of any mineral wealth, as it were, latent in the areas occupied by them. These may either tend to impede or promote that development; and the different divisions of men may, by their regulations, act most variably on each other, and instead of advancing their common good, introduce systems of mutual checks, to the disadvantage of all.

The more advanced a nation, the greater under equal general conditions is its power over the disadvantages which may happen to be presented by geographical position, thus producing facilities for the development of its mineral wealth. The cost of transport that frequent impediment to the profitable working of mineral substances-may become so lessened by addition to easy communications of various kinds, that finally the working of mineral substances can be changed from unprofitable to profitable. In the cases of many ores, these and the fuel needed for smelting them may be brought together by facility and cheapness of conveyance, so that industries, new to a land, may spring up.

Although man, by his general advance, may thus accomplish much for the development of mineral wealth, there are natural limits to his progress, which cannot be overcome. Although he may effect the easy transport of mineral matter over rivers and valleys, and even through portions of the earth itself, either by his canals or his roads, and thus, as regards such transport, change the face of a country from one of difficulty to one of facility, the greater geographical arrangements remain unaltered. He cannot change an inland country, in the central position of a continent, to a maritime state, though he can materially modify its position as to the ready means of transport to the coast. An inland locality may pour in its mineral products by means of increased facilities of transport upon a seaport, so that not only may they replace similar substances produced at greater cost near such port, but, by means of the sea, be transported even far to other lands, competing in their markets, should the regulations of the nations holding them permit, with those which had hitherto satisfied them.

The profitable development of mineral wealth will, therefore, depend upon the natural occurrence of mineral substances, due to geological causes, upon the geographical position of the localities where the useful mineral substances are present, and upon the condition of man in a given area. The first condition is unalterable by man, the remaining two may be most materially modified by him.

As mineral matter, in its first or natural state, cannot be modified by man, it becomes important that when specimens

of it are shown as illustrative of mineral wealth, especial reference should be made to those processes by which such mineral matter is rendered useful. Without this precaution much misconception may arise. Let us, for example, consider the ores of the metals. The mere exhibition of any ore, however rich, is in itself of little value, beyond the information that the specimen came from some stated locality. The circumstances connected with its mode of occurrence, and with the means at command to render its extraction useful, are essential. Pieces of rich ores are of frequent occurrence in localities where, from a want of their sufficient abundance, it would be useless to attempt any profitable working of them. Hence collections of ores may often be most fallacious; indeed it is unfortunately somewhat too common to find specimens of ores shown as the ordinary products of mines where they are really rarities, for the purpose of promoting the purchase of shares in such mines. There is a name for such specimens in Cornwall,' where they are termed Slocking Stones. These really come from the mines, but they are unfair representations of their produce.

Again it often happens, that without the slightest intention of producing erroneous impressions, proprietors or agents, when requested to transmit specimens of their ores, will select, instead of such as show the general quality of those raised, some fine example of their best ores, a good stone of ore, as it is often technically termed, while at the same time the mine itself may be returning large profits by the working and dressing of comparatively poor ores, operations of which the agents might be justly proud. Not the slightest deception is intended, but nevertheless a collection of such specimens becomes extremely fallacious, and conceals and does not exhibit the real industry, both required and employed. The teaching influence proposed by collections of ores is defeated alike by both the causes above mentioned.

Most important knowledge of its kind is sacrificed, and the public misled by impressions received from gazing on a mass of glittering objects, instead of carefully considering the kind of mineral substances which really produce, by the industry_of man, the metals so essential for his welfare and progress.-DE LA BECHE'S Lecture before the Society of Arts on the Exhibition of 1851.'

1. Cornwall was originally called Kernou, a term probably connected with the Latin cornu, a horn, in allusion to its

numerous promontories or projecting points.

LORD CHESTERFIELD's own account of the matter is extant, and as it is both amusing and instructive, I will venture to quote a passage from it of some length. After mentioning that Gregory's Reformed Calendar' had been immediately received by all the Catholic powers of Europe, and afterwards adopted by all the Protestant ones, except Russia, Sweden, and England, he proceeds: "It was not, in my opinion, very honourable for England to remain in a gross and avowed error, especially in such company; the inconveniency of it was likewise felt by all those who had foreign correspondents, whether political or mercantile. I determined, therefore, to attempt the Reformation. I consulted the ablest lawyers and the most skilful astronomers, and we cooked up a bill for that purpose. But then my difficulty began; I was to bring in this Bill, which was necessarily composed of law jargon and astronomical calculations, to both of which I am an utter stranger. However, it was absolutely necessary to make the House of Lords think that I knew something of the matter, and also make them believe that they knew something of it themselves, which they do not.

For my own part, I could just as soon have talked Celtic or Sclavonian to them as astronomy, and they would have understood me full as well; so I resclved to do better than speak to the purpose, and to please instead of informing them. I gave them, therefore, only an historical account of calendars from the Egyptian down to the Gregorian, amusing them now and then with little episodes; but I was particularly attentive to the choice of my words, to the harmony and roundness of my periods, to my elocution, to my action. This succeeded, and ever will succeed; they thought I informed, because I pleased them, and many of them said that I had made the whole very clear to them, when God knows I had not even attempted it. Lord Macclesfield, who had the greatest share in forming the Bill, and who is one of the greatest mathematicians and astronomers in Europe, spoke afterwards with infinite knowledge and all the clearness that so intricate a matter would admit of; but as his words, his periods, and his utterance were not near so good as mine, the preference was most unanimously, though most unjustly, given to me."

In consequence of all these pains and precautions, the Bill passed both Houses without opposition, and became the law of the land, as it still continues to be. I have already alluded to the obstacles which this great reform had to encounter, and mentioned its reception by the then minister, the Duke of Newcastle. But we are not to suppose that such ignorance and prejudice were monopolized by statesmen. There are several incidents on record, illustrative of the spirit in which the innovation was viewed by the people; and as they contain a moral lesson still greatly needed, as well as form an amusing episode to my rather dry discourse, I will make no apology for introducing them. The preceding account has endeavoured to place in a clear light that the whole reform consisted in a change of names, and it seems almost incredible that it should have ever been regarded otherwise; but there is no limit to the misconceptions of ignorance. It was imagined by some sapient heads, that when Parliament dropped from the year the names of eleven days, it had actually annihilated the days themselves.

This egregious blunder was divertingly exhibited when the son of Lord Macclesfield stood a contested election in Oxfordshire, about three years after the passing of the Bill, in the introduction of which his father, as we have seen, had taken so meritorious and prominent a part. Absurd as the incident may appear, even beyond the usual absurdities of elections, one of the most vehement cries raised against the son on the occasion was, "Give us back the eleven days we have been robbed of."

This was too good a thing not to be seized upon by the wits of the day. It has accordingly been immortalized by Hogarth, who, in his picture of the Election Feast, introduced a banner carried by one of the crowd, bearing the inscription, "Give us back our eleven days."

The foolish and disgraceful blunder did not, however, stop here; it was exhibited on a more solemn occasion. When Bradley, the celebrated mathematician and astronomer was some years afterwards dying of a lingering illness, the common people ascribed his sufferings to a judgment from heaven for having had a share in that impious undertaking.

Thus it is that almost every improvement has to breast the current of ignorance and prejudice, and that the cry of impiety and irreligion is raised against the clearest advances in science and civilization.-BAILEY'S ' Discourses on Various Subjects.'

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1

THE art by which the products of labour and thought, and the persons who labour and think, are transferred from place to place, is more than any other essential to social advancement. Without it no other art can progress.1 A people who does not possess it cannot be said to have emerged from barbarism. A people who has not made some advances in it cannot yet have risen above a low state of civilization. Nevertheless, this art has been, of all others, the latest in attaining a state of perfection, so late indeed, that the future historian of social progress will record, without any real violation of truth, that its creation is one of the events which have most eminently signalized the present age and generation. For although transport by land and water was practised by our forefathers, its condition was so immeasurably below that to which it has been carried in our times, that a more adequate idea of its actual state will be conveyed by calling it a new art, than by describing it as an improvement on the old one.

But if human invention have been late in directing its powers to this object, it must be admitted to have nobly compensated for the tardiness of its actions by the incomparable rapidity of advancement it has produced, when once they have been brought into play. Within a hundred years more has been accomplished in facilitating and expediting intercommunication than was effected from the creation of the world to the middle of the last century. This statement may, perhaps, appear strained and exaggerated, but it will bear the test of examination.

The geographical conditions of the world, the distribution of the people who inhabit it, and the exclusive appropriation of its natural productions destined for their use, to the various countries of which it consists, have imposed on mankind the necessity of intercommunication and commerce. Commerce is nothing more than the interchange of the productions of industry between people and people. Such interchange presupposes the existence of the art of transport by land and water. In proportion to the perfection of this art will be the extent of commerce.

A people incapable of communicating with others must subsist exclusively upon the productions of its own labour and its own soil. But nature has given us desires after the productions of other soils and other climates. Besides this, the productions of