of government exists, associated with an intolerant

, we may look in vain for that progress which is so pily attained amongst the more cultivated intellects of

vest.

act

asted powe

to the presen

beauty to the m the hands How unfortu at the constan tes, against re retarded th aped the liber e of further the rising a To the Ro Greece becam

he Orientals have long ceased to exercise any influupon the development of civilisation in other coun. It is evident, however, that Egypt attained at an v period a high degree of refinement, and gave a xed impetus to the arts in all surrounding countries. evident, from the quantities of linen which have been overed shrouding the remains of their rich or distinhed men, that spinning and weaving were largely tised by the Egyptians, and judging from the splendid ins of their temples, pyramids, and public buildings, may reasonably infer that practical science and useful vere largely cultivated, and applied in the construction erection of these vast memorials of antiquity, which stood the test of time for ages almost unimpaired. he irrigation and tillage of the soil the Egyptians must attained considerable perfection, and the quantity of at grown and exported indicates the industry of the ptian people and the great fertility of the soil.

rom the Egyptians we descend to a people who, of all rs, ancient or modern, have excelled in the refines of architecture and sculpture. To the Greeks we the application of the true principles of harmony in

any works posed that w buckets and f

and pumping the principle

Eke our own mills are ye

been uncove

of sketching

the princip rough leuc pivot at t

composed

and rendered symmetry in the development c the grand criterion by which the artist was j were the characteristics of ancient Greec our boasted powers of invention we have ne up to the present time, to originate anythi in beauty to the five orders of architecture from the hands of the Greeks.

How unfortunate has it been for art and that the constant wars and contentions amor states, against the Macedonian and other have retarded the progress of the useful arts, sapped the liberties of the Grecian people, d hope of further improvement, and left them ar to the rising and more powerful republic of

&wever, that Egy Some of referenc the arts in all s the quantities of the r the remains of their spinning and wearing ans, and indring from th es prramids and pollet r that practical science t atend, and applied in the com “ast memorials of antique" time for ages almost e of the soil the E perfection, and the qu d indicates the indist "eat fertility of the soil descend to a people r have excelled in the ulpture. To the G ne principles of hu

To the Romans, who shortly after the Greece became masters of Europe, we ar many works of art and mechanical adaptatio posed that water, as a motive power, and buckets and floats, were applied by them in and pumping water. Of their corn-mills, the principle of the pestle and mortar, and of like our own, of revolving stones. Some mills are yet to be seen in the baker's ho been uncovered at Pompeii, where I had t of sketching one about a year since. Fig. 2 the principle of these interesting remains. rough leucitic lava, cut into a conical form pivot at the top, which supports the mov composed of the same material, and hollow

The upper part was

brace the conical fixed stone A. similarly hollowed to form the hopper c, from which the corn, passing by degrees down between the abrading surfaces of A and B, as the mill was worked, was crushed to powder. It is not certain in what way motion was imparted to the running stone, but I am inclined to think from the number of stones of this kind, placed in close proximity, that the grinding process was effected by a seesaw motion, produced by slaves working at the extended

poles DD, which are fixed in the sockets in the upper stone. The bran was probably separated from the flour by means of a sieve; and it may be remarked that in the same building with the mills, at Pompeii, the ovens may still be seen, built of brick, almost in every respect similar in form to those in use in this country.

There can be no doubt as to the fact that the Romans prac

tised the arts of spinning and weaving, but, gencrally speaking, they were rather the patrons than the cultivators of art; and whether we view them as agriculturists, architects, or mechanics, we shall find that the great works in Rome, and in the Roman towns of Italy, were designed and executed by foreigners, and chiefly by the Greeks and Tuscans. The Romans laid the whole of their vast conquered possessions under contribution for the gratification of their own ambition and the enrichment of their own homes and cities. The results of their conquests are still to be seen in the magnificent remains of monuments and edifices, and works of public utility scattered throughout Italy and the provinces. The scenes of rapine and murder which were enacted during the latter days of the empire, and the consequent insecurity of life and property, with the increasing luxury and indolence of the people, readily account for the stagnation of useful art which preceded the decay of the empire.

The consideration of the state of art amongst the Romans brings us down to the period of Alaric and his successors, when the empire was destroyed by the inroads of the Northern barbarians, and all progress in the arts stayed for almost a thousand years. About the beginning or middle of the fifteenth century, and during the Italian Republics, the light of civilisation began again to dawn upon a new generation of men. In 1474 was born Michael Angelo Buonarotti, one of the greatest painters, sculptors, and architects of any time; one of the ablest designers, and a skilful anatomist. His works are celebrated throughout all Europe, and the beauty of his paintings and the originality of his conceptions in the highest regions of art, are to this day the subjects of universal admiration.

After Michael Angelo came Galileo, born in 1564, and to that great man we owe the telescope and pendulum, applied by his son Vincenzio to the regulation of the clock. He

was one of the first of the school of experimental philosophers who, abandoning the barren methods of the schoolmen, have produced such brilliant results in physical science.

Michael Angelo in the fine arts, and Galileo as the representative of theoretical and experimental science, were followed by those who in our own country led the van of progress in another department. The Marquis of Worcester, in his "Century of Inventions," announced the steam engine; and however crude his invention may have been, it must still be taken as the starting point from which have sprung the vast developments of steam power. The Marquis actually erected one of his engines of about 2-horse power on the banks of the Thames, and it was employed in supplying the town with water.

In "The Journal of the Visit to England of Cosmo de Medicis, Grand Duke of Tuscany," in 1699, there is an interesting record of this engine of Worcester's. "His highness," writes his secretary, "went again after dinner to the other side of the city, extending his excursion as far as Vauxhall, beyond the palace of the archbishop of Canterbury, to see an hydraulic machine, invented by my Lord Somerset, Marquis of Worcester. It raises water more than forty geometrical feet, by the power of one man only; and in a very short space of time will draw up four vessels of water, through a tube or channel not more than a span in width, on which account it is considered to be of greater service to the public than the other machine near Somerset House."

This interesting document proves that the plans of the Marquis were practical and capable of advantageous employment. Yet it was reserved for Captain Savery to introduce steam generally as a means of raising water. Savery's engine, of which fig. 29 is a sketch, consisted of two boilers, in which the necessary steam was generated, and two receivers with valves, which were placed at the bottom of the mine shaft, about thirty feet above the