most comprehensive in its nature, and the most beneficial in its effects; for it embraces the knowledge and use of every object that can be rendered cognizable to the eye, or touch, of man, not on the surface of this globe only, but above it, beneath it, within it, around it, and throughout the visible universe: it may, indeed, and without injustice, lay claim to the high character of being the great parent of all other sciences, which have no materials on which to work, or speculate, but such as are gained from the empire of Nature.

There is, indeed, something peculiar in what might be termed the public character of England. Almost every thing great and noble, that is accomplished by the extraordinary genius of her people, is performed either by single individuals, often in private life, or by small associations of individuals, unaided by government: and it is often a matter of surprise to foreigners, who, before their visits to this country, have been

familiar with its fame, and with the number, variety, and extent, of its public institutions, and public works, to find, on their arrival, that though the King, and other branches of the Royal Family, may occasionally permit their illustrious names to be honoured in their use as patrons of undertakings of great public utility, or of national grandeur; yet, neither they, nor the government, encourage the arts, sciences, or literature, on that extensive and magnificent scale which has been the pride, and the boast, of many other of the European nations. A patronage and an encouragement, which, in a peculiar manner, would become the rulers of a great and powerful empire like that of Britain; whose territories, spread out into all the four quarters of the globe, present such grand opportunities, so many noble and almost unlimited fields of inquiry, that their interest and their wealth appear alike inexhaustible.

It often happens that the men best qualified,

both by talents and education, to promote the growth and interests of science, require the kind of patronage to which I allude. Had it not been for the munificence of a French monarch, it is more than probable that the world had never seen the most comprehensive and brilliant work on Natural History, the labour of one man, that has hitherto appeared. I allude to the writings of the eloquent and justly celebrated COUNT de BUFFON. The same may be said of Sweden in respect of LINNEUS; of Russia in regard to PALLAS; and, where it could have been least expected, of the Spanish Court, in reference to HUMBOLDT, certainly the most accomplished of travellers; whose researches, associated with those of BONPLAND, in South America, furnish an astonishing mass of important and valuable information to the present state of science.

Turning again to our own country, it is not easy to conceive what might be effected in geo

graphical knowledge, and natural philosophy, by a few such men as PALLAS, and HUMBOLDT, sent out under the fullest patronage, and steady support, of government, to investigate those regions of Asia and Africa with which we are still so imperfectly acquainted, and to which the readiest access, by such means, could be gained and secured. But, alas! we must not venture to indulge reflections of such a nature. The times are unpropitious to the realization of such hopes.

Nought but lamentable sounds are heard." The dogs of war, not yet satiated with human blood, are still howling for more abundant carnage; and Christians, with the doctrines of peace in their pockets, and the sword of extirpation in their hands, are not ashamed to mingle the cries of havoc and destruction with the groans of suffering millions!

Amongst the ancients, a few great examples still live in the records of history; and, however

superior the moderns may be in regard to the

comforts of private life, and in the possession of more useful knowledge, some of the heroes of antiquity go far beyond them in loftiness of soul, and grandeur of character. I have sometimes thought that many of the foibles, if not the atrocities, of the mighty ALEXANDER, were atoned by the patronage he extended towards the great Father of Philosophy, his famed preceptor, ARISTOTLE, to whom mankind have been indebted for some of the first rudiments of science. The rays of glory which encircle many of the great names of ancient days, though seen through the thick medium of a long lapse of ages, still appear in all their original splendour, and sometimes glance upon our retrospective ken with a brightness rendered more dazzling by comparison with modern actors on the great stage of human life.

There is something of extraordinary greatness in this part of ALEXANDER's character. Ac