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minion blest their repose. They listened not to the lessons of ages; they worshipped not at the altar of history; they heard not of that lever, whose pressure is the present, whose power is the past, whose fulcrum is the future; they thought not on the ruins of Rome; they looked not to the example of Athens; they thought not on that fallen nation, whose merchants were the princes of the earth. No! they were chaunting their idle pæans of praise; they were parading through the palaces of Paris, they were visiting the vallies of Waterloo! Basking in the delightful delusion, they were lulled into a dull and dreamy repose by the courtly lays of the laureat, or sublimated to a frantic enthusiasm by the inebriate inspiration of another prophet of the lakes, a very Montorio of madness, a lay preacher, one who dreams dreams, and sees visions, forsooth.-Well no matter his fantastic feats of German jugglery are applauded!-I strove to break the slumber of death, but mine was the voice of one crying in the wilderness-Wo to those who bow down at the altars of National Insolvency-their deity is a demon-their shrine is the table of the money-changer the incense of their adoration is wafted on the tainted sighs of an injured and insulted people; the bread of their impious communion is moistened with the sweat, and leavened with the blood of indigence :-the minister-but need I name the ministers of the accursed sacrifice! [Name! Name!no! no!] Oh! I loath the sickening scene of senatorial servility-of Plebeian prostration!-if we must have a Parliament, why are its numbers limited? Why is its sphere of action confined?-in this æra of universal genius, when mind at length asserts its inherent omnipotence over the essential grossness, and the accidental fluctuations of matter, why is not the intellectual strength of the kingdom represented ?—but mark, for a moment, the wretched policy of these borough-mongering sinecurists-they deify Wealth-they despise Wisdom-like the mechanic-whose eyes turns hastily from the hill of Howth, from the harbour of Dunleary, and rests in delighted repose on the tin tube-the whirling wheels, and all the mean and miserable machinery of the steam-boat!

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Better, far better were the slavery of the African, than the boasted birthright of the Briton-What though he toils beneath a torrid Sun-what though he shrinks under the scourge of the taskmaster, what though for ages he has vainly waited for the Avatar of that spirit, whose fiat shall burst the fetters of his political thraldomwhat though the chains of a tyrant gall his dusky arms, can the pangs of bodily torture rival in intensity the agonies of mind?Our slavery is the slavery of the soul!Our chains are the chains of the heart! Listen not to the schemes of these black and bloated Vampires, that rise from the vaults of Corruption and Rottenness, to feast upon

the heart and the hopes, upon the blessings and the blood of their country !-years have glided by-generations have passed awayeven centuries-those vast segments of the circle of time, have waned and wasted-Literature hath advanced-Poetry hath extended her reign-Eloquence is the attribute of universal man-Science hath spread her conquests from the University to the Universe;-with the presumption of Prometheus we have called down fire from heaven-with the wing of Dædalus we have traversed the ambient oceans of air-but is the happiness of social man extended? Have we improved in the art of Legislation ?— Those questions you have heard admirably answered by my honourable Friend, to whose eloquent expositions you have listened with such deep delight [hear! hear!] let it be my task to point out less observable evils look to the University of Ireland! She weeps for her children, and will not be comforted for they are not.-The voice of the HISTORICAL SOCIETY' is silentdust hath defiled the volumes that record the glorious and gigantic march of Genius

the bookworm hath battened on the treasures of thought-the triumphs and the trophies of Literature-Solitude sits in the chambers, where Age gazed in mute admiration, while Youth hastened to decidewhere Wisdom watched with wonder the wild and wanton wing of Eloquence, as it rose, in unimaginable flight, above the callous and calculating ken of minds, corrupted by the cold contagions of self-vaunting Pride,-clouded by coarse communion with self-sufficient prejudice. (Hear! hear!) Pass where the hurricane hath past!-visit the vale which the earthquake hath visited! -where the bank bloomed with beauty, where the flower flourished, where the river rolled and reflected the lovely and luxuriant landscape, where the wild bird chaunted his carols of thoughtless praise-behold the rifted rock-rugged and ragged-black with lightning and barren of vegetation-behold the putrid and offensive spots, poisoned and polluted by pestilential pools, where the liquid loveliness, that now lingers in loathsome stagnation, once cheered and charmed the sense of musing meditation. Such is that theatre of thought!-such that circus of competition!-that focus of fancy, to which all the rays of genius converged, in which all the gleams of poetry and all the glow of oratory, the impassioned emphasis -the articulate alliteration-were collected and concentred. Oh I could dwell on the radiant retrospect for a measureless eternity! I could console myself for the contemptuous contumely of the critic, by reverting to those days-of rapture, which dullness could not depress!of reputation, which awoke the envy of no enemy! These, my friends, are the rich recollections, that shed a long line of lustre on the lawn of life-these are the charming associations, that cherished in childhood, mingle with the memory of man

-that make the heart a habitation of delightful images-a spirit that raises the soul above the clouds and cares of sublunary scenery, a pillar of glory, whose pedestal is earth, whose pinnacle is eternity.-[Bursts of unsophisticated admiration."

We earnestly entreat Mr Phillips to come to Edinburgh, and dine here as he has dined at Liverpool and in Dublin. The inhabitants of this town can have no peace till they give him a dinner-and a dinner he must have, that is certain. We are requested by Mr Young, the celebrated traiteur of the Dilettanti Society, to join his entreaties to ours, that Mr Phillips will accept of a public dinner in Free-Mason's Hall-(bottoms limited to 100), and we understand that nothing but an amiable modesty prevents the manciple of Mr Scott's new academical and legal institution, from joining his name to our petition. If Mr Phillips would allow the dinner to be eat on his birthday, the inhabitants of Edinburgh would consider the honour still higher -and if that gentleman would think it a farther inducement to attend, the

strictest care shall be taken that nobody is allowed to make speeches after dinner but himself.

"Come then-ethereal mildness, come, And from the bosom of yon dropping cloud, While music wakes around, veiled in a

shower

Of shadowing roses on our plains descend."

The Printer's Devil has just hinted to us, that this is not a Speech of Mr Phillips' at all-and that we have been imposed upon. If so, we beg Mr Phillips' pardon for our stupidity, and return thanks to the author of the Speech, whoever he is, for the amusement he has afforded us.

PROSPECTUS OF A NEW ACADEMICAL

INSTITUTION AT EDINBURGH.

SOME years ago, a sharp dispute arose between the wise men of the north and the wise men of the south, on the respective merits of their Universities. A good deal of nonsense was uttered by both parties, though not more than is usual on occasions when people will talk of what they do not understand. A Scotch Professor is proud of many things, and of none more than his ignorance of the English system of education. An English Professor is also proud of many things; and if ignorance be bliss, he must be happy

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whenever he thinks of Scotland. permanent interest could be felt in such blundering debates; and the impression generally made by them on the minds of the impartial was, that however excellent might be the systems prevalent in the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh, the great men in both were exceedingly apt to expose themselves, and, in the midst of extreme liberality and love of truth, to exhibit much woful ignorance and many deplorable prejudices. The good people

of Scotland are as much in the dark

about the English Universities, as if they were establishments in Siberia; and the knowledge which Englishmen have of ours amounts to no more than this, that the Professors are all Presbyterians, and that the students are sad graceless dogs, who do nothing but devour the fatal pages of David Hume and Adam Smith.

A man has at last arisen to combine

the advantages of the two systems; and the name of WILLIAM SCOTT will be inscribed in letters of gold among those of the benefactors of his species.

The University of Edinburgh is to be allowed to stand where it now stands; the Professors to lecture where they now lecture. But an English University is to rise up under its shadow, and fresh Professors are at night to succeed those worn out by day; so that the sluices of knowledge are to be opened by sunrise, and shut long after sunset. Such a system of irrigation cannot fail to cover the whole intellectual land with one flush of verdure.

The original mind of WILLIAM Scorr has discovered this great truth, which lies at the bottom of his system, that the students at the University of Edinburgh forget in the evening every thing they hear in the morning; and to remove this evil, which obviously stands in the way of the progress of all national improvement, he proposes to found his Academical Institution.

The original mind of WILLIAM ScoTT had discovered, that when young men go to an University, they know not what to study, but are like so many puppies in a pantry, at a loss on which dish to begin. It is a chief object, therefore, of the Academical Institution, to "advise them as to the lectures of the University." Thus says this truly great discoverer: "Students in law will be advised to pass five years in this or some other University (this is

by no means fair), before they are called to the bar; and they will be advised as to the lectures of the University and the courts of justice they should attend in each year." The same advice is to be given to students of medicine.

The original mind of WILLIAM SCOTT has discovered, that the students attending the University of Edinburgh ought to undergo examinations on the daily lectures they hear there. He and his brother Professors, therefore, will examine the members of the Academical Institution on the lectures delivered in the University. To do this rationally, it will not be amiss for the Principal and Professors of the Academical Institution to become students in the University, which will have a very pleasing effect on their character as teachers, and probably brush up any of their knowledge that may have become a little rusty.

The original mind of WILLIAM SCOTT has discovered, that too little attention is paid in this University to the Veterinary Art; and accordingly an accomplished horse-doctor from London, with a regular diploma in his pocket from the Veterinary College there, is to be brought down to the assistance of the gentleman who, from eight to nine o'clock on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, is to lecture on the study of Chemistry. Our friend the horse-doctor is described pithily as "an experienced man, who has attended the classes of Dr Gregory, Dr Murray, and Dr Barclay." This gentleman's lectures we shall ourselves attend.

The original mind of WILLIAM SCOTT has discovered, that medical students should have a 66 proper and classical knowledge of the Latin language." To secure this, a member of the University of Oxford is to read aloud to them, twice a-week, Dr Gregory's "Conspectus," and compare its doctrines, in English, with those of Celsus and Heberden. By this means it is obvious that Latin will become as familiar to them as their mothertongue, and that they will speak it with greater purity than those less fortunate scholars who may have been corrupted by the patavinity of Livy. There is also a happy boldness in rescuing from oblivion Dr Gregory's work, which, though worthy of the first Latin scholar in Britain, had, it

would seem, been seldom seen lately in the windows of our medical bookshops. .

The original mind of WILLIAM ScoTT has discovered, that good fat feeding is a principal object in the English Universities, and likely to be congenial-with the tastes, though perhaps hitherto foreign to the habits, of the students of his Academical Institution. Accordingly," each student will have access at all times to the commonroom, in which he will order his meals at the hours most convenient to himself, and at his own expense, from the kitchen of the Institution." This is an improvement, too, on the English system. There, a fixed hour for dinner brings all the students of a college into the hall at once, so that no one can eat his dinner in peace. But here, a hungry disciple of the horse-doctor may steal into a corner, and devour his meal with all the solitary enjoyment of Solomon himself. A dinner in the common-room of the Academical Institution will be like a countrydance in the George-street Assembly Rooms. As one couple retires, another will succeed to the sport; and there will be a ceaseless succession of down the middle, hands across, cast off corners, and reel. No species of knowledge sits well on an empty stomach; and we have only to hope and trust that a manciple and a cook will be found, in every way qualified for the responsible situation in which they will find themselves placed.

The original mind of WILLIAM SCOTT has discovered, that, for the present, no place is so well adapted for the manifold but consistent purposes, moral, intellectual, and physical, of his Academical Institution, as Freemasons' Hall. That hall, dedicated to St Cecilia, is consecrated to the fine arts; and Music, we find, is to be lectured on (and, we presume, some good songs given by Mr Scott and the other Professors) for one hour every day. This hour is from three to four, when we ourselves always intend to dine; for nothing goes down so well with beef and greens as music, either vocal or instrumental. In Freemasons' Hall, too, much noble eloquence has ere now been heard, from masters and from grand-masters; for sure we are, that

"Graios dedit ore rotundo Musa loqui."

There too were held the meetings of the Forum, that school of oratory, where Jemmy Thomson, the bard of Kinleith, first" rolled his moral thunders o'er the soul," and where we recollect to have heard the " wee sticket minister" make his first great appearances.

Such is an imperfect outline of the plan of William Scott's Academical Institution, from which the most important effects may be anticipated on the national character of the Scottish people. Should we have fallen into any mistakes, we hope to have them corrected by Mr Scott himself, whom we should be happy to reckon among our correspondents.

We have not heard where the range of buildings is to be erected. We would recommend that part of the Mound generally set apart for the exhibition of wild beasts. The situation, we have understood from Mr Polito, is exceedingly healthy, only two apes and one bear having ever suffered any serious sickness during their stay there-a sickness which was entirely occasioned by the remissness of the manciple. Should this site, however, seem too much exposed, a very sheltered one may be found under the North Bridge, in all respects convenient for the principal purposes of the Institution, and where the records may be deposited.

We are proud to find that our opinion of this great national Institution is sanctioned by the highest authorities. Of these, the most decided is that of my Lord Erskine, contained in the following letter to the founder of the Institution. Our readers will not fail to admire the delicacy with which his Lordship compresses into a postscript the only information which Mr Scott was desirous of obtaining, and the narrow escape which the letter has run of being written entirely about the Ex-Lord Chancellor of England.

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"I agree with Mr John Clerk, who is a great authority wherever he is known, and he is well known here, that the comparison you propose between the laws of England and of my native country must be obviously useful to both; and I cannot doubt your qualifications to render it eminently so, from your education, ability, and knowledge, and your indefatigable attention to every thing you undertake.

"The authenticity of the speeches you so partially allude to in your letter, you will soon be one of the few judges of yourself; as those who heard them are every day falling into the grave, where I myself, before it is long, must follow them. They were collected together, and their publication suggested, by my excellent friend Robert Fergusson, who is now receiving the just recompence of his talents in India, not through favour, but by the independent exertion of them.

"It has given me great satisfaction to find that all the five volumes have been republished in the United States, and that they are in the hands of most of the Professors and Students of Law in the different States of that Union, which I pray God may be as immortal as Washington.

"My reason for this satisfaction is, because, without any merit of mine, the occasion of many of the speeches ought never to be forgotten in countries that are free, and whose inhabitants resolve to continue so. Believe me to be,

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We have only to add, in the words of Mr Scott, that "the plan of this Institution will be considerably extended, if it shall be found useful, the intention being to follow out the noble scheme recommended by Milton in his Tractate on Education ;" and that the Prospectus, with letters from Dr Barclay, Mr John Clerk, and Sir Samuel Romilly, may be had of Mr Laing, opposite the College. We have not heard how the lectures are going off; but we can speak highly of the dinners, the expense of which, with a tolerable dose of whisky toddy, is restricted to half-a-crown. Some students have, we hear, been detected in drinking the whole sum; but expulsion being threatened, which would probably have the effect of preventing

them from entering any other institution of the sort, it is confidently hoped that there will be no recurrence of such enormities. We went to the first dinner ourselves incog. having ventured only to lay aside the veil. Not a soul suspected us of being Editor; and there seemed to be a very general wish entertained at table, that we should accept of the Professorship of Hebrew-to which, however, we give up all claim, as we understand it is to be bestowed on the author of the Chaldee MS.

shion with the French nation. We have been led repeatedly to expect some great and authentic communication from the pen of Bonaparte himself, upon the historical events with which his name is connected; but the various publications which have as yet appeared, must be considered as the estafettes, trumpets, and avant-couriers, who succeed each other in order to keep our attention fixed on a quarter from which it might be otherwise diverted, and to announce to us the important intelligence, Monseigneur vient.

There is another mode of considering the successive communications

REMARKS ON GENERAL GOURGAUD's which we receive from this island, in

ACCOUNT OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1815.*

DEAN SWIFT somewhere tells us of a characteristical piece of national vanity played off by Marechal Villars, when about to hold a personal interview with Marlborough or Prince Eugene. The general of the allies at tended at the place and hour appointed, but not so the Frenchman. The arrival of this dignitary was preceded by that of two or three small bodies of cavaliers belonging to his suite, each of which arrived successively upon the spur, shouting as they came, Monseigneur vient, Monseigneur vient. And it was only after the expectations of the English had been alternately excited and disappointed by several parties of these noisy heralds, with considerable intervals of time betwixt the arrival of each, that their eyes were at length gratified by the appearance of the great man himself.

Our late communications with the island of St Helena have shewn, that this political mode of keeping up expectation is not altogether out of fa

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the various shapes of remonstrances, manuscript memoirs, and so forth, which, though less respectful than we could desire, may serve also to shew the purpose of those preliminary effusions-these light skirmishers, sent forth to precede the authentic publication which we are to expect from the Ex-Emperor himself. At Astley's, or any other entertainment where tumbling and similar feats of dexterity are a part of the show, the trick to be exhibited is repeated by several of the inferior members of the troop in succession, and it is not until the talents of his subalterns have been duly displayed, that the Great Devil himself comes forth to delight the astonished spectators, by performing the very same feat with still higher grace, strength, and agility.

To speak without a metaphor, Bonaparte and his numerous partizans have evidently had recourse to the various brochures and memoirs of a demi-official character, which have appeared from time to time, less with any hope of making a serious impression on the public mind, by the various misrepresentations which they contain, than with that of keeping the attention of Europe fixed on the present condition of her late powerful oppressor, in hopes that the spectacle of his present restraint may obliterate the recollection of his former tyranny.

For our own part, we cannot feel that this end has been attained by any of the publications to which we have alluded. The most deplorable, certainly, was the account given by his ex-marmiton, of the buttery and cellar at Longwood,-the comfort of an Emperor's breakfast rendered precarious, and made to depend on his

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