in the self-destruction of the natives, by drowning in the sacred waters of the Jumnah, shall be deemed guilty of murder, and, on apprehension, shall be tried for that offence. This judicious proclamation had the desired effect; and the crowd assembled to witness this celebrated religious rite, on a late occasion, dispersed without the least disturbance. It is to be hoped, that this benevolent interference of power with superstitious cruelty, will be followed up by all the judicial authorities, till self-immolation, by fire, earth, or water, will no longer exist, to the disgrace of British India.

Literary.

Wood-Engraving.-One of the very earliest specimens of the art of Xylography, or engraving on wood, exists at present in the valuable library of Baron Von Hengel, late privy-counsellor to the king of Bavaria. The book is entitled, 'A Confessional, or Mirror for Penitents, according to the Ten Commandments,' and consists of only twelve pages of text, on quarto leaves, and two different representations of our Saviour's sufferings. The text, as well as the representations, is evidently printed from entire blocks, and not from moveable types, as the blocks, not being cut deep enough, have left several impressions. The words appear to have been written on the wood, and so cut to make it look like a manuscript. There is no date, place, nor author's name, and no punctuation except the= and the full-stop; but antiquarians confidently refer its date to the middle of the fifteenth century.

Croaking Missionary.-An interesting volume is expected to appear shortly, from the pen of the Abbe J. A. Dubois, (missionary in Mysore, and author of A Description of the People of India,') consisting of letters on the state of Christianity in India, in which the conversion of the Hindoos is considered as impracticable. But what is impracticable with men, (especially with such men,) is practicable with God, who, for Christianizing the world, makes use of men who have another spirit in them.

Scientific.

St. Domingo.-An academy has been lately founded at Port-au-Prince, in which are taught all branches of medicine, jurisprudence, literature, the principles of astronomy, &c. This establishment is under the direction of Dr. Fournier-Piscay, a learned French physician. Optics. One of the most recent applications of the study of the properties of light is that which now exists in France, in the establishment of dioptrical lighthouses, or those in which the focus of the light is not reflected, but transmitted by glass lenses which make the rays parallel. Messrs. Arago and Fresnel have invented, for this purpose, a lamp, the light of which is perhaps equal to that of a hundred and fifty candles; and such is the splendour of these signals, that, with a telescope, they may be seen at above sixteen leagues' distance.

Vaccination in India.-By an account in the third volume of the Literary Society of Bombay, there is reason to hope that this great discovery will soon be properly appreciated in India. The small-pox usually makes a sweeping march through the country once in every

three years, in which it is supposed that twothirds of all who are capable of receiving the infection are attacked, and either die, or are left, by blindness, contraction of joints, ulcers, &c. unfit for the ordinary duties of life. But in those villages where vaccination has been introduced, such has been its invariable success, that the inhabitants rely upon it as giving a perfect immunity from the attacks of the natural small-pox; yet such is the indifference and poverty of the people, that to give it prevalence through the country, it seems necessary that it should be enforced by a government ordinance, and at government expense.

Linen bleached with Lime.-The injury which is done to linen by bleaching it with lime is known to every one; the method of detecting it should be as generally understood:-Cut off a shred of the new linen you wish to examine, put it into a glass, and pour upon it several spoonfuls of good vinegar; if lime has been used, a considerable effervescence, accompanied with a slight noise, will be excited by the acid; otherwise, no effect will be produced.

Improved Fabrication of Starch.-M. Herpin, of Metz, has lately discovered a new and expeditious method of manufacturing starch. By the ordinary process, flour is allowed to ferment for a fortnight, or a month, with a certain quantity of water, in order to decompose and destroy the gluten which conceals the starch, by which a most fetid odour is produced; but M. Herpin makes starch in the course of an hour, obtaining at once both the gluten and the starch, without any offensive smell: this is effected by kneading the flour under the droppings of water, in a fine linen bag. The water carries off the starch, and the gluten remains behind. The water and the starch are then passed through a silk sieve into a vessel, from which, when the starch is deposited, the water is poured off, and, as it contains a quantity of saccharine matter, may be advantageously employed in the preparation of some cheap beverage.

Philosopher's Stone.-A letter from New York, of the 9th of June, says, "If the longsought-for philosopher's stone, by which baser substances could be transmuted into gold, has not yet been found, an invention of still greater importance has at length crowned the efforts of American chemists. It has long been known, that the diamond, the most precious of all substances, is composed of carbon in its pure state. But although the powers of chemical analysis have been sufficient, by repeated experiments, clearly to establish this fact, yet the knowledge of it was of no practical importance to the world, because the powers of synthesis failed, and no mode had been devised of imitating nature by uniting the constituents of this precious gem: in other words, the philosopher was able to convert diamonds into carbon, but he was ignorant of the art of converting carbon into diamonds. If the experiments of Professor Silliman can be relied on, this desideratum has in part been supplied. The last number of his Journal of Science' contains an article on the philosophical instrument called the Deflagrator, invented by Professor Hare, of Philadelphia, by which it appears, that charcoal, plumbago, and anthracite, have been fused by the power of that instrument, and transmuted into diamonds!"

Miscellaneous.

Rice. At Brescia, in Italy, the Chevalier Rosa has been attempting the cultivation of Chinese rice with very encouraging success. In 1820, he obtained, from only four grains, fifty-eight ears, containing 2680 grains: this was his first experiment; and the succeeding ones have answered equally well.

Human Fossil Remains. Count Razoumaski has lately found, (associated with remains of elephants,) skulls, and other bones, of a race of people, thought to be very different from those of the present inhabitants of the globe. They seem to have buried their dead in hillocks: all the skulls examined had a remarkably elongated form.

Imbedded Frog-As some workmen were lately employed at the New Quay, Manchester, hewing the rock in the river, they found a frog alive in the solid stone, four feet from the surface of the rock (which was two feet under water) and about four feet from the bank. On being exposed to the air, it did not die, as is usual with reptiles found in such situations, but is still living.

Steam-Engines-It appears, that the number of steam-engines now in action, in this country, may be reckoned at 10,000; and, one with another, each may be estimated as equal in power to 20 horses; that each horse will do the work of 6 men; and that, consequently, the acting powers of our steam-engines are equal in effect to 200,000 horses, or 1,200,000 men!

The Orkneys in Pawn." A curious circumstance," says Dr. E. Clarke, "was mentioned to us in Norway, by Bernard Anker, of Christiana. He told us, that Great Britain holds the Orkney Islands only in pawn. Looking over some old deeds and records, belonging to the Danish crown, at Copenhagen, Mr. Anker found, that these islands were consigned to England in lieu of a dowry for a Danish princess married to one of our English kings, upon condition that these islands should be restored to Denmark whenever the debt for which they were pledged should be discharged. Therefore, as the price of land, and value of money, have undergone such considerable alteration since this happened, it is in the power of Denmark, for a very small sum, to claim possession of the Orkneys."

Literary Motices.

Just Published.

The Berwick New General Gazetteer. 3 vols. 8vo.

A Treatise on Practical Cupping. By Samuel Bayfield, Surgeon, Cupper to Guy's Hospital.

Part one, of a new and beautiful edition, from the Glasgow University Press, of Damm's Greek Lexicon to Homer and Pindar.

The Pulpit, parts 1, 2, and 3; containing reports of upwards of Thirty Sermons by the most eminent and popular divines of the day, reviews of religious literature, and a great variety of interesting miscellaneous matter.

The second edition, price 12s. boards: For the Oracles of God, four Orations; For Judg ment to Come, an argument, in nine parts. By the Rev. Edward Irving, A.M. Minister of the Caledonian Church, Hatton-garden, London.

Sermons chiefly designed for the use of Families. By John Fawcett, A.M. Rector of Scaleby, and Perpetual Curate of St. Cuthbert's, Carlisle. 3d edition. 2 vols. 12mo. 12s.

Specimens of British Poetry, chiefly selected from authors of high celebrity, and interspersed with original writings. By Elizabeth Scott. 8vo. Price 12s.

A Concise Description of the English Lakes, and the Mountains in their Vicinity, with remarks on the Mineralogy and Geology of the District. By Jonathan Otley. 12mo. 4s. 6d. Vol. V. of The Preacher, or Sketches of Original Sermons. 12mo. Price 4s.

In one vol. 8vo. Directions and Encouragements for Travellers to Zion. By Joseph Freeston.

In one vol. 12mo. The Martyrs, a Poem. By the Rev. Joseph Jones, A.M. 3s.

In one vol. 12mo. The Cottager's Manual for the Management of his Bees, for every Month in the Year, both on the suffocating and depriving system. By Robert Huish, Esq.

In one vol. 12mo. Herveina, or Sketches Hlustrative of the Life and Writings of the Rev. James Hervey, M.A. By John Cole. 5s.

In one vol. 8vo. Martin Luther on the Bondage of the Will. By the Rev. Henry Cole. Price 10s. The Methodist, a Comedy.

In the Press,

A new edition of the Works of the Rev. John Hurrion, consisting of Sermons on Christ Crucified and Glorified, and on the Holy Spirit, with a Life of the Author. 3 vols. 12mo.

A new edition of the Lime-street Lecture Sermons. One vol. 8vo.

In one vol. 12mo. plates, A Manual of Pyrotechny, or a Familiar System of Recreative Fireworks. By a Pseudonymous.

Travels through part of the United States and Canada, in 1818 and 1819. By John Morison Duncan, A.B. This work will appear about the month of September, neatly printed in two vols. post 8vo, and illustrated by geographical cuts on wood.

The 7th edition of Mr. Fanman's Account of the Public Funds, with considerable additions. Preparing for the Press.

Scripture Songs, being chiefly a versification of Psalms; and other Poems. By I. Cobbin, M.A.

Marmores Antiqvvm de Græcæ Scvlptvræ. Mr. Williams has in contemplation to publish, as soon as subscriptions for indemnity can be obtained, Designs from a complete series of Antique Friezes, commonly known as the Phigalian Marbles, which formerly ornamented the cella of the Temple of Apollo Epicu rius at Phigalia, Greece; comprehending the celebrated contest between the Centaurs and Lapithæ, and the battle of the Greeks and Amazones. Taken from those Marbles now deposited in the British Museum, consisting of 23 Tablets.

MEMOIR OF OLINTHUS GREGORY, LL.D.

1823.

Olinthus Gilbert Gregory, the sub

‘AL MILITARY ACADEMY, WOOLWICH.

(With a Portrait.)

THERE is a secret something in the biography of men of superior talents, which awakens the attention, excites the admiration, and commands the reverence of every intelligent mind. In pursuing their march to the temple of fame, we pause, while floating on the stream of time, to watch their progress, and to survey with interesting solicitude the various incidents which mark their career along the beaten paths of life; and we notice with eager discrimination the influence of those co-operating causes, which conspire to dignify their route, and lead them to that elevation where they receive their well-earned crowns of unfading triumph.

Erected on a mountain, the temple of fame is a conspicuous object to surrounding spectators; and among the numerous hosts of scientific adventurers, the aspirings of genius feel its attractive influence. The base of this mountain, multitudes have approached, and many among them have begun

to scale its sides.

Among the legitimate candidates for those honours which posterity will award, science, in her various branches, can boast many illustrious sons. In the metaphysical department we read the name of Dugald Stewart, in the chemical that of Sir Humphry Davy, and in the mathematical, holding a conspicuous rank, appears the name of Dr. Olinthus Gregory. Already has the trumpet of fame repeatedly sounded their names; but such is the state of things, that their mortal career must terminate, before its final blast can give completion to their apotheosis. In their full blaze of unclouded splendour,

These suns of glory please not till they set." No. 57.-VOL. 5.

born at Yaxley in Huntingdonshire, January 29th, 1774, of respectable parents; and, like most other children in country places, he received his first instruction from a schoolmistress. At an early age, however, he was removed from this infant seminary, and placed under the care of Mr. Richard Weston, then master of the most respectable boarding-school in that part of the country. Of this gentleman it is but just to state, that, in addition to his celebrity for success as a preceptor, having been a pupil of Mr. Landen, one of the most eminent of British mathematicians, he distinguished himself as an able contributor to the Ladies' Diary, about the year 1757.

66

Dr. Johnson, in his definition of Genius, observes, that it is a disposition of nature, by which any one is qualified for some peculiar employment." Admitting this remark to be correct, we may cease to wonder, why, under the guidance of Mr. Weston, and having this latent predisposition, Dr. Gregory should become a mathematician. Under the care of this skilful master, he remained ten or twelve years, during which time he read much, thought more, and made a considerable proficiency in various departments of science and intellectual acquirements; but more particularly so, in that branch of which he is at once an ornament and a professor.

On one particular occasion, when not more than seven years of age, he happened to hear his father read to a lady, the following passage from Milton's Paradise Lost:

"That must end us, that must be our cure,
To be no more. Sad cure! for who would lose,
Though full of pain, this intellectual being,
To perish rather, swallow'd up and lost
Those thoughts that wander through eternity,
In the wide womb of uncreated night,
Devoid of sense and motion?"

BOOK II. LINE 145-151. On hearing these lines, a new world 3 D