110 Correspondence of J. Nickles. 
Brussels was still more remarkable in the economical sciences, In his work 
Le Monuutopole, he advocated strongly the rights of the inventor, and 
considered intellectual property entitled to as much respect as any other. 
of this useful man. 5 
¢ is open to animadversion as a critic at once too profuse and caustic. 
loving youthful students, he was always attached to workers in science 
experiment, and this spirit of discovery, and perfecting what he undertook 
led to his pecuniary troubles—to which, as before intimated, the Belgian 
government contributed its full share. Even in his last days, the poor in- 
ventor sought to obtain additional resources by the sale of his valuable 
ibrary—a sacrifice from which death alone delivered him. é 
Works of Roger Bacon.—We have already stated* that the Min- 
istry of Public Instruction is engaged in publishing the works of some 0 
our most eminent savans, such as Lavoisier, Lagrange, &c. Mr. Emile 
Charles, a private individual, is about to undertake a similar enterprise 
in reference to the works of Roger Bacon, one of the greatest philoso- 
n e far 
But the volume published by Hachette, for Mr. Charles, (1 vol. 8¥0.), 
r us for the first time a complete idea of the influence which Roget 
gious persecution. The writings of Roger Bacon have not all been pub- 
lished, the manuscripts are scattered through many public ibaa) 
: : eee t 
, and discover their general purport. a 
Mr. Charles has undertaken this task upon which he has spent many 
years; he has been greatly aided by a distinguished scholar, Mr. Fortoul, 
for a time Minister of Public Instruction, who has assisted him with 
his influence, and it was by the aid of his recommendation that he was 
enabled to visit the principal libraries in France and England, and thus to 
make the researches indispensable to the proposed enterprise. From these 
researches, it appears that Roger Bacon was not only learned in the scl 
ences of his time, that he was a mathematician, a physicist, and that he 
practiced alchemy, but that he was the first who appealed to experiment. 
* This Journal, [2] xxxii, p. 98, 
atl 
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