teenth. Tiraboschi, in spite of his natural partiality for the claims of his own countrymen, is decidedly of opinion that the honor of the invention rests with the Spanish Arabs.

Many of the most distinguished scholars of the middle ages acquired their knowledge at some of the seventeen universities that Middeldorpf has enumerated as flourishing under the Mohammedan empire in Spain. So early as 873, Hartmot, Abbot of St. Gallen, caused some of his monks to study Arabic, as the great source of useful information; and in many of the other Benedictine monasteries the study of Arabic literature was prosecuted with ardor and success. The most remarkable of those Christian students, who, in their zeal for knowledge, were contented to sit at the feet of the Mohammedan sages of Andalusia, was Gerbert, a native of France, who, under the name of Sylvester II., swayed the Papal sceptre from 999 until 1003. He left his home at an early age, and travelled over a great part of Europe in pursuit of knowledge; and it was at Seville and Cordova that his longing was fully gratified. He drank deep at the fountains of Arabic science; and on his return from Spain founded two schools,one at Bobbio, in Italy, and the other at Rheims. It was Gerbert who first introduced into Europe the knowledge and use of the Arabic numerals. His example induced numerous scholars from Italy, France, Germany, and England, to repair to the Moorish colleges for the purpose of prosecuting their studies. Montucla, in his "Histoire de Mathematiques," affirms that, for several centuries, all who were most eminent in that department of science acquired their knowledge from the Arabs. Amongst the Italians, Gherardo di Cremona studied philosophy, medicine and astronomy at Toledo, and translated into Latin the Almagest of Ptolemy and the medical works of Razes and Avicenna. Leonardo of Pisa introduced into Italy the knowledge of arithmetic and algebra, which he had derived from his Moorish teachers; and Arnold of Villanova was indebted to the same source for his acquirements in physics, astronomy, and medicine.

Amongst English scholars, Adelard, a Benedictine monk of Bath, Daniel Morley, a native of Norfolk,and Michael Scott, of wizard fame, acquired much of their skill and learning from the Moors. The illustrious Roger Bacon drew his knowledge of chemistry,

philosophy, and mathematics from Arabic manuscripts. He cites Alhagen's treatise upon optics, which was composed in the twelfth century; from which, also, Vitellio, who had considerable reputation for optical skill, borrowed all he knew upon the subject. Several of the Christian monarchs of the middle ages were sensible of the value of Arabic teachers and manuscripts. Charlemagne commanded the most important Arabic works to be translated into Latin, with the view of improving the education of the people throughout his empire. In Germany, Otho of Frisinger,and in Italy, Frederic the Second, ordered translations to be made from several Arabic manuscripts; whilst liberal offers of Alphonso the Tenth, of Castile, induced many learned Moors to settle as teachers at Toledo.

It may, perhaps, be alleged that the Spanish Arabs, owing to a fond partiality for their own copious and majestic tongue, and their contempt for all other languages, did not derive from their vast collections of books all the advantages which they might have done, if they had studied the Greek and Latin classics in the originals, instead of through the medium of Arabic translations. We may, indeed, lament that they neglected or despis ed the orators, poets, and historians of ancient Rome; but we ought, at the same time, to remember that their translations have preserved to us the substance of many a classic which can no longer be found in the original. It may also be asserted, with some degree of plausibility, that the genius of the Moors was rather subtle and penetrating than profound, and that much of their literary industry was expended in the pursuit of trifles. To a certain extent this accusation is true; but we ought never to forget what they actually achieved, whilst contemplating what they might have performed. Our obligations to them are most important: they became the connecting link between the civilization of ancient and modern Europe; and it was the success of their literary efforts which first excited the rivalry, and roused the dormant energies of Christendom, from the long sleep of the dark ages; and to them we are indebted for the revival and improvement of the exact and physical sciences, as well as for many of those useful and elegant arts and inventions which have contributed so powerful an impulse to the literature and civilization of Europe.

From the Biographical Magazine.

OBITUARY.

JANUARY TO JUNE, 18 5 5.

The deceased Queen leaves four sons, Um-years. berto, Armedeo, Oddone, and Vittorio, and two daughters, Clotilde and Marie-the eldest born in 1833. It is no mere courtly phrase to say that the Piedmontese people mourned her untimely death (on the 20th of January of puerperal fever) as a loss to themselves, and not less as the deepest wound that could befall the husband whom she loved so dearly.

Another short space of three weeks, and the King of Piedmont is again a mournerthis time for his only brother, FERDINAND MARIA, DUKE OF GENOA, was born the 15th November, 1822-and throughout life had shared the successes and sorrows of his elder brother. His especial delight was in the army, who now mourn in him a brave and generous leader. In the first war of Independence, he took a glorious part, and his

and the restoration of Ferdinand, who, like | by the aid of a royal favorite whom he had a true Bourbon, had in his days of adversity bribed, obtains a revocation of the law which "neither learnt nor forgotten." The Con- had destroyed his hopes of the throne. The stitution was repeatedly broken by this working to all appearance expires, and the Carlshipper of absolutism, and the prisons of the ist party adopt every measure to consolidate kingdom were crowded with those who had their power. Ferdinand, to the confusion of steadfastly sustained his cause and had been the latter, awakes from his lethargy, annuls most lavish of their blood. The revolution the act of revocation, banishes Don Carlos of 1820 ensued, which extorted from the from the kingdom, arrests the chiefs of the fears of the royal tyrant the Constitution clergy, and appoints his consort Queen Rewhich his gratitude to the noble Spanish gent during the minority of Isabella II. The nation, or his sense of justice should have reign of Ferdinand VII. terminated in 1833; bestowed without constraint. Three years and the monarch who had ascended the later, this Constitution was disregarded by throne of Spain amidst the rejoicings of the Ferdinand, and the assistance of French bay- nation, closed his earthly career amidst the onets was claimed by that monarch to coerce indifference or hatred of his subjects. In the his rebellious subjects. Towards the termi-year 1834 Don Carlos invaded Spain, and nation of his reign each succeeding year witnessed its gloomy tyranny--consequent insurrections, civil war, and a ferocious retaliation on the defeated patriots. Ferdinand VII. had contracted three alliances during the vicissitudes of his career, but his old age found him alike childless and without a friend. The crown would, therefore, on his demise, have descended to his brother Don Carlos, the subject of our commentary. This Prince, of a gloomy and bigoted nature, had acquired the confidence and support of the Spanish clergy, who foresaw, in the fanatic disposition of Don Carlos, a fitting instrument to advance the re-establishment of the Holy Inquisition, and the former priestly reign of terror. An estrangement, approaching to actual hatred, had sprung up between the two brothers; and Ferdinand, not despairing of a direct succession, contracted a fourth marriage. Maria Christina, a younger sister of the Bourbon King of Naples-the present Queen-mother of Spain and Duchess of Rianzares - was the object of his

choice. The natural wishes of Ferdinand were about to be gratified; and, in his determination to establish a direct lineage, the old monarch abolished, with the sanction of the Cortes, the Salique law, introduced into Spain by his ancestor, Philip V. The foresight of the King proved fortunate, for, on the 16th of October, 1831, the present Queen Isabella II. was born. Don Carlos protested vehemently against the measure which had given a queen to Spain, and had deprived him of his expected crown. Α startling episode shortly occurred, which resembled more the exaggerated intrigue of a dramatic plot, than a plain historical fact. Ferdinand is supposed to be on his death-bed. The clergy are on the alert. Don Carlos,

was proclaimed King by his adherents. The aristocracy, fearing the curtailment of their privileges, and the clergy, for the reason already stated, supported his claims to the throne, and a civil war speedily broke out. Then ensued the terrible struggle between the partisans of the Pretender, and the supporters of Isabella II. The alternate successes of the Christinos and the Carlists deluged Spain with blood, and impoverished the country. After a cruel contest of several years, the nation recoiled at the fearful and continued sacrifices demanded of it, and this intestine war ceased. The services of the British Legion and the qualities of Espartero contributed in no small degree to the happy result. Thus disappointed in his ambitious projects, Don Carlos retired from the Spanish territory, and was detained under surveillance in Bourges from 1839 to 1845. In that year he renounced all pretensions to the throne of Spain, in favor of his son, and, quitting the soil of France, he retired into Italy, where he breathed his last.

Don Carlos married, in 1816, the Infanta Maria Francisca d'Assise, daughter of John VI., King of Portugal. He lost his first wife in 1834, and was married, in 1838, to the Infanta Maria Theresa Princess de Beira, daughter of John VI. King of Portugal, and widow of the Infante Don Pedro of Spain. By his first marriage Don Carlos leaves two sons, to the eldest of whom, Don Carlos Luis Conde Montemolin, he ceded his claims to the Spanish throne on the 18th of May, 1845. The Conde de Montemolin was married in July, 1850, to the Princess Maria Caroline Ferdinanda, sister of Ferdinand II. King of the Two Sicilies.

With Don Carlos died one of the most

formidable representatives of legitimatism in | Appointed a President of the Provisional Europe, and in the person of his son there is little fear of a revival of his claims.

Government, and of the Council of Ministers, he had now become too old to take an active part in state affairs, and he merely lent to his more energetic colleagues the sanctity of his well-known name. Like them, he had to yield before the iron rule of military disasters, and the accession of General Cavaignac to the Presidency, was the signal of his final exit.

M. THEODORE Ducos, the French Minister of Marine and the Colonies, died March 17, after a long and painful illness. He was born in 1801, at Bordeaux. His father, at one time a respectable merchant in that city, failed, and was totally ruined. The late minister, about the year 1815, was happy to obtain a situation as a merchant's clerk, at a salary of 100l. a year. Shortly afterwards, he had placed at his disposal a capital of 30,000 francs, with which he set up in business. In a few years he became a leading merchant. M. Ducos took his seat in the Chamber of Deputies for the first time, in 1834, for his native city, and was re-elected afterwards without any difficulty. He belonged to the Centre Gauche, or Liberal Conservative party, sitting on the same benches as M. de Morny, to whose acquaintance, doubtless, his subsequent rise was owing. When the Legitimist Deputies undertook the pilgrimage to Belgrave-square, for the purpose of expressing their sympathy to the Count de Chambord, it was M. Ducos who proposed that the famous word flétrir should

Two statesmen, who have watched the course of one régime after another in France, have been removed during the present year. M. DUPONT DE L'EURE died on the 3d of March. JACQUES CHARLES DUPONT (DE L'EURE) was born February 27, 1767. After having completed his collegiate education, he turned his attention to the study of the law, and began public life as a barrister. His talent, energy, and patriotism, very speedily brought him forward; during the stormy progress of the French Revolution, he was unanimously appointed to important magisterial duties, and he invariably justified, by his moderation and firmness, the confidence which his fellow citizens reposed in him. Dupont de l'Eure's political career may be said to have commenced in 1813, when he was returned to the corps legislatif, by the electors of the town of Evreux; named vice-president of the Chamber, under the government of the "hundred days," the manliness of his behavior contrasted strongly with the pusillanimity which everywhere prevailed. Nothing could induce him to quit his post, and he withdrew from his seat in the House only when compelled to do so by main force. The year 1817 saw Dupont de l'Eure once more chosen as one of the representatives of the nation. He took his place on the Opposition benches, and for twenty-five consecutive years encouraged the Liberal party in their struggle against the reactionary ten-be applied to them in the address drawn up dencies of the aristocracy. It was not likely at the beginning of the session. He was one that such a course should remain unnoticed of the earliest adherents to the coup d'état of by the ruling powers; accordingly, a decree 1851, and had held office ever since. His of M. Peyronnet, the Keeper of the Seals, Ministry will long be remembered as one deprived Dupont de l'Eure of his office, as characterized by energy, skill, and perseverPresident of the Court at Rouen; and after ance of no ordinary degree. "In two years twenty-seven years' arduous service, the ven- and a half," says the Times, "he placed at erable magistrate was dismissed without even the service of the country sixty ships of war, a pension. When the July revolution broke twenty-four of which were first-rates, carryout, Dupont de l'Eure hailed it as the dawning 3,000 guns, and with a motive power of a truly liberal epoch, and consented to join equal to that of 23,000 tons." Louis Philippe's first Cabinet in the capacity of Minister of Justice, He soon, however, discovered that the Orleans dynasty had no intention of carrying on the work of reform to the full extent he anticipated, and in December, 1830, he sent in his resignation, satisfied with watching and checking, as far as he could, the ultra-Conservative policy of M. Guizot's administration. The Republican outburst of February, 1848, was another stage in Dupont de l'Eure's political life-it was the last.

Death has been busy among the notables of Greece. M. VARNAVAS PANGALOS, the oldest of the patriots who struggled for the independence of Greece, and one of those who sacrificed a large fortune to the cause, died at Athens in January last, at the remarkable age of 111 years. General TSAVELLAS, the hero of Missolonghi; GARDSKIOTIS GRIVAS, formerly Palace Marshal; and DELIANY, formerly President of the Senate, all