M A G 
MAG 
siiort. The union of ail colour is white ; the ultimate 
refult of mental oppofition, an increafe of light to the 
whole. 
“ With a certain reference to the portion of fociety for 
vvhofe perufal it is more immediately defigned, the object 
of the magazine of the prefent day tliould be to exhibit 
the form and preflure of the times,. by an eafy and dif- 
curfive attention to the progreflive march of fcience, lite¬ 
rature, policy, morals, manners, religion, and, in fliort, to 
whatever may reafonably be expefted to pleafe or inform. 
This end is no longer to be attained by extracts from books, 
which any of the circulating libraries might furnifh ; nor 
by an unfruitful detail of tvhimfical and infulated faffs ; 
nor by fcraps of anecdotes, without defign or combina¬ 
tion ; nor by verfes which can only be read by thofe who 
write them. Neither fliould a conviction of thefe truths 
lead to the oppofite fault, that of endeavouring to inftruft 
in art or fcience, through a medium fo every-way unfit. 
The utility of this order of mifcellany, feems to confift 
in recording, rather than in communicating, knowledge 5 
in journalizing the whereabout of art, fcience, or literature; 
not in teaching it. Syltems of botany, chemiftry, &c. 
with all the parade of initiation, are ridiculoufly out of 
place in a monthly mifcellany, and the idea of occupying 
it with lefl'ons is altogether puerile. What the newfpaper 
is to the political and daily world, the magazine fliould 
aim to be, refpefting its literary, fcientific, and focial, 
progrefs ; but with this diftinffion, that, not being fo 
dire'ffly involved in the hourly conflict of jarring intereffs, 
its movements fliould be calm, impartial, and dignified. 
Contrary to the Review, which requires in its condufl a 
general accordance of leading opinion, variety in the cba- 
rafter of mind is efiential to the Magazine. At the fame 
time, as its chief recommendation is its opennefs to ge¬ 
neral remark, communication, and enquiry ; its liberality 
fliould be bounded only by decorum, good fenfe, and the 
falutary influence of a fuperintending fpirit, to regulate 
and harmonize the whole.” 
To thefe remarks of the editor upon magazines in ge¬ 
neral, we fliall add a few of thofe by which he introduces 
the prefent one in particular: “ Our principal induce¬ 
ment to the dedication of a new' magazine to the fex ex- 
clufively, originates in a firm conviction, that the female 
is partaking, to an unprecedented extent, in that tafte for 
.intellectual acquirement, fo perceptible in every depart¬ 
ment of civilized life. To the reform that has been ef¬ 
fected in her education, and to the difcomfiture of the 
ungenerous fyftem, which founded the preponderance of 
the one fex on the weaknefs of the other, a fact fo evi¬ 
dent, and fo gratifying, is principally to be attributed. 
To (hut up the avenues of literature to woman, is pecu¬ 
liarly cruel; fince to her, the harveft of tranquil and re¬ 
tired purfuit, is more certainly productive than even to 
the male. Man, in his buttling and varied intercourfe 
with fociety, is rarely faved from the baleful influence of 
bis paffions, either by his tafte or his knowledge; whilft, 
benefited by her comparative feclufion, in his fofter coun¬ 
terpart the improvement of the mind is ufually the ame¬ 
lioration of the heart. It will accordingly yield no fub- 
ordinate gratification to the originators of the prefent 
work, if, making its way into the calm receffes of private 
life, it prove to the intelligent fpirits who prefide there, 
a pure and refpectable vehicle for imparting to them, from 
month to month, the occurrences, the character, and the 
mental ftamp, of the fugitive hour. But no kind of im¬ 
portunity, however urgent—no prcfpeft of gain, however 
alluring—fliall induce th^perfons who are connected with 
this work to recede a Angle ftep from the high moral 
ground upon which they have chofen to make their ftand. 
Convinced that their country owes much of its real fupe- 
riority to its regard for the iterling and domeftic virtues, 
they will, above all things, refpect the mental purity of HER 
in whom correCtnefs of condudt is fo efl’ential to the ho¬ 
nour and happinefs of mankind. They will cherifli, with 
kindred warmth, thofe emotions which * feel a itain like 
VOL. XIV. No. 959, 
93 
a wound ;’ which impart an energy to public, and a de¬ 
licacy to private, life; and which conftitute, not only 
* the clicap defence of nations,’ but the beft.” 
MAG'BESH, [Hebrew.] A man’s name. 
MAG'BOTE, or M^geote,A [Saxon, mae£, kinf- 
man; and bote, compenfation. ] I11 our old writers, a 
compenfation for the flaying or murder of one’s kinfman, 
in ancient times, when corporal punifhments for murder. 
See. were fometimes commuted into pecuniary fines, if tiia 
friends and relations of the party were fo fatisfied. 
MAG'DALA, the name of a diftrift in the land cf Ifrael. 
MAG'DALA, a town of Paleftine, on the weftern bank 
of the lake Tiberias. 
MAGDALE'INE, the name of an ifland fituated at the 
bottom of Falfe Bay, near the Cape of Good Hope, in 
which is a great refort of fea-wolves and of penguins. 
MAG'DALEN, [Heb. fignifying exalted.] The name 
of a woman; a penitent proftitute. 
MAG'DALEN. See Mary Magdalen. 
Religious of St. Magdalen, a denomination given to 
divers communities of nuns, confiding generally of peni¬ 
tent courtefans; fometimes alfo called Magdalenettes. Such 
are thofe at Metz, eftabliftied in 1452 ; thofe at Paris, in 
1492; thofe at Naples, firft eftablifhed in 1324, and en¬ 
dowed by queen Sancha, to ferve as a retreat for public 
courtefans who fliould betake themfelves to repentance; 
and thofe of Rouen and Bourdeaux, which had their ori¬ 
ginal among thofe of Paris in 1618. In each of thefe 
monafteries there are three kinds of perfons and congre¬ 
gations; the firft confift of thofe who are admitted to 
make vows, and thefe bear the name of St. Magdalen ; the 
congregation of St. Martha is the fecond, and is compofed 
of thofe whom it is not judged proper to admit to vows ; 
finally, the congregation of St. Lazarus is compofed of 
Inch as are detained there by force. 
The religious of St. Magdalen at Rome were eftablifhed 
by Leo X. Clement VIII. fettled a revenue on them ; 
and farther appointed, that the eftefts of all public prof- 
titntes, dying inteftate, fliould fall to them ; and that the 
teftaments of the reft fliould be invalid unlefs they be¬ 
queathed a portion of their efFefts, which was to be at 
leaft a fifth part, to.them. 
MAG'DALEN HOS'PITAL. See the article London, 
vol. xiii. p. 515. 
MAG'DALEN I'SLANDS, a duller of ifiands in the 
gulf of St. Laurence, about forty-two miles north-weft: 
from the ifland of Cape Breton. The largeft, which gives 
name to the reft, is fituated in lat. 47. 25. N. Ion. 61.20. W. 
MAG'DALEN RIV'ER, a river of Canada, which runs 
into the river St. Laurence in lat. 49.12. N. Ion. 65. 5. W. 
MAGDALE'NA, a fmall ifland in the South Pacifiq, 
Ocean, and one of the clufter called the Marq. of Mendo¬ 
za’s I(lands, or Marquefas. Lat. 10. 24. S. Ion. 221. 8. E. 
MAGDALE'NA, a town of the ifland of Cuba: thirty 
miles foutli of Havanna. 
MAGDALE'NA CA'PE, a promontory in the centre 
of Canada, which lias an abundant iron-mine, yielding 
excellent metal. 
MAGDALE'NA RI'VER. See Madale^a, p. 60. 
MAG'DALENE’s CA'VE, a cave of Germany, in 
Carinthia, ten miles ea(t of Gortz. It appears like a chafm 
in a rock; and at the entrance torches are lighted to conduft 
travellers. It is divided into feveral apartments, or halls, 
with a vaft number of pillars formed by nature, which give 
it a beautiful appearance, they being as white as fnow, and 
almoft tranfparent. The bottom is of the fame fubftance, 
infomuch that a perfon may fancy himfelf to be walking 
among the ruins of an enchanted caftle, furrounded with 
magnificent pillars, fome entire and others broken. 
MAGDALGAD', in ancient geography, a town of 
Paleftine, in the tribe of Judah. JoJh. xv. 
MAG'DALUM,in ancient geography, a place of Egypt, 
on the coaft of the Red Sea, between Baal-Zeph«n and 
Pliihahiroth. 
MAG'DEBURG, a duchy of Germany, in Lower Sax- 
Bb QX\y ^ 
