472 
“ The men without a god keep a great 
book open, inorder to colleét all the traits 
honourable to the human race. T his book, 
the material objeéi of the warfbip of the men 
without a god, is to contain all the good 
that.has been, or that fhall be done. At the 
moment of their admiffion into the foci- 
ety, they lay their hand upon the book 
of virtue, and pronounce the following 
words :—TI promife and engage to combat 
inceffantly, with the arms of reafon alone, the 
great and fatal error of a belief in God.” 
_$¢ The fociety of the mex without a god 
publithes an account of the life of each of 
its members. ‘The men without a God 
renounce all fhare in the magiftracy, that 
they may take a part in that of thought. 
‘They never eat at the houfes of other 
perfons.”’ 
Mr. Munco Park, mentioned in our 
lat Number, in the extraét from the 
Proceedings of the African Affociation, 
has accomplifhed his expedition into the 
jnterior of Africa, without any fatal ac- 
cident. The prefence of a French fqua- 
dron on the coaft of that country, render- 
ing it impoffible, or at leaft hazardous, for 
him to take a paflage directly for Eng- 
Iand, he embarked on board an American 
thip, for one of the ports of the United 
States, whence his return may be fpee- 
dily expected. It cannot be doubted that 
he will bring home with him much va- 
luable information. His refearches, com- 
bined with a number of concurrent tefti- 
monies, have already eftablifhed the ex- 
iftence of alake, or mediterranean fea, in 
the heart of Africa, of fuch immenfe ex- 
tent, that a veffel may fail in a direé& 
courfe for three days without feeing land. 
It has long been matter of regret, that 
many exquifite pieces of wit and hu- 
mour, which appear in the public pa- 
pers, and other periodical works, fhould 
either perifh entirely, or remain im- 
merfed in fuch a mafs of temporary mat- 
ter, as to render all fearch after them a 
thing of exceeding difficulty, if ‘not, a 
hopelefs undertaking; nor isit lefs mat- 
ter of furprife, that no general repofitory 
has yet been provided to receiye things 
fo deferving to be refcued from oblivion. 
: "This defideratum is about to be fupplied 
by a feletion made by a gentleman of 
diflinguithed tafte and judgment, of the 
beft thort eflays, poems, and seua defpirt, | 
that have appeared for a number of years 
pat. They will be contained in a very 
thick and clofe printed duodecimo vo- 
lume, which will be publifhed in the 
courfe of January, enriched with expla- 
Hatory notes, and many original anec- 
Domeftic Literary and Scientific Intelligence. 
‘[Dec. 
dotes. of the perfons alluded to. “A vo- 
lume, inall refpeéts fimilar, will appear 
at the beginning of each fucceeding year. 
Some eftimate of the value .of fuch> an 
annual compilation may be formed from 
the two following faéts :—A few years 
ago, fixty pounds were given at public 
auétion, for a folio book with fcraps of 
new{papers pafied in.it; and ten pounds, 
by the proprietor of a well known cir- 
culating library, for a colle€tion of the 
{ame nature, but of lefs magnitude. ° 
Mr. Brown of the univerfity of 
Edinburgh, is preparing for early pub- 
lication, an anfwer te Dr. DARWIN’s 
Zoonomia. he ye 
Mr. ErsxIwne, of the fame univerfity, 
has, in the prefs, an Heroic Epiftle, fup- 
pofed to be written at St. Kilda, which 
is {poken of as a work of confiderable me- 
rit. | 
A Monthly Army Lift, with the pre- 
{ 
fent head-quarters of every regiment,’ on - 
the plan of Steel’s Navy Lift, is announc- 
ed for regular publication after the firft 
of January. ce 
A farther notice refpe€ting the in- 
tended Annual Biography, or Necrolo- 
gy, will appear in the next Magazine. 
Meflrs. RUTHVEN and SoNs, refpec- 
table printers in Edinburgh, have an- 
nounced ,to the public their intention of 
commencing a New Weekly New{paper, 
in the firft week of January, 1798, un- 
der the title of Ruthyen’s Weekly Re- 
gifter. Itis underftood, that they are to 
receive. very able affittance in the con 
dying of this new paper. ; 
. A Tranflation of the Sermons of Mat. 
fillon, by a gentleman of the name of 
Dickson, is about -to be publifhed at 
Perth. 
Mr. SMELLIE, fon of the late inge- 
nious Mr. William Smellie, is about to ~ 
publith two valuable pof&humons works, 
by hs father—A fecond volume of thé 
Philofophy of Natural Hiftory—and a . 
volume of Biographical Sketches of fe- 
veral of the late Mr. Smelite’s moft emi- 
nent friends and contemporaries. 
To'the friends of polite literature it will, 
no doubt, vive fatisfa€lion to he mformed, 
that a very interefting difeovery has been. 
recently made of an ancient manufcript of 
VirGIL. The cipcumftances attending 
this difcovery deferve to be noticed’ The 
celebrated NicoLtas Hri1Nsrus, who 
devoted upwards of thirty years to the 
ftudy of Virgil’s works, after having con- 
fulted the moft ancient and authentic 
manufcripts of this poet, obtained, to | 
wards the clofe of his life, the confign- 
(Ment © 
oS 
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