A second statue, likewise in marble, from the hand of the same master, has also, by filial affection, been placed in one of the halls of the celebrated university, where, in his youth, the artist, yet unknown and exposed to the persecution of the corporations, received encouragement so flattering, and so well merited. Nor has the town of Greenock forgotten that it can boast of being the birthplace of Watt. Its inhabitants have ordered, at their own expense, a marble statue to the illustrious mechanist. It is to be placed in a beautiful library, built on a site presented gratuitously by the late Sir Michael Shaw Stewart, and in which will be united the books of the public library, and the Collection of Works of Science which Watt had presented to the establishment during his lifetime. This building has already (in 1834) cost L.3500, to which Mr James Watt has liberally contributed. A fine colossal statue in bronze, placed upon a beautiful pedestal of granite in George's Square, Glasgow, demonstrates to every one how proud this capital of Scottish industry is of having been the cradle of Watt's discoveries. Finally, the portals of Westminster Abbey have been opened at the voice of an imposing union of subscribers; and there stands a colossal statue of WATT in Carrara marble, the chef-d'œuvre of CHANTREY (bearing an inscription by Lord BROUGHAM),* and one of the principal ornaments of the English Pantheon. There is unquestionably much art in thus uniting the illustrious names of Watt, Chantrey, and Brougham, upon the same monument. But far be it from me to make this a ground of blame. Happy

*We subjoin the inscription :

F

Not

rather that people who thus avail themselves of opportunities to honour their illustrious dead.

We have thus given an account of five grand statues which have been erected in a short time to the memory of Watt. And must we now confess, that these tributes of filial love, and public gratitude, have excited the disapprobation of some narrow-minded beings, who, remaining stationary themselves, fancy they thereby arrest the advance of ages. According to them, warriors, and magistrates, and statesmen (though I venture to assert they will surely not include all of this latter class), have alone a right to statues. I do not know if Homer and Aristotle, if Descartes and Newton, would appear in the eyes

Not to perpetuate a name

which must endure while the peaceful arts flourish,
but to shew

that mankind have learnt to honour those

who best deserve their gratitude,
the King,

his Ministers, and many of the Nobles

and Commoners of the Realm,

raised this Monument to

JAMES WATT,

who directing the force of an original genius,
early exercised in philosophical research,
to the improvement of

the Steam Engine,

enlarged the resources of his country,
increased the power of man,

and rose to an eminent place
among the illustrious followers of Science,
and the real benefactors of the world.

Born at Greenock MDCCXXXVI.

Died at Heathfield in Staffordshire, MDCCCXIX.

of these new Aristarcuses worthy of a simple bust; but assuredly they would refuse even a modest medal to our Papins and Vaucansons, our Watts and Arkwrights, and to other mechanists, unknown, perhaps, in a certain circle, but whose renown will go on augmenting from age to age with the progress of knowledge. Since such heresies as these are openly avowed, we must not disdain to combat them. It is not without reason that public opinion has been styled a sponge for prejudices. But prejudices are like hurtful plants: the slightest effort suffices to eradicate them, if they be at once attended to; on the contrary, they grow with time, become inveterate, extend far and near, and their numerous ramifica tions seize upon every thing that comes within their reach.

If this discussion offend the self-love of some, I must remark it has been provoked. The men of science of our day are not those who have complained that they saw not the great authors, whose inheritance they cultivate, figure in the long ranges of colossal statues, which the authorities proudly elevate on our parapets, and places of public resort; for well they know that these monuments are fragile, that hurricanes shake and overturn them, and that the very vicissitudes of the seasons suffice to destroy their contours, and to reduce them to shapeless blocks. But they too have their statuary and their painting in the printing-press. Thanks to this admirable invention, when the works of science and imagination possess real value, they may defy time and political revolutions. Neither fiscal regulations, nor commotions, nor all the terrors of despots, can hinder such productions from crossing the most carefully guarded frontiers. A thousand vessels transport them, under a variety of forms, from hemisphere to hemisphere. They are studied at one and the same time in Iceland and Van Diemen's

The

Land; they are read in the little circle of the humblest cottage, and in the most brilliant saloons of palaces. author, the artist, and the engineer, are recognised and appreciated throughout the world by all that is most noble and elevated in man-by judgment, mind, and intelligence. That individual would be foolish indeed, who, occupying such a commanding position, should ever wish that his lineaments, traced in marble or in bronze, even by the chisel of David, should ever be exposed to the gaze of idle loungers. Such honours as these, I repeat, a man of scientific or literary celebrity, or an artist, cannot envy, although he can never admit that he is unworthy of them. Such, at all events, is the decision suggested to my mind by the discussion I am about to submit to your attention.

It is a circumstance passing strange, that our opponents have been led to advance such haughty pretensions, precisely on the occasion of the erection of five statues, which have not withdrawn a single farthing from the public treasury. It is far, however, from being my intention to avail myself of this indiscretion. I prefer considering the question in the abstract, namely, as already stated, the alleged superiority of arms over literature, science, and the arts. And here we must not be deceived; for, if magistrates and governors be associated with military men, it is only that they may be a passport to them.

The extreme shortness of the time I can now devote to this discussion, impresses upon me the necessity of being concise and methodical. That there may be no mistake, then, as to my opinions, I very explicitly declare that independence and national liberty are, in my estimation, the first of human blessings, that to defend them against foreign and intestine foes is the first of duties, and that to have maintained them-at

the price of one's blood-establishes the first claim to public gratitude. Raise, then, splendid monuments to the brave men who fell on the glorious ramparts of Mayence, on the immortal fields of Zurich, and of Marengo, and assuredly my offering will be readily paid; but, at the same time, do not require that I shall do violence to my reason, and to those sentiments which nature has planted in every bosom, nor expect that I shall ever agree to place all military service on the same distinguished level. What Frenchman, possessed of a spark of feeling, even of the times of Louis XIV., would willingly have sought an example of courage, either in the cruel scenes of the Dragonnades, or in the flaming whirlwind which consumed the towns and villages, and rich domains of the Palatinate? Not long since, after a thousand prodigies of patience, ability, and bravery, our valiant soldiers forced Saragossa, already more than half in ruins, and reached the portals of a church, where a priest was heard to exclaim, in the ears of the devoted crowds, these sublime words :-" Spaniards! here I celebrate your obsequies!" I do not know but that, at this moment, the true friends of our national glory, balancing the several merits of the conqueror and the conquered, would gladly have seen them exchange places?

Let morality, if you choose, be put entirely out of the question. Bring to the bar of conscientious criticism the personal claims of certain gainers of battles, and believe that, after having assigned a just share to accident (an ally this of which little is said, because it is dumb), there will be but few heroes who will appear worthy of this high-sounding name.

Were it at all necessary, I should not decline entering into an examination of details, few as have been the opportunities which my purely academical occupations have supplied for col