PROGRESS OF STEAM NAVIGATION IN THE
UNITED STATES.*

ENGLAND possesses few rivers of any importance, and the largest of them are navigable but for short distances. Her internal navigable communications were therefore principally confined to canals, and in these the use of steam is attended with great practical inconvenience. In the United States, on the other hand, the inducements to apply steam to navigation are strong and powerful. From the harbour of Newport to the frontier of Florida, the early limit of our national jurisdiction, the coast is faced by islands and peninsulas, within which lie land-locked sounds, bays, and arms of the sea, affording a safe navigation, but one liable to great delay from the very circumstance to which its security is owing. Intersecting the line of coast communication, at the angle where the Hudson discharges itself, is another line of navigation, furnished by the deep channel of that river; a channel which turns or penetrates all the mountain ranges of the Appalachian group, and extends one hundred and sixty miles from the ocean. At no great distance to the north, Lake Champlain opens a communication of similar character, and for nearly an equal distance. At the present moment it is possible to embark on the frontier of Canada, in latitude forty-five degrees, and proceed to Beaufort, North Carolina, a few minutes north of the thirty-fourth degree, without change of vessel, or exposure to the dangers of the ocean.

Magnificent as this communication is, it is far inferior in its extent and value, to that laid open to the use of steam, in the Mississippi, and its numerous tributaries. The valley of this father of waters, from Pittsburgh on the one hand, to the mouth of the Yellowstone on the other, and from the Falls of St. Anthony to the Balize, is intersected in every direction by streams deep and steady in their course, and yet so rapid as to be inaccessible to an ascending trade, by means either of the sail or the oar. Yet this vast region is already partially occupied by a population which, although very much scattered, has carried with it from its earlier seats, a taste for the comforts of civilised life, together with a relish for the luxuries of foreign growth and European manufacture. These could be supplied by no other means yet discovered, besides the steam-boat; and it is in this region that steam navigation, if less perfect than in countries where the practice of the arts is more advanced, has already reached its greatest development. The number of steam-boats which, at the present day, navigate the Mississippi and its branches, nearly equals that of those of all the other parts of the globe united.

The importance of steam navigation to the Atlantic states alone, was sufficient to draw the attention of American engineers, even before civilised settlements had been pushed to the banks of the Ohio, and long antecedent to the acquisition of the mouth of the Mississippi. Rumsey and Fitch were the first to attempt the construction of steam-boats. Both of them applied great ingenuity, and exhibited no little mechanical genius. Both, however, performed their experiments before the steam-engine had been perfected by Watt, and were in consequence compelled to confine their views to the use of an instrument very ill fitted for their object. Fitch, indeed, continued his researches after he learned that Watt had not only given a double action to the piston of the engine, but had contrived the means of rendering its reciprocating motion continuous and rotary. That the former part of Watt's invention would be of value in the plan he had proposed for using the single-acting engine, he had the sagacity to perceive, and a desire to profit by; but of all the important facilities afforded by the production of a rotary motion, he either was incapable of judging, or found it too late to avail himself.

In Great Britain the attempts at navigation by steam immediately followed the completion of Watt's improvements. During this time the attention of intelligent persons in the United States continued to be directed to the object of our consideration. Those who are most worthy of note are Livingston, Stevens of Hoboken, and Roosevelt. All of these gentlemen applied the resources of talent, ingenuity, and fortune, to the enterprise; nor were they

* Abridged from the "New York Review."

content with trusting to their own genius, but sought the aid of the most distinguished engineers, which the rarity of that profession in the United States at that epoch placed within their reach. Among these it is sufficient to name Brunel, who in another field has since earned for himself a reputation second to none. It is enough to name the block-making machinery, and the tunnel beneath the river Thames, to show what powers of mind were brought to the consideration of this question by that distinguished engineer. At the present day, when we see the steam-engine used in proevident, we are at a loss to imagine how it happened that so pelling boats, by a method the most obvious and apparently selfmuch of time, money, and the most elevated talent, should have for years been expended in vain. The solution, however, is to be found in the confession of Chancellor Livingston himself, who stated, after steam-boats were in successful operation, that neither his mind, nor that of his associates, was prepared to admit, that an object so desirable and so important could possibly be effected by simple means.

Livingston was appointed, on the accession of Mr. Jefferson to the Presidency, to the situation of Minister to the Consular Government of France. This appointment put an end to his active agency in the discovery of the means of using steam in navigation. It however was attended with a result even more important than could probably have been attained by his own exertions. Domiciliated in the family of Joel Barlow, then residing at Paris, he met with Fulton. This engineer, since so justly celebrated, was at that moment dancing attendance upon the French bureaux, with a plan for destroying the naval supremacy of Great Britain. He had, however, some years before, directed his attention to steam navigation, and corresponded with Earl Stanhope on the subject. On entering into conversation with views, and forthwith made proposals to him to join in an attempt Fulton, Livingston was instantly struck with the soundness of his to construct a boat for the navigation of the Hudson, by steam, in conformity with the conditions of a grant of exclusive privilege, to which Livingston was entitled by an act of the legislature of the state of New York. Fulton immediately suggested, that it would not do to trust to the mere ingenuity or theoretic skill of either of carefully made upon all the methods of any promise which had them; but that it was indispensable, that experiments should be been proposed up to that time, or which had occurred to Living

ston or himself.

These experiments were made by Fulton in the summer of 1802, and were, although performed with models of small size, extremely varied in manner, and in the description of the machinery. The result of the whole was, that the method he had himself proposed to Earl Stanhope, namely, that of a wheel with paddles or floats, and similar in form to an undershot mill-wheel, produced the most advantageous effects. This inference of Fulton has, in opposition to many apparently well-founded theoretic opinions, been fully confirmed by all succeeding observation. One single modification of the original wheel has been found to be a valuable improvement. All others have, after sufficient trial, been discarded; and, finally, the researches of Barlow, in which sound science has been united with the most careful observation of facts, have decided, that Fulton had from the very first seized, and that not from accident, but in pursuance of the most sound induction, upon the method which is superior to any that has yet been suggested.

This apparatus for propulsion being thus decided upon, it remained to inquire, how it was to be connected with the engine which was to give it motion. The method which occurred to Fulton was of the simplest and most effectual character. Remove, said he, the fly-wheel of Watt's engine, lengthen the axle of the crank, until it extends beyond the sides of the vessel in which it is placed, and adapt to its extremities two paddle-wheels.

This idea was forthwith acted upon a vessel, fifty feet in length, was constructed upon the Seine, and furnished with an engine and paddle-wheels. The experiments performed with this vessel were satisfactory, and it was immediately determined that the necessary steps should be taken to construct a steam-boat of large size upon the Hudson.

At that time no workshops existed in the United States whence a proper engine could be obtained; and the state of this art in France was, as it still is, even more backward than in America. It was, therefore, resolved to have recourse to the works of Watt and Bolton, at Soho, near Birmingham. Fulton, therefore, who had enjoyed the intimacy of these distinguished artisans, and was on terms of confidential intercourse with Watt, immediately entered

into correspondence with them, and transmitted a sketch of an engine adapted to the object he had in view. He did not, as he states, inform Watt what was his actual design, but contented himself with the general intimation that it was to be applied to a purpose for which a new form was indispensable. This first engine of Fulton had a most powerful influence on the subsequent practice both of America and Europe. Among the workmen who were sent out from Soho to put up this engine, was one of the name of Bell. He speedily returned to Europe, and was, after some years of fruitless endeavours to obtain funds, the first who constructed a successful steam-boat in Great Britain. The engine of this vessel was an exact copy of that of Fulton, with the exception, that the vertical branch of the two suspended beams was suppressed, and the motion of the crank taken off from the end of the beam opposite to that connected with the piston rod. It is a remarkable fact, which more than any other establishes the value of Fulton's experiment, that this identical form, without change or modification of any real importance, is still to be found in the greater part of the steamers of Great Britain, and was seen but a few days since in three of them in the harbour of New York. It is wholly and essentially different from that used by Stanhope, Miller, or Symington, or from that subsequently adopted by Fulton himself. The inference is direct, that the steam navigation of Great Britain was not improved by gradual steps from the earlier imperfect experiments, but adopted, from the first dawn of its success, the plans of Fulton; while he had in no respect imitated those earlier experimenters, but modified the original engine of Watt to a form consistent with his own views.

The circumstances of the first voyage of Fulton upon the Hudson have often been recited; and the long contests which ensued between him and various competitors, and which embittered the closing scenes of his life, are well known. The preparations he had made for the navigation of the ocean at the time of his decease, are less familiar to the public. He had, after his success in river navigation was assured, turned his attention to that of more stormy waters. As a step to the open sea, Long Island Sound presented itself as well suited for experiment; and acting as the engineer of a company which had purchased the right of navigating so much of that estuary as lies within the limits of the state of New York, he planned a vessel, which was called by his own name. Aban. doning the skiff-like shape which his previous vessels had borne, he conformed more nearly to the usual shape of sea-going vessels, and to the established rules of naval architecture. His first vessel had, at the time of the original experiment, a velocity of four miles per hour, and this he increased to five, by slight modifications in the working of the engine. A farther increase to six miles per hour was made in the boats which he placed upon the Hudson. In the vessel intended for the navigation of the Sound, he resolved to attempt a speed of nine miles per hour.

Confirmed in his hopes by the performance of this vessel, he commenced the construction of one, which, under some inducements held out by the Emperor of Russia, he proposed to send to St. Petersburgh. His death intervened before this vessel was finished, and want of funds compelled his associates to alter the destination of the vessel, and thus, instead of visiting Russia, under the name of the "Emperor Alexander," she was placed on Long Island Sound, under the name of the Connecticut.

Fulton, in respect of steam navigation, may be likened to Columbus, for as the latter, misled by the imperfect knowledge of his age, died without knowing that he had discovered a new world, and withcut the means of anticipating the vast results which were to flow from his brilliant enterprise; so the former, trusting to the scientific theories of his contemporaries, believed that he had reached the utmost limit of his invention, and died without being aware how far space and time were to be vanquished by the followers in his footsteps. Nor were they unlike in other respects; both were treated as visionaries, until the success of their projects was established; and yet, when this was the case, the very simplicity of the principles by which they had been directed, was made use of as an argument to rob them not only of the fame, but of the pecuniary reward, to which they were entitled. To both, an impartial posterity is now awarding the meed of praise, which when living was denied them.

Up to the time that the exclusive grant to Fulton was declared to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States, the celerity of the vessels belonging to the privileged company did not exceed eight miles per hour through the water; and the average passages to Albany were eighteen hours. On the Delaware, on the other hand, an active competition was frequently going on, between

companies contending for a preference in the conveyance of passengers. In these contests, the son of Stevens of Hoboken, who had been carefully trained as an engineer by his father, was gradually forming himself for the struggle which was about to open on the Hudson. No sooner had the navigation of the latter river been laid open, than numerous companies were formed to avail themselves of the opening. Vessels resembling in their speed and structure those of Fulton, but of inferior cost, lighter, and less expensive to maintain, were placed in opposition to those of the privileged company. An attempt to convey passengers in towboats followed, and were it possible, by superiority of comfort and convenience, to counteract the innate desire to be first in a contest of speed, these must have been successful. It was, however, speedily seen, that the great object to be sought was that of making the passage from Albany to New York, between sun-rise and sun-set. The first vessel by which this was attempted, was the Sun. This vessel was furnished with an engine on the principle of Wolf, in which, by means of two cylinders, the properties of the high-pres sure and condensing engine were united; the steam acting in the first cylinder by its absolute tension, in the second by its expansive force. The Sun, however, failed in accomplishing the object, and her passages were frequently prolonged into the night. The practicability of making the passage by daylight was established by Robert L. Stevens, who constructed the New Philadelphia, which was in her turn eclipsed by the Independence and the Victory. The New Philadelphia, however, was so modified as again to possess the superiority. A passage was made in the latter vessel which, even up to the present hour, has not been exceeded. Leaving New York at five o'clock in the evening, we were landed at Catskill, a distance of one hundred and eleven miles, a quarter of an hour before midnight.

We have spoken of the vessel constructed under Fulton's direction, for the navigation of the Sound, and have stated that vessel to have been perfectly safe at sea. We must, however, allow to the English the credit of being the first to navigate the open sea in a regular and constant manner. The first steam-vessel built on the Clyde, by Bell, was of small and imperfect structure, and was superseded in the navigation of that river by several others of a better class in the summer of 1815. It was in consequence resolved by her owners to send her to Liverpool. To this port, therefore, she proceeded by the Frith of Clyde and the Irish Sea. As this passage was made in summer, it was an enterprise of less importance than the conveyance of Stevens's first boat from Sandy Hook to the Capes of the Delaware. We happened to be in Liverpool at the time of the arrival of the Comet; and when we contrasted this pigmy vessel of no more than twenty-five tons burthen, moved by a machine of four-horse power, with those floating palaces, the Car of Neptune, the Paragon, and the Fulton, not to mention the enormous steam battery of the same name which we left behind in the waters of New York, we could hardly refrain from being amused at the importance attached to her arrival by the people of Liverpool, and the enthusiasm by which she was welcomed. This passage having been performed in safety, other vessels were sent from the Clyde to London, and other parts of the British dominions. We who had the good fortune to witness from the shore the first successful experiments of Fulton and Stevens, and to be present at Albany when the Clermont first reached that city, had also the pleasure of witnessing the arrival of the first steam-boat at Paris. The latter enterprise was in some respects remarkable. During the equinox of 1816, we sailed from Southampton in a fine cutter-built packet of forty tons burthen. In spite of the admirable qualities of that description of vessels, the gale in the open Channel was so violent that we were compelled to put back, and anchor for some hours at Cowes. The gale having somewhat abated, the passage was pursued; and on mooring in the basin at Havre, we found ourselves alongside of a steamboat of the same tonnage with the cutter. On inquiry it was found that this little vessel had left Brighton at the same hour that we sailed from Southampton, had experienced the same gale, and weathered it. But the most remarkable fact of all was, that the cabin-windows were not furnished with dead-lights; and thus the passage of the Channel had been effected, in the utmost violence of the equinoctial gale, by a vessel having a number of openings in her stern, not more than eighteen inches above the surface of the water. The inference was obvious, that had this vessel not been propelled by steam, she must have filled and sunk. From that instant we have never doubted that steam-vessels are intrinsically more safe than those propelled by sails.

It is to the direct patronage of the British government that the

navigation of the open sea, by steam, is principally due. The transport of the mails to and from Ireland, was considered of sufficient importance to induce the post-office to establish a regular line of steam-packets between Dublin and Holyhead. The regularity and safety with which the passages of these vessels were performed, established the fact of the superior safety of steamvessels in stormy and dangerous seas. This question being decided by the experience of the government steamers, private enterprise was brought into action, and numerous lines of intercourse between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland were established by individual capital. A still more important line of communication was opened by steam vessels between the ports of Leith and London; and on this the largest vessels which have yet been used were employed.

If the British were the first to demonstrate the superior safety of their steamers in the navigation of the sea, the Americans were the first to perform the passage of the Atlantic by means of this power. At the death of Fulton, he left unfinished a vessel for which and for whose machinery he had furnished the plan. This was intended to be taken to St. Petersburgh, where high privileges were tendered to him and his associates, in case he reached Russia before a certain period. This vessel was, after his death, finished and fitted for sea. The late C. D. Colden had made his arrangements to embark in her as the agent of the association of which he was a member, and was ready to embark, when an unreasonable demand was made for funds by some of the partners, who had a prospective interest in the reward offered by the Emperor Alexander. As the necessary sum could not be raised, the enterprise was abandoned. The experiment which was thus prevented from being made was afterwards taken up by another vessel, the Savannah. This steam-boat could carry no more than seventy-five tons of coal and a small quantity of wood. She was therefore provided not only with an engine, but with masts and sails, and only made use of the engine during her passage to Europe, at times when the wind prevented her from laying her course. This small stock of coal was therefore not exhausted until 24 hours before she entered the Mersey, which she reached in twenty-six days from New York. From Liverpool the Savannah proceeded around Scotland to the Baltic, and up that sea to St. Petersburgh. In returning thence she touched at Arendall, in Norway, whence she took her departure, and, without touching at any intermediate port, reached New York in twenty-five days. This voyage was made in 1818. During 1819, a vessel rigged as a ship, but furnished also with an engine, was built at New York, for the purpose of plying as a packet from that city to Charleston, Cuba, and New Orleans. So far as mere safety and speed were concerned, this experiment was successful; but after several passages it was found, that a number of passengers sufficient to defray the expenses did not offer themselves, and the scheme was of necessity abandoned. It is a remarkable fact, that when the British steamer Sirius was advertised in the New York Packet, the woodcut which was annexed was a portrait of this vessel.

In the year 1825, a voyage similar in the means by which it was performed to that of the Savannah, but of much longer duration, was made by a British steamer, the Enterprise. This vessel sailed from Deptford August the 2nd, and proceeded to Falmouth, whence she took her departure on the 16th of the same month. She was furnished with two engines, each of the nominal power of sixty horses. She had three masts, and was at first rigged as a lugger, but was altered at sea to a square-sailed vessel.

Within three days after leaving Falmouth, she had reached the latitude of Cape Finisterre. On the 26th of August, Lancerota was made. Thence, instead of running down the trades by the usual course, it was attempted to run across the gulf of Guinea, by the most direct line to the Cape of Good Hope. The attempt, which would have been appropriate had she carried a sufficient quantity of fuel, was unfortunate, in its absence, from the irregularity of the winds which were found to prevail in this region of the ocean. It was, in consequence, only on the 13th of October, that the Enterprise anchored in Table Bay. The subsequent voyage, from the Cape to the mouth of the Ganges, occupied forty-seven days. As the passage of the Savannah, by the alternate use of sails and steam, did not materially differ from the average of the passages of packet ships, so that of the Enterprise was little less than is occupied on the average by the American vessels which trade to Calcutta ; it was, however, a month less than is usually taken by British East Indiamen.

It was therefore left to be ascertained, whether passages on the ocean could be made in less time by steam than by packet ships;

and the solution of this question depended upon the fact, that they could be made to carry a sufficient quantity of fuel, to be able to make their passages by steam alone.

While this matter was under discussion in Great Britain, two vessels were in preparation in the port of New York, avowedly for the purpose of proceeding direct to Great Britain; and there is no reason to doubt, that at least one of them was capable of accomplishing the undertaking. It has happened, unluckily for the honour of our engineers, that the enterprise has at length been accomplished by English vessels. Two different companies in England have undertaken the construction of steamers of unusual size, and one of them has successfully accomplished the passage from Bristol to New York, where she arrived with a large unex. pended stock of fuel, although not loaded originally beyond the depth suited to the most advantageous application of her engines. With this charge of fuel, and a cargo of considerable weight, a large portion of the internal capacity of the vessel was still unoccupied; and one hundred and twenty passengers might have been conveniently accommodated. The Sirius also performed this passage under several important disadvantages. The fuel required to ensure a full supply loaded the vessel to such a depth as to render her far from perfectly secure; while its expenditure made her so light towards the conclusion of the passage, that the wheels scarcely dipped in the water. It was otherwise with the Great Western. When charged with her full supply of coal, she was, as we have seen, not immersed beyond a proper trim, and the coal being stowed in iron tanks, could be replaced by water in proportion as it was consumed; and thus the wheels kept at a proper degree of immersion.

We may now consider that what we have long held as a matter of faith, is at last established by positive experiment, namely, that a passage from a port in England to New York can be certainly performed within a fortnight, and the return voyage in twelve days. It is difficult for us even to guess at the results which will follow from so speedy and definite a mode of communication. There are innumerable persons, whose business might be better performed by their own presence in Europe, and thousands of others, who, for pleasure or curiosity, would cross the Atlantic, but are now deterred, not so much by the average length of the passage, as by its uncertainty. Make it a matter of reasonable probability, that a visit to England will not demand more than a month to be spent in the two passages, and multitudes, whose avocations will not allow them to venture upon an absence of uncertain duration, will flock to take passage in the Atlantic steam-boats. The business of the two countries will be performed to a far less extent by correspondence and agencies. Commercial men will give their affairs a personal inspection; the English banker and manufacturer will visit and confer with their American customers, while the latter will cross the ocean to select and purchase the goods with which our markets are to be supplied. The very introduction of steampackets will, therefore, create a new class of passengers, for which it will hardly be possible to find accommodation in the steamers. The change which followed the introduction of steam on the navigation of the Hudson, will be but a feeble type of what will occur on the Atlantic. When Fulton first established steam passage vessels between New York and Albany, four or five sloops sufficed to convey all the passengers who presented themselves. In less than two years, two steam-boats, having berths for one hundred and twenty passengers in each, were crowded to overflowing; and before twenty years had elapsed, nine hundred passengers had left New York in a single steam-boat. Indeed, until the shock which was given to the commerce of the country last year [i. e. 1837] had checked the locomotive propensities of our people, it seemed as if it were impossible to provide vessels in sufficient numbers to afford comfort. able accommodation to the passengers who presented themselves. The increase is far beyond that of the population or business of the city of New York. The same consequences must and will follow the navigation of the Atlantic by steam. And now that a person in either country may calculate, almost to a day, the time of his return from a voyage across the ocean, it cannot be doubted that numbers vastly greater than have ever before traversed the Atlantic will be tempted to visit our country, to gratify curiosity, or employ vacant time. The abundant opportunities which our country affords for the profitable employment of capital, will thus be exposed to those who examine them with their own eyes; and should they be induced to invest their funds, their speculations will be within the reach of a personal superintendence. Of this frequent and increased communication there seems to be little doubt that New York must become the emporium.

volume was published about once in three months. It recommenced on 14th May, 1697, and finished with No. 10 of the 20th volume, June 14, 1697.

This paper became exceedingly popular; the original contributors to it being, besides Dunton, Mr. Sault, Dr. Norris, and the Rev. Mr. Samuel Wesley*, who formed the "Athenian Society." Of their success, he says, "The Athenian Mercury began to be so well approved, that Mr. Gildon thought it worth his while to write A History of the Athenian Society;' to which were prefixed several poems written by the chief wits of the age(Mr. Motteux, Mr. De Foe, Mr. Richardson, &c.), and in particular, Mr. Tate (now Poet-Laureate) was pleased to honour us with a poem. Mr. Swift, a country gentleman, sent an Ode to the Athenian Society; which, being an ingenious poem, was prefixed to the fifth supplement of the Athenian Mercury.' Many other persons did also rhyme in the praise of our questions. Our Athenian project did not only obtain among the popular, but was also well received by the politer sort of mankind. That great and learned nobleman, the late Marquis of Halifax, constantly perused our Mercuries; and the late Sir William Temple, a man of a clear judgment, and wonderful penetration, was pleased to honour me with frequent letters and questions very curious and uncommon."

The few following short extracts will show the character of the work :

"Quest. How a man shall know himself?-Ans. Know your Creator, and this is one of the best ways to know yourself. Almost all knowledge is acquired by comparison. After his image you are made; see, then, if you would know yourself, whether you are degenerated, or really like your great original. Know other men, see their faults and virtues; apply them, and you may thence easily judge of your own. Know your enemies, and if possible what they think and say of you. This is a much surer way than to consult your friends; you will hear much more from the first than the last. These are the best directions we can give.

"Quest. How far is a Sabbath-day's journey, which we often find mentioned in the Scriptures ?-Ans. About seven of the Hebrew furlongs, much the same with the old Roman mile, containing a thousand of the Hebrew greater feet, two thousand of the lesser.

"Quest. Whether a Dissenter is a schismatic, notwithstanding his liberty by law ?—Ans. A Christian becomes not more or less Christian by being a national one; but if a national church agrees in doctrine with the doctrine of Christ, and Dissenters agree in doctrine with the national church, neither of them are schismatics from the doctrine or Church of Christ; and it was the doctrinal part of religion that Christ promised to be withal, so that the gates of hell should not prevail against it. But if a national church makes the terms of her communion political, another church, dependent on her, may dissent from such political terms, if the magistrate gives the liberty, without schism.

"Quest. Has gunpowder or printing done the greatest mischief to the world?-Ans. Printing has done more service and disservice to the world; not only because printing was prior in

Wesley, the father of John and Charles Wesley, the founders of Methodism, marrying a daughter of Dr. Annesley, became Duuton's brother-in-law, and was connected with him in several speculations, though they afterwards parted with an irreconcileable hatred: Dunton, however, says "I could be very maggotty on the character of this conforming dissenter; but, except he further provokes me, I bid him farewell, till we meet in heaven; and there I hope we will renew our friendship, for I believe Sam Wesley a pious man." † Afterwards the celebrated Dean.

acting, but also because its consequences reach beyond the effects of gunpowder. As the cause is nobler than its effects, printing is more prejudicial than gunpowder; since gunpowder would seldom be employed in any great execution, if printing did not first raise such disputes and distractions as are the cause of wars and tumults.

"Quest. Whether society or solitude be most preferable, in order to the noblest ends of man?-Ans. Some of the best thoughts on both sides may be met with in Mr. Cowley's Essay for Solitude, and Mr. Evelyn's against it. Honest old Aristotle has summed up almost all that can be said, in a few words: 'A solitary life,' says he, is either brutal or divine, above or below a man.' Whence his other assertion is clear, that man must be a poetical, or, if you will, a social animal. We must confess, could we believe a man answered the end of his creation by an ascetic hermitical life, we do not doubt but it would give the highest pleasure he is capable of in the world, by contemplation and meditation. But we are not yet so happy, nor ought we to be so,-that being a cowardly sort of content, which is got by running away from whatever displeases. Should all good men thus take whim of leaving the world, what would become of it?

"Quest. What is the meaning of the word nature ?—Ans. It is the settled course of things, or steady order of causes and effects, never altered without a miracle.

"Quest. Is there any cure for stammering, and what is it !— Ans. There is; for we have known it cured in several instances. There are more ways than one to do it; the first is, repeating many hard words deliberately several times a-day; and for prevention, never speaking in haste. The other, keeping a pebble, or some such thing in your mouth, and speaking or reading with it there.

"Quest. If the moon has no innate light of its own, what is that faint light that may be seen when the moon is in the new, as we call it; for all the rest of the circumference, besides the little enlightened parts, has a weak light ?—Ans. As that planet is a moon to our earth, so our earth is, as it were, a moon to that planet, and it is the reflection of the sun's light from our earth upon the planet which gives it that weak light.

"Quest. What is love?-Ans. It is very much like light-a thing that every body knows, and which none can well explain. It is not money, fortune, jointure, raving, stabbing, hanging, romancing, flouncing, swearing, romping, desiring, fighting, dying; though all these things have been, are, and will continue to be, mistaken and miscalled for it. It is a pretty little soft thing, that plays about the heart; and those who have it will know it well enough by this description. It is extremely like a sigh; and could we find a painter that could draw one, you would easily mistake it for the other. It is all over eyes; so far is it from being blind, as some old dotards have described, who certainly were blind themselves. It has a mouth too, and a pretty pair of hands; but yet the hands speak, and you may feel at a distance every word that comes from the mouth gently stealing through your very soul. But we dare not make any further inquiries, lest we should raise a spirit too powerful for all our art to lay again."

Dunton, a dipper into a thousand books, formed ten thousand projects, six hundred of which he appears to have thought he had completely methodised. As containing notices of persons and things not to be found elsewhere, his voluminous productions have their use; and his accounts are often interesting. His most celebrated work was "The Life and Errors of John Dunton, late citizen of London, written by himself in solitude; with an idea of a new life, wherein is shewn how he would think, speak,