feemed anxious to appear under fome other character, than that of a mere preacher by profeflion. Hence it was, that as he very foon commenced an author, fo, in latter life, he became a farmer and coal-merchant. How far his finances were improved by thefe o cupations, it is unnecellary to enquire. He was, at leatt, influenced by generous motives. He never liked to prefs too hard upon his congregation, and was never entirely fupported by his falary. He thought it lawful for a paftor to work, as well as to pray; and his religion fometimes confifted in doing thofe things which many preachers think it profane to perform. : As a divine, he poffeffed great peculiarities he had ftudied all fvitems of theology, but even at that time of life when his writings were moft circumfcribed by doctrinal ftritnefs, they are throughout marked with the livelieft fallies of genius, and the most beautiful fentiments on liberty and benevolence. Indeed, love of liberty, and a boundless philanthropy, were the ftrong features of his character; and though he uniform ly and rigorously oppofed fuch fyitems as are at variance with thofe principles, he lived in friendship with many who, from miftaken notions of the nature of truth, and the best interefts of fociety, fupported them. His theological writings, therefore, are a fund of entertainment to many, who revolt at them as a fyftem of inftruction: and whether a man be a churchman or a diffenter, an orthodox or an heterodox man, he may glean something from Robinfon's literary productions, that cannot fail to render him a wiler and a better man. It is remarkable, that, though he was a confcientious oppofer of religious cfablishments, fome of their moft zealous advocates ranked among his admirers: and, indeed, fo amiable were his manners, and fo fuperier his talents, that many dignitaries of the church would have been happy to have been the means of his advancement. His writings are numerous, and his political works much, and very defervedly, admired. He had thoroughly examined thofe queftions that relate to government, and could well illuftrate them by his extenfive knowledge of hif tory and antiquity. It is not faying too much, to affert, that his two admirable works, entitled the Hory of Baptifm, and Ecclefiaftical Refearches, poffefs as much elaborate inveftigation, and origipal information, as any historics in our language and it would be doing injuftice to reprefent them as mere details of religious ceremonies, or of opinionifts in theology. Thefe two works are proof, that he poffeffed a, confiderable knowledge of ancient and modern languages; an extraordinary infight into the nature and principles of different governments; a clear knowledge of the true interefts of man in civil fociety; of the ́ depraved ftate of moft political inftitu tions; and of the only means of ameliorating and reforming them. folved government into the most fimple principles, and thought that form the beft which leaves men in poffeffion of the means to govern themfelves. He lived to fee the commencement of the French revolution: he wifhed it fuccefs; but he had a tender heart, and the fhedding of blood made no part of his fyftem, either as a divine or a politician. Be re SNOW, HAIL, MIST, AND DEW, may furnish the next divifion. Hail and fnow, though fo fimilar in a philofophical view, yet differ fufficiently in their appearance and manner of defcent, to fuggeft different images of comparifon. Both, indeed, fall fo thick as to afford an image of number and frequency; but the defcent of fnow is gentle, and its confiftence remarkably foft; whereas hail is firm and hard, and falls rapidly. We fhall fee how far their application in fimile has been conformable to thefe diftinctions. 1796.] Similes of Homer, Virgil, and Milton. In another paffage, he dilates this fimple comparifon, after his manner, to a minute picture of a fall of snow. As on a winter's day the frequent flakes The tones from either hoft. IL. xii. 278. The intrinfic beauty and accuracy of this winter landscape is fuch, that we should not cenfure its digreffive nature and lax application, were it not both deficient in the leading point of refemblance, and difcordant in its general effects on the mind, with the fcene in which it is introduced. The only refemblance is this; "the ftones fell as thick as fnow :" but the fubftance falling, and the effects produced by the fall. are as diffimilar as can well be conceived. And in the whole fcenery of the fimile, there is an air of ftillne's and tranquillity, which forms an abfolute contrast to the noife and tumult Torquet aquofam hyemem, & cælo cava nubila The combat thickens, like the ftorm that flies Furit Eneas, tectufque tenet fe. 713 Exercere diem: fic obrutu undique telis, The Trojan chief ar. On his Vulcanian orb fuftain'd the Return to travel, and renew their toils: neas, thus o'erwhelm'd, on every fide, The ftorm of darts, undaunted, did abide. DRYDEN In the former of thefe fimiles we have not only the mulatude of darts, but their clattering against the armour, and the force of their fall, paralleled in the hailftorm. The latter is extended in Homer's manner; but the picture exhibited sufficiently harmonizes with the primary fcene. Virg.l again just touches on the fame image, where he compares the blows given by Entellus to Dares, in the boxing-match, to hail rattling on the roofs. Homer has one fimile, in which the brightness, as well as the thick-falling, of fnow, feems to be intended as a part of the refemblance: As when from heav'n the frequent fnows de- Driv'n by the fweepy tempeft of the north; Breaft-plates of proof, and afhen fpears, were From out the fhips. There are two other fimiles in this poet in which fnow is introduced more happily, perhaps, than in any of his former ones. One is the celebrated comparifon illuftrative of the eloquence of Ulyffes whole words, he fays, were "like wintry fnows." Here both the foftness and copioufness of flakes of fnow fuggeft themfelves to our imagination, and render the application equally ingenious and ftriking. The other inftance is ftill more beautiful. He is defcribing the lamentation of Penelope for Ulyffes: As fnow, by Zephyr fhed on mountain tops, Mift, an appearance fo frequent in thefe thefe northern regions, and fo perpetually Friend to the thief; a ftone's caft bounds the So ro e beneath their feet the dusty cloud, IL. iii. 10. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, THE ftatues, bufts, and vafes, cut by the hands of ancient Greek fculptors, which once adorned the free cities of Athens, Corinth, and Argos, were formerly transferred to Rome, and, along with the most celebrated mafter-pieces of the modern painters, have of late been ordered to be removed to Paris. It is, no doubt, the intention of the directory, to indemnify France for the expences-of of the war, by collecting the chef and levying contributions on the curiofity and tafte of all Europe. It cannot be doubted, that, in this paf-d'œuvres of the fine arts, in a central fituation, fage, not only the obvious refemblance of a cloud of duft to a mift was intended, but a farther correfpondence between the filence with which the Greeks advanced, and the concealed approach of a robber. Nor is the apparent degradation of his countrymen, by fuch a comparison, any objection to this interpretation; for Homer was by no means nice in his comparifons, as many infances fufficiently fhow. The image of "6 a thief coming by night" is ufed on a much more folemn occafion, by another writer, as all may recollect. Milton has a fimile of uncommon Buonaparte's zeal, on this occafion, has not efcaped the notice and animadverfion of his contemporaries; but the full fcope been fully developed; it, indeed, inof the original plan, has never, hitherto, cludes all that can either embellifh' life, or render existence agreeable, as it extends not only to the elegant, but useful arts, and has even the fciences themfelves in its train. The following letter, which never appeared before in an English drefs, will how, that the victories of the army of beauty derived from the fame natural the Sambre and Meufe, procured a conobject: All in bright array The Cherubim defcended; on the ground Gliding meteo.cus: as evening mift Ris'n from a river o'er the rarifh glides, And gathers ground faft at the lab'rer's heel Homeward returning. PAR. L. xii. 629. The airy form and fmooth motion of thefe celeftial beings are finely imaged by the comparifon here fuggefted; and the Homeric prolongation of the fimile is highly picturefque. The fame poet gives a fhort, but very poetical fimile taken from the dew, which will clofe our examples on this head : Innumerable as the ftars of night, Or itars of morning, dew-drops, which the fun Impearls on every leaf and every flower. their brilliancy. PAR. L. V. 745. The fubie&t of this comparifon is the To be continued.] fiderable acceffion to the national mufeum, library, and botanic garden, of the republic, which its fervants were prudent enough to fecure before the recent reverfe of fortune occurred. As the fubject is intimately connected with literature and policy, I doubt not but you will give this a fpeedy infertion in your very useful and inftructing_Mifcellany; and, in the mean time, I beg leave to fubfcribe myfelf, fir, your very humble and obedient fervant, London, O. 1, 1796. VIATOR. Letter from FAUJAS and THOUIN, mem, bers of the Commiffion of Arts and Sciences, with the Army of the Sambre and Moufe, to the temporary Commiffion of Arts, at Paris. CITIZENS, AFTER tranfmitting our laft package from Liege, on the 28th laft Vendemaire, (Sept. O&ober 1795-1796) under the cities and villages of Derviers, Spa, the care of citizen Bonnet,, we vifited alfo the mines, manufactures, and prinand Aix-la-Chapelle, in fucceffion, and cipal farms in the neighbourhood of thofe places. Thefe vifits have produced a convoy 7 1796.] Letter of the French Commiffioners of Arts, &c. a convoy of more than twenty waggons. Here follow fome details on this fubject: BOTANY, RURAL ECONOMY, GAR DENING. In the city of Cologne, we examined feven botanic gardens, fmall, in point of extent, indeed, and poffeffing but few rare plants: we have, however, felected a few. Some, which are indigenous to warm climates, and in full vegetation, cannot at preient be removed, but we have put them in requifition, for a more convenient opportunity. The lift will be found in No. I. The bulbous-rooted plants (plantes à oignons) fhall be fent immediately; a lift is fubjoined. See No. II. The charming plains of Cologne, and the woods that crown the neighbouring mountains, have furnished us with feveral interefting remarks, relative to agriculture, the fucceflion and value of crops, and alfo the management of woods. Whenever the inftruments or utenfils have appeared fuperior to our own, either from the fimplicity, facility, or celerity of make or execution, we have either fent drawings of, or the inftruments themfelves. See No. III. In addition to the bortus ficcus, for inftruction in the national fchools, we have alfo procured a confiderable number of fpecimens of rare woods, curious incruftations, and fingular impreffions, made by vegetables, &c. Lift, No. VI. We have collected on the spot a complete affortment of all the various kinds of umber (la terre d3mbre, ou terre de Cologne). It would not, indeed, be difficult to demonftrate, that the mine near Cologne owes its exiftence to an enormous mafs of wood, as it is to be met with every where within a circle of four leagues, has been dug into, to the depth of eighty feet, and is not intermixed with any heterogeneous fubftance whatever. It is alfo not a little remarkable, that this wood grows no where at prefent except within the torrid zone. See No V. NATURAL HISTORY. We have vifited feveral cabinets of natural history; among others, that of the Baron de Hupch, which is much admired by travelers. The manners of this naturaliit are at once fimple and agreeable; his whole fortune has been employed in forming a vast collection, not only of natural history, but of every thing connected with the arts and fciences. He MONTHLY MAG. No. IX. 715 has offered to throw open his cabinet, for the infpection of his fellow citizens; and has prefented the republic with a MS. in vellum, cotempoiary with Charles magne, befides an ancient Greek basrelief, in marble, of a Hercules. The reprefentatives of the people, Hefcine and Jombert, deeming it worthy of the French republic to teftify to the proprictor the intereft which it takes in the fciences, and thofe that cultivate them, even in the conquered countries, have prefented one of the magnificent hotels of the emigrants to citizen Hupch, and awarded him a gratification befides, in order to enable him to remove his collection to a place more worthy of it. As he is a friend to the poor, infpects their complaints, and furnishes them daily with remedies, the adjoining garden will enable him to cultivate the plants ufually reared for the hofpitals. An able mechanic having made a variety of experiments before the reprefentative of the people, with an improved microfcope, fuperior even to Dellebare's, and far more fimple, one was inftantly ordered for the republic; it will ferve as a model to the opticians of Paris, who will be eager to introduce it as an object of commerce and in the mean time it may be placed in the National Mufeum of Natural H ftory. By way of rendering our journey more inftructive, we have given directions for perfpective views, and geometrical plans, of the principal places where the armies of the republic have performed prodigies of valour. See No. VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY, ANTIQUITIES. Our fuccefs, in refpect to these objects, has been extraordinary. Artillery, ancient monuments, medals, prints, defigns, manufcripts, editions of the fifteenth century, rare and valuable books on the arts, fciences, and hiftory, have all been procured in this city, in order to enrich the collection of the republic. The culverin (la couleuvrine) caft in 1400, engravings by Montegna and Albert Durer, and a great variety of works, printed about the middle of the fifteenth century, prefent the lovers of these three arts with a view of them in their infant ftate. We have noticed fome of the most remarkable MSS. in No. VII, and books in No. VIII. The antiquities confift of fix packets of medals, containing a small fe ries of the confular families, in filver; another of the imperial families, all in the fame metal, except two, which are 4 Y of gold; a finall feries of ditto, in large bra's; a ditto, in middle brafs; and allo a few medals of the cities and kings, befides ancient and modern medallions, &c. In addition to thefe, you will find a charming ancient glafs vafe, and a lachrymatory; fome antique lamps, in baked earth; two fmall mofaic works; three beautiful Greek masks, two in bronze, and one in opaque glafs (pâte de verre); feveral Small Egyptian and Greck figures; a variety of ftyles, fibulæ, &c. A large cafe contains a farcophagus, with bas reliefs in front, of Apollo playing on his lyre, Hercules fupporting a tripod on his fhoulder, &c. The following is the infcription: D. M. C. SEVERINI VITEALI VETERANO HONESTE SIC MISSIONIS EX. B. F. BENEFICIO COS. LEGIONIS XXXXIV. ULPE VICTRICIS SEVERINA SEVERIN PATRI KARISSIMO ADSERENTE TUTALINO HILARIONE LIBERTO FACIUNDUM CURAVIT. The bas relief on the left, reprefents, Hercules armed, with his club, with an apple in his hand; at his feet is a monfter (the dragon of the Hefperides) and at his feet a girl bound to a rock. This is a variation of the fable of Perfeus and Andromeda, always explicable on the principles of aftronomical mythology. The two extremities of the farcophagus are alfo adorned with bas reliefs. That on the right, reprefents the combat of Thefeus and the Minotaur; the monster has a bull's head, and a human body, as in the picture difcovered in the Herculaneum, and on a charming medallion of Crete. Such, citizens, is the prefent ftate of our labours. FAUJAS. THOUIN. No. I.-Lift of plants placed in a frate of requifition by the commiffaries of the arts and jciences, in order to be transported to . Paris: Id. fpinis albis. Agave Americana, var. foliis intus albis, limbis viridibus. Euphorbia beptagona, L. Id. cereiformis. Mefembryanthemum Romanum. Ricinus ruberrimus. Spirea chamedrifolia, Pallas. Laurus Campbora, L. Two fine plants proper for the fouthern departments, where they thay be naturalfed. No. II.-Lift of Bulbous, Tuberous, and other Flowers, &c. 26 Narcifufes, with a fingle flower a new variety. 36 ditto white, odorous, and with the flowers in bouquets or bunches. 15 bulbs of the ornithogalum; large flowers, in white pyramids, and faid to be odorous. 12 ditto of the Iris xyphium latifolium floribus variegatis. A fine variety." 600 claws of different fine varieties of the ranunculus. 3 packets of foreign kidney beans, (baricots) which rife from eight to ten feet above the furface, fructify abundantly, and produce pods ten (French) inches long, and fixteen broad; may be aten green in fummer, or falted, fo as to keep during winter. Two packets of another kind, nearly round, which grow in bunches of from three to fix on the fame ftem. Pamphlets, tracts on agriculture, catalogues of plants, flowers, kitchen herbs, &c. No. III.-Lift of Inftruments of Agricul ture, &c. A fpade, of a different form from our's. A pitch-fork for digging potatoes.N.B. The handles of thefe are bent in fuch a manner as to afford much facility to labour. An inftrument, with three blades, for cutting cabbage, of which four crout is made. A mechanical bed, for the fick, wounded, and infirm. No. IV. 41 different fpecies of fruits and grains, moftly exotic. 61 fpecimens of different woods. This collection will ferve for public inftruction. A drawing of the natural fize of the Yucca Aloefolia. A ditto, of the Daphne Indica. No. V. This is a catalogue of various pieces of terre de Cologne, and of the wood which |