has given a ftability and perfection rivals, and to have been efteemed as of which the evanefcent nature of the most perfect model of political. fuch productions was hardly thought writing, merits little praife. The fufceptible. It is, however, a melan- temper of the man was factious and choly truth, that fuch excellent pur- brutal, and the compofitions of the pofes have been fruftrated by a vile author very indifferent. In his multiSpirit of faction; a fpirit that, accord- farious productions, and meagre tranfing to the fenfible Rapin, will fooner lations, we difcover nothing that inoverturn the English conftitution, than dicates one amiable fentiment, to the united efforts of our most powerful compenfate for a barbarous diction, enemies. But fuch difcuffions we leave and a heavy load of political trafb. to the fagacious politicians. His attempts at wit are clumfy exertions; the aukward efforts of a German who labours on a delicate toy. When he aflumes the gravity of the fage, he feems more fortunate in extorting a laugh; burlefquing the most folemn reflections by quaint and uncouth expreffion. Periodical Papers seem first to have been used by the English during the civil wars of the ufurper Cromwell, to diffeminate among the people the fentiments of loyalty or rebellion, according as their authors were difpofed. We seem to have been obliged to the Italians for the idea; and, perhaps, it was their Gazettas-from Gazzera, a magpie or chattererwhich have given a name to thefe papers. Honeft Peter Heylin, in the preface to his Cofmography, mentions that the affairs of each town, or war, were better prefented to the reader in the Weekly News-Books.' In their origin they were folely devoted to political purposes: but they foon became a public nuifance, by ferving as receptacles of party malice, and echoing to the fartheft ends of the kingdom the infolent voice of Faction. They fet the minds of men more at variance, enflame their tempers to a greater fiercenefs, and gave a keener edge to the sharpness of civil difcord. It is to be lamented, that fuch works will always find writers adapted to their fcurrilous purposes; but of a vast crowd that iffued from the prefs, though little more than a century has elapfed, they are now not to be found but in a few private collections. They form a race of authors unknown to most readers of thefe times the name of their chief, however, has juft reached us, but is on the point of difappearing. Sir Roger L'Eftrange, who appears to have greatly furpaffed his In the reign of queen Anne-not unjustly characterised by being diftir. guifhed as the Auguftan age of Englifh Literature-Periodical Prints, that till then had only ferved political purpofes, began to rank higher in the estimation of the public. Some had already attempted to introduce literary fubjects, and other topics of a more general fpeculation. But we fee nothing that has escaped the wafte of time, till fir Richard Steele formed the plan of his Tatler. He defigned it to embrace the three provinces, of manners, of letters, and of politics. He knew that this was an invaluable improvement; and, doubtless, he thought, that if the laft portion could be omitted, it would ftill have made it more perfect. But violent and fudden reformation is feldom to be used; and the public were to be conducted infenfibly into fo new and different a track from that to which they had been hitherto accuftomed. Hence politics were admitted into his paper. But it remained for the chafter genius of Addifon to banish this difagreeable topic from his elegant pages. The writer in polite letters felt himfelf degraded by finking into the dull narrator of political events. It is from this time, that Newfpapers and periodical Literature became distinct works, THE G & THE CONTEMPLATIVE PHILOSOPHER, NUMB. LXXV. ON MOUNTAIN S. So pleas'd at firft the towering Alps we try, And the first clouds and mountains feem the laft: MERGING from the vaft abyffes more to contemplate its external appearance, in all its picturefque and pleafing, or magnificent and tremendous varieties. Mountains are the first objects that ftrike the imagination, and excite our curiofity, in the wonderful profpect before us. There is nothing in all nature, perhaps, that can impress a spectator, unaccustomed to these views, with fuch ideas of folemnity and awe, as the ftupendous piles of Nature, before which the proudest monuments of human art dwindle into minuteness and infignifi cance. In countries, where there is nothing but plains, the fmalleft elevations are apt to excite our wonder. In Holland, the whole furface of which is flat, a little ridge of hills is fhewn, near the fea-fide, which the great Boerhaave generally mentioned to his pupils as mountains of no fmall confequence. But what would be the fenfations of fuch an audience, could they be prefented, at once, with a view of the heights and precipices of the Alps or of the Andes! Even in this island, we have no adequate ideas of a mountain-profpect. Our hills are generally floping from the plain, and clothed to their very fummits with verdure. It is fcarcely poffible, therefore, to exalt our conceptions to thofe immenfe piles, whofe tops faintly appear behind intervening clouds, I POPE. cu fharp and precipitate, and foar to riofity have never been able to ascend: Ac The Origin of mountains is a fubject which has given rife to many philofophical difquifitions. Burnet, Whifton, Woodward, and Buffon have endeavoured to account for them in their respective theories of the earth, Mr. Ray, M. le Cat, and M. Pallas have likewife their fyftems. But the most fatisfactory account, in my opinion, is that given by Mr. Whitehurst, in his Inquiry into the Original State and Formation of the Earth.' cording to this excellent philofopher, (who, inftead of fpeculative inquiries, in the closet, defcended into the bowels of the earth, in queft of data, from which we might draw just or probable inferences) the antediluvian world was very different from that which we contemplate at prefent. It confifted only of fmall iflands gradually rifing from the deep; or of fmooth, even, and uniform elevations: whereas the world on which we tread at prefent confifts of immer.fe continents and mountains, of fleep or impending fhores, craggy rocks, and extenfive vallies vallies and caverns. Our marine fame time, the immenfe continent and mountains in the prefent globe and the univerfal deluge. exuvia formerly lay at the bottom of the ocean of the primitive world; whereas many of them are now fituated near the tops of those immenfe mountains, the Alps and the Andes, and at great distances from the fea. To account for fo great a revolution, Mr. Whitehurst has collected many inftances from hiftory of ftupendous changes that have been produced on the furface and in the bowels of the earth. He enumerates fome of the more striking inftances of the rifing of islands, such as Santorini*, Hiera, &c. from the bottom of the fea, attended with eruptions of fire. He mentions several islands and mountains having volcanic appearances, and which may likewise be fuppofed to owe their origin to the fame caufe, in times anterior to all hiftory. Such are Icelend, Fyal, &c. in the northern fea; St. Helena and Afcenfion islands, between Africa and Brazil; Eafter or Davis' ifland, Otaheite, &c. in the Southern ocean; feveral of the Moluccas, in the Indian fea; Madeira, feveral of the Azores and the Antilles, &c. in the Atlantic ocean; the Lipari iflands +, Ifchai, &c. in the Mediterranean. After collecting many instances of mountains formed, and large diftricts of land fwallowed up, fhattered, and rent afunder, by earthquakes, and particularly by volcanos, he obferves, that we may, by analogy, be justified in inferring, that all fimilar appearances may have been the effects of the fame caufe; and though veftiges of volcanos are not every where vifible, the earth exhibits indications of their having existed in so many different regions, that there is reafon to fuppofe that fubterraneous fire muft, at different times, have exifted univerfally in its bowels. He then proceeds to fhew, that this caufe, acting on a larger scale, produced, at the When Mr. Whitehurft afcribes these great phenomena to fire, it must be understood, that he means, in general, the united actions of fire and water; or the expanfive power of the latter when converted into fream, or an elastic vapour, by means of heat; a force which is, indeed, enormous, and which has been lately calculated, from actual experiments, to exceed even that of gunpowder, in the proportion of fourteen thousand to five hundred. Fire, acting alone at first, and with an intenfity gradually increafing on the fuperincumbent ftrata, Mr. Whitehurft fuppofes to have gradually distended and elevated thofe parts most, on which the antediluvian ocean rested, as the primitive iflands, by their additional weight of folid and heavy matter, oppofed a greater refistance. The waters thus raised would naturally flow toward the now less elevated folid parts, or antediluvian iflands; and would finally cover them, fo as to produce an univerfal deluge. The expanfion caufed by fire increafing, till its force became fuperior to the gravity, and cohesion, or tenacity, of the incumbent ftrata; the latter would at length burit, and through the fiffures a communication would be opened between the water and the ignited melted matter below. By the fteam thus fuddenly generated, explofions would enfue, which muft deftroy the uniformity of the globe, fhatter it into fragments, produce immenfe mountains, and extenfive and deep fubterranerous caverns; into which laft the waters would afterward defcend, and leave the various continents, mountains, &c. in nearly the fame ftate in which we now view them; and containing the fame shells, * See a Defcription of these Islands, by the Count de Choifcul Gouffier, with a beautiful perfpective View of them in our Magazine for September and October 1781. † See a Defcription of these islands by M, de Luc, in our Magazine for April 1783, and 34 and other marine exuvia which they brought up with them from the bottom of the fea. : The terraqueous globe,' fays Mr. Whitehurst, being thus burst into millions of fragments, and from a cause apparently feated nearer to its center than its surface, muft certainly have been thrown into ftrange heaps of ruins for the fragments of the frata, thus blown up, could not poffibly fall together again into their primitive order and regularity: therefore an infinite number of fubterraneous caverns must have enfued at the distance of many miles, or many hundreds of miles below the bottom of the antediluvian sea. Now it is easy to conceive, when a body of fuch an immenfe magnitude as the earth, which is nearly 8000 miles in diameter, was thus reduced to a heap of ruins, that its incumbent water would immediately defcend into the cavernous parts thereof; and by thus approaching fo much nearer toward the center, than in its antediluvian ftate, much of the terreftrial furface became naked and expofed, with all its horrid gulfs, craggy rocks, mountains, and other diforderly appearances. Thus, the primitive state of the earth feems to have been totally metamorphofed at the first convulfion of Nature, at the time of the deluge; its ftrata broken, and thrown into every poffible degree of confufion and diforder. Hence, thofe mighty eminences the Alps, the Andes, the Pyrenean, and all other chains of mountains, were brought from beneath the great deep. Hence, the fea retired from thofe vaft tracts of land, the continents; became fathomless and environed with craggy rocks, cliffs, and impending fhores; and its bottom fpread over with mountains and vallies like the land. It is farther to be observed of the horrid effects of this convulfion; namely, that as the primitive islands were more ponderous and lefs elevated than the bottom of the fea; may we not thence infer, that the former more immediately fubfided into the ocean of melted matter than the latter; and therefore became the bottom of the poftdiluvian sea and the bottom of the antediluvian fea being more elevated, was converted into the poftdiluvian mountains, continents, &c. Such were apparently the confequences arising from the first convulfion of na ture; and this conjecture is remarkably confirmed by the vast number of foffil fhells, and other marine exuviæ, found imbedded near the tops of mountains, and the interior parts of continents, remote from the fea, in all parts of the world hitherto explored *.'-But there are many particulars, neceffary for a more perfect elucidation of this interefting fubject, for which we must refer to the excellent work itself †. In this manner, and by employing a caufe that appears adequate to the effect, and which is known, even at this time, partially to exift, Mr. Whitehurft very rationally accounts for the fingular appearances which the prefent earth exhibits on and beneath its furface, for the univerfal deluge, and its ceffation; and he does this without having recourse to comets, a fudden alteration of the earth's center of gravity, and other violent and purely gratuitous affumptions. It is fcarcely neceffary to obferve, that, with refpect to height, there are many fizes of mountains, from the gently-rifing upland to the tall craggy precipice. The appearances is, in general, different, in thofe of differ ent magnitudes. The firft are clothed with verdure to their very tops, and feem to afcend merely to improve our profpects, or to fupply us with a purer air: but the lofty mountains of the other clafs have a very different afpect. At a distance, their tops are * See the Contemplative Philof. No. LXXIII, in our Magazine for Sept. 1791. + Whitehurt's Inquiry, Chap. XII. feen, feen, in wavy ridges, of the very colour of the clouds, and to be diflinguished from them by their figure only, which, as juft obferved, relembles the billows of the fea*. As we approach, the mountain affumes a deeper colour: it gathers upon the fky, and feems to hide half the horizon behind it. Its fummits alfo are become more diftinct, and appear with a broken and perpendicular line. What at first seemed a fingle hill, is now found to be a chain of continued mountains, whose tops running along its ridges, are embofomed in each other; fo that the curvatures of one are fitted to the prominences of the oppofite fide, and form a winding valley between, often of feveral miles in extent; and all the way continuing nearly of the fame breadth. Nothing can be finer, or more exact, than the defcription in my motto, of a traveller ftraining up the Alps. Every mountain he comes to he thinks will be the laft: he finds, however, an unexpected hill rife before him; and that being fcaled, he beholds the highest fummit almoft at as great a diftance as before. Upon quitting the plain, he left, perhaps, a green and fertile foil, and a warm and pleafing climate. As he afcends, the ground affumes a more ruffet colour; the grafs becomes more moffy, and the weather more moderate. Still, as he afcends, the weather becomes colder, and the earth more barren. In this dreary paffage, he is often entertained with a little valley of furprifing verdure, caufed by the reflected heat of the fun collected into a narrow fpot on the furrounding heights. But it much more frequently happens that he fees only frightful precipices beneath, and lakes of amazing depth, whence rivers are formed, and fountains derive their origin. On those places next the highest fummits, vegetation is fcarcely carried on: here and there, a few plants of the moft hardy kind may be found. The air is intolerably cold; either continually refrigerated by frofts, or difturbed by tempefts. All the ground here wears an eternal covering of ice, and fnows that feem to be conftantly accumulating. Emerging from this war of the elements, the traveller afcends into a purer and more serene region, where vegetation has wholly ceafed; where the precipices, compofed entirely of rocks, rife perpendicularly above him; while he views beneath him all the combat of the elements; clouds at his feet; and thunders darting up from their bosom below †. A thoufand meteors, which are never feen on the plain, prefent themfelves. Circular rainbows ; mock-funs; the fhadow of the mountain projected upon the body of the air ; and the traveller's own image, reflected, as in a looking-glafs, upon the oppofite cloud §. Such, in general, are the wonders that prefent themfelves to the traveller, in his journey over the Alps, but more particularly in the Andes. But we must not fuppofe that this picture exhibits an invariable likeness of thefe ftupendous heights. Indeed, nothing can be more capricious and irregular than the forms of many of them. The tops of fome run in ridges for a confiderable length, without interruption: in others, the line feems indented by great vallies to an amazing depth. Sometimes, one folitary mountain rifes from the bosom of the plain; and fometimes extenfive plains, and even provinces, as thofe of Savoy and Quito, are found embofomed near the tops of mountains.-Bat I muft poftpone to my next paper, the farther confideration of this fubject, of vich many interefting particulars are yet to be noticed. *Lettres Philofophiques fur la Formation des Montagnes, &c. page 106. + Ulloa's Voyage to the South Sea, Vol. I. Philof. Tranf. Vol. V. page 152. I Ibid. Ulloa, Vol. I, ANEO |