little Pansie. After she had been kissed and put to bed, be would sit by the fireside, and all the night afterwards he would be semi-conscious of an intangible bliss diffused through the fitful lapses of an old man's slumber, and would awake at early dawn with a faint thrilling of the heart-strings, as if there had been music just now wandering over them. . . . At the last word of this extract the pen was laid down. Hawthorne's human work was over. He died quietly in a fainting fit during the night, soon after writing the above." I may be allowed to remark that it is not a little singular that within so short a space Thackeray and Hawthorne should both have been called hence with their work incomplete. Is this not a confirmation strong of Tennyson's verse?

"Thou wilt not leave us in the dust: Thou makest man, he knows not why;

He thinks he was not made to die. And Thou hast made him, Thou art just." A. A. R.

The

489. "A Young Debater" has probably been led to ask his question by a perusal of the excellent essay on Right Hon. Edmund Burke," which appeared in the June number of the British Controversialist. We thought the writer of that article would have furnished a reply. Being asked, I shall reply in brief terms so much as I know. A collected edition of Burke's works was commenced in 4to. in 1792, of which three volumes appeared before the author's death. Five other volumes were issued between that date and 1827, superintended by the late Dr. Walter King, Bishop of Rochester, his executor in chief, who promised a ninth volume, containing a "Life,"-announced as in the press, but which never appeared. In the latter year a volume of his "Letters" appeared, and in 1844 his "Correspondence" was edited by Lord Fitzwilliam and Sir R. Bourke. In 1816 Burke's speeches were published in four volumes, a Biography by Owen

about 1830, but did not come before the public. A hack writer of the early part of the century, Mr. MacCormack, issued "A Life of Burke," and Dr. Robert Bisset, author of a History of the Reign of George III.," published in two volumes, shortly after Burke's death, a "Life" of the statesman. James Prior's "Life of Burke" reached its second edition in 1826. Dr. Croly, in 1837 or so, wrote in Blackwood's Magazine an estimate of the impeacher of Hastings, which was reissued extended as "A Political Life of the Right. Hon. Edmund Burke," and more recently Mr. Macknight has revived the subject in an elaborate "Memoir." For briefer sketches see introduction to the edition of Burke's works issued in 1834 by Messrs. Child, of Bungay; Lord Brougham's "Statesmen of the Time of George III.," vol. i.; Chambers's "Cyclopædia of English Literature," vol. ii.; the "Penny Cyclopædia," under his name; Dr. John Francis Waller's life of him in Mackenzie's "Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography;" Fry's "Lectures to Mechanics' Institutes;" Sir James Mackintosh in Edinburgh Review, 1830; Henry Roger's Preface to Burke's Works; William Hazlitt's "Political Essays," and Winterslow's "Essays and Characters;" Gilfillan's "Third Gallery of Literary Portraits," and Macaulay's Essays. Prior's Life of Burke has been ssued, revised by the author, as the first volume of Bohn's edition of Burke's works. A very useful and interesting work was issued by Peter Burke, Esq., of the Inner Temple and the northern circuit, in 1854, entitled, "The Public and Domestic Life of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke." This, I think, is nearly all I know regarding the biography and bibliography of Edmund Burke. I hope the "Young Lebater" will read carefully such of the abovementioned materials as may fall into his hands; and may not forget that much reading is of little value unless accompanied and controlled by much thinking.-S. N.

self-improvement open to them now; and I am desirous of assuring them that they will never have to repentmaking allowance for ordinary recreations of devoting their time to the improvement of their minds, and availing themselves of the advantages held out by institutions such as the Young Men's Mutual Instruction Association of Morpeth."

MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATIONS.-It must be sufficiently obvious to all who take an interest in young men's Mutual Improvement Associations, that the notions of many who are connected with them are lamentably vague, as regards not only their nature, but also the numerous and solid benefits which are by that connection placed within their reach. Drawn within the circle of membership-more, in many cases, by the influence of friendly feeling than by any clear conception of the advantages afforded by association in the work of mental culture-they often miss the very object for the attainment of which they estensioly meet together, and after a considerable lapse of time, it may be, finding themselves scarcely deriving sufficient benefit to repay the trouble of attendance, they drop off altogether. It will be our aim, therefore, in the remarks which follow, to point out, as clearly and concisely as possible, the more prominent of those advantages which, by a little care and the honest performance of his share of the necessary work, any young man may derive from connection with such associations. We will attempt to show that these advantages are neither few nor unimportant, while they are such as cannot be so well obtained, and, in some instances, cannot be obtained at all, by the use of other means. From such considerations we shall be enabled, further, to form a more distinct conception of the true position which the Mutual Improvement Association occupies among the numerous agencies which are intended to exert a beneficial influence on human thought and character. 1864.

The specific means employed by that class of young men's associations to which we refer, in order to the improvement of their members, are chiefly the reading and criticism of original essays, and the conducting of debates. Let us, then, first of all contemplate them in their direct relation to the culture of the mind.

The rare and polished mental capabilities with which many individuals are gifted-the precision and vigorous grasp of thought, the luminosity of reasoning, the independency and accuracy of judgment, and the ready fluency of speech, which mark them out from those of ordinary endowments-are not to be regarded as developed wholy by the force of a principle of genius within, to the exclusion of methodical and careful training. It is true that as, in the external world, the seed may germinate, the flower may bud and blossom, apart from human care, if nature only gives the needful soil, sunshine, atmosphere, and moisture; so the mind of man will be to some extent developed by the operation of those outward influences with which it comes necessarily into contact. These are of very different descriptions, and being brought to bear upon the mind even in the earliest days of childhood, every individual who possesses reason in any degree learns to think, and judge, and speak, within a more or less limited sphere. Yet the earth, uncared for, brings forth weeds and noxious plants; and even when this is not the case, requires the tending hand of man, to temper natural conditions. to prune, and cultivate, and cross the different species with which he is acquainted, before we have the rarest, most useful, and most beautiful varieties of plants in existcnee. In like manner, the mind which receives no special care and culture will almost surely destroy its own usefulness and purity by the profusion of erroneous and vicious habits which it contracts; and even if this could be avoided, will never manifest the higher capabilities with which it is endowed.

the cultivation of these endowments, so as to make as much as possible out of his own nature, is evidently a duty which man owes to the great Author of his being, to himself, and to society. And what, moreover, is the dictate of reason, when pointing out the truest paths of pleasure and advantage, if not that man should give some part of his attention to the refining and methodical training of his various mental powers? And so we see the duty, pleasure, and advantage-the motives by which, in some shape or other, all man-. kind are governed-unite in forming a threefold cord of influence, inciting every individual to devote attention to the culture and perfection of his nature.

Now in an association where essays are prepared and read, and thought is interchanged among the members, this great end is furthered with a rapidity which other means would fail entirely to secure. By the endeavour which is necessarily made to impart our thoughts to others in a clear and apprehensible manner, our own ideas gain an objectivity which displays them in their true proportions, and gives them a distinct and individual existence. We may not be able fully to explain the fact, but fact it is, that a subject is never so thoroughly understood as when we have attempted to convey our thoughts upon it to the minds of others. Hence the proverb, Discimus docendo, we learn by teaching. When confined within the mind thoughts are apt to blend together, and are seldom marked off from each other with a distinct precision. But in the act of putting them without ourselves, they are cut away from their associations, and attain, so to speak, a definite shape of their own, which not only fixes them more deeply in the memory, but also renders them perspicuous, and capable of being clearly apprehended. From this distinct perception of truth and its relations, new notions flow into the mind, our difficulties become more transparent, our address more fluent, our ideas more original. and our memories more retentive; the whole mind,

in fact, attaining to a highly exalted development in capacity, apprehension, and energy.

This may sound to some as being merely an imposing heap of words, without realities to correspond with them; but every one who has taken an active part in the work of such associations will find no more in anything which we have stated than a description of his own experience. And this leads us to observe that there is work connected with the obtaining of these advantages. Essay-writing, for example, though, in the earlier stages of mental culture, one of the healthiest and most profitable exercises in which the mind can be engaged, is yet attended at first with an amount of labour which those who have never attempted it can scarcely understand, and which those who have passed through the difficulties can scarcely recall to mind from the standpoint of their greater proficiency. An immense amount of thought is usually expended upon the mere choosing of a subject, although but a few weeks before the idea of difficulty in that quarter might have raised a smile. Then comes the framing of an opening sentence (formidable matter!) and the composition of a fitting introduction, by which the brain is racked and wrought until the murkiest darkness has seemed to settle down where before there was not a cloud even as big as a man's hand. Pages are discarded almost as soon as they are written. Sentences cannot be made to express with sufficient neatness and propriety the idea of the thinker; and almost entirely despairing of success in his undertaking, he begins to look upan his connection with the association to which the essay has been promised as an intolerable bore. But yet, although at the time he may not be conscions of the fact, the few days of intense mental effort which may be occupied with that one essay-an essay which would probably have never been begun, and would most certainly never have bean finished, but for that connection with a

mutual improvement association, which he then so earnestly deplored, these few days of intense mental effort, we say, have done more towards the strengthening of his faculties and the development of his mental resources (real education) than perhaps would otherwise have been accomplished in many years. A few more persevering trials, and his difficulties lessen, soon completely to disappear; while he finds himself, after the ordeal has been passed through, a much more vigorous and original thinker, and a more fluent writer, than before it was begun.

To many it is also a sore trial to stand up before the members and offer anything in the shape of remarks upon the essay which has just been read before them. And certainly it is not the most pleasant thing in the world to be laughed and joked at while blundering, as often happens, in such a situation, nor would a generous mind desire to pain another by such a procedure. Yet soon it will be found, by him who is willing earnestly to persevere, that by this means a fluency and confidence are being gained, which will stand their possessor in good stead upon occasions of much greater importance. Let it be remembered that mental culture consists not only in gathering knowledge, but also in acquiring a capability of using it readily when it has been gathered. Information is certainly to be obtained at the meetings of those associations of which we speak, and that oftentimes of a rare and valuable character; but far more important is their influence in enabling their members to use with tact and wisdom that amount of knowledge which is already theirs. And doubtless they act untruly to their own interests who, while connected with such associations, are yet unwilling to share their necessary work. They are thrusting from them golden opportunitiesopportunities whose greatest value will be understood when they have irrecoverably passed away.

We might remark, again, that con

nection with a Mutual Improvement Association is favourable to mental culture, inasmuch as it fosters a love for knowledge and stimulates to inquiry. The desire of knowledge is doubtless native to the human mind, but then the proper conditions are required to call it into vigorous exercise; and so it often happens that, through the want of these, other and less exalted principles hold sway within the soul, while this lies almost or entirely dormant. Now it is part of the influence of a young man's Mutual Improvement Association to bring this noble feeling into play, by surrounding its members with those conditions which are necessary to its exercise. The mind is there brought into contact with almost every description of opinion, and this, of course, is in itself a means of exciting a powerful thirst for knowledge. And so we sometimes find a member of such an association, after listening to a paper, which to him embodies new and interesting facts or principles, leaving the meeting, not only with a profound sense of his comparative ignorance, but also with a strong desire enkindled in his breast to drink more deeply than hitherto at the fount of truth. Then, further, while a Mutual Improvement Association presents truth before its members in the abstract form, it presents it also as something which is actually possessed by others. Now there is scarcely anything which can afford a stronger stimulus to the acquirement of knowledge than the being brought into contact with those whose attainments in this respect are greater than our own. "As iron sharpeneth iron, so the countenance of a man his friend;" and when a sentiment of friendly emulation can be awakened, we well know that it goes very far to aid in vivifying our natural craving for intellectual improvement.

We mention now, and that only briefly, some of the incidental advantages which flow from connection with a Mutual Improvement Association. It is calculated to prevent the existence