now rests in Arqua, yet his residence, and that of Erasmus, in Venice, have given her a reputation for the cultivation of letters inferior only to that of Florence under the Medici; and modern literature is indebted to her for the solid encouragement which she gave, in the persons of the Aldi and Jansen, to that art, which, above all others, has most beneficially affect. ed the permanent welfare of mankind. To mention the name of Titian, and the Venetian school of painting, is an ample tribute to her promotion of the fine arts. Such were some of the many sources of wealth from which were derived the riches of the descendants of the fishermen of the Rialto, and such were the objects on which they were expended.

But alas! the picture changes, and it is the melancholy duty of the historian to mark the downward steps of that nation, whose onward course he has traced for a thousand years. The three last centuries of her existence show a gradual, at last a total decline from her early glories—a shadow of her former self, dragging out a weak and decrepid old age. An oligarchy ruled the state-incipient signs of decay appeared-the strength of her youthful constitution was gone-her wealth itself accelerated that ruin, commenced by her loss of that commerce, which was diverted into other channels by the discoveries of the Spanish and Portuguese naviga. tors; and the manners of her people had become vile, profligate, and corrupt. Abandoning all hope of future conquest, she was content if she could preserve herself unharmed; and for the last hundred years of her independence, sought distinction as a general mart for pleasure, and endeavored to find in luxury a reward for her surrender of ambition.

But there are yet a few bright, glowing pictures in the histories of her wars against the Turks; when the valor and fortitude of her distant armies surpassed even the expectations of a government grown too effeminate to resist the encroachments of her continental neighbors. Early in the sixteenth century, the Mahomedans began to push their conquests towards the west of Europe. What new barrier had Christianity to oppose to the establishment of the despotism of the Ottomans, perhaps of the imposture of the prophet? Why, by the swords of this ferocious infidel soldiery, urged on less by a love of conquest than the courage of religious enthusi asm, should not the Koran usurp the place of the Bible? Why should not the fair plains of France and Italy, exhibit the daily religious spectacles of Jerusalem and Damascus ? and why should not the sturdy Saxons of England have sent up their morning orisons to the Arab prophet? All this might have been, but for the valor of John Sobieski before the walls of Vienna, or the fortitude of the Venetians at the siege of Famagosta, the conquest of Candia, and the battle of Lepanto. Venice, in the language of Byron, was

"Europe's bulwark 'gainst the Ottomite."

And can we not, from this far distant land and age, look back and think we may owe our religious independence, in part, at least, to their heroic endurance? We do not now sufficiently appreciate the tremendous power which they opposed. So numerous were the Turkish army in Cyprus, that its commander boasted, after the siege of Famagosta, where he had lost 50,000 men, that if each of his remaining soldiers would throw but one slipper into the ditch, he might construct a level path to its battlements. The siege of Candia was sustained by the Venetians for twenty-four years, against a Turkish army so numerous that the place was only reduced after a loss of 150,000 of that vast army.

Much of the singularity of Venetian history and society, so different from the rest of Europe, a few hundred years ago, was the result of some prominent characteristics in her people and government. The chief of these was, the entire absence of the old feudal law and privileges, and the consequent progress in intelligence and civilization of those classes, which, in other states, were kept in ignorant servitude; a class which must always constitute at least the physical support of every nation; and though its populace were always overawed by her nobility, they yet had a feeling of stern independence unknown to the serf of the continent, united with a love and reverence for their own rulers, despotic as they were, for the quiet tranquillity which they invariably secured to every citizen during the wildest national commotions. These feelings were increased by those broad and liberal sentiments infused by her extensive foreign commercial intercourse, producing marked effect in the political and social condition of her population; an intercourse which has gone hand in hand with political liberty, personal rights, and intellectual cultivation, in the history of every modern nation; and the annals of every Italian state show a decline of these prerogatives, consummate with the destruction of their foreign commerce.*

Their great maritime pre-eminence was the result of many causes; chiefly to their position at the head of the Adriatic, as the natural depot for the trade between Europe and Asia; to their success in the manufacture of ar. ticles of silk, wool, linen, glass, salt and leather, and the unceasing encouragement which their government gave to everything like mercantile enterprise.

The results of their first adventures at sea, gave them an advantage over their competitors, which was never regained, and fed that avidity for wealth which characterized them at an early day. Every new colony added its share to her maritime, as well as her political strength; and her laws regulating her distant settlements, partook of that far-reaching and wise, yet selfish spirit, which so eminently marks the present English colonial system.

It is a remarkable fact in the history of Venice, and one that is unparallelled in that of any other nation, that her women have never, in a single instance, exerted the slightest political influence. They seldom appear as actors in the stirring scenes with which its annals are filled.†

It is not alone her wonderful rise and fall, her wealth and commerce, her mysterious government and proud nobility, with all their gilded des potism, the stories of her dungeons, her Lion's Mouth, and her Bridge of Sighs, the feuds of a Foscari and a Loredano, so beautifully told by Rogers, that fill the mind of the reader with a romantic interest; but here is the spot whereon were acted the realities of Otway and Radcliffe, and Schiller, and here are the scenes made immortal by the ideal creations of Shylock and Othello.

* If we adopt the views of Protestant historians, no better illustration of the free spirit of the Venetians can be given, than the stern pertinacity with which they resisted the efforts of the Popes to establish in their dominions what they conceived to be an eclesiastical despotism, in an age when the edicts of Rome were powerful; and in no place where the Inquisition was established, did it as slightly promote the views of its founders. But in this resistance, it may be that the despotic Council of Ten dreaded a participation in its authority.

+ The romantic stories of the Queen of Cyprus and Bianca Capello, alone relieve this blank in her history.

On a morning of summer, in the year 1498, a poor Portuguese pilgrim, clothed in rags, and who had wandered on foot from his native hills, appeared in the streets of Venice, and announced to its citizens that one of those daring navigators sent out by his king, had doubled the Cape of Storms, and discovered a new route to India. He was surrounded, and eagerly questioned by a throng of princes, merchants, and artisans. His answers struck terror in every heart. They saw at once that the partition wall of their monopoly was broken down; they saw the lucrative trade of the east transferred from the Lagoon to Lisbon and the Tagus; they saw that the rich merchandise which they gathered and dispersed throughout Europe, was destined to pass through other hands; they saw their ships rotting in their docks, and their sailors wandering idly about the streets; they heard the last motion of those looms which had produced the choice silken and woollen fabrics which had clothed the nobles of Europe; in a word, they rightly fancied they saw the destruction of that commerce whence came all their wealth, their luxury, and their pride; that commerce which had sent forth with the third army of the Crusaders two hun. dred ships, and with the fourth five hundred; that commerce whose mighty pulsations had been felt at the farthest extremities of the earth.

Here we have the remote, but the chief cause of the fall of Venice; the fall of a city, which, for one thousand years, never admitted an enemy within her wave-built walls; the fall of a nation, which, emerging from the ruins of the empire of the Cæsars, sunk into that of Napoleon; a nation whose existence connected the ancient with the modern world, the past with the present; a nation, which, for thirteen centuries, looked upon the wide stage on which the generations of men met and struggled.

In lingering over the splendid historic details of the nations of the earth, the greatest battles which have been fought, seem to be pointed out to us as the landmarks in the progress of the world's history, and the physical efforts concentrated in these encounters, are more dwelt upon than a thousand minor wars, incidents and influences, whose moral effects, scarce visible at the moment, are felt in the remotest ages of history. It is in this moral effect, that the name of Tell shall re-echo through the mountains of Switzerland, when that of Napoleon may be lost; that tradition shall speak of Bannockburn, when history has forgotten Waterloo; that the memory of the skir mish of a few thousand undisciplined volunteers on Bunker's Hill, shall be dear to all republicans, though future chronicles may forget to tell that a hundred thousand human skeletons were left to bleach at Eylau and Austerlitz. It is in this moral effect, that the commercial influence of the Italian cities, acting upon other nations, produced the discovery of America, and consequently all its vast results. It was this silent influence of the Italian maritime states, and subsequently that of the Hanse Towns, which stamps the present age with its distinctive future-that of commercial grandeur.

If the saying that "history is philosophy teaching by example," be true, can we, as members of a republican confederacy, aiming at perfection in government, have a more striking model for our contemplation, than the records of Venetian existence present, through so great a period of time? Her long list of errors, points out clearly this one lesson of wisdom-that the perpetuity of republican institutions demands from the body of the people a high degree of intelligence, and a strong patriotic faith. As lovers of such institutions, and believers in the principle of self-government, the

young men of our own country are bound to cultivate and practise these national virtues, and with them we must seek that general intelligence and mental improvement which is essential to our personal success and happiness. We are urged in this course by every consideration which can most strongly influence the actions of our lives; by a love of country, and our fellow men; by our faith in the democratic spirit of American institutions, by our pride of calling, and, if no higher motive can be offered, by that selfishness which aims alone at personal success. Let us persevere, then, in our efforts for the attainment of this political virtue, this patriotic faith, this general intelligence, until each of us can call understanding our kinswoman, and say unto wisdom, "Thou art my sister.”

Art. II.-THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE ON LONGEVITY:

WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO LIFE INSURANCE."

To determine the influence of climate on longevity, requires a collection of statistics extending over a wider surface of the earth, and a longer series of years, than any which has yet been furnished to the world.

Uniformity in the institutions, pursuits, and condition of the nations compared, will be a necessary element of the data, even after a sufficient basis of statistics shall have been collected; for Villermé, Quetelet, and Edwards, have shown, that even in the same climate, the length of life is materially affected by the occupation, and the mode of living of its inhabitants.

At the present time, therefore, all that we can do towards the elucidation of the "influence of climate on longevity," is, to form an approximate answer by an analysis of such facts as we can obtain.

Climate is well defined by Forry, "to constitute the aggregate of all the external physical circumstances appertaining to each locality in its relation to organic nature.' The circumstances to which especial attention will be paid in this dissertation, are temperature, geological position, and, incidentally, weight of the atmosphere, and prevalence of winds.

This article, now first published, is an essay by James M'Cune Smith, M. D., of New York, which was offered to the consideration of the Boylston Medical Committee of Harvard University, on the occasion (April, 1845,) when the prize was awarded to Edward Jarvis, M. D. It had, for its motto

and is one of the three concerning which the committee, in a published resolve, hoped "their authors may be induced to give the public an opportunity of reading these valuable and interesting essays." It is requisite to state that, by a standing published vote, the committee "do not consider themselves as approving the doctrines contained in any of the dissertations to which the premiums may be adjudged"-a vote which, of course, applies to an unsuccessful one.

The points in which this essay differs from the very able articles from the pen of Dr. Spare, which appeared in the 78th and 79th numbers of this Magazine, are the following:1st. The present article endeavors to fix a standard of longevity based upon the age of a living population.

2d. The tables are differently constructed, and with reference to the said standard. 3d. The data constituting the climate of localities, are given in connection with the longevity of the localities.

Longevity is not so readily described. In 1797, Dr. Odier, in the Bib liotheque Brittanique de Geneve, drew the conclusion "that the high ratio of centenarians does not imply an equally great probability of life, but the contrary." Mr. Rickman, of England, has also asserted "that the proportion of existing centenarians is no valid indication of national health and longevity. (New York Journal of Med., vol. 2, p. 319.) If 100 years, then, should be taken as the standard of longevity, the general longevity of any given people would be in the inverse ratio of the proportion who should attain the standard."

The scientific men of Geneva observed, "that if 90 years were to be taken as the extreme old age, the proportion of individuals of this age to the number of births, would be the standard of longevity." (Quetelet on Man; Edinburgh Translation, p. 3.)

How far a register of births is to be depended on, may be gathered from the following, which is copied from Alison on the Principles of Population, vol. 1, p. 135. "Humboldt observes that the difference between the population which should have existed from the register of births and deaths, and that actually shown by the returns in Great Britain, from 1801 to 1821, is a million of souls." The reason given by Humboldt for this discrepancy is, the immigration of 50,000 Irish per year. This, however, is not the fact, as the vast majority of the Irish who go into England and Scotland every year, only remain during the harvest, which they help gather, and then go back home to their families.

But even if the register of births could be depended upon, there are not a sufficient number of such registers extending back 90 years.

Neither would there be sufficient accuracy in an approximation of the number of births, measured by the increase of the population. The late Dr. Forry made the attempt in the following passage: "The whole colored population of the United States, which, in 1840, numbered 2,873,458, consisted in 1790 of but 698,682; and if we reduce it in the same proportion for fifty years more, when the centenarians of 1840 were born, and then divide the total colored population of 1740 with the centenarians of 1840, it will be seen that about 1 in every 85 colored individuals born, became a centenarian !" (N. Y. Journal of Med., vol. 1, p. 317.)

When we recollect that the slave-trade, for eighteen years after 1790, made constant additions to the colored population-additions of middleaged and elderly, as well as of young persons; and further remember the horrible decimation by which this trade, both before and since 1790, cut off principally the young and feeble in the middle passage; and still further, that nearly all the subjects of this traffic had passed the dangerous period of infancy, before they were brought to the United States, it is clear that the basis of births which produced the centenarians of 1840, must be extended greatly beyond 85 to every centenarian.

There is a more general reason against making the registration of births during any given year, the basis from which to calculate the longevity of any people. The prevalence or absence of an epidemic fatal to children, the abundance or scarcity of bread,* might confer on the selected year a proportion of mortality, or health, or fecundity, above or below the

Quetelet has shown that the mortality of the old and young are especially influenced by the price of bread, in Belgium.