stroyed by the action of the weather upon substances and surfaces, which have been once subjected to the operation of heat and moisture; and this unavoidable decay is the more to be lamented, as strangers are seldom allowed to draw till the decomposition both of colour and substance has taken place to a great extent; while, even if they were delineated by a native artist, there are no engravers on the spot of sufficient skill to multiply the copies, nor a public sufficiently educated to encourage the sale of them. "An instance of the delay which takes place in the native publications, may be observed in the description of the Temple of Isis, which, though discovered at so early a period, is only at this moment in the progress of illustration, by the care of the Cavaliere Carelli, whose elaborate account of this interesting relic, with drawings made at the time of the excavation, is only now in preparation; while the mo nument itself has already lost the last vestiges of the beauty and freshness in which it first appeared. "It has often been noticed, during the winter months, that the stuccos which had been observed perfect during a first visit to any newly discovered edifice, had entirely disappeared on a second examination; so that, no traces being left, many of the prettiest fancies of antiquity are irrecoverably lost; while the order continues to prevent strangers from drawing till three or four years have expired, and the objects become defaced. At the present moment, in the year 1826, only those parts of Pompeii can be drawn and measured with the consent of those immediately concerned, which have been discovered prior to the year 1823, or which, in other words, after the publication of the former portion of this work, have little or no novelty to recommend them. A foreign antiquary can only hope for better times, and a more liberal policy with regard to Pompeii; at present, while a sort of patent exists, by which a very eminent architect and scene-painter possesses the exclusive privilege of publishing antiquities, to which it does not appear that he has ever particularly turned his attention, a stranger meets with almost insurmountable difficulties, and nothing is known to the literary world of the most important discoveries. For a time, the gentlemanly feeling of those who were employed in the execution of this seeming monopoly of antiquarian research, induced them to overlook some occasional violations of the rigid order for exclusion from the latest discoveries; but, on a recent change in the department, the acting superintendent having done the present work the honour to consider it as the principal means of conveying to the public a faithful account of the latest discoveries of Pompeii, has made the introduction of it the subject of a particular injunction; a circumstance very creditable to the work, but at the same time rendering its execution more difficult." terra-cotta, one of a circular form, with an eagle in relievo ; five cups, two earthen pots, into which money was slipped through a hole, and preserved till wanted; and a number of bronze sockets or umbilici, on which doors had turned. On November 12th, was found, in the presence of General Baron Frimont, a statue, four inches high, plaited with silver; another silver statue of Fortune, with the horn of abundance; six coins, two of a large, and two of a middle size; a patera, the handles of which were covered with silver; the two hinges or sockets of a door; a basin; a lamp, with a handle and cover, for one light; other hinges of a door; three buckles for harness; a glass bottle with a handle; a fluted tumbler; eight circular vases of glass; a little bottle, or lachrymatory, half-melted; a faun's head of marble; a cylindric piece of granite, and other objects.' "This may suffice as a specimen of the yet incalculable riches of Pompeii. Not a day passes without the discovery of something of greater or less importance; while the previous acquisition of at least twenty great statues of marble, and four of bronze, not to mention a countless multitude of smaller figures and precious objects, promises an ample harvest in future. It is certainly surprising that so few skeletons have yet been found in Pompeii; but, by estimating the number, 160, already discovered, at about an eighth of the whole, according to the proportion which the city already laid open bears to the area enclosed by the walls and supposed suburbs, we shall find that nearly 1300 of the unfortunate inhabitants were destroyed by the fatal irruption a computation by no means insignificant to the population of a city scarcely two miles in circuit, and of which so considerable a portion was occupied by public buildings." There is a strange interest attaches to the exploration of these whelmed-up cities. It is like digging up social life from a mine. It is studying the geology of the mind, We know the feelings and thoughts of the Romans, and their achievements in war and polity, from their writings. But these are matters in which every nation is seen to advantage; there is a natural grandeur in such actions and offices that revert upon the performer. We feel the dull routine of daily life press upon us with a heavier load while inspired by their stirring deeds, and we long to know whether they too were exposed to the tedium of submitting, day after day, to the recurrence of breakfast, dinner, and bed-time, whether they too had business to transact, ennui to get rid of,-and, in short, whether they too had an animal or mechanical, as well as a spiritual, existence. Above ground, the relics of their domestic privacy have mouldered away. Their temples, forums, and fortifications alone remain. But the surface of the earth gapes, and a buried city is restored to the light of day. "It has been the custom to honour the arrival of illustrious personages by excavating in their presence some small portion of Pompeii; an enviable method of showing Wandering through its streets and squares, we find our respect exclusively possessed by the Court of Naples. For these occasions, an order is given that the earth should be curiosity gratified in many particulars. We see the arleft undisturbed to the depth of a foot or more in several of rangement of the houses the attempt to unite elegance the rooms of a newly discovered house; and, on the day with comfort. We trace the inhabitants to the market, appointed, these are cleared out for the amusement of the to the tavern, to their schools of arms. We find even guests. It is seldom a fruitless search, as the overseers are the handbills which announced the amusements of the previously aware that some curiosities exist, though they day, and the scrawls of loungers, on the walls. "On the know not precisely what they may be. An example of the external wall of the Crypt, in the Via dei Mercanti, is a reports made by the overseers on some of these occasions notice of a show of gladiators, such as seems to have been may suffice to give a general idea of the objects which are usually brought to light in the excavations of Pompeii: usually affixed to the walls of public buildings on these occa"REPORT. On the 4th of November, 1823, was found, at sions:- A. Suettii. Cerii. Edilis. Familia. Gladiatoria. the height of four palms from the pavement, and in the pugnabit. Pompeis. Pr. K. Junias. Venatio. et. Vela. erunt.' street running from the Temple of Fortune toward the Which may bear this interpretation :- The troop of glahouse of Parisa, the head of a Roman emperor, in bronze, diators of Aulus Suettius Cerius, the Edile, will fight in not unlike Caligula. It was three-fourths of a palm high. Pompeii on the last day of May. There will be a veSoon after, a leg of the same was found, one palm three-natio, (or chase of wild beasts,) and shades to keep off the fourths long. On November 5th, was found a skeleton, with 65 coins of small silver, and two large medals in bronze. On November 8th, was found the body of the Emperor's equestrian statue. The right hand held the reins, and the left was in an attitude of command. On November 9th, the legs of the horse were found, and some portions of the body. The whole was about six palms one-fourth high. On the 10th of November, in the third and fourth houses on the right of this street, were found several articles in the presence of the English minister. These were: a vase with a handle; an oil vessel with a handle and cover; six coins of middle size, and some ornaments of a door, all of bronze; ten lamps of heat of the sun will be extended over the spectators."" The idlers of that day seem to have been as fond of perpetuating the knowledge of their having visited any place as those of our own. On the inner side of the north wall of the Basilica, Sir William found, scratched with a sharp point, among other inscriptions, "Lucrio et Salus hic fuerunt." A more ambitious gentleman had even recorded the date of his advent, "C. Pumidius Diphilus heic fuit ad Nonas Octobreis. M. Lepid. Q. Catul. Cos." Some sentimental person seems to have perpetrated the following: "Nemo nisi Bulius nisi qui amavit mulie rem. Our innate hatred of scandal prevents us from quoting the libel on Lucilia's reputation, which still exists not far from the last mentioned sentence. The state of art seems to have been more flourishing at Pompeii than could have been anticipated in a provincial town of no great extent. Some of the pictures are bad enough, but others are excellent. We have been particularly struck with the intense expression of the Ariadne (Plate XLIII. of Sir William's work), with the buoyant look of the Genii in some of the vignettes, with the graceful Penelope, and with the tasteful grouping and outline displayed in all which Sir William has yet published. Literature can scarcely have flourished so much as art, if we are to take as a specimen the Latinity inscribed by a schoolmaster on the wall of his house: "Sabinum et Rufum Æ. D. R. P. Valentinus. cum, discentes. suos, rog." Under the figure of a goat placed over the door of a fencing-school stands the following imprecation against all nuisance-committers and dilapidators: "Abiat Venere Bompiliana (Pompeiana?) iratam qui hoc læserit." The minuter inspection of this wonderful city we must delay till a future occasion; and, in the meantime, we conclude this rambling article by remarking, in more sober prose, that the forthcoming new edition of Rogers's "Italy," illustrated by fifty-six engravings, so exquisite as those to which we have been alluding, will be one of the most delightful books imaginable; and that the third volume of Sir William Gell's "Pompeiana" bids fair to be still more interesting and important than either of the first two, which, however, have already deservedly gone through two editions. Remains of the late Right Reverend Bishop Sandford, D.D., Oxon, Bishop of Edinburgh, in the Scottish Episcopal Church; including Extracts from his Diary and Correspondence, and a Selection from his Unpublished Sermons. With a Memoir. By the Rev. John Sandford, Vicar of Chillingham. 2 vols. Edinburgh. Waugh and Innes. 1830. 8vo. Pp. 389 and 333. BISHOP SANDFORD was long known and respected in Edinburgh, as a man alike amiable and excellent in his domestic and public relations. He was endeared to his family circle by the undeviating kindness of his disposition; he was beloved as a pastor, on account of the unaffected piety which pervaded all his thoughts and actions; and he was universally esteemed as an honourable and useful member of the polished society in which he moved. Bishop Sandford did not aim at literary renown, and never attempted to claim for himself a very high or prominent station in the purely intellectual world. He was a good classical scholar, had read extensively, and possessed fair average abilities. Had it not been that we believe it will gratify his numerous circle of friends, we should have had some doubt as to the Sandford, when quite an infant, suffered a serious injury in his eyes, through some awkwardness on the part of his nurse. The celebrated Dr Darwin was called in, and endeavoured to repair the mischief, but without success. He was, besides, always of a delicate habit, which gave him a fondness for sedentary pursuits, fostered as this predilection was by his being admitted, when still a boy, to the drawing-rooms of the Duchess of Portland, and of the talented Mrs Delany, and accustomed to the conversation of all the intellectual persons he met there. Previous to his going to the University, he was placed under the charge of a clergyman of the name of Watson, an accomplished scholar, who resided at Southampton. In 1784, he entered as a commoner in Christ's Church, Oxford, and in 1787, he won the prize for Latin composition." All Mr Sandford's recollections of college life were pleasing, and he used to speak of the six years of his residence at Oxford as the happiest he ever 'spent. He was a thorough Christ-Church man, and he never discoursed more delightfully than when he spoke of its august walk and classic meadow; of its wits in his own day, the elegant Spencer, and the classic Canning; of its awful censorship, and venerable Dean." His studies at Oxford were interrupted by the illness of his mother, which induced him to leave college, and for some time he was unremitting in his attendance on her. In 1790, he married Miss Douglas, the grand-daughter of Sir William Douglas, Bart., of Kelhead, in Dumfries-shire, and daughter of Mr Douglas, who, after fighting during the forty-five, on the side of the Chevalier, and sharing the subsequent fortunes of his master, had, some years before, returned from France, and was then residing at Bath. Mr Sandford was ordained priest in the following year by Bishop Porteous. Overcome by his feelings during the celebration of the service, he fainted at the altar, and it was necessary to remove him from the church. Bishop Porteous conveyed him home in his carriage, and ever afterwards distinguished him by his friendship. About this time he became impressed with the advantage which might accrue to an English clergyman of popular talents, who should take up his residence in Edinburgh, open a chapel there, and be disposed to receive pupils into his house. This last consideration was more powerful, that, owing to an excess of liberality, which in him constituted almost a weakness of character, he had already given away the whole of his patrimony, amounting to some thousand pounds, and was in consequence rather straitened in his circumstances. He came to Edinburgh in 1792, and at once took his station in the best society of this metropolis. In 1797, Charlotte Chapel was built by subscription, and continued the scene of Mr Sandford's ministry for twenty-one years. About the beginning of the present century, an incident occurred which peculiarly illustrates Mr Sandford's dispositions, and which we shall allow his affectionate biographer to tell in his own words: "Wealth was not in his horoscope. In early life, he had been urged by a family friend, with fortune, and without children, to make choice of a secular profession. And his pious preference of the church in this instance, as it afterwards appeared, lost him a bequest of L. 70,000. propriety of publishing his "Remains." They are characterised by correct taste, gentle feeling, and sincere piety; but we cannot say that we discover in them any higher claims to general attention. The accompanying Memoir, by the Bishop's youngest son, the Rev. John Sand- "But, perhaps, the incident now about to be narrated, ford, is well, and modestly written; and we are, on the is one of the most striking instances of the methods, by whole, disposed to regard it as the most interesting por-him to seek his treasure in Heaven. One morning in Sepwhich God weaned him from the world, and instructed tion of the work. tember, 1801, a packet reached him from Bath, which, on being opened, was found to contain a caricature and some other squibs, and was accordingly returned to the post-office. On the succeeding day, arrived a letter bearing the same post-mark, and purporting to come from a lady whose name was unknown to any of the family, with information that Daniel, afterwards Bishop, Sandford, was the second son of the Rev. Dr Sandford of Sandford Hall, and was born near Dublin in the year 1766. Dr Sandford died at an early period, and his family were brought up principally under the care of his widow, a most ex. emplary woman, sister-in-law of Mrs Chapone, of li-a solicitor had been enquiring after the family of Sandford, terary celebrity, and little inferior to her in talent. She removed, soon after her husband's death, to Bath, where she and her children contracted an intimacy with the Bowdler family, which endured through life. Daniel and in particular, for himself, at the request of an old gentleman of the same name, possessed of riches, who wished to present him with a valuable living, and from whom he might cherish farther expectations. "Livings seldom go a-begging, and heirs are not often to be sought for, when rich old men are in question,-and the present letter was, therefore, naturally considered a repetition of the witticism of the preceding day, and destined to the same fate. A friend, however, (the Rev. Sidney Smith,) to whom the circumstance was mentioned, knew, by name, the old gentleman alluded to, and by his advice an answer was returned, intimating that Mr Sandford was the person for whom enquiry was made. In reply, the name and address of the solicitor were given, with an episode on the immense riches' of the old heirless gentleman. He was very wealthy-very old-very ill-and very anxious for an heir. This was followed by a letter from the solicitor, dictated by his employer, confirmatory and interrogatory, especially as to the number and names of Mr Sandford's children. A second, written in the same way, enclosed a draft for L. 100, as a testimony of regard, and a proof that the enquiry was not suggested by idle curiosity. "Most men would have been somewhat anxious to come into close contact with this man of gold, and to have known the nature and extent of his intentions; but Mr Sandford was satisfied to intrust his cause to the disinterestedness of an attorney whom he had never seen, and to the kindly feeling of an old humourist who had never seen him. He sent the old man a volume of sermons which he had lately published, and dedicated, by permission, to the Queen, and then felt that he had done all that a gentleman could do, to secure the smiles of fortune, and establish himself in the good graces of her favourite. It would not, perhaps, have been surprising if nothing further had been heard of the patron or of his attorney; but, at the end of six months, it was communicated that the former was in a deplorable state of health, and without hope of alleviation,' and an earnest wish was expressed that Mr Sandford would make it convenient to see him, as a visit might be attended with the greatest advantage. Mr Sandford was, at this time, engaged in watching by the sickbed of a dear friend, and, at first, he determined not to leave home. But the entreaty of his friend prevailed on him to take the journey, at the close of which he was introduced to his opulent namesake. He is described in a letter from Mr Sandford to his wife, as a handsome, good-humoured man of eighty-two, and when out of pain, which was seldom the case, very lively. The old gentleman expressed himself as pleased with him, and delighted with his sermons; and the agent who was directed to conduct him over the estate, and to point out the living attached to it, assured bim of the extent and certainty of his prospects. "It is amusing, but at the same time delightful, to observe the composure with which one, who was never of the world, writes to the confidante of his most secret thoughts, upon a subject which would have agitated most men. The only allusion which he makes to his prospects is this:'unless something very untoward happens, I shall be a shire laird, from what L tells me, I am sure of this fine property, in the most lovely county you ever saw. "From his namesake's house he repaired to Oxford, and took his Doctor's degree; saw, for the last time, his venerable friend, the Dean of Christ Church, and then hurried back to his pastoral charge in Edinburgh. He had made an effort, but was too delicate to follow up his prospects with the urgency which would have marked a worldly mind. The old man grew worse,-made his will-diedand, instead of his splendid fortune, a legacy of L.700 was the reward of Mr Sandford's delicacy." "The In 1805, the see of Edinburgh became vacant by the retirement of Dr Abernethy Drummond, and in 1806, Mr Sandford, having been elected his successor, was consecrated at Dundee, on which occasion Bishop Skinner of Aberdeen, Bishop Jolly of Moray, and Bishop Watson of Dunkeld, were the officiating prelates. elevation of an English Presbyter to an Episcopate in Scotland, it was thought, would lead to questions of great difficulty and delicacy, and it was feared might also excite some jealousy in the national establishment. These questions of difficulty, however, never occurred; and the uniform kindness with which Bishop Sandford was always regarded by the Presbyterian ministers of Edinburgh, proved at once his own fitness for the station he filled, and their superiority to the sentiments of which they were suspected." Bishop Sandford used frequently to remark on the law of compensation, which characterised the divinę procedure; and in his own experience this law was distinctly observable. Bodily affliction was the medicine measured out to him; and a more than ordinary store of domestic happiness was the blessing that and happy, and the only affliction he suffered on their counterbalanced it. His children were all prosperous account, was the loss of his oldest daughter Eleanor Sarah, in 1815. In 1818, he had the pleasure of removing from Charlotte Chapel, which had now become too small for his congregation, to St John's, which was built by voluntary contribution, and is an elegant specimen of florid Gothic, forming one of the striking features of this city. On Christmas 1829, he administered for the last time the Lord's Supper to his congregation, over which he had presided for thirty-eight years. He had been long in a declining state of health, and in January 1830, his illness came to a crisis, and he departed -this life, full of Christian hope and at peace with all men. Such was the calm and exemplary tenor of Bishop Sandford's days. His "Remains" consist of extracts from his Diary, of Letters to the different branches of his own family, and to various friends, and of fifteen of his unpublished Sermons. The latter are pleasing but not powerful compositions; and the Letters are chiefly valuable from the fine glow of religious sentiment which perford ever intended that his Diary should have seen the vades them. It does not appear to us that Bishop Sandlight, and though nothing has been printed that can in the slightest degree infringe on the personal feelings of any one, the contents seem to be too desultory-too much in the shape of mere memoranda, to be generally interesting. The following specimen is on the whole a favourable one of the mode in which this Diary was kept: EXTRACT FROM BISHOP SANDFORD'S DIARY. "May 20th, 1826.-I wrote a letter to the Professor yesterday, chiefly about the Triads, or Trinities of Plato. I do not imagine, that in the doctrines of Plato there is any approach to the Christian doctrine. Dr King seems to think much the same. for Trinity Sunday, on Hebrews, ix. 14.,-a practical view I have begun to prepare a sermon Three Persons of the blessed Trinity in the Redemption of of the doctrine, showing, 1st, The united consent of the Man; 2dly, The practical admonition to be drawn from it. "Do not you find yourself continually inclined to forget that inanimate things have no volition? Yes, I do; but so did Dean Swift, a wiser man than I, who used to say that nothing was more provoking than the perverseness of inanimate things. "22. Let us have no wishes, but commit ourselves entirely to the disposal of him who so well knoweth how to order all things right.' "These were the words of a dying Christian. May God give me grace to make them the rule of my heart! "After a night of much pain, I rise to a day of anticipated suffering. May I be strengthened to endure it! May the love of God be evermore kindled in my heart, for in the midst of judgment there is mercy. I pray to be enabled humbly to await the appointment of Divine Providence. This is, at present, hard to my feebleness, but God will strengthen me. Save me, O Lord! Quæ doceas, Domine, mihi des intelligentiam cernere.' "Wednesday.-Set out at seven this morning in the canal boat for Glasgow. "Tasso's rule of despatch: Rapido si, ma rapido con legge.' "I have gained this, at least, in my tedious voyage. "At Glasgow.-At two o'clock I set out for Rothsay in the steam-packet. "I reached Rothsay pier after a voyage of five hours and a half, glad to escape from the steam-boat. "In the cabin, to which I was driven by the rain, I met a man, who, with Muckersy's Gener's Letters in his hand, and with Muckersy's name on the title-page, asked me whether I knew who Mr Gener was? The same sage asked me afterwards, whether I had ever read the books written by one Waverley. I said I had read most of the works which went by the name of the Waverley Novels; and he answered, Ay-what a clever man that Waverley must be!' Set off in the Ewing steam-boat with the professor at three P.M. for Greenock. Pluvio cadente, turba in camera inferiore colligitur, ubi nemo nisi cum necessariis suis loquitur, more Britannico. "Parted with my dear companion at eleven o'clock. He went to join an expected party at home; while I was left like Ariadne to mourn for my departed Theseus. I embarked at half past twelve in the Toward Castle, very untoward to me. I left Mr in expectation of his son and his daughter-in-law; but for me, at this hour, there is neither placens uxor,' nor children, nor sacred home-and both Horace and Thomson may assist me in my lamentations." To this extract we shall subjoin a few anecdotes which are scattered through the Diary, but which we have strung together: ANECDOTES. "My present condition reminds me of Hugo Arnott, who was one day, while panting with the asthma, looking out of his window, and was almost deafened by the noise of a brawling fellow who was selling oysters. The extravagant rascal!' said Hugo, he has wasted as much breath as would have served me for a month!' "The famous Dr Clarke, one of the most learned men of his time, was one day amusing himself with some seniors of his own kind and standing, with feats of agility, jumping over chairs and tables, and playing like mere schoolboys; some one knocked at the door; Clarke reconnoitred from his study window, and observing that the well-known Beau Nash had come to pay him a visit, he called out to his merry companions, Boys, be serious, here comes a fool.' "The grandfather of the present Earl of Balcarras was a benevolent man, with more of what the French call bon. homie than most men, as the following fact will show. His lordship was a skilful agriculturist, and, among other fruits of his skill, he was particularly proud of a field of turnips, which were of unusual size. One day his lordship was walking in this field, and admiring its produce, when he discerned, close to the hedge, a woman, who was a pensioner of the family, but who, forgetting her duty and obligations, had stolen a large sackful of the precious turnips, and was making the best of her way home, when she was thus caught in the manner, as the lawyers say. The worthy nobleman very justly reproached the woman with her dishonesty and ingratitude, reminding her, that she would have received a sackful of turnips had she asked for it in a proper way, instead of stealing his favourites. The woman silently courtesied at every sentence, and confessed her offence, but pleaded her large family. The good man was at last mollified, and was leaving the field, when the woman, who had dropped her prize on his lordship's first accosting her, and was now with difficulty endeavouring to lift it on her back again, called to him, O, my lord, my lord, do ye gie me a haund, and help the poke on my back, for it's unco heavy, and I canna get it up by mysell!' Thus she bespoke the earl, who actually turned back, and did assist the woman to load herself with the stolen turnips! "The late pious John Newton was once told by an obstinate Unitarian, who proceeded in his enquiries on the precious principle, that we are not required to believe what we cannot understand, that he had read the New Testament, but could find there no proof of the doctrine of the Trinity. Newton knew to whom he was talking, and answered by saying, Do you know what happened me last night? Well,' said his opponent, what? Why,' said Newton, when I was going to my room last night, I wonI dered what ailed my candle, that I could not light it; and on examination, I found that I had been attempting to light it with the extinguisher on.' man. "The great moral satirist Hogarth was once drawing in a room where many of his friends were assembled, and among them my mother-she was then a very young woAs she stood by Hogarth, she expressed a wish to learn to draw caricature. Alas, young lady,' said Hogarth, it is not a faculty to be envied. Take my advice, and never draw caricature-by the long practice of it, I have lost the enjoyment of beauty. I never see a face but distorted; I never have the satisfaction to behold the human face divine.' We may suppose that such language from Hogarth would come with great effect-his manner was very earnest, and the confession is well deserving of reinembrance. able as a scholar. The first question that he asked was, Quis fuit primus diaconus? Markham answered, Stephanus, sed Stephănus fuit primus diaconus. The chaplain was frightened, and went to the bishop, to whom he wished to consign the examinand, saying, Sir, here is a youth whom I wish your lordship would undertake to examine yourself; he is too much for me; he found me out in a false quantity at the first word. This was what Markham wanted, for he was affronted at being turned over to a chaplain. "When the great Bentley, afterwards so distinguished, was examined for deacon's orders, he expected that the bishop would himself examine him; and his displeasure at what he considered neglect, he vented in such answers as the following: "This is said to have been enough to satisfy the chaplain, who took the rhymer to the bishop." We doubt not that to many of the congregation, as well as to all the surviving friends and relations, of the venerable pastor, this work will be highly acceptable. We regard it more as a filial offering to the memory of a beloved father, than as a production challenging the minute examination of the critic. As such we have spoken of it, and as such we respect it. Reflections on the Decline of Science in England, and on some of its causes. By Charles Babbage, Esq., Luca, sian Professor of Mathematics in the University of Cambridge, and Member of several Academies, London. B. Fellowes, 1830. 8vo. Pp. 228. THIS is a most alarming title. But luckily it is, like many other titles, rather euphonious than descriptive of its bearer's character. The truth is, that Mr Babbage does not take the trouble to prove that science is declining in England. He assumes the fact, and endeavours to bolster up his ipse dixit, by quoting the opinions of three distinguished scientific writers, two of which do not bear upon the question. Mr Herschel, indeed, agrees with him to the letter; but Sir Humphrey Davy, whom the author evidently regards as a scientific man of greatly less note, merely says, that "we may in vain search the aristocracy now for philosophers." We were not aware that this ever was a likely place to look for them; and at all events, a few mathematicians more or less among our Corinthians, is no index of the fluctuations of science among the great body of society. Mr Babbage's third authority, is "a gentleman equally qualified by his extensive reading, and from his acquaintance with foreign nations." But this mysterious and anonymous person this great Unknown, (it may be the inventor of the cajeput opodeldoc himself, for aught we know to the contrary,) merely remarks, that electro-magnetic researches have, upon the whole, had a detrimental effect upon che mical analysis. The alleged decline of science in England, therefore, as far as the work now before as goes, and Herschel. rests upon the unsupported testimony of Messrs Babbage The fact is, that Mr Babbage, like a young and inexperienced general, has mistaken the ground he ought to have occupied. Science is not declining in England; it flourishes as fairly, and with as much promise for faturity, as ever. No doubt, we have at present very few truly great names amongst us, but such intervals must necessarily occur in the scientific history of every nation, The character of a philosopher is not like the office of a lord provost, where a successor is always prepared beforehand, to sit down the moment the abdicating worthy Philosophers are rather like the stars in the firmament, scattered in little groups, with intervals be "When the late Archbishop Markham was examined for deacon's orders, he was questioned, as was then the cus-rises. tom, in Latin. The chaplain who examined was not very title-page, “ Babbage versus the Royal Society." We were utterly unable to conceive what had drawn down this castigation upon the oldest, dullest, and most respectable scientific union in Europe, till we turned to a list of members at the end of the volume; by which we find that many who were three, four, or five years on the council, contributed no papers to be printed in the "Philoso tween them. There is, we grant, no one at present ready to step into the shoes of Davy and Wollaston; but we have mingled a little among men of science, and we can see that there is a ferment among the younger class of them in particular, that will soon come to something. Nay, more, we admit that the scientific institutions of England are not so happily organized as they might be for bringing the available talent of the country to bear upon impor-phical Transactions;" while, after one name, and that tant enquiries. Yet in this respect we are better off now than we were; we are advancing, not retrograding. By Mr Babbage's own account of the matter, there are now sundry and diverse scientific institutions in England, which tend materially to further their respective branches of enquiry. the name of Charles Babbage, we saw marked-" two years on the council-seven papers printed in the Phil. Trans." Mr Babbage's greater industry has entitled him, he, no doubt, thinks, to indulge in a few, or rather, in not a few, diatribes against perpetual presidents, and the mode of electing councillors and office-bearers. It thus appears that his book is composed in a cabalistic and Hebraic style; to understand it properly, we must begin at the end. We admit that Mr Babbage has appreciated most The two great institutions against which our author directs his attacks, as responsible for the alleged decline of science, are the English Universities and the Royal Society. We shall advert briefly to his manner of dispatch-justly the merits of the managing members of the Royal ing both. Society. They are a pack of old wives. But this has been the case ever since the Society was a society; and again we repeat, that we cannot see how a fact, so long and so clearly established, can show that science is on the decline in England. To conclude, although one or two passages of this work betray the hand of the able mathematician, yet, upon the whole, it is clumsily expressed, and awkwardly put together. We fear also, that it has been composed under the influence of irritated feeling. We agree with Mr Babbage, that, with much talent, there is not enough done in England; but he has not succeeded in showing the cause or the remedy. George IV. Memoirs of his Life and Reign, interspersed with numerous personal Anecdotes. To which is prefixed an Historical Account of the House of Brunswick from the earliest period. By H. E. Lloyd, Esq. LonTreuttel and Wurtz. 8vo. Pp. 484. don. THIS is a thick, but rather a flimsy volume, hastily compiled, and evidently too much indebted to those veracious authorities, the newspapers. The time has scarcely yet arrived for writing an impartial and satisfactory biography of his late Majesty; but Mr Lloyd's drift has evidently been to catch the cynthia of the minute, and to avail himself of public curiosity at the period of its greatest excitement. The best part of the book consists of the preliminary account of the House of Brunswick. From it we extract the following narrative, which pos cases all the interest of fiction, and on the facts detailed in which more than one romance has been founded: Mr Babbage is a Professor at Cambridge, and, on the whole, the faults of the Universities are most leniently dealt with. They are introduced only in a preliminary dissertation concerning the reciprocal influence of science and education. Yet Mr Babbage must be aware that it is wronging these learned bodies most grievously to consider them merely as educational institutions. They contain within them not merely instruction for the young, but foundations for the support of those who devote themselves to scientific pursuits. If, then, these wealthy and powerful bodies have failed in promoting the interests of science, a deeper responsibility rests upon them than that of merely teaching ill. And assuredly they have failed. The duty of universities so richly endowed as those of England, is to promote every branch of science, as well as to furnish us with abstract thinkers, and with accomplished practical men in the different departments of law, medicine, and divinity. A university should breathe an atmosphere of learning, so that the most thoughtless and idle should learn something. There ought to be (as its name indicates) a universality about its intellectual pursuits, that may counteract the pedantry engendered by devotion to a peculiar field of research, when isolated from all who are engaged in other pursuits. Do the English Universities answer this description? Are they not rather mere theological seminaries-academies in which every pursuit is subordinate to the forming of the divine? The cloisters of France previous to the Revolution, were nearly as useful. A university ought in some measure to take the lead in national science and literature; but both of our English Universities take their tone from the efforts of literary men without their walls, and independent of them. It has been said that there was not accommodation in Oxford and Cambridge for all who in England were entitled to a college education. This is "In the state of childhood, when no affection could be the least fault of these seminaries. Their range has formed, or any just notions be conceived, of the nature and been most injudiciously narrowed. We ask for their obligation of the connubial relation, was Sophia Dorothea theologians, and out they pour, white-sleeved and black- obliged to enter into the most serious of all engagements sleeved, shovel-hatted, and bob-wigged. We ask for their with her first cousin, who was double her own age. Within a year, however, the death of her spouse released her jurists they are not: for their physicians-none are from this preposterous and unnatural tie; but it was only forthcoming for their men of science-and one or two to consign her over to another, not less inconsistent and half-starved apothecary-looking persons crawl out from oppressive. A widow of ten years old, in one of the most the cellars beneath the domicile of some jolly dignitary.enlightened parts of Europe, conveys an idea so ludicrous, This must be altered; but this is a topic upon which the as scarcely to deserve credit, were not the fact upon record. Lucasian Professor dared not enter; nor, indeed, is this But, what will perhaps appear equally extravagant, is the much to be regretted, for if we may judge by the little he fant, her father and uncle came to an agreement to unite circumstance, that on the death of the husband of this inhas said in his first chapter, Mr Babbage, with all his her in the bonds of marriage to her other cousin, Prince undeniably high mathematical talents, has not an ac- George Lewis of Hanover, then sixteen years of age. It is quaintance with the wide field of science sufficient to en- true the ceremony did not take place at Żell till the 28th of able him to grapple with such a momentous subject. November, 1682, when the bride had completed her sixThe attack on the Royal Society is, to use a cook-teenth, and the bridegroom his twenty-second year; but it maid's phrase, as much overdone as that on the Universities is underdone. Indeed, this Society occupies so much of Mr Babbage's attention, and the cause is so undisguisedly his former bickerings with it, that the book might, without any impropriety, have worn the legal THE REMARKABLE HISTORY OF SOPHIA DOROTHEA, WIFE OF GEORGE I is no less certain, that the engagement was made by all the parties, soon after the death of the Prince Augustus Frederick of Wolfenbuttel. In the meantime, Prince George travelled, and made some campaigns; while the bride completed her education, and prepared herself, as well as could be expected for one of her years, for the important duties |