To so finished a portrait by so able a master it would be impertinent to make any addition.

Mr. W.'s early acquaintance with the French language rendered the colloquial part perfectly familiar to him; but it was by the study of the belles lettres that he was enabled to write it accurately both in prose and verse. The difficulty of the latter is well known. The accompanying specimen was handed about at the time of Lord Malmesbury's second mission to France, and was admired equally for its correctness and liberality..

"EPIGRAMME SUR LA GUERRE.

Sur terre les Françaises sont partout indomptables,
Le fier Anglais tient le sceptre des mers;
Que ne s'accordent-ils ? ces rivaux implacables,
Pour se partager l'univers !"*

* During Mr. W.'s residence at Paris in the years 1782 and 1783, he was introduced to all the celebrated literati. But the man whom he admired the most was the Count de Buffon; and he brought over some curious pieces both in prose and verse relative to him. One of these we shall present to our readers, premising that Monsieur Montbeillard, an intimate friend of the Count, gave him an entertainment at his chateau, in honour of his birth-day; and wrote the following verses, which were spoken by a beautiful Paysanne, on presenting a bouquet of natural flowers:

"CONFIDANT de la NATURE,

Reconnois en nous ses enfans.
Nous avons pour tous talens
Un cœur naïf, un ame pure;
L'innocence est notre richesse:
Ces fleurs sont les fleurs des champs,
Leur douce odeur est notre encens,
Et nous l'offrons à la sagesse!"

Mr.

Still continuing to possess a good constitution and an uncommon flow of spirits, Mr. W. not long since led Miss Sidney to the altar, thus making the amende honorable for many witty sarcasms which, in mo→ ments of levity, he had thrown on the matrimonial state; and he has lately quitted the busy scenes and brilliant circles of the metropolis for a calm retirement at Hanworth, where we hope he will enjoy domestic happiness, and that it will be long, very long before a serious epitaph shall become necessary to commemorate his talents and his virtues!

S.

Mr. W. recited these verses to the Literati Club, and was desired to translate them for the country gentlemen, which he did as follows:

"TO THE COMTE DE BUFFON.

"Oh THOU, to whom kind NATURE has reveal'd
Whate'er from former times she had conceal'd;
Illustrious naturalist! thrice honour'd sage!
Born to instruct and to delight the age:
In us dame Nature's artless children see,
Who come to pour their ardent vows for thee!
Be this blest day renown'd throughout the earth,
Th' auspicious day that to BUFFON gave birth!
No costly gifts we bring, our only wealth

Is

peace, and innocence, and rosy health:
Accept these flowr's, the produce of the fields,
Which bounteous Nature without culture yields.
To thee their grateful odours they send forth,
Off'rings to WISDOM and superior worth!"

SAMUEL

SAMUEL L. MITCHILL, M. D.

MANY of the leading men in the American Revolution have terminated their earthly career. Putnam, Greene, Mifflin, and Washington, have ended their days, as well as Randolph, Hancock, Lec, and Franklin. Of their survivors some are infirm with age, or have voluntarily withdrawn from public affairs. John Dickinson enjoys domestic ease on the banks of the Delaware; Charles Thompson has employed himself for many years in an English version of the Septuagint; Horatio Gates resides at his villa in the neighbourhood of New York; and Samuel Adams, who has long survived the revolutionary war, beholds from Boston the progress of the new order of things which has thence arisen. Others of the patriots still remain in active service; Thomas Jefferson the present President of the United States, and Aaron Burr the Vice-President, were also strenuous in achieving the liberties of their country.

But there is another class of Americans who have within a few years attracted a large share of notice. This comprehends those who were too young to be engaged in effecting the Revolution, but have grown up to manhood since the establishment of the peace of 1783. To this list belongs a number of men who have distinguished themselves in Congress and else where, since the ratification of the federal Constitution of 1787. Madison, Ames, Vining, Harper, Otis, Bayard, Rutledge, Nicholas, Dexter, and several others

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others that have excited a considerable share of public curiosity, have all become conspicuous since the termination of the war.

The person of whom we now offer some slight account, is one of this younger class. He was a boy when the declaration of independence was made in 1776, and had not attained maturity when that independence was allowed and confirmed by Great Britain. Mr. Mitchill spent several years immediately subsequent to the establishment of peace, in Europe, visiting France, England, and Scotland, for the purpose of education. Being destined for the profession of physic, he took a Doctor's degree at Edinburgh, in the autumn of 1786; and the next year returned to his own country. Among his intimate associates when in the metropolis of the northern kingdom, were James Mackintosh, Thomas Beddoes, and Theobald M'Kennà, then among the most distinguished students in that famous University. It is related of him, that he imbibed a taste for Natural History when a child, by reading the history of animals compiled by Goldsmith, which accidentally fell into his hands. This was afterwards much improved by a sight of the cabinets in Paris and London, but more particularly by the lectures and experiments of Dr. Black, and by the discourses and exhibition of specimens by Professor Walker. Of this latter gentleman it is remarkable, that he gave instruction in botany both to Rousseau and to Mitchill. When Rousseau's persecutions in France compelled him to seek an asylum in England, he studied

studied botany as an amusement, although far advanced in life, and Walker used to ramble with him. on the banks of the Thames. When Mitchill was the Professor's pupil, he received tuition in the same branch of science along the borders of the Forth and the Esk.

Generally speaking, the profession of physic is little calculated to favour a man's advancement in public life. He may indeed receive an appointment in the army or navy; he may be made a professor in a college, or he may rise to something in ordinary or extraordinary about a court. But in all these cases he has more a derivative than an independent kind of importance. The withdrawing of gentlemen of the medical profession from parochial offices and juries, has excluded them from higher public trusts; and however it may have answered the gainful views of the busy practiser, has exceedingly lessened the public weight and consequence of the profession itself. This however is not so generally the case in America. Physicians are frequently found both on grand and petty juries. They serve as town-clerks, supervisors, and even as constables. The counties in which they reside, not unfrequently elect them to serve as delegates to the Assemblies, or Houses of Commons; and indeed, oftentimes, the freeholders of the districts which they inhabit choose them. members of the Senate or Council. Cadwallader Colden, the man who administered the government of New York before the Revolution, who wrote the History of the Five Indian Nations, and who described

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