rights. We believe this to be true enough, but not in the sense intended by the Quarterly. An article on " High Tory Principles," in the Edinburgh Review, is a spirited and very amusing attack upon the nauseous loyalty of the French press and pamphleteers, with the ineffable M. Chateaubriand at their head, as displayed on the occasion of the death of the old, and the accession of the new monarch. "If," say they, "a contrast were wanted to the servile spirit displayed by the French royalists in the present day, we should look to the interesting spectacle, now exhibited by the American people, of honest and enlightened affection for their ancient benefactor and fellow-soldier in the cause of freedom. We will own, that, to us, there is something peculiarly touching in the enthusiasm which that great nation has shown upon the arrival of the truly venerable person who seeks, in their affections, a temporary refuge from the persecutions of his own government. No man can be named, who has, through a long life, acted with more undeviating integrity, and who, with more strict consistency, has pursued his course of devotion to the sacred cause of liberty, and opposed all despotism, whether exercised by the genius of Napoleon, or by those successors to his throne whose powers form so mighty a contrast with their stations. La Fayette may have fallen into errors; in flying from one danger, he did not perceive that liberty might have a double hazard to encounter, both from oppression and from conquest; but faults he has never been charged with by any whose good opinion deserves his regard; and the honours which he has received in America are as entirely due to the inflexible virtue of his riper years, and his willing sacrifice of himself on all occasions to the cause of liberty in his own country, as they are peculiarly fit to hail his reappearance in a country which the generous devotion of his younger days had helped to make a powerful state of a few dependent colonies. He must be far gone in the servile feelings of French royalism who can read, without a blush, the productions we have cited in this article; but no friend of liberal principles can feel any thing but sympathy and pride in following the progress of this great patriot through the United States, even where its details are recorded with the least reserve, and by the most ordinary chroniclers of the times." In the last article of the Quarterly, we have the other side of the question. The subject is the Progress of Dissent in England. The article contains, among other matters of Tory sophistry, a most impudent and shameless attempt to prove the advantage and necessity of the present constitution of the hierarchy. It is asserted, for instance, that the notion of the opulence of the clergy is a vulgar prejudice, and that, as a body, they are poorly paid. It is argued, that the enormous incomes of the dignitaries, do not constitute wealth, because wealth is comparative; that ministers of religion must mingle with every class of individuals in the nation; that "saints in lawn" are necessary to purify the nobility; and that these are comparatively no more opulent than the "saints in crape," who perform the same wholesome service to the middling classes, or the saints in rags, who christianize the canaille. A considerable portion of this number is devoted to reviews of voyages and travels, which indeed are usually better executed in this, than in the Northern journal. The reviewers of Travels in Brazil are great ly uplifted by the establishment of a government in that country, which savours of legitimacy, and mourn over the probable failure of the republican forms in South America, in a very edifying manner. They further take occasion to touch, with an air of dignified contempt, upon the quarrel of the United States with Great Britain in 1812; and close with an expression of benevolent anxiety for the future destinies of the federal union, when the population of the West shall have somewhat increased. We are happy to relieve them by the assurance, that there is no danger whatever to the Union, which is every day growing stronger. But "a confederate republic, of such vast extent, would be a phenomenon in politics!" It certainly will be so, good croaking brethren. We have told you so these many years, and are glad to perceive, that you begin to be aware of it. A subsequent article contains a panegyric on the noble nature and pure morality and religion of the aborigines of North America, especially when compared with many of the white settlers. They had their legitimate sachems, and their panieses, or nobles, and their powows, or dignitaries, which proves, we suppose, that men are by nature subject to monarchy and hierarchy, instead of being free and equal, as our constitution ventures to assume. And these sachems, and panieses, and powows met in council, and made "long talks," and wore party-coloured dresses, and believed in scarlet and ermine. The reviewers really grow sentimental, when they enlarge upon the moral beauty and grandeur of the Indian character. And then they lament the cruel and systematic design of the American government to extirpate every Indian tribe from the Valley of the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, and tell how the grateful and affectionate savages, in the last war, called the king of England their Great Father, who protected them against the wicked plans of the Longknives. To all this we have but one word to say, Brethren of the Quarterly, "beware of cant." The Edinburgh Review, in an article on the "Abolition of Corn-Laws," endeavours to show, that by the repeal of these, no ruinous depression of prices would ensue; and that the average price of wheat, &c. in England is nearly as low as that, at which it could be supplied from any other country. Another, on Impressment, offers strong reasons for supposing that this practice, defended hitherto on the plea of necessity, is contrary to every sound principle of economy and policy, and that seamen could be obtained in greater abundance, and at no greater expense, if impressment was forever abolished. We are informed, in an article on Slavery, that a new and great effort is about to be made at the present session of parliament, for the emancipation of the slaves in the West India colonies. The abolitionists seem to have become tired of the slow method of parliamentary recommendation, and desire something more effectual. From an article on the Scientific Education of the People, many useful hints might be derived, for establishments in our own country. Each of these Reviews is doubtless in a great measure, the organ of a party; but whatever may be the ultimate end of the Whigs in Britain, their journal, on most great national and political questions, speaks the language of nature and reason; while their Tory opponent is too often employed in defending the most monstrous paradoxes, by the most impudent sophistry. We have been informed, that the circulation of the latter is far before that of the former;-what does this fact, if it be a fact, say for the majority of the "reading public" of England? A Few Days in Athens; being the Translation of a Greek Manuscript, discovered in Herculaneum. By Frances Wright, author of "Views of Society and Manners in America." New York. 1825. 12mo. pp. 130. This author deserves attention on the score of former merit, or we should not notice this effusion at all. The amount of it is, that a prejudiced man is not always the fairest judge; and that he, who regulates his opinions by such a man, is very likely to have false ones. There is certainly no novelty in the text, and the commentary possesses but little interest. The history of the book is a fiction; and, as the book itself is a mere allegory, it was hardly necessary to resort to fiction at all, especially to so hackneyed a one. The whole is an uninterrupted conversation, on a very few topics, principally doctrines of the old philosophers, and remarkably remote from any thing, that could border on an application. It fails, of course, in one of the objects of allegory. We regret that the author should not have been more fortunate in the choice of a subject. One less attractive to the mass of readers could hardly have been selected, than the whimsical and absurd doctrines of the old philosophers. Few understand the distinctions and peculiarities among them at all. Those who do, may, perhaps, be amused with a fiction, which puts them in their most agreeable form, and teaches them again. Those, who do not understand them, will hardly give themselves the trouble to learn them, for the sake of understanding and enjoying a fiction, founded upon them. Readers may well begin to be fastidious in the choice of their books, and if they are, they will certainly find enough of a much more practical and interesting character than "A Few Days in Athens." We have no more faults to find with the book, and it does not furnish any occasion for praise. not aware, that it can do any harm. be the author asks for no more. It will do no good, and we are American Mechanics' Magazine; containing Selections from the most valuable Foreign Journals, as well as Useful Original Matter. Conducted by Associated Mechanics. New York. 1825. 8vo. pp. 16. A periodical publication has lately been commenced at New York under the above title. We have seen but one number, and therefore can form no decided opinion of the ability, with which the work will be conducted. It is intended to contain statements of the principles most frequently applied in practical mechanics, and also easy and familiar illustrations of them, drawn from the experience with which every me. chanic is familiar. This will induce young mechanics to refer their experience to general principles as fast as they have it; and in order to do this, they must observe more accurately what is passing before them, and think and reason more philosophically upon the phenomena which they cannot but see. The design of the work we think a laudable one; and if intelligent mechanics are interested in its support, it cannot fail of extensive usefulness in a community like our own, where so large a proportion are devoted to mechanical pursuits. A New Spanish Grammar, adapted to every class of learners. By Mariano Cubi y Soler. Second edition. Baltimore. 1825. 12mo. pp. 464. About two years since Mr Sales, instructer in French and Spanish in Harvard University, translated, revised, and very much improved the Spanish and French Grammar of M. Jossé. Previously it had been a very difficult matter to procure a good grammar of the Spanish language. Those who were unacquainted with the French, were obliged to make use of the imperfect "Introductions," Keys," and "Synopses," which were accidently found amidst the litter and lumber of our bookstores. Mr Cubi's Grammar does not differ essentially from that revised by Mr Sales. They are both valuable works, and both far superior to any other introduction to the Spanish language, that we have ever seen. 66 Mr Cubi has made many important additions and improvements in his second edition, which give evidence of much care and exertion; and we cheerfully recommend it to all, who are desirous of obtaining a thorough knowledge of the Spanish language,—a language which, from our connection with the South American nations, has already become as useful to the merchant and the statesman, as it has always been interesting and delightful to the man of letters. INTELLIGENCE. CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN MASSACHUSETTS. There were in the district of Massachusetts, according to the census of 1820, five hundred and twenty-three thousand one hundred and fifty-nine souls. Of this number, two hundred and forty-one thousand seven hundred and eleven were under the age of eighteen years. The number is now, probably, somewhat increased. If the population has increased only as fast since the last census, as it did between the census of 1810 and that of 1820, there are now, in round numbers, about two hundred and fifty thousand children and youth under the age of eighteen, in Massachusetts. This number, it will be perceived, amounts to almost one half of our whole population. If we take from the older part, those between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one, and add them to the younger part of the population, we shall find at least half, and probably more than half of the whole under twenty-one years. A few of this mass of children and youth have left the schools and all direct means of education, and entered upon the active business of life. And a portion of the younger part are yet subjects only for domestic education. But, after these deductions, it will not be extravagant to state, that one third of the whole population are of a suitable age,—have opportunity, and do actually attend school at least some portion of the year. In Massachusetts, we have not the means of knowing accurately the number of those who attend our schools; because we have no system of returns to any authority, by which such facts can be ascertained. But we are confirmed in the belief, that the above is not an extravagant estimate, by two facts. One is, several towns have been carefully examined, and this is about the proportion of the population found in the schools. The other is, official documents and acknowledged authorities, from a neighbouring state, inform us, that one third of their population attend school some portion of the year. And probably the same would be true of all the New England states. FRENCH PROJECTS. The following Prospectus was submitted to an English gentleman, residing in Paris, with the author's hope that he would be both a contributor and subscriber: "Tomorrow in the fifteen days will be publish, one brand new work of the Litterature and the Science, the Spectacle and the Mode, to be call the Miroir of the Day; compile by a series of litterary gentlemans of France and the Grand Britain, famous for their savoir and their talents." The prospectus states that half the work is to be in French and half in English; that it is to appear three times a week, and that learned professors are to superintend the articles in each language. Terms twelve francs for three months; twenty-four for six months; and forty-eight francs a year,-to be paid in advance; the money to be returned in three months if the work does not appear. LEHIGH RIVER AND COAL MINE. In a Since the qualities and uses of the Lehigh coal have been understood, it has become a very considerable article of commerce. late Number we gave some account, taken from Professor J. Griscom, of the extent of this coal mine, and the purposes to which its products could be applied. When an easy communication, either by canals or otherwise, shall be opened between the Hudson, the Delaware, and the Susquehannah, there is a probability that this coal may be transported, at least to the cities on the borders of the Atlantic, with such facility, and in such quantities, as to affect materially the price of fuel. And that, in a climate like our own, must affect, materially, the condition of a large portion of the community. It inay have other uses, or be converted to other purposes than that of furnishing a cheaper and more convenient fuel. In conjunction with the modern discoveries in the application of steam power, and the internal improvements by means of canals and railways, this new development of the resources of a large and already powerful state [Pennsylvania], cannot fail to become a subject of deep and increasing interest to the whole country. We are led to these remarks, by seeing, a short time since, a letter, in which the Lehigh river, the mine, and the manner of conveying off the coal, were described. From those descriptions we select such parts, as will give our readers some account of the river, and the manner by which it is made passable for the arks, as they are called, in which the coal is floated down. The construction of the sluice gates was to us new, extremely interesting, and ingenious. "The Lehigh river, near its source, is a mountain torrent, having a fall of 360 feet in the distance of 46 miles. The navigation is attained by the kind of improvement, called, by engineers, flashing. But the greatest curiosity consists in the locks or sluice gates. These locks require but little strength, and no skill for their management. A gate, |