while there was a Chapel of Ease in the neighbourhood, quite competent, along with the other established congregations, to contain the whole of the parties who made this application. Dr Meiklejohn followed on the same side, and enforced the same arguments. Mr Henry Cockburn, as counsel for the petitioners, made a speech of two hours and a half. He went into a history of the Church of Scotland, the progress of dissenters, and in the most feeling terms, appealed to the Assembly whether or not two thousand Christian souls, knocking at the doors of the church to become members of the Establishment, should be rejected, when, comparatively speaking, the increased population had been far greater than the accommodation made by the Established Church during the last fifty years. The learned counsel concluded a most able speech, by calling upon the Assembly, as they valued the best interests of the Church of Scotland, to reverse the sentence of the Presbytery of Edinburgh. Mr Sommerville, minister of Currie, also addressed the Assembly on the same side. Parties being fully heard and removed, the Assembly affirmed the sentence of the Presbytery. In consequence of this decision, we understand the congregation assembled in the Cowgate chapel, under the care of the Rev. Simon Fraser, have made a proposal to join the Relief Synod. On the 30th, the Assembly took in to consideration, extract minutes of the Presbyteries of Strathbogie and Aberlour, referring to them the conduct of Mr John McDonald, Minister of Urquhart, in preaching in other parishes than his own, within the bounds of the above presbyteries. Mr Cruickshanks, a member of the Presbytery of Strathbogie, was heard in support of the reference, and Mr M'Donald in explanation. After long reasoning, a motion was made and carried, that, "having VOL. XI. PART II. considered the references, the Assembly declare, that the performance of divine service, or of any part of public worship or service by ministers of this church, in meeting-houses of dissenters, is irregular and unconstitutional, and ought on no occasion to take place, except in cases in which, from the peculiar circumstances of a parish, its minister may find it occasionally necessary for conducting the ordinary religious instruction of his people; and the Assembly further declare, that the conduct of any minister of the church who exercises his pastoral functions in a vagrant manner, preaching during his journeys from place to place in the open air, in other parishes than his own, or officiating in any meeting for reli. gious exercises, without the special invitation of the minister within whose parish it shall be held, and by whom such meetings shall be called, is disorderly, and unbecoming the character of a minister of this church, and calculated to weaken the hands of the minister of the parish, and to injure the interests of sound religion; and the Assembly enjoin presbyteries to take order that no countenance be given by ministers within their bounds to such occasional meetings proposed to be held for divine service, or other pious purposes, as may, under the pretext of promoting religion, so injure its interests, and so disturb the peace and order of the church: and in case of such meetings taking place, the presbyteries within whose bounds they are held, are enjoined to report the same to the meeting of the General Assembly next ensuing." June 1.-His grace the Commissioner, in an elegant speech from the throne, dissolved the Assembly in name of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, on behalf of his Majesty. The Moderator then dissolved the Assembly in the usual form. The next General Assembly is appointed to meet on the 20th of May, 1819. L LITERARY INTELLIGENCE. FRANCE. IN the spring of the present year, the Four Academies, which had been established separately, were formed into one body, under the presidency of Comte Pastoret. They held an annual sitting April 24th, the day of the restoration of the king to his country. The President opened the sitting by a discourse explanatory of the motives and objects of this consolidation of talent and learning. After which, M. Raoul Rochette, in the name of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, read a dissertation on the advantages of Erudition. M. Bosset, who succeeded, offered, in the name of the Academy of Sciences, a sketch of the progress of the French Marine, The Academy of the Fine Arts, was represented by M. Girodet, who spoke on the principles of originality in the Arts of Design; and M. le Compte de Fontanes concluded the sitting by rehearsing, or rather declaiming, an Ode on the Violation of the Tombs at St Denis, as a specimen of the talents cultivated by the Poetic department of Taste and Genius, in modern France. Some months since, the French minister of the interior being informed that the Royal Library at Paris contains a great number of Chinese books, respecting the contents of which there existed no information, printed or written, appointed M. Abel Remusat to draw up a list of them. The result is, that, exclusively of 329 works comprised in Fourmont's catalogue, made in 1742, the library possesses 175 works, forming about 2000 volumes. Among these are 280 volumes, being a portion of a great collection published by one of the last Mantchou emperors; and consisting of a History of the Chinese Characters and Writing, or rather of the Literature and Rhetoric of that people, in 80 volumes; a History of Music, in 70 volumes; a Description of all the Foreign Countries known to the Chinese, also in 70 volumes; and 60 volumes on the Sects which believe in Spirits and Prodigies. Here, too, is a description of China, in 260 enormous volumes, with maps and plans, infinitely more complete than any that we possess respecting the most known countries of Europe. Among the historical works are some of considerable importance, such as the Li-tai-ki-sse, an excellent chronological account, in the style of Henault's Abridgment, or Le Sage's Atlas, but much more erudite and regular, in 100 volumes; a manuscript History of Japan, in 60 volumes; a Chinese and a Japanese Encyclopædia, containing figures of all such objects as can be represented. Of these works, M. Remusat has undertaken the task of drawing up a ge. neral Catalogue raisonné, which is to include those comprehended in Fourmout's performance. He will state the titles, translate them, frequently comment upon them, and add such information as can be gleaned concerning their authors or editors, and all other particulars stated in the prefaces. He will carefully mark the divisions and subdivisions, especially of the great collections; and give a succinct but accurate analysis of the contents of each part. A catalogue of this kind is rendered the more desirable, as Fourmont's, which, as we have seen, embraces only a part of the collection, has many inaccuracies and omissions. According to the Bibliographie de France, there have been published in 1817, four thousand two hundred and thirty-seven works; 1179 engravings; and 470 pieces of music. The first three weeks of the present year, produced 280 publications, 63 engravings, and 26 new tunes. At a late meeting of the Institute and Royal Academy of Science, the gold medal prize, founded by the late M. de Lalande, was awarded to Mr Pond, the astronomer royal at Greenwich, for his researches relative to the annual parallaxes of the fixed stars. From the report read at the late public meeting of the Society in France, for the Improvement of Elementary Instruction, it appears, that the number of schools established on the new plan now amounts to 369; of which 339 are for boys, and 30 for girls. The reason of this great disproportion is, that the principal institution for girls was not opened till fifteen months after the elementary school for boys. Of the 369 new schools, there are 219 in towns, and 150 in villages. The rural schools have not hitherto multiplied so rapidly as those in the towns, as it is but natural that improvements should be longer in penetrating to country places, which moreover possess fewer resources for defraying the first establishment. Of all the schools formed on the new system, that at Nantes is upon the largest scale. In general, those in the towns number from 150 to 400 pupils, and the village schools from 60 to 125. Thus it is computed, that this institution affords instruction to at least 60,000 children. The Society continues to publish monthly a number of its Journal d'Education, which gives an account of its proceed ings, and of the progress of elementa ry instruction. The English tragic drama is chiefly known in France through the translation of M. Le Tourneur. We understand that M. de Châteauneuf is about to publish a selection of English comedies. To judge of it by the fragments which the author has given in the French journals, published in London, his translation will be faithful as well as elegant. In his prefatory remarks, he says, "I have studied the English drama for three years, and whenever I may venture to criticise it, I shall, perhaps, do so with the prejudices of a Frenchman. I conceive, the reading of twenty comedies gives me a better idea of a people than a hundred volumes of travels. In comparing the comic drama of the two countries, some idea may be formed of the astonishing contrast which exists between two such near neighbours. The English language possesses a certain superiority with which no modern tongue can vie; it is that lofty energy which belongs to the genius of liberty. Should the freedom of the press not be established among us, (as our good ministers have promised,) the English language, which every one wishes to learn, on account of that liberty, will become universal on the continent, and France will thus lose the only pre-eminence which remains to her." While the members of the Roxburghe Club were celebrating, on the 17th of June, the memory of the first printers of Boccacio at Venice and in England, under the presidentship of Lord Spencer, the Reverend Mr Dibdin, vice-president, united himself to this bibliographical banquet by a repetition of it, which he gave at Paris. He invited to it M. Denon, to whom France is indebted for a great portion of the manuscripts and early editions which she possesses, and several of the Conservators of the Royal Library, Messrs Vanpraet, Langlès, Gail, and Millin. It may be easily supposed that literary history and bibliography offered an inexhaustible field for conversation; the meeting displayed a mixture of gaiety and gravity becoming the banquets of the Muses. GERMANY.-The general catalogue of works announced for sale at the Leipsic Easter Fair, is, as usual, very bulky, and would give a most favourable idea of the state and labours of literature in Germany, if it were reported in the mass, and the titles of the performances offered. The number of works executed in Latin and in German, is, 2,230; to these must be added, novels, 104; theatrical pieces, 60; books in foreign languages, 246; atlas's and collections of maps, 45; musical compositions, 416; in the whole 3,101. From the number 2,230, of works in German or Latin, must be deduct ed a great number which are merely re-prints without improvements; including also works formerly published, but now made as new as new titles can make them! From this number, 2,230, must also be deducted translations from the French, the English, the Italian, &c., which cannot, strictly speaking, be at tributed to the literary labours of the Germans themselves. When these deductions have been made, the number of original German works may be ta. ken at about 1,500 to 1,800. The quantity of pamphlets, sermons, essays, and other articles of information or exhortation, which have appeared on occasion of the festival of the Reformation, and on Luther, is surprising to the German critics themselves. It should seem that the literati of Germany have lost nothing of their fecundity. Draeseke has furnished eight sermons; Hoch has furnished an equal number of works on Jurisprudence; Wilmsen edifies youth by nine tracts for younger life; and Voss, much as he satirizes the follies of the times, contributes to increase them, by no less than eight novels and romances. But this is not a just description of the contents of this catalogue; it comprizes works which do honour to literature, and to the literary talents and spirit of their authors; among these must be placed many works of Philology and Classical learning, by Schow, Bothe, Sneider, Berk, &c.; the Zootomia of Carus, the Laws of Polarization, with the Scientific Physiology of Walter, the Treatise on Disorders of the Heart, by Kreyssig; also, many Historical Works by Voigt, and others. Among the works in foreign languages, are distinguished, the Iconography of Visconti, the Collection of Ancient Monuments in the countries inhabited by the Gauls; with many works transferred from the Danish language. The number of works announced as being at present at press, amounts to 300; some of which are extremely interesting to the learned; such are, an Aristophanes, a Pindar, and an Ovid, by Ahlwardt; an edition of Plato, complete, by Ast; an Iliad, with all the ancient Scholia, by Bekker. Several performances of learned stran. gers contribute to enrich this catalogue, such as Norberg's Lexicon codicis Nasarie, Boissonade's Herodian, De Candolle's Systema Regni Vegetabi lis; the Etymologicum Gudianum, and the Miscellanea Doctrine of Wyttenbach. The best musical compositions are derived from Vienna, or from Bohemia, and are works of Beethoven, Kozeluch, Newcomm, Call, the Chevalier Seyfried, and others, pupils from the school of Haydn. Music certainly is a very popular study in Germany; but, at present, it flourishes as a science, principally in the South. The following account is given of the present state of the German universities: Thus, instead of the 36 universities which existed previously to 1802, there are now but 19, of which 5 are Catholic, 2 mixed, and the rest Protestant. The total number of students is about 8500, which, taking the po pulation of all Germany at 294 millions, is about 288 for every million. In the year 1815, the Austrian Major General Lorriot, had completed a map of Europe on no less than thirty sheets. He proposed to publish it by subscription, and at the head of his list stood the names of the Emperor and the Monarchs then at Vienna. Nothing could appear more flattering; but, after all, the support was found unequal to the expences, and the design was laid aside for a more practicable undertaking. The work is now reduced to a map in four sheets, extra large paper, and is lately published at Vienna, price 18 florins. At Carlowitz, in Syrmia, is established an Illyrian Lyceum, which, by the last report, contained in the sixth class 18, in the fifth class 30, in the fourth class 20, in the third class 35, in the second class 38, and in the first class 28, in all 169 students. The greater part of these youths are of the Servian nation, and profess the Greek religion; but among them are some Germans, Slavonians, and Wallachians, of which The Director of this Lyceum is Dr George Charles Rusny, Professor of Philosophy, Mathematics, and Natural Sciences. The other Professors are either Hungarians, Greeks, or Sclavonians. The following is literal translation of the letter which his Prussian Majesty addressed to Baron Alexander Humboldt, in his projected tour in India : "Our State's Chancellor, the Prince of Hardenberg, has laid before us the memorial which you have transmitted to him, on the subject of your intended travels to the Indian Peninsula and the islands of the Indian Archipelago. You have already, by your travels in South America, and the fine work in which you have recorded their fruits, earned a fame which has redounded not less to the glory of our native country than to the advantage of science. We doubt not that the same result will arise from your newly projected travels. With this view we willingly confer upon you, for your support, in the prosecution of your design, a yearly sum of 12,000 dollars in gold, to be continued during four or five years from the commencement of your enterprize. We moreover present you with whatever astronomical and physical instruments may be necessary your researches; which instruments, however, shall, on your return, become for |