has written a "Memoir of Theodore Parker." Mrs. Oliphant, the " Carlingford chronicler, is, we believe, the literary mother of "A Son of the Soil." Prince Napoleon has the first vol. of a "History of the Buonapartes" in type. Of this work his speech at Ajaccio may be regarded as the advertisement. Professor Key's "Crude-form Latin Grammar" is to be made a school-book for Germany. Prof. John Grote has issued "Rough Notes on Modern Intellectual Science." As a Cambridge moral philosopher, the author of the book will gain attention. It is stated that Dr. Vaughan has resigned the editorship of the British Quarterly Review, and that the Rev. H. Allen has been offered the baton. A work which Proudhon was writing when he died, "On the Political Capacity of the Labouring Classes," has been completed by his friend, M. Claudey. A Digest of the whole Law of England" is to be commenced with the sanction of Parliament. John Stanyan Bigg (born 1829), author of "Night and the Soul," a poem of high merit and promise, 1855, died at Ulverstone, where he was born 19th May. W. M. Hetherington, D.D., professor of Systematic Theology in Glasgow F. C. College, author of some early poems, a treatise on "The Fulness of Time," "A History of the Church of Scotland," &c., died 23rd May. Victor Hugo's (the younger) translation of Shakspere has reached a second edition. The youth of Lord Byron has been made the subject of a French drama. John Frost, the exiled and pardoned Chartist, who is 81 years of age, is writing his "Autobiography." Sir Joseph Paxton, M.P., author of the "Cottage Calendar," editor of "Paxton's Botanical Magazine," &c., died 8th June. Owen Meredith, son of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, is about to issue a collected edition, in two vols., of his Poems. A Memoir of W. R. Baker, author of "The Curse of Britain," &c., is in the press, by her sister. Robert Reid, author of "Old Glasgow and its Environs," died 8th June, aged 93. On dit that the papers of the noted diplomatist Talleyrand, which by his will were not to be published till 1868, are not to be issued now tili 1888. Dante literature is in the ascendant. A crown folio edition of the "Inferno," with 76 engravings by Gustave Doré, is announced by Cassell & Co. They have adopted Cary's version. The Rev. James Ford, of Exeter, has, however, produced a new translation of the same book of the "Divine Comedy" in the original terza rima. But we wish Dr. John Carlyle could be prevailed on to reissue his prose version, which is strongly imbued with the Florentine's spirit. Our readers may, in this connection, recall the memoir of Dante given in our pages, May and June, 1857, in which the poet's relation to modern Italian nationalism was first pointed out in this country. Asher and Co.'s "Monthly Bulletin of Foreign Literature contains upwards of fifty announcements of Dante-book in Italian. M. Cousin is reported, in his old age (second childhood), to have become a Romanist and an Imperialist! Kuno Fischer has rewritten Vol. I. of his History of Modern Philosophy -Descartes and his Writings." An edition of the select writings of Jean Paul Richter has been commenced in Berlin. Herr H. Baumgarten has begun a "History of Modern Spain, from the time of the French Revolution onwards." Napoleon III. is said to have received for authorship rights in "Julius Cæsar " £1,600 The profits of his work were made over to the family of his secretary, M. Mocquard. He is reported to have remarked, "I see a person can live by the pen in France." He should have added "if he is an Emperor or a genius." Modern Logicians. THE LATE GEORGE BOOLE, LL.D., D.C.L., PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS, QUEEN'S COLLEGE, CORK; 66 AUTHOR OF THE LAWS OF THOUGHT," ETC. "The unity of the forms of thought in all the applications of reason, however remotely separated, will one day be matter of notoriety and common wonder; and Boole's name will be remembered in connection with one of the most important steps towards the attainment of that knowledge."-Professor Augustus De Morgan. "“Ir has often been observed that the biography of eminent literary men presents but few objects of general interest. The progress of their lives seems only measured by the order of their attainments and productions. From these we estimate the gradual rise and advance of mind and character, through every successive change from the nursery to the grave.' So, upwards of thirty years ago, George Boole expressed himself in a lecture on the genius and discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton. The remark is as correct regarding himself as of any other of those gifted spirits who have given new thoughts to their age, or flashed the fresh light of vigorous and original minds upon the mysteries of life and nature. Few lives have been passed so uneventful and incidentless, and fewer still have been so successful in shedding the subtle radiance of intelligence down into the deep places of the soul, or more prolific in casting off those seeds of thought which multiply as the years increase, and grow with the ages. Of the possibilities enclosed within his own spirit, the best uses, we may be sure, have been made. Comparatively early as was the age at which "Death touched him, and he fell asleep," we dare not call his demise premature, however inscrutable the purpose of it, since Heaven willed it, and it came to pass. "The man who, for his race, might supersede The work of ages, dies worn out-not used;- Hath entered others, though imperfectly, The circle widens as the world spins round, His soul works on, though he sleeps 'neath the grass!" Among modern lives that of George Boole's is noteworthy on many grounds. As an instance of persistent industry ultimately 1865. G winning success; of a modest and unobtrusive career broadening into European fame; of dutifulness being crowned with honour; of self-culture attaining the higher reaches of professional elevation; of humble worth gaining lofty recognition; of the possibility of energy, earnestness, courage, and thought leading to reputation, usefulness, and a foremost place among the men who occupy the vanguard of the world's progress, the narrative of the life and lifework of George Boole is second to none in interest and instructiveness. Of the noisy celebrity given by applauding crowds he was never covetous, for he knew it was of short continuance. He aspired to the nobler renown of acknowledged merit, borne witness to by his own works and the unsolicited testimony of those who best understood the value of his achievements; but still more he desired to attain that highest glory which consists in "a conscience void of offence toward God and toward man." Of a man so wise and good, so thoughtful yet so simple, who gave forth the hardly-earned learning and the elaborately-wrought products of his genius so unpretendingly, so free from self-assertion; of one who taught so lovingly, thought so intensely, laboured so assiduously, and lived so blamelessly, whose insight into truth was so clear, whose heart was so noble, true, and dutiful, one may well write; but who shall write worthily? 'As a man," an old friend of his writes to us, "I have scarcely ever known George Boole's equal. Looking back through the forty years-and I am nearly threescore and ten-that I have known him, I cannot recall an act or word of his which I could wish to have been otherwise. A perfect and blameless man is, we know, not to be found on earth; and, doubtless, my friend had his faults; yet, in honestly and searchingly revising the past, I see only a life of unfailing duty and self-sacrifice, incapable of a mean or low thought, with not an iota of vanity-even when he had become one of the landmarks of science, and must have known it." Such is the voice of friendship regarding his personal character; and in the sequel it will appear that praise as high and as unreserved has been given and given deservedly-of his intellectual endowments, and of the grandly original results in the forth-bringing of which he employed them. We prefer, however, that an "unvarnished tale" of his life, labours, studies, and investigations should prove his worth, to the exhaustion-if that were possible-of the language of panegyric in commendation of the earnest student, the successful toiler, and the nobler thinker, who has so recently "entered into his rest." 66 George Boole was born in Lincoln, 2nd November, 1815. He was the son of respectable though not of wealthy parents, engaged in trade in that Witham-washed and cathedral-crowned city. Though not rich in this world's goods, his relatives were held in general esteem. His father took great interest in scientific pursuits, and was an eager worker for the diffusion of useful knowledge among the people. In the early days of Mechanics' Institutes he laboured earnestly with others in getting one established in Lincoln. It was a very flourishing concern, well patronized and supported; and was not a little indebted to its intelligent and scientific librarian and museum-keeper, Mr. Boole. It is hardly to be doubted that the influence of this love of knowledge, indulged in at a home fireside, where daily bread was sweetened and sanctified by daily toil, and the honest earnings of labour were spent, not on the dainties or luxuries of sense, in the gratification of whim or folly, but in the ennobling acquisitions of mental usefulness and delight, was especially powerful in its effects on the susceptible boyhood of George Boole. Here he learned at once the dignity of self-reliance, the sacredness of human duty, however lowly, and the worth of knowledge, even in the humble levels of common life. His early home-training combined example and precept in promoting a healthy and innocent Christian life. Strict without being stern, and sedate without being sour, the management to which Mr. Boole subjected his family was well fitted to develop alike the heart, the mind, and the activities of the inmates of his household. George, after a childhood passed within sound of the tones of Great Tom, and during a boyhood spent in rambles by the Witham's banks, receiving as into a mirror the image of Nature, and in strolls beside august ruins, or in the shadow of Roman gateways, medieval castles, and cathedrals reckoned among the noblest in the empire, and among many other objects of interest in some of the narrow, irregular streets which exist in the old historic Lindum of the Romans, received the common lessons given to boys in the day schools of such towns. Though George Boole did not disdain the sports of boyhood, he loved better to spend his holiday time in the healthy, rational, and heart-charming pursuits afforded in country excursions on the Lincoln heaths, through which the Witham flows, before and after it passes under the bridges of "Merry Lincoln." The limited means of his parents, eager though they were to forward the scholarship of their son, prevented them from being able to afford him more than an ordinary education. In the National School he was first a pupil and then a monitor. But the class routine of tasks neither satisfied him nor his father. The latter supplemented the school work by courses of reading, training in observation, and some scientific instruction. The boy profited from all, but his thirst for knowledge remained unslaked and unsatisfied. Oh, how he envied the grammar school boys their privilege of attaining the means of proficient advancement in the knowledge of the ancient classical languages! A kindly neighbour, Mr. William Brooke, printer and bookseller, supplied what the eager-hearted boy, when about ten years old, desired-initiation into the mysteries of Latin grammar. Thus furnished, his own unspurred diligence enabled him to acquire fluency and facility in translation, and subsequently to reach the inner spirit of the authors of the Roman classics. To this he subsequently added, by selftuition, an acquaintance with the original literature of Greece. His soul entered into communion with the writers of the olden times, and difficulties vanished before his invincible perseverance. The self-reliant energy of genius is best shown in incident. The elder Boole was an enthusiast in seeking converse with intelligent spirits, and in asking knowledge from every available source; and he loved above all to hold intercourse with the learned-often, indeed, to the detriment of his more material interests, we believe. He was naturally proud of the progress of his son under circumstances somewhat adverse to profitable progress. On one occasion a stranger from one of the universities, probably Cambridge, on a visit to Lincoln, was induced by George's father to examine the young student. He found his grammatical and lexicographical acquaintance with the ancient languages very considerable indeed; but he revealed to him at once the existence and the importance of prosody-the science of pronunciation and versification. This circumstance, we believe, suggested to the young scholar the propriety of systematically re-studying the entire course he had gone through, in following out which resolve, George Boole expended two full years of mind-tasking and conscientious industry. The late Rev. George Stephens Dickson, the learned and accomplished incumbent of St. Swithin's, was useful at this stage of his progress too, in prcviding him with the opportunity of perusing books, and of consulting him upon points of doubt or difficulty: kindnesses these, which the recipient was able to repay in after years, when, at a somewhat late period of life, that reverend gentleman betook himself to mathematical studies, and found in his youthful friend one of the ablest instructors the county could furnish. This belongs, however, to the after-time of a friendship which lasted until death, and to studies of which we have as yet made no record. His father's fondness for mathematical and optical studies had begun to touch the inner springs of the mind of the aspiring youth. He could, he thought, as readily master the elements of such investigations as those of the languages of Greece and Rome. When about seventeen years of age, the study of mathematics, under the supervision of his father, was fervently pursued; and he found such invigoration and excitement in the new discipline, that he speedily perused, studied, and mastered all the books he could procure. Very eagerly did father and son alike pore over the problems which by their knottiness puzzled, or by their newness bewildered the earnest pair of ardent hearts that beat with the ambition of success. By dint of diligent experimenting and sedulous thought they managed to conquer or elude the difficulties their course presented, and found it possible to overmaster them. Besides this, George Boole read copiously on all possible subjects, exhausting the library of the mechanics' institute of which he was a member, and finding the weekly provision of reading contained in the publications of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, the Penny Magazine, Chambers' Edinburgh Journal, &c., too little for the gratification of his capacious appetite for information. He was one of the most enthusiastic members of the mechanics' institute, and devoted |