same creditors. His future property, too, is subject to distrainment on the very judgment under which he has been discharged. Thus far the law seems wholly levelled against debtors. But we shall find that it is hardly less inimical to creditors. A poor debtor may, indeed, be made the victim of oppression, but a rich one cannot be compelled to do justice. Property, whether real or personal, cannot be attached on mesne process, and he who has any considerable amount of either, can easily obtain sureties for his appearance at Court, or for his continuance on the jail limits. It is true, that on execution any visible property may be seized in satisfaction of the judgment, but by the delays of the law, a sufficient interval is afforded either to squander assets, or to convert them into money or choses in action, which are held not to be attachable. An opulent debtor may thus live at his ease, with a slight sacrifice of his latitude of excursion, and set all his creditors at defiance. Moreover, by a judicious application of his funds, he can easily produce a host of nominal creditors who will sign off, and entitle him to a complete release, not only from jail, but from every pecu niary claim that exists against him. A radical reform in our jurisprudence is the only effectual remedy for the manifold evils with which the land is afflicted under colour of law. It is time that a free and thinking, and educated people, had loosed its understanding from the fetters which were forged, in the days of ignorance, for the thraldom of vassals. It is time that veteran error were stripped of its integuments, that absurdity were dragged from the subterfuge of legal principle, and that the cloak of practice were lifted from the shoulders of extortion and chicane. It is time, in short, that the swaddling clothes of the law were laid aside, and that truth were suffered to walk forth, if not in her naked dignity, at least in decent robes. The scant and jagged pattern of the common law has, indeed, been so often pieced and dearned by the diligent housewifery of the bench and the legislature, that the original fabric is not always to be detected, but it can never be rendered either convenient or comely for the present stature of society. What a disgrace to the state is the boast, which we have heard from some members of the bar-that to acquire an acquaintance (knowledge it does not deserve to be called,) with the practice of the courts, is, in New-York, the most arduous part of the study of the profession;-in other words, that it is less difficult fully to understand VOL. III.-No. 7 even the legal merits of a cause, than to learn how to bring it under the cognizance of a competent judge. If this be true, what a waste of mind must such a prodigious accumulation of rubbish in the threshold of the temple of justice, annually occasion? and what a gain of time and talent would it be to the community, if any direct and ample avenue could be opened to those portals, which should ever be both unbarred and accessible? 39 It is worth while to calculate the extent of the pecuniary saving that would result from simplifying our code, and substituting rational method for the idle and arbitrary forms of judicial proceedings. The labour to be performed would be so much diminished, that half the number of judges and lawyers, that are at present engaged in our Courts, would be sufficient for the despatch of business in half the time that is now consumed in the same operation. A portion of those gentlemen of the profession who would be thrown out of employment, by such an abridgement of legal labour, might be usefully occupied in Courts" of the first instance,' whose province it should be to grant writs, on due application, against the person or property of debtors, in certain cases, and to regulate the nature and extent of the security to be given by defendants to abide final judgment in the superior Courts,and in cases where a debtor should acknowledge the debt, to receive his confession and the surrender of his property for the benefit of all his creditors, and to appoint an assignee to take charge of his effects, and finally, on proper investigation, to grant him, in its discretion, a complete discharge. Thus would every man's person and property be in the custody of the law; and the discretionary power of creditors being taken away, the number of suits would be very much lessened,-by which means, another gain of time to the community would accrue. It may seem somewhat inconsistent with the eulogium which we have passed upon the spirit and intelligence of our countrymen, that such laws, and such a practice, as, we have described, should be tolerated for a moment among us. But it is only of late that the magnitude of the evil has been felt and comprehended,-and already is the attention of the country roused, and even now are its energies in action, to remove present ills, and to avert impending dangers. In more prosperous days, instances of insolvency were comparatively few, and misfortune was more easily retrieved. Banks, too, as yet were not,those laboratories of ruin had not cema menced the work of destruction; and the relentless rapacity of impersonal corporations was unknown and unapprehended. But, as embarrassments and banks have spread, the true character of our laws has been more clearly developed. It was left for corporations, without soul, without bowels, without any of the yearnings of nature, to evince the atrocity of which the laws are capable. The scales have at length fallen from the eyes of the people, -they have awakened from their sluggishness; and when they shall come correctly to estimate the deleterious influence and tendency of the privileged combinations, to which they have lent their sanction, they will resume the rights with which they have so improvidently parted, and rescind the powers which they have so injudiciously bestowed. They will annihilate, with a breath, the bubbles which their breath has inflated. A bill, which goes far to check enormities, of which we have seen but the beginnings, has just passed one branch of the legislature of this state. It is entitled, "An Act to abolish Imprisonment for Debt, and to prevent Frauds against Creditors." We have seen the original draught of it, which is susceptible of material amendments. It has, we understand, been considerably amended. We hope that some definite provision may be introduced into it, for the attachment of the shares of the capital stock of any incorporated company, and the dividends due thereon, held by any debtor at the time of the commencement of any suit against him, or transferred to him whilst any judgment against him remains unsatisfied. There are many points in which the draught appears to us to be defective, but as we know not what shape the bill has since taken, nor what improvements it may receive, we shall defer our comments upon it, until its fate is decided. That it will be wholly rejected, we can hardly believe. Cheated creditors and persecuted debtors are equally clamorous for some relief, against the unequal operation of existing laws. We are fearful that a class of our readers will regard the topic which we have offered to their consideration as a dry and unpromising one, we shall not tempt their patience by dwelling on it longer. In the relation either of debtor or creditor, however, almost every individual, of the age of legal discretion, stands,-and to appreciate the responsibilities which such relation involves, is of some importance. Even those who are devoid of personal concern, feel an interest in those things which concern their friends, and which affect the reputation and prosperity of their country. We recommend, to those with whom such reflections have weight, the candid perusal of both the essays, the titles of which are prefixed to this article. They should be read in connexion, as they will serve to temper and to correct each other. We would also recommend to those, who have never fancied to themselves the sufferings of an unfortunate insolvent, torn from his family in the hour of despondence, and incarcerated in the common cell of the wretched and the base, cut off from the exercise of his faculties, and the enjoyment of the poorest bounties of nature, degraded in his own estimation, and disgraced in public opinion-to those who have never entered into the feelings of such a one, we repeat, we would recommend the perusal of another series of essays written under the signature of "Howard" in 1811, in the New-York Columbian, and afterwards collected in a pamphlet. In these essays are some pathetic details which will touch the sensibilities even of the most obtuse; and those who would blame the enthusiasm with which the writer is animated, must, at least, acknowledge it to be amiable. A zeal for the liberty of the citizen may, indeed, be carried to excess, but we do not think that this is a frequent fault, though certainly a very venial one. If the habits and dispositions of our people be democratic, they are effectually counteracted by the tendency of institutions which every day is consolidating. We have more cause to dread, that the debasing influence of commercial cupidity will deaden the pulses of national pride and liberal sentiment, than that the insurgency of public opinion will arrest the current of commercial enterprise. We should be sorry to see liberty and property brought into competition,-we should despair of the commonwealth, if an unworthy passion for the latter should ever be suffered to preponderate the love, and the reverence, due to the former. E. ART. 5. Essay on the Theory of the Earth, by M. CUVIER, Perpetual Secretary of the French Institute, Professor and Administrator of the Museum of Natural History, &c.—With Mineralogical Notes, and an Account of Cuvier's Geological Discoveries, by PROFESSOR JAMESON.-To which are now added, Observations on the Geology of North-America, illustrated by the Description of various Organic Remains, found in that part of the World, by SAMUEL L. MITCHILL, Botan. Mineral. et Zoolog. in Univers. Nov. Eborac. Prof. &c. &c. 8vo. pp. 248. New-York. Kirk & Mercein. 1818. M [ANY great and learned men have occupied their time, and bestowed much of their attention in investigating the history of the terraqueous globe. They have endeavoured to comprise the results of their inquiries in a theory of the earth. Such a theory supposes a system supported by a series of facts relative to the changes and origin of the terraqueous globe. Mineralogy has heretofore almost exclusively furnished data, upon which theories of the earth have been established; but in the one under consideration, similar results have followed from a view of the fossil organic remains, which are so abundantly scattered over the surface of the earth, and imbodied in the solid strata far beneath the surface. The work before us contains an admirable compendium of the labours and researches of an individual, who has been, for many years past, vigorously engaged, unlocking the depositories of nature where the relics of former times are interred. From these, after a scrutinizing examination and mature deliberation, he has established a system, which, for simplicity and elegance of structure, outshines all that have preceded it. Hitherto, in the investigations on the subject of geology, extraneous fossils, or petrifactions, have not received the attention which their importance demands. Hence, Cuvier, "as an antiquary of a new order," entices his readers over paths but little explored, and leads them among the tombs to examine the remains of organic beings "hitherto almost uniformly neglected." In systems of mineralogy and geology, petrifactions have occupied a very small space, and wherever they have been noticed, they have appeared like an appendix, but partially connected with the subject, and placed there as objects of inexplicable curiosity. So, in cabinets of mineralogy, it was difficult to arrange them in any system, and accordingly they were excluded, or laid by, for future consideration. But now, the light of an extraordinary genius shines in the dark recesses of nature, and gives to extraneous fossils a consideration and rank in the history of the terraqueous globe, to which they have never before been raised. He takes hold of the subject in a masterly manner, and conducts his readers into a new region of thought, and gently carries them with him along the lapse of ages, without fatigue and without complaint. We shall feel highly gratified, if, in the review we have undertaken of this celebrated work, we can only interest our readers sufficiently to induce them to procure and peruse the book, which we shall proceed more particularly to notice. The edition before us, as lately issued from the press of Kirk & Mercein, in New-York, contains three parts; and the whole is illustrated by eight plates of engravings of the fossil remains of quadripeds, and other organic beings, found in various districts of the globe. The first part contains the essay of M. Cuvier on the theory of the earth, which is introductory to his great work on fossil organic remains. This essay has been translated by professor Jameson, of Edinburgh, from the original French into English, and contains the substance of his work, being the reasoning and deduction, resulting from the consideration of the whole subject matter. This is contained in 183 pages. The second part contains mineralogical notes, and an account of Cuvier's geological discoveries, by professor Robert Jameson, intended to illustrate the text of the essay. These notes occupy 134 pages; and the remaining 111 pages are supplied by Dr. Mitchill. To the translation and edition of professor Jameson, Dr. Mitchill has added (what forms the third part of the work before us) "Observations on the Geology of North America," illustrated by the description of various organic remains found in that part of the world. Thus we have, imbodied in a few octavo pages, the labours of three men, great in the field of science, of different nations and of different languages, but uniting, freely uniting, without envy or jealousy, to explore the dark recesses of nature, and unfold the ways of God to man. Such a union of sentiment and action, in men of extensive acquirements and scientific erudition, is not often to be met with, and where their observe the "first proofs of revolutions" on its surface. labours promote the general welfare, we should not be backward in bestowing that liberal encomium which their works have merited. It must be a great source of satisfaction and pleasure to the philosophic world, to see France, England, and America engaged in extending and illus-taining almost all of them innumerable ma trating the physical sciences, by the labours of men, who are foremost in these departments in their respective countries. It is with great diffidence that we undertake to examine the merits of their respective works. Their inquiries into the relics of animated beings, which once moved upon the surface of the earth, but are now extinct, lead us to a true and correct history of our globe, as explained in the preliminary observations (p. 27) of Cuvier himself. "The ancient history of the globe, which is the ultimate object of all these researches, is also, of itself, one of the most curious objects that can engage the attention of enlightened men: and if they take any interest in examining, in the infancy of our species, the almost obliterated traces of so many nations that have become extinct, they will doubtless take a similar interest in collecting, amidst the darkness which covers the infancy of the globe, the traces of those revolutions which took place anterior to the existence of all nations. "We admire the power by which the human mind bas measured the motions of globes, which nature seemed to have concealed for ever from our view. Genius and science have burst the limits of space, and a few observations, explained by just reasoning, have unveiled the mechanism of the universe. Would it not also be glorious for man to burst the limits of time, and by a few observations, to ascertain the history of this world, and the series of events which preceded the birth of the human race." Cuvier after stating, in the plan of his essay, that he will describe the whole of the results at which the theory of the earth seems to him to have arrived, proceeds, in the third section, to speak of the first appearance of the earth, The inviting prospects of verdant plains and cultivated fields, of gently flowing streams, and fertile valleys, together with cities, towns, and villages, and their attendant population, would lead the superficial observer to imagine that the solid materials of the earth were unchangeable and had so remained from the beginning; but he is soon convinced to the contrary, when he digs beneath the surface, ascends the hills, observes the declivities of mountains, or examines the defiles of descending torrents, where he can see something of the internal structure of the globe. We thus "The lowest and most level parts of the earth, when penetrated to a very great depth, exhibit nothing but horizontal strata, composed of various substances, and con rine productions. Similar strata, with the same kind of productions, compose the hills even to a great height. Sometimes the shells are so numerous as to constitute the entire body of the stratum. They are almost every where in such a perfect state of preservation, that even the smallest of them retain their most delicate parts, their sharpest ridges, and their finest and tenderest processes. They are found in elevations far above the level of evey part of the ocean, and in places to which the sea could not be conveyed by any existing cause. They are not only enclosed in loose sand, but are often incrusted and penetrated on all sides by the hardest stones. Every part of the earth, every hemisphere, every continent, every island of any size, exhibits the same pheno menon. We are therefore forcibly led to believe, not only that the sea has at one period or another covered all our plains, but that it must have remained there for a long time, and in a state of tranquillity; which circumstance was necessary for the formation of deposits so extensive, so thick, in part so solid, and containing exuviæ so perfectly preserved, "The time is past for ignorance to assert that these remains of organized bodies are mere lusus naturæ,-productions generated in the womb of the earth by its own creative powers. A nice and scrupulous comparison of their forms, of their contexture, and frequently even of their composition, cannot detect the slightest difference between these shells and the shells which still inhabit the sea. They have therefore once lived in the sea, and been deposited by it; the sea consequently must have rested in the places where the deposition has taken place. Hence it is evident the basin or reservoir containing the sea has undergone some change, at least, either in extent, or in situation, or in both. Such is the result of the very first search, and of the most superficial examination. "The traces of revolutions become still more apparent and decisive when we ascend a little higher, and approach nearer to the foot of the great chains of mountains. There are still found many beds of shells; some of these are even larger and more solid; the shells are quite as numerous and as entirely preserved; but they are not of the same species with those which were found in the less elevated regions. The strata which contain them are not so generally horizontal: they have various degrees of inclination, and are sometimes situated vertically. While in the plains and low hills it was necessary to dig deep in order to detect the succession of the strata, here we perceive them by means of the valleys which time or violence has pro duced, and which disclose their edges to the eye of the observer. At the bottom of these 'declivities, huge masses of their debris are collected, and form round hills, the height of which is augmented by the operation of every thaw and of every storm. "These inclined or vertical strata, which form the ridges of the secondary mountains, do not rest on the horizontal strata of the hills which are situated at their base, and serve as their first steps; but, on the contrary, are situated underneath them. The latter are placed upon the declivities of the former. When we dig through the horizontal strata, in the neighbourhood of the inclined strata, the inclined strata are invariably found below. Nay, sometimes, when the, inclined strata are not too much elevated, their summit is surmounted by horizontal strata. The inclined strata are therefore more ancient than the horizontal strata. And as they must necessarily have been formed in a horizontal position, they have been subsequently shifted into their inclined or vertical position, and that too before the horizontal strata were placed above them. "Thus the sea, previous to the formation of the horizontal strata, had formed others, which, by some means, have been broken, lifted up, and overturned in a thousand ways. There had therefore been also at least one change in the basin of that sea which preceded ours: it had also experienced at least one re volution; and as several of these inclined strata which it had formed first, are eleva ted above the level of the horizontal strata which have succeeded and which surround them, this revolution, while it gave them their present inclination, had also caused them to project above the level of the sea, so as to form islands, or at least rocks and inequalities; and this must have happened whether one of their edges was lifted up above the water, or the depression of the opposite edge caused the water to subside, This is the second result, not less obvious, nor less clearly demonstrated, than the first, to every one who will take the trouble of studying carefully the remains by which it is illustrated and proved." The proofs of revolutions on the surface of the globe, besides what are here mentioned, are many, and have been observed in various parts of the earth, collected and recorded in the different works on geology. The investigations on this subject have been principally made in Europe and Asia. America has of late presented abundant additional facts in proof of such revolutions. Among the foreigners who have collected them, may be mentioned Volney, Humboldt, and M'Clure, as the most conspicuous. Many of our own citizens have occasionally written on these subjects, and their essays are to be found in the several periodical journals of the country. The Medical Repository of New-York,-Dr. Bruce's Mineralogical Journal,-The Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, and others, not now at hand for more particular reference, may be consulted. But the observations added to Jameson's edition of Cuvier, by Dr. Mitchill, afford the most abundant proofs of such revolu tions in North America. They are stated by Cuvier, in the 5th and 6th sections of his Essay, to have been numerous and sudden, and the geology of North America is not wanting in proofs on these points; but we reserve our remarks in order that we may be more particular when noticing that part of the work. 'The "proofs of the occurrence of revolutions before the existence of living beings," are contained in the seventh section of the essay, in which our author writes as follows. "As we ascend to higher points of elevation, and advance towards the lofty summits of the mountains, the remains of marine animals, that multitude of shells we have spoken of, begin very soon to grow rare, and at length disappear altogether. We arrive at strata of a different nature, which contain no vestige at all of living creatures. Nevertheless, their crystallization, and even the nature of their strata, show that they also have been formed in a fluid; their inclined position and their slopes show that they also have been moved and overturned; the oblique manner in which they sink under the shelly strata,shows that they have been formed before these; and the height to which their bare and rugged tops are elevated above all the shelly strata, shows that their summits have never again been covered by the sea since they were raised up out of its bosom. "Such are those primitive or primordial mountains which traverse our continents in various directions, rising above the clouds, separating the basins of the rivers from one another, serving, by means of their eternal snows, as reservoirs for feeding the springs, and forming, in some measure, the skeleton, or, as it were, the rough frame-work of the earth. which mark their summits, and strike the "The sharp peaks and rugged indentations eye at a great distance, are so many proofs of the violent manner in which they have been elevated. Their appearance in this respect is very different from that of the rounded mountains and the hills with flat surfaces, whose recently formed masses have always remained in the situation in which they were quietly deposited by the sea which last covered them. "These proofs become more obvious as we approach. The valleys have no longer those gently sloping sides, or those alternately salient and re-entrant angles opposite to one another, which seem to indicate the |