brush-manufacturer, of Stookport: While cutting up a large sycamore tree, at their manufactory, near Chesterfield, the sawyers heard a particular sound proceed from the middle of the tree, and, on opening the timber, found in the most central part of it, an enormous toad, of beautiful colour, and full of life. On examining the timber, it was found perfectly sound above and below the secret residence of this inmate. The Ashantees.-M. Dupuis, his Britannic majesty's late envoy and consul at Ashantee, is about to publish a journal of his residence in that kingdom, which is expected to throw considerable light on the origin and causes of the present war. Wonderful Clock.-An alarm clock, which lights a candle, has recently been invented by Mr. George, of London; thus at once rousing the person from his slumbers, and accommodating him with light for immediate business. Cotton Manufactures.-Mr. Hall, of Basford, in Nottinghamshire, has recently taken out a patent for a method of clearing calicoes, muslins, and other cotton goods from the loose fibres which lie on the surface, and which unfit them for the use of calico printers. This is effected by passing them over a continuous flame of gas, (equal in length to the width of the piece,) without the least injury to the texture of the cloth. Part II. of Sermons and Plans of Sermons, on many of the most important texts of Holy Scripture. By the late Rev. Joseph Benson. 8vo. 6s. boards. The Art of Cutting; containing unerring principles to fit the human shape with ease and true symmetry. Embellished and illustrated by forty lithographic plates, and numerous accurate tables of demonstrated calculations. By Robert Byfield. To subscribers, 14s.-to non-subscribers, 16s. boards. Vol. XI. of the new and uniform edition of Dr. John Owen's Works. 12s. bds. Conchologist's Companion; comprising the instincts and constructions of Testaceous Animals. By the Author of "The Wonders of the Vegetable Kingdom, &c." Letters to Young Ladies on their Entrance into the World. Sketches from Real Life, &c. By Mrs. Lanfear. 4s. 6d. The Christian Father's Present. By J. A. James. 2 vols. 9s. An Apology for Don Juan. 4s. 6d. Odes, original and translated, with other Poems. 3s. 6d. Sylla, a Tragedy, in five acts. Translated from the French of M. Jouy, Member of the Institute at Paris. 5s. 6d. In the Press. Speedily will be published, in two vols. 8vo. Five Years' Residence in the Canadas: inAmerica, in 1823. By E. A. Talbot, Esq. of cluding a Tour through the United States of the Talbot Settlement, Upper Canada. A second edition of The Village Hymn Book; a selection of a large number of Hymns from various Authors, suited for Village Congregations. By Ingram Cobbin, A.M. Bound in sheep and lettered at 1s. 4d. each, or in stiff covers at 1s. Mechanical Achievement.-A novel sight was lately observed at Chelmsford, in the removal of the body of a windmill and its contents, entire, from the place where it had stood many years, upon a site near the brewery of Messrs. Woodcock, Hodges, and Wells. The mill was first divested of its sails and cap, the body raised from the foundation by a lofty triangle, pulleys, and blocks, and when sufficiently elevated, a strong four-wheeled timber carriage Mr. Conrad Cooke will publish in June, a drawn under, upon which it was let down; the carriage and its lofty burden were then gradu- Confectionary, adapted to all capacities, and new and complete System of Cookery and ally removed, the wheels being properly block-containing many plates. This work is the reed to prevent too sudden a pressure down a sult of thirty years' experience in families of short declivity into the road, whence it was distinction, and contains important improveconveyed without any accident, to the astonments in the art. ishment and admiration of a vast number of spectators, and safely deposited by the same means upon another foundation, on a site prepared for its reception. Discovery. A very remarkable subterranean mill, of the utmost antiquity, has lately been discovered in the county of Cork. This piece of antiquity appears to be, at least, coeval with the round towers which have so much puzzled antiquarians. Literary Notices. Just Published. The Old English Drama, Number 2, containing "A Pleasant Conceited Comedy," shewing how a man may chuse a good wife from a bad. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.-demy, 4s. Mornings at Bow-street, with 20 Illustrative Drawings. By George Cruikshank. 8vo. 10s. 6d. Rural Rambles. Embellished with a superior copperplate engraving. 18mo. The Monthly Critical Gazette will appear on the 1st of June, at 1s. 6d. QUERIES TO CORRESPONDENTS. Queries on Anatomy.-In col. 203 we stated, that an anatomical subject had been made by M. Auroux, an ingenious French physician, of a composition resembling pasteboard, but in which the nerves, muscles, veins, and all the vessels of the human body, were represented with rigid accuracy. A medical gentleman wishes to be informed, through the medium of this magazine, if this artificial subject can be purchased, where it can be procured, and what is the price?-He also wishes to know whether an artificial skeleton in wood can be purchased, together with its price, &e.? A speedy reply will be gratefully received. ERRATUM.-) .—In "RESIGNATION," (col. 455, last verse,) for " fiend" read" friend." LONDON: PRINTED AT THE CAXTON PRESS, BY H. FISHER. MEMOIR OF THOMAS CAMPBELL, POESY, after drooping for several years in this country, revived at the beginning of the present century with uncommon vigour; since which, its shoots have multiplied beyond all parallel in the history of English literature. In this revolution of genius, the first place is due to a writer, whose works, though not so voluminous as those of his compeers, are distinguished by an originality of conception, a purity of diction, and an harmony of numbers, superior to most of the existing race of poets, and equal to many of the greatest of former times. The reader will easily perceive that the bard alluded to is THOMAS CAMPBELL. whose early song of Hope was the auspicious prelude to the new era of poetry, in which, perhaps, we have more reason to complain of luxuriancy than paucity of talent. The family of Mr. Campbell was originally of Argyleshire, but his father settled in business at Glasgow, where the son was born in the year 1777. He received his grammatical instruction under Dr. David Alison, master of the public school at Glasgow, where he profited so well as to be qualified for the university at the age of twelve. This is an instance of precocity of intellect rather unusual in modern times, and brings to recollection what has been so much celebrated of that phenomenon, or meteor, called the Admirable Crichton. Young Campbell, however, must have made a considerable advance in the knowledge of Latin and Greek, for we are assured that within a few months after his admission as a student of the college of Glasgow, he succeeded in gaining a bursarship or exhibition, on the foundation of the excellent Archbishop Leighton. This election was not a matter of favour or interest, but the result of tried merit, for there were two candidates, and the competitor of Campbell was not only the senior, but generally reputed No. 67.-VOL. VI. 1824. to be the best classical scholar of his standing. The examination was conducted with the strictest regard to equity, by the two professors, Richardson and Young; the former in the Latin, and the latter in the Greek language. During his residence in the college of Glasgow, there was not a session that he did not obtain academical honours. His first essays were in translations from the Greek; and when professor Young awarded the prize for his version of the Medea of Euripides, he declared it to be, in his judgment, the best performance of the kind that he had ever known as a college exercise. While at the university, the genius, diligence, and amiable manners of Campbell endeared him to his fellow students, and rendered him a favourite of his elders. Among his particular friends were the two professors Anderson and Millar, from whose society and conversation he derived much of that correctness of taste and philosophical perspicuity so conspicuously displayed in all his writings. At an age when other young men enter the university, our student left it, and went to reside for some time among the mountains of Argyleshire, where, on the ruins of his ancestral domain, he wrote the following plaintive lines: At the silence of twilight's contemplative hour, I have mused in a sorrowful mood, On the wind-shaken weeds that embosom the bow'r Where the home of my forefathers stood. All ruin'd and wild is this roofless abode, And travell'd by few is the grass-cover'd road, Yet, wandering, I found, on my ruinous walk, brace; Sweet bud of the wilderness! emblem of all. Tho' the wilds of enchantment, all vernal and bright, In the days of delusion by fancy combin'd With the vanishing phantoms of love and delight, Abandon my soul like a dream of the night, Be hush'd, my dark spirit! for wisdom condemns, When the faint and the feeble deplore; Be strong as the rock of the ocean, that stems A thousand wild waves on the shore. Thro' the perils of chance, and the scowl of disdain, May thy front be unalter'd, thy courage elate! Ah! even the name I have worshipp'd in vain Shall awake not the sigh of remembrance again! To BEAR is to CONQUER our fate! These stanzas are so far illustrative of the writer's history, that they mark a spirit early disciplined to the endurance of trouble. Mr. Campbell's views were at this period very much clouded, which induced him to visit Edinburgh, where, by the kindness of Dr. Anderson, he found some warm friends, particularly the professors Stewart and Playfair. Here he put the finishing hand to his "Pleasures of Hope,' which was published in that capital in 1799, and met with a reception surpassing the most sanguine expectations of the author or his friends. In a lucrative point of view, the poem yielded profit only to the publisher, who purchased the copy for a trifle; but fortunately the beauty of the piece was immediately perceived by judges as capable of fostering genius, as they were of appreciating its merits. The young bard, for he was as yet scarcely twenty-two, became the object of universal admiration, and his performance was the topic of conversation in all companies. This celebrity, however, was not greater than the work deserved; and it is honourable to the age, that such a moral poem as the "Pleasures of Hope," had not to struggle slowly into public notice, like the immortal epic of Milton, and many subsequent productions of the British muse. Of a piece so well known as to have become a classic, it might seem superfluous to enter into a critical analysis, and yet some account of its plan and execution is necessary in a memoir that is purely literary. The poem, which is divided into two parts, opens with a comparison between the beauty of objects seen at a distance on a summer's eve, and those ideal scenes of happiness which are depicted upon the mind by the imagination. Nothing could be more judicious than this analogy; for as in the one case particular deformities are lost in remoteness, so the difficulties, troubles, and disappointments of life are withheld from depressing that emulative principle which animates the adventurer to great exertions. Hence, we are led to the effects of anticipation, and the support it affords in situations of danger and distress. Here the poet draws illustrations, partly from the Pagan mythos of the origin of evil, and more happily from circumstances of real occurrence, as that of the seaman in a tempest, and the soldier on the eve of battle. The inspiration of Hope, in giving vigour to the efforts of genius, is beautifully expressed; as also is its cheering influence upon domestic happiness. In this part of the subject the poet excels, and the pictures which he has drawn of a mother contemplating her sleeping child, of the prisoner in his cell, the maniac on the sea-shore watching for her spouse, and of the aged wanderer wretched and houseless, are sketched with a masterly hand. Having thus strongly painted the consoling power of Hope, under these representations, from some of which that balm of life might seem excluded, the author proceeds to higher objects, and a more extended sphere of mental vision. He sketches in bold lines the existing state of political society, and with glowing indignation at the sufferings of mankind, hastens rapidly into a fancied age of felicity, when the wrongs of the oppressed shall be avenged, and the condition of the world ameliorated. Much must be allowed to the warmth of youth, and the enthusiasm of genius; but, after all, it were to have been wished that the poet had bounded his views within the sphere of individual experience, and contented himself with delineating those circumstances to which we are all accustomed, and from a consideration of which, lessons of improvement may be drawn. The second part of the poem begins with an apostrophe to Love, and a |