ence with Sir William Dugdale, and several miscellaneous essays similar in character to those previously printed by Archbishop Tenison.

Four years after the publication of this volume, Browne's daughter, Mrs. Littleton, gave to the press another of her father's unpublished works, the discourse on "Christian Morals," which was subsequently reprinted with a memoir by Dr. Johnson, and is the source whence Cowper derived much of his inspiration. It differs from Browne's other works in being much less eloquent, and in exhibiting very little imagination ; but it is marked by a lofty tone and a just appreciation of the true grounds on which moral obligations rest.

Some previously unpublished papers, beside extracts from his commonplace books, and a very extensive correspondence with the members of his own family and other persons, are contained in Mr. Wilkin's edition of his works. Of these papers it is only necessary to say that the correspondence is perhaps the least interesting series of letters that we have ever met with, and that it throws very little light either on the personal history and character of Sir Thomas Browne, or on the public transactions of the stormy period during which he lived. It is true that his own letters afford occasional glimpses of his mode of life, and sometimes show what subjects occupied his thoughts. But most of them are hard reading, and those addressed to him are equally uninteresting. A few characteristic passages from his letters to his children are all that need be quoted here. In a letter to his youngest son, who was then in France, he writes: "Hold fast to the Protestant Religion, and be diligent in going to church when you have any little knowledge of the language. God will accept of your desires to serve him in his public worship, though you cannot make it out to your desires; be constant, not negligent, in your daily private prayers, and habituate your heart in your tender days unto the fear and reverence of God." In another letter to the same he writes: "I would be glad you had a good handsome garb of your body, which you will observe in most there, and may quickly learn if you cast off pudor rusticus, and take up a commendable boldness, without which you will never be fit for anything, nor able to

show the good parts which God has given you. I would think it very happy if you had more Latin, and therefore advantage yourself that way if possible; one way beside learning from others will be to read the Scripture or chapters thereof daily in French and Latin, and to look often upon the grammars in both languages." To his oldest son, who was travelling on the Continent, he writes: "Have always some physic treatise to read often, lest this variety of objects unsettle the notions of it." In another letter he advises his son to "take notice of the various animals, of places, beasts, fowls, and fishes; what the Danow affordeth, what depth, if conveniency offers; of mines, mineral works, &c." And finally he asks him in another letter to "inquire what tree that is of which they make musical instruments; a white waved wood which is called ayre, and said to come from Germany."

For our knowledge of his personal character and habits we are mainly indebted to the brief sketch drawn up after his death by his friend, the Rev. John Whitefoot, who had been intimately acquainted with him for more than forty years. A few touches may also be added from different parts of his own writings. He was of moderate size, of a dark complexion, and, if we may judge from his portrait, of a modest and amiable expression. His dress was somewhat peculiar, and he wore a cloak and boots even when few other persons did, and always took care to be warmly clad. Both by nature and education he was disinclined to a public life and to social enjoyments; and his usual appearance seems to have been that of a grave and thoughtful person. "He was never seen to be transported with mirth, or dejected with sadness," says Mr. Whitefoot; "always cheerful, but rarely merry, at any sensible rate; seldom heard to break a jest; and when he did, he would be apt to blush at the levity of it. His gravity was natural, without affectation." In most of his religious opinions he accorded with the Church of England; but on some points he differed widely from the authorized doctrines, and on others his views were not clearly defined.

As a scholar his attainments were various and great. His memory, we are told, was good, though he seems in general to have trusted to his commonplace books, rather than to recolVOL. CXIV. - NO. 195.

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lection. He had read most of the great historians of ancient and modern times, and was familiar with the earlier and later Latin poets, beside having a critical knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages. He was also acquainted with Hebrew, and with several of the modern languages, was a good astronomer and botanist, and an excellent geographer. With the subjects that lay more immediately in the line of his studies as a physician he was thoroughly conversant; and his knowledge of natural history in particular was both extensive and remarkably accurate. Indeed, as Dr. Johnson justly remarks, "There is no science in which he does not discover some skill; and scarce any kind of knowledge, profane or sacred, abstruse or elegant, which he does not appear to have cultivated with success."

It is not easy to assign to him his exact place in English literature. On the one side his merits have been much undervalued by Mr. Hallam, who seems to have formed a very inadequate conception of the worth of his scientific researches ; and on the other side the permanent interest of his writings has been scarcely less overrated by his warm admirers. It is not surprising, indeed, that there should be a great diversity of judgments as to the real merits of his works. In spite of the exactness with which his scientific experiments appear to have been conducted, he had little or no skill in framing a compact argument, or in pursuing any extended line of thought, and his writings are consequently fragmentary and episodical in their character. This defect is at once perceived by critics in whom the logical faculty predominates; and in their disappointment at finding so little unity of thought and expression in his works, they are very apt to undervalue qualities which they hold in slender esteem, but which to other persons furnish sufficient grounds of admiration. On the other hand, many readers are charmed by his gorgeous eloquence, his quaint imagery, his strong imagination, his fancy, his wit, and his learning, and are content to take these as they find them, without demanding a more methodical arrangement. They could not readily give a satisfactory account of what they have read, but they have been so strongly impressed by it as to place the writer at once in the short list of favorite authors,

and to revert to his pages with continually increasing satisfaction.

If, without adopting any extreme views as to the rank which he must hold among his contemporaries, we pass to a closer examination of his writings, we shall find abundant reasons for setting a high value on his scientific and literary labors. In spite of his disbelief in the Copernican system of astronomy, and of some other errors which he upheld, it cannot be doubted that he rendered a real service to science by the publication of the "Pseudodoxia Epidemica," and that he smoothed the path for subsequent inquirers. As a writer, his erudition and his eloquence are alike worthy of admiration. His best thoughts have passed into our common speech, and become as familiar as household words. No man has written more persuasively or more eloquently of the great themes which engaged his pen in the "Religio Medici," the "Hydriotaphia," and the "Christian Morals"; and it is not probable that these productions will ever cease to be read. A writer who has received the united applause of Johnson and Cowper, of Coleridge and Southey, of Lamb and Hazlitt, and who has, indeed, maintained his reputation with but little loss for two centuries, must always hold an honorable place in literature.

ART. VI. Ceremonies on Laying the Corner-Stone of the New York State Inebriate Asylum, at Binghamton, September 24, 1858. New York. 1859. 8vo. pp. 184.

As the memorial of a new and auspicious benevolent enterprise, and as an illustration of the method and the means whereby the public welfare is secured and advanced in our country, the publication named above merits special attention. It unfolds a noble conception, and describes the beginning of a great charity. The State of New York, in addition to a most creditable array of humane institutions, similar in design and arrangement to others established all over the Union,-hospitals for the indigent victims of disease, for the blind, the deaf

and dumb, the insane, the aged poor, for orphans, for disabled seamen, boasts also several establishments peculiar both as to their objects and their resources, of which it is sufficient to mention the Woman's Hospital, founded upon the beneficent surgical discoveries of Dr. Sims, and the School for Idiots, so successfully conducted by Dr. Wilbur. To these is now added the State Inebriate Asylum, already far advanced toward completion. The publication named at the head of this article contains a statistical and medical exposition by the originator of the plan; the charter granted by the Legislature; the eloquent appeals uttered, at the laying of the corner-stone of the edifice, by Messrs. Everett, Bellows, Street, and Dickinson; with the discourses, on the same occasion, of the late Benjamin F. Butler and John W. Francis, whose earnest efforts in this behalf are to be commemorated by monuments within the walls; while the letters of citizens of the highest official and professional character, from the President of the republic to the Mayor of the metropolis,-leading merchants, authors, clergymen, jurists, and savans, attest the kind and degree of public sympathy and social consideration enlisted in favor of the plan, a sympathy which is not less manifest, in a practical form, in the distinguished and honored names of the Board of Trustees. An institution founded under such auspices has uncommon claims to favorable regard; and when we also consider that the design is novel, that the success thus far has been most encouraging, and that the mere rumor of its establishment has elicited the eager investigation and the cumulative zeal of philanthropists and physicians in various parts of Great Britain, in Holland, and in the East Indies, we are assured that an endeavor to portray and illustrate the purpose, place, and plan of the New York State Inebriate Asylum cannot fail to be acceptable. Prompted thereto by a conviction that this institution is destined to be the parent of many others, that it is a positive addition to the means of social reform, and marks a fresh and glorious epoch in the annals of humane achievement, we deem it not unseasonable, even in the absorbing period of a momentous national crisis, thus to remember that"Peace hath her victories no less renowned than War."

The application of science to charity is a memorable feature