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former life was taken for that purpose ; and, at an advanced age of nearly 

 eighty, the venerable old man was punished for an act that happened 

 twenty years before, and which, according to the laws of the country, 

 must have been very slight indeed to remain so long without being 

 investigated. 



That public opinion has not been misguided in this matter 

 is evident. M. N. von Esenbeck has not only been re-elected 

 President of one of the most ancient academies in the world, 

 but men are everywhere stepping forward, who endeavour to place 

 him above the want to which the sudden loss of his situation has ex- 

 posed him. Naturalists of eminence are, we understand, selling por- 

 tions of their collections, in order to give the proceeds to the illustrious 

 savan. We ourselves have been requested by several of our corre- 

 spondents to open a subscription for his benefit ; and we are only too 

 glad to become the humble medium by which that great and good 

 man may be benefited. Having obtained permission from M. Nees 

 von Esenbeck himself, we are ready to receive any sums, however tri- 

 fling, to acknowledge them in our journal, and afterwards in periodi- 

 cals of a wider circulation. 



It would be trifling with the cause we are pleading were we to 

 attempt to write a panegyric upon a man so unfortunate. A person 

 who is eighty years of age, and in want, not only of the mere comforts of 

 life, but the bare means of subsistence, and who has devoted his whole 

 life and all he possessed to the advancement of science, is indeed worthy 

 of consideration. Entomology, ornithology, botany, and many other 

 branches of learning are indebted to him for some of the most impor- 

 tant additions. He has always been ready to assist others whenever 

 he was called upon ; and there are many naturalists in Great Britain 

 who have enriched their volumes with his labours. As a teacher, he 

 has done an immense deal. His lecture-rooms were always the most 

 crowded; and subjects which, in the hands of others, appeared dry, 

 insipid, and dull, his eloquence knew how to make interesting and 

 charming. There are few who have ever seen him on the platform 

 who can forget the impression which his lectures produced ; the 

 sparkling eye, the animation, and clearness of explanation never failed 

 to produce most favourable effects. His labours as an author are 

 numerous, and show great erudition and research. They belong to 

 that class of writing which freed Natural History from the pedantic 

 sway of the Linnean school, and fairly applied the light of philosophy 

 to the investigation of organized beings. Indeed, M. N. von Esen- 

 beck is one of the remaining few who conclude the circle of illus- 



