The subject of geology, which every competent judge will allow to be both delicate and difficult, and on which so many volumes have been written in vain, is elucidated by Mr. Accum with brevity and perspicuity and we think it would be an injustice on this occasion to use any other words than his own. Different opinions,' he says, 'have been formed concerning the question in what manner our earth was brought into the present distribution of its parts.' p. 54. He then states several theories very briefly, among the most interesting of which are the following:- Some have conceived the idea of a world perhaps without beginning, but by the action of internal fires, with volcanic orifices, continually lacerated, undermined and subverted, with the constant rise of a new earth, the residue and product from those fires by which the former was demolished. pp. 55 and 56.

'Others, again, have fancied a continual flitting of the ocean around the globe; by which that which was lately land becomes now the bottom of the sea, and that which is now covered by the sea is again to become land.' p. 56. Perhaps he may be thought by some to be too severe in his strictures on the authors of these very ingenious theories, when he says 'These fanciful opinions, to say nothing of the impious nature of some of them, have generally rather resembled philosophical dreams, than the conceptions of waking and sober reason.' p. 56. Severity, however, is not his characteristic; and accordingly he hastens to acquaint us that amidst all the splendid rubbish with which this department of natural history has been incumbered, some precious treasures have been brought to light:' and 'amidst the speculations which have darkened counsel, large additions have been made to our knowledge of this important subject.' p. 56 and 57. In another part of his work he says, 'In vain have philosophers endeavoured to form perfect theories of this subject. If it were permitted to man to follow, during several ages, the various changes which are produced on the surface of our globe, by the numerous agents that alter it, we might perhaps be in possession at this moment of the most valuable information respecting this subject; but thrown as we are upon a small point of this vast theatre of observation, we can only fix our attention for a minute, to reason upon subjects which have employed the works of nature for ages, and disappear ourselves at the moment wherein we have proceeded so far as to collect a few facts. p. 318. And here again he mitigates the severity of his former censures, by observing 'It must nevertheless be acknowledged that those men, who, by the mere efforts of their imagination, have endeavoured to form ideas respecting the construction and the great phenomena of this subject, have numerous claims to our indulgence.' p. 318. Surely the hardest hearted stoic will not refuse them this; especially when their cause is so eloquently pleaded as in the following sentences: In their proceedings we behold the efforts of genius

tormented with the desire of acquiring knowledge, and irritated at the prospect of the scanty means which nature has put in its power. They have endeavoured to embellish their hypotheses with every ornament which imagination and eloquence can furnish, either as instruments of illusion or entertainment: we ought to consider ourselves highly indebted to them.' p. 318 and 319. With respect to the subject of geology we cannot exactly ascertain whether Mr. Accum patronises the Neptunian or the Plutonian theory: we suspect, the former; because, after having insisted on the existence of every physical and moral proof in support of it, he concludes with great naïveté, "accordingly it is very remarkable that a great majority of modern theorists have embraced this doctrine.' p. 60.

6

We very much regret not having had earlier information of a circumstance stated in p. 527, that coals are found on the mountains, in strata from a few inches to some feet in thickness:' for we happen to live in a hilly district, where but for our ignorance we might have obtained good store of that useful commodity in the late severe weather, at a very cheap rate; whereas the dishonest dealer who sold them to us at an enormous price, justified himself by a plausible story that they were dug at a vast expense and trouble many feet below the level of the earth. By the way, the author's theory of the origin of coals is ingenious: with respect to the origin of coals' he says, "the most probable supposition is this; that they originate from vegetables: but a few forests being buried in the earth are not sufficient to form the mountains of coal which exist in its bowels.' p. 528. This position we presume will be granted. Mr. Accum then observes 'a greater cause more proportioned to the magnitude of the effect is required; and we find it only in that prodigious quantity of vegetables which grow in the sea, and is increased by the immense mass of those which are carried down by rivers.' p. 528 and 529. The latter part of this hypothesis has been we fear illustrated by many distressing instances during the recent floods and as it is to be hoped that this part of the supply at least will be in future withheld, government would do well perhaps in offering a premium to scullery maids, for the greatest quantity of cabbage leaves, potato parings, &c. which they are in the habit of reserving for the pigs or for the dunghill, and which it now appears may be applied to a much more important purpose; for Mr. Accum says that these vegetables, carried away by the currents, are agitated, heaped together, and broken by the waves; and afterwards become covered with strata of argillaceous earth, or sand; they undergo a gradual decomposition, and form so many strata of coal, placed alternately with strata of clay and sand.' p. 529. They who are fond of investigating the links which, insensibly as it were, unite the different kingdoms of nature with each other, will be agreeably surprised to find in one part of the foregoing theory that the vegetable origin' of coals is fairly inferred' among

other proofs, from the impressions of animals' contained within their substance.

It is a good old practice for reviewers to produce specimens of their author's style: this has been already done in part, and we shall therefore only select one more passage. It comprehends the two first pages of the preface, and begins thus:

"In the lines prefixed to the first edition of this book the reader is informed that the work was not originally drawn up for public inspection, but that it was intended to serve as a text book for my pupils, to render more useful the series of lectures I deliver on the subject of which it treats. By the repeated desire of others, whose judgment and advice I respect, it was afterwards re-published in the manner it was originally composed.

'The unexpected public and private approbations which the work met with, amongst a scientific public, are flattering proofs that my labours were considered as not altogether useless. And the rapid sale of an uncommonly large edition, which was disposed of in less than eighteen months after its publication, gives me reason to think that the votaries of the science are numerous. Indeed there is no extravagance in saying that there never was a time in which the science of mineralogy was cultivated in Great-Britain with more ardour and success than at present; and in which it has contributed more strikingly to the improvement of our arts and the extension of our commerce. The foreign mining establishments and manufactures are overwhelmed and greatly ruined by the dreadful political storms in which they have been, and still are, engaged; whereas the British miner can carry on his subterraneous workings without molestation, and with success. The smelter is not driven from his furnace, nor the potter from his lathe, by political commotions; and the theatre of the war which we wage with foreign enemies is, and, whatever they may desperately attempt, will continue to be remote."

The assurance in the concluding paragraph of the foregoing passage, to say nothing of its eloquence, is truly comfortable; and has quieted in our minds a thousand patriotic fears and apprehensions which had arisen from the melancholy forebodings of some of our brethren, whose authority in politics we consider tantum non' as high as that immediately before us.

With respect to Mr. Accum's method of communicating knowledge to others,' though we perfectly agree with the Philosophical Magazine (quoted by our author on the opposite side of the title page of his manual) that it is 'engaging; yet we think that it is occasionally too esoteric: as when, in entering upon the history of metallic substances, he says, all metals are combustible,' p. 93, and again when he endeavours to point out to the unlearned farmer,' the easiest method of chemically examining marls! p. 392. The students' and beginners' also, for whom he has expressly written this essay, will perhaps not admire his determination of 'seldom entering into expla

natory discussions' of the processes. (Preface, p. ix.). But these are matters of opinion, which we propose, not without hesitation; and with respect to those few errors which we here and there met with, as in the mode of estimating the quantity of iron contained in a mineral, p. 102, and of copper, p. 107, we consider them as oversights which the author will correct in his third edition; and at all events, of too little consequence to deserve any severe censure.

Thus far in perfect good humour, and without the least intention of injuring or offending one of whom we neither know nor suspect any harm. Mr. Accum indeed seems to be an active, industrious, and acute man in his sphere of life; and as such, we cannot wonder at, and can scarcely blame, him for converting the follies of his neighbours to his own advantage. Yet, if he will listen to a word of advice offered with a friendly intention, we cannot help thinking that neither himself nor others will suffer by adopting it. If then, omitting all philosophical discussions, and leaving the details of such experienced chemists as Klaproth for the use of those who have passed the threshold of the science, he would frame a set of simple directions to be observed in the analysis of minerals; if, disregarding for the present the more rare and costly varieties, he would detail the process necessary for the analysis of common limestones, of marls and clays, and of those metallic ores which are frequently found in this island-pointing out the appearances that are most likely to embarrass a beginner, and the errors into which in various instances he is most likely to fall;--we think, that in this case he would render a real benefit to a branch of science which is neither useless nor inelegant; and would at the same time secure to himself an equal degree of profit and fame, better adapted to his situation in life, than he can possibly reap from his present labours.

ART. XV. An Essay on the earlier part of the Life of Swift, by the Rev. John Barrett, D. D. and Vice Provost of Trinity College, Dublin. To which are subjoined various pieces ascribed to Swift, Two of his original Letters, and Extracts from his Remarks on Bishop Burnett's History. pp. 232. Svo. London. Johnson, 1808.

HE biography of literary men is often obscure during the ear

Tlier period of their lives. The youthful poet or philosopher is

probably a man of low birth, unmarked by his companions, unless for whimsical, or perhaps unamiable peculiarities, imperceptible to those whose notice confers temporary distinction; while his growing talents are noticed only by the teacher under whom he studies, or a friend or two of congenial disposition, as obscure as himself. Of such it may be said with more truth than of the potent house to whom

the similies were applied, that you must mark the greatness in the stream which you cannot trace to the source; you must mark the dignity in the full grown oak which you can never derive from the sapling. The author, in his full blown fame, becomes the general object of investigation and remark; his story may be found in the criticisms of his rivals, and in the panegyrics of his admirers; in the malevolent records of the satirists, or the good humoured gossippings of the Boswells of the day.

There is no writer to whom this applies more closely than to Swift. Of his life, before he became the literary assistant of Sir William Temple, we know little or nothing. Even during this space of comparative notoriety, we find no anecdotes, which any one thought it worth his while to preserve, of an ignoble dependant. The crowds that surrounded Temple, and, while they were really dazzled by his rank and station, affected to be solely attracted by respect for his literary character, could not discover in the humble chaplain, or reader, a greater than him whom they had come forth to admire. Even his patron, himself a man of genius, was more repelled by the peculiarities of Swift's manners, than conciliated by his unremitted services and attentions; and although Temple, in his declining years, was incapable of living without Swift, yet he appears to have felt as little concern for the state of poverty and dependence into which he was likely to fall at his death, as he probably did for the posthumous fate of the pair of old crutches, without which, when alive, he could not have stirred a step. It was not until the 'Remarks on the contests and dissentions between Athens and Rome,' introduced Swift to the notice of Somers, that he was considered as a fellow of mark and likelihood.' When he once shot above the ground, however, his growth was uncommonly rapid. As he attached himself to Harley and St. John, with all the zeal of a new convert, and as they were both men highly capable of appreciating his talents, Swift soon became indispensable to their counsels. The world, as the higher classes call themselves, saw with astonishment an Irish Vicar scarcely known, but by a suspicion of having written a book* which he durst not avow, rise at once, and without passing through the subordinate forms, into the independent and familiar counsellor of those who ruled the nation; and, with its customary acquiescence, after staring at such a phenomenon for the usual space, gave Swift credit for all the talent necessary to justify this sudden promotion. Neither he nor his admirers were then desirous to look back; and a slight wish to ascertain the heraldic coat of his forefathers, is the only circumstance in his curious and minute journal to Stella, which, in this halcyon period, intimates a wish to refer to his birth, or to the earlier part of his life. His enemies might not have been so remiss-but although

*The Tale of a Tub.