chapters, describing the city of Bagdad, already tolerably well known to us, but principally occupied with the search after, and dissertations on, the ruins of Babylon. This portion has rather an antiquarian and historical interest, than that of an ordinary book of travels. It is, however, elaborate and ingenious; and though we forbear either to make any extracts from, or analysis of it, we recommend it, as well as the whole volume, to the perusal of the reader.

SOCIETY FOR THE DIFFUSION OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE.

We believe that if a large number of persons in this country were to reflect, and speak their minds as to the object which they hated most, that object would be-Knowledge. Of all projects, there are none which in general meet with such earnest and hearty opposition, as projects for the improvement of education. The notion out of which this feeling arises is not an unnatural one. Every body supposes himself the possessor of a certain quantity of this commodity; and even if he does not intend to sell it, he does not like the notion of its being depreciated by a glut. Next to the calamity which Rothschild would suffer by being deprived of his wealth, would be that of seeing every Jew on the Exchange as rich as himself. This enmity breaks out under a variety of absurd pretexts. Sometimes the notion is promulgated, that people, by being educated, will become unfit for ordinary and laborious occupations; that men may indeed continue to till the ground, in spite of being able to read-(so they read the same book continually over and over)-but that writing is exceedingly dangerous-ciphering utter ruin to industry-and the idea that a man can drive a coach or wheel a barrow, who knows that the sun does not move round the earth, as chimerical as it would appear in some parts of Scotland and Ireland, that a man could possibly wait at table with a clean pair of stockings and a combed head; or that a gentleman who wore a cocked hat, and carried a gold-headed cane, should condescend to follow his mistress at a respectful distance. At other times, it is suggested that religion and morality must be necessarily injured by knowledge-which, on the supposition that religion and morality had no foundation in truth aad usefulness, would, perhaps, be the case. At other times, it is shrewdly hinted, that knowledge is not something else, that it does not feed a starving people; which is undoubtedly true-as it also is, that broiled blanket would ill supply the place of a mutton chop, and that a gridiron would be a sorry bed for a weary traveller.

The peculiarities of our academical institutions probably favour this hatred of knowledge. In our universities, those things which should be the rewards of perseverance, are all consequent upon two or three years of exertion in early youth, (bestowed on a branch of knowledge which, to the greater number of those who are obliged to pursue it, is irksome,) after which every inducement is held out to rest and indolence. Like race horses, after a short heat, they are well groomed, well fed, and lodged in a warm stall, except that the academical race horses are never destined to run again. People who have been industrious and are lazy, who have earned something and are living upon their old stock,-gen

tlemen who have retired upon a competence of learning, are peculiarly hostile to any impulse which may lead society to an extravagance of knowledge, with which their slender means will not allow them to compete. In the universities of other countries, where the profits of professors depend on their reputation, and where the professors and students make up the university, there is continual inducement to make, or seem to make, progress; but, in England, it matters absolutely nothing to the fellows, and very little to the tutors, of a college, whether they are heard of out of its walls; and what the professors most wish, is, not to be heard of at all,-not even in their lecture rooms.

The opposition offered in Parliament to the establishment of an university in London-the outcry and animosity which the project has raised elsewhere, are indications of this spirit. The ostensible objection to it, that it was not to teach theology, was a mere pretext, unless, indeed, any system of theology could have been taught, which would have kept away all students, in which case, no doubt, the university would have been deemed harmless, and even respectable.

We hope the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge may survive the animosity which will, no doubt, be excited against it; that is to say, if it seems likely to do any good. Many months will not certainly pass away before it is discovered to be a plan for jacobinizing, infidelizing, and radicalizing the people.

The object of the society is, the periodical publication and circulation of cheap and elementary treatises, under the direction, and with the sanction of a superintending committee, which is to take care that the little works sent forth, in the name of the society, are really likely to answer the purposes of instruction. Of course, in a work of this kind, every thing depends on the execution of it; but if it be performed in a manner which names on the committee of the society give us a right to anticipate, it will be one of the most useful services ever rendered to the country. We are deplorably ill supplied (in proportion to other branches of our literature) with elementary books; and the ordinary reading of the people, as compared with what it should be, is but trashy. The circulating library and reading-club system, valuable as it is capable of being made, has the disadvantage in its present practice of presenting the people merely with literary novelties. A very worthy man, Mr. George Dyer, wrote a treatise, in order to answer the question, Why there are so few excellent poets?" and by a laborious process of reasoning, arrived at a conclusion similar to that of Dogberry, "an two men ride on a horse, one must ride behind:" that, therefore, the poets who excelled all but a few, could not themselves be many. We may conclude, in like manner, without offence, that all books are not the best books, and that people who are supplied indiscriminately with novelties, must read much not very well worth reading. It is more easy, in many country towns, to get any new work, however trashy, than many of the classics of English literature; and difficult, above all things, for a man who wishes, without well-educated associates, to instruct himself in any science, to know how to get at the best elementary works, for unless he is in utter darkness, he is misled by the false lights of puffs and advertisements. We have sometimes had occasion to see the

vain attempts which a soul thirsting after it has, under these circumstances, made in vain to get a draught of that flood of knowledge, with which some would have us believe the land is inundated. A society of this kind will, therefore, be of inestimable use, supposing it to do its work well, and supposing knowledge to be of use, supposing that it is not for the benefit of civil society to keep the members of it as near as possible to the condition of brutes.

The prospectus says, that—

"As numerous societies already exist for the dissemination of religious instruction, and as it is the object of this society to aid the progress of those branches of general knowledge which can be diffused among all classes of the community, no treatise published with the sanction of the committee shall contain any matter of controversial divinity, or interfere with the principles of revealed religion."

This, no doubt, will be the point about which the enemies of knowledge will rally. Here we have evidently a plan of instruction from which religion is excluded! The only purpose of the authors, therefore, must be to destroy religion, and by destroying religion, to aim a blow at the church establishment. It would, therefore, be highly expedient to urge the society to give a proof of the purity of its intentions, by providing, that none of its tracts shall be sold to any one who does not, at the same time, purchase the catechism of the Church of England.

It may not be fair to criticise the list put forth by the society, "of some among the subjects which the plan of its work embraces," and which is redundant under some heads, as it is defective under others. For instance, we have "Structure of plants, functions of plants, diseases of plants, geography of plants, and arrangement of plants," all as the subjects of separate treatises, while there is no notice of the structure, functions,* or diseases of man, who is as important a part of the creation as a cabbage. The list should not have had the show of arrangement, or should not have been thus slovenly. We only notice the defects, however, to point out a danger to which the society is exposed, and of which we think we see here some indications. Being necessarily aided, for the most part, by dilettanti and volunteer contributors, who, in their nature, are, even beyond their paid brethren, restive and crotchetty, there will be a great difficulty in keeping the rogues in order. Some will be much disposed to subdivide and prose to a painful extent. Let them be looked to.

The society has already put forth" an introductory Discourse on the Objects, Advantages, and Pleasures of Scientific Pursuits." It is, we believe, from the pen of Mr. Brougham; and is, for the attractive simplicity of the style and the choice of the subjects, and its adaptation to the end in view-viz. the excitement of curiosity and attention in slightly informed minds-a most perfect production. We shall give a few extracts, though in doing so we deprive it of a part of its beautythe natural and easy connexion of the subjects.

"It may easily be demonstrated, that there is an advantage in learning, both for the usefulness and the pleasure of it. There is

Unless the heads, mechanical anatomy and chemical functions of animals embrace these subjects.

something positively agreeable to all men, to all at least whose nature is not most grovelling and base, in gaining knowledge for its own sake. When you see any thing for the first time, you at once derive some gratification from the sight being new; your attention is awakened, and you desire to know more about it. If it is a piece of workmanship, as an instrument, a machine of any kind, you wish to know how it is made; how it works, and what use it is of. If it is an animal, you desire to know where it comes from; how it lives; what are its dispositions, and, generally, its nature and habits. This desire is felt, too, without at all considering that the machine or the animal may ever be of the least use to yourself practically; for, in all probability, you may never see them again. Eat you feel a curiosity to learn all about them, because they are new and unknown to you. You accordingly make inquiries; you feel a gratification in getting answers to your questions, that is, in receiving information, and in knowing more,— in being better informed than you were before. If you ever happen again to see the same instrument or animal, you find it agreeable to recollect having seen it before, and to think that you know something about it. If you see another instrument or animal, in some respects like, but differing in other particulars, you find it pleasing to compare them together, and to note in what they agree, and in what they differ. Now, all this kind of gratification is of a pure and disinterested nature, and has no reference to any of the common purposes of life; yet it is a pleasure-an enjoyment. You are nothing the richer for it; you do not gratify your palate or any other bodily appetite; and yet it is so pleasing that you would give something out of your pocket to obtain it, and would forego some bodily enjoyment for its sake. The pleasure derived from science is exactly of the like nature, or, rather, it is the very same. For what has just been referred to is in fact science, which in its most comprehensive sense only means knowledge, and in its ordinary sense means knowledge reduced to a system; that is, arranged in a regular order, so as to be conveniently taught, easily remembered, and readily applied."-p. 6.

The following is an example of the manner in which a dry subject can be rendered popular and pleasing by a man of genius.

"The two great branches of the Mathematics, or the two mathematical sciences, are Arithmetic, the science of number, from the Greek word signifying number, and Geometry, the science of figure, from the Greek words signifying measure of the earth,—land-measuring having first turned men's attention to it.

"When I say that 2 and 2 make 4, I state an arithmetical proposition, very simple indeed, but connected with many others of a more difficult and complicated kind. Thus, it is another proposition, somewhat less simple, but still very obvious, that 5 multiplied by 10, and divided by 2, is equal to, or makes the same number with 100 divided by 4-both results being equal to 25. So, to find how many farthings there are in 10007., and how many minutes in a year, are questions of arithmetic which we learn to work by being taught the principles of the science one after another, or, as they are commonly called, the rules of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Arithmetic may be said to be the most simple, though among the most useful of

the sciences; but it teaches only the properties of particular and known numbers, and it only enables us to add, subtract, multiply, and divide those numbers. But suppose we wish to add, subtract, multiply, or divide numbers which we have not yet ascertained, and in all respects to deal with them as if they were known, for the purpose of arriving at certain conclusions respecting them, and among other things, of discovering what they are; or, suppose we would examine properties belonging to all numbers; this must be performed by a peculiar kind of arithmetic, called universal arithmetic, or Algebra.” The common arithmetic, you will presently perceive, carries the seeds of this most important science in its bosom. Thus, suppose we inquire what is the number which multiplied by 5 makes 10? this is found if we divide 10 by 5-it is 2; but suppose that, before finding this number 2, and before knowing what it is, we would add it, whatever it may turn out, to some other number; this can only be done by putting some mark, such as a letter of the alphabet, to stand for the unknown number, and adding that letter as if it were a known number. Thus, suppose we want to find two numbers, which, added together, make 9, and multiplied by one another make 20. There are many which, added together, make 9; as 1 and 8; 2 and 7; 3 and 6; and so on. We have, therefore, occasion to use the second condition, that multiplied by one another they should make 20, and to work upon this condition before we have discovered the particular numbers. We must, therefore, suppose the numbers to be found, and put letters for them, and by reasoning upon those letters, according to both the two conditions of adding and multiplying, we find what they must each of them be in numbers, in order to fulfil or answer the conditions. Algebra teaches the rules for conducting this reasoning, and obtaining this result successfully; and by means of it we are enabled to find out numbers which are unknown, and of which we only know that they stand in certain relations to known numbers, or to one another. The instance now taken is an easy one; and you could, by considering the question a little, answer it readily enough; that is, by trying different numbers, and secing which suited the conditions; for you plainly see that 5 and 4 are the two numbers sought; but you see this by no certain or general rule, applicable to all cases, and therefore you never could work more difficult questions in the same way; and even questions of a moderate degree of difficulty would take an endless number of trials or guesses to answer. Thus, if a ship, say a smuggler, is sailing at the rate of 8 miles an hour, and a revenue cutter, sailing at the rate of 10 miles an hour, descries her 18 miles off, and gives chase, and you want to know in what time the smuggler will be overtaken, and how many miles she will have sailed before being overtaken; this, which is one of the simplest questions in algebra, would take you a long time, almost as long as the chase, to come at by mere trial and guessing (the chase would be 9 hours, and the smuggler would sail 72 miles): and questions only a little more difficult than this never could be answered by any number of guesses; yet questions infinitely more difficult can easily be solved by the rules of

Algebra, from the Arabic words signifying the reduction of fractions; the Arabs having brought the knowledge of it into Europe.