reader will remember how his eyes suffered from drawing at Persepolis. They afterwards sustained a sudden and still more fatal shock from his negligence in not using coloured glass during a solar observation. Egypt and the deserts had also left permanent effects upon them. The consequences of this night-work were irremediable and fatal. In a short time he could no longer see to read, and for writing he required an extraordinary quantity of light, and even then the lines were often run into one another. This blindness, the progress of which he clearly perceived was not to be arrested, made him very anxious, the more, as it threatened to compel him to resign his employment. This he was happily enabled to avoid.

His wife, after many years suffering from asthma, which ended in water in the chest, died in December, 1807. His daughter and her widowed sister, who had lived with her for twelve years, freed from the constant care her illness had demanded, could now devote themselves wholly to rendering him the assistance of which he stood so much in need. His daughter did not confine herself to administering to his bodily wants and infirmities, she did that part of his business which he was no longer able to do. This, however, was not sufficient, as his sight became worse and worse, and what he wrote with the utmost care was nearly illegible.

His family and friends regarded it as one of the best rewards of his honourable and useful life, that, at the close of it, he found a friend who undertook the discharge of the duties of his office with all the devotion and attachment of a son. Gloyer, who became his successor, took a deep and lively interest in statistics, to which we owe his valuable and instructive fragments on India, and on the state of taxation in that country. He was introduced to Niebuhr, who found his society so delightful, that as he was not engaged in any employment, he invited him into his house as an assistant. Gloyer complied with his wishes, and the government acceded to Niebuhr's request that his friend should be officially recognised in that capacity. Gloyer shared the labours of the office; and the tranquillity with which Niebuhr could confide the execution and credit of his post to such a friend and such a daughter were the best rewards for the fidelity with which he had discharged its duties. He felt it to be so. He did

not, however, withdraw his mind from his business; he had kept the thread of it unbroken, though he had so long been blind; everything was read aloud to him and discussed with him. Gloyer's conversation and daily intercourse revived to his mind's eye many a faded or vanished picture of the east, and the books which this invaluable friend read aloud to him, and the circumstances he related, put him in possession of the works and statements of more recent travellers. This was without comparison the highest enjoyment of which he was susceptible. When I related to him," says his son, "the descriptions of any traveller newly returned from the east, or gave him in my letters any accounts of travels not known on the continent, his whole being seemed reanimated, and he dictated answers which showed that his mental vision was vivid and powerful as ever. It was still more remarkable that these new facts imprinted themselves on his mind with all the depth and sharpness with which objects are stamped on a youthful memory, and so remained up to the time of his death. He combined them with what he had himself observed and experienced.

"I was deprived of the happiness of contributing to his comfort or enjoyment by any other means than such communications, which the total prohibition of intercourse between England and the continent daily rendered more rare and difficult of access.

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Among the circumstances which contributed to gladden his old age was the constant intercourse he enjoyed with a family brought up in Meldorf, and nearly related to him, the members of which were like children and grandchildren to him. His friendship with the Treasurer of the district (Landespfennigmeister), Piehl, who, in the management of the concerns of the province, exhibited the rarest combination of sagacity and aptitude, and whose whole character was the perfect model of the citizen of a republic, became more close and intimate in proportion as both advanced in age. A visit from this excellent friend when he returned from one of his journeys into the country, or a visit to his house, where every thing bespoke his active mind and beneficent disposition, were festivals. Piehl was indeed a most remarkable man; a history of his life and of his administration of the finances of the province, into the frightful chaos of

which he introduced order; actively and prudently, so far as was possible to human efforts, taking advantage of good times, and correcting the remaining influence of bad ones;-lightening the terrible pressure on the people by the sacrifice of his own property, and the offer of his own credit;-a history of this noble example of public service, for the display of which a free agricultural community managing its own affairs affords the sole field, would be a welldeserved monument to his honour; an edifying and instructive document to all placed in the same circumstances, and to all who entertain sincere and conscientious doubts as to the blessings of a free and democratic government.

"These various mental pleasures and consolations became so much the more necessary from his increasing bodily infirmities. He was of a phlegmatic, robust, and plethoric constitution, to which, from the habit of many years, bleeding had become indispensable. Unfortunately, he conceived the idea that his great age rendered it necessary to discontinue this; nor could any warnings or remonstrances induce him to resort to it again, till at length attacks of dizziness, sudden deafness and spitting of blood showed the danger to be imminent. These symptoms, which began about the time of his wife's death, continued to return with more or less violence every spring and autumn; till, in October, 1813, he was attacked by a frightful bleeding at the nose which, however, his robust temperament enabled him to rise above.

"Sated, though not disgusted, with life, he frequently in the course of this year expressed his willingness to rejoin his wife, whenever God's good time were; yet he, wished to live to see the destinies of the world decided, and once again to embrace his absent children. His wishes were granted, though he was first compelled to behold an invading army in Holstein. The distress and terror which such an event always brings in its train, did not overcome his joy at the deliverance of Europe and the glorious triumphs of Germany and her allies

"The camp in Ditmarschen, on the side of a road, whither only light troops were sent, brought upon the country all the terror of an ungoverned soldiery. Meldorf was also in a state of great alarm from a troop of Mecklenburghers, who were used by a rapacious commissary as means of extorting contributions by

threats of fire and pillage. To protect Niebuhr against these atrocities, Colonel Von Clausewitz, then of the German Legion, and now chief of the staff of General Count Gneisenau, sent him a guard.

"One of the symptoms of increasing infirmity and a consequence of the sort of attacks already mentioned, was a weakness in one leg, which occasioned him many falls. It was, however, unattended with any important consequences till an unlucky fall, in March, 1814, which injured his right thigh and caused a permanent lameness in it. From that time he was never able to set his foot to the ground; nor could he move without assistance or without pain; he could only be removed from his bed in the afternoon on a wheeled chair. He clung long to the hope of recovery; but even the gradual decline and extinction of this hope could not abate his truly saint-like gentleness and resignation. Gratitude to Gloyer, who helped to carry and move him about, and whose solicitude to occupy and amuse him was unwearied and inventive;-to his daughter, who devoted herself entirely to him;-to his sister-inlaw, and to all who showed him any kindness, rendered him happy even amid pain and infirmity.

"It was thus we found him," says his son, "in the autumn of 1814, and his appearance was calculated to leave a delightful picture in the mind. All his features, as well as his extinguished eyes, wore the expression of the extreme and exhausted old age of an extraordinarily robust nature;-it was impossible to behold a more venerable sight. So venerable was it, that a Cosack who entered, an unbidden guest, into the chamber where he sat with his silver locks uncovered, was so struck with it, that he manifested the greatest reverence for him, and a sincere and cordial interest for the whole household. His sweetness of temper was unalterable, though he often expressed his desire to go to his final home, since all which he had desired to live for had been accomplished.

"A numerous, and as yet unbroken, family circle was assembled around him, and every day in which he was not assailed by some peculiar indisposition, he conversed with cheerfulness and cordial enjoyment on the happy change which had taken place in public affairs. We found it very delightful to engage

him in continued recitals of his travels, which he now related with peculiar fulness and vivacity. In this manner he once spoke much, and in great detail, of Persepolis, and described the walls on which he had found the inscriptions and bas-reliefs, exactly as one would describe those of a building visited within a few days, and familiarly known. We could not conceal our astonishment. He replied, that as he lay in bed, all visible objects shut out, the pictures of what he had beheld in the East continually floated before his mind's eye, so that it was no wonder he could speak of them as if he had seen them yesterday. With like vividness was the deep intense sky of Asia, with its brilliant and twinkling host of stars which he had so often gazed at by night, or its lofty vault of blue by day, reflected, in the hours of stillness and darkness, on his inmost soul;-and this was his greatest enjoyment. In the beginning of winter he had another bleeding at the nose, so violent, that the by-standers expected his death-but this also he withstood.

"About the end of April, 1815, the long existing obstruction in his chest grew much worse; but his friendly physician alleviated the symptoms which to those around him appeared rather painful than dangerous. Towards evening, on the 26th of April, 1815, he was read to as usual, and asked questions which showed perfect apprehension and intelligence: he then sunk into a slumber, and departed without a struggle."

A concourse of people from all parts of the country attended his body to the grave. It was the opinion of all, that no individual had ever been so universally regretted. The funeral was solemnized with all the honours which respect and affection can pay. He had attained the age of eighty-two.

He was counsellor of state of Denmark; knight of the Dannebrog, of the fourth class; secretary (landschreiber) to the district of South Ditmarschen; member of the society of sciences of Göttingen; of the Swedish and Norwegian societies; and of the society for the investigation of natural science; and foreign member of the National Institute of France.

In stature he was rather under the middle size, of a very robust and sturdy make; up to his fortieth year, thin, but later in life, thick set and fat. There is only one engraving of him extant,- -a bad copy of a good picture painted in

his youth. It is prefixed to a volume of the Allgemeinen Deutschen Bibliothek. His person and carriage, the sturdy looking head, the powerful neck, and his whole gesture, gave him a completely oriental air. When seen from behind in an eastern dress, especially when walking and in conversation, gesticulating with his hands, no man could have distinguished him among a party of Arabs. I have often been struck with this when I have looked after Moors of the Barbary states in the streets..

He was extremely frugal: economy had become a habit with him in early life. As a peasant lad he drank nothing but water and milk; and at a later period he deviated from this simple diet only in compliance with the customs of others, with which he every where made it a rule to conform, and he then drank an extremely small quantity of wine. He had no favourite dishes but the peasant fare of his native land.

He was, and remained through his whole life, a true and genuine peasant; with all the virtues, and with the little failings, of the class from which he sprang. He was, unquestionably, somewhat obstinate; and it was very difficult to reason him out of an idea he had once strongly taken up: he continually reverted to it. Equally strong and inveterate were his prejudices for and against men. This pertinacity, however, it was, which gave him strength during the greater part of his life to follow the path he had chosen, through every difficulty and danger. His moral character was spotless, and his manners extremely pure and severe. In every circumstance and relation of life, he was unpresuming and disinterested.

The bent of his mind was entirely for the observation and investigation of sensible objects: abstraction and speculation were foreign to his genius, which could lay hold of nothing but the concrete. With regard to books, he was most rigorous as to the truth of the statements they contained; that form of conveying them pleased him the best which was the simplest. Poetry, except Homer, in Voss's translation, Göethe's Hermann and Dorothea, and songs for music, was quite uncongenial with his tastes. Fielding and Smollett's novels he loved; he had read no others. Architecture interested him; but to the arts of painting and sculpture he was indifferent: music he loved.

He lived in observation and percep、

tion. A friend of his own age, who took a short journey with him when both were advanced in life, silently remarked, and afterwards related with great delight, how he had found something to observe and to investigate in every field and every village they passed through. In his sixty-eighth year he visited this same friend in his then residence, where he had never before been. The morning after his arrival he let himself out at the house-door at four o'clock in the morning, and before breakfast had wandered through and around the whole town, and had so perfect and exact a picture of it in his mind, that every house and every building he inquired about was instantly recognised and named from his description.

This exclusive turn of his mind rendered him indifferent to subjects of mere speculation. He advanced towards the unknown regions with the full tranquillity of a conscience "void of all offence" and of all blemish. He relied for the protection of himself and those dear to him on that overruling Providence, of which, in the course of his own life, he had had striking experience. "It is extraordinary," says his son, "that this man, so remarkably devoid of imagination, so exempt from illusion, waked us on the night in which his bro ther died, though he was at such a distance that he knew not even of his illness, and told us that his brother was dead. What had appeared to him, waking or dreaming, he never told us."

As he had conceived a very high and

extensive idea of the duties which devolved upon him on his travels, he never lost the remembrance of the designs he had relinquished, in compliance with the wishes of others, or in consequence of obstacles. He reproached himself for these omissions with a severity which we never could convince him was exaggerated and unjust. In his old age, these self-tormentings assumed a character which gave us great pain. Acknowledgments of his merits by competent and experienced judges, such as Reiske, Silvestre de Sacy, Rennell, &c. gave him the sincerest pleasure: to external honours or homage addressed to his vanity, he was quite inaccessible. Nobility, which was offered him by the minister Guldberg, he refused. The title which he was compelled by custom to assume, as officer of engineers in the Danish army, led a relation of his to ask him, If he had caused himself to be ennobled ?"-" No," replied he, "I would not offer my family such an affront."

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He founded, and bequeathed to his family, a more enduring nobility. To this time no traveller returns from the east without wonder and gratitude towards such an instructor and guide, the first and best of all describers of the east. Not one, of all who have hitherto followed, has equalled him; and it is yet doubtful whether he will ever find a successor, who will complete what he has left unfinished of the description of Arabia, and worthily occupy a place by his side.

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CHAPTER I.

Of the Origin of Architecture and the different Styles, and the purposes to which they have been applied.

WE shall preface the account of the life of Sir Christopher Wren, whose name is associated with all that is great in English architecture, with a few general observations on the rise and progress of the art, which will in some measure serve as an introduction to the Treatise on that subject intended to be published.

It is generally admitted that the early architecture of Greece was indebted to Egypt for some of its rudiments; and yet it is impossible to institute the most careless comparison, without observing the very different character displayed in the earliest specimens of Grecian art, and particularly in sculpture. The causes of this diversity it is difficult now to define, although every variety of speculation has been exhausted on the subject.

In all the advances of the art, the principles of the early attempts, which had their origin in necessity, appear to have been constantly adopted in the improvements of the succeeding ages: the dark and ponderous buildings of the Egyptians have a near affinity to the caverns of their ancestors; and the ornamental and elegant architecture of Greece bears striking testimony to the early use of the timber with which that country abounded. In India the original employment of reed and bamboo is discovered in the lofty and slender buildings of later times; in China the roofs are always constructed in imitation of

the moveable tents of the aboriginal Tartars; and the same observation applies to Turkish and Saracenic buildings.

One of the peculiar features of Egyptian buildings is, that none of the specimens afford much evidence of variation, either in principle or in the constituent parts, during a very considerable period of time. Without entertaining great admiration for the beauty, the grandeur, or the simplicity of Egyptian structures, it is yet impossible to contemplate without wonder those immense and gloomy monuments of labour, in which, independently of situation and size, a very striking effect is produced by the peculiarity in the arrangement of the different parts, and by their vast groves of columns, obelisks, and colossal statues.

The external character of the Egyptian style is, however, in a great degree simple and imposing; the columns and decorations usually are internal, contrary to the Grecian architecture, in which the interior of the temples is comparatively plain, the columns, the statuary, and other ornaments being nearly all external. This may be traced, in some degree, to the difference of the climate.

In the contemplation of the Egyptian temples, their resemblance to the ancient buildings of India is peculiarly striking; and this naturally leads to the consideration of the discussions to which the early progress of ancient nations in architecture and some other arts has given rise.

In tracing the origin of the arts first practised by man in his progress from barbarism to civilisation, after those

B