would be supposed his eagerness to impart them to others. Such, however, does not seem to have been the fact. Let it not be supposed that I shall attempt even to enumerate the causes which have retarded the spread of the Gospel during eighteen centuries, arising from the hostil ity of its avowed enemies. A catalogue of these would swell to a size beyond the limits of this paper. Although the exposure of faults be always an invidious task, still, as those are not prepared to reform, who do not know their defects, it is our belief, that the professors of Christianity must be taught to see and abhor their former indolence, before they can make those invincible efforts necessary to the conversion of a world. Already are discovered some symptoms of awaking from a slumber of many ages; and those few who are most aroused, now wonder not only that they have slept so long, but why others cannot be persuaded to rise with them to the indefatigable labors of evangelizing the nations. If it be a mortifying fact, nevertheless, it must not be denied, that very few people look beyond their immediate connexions, or travel a single step out of the beaten path of ordinary duties. Of these, if they can pacify the one, and persuade themselves that they have performed the other, seldom is a look or a thought glanced any further. It is not made a question, whether these demand the earliest attention, but that they have not an exclusive claim to all the care, all the property, and the whole heart, of one who pretends to believe that the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our Lord, I do not think it necessary to attempt to prove. But, perhaps, the evil to be remedied consists not so much in a refusal, or unwillingness to perform a well known duty, as in a negligence in obtaining information respecting it. This is indeed too obvious to need any labor to establish its truth. Let this single inquiry be made; are there not at this moment, in our own country, thousands of professors of Christianity contentedly ignorant of all the transactions of the religious institutions of the world, and of the efforts of Christians to propagate the knowledge of the Sacred Oracles? Are they not almost as profoundly ignorant on this subject, as if there were no publications whence intelligence could be received? Ask some of these people for their opinion or their assistance, in any projected scheme for meliorating the condition of human society, and for their aid to some of the measures in operation for this purpose, and they stare and wonder what you mean. Tell them of the condition of that immense majority of mankind who are destitute of the Word of God, and they think your description the result of a disordered imagination. Request them to procure and read some publication on these subjects, that they may learn from facts to judge of their obligations and their duty, and you are told at once, that they "cannot afford to pay the expense." Z. Y. REVIEW. CVII. A Geographical Dictionary, or Universal Gazetteer; ancient and modern. In the first place, one is always sure to have many competitors, either upon a larger or smaller scale; among whom, if his work is really val uable, will be not a few, who will borrow from him, without giving him any credit for what they take. Then a man may spend years of laborious study, in collecting, digesting, and rendering correct, accounts of places, and countries, which had previously been inaccurately described, and after all, find himself rewarded with but a slender patronage and a scanty fame. A poetic genius, who can adorn a worthless fiction with all the colors that enchant the fancy and fire the imagination, may, now a days, acquire more celebrity by the labors of a week, or á day, than a modest, unaspiring man, who labors for years on a work of extensive public utility. Add to all this, that the writers of Gazetteers have been so numerous, heretofore, that the public are almost prepared to call in question, the expediency of another work of this nature. In view of such considerations, we feel that it required more than an ordinary share of resolution and perseverance, on the part of Mr. W., to engage in so extensive and costly a work as the present. Without saying a word to detract from the merit and usefulness of former Gazetteers, in this country and in Europe, (and it would be unjust, as well as unnecessary to do this,) we are fully of opinion, that a work like the present was needed. The latest and bost Gazetteers in England and America, leave a multitude of places undescribed, or very partially described, which have, in the series of events, become very interesting to us. To collect materials for the description of these, noeded time, patient industry, perseverance, a habit of selecting the most interesting topics in description, and a clear mode of exhibiting them; and we are of the opinion that Mr. W. has united these requisites in the composition of his work. We know that he has labored long and most diligently upon it, and that he has had access to the best sources of information, which this country can furnish. In our apprehension, the preference of this Gazetteer, over former works of the same nature, consists in six particulars. First; it is far more complete in the list of places, than any former Gazetteer. The most copious of all the former ones is Crutwell's, pablished in 4 vols. octavo, in England, and bearing an enormous price. On comparing Mr. W.'s work with this, it is found, that, so near as can be ascertained, there are about thirty thousand more articles in it, than in Cratwell's. This fact alone, if the Gazetteer be no more than tolerably put together, would give the work a most decided preference, for use, over Crutwell, the most copious of all the former writers in this department. Secondly; Mr. W.'s work before us, is the proper medium between too much diffuseness and too much brevity. The reader of Crutwell will not unfrequently wish the author had possessed a better talent for method and condensing his materials. Besides; the work is so voluminous as to be very inconvenient for common use, and the expense of it is a decisive objection to its general use. On the other hand, had Mr. W. made but one volume of his work, his account of places must have been a mere dry skeleton, without the power of creating interest, or affording satisfaction. He must also have excluded a multitude of places which are now inserted. The author has selected the best medium between the two extremes. Every person, indeed, may not be satisfied with his brevity, in all cases, and may now and A then wish for a more minute account of a place, which is peculiarly interesting to him. But then such readers ought to reflect, that Geographies and Gazetteers are not the same thing, nor intended to fill exactly the same place in the department of the sciences. To a system of universal geography we look for the description of many things, which find no place in a gazetteer, or ought to find none. The compiler of a gazetteer ought to aim only at selecting what is most useful and interesting. Detail should be left to the traveller, or the geographer; otherwise a gazetteer must swell to a size which would render it useless, both from its expense and its inconvenience. There is, no doubt, a small class in the community, who will require a more copious detail than the gazetteer in question affords. There is another class for whom this work embraces a great deal too much; but both of these classes constitute the minority of readers; and the author has adapted his work to the most general use. Thirdly; the work before us is furnished with an Appendix of very useful and interesting matter, such as other gazetteers do not exhibit. The first table in it exhibits the population at one view, of all the cities in Europe, that have more than 100,000 inhabitants; then of those whose number exceeds 50,000, and 10,000. Then follow similar tables of America, Asia, and Africa. To these is subjoined a table exhibiting the various height of mountains on both continents, which is followed by an account of the length of rivers. Next we have an account, much needed and very interesting to the scholar, of all the universities and larger libraries in Europe. The whole is concluded by a table of the population of all the different countries on the globe, as calculated by the most celebrated geographers. Tables like these do not, indeed, make a great show in a book; but they add very greatly to its value; they give the best view of comparative geography which can be presented, and afford the most ready means of ascertaining the relative strength, literature, &c. of different countries. The labor of compiling them, with any tolerable degree of accuracy, is indeed very great; but we are so well persuaded of their being useful and acceptable, that we would recommend to Mr. W. to increase their number, should his work come, as we trust it will, in the course of a few years, to a second edition; and to exhibit such articles as the square miles in each country, the latitude and longitude, the capital towns, the principal productions, the number of war-ships and merchant-vessels, the military strength, &c. &c.; all of which, being combined into a table-view, will subserve excellently the purposes of comparative geography. We should be particularly pleased, if his table of universities could, by any pains, be made to exhibit the number of colleges, professors, and students in each, with some account of their funds and libraries. Fourthly; the plan of uniting ancient and sacred geography, so far as the nature of the work would allow, is an improvement upon the method of former gazetteers, which will be grateful to every student of sacred or profane history. Fifthly; the account of the United States, and of America generally, is far more complete than any which we have hitherto had. This may be attributed to the more ample means which Mr. W. has possessed. than those of his predecessors. It ought not to be forgotten, and will not be, that American geography owes its rise and its improvement, principally to the labors of one man, whose works have long since received the general approbation of the public. Sixthly. The gazetteer before us has a decided preference over all others in point of type-work and paper. It is, indeed, a kind of book, which it is very difficult to print so as to look neatly, because there are so many numerals, abridgments, and breaks in the page. We feel a pleasure as Americans, in being able to challenge any production of the English press, of the same nature, to bear comparison with this. The price may seem high for octavo volumes; but if the size of the volumes and the pages, with the size of the type, and the beauty of the execution be taken into the account, few books come into the market at a cheaper rate. That the author of this work has, in no instance, committed any oversight, would be a proposition so extravagant, as to meet with universal incredulity. We presume he is very far from making any such claim. How is it possible that error should not creep into a book of this nature, when there are thousands of errors in the sources from which it must necessarily be drawn? Doubtless, every intelligent traveller may find some inaccuracies in this, and every other book of the kind. But the author is not therefore to be taxed with negligence. If he has drawn from the best sources of information, and stated the results with care and impartiality, it is all which we can reasonably expect, and all that .we ought to demand. We have no doubt, that where errors are discovered, the author will receive a correction of them with grateful acknowledgments. Mr. W. professes to have made Crutwell the basis of his work. But then this must be understood with great abatements. Thirty thousand articles his work contains, which Crutwell has not even named. All the articles respecting this country are elaborated anew, without reference to any other gazetteer; and of the important articles in Crutwell, there is in general almost an entire transformation. Let the reader compare, for instance, the articles England, France, London, Paris, Edinburgh, Jerusalem, Rome, Oxford, Cambridge, (in Eng.) in the two Gazetteers, and judge for himself how far Crutwell serves as the basis of the present work, in the more important articles. We have found but a single paragraph in the whole of these that is transcribed from Crutwell, and that is a short one, under the article Edinburgh. The smaller articles that are unimportant are pretty nearly transscribed, with the exception that they are more briefly represented. We cannot omit noticing also, that the population is much more extensively, and we believe more accurately given in the present work, than in Crutwell. As Mr. W. has given himself wholly to this work for a considerable time past, and has executed it with so much labor and neatness, we indulge the hope that he will find that patronage which his labors deserve, and that encouragement which will enable him to proceed, by and by, to a second edition, with renewed efforts and hopes. We understand, that he has issued a proposal for a particular Gazetteer of the United States, which is a desideratum in the literature of this country, and which, we hope and trust, he will spare no pains to render the most particular and interesting account of this nature, that has yet been given to the public. VOL. XIV. TEMPERATURE AT BOMBAY AND BOSTON. WE observed, in a preceding number, that the missionaries at Bombay have transmitted an account of the state of the atmosphere, as exhibited by the Thermometer and Barometer kept at the Literary Rooms in that city. The Barometer in the course of July 1816, varied from 29.64 to 29.89. The register of the Thermometer for that month is inserted below, for the sake of comparing it with a similar register kept in the immediate vicinity of Boston. The hours of observation, it will be seen, are different; and the Sabbaths are entirely omitted. |
