Lord Erskine was a perfect contrast to all these. He was a most brilliant, but sometimes a shooting, star. He had every variety of intellect, and was adorned with all beauty of language, all harmony of utterance, and all fire and grace of expression in his countenance and form. As he was of the highest Scottish nobility and blood, so he showed it in all his mien, tone, and manners. The very conflicting brilliance of his numerous superiorities led him into unsteadiness, and often into errors. He some times passed too hastily over subjects to have entered deep into them, and thus incurred the charge of superficial talents, when no man was more capable of entering profoundly into an investigation, or had a more sagacious and correct judgment when he chose to give his mind to it; but the meteors that danced before him often led him on too rapidly and too irregularly. He was apt to grasp at too much, and not unfrequently found that he embraced clouds which vanished in his arms. His imagination often led him into wider fields than a court of law relishes or comprehends; and the airy notions and profusion of colours which he interposed occasionally, became fatiguing and oppressive to the technical dulness of professional men. They were considered by them to be lights that led astray, but still "they were lights from heaven." He abounded in beautiful reflection and sentiment; but some may have supposed these to have been supplied rather by memory than from original internal sources. I do not admit this: the application of them was so happy, that they could not have so fitted if they had not been original. The ingredients may have been new

combined in large portions; not so original, for instance, in all their particles as those of Burke, of whom not only the whole, but every separate part is commonly new. Erskine's rapidity and lightness of wing made him oftener take the first hasty view of his own mind, than search in books for technical knowledge and arbitrary authority. His arguments, therefore, are commonly addressed rather to the general condition of men's understandings than to professional auditors. All these distinctions may be exemplified and illustrated by a comparison of his speeches with those of the other law lords in the Banbury case, as reported by Le Marchant. Erskine, by his constant practice in the courts of common law, was not qualified to shine as lord chancellor. The fall of his party soon removed him from the woolsack; and then his faculties seemed to be worn out, and that brilliant constellation of mind threw out nothing but casual, erratic, and flighty sparks. We are bound to remember the splendour of the noon-day sun, and not reproach the evening if it sets in clouds.

Perceval had the most extraordinary rise. From no practice at all, he was, at the age of thirtynine, appointed by Addington solicitor-general; the next year he succeeded Law as attorneygeneral; and then, on the dismissal of the Talents, was made the Duke of Portland's chancellor of the exchequer, on whose death he became premier; and, what is singular, had no adequate capacity for any one of these situations. He had no oratory, but a barking, snappish manner; a little plain person, and an inharmonious voice;

he had quickness, but it appeared to me principally the quickness of temper: his turn was sarcasm and biting cavil, which certainly had the effect of keeping people in subjection. He was an inveterate Tory, and thought all nobility was monopolized by the house of Per ceval.

I must not leave Pepper Arden, Lord Alvanley, out of the groud; for his ugly, broken-nosed face and goggle eyes often made me laugh; and I once was near having the misfortune of swamping him-most unintentionally. It was at Bath, in the early part of the year 1797, when he was Sir Pepper Arden, knight, and master of the rolls into the bargain. I then comI then commanded a troop of fencible cavalry; and our colonel, being very justly proud of his regiment, and anxious to show it off in all his manoeuvres, begged his friend, the learned knight, to come and review them on one of the Downs near the city, no doubt because he thought him as good a judge of a regiment and its movements as he was of all the intricacies of a question at law; and his honour being a very good. natured man, not at all like Sir Edward Law, then only king's counsel, obeyed the summons. The little man, though I observed him something timorous and fidgetty, was placed in front of the battle, and desired to inspect us with the severest scrutiny, for our colonel was sure that he would find nothing but to praise. At length came the charge; the colonel assured him that he might keep his station, for he was as safe as on his seat in the Rolls Court, and that at the word

"Halt!" the whole six troops in a line would stop dead, however loudly and fiercely they should come rattling on towards him. Unluckily the whole were fired with glory, and began to increase their speed, till, being on a blood charger of considerable swiftness, my horse could not bear the clatter behind him, and off he shot beyond my momentary control. His honour was right before me: he gave a shriek and a groan; I saw his distress, and by one mighty effort brought up my horse, and had the happiness thus to save the life of this eloquent oracle of the law, over whom I must otherwise have gone sword in hand; and what a crush and manglement would then have ensued! The colonel made many apologies, and I got a severe rating. But, lo! what his honour lived for-to vote, six years afterwards, against the Chandos claim; of the merits of which, as he had but lately been elevated to the upper house, he knew nothing. Lord Alvanley had a confused, babbling manner of talking, which made it wonderful how he had ever attained to high offices in the law; nor had he more credit for knowledge in his profession than for oratory. Pitt had promoted him to the attorneygeneralship, among the many strange choices of the patronage which he conferred; and he became the subject of one of the most ludicrous odes in the "Rolliad." They who knew him better than I did considered him of an easy temper, and not meaning ill, though of a blundering understanding.

DAVID REDMUND, of Wellington Foundry, Charles-street, City-road, for certain improvements in steam-carriages.

George Frederick Muntz, of Birming ham, for an improved manufacture of boilers used for generating steam.

Charles Joseph Hullmandel, of Great Marlborough-street, printer, for a certain improvement in the art of block-printing, as applied to calico, &c.

Hugh Lee Pattinson, of Summer-hillterrace, Northumberland, for an improve ed method of separating silver from lead.

Jacob Frederick Zeitter, of New Cavendish-street, piano-forte maker, for certain improvements in piano-fortes and other stringed musical instruments.

John Travis the younger, of Shaw Mills, near Manchester, for certain im provements in machinery for spinning wool, flax, cotton, or other fibrous ma terials.

William Brunton, of Charlotte-row, Mansion-house, in the city of London, engineer, for an apparatus to facilitate and improve the excavation of ground, and the formation of embankments.

Dominick Stafford, of Duke-street, Adelphi, for an improvement in fuel. Communicated by a foreigner.

Joseph Wass, of Lea, Derbyshire, millwright and engineer, for certain mechanical powers, which may be made applicable to various useful purposes.

Richard Holme, of Kingston-uponHull, for improvements in apparatus and means of generating steam, and in other parts of steam-engines, and also in the means of producing heat.

Henry Robinson Palmer, of Fludyerstreet, Westminster, civil engineer, for improvements in the construction of arches, roofs, and other parts of buildings; which may also be applied to other useful purposes.

Peter Ewart, of Manchester, for improvements in the spinning-machine called the mule.

John Page, of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, watch maker, for certain im provements in horological machines.

Robert William Brandling, of Low

Gosforth, Northumberland, esq., for improvements in applying steam and other power to ships, boats, &c.

John Cooper Douglas, of Great Ormond-street, esq., for certain improvements in the construction of furnaces for generating heat; and also in the construction of apparatus or vessels for applying heat to various purposes.

The same, for certain improvements which prevent either the explosion or the collapse of steam and other boilers from an excess of internal or external pressure.

Marcel Roman, of St. Michael's Alley, Cornhill, for certain improvements in apparatus or methods employed in throwing or winding silk or other threads.

Barthelemy Richard Comte de Predaval, of Leicester-place, Leicestersquare, engineer, for an engine for producing motive power applicable to various purposes.

Stephen Perry, of 25, Wilmingtonsquare, Clerkenwell, Edward Massey, and Paul Joseph Gauci, for certain improvements in pens and pen-holders.

Daniel Ledsam, and William Jones, both of Birmingham, in the county of Warwick, screw manufacturers, for cer tain improvements in machinery for the the manufacture of pins and needles.

John Cooper Douglas, of Great Ormond-street, for certain improvements for depriving vegetable juices and fermented and distilled liquors of their acid qualities, also of their colouring matter and essential oils.

Thomas Sharp and Richard Roberts, of Manchester, engineers, for certain improvements in machinery for grinding corn and other materials.

Joshua Taylor Beale, of Church-lane, Whitechapel, engineer, for his invention of a lamp, applicable to the burning of substances not hitherto usually burned in such vessels or apparatus.

Frederick Plant, of Bread-street Hill, fur-cutter, for his invention of an improved fur-cutting machine.

Pennock Tigar of Grove-hill, Beverley,

Yorkshire, merchant, for his invention of certain improvements in the construction and arrangement of iron or other metal wheels for carriages.

Joshua Bates, of Bishopsgate-street, merchant, for an improved method of condensing aeriform substances and refrigerating liquids.

James Walton, of Sowerby Bridge, in Yorkshire, cloth-dresser, for improvements in machinery, for facilitating the operations of raising, dressing, and cropping the pile of woollen and some other fabrics.

Charles Atwood, of Wickham, near Gateshead, in Durham, for making a certain pigment or certain pigments, by a certain process or certain processses not previously used for such purposes.

James Boynton, of High Holborn, portable ink-stand manufacturer, for improvements in apparatus or means of producing light.

William Morgan, of Penton-row, Walworth, Surrey, for an apparatus for heating and ventilating churches, conservatories, houses, and other buildings.

Jean Jacques Leopold Oberlin, of Leicester-square, merchant, for improvements on boilers, applicable to various purposes.

Erust Wolff, late of Leeds, but nowy of Stamford-hill, for certain improved means of supplying heated air, in order to support combustion in inclosed fireplaces.

William Thomas Yates, of Johnstreet, Cambridge Heath, Middlesex, engineer, for his invention of certain improvements in boilers for steamengines and other uses.

Benjamin Hick, of Bolton-le-Moors, Lancaster, engineer, for improvements in locomotive steam-carriages, parts of which are applicable to ordinary carriages, and to steam engines employed for other uses.

Benjamin Dobson, of Bolton-le-Moors, Lancaster, machinist, John Sutcliff and Richard Threlfall, of the same place, mechanics, for certain improvements in machinery for roving and spinning cotton and other fibrous materials.

Jacques Francois Victor Gerard, of Redmond's-row, Mile-end, Middlesex, for certain improvements in the means of finishing silks, woollen cloths, stuffs, and other substances requiring heat and pressure.

Samuel Hall, of Basford, in the county

of Nottingham, cotton manufacturer, for improvements in steam-engines.

Miles Berry, of the Office of Patents, Chancery-lane, engineer, for certain improvements in machinery, or apparatus for shaping and forming metal into bolts, rivets, nails, and other articles, parts of which improvements are also applicable to other useful purposes.

John Ramsay, of Caroline-place, Mecklenburgh-square, for certain improvements in apparatus for turning over the leaves of music and other books.

Vincent Nolte, of Bridge-street, Blackfriars, esq., for an improved bydraulic power engine.

James Smith, of Deanston Works, Kilmadoch, Perthshire, cotton-spinner, for his invention of certain improvements in machinery for carding cotton, flax, wool, silk, and other fibrous materials.

James Duffield Harding, of Gordonsquare, artist, for his invention of certain improvements on pencil, pen, or chalk cases or holders.

Joseph Whitworth, of Manchester, machinist, for certain improvements in machinery for cutting screws.

Robert Hendrick Goddard, of Woolwich, for certain improvements in the construction of weighing machines, and in the mode, manner, or method of ascertaining, registering, and indicating the number of operations or quantity of work performed by weighing, measuring, or numbering apparatus or machines. . Thomas John Fuller, of the Commercial-road, civil engineer, for improvements in machinery or apparatus for making or manufacturing of nails.

To William Augustus Archibald, for an improvement in the making of sugars.

Henry Pinkus, of North Crescent, Bedford-square, gent., for an improved method of communicating and transmitting or extending motive power, by which carriages or waggons may be propelled on railways or common roads, and vessels may be propelled on canals.

William Morgan, of the Kent-road esq., for improvements in certain kinds of steam engines.

John Augustus Manton, gun-maker, for certain improvements in fire-arms.

John Isaac Hawkins, of Pancras Vale, Middlesex, civil engineer, for certain improvements for facilitating the cure of diseases by administering galvanic influence into the human body.

James Jamieson Cordes, of Idol-lane,

merchant, for improvements in machinery for making rivets and screw blanks or bolts.

The same, for improvements in machinery for making nails, being a communication from a foreigner.

Samuel Slocum, of the New-road, en. gineer, for improvements in machinery for making nails.

The same, for improvements in machinery for making pins.

John Paterson Reid, of Glasgow, and Thomas Johnson, of the same place, for improvements applicable to certain looms for weaving different sorts of cloth.

Henry Crane, of Wolverhampton, merchant, and John Young, of the same place, patent lock manufacturer, for improvements in the making or manufacturing and forming of iron hoops of casks and other purposes.

Thomas Baker, of Upper Stamfordstreet, for certain improvements in the construction or mechanism of chronometers, watches, and clocks, and applicable to other mechanical purposes.

George Bather, late of the Haymarket, for a weighing machine upon a new construction.

Thomas Edmonds, of Burton-street, Hanover-square, for a certain process for the preparation of leather, whereby it becomes less pervious to water.

Joseph Morgan, of Manchester, for certain improvements in the apparatus used in the manufacture of mould candles.

Charles Louis Stanislas Baron Heurteloup, Holles-street, Cavendish-square, for improvements in fire-arms.

Andrew Smith, of Princes-street, Leicester-square, for an improved method of preparing phormium tenax, hemp, flax, and other fibrous sub

stances.

Luke Smith, of Manchester, and John Hepwood, for certain improvements in weaving machinery.

Philip Augustus de Chapeaurouge, of Fenchurch-street, London, for a machine for producing motive power, which he denominates a self-acting motive power, and called in France, by the inventor, volant moteur perpetuel.

Stephen Hawkins, of Milton House, near Portsmouth, for certain improve ments in warming-pans, or apparatus for warming beds and other purposes.

John George Bodmer, of Bolton-leMoors, for certain improvements in steam-engines and boilers.

The same, for improvements in the construction of grates, stoves, and furnaces, applicable to steam engines, &c.

William Crofts, of New Radford, Notts, for certain improvements in machinery for making lace.

William Henry Hornby, of Black. heath, Lancashire, and William Kenworthy, of Blackburn, for certain improvements in power-looms for weaving of cotton, linen, woollen, and other cloths.

John Chester Lyman, of Goldensquare, for certain improvements in hulling, cleansing, and polishing rice, bearding or peeling barley, and hulling and cleansing coffee.

John Bertie, of Basford, Notts, and James Gibbons, of Radford, in the same county, for an improved texture of lace. net, hitherto called bobbin-net, and also improvements in lace-machinery, to produce lace-net with the same improved texture, either plain or ornamental.

George Saint Seger Grenfell, of Paris, at present residing at Cadogan-place, Sloane-street, for certain improvements in the construction of saddles.

Edward Keele, of Titchfield, in the county of Southampton, brewer, for an improved valve and apparatus for close fermenting and cleansing porter, beer, ale, wine, spirits, cider, and all other saccharine and fermentable fluids.

Thomas Ridgway Bridson, of Bolton, Lancashire, bleacher, for certain improvements in machinery or apparatus to be used in the operation of drying cotton, linen, and other similar manufactured goods.

James Whitaker, of Wardle, near Rochdale, Lancashire, for certain improvements in engines for carding wool.

Mathew Bush, of Dalmonarch Printfield, Dumbarton, calico-printer, for certain improvements in machinery for drying and printing calicoes, &c.

James Lee Hannah, of Brighton, for certain improvements in surgical instruments for reducing the stone in the bladder, and enabling the patient to pass it through the urethra.

Joseph Jones and Thomas Mellodew, of Oldham, Lancashire, for certain improvements in power-looms, and in the manufacture of certain kinds of corded fustian, or fabric to be woven in diagonal cords, from cotton, wool, and other fibrous materials.

Charles Wilson, of Kelso, Roxburghshire, for certain improvements applicable to the machinery used in the pre