works of Orme, Sir J. Malcolm, Colonel Wilks, and many other living authors, it is almost invidious and unjust to make a selection, may claim a very high rank as historical compositions.

Among those whose names are before the public as Sanscrit scholars though we presume not to aver that there are not many of equal attainments-Mr. Wilson stands in the first rank.-He has rendered most valuable service to oriental literature, not only by the work which we have introduced to the reader, but by the far more laborious compilation of his Sanscrit dictionary. The want of a new, perhaps extended edition of this work, which cannot be obtained, retards the progress of the Sanscrit student,a want which is imperfectly supplied by the valuable but less comprehensive Radices Sancrita' of Professor Rosen, and the 'Glossarium Sanskritum' of Bopp. But to whomsoever the lot may fall, independent of the religious advantages contemplated, we believe, by the founder, in encouraging the study of the parent language of the numerous dialects spoken throughout that peninsula, which is, no doubt, sooner or later, to partake in the blessings of Christianity, we confidently trust that we shall receive from the Oxford professor continual accessions to our treasures of Sanscrit literature, and be enabled to complete our yet imperfect history of this remarkable brauch of the poetry and philosophy of man.

ART. II.-Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Straits, to co-operate with the Polar Expeditions. Performed in his Majesty's Ship Blossom, under the command of Captain F. W. Beechey, R.N., in 1825, 1826, 1827, and 1828. London. 4to. 1831.

MEN

EN of science continue to be much divided in opinion as to what is, and what is not, the sort of encouragement which the government of this country ought to give to scientific inquiry. The views of Mr. Babbage, and many others, have been abundantly explained to our readers in a late article; but these are strenuously opposed by persons equally eminent, according to whom the case stands thus:—

Whenever the investigation of certain topics would be useful to the public service, but, from whatever cause, such investigation is not likely to be undertaken by individual members of the community, it is the clear duty of government, acting as stewards or agents of the public, to employ the means placed in their hands for the advancement of such objects; but when the members

of

of the community are themselves willing and competent to prosecute the inquiries, the interference of government would be not only useless, but hurtful. There cannot, they proceed, be a doubt that the philosophical pursuits to which the learned members of the French Institute devote their time, are highly beneficial to their country; or that the government of France does well to pension the savans, and to invest them with honours, that these able men may be stimulated to fresh inquiries. If science in that country were not kept up by the protecting hand of government, it would soon languish and die;-not because those accomplished philosophers, who are the admiration of Europe, are at all lukewarm in their pursuits, but because there is not, in the community at large, either a sufficient degree of taste for such things to render them generally fashionable, or enough of wealth to make them profitable. In England, they assure us, it is quite otherwise." There is not only a very extensive taste for every description of science diffused throughout our country, but there is ample wealth, always ready, upon the slightest hint, to support the expenses of such investigations. For government, therefore, to interfere in England with such things, would be like dashing with the oar to accelerate the cataract. There is abundance of momentum already impressed upon the body, and any additional force applied to it would be wasted. It matters little what may be the object of inquiry in this country; whether it be abstract and refined, or practical and immediately useful or whether it combine the practical with the speculative -or even if it be altogether absurd and visionary. Let any subject of inquiry be started, it is straightway pursued with ardour; and there is no instance that they have heard of in which any such inquiry has been retarded for want of due encouragement. Proceeding to examples, they tell us there was a time when the Royal Society was supposed to be the only grand fountain of knowledge in the kingdom. At length, certain of its members conceived their favourite pursuit not sufficiently attended to, and, in a few months, was established the Geological Society. Since that period, the astronomers have, in like manner, set up for themselves; and so far from being in want of further encouragement, these interesting bodies derive, from the pockets of their own members, every assistance they can possibly desire. These are only two out of many similar societies in London, all of them numerous, and all of them supported by the voluntary contributions of their own members. But the other day Mr. Barrow pointed out the want of a society which should devote itself expressly to geographical subjects, and in less than three months five hundred and fifty members came forward to enter their names, all ready to

pay

pay their subscriptions, and upwards of a hundred of them to compound by a ten years' purchase for their annual payments. We are asked if, after this, we can question the sincerity and zeal with which scientific objects are de facto encouraged in England? We are told that we should surprise our readers were we to lay before them an account of the sums of money actually paid annually by the scientific and literary bodies of the metropolis alone, to say nothing of those which may be found in almost every town in the empire. We are asked if the money thus raised by voluntary and cheerful contribution, and expended most judiciously on purely scientific objects, is not only fifty times greater than the whole amount so ostentatiously distributed by the government of our neighbours, but fifty times greater than the executive of this country could venture to collect for any such purpose, or would be permitted to bestow even if they did collect it? Then as to titles and other external distinctions, is it not precisely because such honours are distributed with a sparing hand in this country, that they are felt, when bestowed, as of real value by the individuals selected, and carry solid weight with the body of the nation?

Having thus stated the substance of what has been urged among scientific people, in reply to Mr. Babbage, and part of our own reviewal of his late treatise, we consider ourselves as having given all readers the means of judging for themselves between the contending parties. Truth, as in most cases, may most probably lie between. That all Mr. Babbage's complaints and our own have been answered we do not think; but croaking is not our element, and it is a pleasing relief to do justice to the admirable style in which, with regard to one great object of scientific inquiry, the British government in our day has unquestionably done its duty-carrying the wishes of the country into effect, by bringing its resources to a focus, and applying them in a manner which the government alone could have had the means of doing,-we allude to the case of arctic discovery.

For a long period of time, and particularly since the peace consequent upon Napoleon's downfal, a lively curiosity had been manifested in this country on the subject of the north-west passage, and the possibility of reaching the pole. We are not discussing just now whether these inquiries were judicious or notthe fact of their great and general popularity is indisputable. But as it was utterly impossible that any private person, or even any scientific body, could undertake the equipment of expeditions for the investigation of these points, it became the duty of government, in obedience to the general wish, to put the resources trusted to its management into such operation as should satisfy the country

that

that the experiment had been properly tried. The primary reason why such expeditions cannot be sent out by private persons, is not the want of money, as might, at first sight, be supposed, but the impossibility of any private persons being able to command the services of men competent to perform the task, and willing to submit to the requisite discipline. If Captain Ross, indeed, shall ever cast up again, either on this or on the other side of Beering's Straits, we shall be compelled to admit at least of one splendid exception; but until that officer reappears-as God send he soon may!-we must hold fast to the old doctrine-viz., that such gigantic enterprises are stripped of every fair chance of a successful issue, unless they be undertaken by government.

It is fair, then, to own, that in our view, Mr. Babbage and his allies should not have passed in silence what has been done by the executive for this single investigation. There was first the voyage round Baffin's Bay by Ross-abortive, indeed, but through no fault on the part of government, who at that time were only training their officers to this novel service. Then came the two celebrated voyages of Sir Edward Parry-both eminently successful and instructive, as far as they went. Next followed Captain Lyon's unsuccessful attempt to pass through Repulse Bay. To these we may add Buchan's voyage towards the North Pole, and Parry's, with the same object, but with different means. Then we have Sir John Franklin's two wonderful journies, with the splendid episode of Dr. Richardson; and, lastly, this great voyage of Beechey. These expeditions are no fewer than nine in number,-all of them very costly, and most of them in the highest degree creditable to us. It is true the grand ultimate purpose of these expensive and laborious equipments has not been attained to the letter, since fifty leagues of coast remain still unexplored; but surely this is not owing to any want of encouragement on the part of government. On the contrary, we are convinced that no candid-minded person who has followed these admirable voyagers and travellers, can have failed to give the government ample credit, not only for the public spirit with which they have followed up the anxious wishes of the nation at large, but for the discernment they have evinced in the choice of officers to conduct such dangerous and difficult enterprises.

Reflections of this nature will very often recur to the reader as he peruses the narrative of Captain Beechey, whose volume, we venture to predict, will be generally considered as the most interesting of the whole series. Part of this distinction it undoubtedly owes to the much greater variety and extent of his field of observation, but part of it likewise belongs to the superiority of his powers of composition, and perhaps also to his

powers

powers of observation, or the faculty which, from internal evidence, we infer he possesses in a high degree, of seizing the most characteristic points of every subject, whether they be the most prominent or not.

The object of this voyage may be told in a few words. Captain Franklin was directed to proceed through Canada to the Arctic Ocean, and then to coast along towards Beering's Strait; and as it was essential to his success that when he reached that point he should not be compelled to retrace his steps, Captain Beechey was sent round by Cape Horn, and through the Pacific, to receive him on board at the termination of his journey, should he fortunately succeed. The two officers, before starting, arranged, under the sanction of the Admiralty, their plan of joint operations. They agreed as to their place of rendezvous, their signals, and various other essential particulars, by which they hoped to ascertain their proximity to one another, after having between them made the circuit of the two Americas. It is a matter of very bitter regret that plans so admirably arranged, skill so effectively wielded, and courage so undaunted, should all have failed. Had it not been for the fog, which for so many days kept Franklin at a stand, he might, and certainly would, have reached the boat sent a-head by the Blossom to meet him; or, had he only known that Beechey's people were within fifty leagues of him, he might have dashed on gallantly through the fog and gained the prize, and made himself (if indeed he be not so already) the greatest traveller the world has yet seen. Under all the circumstances of the case, however, it would not only have been a gross breach of orders, but sheer madness in Franklin to have gone forward. Indeed, if we were called upon to state which of all the qualities in these great officers we hold in highest admiration, we should say it is the courageous strength of mind evinced by them when called upon to abandon the enterprises upon which their fame and professional fortune were suspended. Mere animal bravery is to be purchased at any moment; but the self-denial which these sacrifices imply, and the substantial effort of intellect which these men displayed in summing up and balancing the pros and cons of circumstances entirely new to them, belong, we conceive, only to very high training, during a whole lifetime, in a profession where circumstances are changing every hour, and in which nothing but the true spirit of a gentleman, directed exclusively to public objects, can ever lead to eminence.

We think it will be doing more justice to Captain Beechey to run hastily over his track, before giving any extracts from his book, than to allow our readers to pick up from detached passages the thread of so long a story. The truth, however, is, that the whole

work,