The Press.
London, England, 1855-08-18 00:00:00

liitraturt.

The Poetical Works of Mark Akenside and
John Dyer. Edited by the Rev. Robert
Aris Willmott. London : Routledge.
WE do not think that the present specimen
of Mr. Willmott's editorial labours is equal to
his former example reviewed by us last year
(Wor*s of Gray, Collins, &c. PRESS, vol.
p. 736). The character of Akenside as a man
and a physician is not here sufficiently por-
trayed, and no one could gather from Mr
Willmott's introduction that molly unfavorable
particulars have been chronicled about the
author of " The Pleasures of Imagination."
What was said and written of him by his con-
temporaries should have been stated, and then
Mr. Willmott might have discussed the ques-
tion how far the " Life " of the poet by the
Rev. A. Dyce has vindicated his fair fame.
We discern also some slips from Mr. Will-
mott's pen. The first four lines of the fifth
stanza of the ode to Curio run thus :
Soon with thy country's hope thy fame extends:
The rescued merchant oft tby words resounds :
Thee and thy cause the rural hearth defends:
His bowl to thee the grateful sailor crowns.
Upon which Mr. Willmott says :—" There is
" a singular oversight in the fifth stanza,
" where crowns' is compelled to rhyme with
" ' sounds ' " (note, p. 128). There is no "over
eight," as it is obvious that the poet wrote the
verse intentionally, being desirious, by the
substitution of an assonant for a consonant
rhyme, to diversify the triple recurrence of
the termination " nds " in the three preced
ing lines. The liberty taken by Akenside
is not greater than that of Campbell in his
" Exile of Erin," where he makes, in the first
stanza, the word " Erin " rhyme with "repair-
ing "; or in his ode to the Greeks, where he
writes :

Again to the battle, Achaians,
Our hearts bid the tyrants defiance.
Nor do we concur with Mr. Willmott when he
says (p. xxxv.) that " Akenside's real strength
" lay in the poetry of eloquence and descrip •
" tion " We shall not stay to note the pecu-
liar phrase " poetry of eloquence "—an ex-
pression almost as incongruous as "the music
of melody," or " the heroism of courage "—but
certainly Akenside cannot be recommended
for his powers of " description." He wanted
the closeness, variety, and gleaming pictu-
resqueness of phrase necessary for constituting
a master of description; as may easily be seen
if his best passages in that style are put by the
Bide of some of the secondary efforts of Pope,
Thomson, Cowper, Goldsmith, or Walter
Scott's highland landscapes in " The Lady of
the Lake." Mr. Willmott appears to us to
have missed the special faculty of his author.
Akenside excelled in the poetical utterance
of that moral rapture which springs from deep
ethical views of life. His Muse frequented
the confines which lie between Poetry and
Philosophy, and his intellect was evidently
much influenced by his medical studies. Of
late years our poets have been prone to record
the communings of the lone and sensitive
spirit with Nature. They have aimed at the
melodious and the mystical, but Akenside's
emotions partake of " R public " turn, and he
bad many of the qualities which would have
made a great political speaker. The roll of
his verse has always been admired, but his
diction is Latinised and rather meagre. He
cannot paint in epithets, nor realise effects
with a few touching words. We could wish,
also, for a more airy and delicate spirit in his
poetry. Much of his work reads like a moral
treatise in blank verse.
In the literary history of " The Pleasures
of Imagination" nothing is more curious
than the circumstance that it is always neces-
sary to bind up together the original and the
revised copies of the work, as in many in
stances the author changed beauties into
deformities, and vice-versa. Several instances
could be cited. In the original the following
well-known passage stands thus :
the

- - , afla uoinin, tuvugin vpmr, in wnose nos be free from the reproach of increasing Turkey's
stances the author changed beauties into Ev'n )et some portion of its ancient wealth
deformities, and vice-versa. Several instances Remains, and sparkles in the yellow sand difficulties while pretending to lend her
could be cited. In the original the following Of its clear streams, though unregarded now ; aid. Supposing the war to continue, as at
Ophirs more rich are fonnd. With easy p g
course resent there is ever y chance of its continuin ,
well-known passage stands thus : The vessels glide; unless their
speed be stopp'd Turkey must need further aid, and can, of
Look then abroad through nature, to the range By dead calms, that oft lie on those smooth seas course, only pay the interest on one loan by
Of planets, suns, and adamantine spheres While eery zephyr sleeps ; Men the shrouds drop ;
Wheeling unshaken through the void immense; The downy feather on the cordage, hung increasing the amount of the next. Should
And speak, 0 man I does this capacious scene Moves not; the flat sea shines itke 'diva? gold, . FranOe and England divide the annwit at Ale

AUG. 18, 1855.

five millions between them our war expeadi a
tune would be increased by two millions an
a half; and supposing our army and milit'••
bad been raised to the full numbers voted by
Parliament, as assuredly they should have
been, the war expenditure of the year would
have fallen little, if any, below that of the
average expenditure during the last war.
Then, if we take the additions to the public
debt, we find that in the twenty-two years of
the last war the debt rose from 227,000,0001. to
840,000,0001., or at the rate of upwards
of 27,000,0001. yearly. The addition made
during the current year is 16,000,000/. Loan
and 7,000,0001. Exchequer Bills, together
23,000,0001.., which, if a portion of the Turkish
Loan be added, would show that we are adding
to our debt at a rate not much short of that
which prevailed during the last war ; and,
judging by experience, there appears little
probability of the additions we now make ever
being cleared off. Our author observes :

As every fresh war adds to the debt and increases the
interest, a larger revenue is of necessity required after
each ; and, as the nation cannot bear to be taxed to an
unlimited extent, a time must come when it will not be
able to pay both the current expenses and the public
s editor.
Sueh an evil would, however, be avoided, if the debt in•
curred during a war were paid off in the following peace.
But a review of the National Debt since it commencement,
will show that all the endeavours hitherto made to effect
this object, have failed.
Borrowing, as a regular system, has existed in England
for about 164 years ; and during this time we have had
seven periods of war, occupying sixty-six years. In
consequence of these wars, we contracted debts amount-
ing altogether to 879 millions, of which 770 millions
'amain unpaid.

The experience of 164 years may be taken
as conclusive of the tendency of our debt to
largely and rapidly increase. If in that
period we have borrowed 879,000,0001., and
only paid off 109,000,0001., we must conclude
that whatever additions we now make to the
total amount will, in the main, be permanently
added to the burden of the country. The fol-
lowing table showing the increase of debt at
the end of each war since 1697, and the
amount paid off during peace, is curious :

m bo ....
... •0 4 F.! 8
o '2 •
6O •-• • "sat ID 00 r 5,, 2
iz 18 23 % li ?EI : Efj g-h'
.4,
p. , 6q 4 g•^1:14 ,:?. c•
.01 Iv E% eu .15 11
to '''' ct 'O6 41' .1. 51 it,
-a "I
46 ny o
o A 8
.1697 21,615,772 4 5,121,071 3.895,205 16,894,701
1714 55,282,978 26 7,328,355 6.511,128 47,954,623
1743 79,199,313 8 5,903,640 7,500,000 73,289,673
1 1768 113,959,270 12 10,814,7711 9,612,694 123,644,500
1788 238,291,248 10 10,942,100 16,833,384 127.989,148
1816 840,850,491 88 69,927,490 52,360,953 770,913,001

From other tables it appears that the per-
centage of revenue applied to the reduction of
debt has been less after each successive peace.
Sinking funds have never answered their
purpose. At the close of the last war the
machinery of the sinking fund could only be
maintained by borrowing with one hand and
paying with another. In 1819 it was arranged
that 5,000,0001. should be paid yearly for the re-
duction of the debt. In practice this arrange-
ment could not be kept up, and in 1828 a
select committee recommended that 3,000,0001.
yearly should be set apart for that purpose ;
but in the following twenty-four years there
were only thirteen in which revenue exceeded
expenditure.
It appears, indeed, that there is something
dangerous in the very nature of a sinking
fund, as it affords a promise for the redemp-
tion of debt which is never fulfilled, and thus,
like other delusive hopes, encourages the
evil it was intended to abate. We are in-
formed :

It is not in England alone that these arrangements
have failed ; a sinking fund was established in Holland in
1655, yet it has not prevented her from having the largest
debt, in proportion to her population, of any country in
Europe.
One was likewise introduced into the French system of
finance in 1749, and an ordonnance issued directing "the
levy of a twentieth to constitute it ;" but, nothwithstand.
ing this, the national incumbrances increased at a fearful
rate, and thereby hastened that dreadful convulsion—the
Revolution.

Austria bag a sinking fund, yet she has a heavy debt,
which is rapidly increasing.
Spain has also a sinking fund, but it must be useless
towards relieving the country, as she cannot pay the
interest upon the loans, much less any portion of the
principal.
rorWeil Rpm Wii iu the same condition.

THE PRESS.

Belgium has a sinking fund in operation, but she is
constantly adding to her debt.
The author, from a review of the facts, comes
to the conclusions—

That at the commencement of each war the debt re-
maining unpaid has in relation to the revenue been larger
that it was at the beginning of the previous one. That
with a single exception, which is satisfactorily explained,
in every succeeding peace a less proportion of the debt,
with reference to the revenue, has been paid off yearly,
and a less per-centage of the national income applied to
its liquidation. That different Administrations have en-
deavoured to provide means for redeeming the debt ; they
have, however, failed to effect any considerable reduction,
and this failure is to be attributed, not to the inability of
the nation to raise the money, but to the desire on it■ part
to confine taxation to that which was necessary, rather
that extend it to that which was desirable.

The conclusion of Adam Smith that after
national debts have once risen to a certain
point there is no instance of their having been
fully paid off, is confirmed by experience since
he wrote, and many instances are given in this
pamphlet of nations having sunk beneath the
pressure of the burdens they accumulated.
Our author is favorable to the plan of raising
money by terminable annuities ; but he does
not seem to have sufficiently considered the
objections to such a principle. The researches
and arguments of Mr. Newmarch have gone
far to show that, when money has to be raised,
the best mode of obtaining it is by issuing
that security which is most readily negotiable,
because such security will proportionally bear
a lower rate of interest than any other. Were
very considerable sums to be raised in termi-
nable annuities, it is probable that the interest
would become so burdensome as to necessitate
the raising new loans to defray it. In fact, we
should probably return to the old fallacy of a
sinking fund under another name, and borrow
with one hand that we might pay with another.
It would be curious, however, to ascertain at
what point, or number of years, a ter-
minable and perpetual annuity so nearly
approached each other in value as practically
to leave little difference in the rate of interest.
It certainly does appear, that when it is a
nation which borrows, and individuals which
lend, some advantage may be taken of the
superior longevity of the former, to arrange
terms greatly in its favour. It is on such a
principle that great families, looking beyond
their immediate generation, and that of their
successors, have been able to enormously in-
crease their rent-rolls in the end, by granting
leases for long terms of years.
Perhaps the most serious consideration con-
nected with that law—as we may almost
consider of it—of the certain in crease of
national debts is, that while their amount may
be unlimited so long as public credit remains,
there must be some limit to the resources of the
wealthiest nation. If we give the conditions of an
unlimited debt, and a limited soil and popu-
lation, we see that the burden of the former
must sooner or later outweigh the capabilities
of the latter. Probably we have not yet
reached the point at which the scale must
turn against us, or at which the balance is
equally poised. If our resources increase
faster than our burdens, the balance may he in
o r favour, though the amount of debt is
actually increasing.
Up to a certain point, it is probable that
such an action was really in progress. But
for the last ten years our population has stood
still. While it was increasing, the amount of
debt per head since the last war was de-
creasing, and the amount of taxation de
creasing in a proportionate ratio ; but, practi
cally, the limit of population in these islands
seems to have been reached, the drain from
emigration at the present time being quite
equal to our increase by births. The addition
made to debt and taxes at the present time
will therefore result in an increase of so much
per head to the population ; and it seems not
unreasonable to suppose that the tide of
emigration will flow stronger as taxation in
this country becomes more burdensome.
Our foreign possessions are undoubtedly
sources of wealth ; but it appears like an ano-
maly in our state that, though they all share the
advantages of British rule, they are exempted
from bearing any burden of our debt. Theo-
retically, there appears no good reason why
Australia, and Canada, and India should not
contribute to the expenses of the present war
fLP well as Wales or Scotland. ferliaps India

789

is more threatened by Russian aggression than
any part of these islands. But the American
revolt has settled that question once for all.
It is the limited soil and industry of the
British islands alone which must bear the
weight of the mortgage of the whole
800,000,000/. debt, and which must provide for
punctual payment of the interest ; and hence
life in England, so far as taxation is concerned,
is placed at a great disadvantage compared to
life in the colonies The fact of our debt in-
creasing while our population stands still or
recedes, and while no considerable expansion
of our industry is reasonably to be expected,
is calculated to make a great impression on
the minds of those reflecting persons who look
beyond the present, and who consider that a
wise Legislature should conduct the affairs of
the country on the same principle that a pru-
dent man manages his private estate.

The Island Empire. By the Author of " Bios-

delle." London : Bosworth.
THERE are many spots ripe with historic asso-
ciation, possessing in themselves pleasant
resources, with a fine climate and industrious
inhabitants, yet neglected by their governments,
seldom visited by tourists, or remembered by
travellers. One such spot in Europe is the
little island of Elba, celebrated in the time of the
Romans for the excellence of its weapons and
for its manufacture of agricultural tools ; noted
in the middle ages for its gallant defences
against the Turks under Barbarossa and
Solyman, and for the terrible sufferings it ex-
perienced at the hands of those ruthless
invaders ; and, lastly, famous in modern
times for having been chosen by the greatest
warrior of the age as his sole appanage in days
of defeat and humiliation. Lying just off the
Tuscan shore, it presents but an uninviting
aspect, yet when reached the most beautiful
scenery is beheld ; the soil is fertile and
the climate genial; fruits and shrubs, vines,
corn, olives, and aromatic plants, grow in
abundance; the coast swarms with choice fish;
game and wild fowl are plentiful inland ; while
in the interior inexhaustible mines of iron and
quarries of the finest marbles and granite, with
mountains of loads tone, are to be found. Such,
with a population honest, industrious, and
hospitable, is Elba ; but every advantage of
soil and climate, every historic association of
past ages, sinks before the one great feature
of modern Elba—that it was once the " Island
Empire " of the great military genius of the
age. No visitor to the spot can be free
from the fascination which the name of
Napoleon confers upon everything in which
he was personally connected ; and the author,
though in search of health, appears to have
sought more for every authentic record of the
Emperor's actions during his residence on
the island than for his own cure. As the
result, he has produced a book extremely
entertaining, full of interest, and detailing
many facts connected with the Emperor's
return to France which are not generally
known. It is remarkable how every expression,
act, and sentiment of that singular man yet
rivets the attention of mankind ; his know-
ledge was so extensive, his experience of the
policy of Europe so comprehensive, he so
thoroughly understood the characters of all
his contemporaries, he was in reality a man
of such vast grasp of mind, and foretold the
future with such great sagacity, that every
word which fell from his lips in moments of
open expression of sentiment is earnestly
sought after. Full justice will never be done
to Napoleon until his despatches and State
papers are published to the world. But to go
back to Elba. The whole details of /Napoleon's
leaving France, and his voyage and conversa-
tions on board the Undaunted, are too well
known to need repetition. Upon his arrival,
the moment he had formally taken possession
of his new empire, he set out with charac-
teristic activity to inspect it in detail, ar-
ranged its laws, settled its finances, and
imposed a tax which created some little dis-
turbance at first :

On the arrival of the Emperor at Porto Ferrajo, the
people of Capoliven were somewhat aghast at • tat which
he imposed upon the island in general. Heretofore the
municipal councils of the island had been allowed to deter•
mine the manner in which they should raise the tribute to
be paid to their bovereigu at riosibino, aii4 the *position

790

of s direct tax was not palatable. They had understood it
from a foreign State, but not from an individual. At a
meeting of a council, therefore, the debate ran high, and
the best-educated individual amongst them, the archpriest
of the parish, one Bartolini, made an oration, in which he
said : "We have always been faithful to our prince, and
have paid to him his dues to the full, but in the manner
that pleased us. Who is this Napoleon, who assumes to
gives us laws? Whence does he come ? "
His questions were answered by shouts, and the
Cspoliveresi held out, until their sovereign, who was not of
the kind to be long ignored, forced them to comply with
his demands, at the same time that, with his kern appre-
ciation of human nature, he named the archpriest one of
his Councillors of State. On paying hie visit to this por-
tion of his territory, the Emperor was uncertain as to the
symption he should receive, and seeing a crowd at the top
o' the hill, he sent forward an officer to discover the inten-
tions of the population. Not many minutes elapsed before
his emissary returned, together with the head man of the
village, attired in a red uniform, which in days of yore had
been that of Piombino, and with four choristers bearing
the baklacchiao, or canopy held in processions over the
host. The Emperor, wisely complying with circumstances,
walked with a grave face under it into the village, and was
seen by our host, the corporal, then a boy, who related the
facts.

It is amusing to read how easily trouble-
some Radicals are to be quieted even in pri-
mitive, honest Elba. The archpriest was as
easily manageable as are our Halls and Moles-
worths.

During August, in 1814, Elba was surprised
by the sudden visit to the Emperor of a lady
and child of high rank. Many believe that it
was the Empress Marie Louise and her son,
but she was so strictly watched in Italy it
was hardly possible that she could have visited
Elba. The author here relates the story in
full The Emperor ono day received a secret
visit from a German officer, and a few days
after a Genoese felucca arrived off the coast
with a lady and a boy. The Emperor sud-
denly set out to meet them—tents were
pitched at Madonna on the coast, and the
Emperor and the fair incognita remained
together for some days, after which, with the
child, she departed as she came :

One day, as the child was playing about under the chestnut.
trees, the Emperor came up to Doctor Fourreau, who was
in conversation with the captain, and asked him what he
thought of the child. The Doctor answered," He appears
to be much grown since 1 had the honou; of seeing him
at Fontainebleau." The captain is not sure whether he
heard the words " Sa Msjeste " applied to the child, which
would have placed the matter beyond a doubt ; but his
answer was evidently displeasing to the Emperor, who
answered abruptly, " Qu'eat que you chantez done ?" and
turned away, leaving the poor doctor almost in tears, and
in a state only to be understood by those attendants who
unfortunately fell under their master's displeasure. Tam-
ing round to the captain, be said, " How could I be ex-
pected to know that I was to be secret? A man has not
the power of divination of a god."

These circumstances naturally provoked speculations,
and, in addition to the facts, as the captain asserts, that
the pictures he had seen of the Empress and the King of
Rome resembled the lady and her son, and that the age of
the latter tallied with that of the King, have induced him
to form the conclusion, which nothing can now alter. The
Emperor, however, on seeing that the captain had observed
that the child called him " Papa," asked him what the
Elhans thought of his visitors. The captain answered—
" They think that Elba is honoured with the presence of
the Empress and of your Majesty's son." On which the
Emperor rejoined, " He may well be my son, and yet not
the King of Rome."

How curious it is to read of the conqueror
of continental Europe, the master but a few
months previously of millions of men, expend
ing the energies of his great mind upon the for-
mation of roads, the arrangement of a house,
or the catching of fish. On the 27th of June
the records of Elba tell us that its Emperor
went to view the process of catching the
tunny fish, and insisted upon trying to pull
one out of the water himself, but it proved too
strong for him, and he was obliged, much
against his will, to relinquish the tunny. "To
" what base uses may we not come to, Horatio?"
In proof of the terror and respect with which
his name was regarded, a singular anecdote is
related here. Elba was often threatened by
the Algerine pirates, and one day—

while coasting along the shores of Elba, he found that
an Algeriae felucca had been wrecked on the shore near
Langone. He landed himself at the scene of the disaster;
bet gamely had he been announced to the crew when a
ery of admiration burst from them. They were in the
presence of Bonaberdi, that Sultan of Fire. General Bet-
trend interrogated the chiefs of the African band on their
intentions in coasting along the shore of Elba, asking if
they had intended to make an attazk on the Emperor.
"We !---against the great Sultan of Fire ! " answered the
pirate. "We do not make war against Allah! " and he
and his men pros themselves at the Emperor's feet.
ity ludieind Lw nt of these perms the Etipeeor

THE PRESS.

gained a double object—security for the island commerce,
and a safe means of communication with the Continent.
It is very clear, from the numerous conver-
sations held with emissaries from Paris, which
are quoted at length here, that the Emperor's
party in France was only revived by the gross
misgovernment of the Bourbons : they dis-
gusted the army, the people, the aristocracy,
and clergy alike. Every party was conspiring
one against the other, watching one another,
and only waiting for a favorable opportunity to
bring about a revolution. Meanwhile, the
cocked hat and grey coat suddenly appeared :
the army was won, and with it France for the
time. It is not difficult to say that Napoleon
never would have remained quiet at Elba,
even if his allowance had been paid by the
Bourbons, and no intention had ever been
mooted to remove him to St. Helena Europe
was too near• and too tempting a prize for such
a man to forswear under his peculiar circum-
stances and position. From the documents
and conversations here published, it would
appear that he long contemplated some
such descent. His views appear first to have
turned towards Italy, and a design of seizing
Italy and forming an Italian empire is
curiously illustrated by the following account
of a speech he is reported to have made to two
Italians of rank who came to Elba to arrange
the gigantic scheme with him:—
I was great on the throne of France, principally by the
force of my arms and by the extension of my influence over
the whole of Europe. 1 gave to the French a code and
laws which will survive me ; but the principal characteristic
of my first reign was the glory of conquest.
At Rome, I shall give a different direction to this same
glory. It will be as eminent as the first, but it will not
possess the same principle. It will be less dazzling, but
perhaps more durable, for it will resemble no other.
I shall make of the different races of Italy one nation ;
I shall imprint on them the unity of manners, which is
wanting ; and it will be the most difficult enterprise I shall
have ever attempted.
I shall open roads, canals, and multiply the means of
communication. Industry will receive an impetus, at the
same time that agriculture will come to the aid of the
prodigious richness 01 the soil, and will acquire the im•
menus developments of which it is susceptible.
I shall give to Italy laws appropriate to Italians. I
have hitherto only been able to make for them the provi-
sional—l shall give them the definitive. It will last as long
as the empire.
Naples, Venice, Spezzia, shall be transformed into im-
mense workshops; I shall have vessels and a formidable
marine ; I shall make Rome a seaport.
In twenty years Italy will have thirty millions of inhabi-
tants ; then she will be at home the most powerful coun-
try of Europe, as inaccessible to invasions as Russia.
We shall abstain from wars of conquest, hut I shall have
a brave and strong army. I shall write on my banners my
device of the Iron Crown,—" °Alai a chi la tocca ;" and no
one will feel inclined to make the attempt. - . .

Having been Scipio and Cesar in I:'rance, I shall be
Camillus at Rome; the stranger shall cease to crowd the
Capitol, and shall appear there no more.
Under my reign the ancient majesty of the people•king
will ally itself to the modern civilisation of my modern
empire,, and Rome will equal Paris, without descending
from the elevation of its immense recollections, which she
will associate with the force of Lacedemonian institutions
and the Atticism of Athens. I was in France the Colos-
sus of War; I shall become in Italy the Colossus of Peace.

How the genius of that comprehensive mind
is stamped upon these words ! They are well
worth the attention of Italians. Unity and
Perseverance—those are the means which will
yet liberate Italy. What a magnificent termi-
nation it would have been to the career of such
a man as Napoleon if, after a reign of con-
quest, he had founded a new empire of peace
and selldevelopment.
The " Island Empire," it will be seen from
our extracts, contains much new and highly
interesting matter and anecdote connected
with Napoleon when at Elba. Moreover, a
full and entertaining account is given of the
history and resources of this pleasing island,
which Murray has not yet deigned to notice,
but which contains many elements of interest
and fascination.

Paper and Paper-Making, Ancient and Modern.
By Richard Herring. With an Introduction
by the Rev. George Croly, LL.D. London:
Longmans.
THE history of the art of manufacturing
modern paper is extremely obscure, and all
efforts to discover the precise period when its
use was first adopted have hitherto proved
fruitless. One thing is certain, that the Chinese,
as usual, were before the rest of the world in the
invention, or at load id the art of reducing re•

SATURDAY,

getable fibre to pulp, and from thence manufac-
turing to a high degree of perfection, and with
great art and ingenuity, various kinds of paper.
Bamboo, the bark of mulberry, elm, or cotton
trees, hemp, wheat and rice-straw, all afforded
them ample materials for the manufacture of
paper for hundreds of years before the eleventh
century, when the art was first Vractised in
Europe. But if it is difficult to hx the pre-
cise time at which this art was introduced in
Europe, and hazardous to decide between the
claims of Sir John Spiebnau and John Tate
to the honour of erecting the first paper-mills
in England, and for adopting the use of rags
in their manufacture, it is highly curious
to trace the various means by which mankind
endeavourea to perpetuate their thoughts for
the benefit of their posterity from the earliest
ages downwards.
The power of writing Mr. Herring believes to
have been, equally with speech, a gift of the
Deity to mankind, and there is no reason to
doubt it; for the faculty of imitation, by which
Aristotle accounted for the art, implies in itself
the existence of something to imitate ; and
from whence could that " something " have
been obtained except from the Divine power?
But although the power of writing must be
alluded to, it is the material upon which the
writing was traced that engrosses our subject
at present ; and it becomes curiously instruc-
tive to note the various substances which were
used and thrown aside by the ancient nations
in their gradual advance in science, and their
search after the most facile means and durable
material, until we arrive at the modern
triumphs in printing and paper. In the
earliest ages of mankind, the rememembrance
of important events was sustained by very
simple means ; festivals and games were insti-
tuted, and altars or pillars raised in honour of
great or sacred events in the history of the
nation ; while the deeds of heroes and kings
were engraven upon tiles and stones and trans-
mitted to posterity, as the late discoveries in
the East have curiously brought to light. But
such unwieldy substances as bricks and stones
soon gave way to the use of tablets made of
lead, but that metal being found too pliable,
the use of wood gradually superseded it,
and boards and tables were made upon
which the writing was engraved with an iron
pen. Even so late as the time of the Greeks
and Romans in the earliest period of their
history it was customary to use plain wooden
boards, upon which the public affairs of the
year were engraved and exposed in the market-
place or temples for the information of the
people. At first the tables were used in their
plain state, but then it was found easier for
erasure and alteration to cover the tables with
a layer of wax ; and from wax one would think
the notion of pliability struck some ingenious
mind, and the skins of wild animals and the
leaves of trees rapidly superseded the use of
wooden boards. According to Pliny, the
Egyptians were the first to use the palm-leaf,
and to this day in India and other eastern
countries the use of the leaf is still retained,
and even preferred to paper or parchment, for
correspondence and other documents. From
this use of the leaves of trees, which was
adopted some 3,500 years ago, soon came
the employment of the inner bark, and
from that arose the discovery and adoption
of the famous papyrus of Egypt for ma-
nuscript records. From this celebrated plant
the first attempt at manufacturing a species
of paper was certainly made, but upon
the mode employed there appears to be two
opinions held by writers upon the subject:
one, that the inside spongy substance was ex-
tracted, cut into thin slices, steeped in water
or gum, dried, smoothed, and polished by
being rubbed with ivory, and thus prepared
for use ; the other, that the outer coat, pre-
pared in much the same manner, was alone
used. Mr. Herring inclines to this opinion
from the short length of the slips of papyri
hitherto discovered, rarely exceeding twelve
or fifteen inches, just the length of the coats
or pellicles of the plant; while had the pithy
part been used, there would have been no diffi-
culty of manufacturing paper the entire length
of the stem, which was from eight to ten feet and
upwards in height. It is curious to reflect
that at this moment in some of the Polynesian
islands, and oven in Java, a pregioely similes