thousand lines weekly of the last four books of the "Course of Time." The poem, as a whole, was, however, no hasty performance: it had engaged his attention long. His college acquaintances could perceive that his mind was not wholly devoted to the business of the classes; he was constantly writing or reading on other subjects. Having his time wholly to himself, he amassed a prodigious store of ideas. It was his custom to commit to the flames, every now and then, a great number of papers. He had projected a prose work of some magnitude-a review of Literature in all ages-designed to shew that literature must stand or fall in proportion as it harmonizes with Scripture Revelation. But death has put an end to this, as to many other projects; and all that we can now look for, is a posthumous volume, for which we are glad to understand there are ample materials in the poems, essays, and sermons found among his papers. Such a volume, with a memoir of the lamented youth prefixed, cannot fail to prove an acceptable offering to the public: and we hope soon to hear that it is in course of preparation.-Dumfries Courier.

MR. MONTGOMERY.-A handsome and gratifying compliment has just been paid to Mr. Montgomery, the poet, by his townswomen. The ladies of Sheffield subscribed a sum of money to present him with a small piece of plate; and the excess of the subscription, beyond what sufficed for that purpose, was to be given to the Moravian Mission at Tobago, established by the Poet's father, and where the remains of his mother are. The modest and benevolent character of Mr. Montgomery was well consulted, by presenting him with a splendid and finely wrought silver ink-stand, and devoting the rest of the subscription, amounting to two hundred pounds, to the purposes of the missionary settlement.

NEW POST-OFFICE. -The principal façade of this building is extremely elegant; the outline is noble and simple; the proportion and distribution of the parts are good, and in harmony with each other; and the general composition is chaste and grand. The portico is beautiful in itself, and has a bold and noble projection, the effect of which is skilfully heightened by the recessing of the back wall within the general line of the building: the door-way is magnificent; the order generally, and its members separately, are classical and elegant, and closely follow the antique in character as well as in proportions. The principal defect in the façade is the puerile employment of columns at the wings: they are perfectly useless; but their inutility is not their only fault; they are in the way, and injure the general effect had the projections been plain, they would not only have been grander in themselves, but would have happily enhanced the effect of the portico in the centre. The front of Carlton House, (now, alas! no more) was a striking instance of the good effect of The termination of the attic is very faulty, and has

such a contrast.

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a disagreeable effect when viewed in perspective. The boarding almost precludes our judging of the steps of the portico and of the plinth to the building: with regard to the former, it is to be regretted that they do not project before the portico, and allow the columns to have posed firmly and grandly to the landing, that the appearance of pedestals might have been avoided. The stylobate is in two courses of granite: a single course would have been much grander; and the large blocks of Haytor granite, at the New Hall of Christ's Hospital, and at the London Bridge, are sufficient proofs that there would have been no difficulty in obtaining materials of requisite dimensions. -The front towards Cheapside is well designed and grand. The introduction of windows in the freize is to be regretted, but their necessity powerfully pleads their excuse. The fronts in Foster Lane and St. Ann's Lane have no architectural pretensions. The arrangement and plan of the building are excellent. The grand entrance from the portico is magnificent; it consists of a colonnade on each side, of the same order and dimensions as the columns of the portico, carried up the whole height of the building, and running directly through to Foster Lane. At first sight, it might seem a subject of regret that a court-yard had not been provided for the mails; but a little consideration, and a view of the space allotted to the building, will prove the impracticability of such a scheme. The careful and ingenious construction cannot be too highly commended. It may be objected, and not without reason, we think, that the general character of the edifice is too rich and sumptuous for a public building, especially for one so purely official as a post-office; and the display of ornament on this occasion is the more surprising, as Mr. Smirke is sparing, to a fault, of architectural enrichments in his clubhouses and other buildings, in which their introduction would have been most appropriate.-Athenæum.

ACCIDENT AT THE THAMES TUNNEL.-At six in the morning of January 12, the night "gang" left their work, and were succeeded by the day-men, consisting of 130 excavators. Mr. Brunel, jun. was present when the relief took place, and was giving directions to the workmen at the moment when the melancholy accident happened which we are about to narrate. Mr. Brunel, jun., was at box No. 1, in which two workmen, named Ball and Collins, were employed, and he remarked that the water drained through the soil at the shield much more rapidly than it had done for some time. The soil, which for some time had been strong and clayey, appearedmuch looser, and water and sand poured through the left of the box, but not in such quantities as to create a supposition that the evil could not be soon remedied. Mr. Brunel, jun., at half past six, was standing in box No. 1, when several hundred weight of mud was forced into the tunnel through the left corner of No. 1 shield. The boxes No. 1 and 2, which had been in a precarious state, had yielded to the pressure of the high tides of the season, and permitted the influx of the river.

-The water rushed with such extreme velocity, that the force of the air threw one man upon his back on the stage, and extinguished the gas. Mr. Brunel, jun., was knocked down with Ball and Collins, and at the same instant Jephtha Cooke, who was a bottom-box-man, in attempting to escape, got behind the rush of water, which cut off his retreat, and he perished. Ball, Collins, and Cooke were destroyed almost instantaneously. The rush was so violent as to destroy the lower part of the staircase by which the labourers ascended and descended, so that it was utterly impossible for them, by any exertion, to save themselves. Three other men, who, we lament to state, have also perished, named George Evans, J. Long, and W. Seton, were at work at the lower boxes of the frame when the catastrophe happened.

NEW CITY LIBRARY.- -The corporation of the city of London have formed a new library, which is shortly to be opened in the Guildhall. The most expensive, though not the most learned or agreeable work contained in the new library, is a complete set of the London Gazette, from its commencement to the present day. For this set 240l. was given, and it is believed to be unique. The set in the British Museum is very imperfect. The committee are ambitious of making the new library the first for works of authority on municipal subjects. Wheit is to be freely open to the public, or admission is to be a matter of solicitation and patronage, is yet, we believe, undetermined.

ARTIFICIAL STONE.-Mr. W. Ranger, of Brighton, has succeeded in perfecting an invention, which is intended to be substituted for bricks or stone. It is an artificial stone, much harder than bricks or stone, being equal in durability to granite; and it has also the ad. vantage of being considerably cheaper. Mr. Ranger has been occupied a considerable time in bringing this discovery to perfection; which he has now so far accomplished, that it is his intention to employ it altogether, in the first building which he may erect. It is capable of being modelled to any shape, and in any way that may be desired; and has, when put up, the appearance of Portland stone. Of course, no cement is required in the construction of buildings in which it is employed.

INFLAMMABLE FLUID.-At St. Dolens, near Amiens, in France, a discovery has been made of a fluid which inflames on being brought in contact with water. This discovery was found deposited in an old reservoir, having a gas-pipe passing through it: some of the liquid, having fallen into a passing stream of water, inflamed; and, flowing on to the neighbouring brook, overspread the surface of it with fire also. A bottle of this singular substance is to be sent to M. Gay Lussac, for analysis.

THE HAYTOR IRON MINE.-This mine, situated near Moreton,

Devon, has been so productive of curious minerals, as to excite the most lively attention of mineralogists. Such an exuberance of splendid and superb specimens has rarely been excavated so promptly from the bowels of the earth, on so small a spot; nor have any ever been discovered fraught with such brilliancy, colour, and richness; or of such peculiar character, formation, and quality. Since the Duke of Somerset purchased the estate, those minerals have been more generally known and sought after: but a few weeks ago, restrictions were laid on the workmen, several of them having gained more by the minerals than the amount of their wages; in consequence of which they were prohibited from selling any more, on penalty of being discharged. Those interesting productions of the Haytor mine are held in such high estimation, that a mineral dealer has lately realized 2007. from the sale of one species. Mr. Shirley Woolmer, of Exeter, has collected a choice specimen of every mineral that has been found at Haytor, comprehending upwards of one hundred, some of them at present unique: they consist of exquisitely beautiful quartz crystals, of red, pink, and orange colour; topaz quartz crystals; magnificent chalcedonies; singular crystals, of high lustre and fine ruby hues; stalactite, with small flowers of the appearance of the purest carved ivory; beryl; aqua marine, with hexagonal prisms of various shades; some remarkable and uncommon crystallization of different forms; Haytorite, associated with chalce. dony; and numerons others, equally valuable.

STEAM COACH. Mr. Gurney's steam-coach has been again tried in the Regent's Park, and proceeded at the rate of thirteen miles and a quarter per hour. Hitherto, considerable difficulty has been experienced in guiding the machine over the rough road. To obviate this difficulty, an improvement of a very simple nature has been suggested by Mr. William, an engineer of Birmingham; which, it is alleged, will give the guide such a purchase over the carriage, that it may be steered with ease and precision.

STEAM ARTILLERY.-Mr. Perkins having been long engaged in the construction of a piece of ordnance, of the calibre of a fourpounder, to be discharged by high-pressure steam, the following account may be acceptable to our readers:-The length of the barrel is about six feet; and the diameter of the bore, which is grooved to carry a rifle ball, is about three inches. The steam apparatus, attached to the gun, is calculated of sufficient strength to generate steam of one hundred atmospheres; though it can never be necessary to employ steam for the purposes of artillery at a higher pressure than about 60 atmospheres, or about 840lbs. to 900lbs. to the square inch, which is greater than the elastic force of gunpowder. The elastic force of high-pressure steam, however, having much greater range or limits than that of gunpowder, is infinitely better calculated for projectiles, independently of any saving

of expense; for it is estimated by Mr. Perkins, that the projectile force of steam is ten times greater than that of gunpowder, in throwing a ball to a given distance.

THE MULBERRY TREE.-The quickest and most certain mode of raising is from cuttings of the old branches. Take a branch in the month of March, eight or nine feet in length, plant it half its length in any good soil, and it will succeed to admiration, producing fruit the following spring.

TIMBER TREES.-Select the longest lived and most ornamental trees-such as oak, Spanish chesnut, Scotch elm, ash, maple, beech, spruce, silver fir, pinaster-plant them alternately, at thirty-six feet distance; enclose them singly with small stalks of larch, and warp them two feet up with small branches of the same, which will last for ten years. Fifty trees will be sufficient for an acre, as a lawn of ornamental timber trees: an hundred acres will require 5,000 plants; which, at an average of 17. 5s. a thousand, will cost 6l. 5s. The expense of planting and enclosing singly, for workmanship alone, though the wood for the stakes come from the estate, as the present railing, including nails and workmanship to the full, 66l. 5s. Add 6l. 5s. for the plants, and the expense of planting an acre with ornamental trees is in all 72l. 10s. Oak, Spanish chesnuts, and Scotch elm, are the sorts of timber in general use for the naval yards: plant them eight feet distant: at fifteen years, thin out to sixteen feet; and the timber and bark from the cuttings, at this time, will pay from 77. to 10%. an acre: at thirty years of age, thin to thirty-two feet; and the bark and timber will then pay, at least, 251. an acre. Many of the growths from the trees, cut over at fifteen years of age, will, at the age of forty, have made more progress than those from the original plant. By this method, a crop of grown trees may always be kept upon the ground; and, granting the plantations were only one hundred acres, a number of them may be cut down for the naval yards, and part of them reared, without any expense of perpetually replanting. The value of an acre of the above trees, at sixty years old, may be reckoned at 400l.; besides, the cuttings from the natural underwood will have paid a rent of not less than 31. an acre annually.

A BOLD EXPERIMENT.-Some years ago, a gentleman in Lanarkshire built a new mansion, in a field of about one hundred and thirty acres, in which there was not a single tree: in two seasons he transplanted five hundred trees, many with their tops whole, and not less than fifty feet high: as there were not twenty of them that misgave, a complete lawn of large timber-trees was formed in two years. Many noblemen, who visited the place, were highly delighted with seeing a beautiful grove flourishing on a spot which had so lately been a barren waste.