me 
448 
tallic irritability will, in all cafes, eftablith 
the fact of life or death beyond the poffibi- 
lity of miftake. By this means, the danger 
” of premature inbumation may be effectually 
obviated. The work is accompanied with 
appropriate and illuftrative plates. * 
Of the ftate and. probable progrefs of 
{cientific information, in Ruffia, we leave 
our readers to judge, after informing 
them, that~a late and formidable ukatfe 
has, with one blow, annihilated the 1i- 
berty of the prefs, and taken the bufine(s 
ef printing from private perfons into the 
hands of government. In the immenfe 
empire of Ruflia, no printing, in future, 
will be fuffered to be carried on, except 
in fome of the chief cities, to which, of 
courfe, all works intended for publica- 
tion muft be tranfmitted. Offices for It. 
cenfing the printing of books, are efta- 
blithed in only five towns, fo that authors 
will be under the neceffty of fending 
their mamufcripts the diftance of three or 
four hundred miles to be examined. All 
writings, which appear of a fufpicious 
charaéter to the commiffioners of the li- 
cencing board, are te be burnt upon the 
{pst; and, if written in a foreign lan- 
guage, they muft. be tranflated into 
Ruffian,’ previous to their being fent to 
the office. The board, at Riga, has al- 
ready condemned feveral numbers of the 
‘« Gazette de Literature Univerfelle de 
Sena, and fimiliar honours have been 
paid to:a variety of other works ; among 
the reft, to Madame MEREAU’S “ Blue- 
thenalier. der Empfindung,’ (the Golden 
fige of Sentiment), which thefe judges 
have pronounced a moft dangerous and 
pernicious publication. Without ftopping 
to animadvert on the impolicy of a mea- 
fure, by which thoufands of mechanics are 
now thrown out of employment,we cannot 
refrain from commenting on a fingular. 
circumftance, which proves that fimilar 
effects frequently refult from very oppo- 
fite principles. Notwithftanding the amaz- 
ing difference of political opinion which 
obtains at Peterfburgh and-at Paris, the 
“< Shectateur du Nord,’ is alike prohi- 
bited. by both governments ; fo true is it, 
that extremes meet and touch each other. 
The following extract, from M. WIE- 
LANDS Mercury, throws. confiderable 
light upon this fubjeét. .. <* It 1s not yet 
afcertained how far the licenfing board 
at Riga, will itretch their authority; but 
this much is certain, that. M. Harr- 
KNOCK, the moft eminent bookfeller in 
Koeninghberg, has no lefs than feven large 
packages ef books, in fheets, from the lait 
Leipzig fair, waiting, on the frontiers, 
Ruffian, Danifh, and German Literature. 
for permiffion to pafs into Ruffia. His 
application haying been written in Ger- 
man, has been fent back to him to, be 
tranilated into the Ruffian language. We 
do not hear that any public burmings of 
books have taken place, but the follow- 
ing Have been confifcated, and placed on 
the condemned lit: ‘* The Liwonians,” 
(in' German), by M. MERKEL. ‘The 
‘« Spetzateur du Nord (in French). 
“© Voltaire’s Correfpoudence awee TImpe- 
ratrice.” ** Le Salin de Diderat.” The 
4th number of M.. _ARCHENHOLZ’s 
<¢ Minerva, for.1797. NicoLars **4H# 
Gemetne Deut{che Bibliothek,” (Univer- 
fal German Library), which ftands at 
the head of all the German literary jour- 
nals. The arft number of the “‘ Univer 
fal Literary Gazette,” (likewifea Ger- 
man publication). The firft volume of 
the °** Annales Europeenes,” by Pro- 
feflor Posse“ T; and volumes 43 and 60, 
of ** Krunitz’s German Encyclopedia,”’ 
We. Ge OCG: visa 
In Denmark, it fhould feem, that the 
liberty of the prefs is likewife much mere 
limited and circumfcribed than we have 
lately been led to believe. P. COLLET, 
affeffor of the tribunal of the court and 
city, at Copenhagen, has been. diimified 
from his employments fer publifiing an 
“¢ Analyfis of BIRCKNER’S Treatife on 
the Liberty of the Danifh Prefs.’” Among 
other paragrapns, which have incurred 
the difpleafure of the monarch, we find 
the author accufed of atheifm, for main- 
taining, that it-is poffible for morality te 
exift independent of religion. And his 
loyalty has been impeached, for afferting, 
that it is lawful to expofe the errors of a 
colrupt government. — 
Tt the illumination of a people depends 
upon the number of writers and new pub- 
lications which it produces, Germany 
certainly ought to claim the firft rank 
among the nations of Europe. ‘The latt 
Leipzig fair was frequented by no lefs 
than 314 bookfellers of eminence, who 
have added upwards of 6000 new works 
to the vaft ftock of German literature. 
Great part of this acquifition, as may 
eafilysbe fuppofed, falls under the deferip- 
tion of trafh and {cribbling ; but the fof- 
lowing articles are truly valuable and 
meritorious : 
GOESCHEN, whomay juftly be ftyled one 
of the beft informed and moft liberalminded 
bookéellers‘in all Germany, has publithed 
a magnificent edition of ‘* Klopftock’s 
Odes,’ in 2 volumes, large 8vo. edited by 
the celebrated Dr. AUGUSTBOETTIGER,. 
GOESCHEN is the fame perien, who fome © 
: tine 
