1809.] 
send them to press, when-the gout, to 
which he had been long subject, flying 
to his chest, carried him off,on the 43th 
of February, 1806. These observations, 
which were not published till after his 
death, manifest an acquaintance with 
French history, equally extensive and 
solid, and which cannot be acquired, 
without studying it in the monuments 
themselves. hey will be read with 
advantage by those, who may undertake 
to write itafresh, and by all who love to 
find the truth, even in the minutest his- 
‘ torical details. 
' Few literary men have produced so 
many works as M. Gaillard. Had he 
Scarce Tracts, Ke. 
393 
been a little more upon his guard, 
against the extreme facility with whch 
hie composed them, he had perhaps pub- 
lished fewer volumes, and afforded less 
scope for criticism : but notwithstanding 
the slight defects, which may be per- 
ceived in some of his performances, the 
author must be considered as one of the 
historians, the most worthy of confidence, 
the most enlightened, the most profound, 
the most friendly to morality and virtue, 
that modern times have produced; and 
as one of the most distinguished writers 
of the 18th century; in which the art of 
prose composition has been carried to 
the highest degree of perfectiom 
SCARCE TRACTS, 
WITI] EXTRACTS, AND ANALYSES OF 
SCARCE BOOKS. 
Tt is proposed in future to devote a few Pages of the Monthly Magazine to the 
Insertion of such Scarce Tracis as are of ¢ an interesting 
of which we muy be favoured by our Correspondents ; and under the same Head ta 
Nature, with the Use 
introduce also the Analyses of scarce and curious Books. 
em tae 
Thomas Lupton’s One Thousand notable 
Things. 
N Y¥ copy of this curious book is with. 
out title-page orimprint. But the 
exact title seems to he, ‘* Ten Books of 
Notable Things, &c. By Thomas Lup- 
ton.” The Treatise isaddressed, in a dedi- 
cation, quaint and courteous, but not ex-_ 
cessively flatteringorservile, to Margaret, 
Countess of Derby. A preface to.the 
reader, follows, in which the author men- 
tions that the number of the notable 
things in his work, is one thousand, or 
an hundred-for each book; and states, 
that he has extracted many of them from 
ancient authors; others from rare Eng- 
lish manuscripts; others, from modern 
books, recently printed. He announces 
here, likewise, that astrology is a princi- 
pal subject of his fling treatise; pro- 
mises another publication, “to make astro- 
logy plain to the meanest capacities; and 
refers to a small book, formerly pub- 
lished, in which were tables of the reigns 
of the different planets. At the end, is 
a regular table of the contents of every 
one of the ten books; but no alphabeti- 
cal index. 1 have not now any book of 
reference at hand, with the aid of which 
I might ascertain ‘the exact time, when 
this book of Lupton’s was first printed. 
But, the dedication, the preface, and 
the table of contents, are in common 
italic and Roman characters. The trea- 
tise itself is in the old black letter, in 
which many English books continued to 
be printed, till withm -the reign of 
Charles I. and in which German books 
are still, for the most part, printed, 
I extract a few of these notable things, 
for the amusement of the readers of the 
Monthly Hehe 
[The following are out of the First 
Book. | 
9. A Little Poet did wear leaden soles.— 
“A certain Poet, by the report of Mizaldus, 
did wear leaden soles under his shoes, least 
the wind should overblow him, his body was 
so light and so little.” 
5. Agua vite helpes sinewes and muscles. 
‘© Aqua vita, being outwardly applied, doth 
helpe very well the sinewes and muscles, and 
all other parts of the body tormented, or 
pained, of a colde cause.”’—-This is a truth 
which uniform subsequent experience has 
confirmed, Galvanism, electricity, and the 
doctrine of the irritability of the animal mus- 
cle, have fully explained the cause of this 
operation of brandy, as a remedy for rheumae 
tic affections. 
12. A waye to keepe wine safe from thun- 
der.-—** Oft thunder doth turne and chaunge © 
Wines marvellously. But, if the wines bee 
then in cellers being paved, and the walles of 
stone ; they take lesse harme then in boarded 
cellers, ‘Iherefore, it is good, before such 
tempest, or thunder to lay a plate of iron 
with salt, or flint stones, upon the sayd veae 
selles with wine.”—-The discoveries of elecs 
tricity have taught us the ratio of this old ré- 
cipe, as use had, before, fully confirmed its 
truths 
: 7 14. To 
