CHAPTER V.

Other Individuals of Rank distinguished in Literature and Science-Marquis of Worcester; Viscount Brouncker; Earl of Macclesfield; Lord Stanhope; Prince Rupert; Baron Hermelin; Marshal Vauban; Buffon ; Baron von Canstein. Self-educated Cultivators of Science-Parkes; Davy.

THE preceding notices are abundantly sufficient to prove, both how frequently men of wealth and rank have resisted all other allurements, to devote themselves to intellectual pursuits, and how many important contributions such persons have been enabled to make to literature, science, and the arts. Yet it would be very easy to add to the list we have given, from a very cursory survey of the history of improvements and discoveries. Thus, to confine ourselves to the arts and sciences only, we might mention, among Englishmen, the celebrated Marquis of WORCESTER, author of the Hundred Inventions,' among which, we find the first suggestion of the steam-engine; his contemporary, Viscount BROUNCKER, the first President of the Royal Society, and noted as the perfector of the theory of fractional arithmetic; the Earl of MACCLESFIELD, to whom we are principally indebted for the reformation of the calendar, and the introduction of the new style in England; the late Lord STANHOPE, the inventor of the printing press, known by his name, as well as of many other most ingenious and valuable contrivances; --and various others, all memorable either as inventors, or as the authors of some decided step in the progress of improvement.

Among natives of other countries, too, Prince RUPERT, as already noticed,* has been considered the discoverer of

* See vol. i. p. 22.

VAUBAN. BUFFON.

CANSTEIN.

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the art of mezzotinto engraving. Baron HERMELIN, a nobleman of Sweden, who died in 1820, was the father of the modern and greatly-improved system of working the mines of that country, which he expended many years of exertion and large sums of money in introducing and establishing. The modern art of fortification, is the creation of the French Marshal VAUBAN, a man of rank and wealth, who, although he spent his life as a soldier, found leisure to write numerous works which have been printed, as well as twelve large volumes in manuscript which he left behind him, entitled 'Mes Oisivetés,'—My Idle Hours.

The most elaborate and splendid, though not the most correct, work on Natural History, that was ever written, and the one which, with all its errors, has, perhaps, more than any other, contributed to spread a taste for that science, was the production of another French nobleman, the celebrated Count de BUFFON.

A German nobleman, the Baron von CANSTEIN, is noted, for having discovered and practised at Halle, in the beginning of the last century, a new mode of printing, which appears to have been the same with that now called stereotype. This invention is singular, for its vicissitudes of notoriety and oblivion. The Chinese have had a long acquaintance with the art of printing from blocks or plates, instead of movable types, and among them, it is to this day the only method in use. It was probably also the first form which the art of printing assumed in Europe, was then forgotten, for many years, till it was revived, in the middle of the sixteenth century, at Augsburg, where some of the plates, that were used for the purpose, are still preserved; was again introduced at Leyden, about half a century later; was a few years. after reinvented by Canstein; was practised at Edinburgh, in 1744, by William Ged, who was quite ignorant of what had been done by his predecessors; and lastly, after his attempts had ceased to be remembered, was taken up, anew, by the late ingenious Dr. Alexander Tilloch, and Fowlis, the Glasgow printer, who, however, did little more than merely take out a patent for what they deemed their discovery. And even now, after it has been prac

tised on a larger scale than ever, it does not appear to be gaining ground in general estimation, principally from its inapplicability to works which require improvement in successive editions. If such works are largely corrected, the saving in the plates is in a great degree lost. If that saving is principally regarded, and antiquated opinions or positive errors are multiplied through a paltry economy, the invention is a positive encumbrance to learning, and is therefore of little worth. Unquestionably, the proper range of its application is very limited.

It ought to be observed, that the several block or plate printers we have mentioned, did not all pursue the same method. Faust, for instance, on the invention of printing, employed merely wooden blocks, such as are used by the Chinese, on which the characters were cut out, as is done still in wood-engraving; the Augsburg printers appear to have set up their types in the usual manner, and then to have converted them into a solid plate by pouring melted metal upon the back of the congeries; and the present method, as is well known, is, after having set up the types, to take an impression from them in plaster of Paris, or some other composition, and to cast or found the plate in this as a mould. It does not very clearly appear, what was the plan which Canstein followed; but it is known that he printed a great many volumes, and sold them very cheap. A copy of the New Testament, for instance, he used to sell for fourpence; but, as he was very pious, it is not improbable that he distributed the Scriptures at less even than the cost price, which his fortune enabled him to do. It is said, that it was while endeavoring to devise a cheap method of multiplying copies of the Bible, for the use of the poor, that the notion of his invention suggested itself to him.

Most of the individuals we have here mentioned, who, born to rank and affluence, have devoted themselves to scientific pursuits, were enabled to accomplish what they did, in a great measure, from the peculiar advantages of their position, which afforded them both leisure for the prosecution and maturing of their several schemes, and money to expend on the necessary apparatus and experiments. This proves to how much profit the rich man

may turn his fortunate external circumstances, even in the pursuit of knowledge, if he can only rouse himself to enter with earnestness upon that enterprise. But still, the ambition of aspiring minds, left to struggle unassisted by such external aids, has achieved, after all, quite as great things, as all the resources and immunities of what might be deemed the happiest worldly lot, have ever given birth to. We now return, to accompany, for a while, the onward steps of a few more of those courageous adventurers, who have begun and carried on the work of mental cultivation, without heeding any combination of worldly disadvantages, against which they might have to contend. We shall begin with the cases of one or two individuals so situated, who have distinguished themselves in that same field of experimental science, in which we have just seen what Boyle and Cavendish achieved in their very opposite circumstances.

The first name we shall mention is that of one who has no claim, we believe, to any important discovery in the department which he cultivated, but whose literary works, nevertheless, as well as his history, abundantly testify him to have been a most ingenious and meritorious man. We speak of the late Mr. SAMUEL PARKES, the wellknown author of the 'Chemical Catechism.' Mr. Parkes, as we learn from a communication with which we have been favored by his surviving daughter, was born in 1761, at Stourbridge, in Worcestershire, where his father was a small grocer At five years of age, he was sent to a preparatory school, in his native town; and it is remembered, that, during the time of his attendance at this infant seminary, Mr. Kemble's company of itinerant players having visited Stourbridge, and remained there for some months, that gentleman placed at the same school, his daughter, the child who became afterwards the celebrated Mrs. Siddons. When ten years old, Parkes was sent to another school, at Market-Harborough ; but, after remaining here only a very short time, he was taken away. and apprenticed to a grocer, at Ross, in Herefordshire. This person happened to be a man of some education, and to be possessed of a few books, which he very kind

ly lent to his apprentice, and endeavored to give him a taste for reading, but could not, it is said, gain much of his attention. It does not appear how long young Parkes continued in this situation; but at last his master failed, and he returned home to his father.

We now hear no more of him, till he had reached his thirty-second year, up to which time, it seems, he remained at home, assisting his father in the shop. It is probable, from the resources he afterwards displayed, that the foundation of many of his acquirements was laid during this interval. Perhaps he had also saved a little money; for he now went to Stoke-upon-Trent, began business on his own account as a soap-boiler, and married. The new line upon which he entered, shows that he had been already directing his attention to practical chemistry. But, after persevering for ten years in this business, he met with so little success, as to be obliged to give it up; and, at the age of forty-two, he came up to London, with no property in the world, except ten pounds, which had been lent him by his father. It was hard enough to be obliged, as it were, to begin the world again at this time of life; but there was no help for it, and he set to work, resolutely. Some friends whom he had made, lent him a little assistance, and he began manufacturing muriatic acid for the use of dyers. It is very evident, that, although he had come to town without much money in his pocket, he had brought with him some useful knowledge,-one fruit, at least, of the labors of his previous life, of which fortune had not been able to despoil him. This he now turned to excellent account. To his muriatic acid, he soon added other chemical preparations, his skill in manufacturing which, was not long in being generally appreciated, and eventually procured him a large trade and a high reputation.

Although Mr. Parkes had probably given considerable attention to some of the practical parts of chemistry before he went to London, it was only after he had established himself in this last-mentioned line of business, that he began to study the subject scientifically. At this time, as we have seen, he was above forty years of age; so