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from Petrarch, Standomi un giorno solo alla fenestra.' We regret that instead of the Amor Superno Amore' of Felicaja, Mr Glassford did not rather give us translations of his noble odes to John Sobieski, King of Poland, or that on the siege of Vienna by the Turks,-two of the most splendid lyrical compositions to be found in any language, and to which we are sure he would have done ample justice; and we also wish he had made room for Celio Magno's magnificent canzone, entitled 'Dio,'perhaps the finest burst of religious inspiration in the Italian language. We would express a hope, in conclusion, that if the translator should venture on some farther selections, he will not choose them so exclusively from the religious and moral class: a few more specimens of the amorous, or even the humorous sonnet, of which there is no want in the Italian language, would have given additional interest to the present volume; and we are rather apprehensive that Mr Glassford, from the almost unvaried tone of its contents, may have somewhat exposed himself to the remark of Boileau

Tous d'un même ton semblent psalmodier.

ART. VII.-1. Report of the First and Second Meetings of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, at York in 1831, and at Oxford in 1832; including its Proceedings, Recommendations, and Transactions. 8vo. London: 1833. 2. Report of the Third Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Cambridge in 1833. 8vo. London: 1834.

TH HE political convulsions which distinguished the close of the eighteenth century were accompanied with various secondary movements, more pacific in their character, and more permanent in their results. Though not contemplated by the apostles of anarchy, the changes to which we refer were perhaps among its legitimate consequences; and when they have been studied through a longer period of their perturbations, they will doubtless be ranked among those compensatory adjustments in which Providence strikes a balance between present and overwhelming evils and future and permanent good. In the political, as in the natural world, the desolating torrent which sweeps away its bulwarks often loses its power in the depth of its excavations, whilst it forms a new barrier out of the very elements which it has displaced.

Amid the subversion of ancient institutions, whether established by despotism or deformed by corruption, the elements of society are let loose from their forced arrangements; and, in obedience to their natural affinities, they enter into new and less constrained combinations. Kindred minds unite their sympathies for good or for evil: Daring and restless spirits conjoin their physical powers of mischief. Wealth seeks its preservation by uniting itself to wealth, and power strives to extend itself by an alliance with power. But when the transfer of the social elements is over, and the ebullition which accompanies it has subsided, we are permitted to see the powers which have been in exercise, and the products which they have formed. In such political movements, wealth and rank have frequently exercised a predominant influence; and brute force has still oftener enjoyed its short-lived triumph; but intellectual power, the weapon of virtuous and educated minds, has never failed in establishing its just and unalienable rights. When this irresistible auxiliary is allied with the ambition of the despot-when it guides the schemes of an unprincipled oligarchy or when in its individual action it gives birth to theories of wild import directed against the peace and happiness of man, it may, as it has done, exercise à baneful influence over civil and religious liberty: But even then its ascendency is only temporary. It perishes at an elevation where it cannot breathe, and its inspirations are only deep and strong in the humbler level of reason and justice.

Whatever be the forms which the institutions of society have assumed,-whether they are crowned with the diadem of a monarch or the many-headed cowl of a republic, they must ultimately be amenable to the calm and stern scrutiny of reason. The attribute of antiquity, in place of being a shield against improvement, is an argument for closer enquiry; and the long-continued monopoly of privileges by one class of society, and the long-continued exclusion of others, are irresistible inducements to change. There are no abuses more to be dreaded than those which are hoary with age; and no act of misgovernment more deserving of reprobation, than those which refuse to extend to all orders of society, and to all descriptions of merit, the same honours and advantages, and to make real talent and honest merit the principal, if not the only, passport to the offices of the state.

Great as have been the improvements in our social institutions, Europe has not yet achieved in any of her states the blessed triumph of a paternal government. The events which now agitate England indicate her distance from so glorious a consummation. While the interests of a great country are frequently and suddenly transferred from one set of statesmen to another, of

opposite principles, neither can the people be happy nor the nation prosperous. The Minister, indeed, who shall first obtain for his country the blessings of a stable government, must summon into his service the intellectual might of England. He must banish ignorance from its strongholds; and privileged power, and democratic violence, will soon follow the culprit into exile. The education of the people-the diffusion of knowledge-the encouragement of literature and science and talent of every kind, are the only ballast for a government like ours, exposed to the double hostility of popular menace and aristocratical inroad. But of all these elements of stability the most efficacious is that of intellectual power, whether it is exhibited in the statesman's forethought and sagacity, in the philosopher's powers of combination and judgment, or even in the lighter and more elegant accomplishments of the scholar and the poet. The shaft of the stately column is not weakened by the acanthus which curls at its summit, nor is the reason less enlightened when it derives a ray from the imagination. Intrenched in such defences, an honest administration could never be dislodged; and the blessings of the people, and the respect of foreign states, would give it fresh vigour and endurance. A government thus constituted could devote the time now wasted in its own preservation to the real business of the state; and local legislation, or the adjustment of the laws to the varying localities and conditions of the different parts of the empire, would receive that attention which it has never yet met with from a British Parliament.

Did our limits permit, we might draw from ancient and modern history innumerable proofs of the truth of the views which we have now advanced; but we can scarcely conceive minds so constituted as to deny their truth, and if such persons do exist, they must have closed their eyes against the most instructive events of their own times. The young diplomacy of the American states was raised into distinction when Franklin took upon himself the functions of her ambassador; and France was at the zenith of her glory when the Marquis Laplace was President of her Conservative Senate, Lagrange a Peer of France, and Carnot her Minister at War.

We have been drawn into these observations from a desire to make our readers acquainted with the circumstances and views which led to those large reunions of scientific and literary men which have recently sprung up in Europe; and, also, to enable them to judge of the advantages, and predict the destiny of such powerful associations of talent.

Of all the continental states, those which compose the German empire had derived the least benefit from the calamities which

had afflicted themselves, and from the convulsions which had been raging around them. The free spirit of her population, however, and the speculative boldness of her philosophy, were ill suited to antiquated institutions and absolute governments. Men of all castes the political, the theological, and the philosophical writers of the day-were restless under the ignoble pressure which weighed upon their faculties; and the censorship, which blighted the periodical press, extended its paralysis even to the journals of literature and science. Professor Oken, a learned naturalist, who filled the chair of Natural History in the University of Jena, in the duchy of Saxe Weimar, was one of those independent men whose inherent love of liberty was fostered by the study of nature. In his journal of literature and science, called the Isis, he had published some political articles which were ill suited to the temper of the government. The vengeance of power instantly descended on his devoted head; and he was indulged with the alternative of relinquishing his Professorship or discontinuing his journal. The independent spirit of the editor predominated over his passion for science; and while he surrendered his chair at Jena he transferred the publication of his journal to the freer atmosphere of Leipsic.

During his residence at Jena, and, we believe, previous to his political transgression, Oken had proposed to assemble, in an annual congress, the cultivators of natural history and medicine from every corner of the German's fatherland. The very suggestion of so extensive a reunion rendered him unpopular with the alarmists around him; and the peaceful naturalists, who had never wielded a weapon save their lancets and their dissecting knives, became the objects of hatred and suspicion. A phalanx thus summoned from the Rhine, and the Danube, and the Bohemian frontier, and representing the intellectual community between the Southern Alps and the remote shores of the Baltic, could not be viewed with indifference by an arbitrary and suspicious government. In every German capital where its banner was to be unfurled, it could not fail to leave behind, its mantle of knowledge and of free discussion; and it was scarcely to be apprehended that men accustomed to witness in the kingdom of nature the benignant and tender adaptation of its laws and arrangements to the wants and desires of every order of being, could shut their eyes against the obtrusive deformities, and the vicious and selfish laws of aristocratic rule. It was not, indeed, the object of Oken and his friends to study or to slay the monsters of German policy; but the dread of an adversary's power is the very act which invests him with it; and the attempt to guard against designs that were never meditated is often the germ

from which they spring, as well as the arm by which they are executed.

But, while the projected congress of philosophers existed only in the ardent mind of its founder, and in the proscribed pages of his journal, it met with more opposition than when it was regularly organized, and invested with the powers of mischief. The first meeting, which took place at Leipsic, in 1822, was so impotent in numbers, as to excite contempt rather than fear. About twenty individuals from the city, and twelve strangers, formed the first Philosophical Congress in Europe; but the snowball was moulded the plains of Germany lay extended before it—and it now rivals the most gigantic iceberg of the frozen zone.

The following were the laws which this small but enlightened band laid down for the future government of the association :

1. At a meeting of German naturalists and physicians, held at Leipzic on the 18th September, 1822, it was resolved, That a Society be formed to be named the Society of German Naturalists and Physicians.

2. The chief object of this society is to afford an opportunity to the cultivators of natural science and medicine in Germany, to become personally acquainted with each other.

3. Every person who has written upon natural science or medicine, is admissible as a member.

4. The composition of a mere inaugural dissertation, does not entitle any person to be considered as a writer.

5. A particular election is not necessary, and no diplomas will be given.

6. All persons are admissible to the meetings who employ themselves with natural science or medicine.

7. Only Members have the right of voting at the Meetings. 8. Every thing shall be decided by the majority of voices.

9. The society shall meet every year, and deliberate with open doors; to commence on the 18th of September, and continue for several days. 10. The place of meeting shall be variable. At each anniversary, the place of meeting for the ensuing year shall be determined.

11. A president and a secretary, resident in the place of meeting for the time being, shall conduct the affairs of the Society till the ensuing anniversary.

12. The president shall appoint the hours and place of meeting, and arrange the business; and every one who has any thing to bring forward must notify the same to him.

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13. The secretary shall have charge of the minutes, the accounts, and the correspondence.

14. Both office-bearers shall subscribe only in the name of the Society. 15. They shall make known, as early as possible, the authority conferred upon them by the immediately preceding assembly, and at the same time take measures for making the ensuing place of meeting as generally known as possible.

YOL. LX. NO, CXXII,

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