644 
ftop the pen of fuch contemptible biogra- 
phers as the prefent, till the fame event 
thall have taken place. 
Mr. MackarerTa has alfo publithed 
« An hiftorical Accouat of the Tranfic- 
tions of Napoleone Bonaparte, from ‘the 
period he became Commander in Chief of 
the French Army in Italy, until the pre- 
fent, &c.’—Here a long title-page 
follows ; but the wor! is altogether fo mi- 
ferable a compilation, that we defift from 
any iurther tranf{cription. 
From a Bicgraphy of the Firit Conful, 
we proceed,—as a noble inftance of the ba- 
thos,— to that of an old woman now living 
at No. 5, Little Cheiterfield-fireet, Mary- 
Je-bone ! ‘* A Narrative of Sarah Shade’’ 
is publifhed, tor the benefit of the poor 
fufferer: it abounds with ftrange adven- 
tures, which, however, arefaid to be well 
authenricated, and curicus facts, more 
particulaily during her voyage to the Eaft 
Indies, in the New Devonfhire Indiaman, 
inthe year 1769, and in traverfing that 
country, in company with the army, at 
the fieges of Pondicherry, Vellore, Nega- 
patam, &c. &c. together with fome extra- 
ordinary accounts of the ferocity of ti- 
gers, jackals, piah dogs, vultures, &c.— 
Taken down by fome Gentlemen. 
«¢ A brief Sketch of the principal Fea- 
tures which diftinguifh the Charatter of 
his prefent Majefty, George the Third.— 
by T. Durron, M.A.” The groflef 
and moft defpicable adulation ! 
«© Memoirs of the late Mrs. Robinfon, 
written by herielf, with fume pofhumous 
Pieces.” Thefe volumes are no le({s in- 
ftructive than interefting. The leading 
incidents of Mrs. Robinfon’s life are more 
genera'ly known than the temptations to 
which the fafcination of her charms ex: 
poled her ; that fafcination re-aéted with 
a deadly influence on herfelf. The too 
fufceptive fair one may in thefe pages 
contemplate the fading purple of that 
bloom which now fuffutes her young 
cheek, and Jearn that Viriue alone, like 
the rofe, retains its fragrance a‘ter the 
jois of its beauty. 
Tuomas JoHnes, Efq. M.P. has, in a 
{mall pamphlet, prefented the public with 
¢< Memoirs of the Life of Froiffart, with 
an Effay on his Works, and a Critique on 
his Hiftory: tranflated from the French 
cf M. dela Cure de St. Palaye.”” Mr. 
Johnes has it in contemplation to publifh 
a tranflation of the whole-of that Hifto- 
rian, of whom we know nothing in the 
Englifh language, but by the old and im- 
perfec tranflation of Lord Berners. We 
look forward with great expectation to 
Retrofpect of Domeftic Literature.— Mathematics. 
the completion of Mr. Johnes’s undertak+ 
ing, 
Mr. BzresForD, Englifh Lefturer to 
the Queen of Pruffia, has tranflated from 
the German of Kotzebue himfeif, an Ac- 
count of ** the molt remarkable Year” in 
his Life. - Vhele volumes are of a moft 
interelting nature; they contain an ac- 
count of the Author’s arreft, captivity, 
exile into Siberia, and return to Peter{f- 
burg; they are. written and tranflated 
with a great deal of fpirit, and are not a 
little valuable, as affording a further in- 
fight into the character of the late capri- 
cious tyrant of Ruffia, Paul I. 
MATHEMATICS. 
«A Differtation on the Conftruétion 
and Proper-ies of Arches, by G. ArT- 
woop, F.R.S2’ This great Mathema- 
tician feems at length to have fet the oft- 
contefted queftion at reft, refpecting the 
curvature of an arch, by demonftrating 
that the enquiry itfelf is comparatively in- 
fignificant, and that the theory of arches 
depends on very diferent principles— 
Not merely the key-ftone is the fegment 
of a wedge, but the whole arch is com- 
po'ed of wedges; im the properties, there- 
fore, of this mechanical power, Mr. At- 
wood has detected the myltery of arch- 
building. The equilibrium of arches is 
eltablithed ‘* either by adjuiting the 
weights of the fections, according to the 
angles which are contained between their 
fides, fuppofed to be given quantities ; or 
by fuppoling the weights of the wedges 
or feétions to be given, and inveftigating 
what muf be the angles, contained by 
their fides; fo that the preflure on them 
may be an exact counterpoife to the 
weight of each fection, due regard beinz 
had to its place in the arch.”’ - Suppofing, 
therefore, a certain number of thefe feg- 
menis of wedges, placed in the form of an 
arch, or united in a ftra:t line at their 
bales, * the weight of each fection, by 
which it endeavours todefcend towards the 
earth, is oppofed by the preflure the fides 
of it fufain from the fe€tions which are 
adjacent to it. If the preflure fhould be 
too fmall, the wedge will not. be fupport- 
ed, but will deicend with greater or lefs 
obliquity to the horizon, according to its 
placein the arch. If the preflure fliou'd 
be too great, it will more than counter- 
poife the weight of the feGlion, and will 
force it upward. "The equilibrium of the 
entire arch will conféquently cepend on 
the exact adjuliment of the weigh: of each 
f{etion or wedge to the preflure it fuftains, 
and the angular diilance from the vet- 
tex.”” 
Dr. 
