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Article REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. Page 1 of 10 →
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Review Of New Publications.
REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS .
JW-. Y Travels into the Interior Parts of Africa , by the IFay of the Cape of Good Hope , in tic Tears 1783 , 8 4 , and 85 . Translated from the French ofLe Vaillant . 3 vol . & vo . pages about 1000 . Price 21 s . boards . Robinsons . HHWO volumes of Travels by Mr . Le Vaillant were translated into English , A some years since , and read with great avidity . With the contents of
those volumes , we doubt not , many of our readers are well acquainted . The three volumes now under review continue the narrative from where the two former left otf . In the former ' part of bis travels , Mr . Le Vaillant stated , that lie was born in the Dutch settlement of Surinam ; and that his infant , wander- ings in the woods there , first gave him a taste for forming collections of na-, tural history . This taste was strengthened by a variety of events ; and , at , length , led him on to the arduous enterprize of exploring the interior parts of
Africa . How singular are the propensities of man ! Mr . Le Vaillant , with a heart formed to benevolence and philanthropy , at an early period of his life , forsook . the refinements of civilized society , to wander amid the scenes of uncultivated nature . Yet philosophers have declared man to be a social animal . How then shall we reconcile the seeming incongruity ? Minds of superior cultivation and goodness , disgusted with the vices which are inseparable from a high degree of civilization , look in a rude and unpolished state of society for that simplicity and integrity of manners , which are hardly to be found among the nations of modern Europe . Such seem to be in part the sentiments o £ Monsieur Le Vaillant . We extract the opening of his travels , in support of
our opinion . ' I sit down at last to discharge my debt . Different as are the circumstances under which I resume my pen , the impulse to write is become the more powerful . The benefit of my long and wearisome travels' shall not be lost . If the first fruits have been devoured by merciless oppressors , the misfortune is amply repaid by the spectacle of public liberty . A sufficiently fine harvest still remains to make me anxious of offering it to my country ; and
this portion , at least , of the only presents I am able to bestow , will neither be debased by tares nor weeds . In the situation in which I live , I find the image of my early independence . I have no obstacles to overcome , and no corrupt beings to deal with , that I may pay to nature the tribute of adoration , which she has a right to expect from the most faithful of her lovers . I re-enter the desarts of Africa once more to visit her . I shall paint her as she is . She cannot but be pleased at seeing me , when she learns the efforts that , in this
happy portion of the earth , have been made to revive her worship , and rebuild her altars . I will shew her her portraits . She will not despise the dress in which they will be seen . Can she be offended if , at so great a distance from the country where she first appeared to me without either paint or attire , a slight veil be thrown over her charms ? or rather has she not herselFfixed the limits where change of temperature and greater wants imperiously demand a modification of her essence ? Let it then excite no astonishment if , in the relation of my adventures , and desirous of preserving my sincerity , a sigh ¦ . escape me at the sight of her first image . She had my whole affections ; I
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of New Publications.
REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS .
JW-. Y Travels into the Interior Parts of Africa , by the IFay of the Cape of Good Hope , in tic Tears 1783 , 8 4 , and 85 . Translated from the French ofLe Vaillant . 3 vol . & vo . pages about 1000 . Price 21 s . boards . Robinsons . HHWO volumes of Travels by Mr . Le Vaillant were translated into English , A some years since , and read with great avidity . With the contents of
those volumes , we doubt not , many of our readers are well acquainted . The three volumes now under review continue the narrative from where the two former left otf . In the former ' part of bis travels , Mr . Le Vaillant stated , that lie was born in the Dutch settlement of Surinam ; and that his infant , wander- ings in the woods there , first gave him a taste for forming collections of na-, tural history . This taste was strengthened by a variety of events ; and , at , length , led him on to the arduous enterprize of exploring the interior parts of
Africa . How singular are the propensities of man ! Mr . Le Vaillant , with a heart formed to benevolence and philanthropy , at an early period of his life , forsook . the refinements of civilized society , to wander amid the scenes of uncultivated nature . Yet philosophers have declared man to be a social animal . How then shall we reconcile the seeming incongruity ? Minds of superior cultivation and goodness , disgusted with the vices which are inseparable from a high degree of civilization , look in a rude and unpolished state of society for that simplicity and integrity of manners , which are hardly to be found among the nations of modern Europe . Such seem to be in part the sentiments o £ Monsieur Le Vaillant . We extract the opening of his travels , in support of
our opinion . ' I sit down at last to discharge my debt . Different as are the circumstances under which I resume my pen , the impulse to write is become the more powerful . The benefit of my long and wearisome travels' shall not be lost . If the first fruits have been devoured by merciless oppressors , the misfortune is amply repaid by the spectacle of public liberty . A sufficiently fine harvest still remains to make me anxious of offering it to my country ; and
this portion , at least , of the only presents I am able to bestow , will neither be debased by tares nor weeds . In the situation in which I live , I find the image of my early independence . I have no obstacles to overcome , and no corrupt beings to deal with , that I may pay to nature the tribute of adoration , which she has a right to expect from the most faithful of her lovers . I re-enter the desarts of Africa once more to visit her . I shall paint her as she is . She cannot but be pleased at seeing me , when she learns the efforts that , in this
happy portion of the earth , have been made to revive her worship , and rebuild her altars . I will shew her her portraits . She will not despise the dress in which they will be seen . Can she be offended if , at so great a distance from the country where she first appeared to me without either paint or attire , a slight veil be thrown over her charms ? or rather has she not herselFfixed the limits where change of temperature and greater wants imperiously demand a modification of her essence ? Let it then excite no astonishment if , in the relation of my adventures , and desirous of preserving my sincerity , a sigh ¦ . escape me at the sight of her first image . She had my whole affections ; I