men in general are morally improved by a scientific education, and to this question he replies in the negative. It may be readily conceived how much the world was astonished at the applause and the academical prize which were awarded this treatise.'-vol. i. pp. 288, 289.

But this was not all. The same academy gave him an opportunity, shortly afterwards, of further illustrating his new thoughts, by proposing another question upon the causes of the inequality of men. In reply to this question, he took occasion to express his opinion, that the civilization of mankind must be regarded as its degeneracy. This prize treatise is important, inasmuch as it contains the substance of all Rousseau's future writings. The idea which reigns throughout, the phantom which his lively fancy has embodied, unhappily led astray the noblest minds of the French revolution, and gave rise to many weighty practical errors. The conclusions which a discontented generation, embittered with its present condition, must arrive at, and did, indeed, naturally draw from the works of Rousseau, are, that the condition of society among men, is an unnatural one; that the development and cultivation of the higher intellectual faculties and powers are disadvantageous; and that the condition of physical well-being, when no thought of intellectual life is awakened, is the normal condition, and every departure from it degeneracy.

The paradoxical reveries of this extraordinary visionary, may now, be reckoned only as among the 'things that were;' and we have not space or inclination to follow his subtle demonstrations, or to compare his speculations with historical facts and daily experience. But as he did some good in his day, it may not be amiss to point out what that chiefly was. In certain particulars, his influence has not been small. Mistaken as he was, on many points, he really felt what he wrote;-and thus by his eloquence, his great powers of delineation and the recollections of his youth, was able to attack the more effectually, the degenerate, artificial, sinful life of a great capital, and the licentiousness of his celebrated friends, who, strong in their sophistical arts, upheld, and even praised every species of immorality, and shamelessness, as unprejudiced views of things, and as marks of genius. He was the man who brought into fashion that appearance, at least, of nature and simplicity, which we now more generally witness in the polite world. In regard to the education of children, too, he was the first to broach a great alteration, and hence an improvement. In this and some other things his influence has been more extensive than has been generally acknowledged. The whole previous and ancient mode

of training children and youth, the manner of life, the arrangements of the domestic circle, the severity of parents towards their children, their monarchical and patriarchal relation with respect to them, the distance at which the young were kept, and the outward reverence which they were obliged to show,all this, when compared with the idyllic and simple pastoral relations which Rousseau described, seemed so burdensome and inconvenient, that it quickly disappeared, and people passed from one extreme to another. In consistency with his plans Schlosser goes on to describe the careers of Diderot, Helvetius and D'Alembert, and concludes his first volume with a chapter on Germany, in which he traces the influence of the new spirit upon Placemen, Universities, Theology and Learning. After closing the first part of the work with some admirable dissertations on the most renowned writers of Germany, as Michaelis, Semler, Wieland, Winkelmann, Herder, Lavater, Lessing, Klopstock, and others, in which, we think, he is somewhat too severe on the literary character of Gottsched, whom he omits no opportunity to denounce and ridicule, he commences Part the Second' with the novelists and humourists of England; devoting one section to the origin and history of the so-called English Blue Stockings;' and discussing in another, and, we conceive, with justness and candour, the relative and absolute merits of our historians, Robertson, Hume, and Gibbon.

In the course of Schlosser's work we have had to notice more than once his dislike of the judgment and taste of Lord Brougham. In treating of the political English writers and speakers of the time of the American war, he commences with this passage, the purport of which we may subscribe to as not wholly inapplicable or unjust.

'A judgment with regard to their speaking and style may be left to English writers; we must, however, express a strong feeling of disapprobation, at what has been said by Lord Brougham, in his 'Statesmen of the Reign of George the Third.' This celebrated advocate has pushed his ability to make black white, and white black, and to persuade the public that it is so, somewhat too far. He ventures to praise Lord North, on account of his shameless assurance and his fluent parliamentary speaking; he dares to commend the stale and miserable wit, which he mixed up with transactions, in which the weal, or woe, of millions was involved, and to find some marks of genius in that indifference with which he himself jested upon his own habitually returning disposition to sleep during the parliamentary debates. This, indeed, can surprise no one from a man like Lord Brougham, because he even praises Burke in such a strain as purposely never to allow himself to remark that nature,

a simple and correct style, brevity, conciseness, and simplicity, have any value; that a good speaker should avoid far-fetched phrases, banish all bombast, and never introduce tedious learning, or wearisome and artificial knowledge, collected merely for show.'-vol. ii. p. 87.

Schlosser concludes the English portion of his work with Franklin, resumes the French part with an account of the French Encyclopedists and Economists, and closes the second volume with a continued reference to German literature and philosophy, in relation to public and domestic life, to the tone of society, and prevailing customs. This last portion of his labours we consider the most able, instructive, and profound; more particularly the sections on German history, journalism, and political economy. In that which relates to the writers of England and France in the second part, there may not be much that is new or striking; and as regards what has reference to modern Germany, it would be impossible to do any thing like justice to it in the compass of a few pages, and our space is already exhausted. But should the author favour us with an additional volume or two, as the translator intimates in his preface, we shall be glad to draw the attention of our readers to these topics, which brevity has compelled us for the present to omit.

Art. VI.-Remains of the late Rev. John Morell Mackenzie, A.M.; with a Selection from his Correspondence, and a Memoir of his Life. Printed for Private Circulation. Pp. clix-292, sm. 8vo.

As this volume has been printed merely for private circulation among the friends and acquaintances of the lamented individual whose remains and biography it contains, it is not one which as critics we are entitled altogether to drag before our bar. Disposed, however, as we are in all ordinary cases to respect the limits of our lawful province-within which, in good truth, we find in these all-writing days quite enough to do-we must in the case before us make an exception from our usual practice. The deep interest attaching to the memory of Mr. Mackenziethe extensive reputation with which his name is associated, especially among the members of that religious body with which he stood connected-the singular combination of excellencies by which he was adorned, and the detail of which as presented in the volume before us, is so well calculated to substantiate the estimation in which the traditions of his friends have caused him to be held-as well as the intrinsic value of the larger part

of these Remains,' convince us that we shall afford a sincere gratification to our readers, by laying before them as copious an account of the contents of this volume as our space will permit. A temptation like this we have not found ourselves able to resist; and, therefore, in virtue of our authority we have issued a writ of latitat against this lurking subject of the critical realm, and have caused him to appear in court. It is not our intention, however, to proceed against him by the usual process of trial and sentence; our object is simply to have him so presented at our bar, as that all who frequent our court, may become well acquainted with him, and reap the advantage which the examination of such a subject is calculated to convey.

The Biographical Sketch' with which the volume before us commences, bears the signature G. G. C., and is followed by a delineation of the intellectual character of the subject of it to which are appended the initials H. R. We believe we violate no secret, and convey no information to the majority of our readers, when we say that the former initials are those of Mr. George Godfrey Cunningham, of Edinburgh, and the latter those of Mr. Henry Rogers, of Birmingham. Both of these gentlemen enjoyed much of the intimacy of Mr. Mackenzie, and the tribute which they have respectively offered in this volume to the memory of their departed friend is alike honourable to him and to them. Mr. Cunningham's memoir is a pleasing narrative of the leading events of Mr. Mackenzie's life, interspersed with faithful and graphic sketches of the moods and manners of his friend, as these were called forth by peculiar circumstances or displayed in the ordinary intercourse of life. Mr. Rogers's sketch is a full length portrait, full of beautiful and discriminative touches; though not more so than was to be expected from the eloquent biographer of Howe, and the skilful analyst of the genius and writings of Edwards.

Following the guidance of these gentlemen, we shall lay before our readers the following particulars of Mr. Mackenzie's history and character.

John Morell Mackenzie was the fourth son of Mr. John Mackenzie, and Elizabeth, daughter of the late Mr. Symonds, of Kidderminster; and was born at Godmanchester in Huntingdonshire, on the 24th of October, 1806. Characterized from infancy by great amiability of temper, singular vivacity and docility, and unusual beauty of person, he enjoyed the affections of all with whom he came in contact, and speedily repaid the attentions of which he was thus made the subject. His paternal aunt describes him as a gracious and a gifted creature,' and adds, 'a more engaging being, one who passed with less contamination through the fiery ordeal of youth, there could not

be.' To his zeal for learning, also, even at this early period of his existence, his biographer bears testimony :

His thirst for information, and the rapidity with which he acquired it, were early manifested by his contriving to learn his letters, and make considerable progress in reading, before he had received any regular tuition. His mother describes him as walking about with his primer, eagerly asking every one he met whether such and such letters did not form such and such words. From the time he had mastered his letters, he was seldom to be found without a book in his hand. He read rapidly as well as eagerly, and a new book was at any time happiness enough for the child, or a formidable competitor with the companions of his sports for his attention during the rest of the day. It was carried about with him,-made his companion at meals, and ofttimes laid under his pillow. His aunt, Mrs. Hemming, remembers his having a keen discussion with his nursery maid on the practicability and reasonableness of his being allowed to lie upon his bed and enjoy his book while she was washing and dressing him.'-pp. vi., vii.

When ten years of age he exchanged the tuition of the domestic circle for that of a public school, where he entered upon the study of the classical languages. At first his progress was but tardy, but having had the good fortune to be placed shortly afterwards under the instructions of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, a conscientious and successful teacher' in the neighbourhood of Godmanchester, his progress became rapid and steady. When between twelve and thirteen years of age he was removed to a private school at Radley Hall, in Buckinghamshire, where he remained nearly two years, actively engaged in the prosecution of classical and mathematical studies. He was able before he left to read Xenophon and Homer with tolerable facility,' and had made such progress in the exact sciences as to find algebra 'very amusing' and to like the third book of Euclid even more than Latin and Greek'-a preference of which he very soon after repented so sincerely, that in more mature life the mathematical sciences formed almost the solitary exception to the encyclopædical range of his studies. Two years after this were spent by him at a school kept by the Rev. J. Hemming, at Kimbolton, in Huntingdonshire, where he continued to display the same appetite for knowledge, and the same aptitude for study; but where he became so much the slave of one of those fond delusions which so often cheat our fancy in the morn of life,' that it was deemed wise to remove him from Kimbolton, and place him under the tuition of the Rev. R. Halley, at St. Neots. Here he also enjoyed the invaluable advantages of his mother's prudent counsels and affectionate guardianship; and by the blessing of God on good