(Dropsy,) 1; Hydrothorax, (Dropsy of the Chest,) 1; Scrophula, (King's Evil,) 1; Tumor, 1; Hernia, 1: Exostosis, 1; Vermes, (Worms,) 4; Syphilis, 4; Urethritis Virulenta, 3; Paraphymosis, 1; Contusio, (Bruise,) 6; Stremma, (Sprain,) 2; Fractura, 1; Vulnus, 6; Abscessus, 2; Ulcus, 8; Strophulus, 2; Psoriasis, 1; Erythema, 2; Herpes, 2; Scabies et Prurigo, 14; Porrigo, 3; Eruptiones Variæ, 4. The weather of this month has been generally fair, and the temperature more elevated than usual:-winds chiefly between southeast and southwest. The quantity of rain has been small, not exceeding 2 1-2 inches on a level; what did fall was principally in refreshing showers, sometimes attended with lightning, seldom with thunder. On the 28th the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer stood at 90° in the shade, on the 29th at 92°, and on the 30th it attained to the height of 93 1-2 degrees. On ten other days it was between 81 and 869. The thermometrical range of this interval has been from 55 to 92 1-2 degrees. Average temperature for the whole month 739. Greatest variation in twenty-four hours 21°. Lowest temperature at 7 o'clock in any one morning 550, highest 76°; lowest tempernture in any afternoon 65°, highest 93 1-2; lowest temperature at sunset of any day 629, highest 89°.-Barometrical range from 29.58 to 30.08 inches.-The season, which at the commencement of this month was deemed backward, is now sufficiently advanced, and vegetation in general presents a highly luxuriant aspect. During this interval, the city has been on the whole healthy. The effects of disease on the human constitution have offered little that is remarkable. Since the commencement of summer, inflammatory affections of the organs concerned in respiration have much declined; but pertussis still continues to prevail among children, and fevers, particularly of the remittent and typhoid kind, have been more common than in the preceding month. The cases of typhus, which occurred during the vernal period, were mostly of the mild sort, denominated typhus mitior; but in this month the complaint has shown symptoms of degeneracy, in some cases wearing from its commencement the physiognomy of danger. Attention to the stomach and bowels constitutes an important step in the management of typhous fever. On the invasion of the complaint, an emetic, followed by a warm sudorific, and in a few hours by a proper aperient, commonly has the effect of disarming the fever of its severity; and, in some instances, totally extinguishes the disWithout this preliminary step, cor ease. dials, tonics, or drugs thrown into the already oppressed or polluted stomach, will either be ejected, or will have the effect of increasing the general irritation, and aggravating the very symptoms they were intended to relieve. During the few hot days at the conclusion of this month, several persons among the labouring poor, and particularly strangers lately arrived from the northern parts of Europe, and who as yet were unaccustomed to the occasional intense heats of our climate, suffered from the imprudent use of cold water. Some perished; but the greater part were recovered by the internal use of laudanum and brandy, by spiritous fomentations to the region of the stomach aud bowels; and in cases where there was any excitement or determination to the head, by the use of the lancet. Some cases of bilious vomiting, of cholera, and of diarrhoea have been observed. These, to a limited extent, are doubtless salutary, being an effort of nature to free the stomach and bowels from a quantity of colluvies or offensive materials. The New-York Bills of Mortality for June report 219 deaths; from Abscess, 2; Apoplexy, 2; Asthma, 1; Cancer, 1; Caries, 1; Casualty, 1; Childbed, 1; Cholera Morbus, 2; Consumption, 42; Contusion, 1; Convulsions, 8; Cramp in the Stomach, 1; Diarrhoea, 2; Drinking Cold Water, 5; Dropsy, 3; Dropsy in the Chest, 4; Dropsy in the Head, 10; Drowned, 9; Dysentery, 1; Dyspepsia, 1; Ery sipelas, 1; Fever, 1; Fever, Intermittent, 2; Fever, Remittent, 2; Fever, Typhous, 41; Fistula in perineo, 1; Fracture, 1; Gravel, 1; Hæmorrhage, 1; Hives, 1; Hooping Cough, 9; Hysteria, 1; Infanticide, 2; Inflammation of the Chest, 8; Inflammation of the Bowels, 5; Inflammation of the Liver, 2; Insanity, 3; Intemperance, 1; Locked Jaw, 1; Mortification, 2; Nervous Disease, 1; Old Age, 2; Palsy, 1; Pneumonia Typhodes, 1; Scalded, 1; Scrophula, or King's Evil, 1; Small Pox, 1; Still-born, 13; Sudden Death, 1; Suicide, 2; Tabes Mesenterica, 3; Teething, 2; Ulcer, 2; Unknown, 3; Worms, 3.-Total 219. Of this number there died 47 of and under the age of 1 year; 10 between 1 and 2 years; 11 between 2 and 5; 3 between á and 10; 14 between 10 and 20; 26 between 20 and 30; 38 between 30 and 40; 40 between 40 and 50; 19 between 50 and 60; 6 between 60 and 70; and 6 between 70 and 80. JACOB DYCKMAN, M.D. New-York, June 30th, 1818. THE AMERICAN MONTHLY MAGAZINE AND CRITICAL REVIEW. No. V......VOL. III. SEPTEMBER, 1818. ART. 1. Rambles in Italy; in the years 1816-17. By an American. 8vo. pp. 371. Baltimore. Maxwell. 1818. [EXT to Forsyth, this is one of the been hitherto presented with on the fallen, but still lovely land to which it relates; and certainly, the interest with which we have perused it, has not been diminished by the reflection that it is the offspring of native taste and talent. It is, in truth, honourable both to the American press and character, and well calculated to rescue both from the unfounded and paltry aspersions which have been cast upon them in Europe. As a literary production, its characteristics are considerable facility and elegance of diction, frequently rising into a strain of rich and lofty eloquence, justness of observation on topics connected with the political and moral state of Italy, a great command of the picturesque in description, and a warmth of imagination that envelopes the whole in an atmosphere of dazzling and seductive brilliancy. As a picture of Italy, if it do not equal the unrivalled performance of Forsyth, it nevertheless furnishes us with correct and glowing delineations of all that came under the author's observation. But what gives it its chief recommendation in our eyes, is the tone of pure and lofty patriotism, and the sound moral feeling that pervade its pages. While the author evinces the warmest sensibility to the claims of Italy upon his admiration-and pays the ungrudging tribute of his veneration to the splendour of her ancient renown, while VOL. IN-No. v. 41 he dwells with almost enthusiastic delight ture, and the prodigies of genius which embellish her cities and palaces;-while the exquisite softness and beauty of her climate, elicit from him frequent and rapturous acknowledgments, and seem to have shed over his composition, a congenial balminess;-while he is ever ready to pour forth the most lavish praises on the inherent and, as it would seem, unquenchable intellectuality of the Italians; still, in the midst of all these witching charms and allurements, whether gazing on the marble wonders of Rome and Florence-inhaling the luxurious atmosphere of Naples or involved in the enchantments of Venice,-still does his heart turn homeward, and comparing with the noble and free institutions of his own country, the degrading and corrupt despotism of Italy-the purity of American principles and manners, with the moral dilapidation of the land of the Scipioshis bosom dilates with a feeling of honourable pride; and in the midst of all his clas sic recollections and transports, it delights us to witness his ardent and sincere devotion to the land of his birth, and to observe the well-spring of his early and patriotic affections unpolluted by the admixture of tainted waters, and still reflecting from their pure and shining surface, the image of his country's virtues and glory. These admirable feelingsand we so pronounce them from our deep rooted conviction of the superiority of America in every thing relating to the dignity and happiness, properly understood, of mankind-break forth in the very commencement of the book, and even the scenery of Italy, luxurious as it is, abounding in all the softer beauties, and deriving additional attractions from its association with so many of our earliest and most delightful impressions, only serves to carry his mind back to the richer and more sublime landscape of America-where, if we meet with fewer indications of the great and illustrious in art and genius, we are in no inconsiderable measure recompensed by the unstinted prodigality with which nature has arrayed her surface; and contemplating the majesty and variety of her works in this her latest and favourite creation, it seems impossible to suppose but that regions so vast in their extent, and magnificent in their form and aspect, and tenanted by a population, active, sagacious, brave, and more intelligent, because better educated, than any people on the face of the earth, will in the progress of time, rival and perhaps surpass even the classic shores of Greece and Italy in every thing that confers upon a country the charm of moral interest and dignity; the light of genius and philosophy will diffuse itself over these immense and fertile tracts, time will shed over a thousand delightful spots the spells of traditionary and historical renown, and a structure of society be built up that will exhibit the human character in all its grace and glory. With respect to the political discussions of the author, as far as they consider the present condition of Italy, they are, as we have already said, the result of much observation and reflection, and with his opinion as to the melancholy consequences of the Austrian government, the uniform testimony of every intelligent traveller compels us to agree:-but upon one topic we must say we do not think he has spoken with his usual candour and consideration-we allude to the influence of the French Revolution, and the sway of Napoleon, on the fortunes of Italy. He conceives them to have operated to her disadvantage, and the necessary inference from all that he advances upon the subject, is, that her present languishing state is almost wholly ascribable to the measures pursued by the imperial government. Now, though we by no means wish to be regarded as the apologists of Napoleon, and though we shall be ever among the foremost in condemn ing those acts of wanton violence and oppression which stained his career, we cannot avoid thinking, that to France and Italy, but more particularly the latter, his dominion was productive of bene fits of the most substantial description, and that had not ambition, which Pope, however describes, as "The glorious fault of angels and of gods." beset him with her tempting baits, occu pied every avenue of his soul, and at length precipitated him to destruction, his reign would have proved eminently prosperous to Italy, and that under his rule, she would have gone far towards the redemption of her former dignity and importance. A few observations on that mighty change in the system of Europe, whose consequences are, perhaps, even now but partially unfolded, will not, we conceive, be consi dered out of place in treating of a country so deeply concerned in its operations. The French Revolution, originating in the despair of a people trampled in the dust by the government it rose to destroy, could be maintained only by the energy of extraordinary abilities, acting upon immense physical means, and had not the destinies of France been guided by minds of the first magnitude, had not the change itself in her domestic polity, called forth from the bosom of the people men equal to the most imminent crises, and filled her councils with civil wisdom, while it stationed at the head of her armies the finest military talents of Europe,-in fine, had not the entire administration of the public weal been entrusted to the ablest hands, France must have yielded to the force of her contederated enemies, and nearly thirty years before she was fated to drink so deeply of the cup of calamity, beheld her fields blasted by the fires of invasion, and her cities dismantled and plundered by the friends of her present rulers. Nor was this sudden and wide display of talent confined to the field and the cabinet. The glowing and genial impulse extended itself to all classes and professions, and spread with the velocity of the electric fluid through the whole community, whom it animated with a lofty and exulting spirit of self-defence. The barriers which formerly obstructed the paths to eminence and distinction, being utterly destroyed, and the invitation of the state to its members to come forward in her cause, being universal in its appli cation, not only were her armies incessantly and cheerfully recruited, but every citizen practising a liberal and useful art, felt it his interest, as it was his most im 1818. Rambles in Italy, perious duty, to labour in his vocation, with a view to the public benefit. And thus the national affairs being conducted in their superior departments by the most distinguished political abilities, who willingly and with alacrity availed themselves of the aid tendered by men of science and genius, the safety of France was ensured by a system which employed and stimulated the whole intellect of the country, and threw over its proceedings a splendour that fascinated even the eyes of its enemies. The sanguinary scenes of domestic horror, produced by a few fierce and unprincipled individuals, we shall always deplore, but it is impossible to withhold our admiration from the magnanimous spirit that presided in the councils of republican France, or to deny that her mural crown was indebted for no small portion of its lustre to the genius she fostered with a sage generosity. The same system was pursued by the leader whom the exigencies of his adopted country invested with the purple. The generals -the prefects--the civil and military functionaries-of Napoleon were uniformly selected from among the most eminent in merit-the beams of his patronage warmed every department of learning, science, and the arts-and while his throne was environed and supported by the veteran commanders of the republican wars, it was clothed with the reflected light of the talent he encouraged. During five and twenty years was this magnificent spectacle exhibited before our eyes, and it would, indeed, have been strange if a period so rich in all that invites and detains contemplation, had passed away without leaving impressions inore durable than those of a theatrical pageant. In truth, since the expulsion of the Bourbons, a spirit bad arisen in Europe to which she had ever been a stranger, and which soon extended beyond the limits of the country in which it had its birth;-it passed the waves and valley of the Rhine-it enlivened the marshes of Belgium-it animated the plains of Germany-it crossed the Alps and Appenine, and wakened the dormant energies of Italian souls:-a spirit hostile to all the old political fabrics, and which grew daily more and more inimical to the inveterate defects of the ancient governments—a spirit essentially republican, and at open war with the oppression and prejudices that had so long exercised an undisturbed sway over the mind of Europe. The example of a numerous and powerful people rising with one accord and overturning from its foundations 323 a government radically corrupt and des the disaffection of his allies waited only a favourable occasion to manifest itself in all its virulence. The result of his Russian expedition presented the desired opportunity, the standard of insurrection was reared in every part of Europe, excepting Italy and Poland, and a new coalition against France was formed, differing in all its features from those which in the first period of her revolution she had overthrown with glory to herself, and, would we could say advantage to the rest of the continent. Then she had to contend only with kings, and their slavish, spiritless hirelings, and she rushed to the conflict with an ardour which ensured her triumph. Then she was free or at least believed herself so-and fought for the preservation of her independence; she was threatened with the forcible and sanguinary re-establishment of the despotism that for ages had crippled her strength;--the rights, the undoubted rights, and honour of her sons-the chastity of her daughters-were at stake; her hearths and her altars were menaced with destruction-her soil was stained by the presence of her unprincipled enemies--and her citizens were stimulated by all the most powerful feelings of our nature to the defence the rescue of their country. Now, circumstances wore a very different and discouraging aspect. Free she had never been-her revolution, though in many respects productive of infinite advantages to the mass of her people, failed in the establishment of her liberty-to the despotism of the old government had succeeded the tyranny of faction-and the sceptre of the Bourbons was wielded by the Directory and the Emperor. She woke from her dream of freedom-found that it was a vision-and was content to exchange her hopes of pure and perfect liberty-her actual and tumultuary servitude-for the tranquility of a monarchical government. Under the auspices of Napoleon she enjoyed the reposc she sighed for, and the energy of his character, the splendour of his achievements, the protection and encouragement which he extended to merit in whatever shape it appeared, the majesty and lustre, in short, which he shed over the name of France, would have fixed him in the hearts of a people fond to excess of external glitter, had be known where to stop in his domestic as well as foreign enterprizes. But the despot grew so fast upon him, he could not endure that the slightest vestige of freedom should remain to his people-he became accustomed to the basest adulation, his will was law, the legislative bodies were reduced to the condition of automata, the press was chained, and almost every measure of his reign seemed to indicate that he considered himself the absolute sovereign of France. By this haughty deportment, and avarice of power, he gradually declined in the affections of the people, while the enormous sacrifices both of blood and treasure which his schemes of conquest demanded, completed their discontent. The allies came forward with the fairest professions, disavowed any intention of interfering in the internal affairs of France, and the people, weary of war, and disgusted with the arbitrary measures of Napoleon, stood listlessly by, and suffered him to fall, in the persuasion that it was the only event by which a chance would be afforded them of recovering their domestic independence, or of reinstating the country in friendly relations with the powers that were now advancing on their metropolis, at the head of the united forces of Europe. In this crisis, however, Napoleon was not wanting to himself-never was his consummate genius for war more decisively and brilliantly displayed than in the campaign before Paris: for three months he not merely kept his enemies at bay, and with a force scarcely equal to a fourth of that opposed to him, but repeatedly compelled them to fall back; nor should it be forgotten that when the allies received intelligence of the march by which, trusting in the fidelity of Marmont, he left Paris uncovered, they were on the point of commencing their retreat from the French territory. The lion was caught in the toils, but not through the sagacity or courage of his hunters. It is not our intention to dwell on the consequences of the fall of Napoleon, as affecting France, or Europe generally. Perhaps an inquiry into its results might not be found so favourable to the allies as their admirers would wish. Perhaps such an examination might show that a highly-talented and magnanimous despot has been displaced to make room for a cluster of meaner and base-souled tyrants, men who have cheated their subjects with promises conceived in the spirit of treachery-and whose poor and paltry dread of their late mighty antagonist is constantly evincing itself in the persecution of every one who was attached to his fortunes, or who incautiously betrays in print or speech his sensibility to the great qualities of Napoleon. These questions, as well as the influence of his government, and the revolution generally, on the des |