Intelligence and Miscellanies. 209 



mained, though somewhat modified. — Mr. I. L. Williams 

 of Florida, a corresponding member, presented a box of spe- 

 cimens illustrative of the geology of that region. — Col. Tot- 

 ten^ of the U. S. engineers, a corresponding member, pre- 

 sented a large collection of fossil plants from the slate for- 

 mation of Rhode Island, among them were casts of doubt- 

 ful fossils which were referred for examination and report. — 

 Messrs. T. G. Gary and G. C. Peterson, were admitted resi- 

 dent members. 



2 1 . Baron de Zach — Liberty of opinion and of the press — 

 Education — General views of Europe., <^c. 



Extract of a letter from an American gentleman, to the Editor, dated, 

 " HoFWYL,, Switzerland, Dec. 22, 1828. 



"Baron de Zach, as you have probably heard, underwent 

 a very dangerous operation in Paris, but seems now restor- 

 ed. He passed the summer in Switzerland, but I was una- 

 ble to discover his residence in time to visit him. One of his 

 friends who received the account from himself, told me that 

 the reason assigned, on the demand of the Prussian ambas- 

 sador for his banishment, by the Sardinian government, was 

 that he had maintained in his astronomical journal the revo- 

 lution of the earth around the sun, which was in direct con- 

 tradiction with the decrees of the church! It is almost in- 

 credible that such darkness should prevail in the midst of 

 light, as one finds in Italy, and even in some parts of Swit- 

 zerland. It is painful to an American to find even on politi- 

 cal subjects so much of the illiberal spirit of past ages, in this 

 land, which boasts so much of its freedom. The press is in 

 many cantons under severe restrictions. Exterior and for- 

 mal instruction is indeed encouraged ; but efforts to produce 

 real illumination among the people are often frowned upon 

 or censured, or even persecuted by the still powerful aristoc- 

 racy. The Jesuits, driven out of France, have taken post in 

 Switzerland, and promise to involve its catholic cantons in 

 grosser darkness than ever. Indeed the promises and insti- 

 tutions to which the princes of Europe have been driven by 

 the force of public opinion, are but a cloak under which, in 

 most states, views as tyrannical, and measures as illiberal, 

 as ever are concealed. 



" Still the efforts of individuals, and of individual states in 

 Europe, are doing immense service to the cause of education 



Vol. XVI.—No. 1. '27 



