Genre:

Obituary

Subjects:

Accidents, Medical Treatment, Piety

People mentioned:

Benjamin C Brodie Brodie, Sir Benjamin Collins, 1st Baronet (1783–1862) DSB ODNB
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Institutions mentioned:

St George's Hospital St George's Hospital
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    The narrative records at length Mitchell's 'spiritual tranquility' under the conditions of his protracted final suffering following a fall.

Genre:

Letter

Subjects:

Education, Religion, Utility, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Natural History

    The writer advocates the education of infants under six years of age, endorsing a strongly empirical and utilitarian approach. He describes how in existing infant schools 'an intelligent master and mistress have thus led their youthful charge, consisting of one or two hundred, to the study of language, figures, geography, the rudiments of mathematics, of natural philosophy, of botany, of natural history, and also to the manner in which most of the articles in common use are formed' (29–30).

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Hails 1825 Hails, William Anthony 1825. Remarks on Volney's 'Ruins; or, A Survey of the Revolutions of Empires', London: L. B. Seeley and Son
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Subjects:

Infidelity, Astronomy, Astrology, Biblical Authority

    The reviewer observes that the modern champions of infidelity have 'for some years past' sought 'to attack the history of Christianity, and to persuade the unlettered and ignorant, that the whole is a fiction, even to the very existence of its Founder' (35). Constantin F Chassebœf, comte de Volney's Volney, Constantin F Chasseboeuf, comte de (1757–1820) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> Ruins Volney, Constantin F Chasseboeuf, comte de 1791. Les ruines; ou, méditations sur les révolutions des empires, Paris: Desenne, Volland, and Plassan
Close   View the register entry >> 'resolves Christ into an astronomical character, and has been long the textbook of this flippant class of infidels' (36). If this astronomical theory is to be adopted, infidels must show 'that a popular passion for the scientific study of astronomy prevailed at the time of the formation of Christianity; or, that there was a confederacy among the astronomers of the day, to invest the old astronomy with new symbols; and that the Galileos Galilei, Galileo (1564–1642) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, and Keplers Kepler, Johannes (1571–1630) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, and Newtons Newton, Sir Isaac (1642–1727) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, and Laplaces Laplace, Pierre-Simon, marquis de (1749–1827) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, of Greece and Rome, united to fetch their scientific symbols from the books of the Jews, and the writings of the evangelists' (37). A lengthy extract from William A Hails's Hails (or Hailes), William Anthony (1766–1845) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> book is used to demonstrate the failure of Volney's argument.

Genre:

Extract, Miscellaneous

Publications extracted:

Harris 1824 Harris, Thaddeus Mason 1824. The Natural History of the Bible; or, A Description of All the Quadrupeds, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, and Insects, Trees, Plants, Flowers, Gums, and Precious Stones, Mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures: Collected from the Best Authorities, and Alphabetically Arranged, London: T. Tegg
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Subjects:

Natural History, Biblical Authority

Genre:

Introduction; Extract

Publications extracted:

Finlayson 1826 Finlayson, George 1826. The Mission to Siam, and Hue, the Capital of Cochin China, in the Years 1821–2: From the Journal of the Late George Finlayson, Esq. With a Memoir of the Author by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, London: J. Murray
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Subjects:

Naturalists, Exploration

People mentioned:

George Finlayson, Finlayson, George (1790–1823) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Thomas S B Raffles Raffles, Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley (1781–1826) DSB
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Genre:

Letter, Reportage

Subjects:

Mining, Accidents, Providence, Gas Chemistry

Genre:

Regular Feature—Review; Literary Notice

Publications reviewed:

Humboldt 1814–29 Humboldt, Alexander von 1814–29. Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent During the Years 1799–1804. By Alexander de Humboldt, and Aimé Bonpland, trans. by Helen Maria Williams, 7 vols, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown
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Publications noticed:

Denham and Clapperton 1826 Denham, Dixon and Clapperton, Hugh 1826. Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the Years 1822, 1823 and 1824, by Major Denham, Captain Clapperton, and the late Doctor Oudney: Extending Across the Great Desert to the Tenth Degree of Northern Latitude, and from Kouka in Bornou, to Sackatoo, the Capital of the Fellatah Empire, 2 vols, London: John Murray
Close   View the register entry >> Ellis 1826 Ellis, William 1826. Narrative of a Tour Through Hawaii, or Owhyhee: With Remarks on the History, Traditions, Manners, Customs, and Language of the Inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands, London: privately published
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Subjects:

Exploration, Ethnography, Geology

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Light, Astronomy, Reason, Feeling, Biblical Authority, Faith

    The poet moralizes on seeing a meteor, asking: 'And hast though not seen, o'er the waste of the mind, / The meteor of Reason triumphantly glide? / Aspiring it mounts on the wings of the wind, / Its pathway Creation,—Presumption its guide.' Reason sheds but a 'cheerless and cold' ray; the heart is only moved to faith by the beam which emerges from 'the Fountain of Light'.

Genre:

Extract, Miscellaneous

Publications extracted:

Chalmers 1826 Chalmers, Thomas 1826. On Cruelty to Animals: A Sermon, Preached in Edinburgh, on the 5th of March, 1826, Glasgow: Chalmers & Collins; Edinburgh: William Whyte & Co. and William Oliphant; Dublin: R. M. Tims and Wm. Curry, Jun.; London: G. B. Whittaker
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Subjects:

Cruelty, Theology of Nature, Feeling, Physiology, Vivisection, Anatomy, Education

    Reflecting on various forms of cruelty to animals, the author observes: 'we do not foresee, but with the perfecting of the two sciences of anatomy and physiology, the abolition of animal experiments; but we do foresee a gradual, and, at length, a complete abandonment of the experiments of illustration, which are at present a thousand fold more numerous than the experiments of humane discovery' (312). He notes that the 'atrocities' of François Magendie Magendie, François (1783–1855) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> 'have been blazoned before the eye of a British public', but considers his 'cruel luxury [...] of the intellect' to be less extensive than the 'cruel and sensual luxury' indulged in by British gourmets (313).

Genre:

Regular Feature—Review; Literary Notice

Publications reviewed:

Dick 1826, Dick, Thomas 1826. The Philosophy of Religion; or, An Illustration of the Moral Laws of the Universe, London: G. B. Whittaker; Edinburgh: Chalmers and Collins [and 2 others]; Dublin: R. M. Tims, and Wm. Curry, jun. & Co.
Close   View the register entry >> Ellis 1826, Ellis, William 1826. Narrative of a Tour Through Hawaii, or Owhyhee: With Remarks on the History, Traditions, Manners, Customs, and Language of the Inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands, London: privately published
Close   View the register entry >> Chalmers 1826 Chalmers, Thomas 1826. On Cruelty to Animals: A Sermon, Preached in Edinburgh, on the 5th of March, 1826, Glasgow: Chalmers & Collins; Edinburgh: William Whyte & Co. and William Oliphant; Dublin: R. M. Tims and Wm. Curry, Jun.; London: G. B. Whittaker
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[1 Review of Philosophy of Religion, by Thomas Dick]

[2 Review of Narrative of a Tour through Hawaii, by William Ellis]

[3 Review of On Cruelty to Animals, by Thomas Chalmers]

Genre:

Extract, Sermon, Serial

Publications extracted:

Mason 1803 Mason, John Mitchell 1803. First Ripe Fruits: Being a Collection of Tracts; to Which are Added, Two Sermons. With a Short Memoir of the Author, London: R. Ogle; Edinburgh: Ogle and Aikman; Glasgow: M. Ogle
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Subjects:

Natural Theology, Reason, Religion, Ancient Authorities

Institutions mentioned:

New York Missionary Society New York Missionary Society
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    Noting that 'God is the source of intellectual light', the preacher reflects on the intellectual darkness in which the heathen are plunged. He observes of God: 'The "heavens may declare his glory, and the firmament show forth his handy work;" (psal. xix. 1;) but the Pagans, unaccustomed to decipher their language, and to study their lessons, do not thence derive, in fact, just and clear perceptions even of "his eternal power and Godhead:" far less of his moral character' (373). The 'most celebrated heathen philosophers' were exceedingly dubious in their knowledge of the divinity (374).

Genre:

Serial—Introduction; Extract, Abstract, Travelogue

Publications extracted:

Denham and Clapperton 1826 Denham, Dixon and Clapperton, Hugh 1826. Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the Years 1822, 1823 and 1824, by Major Denham, Captain Clapperton, and the late Doctor Oudney: Extending Across the Great Desert to the Tenth Degree of Northern Latitude, and from Kouka in Bornou, to Sackatoo, the Capital of the Fellatah Empire, 2 vols, London: John Murray
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Subjects:

Exploration, Natural History, Ethnography

Genre:

Extract, Sermon, Serial

Publications extracted:

Mason 1803 Mason, John Mitchell 1803. First Ripe Fruits: Being a Collection of Tracts; to Which are Added, Two Sermons. With a Short Memoir of the Author, London: R. Ogle; Edinburgh: Ogle and Aikman; Glasgow: M. Ogle
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Subjects:

Exploration, Scientific Practitioners, Religion

    In the sermon John M Mason Mason, John Mitchell (1770–1829) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> contrasts the resoluteness of explorers with the timidity of Christians reluctant to engage in overseas missions. He observes that the most formidable difficulties which might be encountered in missionary work to the 'heathen' are regularly overcome by 'carnal' explorers: 'They can visit the savage tribes, can cross their rivers, climb their mountains, traverse their forests; can learn their language, conform to their manners, acquire their confidence; can patiently submit to hunger and cold, fatigue and peril:—For what? To decorate earthly science, or to collect the dust of lucre, or the vapours of fame' (451).

Genre:

Serial, Extract, Abstract, Travelogue

Publications extracted:

Denham and Clapperton 1826 Denham, Dixon and Clapperton, Hugh 1826. Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the Years 1822, 1823 and 1824, by Major Denham, Captain Clapperton, and the late Doctor Oudney: Extending Across the Great Desert to the Tenth Degree of Northern Latitude, and from Kouka in Bornou, to Sackatoo, the Capital of the Fellatah Empire, 2 vols, London: John Murray
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Subjects:

Exploration

People mentioned:

Walter Oudney Oudney, Walter (1790–1824) ODNB
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    The writer discusses the great importance of 'friendly intercourse' with Sheikh Muhammed el-A al-H Kanami Kanemi, Muhammed el-Amin al-Haji, Sheikh of Bornu (1779–1835) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> of Bornu [part of modern Nigeria], both in terms of its benefit to 'science and research', and for reasons of commerce and philanthropy (459).

Genre:

Extract, Miscellaneous

Publications extracted:

[American] Methodist Magazine Methodist Magazine (1818–28) Methodist Magazine and Quarterly Review (1830–40) Methodist Quarterly Review (1841–84) Methodist Review (1884–1900) BUCOP
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Subjects:

Gas Chemistry, Physiology, Design, Disease, Epidemiology

Genre:

Regular Feature, Literary Notice

Subjects:

Natural History

Publications cited:

Good 1826 Good, John Mason 1826. The Book of Nature, 3 vols, London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green
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Genre:

Serial, Extract, Abstract, Travelogue

Publications extracted:

Denham and Clapperton 1826 Denham, Dixon and Clapperton, Hugh 1826. Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the Years 1822, 1823 and 1824, by Major Denham, Captain Clapperton, and the late Doctor Oudney: Extending Across the Great Desert to the Tenth Degree of Northern Latitude, and from Kouka in Bornou, to Sackatoo, the Capital of the Fellatah Empire, 2 vols, London: John Murray
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Subjects:

Exploration, Medical Practitioners, Education, Instruments, Astronomy, Imperialism, Commerce

    The account details Hugh Clapperton's Clapperton, Hugh (1788–1827) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> visit to Sokoto, the capital of the Fulani empire [in modern Nigeria]. Clapperton describes the 'great regret' of Sultan Muhammad Bello Muhammad Bello, Sultan of Sokoto (fl. 1817–37) CBE
Close   View the register entry >> of Sokoto at the death of Walter Oudney Oudney, Walter (1790–1824) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, 'as he wished particularly to see an English physician, who might instruct his people in the healing art'. Clapperton was sent for by the Sultan to give an account of his sextant, which 'occasioned much surprise'. He exhibited a 'planisphere of the heavenly bodies', and discovered that the Sultan 'knew all the regions of the zodiac, some of the constellations, and many of the stars, by their Arabic names'. (598) The Sultan asked Clapperton to send him from England some Arabic books, and a map of the world. He promised protection 'to as many of our learned men as chose to visit his dominions', and spoke of gold and silver deposits. Clapperton 'assured him that we were less anxious about gold mines than the establishment of commerce, and the extension of science'. (602–3)

Genre:

Extract

Publications extracted:

Edinburgh Journal of Science Edinburgh Journal of Science (1824–32) Waterloo Directory
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Subjects:

Exploration

Genre:

Essay, Serial

Subjects:

Anatomy, Physiology, Design, Natural Theology, Theology of Nature, Biblical Authority, Light, Psychology, Immaterialism

People mentioned:

Isaac Newton Newton, Sir Isaac (1642–1727) DSB
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Publications cited:

[Paley 1802] Paley, William 1802. Natural Theology; or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity: Collected from the Appearances of Nature, [London]: R. Faulder
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    The author's objective is to describe the anatomy and physiology of the organs of vision and hearing in 'familiar and popular language', and to 'draw out those views of the character of God, which the subject suggests'. He observes that William Paley Paley, William (1743–1805) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> has pursued such a course with almost unequalled perspicuity, but thinks that there are still things to be added to Paley's descriptions. Moreover, where Paley sought to 'prove the existence of God, and to infer the character of the Divine Being from the appearance of design observable in all his works' without the aid of revelation, M'Allum pretends to 'no such lofty aim'. He assumes the 'unquestionable certainty of revealed truth', including the 'existence, supremacy, and other perfections of the Godhead', and uses the structure of the ear and eye as 'illustrations of what the great Creator is, in so far as his character may be inferred from his works, mutilated and reft of original excellence, as by the fall they acknowledgedly are'. (675) The introduction is followed by a lengthy account of the human eye and of the nature of light. Discussing the processing of the focused image on the retina, M'Allum observes: 'Whatever belongs to the connexion between matter and mind is beyond our attainment and conception' (680).

Genre:

Extract

Publications extracted:

Denham and Clapperton 1826 Denham, Dixon and Clapperton, Hugh 1826. Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the Years 1822, 1823 and 1824, by Major Denham, Captain Clapperton, and the late Doctor Oudney: Extending Across the Great Desert to the Tenth Degree of Northern Latitude, and from Kouka in Bornou, to Sackatoo, the Capital of the Fellatah Empire, 2 vols, London: John Murray
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Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Race

Genre:

Biography

Subjects:

Education, Reading, Astronomy, Mechanics, Instruments, Endeavour, Morality

    When he was apprenticed to a grocer in Darlington, George Newton's father allowed him only five shillings a year for pocket money. The biographer reports: 'Though the sum was but small, it enabled him to procure a few useful books; and his leisure hours were employed in the study of Mechanics, Geography, and Astronomy. With much ingenuity he constructed a terrestrial globe, and a sun-dial, which were both very correct'. The writer contrasts this behaviour with the 'depraved connexions' and 'expensive habits' often acquired by those children 'indulged with a liberal allowance of money during this period' (727). As an adult, 'he gratified his love of reading by procuring a choice collection of books on science and divinity', and he 'took a pleasure in imparting information to those who desired it' (732).

Genre:

Essay, Serial

Subjects:

Anatomy, Sound, Design, Theology of Nature, Creation, Discovery, Serendipity, Instruments, Immaterialism, Psychology

People mentioned:

Galileo Galilei, Galilei, Galileo (1564–1642) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> Isaac Newton, Newton, Sir Isaac (1642–1727) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> Thomas Reid Reid, Thomas (1710–96) ODNB
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    The writer begins with a discussion of the nature of sound, followed by an account of the anatomy of the human ear. The article concludes with a section headed 'The Argument', in which four numbered arguments are given. The first argument is that 'He that formed the eye and planted the ear must be a Being of infinite Power'. M'Allum contrasts divine power and ingenuity with that of human artists, reporting that the discovery of the telescope was a matter of the 'merest accident'. He observes that the communication between the organs of sight and hearing and the immaterial mind operates in a fashion which 'laughs at human wisdom to discover'. How it is done, 'we may not ask; for who can follow the Creator into his inner sanctuary'? The second argument is for divine wisdom. M'Allum considers that both the comprehensible mechanism of hearing and seeing, and those aspects 'where Science blushed that she could tell no more', should leave the reader acknowledging this. (749) The disparity of human and divine art is again emphasised. The third argument is for divine goodness. Drawing on an extensive quotation from William Paley's Paley, William (1743–1805) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> Natural Theology Paley, William 1802. Natural Theology; or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity: Collected from the Appearances of Nature, [London]: R. Faulder
Close   View the register entry >>, M'Allum seconds the view that the pleasure humans derive from their senses of sight and hearing is an argument for divine goodness. The final argument—for the 'Incomprehensibility of the Deity'—is based on the incomprehensibility of the process by which images on the retina 'inform the immaterial man, the spiritual intelligence, of the colour, the size, the figure, and the position of things innumerable in heaven above, and in earth beneath' (751). M'Allum uses this case to illustrate the 'folly of incredulity in man, when the incomprehensibility of truth is the pretence for rejecting it', observing that 'the mysteries of Nature are as profound as the mysteries of Revelation' (752).

Genre:

Miscellaneous

Subjects:

Natural History, Wonder, Religion, Feeling, Theology of Nature

See also:

Anon, 'The Colossal Ray or Skate', Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine, 3rd ser. 3 (1824), 844–46

Genre:

Introduction; Extract

Publications extracted:

James Stack Stack, James (1801–83) WBI
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Subjects:

Astronomy, Religion, Race

    James Stack's missionary journal reports an encounter with a Maori chief: 'Telling them the absurdity of supposing the left eye became a star after death, and being assisted by our boys to make known to them how very different our ideas were in reference to the heavenly bodies, a young man of rather superior appearance, said in way of ridicule, "What, have they been up to them to see what they are?" (848).