man, and the Low Dutch, which is her native tongue, she has an extensive acquaintance with Hebrew, Syriac, and Chaldee, and could speak them with facility, had she any opportunity to exercise herself in those languages. She is so well acquainted with the geography of every country, that she could travel through Europe as well without a guide as without an interpreter. Her knowledge of geography rendering the one needless, and her knowledge of languages precluding the necessity of the other." Thus far Le Laboreur, who was himself a sound scholar, and a good judge. Of this eminent lady, Salmasius, who was one of her literary correspondents, and a man of vast erudition, gives the following account.— "We need not refer to ancient times for examples of literary excellence among women; the existence of which, in some cases at least, many lawfully doubt: but we may come to our own times, and to our own nation. "In a city, about a day's journey hence, there is a noble virgin, equal, in the knowledge of numerous arts, to Hippias; and much more to be admired than she, because such a fecundity of genius is rarely to be met with in this sex. She cultivates the whole oircle of arts, succeeds in each, and graces the whole assemblage of virtues, so that to her not one is lacking. What the understanding can conceive, or the hand bring to effect, this person can perform. In painting she is surpassed by none; she equally excels in sculpture, bronze, wax-modelling, and carving. In embroidery, and in all things which are objects of study and attention to females, she surpasses the most eminent ancients and moderns; and she is possessed of so many sciences, that it is difficult to tell in which she excels most. Her knowledge of languages is also so extensive, that, not content with all European tongues, her active mind has travelled to the East, and acquired the Hebrew, Arabic, and Syriac. She writes Latin so correctly, that the most learned men who have, during their whole lives, affected eminence in this way, cannot write with more purity and elegance. In French epistolary writing, she is scarcely exceeded by Balzac. "The other European tongues, she speaks with as much correctness, as those can to whom they are vernacular. She can maintain a literary commerce with the Jews in Hebrew, and with the Turks in Arabic. She is conversant in the most difficult and abstruse sciences: her attainments in philosophy and scholastic divinity are such, as strike every person with amazement: such knowledge appears almost miraculous. None needs attempt to emulate her excellence, for she is beyond imitation; and none can envy her, for she is placed beyond the reach of envy itself." Balzac, who was proverbial for his elegant epistolary compositions, gives her the following character, in a letter to Mr. Gerard. "I must confess, Sir, that Miss Schurman is an astonishing young woman, and that her verses are not among the least of her excellencies. I do not think that Sulpitia, so highly extolled by Martial, has made finer poems, nor better Latin. But among the charms of her verse, what modesty and chastity appear! The purity of her heart blends itself most pleasingly with the productions of her understanding. I am highly obliged to you for having procured me an acquaintance with this astonishing lady, and for those epigrams of her's, which you have sent me. I have just now received a book, said to be written by Mr. De Saumaise, (Salmasius) and request that, in his second edition, he will alter that place, where, speaking of this young woman, he says, "Gallicas Epistolas tales concinnat, ut vix meliores Balzacius:' 'In French epistolary writing, she is scarcely exceeded by Balzac;' and let it run thus:- Gallicas Epistolas tales concinnat, multo minus bonas, & minus Gallicas Balzacius:' Balzac's French Epistles are vastly inferior in their matter, and less elegant in their composition.' And even with this qualification of the sentence, I shall feel myself too much honoured. It is no small glory to be near such a personage, even in any situation; and though, in the comparison above, I must appear to disadvantage; yet even that disadvantage, because I am compared with her, confers an obligation." Mr. James Martin, of Paris, wrote a fine eulogium on this extraordinary woman, from which I shall at present borrow only the following elegant epigram: Gracchorum matrem sileat Romana vetustas, Her choicest rays illum'd the female soul. know To govern Rome, and lay her tyrants low. With potent numbers and harmonious song. and capacity of this eminent woman, Mr. Bruysset (DICT. BIOGRAPH.) adduces her conversion to Quietism, as he terms it. But to this we might answer, Quietism in her assumed the form of the true religion, and produced its effects; viz. abstraction from the world, and devotedness to God. Nor can this be fairly resorted to as a proof of mental debility; for the most elevated geniuses have been often found susceptible of the finest and warmest religious affections; nor will this be contested, while we can shew Phineas Fletcher and Cowper, among such men as Origen among the ancients; the poets; and Boyle and Fenelon, among the philosophers. The latter of whom, the amiable Bishop of Cambray, nulli secundus, gave way to, and wrote in defence of, that very system Her works were collected by Span- of Quietism, alias Devotedness to God, heim, and printed by the Elzevirs, by which the delicate feelings and reat Leyden, in 1648, 12mo. with the fined soul of A. M. Schurman were following title:"Nobilissimæ Vir- won away from the public walks of ginis Annæ Mariæ à Schurman Opus- polite literature, into the less frequentcula; Hebrea, Græca, Latina, Gallica, ed, but not less noble, private paths of Prosaica & Metrica." To this is pre-self-renunciation, and piety to God. fixed a likeness of this eminent woman, engraven, if not painted, by herself, taken in the 33d year of her age; from which the likeness prefixed to this Number has been correctly copied. But when e'en these contend for deathless praise, They yield to Schurman's brow the verdant bays." In these Opuscula is a famous dissertation on the question,-" Num feminæ Christianæ conveniat studium Literarum?" "Is it consistent with the character of a Christian woman to study Literature?"-This piece, which has never been translated, casts much light on the long-controverted subject, -"Was woman created inferior to man?"-Besides this dissertation, and another, De Vita termino, concerning the bounds of human life, the rest of the volume consists chiefly of Epistles: many of these are written in Latin; several in French; three in Hebrew, with points; and five in elegant Greek. Her Poems are in Latin and French, and are principally of the Epistolary kind; with a few Epigrams. There was a second edition of this eminent Lady's Opuscula printed in 1650, which contains a French Ode, to Madame Ulricia Ogle; and a Letter, in the same language, to Mr. Spanheim, concerning his edition of the Opuscula: of this letter, it is not speaking too highly to say, it is a model of epistolary elegance. To detract from the mental energy Besides, it should ever be remembered, that polite literature had its full share (forty years) of Schurman's life; and that there is a time when literary ladies and scientific gentlemen, as well as the vulgar herd, must be converted, and become as little children, before they can enter into the kingdom of God. Many additional particulars respecting this extraordinary Lady, may be found in the following works. Schurmannia, Ευκληρία. G. Arnold's History of the Churches and Heretics, in Dutch, two vol. 17th book, 21st chap. TORTURE IN HANOVER. THE practice of torturing offenders, which exists in his Majesty's dominions in Germany, would scarcely be credited by an English reader, if the authenticity of the fact did not rest on the unquestionable authority of that celebrated philanthropist, the late Mr. Howard. This gentleman has recorded the following account of the dreadful place, in which the torture is administered in Brunswick. "The descent into this subterran dungeon, where the torture is inflicted, is by a flight of fifteen steps. Here all is total darkness, except when candles are introduced, by the light of which many instruments of misery are discovered. From this room we pass into another, which seems to be a kind of cellar, arched over. Its dimensions are, eighteen feet by fifteen, and all around is very black and dark. At one end is a bench, for the judge, lawyers, secretary, and surgeon, under whose direction this work of darkness is carried on. Opposite to this bench, is a table for candlesticks and books. The prisoner, the executioner, and his assistant, stand by the table, before the judge. The season when tortures are inflicted, is midnight; although the thickness of the walls, which is three feet, four doors through which I passed, together with the dirty floor, and the depth under ground, must prevent the most agonizing cries from being heard any where but in the room. I saw all the remaining engines of torture at the executioner's house. He seemed with pleasure to shew them, and their mode of application, and most readily answered all my inquiries. To do this he was very competent, having been several years in that occupation at Hanover. He, however, observed, that during his employment in this house of woe, he had only beheaded four or five persons. On asking him, if nothing was put into the tortured person's mouth, as I had seen in some places, he replied, "No; the Osnaburgh executioners think they suffer less." And on describing some of the modes of torture which the wit of devils and men had invented, he said, Sir, the Osnaburgh torture is still ruder."-Anecdotes of the Life of the Right Hon. William Pitt, vol. 1, p. 440. REMARKS ON SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS'S ESSAY. [Concluded from col. 234.] BUT there is still a question of importance: Has Sir Richard really discovered the cause of gravitation? Let us attend to his principles and reasoning. "He is desirous of proving, that all phenomena of matter are the effects of MOTION:" a desire, this, sufficiently large ! We are informed, p. 15, that "Motion is that universal principle which confers on masses of matter the power of acting on other masses. In regard to matter, which is essentially inert, it is the source of momentum or potentiality, and is the animating soul of the material universe. SPACE is the stage, MATTER is the subject, and MOTION is the agent, producing all phenomena. As it affects atoms, it produces various densities; as it affects aggregates, it creates varied organizations; and as it affects different aggregates, it develops the relative properties of matter." Here motion appears to be represented as some principle, operating on matter, and giving it certain powers; and matter is set forth as something perfectly and essentially destitute of any power: to motion is attributed an arbitrary force, and to matter an arbitrary inertia. But are these things true in fact? No; there is something more in matter than simple inertness; and motion confers on it no new absolute force. There belongs essentially to matter, whether at rest or in motion, a force tending to preserve it in its present state. Experience is against the position, that matter is totally devoid of all force, except such as is communicated by motion: and, in fact, motion gives no new absolute force to matter; for whatever it receives in one direction, it loses exactly, by return or reaction, in the opposite: it is neither gainer nor loser; if it have received, it has given back precisely as much, and the effect of the conflict is, a change of state, always proportional to the impressed or the re-acting force; because a change of state in matter is the effect of force, and effects are as their causes; and when a body is by any force put into motion, and thus made to act on another body at rest, by impinging on it, the body at rest is always found to produce exactly the same change on the impinging body, as this does on the other, but in an opposite direction: now, if the body at rest be essentially inert, how comes it to produce a change of state in the striking body? There is, then, an invariable force in bodies, tending to preserve them in the state in which they are; and hence, a given power cannot produce more or less than a given change of state in a given portion of matter; and, in effecting this determinate change, suffers itself an equal resistance; also the same change happens, whatever was the previous state of the given quantity of matter. Did not matter possess any, the least portion, of this power, the largest mass would be as easily moved as the smallest; and the least force would stop entirely any moving mass of matter. Hence, to bodies belong a power or force, fixed and invariable, tending to preserve them in the state in which they are, and from which they never change, but by an extraneous force; this alone, not motion, produces the new state of a body, which it tends to keep just with the same force it before possessed: to the body, then, belongs a power which it cannot increase or diminish; nor can this power, we conceive, be increased or diminished by any power in created nature. Thus, the very foundation of the new physical theory is swept away by the force of constant experience: but should we allow the foundation, in order to proceed, still the superstructure will be found incoherent, and encumbered with hypotheses which can never be verified. To maintain this theory, space is supposed to be perfectly full of matter: hence, if motion, wonder-performing motion, can take place at all, some of the parts of matter must be annihilated, and in the same instant recreated on the other side of the moving body; or the parts must contract and dilate; or else they must mutually penetrate each other. Hence this absolute plenum must be rejected, and the whole fabric vanishes. Besides, all nature every where indicates vacuities in given portions of space. 66 Should this absurdity be admitted, we ask, how are bodies of different densities to exist? and are told, that motion, as it affects atoms, produces various densities," and therefore, as a necessary consequence, causes gold or platinum to be more dense than cork; or, that either body has its peculiar density, is owing to motion! But who can prove it? This supposition has not the shadow of probability. We come now to the grand questions," By what law or laws the heterogeneous particulars are kept together? How, if any disturbance take place, is the original position restored?" p. 17. These questions, it seems, are to be resolved by the twoNo. 4.-VOL. I. 66 fold motion of the earth, the annual and the diurnal, or the orbicular and rotary. But first we are required to admit, that "in the established rotation of this heterogeneous mass, the opposite sides balance, or must constantly be endeavouring to balance, each other. This is an unquestionable law of nature and of mechanics;" p. 20. But how it can be a law of nature, or of mechanics, consistently with this theory, requires explanation: we wish to know, from what" hocus pocus, or conjuration,” this endeavour to balance arises? not from any innate force, by which matter tends to matter, that would destroy the system; not from matter impelling equally from opposite parts, since matter is said to be essentially inert"; not from the established two-fold motion of the earth, for these motions are not of the parts towards each other, but round certain centres or axes. This endeavour of the opposite sides to balance, which is a natural consequence of the Newtonian doctrines, is altogether at variance with the proposed hypothesis. But, how are the questions resolved by the double motion? It is supposed, that, if, in this state of equilibrio, a stone be projected by any force, ('mechanical, muscular, or explosive,') in a novel direction, from any inferior circle into any enlarged circle of rotation, the pre-existing balance of the two sides of the earth is destroyed, during the time in which such novel force is exerted, and will be restored by the governing motions;" p. 20. In the explanation, the author allows that the stone keeps its former motions, orbicular and rotary; and also the motion communicated by the "novel force," until this last is gradually destroyed by the revolving matter; which also, having destroyed this new motion, deflects the stone once more towards the place on the earth from which it was projected. Thus it is granted, that the stone retains its new state produced by the impressed force, tenaciously returning to its former state by very slow degrees, through the constant operation of the deflecting force; which also is required to bring it back to its place again. Now, the revolving matter must be admitted to be of the same nature with that of the stone: what, then, prevents it from keeping its own course, and Y By such elegant and commodious theorems, the laws of gravitation discovered by Newton are exhibited with all imaginable facility; and “ Kepler's famous law, if applicable, is also easily established on this doctrine;" p. 26. causes it to perform its continual gyrations? It is easily answered; by the action of some superior or paramount motion! This philosophy easily surmounts every obstacle. But, still, we are required to suppose, that the densities of the parts of the earth, in their natural situations, are such," that, We are also furnished with diamultiplied by the distances, the pro-grams to illustrate the decreasing denducts are equal," p. 21; and it is as- sity from the centre, upward; and to sumed, that the earth consists of shew the effect of the annual and rostrata, all carried in the rotation, so tary motions. "These combined moas to produce equal momenta in all tions," here is the grand charm! If the strata among themselves. But we can pass the absurdities in every where is the proof of this density in- former step, let us examine "these creasing thus towards the centre? We combined motions and forces." And, may as well believe the earth is less first, what is the effect of the annual dense near the central regions: also, motion on different terrestrial bodies? the hypothesis would make the earth Granting that some power or motion infinitely dense (if the expression may has given, and is ever exerting its be allowed) near the centre of the energies to preserve, the orbicular moearth. Every step is dark and doubt- tion, it is evident there is nothing in ful; but, however disagreeable, we are it tending to bring any mass of matrequired to advance; and are inform- ter nearer to the centre, whatever may ed, that the density of an equal be its density, or its situation in the quantity of matter, in a sphere, is as earth; because, since the revolving the cube of the sphere;" p. 25. We matter at the place of the mass has will pass this over as an inadvertency. itself no tendency to approach the It is then concluded, that the density earth's centre, it cannot possibly impel of the strata is inversely as the cubes a foreign body that way. A similar of the radii : but this can only happen, | method of reasoning will hold for the on the gratuitous supposition, that the diurnal motion, considered apart. indefinitely thin strata are of equal Since, then, neither of these motions, thickness: also, in opposition to this, if pre-established separately, could in we were just before told, that the pro- any measure, or in the least degree, ducts of the distance and density are cause a projected body to come nearer equal; and, therefore, the density is the centre than the place it may hapinversely as the radii. pen to reach; how can it be supposed, that these motions combined are capable of producing this effect, of perform them contributed the smallest part? After these luminous views, our Author presents the whole in a mathematical dress, in five articles; following the work toward which neither of ed by learned analytical investigations: the whole of which, to say the best of it, is ridiculous, nonsensical, and utterly unworthy of regard; only it may be amusing to observe, that having put the symbols, m, for momentum, d, for density, r, for radius, t, for time," we are informed, dm = d X ; that is, dm = dm; d 66 m= m d 66 Again, since our Author asserts, that the opposite sides of the earth balance, or endeavour to balance, each other, it follows, that whatever combinations of motions there may be, imaginary or real, the several parts of the earth, being arranged according to the supposed natural order, as to their fancied decreasing densities, or, m is to m, as d to d; i. e. the rela-will, while undisturbed, perform their tive momenta are directly as the densities;" p. 26. In addition, we may now put s, for softness, then m == m Xs; or, sm=sm; i. e. the relative momenta are directly as the softness! In the same manner we may indubitably prove, these momenta are directly as the hardness, or as the elasticity, or as any thing else. motions regularly, and have no tendency towards the centre of the earth, or from it: now, things being in this state, if a body be projected in a direction from the centre, whatever effect the medium might have, by resistance, to retard the new motion of the body, it can have no force to bring it nearer to, or remove it farther from, the centre, since this matter does not |