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Notices respecting New Books. l4i 
“ yesults. He considers them 6f the greatest importance, as de- 
fining most accurately the really efficient parts of the Voltaic 
_ apparatus, and providing a source of perpetual electrical action, 
which may hereafter prove very highly useful. 
Supplement to the Fourth and Fifth Editions of the Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica, Volume I. Part I. with a Preliminary Dis- 
sertation, ‘‘ exhibiting a general View of the Progress of meta- 
physical, ethical, and political Philosophy since the Revival 
» of Letters in Europe. By Dugald Stewart, Esq. F.R.SS. 
~ Lond. & Edin., &c. &c.” Edinburgh : Constable and Co. 
_ We notice the above most valuable publication, chiefly with a 
View to call the attention of our readers to the very learned and 
‘copious dissertation on the progress of human knowledge, which 
Professor Dugald Stewart has prefixed. : 
- To follow this elegant writer and profound scholar seriatim, 
through his enumeration of those who have contributed to the 
‘advancement of science and philosophy since the revival of let- 
ters would far exceed the limits which we have prescribed to 
ourselves in this department of our work ; but we have been so 
smitten with the eloquent and comprehensive review which Mr. 
Stewart has given of the philosophical life and writings of the 
great Bacon, that we presume to think that our readers will 
consider some extracts from that part of the preliminary disser- 
tation as affording an intellectual treat of rare occurrence. 
«The state of science,” the author philosophically observes, 
_ towards the close of the sixteenth century presented-a field 
_ of observation singularly calculated to attract the curiosity and 
_ to awaken the genius of Bacon ; nor was it the least of Lis per- 
sonal advantages, that, as the son of one of Queen Elizabeth’s 
ministers, he had a ready access, wherever he went, to the most 
enlightened society in Europe. While yet only in the seven- 
teenth year of his age, he ‘was removed by his father from Cam- 
ridge to Paris, where it is not to be doubted that the novelty 
of the literary scene must have largely contributed to cherish 
the natural liberality and independence of his mind. Sir Joshua 
Reynolds has remarked, in one of his academical discourses, that 
“every seminary of learning is surrounded with an atmosphere 
of floating knowledge, where every mind may imbibe somewhat 
congenial to its own original conceptions.’ He might have 
dided, with still greater truth, that it is an atmosphere, of which 
it is more peculiarly salutary for those who have been elsewhere 
reared to breathe the air, The remark is applicable to higher 
pursuits than were in the contemplation of this philosophical 
artist ; and it suggests a hint of no inconsiderable value for the 
education of youth, . 
4. The 
