152 
trade than of men of genius and fcience ; 
and its ancient fpirit of laborious compi= 
lation ftill retains fo iiuch of its wonted 
afcendency, that extracts, abridgements, 
and compilations from the fucceflive, new 
literary productions, continue to fill avety 
large proportion ot that multitude of vo- 
lumes with which the Gerinan preffes in- 
ceffantly teem. ‘The French narrative of 
the voyage of M. de la Peroufe; thofe 
details which were communicated in the 
Enelith newfpapers concerning the Afri- 
can travels of Mr. Muugo Park 3; a French 
publication | by the brothers D” ve bois, on 
the ifles of Corcyra and Ithaca, and on 
the Egean fea; Waaftrom’s thort account 
of the colonial eftablifhment of Sierra 
Leoxe and Boulama, on the weitern coatt 
of Africa, have excluded almoft all ofher 
articles of importance, from the two lateft 
numbers which have fallen into our hands, 
of one exceedingly refpeétable German 
journal. 
By the progrefs of events in the Tur- 
kith dominions, and by the late de{cent 
of a Ruifian fleet through the Black Sea, 
the attention of the inhabitants of Ger- 
many appears to have been, in a particu- 
lar manner, turning upon thofe parts or 
the globe. We find ina recent number 
of a German periodical work a very cu- 
rious hydrographical memoir, concerning 
the navigation and the coafts of the Bick 
Sea, site | has been produced to gratify 
this temporary curiofity. The publica- 
tion of a valuable German map of the 
Black Sea, with great and important al- 
terations, was apnounced in our latft 
number. 
GREG fpell of myfticifm which inveiv sf 
the writings of Kant, and to thofe wh 
delight in the unintelligible, proved ee 
beft recommendation, now begins, in fpite 
of the extravagancies of his pupils, to be 
gradually ae KANT perceived the 
reafonings of Malbranche, Berkley, and 
Hume to have rendered the belief of the 
reality of things, material or fpiritual, in- 
compatible with the old metaphyfical dec- 
trine,—that zdeas are the only medium of 
communication between the human mind 
and all other things. He was anxious to 
give a new ftability to the firft principles 
ef human knowledge. For this end; he 
diftinguithed all our knowledge into the 
two claffes of (1.) primary, original, per- 
haps imzate knowledge, which muft be 
poileffed and believed before we can make 
any progres in cbfervation and reafon- 
ing; and (2.) experimental knowledge, 
founded upon that which is primary, and 
diicoverable by reaicning and obfervation. 
Fifty Articles of Literary and Philofophical Intelligence. 
Feb, 
The former it is, in his opinion, an in- 
difpeni fible law of our exiftence, to be- 
lieve, without demanding thofe proofs, of 
which it is, by its nature, unfuiceptible. 
The /atter is never to be received by the 
mind without the moft rigorous difeuf- 
fions of reafoning. KanT’s primary 
knowledge is equivalent to the kaowledge 
of fentiment in the Savoyard Curate’s 
Confeflion of Faith, by RousszEau,— 
to the Firft Truihs of BUFFIER,—to the 
Common Senfe of Reid, BEaTTIz, and 
OswaLp,—to thole ss/findis and. fenfes 
which are fo multipled in the writings of 
Lord Karmes. His experimental know- 
ledge, which every perfon reeognizes, as 
acquirable by reafoning, obfervation, and 
experiment. But, KANT, in exprefling 
his doétrines, was led- to ufe the technical 
language of Wolfius, of Letbuitz, of Bur= 
gerjdicius. He himfelf delighted, like 
Ariftotle, to fpeak in the language of ab- 
firaction and generalization ; religioufly 
avoiding the inaccurate terms of common 
life: and hence arifes the greater part of 
his ob{curity. Emulating Bacon, he 
wifhed to comprehend ail human know- — 
ledge in his arrangements. In the at- 
ten apt he was obliged to invent new terms, 
and to apply to objeéts, many new defi- 
nitions, the very accuracy and truth of 
which give them often an air of odd and 
uncouth peculiarity. Like the late Dr. 
Hutton of Edinburgh, he feems to have 
accuftomed himfelf to meditate much more 
than he read: and hence he tails to em- 
ploy with eafe the langua ge of books. He 
has cer tainly often erred in ranking among 
the primary. principles of knowledge, 
truths, which are but fecozdary and expe-~ 
rimertal ; nor are thoie reafonings always 
juli, from which he deduces thofe which 
he accounts to be truths of experiment. 
But he is, undeniably, a great man, and 
the firft metaphyiician in Germany. It 
is in this light that Kant’s philofophy 
is now viewed among his feliow-coun- 
trymen. hofe halon underftand 
his works -ought to be, firft, familiarly 
converlant with the me taphyfical writ- 
ings of Locke, Hume, Reid, Condillac, 
Leibnitz, Wolfius, and Bacon, other- 
wife they will read KANT in vain. 
The favourite feats of German litera= 
ture are ftill Leipfig, Gottingen, Jena, 
Weimar, Hamburgh, Berlin, Vienna, 
Frankfort. Theie places, either as emi- 
nently commz2rcial, as the feats of uni- 
verfities, and the refidences of men of let- 
ters, on account of particular eftablifh- 
ments of printers and bookiellers, or for 
other reafons, have become to the litera- 
ture 
