absurdity and extravagance, the natural consequence of attempting to regulate the practice of one art by the principles of another. Bernini, however, had considerable talent; it is only to be regretted that it was not better directed. The schools of sculpture continued afterwards to fluctuate under different impulses, nor can it be said that the principles of true taste began to revive until the genius of Canova dawned on Italy. The style of Greek sculpture may be said to have been resuscitated by his example. We have heard it asserted that his style is frequently meretricious, and without stopping

to discuss whether this accusation may or may not be justly charged on some of his inferior performances, we allege, without fear of contradiction, that his groups of Hercules and Lichas, and of Theseus and the Centaur, may challenge equality with any compositions of equal magnitude in ancient art. At the time when Canova visited England, the Elgin marbles had just been im ported hither, by the taste, patriotism, and enterprise of the Earl of Elgin, and it is almost superfluous to add that thev excited the highest admiration in the Italian artist.

The two principal statues among the Elgin marbles are | the lower line of the ribs in this figure, so admirably those of Theseus, the Athenian hero, and a recumbent expressing its position, from that geometrical arch by figure, supposed to be the river-god Ilissus (numbered which this part of the body is designated in the ordinary in the Synopsis 93 and 99). They are executed in a antique statues, and which is so rarely accommodated to style of extraordinary breadth and grandeur. Theseus the action represented. The principle pointed out in this is represented half reclined on a rock, covered with the instance may be traced throughout the Elgin marbles in skin of a lion, and appears to be resting after some which true art is never superseded by conventional style. mighty labour. The figure of the Ilissus is less robust: We believe that in the opinion of the majority of connoisall his contours flow in lines of undulating elegance. seurs, the statue of Theseus is considered superior to that But in both these statues, that which chiefly strikes us, of the Ilissus. Canova, however, preferred the latter; in spite of the dilapidations which they have suffered, is and Raffaelle, who imported designs from Greece, has the vitality which seems to pervade them. In these, not adapted this figure to that of the fallen Coinmander, in only the office and appearance of the muscles, whether his picture of Heliodorus. It is well known that the in action or at rest, but the bearings of the skeleton, are Ilissus was a small stream which ran along the south expressed with an accuracy which could only have re-side of the plain of Athens. The statue in which it is sulted from the most profound science, added to an acute and perpetual observation of nature. The statue of the Ilissus is especially remarkable for its graceful flexibility, and we would observe, without going too technically into the subject, how different is the indentation formed by

here personified occupied the left angle of the west pediment of the Parthenon, and that of the Theseus was placed opposite to it on the east pediment, next to the horses of Hyperion.

[The Ruins of St. Paul's. From a print by Le Bas, published in 1757, after a drawing made on the spot.] In the midst of our devotions the second great shock came on, little less violent than the first, and completed the ruin of those buildings which had been already much shattered. The consternation now became so universal, that the shrieks and cries of Miserecordia could be distinctly heard from the top of St. Catherine's Hill, at a considerable distance off, whither a vast number of people had likewise retreated; at the same time we could hear the fall of the parish church there, whereby many persons were killed on the spot, and others mortally wounded. You may judge of the force of this shock, when I inform you it was so violent that I could scarce keep on my knees, but it was attended with some circumstances still more dreadful than the former.

swiftness; several large boats were turned keel upwards; and all this without any wind, which seemed the more astonishing. It was at the time of which I am now speaking, that the fine new quay, built entirely of rough marble, at an immense expense, was entirely swallowed up, with all the people on it, who had fled thither for safety, and had reason to think themselves out of danger in such a place: at the same time a great number of boats and small vessels, anchored near it, (all likewise full of people, who had retired thither for the same purpose,) were all swallowed up, as in a whirlpool, and never more appeared.

On

a sudden I heard a general outcry, "The sea is coming in, we shall be all lost." Upon this, turning my eyes towards the river, which in that place is near four miles broad, I could perceive it heaving and swelling in a most unaccountable manner, as no wind was stirring. In an instant there appeared, at some small distance, a large body of water, rising as it were like a mountain. It came on foaming and roaring, and rushed towards the shore with such impetuosity, that we all immediately ran for our lives as fast as possible; many were actually swept away, and the rest above their waist in water at a good distance from the banks. For my own part, I had the narrowest escape, and should certainly have been lost, had I not grasped a large beam that lay on the ground, till the water returned to its channel, which it did almost at the same instant, with equal rapidity. As there now appeared at least as much danger from the sea as the land, and I scarce knew whither to retire for shelter, I took a sudden resolution of returning back, with my clothes all dropping, to the area of St. Paul's. Here I stood some time, and observed the ships tumbling and tossing about as in a violent storm; some had broken their cables and were carried to the other side of the Tagus; others were whirled round with incredible

This last dreadful incident I did not see with my own eyes, as it passed three or four stones' throws from the spot where I then was, but I had the account as here given from several masters of ships, who were anchored within two or three hundred yards of the quay, and saw the whole catastrophe. One of them in particular informed me, that when the second shock came on, he could perceive the whole city waving backwards and forwards, like the sea when the wind first begins to rise; that the agitation of the earth was so great even under the river, that it threw up his large anchor from the mooring, which swam, as he termed it, on the surface of the water; that immediately upon this extraordinary concussion, the river rose at once near twenty feet, and in a moment subsided; at which instant he saw the quay, with the whole concourse of people upon it, sink down, and at the same time every one of the boats and vessels that were near it were drawn into the cavity, which he supposes instantly closed upon them, inasmuch as not the least sign of a wreck was ever seen afterwards. This account you may give full credit to, for as to the loss of the vessels, it is confirmed by everybody; and with regard to the quay, I went myself a few days after, to convince myself of the truth, and could not find even the ruins of a place, where I had taken so many agreeable walks, as this was the common rendezvous of the

factory in the cool of the evening. I found it all deep | guard, had all deserted the place, and the only person water, and in some parts scarcely to be fathomed.

to considerable vicissitudes, the obvious reason of which was, that the monopoly enjoyed by the manufacturers, and the Spitalfields Act, put a stop to all improvement, so that the manufacture remained stationary in England, while, on the Continent, it was rapidly advancing. The spirit of invention, which worked such astonishing results in the cotton manufacture, seems to have been wholly unknown in that of silk.

it to take unrestrained its own course-expose it to the
wholesome breezes of competition-you give it new life,
you restore its former vigour. Industry has been well
likened to the hardy Alpine plant; self-sown on the moun-
tain-side, exposed to the inclemency of the season, it
gathers strength in its struggles for existence-it shoots
forth in vigour and in beauty. Transplanted to the rich
soil of the parterre, tended by the fostering hand of the
gardener, nursed in the artificial atmosphere of the
forcing glass, it grows sickly and enervated, its shoots
are vigourless, its flowers inodorous. In one single
word lies the soul of industry-competition. The an-
swer of the statesman and economist to his Sovereign
inquiring what he would do to assist the industry of his
country, was, Let it take its own way.
Such is my
prayer. Relieve us from the chains in which your in-
discreet tenderness has shackled us; remove your op-
pressive protection; give us the fair field we ask, and
we demand no more. The talent, the genius, the enter-
prise, the capital, the industry of this great people will
do the rest."

THE WEEK.

(35) The impolicy of the restrictive system having become obvious by the experience of 130 years, and the manufacturers of London having petitioned against the existing laws, Mr. Huskisson introduced a new policy in 1826, and in that year foreign silks were first admitted for importation, on payment of a duty of 30 per cent. ad valorem. The duties on the raw material had been previously reduced, together with the duties on dye-stuffs; and the manufacturers, when the foreign manufactures were first admitted, were enabled to obtain foreign thrown silk at a duty of 5s. instead of 14s. 7d. per pound, and raw silk at 3d. per pound instead of 5s. 74d. During the last five years, it is no exaggeration to affirm that the silk manufacture has made a more rapid progress than it did during the whole of the preceding century. Most of the machines and processes known on the Continent have been introduced amongst us, and DECEMBER 25.-The anniversary of the birth of Sir many of them have been materially improved. The ISAAC NEWTON. This illustrious philosopher, the glory plain silk goods manufactured in England are now su- of his country and of his race, was the son of Isaac perior to those of France; and although the ribands, Newton, proprietor of the manor of Woolsthorp, in the figured gauzes, and light fancy goods of France excel ours, parish of Colsterworth, in Lincolnshire; and he was yet even in these departments we have made very great born at the manor-house in 1642. Recent researches advances, and if more attention were paid in this country have made it appear probable that the family was origi to the arts of designing and colouring, we might not de-nally from Scotland, Sir Isaac's grandfather having been spair of rivalling the fabrics of Lyons in brightness and one of the many natives of that country who emigrated lustre. The imports of raw and thrown silk amounted last to the south with James VI. Newton was an only and year to 4,693,517 lbs., being nearly twice the quantity a posthumous child, his father having died a few months. (2,432,286 lbs.) imported in 1823, which was the greatest before his birth, at the age of thirty-six. His mother importation that took place in any one year previously about four years afterwards married a second husband, a to the repeal of the prohibitory system. The official Mr. Barnabas Smith, minister of the neighbouring parish value of our silk goods exported in 1823 was £140,320, of North Witham; and her son was upon this left at his whereas in 1830 it amounted to £437,880, being an ad- paternal estate under the charge of her mother. He was vance of more than three hundred per cent., and we are first put to a small day-school at Skillington, and then rapidly underselling the French in all foreign markets. to another at Stoke; from which last he was removed, (36.) We recommend those who desire further de- when he had reached the age of twelve, to the grammartails to refer to the official accounts collected in the article school of Grantham, the county town. Here he boarded on silk in M'Culloch's Commercial Dictionary, and at the house of a Mr. Clark, an apothecary, the various the parliamentary speeches of Mr. Huskisson and Mr. chemical preparations and other curious contents of whose Poulett Thomson may likewise be consulted with ad- shelves are supposed to have contributed to awaken his vantage. A committee on the silk trade sat during the taste for physical investigation and experiment. His last session, but has not yet made its report. Whether genius for mechanical invention now began to display it be in the power of the legislature to remedy the evils itself in the construction of many curious pieces of workarising from the uncertainty and fluctuation of the de-manship, among which were a water-mill, a water-clock, mand for a particular kind of labour, may, perhaps, be doubtful; and it is to be feared that distress does exist in several branches of the silk trade, to a lamentable extent. Silk goods, which can hardly ever become an article of general consumption, will always be peculiarly dependent upon the fickleness of fashion; and the fancy of a few ladies of rank may, in this respect, affect the well-being of thousands of operatives. But it should be remembered that the silk trade is yet, in point of fact, only partially free; and that the principle of competition can hardly be said to have had its full operation, whilst importation is still restricted in very many ways, and the home-manufacturer is still protected by a duty of thirty per cent. It is sincerely to be hoped that the government may at least never depart from those principles, which were thus forcibly expressed by Mr. Poulett Thomson in his speech on the silk trade in April, 1829. "The very essence of commercial and manufacturing industry is freedom from legislative interference, and legislative protection. Attempt to assist its course by legislative enactments, by fostering care-you arrest its progress, you destroy its vigour. Unbind the shackles in which your unwise tenderness has confined it-permit

a carriage in which he could wheel himself round his room, and other similar contrivances. He appears also to have already begun the study of geometry, making his way, it is said, through the Elements of Euclid, with so much ease that a rapid perusal of the demonstrations in their order sufficed to make him master of them; he read the work as if it had been a history or a tale. After he had spent a few years at Grantham, however, his mother, who had returned to Woolsthorp, upon the death of her husband, in 1656, took him home, intending to employ him in farming the property, which was a very small one, that he might lead a country life as his father and grandfather had done. But occupations of this kind had no attraction for the young philosopher: when he was sent along with a servant to Grantham to dispose of the produce of the farm, he used to leave the man to go by himself to market, while he either sat down with a book in his hand by the road-side, or repaired to his former lodgings at the apothecary's, and shut himself up beside a parcel of old books in the garret. At length, convinced that he would never make a good farmer, his mother consented to allow him to follow the bent of his inclination. He then returned for

nine months to the grammar-school of Grantham; and In 1688 Newton, who had some time before distinon the expiration of that period, in June 1660, pro-guished himself by his defence of the privileges of the ceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge. Here he applied University against certain arbitrary attempts of James himself to his studies, and especially to mathematical II., was returned as one of its representatives to the Conscience, with extraordinary ardour; and, although the vention Parliament. In 1695 he was appointed to the statement is so wonderful as almost to seem incredible, office of Warden, and in 1699 to that of Master of the appears actually to have completed all the splendid dis- Mint, a place worth about £1,500 a year. He now recoveries which have immortalized his name, within the linquished the teaching of his class to Mr. Whiston, to first six years of his academic course. In 1664 he purwhom he gave all the emoluments; and in 1703 he rechased a prism, or triangular piece of glass, for the pur- signed the chair. In 1701 he was again returned to pose of trying some experiments suggested by a work of Parliament for the University of Cambridge. In 1703 Descartes; and the investigations upon which he thus he was elected for the first time to the Presidency of the entered led him gradually to his great discovery of the Royal Society; and he was annually re-elected to the composition of light, and the unequal refrangibility of same high office while he lived. In 1705 he received the the different sorts of rays, the doctrine from which nearly honour of Knighthood. The remainder of his life, exthe whole of modern optical science is derived. In or cept while engaged with the duties of his office, was before the year 1666 he had invented his new instrument spent, as the previous portion of it had been, in conof calculation, the method of fluxions, the grand auxiliary stant study, almost every department of human knowto which physical science in almost every department ledge receiving in its turn some new light from his owes its chief triumphs, and without which it would have singularly-gifted intellect. Newton died at his home been comparatively helpless. And it was also in 1666 in Orbell's Buildings, now Pitt's Buildings, Kenthat, having retired to Woolsthorp, in order to avoid the sington, between one and two o'clock in the morning plague, which then raged at Cambridge, he was, while of Monday the 20th of March, 1727, in the eightysitting in his mother's garden, struck with the first idea fifth year of his age. of his theory of universal gravitation, by the simple incident of an apple dropping from a tree. He immediately entered into the calculations necessary to verify the hypothesis he had formed, and would have then established its truth if he had possessed accurate measurements of all the distances which he had to take into account; but being misled by certain incorrect statements, which prevented the result of his investigation from turning out what it ought to have done, he desisted in the mean time from the further prosecution of the subject, and it was not till sixteen or seventeen years afterwards that, with rectified data, he resumed it, and soon brought it to a triumphant conclusion. Meanwhile he had taken his degree of B. A. in 1665, had become a junior Fellow of his college in 1667, had graduated M. A. in 1668, and in the same year had obtained a senior Fellowship. In 1669 Dr. Barrow, having accepted the chair of Divinity, resigned the Lucasian, Professorship of Mathematics, when Newton was appointed his successor. In January 1672 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and almost immediately after began to contribute to the Transactions accounts of his discoveries in optics, which fixed upon him the attention of men of science in every part of Europe. These and his other communications also involved him in many vexatious controversies, into the history of which it is impossible for us to enter here, but which appear to have greatly annoyed and distressed his placid and sensitive disposition, and even at times to have made him almost regret that he had not hidden the light that fell upon him within his own bosom. "I blame my own imprudence," he exclaims in one of his letters, "for parting with so real a blessing as my quiet, to run after a shadow." He at last requested Oldenburg, the secretary of the Royal Society, to prevent the appearance, as far as he conveniently could, of any objections or philosophical letters that might be sent respecting his discoveries. He also expressed the utmost aversion to the publication of his Principia, the immortal disclosure of his philosophy of the universe, when the Society first applied to him to allow them to print it: "Philosophy," he says, writing on the subject to Halley, " is such an impertinently litigious lady, that a man had as good be engaged in law-suits as have to do with her." He was, however, eventually prevailed upon to yield; and the work appeared in May 1687. His Optics he would not publish till the year 1704, two years after the death of his pertinacious tormentor Hooke, who, while he lived, had almost regularly either contested the truth of every discovery Newton announced, or claimed it as his own.

[Portrait of Newton.]

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