Ray's "Wisdom of God, manifested in the Works of the Creation," is both a Religious and a Philosophical Treatise on Natural History; and cannot be too highly recommended to Youth.-A cheap Edition of this Book, was published, some years ago, by Dove, of London; and we hope, as a new Edition is much wanted, that it will speedily be reprinted.

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EXTRACTS FROM VARIOUS AUTHORS.

HISTORY is an account of past transactions, related with such important circumstances as are proper to be transmitted to posterity. This branch of literature is a noble accomplishment, and truly worthy of the study of a Gentleman. It will enrich his capacity with the valuable treasures of antiquity; and by leading him into the policy and customs, the religion and laws, the learning, and all the useful acquisitions of the ancient world, will teach him the experience of ages. It will show him the rise and decay of states, the methods which led to their glory; and the miscarriages which contributed to their FINAL RUIN."Guy's Cyclopædia.

"HISTORY ought to be studied With the Vigorous and Uniform Exertion of the Memory and the Judgment,-the memory to recollect, and the judgment to estimate and arrange.—Without memory there can be no knowledge; and without judgment there can be no use of knowledge. If the memory does not retain, the mind is empty; if the judgment does not discriminate, the mind is confused. Judgment without memory, has no objects or facts upon which to exercise its power of discernment; memory without judgment preserves only a mass of uncombined and indiscriminate DISCORDANCE."-History in all Ages.

"GEOGRAPHICAL Inquiries are easy and interesting. Without some skill in Geography, it is impossible to read the historical parts of learning with any tolerable advantage. Chronology and Geography have been looked upon as the two eyes of History; if these shine dim, history must be a very obscure entertainment; without these helps it lies in confusion, is only a heap of indigested matter, flat and insipid; and will neither profit nor delight in reading; it is time and place that give LIFE as well as BEAUTY."-Guy's Cyclopædia.

"THE FUNDAMENTAL Principles of the Science of Geography, are of the greatest utility in the daily avocations of life. To be well acquainted with the general divisions of land and water; the sub-divisions of empires, kingdoms, and states; the names of places and their respective situations; is a branch of knowledge which it is impossible to want, without the self-conviction of the grossest Ignorance and Inattention."Dr. Mavor.

THE STUDY of Geography, like that of History, exercises, in the most invigorating manner, the faculties of the mind; and furnishes a capacity, and provides a fund, for the importation of wisdom, of entertainment, and of pleasurable association with the living. Particular, and most momentous advantages, are subserved by the study of this science. It involves the knowledge of human nature, of human manners, and of human institutions; it affords information of inestimable value to almost every science which can be named; and it not only supplies literature with a boundless succession of feelings and of images, but it is essential

to the practical utility of every profession in human society-to the transactions of the merchant, to the enterprise of the mariner, to the operations of the warrior, to the plans of the politician, to the researches of the philosopher, to the exertions of the philanthropist, and to the investigations, to the dignity, and to the successful labours of the Ministers of Religion."-Geography in all Ages.

"HISTORY must be accompanied by Chronology, as well as Geography, or else we have but a very confused notion of it; for, it is not sufficient to know what things have been done, which history teaches us; and where they have been done, which we learn by Geography; but we must know when they have been done; and this is the particular Business of CHRONOLOGY."-Chesterfield.

"BIOGRAPHY is the art of describing or writing lives. It is a branch or species of history, more entertaining, as well as more useful in many respects, than even General History; as it represents great men more distinctly, unencumbered with a crowd of other actors; and, descending into a detail of a man's Actions and Character, gives more light into human nature, as well as excites us more to IMITATION."—Guy's Cyclopædia.

"BIOGRAPHY appears to be more instructive than Civil History; although History has been called 'Philosophy teaching by Example.'An exact and authentic account of Individuals who have greatly excelled in any of the departments of active or contemplative Life, seems to afford a mode of Instruction best suited to Man, who is generally prone to imitation. When a single Character is distinctly delineated, we can pursue every line with an ease equal to that with which a Painter copies from an original Picture placed before his Eyes. -It is a remark of Aristotle, that the story of an Individual, as it is a single object, is comprehended more fully, and therefore attended with greater pleasure, than a History in which many persons are INTRODUCED."-Knox's Essays.

OBSERVATIONS BY DR. MAVOR, ON THE STUDY OF

NATURAL HISTORY.

"ANIMATED BEING is that branch of Natural History which possesses charms the most numerous and diversified, and is fraught with the most important consequences to Man; but this division of Nature cannot be comprised at a glance. It is advisable, that the Student should begin with examining the nature and qualities of such Quadrupeds as are most familiar to his observation. Even in the dog and horse, how many properties reside, which are hourly experienced, but seldom considered with attention! From such objects as are most obvious and inviting, he should gradually ascend by firm and patient steps, to the knowledge of others.

"The larger animals, and such as contribute to general pleasure and utility, will doubtless first engage his attention. After duly scanning their nature and instincts, their growth, their maturation, their increase, the care of their young, their selection of food, and the various means with which Providence has endowed them for their preservation, the Student should descend to an examination of such quadrupeds as are more minute, or retired from his notice; and, when he is tolerable well acquainted with those of his own country, should extend his views to the

natives of foreign regions. The sagacious docility of the elephant, the persevering fortitude of the camel, the generous magnanimity of the lion, and the savage fierceness of the hyæna and the tiger, will supply abundant materials for reflection, and incentives to further and closer investigation.

Upon this acquaintance with the history of quadrupeds, the student should proceed to Birds, the most beautiful and most innocent tribes of the creation, and learn the means by which they are enabled to subsist either on land or water, the invariable structure of their nests according to their respective kinds, and the fond affection they display for their young. He will find that those birds whose beauty of plumage excites his admiration are generally destitute of harmonious voices; so that the parrot, the peacock, and pheasant disgust by their screams, while the homely lark, the nightingale, and blackbird delight by the sweetness of their melody, and captivate unseen.

"From the study of animated being, let the curious Student direct his attention to Vegetables; from vegetables to Minerals; and from the garnature or produce of the earth, to the celestial orbs that roll in the abyss of space; the planets in their regular courses, the comets in their eccentric orbits, and the myriads of fixed stars that adorn the vaults of Heaven. How amazing is the contemplation of the Universe! Wonders crowd on wonders; and the mind is bewildered, till it recurs to the Supreme, Universal Cause, and reposes on the BOSOM of OMNIPOTENCE."

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LOGIC is the Art of using reason well, in our enquiries after truth, and in communicating it to others. Reason," says Dr. Watts, is the glory of human nature, and one of the chief eminences whereby we are raised above the brutes, in this lower world."

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Many Young Persons are quite alarmed at the word Logic;" but it ought to be remembered that no more is implied by it, than the proper use of our intellectual faculties in distinguishing between truth and falsehood, right and wrong, and acting accordingly.

It is the very foundation of Composition; for if we do not make a proper use of our reasoning powers in arranging our ideas, how can we express ourselves in a clear and perspicuous manner!

Here it will be proper to observe, that truth, not victory, ought to be the ruling motive of all our debates with others; for nothing is so disingenuous, so unbecoming a gentleman, or any one who pretends to be a rational creature, as not to yield to sound reasoning, and the conviction of clear arguments.

Dr. Knox says, "To false and careless Reasoning most of the misfortunes of life are to be attributed; Logic as an Art, is therefore useful in the conduct of life, as it super

induces a habit of accurate reasoning; but it is only neces sary to pay a moderate attention to it, because the improvements of Philosophy, and the great multiplication of Books, in every part of human Learning, enable the Student to spend his Time and exercise his Sagacity, more usefully and more agreeably, than poring, for years, over SYLLOGISMS and SOPHISMS."

The Systems of Logic, by Watts and Duncan, have been well received by the Public; and any person who will give them a careful Reading, will greatly improve both his Thinking and his Reasoning POWERS. Locke's Conduct of the Understanding; Watts's Improvement of the Mind and Mason's Self Knowledge, are all excellent Works.

LANGUAGES.

THE ENGLISH Language has been brought to such a State of Copiousness, Strength, Refinement, and comparative Perfection, that it is now entirely independent of any other Language; and neither requires the Assistance of the Latin, the Greek, the French, or any other of either the Dead or the Living Languages.-As a proof of this, many of our best modern Publications have been written by Persons who know little or nothing of the Learned Languages; and some of these Works can scarcely be surpassed, for Strength, Accuracy, Perspicuity, and Beauty of Style.

Our Language has been reduced to Regular RULES and PRINCIPLES, by the successive Labours of many Learned and Ingenious Writers; among whom we may mention Dr. Johnson, Dr. Priestley, Dr. Dalton, Dr. Lowth, Dr. Ash, Dr. Blair, Dr. Coote, Dr. Campbell, Dr. Crombie, Dr. Irving, Mr. Horne Tooke, Mr. Walker, Mr. Knowles, Mr. Lennie, Mr. Hornsey, Mr. Smetham, Mr. Grant, Mr. Murray, and many others who have employed their Talents and their Pens, in improving, settling, and perfecting the English Language; and it is now reduced to as much ORDER and REGULARITY, as either the Latin, the Greek, or any of the Continental Languages.-And, as Mr. Smetham very justly observes, "The English Language owes its Excellency to its being a Composition of nearly every other Language. The Beauties of almost every Tongue have been selected to grace our own; and with very few of the Defects of any, we possess the Charms of all. In fact, it is

Independent of any other; and is, in Reality, the most concise and the most conformable to Nature, of guage that was ever reduced to RULES."

any LanSince the Time that Dr. Johnson wrote his valuable Dictionary, our Language has been very much improved, and amplified, by the Introduction of a Great Number of NEW WORDS, from the Latin, the Greek, the French, the German, the Italian, the Spanish, and other Continental Languages; and the Labours, the Research, and the extensive Reading of the Rev. H. J. Todd, have enabled him to enlarge and to enrich Dr. Johnson's Original Work, by the Addition of SEVERAL THOUSAND WORDS, forming in the Whole, the greatest Collection that has ever appeared in any ENGLISH DICTIONARY.

While we are on the Subject of the English Language, we must not forget to recommend to our Young Friends, Jones's Pronouncing Dictionary; the Union Pronouncing Dictionary, by Brown; and Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary. The last Work is considered to be the STANDARD OF ENGLISH PRONOUNCIATION.-Walker's Pronunciation of Greek, Latin, and Scripture Proper Names, is also a Valuable WORK.

LATIN, GREEK, FRENCH, &c.

LATIN AND GREEK.-In some of the Learned Professions, a Knowledge of Latin is absolutely necessary, as in Law, Medicine, Divinity, &c.; many valuable Works, and many ancient Records, having been written in this Language; and the Latin, Greek, and other Learned Languages, are certainly a great Accomplishment to Gentlemen of Independent Fortunes, who are thus enabled to devote sufficient Time to their Acquisition.

These Acquirements are of great Advantage, as they enable us to construe the various Mottoes and Quotations with which many of our best Authors have interspersed their Essays and other Writings; and upon which the whole Point and Beauty of a Paragraph frequently depend ;-to decipher the Inscriptions which adorn the mouldering Dome, or the sculptured Monument;-and to translate the choice Sentiments that appear on the admonishing Dial.— To these we may subjoin the Pleasure of reading some of the most splendid Orations, and elegant Poems that ever issued from the Tongue or Pen of Man;-to enjoy their