ocean, even in its calmest state; and exposed at all times to the uninterrupted swell of the Atlantic; by the joint violence of the wind and waves of which, a preceding structure had been in a moment swept away, leaving not a wreck behind; on such a spot was this new wonder of the world to be erected. Former experience is here of little avail, and common principles and means have been already tried in vain; the architect is thrown almost entirely on his own resources; and they do not fail him. In order to combat the force of those overpowering elements to which the future structure is to be constantly exposed, he looks about for that natural form which is found most permanently to resist a similar conflict; and viewing with a philosophic eye the expanded base of the oak, and the varying proportions of its rising stem, he made the happy selection of this object as the type of the proportions of his intended work.

"On this occasion," he himself says, "the natural figure of the waist or bole of a large spreading oak presented itself to my imagination. Let us for a moment consider this tree: suppose at twelve or fifteen feet above its base, it branches out in every direction, and forms a large bushy top, as we often observe. This top, when full of leaves, is subject to a very great impulse from the agitation of violent winds; yet partly by its elasticity, and partly by the natural strength arising from its figure, it resists them all, even for ages, till the gradual decay of the material diminishes the coherence of the parts, and they suffer piecemeal by the violence of the storm: but it is very rare that we hear of such a tree being torn up by the roots. Let us now consider its particular figure-connected with its roots, which lie hid below ground, it rises from the surface thereof with a large swelling base, which at the height of

* A Narration of the Building, &c. of the Eddystone Lighthouse, London, 1791, p. 42.

one diameter is generally reduced by an elegant curve, concave to the eye, to a diamter less by at least one third, and sometimes to half of its original base. From thence its taper diminishing more slow, its sides by degrees come into a perpendicular, and for some height form a cylinder.

"After that, a preparation of more circumference becomes necessary for the strong insertion and establishment of the principal boughs, which produces a swelling of its diameter. Now we can hardly doubt but that every section of the tree is nearly of an equal strength in proportion to what it has to resist and were we to lop off its principal boughs, and expose it in that state to a rapid current of water, we should find it as much capable of resisting the action of the heavier fluid,' when divested of the greatest parts of its clothing, as it was that of the lighter when all its spreading ornaments were exposed to the fury of the winds: and hence we may derive an idea of what the shape of a column of the greatest stability ought to be, to resist the action of external violence, when the quantity of matter is given whereof it is to be composed."

But invention and composition do not constitute the whole of the character of genius, in the practical arts at least. Industry, both that which resists the listlessness arising from continuity and sameness of pursuit; and, still more, that which, though repeatedly repressed by unexpected impediments, as repeatedly recovers its elasticity; unconquerable and indefatigable industry, like that of the ant, is likewise requisite. And such industry did Smeaton manifest: and his industry has hitherto been completely crowned with success. The Eddystone has withstood the war of winds and waves through the greater part of a century, unshaken in a single point: and if of any human work we dare affirm as much, we might affirm of this, "manet æternumque manebit."

We now turn to the efforts of genius, of another, and, intrinsically, a higher order to that beautiful

composition of Chantrey, to which allusion has been already made. A different task is here to be accomplished: it is not the storm of the physical elements which is to be resisted, but the poignant grief of the bereaved parent is to be assuaged; and that, not by any nepenthe. which may obliterate the memory of lost happiness; but by, I had almost said, the living image of the very objects themselves from which that happiness arose, and in which it centred. Alone, and undistracted by the presence of surrounding friends, the widowed mother approaches in mournful silence the consecrated aisle; where, softly clasped in each other's arms, she sees her beloved children resting in the repose of sleep rather than of death and gazing on them with intense affection, she feels not sorrow for a while; but, indulging in a dream which almost realizes her past happiness, would fold her treasures to her bosom, were she not too conscious that the cold embrace would dissipate the fond illusion.

SECTION III.

Gems and precious Stones.

If it were the purpose of this treatise to point out the adaptation of external nature to the moral as well as to the physical condition of man, it might be easily shown, that, however an undue degree of attention to outward ornaments is blameable, a moderate degree of attention is both allowable and right: otherwise, and it is an instance that outweighs all others, it would not have been observed in the decorations of the temple of Solomon, nor in the original ordinations respecting the dress of the Levitical priesthood. Those substances consequently, which are capable of being applied to ornamental purposes, become, in our mode of using them, a test of virtue, in the same manner as our ordinary clothing, and food, and sleep; all of which, though even necessary to our existence, may be abused by a

luxurious indulgence in them. But at present I am no further concerned with the moral part of the question, than to infer that, if an attention to external ornament be not only allowable, but right, we may antecedently expect that materials for its exercise would be provided by nature: and that is indeed the fact.*

It would be difficult however to determine which of the three kingdoms, the animal, vegetable, or mineral, is the most prolific source of those beautiful forms and colours which are principally valued as objects of external ornament. We do not indeed observe in any flower that iridescent play of colours which characterizes some varieties of the opal and felspar, among minerals; and the plumage of certain birds, and the scales of certain fish, among animals: but in elegance and variety of form, and in splendour and simplicity of colour, the vegetable world will be found to yield neither to the animal nor mineral. Mineral substances, however, from their rarity as well as beauty, are more prized; and from the durability of their substance are more permanently applicable to ornamental purposes than those either of animal or vegetable origin; and therefore serve better to illustrate the principle of this treatise.

From among those substances which in commercial language are called precious stones, though some so called are not really derived from the mineral kingdom, it is proposed to select the diamond as a pre-eminent example of the whole class; because, in addition to those properties which render it valuable as an ornamental gem, there are some points in its history which give it a peculiar worth. It will naturally excite the surprise of those, who are unacquainted with the chemical history of this substance, to learn that the purest diamond does not essentially differ from a particular variety of common coal; or

* "Wherefore did nature pour her bounties forth?" &c. COMUS, line 726, &c.

from that mineral of which drawing pencils are made, and which is usually, though not with propriety, called plumbago and black lead: and yet nothing has been more clearly proved than that equal weights of these several substances, if submitted to the process of combustion, will produce nearly equal proportions of carbonic acid gas; which has already been stated to be a chemical combination of definite proportions of carbon and oxygen; the diamond, which is the purest form of carbon, burning away without leaving any residuum; the other two leaving a very small proportion of ashes, in consequence of their containing foreign matter.

And here we can hardly fail to notice a very remarkable instance of what may be called the economical provisions of nature. How rarely, and in what small quantities are the diamond and plumbago found; and how abundantly does coal predominate in many parts of the world! The Borrodale mine of plumbago in Cumberland is the most considerable source of that substance throughout Europe; and the province of Golconda almost alone supplies the whole world with diamonds: and, probably, the accumulated weight of all the plumbago and of all the diamonds, which have ever been derived from those and other sources, would not equal a hundredth part of the weight of coal which is daily quarried in Great Britain. Suppose now that the case had been reversed; and what would have been the consequence? diamond and plumbago, though really combustible substances, yet from their slow combustibility could never have answered, in the place of coal, as a fuel for general purposes; and, on the other hand, without that large supply of coal which nature has provided, what would have become of the domestic comforts and commercial speculations of the greater part of Europe, during the two last centuries?

The value of the diamond is not derived solely from its transparency and lustre. Its remarkable hardness is another and a most useful property be