1827.] 



Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Persons. 



441 



dantly regaled that " the feast of reason 

 and the flow of soul" were never wanting. 

 So well were the orderly habits of the Dr. 

 understood, that, at the appointed time, some 

 considerate guest would observe " 'tis on the 

 strike of eleven.'' Hats and cloaks, coats, 

 and umbrellas, were then brought in ; the 

 Dr. attended his friends to the street door, 

 looked up at the stars if there were any 

 visible grave each of his friends a cordial 

 shake of the hand, wished him a hearty good 

 night, and so the evening was closed. 



Dr. Kitchiner possessed the estimable vir- 

 tue of never speaking ill of any one : on the 

 contrary, he was a great lover of concilia- 

 tion, and to many he proved a valuable ad- 

 viser and a firm friend. In manner, he was 

 quiet and apparently timid. As we have 

 said, however, he had three grand hobbies : 

 these were cookery, music, and optics ; and, 

 whenever he ventured upon either of them, 

 he was full, cheerful, and even eloquent. 

 His books of which he wrote many were 

 all whimsical, all amusing, and all abound- 

 ing, amidst their eccentricity, with useful 

 points of information. His Cook's Oracle 

 (of which a ne\v edition was completed just 

 before his death) his Practical Observations 

 on Telescopes and on Spectacles his Na- 

 tional Songs his different works on Music 

 his Housekeeper's Economy his Pleasure of 

 making a Will, <fcc., are well known to the 

 public ; and the last, we presume, will 

 speedily be increased by the Traveller's 

 Oracle, and the Horse and Carriage Keeper's 

 Oracle ; both of which were nearly ready 

 for publication at the period of their author's 

 decease. 



This inoffensive, amiable, and ever useful 

 man, dined at his friend Braham's, on Mon- 

 day the 26th of February. He was in better 

 spirits than usual ; as, lor some time past, 

 in consequence of a spasmodic affection and 

 palpitation of the heart, he had been occa- 

 sionally observed in a desponding state. He 

 had ordered his carriage at half-past eight, 

 but he remained at Mr. Braham's till nearly 

 eleven. On his way home, he was seized 

 by one of those violent fits of palpitation 

 which he had of late frequently experienced ; 

 and, on reaching his house in Warren street, 

 Fitzroy-square, he alighted, ascended the 

 stairs with a hurried step, and threw himself 

 on a sofa. It would be as painful as una- 

 vailable to dwell upon the parting scene. 

 Every assistance was immediately afforded, 

 but without effect, and, in less than an hour, 

 he expired, apparently without conscious- 

 ness, and without a pang. 



Dr. Kitchiner's remains were interred in 

 the family vault at the church of St. Clement 

 Danes in the Strand, but, from some want of 

 management, the funeral was neither so 

 respectably nor so numerously attended as 

 the station in life and extensive connexions 

 of the deceased required. A monument, it 

 is understood, will be erected to his memory, 

 in the new church of St. Pancras, in which 

 parish he had long resided. 



M.M. New Series. VoL.IlI. No. 16. 



Dr. Kitchiner made a will about sixteen 

 years ago ; and we have been informed by a 

 gentleman who was one of the attesting wit- 

 nesses, that the instrument was as remark- 

 able for its eccentricity, as are any of the 

 published productions of the testator. From 

 some family differences, as we have heard, 

 the Dr. had been lately induced to make 

 another will, with a very different disposal 

 of his property. It had been intended for 

 signature on the Wednesday following the 

 Monday that he died. It was fortunate for 

 at least one individual, that death timed his 

 stroke as he did. 



M. PESTALOZZI. 



M. Pestalozzi, who may be regarded as 

 a benefactor of the human race, was born at 

 Zurich, in Switzerland, in the year 1745. 

 Though of patrician birth, he devoted him- 

 self, at an early period of life, to the service 

 of the humbler classes. He saw and pitied 

 their ignorance, and resolved to meliorate 

 their situation. He produced a novel, enti- 

 tled " Leinhard and Gertrude," the object 

 of which was to interest the feelings of the 

 poor by a picture of their occupations, neces- 

 sities, and desires ; while, at the same time, 

 it inculcated a love of virtue. The work 

 became popular in Germany as well as in 

 Switzerland, and the author was encouraged 

 to renew his exertions. Between the years 

 1781 and 1797, he published his Weekly 

 Journal for Country Folks, Letters on the 

 Education of the Children of indigent Pa- 

 rents, Reflections on the March of Nature in 

 the Education of the Human Race, <fcc. 



After the abolition of the ancient Swiss 

 Government.*, and the meeting of the Hel- 

 vetic Legislative Council at Arau, M. Pesta- 

 lozzi addressed to the council a tract, enti- 

 tled, "Reflections on the Wants of the 

 Country, and principally on the Education 

 and Relief of the Poor." Soon afterwards, 

 he was appointed principal editor of the Hel- 

 vetic Journal, a paper devoted to the moral 

 and religious interests of the people. In 

 1799, he was nominated director of an or- 

 phan institution, which the government had 

 established at Stantz. This appointment ena- 

 bled him to reduce some of his theories to 

 practice ; at Stantz, he became at once the 

 teacher, steward, and father of the institu- 

 tion ; and there he formed the plan of inter- 

 rogative education, which has since been 

 known throughout Europe by his name. 

 When the establishment was dissolved, the 

 government assigned him a mansion atBurg- 

 dorf, that he might be enabled to carry on 

 his system with boarders. Afterwards he re- 

 moved to the castle of Yverduu, which was 

 presented to him by the Canton of Vaud. 

 There he continued to prosecute his honour- 

 able labours ; and, subsequently to his remo- 

 val, he published many works on the im- 

 portant subject of education. Some of the 

 latter years of his life were occupied in pre- 

 paring his numerous publications for a com- 

 plete and systematic edition. His last pro- 

 3 L 



