PREFACE. The Seventh Volume of the IMPERIAL MAGAZINE is now brought to a conclusion; and, with its Title-page, Preface, and Index, is here presented to the Subscribers complete in all its parts. This is a task that has been attended with no small difficulty, as the Index, from the number and diversity of the articles which it contains, has required unremitting attention to comprise the whole in the last Number for the year. With many periodical works, it is customary to reserve these appendages until the commencement of the ensuing volume, and this plan we have occasonally adopted, when the want of time has rendered the measure imperious. In future, however, we hope, by invariably pursuing the present method, to meet the wishes of our numerous subscribers, and to avoid the appearance of decoying our readers onward from year to year. Of the motives by which others are actuated, we presume not to judge, but for ourselves we utterly disclaim all such dishonourable expedients, being fully convinced that the pages of the IMPERIAL MAGAZINE contain a sufficiency of intrinsic merit to preclude the necessity of resorting to trick and contrivance in any of their forms. This opinion is founded on the flattering testimonies we have received from nany who are competent to judge, on the increasing number, and high respectability, of our correspondents-but, above all, on the extensive circulation which this Magazine has obtained. An inspection of the numerous articles contained in the seven volumes, now before the public, will enable the impartial reader to decide whether our conclusions have been dictated by ostentation or truth. In a former volume we called the attention of our subscribers to the superior style in which the plates that ornament the IMPERIAL MAGAZINE have been executed, and these we again recommend to their attentive examination. In this department, our object has been to select the portraits of individuals distinguished in the walks either of literature, science, or the arts; and, having procured correct likenesses, to spare no expense in rendering the Engraving worthy of the countenance that it preserves. The memoirs, which accompany these portraits, we have sometimes procured with much trouble, and at other times at a vast expense. Thus far, however, we have in general been successful in our exertions, notwithstanding unexpected impediments have occasionally, in the course of publication, separated the portrait from the memoir. The only instance, during the present year, in which our efforts have been finally defeated, occurs in May. We then gave an interesting memoir of the late celebrated Mrs. Barbauld, fully expecting that her portrait was within oor reach ; but we regret to state, that all our endeavours have proved unsuccessful. Of Mr. Thomas Nuttall, now in America, whose portrait appeared in March, we were unable to obtain a memoir until December. Through causes such as these, when the volume is bound, two portraits will appear in November and December, while March and May will have to sustain the deficiency. But such deviations are at times unavoidable. It has been observed in a preceding paragraph, that our highly respectable correspondents have of late increased in number. To all of these, without making any invidious selections, we beg to present our most unfeigped thanks for their kind communications. We are not ignorant that to many of them an apology is due, for the apparent neglect with which their favours bave been treated ;-we say apparent neglect, for we can assure them that it is nothing more. Our pages can contain only a specific quantity of matter, and in the choice of materials we are guided by variety and utility, as well as by literary merit. We therefore beg them distinctly to understand, that immediate noninsertion by no means implies total rejection. There are times and seasons when the same article will appear to considerable advantage, which, if inserted under less auspicious circumstances, would excite no interest, and be passed by without regard. Against politics, articles of doubtful character, of an immoral tendency, and such as will provoke a spirit of acrimonious controversy, our pages will be invariably shut. The propriety of this conclusion, respecting the latter, we have learnt from actual experience. There have been times, when the trial was made ; but we generally found that it generated an uninteresting contention, and sometimes gave birth to an unamiable spirit. In protracted discussions, the original subject is frequently displaced by foreign trifles that start in the field of conflict; and the combatants, in some instances, terminate their career of debate, by descending to personalities. Our subscribers and correspondents well know, that the IMPERIAL MAGAZINE is under no control of sect or party. It has no system to support, but that of truth. Hitherto, it has never been made the vehicle of faction, and our care will be to preserve it from all future contamination. We shall, therefore, be solicitous to admit nothing into its pages, of which the probable issues are wholly unknown. It is not intended, by any of the preceding remarks, to exclude from the pages of the IMPERIAL MAGAZINE, all subjects that present themselves for discussion. Such a measure would defeat one of its fundamental principles. Candid discussion, we conceive to be a valuable medium of eliciting truth. But, in this department, we wish to introduce such subjects only, as promise to investigation a reward somewhat commensurate to its toils. These observations will inform several of our correspondents why some of their communications have not appeared. The general principles upon which the IMPERIAL MAGAZINE is conducted, have been so repeatedly avowed, that its readers are rather referred to its pages for information, than to any statement we may now make. We shall only say, that they have acquired stability through the lapse of seven years, and that they still remain unchanged. It is to be lamented, that vice shoald find any advocates among those to whose hands the distribution of literature is consigned; but it is a well-known fact, that, to satisfy its cravings, men of talents may be found, who will turn pimps for gold, while printers and publishers will as readily pander to its vitiated appetite. Happily for the morals of mankind, the preponderation of the British Press is still strongly on the side of virtue; but, should it once lose this decided superiority, moral, intellectual, and civil ruin would become inevitable. It is a melancholy lesson which we learn from the history of the world, that where morals are disregarded, science remains uncultivated, and the blessings of civilization wither in the pestilential soil. These considerations furnish the friends of virtne with a powerful incen. tive to rally round those publications which advocate the cause they wish to serve, whether arrayed in the habit of a religious community, or taking their stand in an attitude that disdains to give truth in distortion, to degrade her with wild and visionary reveries, or to render her aspect forbidding, by drawing her features in caricature. The IMPERIAL MAGAZINE has no reason to complain of the want of patronage. Its circulation is extensive, and among its numerous readers its contents excite an increasing interest. Convinced of its utility, its object, and its aim, the friends of virtue and piety may, however, essentially promote the cause of moral and religious truth, by communicating to their neighbours and associates a knowledge of the rank which it holds in their estimation. On this independent ground it has hitherto stood, and by this criterion we always wish its character to be decided. INDEX TO VOL. VII. COL. 284 204 F. COL. stition,................... 165 509, 634, 701, 795 betweeen Cosmogonia and a Abuse of charitable institutions, ...... 338 Philosophical inqnirer, ..... Amictions incident to human nature, ... 1097 between an Irish Catholic Anniversaries of benevolent institutions, 573 reaper, and a Youth, ....... Antidote against poisons,'.......... 394 between Antronius and MagAphorisms from the writings of the Rev. dalia,................. .. 1115 - R. Hall, ... 685, 794, 932, 1001 E. Apotheosis of Capnio, from Erasmus, .. 730 EARLY education, on the influence of, 245, 832 Apple-tree, cultivation of the, ....609, 712 ltivation of the, ....609, 712 | Education, the efl'ect of,.. .... 483 Arminius, the doctrines of, .......... 1040 e , strictures on, .......... 1059 Atonement, remarks on the,.......... 419 Edward I. and the Welsh bards, ... 815, 935 Avarice and injastice, ........... English law,...............50, 138, 238, Aurora borealis, ........... Erasmus, extracts from, 531, 730, 889, 1115 B. Errors of the church of Rome, 33, 247,321,517 BANIAN tree, ......... 968 Esquimaux method of hunting, ....... 370 Bankrupt act, the new, ... 681 Essays, .......... 146, 225, 246, 480, 615 Barbauld, Anna Letitia, memoir of, .... 397 Experimental religion, pleasures of, 911,991 Belief,............. 699 Bible, the, from an old author, ....... 506 FANATICISM: plot against the Vaudois, 278 Bible society, observations on the, .... 581 | Fair sex, influence of Christianity on the, 151 Birkbeck, George, memoir of,........ 17 Fauntleroy, case of, ............ 345, 677 British currency, bistory of the, ....... 983 Fisher, John, memoir of, .. . 685 - Maseam: Good wyn's MSS.,... 296 Fish, fecundity of, ...... ... 105 Brown, James Baldwin, memoir of, ... 589 Folly, .......... ...... 1107 Byron, Lord, from Blackwood's Maga Forms of prayer, ....... 961 665 Fragment, an enigmatical, ... . . . C. Franciscan's vision, from Erasmns,. 730 CALOMEL, cautions respecting the use of, 206 Fruit-trees, to make fruitful,..... 584 Camera Obscura, .. 46, 134, 235, 338, 432, Fuseli, Henry, memoir of, .......... 1022 518, 606, 707, 837,892, 997, 1107 G. Candour, remarks on, ................ . 863 GENEROSITY in a miser, ... Canine fidelity, ....... 583 Geological discoveries, .......... 105, 300 Cannibalism, i obrovsvisors......... 967 | Gleanings, ... 105, 203, 299, 394, 489, 584, Capital punisbment, observations on, .. 223 680, 774, 870, 967, 1063 Cap ofliberty, origin and properties of the, 1124 Grandfather, ........... ...... 837 Catholic emancipation, strictures on, .. 536 Guilty splendoar, the end of, ........ 1005 Catholics and Protestants contrasted, .. 255 Gunpowder plot, bistory of the, ...... 256 Chameleon, natural bistory of the, ..... 803 H. , on teaching some useful em. Heathen, remarks on the state of the, 70, 156, 824, 923 Christianity, Hall's character of,.,.... 96 Hell broken loose, from Erasmus, .... 531 Christ's bospital, London, account of, .. 877 Hint to mechanic institutions, ........ 487 Clubs, character of, i ...... 950 History and biography, on the utility of, 1003 Commercial retrospect for the year, .... Humility and pride, essay on, ....... 225 Conversation, remarks on, ..... 523 I and J. “Cross of Cbrist,” remarks on the, .... 749 Jews, essays to the, ... 146, 239, 331, 425, Cruelty to animals, ................. 1821 509, 634, 701, 795, Jewish synagogue, new, (Manchester,) 1145 Dead languages, inutility of learning the, 102 Infidelity, ..................... 621, 723 Deliverance from danger, ........... 1013 Insane, observations on the treatment of Denon, Vivant Dominique, inemoir of, . 973 | the, ............ 718, 895, 1086 ............. zine, ...... ......... .... 52 D .......... ......... ........ COL. COL. Rees, Abraham, memoir of, .......... 781 141 Religionist, the insincere, ........... 588, 684, 779, 877, 971, 1067, 1147 Reverence due to revealed truth,...... 603 church of, ........ 247, 321, 415 S. 745 ......... 518 518 698 .................. 1048 ........ 997 Sin, essay on the deceitful oature of, ., 615 ....... 892 Slavery, remarks on,............ 253, 580 , witnesses for, cross-examined,. 887 , and the West Indies, ....... 1062 of a, ............... marks on a, ............... 371 Solitary hours, ....568, 621, 723, 911, 991, 1097 Soul, state of the, between death and judgment, .............. 63, 737 665 Sounds of letters, on tbe, ............ 965 ........... 752 Spanish armada, ............... 899, 1057 353 Spectral illusion, an inquiry into the cause of,...................... 41, 131 | Sylvia, history of,.................. 920 T. 436 969 Tilloch, Alexander, memoir of, ...... 209 235 202 V. 841 529 W. Waldenses, or Vaudois,........... 1063 778 968 - marauder, act of a, .......... 754 Will destroyed too soon, ........... 161 aries at, ................. 578 Р. .............. 606 o1, ...................... ...... 1141 |
