with many judicious critical remarks, which showed a thorough knowledge of the language, and surprised the gentleman to whom they were addressed. Being then requested to translate what he had read, he gave it in such English as he usually employs; slowly and cautiously, but with sufficient accuracy to show that, as far as grammatical construction went, he perfectly understood the sense. The following dialogue then took place :

Q. Very well, Richard, you have translated this passage very well. Pray, have you read the Iliad?

A. Yes, I have.

Q. And what do you think of the character of Andromache?
A. (After a pause) Andro-mache?

Q. Yes. What do you think of the character of Andromache?
A. (After another pause) It is a fight of men.

Q. Yes, yes; that is certainly the derivation of the name; but what do you think of Andromache, the wife of Hector?

A. I know nothing about that!

Certainly, said the visitor, this is one of the most extraordinary circumstances I ever met with. Although perfectly acquainted with the language, this man appears not to have had the least idea of the subject on which he has been reading.

After the gentleman had taken his departure Richard was asked how it happened that he could have been so stupid as not to give a more rational answer, to which he very unconcernedly replied,

"I thought he was asking me about the word and not about the woman."

On being asked what he thought about the doctor, his reply was, "I think him one of the cleverest of the black army."

On another occasion, when the conversation turned merely on the nature of languages, and the best mode of acquiring them, he exhibited himself to much greater advantage, and gave a proof, not only of the extent of his acquirements, but of the promptitude with which he could apply them to use.

One of his friends happened to have a dinner-party, several of whom were persons of considerable literary distinction, when, by the misunderstanding of a message after dinner, the door opened, and to the equal surprise of both the host and his guests, Richard entered the room, his whole dress and appearance being grotesque in the highest degree. The curiosity of the company was excited, and after the mistake to which his introduction was owing had been explained, he was asked several questions in French, to which he gave ready and correct answers. The conversation was then changed to Italian, in which he acquitted himself with equal readiness. To this succeeded an inquiry into his knowledge of Latin and Greek, in which languages he read and translated some passages, to the satisfaction of the persons present. One of the party then proceeded to examine him more particularly, when the following dialogue occurred :

Q. As you seem to have made no little proficiency in languages, tell me what method you take in acquiring a language.

pray

A. It is according to what the nature of the language is.

Q. How would you set about acquiring a modern language?

A. If it was the Spanish, for instance, I would take a vocabulary of

the language, and examine what words corresponded with or resembled the words in any other language with which I was acquainted; as, for instance, the Latin, French, or Italian; and those words I would strike out of the vocabulary, leaving only such as were the original or peculiar words of the Spanish tongue; and then, by the assistance of a grammar, I should be able to attain a knowledge of that language.

All the party admitted that this was a most judicious and excellent method, and Richard withdrew, with expressions of approbation from all present.

The facility which he displays in the acquirement of languages is accompanied by an equal disposition to communicate the knowledge of them to others; and he considers it as a duty incumbent on him to offer his services wherever he thinks them likely to be acceptable. The disappointments which he continually meets with on this head, and the indifference shown to such pursuits, are the constant subjects of his lamentation; and he sometimes complains that he is held in contempt and persecuted for his exertions in the cause of learning and of truth. "I do not expect," he says, "to be much favoured nor assisted at Carnarvon in my attempt to teach Greek and Hebrew, for I am already convinced that I am there so much despised and hated on that account as to be considered not deserving any encouragement." At other times he seems to consider himself as not unlikely to be in some danger of persecution on account of his religious opinions. "I rejoice," says he, "that I am counted worthy to suffer in that just cause for which I am willing to lay down my life, if my body should be exposed to be burned, or being condemned to the most cruel torments."

The disappointments which Richard has experienced in his endeavours to promote the study of languages, have not, however, deterred him from doing whatever remained in his power for that purpose, as appears from several works of surprising labour, to the completion of which he had devoted himself with unremitting attention. Amongst these is a compendious Greek and English Lexicon, which, with some corrections, might be a useful work. Another of his volumes is a collection of Hebrew Extracts, which is followed by a Vocabulary in Hebrew and English, to which he has added a brief Latin treatise on the music and accents of the Hebrew tongue. A much more laborious undertaking is a lexicon in Hebrew, Greek, and English, in which he has made considerable progress. This work, which, as appears from a minute in his hand-writing, was undertaken at the instance of the Rev. Richard Davies of Bangor, was intended to include also the Latin and Welsh; but the want of books requisite for the purpose has hitherto prevented his accomplishing such object. It is, however, not improbable that the portion already finished might be of use to any person engaged in a similar work.

In the course of his unremitting researches after Hebrew books, Richard happened to meet with a work in two parts, entitled, "The Hebrew Reader; or, a Practical Introduction to the Reading of the Hebrew Scriptures," &c. Lond. 1808. On examining this work he conceived that it was not, in all respects, well calculated for thepurpose for which it was intended; and particularly because it gave no directions as to the design and use of Hebrew points, which, in his opinion,

are essential not only to the musical intonation or pronunciation, but to the accurate understanding of that tongue. In order to remedy this defect he compiled another grammar under the same title, except that he professes to teach the Hebrew with points, a circumstance which renders his work essentially different from the other, as it commences with instructions for writing and using such points, and employs them throughout the whole of the extracts and lessons. In this work he has not, however, entered into any discussion on this contested subject, but, from a smaller grammar of his, designed for the use of an individual, it appears that he was well aware that the points had by some been considered as the invention of a more recent period, on which account he commences his work with some Hebrew extracts from different authors, tending to prove their antiquity, and which he thus translates :-"The letters are compared to a body, and the vowel points to a soul, for the points move the letters in the same manner as the soul moveth the body.-R. Neconia, ben Hakkana, who flourished thirty years before the birth of Christ." And again, "There is no power in any of the letters to decline this side or that side, without the points. All the letters are like the body without the soul; but when the points come, the body is constituted in its station.-R. Simeon ben Jochai, who flourished many years before the beginning of the Talmud." His own explanation, as given in conversation, was, that the Hebrew without vowels is like a harp without strings; to which he added, that the very name of vowel (vox) proves that it gives the voice, and that the consonants (consonans) are only the accompaniment.

A short time ago one of his friends gave him the frame of an old broken Welsh harp, which he repaired with greater ingenuity than might have been expected, and supplied it with strings. This he occasionally carries with him, and accompanies his repetition of some of the Psalms in the original, in a manner not altogether displeasing. The object in the front of his hat in the engraving represents the head of a harp, which he generally carries with him. A white ribbon is attached to it on the inside, on which he has written in Greek characters what he calls "The six orders of the Harp."

To account satisfactorily for this strong propensity, and peculiar aptitude for the acquirement of languages, to the almost total exclusion of every other attainment, is attended with insuperable difficulty. We can only suppose that the extreme degree of attention paid to one object, forming itself into a habit, has caused everything interfering with that pursuit to be neglected, and even despised, till, in process of time, the other faculties of the mind have become obscured from the mere want of cultivation and exercise.

In the early period of his life, Richard seems to have somewhat resembled the celebrated Moses Mendelsohn, who led the way, during the last century, to the improvement of the German language, though in the result their fortunes proved so essentially different. Mendelsohn was the son of a poor schoolmaster, but though exposed to poverty and hardships, he became one of the first literary characters of the age.

The person, however, to whom the character of Richard's mind, in the earnestness of its pursuits and the success of its application, bears

the most striking affinity, is Magliabechi, the learned librarian of the Grand Duke at Florence. His acquirements in ancient and modern languages were truly astonishing; in addition to which, his filthy appearance was of the most disgusting kind. His station, however, operated so much in his favour that he became a correspondent of the learned throughout Europe, while an extensive library, to which he could always have access, facilitated his progress in all his undertakings. Richard, on the contrary, almost without a home, nearly friendless, and frequently in want of the necessaries of life, carries his literary treasures on his back, and is indebted to the hand of charity for his daily subsistence. In Liverpool, where he chiefly resides, he is but very partially known, and he bids fair to end his days in obscurity, without benefiting either himself or others by his vast acquisitions.

SUMMER IS COME.

BY NICHOLAS MICHELL.

SUMMER is come; uncounted ages
Have wrought no change in earth or air;
Nature still keeps her four great stages;
All things again are bright and fair.
Summer is come; her eye is glowing

From out heaven's depths of cloudless blue;
In music every stream is flowing,

And winds are warm, but fragrant too.

Summer is come; on plain and mountain,
I see her walk with rosy feet;

She sleeks her bright locks in the fountain,
Her purple zone unbound for heat.
Beneath her soft step flowers are springing
Of richest breath and loveliest dyes,
While joyous bees are round them winging,
And fairies drink their odorous sighs.

Summer is come; I see her flushing

On fruit-hung wall, in blossom'd dale;

'Neath the green leaves the strawberry's blushing,
Like some coy maid behind her veil.
Down in the dell where brooks are gliding,

His scythe the busy mower whets;
The nightingale, in deep groves hiding.
Chants his love-song as daylight sets:

Summer is come; the heart rejoices,
With livelier play the pulses beat;
From Nature's realms ten thousand voices
The flower-crown'd, laughing goddess greet.
Oh! say not earth, grown dark and hoary,
No trace of Paradise retains ;

Sure Eden gives us gleams of glory,

To bless our souls while summer reigns.

SECOND SERIES OF THE LIGHT OF MENTAL SCIENCE APPLIED TO MORAL TRAINING.

BY MARGRACIA LOUDON.

AN ESSAY ON THE ELEVATING PRINCIPLE.

CHAPTER I.

Base of the true Educational System.

THE base of the educational system, which, in the former series of these essays, has been so anxiously and conscientiously deduced from the laws of God, as revealed in his arrangement of the mental faculties of man, is this :

That the elevating principle of our being is the instinctive desire of the soul to respect itself, and to be respected, and for that purpose to rise to the highest standard of excellence it knows how to appreciate.

That appreciation leads to assimilation, because, by a law of our nature, we seek to resemble that which we admire.

That this instinct, which thus desires our own respect, with the accompanying social instinct, or rather function of the same instinct, which desires the good will and respect of our fellowbeings, are impulses as strong and as irresistible in the soul as the instinct of hunger is in the body.

That, inasmuch as the appetite for food does not constitute discernment between wholesome and unwholesome food, neither does the appetite for virtue and greatness constitute the knowledge that goodness is greatness, but that both instincts are endowed by nature with the energy necessary to accomplish their mission when enlightened.

That, therefore, if we can teach the appreciation and excite the love of goodness, or real greatness, our work is done, whether as regards the education of children or the civilization of nations.

That this instinct, which thus urges us to obtain our own respect and that of our fellow-men, by striving to resemble that which we admire, is thus powerful, because assimilation with goodness is as necessary to the preservation and growth of the soul as food is to the life and growth of the body.

That this connecting link between appreciation and assimilation is thus the strongest in the whole chain of the mental laws, because, were it to give way the soul would be lost.

July, 1846,-VOL. XLVI.—NO. CLXXXIII.

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