MINOR CORRESPONDENCE. Gresham Commemoration. We are happy to see that the Annual Musical Festival in commemoration of Sir Thomas Gresham will be held next June in the Egyptian Hall at the Mansion House.The following are the conditions of the premium for the best Essay on the Life and Character of Sir Thomas Gresham. It is to be comprised within such limits that the public delivery will not exceed half an hour, but it may be accompanied by notes and illustrations to any extent. The author of the successful composition will be expected to place a printed copy of his work in the British Museum, fand the judges reserve to themselves the option of depositing the other manuscripts in the City Library, or in such other public collections as they may approve. The compositions to be sent before the 30th Sept. 1835. Mr. JOHN MARTIN, having been engaged for some time past in collecting materials for a History of the Royal Academy from its foundation to the present time, begs any information with respect to it, more especially as respects the earlier members and associates. Mr. JAMES LOGAN inquires, whether the family of Logan or Loggon, the curious Fan-painter, so well known at Tunbridge Wells, was of the Oxford or Berkshire house, or if it originally came from Scotland? In the Harleian MS. 7190, is the following entry: "Thomas Loggon, born in Great Grimsby in Lincolnshire. aged 22 years, Dec. the 25th, 1728. In stature four feet and an inch. My father was Dixon Loggon; my mother's name Mary. My father was a taylor. I have one brother and three sisters, all full grown. I am by trade a Fann-painter, Feb 21, 1728-9. I live at the sine of the Fann in Queen Street, near Montague House. My father was a middle-sized man, and my mother a middle-sized woman." C. A. M. will be extremely obliged in being corrected through the Gentleman's Magazine, should he err in stating, that the wife of James Smith, esq. of Cannonsleigh, Devon, and of St. Andries, Somerset, and the mother of his three daughters and co-heiresses, [one of whom, Margaret, was married in the year "1760" to the Earl of Lucan; another to Sir John Molesworth, Bart. of Pencarrow, Cornwall; and the third to Mr. William Molesworth, also of Pencarrow, and of Wembury, Devon, whose only child, Frances, was married Dec. 31, "1785," to the present Marquis of Cam den,] was the grand-daughter of Henry Rowland, esq. of Devon, and Elizabeth his wife; or was the above-mentioned James Smith's mother a Miss Rowland?" A Correspondent inquires for information relative to Sir Francis Bryan, who, with Lord Grey, led on the horse at the battle of Musselberg in Scotland in 1547; and if it was the same Sir Francis who commanded the Horse in Ireland in 1549, and whether he left any family? ANTIQUARIUS remarks, "Younger brothers of gentile families," says Fuller, "live in low-wayes, clouded often amongst the Yeomanry, and yet those under-boughs grow from the same root with the top branches." And this should seem to have been the case with Captain Robert Radcliffe, who, in the time of Queen Elizabeth settled at Shaw Hall in Saddleworth, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He was the third son of William Radcliffe, of Foxdenton and Chadderton, esq. both in the co. of Lancaster, which Robert was living May 28, in the 33d of Elizabeth, as per deed of exemplification. I wish to ascertain, 1. Whom he married? 2. When he died? 3. What issue he left? A silver seal, which belonged to Capt. Robert Radcliffe, is now in the possession of Mr. G. Shaw, of Saddleworth; it presents these four coats quarterly: 1. Argent, two bends engrailed Sable, with a label of three points Gules, Radcliffe, of Ordshall, co. Lanc.; Azure, two bars Argent, a bend Sable sur tout, Legh of the Booths, co. Cestr.; 3. Gules, three crosscrosslets fitchée, and a chief Or, Arderne; 4. A fess Sable between three garbs Or, Sandbach; the whole differenced by a crescent. Richard Radcliffe, of of Ordshall, (second son, and eventually heir of Sir John Radcliffe, of Ordshall, Knight, and Johanna his wife), was Steward of Blackburnshire from the 28th to the 49th of Edward III. Had livery of his manor of Ordshall anno 1 John Duke of Lancaster, and was drowned in Rosendale on Thursday next before the feast of St. Margaret, anno 4 Richard II. 1381. He married Matilda, daughter and sole heir of John Legh, of the Booths in co. Chester, by Maud his wife, daughter and heir of Sir John Arderne, of Moberley in the said co. Knt. I do not know how or when the arms of Sandbach became quartered with the above." We beg to acknowledge the Communications of T. D. F., C. C., and M. D. THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE. LIFE AND WRITINGS OF SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH. (HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND. 4to. 1834.) WE Conceive that there are few works to which the learned and the intelligent, the man of letters and the historian, have looked with more earnest expectation, or where they have anticipated a richer feast of entertainment and instruction, than that which unfortunately occupies so small a portion of the volume before us. The great and unquestionable talents of the author-his comprehensive views of mankind-his legal and constitutional knowledge-his statesmanlike wisdom-his vast and varied informationhis eloquence-and above all, his calm, serene, and unimpassioned judgment-all these great qualifications seemed to ensure the value and the success of his undertaking, and to command the approbation of the enlightened and the reflecting reader. Years after years passed away, and the hopes of the lover of history remained unfulfilled: the demand of politics, the engagements of a profession, the allurements of society, the charms of conversation, the pursuit of an attractive and miscellaneous literature, all in their different ways consumed the time, which the historic Muse jealously and imperiously demanded for herself. What is the reason, we may ask, that while the talent, the genius, the enlightened mind, the creative and poetic faculty remain among us; the industry, the unwearied application, the vigorous and concentrated attention, the inflexible pursuit, are no longer ours to claim? Look at the luxurious and lettered ease which reposes on the banks of the Isis and the Thames; and compare it with the matin vigils, the nocturnal studies, the ceaseless and brazen-bowelled application, that is found in the libraries of the scholars who live and toil on the Oder, the Neckar, the Rhine, or the Elbe. Where among us, with all our advantages, our splendid and regal libraries, our philosophical societies, our refined assemblies, our calm, contemplative academies and lyceums; where is the Niebuhr, the Heeren, the Herman, the Grimm-the man distinguished alike for his profound investigations, and his luminous reasoning, to be found? Is it that politics with us absorb the strength, the activity, the interest of the mind; while abroad, a happy despotism provides everything for the scholar's wants, relieves him from the necessity of forming any opinions on constitutional questions, and thus releases his time from the thraldom of their engrossing interest? Or is it, that a high and fastidious civilization has softened and relaxed the powers of application, that the voluptuous charms and syren fascinations of a society uniting all that rank and wealth and beauty and intellect can combine, offer such attractions, as win Genius from its solitary cell, and extinguish the lamp which Wisdom is burning in her midnight chamber. However it may be, certain it is, with a few honourable exceptions, that while many great works are designed among us, and eagerly commenced, few are systematically pursued, and still fewer brought to a successful issue. Well we remember, in our youthful days, when the first statesman of his age (vel si non primus, sed inter primos ;) when Mr. Fox himself announced his intention of adding the laurels of history to those that had already thickened around his brow; when he pronounced his design of elucidating the facts, and clearing up the difficulties, which surrounded one of the most important and eventful periods of our history; we well remember the delight with which the declaration was received; the eagerness of the expectation, the conjectures as to the arguments that would be adopted, the views that would be opened, the trains of reasoning that would be brought to bear on the complicated questions of polity and government, and at length, the grievous and bitter disappointment when, by the untimely death of that illustrious man, those hopes were left all but unfulfilled. Scarcely less than this must be the feeling of regret, when looking at the comparatively few pages which have preserved all that Sir James Mackintosh had completed of his noble and magnificent plan. While we are deluged with the historic labour of ordinary men; he whose comprehensive and philosophic mind could have detected every secret motion, unfolded every close and lurking design, weighed every opposing evidence, and arranged in luminous order, and with logical precision, every connected event; who could have delivered the acute and profound speculations of Tacitus, in the rich and milky eloquence of Livy; and who could have risen, as occasion demanded, from the basis of Hume's simple and elegant narrative, to the splendid superstructure of Gibbon's declamation; died, opus imperfectum relinquens. That this might have been, and is not, we have now only to recollect and to regret. We look with sorrow on such lofty designs unfinished; and contemplate the marble blocks still unhewn in the quarry, which waited only a touch from the sculptor's hand, to have unfolded their forms of grace and beauty, and awakened the divinity that now for ever must lie enshrined within its tomb. Turn we then from the History to the Historian, from the Work to the Writer; and let us at least have the delight of watching the progress of that instructed, enlightened, and powerful mind; of tracing its earliest attempts at excellence, of detailing its selected studies, of recording its successful productions, and of viewing the effect, with which philosophic wisdom was applied to the practical affairs of life, and the political welfare of nations. With feelings like these, we turned to the Life of Sir James Mackintosh, which is prefixed to the present volume; and we must confess, that bitter was our disappointment, in finding it to be little more than an account of his well-known publications, with specimens of their different styles and merits. The Author observes, that he had no intercourse on the subject with Sir James's family; and he appears either not to have had, or not to have sought, access to other channels of information. A biography, properly speaking, it undoubtedly is not; it is little else than a critical review of the author's writings. Now we must confess, and that with no unkind or illiberal feeling, that it was the bounden duty of a writer, who voluntarily engaged himself as the historian of this eminent man, to have spared no diligence in giving all that knowledge which should enable his admirers and the public to estimate correctly the extent of his acquirements, the native vigour of his talents; and to trace the steps by which his intellectual powers were unfolded, and the causes which led to the direction of their pursuits. Even if the family documents were withheld, and if confidential communications were not unrolled for the investigation of the writer, yet surely there were not wanting materials that could have rewarded his research. Many anecdotes of his conversation are still remembered; many contemporaries of his early life are still existing; many rivals of his political greatness are still recollecting the difficulty of the conflict, and the vigour of the opponent-the adamantine panoply with which he came arrayed into the field, and the ponderous force with which he impelled his javelin. Quantus In clypeum adsurgat, quo turbine torqueat hastam. But if it should be urged that there was less necessity of drawing information from the biographer, because the knowledge of the Historian was fresh in the personal recollection of his contemporaries; it must be answered that the formality of a narrative can ill supply the countless and nameless traits of character, which are rapidly developed in the ordinary communications of life; and it must be recollected, that this argument can alone apply to those who perhaps are fortunate enough not to be known beyond a private circle of their friends; who are contented with the golden mediocrity, the mild seclusion of domestic life, the interchange of affectionate wishes, and the calm and quiet reciprocity of grateful offices and attentions. But Sir James Mackintosh was a citizen of the world; he was alike seen in the republic of letters, and in the walks of life, in the secluded schools of wisdom, and among the agitating interests of the Forum. The name of Mackintosh is known as far As winds can carry, or as waves can roll. It is known in the senates and schools of England, in the universities of Germany, among the scholars of France and Italy, in the free cities of the Transatlantic world, and in the courts and palaces of India; it is revered in Poland, whose liberty he advocated; and loved in Portugal, whose tyranny he deplored. It is known wherever humanity and literature have extended; it is the voice of one who for nearly half a century has never ceased to plead for the interests, to advocate the rights, to promote the virtues, and to increase the happiness and freedom of mankind. Mackintosh has always been among the first to hail the discoveries of science, and to anticipate the future and more complete dominion which the moral energies of man will acquire over the elements of nature. Where the groan of servitude or the voice of oppression was heard, there was he seen by the side of the sufferer; he was the unpaid advocate of the weak and the defenceless: and in his detestation of crime, he still had pity for the criminal. To a high and inflexible sense of rectitude, to the loftiest and most unbending principles of honour, he united a tenderness and humanity of disposition, that is seldom found after much usage with the world; a freedom from all violent passions, petty enmities, and corroding jealousies; a mild, contemplative tranquillity, not arising from a culpable and selfish indifference, but from a firm persuasion that it is a state most conducive to individual happiness and the general welfare. As a man of letters and of philosophy, there was no question too remote for his investigation, too deep for his research, too exalted for his imagination, or too delicate, subtle, and refined for his taste; as a statesman, he carried into the senate perhaps greater acquirements and senatorial excellencies, than any of his contemporaries; he was excelled indeed by Canning in brilliancy of language, in felicitous application of classical quotations, and in sharp and pointed raillery; Brougham surpassed him in his power of sarcasm; Tierney in humour; and Peel in close and practical application of his knowledge, and in the business of the House; but in a combina tion of great oratorical and senatorial excellence, he was superior to all. Had the inflexion of his voice, and the style of his delivery, and the gestures of his action, only supported the splendour of his eloquence; had he added the freshness and vigour of unimpaired health and strength, to his matured wisdom and experience, we know not the man in his days whose power and influence in debate would have been superior to his. But we are detaining our readers from the purpose. It was not our object, unfit as we are, and far too weak to raise the smallest pillar, or even add a stone to the monument of this great man's fame; it was not our object to weary our readers by panegyrics on departed excellence, which must draw their value alone from the information of the writer, and the accurate application of it to the subject; we can only say, "Virgilium tantum vidi ;" and we shall therefore better reward the patience of our readers, by extracting from the pages of the biography attached to this volume, what we think may interest the rational curiosity of his admirers, and add a fresh touch to the well-known lineaments of his graceful and accomplished mind. Sir James Mackintosh was born on the 24th of October 1765, in the County of Inverness; and it appears from a passage in one of his speeches, referring to a grant from the Civil List by the late King, for the erection of a monument at Rome to Cardinal York, that his family were Jacobites, and espoused the cause of the Pretender. His father was a military officer, of social habits and careless temper, who wasted the family property, and was for the most part absent from Scotland with his regiment on foreign service. Sir James received his first instructions from a female relation, who was more than usually conversant with literature; and a fortunate bequest to him from an uncle, afforded the means of continuing and completing his education. He was placed at the school of Fortrose, in Ross-shire, and next at King's College, Aberdeen; at both which places, it is said, he gave such decisive proofs of superior talents as seemed to anticipate his future eminence. We have no account from the biographer of the nature of his academical studies, or into what favourite channels of inquiry his curiosity extended; but we recollect that something of this kind might have been supplied from a book we lately chanced to meet with, the "Personal Memoirs of Mr. Gordon; who mentions that the mind of his fellow-student (for Mr. Gordon was with him at College) was early dedicated to moral and metaphysical studies, and that he had attained a respectable proficiency in classical knowledge. His friends selected for him the profession of medicine, and at the age of twenty he became a medical student in the University of Edinburgh. He distinguished himself as a speaker in two debating societies, and so great was the early ascendancy of his talents, that the just admiration of them led to an extravagant imitation of the defects that accompanied them; and his personal habits, even to the negligence of his dress, were copied by his youthful rivals and admirers. He took the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1787, and printed a thesis in Latin on Muscular Action. When the biographer asserts, "that this composition is no exception to the Latinity of Physicians," we shall venture to pause before we join in the rash and hasty severity of the censure implied. That Sir James's youthful thesis has no pretensions to elegance, or even to accuracy, is true; but it is equally true that the school of medicine has been adorned, and its doctrines and discoveries expounded, by men of profound and elegant acquirements. We have read with pleasure |