claborate and beautifully contrived atomic symbols and diagrams, which would have delighted Dalton himself.

Dr. Henry's volume contains two interesting letters from Dr. Faraday and Baron Liebig to the author, both attesting the immense practical value of the atomic theory; though, with regard to the strictly atomic hypothesis, as implying a solid nucleus, Dr. Faraday rather favours the old metaphysical conception of the constitution of matter (shared also with Boscovich, Priestley and Hutton) as consisting of mere powers of attraction and repulsion, without any extended particles as a substratum.

In November, 1810, appeared the second part of the New System of Chemical Philosophy, which is remarkable as exhibiting the fluctuations of opinion in the author's mind, and the chaotic condition of the science out of which he was labouring to educe order and light. It also exhibits the persistency with which he resisted the conclusive experiments of Davy in relation to potassium, sodium and chlorine, and Gay-Lussac's beautiful demonstration of the law of volumes. It proves that Dalton did not rank high as an experimental chemist. As Dr. Henry well remarks, "Nature, it would seem, with a wise frugality, averse to concentrating all intellectual excellences in one mind, had destined Dalton exclusively for the lofty rank of a lawgiver of chemical science." The same remark is applicable to the second volume of the New System, the first part of which appeared in August, 1827. "Dalton can never be regarded as an authority in the details of chemistry." The most interesting portion is the Appendix, in which the author modifies some of his earlier views, assenting, for example, though not unreservedly, to the doctrine that potassium and sodium are simple metals, but still withholding entire concurrence with the then universally received doctrine of the combination of gases in equal or multiple volumes.

It was the habit of Dalton's mind, from a few hints afforded by observation, to meditate a sagacious theory, which he then proceeded to test by experiment. Though an inaccurate, he was never a random experimenter. His experiments were always devised, and often most skilfully so, with reference to a preconceived hypothesis, of which he made the true and legitimate use as a help towards the systematic arrangement and comprehensive significance of a number of scattered facts. This tendency of his mind was exhibited no less strikingly in his failures than in his triumphs. From Dr. Henry's concluding survey of the nature of Dalton's investigations, and of the character of his mind, we must restrict ourselves to the following

sentences.

"Without venturing to compare him with one who has had no equal or compeer in the highest science, it may yet be affirmed that his intellectual habitudes were near of kin to those attributed to Newton. Both these great philosophers were characterized by the faculty of steady,

prolonged, unswerving attention, wholly abstracted from external objects and events-of patient, concentrated thought. It was Dalton's wont, as in boyhood so in mature life, to struggle with the problem he had to solve, silently and intensely in the depths of persistent meditation. He was ever accustomed to maintain that greatness in any pursuit is mainly reached by indomitable perseverance. Like all original, selfreliant minds, he was never solicitous to consult books or to learn the opinions of others. *** His extreme reluctance to increase the small scientific library belonging to the Literary and Philosophical Society, and the only one in Manchester, by the purchase of even such important works as the Mécanique Céleste, or of any books except the periodical journals, and his preference of all other modes of expending the surplus income, ***must be fresh in the remembrance of many members of that Society. *** Dalton's habits of association and reasoning were slow and somewhat laborious, even when he was merely perusing the deductions of other mathematicians. *** There was nothing fitful or impulsive in his nature; no sudden gleams of inspiration. He was ever calm, thoughtful, passionless. Imagination had absolutely no part in his discoveries; except, perhaps, as enabling him to gaze, in mental vision, upon ultimate atoms of matter, and as shaping forth those pictorial representations of unseen things, by which his earliest as well as his latest philosophical speculations were illustrated."*

The Appendix contains a valuable essay by Dr. G. Wilson on Colour-blindness, a lithographed specimen of Dalton's handwriting, and tables of chemical symbols used by him.

In closing our notice of the work under review, we must remark, that where so much is excellent, it has been difficult to compress our materials within the necessary limits of an article; and we hope that the memoir will ere long be accessible as a whole to the public at large, as well as to the members of the Cavendish Society, to whom, however, we feel greatly indebted.

We must now take leave of the volume before us, bearing our hearty testimony that, so far as we are competent to pronounce judgment upon its merits, it is in all respects worthy of its subject;-a respectful and affectionate tribute to the personal character, as well as an elaborate and masterly memorial of the philosophical achievements, of the simple-minded John Dalton. J. R.

CHRISTENING IN RUSSIA.

THE form of christening in Russia differs materially from that of our Church. The priest takes the child, which is quite naked, and, holding it by the head, so that his thumb and finger stop the orifices of the ears, he dips it thrice into the water; he cuts off a small portion of the hair, which he twists up with a little wax from the tapers and throws into the font; then, anointing the baby's breast, hands and feet with the holy oil, and making the sign of the cross with the same on the forehead, he concludes by a prayer and benediction.-The Englishwoman in Russia.

Pp. 235 236.

*

ADDRESS DELIVERED BY THE REV. WILLIAM GASKELL, M.A., TO THE STUDENTS OF THE UNITARIAN HOME MISSIONARY BOARD, IN CROSS-STREET CHAPEL, MANCHESTER, DEC. 4, 1854. My younger brethren, who desire to fit yourselves for the responsible office of Christian Missionaries: In the address to which you have just listened, the spirit which should actuate you and the essential qualifications for your work, have been so fully set forth, that there remains little or nothing to be added on these points. There are, however, a few things which I may say on the relation that general culture, and more particularly those branches of it which are committed to my charge, bear to the duties you will have to fulfil.

Your sphere of labour, it is intended should lie mainly among the poor and less instructed; but it may be that you will oftentimes need help from the richer and better-educated, in order to carry out your plans of usefulness. And you must see at a glance how important it is that, when you have to solicit their aid and co-operation, they should not be tempted in any way to despise you to regard you as those having zeal without knowledge-but should find in you, not only men who are earnest in a good cause, but men who by their wisdom and thoughtfulness, their whole tone and manner of address, can recommend and adorn it, and so win attention and secure confidence.

It was once an idea, and with some is perhaps still, that all which could be required for the discharge of an office like yours among the poor, was a thoroughly devout and religious spirit. And no doubt (as you have just been told) this is the first and indispensable requisite. If you have not such a spirit yourselves, you cannot impart it to others. It must be experimentally felt by you, before you can hope to make any one else feel it. But as I am fully persuaded, that the teacher of a young child will be the better fitted for his task by the widest range and the greatest accuracy of knowledge, if he only understand how to use them aright, so, both observation and experience tend to convince me, will it likewise be the case with those who devote themselves to the instruction and elevation of the humbler classes. In cultivating this important field, it cannot prove otherwise than advantageous to have been furnished with the best implements, and made familiar with the best processes, if there be only the proper spirit to direct and apply them. The noblest intellect may here find work to task its powers; the richest mind objects on which to expend its wealth; and the highest refinement, braced up and strengthened by Christian principle, a sphere in which to make its soft, delicate influence felt.

To come a little closer to the particular subjects which enter

From Dr. Beard, the Principal of the Institution.

into my department: Some of you may be disposed to ask, what are the peculiar benefits which you may hope to receive from the study of the English language and literature, the history of the world and the men who have inhabited it, the nature of the human mind and the laws which govern it? It may be said with a show of truth-poor and superficial enough, but bearing the semblance of sound argument-"What is the need of delicacy and fastidiousness in the use of language? The matter is more than the manner; the thought than the diction. And as for general literature, how is a knowledge of that to bear upon the pure and simple Christianity which earnest-minded men are to teach to those probably far less cultivated than themselves? And in regard to history, the present is the time they have to study, and how to read the riddles of to-day, instead of poring over the mistakes or slow advancement of past ages, in which all the circumstances of life were so dissimilar to what they are now." In a spirit like this, may some have questioned the wisdom of the course of instruction which has been drawn out for you. Let me offer to you my reasons, or rather one or two of them, why it seems to me wise to include these branches of learning.

Let us, first, take the study of the English language, and consider a little what that means-what it comprehends-in what light we must view it so as to elevate it into an occupation worthy a student for the Christian ministry-how we must regard it before we can affiliate it to the service of the Most High. Language is God's gift, marking our capability of social relation. It started from the point of naming things palpable to the senses; next must have arisen a want of expression for the feelings and emotions; and lastly, as man's nature developed itself, thoughts and ideas would seek and find some mode of utterance. Thus, as humanity grew richer, language increased and strengthened; and now we regard that as a poor tongue, spoken by an ignorant and uncultivated people, in which the words are few, and what there are relate to material objects of sense rather than subjects of thought and reflection, or to (higher still) great spiritual truths. There is, for instance, a tribe in New Zealand who have no word for God; without knowing anything more about them, we may feel almost sure they live the life of the beasts that perish. As a man's conceptions increase and extend, so too his need for full and correct expression of those conceptions grows and enlarges. To take a single illustration: the child, and he whose eye is untrained, call all the various shades of a particular colour "red;" but he who receives only a vague, general idea from the use of this word, wants to have the precise shade specified by one of the terms "pink," "rose," scarlet," "crimson," or whatever else it may be. And so he who examines into the infinitely divisible character of abstract things,

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requires the exact word, before he can satisfy himself that he has expressed the true meaning that is in him. He will not be satisfied to make "envious," for instance, stand in place of "jealous;" he will perceive and define the difference between these two feelings, and be aware that he is wronging truth by employing the one instead of the other. I have given an example (not the best perhaps that might be found, but that which occurred to me most readily) where poverty in the choice of words compels a speaker to a slight deviation from what is true. This poverty may arise from many causes. Oftentimes it is from sloth. We do not care to define our meaning precisely to ourselves, and when it is defined we do not take pains to search for the exact word that would fit it; consequently, our thought thus loosely clothed does not impress itself distinctly and vividly on the minds of others. But your duty will be, to impress the souls of those with whom you have to do as deeply as you can with the truth and importance of the solemn message which you are to bear from God to men. You must not, you will not spare to realize its true force to yourselves; you must not spare any more to speak it out in clear, sharp, fitting words-each so appropriate that no other would do as well. Those are the kind of sentences that bite-that cannot be forgotten; so full of pith and meaning that they cling without effort to the memory, and rise up as great warnings or great encouragements in the silence and solemnity of night. It is not a multitude of words that convince and move listeners; nor is it what is commonly called fine language. No! it is the truth and force with which they convey the speaker's meaning that gives them worth and power. And in order that your words may have this spell of truth with which to command attention, it is needful that you should study their nature, and learn their derivation, and analyze their meaning. The simplest terms that drop from our lips have some tale, which we must compel them to unfold before we can thoroughly comprehend their just value, so as to be sure that we employ them rightly. The creation of numberless words in daily use, has arisen from some working of God in the heart of man, which has necessitated a new term to evolve its full meaning. So, if we look upon language as one of the great capacities which He by whom we are so "fearfully and wonderfully made" has bestowed upon us, we shall be ashamed to use it poorly, or lazily, or falsely, for want of care or study on our part; and feel that for His sake and to do His work, we must strive to make it, in our use, of a noble richness and impressive power, as well as of a choice simplicity and a faithful accuracy. And this, I trust, will be one of the ends that you will steadily and perseveringly aim at; and in the attainment of which I shall do my utmost to assist you, by familiarizing you, as far as I can, with the true force and spirit of words, and accustoming you to employ them with freedom and