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royalty. But Villele dreaded talents so marked; and Martignac had linked with the Doctrinnaire party, consisting of those liberal Royalists whom Villele's arbitrary system had disgusted.

The Liberals and the Ultras having united to eject Villele, being still unable to agree and form a coalition Ministry, and being also pretty nearly balanced in votes, a Ministry of intermediate policy was chosen, and Martignac placed at its head. In this position he did all that talent and address could effect. But overruled at court by the priestly party, and outvoted in the Chamber alternately by those on either side of him, this Ministry of Transition, as it was called, could effect little, except to defer the crisis. Whether Martignac would have long succeeded in this is doubtful: for the evident weakness of his position brought him into some contempt both with the nation and with the King; and the latter, as we know, decided his own fate, and precipitated the catastrophe by making Martignac give place to Prince Polignac.

From that time Martignac became politically dead. With true sagacity, despairing of the monarchy, he shrank in disgust from all part in public affairs; and his moral languor becoming gradually a physical one, he pined in sinking health, until he at length expired. He lived long enough, however, to witness the Revolution that he had foreseen.

In his latter days Martignac consoled his sick couch by literary composition. A tale, written by him, was published a little before his death in the "Revue de Paris." It is curious as the production of a statesman, but otherwise of little merit.

CHAMPOLLION.

M. Champollion, one of the most indefatigable and enlightened scholars of the age, died at Paris in his 42nd year, after a long and severe illness, the effect probably of his travels into Egypt, combined with his incessant application to the great object of his literary life-the elucidation of the historical records and monuments of that country. His loss, to the lovers of Egyptian literature, is almost irreparable. He has survived but a short period his great rival in the discovery of the real meaning of those mystic symbols which had so long attracted the curiosity and repelled the attempts of the learned, and which, by common consent, has been pronounced a hopeless inquiry. The labours of Dr. Young and M. Champollion penetrated through the darkness of ages, and afforded a clue to the intricacies of the long labyrinth which had perplexed and bewildered others. If the lives of these eminent men had been extended but a few years, when the jealousy for

June 1,

priority of claim was happily at an end, and mutual good-will and a desire to promote each other's designs had sprung up in its place, the learned world might have looked forward to results of no ordinary nature. The brilliant light of their united exertions would have dispelled all the obscurity which envelopes the chronology of history, and puzzles and confounds the student. Most of the letters which contain the particulars of Champollion's visit to Egypt have already met the public eye, and the brief summary which they give of his labours and discoveries in that land of wonders, did but increase the anxiety for the appearance of that magnificent work which the author had announced. With what delight and interest must the companions of his travels have entered into the Palaces of the Theban Pharaohs, and listened to the mighty Magician who could unfold to them "the hand-writing on the walls," and could point out to them, among the sculptured reliefs, the triumphs of Shishak over thirty Princes, and, in that number, the name and title of the King of Judah; thus confirming, in a remarkable manner, the fact related in the 1st Books of Kings, when Jerusalem was plundered by the Egyptian conqueror. In another and most interesting letter, Champollion has described the stupendous palace of Rameses Meiammoun, or Friend of Ammon, the grandfather of Sesostris. The granite sarcophagus of this monarch was removed to Paris by the interest of the French consul; but its lid of red granite had been previously removed, and presented to the Fitzwilliam Museum by Belzoni, whom to name is to lament. The reign of Rameses Meiammoun carries us back sixteen centuries before the Christian era. Champollion's sagacity and communication we are indebted for the explanation of the mystic legend which surrounds the lid of the sarcophagus, and which proclaims the titles and name of the hero. We have been informed that the Life of Dr. Young is employing the leisure hours of a consummate mathematician and a scholar, and who is himself no mean proficient in Egyptian lore. We sincerely hope that the fame of Champollion will be perpetuated, by as able a pen, from among the ranks of his own countrymen.

JOHN TAYLOR, ESQ.

To

For more than forty years connected with the public press of London, and much with the theatrical world, few men were more generally known to the wide circles of society than Mr. Taylor. He was the son of the celebrated Chevalier Taylor, whose travels over the Continent as the curer of all diseases, boasted an éclat unrivalled in more modern times. Early introduced by

him to life, Mr. Taylor himself practised with considerable reputation as an oculist: but his vocation was for the drama, journalism, and light literature; and he almost entirely gave up his profession to follow these. Mr. Taylor, we presume, wrote a greater number of prologues and epilogues than any man that ever existed; and he also produced an immense multitude of compositions on almost every subject,-friendly tributes on happy, and consolatory verses on sad occasions; lines on pictures, (for he was attached to, and no mean connoisseur in the fine arts,) songs, epigrams, and, in short, every species of poetical production. Some of his humorous pieces are possessed of great merit his Monsieur Tonson, for instance. The small volume in which it appeared, had several similar stories of hardly inferior point and merriment, including a story of Hayman and the Lion. In his later years, Mr. Taylor published a larger collection of his miscellanies; but they were not deserving of being remembered beyond the period and circumstances which had elicited them. Mr. Taylor also wrote, we believe, a pamphlet on the dispute at the Haymarket Theatre (1791,) and the brief biographical sketches which accompanied Cadell's "British Gallery of Portraits." He was a clever and well-informed dramatic critic, and lived on terms of intimacy with all the principal performers of his day, being farther connected with the Kemble family by marriage; his first wife, and, we believe, Mrs. Stephen Kemble were sisters. In private, Mr. Taylor was known to thousands as a most facetious companion. He was a punster of invincible perseverance, but often said very witty things; and in his better days was, perhaps, as entertaining in conversation, with anecdote, playfulness, and satire, as any man within the bills of mortality. He was for a long period a proprietor of "The Sun" newspaper, to which he contributed every sort of authorship to which the columns of a periodical is open. Mr. Taylor was acquainted with many of the most distinguished individuals of the age. By his second marriage, to a Scottish lady of highly respectable family, he has left a son, whose amateur musical talents are of a delightful order. Infirmities and age had of late years withdrawn him much from his wonted places; so that his loss will not be so obvious as if he had fallen in his gayer era, when, indeed, few men could have been more missed, even from the wide society of the metropolis, than John Taylor.

SIR RICHARD BIRNIE.

On the 29th April, Sir Richard Birnie, Knight, Chief Magistrate of the Metropolitan Police, died at his official residence in

Bow-street, Covent-Garden, after a severe illness of more than six months, arising from a pulmonary affection. Sir Richard, who had just completed his 73rd year, was bred to the trade of a saddler, and after serving his regular apprenticeship, came to London, and obtained a situation as journeyman at the house of Macintosh and Co. who were then saddle and harness makers to the Royal Family, in the Haymarket. His subsequent advancement in life may be attributed, in some degree, to accident. The foreman, as well as the senior partner in the firm, being absent from illness at the same time, and a command being received from his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales for some one to attend him to take orders to a considerable extent on some remarkable occasion, "young Birnie" was directed to attend his Royal Highness. The orders of the Prince were executed so completely to his satisfaction, that he often afterwards, on similar occasions, desired that the young Scotchman" might be sent to him. By the exercise of the diligence, perseverance, and honesty for which so many of his countrymen have been remarkable, he at length became foreman of the establishment of the Messrs. Macintosh, and eventually a partner in the firm. During the progress of these events, he became acquainted with the present Lady Birnie, the daughter of an opulent baker in Oxenden-street, Haymarket, and married her, receiving in her right a considerable sum in cash, and a cottage and some valuable land at Acton, Middlesex. He then became a householder in St. Martin's parish, and soon distinguished himself by his activity in parochial affairs.

During the troublesome times of the latter part of the Pitt Administration he was an ultra Loyalist, and gave a proof of his devotion to the "good cause" by enrolling himself as a private in the Royal Westminster Volunteers, in which corps, however, he soon obtained the rank of Captain. After serving the offices of constable, overseer, auditor, &c. in the parish, he became, in the year 1805, churchwarden, and in conjunction with Mr. Elam, a silversmith in the Strand, his co-churchwarden, and Dr. Anthony Hamilton, the then Vicar of St. Martin's parish, founded the establishment, on a liberal scale, of a number of alms-houses, together with a chapel, called St. Martin's Chapel, for decayed parishioners, in Prattstreet, Camden Town, an extensive burying ground being attached thereto. St. Martin's parish being governed by a local act of Parliament, two resident Magistrates are necessary, and Mr. Birnie was, at the special request of the late Duke of Northumberland, placed in the Commission of the Peace. From this time, exercising the tact so cha

BERKSHIRE.

The new bridge at Staines has been opened in the presence of their Majesties, and a large party of the nobility and gentry of the county. The bridge was commenced in the spring of 1829, and the first stone was laid on the 14th of Sep. tember following by their present Majesties, then Duke and Duchess of Clarence. The works were completed under the direction of Mr. George Rennie, architect, and Messrs. Joliffe and Banks, the contractors. The cost of the bridge and approaches was about 41,0007. It consists of three segmental arches, the middle 74 feet in span, and the two side arches 66 feet span each. These arches, for flatness of the segment and dimensions of the piers, they being only nine feet in thickness, are perhaps unique in this country, or, in. deed, if the bridge at Florence be excepted, on the Continent. Two superb triumphal arches, decorated with laurel and appropriate emblems, were placed at either extremity of the bridge, upon which a large concourse of well-dressed people were admitted by tickets.

DEVONSHIRE.

Accounts from Sidmouth state that the mackerel fishery is now very brisk: more than 50,000 fish have been taken in the seans during the week previous to the 19th.-a circumstance worthy of record, from their not usually appearing at this early season. In one of the nets, a fine specimen of the Monk-fish (Squatina vulgaris, Fleming,) was caught. When first seized, about a dozen and a half of mackerel were found in its mouth, which is of the following enormous dimensions:width, 1 foot 7 inches; greatest expansion, 1 foot 1 inch; its length was 5 feet 7 inches; and the capacity of its stomach, which occupied the whole of the epigastric region, an Imperial gallon and a half. The heart and circulatory organ were very small, while the nerves were extensively distributed and beautifully distinct.

HERTFORDSHIRE.

Some time since part of the south wall of the great nave of St. Alban's Abbey fell in upon the roof of the side aisle, through which it broke. The parochial authorities immediately called in the assistance of a competent architect, and convened a meeting of the parish, by which the architect was directed to make a report of the repairs necessary for the preservation of the fabric, and the estimated expense. The report has been made, and the expense calculated at 14,000. The abbey is but a parish church, for which purpose a very small part of it is only used, and the funds of the parish are wholly inadequate to uphold so vast an edifice; the parishioners have therefore determined to appeal to the liberality of the nation, to preserve from ruin this venerable edifice, so Interesting to every lover of the history and antiquities of this country.

SOMERSETSHIRE.

The Royal Assent has been given to an Act of Parliament for lighting the city of Wells with gas, and the works will be commenced immediately. The gasometer is to be built on a piece

The Dean and Chapter of Bristol have commenced the renovation of that fine specimen of ancient architecture, the Chapter-room of the Cathedral. In removing the earth for the purpose of lowering the floor, four sand-stone coffins have been uncovered. One of them contained nearly a perfect skeleton, and on the skull there evidently appeared the remains of a fillet of gold lace. The lid of one of the coffins exhibits a sculptured representation in basso relievo of Christ's descent into hell. In one hand he bears the cross, and with the other he is delivering a sinner from the jaws of the bottomless pit. The figure of Christ occupies nearly the whole length of the lid.

The prosecution of felons at the late Assizes for Somerset, cost the county the enormous sum of 3,000%.

IRELAND.

There are twenty-one stipendiary magistrates in Ireland, having salaries varying from 6462. a-year, and 1847. for rent and forage, to 3847. a year, and an allowance of 1007. a year for rent and forage.

The Irish papers continue to afford a black catalogue of murders and other outrages committed in various parts of that unhappy country. An address has issued from the National Political Union, under the sanction of Mr. O'Connell, calling for a Union of all parties to repress the savage disorders which still prevail.

"The Dublin Evening Post" says:-" No language can give an adequate idea of the frightful state of lawless insubordination which prevails at the present moment throughout several districts of Ireland. The county of Kilkenny is in a state of open rebellion; the gentry prisoners in their own houses, and no protection whatever afforded for life or property. And yet Government asserts, and we are convinced Lord Anglesea believes, that the country is in a state of peace and quiet."

[The Provincial papers during this month have been almost filled with accounts of meetings to petition for Reform &c. They have been conse quently almost barren of local intelligence.]