reader has been told, in the solemn chamber of Donna Blanca. The former at length said:

"Our cares must not be confined here wholly. We had better now, I think, lead Beatrice to Inesilla's room. Poor girl! her vigil, I fear me, has been a heart-breaking one, Beatrice,' he continued, calling her, I have told you to go every now and then to your young mistress's room. Go in once more, and bring us word how Don Leandro is, and whether he sleeps or not.'

"Beatrice soon returned and said, in a low whisper :

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"Senors, I pray you come yourselves into my young lady's room. It is so silent and dark that I think something must have happened.' They immediately repaired there, and withdrew the casement curtains, that they might see more clearly. The sun, though not visible, had already flushed the eastern horizon; and, by this morning light, they saw Leandro stretched out dead upon the couch, and Inesilla leaning across him, with her face towards the bed, and one of her arms under his body.

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They turned her face round: it was cold-she was gone

יי!

Even in these extracts the eloquence and feeling of the writer may be partially discovered. But we wish to send our readers to the book. The romance has obvious faults, which we wish to see amended, equally for Mr. Ollier's credit, and our own gratification. His description of his hero's captivation by the temptress goes to the very bounds of endurance. This is dangerous to the reputation of the volume, and dangerous, too, without any excuse of necessity. All that can be conceived of fascination can be told in stainless language. Mr. Ollier colours too luxuriantly, and he must in future dilute his pencil. His language is occasionally infected by that style which neither " gods nor columns" can bear; and he must in future purify himself most sedulously of all the ancient dialect of cockneyism. Three brief tales follow, entitled the "Convict," the "Disinterment," and the "Jilt."

The only fragment of poetry in the volume is a serenade, written by Barry Cornwall.

Biographical Sketch of the late Dr. Matthew Baillie, M.D By JAMES WARDROP, Esq. Surgeon Extraordinary to the King. 8vo. 1824.

DR. Baillie was the most eminent physician of his time in London, and enjoyed a rank and name in that crowded competition equal to those of his most celebrated predecessors. He rose from the slender status of the son of a Scottish Clergyman, a point of departure, nevertheless, for many an ascent in life, and for not a few achievements of fortune and fame.

Although Dr. Baillie's reputation never rose higher than his merit, it must be admitted that that difficult" steep where Fame's proud temple shines afar" was levelled for him, by a peculiarly favourable concurrence of circumstances. From being the pastor of an obscure and lonely parish, his father became the professor of Divinity in the university of Glasgow. In that seat of learning, the son enjoyed the advantage of a liberal general education, subsequently completed at Oxford; to which university the Alma Mater of Glasgow offers a very flattering introduction to her more promising sons *. In London, he came at once under the care of William and John Hunter, the most eminent anatomists in the metropolis, and in Europe, who stood to him in the near relation of uncles. The nephew was soon the assistant of the uncles in their public labours, and on the death of William Hunter, succeeded to the anatomical chair, the renown of which that great teacher had extended over Europe. Dr. Baillie was a worthy successor even to

* The Glasgow Exhibitions in Baliol College.

William Hunter, and was for years resorted to as the most popular anatomical lecturer of the time.

To morbid anatomy, of which science the Hunters were the fathers in this country, he devoted his zealous attention, and, by his own valuable preparations, greatly extended the range of that most essential department of medical knowledge. He published on the subject in 1795, and illustrated his work by admirable engravings. His truly scientific collection, with 6007. to keep it in preservation, Dr. Baillie bequeathed, in addition to his medical library, to the College of Physicians of London.

After being for thirteen years one of the physicians of St. George's hospital, Dr. Baillie retired from that situation, and his anatomical chair at the same time, and devoted himself to private practice; to the summit of which he at once attained. The following detail is interesting, and we give it as a specimen of the manner and style of the work now before us.

"It is curious to trace the variety of circumstances which have led medical practitioners to celebrity in this metropolis. Dr. Baillie was one of the very few physicians of his day, whose success is to be attributed wholly to professional skill, adorned with the most estimable private virtues. Minute anatomical study had been too much disregarded by physicians, and conceived necessary only for those who practised surgery. His comprehensive knowledge of anatomy, therefore, could not fail to give him immense advantages over those who were competing with him for private practice. Whenever more than ordinary scientific precision was wanted, he was now resorted to; and the advantages which his anatomical skill afforded him, completely established his reputation among the better informed members of his profession.

Dr. Baillie possessed, in an eminent degree, a facility in distinguishing diseases, one of the most important qualities in the practice of medicine; a want of accuracy in discriminating symptomatic from primary affections, leading to the most serious errors; whilst, when a disease is once distinctly characterised, and the peculiarities of the case defined, the cure may be considered as half performed. Habits of attentive observation had also enabled him to know, with great accuracy, the precise extent of the powers of medicines; indeed, there was no class of cases more likely to fall under his observation than those in which they had been abused, younger practitioners being apt to carry a particular system of treatment beyond its proper limits; Dr. Baillie's readiness, therefore, in seeing this abuse, rendered his opinions, in many such cases, of great value.

In nothing did he excel more than in the clearness, the conciseness, aud the unaffected simplicity of the mode of delivering or of writing his opinions. He had the particular merit of leaving no ambiguity in the mind of his patient; and the language he employed was so plain, and so free from scientific jargon, that I have often heard them repeat,

word for word, all they had heard him say on such occasions. He possessed also, in an unusual degree, the power of simplifying and illustrating, by analogy, what appeared complex and unintelligible, and was thus able to give patients a correct and satisfactory idea of the nature of their complaints.

"He had a most natural, unassuming, but decided manner, which, in the exercise of his professional duties, was the same to all persons, and on all occasions. His mind was always quietly, but eagerly directed, to the investigation of the symptoms of the diseases of his patients; and he had so distinct and systematic a mode of putting questions, that their answers often presented a connected view of the whole, and could not fail to impress them with his clear and comprehensive knowledge.

"Dr. Baillie was also remarkable for the consideration he paid to the feelings and character of his professional brethren, more particularly to the younger branches, and others who did not enjoy the full confidence of the public; and nothing more strongly marked the respect and value they entertained for him, than their universal expression of sorrow when the intelligence of his death reached the metropolis.

"The same liberal and just principles which, on all occasions, guided his conduct in private life towards individuals, were equally remarkable in his public duties; he never countenanced any measures which had the appearance of oppression or hostility towards the members of his profession. Men seldom act, collectively, with the same honour and integrity, as they would do individually; and a member of a public body requires an unusual share of moral courage who opposes those measures of his associates, which he may not himself approve of; but if there was one quality more than another, which gave Baillie the public confidence he enjoyed, and raised him to the zenith of professional distinction, I should say that it was his inflexible integrity.

Dr.

"The extent of Dr. Baillie's practice, and the number of years in which he was fully occupied, enabled him not only to indulge in every worldly comfort and luxury, but to amass a very considerable fortune. With feelings of proper value for his talents and rank in his profession, he was at the same time most liberal when he suspected the circumstances of the individual required it; whilst, on all occasions of generosity, and in deeds of charity, his bounty was conspicuous.

"He received all those professional distinctions due to his merits. He was a member of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh, and of many other learned bodies; he was the first President of the Medical and Chirurgical Society, and one of the Physicians to the late king."

It was Dr. Baillie's lot, as it has too often been of those who have risen to the head of a laborious profession, to be worn out in constitution at no very advanced age. Mr. Wardrop describes, with much feeling, the failure of the bodily frame of a mind so powerful, and dwells with affectionate regret on the

sad result of all the efforts of the physician to cure himself, and of his numerous medical friends to restore him. Tunbridge gave no relief the retirement of Gloucestershire no hope, and on the 23rd of September, 1823, lamented by his family and numerous friends-by his professional brethren-by his countryDr. Baillie expired. Mr. Wardrop thus concludes his memoir.

"Dr. Baillie was married, in the thirtieth year of his age, to the eldest daughter of the late celebrated Dr. Denman, by whom he had a son and daughter. As has been observed by a contemporary writer, the extent of talent united in his family and connexions is remarkable: not only was he the son of an able Professor, and nephew of the Hunters, but Miss Johanna Baillie, his sister, attained the most elevated rank in literature by her Plays on the Passions. Mrs. Baillie's sister was married to the late Sir Richard Croft, a man whose name is endeared in the recollection of many, as well for his manly and upright heart, as for his professional celebrity; and Mr. Denman, the celebrated counsellor, was also Dr. Baillie's brother-in-law.

"Of Dr. Baillie's character in domestic life, it becomes me to say little: a mind so well regulated, and a heart so full of tenderness and benevolence to his suffering fellow-creatures, could not fail to impart joy and affection to the bosom of his family. The pleasure which the constant opportunities his profession afforded him of doing good, the lustre of his career, together with all the blessings of domestic happiness, infused a pleasing glow on his hours of recreation, and inspired everywhere around him a contented cheerfulness!"

We applaud the good feeling that prompted and the judgment and taste that guided Mr. Wardrop's pen, in preserving, in this interesting memoir, a record of the fortunes of so eminent and excellent a person. The duty could not have fallen into the hands of one more qualified, by dispositions and by circumstances, to "feel these fortunes." Mr. Wardrop's own celebrity in the London medical world, we have reason to know received its first impetus, and its steady acceleration, from the liberal and judicious patronage of Dr. Baillie, and the study of that distinguished physician's character, private and public, was, to the author, at once the best school of his profession, and the best source of an instructive and edifying biography. We have seen the simple monument in the area of the great church of Leyden, to the father of modern medicine; on the pedestal of a small marble urn, are these expressive words, and these alone.

"SALUTIFERO BOERHAAVII GENIO SACRUM."

Be it the author's satisfaction and his praise to have paid the first tribute to "the health-bearing genius" of Baillie.