done, and some remorse for having deceived his employers.

Lukawski and Strawenski were both taken, and several of the other assassins. At his majesty's peculiar request and entreaty, the diet remitted the capital punishment of the inferior conspirators, and condemned them to work for life on the fortifications of Kaminiec, where they now are. By his intercession likewise with the diet, the horrible punishment and various modes of torture, which the laws of Poland decree and inflict on regicides, were mitigated; and both Lukawski and Strawenski were only simply beheaded. Kosinski was detained under a very strict confinement, and obliged to give evidence against his two companions. A person of distinction who saw them both die, has assured me, that nothing could be more noble and manly than all Lukawski's conduct previous to his death. When he was carried to the place of execution, although his body was almost extenuated by the severity of his confinement, diet and treatment, his spirit unsubdued, raised him above the terrors of an infamous and public execution. He had not been permitted to shave his beard while in prison, and his dress was squalid to the greatest degree; yet none of these humiliations could depress his mind. With a grandeur of soul worthy of a better cause, but which it was impossible not to admire, he refused to see or embrace the traitor Kosinski. When conducted to the scene of execution, which was about a mile from War saw, he betrayed no emotions of terror or unmanly fear. He made a short harangue to the multitude assembled upon the occasion, in which he by no means expressed any sorrow for his past conduct, or contrition for his attempt on the king, which he probably regarded as meritorious and patriotic. His head was severed from his body. Strawenski was beheaded at the same time, but he neither harangued the people, nor showed any signs of contrition. Pulaski, who commanded one of the many corps of confederate Poles then in arms, and who was the great agent and promoter of the assassination is still alive,* though an outlaw and an exile. He is said, even by the Russians his enemies, to possess military talents of a very superior nature, nor were they ever able to take him prisoner during the civil war.

To return to Kosinski, the man who saved the king's life :-About a week after Lukawski and Strawenski's execution, he was sent by his majesty out of Poland. He now resides at Semigallia, in the papal territories, where he enjoys an annual pension from the king.

A circumstance almost incredible, and which seems to breathe all the sanguinary bigotry of the sixteenth century, I cannot omit. It is that the papal nuncio in Poland, inspired with a furious zeal against the dissidents, whom he believed to be protected by the king, not only approved the scheme for assassinating his majesty, but blessed the weapons of the conspirators at Czetschohow, previous to their setting out on their expedition. This is a fact indisputably true, and scarcely to be exceeded by any thing under the reign of Charles IX. of France, and of his mother Catherine de Medicis. Col. Mag

NEW VIEW OF LONDON.

As we make very free in our observations on foreign countries, so do foreigners make very free in their criticisms upon England. The following appeared in a Ghent paper extremely hostile to Great Britain, and, though it may be amusing to read, is so fu riously intolerant and unjust, that we cannot, in speaking of it, say even, Fas est ab hoste doceri.

SIR,

Bruges, Jan. 9, 1818.

Curiosity induced me, a short time ago, to visit London, where I remained about a fortnight. Assuredly no one will deny that it is the largest city in Europe, and, without contradiction, it is at present the richest in the world; but I must confess I was not a little astonished to find the noblemen and citizens so wealthy, and their houses so mean and pitiable. Though in England manufactures are carried to the highest point of perfection, yet painting, sculpture, and architecture, are more backward than in any other kingdom in Europe;--but in a country where people of exalted rank abandon themselves to intemperate drinking and dissipation of every kind,-where the grand object of the nobility is to purchase votes to obtain seats in parliament, it is not surprising that the arts and sciences should be neglected.

The best nobleman's residence in London cannot be compared to one of secondary rank in Paris. Except St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and the new Waterloo Bridge, there is no public edifice worthy of notice. A small triumphal arch is to be erected in St. James's park, which will doubtless be an excellent specimen of English architecture, for the elegant design of M.****, of Ghent, was rejected for no other reason than because he was not an English artist. Thousands of Englishmen are at present travelling in all quarters of Europe;-is it not astonishing that none of their men of learning should import to their native country some of the beautiful models of architecture which they see on the continent? Can they pass through Autun with. out admiring its triumphal arch? There is a noble design which they might copy. The grand entrance gate of Berlin, which is in

the Doric style, might likewise be worthy of their notice: but they will bestow no attention on the magnificent monuments they meet with, and prefer following their own bad taste; for they have no more notion of architecture than of music. They do not scruple to expend enormous sums on objects, the value of which they are incapable of appreciating. I went to view the new church erected at Marylebone, under the direction of earl Grosvenor. I thought it wretched; built without any regard either to taste or principles: the meanest architect on the continent would have blushed at the very thought of proposing such a design. I likewise saw the new square in Waterloo-Place. It is built of bricks and mortar, and will serve, perhaps, for a few years, to charm the eyes of the prince regent, whose knowledge of architecture is not remarkably extensive.

A monument is to be erected to the memory of the beloved and regretted princess Charlotte of Wales. This statue is to be executed by an English Sculptor, instead of being entrusted to the most celebrated statuary in the world (Canova,) who would have created a model fit for the study of young artists. It is a singular fact, that I never observed, either at Carlton House or the palaces at Windsor or Brighton, a single production of that eminent artist. A new custom-house has recently been erected in the vicinity of London bridge. It is built on an immense scale, and in a style resembling the gloomy gothic monuments of the ages of ignorance.

After having visited the two grand theatres (which are very inconsiderable with regard to size,) and the shops, in which are deposited the rich productions of Engglish commerce, I spent several days in walking about the town, without experiencing any other emotion than that of extreme fatigue. At length, heartily tired of a city in which all is noise, bustle, and con. fusion, I joyfully embarked on board a packet-boat, and returned to Bruges. Lon. Lit. Gaz.

BARON C. W. De humboldt.

We have deferred, till our next Number, the continuation of the review of M. Humboldt's new work, in order to make room for a biographical account of that distinguished traveller, and his brother, the present Prussian ambassador at the court of London.

Baron Charles William de Humboldt, minister of state, and privy-counsellor of the king of Prussia, chief of the department for superintending religion, and director-general of public education, was, in 1810, appointed ambassador extraordinary to the court of Vienna, and created a knight of the Red Eagle. He had previously been minister from Prussia to the court of Rome. In

February, 1814, baron de Humboldt was one of the plenipotentiaries of the allied powers, who assembled at Chatillon-sur-Seine, to negotiate for peace with France. At the congress of Vienna he was distinguished for talent and extensive knowledge. He was one of the principal authors of the plan for a constitution, the discussion of which continued until the 16th of November, 1814. He was likewise a member of the general committee of the eight powers who signed the peace of Paris, for the questions relative to the abolition of the slave trade. On the 13th of March, 1815, he signed the first declara, tion of the same powers, concerning Napoleon Bonaparte's return from Elba; and, on the 12th of May following, the second declaration, which may be regarded as the last profession of faith made by the European powers. In the course of the same month, he likewise concluded with Saxony a treaty of peace, by which the king of Saxony renounced, in favour of Prussia, his claims to various provinces and districts. This treaty was signed at Vienna on the 18th of May, and ratified on the 21st. Towards the end of the year 1815, M. de Humboldt was appointed ambassador extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the court of Vienna; he was, however, recalled in February, 1816, and in the month of July was sent to Frankfort, to negotiate respecting territorial arrangements, and to be present at the diet of the Germanic confederation. In October he laid before the members of the diet, a memorial respecting the mode of treating the affairs which might be submitted to their discussion. As a reward for his services, the king of Prussia, about this time, created him a member of the council of state, and granted him a donation amounting to the annual value of five thousand crowns. About the commencement of 1817, M. de Humboldt was appointed ambassador to London, in the room of M. Jacobi Kloest.

Though M. de Humboldt has acquired so brilliant a reputation as a diplomatist, his literary attainments are by no means unimportant. He has produced an excellent translation of Pindar, and a poetical translation of Eschylus's tragedy of Agamemnon,which appeared in 1816.

If it be matter of surprise that, amidst the important affairs with which this minister has been entrusted, he should have found time to complete a work which required no less erudition than poetic genius, our astonishment is increased two-fold on reading the translation. He has imitated the Greek metre, both in the dialogue and chorusses; and the translation is altogether so faithful, that it gives the original not only line for line, but word for word. Finally, it is an effort of which perhaps the German language alone is capable. It is equally remarkable that M. de Humboldt has studied the Basque language to a greater extent than any other literary character. During his travels, he chanced to live in the house of a Biscayan curate. The good pastor spoke of his native

THER

On the Propulsion of Navigable Bodies. HE important and increasing benefits this great country experiences from its improvements in nautical mechanism, and the extraordinary magnitude of the vessels actuated by mechanical power, are circumstances that infallibly excite the attention of an European on his arrival in the United States. The Brooklyn steam-ferry-boat was the first moving object that arrested my attention as I entered the port of New-York. The effect, to me who had never witnessed the spontaneous march of the huge fabric, laden with carriages, horses and men, now gliding past our ship, was delightful, and impressed upon my imagination a more elevated idea of the enterprising spirit of the New World, than would the most lofty panegyric, unaccompanied by the test before me.

Thus forcibly impressed, before I had even touched the American shores, an habitual fondness for investigation, has subsequently impelled me to study the progressive history of mechanical navigation, from the obscure hints of the first projectors of the steam-engine, to the more finished works of Fulton. In the course of my pursuits, the latent principles of action were developed, and it became obvious that, notwithstanding the excellence already attained, the machine was still imperfect-imperfect in its original principle, and that there yet remained a wide unlocated field for the introduction of important improvements.

Comparing the magnitude of vessels with the power ordinarily expended in their propulsion, there seemed to be a great disparity, and the fact became indisputable, when I reflected, that, on the canals in England, barges carrying thirty tons, and themselves weighing at least fifteen tons, making a total gravity of forty-five tons, (measured by the displacement of water), are towed, through still water, five miles per hour by one horse. But here the Brooklyn twin ferry-boat, each half being shaped like the English canal barges, displaces only four times the bulk of water, (i. e. 180 tons,) and yet advances but five and a half miles per hour through the water, her engine exerting a power equal to that of twentyfour horses.

Now it is manifest that the power of a steam-engine must be the same, whether exerted on board a vessel or on shore; and, therefore, if a greater power be VOL. III.-No. II.

17

spent on board to propel it through water, than would give it an equal velocity if applied from the shore, the necessity for the excess must proceed, not from any imperfection in the engine, but from circumstances connected with the machinery, actuated by it as a “ primum mobile," and the medium (i. e. water) upon which it operates.

That power is unavoidably lost in the friction of the wheels giving notion to the water-wheel is obvious, and some allowance must be made on that account, but the amount of that loss bears but a small proportion to the total deficiency-the remainder must therefore be attributable to other causes which I will endeavour to point out.

Let us for a moment suppose the two vessels forming the Nassau ferry-boat, to float, connectedly as they now do, but each in a separate canal, divided by a firm bank, and that the water-wheel, instead of acting against water, rolled upon solid ground, as quickly as it now turns, (i. e. 20 times per minute,) the result would be an advance of the boat, as rapid as the revolution of the wheel, which, taking its actual measurement of 12-6 diameter, would give a pace of nine miles per hour. But we find by experience, that although the water-wheel of this boat does actually revolve at the rate of nine miles per hour, the boat never advances through the water, more than five and a half miles. Whence this enormous deficiency?

The paddles of water-wheels impinge upon unsolid matter, that yields to the stroke, and one-third of their velocity is spent in agitating the water into which they dip: thus, every three feet of the wheels' motions imparts two to the boat, and one in opposite course to the water. The powers thus expended, in producing these opposite motions, are, as the squares of their velocities, and, therefore, onefifth of the primum mobile, is thus lost to every useful purpose.

To illustrate this position more sensibly, let us again imagine the vessel placed in the double canal, above instanced, but that the dividing bank, upon which the wheel rolls, consists of loose sand, instead of hard ground, the sand will then slip back with the wheel, and inasmuch as it does slip back, so much will the motion of the boat be less than that of the wheel. The effect in water is similar, except that water, consisting of more minute, smooth