land, it comes so completely in contact with its richest provinces, and is so enveloped by its power, that when once subdued, all thought of resistance or revolt became hopeless. That mountainous region, therefore, fell as quietly and as completely into the arms of England, as if it had been one of the Heptarchy, which in process of time was incorporated with the English monarchy. Very different is the situation of Scotland, where the comparative size of the country, the fervid spirit of the inhabitants, the remoteness of its situation, and the strength of its mountains, continually must have suggested the hope of successful revolt, and as necessarily occasioned the calamitous consequences which we have detailed. The rebellion of Owen Glendower is sufficient to convince us, that nothing but the utter insignificance of Wales, compared to England, prevented the continual revolt of the Welsh people, and the consequent introduction of all those horrors which have followed the establishment of English dominion among the inhabitants of Ireland.

Do we then rejoice in the prosperity of our country? Do we exult at the celebrity which it has acquired in arts and in arms? Do we duly estimate the blessings which it has long enjoyed from equal law and personal freedom?-Do we feel grateful for the intelligence, the virtue, and the frugality of our peasantry, and acknowledge, with thankfulness, the practical beneficence and energetic spirit of our landed proprietors? Let us turn to the grave of Robert Bruce, and feel as we ought the inexpressible gratitude due to him as the remote author of all these blessings. But for his bold and unconquerable spirit, Scotland might have shared with Ireland the horrors of English conquest; and, instead of exulting now in the prosperity of our country, the energy of our peasantry, and the patriotic spirit of our resident landed proprietors, we might have been deploring with her an absent nobility, an oppressive tenantry, a bigotted and ruined people.

It was therefore, in truth, a memorable day for this country when the remains of this great prince were rediscovered amidst the ruins in which they had so long been hid; when the arms which slew Henry de Bohun were reinterred in the land which they had saved from slavery; and the head which had beheld the triumph of

Bannockburn was consigned to the dust, after five centuries of grateful remembrance and experienced obligation. It is by thus appreciating the merits of departed worth that similar virtues in future are to be called forth; and by duly feeling the consequences of heroic resistance in time past, that the spirit is to be excited by which the future fortunes of the state are to be maintained.

In these observations we have no intention, as truly we have no desire, to depreciate the incalculable blessings which this country has derived from her union with England. We feel, as strongly as any can do, the immense advantage which this measure brought to the wealth, the industry, and the spirit of Scotland. We are proud to acknowledge, that it is to the efforts of English patriotism that we owe the establishment of liberty in our civil code; and to the influence of English example, the diffusion of a free spirit among our people. But it is just because we are duly impressed with these feelings that we recur, with such grateful pride, to the patriotic resistance of Robert Bruce; it is because we feel that we should be unworthy of sharing in English liberty, unless we had struggled for our own independence, and incapable of participating in its benefits, unless we had shewn that we were capable of acquiring it. Nor are we ashamed to own, that it is the spirit which English freedom has awakened that first enabled us fully to appreciate the importance of the efforts which our ancestors made in resisting their dominion; and that but for the Union on equal terms with that power, we would have been ignorant of the debt which we owed to those who saved us from its subjugation. In our national fondness, therefore, for the memory of Robert Bruce, the English should perceive the growth of those principles from which their own unequalled greatness has arisen ; should they envy the glory of the field of Bannockburn, when we appeal to it as our best title to be quartered in their arms.

Yet mourn not, land of Fame,
Though ne'er the leopards on thy shield
Retreated from so sad a field

Since Norman William came.

Oft may thine annals justly boast,

Of battles there by Scotland lost,
Grudge not her victory;
When for her freeborn rights she strove,
Rights dear to all who freedom love,
To none so dear as thee.

nor

August 27, 1819.-At Sea. AFTER passing the southern point of Greenland, named Cape Farewell, we met with much ice, but as it did not lie thick, little difficulty was experienced in forcing a way through it, nor did it prove so great an impediment as the contrary winds which still continued to thwart us. Near the Greenland coast, the streams or fields of ice consisted of a collection of loose and comparatively flat pieces, more or less densely compacted together, according to the state of the weather; but on approaching the shores of Labrador, we fell in with many icebergs, or large floating fields of ice. The variety of forms assumed by these masses afforded us amusement, but occasionally we saw some of such an enormous size, that every other feeling gave place to astonishment. One of these larger bergs we estimated to be 200 feet high above the water, and above half a mile in length. Its surface was broken by mountains of no mean size, with deep vallies between. Enormous as these dimensions must appear, you will be more surprised when I inform you, that the part of an iceberg which projects above water, amounts only to a ninth part of the whole mass, that being the proportion of ice which floats above salt water. Arthur's Seat clothed in snow would have formed only one pinnacle to this berg. When these bodies became familiar to us from their frequency, we derived much pleasure from the various shades and gradations of colour they exhibited. The more compact parts were generally of a bright verdigrease blue; towards the base a fine sea green prevailed; here and there a tint of red was seen, and the summits alone were snow-white. As the part of the ice which is covered by the sea, decays more rapidly than that which is in the air, it often happens that one of these islands become top-heavy and tumbles over. We never saw one in the act of making this revolution, but most of them bore evident marks of Vol. VI.

having been overturned twice or thrice, the old water lines, intersecting each other in various directions, being still deeply engraved on their surfaces.

"We first beheld the land (Resolution Island) during a fog, which soon became so thick, that we could not see the length of the ship. In consequence of this we got involved in a field of ice; then, to add to our distress, it fell calm, and although we could perceive that we were carried along by a violent current, yet the fog deprived us of ascertaining its direction, and the depth of water was too great to admit of our anchoring. After remaining in this situation for two or three hours, receiving occasionally some heavy blows from the ice, an alarm was given that we were close on the rocks. We all ran upon deck, and beheld a tremendous cliff, frowning directly over the mast heads of the ship. It was perfectly perpendicular, covered in many places by sheets of ice, and its summit was so high, and shrouded in so thick a fog, that it could not be traced from the deck. We had scarcely time to make any useful exertions, for in a few minutes the ship fell broadside against the cliff, along the face of which she was violently hurried by the current, towards a ridge of broken rocks, which in a short time would have torn the stoutest vessel to pieces. The heavy swell which prevailed, caused the ship, in her passage, to beat against various rocky ledges which projected under water. One of the blows she thus sustained, drove the rudder out of its place, but it fortunately hung suspended by a tackling which had been employed to secure it on coming amongst the ice. At this instant, when all human exertions seemed perfectly fruitless, the current eddied off shore, the land breeze sprung up, a boat that we had put overboard succeeded in taking us in tow, and what appeared almost miraculous-one of the last thumps the ship received, caused the rudder to fall back into its place. By this combination of favour2Q

able circumstances, we succeeded in getting round the point we so much dreaded; and, setting all sail, we steered from the land. Upon the first alarm of danger, the women and children, of whom we had a large number on board, going to Lord Selkirk's colony, rushed upon deck much terrified. The officers, however, succeeded in calming their fears, and prevailed on them to go below out of the way of the sailors, but scarcely had this been effected, when the current carried us against a large iceberg which had grounded upon a ridge of sunken rocks that lay at some distance from the shore. The crash of the masts and yards, together with the grinding of the ships side against the ice, terrified them more than ever, but we speedily got clear of this second danger without receiving farther damage. Our troubles were not, however, at an end; the ship had received so much damage whilst on the rocks, that, on examination, a great deal of water was found in the hold. All hands were instantly set to the pumps, but, to our mortification, we found that the water rushed in faster than we could, with every exertion, discharge it. Affairs now wore gloomy aspect; the water in the hold increased to upwards of five feet, and the men were getting tired of the pumps, when fortunately the weather cleared up a little, and we saw the Eddystone, one of the vessels that accompanied us, at no great distance; we bore down and informed them of our situation. Every assistance in their power was promptly supplied; they sent 20 men and two carpenters. The services of the latter were invaluable, as our own carpenter had died in the earlier part of the voyage. With this fresh accession of strength, we kept the leak from gaining upon us; and after some time the carpenters succeeded in discovering and patching up the broken parts so as sensibly to diminish the influx of water. Their operations were however slow, and it was not till the evening of the second day, that we succeeded in getting all the water out of the ship. During the whole of this time, not only the officers and men worked hard, but even many of the women, recovering their spirits, proved eminently useful at the pumps. As the water decreased, the carpen

a

ters were enabled the more readily to repair the damage that had been sustained: and they ultimately succeeded so well, that one pump proved sufficient to discharge the water as fast as it leaked in. In this state we have continued ever since.

"In these straights the Hudson's Bay vessels are generally visited by a tribe of Esquimaux, who frequent the shores during summer, and come off to the ships for the purpose of bartering their whole wealth, which consists in whale and seal blubber, for iron, which has become an article of the first consequence to them. Accordingly, one day when we were above 20 miles from the shore, these poor creatures ventured off in their skin canoes, pulling with the utmost anxiety to reach the vessels. It sometimes happens, when the ships have a fair wind, that they run past the Esquimaux haunts without stopping; in the present instance, however,

we

were detained by light contrary winds, which enabled them to overtake us, and when they did so, they expressed so much joy and exultation, that it was easy to conceive how great their disappointment must have been when they missed us. In a short time we were surrounded by 30 or 40 canoes, each carrying one man with his small cargo of merchandize, which, to their great satisfaction, they speedily exchanged for pieces of iron, hoops, knives, saws, hatchets, and harpoons, and tin-pots. The wind continuing contrary during the remainder of the day, we stood in towards the land, and gave the women of the tribe an opportunity to come off, which they did in five large canoes, framed like the large one of skins, but open, and each capable of carrying from 20 to 30 people. The oars were pulled by women, but there was an old man in each boat to direct them. As they brought off a great many children, I suppose we saw the whole tribe, amounting to nearly 200 souls.

"The features of the Esquimaux are not the most regular in the world; but it was pleasing to see their flat, fat, greasy faces. When they had disposed of their articles of trade, we presented the women and children with a few needles, beads, and other trinkets, and sent them away highly delighted. Since that time we have been contending against contrary winds

but by perseverance have succeeded in getting within a few days sail of York factory, at which place I shall conclutle and despatch.

66

5 August 31.-York Factory.-We

have landed here in safety; find the country more pleasant than we expected, and have been told that the difficulties of travelling in this country have been much exaggerated.- J. R.

MR EDITOR,

WITH feelings of impatience, mingled latterly with something, I must confess, akin to contempt for the apparent lukewarmness of those from whom better things might have reasonably been expected, I have waited for some account of the life and writings of the late inestimable Dr Gordon.With sorrow and humiliation be it spoken, that, in a neighbouring and rival country, his merit would have been better appreciated; and, long ere now, that eulogium bestowed on his memory, which surviving, never fails to bestow on departed genius.Not that we are, by any means, the indiscriminate advocates of a system where flattery and friendship are apt to obscure the light of truth; but that we think an over-sensibility to the beauties of intellectual eminence a much more pardonable defect than cold and unregarding apathy.

The merit of Dr Gordon, indeed, was of that unobtrusive kind "that seeketh not, so that it is not sought," and that, instead of courting, shrinks from public admiration. No doubt this was not for the many; but who would have expected that in this boasted "intellectual city" it would have been overlooked by the more discriminating few; or that the genius and industry which devoted itself with an unreserved submission to the advancement of human knowledge and of human happiness, would be suffered to sink into the grave without an acknowledgment of gratitude, or a tribute of praise. It is devoutly to be wished, that this may not long remain a stigma upon us; and that the wing of youthful enthusiasm may not be damped from an observation of the disregard to excellence which characterizes an obtuse world.

Dr Gordon had the honours of a public funeral, and the Royal Medical Society have done their duty to his memory, by voting a bust of their departed ornament to be placed in their hall of meeting. These were ebulli

tions of gratitude; these were what he deserved, and what we expected, but form only a small part of what we wish to see done. The world, to whose services he devoted his life, with a liberality and disregard of his private interest rarely to be met with, have no opportunity of knowing and acknowledging his worth from memorials such as these. We want something which will disarm every suspicion of partiality. We want some account of his writings, published and unpublished, to vindicate his reputation, to establish his claims to excellence, and to afford, to the rising generation, an example of truly scientific investigation and patient inquiry. Can not Mr Jeffrey can not Dr Thomson - can not Dr Brewstercan not the biographer of Woodhouselee-can not he who has so eloquently pourtrayed the characters of Reid and Robertson · or can neither of these do justice to the memory of their departed friend?—Is it too lofty, or is it too lowly a task? ""Tis passing strange.'

To what I have said, Mr Editor, there may appear something like the partiality of friendship; yet, so far from this being the case, the truth is, that I had not, with Dr Gordon, the honour of a private acquaintance.My sentiments are wholly unbiassed; I speak from the ardour of conviction; from the opportunity I had of appreciating his worth during an attendance of years on his public prelections, and from the perusal of his published works. Though his efforts were great-and though great was the result of themit is almost impossible now to guess where the obstacles might be found which would have impeded his triumphant progress. With regard to the science of physiology, the only true stamen of medical knowledge, his loss is utterly incalculable. He seemed destined to be the Prometheus who was to raise it up from its infancy, and establish it on the firm basis of fact deduced from experiment. From the

perpetual fluctuations in physiological opinion-from the incessant overthrowing of one theory for the substitution of another equally foundationless and equally destined to be overthrown in its turn, the doctrine of the medical schools, which was fashionable during one season, became antiquated in a second, and exploded ere a third. What could be gained by a system of this kind, ever varying, and revolving in the trackless mazes of error, yet ever distant from the clear light of truth? To his discriminating mind it was manifest that the practice of physic must be founded on anatomy, or a knowledge of the structure and compages of the human frame, and on physiology, or a knowledge of the functions of that structure. All theory, grounded on a different basis, he perceived, must be unstable, unsound, unsatisfactory, and prejudicial. It was full time that the spirit of true philosophy, which had exploded alchemy and astrologywhich had looked, with an unbelieving eye, into the mysteries of the horoscope and the crucible, should be brought to bear on the misty system of phlogistics, and the unintelligible phenomena of humours in the blood. We had talked enough about things which we could not understand, for the very obvious reason that they were incomprehensible; yet it discovered something of an intrepid spirit in such a young man as Dr Gordon, boldly to come forward and drive error and prejudice from their strong-holds; and to aları: the complacency of self-sufficient men, by informing them that their doctrines stood wofully in need of revision.

Anatomy had been cultivated in almost every region of Europe with assiduity and success. On the part of our own country, Cheselden, Cowper, Hunter, and Monro had come forward with respectable contributions; fact was added to fact, and the science brought to a state of comparative perfection. Not so with physiology; the black mantle of ignorance overshadowed it. It remained, cruda et indigesta moles, a complete chaos of vague notions and unsubstantial theory. It would have been a much easier task had the ground for a new superstructure remained clear; but it was far otherwise. The gigantic ruins of error and prejudice had first to be re

moved ere a new fabric could be proceeded to. This Herculean task Dr Gordon allotted to himself, and he has been heard to declare, that he would think the labours of his life accomplished, if he could leave behind an unencumbered domain to succeeding adventurers. It is almost impossible to conceive how men of penetration and ingenuity could have been deceived with such specious sophistry as seems very recently to have formed the principles of physiological science. Even the speculations of Darwin, Beddoes, and Blumenbach, with all their fascinating cleverness, are little better than gilded sepulchres, replete with hollowness. Except Whytt, Harvey, and Haller, few had come to the contest with a determination of strict inquiry and patient investigation. Gordon commenced with classification, and, after carefully selecting all the substantial doctrines of preceding writers, all but very few, he set himself doggedly to the task of fresh experiment and observation.

The wheels of investigation have been set in motion; yet, great as the merits of several of our contemporaries assuredly are, we still think, with all due respect, that his place will not be soon occupied. Few indeed can bring to the contest such truly philosophical discernment and unwearied research, combined with such an extent of general information and scholastic attainments. Cut off, as he has been, in the summer of his life, when his blushing honours were daily thickening upon him, and when rising into that popularity which he so eminently deserved, it is not to be expected that all has been done for his favourite science which it was in his power to have accomplished, had it been the will of Providence to have lengthened the term of his existence. As it is, he has furnished the plan, and laid down the outlines of a beautiful and permanent structure. We have seen how, in the space of a few years-from the days of Black and Lavoisier-how chemistry has been augmenting its stores, while a Davy, a Thomson, a Murray, and a Dalton have been daily furthering its advancement. May it be the same with physiology, a science certainly not inferior in interest and utility. The laws of organic life, and the wonderful processes by which nature carries on the functions of vitality,