Correspondence. REMARKS ON PHRENOLOGY. TO THE EDITOR. SIR,-It has been argued that the brain is not one organ, but consists of many, because it could not be possible for different faculties to be at rest at the same time. This single argument appears to me sufficient to prove a plurality of organs, provided the fact be admitted that the brain is the instrument of the mind. For I would ask, how can the brain be necessary in a general manner, without being also necessary for its particular actions, seeing generally they are made up of particulars of the same kind? and each particular faculty must either be manifested by means of the whole brain, or by a particular part of it. Were the whole necessary, all the faculties would be exercised at the same time, which is not true, and therefore there must be some part only required for each essentially different faculty. But there does not want proof to establish this point of belief; for it is observed, that in different individuals of the same class of animals, or among men, the different faculties vary in relation to each other; the organs must, therefore, be different by which they manifest these faculties; for if there was only one organ, no individual could distinguish himself by one faculty, as we see some distinguish themselves in painting, poetry, &c. Again, the faculties of mind are distributed in different classes of animals in different rela. tions, and independent one of the other; but all have a brain, and possess faculties corresponding to the parts found in the brain; the faculties not depending entirely on mass. Further, Like the senses, the different functions are not developed at the same time in the same degree, which would not be the case were the brain a single organ. For example, a child is not capable of conceiving the existence of God, though it can understand other things. Lastly,-Partial lessons of the mind, according to partial lessons of the brain, as well as partial integrity of mind, would not be possible, if there did not exist several organs. Instances of this kind are numerous. A blow on the head, over the eye, has been known to occasion a loss of the power of recollecting words, so that the individual could not express his wants, though there remained a capability of understanding business. Many insane persons reason so well upon the greater number of subjects, that nothing but an acquaintance with the particular object of their insanity could lead us to pronounce them insane. A remarkable instance of this kind may be seen in Lord Erskine's trials. The French call it reasoning folly. Persons have walked, spoken, and heard in their sleep, and, therefore, as some of the senses may be awake, and others asleep, so may any other of the internal faculties. I have been told of a person that frequently got up in his sleep, and wrote discourses upon subjects, then returned to his bed, and awoke without any recollection of what he had done. The first time he did this, he could not imagine how the paper on his desk had been filled up with the subject upon which he had been meditating. He recognised his own hand-writing; and, having been watched, he did this frequently, without observing the person who watched him. Now this I maintain to be a proof that the brain is not one, but many organs. It has been further objected, that the unity of organization would be destroyed by the doctrine of a plurality of organs. But we observe the body to be one, although it be made up of different parts; for they all concur to a common end, and have a mutual depend zation of the brain. They say they cannot separate materialism from the latter opinion. Whilst I acknowledge it to be materialism in a certain degree, yet it is perfectly consistent with all that religion or philosophy has ever taught; and he who contends that the particular faculties of the mind are manifested by the instrumentality of particular portions of the brain, seems to me to be no more of a materialist than he who admits the dependancy of the faculties in a general manner. In both cases matter is the instrument; but the former expresses his opinion in a definite manner; the latter is content with a vague and indefinite expression, and most probably has not a distinct idea of his own meaning. This doctrine has been particularly objected to as destroying the unity of the mind. It has been said, by metaphysicians, that the mind is a single power, possessing some general powers of observation and judgment, independent of the special organs; the knowledge acquired by which, without some directing power, would be useless, as we would be regularly governed by the propensities and feelings of these faculties; and by way of proof of it, it is added, that we are conscious of possessing some general powers of mind, such as willing and judging. But in answer to this it can be said, that were the mind independent of organs, an impression made on the organs of an intoxicated person ought to exercise the same mental powers as in sobriety. Besides, we are conscious of the propensities and sentiments not being derived from any thing external to us; for they are sensations, but not ideas. Lastly, the faculties are developed with increasing age, and become less energetic in decline of life.-I must at present postpone saying any more, intending to write to you soon again on the subject.—I remain, yours, &c. J. B. W-N. SWIMMING FEATS-SWIMMING POSTMEN OF SOUTH AMERICA. (Continued from our last.) In the Kaleidoscope published September 19, 1820, we recorded the case of a sailor who was washed overboard from a French sloop at nine o'clock in the evening, and who swam all the night, and was picked up in the morning by a pinnace boat of the ship Liverpool Hero. We can readily believe that a person may sustain himself in the sea in warm climates for half a day or more, as the water is often at least twenty degrees warmer than that of our river. A gentleman of our acquaintance, who has just returned from a foreign voyage, informs us that he found the water in the Gulf Stream at a temperature of 82 degrees by Fahrenheit's thermometer. Besides this, the water of the ocean is much more briny, and consequently much more buoyant than our river water. The most extraordinary instance we ever read of the power of remaining immersed in water is recorded by Humboldt in his celebrated "Researches." It is as follows: cascade, crosses the forest, and takes again to the wis when he has passed the danger. He takes no provisi with him, for he is a welcome guest in the huts, whi which mingle their waters with the Marannon in this t are numerous along the banks of the river. The are not, it seems, infested with crocodiles; and the therefore, almost all travel like the Peruvian po After he has rested himself a few days at Tomepend place of his destination, he returns again by land. very seldom that letters are lost in this conveyanc even wetted." Appropos:-Whilst we are on the subject of ming, we shall be particularly obliged to any perm can inform us what was the distance which the gentlem mentioned in the following paragraph undertook to We copy it from the Liverpool Mercury, Aug 28, 165 "Mr. Scrope, Fellow of the King's College, Cambridg who betted 5000 guineas, some time since, that he swim from Englehurst, the seat of Lord Cams, Southampton river, to the Isle of Wight, 750 guineas forfeit from the sporting gen whom he made the wager." A B C D E WHITE. FGH To Correspondents. GERMAN LITERATURE. We have just received from teemed literary correspondent, a packet containing a of original translations of German stories, from the He &c. We shall appropriate a portion, if not the whe The Stanzas of C. Johnson are reserved for our next. "It is curious to remark the different modes which men employ for doing the same thing, when placed in physical in the Andes with frequent examples of this; for no circumstances of great diversity. We may expect to meet where, doubtless, are the physical circumstances in which man is placed so unlike those by which he is usually surrounded. We learn from Humboldt, that in order to keep up the communication between the coasts of the Pacific Ocean and the provinces situated on the east of the Andes, a post is established; and the postman traverses the latter, not conveyed as we suppose in a mail coach, nor riding on horseback, nor even walking on foot, but swimming, which he does for two days together, first down the river Chamaya, and afterwards down a part of the bearer in a kind of handkerchief, which he winds like now completed, and the description shall appear in a turban round his head. The Chamaya river is not navigable, on account of a great number of small cata. Our next supplemental sheet will be published in a wee racts; and indeed it falls no less than 1777 feet in the distance of 18 leagues. It is in this rapid river that the postman swims; and in order to fatigue himself less, he supports himself on a small log of very light wood. When a ridge of rocks intersects the rivers, he lands above the theni. ence on one another for their action. Unity of conscious- the Amazons. He wraps the few letters of which he is THE UNION AIR PUMP.-The engraving of this inventi ness would no more be destroyed by this belief than by saying we see with two eyes, or we hear with two ears; for, in either case, the organ is the instrument, not the next Kaleidoscope. two. We are in the very midst of the turmoil of remo from our Lord-street premises. Printed, published, and sold, EVERY TUESDAY E. SMITH & Co. 75, Lord.street, Liverpool. OR. Literary and Scientific Mirror. " UTILE DULCI." familiar Miscellany, from which all religious and political matters are excluded, contains a variety of original and selected Articles; comprehending LITERATURE, CRITICISM, MEN and INNERS, AMUSEMENT, elegant EXTRACTS, POETRY, ANECDOTES, BIOGRAPHY, METEOROLOGY, the DRAMA, ARTS and SCIENCES, WIT and SATIRE, Fashions, Natural HISTORY, &c. forming handsome ANNUAL VOLUME, with an INDEX and TITLE-PAGE. Persons in any part of the Kingdom may obtain this Work from London through their respective Booksellers. 372.-Vol. VIII. Scientific Notices, rehending Notices of new Discoveries or Improve. THE UNION AIR-PUMP. e following description of an important improvement mplification of the air-pump is very well worthy of tention of our readers. TO THE EDITORS. TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 1827. PRICE 3 as the faculty, Mind, is cultivated, and the agencies of as respects the reign of the second Henry; and their meanature judiciously employed. A great man called this greness arises more from the scantiness of materials than its in Science or Art; including, occasionally, sin-country a nation of shopkeepers;" might he not have my own disinclination. But if the reign of Henry prear Medical Cases; Astronomical, Mechanical, Phi- more justly defined it a nation of practical chymists and sents little of interest, that of his son Richard presents in@phical, Botanical, Meteorological, and Mineralogical machinists, who ride, fly, swim, and practise all the opera-cidents of the first importance, as respects the present subnomena, or singular Facts in Natural History; tions of the arts of life by means of inanimate matter?-ject,-and a more extended notice of it will, therefore, be =getation, &c.; Antiquities, &c. If the mind of man were perfect, so would be his first necessary. When Richard ascended the throne, he reconceptions of an instrument; but as it is progressive, his solved on an expedition to the Holy Land; and the means instruments are susceptible of improvement; for, in ge- by which he raised the supplies necessary for this expedineral, they are, at first, found to be complicated and re- tion, deserve some notice. 1st, He sold, to the highest mote from the simplicity of nature, which, in the most bidder, the demesne lands of the Crown, or, in other words, elegant manner, operates by the shortest means; hence he disposed of the forfeited estates of the Saxon nobles, the simplifying of machinery approaches its perfection, as enjoyed by the Conqueror and his successors. 2d, He exis evinced in the histories of naval architecture, the steam- acted a fine of twenty shillings from every knight's fee. engine, and the air-pump. An extended application of 3d, He sold the honours of the Crown for large sums; the above instrument, I apprehend, might be in the throw-and, 4th, He assembled the king's council of nobles and ing out a line to vessels in distress near our coast; it might prelates, at Nottingham, and obtained from it a contribube used also on board of a man-of-war-but it would be tion of two shillings in every caracute of land. By these too destructive, in consequence of the great facility of means Richard was enabled to proceed in his expedition, charging it; and as air-guns are illegal on land, it would be and to reap that barren glory which still encircles his name. improper to use them on water, though such an instrument It belongs not to the present inquiry to detail the inwould supersede the use of powder, and many of the aux-trigues of John during his brother Richard's absence, or iliaries attending the working of large guns. On the the progress of Richard in his mad scheme of conquering coast it might be used in the most tempestuous weather, the Saracens and regaining the Holy City. I shall, thereas it requires neither flint, fire, nor powder, and is sus- fore, pass on to notice the means by which Richard obceptible of being charged to any power that the receiver tained revenue, after his return to England-as they precapable of resisting. NTLEMEN,-Should you apprehend the following iption of an instrument, with its appendages, worthy ing made known to the philosophical world, you t liberty to communicate it in either or both of your able publications; or in any other way you may think er-Yours, &c. JOHN BRADLEY. ademy, Windsor, Toxteth-park, near Liverpool B C C cylinder; Pa solid piston, the length of which is one inch longer than the distance from t, the top of the cylinder, to e. When the piston is at the bottom of the cylinder, as in the diagram, there is then an open communication between the upper part of the cylinder and the receiver, R. As the piston rises to the top, by turning the rackwheel, Z, it forces the air out Gthrough the valve, o, at the top of the pump, and when the piston is completely at the top, its lower part, being by an inch below e, covers the entrance into The Envestigator. is sent a curious instance of the miserable necessities the monarch was reduced to by the insufficient provisions of the feudal system. Fully aware of the rash act he had committed, in disposing of the Crown lands, he forcibly re[Comprehending Political Economy, Statistics, Jurispru-sumed possession of them, contending that the revedence, occasional passages from Parliamentary Speeches nue received from them, by their purchasers, was more of a general nature, occasional Parliamentary Docu- than sufficient to repay them the sums received by ments, and other speculative subjects, excluding Party him prior to his expedition to the Holy Land. the receiver, and prevents the AN HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL INQUIRY INTO THE renewed under the new seal, else they became for blowpipe, B, on the valve, o, work the wheel, Z, la addition to the foregoing description, which appeared the Mercury, we annex the following observations, by =. Bradley. Providence has given to man three potent servants-fire, er, air, together with a faculty of using them; and in portion to the manner of use, he procures to himself the messities, conveniences, and amusements of life. Hence Hividuals and nations rise or fall in the scale of eminence feited, of course, the fees, &c. were demanded as in cases of an original grant under the great seal. He raised a contribution of five shillings on every caracuta of land, pretending he was sanctioned in so doing by the proceedings of the before-mentioned council at Nottingham. He exacted tollages from all burghs, cities, towns, demesnes, &c. belonging to the Crown. He raised the fines of wardtimes the amount required by the feudal system; and ship most enormously, and exacted for purveyorship ten finally, he demanded and obtained fines for even knight's fee. It is clear, that in thus obtaining revenue he violated the privileges guaranteed to the Crown vassals by the feudal system, and confirmed to them by the Conqueror when he obtained possession of England. The impost of five shillings on every caracute of land, under the pretence that it was sanctioned by the council at Nottingham, was a most tyrannical measure, as Richard perpetuated a tax which was only granted by the Crown vase sals in consequence of a pressing emergency. The tollage required from the cities, towns, demesnes, &c. belonging to the Crown was a gross violation of the feudal system, as the immediate vassals of the Crown were exempted by the laws from such imposts. But the most flagrant breach of the feudal system was in the cases of wardship and pur • Hoved. veyorship. By the consent of the Conqueror and his successors, a stipulated sum was paid by all minors in cases of wardship, which sum was proportionate to the dignity of the minor. By another agreement the claims of purveyorship were satisfied by the payment of a yearly sum, either in kind or in specie. Richard, without the consent of his vassals, raised the fines of wardship most enormously, and exacted more than ten times the stipulated sum as a satisfaction for purveyorship. These acts on the part of the King were justly considered as the first steps in a career of taxation unsanctioned by the vassals, and unacknowledged by the feudal system. But it was not to be expected that the proud and powerful aristocracy of England would tamely submit to these innovations. During the short period of Richard's reign, symptoms of disaffection occurred, and the nobles clamoured loudly and fearlessly against the tyranny of their sovereign; the prelates also espoused the cause of the nobles, and already these coalitions were formed which subsequently obtained the grant of Magna Charta. It was at this critical period that Richard, by death, escaped the consequence of his ill-judged measures, and his weak and unfortunate brother John was left to receive the punishment for those acts which Richard himself had committed. But before pro- | ceeding to the reign of John, I think it necessary to notice, somewhat at length, the internal condition of England at the period of Richard's death. | procrastinate the evil day of dependance upon the people, During this time a man had brought some paper The reign of John is one of the greatest importance to Men and Manners. THE NEWSPAPER OFFICE. KALEIDOSCOPE.] It is an old saying, that we ought not to analyse our enjoyments, nor be too particular in our inquiries as to the manner in which certain things are composed. It is for this reason that good housewives will not allow any visitors to come to the kitchen; and, on the same principle, the editors of newspapers do not like to be called upon during the hours of preparation. It may, nevertheless, interest some of my readers to share the observations which I was accidentally enabled to make on such an occasion. "So, so," said the proprietor, in a somewhat lower tone, resting his heavy political head against the rig support of his seat, and looking as earnestly at the s as if he had been anxious to discover some new stars broad day-light. He took up a second paper, and read: before:-"I shall not want your Correspondent any longe and beg that you will discontinue sending it after the pr sent quarter." The man's eyes became less visible; his br lowered; he turned to the other side, and seemed to contir a train of thoughts which the reading of the second note rather strengthened than interrupted. He once stretched forth his hand, and, as misfortune would have he once more got hold of a—" Please to take notice," -This was really too bad: three subscribers withdraw at once! what could be the reason? He quickly made some hasty strides through the room, and abrup ordered the young man to call in the doctor. Hel crammed the unfortunate requests into his hand, given them such a convulsive squeeze, that very lit made his appearance, he threw all before him, and claimed," There! there! what do you say to that! I cannot help that," was the reply: "there are so many papers, besides bad times, no war, no rebell no stir of any kind: what other reasons would you hav Poh! poh! a man of genius is never without ressure the world is now ruled by opinion; and if you flatter you may do what you like.". "What is the use of tery, when people have got no money to pay for 66 The condition of the Anglo-Saxons during the reign of the Conqueror and his immediate successors, has already been noticed; and the means of extortion employed upon them have been minutely stated: but time, which produces mighty changes, also changed the condition of the AngloSaxons. During the reigns I have before noticed, the [TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN HERMIT, EXPRESSLY FOR THE their primitive form remained; but as soon as the de amalgamation of the Saxons and Normans gradually and silently took place, and as the conquerors and conquered became intermingled and confounded together, those acts of oppression, which had hitherto been used against the Anglo-Saxons, could no longer be employed. The intermixture of Saxons, Danes, Normans, French, &c. had produced the English, and when Richard had sought to tax the Anglo-Saxons after the manner of the Conqueror, he found a new race, who preserved no distinctive traces of their origin, and who claimed the same privileges and They will find money enough to pay for our immunities as did the Normans in the early periods of the when they find that it contains something that may conquest. Thus, by this change, was the monarch deprived their situation."-"How am I to manage that, when of a most fruitful source of revenue, and thus was the mighty I was studying the history of the campaign in 1793, is nothing going on; when the like inactivity prevail crisis of England's liberty and independence hastened and remembering that I had read an important article the cabinets, the saloons, and the commercial world with irresistible rapidity, Another power now claimed in one of the Correspondents, I begged leave at the office" Do like the French,-make something out of noth the monarch's notice, which, feeble in the reign of the to search for the number I wanted, and I obtained it: Look at the emancipation of Hayti: did they not com Conqueror, acquired gigantic strength in the reign of his but as my occupation detained me a considerable time, to make a most glorious business of it, though it wi successors-and this power was the clergy. By the regu. and I continued it in silence, I ceased to be noticed by fact nothing at all. The blacks have to purchase lations between the Conqueror and the Pope, the former those in the establishment, and I had therefore an oppor-freedom; but what an outcry about this grant of pol was allowed the privilege of nominating and appointing the tunity to witness what was going on. Archbishops and Bishops, and, as has been already stated, the early Norman monarchs used this privilege as a means of obtaining revenue. But when Stephen ascended the throne, he partly gave up this important privilege, and it was finally wrested from the second Henry, by the haughty Thomas à Becket. Thus the first step was made in depriving the monarch of another source of revenue, and thus was his humiliation further hastened. The great cause of this change, and of the clergy's power may be found in the struggle between Stephen and Maud, as to secure the support of the church both parties granted it immunities and privileges which could not again be wrested from it. From this period until the end of Richard's reign, the clergy gradually acquired more extensive privileges and greater power; and in the reign of John, so great had their influence increased, that we find them the arbiters of the destinies of England. Thus I have traced the progress of the feudal system, and the cause which retarded the effects of its pecuniary provisions on the dignity of the monarch. The early Norman Kings, from causes before explained, were enabled to + Hoved. Lingard. The next person to me in the room was a young man, who answered to inquiries, and received orders. A young woman called to have her master's death noticed, and began with laying a dollar upon the table; but understanding that this would scarcely suffice to have the event mentioned at all, and having received positive orders to get something very dashing to be inserted, she increased the premium to a full louis d'or, under the condition of getting No. I. in point of language, with all the particulars, and a black border besides. The intended article was written out, and met with her full approbation; it was as follows: "This is the most unfortunate day of my life. The angel of death, from whom no one escapes, seized my beloved, never-to-be-forgotten husband, and drew him (the ever dear) into the realm of shades by means of an apoplectic fit. To me, who stand broken-hearted near his grave, nothing remains but the wish soon to follow him. He was in the very prime of life, being only five and forty years, three months, two days, and four hours and a quarter old. May all weep with me! but let none make me acquainted with their tears, as they would only increase my own." Will not the free ne liberty! what precious disputes about the perversie You may depend upon their being all bearers of despatches, Adders.-A pointer belonging to Captain Russell having equay, and some of them secret ones, let me tell you. Be- died in consequence of the bite of an adder received a sides, troops are always assembling, or reviewing, some-lantrae, the Captain," says the Dumfries Courier, "defortnight before while training in the grounds near Balwhere; and how often does not a king return sooner from termined to be upsides with the adder; provided himself bathing-place than had been anticipated; nay, Mr. with a cleft stick; ascended the heights, discovered the Canning himself does sometimes go into the country, or reptile, seized it by the middle, and held it up while his return from it, and what should prevent us from explain- servant lashed it smartly with a switch. The reptile sing such matters in our own way? We need not commit curious to know the result, desisted. In less than a coiled and wound its own tail; and Captain Russell, being ourselves by bold guesses; we only throw out hints, or quarter of an hour the adder swelled to a great size. When we communicate those that have been imparted to us by killed, it measured four feet one inch." gour friends. We may object to the rumours that are pread, or might be spread, on the strength of passing events; and we are at perfect liberty to state that we have every reason to believe ourselves better informed than our temporaries, and that nothing but a feeling of delicate rbearance prevents us from making a premature dissure of what is then in agitation. Our foreign corspondents are certainly not worth the expense to which put us; but since we have got them, and pay for Poetry. LINES. "This grief is to my bewildered mind what the church of Lidcote is to our park; we may lose ourselves among the briars and thickets, for a little space, but from the end of each avenue we see the old gray steeple and the grave of my forefathers. I would I were to travel that road to-morrow!" -KENILWORTH. Oh, fair may be the valleys, and the daisied meadows green, And thickets, glens, and woodland sweet, compose a fairy scene; Yet, amid the sylvan glories bright, so beauteous to see, Still"the old gray steeple" points the spot, aye, dearest unto me. It may be in scenes Elysian, that we lose ourselves awhile, And nature in her witchery, may thought, perchance, beguile; But transient her dominion, o'er the heart that changing never, From its buried love nor time, nor scene, nor aught but death can sever. Oh, there is a spell omnipotent, a power to all unknown, Save the one bereaved that hence must make life's pilgrimage alone: A spell there is the spot around, where low the flow'ret lies, Transcending all that earth can boast, or heaven's own golden skies. I see the grave, the grave of her, the dearest and the best, And the steeple gray that rises o'er her hallowed place of rest; And nature in her loveliest wears a garb less fair to me, Than where with her, my angel love, where I so fain would be. Oh, the wasting grief in silence that unceasing on me preys, And the valley shrouds in darkness, and extinguishes hope's rays; Oh, this grief to my bewildered mind makes all a desert here, But beyond the grave all, all is bright; and she, my love, is there. ! Unrivall'd Greece! thou ever-honour'd name, And unobserved, but by the traveller's eye, AN INSCRIPTION OVER A TAVERN IN PISA. The following inscription over a tavern door in Pisa is now making its tour through the papers. It is ingenious enough-as the first line is Italian, the second French, the third Latin, and the fourth English. In questa caza trouverete Tout se que l'on peut souhaiter, Bonum vinum, pisces, carnes, Coaches, chaises, horses, harness. In this tavern you may find Every thing to suit your mind,Good wine, good fish, and flesh, in courses, Coaches, chaises, harness, horses. The Drama. THE THEATRE. "The most that Vandyke can arrive at, is to make his portraits of great persons seem to think; Shakspeare goes further yet, and tells you what his pictures thought. An actor should step beyond them both, and call them from the grave to breathe, and be themselves again, in feature, speech, and mo tion. When the skilful actor shows you all these powers at once united, and gratifies at once your eye, your ear, your understanding; to conceive the pleasure rising from such har mony, you must have been present at it: it is not to be told you." TO THE EDITOR. SIR,-As a lover of the drama, I am not less grieved than surprised that you should evince so culpable an indifference to the amusements of the stage. Scarcely does a solitary notice, even of the Theatre, appear in your pages, and these emanating only from the pen of an occasional correspondent, as little qualified for the office as myself, whose sentiments are either swayed by friendship, or biased by personal dislike, and whose opinions, whether just or otherwise, are necessarily bereft alike of the responsibility of your name, and the influence of your authority. It may be, indeed, that "the cant of criticism" disgusts you, or, perhaps, the malignant effrontery of some pseudo-critics, (for critics, forsooth, they modestly term themselves,) while it excites your loathsome contempt, deters you also from essaying the ungracious task of scourging their ignorant impertinence, and endeavouring, as I think you ought, to cultivate more correct notions amongst those, who have no alternative but to be satisfied with the maudlin imbecility which, so much to the aversion and disrepute of the town, has latterly prevailed here. But these, I conceive, are additional motives for efficient exertion, rather than adequate reasons for fastidious inert. ness, and should stimulate you to the useful exercise of the means you possess for remedying an evil of no insignificant magnitude;-means, I would add, rendered potent by your talents, and the powerful engine you control. If it be of consequence that we should be instructed at all, | we should be properly instructed; not taught by teachers requiring to be taught themselves; and if it be of mon that we ought to think and speak with somewhat of tr and judgment, as well of affairs of taste as in matter morality, it is equally important that any thing havi tendency to encourage the vitiated or false perception what we witness or know, should be discountenanc nay, reprobated. And though it may be much easie imbibe erroneous ideas than to eradicate them when quired, it is, nevertheless, the especial duty of those b ing in any wise the guidance of public opinion, to p out its more legitimate and judicious course; for in ratio of a man's power to do good, should be his effort benefit his kind. Heav'n doth with us, as we with torches do, Let not, then, I pray you, Gentlemen, a Vandenhof Browne, a Meadows, a Bedford, and though in enu ration last, in talent foremost and alone-a Douton, “su his hour upon the stage," without your frequent col roendation. Content not yourselves with "the dun eloquence of silent" admiration, but proclaim aloud to t world the pleasurable emotions with which these worthi inspire you; and with which, therefore, they are capab of inspiring others. To any one, however, at all conv sant with our present dramatic recreations, it will merely requisite, speaking of Dowton in particular, say he represented such a part; every other thing y could mention of him will then be understood, for prai would be supererogation, censure absurd; so comple does he realize the description of an actor in my met that, as regards him, criticism's "occupation's gone." hope, the weather having become cooler, to see this get man play Falstaff again: rich as are all his performanc Falstaff, to my thinking, is the most racy. Weid not be suitable for his benefit, which must now u occur? the same play (Henry IV.) presenting the indu ment, besides, of Vandenhoft's Hotspur, than which difficult to imagine a more spirited and judicious specia of acting. |