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In the year 1557, during the troubles in Zapoly, the castle of Nagy Ida, in the county of Abauywar, was in danger of being be

rant wanderers should be attributed the faculty of foreknowledge, a faculty from which truly wise men shrink, must be considered as a foily in which our nation is not singular, and little other than a reproach on the human mind itself.

Advice from a Lady to her Grand-Daugh

ters, in a Series of familiar Essays, on various Subjects. Sm. 8vo. pp. 280. Price 7s. Hatchard, London, 1808.

sieged and taken by the Imperial troops. Francis von Perenyi, who had the command, being short of men, was obliged to have recourse to the Gipseys, of whom he collected a thousand; these he furnished with proper means of defence, and stationed them in the outworks, keeping his own small compliment A NEAT little volume of a virtuous of men to garrison the citadel. The Gipseys tendency, and calculated to do good. The imagined that they should be perfectly free kind old lady gives very sensible advice, from annoyance behind their entrenchinents, to "two dear children; between the and therefore went courageously to their post. ages of thirteen and fifteen years :" on a Every thing was in order when the enemy variety of subjects, such as, charity, arrived, and the storm commenced. The filial duty, fraternal love, accomplishGipseys, behind their fortifications, supported the attack with so much more resolution than ments, &c. We are glad to see that was expected, returning the enemy's fire with reading of the Scriptures receives a share such alacrity, that the assailants, little sus- of her attention; though we think her pecting who were the defendants, were ac- not altogether warranted, in precluding tually retreating. They had hardly quitted any part of the sacred volume from perusal. their ground, when the conquerors clated If it be asked what are young women (or with joy on their victory, crept out of their matrons, in similar cases) to do on subholes, crying after them, "Go and be hanged.jects connected with religion, which they you rascals! Thank God we had no more powder and shot, or we would have played the very devil with you !" What!" replied the retiring besiegers, as they turned about, and, to their great astonishment, instead of regular troops, discovered a motley Gipsey tribe, " are you the heroes? is it so with you?" Immediately wheeling about to the left, sword in hand, they drove the black crew back to their works, forced their way after, and in a few minutes totally subdued

them.

This history shews sufficiently the inaptitude of Gipsies for a military life; yet in some Hungarian regimes, one eighth of the corps is of this caste. Equal difficulty attends the supposition that they will ever produce men of learning, since they have no letters. They are also strangers to religion, and religious rites; they suffer their children to undergo baptism several times, if the prospect of profit presents itself: however, they appear to be fond of their children. We are not wil ling to enlarge on the vices and horrid crimes imputed to them. After all, the strangest circumstance attending this people is, the attention paid to their jargon and predictions by the credulous among ourselves. That to these evidently igno

do not understand? the answer is, "let

them enquire at home," and we dare say this worthy grandmother has often given instruction viva voce in explanation of Scripture events and sentiments, which difficulties had rested. There are sundry proper books in our language for this purpose, some of which she men

tions.

on

We shall select an extract from the essay "on Accomplishments."

Persons who undervalue accomplishments, would be superfluous in one stage of society, are perhaps not aware, that attainments which become in another, not only advantageous, but, possibly, even necessary: while, on the other hand, our medish females, entire'y influenced by fashion, may not allow themselves to consider, that what we term accomplishments, although the most showy, are by no means the most essential or most valuable acquirements; nor do they consider that dazzle, or to please in youth, are a less per

the embellishments which enable a female to

manent good, than the more solid, though less fashionable, attainments, which will tend to render her useful and happy through life. This last error is undoubtedly by far the most dangerous.

A knowledge of the world, and long ob

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 frequently, and by what unforeseen events it occurs, 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 alariu you; for believe me, 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 most 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 dedaced, a certain and easy Method of Improving the Quality of English Clothing Wool, and preserving the Health of Sheep; with IIints 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. 160. Price 5s. London: Harding.

pp.

1808.

EVERY attempt to direct the attention of the public to the important subject of British wool, is deserving of commendation; and whoever proposes to the con

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.

Exclusively of the advantage of acquirements in cases of necessity, there is a heartfelt pleasure in communicating our know ledge to those around us; and this is, perhaps, the most unnixed pleasure our acquirements are 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 occur; 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 endeavour to employ as means of usefulness and happiness. If they are possessed without vanity, and so 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.

That accomplishments of every kind are liable to abuse must be admitted: but we agree with our considerate author, that "young persons who are dissipated, possessing accomplishments, would be at least equally dissipated, though less publicly remarkable, if they possessed them not."

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 general and to subject his propositions to the That alone is the test of experience. true support of judgment on a subject like the present.

Wool is an article of so great importance to our country, yet ose 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.

We are, therefore, glad when men of skill and ingenuity favour us 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 cur 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 pro. cess of its manufacture. The cloth produced was superior to what ungreased wool could have made, if equally fine; it was remarkally soft to the touch, had what he called,

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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 woof

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 its application to wool for the same purpose, animal substances, it appeared surprising that 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 selfishness of the wool-buyers, for a long The ignorance, ot 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 periority is still more apparent. I am informed from authority which I cannot doubt, that many cloths miade from greased Nor

thumberland wool, have been sold as cloths,
made from good Spanish wool, and have
equalled them in their texture and softness:
ungreased wools equally fine, and mana-
factured in the same way, would have made
a cloth, the value of which would not have
equalled the former by at least thirty per

cent.

The manner of preparing the ointment in Northumberland is as follows: from sixteen to twenty pounds of butter are placed over the fire and melted, a gallon of tar is then added, and the mixture is stirred with a stick, until the two substances are well incorporated, and form a soft, tenacious ointment. Some skill is required in the application of the ointment, the ignorance of which has prevented the extension of the operation in many places. If the ointment be merely rubbed on the wool, it collects in the top of the staple, attracts and mixes with the soil, and is rather injurious than beneficial to the fleece. The proper method is to divide the staples with one hand, and apply the ointment to the skin with the finger of the other hand, by which means the ointment is kept constantly soft by the warmth of the skin, and is equally diffused through the fleece. Attention to this trifling circumstance is of the greatest importance to the success of this practice. The quantity of the mixture laid upon the sheep, varies with the size of the animal, and the practice of different farmers. In the lighter mode of greasing, one gallon of tar and twenty pounds of butter will be sufficient for forty-five or fifty sheep.

By substituting wax for tar, the prejudice which exists against greased wools, will be removed in a great degree, and the advantage of the practice obtained. Those who are unwilling to make the experiment fully, might still greatly improve their flocks, by a slighter application of a thin ointment of olive-oil and butter, immediately after shearing; this would preserve the animal from the effects of sudden exposure to cold winds, and be of essential service to the wool, though it would not produce all the benefit which might be obtained from a more tenaci

ous ointment.

smearing sheep, the natural effect of which
must be, that a considerable portion of the
spine borack-bone will be exposed to the
rain and snow, which, next to the belly,
is the most vulnerable part of any animal.
In this last view of the subject I am led to
prefer the practice of smearing at an earlier
period than is commonly practised, and to
approve of it, provided a substitute can be
found for the tar, which is difficult to be ex-
tracted in scouring, and by the author's own
account, limits the wool so smeared to the
manufacture of coloured goods alone. Smear-
ing is to be considered as an artificial substi
tute for the yolk. Merino sheep possess it in
abundance, the fineness of the British piles
have it partially; the coarsest of our short-
woolled sheep, unless in a fatting state, have
The practice must be governed by
it not.
circumstances.-Somerville.

LITERARY PROSPECTIVE.

Mr. Williams, the barrister, and author of The whole Law relative to the Duty and Of fice of a Justice of the Peace, has nearly ready for publication, the first part of a new periodical work, for the use of justices of the peace and parish officers, intended to be continued annually under the title of the Magistrate's Annual Assistant, containing the acts of parliament and adjudged cases, so far as they respectively relate to the offices of powers of justices of the peace, and the parish officers, A new and uniform edition, in seven quarto volumes, of Patrick, Lowth, Arnold and "it, Whiuy's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, will appear in the course of this, or the fol lowing month, gave

A new edition of Collins's Peerage of England, with very considerable alterations and improvements, and brought down to the present time, by Samuel Egerton Brydges, Esq.

is in the press.

Dr. Forbes, of Edinburgh, is engaged in a translation of Pliny's Natural History, which is to be accompanied with notes and illustra tions, a life of the author, and a preliminary dissertation on the origin and progress of natural history. The work will extend to six or

Lord S. has so well expressed our opini-seven volumes in octavo. on on this subject, that it would be mere pedantry to affect a different form of words in which to convey it; one of his lordship's notes shall therefore speak for us.

A new edition of Townsend's Journey in Spain will appear in the course of this

A certain length of pile is supposed to be necessary, in order to form that shed or shelter for the purpose of turning off the rain and snow, which is the object of this operation. There is an argument in the author's favour, arising from the bad tendency of the present practice when much tar is used in

month.

Mr. R. Southey will shortly publish a new edition, corrected and amended, of letters written during a short residence in Spain and Portugal.

A new edition of the first part of Dr. Hall's British Flora is in the press.

A new edition of Thornton's Present State of Turkey is in the press and nearly ready for publication,

D 4

The author of the Private History of the Court of England, will publish, in a few weeks, Tales of the Manor, in two volumes.

In the course of next month will be published, a Tour in Scotland, by Sir John Carr, in one handsome quarto volume, price, in boards, two guineas, to be embellished with plates from drawings by the author.

In imitation of the Ancient Lectionaries, a Collection of the Morning Lessons for Sundays and the principal Holidays is shortly to be published as a companion to the CommonPrayer Book of the Church of England.

A Biographical Index to the House of Lords has been for some time in the press, and will be speedily published. It is compiled by the editor of the " Biographical Index to the House of Commons:" it consists of a single volume, of a portable size, and in addition to the descent of the peers of England, given in an entirely new form, contains an account of the present and late ones, their habits, purginal anecdotes of Cromwell, which will conMr. Stace is procceeding with some orisuits, and parliamentary conduct.

The sixteen Scotch, and twenty-eight Irish members, are introduced in alphabetical order, as well as the Bench of Bishops.

Mr. Brown of Whitburn is correcting and enlarging his Memoir of Mr. Hervey for a second edition: the first being sold in a few months. He has received various letters from Mr. Hervey's friends in England, which cast much light on the character of that good man : of these he means to avail himself in the second edition.

tain many curious and important particulars.

Mrs. Grant, author of Letters from the Mountains is preparing to publish Memoirs of Mrs. Cuyler.

Dr. Thomas Dancer will shortly publish a new edition, much enlarged and improved, of the Medical Assistant, or West India Practice of Physic; designed for the use of young practitioners, heads of families, and manag ers of plantations.

In a few days will be published,, Principles of Surgery, for the Use of Chirurgical Students, a new edition with additions. By John Pearson, F. R. S. Senior Surgeon to the Lock Hospital, &c. 8vo. Ss. 6d.

We are requested to announce the advanced state of a most useful and elegant anatomical work, in folio, to be published in the course of the current month, entitled AnatomicoChirurgical Views of the Nose, Mouth, Mrs. Cappe is preparing for the press a com Larynx, and Fauces, with appropriate ex-plete History of the Life of Christ, as related planations and references to the parts, by J. J. by the four Evangelists; intervening into one Wait, Surgeon; designed by the author to continued narrative, their several accounts of illustrate the anatomy of those organs as they the miracles performed in proof of his mission, appear in different sections of the head, and of his prophetic warnings, awful admonitions, 'performed with the strictest attention to ana- moral precepts, and various controversies with tomical accuracy. The engravings will be four the Jewish rulers, terminating in his crucifixin number, containing six views of the parts ion, resurrection, &c. She has endeavoured of the natural size, and accompanied with to ascertain as nearly as possible the order of the same number of outline figures of refe-time in which these several discourses, and rence; with an additional anatomical description of these organs by Mr. Lawrence, demonstrator of anatomy, Bartholomew's Hospital. The author has received very great encouragement from the professional gentlemen resident in London.

The Rev. Thomas Broadhurst, of Bath, will shortly publish a small octavo volume, containing observations addressed to the young ladies of Mrs. Broadhurst's establishment for education in that city, on the great necessity and importance of mental cultivation; also a review of a regular course of various reading on subjects of science and literature; together with advice and directions for the conduct of females in genteel life on their entrance into the world.

Speedily will be published, in quarto, embellished with thirteen views, Travels in the North of Europe; or, a Journal of a Voyage down the albe, from Dresden to Hamburgh, and Travels through Denmark and Sweden. By Louis de Boisgeliu, Knight of Malta, author of the History of Malta. `

the extraordinary events which gave rise to them, took place, in the hope of exciting an increasing interest in the perusal of the Sacred Records, by exhibiting a more comprehensive view of the whole ministry of Christ, and thereby throwing additional light on many exceedingly important and beautiful passages. The whole is illustrated by a series of notes explanatory of eastern phraseology, of ancient customs, manners, opinions, and prejudices; formerly transcribed by the editor from the short-hand papers of her late husband, the Rev. Newcome Cappe. The work is divided into sections, and at the close of each section, such practical reflections are deduced as naturally rise out of the subject.

Two new editions of Tableau de l'Espagne Moderue, par J. Fr. Bourgoing, are just ready for publication. One in French from the last Paris edition of 1867. The other is in English translated from the above. They will each be published in three volumes, 8vo. with an atlas, in 4to. containing 29 plates, price £2 12s. 6d.

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