The Sun.
London, England, 1825-05-20 00:00:00

UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.

CAMBRIDGE, MAT 19.—The 111th anniversary meeting of
the Cambridge Philosophical Society was heldon.Monday last,
when the report of the Council was read by one of the Secreta—
ries, giYing an account of the proceedings of the society during
the last year, and presenting a statement of the anirs of the
Institution, of a most satisfactory nature. The following mem-
bers of the Society were elected office bearers ibr the ensuing
year :
-
. .
PRESIDENT—Rev. Janes Cumming, M.A. F.R.S. Pro_ l'
lessor of Chemistry, Trinity college. , -
VICE-PRESIDENTS—Rev. Adam Sedgwick, 111. A. F.R.S.
.31.G.5. Woodwardian Professor of Geology, Fellow of Tri- i
nity College.—Rev. Bewick Bridge, 111. A. F.R.S. Fellow of
St. Peter's College.—Rev. Thomas IValdron Hornbuckle,
B.D. Tutor of St. John's College.
THEASUItEn—Fred. Thackeray, M.D. Emmanuel College.
• SEcurTAßlEs—Rev. George Peacock, M.A. F.R.S. Tutor
of Trinity College.— Rev. John Stevens Henslow, 31.A..A1.G.5.
Professor of Mineralogy, St. John'.. College.
STEWARD OF THE READING ROOM—Reverend 'William
'Whewell, M.A. F.R.S. Two:. of Trinity College.
Mr mitEns or TILE OLD CouNcit.—'lllarmadoke Ramsay,
Esq. 31. A. Fellow of Jesus College.—Rev. Richard Crawley,
31. A. President and Tutor of Magdalene College.—Rev. John
Phillips Higosan, M.A. F.R.S. Tutor of Trinity College.
MEMBERS or' THE. NEW COUNCIL--John Haviland,
M.D. Regius Professor of Physic, St. John's College.—lter.
Wm. Clark, 11. A. Professor of Anatomy, Fellow
of Trinity
College.—Rev. John Griffith, B.D.- Tutor of Emmanuel
College—Reverend Joseph Power, M.A. Fellow of Clare
Hall.

At a Congregation on Monday last, the degree of Master of
Arts was conferred, by royal mandate, upon the Rev. Frede-
rick Holmes, B.A. of St. John's College, Professor in the
Bishop's College at Calcutta.
Mr. Philip W. Bockhorn, of St. John's College, is elected
Hebrew Scholar on the late Mr. Tyrwhitt's foundation.
Thomas Grainger Hall, 8.A., and the Rev. W. Waring,
8.A., of Magdalene College, were on Monday last elected
Foundation Fellows, and Sam. Wilkes Ni'aud, 8.A., a Wray
Fellow of that society.
The Rev. Richard Johnson, M.A.' Fellow of Caius College,
was on Wednesday last presented, by the Master and Fellows
of that society, to the rectory of Lavenbam, Suffolk, vacated.
by the death of the Rev. J. Buck.
George Burrows, Esq., 8.A., of Caius College, was on the
same day elected Fellow of that society.
On Friday last were called to the Bar by the Hon. Society
of the Middle Temple, Thomas Clarkson and Joseph Beldam,
Engrg., late of St. Peteo's College, and William Henry Pattis-
son, Esq., late of St. John's College, in this University.
The Arabic Professor has addressed the following letter to
the Editor of the New Times:—

London, Nay 18.
SlR—Seeing the Arabic Professor of Cambridge mentioned
in some of this day's papers as having signed a petition in fa-
vour of the Catholic Claims, I have thought that, as my opi-
nions are known to differ from thoso expressed in the prayer of
that petition, it would be but right to state that my name was
not appended to it.—l am, Sir, your humble servant,

SAMUEL LEE

MR. W. BARES' MS. OF HOMER.
We have been favoured with the following account of this
ancient manuscript, which we are confident will be gratifying
to our readers,. and congratulate the lovers of classical learning
that a Gentleman of such high classical attainments, and so
great a lover of classical literature, should be the possessor of
so valuable a treasure; as we are sure lie will give the public
and opportunity of collating it, and of being satisfied that
Homer, as it is read in the present printed editions, accords with
the very earliest copies of that most ancient writer. The MS.
is written upon papyrus, of the usual yellowish colour, in capi-
tal letters, most beautifully and carefully formed, of the make
and figure ;common towards the latter end of the Ptolemaic
Dynasty in Egypt ; there is no separation between the words,
which is the same in all the mostancient MSS.; but the verses
are all kept distinct, and arranged in columns, with a large mar-
gin between them, each column containing from 42 to 44 lines,
occupying the breadth of the roll, with the exception of a
small margin at the top and bottom. The roll .(being the
last doubtless of twenty-four distinct rolls or volumes) never
contained more titan the last book of the Iliad; of this (tile
outermost part having been destroyed by use and time) the first
126 lines are wanting, and the marks of the thumb in unrolling
the volume are visible in some of the other folds or pages, and
have obliterated a few words ; the remainder is quite perfect
to the end of the book. There is a numerical letter in the
margin at every hundred lines, and also the names of the in-
terlocutors (as in a drama) wherever they occur, and a mono-
gram (doubtles for it oorryc) wherever the poet is the narrator.
From a hasty collation of the text with the best editions of the
poet, several readings were discovered which differ flaini the re-
ceived text, but not materially, and but few absolutely new :
four lines are omitted altogether; of these, two, which seem ne-
cessary to the sense, have been supplied in a posterior, but an
early hand-writing, the letters of which are of the small Greek ,
form ; and two, which are not necessary ito the sense, have not
been so supplied. The same hand has made a variety of correc-
' tions of the text in the margin and above the original text,
where the readings differ from those in the now received
text, and in particular places has supplied the accents, which
being done in a careless manner, and with ink less bright
and clear than that of the original writing, has defutmed
the MS. considerably; the subsequent addition, however,
of these accents is in itself a rely curious. circumstance,
and may give rise to much speculation ; the grave accent
is but seldom denoted, and the acute not always, nor in all in-
stances, according to its received position among us. It is
impossible at present to ascertain the date of the ns., but it is
no doubt the oldest classical MS. extant. It is now stretched
upon two thin deal boards, a the width and length of the roll,
by which means it is preserved from injury, and is rendered
very easy of collation. We hope to see afac simile of it pub-
lished in the manlier of the Codex- Alexandrinus, by Dr.
Woide, or of the Codex item, by Dr. Kipling; and it would
not be unworthy of the University if it issued from its press,
and under the accurate eye of its very learned Greek Professor.
—(Cambridge Cif °aide.)

•
When Bor.l v.tit retired from Ca Win gene, at
the time it was besieged by Morilel, he proceeded to Jamaica
for the purpose of endeavouring to obtain whatever supplies
were to be met with, in order to render every possible aid
to the Patriot cause. Some Spaniards, who had taken up
their residence in that island, and . who equally hated and
dreaded Bolivar, formed the horrible project or procuring his
assassination. To effect this diabolical purpose, they bribed a
negro, who was to watch his opportunity, and, stealing upon the
Patriot Chief while he was asleep, to dispatch him without noise
This wretch, under cover of the darkness of the night, entered the
house where Bolivar had fixed his abode, and reaching his usual
bed-room, he silently approached a hammock, and stabbed to
the heart the individual lying there, who immediately expired.
—The unfortunate man, however, who wax thus assassinated,
proved to be, not Bolivar, but his private xecretary—the former
having on that very imrning removed to another house. The
murderer was almost immediately apprehended, anti a few
days afterwards hanged. He confessed having been bribed by
some Spaniards to perpetrate the deed,—but through, as it ap-
peared, the guarded manner in which they had communicated with him, he was unable to state their names; suspicion, however, rested upon some Spaniards who a few days pre-
viously had quitted the island. Bolivar, on hearing of the as-
sassination of his secretary, exclaimed, "The Spaniards 'by
their crimes hasten the completion of our independence; the
i'certainty of this is a consolation undc.7 my present heart-rending
affliction."
II UMAN TIME-PlEm—The following singular
account appears in a recent number of a valuable French work,
the Biblioteque Universelle. J. D. Chevalley, a native of Swit-
zerland, aged 86, has arrived at an astonishing degree of perfec-
tion in reckoning time by an .internal movement. In his youth
he was accustomed to pay great attention to the ririgingoonf
bboeallrsd,
and vibrations of pendulums, and by degrees he ocquired the
power of continuing a succession of intervals exactly equal to
thet
hosseterrahn!c.hhotahteovnibthractilo,anke
vibrations orofs.oGunendesvlair,oodn Julyae 14, 1823, lie en-
gaged
. Being
to indicate to the crowd about him the lapse of a
quarter of
an hour, or as many minutes and seconds as any one chose to
name, and this during a convesation the most diversified with
those standing by ; and, farther, to indicate by the voice, the
moment when the hand passed over the quarter minutes, or
half
minutes, or any other subdivision previously stipulated, during
the whole course of the experiment. This he did without mis-
:---" I have
take, notwithstanding the exertions of those about him to dis-
tract his attention, and clapped his hand at the conclusion of
a
• Iby imitation, labour, and patience, movement which
acquire(
thoughts, nor labour, nor any thing can stop. It is
the time fixed. His own account of it isthus given
neither
• rives me the space of three seconds, so that
and returning, 1., .
similar to that of a pendulum, which at each motion of going
tinually."
doensetrooy'colodetkheyehsotuetre-.:
twenty of them make a Mmute, and these I add to others con-
An alarming fire broke out in the house of Mr.
in Thornton-street, Horsely...
to
ddC,otLywAiiiitn,:anbilo:ugit:lwai ehriqcuha
entirelyr quarter in s t
baker,
.taiiii.,d
twfuorinlietxurte damagecr.ocnshidaleziraabille,si.a.
and Mr. Gaffer's, a corn chandler; we are happy
Ihoaunsdes,didM
to say no lives were lost.