condemn that innocent cheerfulnefs, which when tempered with wisdom, is certainly a moft pleafing quality, without which fociety would be infipid; it is certainly the duty of every individual to enjoy with cheerfulness and gratitude the bleffings which heaven has bestowed on him; the misfortune is, that we are too apt to run into the extremes, and lofe fight of the juft medium between intemperate mirth and fullen morofenefs. But perhaps we fhall be afraid, that by cultivating a ferious difpofition, we fhall be exposed to the ridicule of our gay companions: is this then an evil of fuch magnitude, as to juftify the facrifice of all our mental improvements? before we fuffer ourselves to be too much alarmed with this formidable apprehenfion, let us for a moment enquire into the character of thofe perfons whofe cenfure we are in danger of incurring; not, furely, thofe who are diftinguished for their good fenfe, amiable difpofition, and usefulness to the world; with fuch perfons we should certainly be held in double eftimation; if then, as is most likely, they fhould be found to be perfons of a quite oppofite character, let us no longer regard their fneers, but content ourfelves with the reflection of having done nothing to deferve them; confcious of having acted our parts nobly, we shall poffefs a fource of confolation in our own breafts, that will richly compenfate us for "The world's dread laugh." Maidstone. A. LONG LONG LIFE. R. Hufeland, profeffor of medicine at Sena, has longing Human Life."-The title of this book, if it were a native production, might be suspected to lead chiefly to the recommendation of fome quack medicine. It is however of a very different kind, and contains a philofophical illuftration of that very interefting fubject. The author is a physician of fome repute in Germany; but he feems to be a little infected with the mania of the times, and to have received a tincture of the modern philofophy. The author confiders the subject of the prolongation of life, as it refers to theory or practice. What he fays of the gerocomie, or the art of preferving or revivifying old age, by the company of youth, and the fyftem of transfufion, or paffing the blood of a young animal into an old one, we think not worthy of particular notice. The length of human life, according to this author, depends on the following points: 1. On the mass of the principium vitæ, and the vital fpirits. 2. On the confiftency of the organization of the body. 3. On the flower or more rapid confumption of human life. 4. On the means, greater or lefs, of fupplying that confumption. The age of the world, according to the our author, has no influence on the age notwithstanding what has been faid, and is be the contrary, he might yet attain the patriarchs. doctrine of of man ; and believed to years of the Old age may be attained under any zone; nevertheless experience proves that life is not fo foon con fumed fumed in the cold as in the torrid zones; in islands, as on continents. As a proof of this he ftates, that old age is most commonly attained in England, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. According to his own principle, and other facts, he might have added Ruffia. The life of a man is likely to be longest, when he conforms to the precepts and the laws of nature. Those in general, who have reached an extraordinary old age, have been married, generally more than once, and frequently even in old age. The most striking example he gives is of a Frenchman, named Longueville, who, in the courfe of a life of 110 years, had ten wives, the laft of which he married in his 99th year, and had by her two children. To live long, the author observes, an active and even a fatiguing courfe fhould be purfued early; afterwards tranquillity and uniformity is neceffary; but no idle perfon was ever reckoned among the number of the long-lived. He reckons that the long livers have, in general, fubfifted more on vegetables than meat; indeed many of them, he obferves, were confined to the former. Upon the whole, he thinks it may be inferred, with great probability, that the organization of man does not render him incapable of living 200 years but as he cannot produce an inftance, his reafoning of courfe falls to the ground. What he adduces of Parr is not fufficient, who died at the age of 152, and had ail his vifcera in a state of perfect prefervation. His table, on the calculation of the probable duration of life, reckons that of 100 persons, 53 die before the 10th year. 20 between the 10th and 20th, So |