The Sun.
London, England, 1837-12-28 00:00:00

city in which he resided, for his great professional skill and
services, and for the active support which he gave to every
lenevolent and useful in;titution.

Sir John Soane received his early architectural education
under Mr. Dance and Mr. D. Holland, and was afterwards
sent, by the especial bounty of King George the Third,
as a student of the Royal Academy, to pursue his profes-
sional studies at Rome. After his return he gradually ob-
tained extensive employment, both as an architect and a
surveyor, and finally succeeded in securing almost every
important and honourable appointment which is connected
with the exercise of his profession in this country. In later
life, when in possession of an ample fortune and public
honours, he became a most munificent patron of public in-
stitutions, and more particularly of those which are connected
with the advancement of the fine arts ; and in 1835 he be-
queathed his house in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, and the magnifi-
cent collection of works of art which it contained, to the nation,
and secured the accomplishment of this noble project by an act
of Parliament : he continued to pursue his usual course of
public munificence until his death, which took place on the
20th of January last, in the 84th year of his age.
Sir John Soane was profoundly acquainted with the great
principles of his art, and many of the interiors as well as ex-
teriot sof his buildings arc remarkable fcr skilful construction
es ifor rich and harmonious effects ; but he was unfortunately
dispt sed, in some cases, to seek for novelty rather in new
fo ms and decorations of architectural members, than for ori-
ginality i❑ the combination of those which have been sanctioned
by the concurrent voice of the most cultivated of ancient na-
t;ons and the greatest masters of modern art ; it is for this
reas( n that many of his works appears somewhat capricious
and extravagant, and fail to produce that undefinable feeling of
pleasure and satisfaction which always attends the contem-
plation of those great productions of architecture which have
beer. celebrated for correct proportions, cr for beautiful and
appropriate decoration.
In connection with this distinguished professor and patron
of art, I feel myself called upon to allude to the name of the
Earl of Egremont, whose very recent loss we deplore. He
was a nobleman distinguished by his active yet discriminating
benevolence, and by his princely use of a princely fortune ;
but it as a judge and patron of art that his loss will be most
severely felt, beyond the precincts of his own family, and the
numerous poor who were the immediate pat tskers of his
bounty. He was equally judicious in the selection of sub-
jects fur artists to execute, and liberal in rewarding them
when done.

Mr. J. D. Broughton, Surron of the Life Guards, had
s rvid with great distinction as a medical officer, during a
great hart of the Peninsular war and at Waterloo. He was
an eminent physiologist, and devoted a great portion of his
time and attention to the study and improvement of the
science of medical jurisprudence, and mere particularly to
experiments on the effects of poisons, and to the best and
most unerring tests for dc.ecting their presence after death.
His death, which followed a serious operation, rendered ne-
cessary by a long-neglected accident, was deeply lamented by
a large circle of friends, by whom he was equally respected
and beloved for his great professional talents and for his
honourable character. •

Mr. John Davidson, the last known victim to the cause of
African discovery, was formerly a partner in the house of
Messrs. Savory and Moore, the well-known chemists, but
was induced to quit it in 1826, partly with a view to gratify
his passion for foreign travel, and partly from other causes.
He afterwards visited North and South America, India, Pa
lestine, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Germany, and France; and
the lectures which he gave at the Royal Institution and else-
where, after his return, on the pyramids of Memphis and
Mexico, on Thebes and the temples of Egypt and Jerusalem,
afforded a sufficient proof both of his activity and of his au-
curete observation. The spirit of enterprise and travels, when
once excited, is not easily allayed, and Mr. Davidson devoted
himself, almost from the period of his return to this country, to
a ciurse of preparation for a journey to Tinibuct on which had
elready proved fatal to so many adventurers. !le was ac-
companied on this journey by Abu-Bekr, an enfranchised
African slave, who had been a 13, ince in his own country
when young, and was well acquainted with the Arabic lan-
guage. He had penetrated from \Vadnoon to within 25
days' journey of Timhuctoo, when he was murdered by the
El Ilarcb tribe, who were suspected to have been hired for
that lu-pot.e by Moorish merchants, who, fieim not being able
t) uncle send or conceive the real motives of such an under-
/. king, conceived that its success wou!d be injurious to their
interests. Mr. Davidson was a man of great activity and
strength, in the full vie-our of life and health, and able to en-
dure the severest labours and rrivati.ms; but personal accom-
plishments the most calculated to secure success in ordinary
attempts of this nature, serve only to augment the suspicion
and to stimulate the cruelty of those savage tribes, who tyran-
nize over these ithospitalle and almost impenetrable regions,
and who are described by his c-erapanion, Abu-Bekr, " as full
of envy at a stranger's g ods ; they lie in wait to plunder him
of every thing, as a lion lietli in wait for cattle; they have no
mercy on the stranger; even if a stranger were to strip off
his skin and give it to them, they would seize upon it."
The only foreign memLers whom the Society has lest dur-
iug the last year are Dr. Adam Afzelius, of Upsala, and Pro-
fessor Morichini, of Rome.
Dr. Adam Afzelius was born at Large in West Gothland,
in 1750, and was one of the last surviving puyils of Lienmus.
In 1777 be was appointed Reader of Oriental Literature, and
in 17 e 4.5 Demonsarator of Botany in the University of Upsala ;
and be made his first appearance as an author by the publica-
tion of a short supplement to the ILra Suecicu of his master,
in the Transactions of the Academy of Stockholm for 1787.
la the years 1792 and 1794, he made botanical expeditions to
Guinea and Sierra Leone. and a considerable part of the col-
lcctLns which he formed in those countries passed subse-
quently into the herbariums of Sir Joseph Banks and Sir
James Edward Smith. In 1797 he was made Secretary of Le-
gation to the Swedish Embassy in this country, and in the fol-
lowing year he was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal
Society on the ground of his great knowledge of botany and
zoology. Upon his return to his own country he became
Professor of Materia Medica and Dimteties at Upsala, situa-
tions which he retained fur the remainder of his life. He was
the author of a learned paper in the Linnean Transactions for
1791 on the genus Trifolium, and also of two works entitled
Remedia Guinensia and Stirpium in Guinea Lllcdicinalium
Species: he edited likewise the botanical Ccrrespondence of
Linnaeus. He was a botanist of great learning and acquire-
ments, and highly esteemed by the leading founders of the
Lirnean Society , but I am unable to connect his name with
any considerable advancement in natural knowledge.
Professor Morichini, of Rome, was elected a foreign mem-
ber of the Royal Society in 1827, and is chiefly known for his
experiment on the magnetizing influence of the violet rays in
the solar spectrum. His experiment was repeated by Con-
figliachi at Pavia, and by Berard at Montpellier, without suc-
cess, and in consequence doubts were expressed of the accuracy
of his results, which appeared to be finally removed by the
successful repetition of it by cur justly-celebrated country-
woman, Mrs. Somerville, in the summer of 1825. lam not
aware, however, that any other philosopher has succeeded in a
similar attempt.
STATEMENT OF TILE COUNCIL RELATIVE TO MR. PANIZZI'S